A/N- Yay! I finished before my deadline! Once again, I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've updated, but here's the new chapter. It's a kind of transition chapter, because Shigure and Emiko's relationship is going to change very soon. ;)
So for anyone that didn't read my letter-type-thing, Kimberly is introduced this chapter, and she and Emiko have a very unique kind of relationship. It's modeled off of the way me, my family, and my friends treat each other. Sorry if I offend anyone, that's just the way the character is.
I also want to say again, that I love you all, and appreciate every single reader. With that being said, here you go, Chapter 6!
Disclaimer- I don't own Fruits Basket, or any of it's characters, blah, blah, blah, we all know the drill. I only own Emiko, Ryuu, and Kimberly.
I also don't own the song used in this chapter for Emiko's ringtone. The song is Tonight I Know by Chester See, and he's the one that owns it.
Chapter 6-
Emiko's POV-
Emiko felt her and Shigure hit the ground with a semi-painful thud. ~Oh wow, way to go, Emiko. That was definitely the most attractive thing you've ever done. Geez, facepalm,~ she thought to herself.
"Are you okay, Miko-chan?" she heard from a slightly muffled Shigure. Realizing that she was laying on him, practically hugging him, and definitely crushing him, she scrambled off of him, and to his side.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Shigure-san. Are you okay?" Emiko said, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, and a slight smile on her lips.
He gave her a sad, and partially grim smile, "Yes, I'm fine."
Confused by his sadness, Emiko felt her happiness about having spent the day with him, and her pleased embarrassment about the fact that they were going to kiss melt away, among with her smile.
She blinked a few times, and then stood up, "Thank you for coming with me today, Shigure-san." She forced a smile, hoping it would alleviate the slightly chilly mood that she didn't know how to fix.
She knew deep down that he was pulling away from get for some reason that she couldn't fathom. She knew that hadn't known each other long, but it made her extremely lonely.
"It was no trouble, Emiko-san," Shigure said, and Emiko felt her heart crack, felt it shatter into thousands of pieces.
She saw Shigure's hand reach out, heading for her face, yet he hesitated. Instead, his hand patted her shoulder, "Goodbye, Emiko-san." And somehow she knew he didn't mean for now, he meant forever.
As he walked away, she felt what remained of get heart break even more, and the tears well up. ~No, you can't cry yet. You just have to get past Mom, then you can cry. ~
Quickly, she picked up her shopping bags, and opened the door.
"Mom, I'm home!" Emiko shouted, closing the door behind her with her foot, falsely cheerful.
Her mom rounded the corner from the kitchen, a large smile on her face.
Her mother was beautiful. She had gorgeous blonde curls that reached her shoulder blades, and the same large green eyes Emiko did. Her mother was five foot eleven (around 180 centimeters, for those of you who use the metric system :3). She was slim, and her skin was a gorgeous golden color, with freckles a slightly tanner color. Her mother and her half-sister used to model. Her father had worked for their agency, and eventually married her mother, along with starting his own agency.
She had inherited her Mother's eyes, freckles, and curls. She had gotten her height from get father, along with get pale skin, and black hair.
"How was your shopping trip, honey? Did it go well?" her mother asked, kissing her forehead, and giving her a gentle hug.
"Oh, it was fine," Emiko said, still forcing cheer. Her mom looked at her, concern etched on her face.
"Do you want to model your new clothes for me?" her mom asked.
She have get mother a smile, "No, I'm worn out. I just want to go take a nap, and maybe call Kimberly."
"Okay, honey. I'll wake you for dinner," she said.
Emiko carried her things to her room, and dropped them the moment she crossed the threshold. Closing the door, Emiko finally let the tears run down her face.
Shigure's POV-
Once again, Shigure stood outside Hatori's building, wishing he didn't need the advice he was here for. Before he gave up, he quickly walked inside and entered the elevator. ~How could I do that? How could I let her hug me? She acted do nice about it all, but how? I'm an Animal!~
*Ding!* went the elevator.
Slowly, Shigure walked to Hatori's door, and knocked.
"Hello?" Hatori said, opening the door, "Oh, Shigure, it's you. Come on in." Shigure made his way inside, and sat slowly down in his favorite chair. "So what's wrong this time, Shigure?"
"I don't know how I'll ever face her again…" Shigure said.
"What are you talking about?" Hatori asked in confusion.
"Do you remember Emiko? The girl I told you about?" Shigure asked.
"Yes," Hatori replied.
"Well, today she and Tohru were supposed to go shopping, but Tohru wasn't feeling well. So, Emiko asked me to go with her. And since she asked me for a favor, I couldn't say no to her," Shigure recounted.
"Uh huh. What does that have to do with avoiding her?" Hatori asked.
"At the end of the shopping trip, I drove her home, and walked her to the door. Once we got to the door, we were going to kiss, but she tripped, and she… she…" Shigure slowly just stopped, and pushed his face into his hands.
"She what, Shigure," Hatori said.
"She… she tripped, and s-since we w-were so c-close, w-when s-s-she landed, she was o-o-on m-m-me. She didn't mean to hug me. That wasn't what she was trying to do. I-I don't w-want her to lose her memories," as he told Hatori what happened, he started crying.
"If she saw your Zodiac form, Akito will most likely order me to erase her memories. And if I'm ordered to erase them, I will, Shigure, and you know it," Hatori said.
"I know that, Hatori. That doesn't mean I have to like it," Shigure said, face still not leaving his hands.
"How did she react?" Hatori asked, "Maybe we can convince Akito that we don't need to erase them."
Shigure thought long and hard, ~How did she react? She didn't want to touch me afterwards, that's for sure. But other then that… wait a minute….~
"H-H-H-Hat-t-tori…" Shigure said, slowly raising his tear-streaked face from his hands in shock.
Hatori winced in sympathy, "Was it really that bad, Shigure?"
"N-n-n-no, that's what I'm trying to tell you… I-I didn't change," Shigure stuttered.
Hatori's eyes widened, and asked in shock, "Y-you didn't change when she hugged you?"
"N-no. I didn't change. I didn't change when she hugged me," Shigure said, a goofy smile slowly growing on his face.
"Why? Are you sure Emiko's a—" Hatori started before being interrupted by Shigure.
"Yes, Hatori, I'm sure that Emiko is a girl!"
"Alright, alright, I was just checking," Hatori said.
"Why, do you think?" Shigure asked.
"I'm not sure. But I think that we're going to have to look at the Curse again, Shigure."
Emiko's POV-
She had cried for about an hour, and then laid in bed for about another half hour. Slowly, she sat up, and picked up her cell phone. She dialed her cousin's phone number, and held the phone to her ear.
After five rings, Emiko heard this, "Hey! You've reached Kim! I'm busy right now, but if you want me to call you back, tell me what's up, and I will. Talk to you soon!"
With an internal sigh, Emiko started, "Hey, Kim. It's your cousin Emiko. I'll be home for the rest of the day, so whenever you get this, call me, alright? I really need to talk to you. Bye."
She put the phone back in its cradle, and lay back down. ~What did I do wrong? Why did he become so distant? Did he actually want to kiss me? Was he just joking, and then I ruined it by trying to kiss him? Why? What happened?~
She kept lying on the bed, but rolled toward the phone.
*I was scared and unaware of what your touch might do. I tried to hide it, couldn't fight it, I was falling for you.* Emiko's phone rang. She picked it up, still ringing. *But I lose control and I don't know if I can do this. Because every time I'm near you- Well, I just feel so helpless.* She looked at the phone, and saw a picture of her cousin Kim. Quickly, she opened the phone, "Hello?"
"Hey, how's it going, bitch? What do you need?" Kim's voice echoed through the phone.
"Kim, how many times do I have to ask you not to call me that?" Emiko asked, rolling her eyes, a small smile on her face.
"The exact same amount of times that I have to tell you that I mean it in the most loving of ways, bitch," Kim said, "So? What do you need?"
"I was hoping you could help me… I'm having guy trouble…" Emiko said.
"Guy trouble? What kind of guy trouble?" Kim asked, her curiosity struggling through her voice.
Emiko told her cousin Kim everything, from the moment she met Shigure, to the moment she came inside, cried, and then called her. Every single detail about her and Shigure. She gave her every single detail about every single moment that she remembered.
"So he ran away?" Kim asked.
"Yeah," Emiko sighed, "Why did he do that?"
"This is what I think. I think that he likes you. And that when he tried to kiss you, but when you tripped," she snickered, "then landed on him; something in that situation caused him to be ridiculously embarrassed. And since he wasn't ready to deal with whatever it was, he ran away."
"That's it?" Emiko asked.
"That's it," Kim said. You could practically hear her smile through the phone.
"Thanks, Kim," she said, relief running through her veins.
"Oh, hey, has your mom told you yet?" Kim asked.
Emiko snickered, "Told me what, Kim."
Kim laughed, "It's only a couple of weeks from Spring Break at my college. Your mom said it would be okay if I came and visited you guys."
She grinned excitedly, "You're coming to visit?"
"That's what I just said, isn't it, bitch," Kim said.
"Yeah, you did," Emiko laughed.
"So is that everything you needed, Emiko?" Kim asked.
"Yeah, that's it," Emiko replied.
"Okay, I'll see you in a couple weeks, bitch."
"Bye, Kimberly."
"Bye. I suggest you go talk to him."
"I will." Emiko hung up the phone, and put it back in its cradle. She yawned and looked at her clock. 6:34
"Tomorrow."