Childhood Memories - Chapter 05
Title: Childhood Memories
Author: Viv
Genre: drama/angst/romance/humor
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Fruits Basket [manga]
Pairing: Yuki/Kyo
Disclaimer: *shakes head* of course they're mine, like, DUH!
Summary: “What will happen when you go back to normal?” [multi-chaptered: (01) (02) (03) ( 04)]
Laughter.
Many familiar laughs.
Voices he knew, voices he once cherished. It had been so long since he had heard them.
So long since he’d last heard real, undisguised happiness in those voices.
He saw two boys tumbling to the ground, much to the amusement of a group of teens and younger children sitting nearby under the shade of a large tree. The louder of the two boys, blushing madly, quickly scrambled back onto his feet before helping his companion stand up, the corner of his large red eyes crinkling in worry. His friend smiled gratefully and reached out to brush away the dirt and grass on the first boy’s cheek.
“Oh, look at them! Aren’t they such a cute little couple?”
“Indeed, indeed!”
There was more smirking and giggling as two of the older youths winked. The dark-haired one reached out to clasp the slim hand of his partner-in-crime as the latter gazed on approvingly and adoringly.
“Just like the two of us!”
“Very much!” the paler adolescent nodded vigorously, his long white hair following the movement of his head.
The already-blushing boy flushed and glared at the group.
“SHUT UP!”
“We- we’re not…um…We’re not!” the almost mini-sized replica of the white-haired androgynous teen replied quietly, his pale cheeks coloring themselves a light pink.
“Really? Guess I do have a chance then!”
“WHAT! How dare you leave me for my little brother! You are so cruel! I thought you loved me! Me! Such beautiful, gorgeous me! And you will never touch my adorable little brother! Nev-”
Two hands appeared and gave the two pranksters light but solid smacks behind their heads. A third teen, tall with jet black hair, stared at the both of them.
“That’s enough. Leave them alone before that one over there decides to claw your eyeballs out.”
“What? Oh no! Our eyes, our pretty eeeeeyes! Not them. And especially not Aya-chan’s beautiful ones!”
“No, no, no! You’re no fun, Hari! What do you think, Kure-chan? Isn’t Hari-chan boring? Isn’t he? Kure-chan?”
“…”
A few feet away, the young redhead pulled his friend along, his hand tightly clasping that of the thinner boy. No more than five steps later flecks of red and silver could be seen running away as fast as their small feet could take them.
The pale boy laughed, though he was breathing harder as he was still running.
But laughing and smiling came naturally when this silver-haired boy was with his crimson-eyed companion.
----
Large amethyst-colored eyes slowly opened.
Yuki blinked a few times as he tried to push the grogginess out of his mind and clear his blurred vision. He could already feel a light headache coming on and that the exhaustion he felt would refuse to leave for quite a while. He just wanted to go back to sleep.
But no. Something in the back of his still fuzzy mind was telling him that he needed to be awake now, though he couldn’t quite remember what.
‘… a dream?’
He did, however, feel the weight resting on his stomach as he carefully lifted his head, his vision finally clear.
And what he saw was a small sleepy head full of dark orange hair.
‘… Kyo?’
“Sohma-kun?”
The rat looked up with a start and found himself staring into worried brown eyes. It took him a moment to register who it was that they belonged to.
“Honda-san?”
Tohru smiled, relief spreading over her features although the hint of worry did not quite leave her eyes, and reached out, gently squeezing his shoulder.
‘A year ago she would’ve been crying and impulsively hugged me and turned me into a rat... and then cry more and apologize profusely.’
Yuki smiled back, before looking back down at the small bundle curled up beside him, head still resting on his stomach. He didn’t dare move but also couldn’t help wondering how he got in bed in the first place, nor why he was in bed when his clock was telling him that it was seven o’clock in the evening.
“You passed out,” Tohru answered, as if reading his mind, “so Shigure-san carried you back here. Kyo-kun absolutely refused to leave you and has been keeping watch over you since this morning. He even refused to come down for dinner earlier. He fell asleep a little moment ago.”
The rat stared at his friend for a moment, the events from earlier in the day slowly coming back to him. Yuki looked away, embarrassed.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Sohma-kun. My mother told me that you should always be always to cry whenever you need to and especially in front of those who care about you. It shows you trust them, it’s not sign of weakness. You’re a strong person, Sohma-kun.”
Yuki smiled gratefully, though he gaze were still not quite ready to face his friend’s, and-
Grumble.
Grumble, grumble, grumble.
“Oh dear! Are you hungry? I’m so sorry, I’ve only been talking since the moment you’ve woken up! I should’ve asked you before, I’m so sorry Sohma-kun! I’ll got heat the leftovers right away!”
The silver-haired boy flushed and looked away as he heard the brunette giggle.
“Thank you, Honda-san.”
“Could you wake Kyo-kun up then? He hasn’t eaten yet either.”
“No problem, we’ll be right down.”
“Alright then!” the onigiri girl smiled as she disappeared from Yuki’s bedroom and slid the door close.
It took the rat a moment before his purple eyes finally focused on the motionless bundle curled up beside him. Yuki grinned at the quiet and calm form of his ‘younger’ cousin and the amusement in his eyes grew as he watched Kyo practically burying his head into the blanket where it had gathered on his stomach.
‘So adorable.’
The adolescent stared a moment longer at the small Sohma, still not quite willing to wake the boy up. Yuki wanted to keep this image of this child-Kyo that he had never seen imprinted in his mind.
A gentle Kyo, a small boy sleeping peacefully, seemingly free of tension, anger and fear, with no frown marring his face. A young redhead with an expression of innocence, a strong sense of protection and warmth and care that wasn’t yet hidden from others. A little angel smiling childishly instead of scowling when he was awake.
‘Smiling at me.’
Unconsciously, Yuki’s hand rested on his cousin’s head, his thin fingers gently running through the child’s soft, thick hair, as his dark purple eyes became slightly moist and his voice came out in a murmur.
“What will happen when you go back to normal? Will you still care for me like you are now? Or will you go back to hating me? Will you forget about this completely?”
‘Will you go back to hiding yourself from others, and from me? Would you ever show us… me, the real Kyo again?’
A soft rustling answered his quiet questions. The rat blinked a few times, and froze instantly, suddenly realizing where his fingers were, stroking the boy’s hair.
“… don’t stop… Yu-chan…”
“I really like your hands, Yu-chan… They’re so pretty and warm and soft. You’re the only person in the whole world who I don’t mind touching my hair.”
A flash of a small, slim, pale hand buried in lush fire orange hair, and-
-and then Yuki saw his cousin yawn and stretch before opening his red eyes and rubbing the sleep out of them. Kyo looked back at the mouse and smile dazedly, which made the silver-haired teen relax.
“Yuki-chan?”
“Uh hum.”
“You’re awake!”
Yuki chuckled when the boy launched himself at him, throwing his small arms around the older boy’s slender neck and burying his head into the crook of it. Yuki’s amusement, however, quickly died when he realized that the child in his lap was slightly shaking.
‘Wha… wait, are you crying? No, why are you crying?’
“Koneko.”
Quiet sobs answered him.
“Little neko, why are you crying? Kyo? Kyo! Look at me!”
Yuki’s hand found its way under Kyo’s chin and he gently tipped the boy’s head up to look at him. Tears marred the childish face and the teen found himself panicking.
“Kyo? Kyo, what’s wrong? Does you shoulder still hurt? Does your head hurt?”
At that point, a wail from the chibified-cat of the family only answered him.
The rat winced, tightening his arms around his cousin when the latter buried his face back into Yuki’s neck.
‘Why… why is he crying? Why isn’t he saying anything?’
Another cry answered his thoughts.
“Don’t ever do that agaaaaaaaaain, Yuki-chaaaaaaaaaaan!”
“… Huh?”
“I don’t want Yuki-chan to be sick! I couldn’t see Yu-chan a lot because I couldn’t see him whenever he was sick and he got sick a lot so I couldn’t see him a lot and then they wouldn’t let me see Yu-chan anymore and I don’t want the same thing to happen again because if Yuki-chan gets sick I won’t get to see Yuki-chan a lot and then if Yuki-chan gets sick a lot then nobody will let me see Yuki-chan anymooore!”
“W-wha-”
“I was so scared! I was scared that Yuki-chan would have to leave me tooooooooo!”
“Wha-”
‘He’s crying… he’s crying because of me? He’s crying for me?’
The boy kept sobbing into a chest as Yuki sat there in a stunned silence for a moment trying to sort out his thoughts and his Kyo’s quasi-incoherent rambling/wailing.
And then he laughed.
His small cousin immediately quieted down and looked up at him, sniffling as tears still ran down his reddened cheeks.
Yuki could only reach up to wipe those tears away from those lovely crimson eyes and drop a gently kiss on the tip of his cousin’s small nose before lightly caressing his soft cheek.
“Oh koneko, don’t worry. I won’t be leaving you anytime soon.”
Wide watery eyes stared up at him and small hands tightened their holds on his shirt.
“R-really? P-promise?”
The grey-haired boy smiled fondly at his cousin and pressed their foreheads together.
“Yes. I won’t leave you so easily, koneko.”
“N-never?”
“Never. I promise, as long as you seek me out… I won’t leave you, Kyo.”
Kyo smiled through his tears and his red orbs fluttered close as curled closer to the warm, comforting body he was resting against, his own body refusing to leave the gentle, protective arms embracing him. Yuki only smiled and responded by holding the boy closer to him.
That was how Tohru found them a moment later when she quietly slid the door to Yuki’s room open. A soft smile graced her lips before her sparkly brown eyes met those of her friend and she tilted her head sideway, as if asking him if he’d rather stay in bed to rest.
The male teen simply looked down at the boy in his arms and nudged him.
“Koneko, I’m hungry and I bet you are too.”
A low growling answered his statement, causing him to chuckle. By the room’s entrance, Tohru giggled.
Small Kyo remained motionless for a few seconds before slowly letting go of his grip on the older Sohma’s shirt and shuffled out of bed before waiting for his cousin. Yuki smiled and followed suit, taking the boy’s hand.
“Let’s go clean wash your face first, alright? Honda-san, we’ll be right down.”
“Alright then, Sohma-kun.”
When the pair came down a moment later, the table was set up and two bowls of still hot miso soup greeted them along with the heated leftovers of the dinner. It seemed their female housemate had made sure to leave them a bit of each dish she had made for dinner and enough for both of them. The onigiri girl was seated at the small table, waiting for them with a bright smile on her face.
When Yuki sat down in front of her, Kyo diligently sat at another side of the table but as close to the rat as possible.
And by the time Yuki was halfway through his soup, Kyo was already done with his and licking his lips like a contented kitty before holding out his empty bowl and cheerily yet politely asking Tohru for some rice, to which the brunette happily complied.
“I cut some smaller pieces for you in each dish, Kyo-kun, so that you’d have your own share too.”
Kyo grinned as a response, bowing his head to thank her when he received his bowl back and quickly started eating, his chopsticks picking up the smaller pieces of steamed vegetables, ginger chicken and fried tofu deftly.
“Soooo good Tohru-neechan!”
Tohru blushed at the compliment and smiled giddily at how her chibified-friend called her. Yuki could see how much self-restraint she was putting on from simply glomping the cute little redhead.
“That’s because you have a good appetite, Kyo-kun.”
“Maybe, but yours is the best, Tohru-neechan! Shishou can’t cook at all!”
Tohru giggled. “And it looks like he still can’t.”
“Still can’t?”
The two teens froze. “Oh no, it’s nothing Kyo-kun,” the girl hastily replied, trying not to panic at her slip, “nothing at all.”
Child-Kyo only stared for a moment before cheerfully resuming his meal.
“Tohru-neechan should show me how to cook! I want to cook for shishou one day!”
“Not yet koneko,” Yuki gently cut in “as much as you want to and as much as Tohru-neechan wants to teach you, I’m sure, you’re still too young to handle things in the kitchen.”
“I’m not! I can make onigiris by myself!”
“Do you cook the rice yourself?” Tohru asked, “Do you cut things up yourself too?”
“… No.”
Yuki smiled ruefully at his cousin. “You’re still too young to handle a knife.”
“B-but- Yuki-chan!”
“I said no,” the silver-haired Sohma replied firmly, leaving no place for protests, “you are still too young,” and in a softer tone, “I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Small Kyo seemed to suddenly understand why his cousin was so adamant on refusing to let him learn how to cook, and simply nodded obediently, almost sadly. “I’m sorry, Yuki-chan. I didn’t mean to make you angry.”
Yuki looked at him, startled, and shook his head guiltily. “I’m not angry at you, koneko. I’m just…” he trailed off, failing to find the right words.
“He’s just worried about you, Kyo-kun,” their brunette friend finished for him, “Sohma-kun is just quite protective of you because he cares about you very much.”
Yuki sighed, grateful that his female friend understood him.
“Honda-san is right, koneko. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“And you know what,” Tohru continued gaily, “I have an idea! Whenever I’ll be cooking we’ll let you come into the kitchen to watch! And maybe sometimes I’ll let you help me out with easy things but you will not be allowed to touch any knives or go near the stoves, alright? I’m sure Sohma-kun won’t mind that.”
The redhead’s eyes widened and he turned back to Yuki, blinking at him expectantly. There was still some uncertainty in those young crimson orbs.
It took a moment before finally nodding his head and smiling indulgently at his companions.
“Alright alright. But koneko must always listen to Tohru-neechan, understood?”
The boy’s mood instantly lifted and a bright smiled appeared on his childish face as he nodded.
“Hai! I promise!”
Yuki chuckled over his full bowl of rice and resumed his supper as his cousin followed. Tohru looked on, smiling.
“Ah, Honda-san. Where’s Shigure?”
“Shigure-san left earlier to visit your brother. He should be back soon.”
The rat tensed.
‘Shit! He’s probably going to tell my stupid brother about this- this situation!’
Yuki took another bite of chicken and tried to calm himself down.
“Tohru-chaaaan! My lovely housewiiiife, I missed you and so I’m back and I bring some very good company with meeeeeeee!”
“Tohru-chaaaaaaaan! It’s lovelyyy and graceful meeeee! I come bearing gifts with meeeee!” a singsong voice added.
Kyo jumped and scrambled from his place to hide behind Yuki while the latter winced at the second obnoxious voice.
‘Speak of the devils.’
“Oh Kamiiiiiii, isn’t this my adorable little lucky kitty Kyon-kichi?”
Yuki froze for the nth time that day.
---
February 26, 2006
Note: Aaaah, almost three months later and I finally appear with another chapter! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m too good at procrastinating with everything in life (including university assignments) and so I keep pushing back my (imaginary) deadlines (as if I even set any). Bad Viv, bad, bad, bad Viv!
Apologies aside, I’d also like to thank all of those who’ve been leaving reviews, and especially those who’ve done so for each chapters and those who’ve answered my questions about ‘names’ in the last chapter. This time I’d like to know if I’ve gotten things right about the ‘neechan’ thing. That it a derivative of ‘big sister’, right? Can anyone tell all the other terms for family members (and maybe even some examples on how they are incorporated in the names)? I mean, I think I heard that onii-san is ‘older brother’ and okaa-san is mother (oba-san is grandmother, right?)? Anywho, I need someone to clear them all up for me.
Though some of you took the time to answer my question last time, I was actually also asking for every characters in Fruits Basket. I’m still trying to figure out how they are called by others and how they call others. I know, I know, I’m very demanding!
See, the thing is that most of the info that I’ve gathered is from the internet and I’ve not seen a single episode of the anime. Also, the mangas that I’ve read so far were in French (the French edition is ahead the TokyoPop one by one to three volumes, I believe) and the first five or so volumes that were published had many mistakes concerning how the characters were called by their entourage. The editor eventually realized that it kinda screwed up the story a bit, and so issued a note explaining it at the end of the volume where their started using the proper naming system (with all the “kun”, “san” “chan” and such). I already knew about it from reading many Furuba fictions (in English) and for being a fan of mangas/animes but obviously the French translations screwed me up because that’s what first introduced me to the Furuba world.
Author: Viv
Genre: drama/angst/romance/humor
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Fruits Basket [manga]
Pairing: Yuki/Kyo
Disclaimer: *shakes head* of course they're mine, like, DUH!
Summary: “What will happen when you go back to normal?” [multi-chaptered: (01) (02) (03) ( 04)]
Laughter.
Many familiar laughs.
Voices he knew, voices he once cherished. It had been so long since he had heard them.
So long since he’d last heard real, undisguised happiness in those voices.
He saw two boys tumbling to the ground, much to the amusement of a group of teens and younger children sitting nearby under the shade of a large tree. The louder of the two boys, blushing madly, quickly scrambled back onto his feet before helping his companion stand up, the corner of his large red eyes crinkling in worry. His friend smiled gratefully and reached out to brush away the dirt and grass on the first boy’s cheek.
“Oh, look at them! Aren’t they such a cute little couple?”
“Indeed, indeed!”
There was more smirking and giggling as two of the older youths winked. The dark-haired one reached out to clasp the slim hand of his partner-in-crime as the latter gazed on approvingly and adoringly.
“Just like the two of us!”
“Very much!” the paler adolescent nodded vigorously, his long white hair following the movement of his head.
The already-blushing boy flushed and glared at the group.
“SHUT UP!”
“We- we’re not…um…We’re not!” the almost mini-sized replica of the white-haired androgynous teen replied quietly, his pale cheeks coloring themselves a light pink.
“Really? Guess I do have a chance then!”
“WHAT! How dare you leave me for my little brother! You are so cruel! I thought you loved me! Me! Such beautiful, gorgeous me! And you will never touch my adorable little brother! Nev-”
Two hands appeared and gave the two pranksters light but solid smacks behind their heads. A third teen, tall with jet black hair, stared at the both of them.
“That’s enough. Leave them alone before that one over there decides to claw your eyeballs out.”
“What? Oh no! Our eyes, our pretty eeeeeyes! Not them. And especially not Aya-chan’s beautiful ones!”
“No, no, no! You’re no fun, Hari! What do you think, Kure-chan? Isn’t Hari-chan boring? Isn’t he? Kure-chan?”
“…”
A few feet away, the young redhead pulled his friend along, his hand tightly clasping that of the thinner boy. No more than five steps later flecks of red and silver could be seen running away as fast as their small feet could take them.
The pale boy laughed, though he was breathing harder as he was still running.
But laughing and smiling came naturally when this silver-haired boy was with his crimson-eyed companion.
----
Large amethyst-colored eyes slowly opened.
Yuki blinked a few times as he tried to push the grogginess out of his mind and clear his blurred vision. He could already feel a light headache coming on and that the exhaustion he felt would refuse to leave for quite a while. He just wanted to go back to sleep.
But no. Something in the back of his still fuzzy mind was telling him that he needed to be awake now, though he couldn’t quite remember what.
‘… a dream?’
He did, however, feel the weight resting on his stomach as he carefully lifted his head, his vision finally clear.
And what he saw was a small sleepy head full of dark orange hair.
‘… Kyo?’
“Sohma-kun?”
The rat looked up with a start and found himself staring into worried brown eyes. It took him a moment to register who it was that they belonged to.
“Honda-san?”
Tohru smiled, relief spreading over her features although the hint of worry did not quite leave her eyes, and reached out, gently squeezing his shoulder.
‘A year ago she would’ve been crying and impulsively hugged me and turned me into a rat... and then cry more and apologize profusely.’
Yuki smiled back, before looking back down at the small bundle curled up beside him, head still resting on his stomach. He didn’t dare move but also couldn’t help wondering how he got in bed in the first place, nor why he was in bed when his clock was telling him that it was seven o’clock in the evening.
“You passed out,” Tohru answered, as if reading his mind, “so Shigure-san carried you back here. Kyo-kun absolutely refused to leave you and has been keeping watch over you since this morning. He even refused to come down for dinner earlier. He fell asleep a little moment ago.”
The rat stared at his friend for a moment, the events from earlier in the day slowly coming back to him. Yuki looked away, embarrassed.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Sohma-kun. My mother told me that you should always be always to cry whenever you need to and especially in front of those who care about you. It shows you trust them, it’s not sign of weakness. You’re a strong person, Sohma-kun.”
Yuki smiled gratefully, though he gaze were still not quite ready to face his friend’s, and-
Grumble.
Grumble, grumble, grumble.
“Oh dear! Are you hungry? I’m so sorry, I’ve only been talking since the moment you’ve woken up! I should’ve asked you before, I’m so sorry Sohma-kun! I’ll got heat the leftovers right away!”
The silver-haired boy flushed and looked away as he heard the brunette giggle.
“Thank you, Honda-san.”
“Could you wake Kyo-kun up then? He hasn’t eaten yet either.”
“No problem, we’ll be right down.”
“Alright then!” the onigiri girl smiled as she disappeared from Yuki’s bedroom and slid the door close.
It took the rat a moment before his purple eyes finally focused on the motionless bundle curled up beside him. Yuki grinned at the quiet and calm form of his ‘younger’ cousin and the amusement in his eyes grew as he watched Kyo practically burying his head into the blanket where it had gathered on his stomach.
‘So adorable.’
The adolescent stared a moment longer at the small Sohma, still not quite willing to wake the boy up. Yuki wanted to keep this image of this child-Kyo that he had never seen imprinted in his mind.
A gentle Kyo, a small boy sleeping peacefully, seemingly free of tension, anger and fear, with no frown marring his face. A young redhead with an expression of innocence, a strong sense of protection and warmth and care that wasn’t yet hidden from others. A little angel smiling childishly instead of scowling when he was awake.
‘Smiling at me.’
Unconsciously, Yuki’s hand rested on his cousin’s head, his thin fingers gently running through the child’s soft, thick hair, as his dark purple eyes became slightly moist and his voice came out in a murmur.
“What will happen when you go back to normal? Will you still care for me like you are now? Or will you go back to hating me? Will you forget about this completely?”
‘Will you go back to hiding yourself from others, and from me? Would you ever show us… me, the real Kyo again?’
A soft rustling answered his quiet questions. The rat blinked a few times, and froze instantly, suddenly realizing where his fingers were, stroking the boy’s hair.
“… don’t stop… Yu-chan…”
“I really like your hands, Yu-chan… They’re so pretty and warm and soft. You’re the only person in the whole world who I don’t mind touching my hair.”
A flash of a small, slim, pale hand buried in lush fire orange hair, and-
-and then Yuki saw his cousin yawn and stretch before opening his red eyes and rubbing the sleep out of them. Kyo looked back at the mouse and smile dazedly, which made the silver-haired teen relax.
“Yuki-chan?”
“Uh hum.”
“You’re awake!”
Yuki chuckled when the boy launched himself at him, throwing his small arms around the older boy’s slender neck and burying his head into the crook of it. Yuki’s amusement, however, quickly died when he realized that the child in his lap was slightly shaking.
‘Wha… wait, are you crying? No, why are you crying?’
“Koneko.”
Quiet sobs answered him.
“Little neko, why are you crying? Kyo? Kyo! Look at me!”
Yuki’s hand found its way under Kyo’s chin and he gently tipped the boy’s head up to look at him. Tears marred the childish face and the teen found himself panicking.
“Kyo? Kyo, what’s wrong? Does you shoulder still hurt? Does your head hurt?”
At that point, a wail from the chibified-cat of the family only answered him.
The rat winced, tightening his arms around his cousin when the latter buried his face back into Yuki’s neck.
‘Why… why is he crying? Why isn’t he saying anything?’
Another cry answered his thoughts.
“Don’t ever do that agaaaaaaaaain, Yuki-chaaaaaaaaaaan!”
“… Huh?”
“I don’t want Yuki-chan to be sick! I couldn’t see Yu-chan a lot because I couldn’t see him whenever he was sick and he got sick a lot so I couldn’t see him a lot and then they wouldn’t let me see Yu-chan anymore and I don’t want the same thing to happen again because if Yuki-chan gets sick I won’t get to see Yuki-chan a lot and then if Yuki-chan gets sick a lot then nobody will let me see Yuki-chan anymooore!”
“W-wha-”
“I was so scared! I was scared that Yuki-chan would have to leave me tooooooooo!”
“Wha-”
‘He’s crying… he’s crying because of me? He’s crying for me?’
The boy kept sobbing into a chest as Yuki sat there in a stunned silence for a moment trying to sort out his thoughts and his Kyo’s quasi-incoherent rambling/wailing.
And then he laughed.
His small cousin immediately quieted down and looked up at him, sniffling as tears still ran down his reddened cheeks.
Yuki could only reach up to wipe those tears away from those lovely crimson eyes and drop a gently kiss on the tip of his cousin’s small nose before lightly caressing his soft cheek.
“Oh koneko, don’t worry. I won’t be leaving you anytime soon.”
Wide watery eyes stared up at him and small hands tightened their holds on his shirt.
“R-really? P-promise?”
The grey-haired boy smiled fondly at his cousin and pressed their foreheads together.
“Yes. I won’t leave you so easily, koneko.”
“N-never?”
“Never. I promise, as long as you seek me out… I won’t leave you, Kyo.”
Kyo smiled through his tears and his red orbs fluttered close as curled closer to the warm, comforting body he was resting against, his own body refusing to leave the gentle, protective arms embracing him. Yuki only smiled and responded by holding the boy closer to him.
That was how Tohru found them a moment later when she quietly slid the door to Yuki’s room open. A soft smile graced her lips before her sparkly brown eyes met those of her friend and she tilted her head sideway, as if asking him if he’d rather stay in bed to rest.
The male teen simply looked down at the boy in his arms and nudged him.
“Koneko, I’m hungry and I bet you are too.”
A low growling answered his statement, causing him to chuckle. By the room’s entrance, Tohru giggled.
Small Kyo remained motionless for a few seconds before slowly letting go of his grip on the older Sohma’s shirt and shuffled out of bed before waiting for his cousin. Yuki smiled and followed suit, taking the boy’s hand.
“Let’s go clean wash your face first, alright? Honda-san, we’ll be right down.”
“Alright then, Sohma-kun.”
When the pair came down a moment later, the table was set up and two bowls of still hot miso soup greeted them along with the heated leftovers of the dinner. It seemed their female housemate had made sure to leave them a bit of each dish she had made for dinner and enough for both of them. The onigiri girl was seated at the small table, waiting for them with a bright smile on her face.
When Yuki sat down in front of her, Kyo diligently sat at another side of the table but as close to the rat as possible.
And by the time Yuki was halfway through his soup, Kyo was already done with his and licking his lips like a contented kitty before holding out his empty bowl and cheerily yet politely asking Tohru for some rice, to which the brunette happily complied.
“I cut some smaller pieces for you in each dish, Kyo-kun, so that you’d have your own share too.”
Kyo grinned as a response, bowing his head to thank her when he received his bowl back and quickly started eating, his chopsticks picking up the smaller pieces of steamed vegetables, ginger chicken and fried tofu deftly.
“Soooo good Tohru-neechan!”
Tohru blushed at the compliment and smiled giddily at how her chibified-friend called her. Yuki could see how much self-restraint she was putting on from simply glomping the cute little redhead.
“That’s because you have a good appetite, Kyo-kun.”
“Maybe, but yours is the best, Tohru-neechan! Shishou can’t cook at all!”
Tohru giggled. “And it looks like he still can’t.”
“Still can’t?”
The two teens froze. “Oh no, it’s nothing Kyo-kun,” the girl hastily replied, trying not to panic at her slip, “nothing at all.”
Child-Kyo only stared for a moment before cheerfully resuming his meal.
“Tohru-neechan should show me how to cook! I want to cook for shishou one day!”
“Not yet koneko,” Yuki gently cut in “as much as you want to and as much as Tohru-neechan wants to teach you, I’m sure, you’re still too young to handle things in the kitchen.”
“I’m not! I can make onigiris by myself!”
“Do you cook the rice yourself?” Tohru asked, “Do you cut things up yourself too?”
“… No.”
Yuki smiled ruefully at his cousin. “You’re still too young to handle a knife.”
“B-but- Yuki-chan!”
“I said no,” the silver-haired Sohma replied firmly, leaving no place for protests, “you are still too young,” and in a softer tone, “I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Small Kyo seemed to suddenly understand why his cousin was so adamant on refusing to let him learn how to cook, and simply nodded obediently, almost sadly. “I’m sorry, Yuki-chan. I didn’t mean to make you angry.”
Yuki looked at him, startled, and shook his head guiltily. “I’m not angry at you, koneko. I’m just…” he trailed off, failing to find the right words.
“He’s just worried about you, Kyo-kun,” their brunette friend finished for him, “Sohma-kun is just quite protective of you because he cares about you very much.”
Yuki sighed, grateful that his female friend understood him.
“Honda-san is right, koneko. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“And you know what,” Tohru continued gaily, “I have an idea! Whenever I’ll be cooking we’ll let you come into the kitchen to watch! And maybe sometimes I’ll let you help me out with easy things but you will not be allowed to touch any knives or go near the stoves, alright? I’m sure Sohma-kun won’t mind that.”
The redhead’s eyes widened and he turned back to Yuki, blinking at him expectantly. There was still some uncertainty in those young crimson orbs.
It took a moment before finally nodding his head and smiling indulgently at his companions.
“Alright alright. But koneko must always listen to Tohru-neechan, understood?”
The boy’s mood instantly lifted and a bright smiled appeared on his childish face as he nodded.
“Hai! I promise!”
Yuki chuckled over his full bowl of rice and resumed his supper as his cousin followed. Tohru looked on, smiling.
“Ah, Honda-san. Where’s Shigure?”
“Shigure-san left earlier to visit your brother. He should be back soon.”
The rat tensed.
‘Shit! He’s probably going to tell my stupid brother about this- this situation!’
Yuki took another bite of chicken and tried to calm himself down.
“Tohru-chaaaan! My lovely housewiiiife, I missed you and so I’m back and I bring some very good company with meeeeeeee!”
“Tohru-chaaaaaaaan! It’s lovelyyy and graceful meeeee! I come bearing gifts with meeeee!” a singsong voice added.
Kyo jumped and scrambled from his place to hide behind Yuki while the latter winced at the second obnoxious voice.
‘Speak of the devils.’
“Oh Kamiiiiiii, isn’t this my adorable little lucky kitty Kyon-kichi?”
Yuki froze for the nth time that day.
---
February 26, 2006
Note: Aaaah, almost three months later and I finally appear with another chapter! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m too good at procrastinating with everything in life (including university assignments) and so I keep pushing back my (imaginary) deadlines (as if I even set any). Bad Viv, bad, bad, bad Viv!
Apologies aside, I’d also like to thank all of those who’ve been leaving reviews, and especially those who’ve done so for each chapters and those who’ve answered my questions about ‘names’ in the last chapter. This time I’d like to know if I’ve gotten things right about the ‘neechan’ thing. That it a derivative of ‘big sister’, right? Can anyone tell all the other terms for family members (and maybe even some examples on how they are incorporated in the names)? I mean, I think I heard that onii-san is ‘older brother’ and okaa-san is mother (oba-san is grandmother, right?)? Anywho, I need someone to clear them all up for me.
Though some of you took the time to answer my question last time, I was actually also asking for every characters in Fruits Basket. I’m still trying to figure out how they are called by others and how they call others. I know, I know, I’m very demanding!
See, the thing is that most of the info that I’ve gathered is from the internet and I’ve not seen a single episode of the anime. Also, the mangas that I’ve read so far were in French (the French edition is ahead the TokyoPop one by one to three volumes, I believe) and the first five or so volumes that were published had many mistakes concerning how the characters were called by their entourage. The editor eventually realized that it kinda screwed up the story a bit, and so issued a note explaining it at the end of the volume where their started using the proper naming system (with all the “kun”, “san” “chan” and such). I already knew about it from reading many Furuba fictions (in English) and for being a fan of mangas/animes but obviously the French translations screwed me up because that’s what first introduced me to the Furuba world.