Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
- Sarah Mclaughlan -
"Angel"
-/-
Without You
By Ricchan
-/-
- Chapter 2 -
The woman standing in front of him, her eyes looking into his, was Tohru, without a doubt.
Yuki's heart fluttered like crazy inside his chest, but the words she spoke just moments later made his stomach drop like a lead weight.
"Huh? How do you know my name?" she asked.
Yuki was silent for a moment, maybe a bit horrified.
"Don't...don't you
remember?" he said. Tohru knit her eyebrows and thought.
"Oh,
wait!" she said, realising something. "Yuki! Sohma Yuki,
right? We went to high school together, now I remember!"
"Er...yes..." Yuki replied, absolutely perplexed.
"Wow, it's been a while, huh?" Tohru asked him, as if she had completely forgotten how close they used to be. Forgotten...
Yuki's eyes widened when he came to that startling suggestion.
"Sohma-san, are you
okay?" Tohru asked him.
"Y-yes...I'm okay," he
said, reclaiming his composure. "Goodness, don't quite know
what came over me. Well, Honda-san, is that really you?"
She
nodded.
"How long has it been, six years?" she said. "I
haven't seen you in ages."
Yuki nodded. "Indeed. Are you busy this afternoon?"
"No, I just have to
meet with someone this afternoon, a friend of mine," she
replied. "Why?"
"Well...would you like to have
lunch with me?" Yuki proposed. "I'm not up to anything
this afternoon, and I'm already finished with work. Perhaps we could
catch up with each other."
Tohru laughed.
"Goodness,
Sohma-san, I've never known you to be so friendly to me, but then
again, I don't suppose we knew each other very well, didn't we?"
Tohru said, and Yuki's stomach sank once again. "I guess I'd
like that."
Yuki smiled at her, but it
was just a mask for his disbelief; seeing Tohru again was one thing,
but what was wrong with her? The possibility of her memory being
altered was prevalent in his mind, but something inside him
desperately didn't want to believe it.
"Great," he said.
"I know a nice coffeehouse just down the street, would you like
that?"
Tohru smiled; that, at
least, hadn't changed.
"I'd love that."
After Yuki put his milk
back (if he was going out to lunch, he didn't want to spoil it) and
Tohru paid for her package of cookies, they headed down the street,
Tohru slinging her big bag behind her. Yuki noticed she had a slight
limp as she went along; at first, he thought it was the bag, but it
looked too light to be that large a burden.
"Honda-san, is
there something the matter with your leg?" he asked her as they
neared the cafe.
"Oh! No, it's my back, actually," she said. "I fell down the stairs when I was 18."
"...really, now?" Yuki said thoughtfully, his mind drifting to the day that Akito had practically snapped. "I think that I remember you being out of school for a while, so that's what happened to you?"
"Yes, it wasn't so bad when I was recovering, but it seems to have gotten a bit worse as of late," she explained. "Is this the place?"
"Yes," Yuki
replied. "If you don't mind, I'll pay the bill today."
Tohru
blushed as Yuki put their name in, and they were seated. Tohru took
off her bag and set it neatly next to her chair, balancing the box of
cookies on top of it.
"You're awfully generous, Sohma-san,"
she smiled.
Yuki laughed a little,
folding his hands neatly on the table.
"It's because I
haven't seen you in so long, Honda-san," he smiled. "So,
what have you been up to? Where have you been?"
"Kyoto, actually," Tohru replied, her hair slipping onto her shoulder. "I'm a housekeeper! Or a maid, they're just about the same."
"Really!" Yuki
exclaimed. "Freelance?"
"Yes, I'd just place an ad
in the newspaper, get an answer, and then go out and clean their
houses," she replied. "Of course, I had an apartment
too."
"I see," Yuki said. "What brings you
here, though? When did you arrive?"
"Just this morning,
actually. A friend of mine's getting married at the end of the
month," she smiled. "I'll be staying at her house for a
while. And if I find a job here, then I guess I may stay longer."
"I
see, I see," said Yuki, and the waitress came by the table
asking what they'd like to order. As Tohru ordered, he watched her,
the strange pain in his heart constantly reminding him that she had
forgotten him, but he still wasn't sure.
"What'll you have,
sir?" the waitress asked.
"Oh! Um...chai tea,
please," he said.
"Sure thing," the waitress
replied, marking it on her pad and walking away.
"Ahem, well!" Yuki said, adjusting his shoulders. "I'm rather curious, Honda-san, what's that scar on your cheek from?"
"Oh!" Tohru
exclaimed, blushing and covering the barely visible marks with her
hand. "I thought that these weren't noticable..."
"Oh
no, not at all!" he replied. "I just have an eye for these
sorts of things, you know."
"Ah, I see," she said,
laughing a little. "My grandfather's cat scratched me,
actually."
"A cat?" Yuki said, observing her
eyes.
"Yes." she replied, without a note of
untruthfulness in her voice; in her mind, she had never even heard of
anyone named Akito Sohma.
"I see..." said Yuki. "Oh,
that's right! Your mother died, May of our 1st year, right? And you
had to live with your grandfather."
"Yes! Gosh, I'm
suprised you even remember that!" Tohru said, laughing a little.
"That's right, I had to live with my grandfather, and I moved
out once school was over."
"Are you sure?" Yuki
asked. Tohru looked at him confusedly.
"What do you mean,
'are you sure'?" she said.
"It's just, umm...well,
that-" he began, but was thankfully interrupted by the waitress
coming by with their orders.
"Here you go...White
Hot Chocolate?" she said, picking up one of the cups on her
tray.
"Oh! That's me," Tohru said, taking it. "Thank
you!"
"Mhmm. And chai tea?" she said.
"Me," Yuki said,
and received it. "Thank you."
"Sure thing!"
said the waitress, and went off.
"So, umm...what were we talking about?" Tohu asked, and laughed.
"I suppose we could talk about what sort of things we've been up to lately, current events, just general chitchat," Yuki said.
"No, no, I
mean...what were we talking about?" Tohru
asked.
"Umm...your grandfather? I think?" said Yuki,
feigning confusion.
"Oh, nevermind,"
Tohru laughed, and took a sip of her drink. "Mm...that's
delicious. Well, enough about me, Sohma-san...what have you been
doing since high school?"
"Oh, me?" said Yuki,
dipping his spoon into his tea and thoughtfully stirring it around.
"I went to college, studied biology, mostly in botany."
"Oh
wow, you went to college? That's so awesome!" Tohru said,
smiling. "But...what in the world is botany?"
"The
study of plants," Yuki laughed. "I run a flower shop."
"Wow! That's...that's so amazing, Sohma-san! You're a florist?" Tohru said.
Yuki began to laugh,
holding his hand near his mouth.
"What's going on?" she
asked, confused at him being so amused.
"I'm sorry, you're
just so funny, Honda-san," he chuckled. "Being a florist
is nothing to be proud of, I think."
"No, I really do
admire that!" Tohru said. "Flowers are just so wonderful,
and they all smell so nice! You must love your job!"
"I
guess I do, gardening is a passion of mine," Yuki said, smiling
and taking a sip of his coffee. "You're really such an
enthusiastic person, Honda-san, even now."
Tohru laughed. "'Even now'? You sound like you're some old aquaintance of mine."
"I suppose so..." Yuki said thoughtfully, his fingers poised at the edge of the cup. "I suppose so..."
Tohru laughed and took a
long sip from her hot chocolate.
"I guess you're as
mysterious as ever," she said, smiling. "That's all I
really remember about you, Sohma-san; you asking me to coffee was,
well, rather unexpected. You never talked to me, really."
"...people can change, often for the good, don't you think?" Yuki said, looking at his faint reflection on the surface of his tea.
"Yes, they do! I've known that just about my entire life!" Tohru said cheerily, and finished her hot chocolate. "Though, what does that have to do with anything, Sohma-san?"
"Nothing at all, it just seemed like a good thing to say," Yuki said, and laughed.
"You're truly
something else, Sohma-san," Tohru said. "I'm still rather
curious as to why you wished to have a coffee with me."
"I
told you before; I think...we deserved to catch up with each other.
I guess...being as I was in high school...was hampering for the both
of us," Yuki said, smiling at her. "I really would like to
get to know you better, Honda-san, if you wouldn't mind."
Tohru
blushed and laughed.
"I don't mind at all, Sohma-san,"
she laughed.
"So, um...do you remember my cousins?" Yuki
asked, striking up a conversation. "A few of them went to
school with us."
"Cousins...wasn't Kyo-kun one of them?" Tohru said, and began to laugh again.. "Oh goodness, I remember him! Orange hair, and he was very outspoken, right?"
"Yes, that's him," Yuki smiled. "Kyo, and there were two others. Do you remember Hatsuharu and Momiji?"
"Momi...the blonde boy? Who wore the girl's uniform?" Tohru said. "Yes, I remember him, too! Hatsuharu...the name's not ringing any bells, though. What did he look like?"
"His hair was white,
but black roots. He wore a lot of jewelry and things, I don't think
he would be hard to miss," said Yuki.
"Ah, him!"
Tohru said, clapping her hands together. "Haru-san! Yes, I
remember him, now! He and Momiji-san were a year younger than us,
right?"
"That's correct," said Yuki. "What
exactly do you remember about them?"
Tohru began
laughing.
"What's so funny, now?" Yuki asked.
"You're
asking so many questions! Sohma-san, I don't remember very much, to
tell the truth," she said. "Kyo-kun...I remember him
because we were in the school play together, and the people in class
seemed to get along with him. He didn't talk to me, though. I
really don't remember him. As for Hatsuharu-san and Momiji-san...I
can't say I knew them at all, really. I think I saw them in the
halls, occasionally, but not else."
"...so that's how it is," said Yuki thoughtfully.
"Huh?" said
Tohru.
"Nothing, nothing..." Yuki replied. "Sorry,
I guess my memory's not as good as I thought it was."
Tohru cocked her head to
the side.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You're...confusing me."
"It's nothing. Really," Yuki said, a faux smile on his face, trying to distract her a little. "It's nothing for you to worry about."
Tohru looked at him with a bemused half-smile on her face, then laughed and glanced at her watch.
"Oh, I think I have to go now," she said, reaching for her bag. "I really enjoyed our time together, I did!"
Yuki nodded weakly, his
heart sinking a little.
"Yes, I did too."
He expected her just to say "Goodbye" and be gone again from him once more, but...
"I'd really like to
go to lunch with you, if it's not much trouble," she said,
smiling at him. "Should I give you my cell phone number, so you
can get a hold of me? I'm not so sure if you could contact me where
I'm staying..."
Yuki's heart soared, and he gave her a
genuine, sunny smile. Was there hope?
"I'd love that, Honda-san," he said. "Do you need a pen?"
"Yes, actually,"
she replied, taking her napkin from under her saucer. Yuki took a
small pen out of his pocket and slid it across the table to her. She
wrote some numbers on the napkin and slid it to him, the pen resting
on top of it. Yuki unfolded the napkin and tore off half of it, then
began to write on it.
"What are you doing?" Tohru asked,
curious.
"Giving you my number, of course," he replied
gently, giving it to her. "That way, you can contact me as
well."
"Oh! That's a good
idea!" Tohru said, and accepted the torn napkin with Yuki's
phone number, folding it gently and placing it in her skirt pocket.
"I'll see you later, then?"
Yuki nodded.
"Of
course, but next time...just call me Yuki. Sohma-san sounds much too
formal," he said, a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Just Yuki?" Tohru said. "You're so bold!"
She laughed.
"All
right, Yuki, until then."
Tohru smiled, picked up her bag, and left with a cheerful wave. Yuki passively watched her leave, paid for their drinks, and walked out of the cafe.
Calmly, he strolled down the road, until he came to the avenue that led to the Sohma Main House.
Then, he ran.
He wrenched open the main
gate, then ran like a mad dog to Hatori's office and slammed open the
sliding door.
"HATORI!" he shouted angrily.
Hatori
was working at his desk, writing on a sheet of paper. He did not
look up, but spoke nonetheless.
"Yuki, what is this shouting
about?" he said calmly, placing the paper in a tray and capping
his pen. "Something wrong?"
Yuki was silent for a
moment, catching his breath as he braced his arms against the
doorway.
"Hatori..." he panted. "Did you...did you
erase Honda-san's memories!"
Hatori was silent, and did not look up.
