Title: Laughter
Chapter Two
Disclaimer: I do not won Fruits Basket.
A month passed slowly with similar dinners. Tohru and Satsu came to be friends. Yuki had also grown close to her, even if he did seem to keep her at arm's length at school. Shigure enjoyed her company greatly, often cajoling her into reading his books. He felt her could get a completely honest opinion from her. Kyo, on the other hand, was very wary of Satsu. He didn't seem to trust her. He thought she was too honest.
It was a sunny, warm Tuesday, the day of the fitness marathon. More than half the school had failed to show up. They all had the 'plague', or so said their 'parents' who called into the school. Satsu dragged herself to show up to this. She had never been to any others, so she figured today was as good as any to start. The brunette was leaning against the fence, listening to her music, when Yuki, Kyo and Tohru showed up.
"Ah, Satsu-chan!!!" Tohru exclaimed, waving happily to her. A slight tilt of the head signaled that she had heard the greeting.
"Hello Tohru-chan, Yuki-san, Kyo-san," she greeted in return, bowing to each of them.
"You're actually here," commented Yuki, a slight smirk on his face.
"Yeah. I figured I can only skip so many of these," Satsu replied with a shrug. A small smile was on her face. She stood up straight and stretched.
"Oh, there's Uo-chan and Hana-chan! I'm going to go talk to them!" announced Tohru, beaming widely. She tottered off to her two beloved friends leaving Satsu alone with the Sohma's. But then Kyo left to go stretch before the run.
"Do you want to come over for dinner again tonight?" he asked, looking quite expectantly at her.
"I don't know. I've come over practically every night. Are you sure I'm not a burden?" She looked down at her sneakers. They looked new. But, they weren't. The poor shoes had just been locked up inside her closet for a year.
"I'm sure you're not, Satsu-san. My family seems to really like you," he assured her.
"Hmm…okay. I guess so then," she replied. Satsu and Yuki then set to warm-up before the run. The brown-haired Satsu seemed more in shape than she gave herself credit for. Yuki was eyeing her oddly as she stretched gracefully.
"I took ballet for about five years. I can still stretch sort of. And I remember some of the moves, but I'm not nearly as agile as I once was." She explained, heeding his gaze. She then suddenly laughed. "I can't run though. You'll see."
In the distance, a coach blew a whistle. This coach happened to be right by Kyo Sohma when he did so.
"God, what the hell is your problem?" He demanded. The coach looked flustered and shrugged his shoulders.
"I d-didn't see you there."
"LIAR! That kuso nezumi made you do that didn't he." At that, the orange-haired male turned to Yuki and Satsu. "You'll lose today Yuki!! I swear on my own grave that I will b-"
"Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha" The ever-laughing Satsu had interrupted his challenge with her signature and cutting laugh. Yuki looked sideways at his companion, who had fallen to the ground. She was clutching her stomach with one hand, while the other pointed at the cat across the schoolyard. "Oh god…you're so dumb…" she managed to get out.
The schoolyard went silent. They were awaiting Kyo's reaction. He was soon cut short by the once unheard laughter of Yuki Sohma, resident prince.
"Oh my god, what's going on here? Not even that damn Tohru could make him laugh," Mio hurriedly whispered to Minami. The fan girls were at a loss. Something was happening to their beloved Yuki and they did not like it one bit.
Satsu immediately calmed down when she realized half of the school was not staring at Kyo or Yuki, but at her. She hastily stood up and pulled down her shorts.
"H-hi…" she said weakly. Yuki's laughter was cut short when he had realized what had happened.
"Oh no," Tohru gasped. She searched her mind for a quick solution and then ran out into the middle of the students. "Ah! Look at me! I'm dancing!" she shouted, dancing awkwardly. The image of Yuki laughing was replaced by the ungainly dance moves of Tohru Honda.
This time Satsu didn't laugh at her. Instead, she joined Tohru. Her dancing was even gawkier than Tohru's. The two girls smiled at one another, while they gyrated and turned about each other. Their hair fanned out behind them like banners.
Unexpected music filled the schoolyard. The source was a boom box that Uo had by her side. Loud, raucous rock emanated from the speakers. Soon enough, Hana, Momiji, Uo, Haru and even Kyo and Yuki had joined in the makeshift dance. Luckily they weren't all bad dancers. The zodiac members had to be good dancers since they had to dance for the New Year's celebration. The eight of them paired off into dance partners. Hana with Momiji, Uo and Haru, Kyo with Tohru (of course) and by default Yuki and Satsu.
It took the rest of the student body a few minutes before they all jumped in.
The coaches were at a loss what to do. But then the one that Kyo yelled out pulled a megaphone and used it.
"HEY! IF YOU KIDS DON'T GET YOUR BUTTS ON THE TRACK THIS MINUTE YOU WILL ALL HAVE DETENTION!!"
That was all it took for them to disperse and headed out to the track. Satsu and Yuki then realized that they were holding hands. The brunette tore her hands away and sprinted off into the street. He noted that her run was a little funny looking.
He didn't have time to reflect on the blatant denial delivered at Satsu's hands. Literally. The prince was the last to start his run. And he was one of the last to finish. Why? He wasn't that sure himself. All Yuki knew was that his mind kept wandering to the dance he had shared with the brown-eyed Satsu.
……
It was close to six o'clock and night was falling when Satsu showed up at the Shigure Sohma residence. Her hair was still wet from the hour-long shower she had taken. It had been so long because Satsu was thinking over the day.
She rang the doorbell twice, feeling quite impatient. Satsu fidgeted, wondering why she had chosen this specific outfit. She was wearing a knee-length white cotton dress with off the shoulder short sleeves. On her feet was a pair of matching Mary Jane's. Satsu had left her hair down; something she often did to let it dry. To protect her body from the cool evening breeze, she donned a lightweight grey jacket.
Shigure answered the door, a delightful smile growing on his face when he saw Satsu.
"Why hello there! Don't you look nice tonight?" The novelist stepped aside to welcome her in the house.
"N-not really. But thank you." Satsu removed her shoes and stepped up onto the hardwood floor.
"Yuki and the others are in the living room."
"Oh, okay. Thank you Shigure-san." She smiled gratefully and then went into the nearby room.
Kyo was sitting out on the porch with Tohru. Yuki was lying on his side reading a book. Hatori was sipping some tea, listening to Aya chatter on about his store.
"Look who I found!" Shigure proclaimed, coming up behind Satsu. He surprised her and she jumped.
"Ah!" her squeal brought everyone's attention to Satsu, if Shigure hadn't already.
"Satsu-san?" whispered Yuki, a pleased smile growing on his face.
"Hello, everyone."
"Ah, Satsu-chan, you look so different. So pretty," insisted Tohru with an excited squeal.
"She is right. My brother is so lucky to have a girl like you," Aya added with a rakish grin. He refused to believe that Satsu and Yuki weren't involved.
"I don't have her." "He doesn't have me."
The Madubachi Trio laughed at the embarrassed faces of their cousin and his friend.
"Ah, it is so fun to tease the young about love," commented Aya.
"Here, here," agreed Shigure.
Tohru rose to her feet with her signature smile. "I'll go get dinner now. Kyo, would you like to help me?"
"Sure." The couple departed from the room. Satsu sat down across from Hatori, who blatantly lit a cigarette.
"Hey." He addressed her, blowing out smoke. Satsu shot him her best withering look.
"Nice wrinkles, old man."
Shigure laughed nervously. The dragon was shooting Satsu an equally deadly look. Aya smiled happily, finding this great fun.
"Satsu-san, would you like to go on a walk before dinner?" inquired Yuki, sitting up and shutting his book.
"Uhm…okay."
"We'll be back later," he told his older cousins.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Aya called after him. Satsu blushed and followed quickly after Yuki.
It was a cool night outside. The stars were winking down upon the world. Sister moon was out in full force, her glow lighting up the earth beneath. Yuki strolled on the moonlit forest trails with Satsu, who was lagging behind him. She was trying to catch the heavens between the boughs of the tall trees.
"So…" she finally said, walking quickly to catch up with Yuki. The rat knew where he was taking them. His senses were honed to the secluded spot. "Today was interesting. I'm sorry you had to witness my awful, uncoordinated dancing," she apologized, a smile manifesting in her voice.
"You don't really dance like that," Yuki replied, veering off onto a trail. The trail wasn't carved out from heavy foot traffic like the one they were just on had been. "You said you were a dancer for four or five years. People, who are like that, don't dance as bad as you did. Though, you had me believing you for a second. You must have forgotten you told me that you used to go to dances every Friday night and that you dance alone at night."
Satsu silently cursed. She had forgotten. Well, Satsu had expected Yuki to act like a normal guy and forget everything she said.
"Oh…that's right," she answered. "You're not a bad dancer yourself. What's your story?"
"Ah, I'd rather not divulge that," Yuki said.
"Fine. I didn't want to know anyway." Satsu looked around. She had no idea where they were. And she was beginning to panic.
"We're almost there. Don't worry."
"Cool…" After a few silent minutes, the trail opened up into a large clearing beside a spring. The sky was visible and clear through the open canopy. The heavens seemed within touch. The spring was clear as far as Satsu could tell. A few large boulders provided seating areas. Those were what Yuki moved towards, but no Satsu. She marched right to the center of the clearing and plopped herself down. She wanted the sky to engulf her with its majesty.
"But Satsu…your dress," Yuki protested weakly.
"Bleach," came her logical response. Yuki nodded in agreement and joined his friend beneath the firmament.
"Do you know any constellations?"
"Only about four: Orion, Cassiopeia, Taurus and the Pleiades."
"Tell me about them." The brunette turned her head to look at her silver-haired companion and smiled.
"Sure, why not?" She turned her head back to stare up into the high, dark sky.
"Thank you." Unconsciously, her moved closer to the girl at his side, waiting for her to spin him a story.
"A long, long time ago in the ancient land of Greece, when gods were just as likely to knock on your door as a neighbor, there lived Cassiopeia. She was the beautiful wife of Cepheus, King of Ethipoia, and the mother of Andromeda. Her fame is most derived from connection with her daughter. Back in those days, it was unheard of for a mortal to boast of her beauty. The foolish queen proclaimed that she was more lovely than the Nereids and even the Queen of Gods herself, Hera."
"What are Nereids?"
"Sea nymphs. Very lovely."
"I see."
"Now, Hera is greatly known for her jealous temper. She has often caused great evils to fall upon those girls that Zeus favoured. Anyway, Hera and the other goddesses were offended. They went to Poseidon, king of the sea. He sent a sea monster to ravage the coast of Ethiopia. Cepheus and Cassopeia were ordered to sacrifice their daughter, Andromeda, to appease the wrath of the great sea god. She was chained to a rock, to await her grim fate. But, alas, who should show up but Perseus. He saved the lovely Andromeda just in time. Of course, they were married. There are some variations on this next part. Some believed Cassiopeia was very pleased with her daughter's husband. While others say she was angry and Perseus turned her to stone with Medusa's severed head. Even though she was placed in the heavens by Poseidon, he made sure she would be humiliated for now and eternity. She is placed sitting on her throne, her head facing towards Polaris. She spends most of each and every night for now and evermore upside-down." Satsu ended with a sigh.
"Interesting. Is Cassiopeia the w-shape?"
"Yeah…it is an odd position now that I think about it," she stated.
"How do you remember all this information?" inquired Yuki.
"If something interests me than I do not forget it easily. It sticks in my mind. Also, I used to study myths religiously when I was younger," she laughed, recalling a funny instance. "I even played this game with my brother and sister where we would pick a god or goddess to be."
"Really?" The prince sounded amazed. Then again, thinking about it, he never knew what to expect from Satsu.
"I had to be Aphrodite or I would not play. I made my older sister by Athena or Artemis because they weren't the 'goddess of love and beauty'. Oh, how naïve I was." She laughed harder and squirmed. "Ah, thinking about the past gives me all these weird feelings…"
"Good ones?"
"Not really…all good ones lead to bad and the bad lead to worse."
"Same here. I try not to reflect on the past. But it can be hard sometimes."
"I tell myself to live for now and forget the rest, yet it gets lost. I end up reflecting over the times of yore and the imminent future. I find myself despairing over what went wrong and what will go wrong. It's hard to live in the present-day."
"It is hard to forget. Those wounds from yesteryear never fade." He paused in his speech for a second. "Want to know what I believe?"
"Yes."
"I think that although the scars from days gone by remain…that I…or we can continue on if we just believe in the future or ourselves. There's no use wishing to be reborn into our lives. It's impossible. Nonetheless, we have the ability to change what we dislike in our lives."
"Wonderfully put, Yuki-ouji," Satsu whispered, letting his words soak in.
"Thank you, Satsu-hime."
Satsue tried to vainly will her growing blush away. "Princess?" she murmured, her voice getting carried with the slight breeze to his ears.
"Hai. Princess Satsu. I think it rather suits you. Besides, every prince needs his princess."
"What are you trying to say?" she asked him, turning on her side. Her wide brown eyes stared at him, showing her fears and hopes to him. Yuki Sohma merely smiled in return, feeling that he was taking the right step.
"I said I should change what I dislike in my live. I'm not fond of the fact I'm too cowardly to tell you what I really feel for you. I've been putting it off for a couple weeks now. You have no idea how likeable you really are, Satsu."
Still, she stared. He noticed with happiness, the fear was fast dissipating and soon replaced with undisguised joy. She waited on bated breath for him to continue.
"You're very amusing Satsu. You actually got me to laugh in school, not to mention dance in front of half of them. I'm not really used to opening up and letting go of my inhibitions, but you've broken down those barriers with your harmless teasing and laughs at Shigure, Kyo and others. That's not the only reason I like you though. There are many others: your smile, your wit and intelligence, your memory, your personality among many other aspects. I fear I am running on. What I am getting to is that, I feel I really like you. But…"
The budding beam was dampened at the 'but'. It's amazing what bad connotation some words can have. Satsu sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. This was not what she had expected.
"I'm not entirely free to have a relationship right now. There is something I am waiting for. I hope it comes soon, for I can tell you everything. Right now, I do not want you to get involved. It's too dangerous."
"Ooh…okay. I u-understand," she declared shakily. Her spotless white dress was covered in the loose dust and dirt she had stirred up in her storytelling and the trek out here. Satsu stood up fully and looked painfully down at Yuki. He was staring right back at her, violet eyes reflecting her ache. Satsu knew this was hard for him. But, she couldn't help but feel rejected.
"Satsu…" commenced Yuki, reaching up to touch her hand. "I'm sorry. Please wait for me." His normal impassive voice was filled with pleading and sorrow. The infinite anguish in her eyes and on her face was enough to break her heart.
"Oh god…why does life have to be like this?" she fell to her knees, weeping. Deep sobs wracked her body, shaking her to the core. The forlorn prince tried his best to comfort her, but was unable to. He couldn't hold her. All he could do was place a reassuring hand on her shoulder and try to wipe away her tears.
"Will you wait for me?" he asked, desperation flooding his voice. The girl in question nodded strongly and managed to force out a few words.
"I hope it isn't too long," she said.
"Me too."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I thought it would be too nice to hook them up immediately. Also, most of you probably recognized Yuki's spiel about scars was an adaptation of the opening theme song. If so, woot woot for you. The third chapter should be up soon enough, possibly within a few days.