--Snail's Pace--

Thus by chance should I stumble upon a way to find you

Chapter Two

'Tohru Honda?' the instructor looked up into the barristers and the dreamer was knocked from her thoughts. Stupidly and almost fumbling, she made her way down the stairs and onto the floor. Her heart was racing but it wasn't from the audition and she fingered a loose thread that was tearing on her new skirt. She muttered a curse, but kept her poise. If it hadn't been for the strange man standing near the door way, she would have begun her monologue, but his eyes were fixed upon her and she paused for a moment, staring back at him and wondering why on earth he was hanging around.

The instructor caught Tohru's gaze and followed through, turning in her seat towards the back doors.

'Can I help you?' she asked politely, 'we're in the middle of auditions right now.'

'Oh!' the boy jumped to a stand from leaning on the door and took a few steps forward. 'Yea… I, uh… I'm just after Tohru Honda. I need to speak with her immediately, it's very important.'

The instructor turned around, 'Tohru?' she asked, as though seeking her opinion. The young actor simply shook her head. 'It will have to wait!' the instructor said back to him.

'You don't understand. I need to leave here… well, at this very moment I should be gone. This will only take a few minutes.' He looked a little pissed off and Tohru was a little apprehensive to go and talk with him. How did he know her name anyway? It seemed rather curious, and a part of her made her feet take a small step forward but she took two casual steps back to make up for it.

'Look,' said the man, 'I need to talk with her now.'

'I'm in the middle of an audition!' Tohru said loudly.

The boy ran a hand across his head tensely and gave her an irate look. Then he paused, seeming to remember something and claming himself, he tilted his head to look at her. 'You met him in Los Angeles… but you never got to see him at the convention. He wants to know why.'

Tohru felt her mouth drop. She hadn't told anyone about her encounter with Yuki Sohma and now suddenly this man came to her, somehow understanding her mysterious and very private event. She shook her head, wondering how on earth someone like him could know. Excitement rose in her chest and she almost leapt from her position in the spotlight. Indeed, she could feel its heat upon her, as well as the eyes of every other student in the studio.

'All right, I'll come and talk with you.'

'So it's like this,' said the boy as they walked along the pathway towards the main street, 'there's the Premiere for the new series of Fruits Basket taking place in New York, Los Angeles has already been, and I've spent the last week busting my frigging ass trying to find you so that I can take you to the premiere since your presence is requested.'

Tohru stopped short in her tracks, 'What?'

'He wants you to be his date at the premiere! Do I need to spell it out for you!' he looked at her frustrated, 'oh, look you can trust me. I'm Yuki's cousin, my name is Kyou. I have a bad temper and I suck at cooking. Now that you know about me, let's go. We need to be at the airport in an hour.'

Tohru still didn't move, and pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. It felt real, but the environment was surreal. Kyou was surreal – and it slightly scared her, 'What on Earth…'

'You don't need to say anything. We can buy you some clothes in Sydney because we'll be flying there first and then on to New York. Yuki also told me to buy you a dress so I guess we'll have to do that somewhere along the way. Don't get me wrong, I've been looking for you all week. Not like it's hard with a name like yours, but still, making sure you're the right person is a very difficult thing. In fact, I saw you yesterday and if I had any balls I would have asked you then but considering I was unsure I had to wait. Do you get my drift or not?'

'Yuki Sohma had me stalked?' Tohru thought that highly unlikely.

'He said you'd say something like that. And yes – he did. No – he's never done it before and he felt stupid asking me to. I'm his cousin though, I felt obliged to say yes; plus, he said he'd arrange a wedding for me and Kagura if I didn't. I'll be damned if I don't bring you back to him,' Kyou pointed at Tohru now, 'you made an impression on him. That isn't an often statement coming from him.'

Tohru thought long and hard about everything Kyou had said. He did appear to be a little rough, and he wasn't patient either. Yet, there was something about him that appeared genuine unless it was simply the fact that Tohru wanted to believe what he was saying. What if he's a bad person? That thought hadn't even crossed her mind fully. If he was, he would have tried to act a little nicer. It appeared that he didn't really want to be talking to her though, in fact, he seemed a little too optimistic about getting to New York.

'Look, this girl Kagura, if she finds out I came all the way to Australia to pick up some girl, she'll be seething with fire. Can you please make up your mind so I can get out of here? The quicker, the better. To your benefit though, and Yuki's, I suggest you come with me.'

Tohru had a quick decision to make. They were now standing on the edge of the curb leading across the road to the car park and bus stop. She could go back to the auditions; where she would be scolded, or follow Kyou and see where it lead her; hoping against hope that it lead her to Yuki Sohma. She fingered the loose thread once more and bit her upper lip. For the first time in her life she felt terrified beyond all reason and excited at the same time.

Gingerly, she stepped down from the curb and followed Kyou across the road. He smiled, as though proud that he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do.