Chapter 5 – The Third Secret
Sohma Shigure Residence – Tohru's Room: 9:30 PM
Hana sighed as she slipped on her sleeping robe. It was an unusually bright color for her, a sort of blue instead of her normal black, but she seemed to like it. She was preparing her speech in her head, readying herself for a long discussion. A knock was then heard on the door to the dressing room.
"Hana! You're taking a while; are you all right?"
The door opened, startling Tohru a little bit. "I'm fine, Tohru, just a little tired is all." Tohru sighed in relief, getting into bed. "Well, that's good; I'm glad you weren't, like, nervous or anything." Hana followed her under the covers, listening to Tohru chuckle at her last remark and turning out the light. Silence took over the room for an infinite few seconds, until Hana decided to speak.
"Tohru… can I tell you something?"
"Huh!" Tohru uttered a little louder than she wanted it to be. "Oh, sorry Hana, it just kind of felt like déjà vu for a second, because…" she trailed off, in deep thought. 'Tell her! It's OK, it's just Hana, she can keep a secret like this, it's nothing compared to the curse…' she thought to herself. "…because the same thing happened with me and Yuki today." She blurted out. "Did it… I thought so… you seemed to be somewhat closer than you have been." Hana deduced. Tohru nodded. "Uh-huh. He said… he said that he likes me."
'He… likes her… just as Arisa once said… one day they'd say that they liked her… and I'm happy but…'
"I was just so surprised, and yet so happy at the same time. I never thought he'd say that to me, just coming out and saying 'I like you,' like that." Tohru explained. "You did, though." Hana said, sort of out of the blue.
"Huh? Hana, what do you mean?" The brunette inquired. Hana placed her hand into Tohru's, her eyes almost glistening, a rarity in Hana's case. "Back in Middle School… when we first met… you told me that… you loved me," she reminded her, unusually calm. Tohru's eyes widened, and she started to blush. "Oh, that, well…" she said hastily. "I said that because you were about to leave us even though we were getting so close as friends, and, um… I didn't really think it was quite that big a deal."
"It was to me, Tohru… You see, back when I was a child, I used to think that because of my powers, people existed to punish me, that I deserved what I got… but Megumi didn't think so. He changed what I thought… through a prayer." Hana explained. Tohru calmed down, gasping only slightly, as if Hana was reading a story to her, not about Hana's own life, but someone else's. "He said… that he wouldn't bring himself to believe that… there was no one in this world… that wouldn't love me. That was his dearest wish."
"Hana… what do you mean by this?" Tohru asked again, her curiosity still unsatisfied. "When you said that to me, I was freed. I knew that you were someone I could always count on. I never even really cared that you were a girl, but Tohru…" Hana hesitated, tears beginning to glaze her eyes.
"I love you. I love you, Tohru," she declared, tightening her grip on Tohru's hand, and putting her other arm around her. "Hana… I… I don't… I don't know what to… to say, I…" Tohru said tears also appearing in her eyes, but suddenly she was interrupted by a loud thud outside the door to her room.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" a voice yelled, both of the girls recognizing as Kyo's.
"Ahh! Kyo, why are you up? And why, oh why did you hit me?" another voice said, clearly Shigure's. "I was going to the bathroom, but why were you LEANING AGAINST TOHRU'S DOOR!" Kyo screamed accusingly, startling the two girls inside the room, but they remained silent so as to not alarm the boys outside.
"Oh, that, well… I thought I heard yelling, but I didn't want to barge in, so I…" Shigure was interrupted again by another hard bash on the head from Kyo. "You sick bastard! You were spying in on them weren't you! I aught to kill you!" He yelled threateningly, Shigure now running away in a frantic pace. "Whaaaa!" He screamed, enabling himself a clean escape route. "Goddamn pervert…" Kyo muttered before he went off in what sounded like the opposite direction, his mission successful.
The room fell silent for some time, both of them still shocked from the recent event. Hana finally decided to break the silence. "Don't worry, I'll ask him what he heard tomorrow, and if he does anything… I will punish him." She proposed, her moment with Tohru somewhat ruined. Hana's threat brought Tohru back to reality once again. "Oh, all right then…" Tohru's courage to speak was not replenished, as she now realized that she was part of a love triangle, but not exactly one that she would picture.
"Hana… It's just that… I don't know how to respond, at all… first Yuki, and now you… I didn't think you'd be…" she paused, searching for the right way to phrase the next part of her explanation. "…like this toward me." She took herself aback, realizing that even that suggested an insult of sorts. "I mean, not that it's not possible or anything, it's just that you don't seem like that on the outside and very few people know what can go on in someone's mind, so… although I may start to have feelings for someone, I don't want to hurt you… Hana…" Hana put a finger to Tohru's lips, silencing her.
"Ssh… It's all right… I'm just glad that you still accept me. Thank you…" Hana assured her with a soft kiss on the cheek. At that instant, Tohru's mind froze. Her mind was just beginning to register that Hana had kissed her, and the feeling that came from it was strange. She had never imagined that she would be sharing a moment with Hana like this, but it seemed like a good feeling, one she never wanted to forget. She blushed as she saw Hana close her eyes into a peaceful sleep, her fingers still laced with her own.
'Well Hana… I guess now we have two secrets to keep.' She thought as she followed her friend into slumber.
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Fast-forward to next morning: Breakfast Table
The table was full, but relatively silent and tense enough to be cut with a knife. Hana and Kyo kept their eyes fixed on Shigure as they ate, which worried Tohru, subsequently the same with Yuki. After they finished their meals in silence, Shigure got up to put his bowl in the sink and then almost ran out of the room. Yuki then hit the table sharply, stopping Shigure like a deer in the headlights.
"Okay… what's going on? It's too quiet in here…" Yuki inquired. Hana then proceeded to get up from the table herself. "I believe I sensed his waves last night… he seemed weak. I think he is becoming ill…" Yuki calmed down at that statement. "Oh, is that all… never mind, sorry Shigu…re?" He hesitated to see the door close, with no trace of Hana or Shigure left in the room. After a few moments of silence, Kyo chuckled. Yuki, as always, wasn't amused.
"What are you laughing about?" he asked threateningly. Kyo looked at his rival with a smug grin. "That's not what was wrong. That damn mutt was spying on the girls last night outside their door, she's probably just seeing what kind of dirt he got out of them." Yuki then sprang up. 'What kind of dirt they… what if Tohru… oh, it's all right, it's just her friend, what am I worried about.' He thought to himself, picking up his dishes. Kyo's curiosity was not satisfied. "What was that about, ya damn rat? You tell something to Tohru or what?" he asked rudely. "Shut up, that's nonsense, you stupid cat." Yuki said, as calm as ever.
"What was that, girly boy!" Kyo yelled. Tohru then decided to leave the boys to their fighting, following the path that Shigure and Hana took out of the room.
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Meanwhile, in the hallway
"Shigure…" Hana's soft voice rang like a fire alarm in Shigure's head as he slowly turned around to face his houseguest. "Um… yes?" he managed to ask nervously. "Can we talk… alone?" she inquired, pointing towards his office. "Oh, all right… then…" Shigure led Hana slowly to his office, where they both sat down. Shigure managed to regain some of his courage, placing a smile back on his face. "Well, what is it then?"
"I heard you and Kyo outside last night… and I must ask you… what did you hear?" Hana didn't beat around the bush of the subject at all. Shigure sighed, readying himself. "Now, listen… all I heard was that Yuki told Tohru he likes her, and then you said that you do too, and I'll say this… it was a little surprising, but I won't insult you, in fact quite the opposite. You've got a lot of courage, letting something like that off your chest after such an ordeal. It's not very easy." Hana stayed silent, a sort of signal, allowing him to continue.
"What I mean is that I won't stop you from doing what you wish with Tohru, it's really out of my hands… but I give you my word… your secret is safe." He said, and as if on cue, the phone rang. "Oh, excuse me a minute…. Ah, Hatori! To what do we owe this honor? … Hm? Bring everyone to the main house for a cherry blossom party? We'd love to! But what's this Hatori? Surely you don't have anything else in store for your secret crush?" Hana heard the line on the other end slam down.
'What is going on… this doesn't seem right…'
