Author's Note: Fruits Basket vol. 14 came out. That made me happy. So did writing this chapter, and you'll see what I mean at the end. wink wink
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. If I did, the main couple would be Tohru and Hatori
"Tohru-kun, Yuki-kun! I'm hooommmeee!" Shigure yelled walking inside the house. Tohru smiled from the couch and said, "Welcome home, Shigure-san!" Shigure jumped on the couch next to her and asked, "So Tohru-kun, you must be very anxious to find out who Haa-san likes, right?" Tohru blushed and said, "Well, I am curious, but I don't want to intrude on his life like that! That'd be rude!" Shigure pouted and said, "Ok, how about I give you some hints on who he likes, and you guess?" Tohru thought about it for a moment and agreed.
"All righty then! First hint is that she has brown hair," Tohru sat for a moment, pulling up a complete blank as Shigure went on, "Second hint is she's in high school!" Tohru still looked at Shigure, confused. Shigure sighed and said, "Well, here's the last hint, she's been heartbroken over the fact a certain cat left the country and has been going to see Haa-san for a while because she got sick over it!" Tohru gasped as she pointed to herself. Her face turned red (she seemed to be doing that a lot these days) as she stuttered out, "M..mm…me!"
"Bingo! Tohru-kun, you two have feelings for each other!" He laughed at her expression and got quieter, "Now, do you want my advice?" Tohru nodded vigorously. Shigure leaned in and said, "I think that you two should expand on your relationship. Take it to the next level! Get off of home plate, go to the bases." Tohru nodded determinedly, not knowing anything about these "bases" Shigure was referring to.
"I'll go see him later, and then I'll do something about it! Right after I get groceries! Well, I may. I don't have enough courage to do anything like that" Tohru said grabbing her purse and leaving the house. Shigure sat back in his chair and started fanning himself, despite the freezing temperatures outside.
"Part two of my three part plan complete," He said to himself, "Shigure Sohma, you are indeed, a genius. Why, you should get an award for how smart you really are! Maybe I should even start a book about how smart I am!"
A few hours later, Tohru was sitting on a bench, her shopping had gone terribly since she was so busy thinking. She fumbled with her coat zipper, thinking about Hatori, unaware of the man who took a seat next to her.
"Having fun, Honda-kun?" Hatori asked watching Tohru for a few minutes. Tohru turned red and stopped. She said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there! I'll be going now!" She stood up to leave when Hatori grabbed her and said, "Let's go on a walk together." Tohru turned red and nodded.
"Hatori-san, where are we going?" Tohru asked after a few minutes as they seemed to be walking in no specific direction. Hatori stopped and looked around looked around and found a nice restaurant. He turned to Tohru and said, "I'm going to buy you lunch. How does that sound? A sort of, congratulations of getting well," Tohru smiled and said, "That sounds really good at the moment! Thank you, Hatori-san!" Hatori smiled and the two entered the restaurant, and got seated to a table. As Tohru looked over her menu, Hatori gazed at her from over the top of his menu.
"Hatori-san? What would you recommend? I've never been to a multi-cultural restaurant before," Tohru asked. Hatori looked down at the menu and said, "Well, the American hotdogs are supposed to be good. I myself am getting a plate of that Italian spaghetti." Tohru nodded and said, "I'll get spa…ghe…tii, too!"
"So, what do you two want?" The waiter asked. Hatori took Tohru's menu and said, "Two plates of spaghetti, and for desert get us some chocolate tarts."
After they talked a little while, and finished eating all of their food and paid the tip, they left full and happy. Hatori started walking toward the park and was ignoring what Tohru was saying. Although it seemed rude, Hatori had an idea.
"Hatori-san? Where are we going?" Tohru asked as she stepped on a frozen twig. Hatori stayed silent for a while before saying, "So Honda-kun, has Shigure been talking to you lately about the guy you like?" Tohru nodded and said, "He told me something I really wanted to hear."
"Yeah, he told me something I wanted to hear, too." They stood in silence, looking at the frozen pond. Tohru shivered from the cold and Hatori put his jacket on her.
"Hatori-san, I already bothered you for your jacket a few weeks ago! You don't have to do it again!" Tohru said. Hatori kept his hands on her shoulders and looked at Tohru, while she gazed at the frozen lake, unaware of Hatori's gaze.
"Tohru? Can I do something for you?" He asked. Tohru looked at him and nodded, "Yes! Anything, why?" He looked around to make sure no one was watching and leaned down and whispered, "Because this is what I've been meaning to do for a while," and then he kissed Tohru on the lips.