Author's Note: Hello everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!! I'm sorry it has been such a long time since anyone has heard from me on FanFiction! There were so many things going on in life and I have failed to update for quite some time! For that, I am sorry! I have tried my hand at writing Pirates of the Caribbean fanfics, and although they are coming along, this is another Fruits Basket fanfic for all my dedicated readers and to new readers whom I wish to bring joy!!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!!! Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Christmas Eve 2004
"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, yuletide carols being sung by a choir, and folks dressed up like Eskimos…."
The sound of a sweet Christmas carol was faintly heard throughout the café in the Crystal Hotel. Tohru sat patiently waiting for Kyo. What was she to do? It was inevitable that he was at this hotel. With someone. He had not't answered her calls, and had seemed very distant for the past month. It was as if her very presence was a nuisance to him.
As she sat at a soft, cushioned chair waiting, so many thoughts were running through her head. She took her phone out of her purse and pressed speed dial one for Kyo.
"The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after…" click. She shut her phone and thrust it back into her purse. That was what she had heard from Kyo's phone constantly. She could hardly remember a time when that was not't true.
Tohru was determined to have a talk with Kyo and if she was to spend all of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to do so, she would do it. It was a small sacrifice for the stake of her relationship.
She got up out of the seat and walked towards the main desk up front in the lobby.
"Is there a Mr. Sohma checked in here?" she asked the woman at the desk. She clicked through some files in her computer before smiling and replying with a perky:
"Yes, he is. Room 364,"
Tohru managed a small smile. "Yes, thank you," she walked towards the elevators, thinking about what she would see when she got up there.
To begin with, Tohru was not the clumsy, ditsy girl she used to be in high school. She was torn away from the Sohmas' before she finished high school, her memory erased. All she could vaguely remember were a few fragments of Kyo. They had gotten together while they were both going to the same college in Japan. That's how they had met again. Although she had been in a business course, she had changed courses midterm, halfway through her second year of school. Why, you may ask? She wanted to fulfill her dreams of bringing a smile to people's faces and a feeling of joy to the world. So, to express herself as an individual and fulfill her goal, she became a patisserie. Attending a few courses in Paris, she learned the art of making cakes and pastries. Although it took her so many years to be where she wanted to be, in the end, it was worth it.
At the age of 24, she had come a long way. Now she had more time for herself. Her style was sophisticated and elegant. In the cold winter, she wore a black overcoat of wool with black heels and a red scarf slung around her neck more for fashion than anything else. Her deep red purse was slung over her shoulder and her hair was swept up in a loose bun with a chopstick through it, little wisps escaping and framing her face prettily. Her green eyes that once sparkled cheerfully were now dark and serious. Little drop earrings of diamond were dangling from her ears. Truly, she had grown up and became an adult.
She stepped into the elevator and as the door was almost closed, a hand abruptly stopped it. In came a young man in his mid-twenties with silver hair that gleamed under the light. His strangely deep violet eyes looked into Tohru's and opened in surprise. Tohru inclined her head slightly to recognize his presence and pressed the button for her floor. She stared up at the numbers as the elevator as it ascended from floor to floor. As she stared up at the changing numbers, the man could not help but stare at Tohru. The man was not a stranger, rather, he was a distant memory of what once was.
The elevator finally stopped at the third floor and the doors slid open. Tohru stepped out with a hand wrapped around her purse handle as she walked slowly towards the room 364.
It was a grand suite and she knocked sharply three times. A woman's voice flooded towards her. "Is that room service?" she asked someone in the room.
The voice of Kyo answered her: "I didn't call yet,"
The door opened before Tohru had time to think. The face of a woman with a sweet, round, heart shaped face opened the door, she wrapped a silk robe over her body and peered through. "Yes?" she looked up curiously at Tohru.
"I need to speak with Kyo Sohma," Tohru's eyes were serious and her tone was cold, however, her face showed no emotion whatsoever. She seemed to stare down at the girl and dare her to bar her way.
"Um, yes, come in," she lowered her head and opened the door, revealing an expensive hotel room. Kyo sat in the chair, lounging with a white crisp shirt undone at the throat, reading a newspaper. He looked up and saw Tohru's tall figure and his eyes grew wide.
"Tohru," he said faintly. His eyes seemed pleading, hoping she would understand.
"I need to speak with you," her words were cold and distant, an angry fire burning in her eyes. But her actions were calm and collected though deep inside she was furious.
"We'll go down to the café. We can talk there," he attempted to smile and failed miserably.
Tohru stared at him again, her gaze seemed to perpetrate his soul. She turned around and walked out pausing only to talk to the girl.
"Please excuse me for intruding this evening. There are things we must discuss before you may form a relationship with Kyo-san," she lowered her eyes and looked steadily into the girl's timid expression. Kyo flinched at the "san" that she had added at the end of his name. It was as if they were strangers. He followed Tohru meekly.
Without waiting for an answer, she walked out of the room. The door had been left slightly ajar. Kyo paused only to pick up his suit-jacket and put it on before he rushed after Tohru. However, she was already on the elevator and the door was shutting before Kyo could show up.
Kyo ran down the stairs and saw Tohru, who was already seated and quietly sipped her tea.
"You should have waited," Kyo reprimanded quietly, trying to joke around with her.
"You should have done a lot of things," her voice was angry and her blue-green eyes were shooting sparks.
Kyo instantly recoiled and spoke. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that. I was just kidding around with you,"
"I suppose that you think this is all a joke, don't you? If you didn't, we wouldn't be in this situation, would we?" she shut her lips tightly and glared at him. "You have no mind at all. Do you realize what you just did? You had just marred every single memory that I ever had of you. You ruined my happy memories. You killed every fond thought I ever had of you. You make me sick," she spat.
"Why is this about you? You're not the only one in this," Kyo retorted.
Tohru scoffed. She looked at the ceiling of the hotel for a second as if to regain her common sense again. "You renounced your memories and your hold on everything between us when you cheated on me with that whore," she hissed.
Kyo's eyes opened wide at her statement. Never during his time with Tohru had she said something like that. "Tohru," he began.
"No," she reprimanded. "Stop making excuses for yourself. There is nothing you can do to hide it. You cheated. You broke my heart and you don't care," there was a sadness mingled in with her anger. "Do you realize how hard I tried to cling onto that single shard of a memory that I had left of you? Do you even think at any point up to now about the pain I endured trying to find that person left in my mind??? That person that seemed so familiar but was still a stranger to me??? Do you even realize how difficult it was for me? And now you just turn your back on me like all of the years that we spent together mean nothing," unwanted tears began to gather in her eyes.
"I hadn't realized that you had so little concern for us," she continued, bitterly staring at the rim of the cup. "If I had known sooner how this was going to end, I wouldn't have gotten involved with you. You ruined my life," she stared with hatred in her eyes. She sniffed and breathed deeply before wiping away the stray tear that had escaped.
Kyo sat his head bent down. "Tohru. I'm sorry," he whispered.
Tohru breathed out. She smirked a bit at that comment. "It doesn't matter anymore. It's too late for that," she continued. "I always thought that this relationship would last forever. I guess not. For months I knew that the end was coming. But I didn't want to face it. You know why? Because I loved you," those last words echoed in the space between them.
Kyo's expression changed to one of pain.
"Does that hurt you, Kyo-san? To hear that there was a time when I loved you? Well I did. But I guess all fairy tales must come to an end. This is our end," she looked listlessly at the table.
"The last memory that I wanted to have of you was a sweet one. One where we were both happy. But I guess that's not the case," Tohru met Kyo's gaze.
"I'm sorry," Kyo repeated again.
Tohru just attempted at a small smile and replied. "I'm sorry, too," a silence enveloped the two despite the happy murmur of others voices in the atmosphere around them. "Thank you, Kyo-san, for all the happy times that we've shared together… thank you," she finished. She wanted to say something else, however, she concluded with those two words and rose from her seat and slowly walked away.
"T-Tohru!" Kyo rose and quickly turned and called after her.
She paused in her step and did not turn.
"I… I'll never forget you," he called.
Tohru's facial expression changed from one of sadness, however, she did not turn around again. Instead, she continued on her way, towards a future that is uncertain.