AN-Because my daughter's Fruits Basket books are packed in preparation for our move, I don't have access to the stories to get it clear in my mind exactly when Hana first saw Kazuma and vice versa. With that being stated, I am taking some creative liberties with the story in order to be able to write it at all!
Also, I feel it only fair to give you guys an operational definition of a term I am using in the story. The term is "glamour" and no I am not referring to the women's magazine LOL. I am using it in the archaic sense, referring to an enchantment that is cast to create an illusion, in this case to amplify Hana's already considerable beauty. I figure Hana's denpa waves can probably do more than telepathy, so I am embellishing on it a bit.
I do not own Fruits Basket!
I said nothing of seeing Kyo's father at his dojo when I met Tohru and Uo later that day. I knew I would see him again, but I didn't know when, and there was little point in relaying any information until I myself had a better idea of what was going to happen.
When I did see him again, it was nearly six months later at our class performance of "Sorta Cinderella." I had already changed out of my costume and was trying to find Megumi amongst the crowd. I felt a flow of chaos disrupting the waves of the girls near me in the hallway. I looked in their general direction, but in the crush of people filling the hallway, I couldn't necessarily see what had whipped them into a frenzied emotional state. I tuned in to their waves. "Oh my God, he's gorgeous!"…"Is that Kyo's brother?"…"I think that's his father!"
I walked slowly into the swarming morass of noisy teens. At my approach, the students dove to either side of the hall and knocked each other down in their efforts to avoid accidentally touching me; I head their whispers "denpa witch…," "poisonous waves…," "killed a girl at her old school…," but I ignored them, as was my custom, not bothering to spare them a glance as I continued to slowly walk forward.
The squirming waves of people had parted before me like water, and at the end of the corridor, I saw him. I could see Kyo standing next to him, and both he and the man were listening to someone just out of view speak with them. As I drew closer, I began to assert my denpa waves to amplify my presence and envelope me in a glamour. Feeling my waves increase in frequency, the man turned his head and met my eyes.
His eyes were a soft hazel color, not quite green and not quite brown, but a little bit of both. As I drew nearer, Kyo also noticed my approach, and I saw that he and his companion had been speaking with Kyo's cousin Shigure and with Tohru.
"Ahhh…Saki-chan," Shigure said lightly, "How lovely to see you again." Shigure's nervousness called to me clearly over the waves, belying his flippant tone, but I did not spare him a glance. Instead I extended my hand to the man who stood at Kyo's side and smiled my most bewitching and beguiling smile.
"Kyo, do introduce me to your father. He has the benefit of knowing my name when I don't even have the pleasure of an introduction." I said in dulcet tones. Kyo's hackles visibly went up and Shigure's brow arched quizzically at my unexpected tone and manners. From across the waves, I received a vision of Kyo with cat ears pinned back flat to his skull, eyes narrowed, tail bushed out, and hissing, and I wondered what its significance was.
"Oh Hana, this here is Sohma Kazuma-san, Kyo's foster father and shishou. He came here to see Kyo's performance today," Tohru explained helpfully. "Kazuma-san, this is one of my dearest friends, Hanajima Saki. We have been best friends since middle school." I was still holding Kazuma's gaze in mine. In his waves I sensed recognition and curiosity, "She looks so like my mystery woman that I saw…could they be one and the same?" So he had seen me as I had walked away from his dojo, and more importantly, he remembered me in a possessive sense; I was his mystery woman.
I continued to hold his hand in mine, feeling pulsing little shock waves of energy coursing back and forth between us. Interesting, I thought to myself, there seems to be some sort of current that is generated when we touch. That wasn't something that had happened for me before. The current left a pleasant tingling sensation on my hands and I wondered if he could feel it too. I was puzzled as to what the significance of the energy was, but I turned my attention away from my thoughts and back on to Kazuma.
"Surely you can't be old enough to be the father of junior in high school?" I said quietly in a soft, girlish voice. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Kyo was now turning a flushed shade of red and lunging at me, and that a bemused Shigure was restraining him by holding him by the back of the neck. Dear, sweet Tohru stood there smiling benignly, as she watched my interaction with Kazuma, completely oblivious of Kyo's distress behind her. Kazuma blushed slightly, clearly uncomfortable with the compliment.
"I'm sure my daily exercise and good diet are to blame," he said hesitantly. "I am in my early forties." His waves betrayed his feelings of ambivalence towards me. I could feel that he was physically attracted to me and that he did feel the current passing back and forth between us; and yet he was also concerned with the propriety of his attraction to a girl the same age as his foster son and what sort of example he was setting for Kyo. Although I felt some degree of anticipation, I knew I could afford to be patient with him. Now that he was aware that our social circles overlapped, I could easily arrange to be in his presence again. I sensed that now was not the time to push things. Maintaining my eye contact with Kazuma, I released his hand. I felt the pleasant, tingling energy from our contact dissipating.
"Sohma Kazuma-san, it has been a pleasure making your acquaintance. I am certain we will run into each other again." I bowed deeply to him. He bowed in return. Increasing the glamour of my waves around me again, I turned and began to walk back the way from which I came. I sensed his regret at my departure and I could hear him speaking to Kyo as I exited the hall.
"What a lovely classmate you have, Kyo!" As I walked away, I heard Kyo's plaintive howl responding to him.
"Shishou! Don't get married!" I heard Kazuma laugh, and Kyo's sputtering, angry response was lost in the cacophonous jumble of noise from the other students as I walked down the steps outside the school to the sidewalk, but the ripples he left in the ether from his angry waves made me laugh softly to myself.
I saw Megumi waiting for me under a copse of cherry trees near the bike rack. Several students were eyeing him warily as they worked to quickly unchain their bicycles and speed away. When they saw my approach, their eyes widened with panic and they doubled their efforts furiously.
"I hope I did not keep you waiting overly long," I said quietly as I looped my arm through Megumi's and we began to walk home.
"Not at all," he said in his quiet, steady voice. "I enjoyed the quiet beauty of the cherry trees." He paused and seemed thoughtful, but I could feel the undercurrent of his amusement as he spoke. "However, I seemed to be the only one who noticed them. Your schoolmates were in a terrible hurry to leave."
"They often are." I commented dryly. Megumi was quiet for a moment as we walked toward home.
"I sense in you a certain degree of excitement and preoccupation, Saki." He paused and waited to see if I would elucidate on his observation. I didn't feel completely ready to share my feelings about Kazuma with anyone before I myself had a chance to examine them; but I didn't want Megumi to worry unnecessarily about me so I decided to share a little.
"I have met someone whom I find interesting," I said quietly, keeping my words deliberately vague. Megumi merely raised an eyebrow in response, but said nothing. Words were not necessary between us, and he left me to my thoughts. We continued walking in a companionable silence towards our home.
AN: I realize this story is moving a bit slowly and I apologize. I have a terrible tendency to put a lot of effort into establishing the back story for the characters. I promise we are getting to more Kazuma/Hana interaction soon. I have been ambivalent about how much citrus to put in my M rated stories. The fanfiction guidelines discourage explicitness in the stories and yet most of the stories I've read are pretty graphic (including my daughter's…how uncomfortable is that???!!!! Reading that sort of thing written by your own child!!!!! Arghhhhh!). Gwen Depp (aka Chibi Neko Chan) has told me I can be as bad as your average romance novel in terms of being graphic, so that's kind of what I am considering doing. Please review and weigh in your opinion about how much "citrus" I should put in this story LOL.
