This fanfic was inspired by the Fruits Basket fanfic titled "My Weakness", and a little bit of the Teen Titans shoujo-ai fic named "No White Flag." Kudos to both writers.
I don't own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. ('----' is thoughts) ("----" is speech)
This is a fanfic displaying the coupling of Hana and Tohru, for those who know the series. The coupling of Yuki and Tohru is the main story, but the focus is mostly on Hana/Tohru, so those who dislike or are offended by shoujo-ai, DO NOT READ FORWARD. You have been warned. (The recent developments that relate to "No White Flag" made me think of you, Rina, so this is for you, just because you're so awesome. )
It takes place the day after the anime ends, so it's not, repeat, NOT based on the manga. (Although there is a reference to a part of the story from the manga that takes place after the anime ends, but I just stuffed it in there for the fun of it. ;p)
Chapter 1 - Reminiscence
The morning was one of the greatest yet for Tohru Honda. Her fateful meeting with the head of the Sohma family was one of the most stressful situations she had even gotten into. She had even been on the verge of having her memories of her entire time with the Sohma's erased. She had lived with them and kept the details of their secret curse under wraps for a little over a year, and losing so much time would have been devastating for her. She now felt so grateful to have everyone she had in her life; not just the Sohma's, but her friends, too, especially when it came to Kyo.
His incident opened up a new side of him to Tohru, inside and out, and it caused her to use up any and all energy she had to calm him down. However, as this was all linked to the curse, she couldn't talk about that with her friends either. However, she would still have some explaining to do. While Kyo was running away from Tohru and Yuki, who got separated, Tohru wound up in the graveyard, at her mother's headstone. Then, her two best friends came along and saw her crying at the grave.
FLASHBACK – Graveyard: Headstone of Kyoko Honda
Saki Hanajima and Arisa Uotani, Tohru's friends, were walking along the aisle of the temple in the rain, looking for their purpose for being there. "So, why are we here anyway? Can't we come tomorrow, with Tohru even?" 'Uo' asked under her umbrella. "I just feel like we are needed here; that's what the electric signals are telling me." 'Hana' responded. Uo sighed in exasperation at her. "You and your electric waves…"
Hana possessed strange powers that read 'electric waves' from people, signals that personify feelings from another person. What she was feeling now, of course, was someone's self-pity and sorrow, but she didn't expect it to be from someone like…
"Tohru!" Uo called out to her and began to go to her side. Tohru slowly raised her head to see her friends standing there with looks of concern on their faces. "Uo… H-Hana…" Tohru barely had enough strength left to utter their names. "What are you doing here? You're soaked to the bone!" Uo pleaded with her. Tohru only looked away. "I can't go on living there… in that house… I don't belong there… I never did," she said.
"What are you talking about? Come on; let's get you out of here." Uo said as she bent down to help her stand up. Hana then dropped her umbrella and ran over to the two of them, not to help, but instead she rammed into Uo, causing them both to fall over. Uo got herself on her hands and knees, totally befuddled. "What the hell was that for!" she demanded. "You can't comfort Tohru right now; that's what her signals are saying." Hana said, but it wasn't in her same emotionless tone; it had feel to it; she was feeling what Tohru was feeling.
"Tohru… get up… there's somewhere you need to be." She began in an attempt to bring her spirits up. Tohru seemed only to get worse, crumpling back down into the position she was in before Uo and Hana saw her, crying. "I can't… I just can't!" she cried out. Hana refused to give up.
"You must… get up. Tohru… Get up!"
Uo, although surprised by Hana's outburst, got up again to try to help Tohru. "Stop it, Hana!" she said. "Tohru, I'm here." She proclaimed, kneeling down again to help her up, but Hana came over and knocked her down again. They were both up again momentarily, Uo showing anger in her eyes. "Damn you…" she said.
"Stand up!" she screamed at Tohru.
"Hana!" Uo yelled out, her focus totally put on getting through Hana right now to get to Tohru. She tried to break through Hana's grasp, but couldn't. "Let me go! Don't me make hurt you, Hana!" she exclaimed. Hana didn't seem to care what Uo said; she just continued talking to Tohru. "Now, Tohru! Hurry! There's something you have to do; you're the only one who can; you know I'm right!" she began to preach to Tohru, trying to piece together the forbidden information that her mind was being filled up with. "The hell does that mean! Hana!" Uo yelled, her resistance starting to fade as she saw what Hana was trying to do.
"This isn't something we can help you with. We can't; all we can do is tell you to go." Hana finished, her own sadness starting to show through. She wanted to help Tohru, just like Uo, but she couldn't; it was starting to hurt her. "So hurry up! Go! Go…" Tohru jumped up slightly at that last interjection, and slowly got on her feet and began to walk away from the scene. Uo was lost for words as she watched her go, letting go of Hana and standing in the rain. Hana collapsed onto her knees, crying almost uncontrollably; both from her own sorrow for not being able to help Tohru herself and from Tohru's own emotions that she was feeling.
"But why…" Hana asked no one in particular through her tears.
"WHY!"
End Flashback
'Why did I do that? Why was I feeling so much from her then?' Those were questions invading the mind of Saki Hanajima right now as she lay on her bed the same morning. 'Why did I go so far as to stand in the way of our own friendship for her to leave on whatever mission that was?' She began to cry again, her tears staining the pillow. 'What is this I'm feeling? Tohru is my best friend; I love her… but I still couldn't help her. Even though I knew I had no choice but to let her go… I still regret it. Such pain that I felt from her… what could have happened?' Hana began to think about the possibilities. 'Did something happen to one of the Sohma's?' Almost by instinct, she barely restrained herself from cringing at the thought of the Sohma's, mostly of the 'Prince' Yuki. 'Maybe one of their relatives passed away. It does seem as if they have quite a large family. But still, am I feeling jealous of them?'
She turned herself over to view a picture she had; a picture of the dynamic trio she was so familiar with. She reached over and took the picture from the nightstand, taking in the memory of that day. 'This was when we visited her during New Year's.' She placed her hand on the image of Tohru in the picture, tracing circles around the head with her index finger. 'If I didn't send those two back to the house then, who knows what might have happened…' She fell back on the bed, feeling a little better, although her expression said otherwise.
"Please be well… Tohru…"
Sohma Shigure Residence – 8:00 am
"Breakfast time; Breakfast time; all for me; Breakfast time…" Shigure sang his usual annoying rant at the morning breakfast table. He looked around the table to see Tohru in her comfortable place at the side of the table. Also in normality, Yuki and Kyo were late to the table, probably yapping it up somewhere upstairs.
"Good morning Shigure." Tohru said cheerfully. "Should we wait for the others to start?" Shigure smiled. "No, I don't think so, they're always late anyway." Tohru and Shigure both placed their hands in a praying position. "Itadakimasu!" they declared in unison, and the feast began. Shigure grabbed a plate and started loading it up. "You seem better this morning after such a debacle." He said tentatively.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Tohru asked in her innocent way. Shigure sighed happily; she always didn't get it that fast. "I mean after visiting Akito yesterday; Even though it seems he won't do anything, he still kind of sticks with you in the wrong places, doesn't he?" he tried again, attempting to put it together delicately for her to understand. Tohru's expression changed, but only slightly. "Oh… well, that is true, but like you said, it's pointless to worry about stuff like that now. You know, 'Que sera sera' and everything."
'Heh, she's starting to grow on me.' Shigure thought. 'Wait, isn't that the other way around? Oh, well…' Tohru's face then became a little more worried as her thoughts trailed elsewhere. "Well, I'm actually more worried about my friends right now, rather than Akito…" Tohru said almost sadly. Shigure looked confused. "Your friends? You mean Saki and Arisa? What about them?" Tohru's gaze wasn't presented at Shigure's face as she confessed her story.
"When I was chasing after Kyo, I stopped at the graveyard. Uo and Hana came in and saw me, crying at my mother's grave. Hana… she doesn't know how to read minds, she reads feelings. She gave me the courage to keep going, even though she somehow knew that she couldn't follow me, and now they must both be worried about me. What am I supposed to tell them?" Tohru finished, watching Shigure with a pleading look on her face.
Shigure, for once, didn't smile before giving his advice, which was a bad sign because he never seemed to stop smiling, much like Tohru. "Hmm…" he began. "Well, that is a bit of a problem." He paused a moment, trying to piece together something in his head. "Maybe you should just say that Akito came told you to get out, and went off the handle with you and Kyo. That would at least be part true," he offered. Then he struck a dramatic pose, his fist in the air triumphantly. "And then Yuki bravely steps in and demands that he reconsider!" he shouted out.
Tohru looked up and giggled at the slightly unrealistic example Shigure spoke of. "I don't know about that last part, but yeah, something like that would probably work." She said, her spirit seeming to come back up to peak perkiness. She got up from the table. "They really are late. I'll go get them." She declared, going out the door and walking slowly up the stairs, recollecting her thoughts.
'She never expressed emotion like that before… Hana never cried like that before in her life, at least not in front of me. What did I do make her react like that? I hope she's okay, I'd hate to have to keep her worrying about me.' She thought as she started to turn down the hallway that began at the top of the stairs. Suddenly, a thud could be heard against the wall of Shigure's library.
"Damn rat, just wait till this afternoon, and then you'll be sorry!"
'Just as I thought… they're at it again.' Tohru smiled as she opened the door to the library to see Yuki standing there with his fist in the air and Kyo kneeling on the ground with a visible bruise on his cheek. "Stupid cat… oh, Miss Honda, good morning. Is breakfast ready?" Yuki asked. "Yep, come on down, we've already started." Tohru responded in her usual voice. "All right, I'm coming…" Kyo muttered as he got up.
Tohru walked further down the hallway to her room, where Kagura was staying. (She was still there since the incident because she couldn't bear thinking that Tohru was taking Kyo away from her. It was a pretty emotional scene after all.) She knocked on the door and called out to her. "Kagura, are you ready to eat?" she inquired. "I'll be down in a minute, Tohru!" she said. Tohru walked down from where she came, preparing in her mind for the day ahead.
'I'll talk soon, Hana; please don't worry.'
'I'll call her; I'll see if this is a good time.'
Hana had given her dilemma some thought; quite a lot of it, in fact. It was almost noon when she decided to pick up the phone and see if she could stay with Tohru during the weekend; it was a Saturday right then. She approached the phone very hesitantly, seemingly frightened of the fact that she was about to pick it up. 'This is Tohru we're talking about; there's nothing to be afraid of.' She thought as she forced herself to pick it up and dial the number for Shigure's house. It rang twice, and then was picked up.
"Hello? This is Shigure Sohma, writing extraordinaire speaking!" was the response.
'Idiot.'
"Hello, this is Saki. Is Toh…" she was cut off by the ever-eager-to-please Shigure. "Ah, Saki, you don't call that often! How are you? We were actually talking about you a little while ago; I suppose you want to talk to Tohru?" He asked.
"Yes, please." She said in her usual monotone voice. "Okay then, hold on a moment." Shigure declared. The next thirty seconds felt like an eternity to Hana as she waited for Tohru's gentle voice to make itself heard on the phone. Finally, there was a response.
"Hana? Hi! I almost always call you; is anything wrong? I'm sorry if made you worry the other day, I mean there was nothing that serious happening, and I'm fine now, so…" This time Tohru was the one cut off, as she usually is.
'Just like her… going through something serious and putting it behind her so quickly. Then when she's explaining it, she almost strings it all into one breath. I guess she is feeling better.' Hana thought before speaking. "No, I'm alright. Although I'll admit I was worried about you for a little while, I'm OK now too. I was wondering if I you would be kind enough to let me stay over at your place tonight and tomorrow? My family has some… plans." Her voice tracked off along the last statement, leaving an eerie feeling on the line for a few seconds. Hana seemed to enjoy letting the imaginations of others piece things together.
"No, no, I wouldn't mind at all! You haven't been over in so long, it ought to be fun! Is Uo coming too?" Tohru sounded absolutely elated over the phone, and it brought a smile to Hana's face, that is until Uo was mentioned. Hana quickly came up with an excuse in order to leave Uo out of the equation. "No, no… she can't make it; she has to clean up her house a bit because she has… company of her own."
"Oh, all right. You can come over anytime today; we don't have any plans today. Are you sure you're all right? You sounded a bit tense for a second there." Tohru's voice remained gentle, but her worry began to sink in. Hana responded just as quickly as she normally would have this time around. "No, I'm fine. I'll see you around 2:00, OK?" she proposed. "OK, Bye!" Tohru cheered and hung up the phone. Hana placed down her receiver just as quickly.
'This is getting out of hand. I need to leave a note for Uo. Why did I insist on coming alone anyway? Am I afraid of telling Tohru how I feel, or how Uo would react to it? No, it's probably both, but there's no turning back now. Now, a believable excuse…'
Fast-forward to 4:00 the same day – Hanajima Residence Exterior
Uo is taking a walk down Hana's road with an acquaintance that she met at her job at the supermarket. Uo can't seem to stop smiling at him, and the boy isn't trying to stop it, but then again, why would he?
"Well Kureno, this is my friend Hana's place, I'd like to introduce you to her… huh?" Uo stopped talking as she noticed a note on the gate in front of Hana's house. Uo read the letter out loud. "Be back on Monday, gone… fishing?" Uo read, perplexed by the note. Kureno walked up to Uo's side and read over her shoulder. "So I guess she isn't here?" he asked with little enthusiasm.
"But…" she started. "…she hates fishing."
Rewind to 11:00 AM the same day – Sohma Shigure Residence
Tohru placed down the receiver and turned around to face her roommates, squealing with delight. Kagura was the first to respond. "So, one of your friends are coming over? Maybe I should leave, then…" Kyo didn't let the chance pass him by to support this action. "Please, do, leave." This immediately changed Kagura's mind, but… not quite in the way he wanted. "Kyo, you jerk!" she cried she began to charge back at him for an assault. Tohru put herself between the two, trying to tell Kagura that the secret would be safe. "No, please, I'd really like you to meet her! It's a girl, so you don't have to worry about the curse so much, and besides, I've had practice keeping it a secret from them for a while."
Kagura stopped her rampage for the time being and giggled as a response to the news. "Oh, goodie!" she exclaimed. However, Kyo wasn't being very smart about it. "You still should leave!" he shouted. Kagura's charge renewed as she barreled out the front door with him, which was (Thank God) open. This left only Yuki and Tohru in the room. "Well, this ought to be fun. Miss Hanajima and Kagura in the same room? Who knows what'll happen…" Yuki said. Both of the high-schoolers laughed to themselves, thinking about those possibilities. Yuki then decided to change the subject.
"Aside from that, Miss Honda, can I… talk with you for a minute? Alone?" he asked, pointing upstairs. Tohru's enthusiasm started to leave her as Yuki's seriousness began to show through; this too, was not a good sign. "Um, sure." Yuki led the way to his room upstairs, where he locked the door behind the two of them. Tohru sat on Yuki's bed, looking at Yuki from behind, waiting for him to speak. Yuki waited quite a while before he let words form from his mouth, and when he did, he was still very hesitant. First, he turned around to face her.
"I… I have a… a confession… to make."
