Ah, the tenth chapter is here! I'm sorry if I took too long … I was just a little pre-occupied with school and everything. But I really like high school! It's just like middle school, kind of. Well, I'll let you all know it advanced that you're going to like this chapter! And thank you for reading and reviewing the previous one. Enjoy!
Title: Unexpected
Author: Swaying Cherry Blossoms
Chapter: A New Beginning
Summary: Tohru Honda's mother and Kyo Sohma's father have been friends for thirty years and their children have never met. But on one fateful day, the two teens meet and their lives are changed forever.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or any of the song lyrics I add at the beginning of each chapter.
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
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I somehow find
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You and I collide
- Collide by Howie Day
The warm spring air filled the house where Kazuma Sohma, Kyo Sohma, and Tohru Honda lived. Tohru was on the porch, hanging up laundry to dry, and left the door open so she could easily walk in and out to retrieve the damp clothes from the dryer. The laundry basket had broke one day, and Tohru never got around to getting a new one. So here she was, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in May, hanging up the clothes. Little did she know, she had a small audience. Kyo stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and a towel thrown over his shoulder. He smiled to himself as he watched Tohru struggle with hanging up a large sheet. He didn't know when these new feelings that he had for her started, but lately he couldn't help but think that every little thing she did was cute. "Tohru," he said. He had recently just begun addressing her by her name, and he found himself being more friendly and warm towards her. He couldn't help it. It was just her nature that made him want to open up and be himself around her.
Tohru jumped from shock and squeaked. She turned around quickly, her hair flowing in the spring breeze. She smiled when she saw Kyo standing in the doorway, and her shoulders broadened up a bit. "Oh, good morning Kyo-kun!"
"It's passed twelve," Kyo corrected. "I've been up since six, but I was outside for about four hours, then I took a bath. What the hell are you doing?" Tohru turned back to the sheet, then back to Kyo. "I'm just hanging up the laundry!" she said. "This sheet is really big though, and with the breeze it's a little hard to hang up. But I can do it! I've done it plenty of times before!" Kyo walked onto the patio and towards Tohru and as he became closer to her, his body grew hot. He grabbed one side of the sheet while Tohru had the other gripped in her small hand, and he lifted it up so that it reached the clothesline. Tohru did the same, and clipped it to the line with a clothespin. Kyo held out his hand and Tohru passed him the other clothespin she was holding, and Kyo repeated what she did by pinning the sheet to the line. "Thank you, Kyo-kun!" Tohru said happily. Kyo walked over to the edge of the patio and sat down, letting his legs hang over the edge. "Where's Shishou?" he asked. "I haven't seen him all morning … Is he sleeping?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you!" Tohru said. "He went out for a little bit! He said he and Kunimitsu-san had a few errands to run with their classes, so he won't be home until dinnertime."
"Why didn't he tell me, or even ask me to come?"
"He thought you were sleeping, and he told me to tell you when you woke up … I'm sorry Kyo-kun, I should have told you sooner." Kyo took the towel off of his shoulder and began wiping the perspiration off his face. Even though there was a breeze that afternoon, Kyo was hot from exercising all morning. "Don't apologize for everything," Kyo said. "Haven't I told you before that it's stupid?"
"Oh, yes, I forgot! I'm sorry Kyo-kun!" Tohru the clapped a hand over her mouth and began laughing. Kyo rolled his eyes and stood up, lightly bopping her in the head before he started for the door. "What's for lunch?" he inquired before he stepped inside. "Oh, um, I haven't though about that yet …" Tohru said. "Okay then," Kyo said. He walked inside the house and closed the door. Tohru stood there on the patio, holding one of her dresses in her hand, and stared at the door. Kyo then slid it open and stared at the floor. "Hey," he said. A light tint of red color was now spread across his face. "You … You wanna go somewhere? Like, out? For lunch or something?" he asked her. His voice was nervous and shaky, and fortunately for him, Tohru didn't realize he was asking her out on a date. "Oh, that'd be fun, Kyo-kun!" she said. "But, I don't have any money on me …"
"Who said you needed money? I'll pay for it … M-My treat."
"Oh, no! Kyo-kun, I couldn't! That would be too much for you! I'm sure you're probably saving your money for something else! I could just make lunch for us and—"
"Shit, you're stubborn," Kyo said. He couldn't help but stifle back a little laughter at Tohru's expression. "Just come on," Kyo continued. "It's no big deal. We'll go after you finish hanging everything up." He walked back inside without waiting for a response from Tohru, slid the door shut, and leaned against it. He inhaled sharply, relieved that he finally got that off his chest. He had wanted to ask Tohru to do something for about a month now, and he was glad he didn't let this opportunity slip away like he had others.
Tohru was ready in a half hour, and she and Kyo left the house after making sure everything was locked and nothing was left on that could possibly burn the house down. It felt different to Kyo, walking alone with Tohru. But this different, new feeling felt good. Yet, it was the silence that made him uneasy. Kyo and Tohru hadn't said a word to each other since they left the house, and Kyo could already sense that this—he didn't know what to call it—'date' wasn't going to turn out so well.
When they came to the main road, where all of the stores and restaurants were, Kyo finally found an excuse to speak. "So, um, where do you wanna go?" Tohru looked up at him, and it seemed that she was clearly lost in her own thoughts that whole walk. "Oh, anywhere is fine, Kyo-kun!" she replied. "I think that place over there looks nice!" Tohru pointed to a little diner on the corner of the street and Kyo shrugged. Obviously she was going to pick an inexpensive place. "Okay," he said, taking her hand as they started down the block. "Let's go," he said.
The diner ended up being worse than Kyo thought it would be. When he and Tohru both walked in, they bumped into a large man who appeared to be drunk. The diner was filled with smoke and the two teens began to cough. Kyo brought Tohru closer to him, blushing at how close they were right now, but he didn't want anyone to hear what he was saying. He whispered, "I don't think we should—"
"How many, kids?" a waitress said. Her voice was raspy and her hair was greasy, but Tohru didn't seem to mind. "Two please!" she said happily. Kyo stuffed his hands into his pockets as he and Tohru walked around the restaurant, following the waitress to their table. The table that she led them to was a booth, and the seats were torn. The table itself was cracked and stained and Kyo looked around to see if any of the other tables were better, but the one they were at seemed to be the neatest in the whole diner. Tohru slid into the booth, and smile painted onto her face, and Kyo slipped in across from her. The waitress handed them their menus and then took out a pad and pen. "Drinks?" she asked impatiently. Tohru and Kyo both ordered water, the only thing that would probably be decent around there, and then the waitress left after she jotted it down onto her pad. Kyo looked around nervously, avoiding Tohru's gaze. He was too embarrassed to even look at her.
"Kyo-kun, is something wrong?" Tohru asked. Kyo looked up from the table. Her face was filled with concern, and she didn't even seem to mind the smoke that was mingling around their table. Kyo leaned over the table, trying not to inhale too much of the smoke. "Tohru, this place is disgusting. Are you sure you want to eat here?"
"Sure, Kyo-kun! But I'm sorry you don't like it here … I didn't mean to pick out a bad place to eat. If you want to go somewhere else, I don't mind!"
"No, no. If you're happy, then I'm happy. I just don't want you to look back on this day in a bad way …"
"Don't worry Kyo-kun, I won't! I'm happy just because I'm with you! It doesn't matter where we go, just as long as we're together!"
Kyo fell back into his seat at Tohru's words. Did she actually realize that this was a … date? Whatever she thought, her words were comforting to him. He was able to enjoy the rest of their lunch in peace.
The food at the diner wasn't that great, but Kyo and Tohru had a good time despite that. They both talked about memories they shared, and managed to laugh a little bit. When it was time to pay, Tohru kept apologizing to Kyo. She said she would pay him back somehow, but Kyo said that was ridiculous. Kyo took Tohru's hand as they both got up, and he hurried them out of the smoky, dimly lit diner. They were both now walking on the sidewalk, hand in hand. At that very moment, Kyo felt like the luckiest guy in the world. "Do you wanna do anything else?" he asked Tohru. Tohru gave his hand a squeeze and looked up at him with shining eyes. "That'd be fun! What do you have in mind, Kyo-kun?" Kyo returned her smile, suddenly feeling his stomach do somersaults. If only she knew the effect she had on him. "Um …" Kyo looked around. Where else could he take Tohru? The only places they passed were shops, and he couldn't take her to any of them. They didn't seem like the types of shops that would interest her. He then spotted a park up ahead and thought that it would be the best place to take her now. He nudged her and pointed in the direction of the park. "Wanna go there?" Tohru smiled and nodded. "Yes, it looks like a nice place! I love parks!"
The two teens made their way into the park, which appeared to be empty. The park was very quaint looking with a fountain, perfect green terrain, benches, and trees, and everything was tidy. They both sat down on a bench and Kyo let go of her hand. There was a great deal of space between them, and Kyo wanted so much to sit close to her and close that gap, but he didn't want to make her think he was trying to take advantage of her. Next to him, Tohru sighed happily. "I've had a lot of fun today, Kyo-kun," she said with complete honesty. "Thank you for taking me out today! Nobody's ever done something like this for me before." Kyo shrugged. "No big deal."
How do I feel about you right now? Sitting here with you, no one else around … It's a different feeling. I feel different when I'm with you … But it's a good feeling. What should I do? I want to tell you so much how I feel, but I'm afraid you might not feel the same way. How could you? How could you feel that way about a person like me? You deserve someone so much better, someone who can offer you everything you want … I may not be able to give you everything you want, but I can offer you a lot. I …
"Tohru?"
"Kyo-kun?"
Both Tohru and Kyo had said each other's names at the same time. Slightly blushing, they both turned to each other. "Y-You can go first," Kyo said. Tohru shook her head. "No, no, you can go first, Kyo-kun!" Biting his lip and sighing, Kyo scooted over closer to Tohru on the bench. Their shoulders touched, and Kyo gently took her hand in his. It was going to be hard to tell her this, but he didn't want to end up like Kazuma. Oh, if Tohru was ever killed, or if she was suddenly taken away from him, he wouldn't be able to live it down. "Tohru," he whispered. With his free hand, he began to stroke her hair and then her face. "Tohru, you don't know how you've changed my life … My life's been so different ever since we met. But I'm happy … I've never felt this happy before around a person …" Their faces were inching closer together and Kyo felt himself inhaling sharply before it finally happened; their lips met.
The kiss was tender and sweet, filled with emotion and longing. Tohru's hands seemed to be glued to Kyo's shoulders, while his were caressing her face. Kyo's world seemed to be spinning right underneath the bench. Before they both pulled away slowly, thunder clapped in the sky and rain slowly began to fall from the clouds. Once Tohru and Kyo broke away they both looked up, above their heads, at the falling droplets. They both looked back at each other, smiling and blushing, and Kyo kissed Tohru again, only this time with more passion, as if he was speaking all of his feelings through the kiss. When they broke away once more, they leaned their foreheads together and the words that Kyo thought he would never say to anyone rolled off his tongue like melting ice cream.
"I love you, Tohru."
I'm not so great with kissing scenes! I hope I wrote it okay! Did you all like it? I hope so, because I know I would have liked it if I was a reader instead of the author -giggle- I don't really know why I made the diner like that. I thought I'd make this date a little different from the ones in other fan fiction stories. Well, once again, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all soon!
xoxo Swaying Cherry Blossoms
