Chapter 2
Time Spent In Good Company
The onions and strips of pork sizzled on the grill as Tohru turned them with her small spatula.
"It smells delicious, Tohru-kun," said Hana, holding up her spatula in wait.
"Mmh…" said Megumi, also holding up his spatula.
"So Tohru-kun…" said Arisa, flipping back a stray piece of bang.
"Well," said Tohru, turning the grill down. " He's gentle, kind, sensitive, everything I would have hoped for," Tohru admitted thoughtfully. Arisa smiled and closed her eyes, deep in her sweet memories.
"What are you remembering, Arisa?" asked Hana, eating the grilled food. " You look so calm. Is it that man from the convenience store?"Arisa opened her eyes.
"Yes," she answered. "That's also how I described the one I like."
Love is sweet, isn't it?" asked Tohru, gazing sweetly at the grill, imagining Kyo. "There's just one problem, isn't there?"
" He doesn't beat you, does he!" asked Arisa, suddenly alarmed.
"Shall I shock him?" inquired Hana. "Or perhaps I could have Megumi put a curse on him?" Megumi nodded at his sister's inclined head.
"No! No! He's not mean to me at all!" Said Tohru at once. "Please don't hurt him!"
"Okay…if you say so," said a defeated Arisa. "So what's the problem then?"
"I haven't got anything pretty to wear," Tohru replied, barely audible.
"Well, that does pose a problem," concluded Arisa. "How about we all go dance shopping tomorrow?"
"Yes, but at what time?" inquired Hana.
"How about we all meet at the station at eleven?" Arisa proposed.
"Yes," said both Hana and Tohru in unison.
" See you tomorrow!" snag Tohru, waving to her friends from outside the restaurant. When she came in to the house, she found Shigure and Kyo waiting up for her. Yuki was off somewhere finalizing dance plans with the student council.
"Oh! Shigure-San! Kyo! You didn't have to wait up for me! I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble," wailed Tohru.
"It's okay, Tohru-Kun. Really, it's no trouble at all!" said Shigure, flapping a hand in her direction.
"Oh, well, in that case, would it be okay if I went out with my friends tomorrow?" asked Tohru, her fingers crossed under the table.
"Of course it is!" announced Shigure. " Hanging out with your friends?"
"Yes," said Tohru. " We're going to look for dresses for the dance." A dreamy expression overcame Shigure, and a slow trickle of drool sprouted from the corner of his mouth.
"Knock it off, baka-inu," said Kyo, bringing Shigure back to reality with a stinging slap across the face.
"Are you okay, Shigure-San?" asked Tohru.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine Tohru-Kun," said Shigure, in a calming manner. "But Kyo, was that really necessary?"
"Yes," answered Kyo simply. " I'm going to bed."
" I suppose I should be getting got bed too," admitted Tohru. " Goodnight!" She followed Kyo up the stairs, trailing close behind.
" It's such a beautiful night, isn't is Kyo-Kun…Kyo?" Tohru said awed. Kyo smiled. That's so like her to be amazed by the smallest things.
"There's even a full moon tonight. Here, come see," said Kyo, gently taking her hand, and leading her to the balcony in her room.
"It's so big," commented Tohru. " And so bright too!"
" It sounds like you Tohru…" said Kyo quietly. "You have such a big heart… and you have such a bright smile too…" Tohru's heart fluttered wildly at these words. He's so sensitive and kind mom. Tohru leaned her head against Kyo's shoulder. He gave a small jump and turned his head to look at her. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was deep and rhythmic. She had fallen asleep on his shoulder. She looks so happy. She must have been really tired to fall asleep on me like this. Still, I don't mind…. Thought Kyo. He brushed a stray hair away from her face, picking her up, and placing her in her bed. " Goodnight Tohru," he whispered, barely audible, and gave her a butterfly kiss on her cheek.
" Train-A departing to Kyoto now leaving the station!" a cool female voice announced. " Please watch you step!" Tohru was waiting for Uo and Hana by a rather large potted plant. I wonder what kind of dress I should buy. thought Tohru to pass the time. I wonder what kind of dress Kyo would like… She blushed at the thought.
"Tohru!" called a girl in the crowd. Tohru turned to see who was calling for her. " Hey! Tohru-Chan! Over here!" She looked to see her friends waving at her. She bounced over. " Konnichiwa Uo-Chan! Hana-Chan! Oh, and Bodyguard-San!" she added upon seeing Megumi.
"Ya ready to shop like crazy women?" asked Arisa uncharacteristically excited about something so girly.
" We are already crazy women though…" said Hana. "That is except for Megumi-Chan and Tohru-Chan." Megumi looked away, but Tohru giggled.
"Ready!" she said and gave the air above her head a small punch. The first store they went to was Lucky Panda Dress Emporium. When Tohru walked into the store and looked around, she was awed.
"There's so many," she marveled.
"True, true," said Uo, unimpressed. ' Let's start with the color." Tohru was emerged in thought until Hana said,
" Once again, I think it's pink for Tohru-Chan," Megumi and Uo nodded their approval. A salesgirl, overhearing, said,
"Would you like me to take you to our pink section?" Tohru, being intimidated by the store's largeness replied,
"Yes, if that's not too much trouble for you." The salesgirl smiled.
" It's no trouble at all! Follow me!" On the way over to the pink section of the emporium, they passed jungles of emerald, sapphire, ocean-blues, sunny yellows, stop-sign reds, and then the sea of pink. There was every shade of pink, from magenta to baby-skin pink. The salesgirl looking at Tohru for a minute said thoughtfully," I think a light pink would look good on you, miss." Tohru, still gaping at how many dresses of one color could be made said,
" Yes. That sounds perfect!" Dress after dress was tried on- short cocktail dresses, strapless ball gowns, magenta flappers, but after fifty-four of them were tried on, one was chosen. The dress was simple yet elegant- a baby pink halter-style top, with matching silk ribbons making a perfect bow on the bottom of the bodice. The skirt was made of layer upon layer of a sheer, icy, floaty material, which was built up so it was poofy. And, the best part was, Tohru had enough money saved up to buy it. I might as well splurge myself, mom. thought Tohru. Kyo will probably be the only person to like me… The salesgirl then turned to Uo.
" Are you looking for a dress too, miss?"
" Well, girly really isn't my thing…" admitted Arisa. Hana looked at the salesgirl and could tell the wheels were turning at high speed.
"I'm sure she could find you something, Arisa," admitted Hana.
"Yes Uo-Chan!" said Tohru, trying to sound convincing. "This place is huge!"
"Hmmm…" said the salesgirl, looking Uo up and down. "I think we have just the thing for you. If you'll follow me?" Arisa shrugged and followed the girl, the others trailing behind Uo. The salesgirl stopped in the cloud of blue dresses and pulled one out. It was a spaghetti strap dress, midnight blue in length, long in length, and with a bottom similar to the skirts she always wore. Arisa looked at it, blinked, and then said,
"Okay. You got me. I'll take it." After everything was rung up and paid for, the trio, plus Megumi, set out for a soba shop for lunch. Uo claimed she was craving tororo soba. When their noodles arrived, Tohru asked Hana if she was planning to also buy a dress during their excursion that day.
"Yes," answered Hana, eating her squid soba thoughtfully. "But I need to find a dress in another part of town."
"But I thought this was the only major fashion district in Tokyo," said Tohru, confused.
"There's another one," answered Hana. "One that's more like…like us," she said, inclining her head slightly to Megumi. After they finished their meal in the soba shop, they followed Hana to 'her' part of town: Harajuku. Everywhere Tohru looked, it seemed like there were hundreds of porcelain dolls, life-like in size, milling about the streets, and peeping in store windows. Hana dropped into the shop on the right: Deadly Beautiful Dresses. Uo and Tohru followed apprehensively. They looked around the store, and wound up counting how many layers of lace were on a particular dress. Hana soon found them, as they reached layer eighty-eight. She had an elegant black shopping bag over her elbow, a lack dress inside.
"Well," said Uo. "I guess our day of shopping has come to an end. She pretended to wipe tears from her eyes. Tohru gave her two companions, plus Megumi, a small bow.
"I had so much fun today," Tohru said humbly. "Thank you so much!" Uo and Hana looked slightly startled at this teeny outburst, but regained their composure quickly. They both gave Tohru a group hug.
"Anytime…" said Uo, patting Tohru's head.
"Yes," said Hana, also patting Tohru's head. "This was fun."
Megumi came over and patted Tohru's head too. They all laughed.