The Book Of Hana (#64 "autumn")
Title: The Book Of Hana
Challenge: #64 "autumn"
Characters: Hana, Shigure (part 3), Uo (part 1)
Warnings: None.
Notes: Three parts, 100 words each.
Fruits Basket © Natsuki Takaya / KAKUSENSHA - TV Tokyo - NAS - Furuba Project / FUNimation Productions, Ltd.
Uo and Hana were walking part of the way home together after school.
Uo crossed her arms and shivered. "Brr... Summer's over, Hana. It's gonna get cold tonight."
"Mmm," Hana said. "I think I shall bring my heated table out of storage, and enjoy this crisp autumn evening with a cup of hot tea and a good book."
"Sounds like a plan," Uo said. "Whatcha gonna read?"
Instead of answering directly, Hana reached into a pocket, and held up a copy of Shigure's latest and newly-published dime-store novel.
"Wait a minute," Uo said. "I thought you said 'a good book'."
A slight and pale young girl in flowing black clothing slowly walked through a woods in autumn. A study in black-and-white, she passed through the colorful falling leaves like a ghost from another time.
As she passed an abandoned and ancient shrine in ruins, she paused, and tilted her head to one side, as if she had heard something. An outsider might have thought she could hear the voices of the spirits- like a psychic.
Hana paused for a sip of tea. This character is strangely familiar, she thought. But it doesn't matter- this is obviously Shigure's best work yet.
Shigure heard a quiet measured knock at the door from his writing desk. Tohru and the boys were out, and so he went to answer the door himself.
Just as he opened the door to see Hana, apparently come to return her copy of his latest novel, a gust of wind blew up the autumn leaves behind her. The colorful leaves seemed to swirl in the air around Hana, as if they were a physical manifestation of her power.
"GAH!!" said Shigure. He staggered back, and tried to calm himself. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?" Hana asked innocently.