Tohru stared blankly across the room, her mind completely focused on Yuki and his well being. All she could think of was him. She knew she shouldn't be thinking about Yuki; at least not after what had happened after she got home from the hospital. After he had dropped her off she had gone through the main gates assuming there was no point in sneaking in anymore. Of course, Yuki had stayed around watching her to make sure she got in unharmed, but there was nothing he could do to keep her out of trouble from her family. Once the guards let her in and she stepped into the palace she was bombarded with questions from Haru and Kisa who had been standing by the door. That wasn't even the worst part, what horrified her most was the menacing glare she received from her aunt and uncle.
The only words she was able to choke out of her suddenly dry throat were in the form of an excuse. Even that excuse was still part true; she had told them that she helped a man who had collapsed and stayed with him until he was conscious. That excuse made up for why she was out so late, but at the same time it didn't even begin to cover why she had left in the first place. Just by looking at her family, she knew that question was on their minds and she would remain forever grateful because they chose not to ask. Like always, it was Haru who had saved her by telling everyone to go to bed since what mattered was that Tohru was home safe and sound. Kisa agreed with this easily, their aunt and uncle had no choice but to oblige seeing how late it was. That was yesterday…
"-ru! Tohru!" snapped Oubasan.
"Eh?"
Her voice brought Tohru back to reality. Tohru frantically looked around the room realizing that she had spaced out. She glanced out the window at the bright sun before peering at her surroundings once again. She didn't recall coming in this room. This room was used for formal meetings and arrangements. It was decorated simply yet elegantly. Both her aunt and her uncle were seated on either side of her. They had no reason to bring her in here by herself unless they were arranging her marriage which they had only talked to her about on Kisa's birthday. It was only then did she realize that there was a fourth person in the room, sitting directly across from her.
"Were you listening at all?" Hakufu questioned, his cold words stinging her ears.
"Ye-yes…" Tohru whispered nervously.
"Then… Who is he?" Oubasan asked pointing to a dark, sinister looking man with dark hair that reminded Tohru of death. Just one look at him made her shiver with fear. Those black eyes of this man seemed to be holding nothing but endless evil, malice intentions. She flinched slightly knowing all too well that she shouldn't assume personality traits of a man she didn't know yet, but his looks seemed to spell out bad guy. The three people other than her in the room stared at her waiting for her response. Tohru looked down, blushing embarrassedly, and fingered her dress.
"I'm sorry…" she apologized.
Oubasan shook her head in disgust, clearly unpleased with the result of this arrangement. After she had worked so hard to convince Akito to meet Tohru and consider her for his wife, she didn't want Tohru to blow it by acting like herself. It had been difficult to find an adequate man that would help expand their castle somewhat, but at the same time be willing to marry Tohru. Most princes were either married already or not interested in marrying Tohru, making Tohru's aunt choose a prince that wasn't crazily wealthy. It didn't please her that the man she had chosen for Tohru wasn't as wealthy as other princes, but he'd do.
"Don't mind her. She's a stupid girl who can't stay focused for a second… Then again, what can you expect from a girl?" Hakufu muttered to the dark man.
Tohru blinked wondering how long she had been sitting here, why they were here, and what they wanted. Still, this subject interested her less than Yuki did. It took all her mental strength to keep her mind from drifting back to him. His face, the sound of his voice, his soft touches all lured her, but she clenched her fists and tried to ignore the calls. She'd give anything to leave this place and run into Yuki's arms that were always so tempting. At this point, everyone in the room was too distracted to pay any attention to her tight fists and odd expression of wanting to leave desperately.
"It's alright… This is our first meeting after all. I'm sure she has other more important things on her mind. Have you informed her about our engagement? Such a pity, packages these days don't come with brains and beauty. But what does it matter, it's not like she'll be making any decisions… She'll be a nice addition for me though. We'll discuss this further another day. So if you'll excuse me, I have other things I must attend to," he said in a voice that gave Tohru the creeps.
After receiving a pinch from her aunt, Tohru jumped up and choked out, "Go-goodbye!"
"Farewell, my future wife. I do hope that next time; your mind is focused on me. And once we are married, I won't be pleased if I find out you're thinking of a man other than me," Akito smiled a smile that made her want to back away in terror.
Tohru could do nothing but nod. Hearing him say their engagement and refer to her as his future wife horrified her. She didn't like the fact that her aunt and uncle arranged her engagement to some man she had never met before without talking to her about it. If it was Yuki, then she would have readily accepted, but who was she kidding? A princess rarely, if ever, got what she wanted. Yuki would be a good husband though, a perfect father and everything, but his social status and wealth wasn't in her knowledge though those were the factors that would convince her aunt and uncle. It seemed strange to her now, that he never gave her an indication of where he lived or how high or low his social rank was, but then again, she never spoke of hers either. She could figure out one thing; Yuki was not poor. He couldn't be, not after the diner scene and his lack of worry for money. Still, money wasn't everything; royal blood was what counted towards him being her suitor.
As soon as Akito left the room a loud smack sounded. Tohru sat there in awe. Her cheek stung like crazy, she grasped it gingerly covering her cheek, staring into the icy eyes of her aunt, whose hand hovered past Tohru's face. It took her a few seconds to figure out that she had just been slapped. No one really ever hit her unless she had done something terrible, so that meant impressing Akito was important. She looked down, realizing she was in for a long scolding now. She wanted to yell at herself as well; it was rather silly for her to be thinking of marrying Yuki when she hadn't even know him for a whole year. Besides, she couldn't get her hopes up if he hadn't proposed or even said he loved her.
"How dare you embarrass us like that? That dark haired man was supposed to be your husband! Akito, the prince of Kasa! Now look what you did? He's perfect! You should be glad he doesn't hate you!" roared Oubasan her hands in tight fists drawing Tohru out of her thoughts of Yuki once again.
"Darling, relax… Akito will be back. We made sure of that earlier… Don't worry about a thing," Hakufu reassured her.
"You better not do anything else that's stupid!" Oubasan yelled glaring at Tohru angrily.
"I'm sorry…" Tohru murmured.
---
It has been a couple of days since her meeting with Akito, but that announcement still flooded her head. Future husband… Future husband, Akito, future husband to her Tohru Honda, was Akito. That was a strangely horrifying thought. These words clouded Tohru's thoughts as she stared blankly out the window. She shook her head clearing her mind of Akito, but now a certain silver haired man came to her thoughts. Her eye's widened, for the first time since she met Yuki, he hadn't been on her mind for a whole hour. It was only now did she begin to see the resemblance between Akito and Yuki. Their hairstyle was similar, so maybe marrying Akito would be like marrying Yuki! She tired to convince herself of this, but her heart, soul, and mind doubted it. Akito was missing some things like warmth and love, for example, which were evident in Yuki. Those things were important to her. She missed Yuki; she wanted to see him now.
"Yuki…" Tohru whispered putting her hand on the glass pane of the window.
"Snow?"
Tohru jumped up in surprise. Looking behind herself for the first time, she found that she wasn't alone in the room. Haru and Kisa were sitting on the sofa beside her. They both eyed her oddly switching their views from her bright red face to the window checking for any signs of a snowfall but found none. This scene baffled them. There was no reason for Tohru to suddenly mention snow while looking outside when there was no snow. Tohru looked away with a flustered expression as she sat down in an armchair next to her. This would be something difficult for her to cover up.
"Onee-chan?"
"Tohru are you feeling okay?" Haru asked as he reached over and placed his hand on her forehead.
"It's about fall now… It won't snow for another few months," Kisa added as Haru withdrew his hand. Tohru felt warm, very warm, but he knew that the heat was coming from her embarrassment rather than an illness. He didn't see why she found the situation embarrassing. She had done far more embarrassing things in her life than randomly blurting out words, unless of course she meant Yuki as something other than winter snow. That was always a possibility that would need some investigating to prove his thoughts wrong or correct. He'd prefer it not to be the name of a man because that meant Tohru was going to fall in love with him, then she'd get intimate, and then she'd get pregnant. He wasn't ready for Tohru to leave home or to be an uncle himself. Maybe he'd be ready when she was forty. Yes, that sounded like a good time for her to think about men. Now was simply too soon.
"Ah… Well… You're right," Tohru stammered.
"What's with the sudden outburst?"
"Um you see… I just haven't seen snow for a while so… I… er… miss it…" Tohru made up biting her lower lip lightly.
"You still have to wait a while to see that… Even a princess can't rush the seasons," teased Haru.
Tohru smiled glad to see they bought her lie. She didn't like to lie, but it was half true. She did want to see snow, not the white stuff that falls from the sky, but the man named after the beautiful white creation of god. His name was both fitting and contradictory to his personality. Snow was naturally frigid, but Yuki on the other hand was warm, the most caring man she had ever known. What she thought fit was in the comparison between the looks. Yuki's soft grey locks did remind her of a snowy day, and the beauty of a single snowflake was as gorgeous as he was. Bringing him up, Tohru remembered that her get well gift for him was still sitting in her room, waiting to be finished. She sat up straighter knowing that she had to leave now.
"Um… If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go back to my room now," Tohru told her siblings as she got up and bowed.
"Okay…" replied the youngest.
"Alright then…" responded the white haired teenager.
Tohru gave a small grin before rushing off to her room. She had to complete her present for him tonight before she went to see him. It'd be odd to give him a get well gift weeks after he was out of the hospital. She wanted to complete it soon, but at the same time, she wanted to work slowly and carefully so the gift wouldn't look sloppy and rushed. Tohru had several hours until she had to go meet him; that had to be long enough to make something nice for Yuki.
Kisa set her embroidery down and looked at Haru seriously, "Niisan, do you think she was talking about her friend?"
Haru's eyebrows raised slightly, the only indication that he was listening. She was reminding him of his previous thought about this snow Tohru mentioned, and at the moment Haru didn't want a confirmation that it was indeed a man Tohru had been talking about. He lowered the magazine he was reading and looked at her directly. Any ideas and information about who Tohru was seeing were still of great interest to him though. Haru remained silent, waiting for her to go on.
"Um… Maybe 'Yuki' is his name…" Kisa explained.
"That's a possibility..."
"Do you think that it's the same Yuki?"
What she had said so far made a light bulb lit up in his head, but his realization wouldn't be stated aloud until he got some proof or indication that he was correct. There would be no point in getting his hopes up to have them crushed. His eyes stayed dilated from what he was mentally concluding. A part of him was delighted for both Tohru and Yuki, but another half was unsure. He didn't want the past to repeat itself. Haru wanted Tohru to have happiness; she deserved it, whether it would be gained from being with Yuki or not.
"I don't know Kisa… There are many people named Yuki… We could be wrong in assuming that his name is even Yuki or even if he really is a male. But you know it probably is… I guess fate isn't done with them yet…" he said that, more so to convince himself not to get too excited than for Kisa.
Kisa smiled; glad to know that her idea wasn't entirely crazy. She hoped it was the same Yuki. She hoped it was the same silver haired man with all her heart. Tohru and Yuki, they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, like a lock and a key, like two pieces of a broken heart. For Tohru's sake, she hoped the rivalry between the two kingdoms would vanish before Tohru was married to Akito. Tohru had told Kisa and Haru about her future husband, and from the sounds of it, he was a bad guy. Yuki wasn't, so for Tohru's sake, she prayed with all her might that the hatred would disappear.
Tohru entered her room quickly, quietly shutting the door behind her. The soft click of the lock sounded, signaling the end of any disturbances from the outside. Her hands fumbled with the clasp of her necklace, separating the once connected ends of the gold chain. A small key dangled at the end like a charm. She kneeled down beside her bed and pulled out a chest from underneath. Tohru slipped the key into the lock and turned the key, unlocking the chest. She withdrew a dark blue nearly finished scarf and her knitting needles and yarn from within. Just a little more work and she'd be done with the scarf tonight, meaning she'd be able to give it to him on their scheduled meeting later on. She sat herself down in her wooden armchair and picked up the needles and yarn, carefully finishing the gift. Around half an hour later, Tohru let out a sigh of relief eyeing the finished scarf satisfactorily.
"Perfect," she muttered as she wrapped the scarf around her neck to try it out.
She giggled as she removed the scarf treating it like fragile glass. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin the scarf she had just knitted. Gently she set it down on her seat and put her needles and yarn away. Tohru hopped onto her bed resting her head on her pillow and yawned. For a few nights she had stayed up working endlessly to learn how to knit something decent enough to give to him. All she had to do now was wait for nightfall so she could go see him. Shutting her eyes she slipped into a deep sleep.
---
"What kind of parents do I have? They didn't even notice when I'm gone for an entire day. Not that it surprises me… I guess that means I can sneak out to see Tohru more often. Tonight… I can't wait to see you Tohru Honda…" Yuki mumbled to himself as he fingered the card she had given him.
He glanced out the window at the setting sun as he paced around his room. He wanted it to be night already so he could see her. All he could do to satisfy his heart's longings was to reread her card about a million times, admiring the words, and adoring her loopy handwriting. Yuki let out a deep breath as he walked to his desk and set the card carefully atop of a few books. It was finally late enough. He ran his hand through his silver locks, stealing a quick glance in the mirror before he got ready to go meet Tohru. After he bathed and made sure the door was locked he climbed out the window and down the walls to his few hours of blissful freedom.
---
Tohru's eyes slowly opened settling on the clock on the stand beside her bed. Her eyes widened at disbelief staring at the numbers on the clock. It couldn't be that late! She could have sworn she hadn't slept for more than five minutes! The clock had to be broken, but the red color flooding her room from the setting sun outside her window told her the clock was working perfectly. She gasped and jumped out of bed shoving the covers off of her. She couldn't be late; she didn't want to be late to see her Yuki. She grabbed her scarf and hurried out of her room, but not before scolding herself for considering him as her own property.
---
Yuki sat down on the soft grass before the lake. He had already checked all around the place but found no waiting princess. He had yelled at himself for not offering to pick her up a billion times already. Being who she was, she could have easily been kidnapped or even murdered. At the same time, the sane part of him reminded him he couldn't go for her now because they would simply miss each other. Tohru could come to the lake and see that he wasn't there; then she might think he didn't want to see her anymore, which was not true. The best choice, he concluded, was to stay here and wait while praying that she gets here safely on her own. He rested his chin against his left fist and waited anxiously for her to show up, hoping nothing bad happened.
Yuki shivered slightly. The sun had completely set now and the cold air was settling in around him. He didn't realize how cold autumn nights were since he had basically been confined in his room all his life. He wrapped his arms around his knees in attempt to stay warm. His breath could be seen in the frigid air. When he was about to get up and send a search party out for Tohru he felt something warm and fuzzy wrap around his neck. His eyes enlarged from shock for a split second until he realized the only person who would come here at this time of day was Tohru. He looked up staring into happy chocolate orbs.
"You should dress more warmly! Fall nights can be really cold! I don't want you to get sick again! Are you feeling better?" Tohru exclaimed worriedly though a smile was still across her face.
Yuki gazed into her eyes as he pushed a few of her long dark strands behind her ear. She blushed but still looked overjoyed; she appeared as if she had been deprived of a vital nutrient. That nutrient was Yuki. For a minute, all she could do was gaze into his deep grey eyes and watch him stare back in a trance like state. A breeze came in, blowing dried leaves around and tossing the scarf around Yuki's neck, unwinding it and trying to steal it away with the leaves. He grabbed onto one of the soft ends to keep it from soaring into the sky. The carefully knitted wool was obviously hand made, that made Yuki grin.
"Did you make this for me?" Yuki asked with a smile as he admired the navy scarf.
"Ye-yes... I made it for you as a get well gift, and so you wouldn't get sick so often…" She replied slowly as her eyes widened, and she cried, "But you don't have it wear it or anything! It's poorly made, and I'm sure you have something nicer-!"
Her words were cut off by the soft touch of his lips against hers. She nearly fell backwards out of shock, but by this point, he had already anticipated this and had his arm around his waist already. Tohru stared at him before dropping down onto her knees so that she was face to face with him. His lips never lost contact with hers. He gave her a short but sweet kiss, breaking away only to whisper into her ear, "Thank you… It's beautiful…"
Tohru blinked a couple of times slightly flustered as her cheeks darkened. She beamed joyfully nonetheless. He wrapped the scarf tighter around his neck so the wind wouldn't attempt to take it again. She watched him do this and smiled again, feeling more important and cherished than she had ever felt before. Little did she know, the scarf would become something that Yuki would treasure for the rest of his life. He cupped her chin in his hands, their eyes locked for a moment before their lips met in another gentle kiss.
---
"Yuki?" Ayame called knocking on the large wooden doors.
Hearing no response he opened the doors with his lock picking skills and sang, "Heeeeeeeeeeeeellooooooooo?"
The only light that shined in the room came from a small candle left lit on Yuki's desk. Not a single window was open to let in a ray of moonlight. Leaving the candle lit was pretty careless of Yuki since he wasn't even in his room. Ayame walked over to the desk muttering something about saving Yuki's life. He was about to blow out the candle but the card on a stack of books caught his attention. Curiosity overtook him as he grabbed the card that looked like it had been opened and closed numerous times from the state of the binding. He slowly unfolded the card. His eyes widened as he read it cautiously. Ayame reread the note, slower each time before the candle flickered out and thunder made a loud frightening boom, but Ayame didn't even budge.
Yuki gracefully climbed up the wall and through the window landing without a sound. Tohru and he had to cut their meeting short after a couple of hours since they heard the thunder boom. He was upset that they hadn't stayed together longer, but he had to admit it was a whole lot better than not having seen her at all. He looked back out the window at the gloomy night sky muttering, "Good… I made it before the rain fell…"
Ironically enough the cool pellets of rain started falling from the sky landing on his face after he finished his sentence. The atmosphere outside was a reflection of how he felt inside now that he wasn't with Tohru anymore. He sighed and shut the window locking it. Yuki turned around facing his dark room as lightening stuck a good distance away. The purplish glow lit up the room, revealing to Yuki the long haired man who was sitting on his bed.
Sorry for the late update! Long chapter makes up for everything, right? XD The next chapter either will be EXETREMELY long or I may split it into two chapters... Either way my twist shall be revealed! 3 and Aki-chan won by like 2 votes so HE IS SO A MAN! Review!!!!!!!!!
