Never Give Up
By Ginta and Hakakku Fangirl
Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba.
A/N: Hey, really, really sorries about having such a short chapter before. Um, I hope that this will be able to make up for it, just a little. It's a little short, too, though, but maybe it'll get you all closer to the answers to your questions. So, um…enjoy, is all that I can think of…
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Chapter Ten: Waiting, and the Long Awaited Reencounter
'Where could they be, Mom?' Tohru thought frantically. It was Christmas morning. And Yuki and Hatsuharu still hadn't returned. True, it had only been a few days. But the Cow and the Rat had yet to even call.
"Tohru?" Shigure reached over her to turn the oven off. "The timer just went off."
"Oh!" Tohru quickly turned to get the potholders, but Shigure was faster, and took the rolls from the oven himself.
"You really shouldn't stress yourself," he said.
"Sorry."
Shigure laughed. "Don't be! You just
concentrate on keeping you and the baby healthy."
"Okay!" Tohru smiled as Shigure guided her to the chair he had brought into the kitchen for her, in case she were to get tired while cooking. Shigure turned away to open the rice cooker, and began to shape rice balls in his hands.
They had decided together that they would wait to have Christmas after Yuki had gotten home. But that was no reason not to have a special breakfast. Shigure had ordered expensive take-out (not that Tohru knew how much it had cost), and together they had made sweet buns and sweet plumb rice balls.
"Shall we eat now?" Shigure asked with a smile as he finished shaping the rice. "I have a surprise for you, too."
"What? But I thought that we had agreed to wait to give each other our gifts until Yuki and Hatsuharu had gotten back! I hope that you didn't go to too much trouble!"
Shigure laughed again and offered his hand to Tohru.
"Don't worry about it!" he said, leading her to the dining room. "Besides, they're already here waiting for you."
"They?!?" Tohru squeaked, then gasped as Hana and Uo turned towards her with big smiles. "Hana! Uo!"
"Tohru!" they said together, immediately standing up. Hana reached her first and gently wrapped her arms around Tohru.
Uo joined their hug as well.
"Shigure just told us on the phone last night," she said anxiously. "How are you? Are you okay? Do you need anything? Do you want me to beat up Orange Top when he gets back? Are you eating enough? Is Shigure making sure that you get the right doctor's opinions--?"
"You're going to make Tohru nervous, Arisa," Hana said calmly. She peered at Tohru's face. "Are you okay, Tohru?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm fine!" Tohru laughed. "Shigure and Yuki have been taking very good care of me, and so has Hatori and Momiji and Hatsuharu, and all the other Sohmas."
"That's good." Hana frowned for a moment. "It's unsettling, though," she said, "that I wasn't able to tell by your waves that you were 'expecting.'"
"Well, maybe you just we're able to tell because this isn't really something that you would expect from Tohru," Uo said; Tohru blushed.
"That's true," Hana said slowly. "Although now that I think about it, I was able to read some strange electric waves that seemed to radiate from your stomach, and even confused and anxious waves that came from the Sohma at school (A/n: In Japan, it wouldn't be Sohmas, it would just be Sohma), and even from Shigure anytime I saw him."
"Really?" Tohru asked, just before Shigure came in from the kitchen, balancing sweet buns, rice balls, and takeout boxes on a large tray, singing to himself:
"Breakfast time! Breakfast time! All for me! Breakfast time!" Shigure blinked, then grinned at the three girls; Hana and Uo were both staring at him, Uo trying not to laugh and Hana with her eyebrows raised. "Oops! I guess that should have been 'All for us,' not 'all for me,' huh?"
Tohru laughed.
"Well, let's eat!" Uo said, taking the boxes from Shigure and handing them around, while Hana took the sweet buns and Shigure set down the rice balls.
"Tohru! Tohru!"
"Oh! Momiji!" Tohru turned to see Momiji sliding open the shoji with a bang, followed by Isuzu and Hatori.
"Tohru, hi! Oh," Momiji stopped short and grinned as Hana and Uo looked Uo at him in surprise. "You have friends over! Hi!"
Hana smiled and Uo grinned.
"Hey, where's that Haru guy at? He not come with you?"
"Nu-uh."
"Speaking of Hatsuharu," Hana said, "Where is Yuki? I haven't sensed his waves all morning."
"They're not here." Hatori seated himself beside Tohru and pulled his stethoscope from his bag. "Deep breath."
Tohru did as he said, just as Shigure opened the shoji to come in from the garden.
"Oh, Ha'ri! I've got a surprise for you!" he sang.
In two seconds, Hatori had gotten to his feet, crossed the room in three strides, and closed Shigure's own door in his face, turning back to Tohru with an annoyed sigh.
Shigure slid the shoji open.
"I'm sorry. Please don't hate me. The surprise is really for Tohru. Um, can I come in?"
Hatori rolled his eyes. "You're pathetic," he muttered loudly.
"Of course!" Shigure immediately stopped pretending to be upset and grinned; Hatori sighed.
"Is Ayame coming?"
"Yes!" Shigure grinned.
"Are going to put on you're usual act?"
"We wouldn't be the Mabudachi Trio if we didn't!"
Hatori started to say something, but was interrupted by the shoji sliding open again.
"Sissy? Sissy!"
"Kisa!" Tohru laughed and stood up to hug the Tiger of the Zodiac.
"Big deal, so she's pregnant."
"Hiro!" Momiji scowled.
"Hiro, how come you still don't like Sissy?" Kisa asked, her arms still around Tohru.
Hiro turned red. "I like her," he muttered, before adding defensively, "But that's only because you like her, Kisa!"
Tohru just laughed and turned towards the shoji, which had opened again.
"Greetings, everyone!"
"Aya!" Shigure cried.
"Shigure!"
"You haven't been cheating, I hope…Shigure."
"I could never stray from you…Aya."
"Oh, Shigure! Long have I awaited the moment when we would no longer be parted, even if it were only to be for a few short hours!"
"Never fear, Aya. The time we have together shall last as long as cruel fate will allow us this small kindness."
"Shigure!"
"Ayame!"
The Dog and the Snake grinned insanely at each other for a moment, before giving each other the thumbs up. Two seconds later…
"Alright!"
Hana and Uo stared as Hatori sighed, and the others giggled.
"Where's Mine?" Tohru asked.
"Hmm? Oh, she's with her family." Ayame took both of Tohru's hands in his. "But I just couldn't stay away from the beautiful flower, a prisoner in a household of men."
"Oh, she's hardly a prisoner!" Shigure laughed.
"Yes, yes, I believe that that is the exact same thing you said the last time I said that," Ayame smiled, pulling his hair over his shoulder, and beginning to braid it absentmindedly. Then he saw Saki and Arisa.
"Ah! Friends of Tohru!" he exclaimed, standing up and sweeping himself into a low bow.
"I am Sohma Ayame," he said, with his usual dramatic and eloquent manner. "Older brother to the Prince of your school and class president, Sohma Yuki, and cousin to all Sohma currently present. Mine, of course, is not here, but I am sure, would she here, she would be delighted to see you. Of course," Ayame added, "we have already met, at your school's production of Cinderella, but I just like to introduce myself."
Uo and Hana started to laugh.
Tohru turned over in her bed, trying to find a more comfortable position and still keep her face buried in her pillow so that Shigure wouldn't hear her cry.
Yuki and Hatsuharu had called just a few hours ago. They still hadn't found the Cat.
At this thought, Tohru moaned a little; she heard her window slid open, then closed again, and began to sob.
"Hey, shh shh shh. It's okay." Kyo pulled back the blankets and crawled in bed next to Tohru, kissing her cheek, then her neck. "What's wrong?"
Tohru wiped away her tears and rolled over to face him. As she did, he stomach bumped his abs.
"Wait a minute," Kyo breathed.
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A/N: And I'm just going to leave it at that. Until chapter eleven, Ja ne! (I'll have the next chapter up ASAP.)