Shattered Dreams
Chapter 5:
Disclaimer: Takaya-sensei rightfully owns Fruits Basket.
Quickly, her rapid footsteps were heard loudly as she made her way back to her apartment. Ragged breathing was heard as she slid open the door.
"Isuzu-san!"
Her head jolted up, startled at the sound of her name, and she ran towards the direction of the voice. "Isuzu-san!" the same voice called.
She slid the door open fast and saw what was happening.
Kagura looked like she was hugging a very frighten Ritsu. "Isuzu-san!" she asked surprised. Ritsu either didn't notice or chose to not react to the sudden presence of his cousin.
Rin's eye widened and she slowly walked over to the two. "What…happened to him?" she asked as she bent down to the kneeling position.
Kagura only looked even more worried. "I don't know… I found him like this when I came inside…"
Rin didn't say anything so Kagura continued.
"Should we call Hatori?"
She nodded grimly.
--
"Boss! Is this better?" the pig-tailed woman asked as she pushed the heavy box towards one of the corners of the cold, storage room. She tried to push it and soon, Ayame walked over to help.
"No! No! Over here!" he said as he tried to move his left room, pointing to one of the corners.
"Yes Boss!" the woman tried to follow him and both set down the heavy box onto the cold, concrete ground with a deafening thud. Ayame stood back to observe the place he had set it. He fingered his chin while doing so.
"That's great! Hm… Maybe a bit to the left?" he finally asked.
"Sure Boss!" Mine bobbed her head up and down enthusiastically.
"PERFECT!" Ayame nodded his head up and down and up and down…over and over again, repeatedly. He grinned like a mad old man.
His grin faltered in the next minute though.
"What is in that box?" he asked his assistant. Mine frowned, shrugged and said, "But… I thought you knew."
Ayame shook his head and argued, "I thought you knew what was in the box…"
Both persons froze, slowly, stiff, turning to look at the box. Finally, Ayame spoke. "Should we open it?"
Mine nodded and said, "I'll get the scissors…" She went out of the storage room and came back a few seconds later with a pair of scissors, ready to cut.
Ayame nodded and let the woman in front of the box as she worked.
After a few minutes, the woman got up, brushed the extra loose tape off her dress and sighed. "I'm done… We just need to get it open now…" she said, in an exhausted tone of voice.
The man nodded and said, "I'll do it this time."
--
Soon both adults gave up. Both were on the cold, concrete floor, breathing hard. "I never knew a cardboard box could be so hard to open…" Ayame managed to voice it out as he panted.
Mine only nodded. After a few quick moments, she suddenly stood up from her former sitting position, and said, "Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to otouto-san's graduation?"
Ayame jolted up from his kneeling position. He started to run out the storage room, yelling a short, quick and empathetic "sorry".
"Shit," was the last thing Mine heard as the storage door slammed shut.
She smiled softly and giggled at Ayame's behavior.
--
The car ride was long and boring. With all the trees staring out at each occupant in the car, no one could be peaceful or happy. The atmosphere seemed to not at all match the weather outside.
Whilst it was sunny outside, it was gloomy inside the car. No one said a word during the whole car ride until they had arrived at the front gate of the school.
Once arriving at the front gate, everyone, Haru, Momiji, Hatori, Shigure, Yuki, Kyo and Tohru, climbed out of the car at once. (Least to say, they were pretty cramped.)
Even the walk to the bleachers was quiet. It was so quiet, it was scary. There wasn't even the usual argument curtsey of Yuki and Kyo. Tohru, Yuki and Kyo followed another group of third-years up to the backstage and disappeared from view.
Hatori and the others sat down on the bleachers, in front of the stage, waiting for the ceremony.
--
(A/N: I'm just going to skip the graduation ceremony because I have yet to graduate so I have no idea what happens in a graduation ceremony other than the fact you get diplomas and the principal gives a speech. XP Sorry! I'll try to add this in when I'm older and I have learned more.)
The ceremony ended quickly and the now graduated students filed out. Hatori, Shigure, Haru, and Momiji stood by a tree, waiting for the three graduates to meet them there.
Yuki walked over to them, feeling slightly happier since morning. As the three of them walked over to the other Sohma's, Yuki opened his mouth to speak. "Hatori, mind if I go meet someone for a couple of minutes."
Hatori looked as if he was going to say "no" but thought the better of it and nodded. "But hurry, Yuki. Akito will be here any minute," he replied with a frown.
"Ah, so Yuki-kun has finally found a girl—" Shigure started but stopped talking at Yuki's glare and Hatori's slap on the back of his head, making Shigure's head lean towards the ground.
Yuki turned to the brunette and said, "I'll be back soon." Tohru nodded and said, "Come back safe…"
Without another word, he left.
This time, it was Kyo's turn to speak. "Could 'ya give us some privacy?" he asked in his rough-mannered tone. Tohru turned to look away, trying to hide a blush.
/he likes you/
Yuki's words only made Tohru's face grow even hotter and redder. As Kyo took her hand and walked over to an empty lot, she kept her face low and facing the ground. When they stopped, Tohru only looked up to see where they were. They were only a couple trees away from where they were before.
"Hey… Do you have a fever or somethin'?" he asked suddenly, noting her red face and flustered blush.
Immediately, Tohru shook her head and said, "No! No! No! It's alright! I'm fine! Kyo-kun… What we should worry about is… You."
Kyo was immediately taken back. He took an involuntary step back and stared at the ground, not knowing what to say. "I—" he started, but his intense gaze at the ground kept him from looking up. "No… Why? Why do you worry about me? Why do you even care about me?" He looked up finally.
Before he knew it, before he thought of anything else, before Tohru had said anything, he opened his mouth and the three little words slipped off his tongue.
"I love you."
--
"Awww… They're really cute, huh, Haru?" the cursed-bunny said happily as he leaned his head on Haru's shoulder. He felt the cursed-cow move his head up and down and continued to watch the two couple.
"He's confessing, right?" Shigure suddenly asked, appearing behind the two of them. Neither of them jumped nor made a noise. If it had been Yuki or Kyo, surely one them would have jumped or at least acknowledge that the cursed-dog was here!
Shigure pouted. "Mou… Come on! Tell me!" he whined.
"Shigure…" Haru started to speak, surprising all three of them, Momiji, Hatori and most of all, Shigure.
"Eh? What happened to 'Sensei'?" the novelist asked with a small frown.
At first, Haru appeared to be ignoring Shigure's question, but after a few moments, he answered. "Because Yuki's not going to be in your house anymore… No one will be…" he simply replied.
Shigure looked surprised at Haru's words at first, as did Momiji and Hatori. In fact, least to say, they were pretty shocked. They had never heard of this.
As always, being the suspicious one, Hatori spoke. "Shigure… You didn't happen to make a deal with Haru, now did you?" he asked, as if he was about to release any extra amounts of anger any minute now.
Shigure looked nervous for a minute. "E-Eh… W-What makes you say that Ha'ri?" he asked nervously as beads of sweat formed on his forehead and began to make their way down.
Hatori only glared at him.
--
"Machi!"
Her head jolted up at the sound of her name. The high school "Prince" was running towards her with a carefree smile plastered onto his face.
She said nothing when he stopped right in front of her. He was panting hard and quite sweaty and looking as…good as ever… Machi felt a streak of red creep onto her face. (Awww! Machi's got the hots for him! X3)
"M-Machi….? Are you alright?" he started to ask, his head tilting to one side. "You look rather…red…" he commented.
Her blush only deepen. "E-Eh…?" she started as her hands automatically flew to her face, covering the blush. "W-What are you talking about? I'm fine," she stuttered quickly.
He smiled. "Machi… You're…so cute like that."
Machi felt the world freeze. Well, it seemed like it to her. Her eyes were frozen looking at her shoes, after hearing those words. And again, her blush deepen.
Yuki began to look worried. "Eh? Machi? Are you alright?" he asked again, reaching out a hand to place on her shoulders.
She moved away. She swore she saw hurt flash on his face but it disappeared the next. "I'm…fine…" She suddenly had a feeling of de ja vu…though she couldn't place where she had done this before…
She frowned. "Well… Is that all you're here to say?" she asked in a testy tone. She started to walk away without hearing an answer from the "Prince".
"Eh? Machi? Wait!" the "Prince" ran up to catch up to her, but she only kept walking so he started to walk alongside of her. "There's…" he blushed, "something I want to tell you…"
Again, Machi felt that dreaded feeling in which her cheeks began to turn pink. She tried to hide it. "What?" she asked in a false irritated tone.
He only smiled at her tone. He saw through her. He looked around awkwardly. "Machi… Uh… I've just noticed… Kakeru actually noticed it before me but…" he looked at the ground, "Argh! Why can't I say it?" His face turned flustered and he quickly added, "Oh no. I sound like that stupid Kyo don't I?"
Machi couldn't help it. In all those times that she had trained herself to not smile, laugh or let other emotions through her mask, she couldn't hold this one in. The corners of her lips curved up and a giggle escaped her.
Before she could stop herself, she started to laugh. She covered her mouth and laughed.
Yuki looked surprised at first but joined in her laughter.
"Y-You!" she stuttered out, laughing, "You're so…!" She kept laughing and soon, she was kneeling on the ground, clutching her sides.
Yuki stopped, smiled and bent down to her level. "Hey…Machi?" he asked worriedly. She couldn't help it! She just kept laughing, and covering her mouth. After a few minutes, her laughter began to die down.
Yuki smiled. "You alright Machi?"
She froze. Why hadn't she notice it before? Why hadn't see notice that whenever he said her name, there was a ring to it? Why hadn't she notice that he called her by her first name?
Was she that blind? That out of it? She began to sniffle. "I-I…I'm f-fine," she managed to stammer out between each sniffle.
Yuki began to worry. "E-eh? Machi! Are you alright!" he asked, repeating the question for the ump-teenth time.
She didn't answer at first, but she had to admit. Her kneeling position was getting uncomfortable. Her head jolted up, tears and all still on her face. "Didn't you hear me!" she shouted, "I'm fine!" She then stood up, and started to run.
Yuki looked surprised at her reaction. For a moment, he was paralyzed. After a few minutes, he unlocked himself from his frozen position and ran after her.
--
"K-Kyo…kun?" she stuttered as her cheeks began to turn to the evil color of red. Her mind raced furiously. Had Kyo always liked her? How long had she been blind to it all? How long has he been looking at her like…that?
Kyo's eyes widened; his feet were rooted into the ground so he couldn't move. He didn't speak for a moment…two moments…
"Kyo-kun…" Tohru said in a firmer voice, "I…" she hesitated. After all, was this the correct decision? Her memories were to be erased… Would it hurt Kyo more if she loved him? Or if she only liked him?
She knew it selfish when she made the decision, but wasn't Kyo the one who told her that it was okay to be selfish sometimes? To…complain a little?
She knew her answer. She nodded her herself, agreeing with herself, and said, "I love you, too." She smiled.
Kyo looked even more surprised at her response than when he actually told her that he loved her. He smiled sadly, slowly unpinned his graduation flower on his chest of the gown and handed to her.
She accepted gratefully. She looked at the flower in her hand. It was…pink…beautiful and simple…
She smiled at him again.
"Just once…" he whispered as he got closer. Close enough for Tohru to see his eyelashes…
--
"We're here..."
Author's Squabbles: I was going to make this chapter longer, but I know you guys want an update…so…ta-da! Sorry, I've been busy. A small writer's block hit me, then there was this English presentation I have to get ready and my sister and I started watching Bleach. (Which is one of the BEST anime ever! I had read it before but never seen it so I was sooooo happy to see it!) Just so you know, I haven't proof read this yet so please excuse the typos. If you tell me, I'll fix it and replace the chapter. ((Sighs)) Alright, I think I'm done complaining now.
Tbiris: Thank you for your review! And thanks! I hope the characters aren't too out of themselves…if that makes sense… ((sweat drop))
Animedreamer240: You should know by now that I tend to leave off in cliffies… De ja vu… 00 Anyways, thanks for your review! I can't wait for your next update Mimi!
Raven-4ever: He did! He did it! Yuki's turn is coming up soon too. ((wink wink)) And poor Kyo… I have things planned for him. Thank you for your review!
Blueyedluv: Thank you for reviewing! I hope you'll like the next chapter and enjoyed this one!
Squishy Penguin: Thank you for the compliment! ((hugs)) :D Just had to do that. ((sweat drop)) Heh-heh… Anyways, stay around for the next chapter!
Thank you all for reviewing! Please review. It'll make me happy and motivate me to update:D