A/N: Well, here's chapter 5! I'm sorry to all of you who were going out of your minds with anticipation! ;; But, I did say I'd have it up by Friday, and I gotta keep my word, so here it is!

(oh, and sadly, the panda bear story will have to wait until the next chapter, since I don't have enough time to type it down.)


Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba.
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Chapter 5: Boxes, Boxes, Everywhere!
"Yo! Tohru! Are you ready to go yet?" Kyo yelled from downstairs. He'd been more than fair in his opinion; he'd given Tohru a full five minutes to get herself ready to go.

On the way home from school that day, Tohru surprised him by asking if he'd mind if she came with him to Shishou's house today.

"Huh? Whaddaya want to go there for, anyways?" he asked.

Tohru just gave him that goofy grin of hers and told him that she made Shishou something special and she wanted to give it to him. Kyo had to smile at that. She was always thinking of someone else and doing stuff for other people. That was what made her so endearing. So he said, "Sure, come on along." He then hastily amended, "But I'm only giving you two minutes when we get home to get whatever it is you want to give him. If you're not ready by then, I'm leaving with-out you."

"O.k.!" She told him happily.

And that was how Kyo found himself waiting impatiently for Tohru, so he could hurry up and get to Shishou's house. He knew he'd said he'd leave without her, but in the back of his mind he knew that he would wait, no matter how long she took. Kyo sighed and scratched his head. Since when had he become such a softie? Tohru must be having a bad….er, good?...influence on him.

"Tohruuuu!" he called again.

"Coming!" Tohru ran down the hallway and flew down the stairs, just narrowly missing falling straight into his arms.

"Geez be careful, will you?" Kyo scolded.

"Oh, I'm sorry…But Kyo-kun, I'm ready to leave now!" She pointed to the backpack on her shoulders.

Kyo was about to ask what she was doing carrying around all that junk but decided against it.

"Whatever. Let's go." He held out his hand to her.


Tohru looked at Kyo-kun's hand in wonder. He wanted…to hold her hand? She tentatively placed her own hand in his. His hand felt rough and calloused- evidence that he was no stranger to hard work. It some how made her feel more comfortable knowing that.

Perhaps he likes me even a little…, she thought to herself.

"What are you doing spacing out like that!" He asked her sharply, breaking her out of her trance. "C'mon, let's go already." He practically dragged her out the door.

Okay…maybe not…

But still, Tohru was oddly fascinated by their embracing hands. Since he did not let go of hers once they left, she thought it might be okay if she just continued to hold his. Hopefully, he wouldn't mind too much- and if he did, he would just humor her. She blushed. It wasn't all that often she held hands with a guy, and she had to say, the experience wasn't a bad one. His hand was nice and warm; it almost felt like he was sending tiny electric shocks from his fingers into her own palm, which had sent her heart racing along with her mind. While her thoughts were running wildly through her head, she finally noticed that since they'd left Shigure's house, neither one had said a word. Suddenly the air became oddly tense, and far too quiet for her peace of mind.

"Um," Tohru said, struggling to make conversation, "How...how much farther is it?"

Kyo looked down at her in wonder, almost as if he'd just noticed she was there. "Uh, not much longer I think. It's just over that hill." He pointed with his free hand.

"Oh." She said

They both lapsed back into silence, each absorbed in his or her own thoughts.

Kyo was simply content by being near her, and holding her hand had sent an electric thrill through him. Her hand just felt so right in his. He wanted to squeeze it tight and press it too his lips, but he was afraid he'd scare Tohru away. Kyo had decided that he valued their friendship too much to do anything that might threaten it, so he held off on his romantic urges for the time being.

When they arrived at the house, Tohru let go and he thought that he almost heard himself whimper in protest. But Tohru didn't seem to notice anything out of the norm, since she wrapped her knuckles on the door. When it registered as to what she was doing, he frowned.

"Uh, Tohru…what are you doing?"

"Why, I'm knocking, of course." She said matter-of-factly.

Kyo rolled his eyes. "You don't need to knock…We can just go in, you know." He reached for the handle and turned the knob, but the door wouldn't budge.

"What the...?" He tried again.

Still stuck.

"Maybe it's locked." Tohru pointed out.

Kyo shook his head. "It's not... the handle is moving- there just seems to be something in front of it on the other side." He backed up a few steps.

"Kyo-kun, what are you going to-…….?- KYO-!" She watched in horror as he gathered all his strength and rammed his shoulder into the frame causing a loud thump, and the sound of something crashing on the other side.

Kyo turned the handle again, and this time it gave way a little- enough for Tohru and him to slide through.

"C'mon." He motioned her to follow him.

But there was no way Kyo could have prepared himself for what he saw inside. It made him stop dead in his tracks. There were boxes. Boxes were everywhere, stacked up on top of one another so high, many towers of them looked like a brush of a feather would cause it to topple down. There were also piles of books and clothing scattered all about. And in the middle of it all, was Shishou, sitting on the floor, going through a box of photos.

"Shishou! What is all this crap?" Kyo yelled.

Kazuma looked up from a brown box he was rummaging through and politely greeted Tohru with a smile. "Oh, hello Tohru. It is good to see you again."

Tohru smiled back and bowed "It is good to see you too, Shishou. . . Ah! I almost forgot." She unzipped her book bag and pulled out a white container with a lid on it. "I made you something."

When Kazuma saw the container his smile widened a bit and uttered a silent prayer of thanks. "Ah,… Tohru-san, you are too kind. It has been a while since I've tasted your fine cooking." He sighed dramatically. "Lately, Kunimitsu has been using my kitchen to practice his cooking skills. He insists that he prepare all the meals, but I don't know how much more of his cooking I can take. I don't think I'll survive his next meal."

From another room they heard someone shout, "Hey!"

"Um," Tohru said apologetically, "This isn't much…just some cookies." She looked down at the container in her hands. "…But… if you want I could make you something else…?"

Kazuma clapped his hands together. "Cookies? Mmm, that sounds wonderful. Come into the kitchen and I'll get us some tea to go with them."

"Kay!" Tohru obediently followed him like a happy puppy into the other room.

Kyo was still standing in the middle of the room, wondering why all Shishou's junk was in here. Kyo blinked. Suddenly what Shishou just said penetrated through his mind. "W-Wait!" he called, struggling to get to the kitchen, but tripping over a pile of books, "Shishou! Don't make the tea- You'll burn the house down!...Are you evenlistening to me?...SHISHOU!"


The mood was tense- fairly crackling with trepidation and uneasiness. Everyone gathered around the table and waited for Kazuma to make his move. His face was gravely serious as he reached his hand out. Well, its now or never, he thought solemnly. I suppose I have lived a good life…

He picked one up.

Tohru gasped and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch the scene unfold. For a few moments there was nothing but silence.

Ohhh, I can't look! Tohru thought wildly.

C'mon- just open your eyes. You'll never know how it turns out unless you open them.

I….I…guess your right….ok, then….on the count of three….one…….two…..two and a half….two and a third….two and-

This is taking too long- THREE!

Tohru scrunched up her face, gathered the few shreds of resolve she had, and looked up.

"Mmmmm..thisshh ishh delishishhoussh Toooruuu!" Shishou told her, while blissfully munching on his cookie.

Whew! Tohru wiped off the beads of sweat that had perspired on her forehead and smiled at him. "It makes me so happy to hear you like them!" she said with genuine delight.

Kyo bit into a cookie. "Yeah, s'okay." he shrugged. He took another bite "Buu hey- shheeshoouu, wahhhs all thish stuff doin' scatterrrr'd around the houshhhe forrre?" he chewed and swallowed.

Shishou blinked at him in confusion. "Huh? What stu- Oh! You mean the boxes!"

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah… They're kinda hard to miss, what with blocking the doorway and all."

Shishou tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. They're blocking the door? Oh…I suppose that won't do, will it?"

Kyo shook his head in disbelief. Sometimes Shishou could be so clueless. "Yeah, but what's in them?" he pressed.

"The boxes? Ah, well, nothing of value really- mostly old books and the like. I was just doing a bit of spring cleaning before I went to the dojo…I guess I got a little carried away, eh?"

Kyo shook his head again, this time in exasperation. "There is no 'eh' about it! It looks like a hurricane blew through here! Honestly, I think you did more messing up then cleaning." He huffed then let out a long sigh. " Well,… I guess I'll move 'em if you gotta go to the dojo…."

Kazuma gave Kyo a grateful smile filled with parental love. "That would be such a big help Kyo. Thank you."

Suddenly Tohru stood up. "I will help too!"

Kazuma turned to her and bowed. "Thank you so much Tohru, I would greatly appreciate that; you are such a kind young lady."

"-Ehhh?" Kyo sputtered, "Don't make her do it! She's a guest here!"

Tohru stood her ground. "But Kyo-kun, I want to help! Please let me do it." She told him vehemently.

Kyo looked at her and all of his firmness quickly melted away. "Keh!" He crossed his arms. "Whatever."


"Hey, Kyo- where should I put this?" Tohru asked, holding up a stack of old magazines.

Kyo considered for a moment. "Uh, I guess over there with all of the other ones." He then snorted. "When he get's back, I'm going to make sure he gets rid of every one of them."

Kyo picked up a very heavy box and hoisted it up. He had no idea that Shishou owned so many books. He wondered where all these boxes had been before. There was no way that any of this could have been in the house and gone unnoticed. There was simply too much stuff not to notice it.

Meanwhile, Tohru went though a pile of photo albums. She flipped through each one and then placed it in the appropriate area on the shelf. Suddenly she came across a page of photographs featuring a little boy with bright orange hair.

"Oh! Kyo-kun," she squealed, "Come look!"

Kyo came and looked over her shoulder to peer at what she was holding. It was an old photo album of pictures from when he was younger. The picture she was looking at showed Shishou comforting a very terrified looking little boy next to a certain wall in the kitchen.

Kyo grew bright red. "I thought I told Shishou turn burn that!" he growled as he snatched the book away from her.

Tohru giggled. "Aw, but Kyo-kun, you were so cute."

"Keh!" he mumbled and crossed his arms.

"Hmmmm…I wonder what that is?" Tohru pointed to a very old looking chest on the other side of the room. It was very big and looked as though it had once been painted light blue, but most of the paint had flaked off. It had a very large padlock with a rusty lock on it.

Kyo shrugged. "I dunno. I've never seen it before…but then, I've never seen most of this junk either…" he grumbled.

Tohru walked over to it to get a better look. "Perhaps it's a treasure." She said, examining it.

Kyo laughed. "A treasure?"

"Yes! Like in those pirate stories- wouldn't that be cool?" she said excitedly.

Kyo came up and lightly hit her on the head. "Whatever you say, Tohru. Now…Quit slacking and get back to work."

"Yes!"


A/N: ohhhh...what could be in the trunk? ...I wonder...?...(okay- that was a lie. I don't really wonder since I already know, of course. But please forgive me for the sake of mesounding mysterious.)