Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Natsuki Takaya. Not me. I do not claim the characters or story, but the words were all written by me, and the specific scenes came out of my head.
For once, Shigure's house was quiet. Yuki had shut himself in his room hours ago, working studiously towards the final exams. Kyo went to pay a visit to Kazuma shortly after breakfast, claiming that he needed assistance with some of his younger pupils. Shigure was in his study, "writing". There were none of the routine disruptive arguments or short-lived spars between Yuki and Kyo, and the house seemed strangely empty without Shigure's usual teasing and general perversion. The quiet was a pleasant change, but even so, one could not shake of the feeling of loneliness that haunted all of the rooms in the house. It seemed almost proverbial, a sight of what was to come.
Tohru flew deftly through the kitchen, practiced hands tending the salmon grilling easily in a pan on the stove, while keeping one eye on the rice cooker. Almost without her noticing, she began humming softly, a light, cheerful tune that seemed almost out of place in the somber house. Despite this, a gentle smile accentuated her pretty features. She refused to succumb to those feelings of despair and anxiety that tugged ruthlessly at her mind during idle hours.
A slight sigh escaped as she turned off the stove and glanced at the perfectly cooked salmon. She had prepared Kyo-kun's favorite food in the hopes that he would be home by now, but as it turned out, it came to nothing. She shrugged it off with a little laugh and skipped off to call Yuki and Shigure for lunch.
"Ah, it looks so good, Honda-san," Yuki said appreciatively as he sat down at the table. Tohru blushed lightly, smiling happily as she set his lunch down before him, as well as Shigure's.
"Yes, indeed. Such a pity Kyo-kun heartlessly decided to skip this delicious meal that our beloved Tohru-kun slaved away to prepare for us. Oh, how shameful!" Shigure announced theatrically. "At least our little flower has someone to appreciate her!" He reached out, clasping Tohru's wrist in a strong hand, pulling her gracefully to him. He leaned towards her as though to lay a kiss of her red cheek before flying backwards and letting out a cry of pain.
"Disgusting," Yuki said cooly, glaring down at the prostrate writer with distaste, letting his hand fall back down to the table. "You should keep away from him, Honda-san. You wouldn't want his disgusting germs to infect you."
"Yuki-kun! How cruel!" Shigure exclaimed tearfully over Tohru's embarrassed denials. He sighed regretfully as he returned stiffly and painfully to the table, looking like he was about to launch into yet another speech about the anger management issues of adolescent males before a sharp knock at the door interrupted him. Tohru immediately leapt up and hurried to answer the door.
She pulled the door open and was met by two teenaged boys; one beaming cheerfully at her, the other with a soft, but emotionless face. "Momiji-kun! Hatsuharu-san! It's so nice to see you!"
Momiji grinned at her and took her hand. "Haru and I were in the neighborhood and decided to stop by," he teased her gently, gesturing to the vast expanse of forest surrounding the house.
Tohru started, suddenly remembering her manners. "Ah! Please come in! We were just having dinner; won't you join us?" she babbled, a bit flustered, as she lead the way through the house to the others. "We're having salmon, is that okay with you two?" she asked, looking over her shoulder to smile happily at them. Haru nodded wordlessly while Momiji squeezed her hand lightly and announced, "Anything Tohru makes is perfect." Tohru laughed and invited them to sit at the table while she hurried into the kitchen to fetch more servings.
Yuki looked up in surprise at the unexpected guests. "Haru, Momiji. To what do we owe the pleasure?"he asked, his voice puzzled.
Momiji's eyes widened slightly, their cheerful glow dimming noticeably. He looked over at Hatsuharu, who shook his head. "Later," he promised blandly.
Yuki narrowed his eyes, his brow furrowed, but asked no questions. He could guess where their conversation would go. He sat in silence, he and Hatsuharu simply watching Momiji chatter gaily at Shigure. Once, Yuki caught Haru staring at him and met his eyes, but Haru just sighed and dropped his head.
Momiji suddenly sat up and looked around the room, as though seeing it for the first time, and realized with a start who was missing. "Where's Kyo?" he inquired, frowning uneasily. Yuki shrugged in annoyance, his long fingers brushing back long strands of silver-gray hair. "As if he would actually tell us where he goes." Tell me, rather, he said silently to himself. "I suppose he's visiting Shihan."
"Ah. That makes sense," Haru said shortly. "Bad luck?" he commented dryly. Momiji nodded wordlessly, his face slightly downcast.
After a few tense, uncomfortable minutes, Tohru hurried back into the room, her cheeks flushed. "Ah! Thank you for waiting!" She handed Momiji and Haru their dished before taking her seat at the table and returning to her own meal. "It's so kind of you to visit!" Tohru chirped happily, picking up her chopsticks. "We've been so busy the last few months that there hasn't really been time to get together like we used to. Momiji-kun is so tall now; he's almost as tall as Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun!"
Momiji laughed. "I'm going to be even taller than Haru at this rate; he'd better watch out," he joked. His eyes turned sympathetic as he looked at Yuki and Tohru. "Have they been working you hard at school?" he asked curiously. "We guessed that they had been, considering it's so close to graduation. There's one month left now, right?" he asked, his voice carefully casual. Haru glanced over at him, his eyes dark, but Momiji kept his gaze fixed firmly on the two third-years.
Yuki sighed heavily as Tohru replied in her bright, up-beat voice, "Oh, yes. We've had to study very hard lately. The final exams are very, soon, so..." She shrugged apologetically. "There's no helping it, I suppose. Yuki-kun has been very kind and has helped me study for it, so I'm not too worried about it. Yuki-kun would make a good teacher," she said thoughtfully.
Yuki chuckled quietly. "I don't know about that. I'm not that great at it," he told her humbly. Turning back to the two younger boys, he added, "As if I don't have enough to worry about, the Student Council keeps badgering me to pick the next Student Council President." He sighed again, this time irritation evident in his demeanor. Tohru laughed uncomfortably, feeling a bit guilty that she had complained when Yuki had even more work that she did. After all, he was the Student Council President.
"What about-." Momiji began, before a loud, angry voice interrupted him. "Oi!"
All eyes in the room turned towards the doorway, where Kyo now stood, glaring angrily at the two visitors.
"Kyo-kun!" Tohru jumped up immediately, beaming joyfully at Kyo. "Welcome home Kyo-kun! Let me get you some lunch!" She rushed hastily into the kitchen as Kyo glanced after her, slightly disarmed. After a moment, he seemed to snap back and demanded rudely, "What the hell are Haru and that dumb rabbit doing here?"
"Kyo, that's so mean," Momiji put in, injured. "We just stopped by for a visit." Haru looked Kyo up and down before adding, "We're glad you turned up, though.", much to Kyo's bewilderment.
"What? Aren't you here to see Tohru?" He scowled in irritation and suspicion.
Tohru skipped out of the kitchen once again and smiled cheerfully at Kyo, holding out his lunch to him. "I made your favorite today, Kyo-kun!" she said, her cheeks cutely tinged with a faint blush. "Please sit down and eat with us," she urged, a hint of a "puppy-dog" expression in her eyes.
Kyo glowered at the other (male) occupants of the room, and muttered bitterly, "I'm going to the roof." Tohru, looking visibly distressed, looked as though she wanted to say something, but restrained herself, biting her lip. "Oh... okay then. At least eat something, Kyo-kun. It's unhealthy to skip meals," she said unhappily, holding the bowl out to him again. Kyo looked down at her, feeling vaguely unsettled by her self-restraint. Then his face relaxed into a small, yet remarkably gentle smile and he reached out to take the bowl. Tohru felt her cheeks burn as his fingers brushed against her's. She gazed after him as he turned and stepped out of the room, her heart plummeting. Kyo-kun had been... oddly tense and uncomfortable today. She wished... she wanted... Tohru took a deep breath and wheeled around, a bright smile plastered on her face.
"How have you been? Momiji-kun? Hatsuharu-san?" she asked cheerily, settling down at her place at the table yet again. Her face... no one could've beaten that optimistic smile that glowed so brightly, but somehow... it was all wrong. Her expression was too bright, too optimistic. Her eyes were shut tightly, her brow ever-so-slightly twisted, as though she was about to break out into tears. All eyes were riveted carefully on her face, uncomfortable and desperate to look away, yet unable to at the same time. The same thoughts ran through all of their minds, only to be dismissed. It was impossible. Uneasy, awkward conversation eventually broke out, slowly, painfully, but it soon eased into gently, comfortable chattering. Tohru's expression cleared as the minutes ticked by, releasing the tension that has settled in everyone's mind. Momiji glanced over at her, his eyes soft. Tohru felt the gaze and met it with a slightly puzzled smile. Momiji reached out and gently took her hand in his.
Notes: Hmmm. This chapter ended up considerably shorter than the last, but that's because I chose to break up what I initially had planned into two chapters. Yeah. Chapter Three should be out by tomorrow, maybe Monday. We'll see.
In case anyone thought Momiji was out of character, it's because he is the grown up, mature Momiji. After Momiji got mature, he was so awesome. And adorable. coughs And no, this will not turn out to be a Momiji x Tohru fic. Although I am a fair supporter of Momiji and Tohru, I am a Kyoru fan at heart. I guess it doesn't look much like a Kyoru fanfic now, but it will. It will. The fires should start burning next chapter, so look forward to it.
To my reviewers: Thank you so much for your support! I was feeling a bit nervous about how people would like my fanfic, as it's my first, so your enthusiasm was very much appreciated.