Disclaimer: Hey, guess what, the ruler works again! Yay! Wait... this is the disclaimer... um... heh -.-' I don't own Fruits Basket...?
Eh heh... I guess you can see that the ruler works, FINALLY. Ahem, sorry. Anyway, thanks to my reviewers (cough). Anyway, there is gonna be one more chapter, and then this will be over. Truthfully, I don't know how many times I've said that already... XD Sorry about that. But I can GUARANTEE that the next one will be the last actual chapter. And, before any of you scold me for not posting all this 4 day weekend, blame DC. I went by train to there to visit a relative of mine, and I just got back. I was without computer access for three days, so I suffered. Anyway, here it is, don;t throw anything at me.
Chapter 21
Kyo and Tohru were in the kitchen, cooking. It was morning, and the couple was preparing a great meal for the rest of the inhabitants of the house. And, as always, they were laughing and giggling and flirting and kissing each other. Today they were making an American breakfast dish, the oh-so-famous flap-jack (pancake, for those of you who have no brain XD).
"Ha ha, Tohru, you have a bunch of flour on your nose." Tohru crossed her eyes to look at her powdery white nose. Unfortunately, she couldn't see the huge blotch of four on her nose, so she tried to wipe it off with her hand, trying to guess where it was. Her hand was a powdery white as well, so she just smudged the powder all over her face. Kyo just kept on laughing at her cuteness and her ethereal appearance.
"Well, just keep on laughing!" Tohru gathered a whole cup of flour and threw in Kyo's face (HA). It was the onigiri's turn to laugh, so she did. Kyo looked very odd with his flaming orange hair and a completely white face.
"You know what, I will!" Now Kyo grinned evilly, while taking a gigantic handful of powder, and threw it all over Tohru, from her head to her feet. She screamed and took an ever bigger handful, which all landed on Kyo's hair, making him look old. "Flour fight!" They continued to pelt each other with the white substance, making a complete mess of the kitchen.
Then, and they were engaging in flour warfare, Tohru slipped and fell onto Kyo, knocking both of them to the floor. They were both still laughing, but both Kyo and Tohru were becoming more serious at the moment. Soon, there was no laughter, only heavy breathing (from the flour fight, get your minds out of the gutter!). Kyo smiled and kissed Tohru quickly, before rolling over, pushing her under him (the gutter still has many a mind in it…!), so he could get up and help her up.
They stood there staring at each other, until Kyo took half of the bag and poured it onto Tohru, who gaped at him, but not for long. Soon the flour fight had picked up again, and they both were merely white blobs slipping on the ground and throwing equally white powder at each other.
Suddenly, Kyo had another idea. He tackled Tohru (softly) to the ground and… (THE GUTTER IS OVERFLOWING) started tickling her! She was laughing hysterically (and loudly). "S-stop! Ha ha ha! K-Kyo!" Tohru was laughing so hard tears were rolling down her face. But Kyo didn't stop tickling her, and she didn't stop laughing.
"Never!" Tohru, being so strong (since no one can resist a tickle fight), pushed herself up off the ground and started tickling Kyo. "T-Tohru! Ha ha!" Tohru wasn't feeling merciful today, either, so she kept on tickling Kyo. The tables had turned again when Yuki and Shigure walked into the kitchen. First, they stared at the white walls, then at the white floor. Next, at the unfinished pancake batter, then finally at the two white figures that were rolling around on the floor and laughing uncontrollably.
"MY KITCHEN!"
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Amaya woke with a start. She could have sword she had heard someone, who sounded awfully like that dumb ex-dog, screaming something about their kitchen.
"Ugg…" Amaya looked at the clock. It was only 6 AM. "It's too early…" She fell back into bed, but not before getting a glimpse at Mi Nami, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, talking to someone Amaya couldn't see.
"Oh, Imouto is up." Mi Nami, who had just turned around, had been talking to Akito. "Hello, Imouto, how was your sleep?" Amaya shot a weird look at Akito, who pretended to look hurt. "I suppose you wonder why I'm calling you Imouto, don't you?"
"Don't tell me, please. I can do without one of your boring speeches." Mi Nami was staring at Akito in hate, who ignored both the cold glare and the unfeeling remark.
"I've had a change of heart. I'll let you do what you want now, including going to the trip with (my other) Imouto. In fact, I will let you date that Megumi boy." Amaya rolled her eyes; did this guy (cough cough GIRL cough cough) not get it? He wasn't kami (god) anymore, so he controlled nothing!
"What the hell don't you get! You are not the boss of me anymore! I don't fear you! I don't respect you! I don't care about you! I'll do what I want, whether you want me to or not! Stop letting your big head get so inflated and try to be humble for once!" Amaya jumped out of bed and marched over to where Akito was standing. "I understand you want someone to love you, but forcing them to do so is not the way. Onee-chan, please, try." Mi Nami's eyes widened. What did Amaya mean by "onee-chan"!
"I will try. Thank you. Now, please, I have business to attend to. I have already settled everything with Imouto Mi Nami and she will fill you in from here. I bid you good day." Akito bowed and sped off, apparently to something important.
Amaya bowed back and sat beside Mi Nami. "So… what did Onee-chan say?"
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"I-I can explain." A Tohru completely covered in white stuttered as she got up. She slipped again, but an evenly white Kyo caught her.
"I started the flour fight; I was trying to have some fun." Kyo stared at Shigure solemnly, and Tohru gazed at him. She was so lucky to have Kyo watching over her. She sighed and rested her head on Kyo's shoulder. She knew if she spoke up Kyo would be angry.
"Oh, it's alright! Seems like fun! Just make sure you clean it up. Now… what else did you two do?" Yuki, who was still tired, just looked at Shigure dumbly and slapped him.
"Yes, Shigure-san!" Tohru smiled and picked up some flour that was on the ground. Then, she threw it at Kyo, who just stared at her. "Um… Kyo…?" As she questioned her boyfriend, Tohru received a mouth full of four. "Kyo!" The red head laughed, and he too received a mouthful of flour.
"I'm gonna get you!" As Kyo bent down to pick more flour up, Tohru threw more at him and ran for cover behind Yuki. "Ah!" Kyo screamed and threw the flour he had picked up at Tohru's head that had popped up behind Yuki's shoulder. Instead of hitting Tohru, the flour hit Yuki, who was still half asleep, accurately in the middle of his face.
"Kyo…" Yuki growled at Kyo, before officially stooping to his level and throwing a handful of powdery flour into his opponent's face. Before Kyo could react, Yuki walked away indifferently, leaving Tohru in open fire.
"Ha ha, I've got you now!" Kyo threw another ball of flour at Tohru and hit her stomach. She giggled and hid behind Shigure. "Coward!" Shigure laughed, but it didn't last for long, because a fistful of flour hit is nose. Tohru tossed a flour lump over Shigure's head and it hit Kyo dead on. Play-acting, Kyo fell to the floor clutching his chest, where the flour hunk had hit him (ah ha ha, this is scary, ha ha).
"Goodbye…" Tohru rushed to Kyo's side and started (mockingly) telling him why he shouldn't go. Inside, Kyo was laughing hysterically, but he controlled himself and laid there, closing his eyes.
"No, Kyo, you can't go! I'll miss you! Eh heh heh" Tohru was trying hard not to laugh, but she couldn't contain herself when Kyo playfully reached up, pretending to be losing energy.
"Remember me…" Then, Kyo pulled Tohru into a kiss, and let his hand drop dramatically. "I will miss you…" He closed his eyes, and Tohru burst out laughing. One of Kyo's eyes peaked open to see Tohru laughing. "So if I really die, you'll be laughing?" Still giggling, Tohru shook her head.
"How dramatic…" Shigure smiled and walked back into his study, trying to wipe the powdery white substance off of his nose, while sneezing (And a song someone sings, once a December! Heh heh, sorry).
Kyo sighed and got up, helping the still laughing brunette up as well. "I guess we better clean up now…" Tohru calmed down and nodded, taking a mop and zooming across the floor double speed (ha ha, we need to turn this into a musical montage! Hmm… Kodocha Ultra Relax! Zenryoku zenkai II yukagen zenryoku zenshin nuruma yukagen! Zenryoku zenkai II yukagen zensen zenshou II anbai! Sorry, too much, I know). Kyo just picked up a rag and started cleaning up the counter slowly, watching Tohru. He heard music, and, wondering what it was coming from, looked around. "What the hell? What is this, a stupid musical montage?" (Ha ha, sorry, I couldn't help myself XD)
"Here, let me help you!" Tohru was already done with the floor, and now was wiping the counters with Kyo. She had gone so fast Orangey had become quite dizzy (not like it wasn't all ready! Ba da bum! Ha ha, wait… I BETTER NOT BE PAYING THAT DRUMMER GUY!). After blinking a few times, Tohru had cleaned up the rest of the room, and the music had stopped (ah ha ha, Kyo was right for once, it WAS a musical montage!). "We're done! Yay!"
Kyo, after staring at Tohru, who had now grown silent in worry of what Kyo could be thinking, smiled, trying not to wonder what had happened. "Yup, we're done."
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"Konicchi wa, Hanajima-sama. May I please talk to Megumi-kun?" (Hanajima-sama is not Hana-chan; she's her mom, that's why sama is used) Amaya was talking on her black cell phone (which had a cute little Mogeta key chain on it, like Hiro's).
"AMAYA-CHAN! I haven't spoken to you in such a long time! I had thought you had disappeared or something when Megumi came home so dreadfully sad! I would think he's rather besotted with…" The loud, cheery voice that had been blaring (because of her almost screaming XD) through the phone stopped in the middle of the sentence. Instead, another voice, one more monotonous, was heard, quietly.
"Mother, please don't. Amaya, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Amaya almost laughed into the receiver, she could only imagine the look on Megumi's face right now, and how his mother would be laughing.
"Ah ha ha, gomen. Anyway, I called to tell you…" Amaya stopped as she heard the phone click, and then a voice blasted through the speaker.
"Amaya-chan, if you have something to tell Megumi, please come over here! I just made some wonderful yokan and I even prepared a few tempura ice creams that are being uneaten in the freeze…" (yokan is a gelatin cake made with bean paste, sugar, and seaweed gelatin, and tempura ice cream has a hot tempura shell on the outside, like fried ice cream, and green tea ice cream in it) Amaya smiled, Hanajima-sama was so vivacious, and her children were nothing like her.
"No, why don't all of you come over here, I'll prepare dinner, and I've already made millions of mochi!" (Mochi is a food eaten primarily on New Year's because it symbolizes health and good fortune. I believe it is made with rice flour, mochi-ko or shiratama-ko, and other ingredients to give it different flavors, and is molded into different shapes. Mochi is not only Japanese; it appears in Chinese, Thai, Hawaiian, and Philippine cuisines. It is sweet, chewy, and decadent. It's so chewy many people die choking on it, so BE CAREFUL. Thank you gajin guide for the info!)
"Alright, dear, we'll bring dessert!" That being said, both women hung up the phone and rushed off, to do one thing or another.
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Just as Amaya had tidied up, cooked dinner, set the table, and put the food on burners to keep it warm until the Hanajima's came, her eyes widened. She hadn't told Hanajima-sama where "here" was (ha ha ha, has that ever happened to you?).
"HOLY KAMI! I have to…" (Kami means God in Japanese) Amaya had practically thrown herself into a spasm (heh, it seems as if Mrs. Hanajima isn't quite the best at finding her way XD) when the doorbell to her tiny shack rang (uh… how is she going to fit six people into that thing O.o).
As she opened the door anxiously, she saw a smiling Rei (as much as a cat can smile…), who seemed to have lead the five other people behind him to her house. Hanajima-sama waved happily and grinned, while Megumi let out such a microscopic smile that Amaya's sharp eyes could barely detect it.
"Hello, dear, I haven't seen you in ages!" Hanajima-sama smiled wider and hugged Amaya, nearly suffocating her. After being let go, and gasping in some precious air, Amaya bowed respectfully to Hanajima sensei (Mr. Hanajima) and smiled kindly at Megumi and Hana-chan.
"Come in. I apologize for it being so… small, but I cannot change that. Dinner is all ready, I'm just keeping it warm. Rei will show you to the table, and I'll get the food." Amaya walked off, with Megumi following her, to the kitchen. Once they were there, Megumi grabbed Amaya's arm, and she turned around.
"What do you have to tell me? I am starting to worry, you seem so sad." She smiled sadly, wondering how Megumi had guessed that she was upset. Usually, she hid it so well no one would be able to tell.
"I'm… I'm going with Mi Nami. I promise that you can come with us for the summer, and that I'll spend most holidays here, but I'm going, you can't change that." Amaya watched as Megumi bowed his head, she, feeling just as gloomy, did the same.
"I know I can't change your mind, so… just don't forget me, ok?" She nodded, knowing she couldn't forget Megumi if Hatori erased her memory. He stepped closer, taking her chin in his hand and lifting it up gently. "Why are you so sad?"
"I wish you could come…" Amaya forgot the words in her mouth, swallowing them whole as she saw how close Megumi's face was to hers. He kissed her tenderly and lightly, before she pulled away, not giving either of them enough time to intensify the kiss. "I'm leaving tomorrow, so I don't want to make it harder for you. Now help me carry the food in, Hana-chan must he ready to eat my cat." (Ha ha, poor Rei)
Just as Hana-chan really was thinking about eating Rei, Amaya and Megumi came in bringing huge dishes of every Japanese food you could think of, from miso soup to nikujaga. Hanajima-sama's eyes seemed to be sparkling in delight. She, even though she did not appear to, loved to eat, eat, and EAT (XD that sounds fun!).
"Oh my, Amaya-chan, you made such a feast!" Apparently, Hana-chan was in agreement, for one could almost see her mouth watering (mine wouldn't be, miso soup is disgusting, and most of the stuff is fish and sea weed! Eww, it would make me gag).
As soon as Amaya and Megumi set down the food, the others dug in; acting as if it was the last meal they would ever eat. However, Megumi just played with his food, and Amaya could only get herself to eat a few things that were oriented to fish.
After dinner, when the three other Hanajima family members have devoured all that Amaya had made, Hanajima-sama pulled both Amaya and Megumi aside, questioning them on what had happened in the kitchen to make them so down in the dumps.
They had both blushed and turned the opposite way, and they ended up sitting on opposite sides of the overcrowded settee with Hana-chan and her father.
Soon it came time for goodbyes, and Amaya got many well wishing for her travels, thought Megumi didn't bid a farewell to her, and even if he wanted to, his pride certainly wouldn't let him wish her luck.
Once the Hanajima family had departed from her tiny house, Amaya decided she should call the few other friends she had, to tell them that she was leaving, and that they couold come and see her off if they wanted to.
Anyway, hope you liked it. If you didn't, too bad for you. Don't throw anything at me. Review and remember, people. I have a sequel planned out, so don't you dare think that I'll be through after the next chapter. Sayonara, Neko Warrior signing out.