Tohru's Demons

Chapter Twenty-Five: Bell Bell!


Kyo and Yuki instinctively started forward as Artemis bore down on Tohru, gasping in alarm, quite sure she was about to be knocked into the dirt face first, as Artemis was fond of doing to them. Tohru, on the other hand, had no such plans. She jumped straight up into the air, and flipped over Artemis like a professional acrobat, her hands touched down on the railing, and her left foot shot back like a piston.

Artemis twisted away and jumped back. A smirk touched his mouth. He held out his hand palm down and dangled a small, silver bell that tinkled merrily at Tohru on the end of its string.

"Bell Bell." Artemis said. Tohru looked down at her bell-devoid foot and grimaced.

"But... I didn't even see him take it!" cried Momiji in astounded awe.

"Oh yes, Ren, I forgot to tell you..." said Grumman. "If you lose all your bells, or if you touch the ground once, you're not getting any lunch."

"What?!" Tohru demanded in outrage. "That's not fair! I'm not that good!"

"All you have to do is steal one little bell. It can't be that hard," said Grumman mercilessly.

"Right," muttered Tohru. "All I have to do is win."

"Five shakus says you won't do it," Artemis said nonchalantly.

"Three machas says I will," replied Tohru.

"Come get me then."

Tohru sprung forward and answered with a flurry of swift, abrupt punches, which Artemis dodged effortlessly and retaliated with a scissor kick that breezed by Tohru's ear as she dodged.

"Right straight!" Tohru yelled, and snapped out her fist, almost cracking Artemis's jaw. A proud grin tugged at the corners of Kyo's lips; he 'd taught her that. Artemis stepped backwards a pace and swept his leg out, breezing right beneath Tohru's toes as she jumped.

As Kyo watched her, though, she began to remind him strongly of a cat. She had a certain grace to her that was exclusive only to felines. He was also noticing she was using some of the same moves Yuki used on him, and what he had used on Haru, and identified several martial arts techniques other than Karate, including Kung-fu and Jujitsu, and about a third of it she was making up.

A grin was curled about Tohru's mouth and she played Bell Bell, a game, a battle, a choreographed dance. Ducking and weaving, spinning and jumping, kicking and punching, and no sound except for the scuff of feet, and the chime, chime, jingle of the bells.

"What's going on?" asked a soft voice to Kyo's immediate right. Kyo jumped about a foot in the air, and whirled to find Shigure, Hatori, Ayame, Ritsu, Hiro, Kisa, Isuzu, Kagura, and Hatsuharu staring back at him.

"WHEN DID YOU ALL GET HERE?!" Kyo shouted. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Shouldn't you have sensed their presence...? Yuki thought with a small shake of his head.

"It's really not that hard to do, actually..." Shigure muttered.

"What was that?" Kyo snarled.

"Nothing, nothing!" Shigure replied cheerfully, waving his hand. "What's happening?"

"Tohru-kun's fighting Artemis for her lunch!" Momiji replied.

"Oh, I didn't know she knew martial arts," Kagura said. "Wow, look at her go, she's really good! Who's winning?"

"Artemis..." Yuki and Kyo replied grudgingly.

"Since when did Tohru-kun know how to fight?" Hatsuharu asked.

"What, didn't she tell you?" asked Valery, and the Sohmas turned their attention on her. "Ren was one of the most elite demon hunters in Hirofuriae, before she joined up with Artemis. Well, actually she was more like a bounty hunter, but all the bounties were on demons, so..."

"She was a bounty hunter?!" Kyo cried.

"That's so awesome!" Kagura and Momiji cried in starry-eyed admiration.

"Well, that's a bit... unanticipated." Hatori said.

"But... how did she go from being a demon hunter, to working with Artemis?" Shigure asked, his eyes on the dueling pair on the fence.

"To tell you that, I'd have to start from the beginning, when Ren was released..." replied Valery, her eyes also following the movements of Tohru and Artemis.

Faster and faster they were going, twirling, skipping, leaping, their hands and feet blurs of movement. She was good, an equal to Kyo, and in many aspects, an equal to Yuki as well. She had Kyo's stamina and determined will to win, but also Yuki's controlled strength and deft quickness.

Unfortunately, she was no match for Artemis.

"Bell Bell." He said calmly, landing in a crouch with his back to Tohru, and a tiny bell bounced in the dust. Tohru paused, her back to Artemis, and looked down at her silent wrist. She clenched her fist and turned to give him a grin that said, "I'm so going to get you."

Half a minute later, however, Artemis had the third and fourth bells in his hands. Tohru was panting hard and shaking perspiration out of her eyes, but Artemis seemed unfazed.

"... You have to understand in order for someone to be released they have to want it. That's essential." Valery was saying. "If they fight, then things go wrong. Now, for some reason, we don't know why, but Ren didn't want to be released. She resisted, and somehow she summoned Artemis."

"But how?" Yuki asked.

"Because Artemis had been dead for over three hundred years."

"WHAT?!?!"

"Let me explain," Valery chuckled. "Demon souls aren't like ours. When they're focused, completely severed from their Companions, their consciences are pretty much split in half, so in a sense, their souls cannot move on. They don't really die, they're just... obliterated... so you can summon one back from death if their Angel is still alive. But, when you summon a demon such as Artemis..."

"Yaaaa!" Tohru's cry interrupted Valery and they all looked to see her staggering backwards, just barely managing to regain her balance.

"That was a cheap shot Artemis!" she yelled angrily.

"Not all's fair and honorable on the battle field. You have to take cheap shots in order to survive."

"Like this!"

"Hey! You know, there's a difference between cheap shots and fighting dirty."

"Go Ren, you can do it!!!" Millie yelled, punching a fist in the air.

"Come on, Tohru-kun, you can beat him!" Momiji yelled encouragingly. Hearted, Tohru flung herself forward in a swift uppercut, feinted to the left, spun and kicked. Artemis grabbed her ankle and, to the Sohmas' distress, threw her about ten feet in the air.

Tohru felt almost like she was floating. All she could see was the sky, and then the horizon tilted into her vision and she began to fall. Automatically, without any thought to it at all, she twisted. Kyo's mouth dropped open as he watched her flip over, turning her right shoulder down and following quickly with the rest of her body, to land neatly on her feet on the fence.

Definitely like a cat... he thought.

"Why don't you just give up?" Artemis asked, his claws barely grazing her cheek.

"Because my lunch is riding on this fight," Tohru replied, not even flinching, and returned with a circle kick.

"You can't win. You know that, right? You're never going to take my bell."

"Try me!" Tohru cried.

"She may as well just give up," said a voice quietly to Kyo's left. He turned and found Grumman standing solemnly next to him.

"He's right," Yuki said. "Tohru's very good, but Artemis is better. It's pretty obvious where this is going to end up."

Kyo set his jaw and didn't answer. He knew the Rat was right, but he sure as hell wasn't going to admit it. And... there's still a chance that Tohru could win.

"What happened when Tohru summoned Artemis?" he asked Valery.

"Understand that demons and Immortals don't have souls. The soul stays with the Angel. But Artemis is unique, because he is the only demon in existence that has ever had a soul. When Ren summoned him, his soul bound itself to her. Those two have a life bond."

"What's that mean...?" asked Momiji.

"It means that if one of them dies, the other dies with them."

The breath caught in Kyo's throat and he looked automatically at Tohru, as did Yuki and the other Sohmas. Suddenly, the full impact of what she was doing hit them. Bell Bell was suddenly not a fun, pointless little game where the stakes were a few coins and lunch. They were not just showing off their skills, or trying to become stronger just because they could. They were training to fight. They were training to kill, and to not be killed. Bell Bell was just a cute name they gave it to cover up its real purpose

Who were they training to fight? The Angels? The Cages? Who else would they have to face?

Not all's fair and honorable on the battlefield. You have to take cheap shots in order to survive

If she died...

"Come on, Tohru!" Kyo yelled. "You can beat him!"

"All you have to do is take that bell!" Yuki cried.

Tohru looked up in surprise at the sound of their voices. That glimpsing moment of distraction was all Artemis needed. In a rush of movement, he jumped and brought his fist smashing down into the top rail of the wooden fence. The rail splintered, cracked, and broke beneath their feet.

Tohru fell backwards, her mouth opening in surprise, her eyes wide. She hit the ground with a heavy thud before she had even realized what had happened. She rolled and came to a rest at a pair of familiar feet, the hem of a dark kimono rustling as the person took a small step towards her. Artemis, perched on an unbroken section of the fence, was smirking down at her triumphantly. It was over... and he had won.

"Didn't I tell you?" he scoffed, jumping down. Tohru didn't answer. She dropped her eyes to her fist, clenched in her lap, as the demon began to lecture her.

"You're guard is terrible, you need to work on that. You have no style, either, or any sort of strategic plan, you just attack without thought, and hope you hit something," he said, his tone arrogant. Tohru pushed herself up and stood with her back to the demon and her head down, her arms limp at her sides, her fists clenched. Her eyes were shadowed, and her face expressionless.

"Another thing, you're distracted too easily. You have to concentrate everything on what you're doing, or you won't win."

"I know," Tohru said quietly.

"Your reactions are too slow, and you hesitate slightly before you attack. You never used to do that."

"Right," Tohru said.

"And you used to punch a lot harder than you were just now."

"Hey, why don't you lay off?" Kyo snapped.

"She hasn't fought at all for over year. Of course she won't be as good as she once was." Yuki said icily, glaring at the demon. Tohru raised her head and gave Kyo and Yuki a cheerful smile.

"It's okay," she said.

"No, it's not!" Kyo yelled. Tohru tilted her head and gave him a soft, more sincere smile, and winked. Then she turned her head to look at Artemis, her grin changing and her eyes narrowing.

"Artemis, what you say is all true, but I believe you're missing one important fact."

"Oh, and what's that?" Artemis asked. Tohru held her hand out to her side and let drop a small, golden bell that dangled and tinkled softly on the end of its string, glinting in the sunlight.

"Bell Bell." Tohru said simply, cocked her head, and smiled.

To be continued...


Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket is not owned by me

YAY! Chapter Twenty-Five! That was rather earlier than I expected, but I just had this burst of inspiration, and here is the result! Tell me what you think of it, as always. Arigatoo.

Have I mentioned I'm now taking Japanese? I already knew a few choice words, from fanfiction and various mangas, plus by watching tons of anime, but now I know more. Also, I have a pen-pal in Japan. Japan! How cool is that?

But I digress. I've read Arigatoo spelled many ways, such as Arigatou, but in Jap. Class it's spelled Arigatoo, like the pronunciation. But that doesn't really matter... I'm just rambling. I get much enjoyment from rambling, though it's definitely not as fun as ranting.

Sayoonara!

-Raha-