AN: Yay! I have a fun new chapter for you all! (dances around pleased with self) Also, thank you once again for the reviews, although I was kind of bummed that there weren't more of them, but I won't punish you by waiting because I'm too excited for you to read the next chapter! So here you go and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or Clay Aiken or his songs but I did borrow one for this chapter called "Shine".
GONE…?
Chapter 6 –The Missing Link
When they returned to the house, the girl stopped in the doorway. So this was home until she could remember where her real one was. "Hiranaka-san, I never had a chance to thank you properly!" she blurted out suddenly, bowing respectfully. He turned and looked at her. "I am at your mercy." Koga couldn't help but smiling at her humbleness.
"You can stay with us as long as you like Ame," Hiranaka replied in a pleasant voice. She smiled shyly ducking her head to hide the blush that was creeping up her face.
The afternoon passed away in flurries of activity. Kameko started teaching the girl embroidery, Koga had gone to the neighbor's house a mile down the road to help with some activity or other bringing his father along with him. When they returned, they found the girl in the shed playing with the kittens that came and went as they pleased.
"You really like cats don't you?" Koga asked, petting a playful calico absently.
"Yes, they're adorable!" she cried enthusiastically. "Aren't you Mr. Kitty?" she added to the struggling orange tabby in her hands. "Wow, this cat looks familiar for some reason."
The calico had abandoned Koga for a piece of twine. At least the twine moved and didn't mind being played with. "Maybe you have one like it at home, where you're from," he suggested as she placed the squirming cat on the ground again. It glared at her for a moment before stalking away to take part in the twine war that was taking place on the straw bales.
"Maybe," she repeated distantly.
"Do you… I mean, do you miss it? I know you can't remember it but…"
"I don't know. A little I guess, but if you can't remember, what is there to miss?" she answered, still watching the cats.
You can try to hide away
Every drop of rain
That's hanging over you
"Oh, I'm being silly reminiscing on something like that. I'm here with you now. What more could I ask for than that? You and your family have been so kind to me, I don't know how I can repay you."
And you can say it's all a waste
Lost through time and space
There's nothing left to lose
"Never think that you owe us. We probably owe you. You're a great cook and a wonderful person. Don't worry about anything. Que será será. What will be, will be."
She shuddered as he spoke in that Latin tongue. "Déjà vu," she muttered when he looked at her curiously. Where have I heard that term before? She wondered.
"Come on," he said, taking her by the hand and leading her through the barn door into the coming night. "Let's go for a walk."
They strolled past the cattle barn and out towards the field. The girl was confused, but let him guide her where he would, trusting him completely. Soon they came to a pond hidden by a clump of bushes. Koga smiled at the look of amazement on her face at the sight. It wasn't very large, but it had small stepping stones across the middle and little toy boats that had been set in the water to add color to the otherwise lifeless pond. She's like a little child, he mused. So empty inside yet the littlest memories are wonderful to her.
Like a broken angel on the ground
Like a symphony without a sound
Turn around
Fireflies floated lazily about them as they played with the sailboats. The night was cool and breezy, carrying the faint scent of wet grass that evoked sweet childhood memories. "Did you make these, Koga?" she asked, pushing one on its way to the other side of the pond.
"Yup. When I was about thirteen. Dad showed me how and I worked through dinner every day until I finished them. Mine have never been as good as Dad's though," he added, picking up a miniature cruise ship with a silver edging. "He is a much better craftsman than I could ever be."
"I think you're amazing!" she said, smiling. "I could never do something that incredible!"
"Maybe not, but you are a very talented person. I'm sure there are many things you can do that I couldn't."
"Hmm…"
After awhile, when the stars began to dot the sky, they got up and headed back to the house. She was just wondering if Kameko had put supper on yet, when she felt warm fingers wrap themselves loosely around her own. A shiver of excitement and remorse ran through her, but for what reasons she had yet to understand. Deciding not to read too much into it, she returned the grip, and they continued on.
The evening was a pleasant one spent by the fireplace. The nights were getting cooler, so the bright dancing flames were the perfect cure for the end-of-summer blues. Hiranaka-san read in his chair. A book written by a vaguely familiar author, but the girl decided that nearly everything she came in contact with was "vaguely familiar" nowadays. Kameko worked steadily on mending and hummed along with the radio that was turned on in the kitchen. Koga and the girl spent their time talking quietly on the hearthrug. When the clock chimed ten, they began to rise and collect their things, before heading to their rooms for the night. Koga walked with the girl to her room. Before leaving, he planted a light kiss on her forehead and, while gazing into her confused blue eyes, he said, "I don't know who you are, Ame, and I know we've only just met, but you are amazing to me. I wonder, even if you find out who you are, would you consider maybe, well, being my girlfriend?"
Everything you are
Everywhere you've been
The sinner and the saint
That fight the battle within
"Uh, um," she stuttered, taken aback. "Well I… um…"
"I mean, you don't have to answer right away, but if you would just think about it…"
"Oh, I don't mean to be rude, I do like you! I—you just caught me off guard, that's all. I'm flattered, really! Don't think me ungrateful, please," she spluttered, her face turning brighter and brighter shades of red every minute.
"I would never think you ungrateful, Ame-chan," he said with a wink. "Think about it. I'll see you in the morning!"
She watched him as he went to his room and closed the door behind him. Then, she let herself slide down the wall, coming to her knees with the weight of the whole situation on her shoulders. It's a wonderful feeling, and I should be happy… so why does it feel like the Earth may as well shatter under my feet? she asked the floor.
Every place you go
Everybody knows
Shadows fall across the sun
Sometimes
Shine
You are gonna shine
(Scene Change!)
The next morning found several men impatiently awaiting their ride to Rokanawa. "Where the hell is he?" Yuki demanded of Shigure who was leaning against the entrance gate.
"How should I know?" he said indifferently. "Maybe Akito found out what he was up to?"
Kyo clamped a hand down across Shigure's big mouth. "Don't—say—that!" he hissed. "If that's true, then Tohru's screwed and we'll all end up in Akito's torture room!" Yuki shuddered involuntarily. He had been there before, and he never planned to visit ever again.
The sun had cleared the tops of the trees before they heard the distant roar of an engine. Before Hatori could even put the car on park, they had all piled in. Now Hatori's car wasn't a very new car like a Mustang GT or a PT Cruiser, but it worked, and it didn't look like a misshapen piece of metal either, so he considered himself lucky to have such a car. "Hold on to something," he said in a deep, almost maniacal voice that was completely out of character for him. Then with a rev of the engine and a squeal of the tires, they pealed away from Shigure's house and followed the Modern American Proverb: "Don't hesitate, accelerate!"
After about a half-hour of reckless driving and several near collisions, they pulled to a stop in the parking lot of a hardware store. "Whew. That was so awesome. I haven't done that since I first got this baby," he said enthusiastically. The horrified faces of the others however struck a chord in him, and he added, "By the way, remind me never to do that again. I could have killed somebody."
Shigure laughed heartily. "That's more like the Ha'ri we know!"
Everyone got out of the car and surveyed the town. It wasn't very big. There was a small police/law office, a grocery store, a hardware store, and a post office. That was it, or at least, as far as the men could tell. "Well, come on. There's no sense gawking at everything, we've gotta find out if she's here!" Kyo said, hurrying off towards the police station. The others followed in hot pursuit.
Inside the stuffy little office, there was a man sitting at a desk listening to the news on a portable TV. His eyes darted up as he saw the newcomers enter the room. "Can I help you?" he asked, clearly interested in his new clients. It was very rare that anyone new stopped by this town seeing as it was so small but for the farming community surrounding it. "I don't think I've seen you gentlemen before."
"I doubt you have," Hatori said.
"We're looking for a girl by the name of Tohru Honda. She's about 5'5" or so, brown hair, blue eyes, have you seen her?" Shigure asked, cutting the conversation short.
"You her guardian?" the officer asked, sizing up the man who stood before him. He looked harmless enough, in his traditional clothing and neatly combed hair. The others around him were hard to figure out however. They kept gazing intently at him and glaring around the room and out the windows like they were afraid of something or someone.
"Yes," he said brightly. "I'm Shigure Sohma, and these are my cousins, Kyo, Yuki, and Hatori. Tohru-kun went missing almost a week ago and we've been looking everywhere for her. Have you seen or heard anything of her?" he asked, trying to make it sound as though they were simply traveling from town to town.
"Yeah, she's here all right," the man said, finally assessing that they were to be trusted. "Come on, I'll take you to her myself. Oh, but there's one thing I should tell you about. She's got amnesia or something. She can't even remember her own name. She's with the Hiranaka family now. Goes by the name Ame I think."
"Aw shit," Kyo muttered.
Hatori stood in one of his physician's trances, trying to remember exactly what one could do or say that might jog a person's memory. In this strange silence, they piled into Hatori's car once again, and followed the officer to the Hiranaka farm. Hatori was well behaved with the car this time and he drove like an old man.
"Hiranaka!" the officer called as they pulled into the driveway. A man in his late thirties or early forties, who was just closing the gate, looked up.
"Iwamoto. What a pleasant surprise! I see you brought guests. Are these friends of yours?" he asked jovially.
"Actually Hiranaka, this is about the girl."
"What, you mean Ame? Are you relatives of the girl?" he asked of the men who had assembled behind the officer.
"I'm her guardian," Shigure said, bowing slightly, "Shigure Sohma. Thank you so much for looking after Tohru."
"Oh so it's Tohru?" he asked. "Why it's no trouble at all. She's a wonderful cook and finds ways to earn her keep. My kids have become quite attached to her. Well, come on in and see her. I only hope she remembers you. Her memories have been coming and going since we met her. Are you gonna stay Iwamoto?"
"Oh no, thank you, but I've got to get back and hold the fort down in town."
"All right then. Take care."
The men found their little Tohru in the kitchen, cleaning dishes with the help of an older girl. "Tohru!" Kyo shouted as Yuki said "Honda-san!" at the same time, making the girl drop the plate she had been drying on the floor.
In the mirror of your soul
I know that you know
You are not forsaken
She was in shock, her mind on overload. She knew these boys and the men that were with them. They were so familiar. The names on the tip of her tongue. "K-Kyo… Y-Yuki-kun… I know you…" So many memories were flooding back into her head. Suddenly, without warning, she collapsed, caught only by Kameko just before she hit the ground.
Hey, butterfly
Open up your weary eyes
And realize
It's a trip we're taking
And the world will turn around again
And your shattered heart is gonna mend
In the end…
Now, go and write me reviews!!! (That wasn't an order, just a very enthusiastic suggestion, but I would like to hear from you!)
LinaStar