Impossible Dreams - Chapter 2

Impossible Dreams – Calm After the Storm
Kiss # 3: Jolt!

After returning home from school, Tohru paused outside Shigure’s study, announcing that she and Kyo were back for the evening.  He looked up from his book, and peered over his glasses, and greeted her warmly.  She took a brief moment to set down her bag just outside the door and entered the room.  Shigure welcomed her in, taking off his glasses, folding them neatly, and placing them on top of his book, as she knelt down beside him.

“How was school today, Tohru?”

“It was a good day, thank you,” she replied before continuing, “Though I can imagine that it was a long day for Yuki.”

“Oh?  Why’s that?” Shigure asked, tilting his head and rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Everyone at school noticed his black eye and he was the center of attention all day.  A few asked what happened to Kyo’s nose, but most of the attention was guided toward Yuki, which I think upset Kyo a great deal.”

“Hmm… This is very true, though they brought it upon themselves.  Recklessly jumping in to such a fight, no doubt, caused unnecessary injury,” Shigure pointed out as Tohru nodded her agreement.  “I must say I was very disappointed in Yuki’s actions yesterday.  Usually he thinks things through before plunging into such matters.  But when he finds that action or fighting is the only way to get his point across that is when he will take the appropriate action.”  Shigure sat lost in thought a moment longer before leaning over his desk to look for the rat, who usually trailed behind Tohru coming home.  “So where is Yuki?”

“Oh, that’s right. He wanted me to tell you that he had an unexpected Student Council meeting after school today and would be home late.  He said we could go ahead and eat dinner if we wanted to.”

“Sounds good to me.  I’m starving.” Kyo said, descending the stairs, rounding the corner to peer into Shigure’s study.  His stomach growled at the very thought of dinner.

“Oh, alright,” Tohru replied laughing, “But I’d like to start some homework first, if you don’t mind?”

“Then what’s the point of having dinner without that damn rat, if you keep putting off making it?”

“I’m sorry, Kyo.  I just have a lot of homework tonight and wanted to get some done before we ate.  Did you want me to make you something to tie you over until dinner?”

“No, that’s alright.  Just start dinner soon, ok?” Kyo answered, before disappearing down the hallway to the sitting room.

“Alright,” Tohru giggled.

After finishing a good deal of her math homework Tohru made her way downstairs and began to cook dinner.  While the rice was cooking, she glanced into the sitting room to see the shoji doors slid open and Kyo sleeping out on the porch.  Smiling to herself over the relative calm of the evening compared to last night, Tohru went back to making dinner.  

She put aside a good portion of the beef stew she had made, for when Yuki returned home later that evening, before serving Kyo and Shigure.

“So, how is it?” Tohru asked, before she began to eat.

“It’s wonderful as always, Tohru,” Shigure complimented

“Yeah, it’s good,” Kyo shyly agreed.

“Thank you.”  She began to eat, occasionally looking to the side of the table where Yuki usually sat.  It sure is quiet tonight.  It’s probably because Yuki isn’t here for Kyo to tease.  I still feel bad that we’re eating without him, but he insisted we go ahead.

Shigure found the quiet rather refreshing as he took an extra moment with every bite he took to savor the taste of Tohru’s cooking.  “It’s going to rain tonight,” Shigure stated, breaking the silence.

“How can you tell?” Tohru asked, glancing outside the opened shoji doors.  “It’s beautiful outside.  Just look at that wonderful sunset.”

“I can smell it in the air, not to mention Kyo’s mopping about the house.”

“Whatever…” Kyo mumbled, slouching on the table as he ate.

“See what I mean?”

Tohru turned her attention to Kyo and looked at him worriedly.  “Are you alright, Kyo?”  She slid her hand under his bangs as she felt his forehead for a fever.  “Good, you don’t have a fever.”

“Of course not, because I’m not sick,” Kyo mumbled, swatting Tohru’s hand away as if it were a fly.  “That damn rat told you that one time that I don’t like the rain, right?”

“Yeah.  Well, I just wanted to make sure,” Tohru smiled.

“Yeah, well thanks anyway.”

“Sure.”

Shigure leaned back and groaned, “I couldn’t possibly eat another bite, yet my taste buds long for more.  The meat, potatoes, and vegetables were cooked to such perfection that they melted in my mouth!”

Tohru smiled at yet another of Shigure’s compliments as she finished eating her dinner.  She gathered the dishes and piled them on a tray to take to the kitchen.  She hummed happily to herself as she washed, dried, and put away the dishes.  Felling satisfied the kitchen was as clean as it could be, Tohru turned her attention to her other chores.

Tohru began gathering her laundry soon after she finished changing her bed.  A jolt of fear shot down her spine when she heard a crack of thunder.  She jumped and the clothes she was carrying toppled down the stairs.  Tohru quickly composed herself, and picking up her clothes, continued towards the laundry room.  As she turned the dial to start the washer, she suddenly realized Yuki hadn’t returned home from school yet.  Tohru was concerned about him being out in such bad weather.  I hope he’s all right.  If I had known it was going to rain and that Yuki had a Student Council meeting this evening, I would have insisted he take an umbrella with him.  He’s probably going to be soaked when he gets home.  Good thing I just finished his laundry, or he wouldn’t have had anything to change into.  Tohru thought as she finished neatly folding his clothes.

Tohru returned up to her room after stopping in Yuki’s room to put his clothes away.  She sat at her desk thinking of what to write for her paper that was due at the end of the next week.  She gasped as she heard thunder clap once more.  A bolt of lightning streaking the dark sky, and rain began to pound heavily on the roof.  Tohru hoped Kyo had come inside before it started raining and peered into his room briefly to see that he was there, sleeping over his opened homework.  Turning back to her room, she gazed out the window to see sheets of rain blanketing their home.

As she looked out the window, she remembered a similar stormy night.  That night Yuki had escorted her home from work when all of a sudden it decided to rain heavily.  Luckily, Yuki transformed back from his rat form when it really began to pour.  They ran against the rain to Yuki’s “secret base” to protect it from the damaging wind and rain.  Yuki had told her before about his “secret base,” promising to take her there sometime.  I was so amazed when Yuki’s “secret base” turned out to be a small garden.  And to think I had envisioned it to be a hideout or just a code word for a special place he liked to go often.  Another lightening bolt raced across the sky, lighting the room followed by a loud thunderclap that sent a jolt of fear through her.  She bolted down the stairs, catching Shigure’s attention, and hurriedly grabbed the tarp, Yuki used on a night such as this occurred, and prepared to go outside.

“Tohru?  Where are you going so late?  It’s raining cats and dogs out there.” Shigure asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“Well, since Yuki isn’t here at the moment, I thought I would help him out by protecting his garden,” Tohru replied, slipping into her shoes.

“Can’t you at least wait till it slows down a little?”

Tohru glanced out at the pouring rain and replied, “I don’t think it is going to let up any time soon.  Besides, I don’t want the plants to drown when it is almost time to pick them,” she pointed out, grabbing her pink umbrella.

“Oh, all right.  Don’t let me stop you, but please be careful,” Shigure advised.

Tohru, not thinking the situation through, darted out into the cold summer rain.  Through the blinding downpour, which seemed to be blowing sideways, Tohru could hardly see where she was going.  Only when lightning flashed could she see which direction she was heading in, and every time Tohru seemed to be going in the precise direction of the garden.  It was probably due to the many walks she and Yuki had taken to their hideout, or it may have been pure luck.  Either way, the only thing on her mind was saving the small garden that she and Yuki had worked so hard to maintain, that Shigure’s countless warnings about the forest being dangerous when it rained slipped her mind.

The sky lit up once more and she could see through the rain that the edge of the garden at the bottom of the small hill was still several feet ahead of her.  Tohru braced herself against a nearby tree, catching her breath before continuing on.  Only a little further she silently encouraged herself.  The wind began to pick up and as she let go of the tree Tohru lost her footing, slipped and tumbled down the hill.  The small helpless plants at the edge of the garden cushioned her fall as she rolled onto them, crushing them instantly.

~*~*~

Yuki stood underneath the overlay, just outside the doors to the school, and looked up at the dark sky overhead.  He had been the last to leave and was sure the other members of the Student Council had made it home in time before it rained.  Holding his hand out, he did not feel any droplets fall onto it.  “I guess it’s now or never,” Yuki commented aloud, before heading for home, his pace a quick jog.  He thought if he ran, it would trigger an asthma attack, and that was the last thing he needed, especially when there was no one around to help.  What concerned Yuki the most was transforming right in the middle of the busy street and if anyone would have seen, Akito would no doubt order their memories to be erased as well as Tohru’s.  He shook his head violently, thinking it would disperse the awful scenarios in his head and continued home, subconsciously slowing his pace down to a fast walk.

Hearing rumbles of thunder and seeing bright flashes of lightning Yuki quickened his pace slightly in hopes of beating the rain, but as he feared, Yuki was suddenly hit with large droplets of cold rain, pounding and drenching his body.  It was hard for him to see where he was going in amongst the thick sheets of rain; luckily there were breaks in the heavy rain that allowed him to make it home without stopping too much.  He was relieved, at long last, to see the soft glow of the lantern outside the front door. After such a long day, I’m finally home, he thought as he smiled.

He greeted Shigure briefly, before going to change and dry off, dripping as he ran up to his room.  He noticed Tohru was nowhere to be found, after continually calling her name, and searching each room of the house for his friend.  When he asked Kyo about it, he just groaned, ignoring Yuki’s question and continued to sleep.  After searching a little more with no success, he found Shigure in the sitting room watching it rain.  “Shigure, have you seen, Miss Honda?  Is she at work?”

“I’m sure if she was at work she would have told you, but she did say something about making sure the plants in your garden didn’t drown,” Shigure replied, looking over his glasses and the newspaper to look at Yuki.  “I told her not to go out in such weather, but she was insistent about going.  And you know Tohru when she is determined to do something she usually…Yuki…?”  Shigure trailed off, watching as Yuki ran out into the cold rain to the “secret base”.

What was she thinking going out in such bad weather?!  The forest is dangerous at night and especially during raining season.  I hope she is all right.  Yuki thought as he ran, occasionally splashing mud, as he ran through the large puddles.  He was slightly annoyed that he had just dried off, only to be going out in the weather and just getting wet again, but his concern for Tohru’s safety was the dominant of the two emotions.

“Miss Honda?” Yuki called out as he neared the garden.

Tohru jumped as she heard him call through the darkness of the evening, a bolt of lightning illuminating his figure a few moments afterward.  She looked up, and through the blurriness of her tears of shock from the fall, she recognized him instantly.

“Yuki…?” she faintly cried.  She dug her hand into the sticky mud, trying to prop herself up, but falling in the process.

He cautiously made his way down the small hill to her and wasn’t surprised in the least that she had fallen.  “What are you doing, Miss Honda?” Yuki asked, worry and anger in his voice as he helped her up.

“I wanted to help save the plants,” Tohru softly replied, frowning at his tone.

“You could have been hurt, Miss Honda.  You had me worried…” Yuki trailed off, as he knelt down.  He picked up the tarp, and as Tohru held the one side, he pulled the other taut.

“I guess it was foolish of me…  I’m sorry I worried you, Yuki,” Tohru sobbed in embarrassment.

“It’s alright, Miss Honda.  But please, think before you go jumping into something next time, all right?” Yuki advised, as she nodded.

~*~*~

They returned later that night, soaked to the bone.  Tohru, about to go change into something dry, remembered that all her laundry was being washed.

As Yuki descended down the stairs after changing for the second time that night, noticed Tohru sulking on the floor in her damp clothes.  “What’s wrong, Miss Honda?” Yuki asked, as he ran down the remaining stairs to her.  “Why are you still in your wet clothes?”

“They’re…they’re still in the washer,” she replied, before sneezing.

“I see.  Come with me, I’ll lend you some of my clothes then,” he smiled, helping her up and leading her up to his room to find her something to wear.  He handed her a dress shirt with three little blue ties and a pair of navy pants.

Blushing profusely, she thanked him for lending her his clothes before going to her room and changing into them.  After coming back downstairs, her hair wrapped up in a towel, Tohru began to warm Yuki’s dinner.  She couldn’t help but notice the faint blush on Yuki’s cheeks, when he saw her in his clothes, out of the corner of her eye, as he leaned against the doorframe.  Try as he may to hide it, she still saw it and more than likely had one to match.  A few years before, when she started living with Yuki, she had worn his clothes, but he didn’t know her well enough to blush about it.  Why is he blushing, he didn’t before.  She thought as she smiled, and turning away, she hoped he didn’t notice her blushing, before thanking him again.  She sat with him, while he ate, and worked on her homework.  Kyo slithered by a moment later, and after going into the kitchen for some milk, he stood in the doorway and drank from the carton listening to Yuki and Tohru’s casual conversation.

“You know that’s rude, stupid cat,” Yuki lectured as he took his dishes into the kitchen to wash them, after assuring Tohru that it wasn’t any trouble for him to do so.

“Whatever, damn rat…” Kyo mumbled, before finishing the milk and throwing the carton away.  “You know what else is rude, damn rat?” he teasingly asked from the hallway.

“What?  All your other mannerisms?”

Kyo rolled up his sleeve, clenching his fist and flexing his muscles, “You wanna start something, rat boy?”

“Not when you’re this pathetic…” Yuki said dryly, wringing the towel in his hands.

“Hey!  I don’t need your pity!”

Shigure was suddenly standing between the two, tugging their ears.  “There will be none of that tonight,” he warned before returning back to his study to finish reading the paper.

Kyo cursed under his breath, and turned to go upstairs to bed.  Tohru cheerfully wished him a good night and he mumbled a “night” in return, groggily making his way back to his room.

Yuki returned to the table moments later, pulling out his own homework to work on.

“So, how was the meeting, Yuki?” Tohru asked curiously.

Yuki sighed as he replied, “The usual complaints, not a legitimate amount of time for lunch break, still deciding upon where to go for the senior trip, etc.”

“Well, have you tried having a class meeting and ask for suggestions?  Then narrow those ideas down to the ones that sound the best and have those who suggested them come up with a small presentation as to why their destination of choice is the best.  Then you could have everyone cast their votes on ballads, so that no one knows who voted for what,” Tohru suggested.

“I knew I was going to set up voting ballads, but I like your idea of having everyone with a suggestion to promote their destination.  Thank you, Miss Honda,” he thanked her, and wrote down her suggestion on a piece of paper and tucked it into the front pocket of his book bag.

She smiled at him; glad she could be of help and packed her books back into her bag.  She then lay back, staring up at the ceiling.

“Is something wrong, Miss Honda?” Yuki asked, looking up from his papers.

“No, I’m fine, just a little tired.”

“Then why don’t you go to bed?” Yuki suggested.

“No, that’s alright.  I’ll wait for you to finish your homework,” she replied, sitting up.

“You really don’t have to wait for me, Miss Honda.  I have quite a bit of homework left to do and will probably be up late finishing it.  Unless there is something that you wanted me to look over?”

“No, I’m good,” she smiled before laying back down.  Her eyes suddenly became heavy and exhaustion filled her body.  Thinking that it wouldn’t hurt to rest them for just a moment, she closed her eyes and soon afterwards Tohru nodded off to sleep.

~*~*~

“Tohru?” Kyoko whispered, nudging her daughter. “Come on, Sleepyhead, wake up.”

Tohru opened her eyes to see her mother sitting beside her.  “Mom…?” She was confused, as she knew her mother had died two years ago.  Am I…dreaming?  She thought as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up.

“So you’ve finally decided to wake up.” Kyoko smiled.  She frowned when she noticed her daughter’s flushed cheeks.  Reaching over and pushing Tohru’s bangs away to feel her forehead, Kyoko saw that her daughter did indeed have a fever.

“Have you been working too hard, Tohru?”

“No, not really, just the same as always,” Tohru replied smiling.  She was overjoyed to see her mother’s face again and to hear her sweet voice echoing in her ears once more.  Tohru knew deep inside that her mother was gone, but it didn’t stop her from smiling.  It had been quite a while since she had dreamed of her mother, let alone seeing her face and hearing her voice, and it made her happy.

“You’ve come down with another one of your fevers, Tohru.  If you aren’t overworking yourself, then what?” Kyoko concernedly asked.

“I was…out in the rain.”

“You catch colds doing that, silly.”

“I know, but I wanted to help Yuki by trying to save his garden.”

“Yuki?  Who’s Yuki?” Kyoko asked.  She was lying beside her daughter, and had propped herself up on her elbows.  She knew very well who Yuki Sohma was, as she watched over her daughter from heaven, but she wanted to hear from her daughter how special of a friend Yuki was to her.

“Yuki’s a friend of mine from school.  He and his cousin Shigure let me stay at their house until the renovations were done at Grandpa’s, but when the other members of our family found out, they began to disrespect me.  I truly wanted to stay with Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo, but I knew I couldn’t.  Grandpa said I didn’t need to take such insults from them, but…they really hurt.  He told me you would have said the same.”  She grew sad remembering that her family had accused her of sleeping with the men she was temporarily staying with, when actually she hadn’t.  “I don’t know why, but one day Yuki and Kyo came to take me back home with them.  It was perfect timing, as I was growing more miserable by the day.  I think they noticed too and it was awkward seeing them only at school rather than all the time. It was so hard to smile when I was living with Grandpa for those few days.  Not that Grandpa was mean to me because he wasn’t, but I felt sad all the time because of the way everyone else was to me.  Maybe that is why Yuki and Kyo came to take me home that day.  When I went home with them that night, my spirits were lifted as soon I stepped inside the house I had grown to love.  Please don’t think badly of me for living with them, Mom!  I didn’t know what else to do.  The tent I had been living in collapsed underneath a landslide and they both kindly let me stay with them.”

“Calm down, Tohru.  You had to do what you had to do.  And I know you well enough that you won’t go around giving your body away to anyone,” Kyoko paused, debating whether or not the words she said made sense and didn’t sound like she was insulting her daughter.  She all of a sudden burst out in laughter.  “You lived in a tent?  That’s my girl!  A rebel!”

Tohru looked at her mother curiously as she laughed, and realizing how silly it was that she had lived in a tent for a week, began to giggle herself.  Soon mother and daughter were laughing so hard their sides began to burn.  They felt if they didn’t stop laughing soon that their sides would burst and their laughter began to die down.

Kyoko worriedly looked at her daughter’s sudden serious expression. Tohru lowered her head, frowned and began to speak, “Though I still don’t know enough about him, but I want to get to know him better.  I want to help him when he’s upset, but Yuki keeps his feelings inside and is shy when it comes to talking about them,” Tohru trailed off as she frowned.  She knew some of the reasons why Yuki was so shy and quiet, and also one of his greatest desires, but couldn’t think of how to help him achieve his dream.  He aspires to be more like Kyo, accepted by others for who he is, but hides behind his yearning to be liked by everyone.

“Give him time, Tohru.  He’ll come around.  When the time is right, he’ll want someone to talk to and by that time he will feel comfortable enough to tell you the deepest secrets of his heart.  Then will you know just how much he treasures you as a friend.”

Tohru jumped in surprise as an ice-cold chill ran down her spine and a gusty breeze encircled her body.  The heavy curtains that hung in her room whipped around in the wind and smacked the back of her head, pressing her head forward so her chin was resting against her chest.  The back of her neck and head felt like ice and she dove under the covers to warm her shivering body.

Kyoko got to her feet and slid the window shut.  “I thought it was stuffy in here when I came to wake you, but it shouldn’t be left open if you are getting sick.  I sure hope you aren’t coming down with the flu,” Kyoko commented as she lay back down beside Tohru.  She nudged her daughter’s arm with her elbow, “Are you sure he isn’t more than a friend?”

“Oh no!  I couldn’t think about dating him.  Sure he is really nice, but I think we are good friends and I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“I see.  You have a point there.  So, why don’t you tell me more about your friend Yuki during breakfast?” she happily asked, kissing her daughters hand before standing, and sliding the door open to go start breakfast.

“Ok,” Tohru replied, smiling from ear to ear.

~*~*~

“I’m finished with my homework, Miss Honda.  Maybe we could have…?  Miss Honda?”  Yuki began, leaning over the table to see Tohru sleeping peacefully.  He scooted over to her, nudging her, trying to wake her.  When she remained sleeping, he took a blanket out of the cupboard and laid it over her sleeping form. As Yuki sat down beside her, watching her sleep, he noticed her cheeks were a bit red and brushed her bangs away as he felt to see if she had a fever.  When he touched her hot forehead, Yuki got up to get her some ice.  He thought about carrying her up to her room, instead of having her sleep on the sitting room floor, but decided against it, as he was afraid he would transform.

“Yuki, what are you doing?” Shigure heard someone in the kitchen, and was surprised to find it was Yuki.

“Getting some ice for Miss Honda.”

“Oh?  What for?”

“She has a fever.  She’s sleeping in the sitting room.”

“Did you try to wake her?”

“Yes, but she wouldn’t wake up.”

“I see.”

“When she fell asleep, I covered her with a blanket and am going to put this under her head to try to lower her fever.”

“There’s still hope for you yet, Yuki,” Shigure teased, ruffling Yuki’s hair.  He snuck quietly into the sitting room to see her lying there asleep, just as Yuki said.  Her cheeks were indeed flushed and he felt bad that he hadn’t put more effort into stopping her from running out into the cold rain.

Yuki returned to Tohru’s side a moment afterward.  He scooped her head up, placing the bag of ice underneath, and gently set it back down.  He watched as she jerked the blanket up around her neck.  Shigure stood out on the porch for a few minutes, enjoying the cool breeze from the calm after the storm ruffle through his hair, before coming back inside.  He gently closed the shoji doors behind him, bid Yuki and the sleeping Tohru a good night before heading off to bed.  Yuki sat and watched her for a while.  Thinking it cute when Tohru would occasionally smile and giggle and wondered what she was dreaming about.  

Yuki thought back to earlier that evening when Tohru was upset over her laundry not being done.  He rose to his feet and headed toward his second-most dreaded room in the house, the laundry room and hesitantly looked into the dryer.  Noticing it was empty; he looked into the washer, where he found her laundry plastered to the side of the drum.  Yuki grabbed handfuls of laundry, stuffing them into the dryer.  He paused in front of the dryer and stared blankly at the dials, unsure of what it would do if he changed the settings even slightly.  Deciding to leave them as they were he closed the dryer’s door, turned it on and left the room.

He returned to the sitting room a moment after, turning off the lights before sitting down beside Tohru.   Yuki rested his head in his hand, leaning against the table, watching faint flashes of the lightning at the tail end of the storm through the translucent shoji doors, as the exhaustion of the long day overwhelmed him.  When he felt his eyes become heavy, Yuki took the remaining blanket in the cupboard and wrapped himself up in it before leaning over, gently taking Tohru’s limp hand, and kissing it.  “Good night, Miss Honda,” he whispered, before laying his head in his arms and falling asleep.

~*~*~

“Hey there, Prince,” Uo greeted.

Yuki jolted awake as he heard the yankee’s greeting and the sliding of the sitting room’s shoji door.  Through his blurred vision he recognized Tohru’s best friends standing outside on the porch.  He glancing to his side to see Tohru still sleeping, relieved the redness in her cheeks had disappeared and glad she was well again.  “Morning,” he greeted sleepily, rubbing the blurriness from his eyes.

“Don’t you have your own room?”

“I do.  I guess I just nodded off in here last night,” Yuki chuckled.  “What are you two doing here?”

“We said we would be over today, don’t you remember?”

“I guess I forgot.  Sorry about that.”

“Hey, that’s all right.  Say, where’s Tohru?” Uo asked, gazing around the room from outside.

“Uh…”

“I sense Tohru’s signals over there,” Hana commented, inviting herself in.

“Oh, yes, forgive me, come in,” Yuki said.

As Uo and Hana entered the room, they both noticed that Tohru was sleeping beside Yuki and in his clothes no doubt.  Hana thought nothing of the situation, but Uo became a little defensive.

“What kinda stunt are you trying to pull, pretty boy?” she demanded, holding him up by his lapel, her other hand clenched in a fist.

“It’s not what it looks like, Miss Uotani,” Yuki protested, pealing her hand off of the collar of his shirt.  “She fell asleep here last night with a fever, so I thought it best if I looked after her here for the night, letting her sleep.”

“Why didn’t you wake her up and send her up her room, dumb ass?  It wasn’t very gentleman like just to leave her here.  And I thought you were smarter than that?”

“I swear I didn’t do anything to Miss Honda, Miss Uotani!”

“I thought I heard you, Yankee!” Kyo greeted.

Yuki, for once in his life, was grateful for Kyo’s sudden appearance, as he didn’t know how to explain why he didn’t send Tohru to bed.

“Oh, there you are, Orange Top.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Gee, that’s a nice way to greet your guests,” Uo sarcastically commented, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, I see we have guests?” Shigure observed, entering the room.  “I thought you girls were coming over later?”

“Yeah we were, but we all of a sudden decided ‘Hey, we haven’t taken Tohru to breakfast for a while.’ And so, here we are,” Uo replied.

“Breakfast sounds wonderful!” Tohru exclaimed as she stretched.  Everyone looked at her, noticing that she was now awake, and bowed their heads in shame for making so much noise.

“Yeah, so why don’t you get dressed and we’ll go?” Uo suggested.

“Alright,” Tohru smiled.  She stood up and stretched once more and went to the laundry room.  Tohru noticed that there were no clothes in the washer, then thinking she might have put them in the dryer sometime the night before, looked in there.  They were in the dryer, but when she opened the door, Tohru was hit with a jolt of sickness when she smelt the rancid odor of damp clothes.

“I’m sorry, Miss Honda.  I guess I didn’t put them on for long enough last night.” Yuki said apologetically, entering the small room.

“That’s alright, Yuki.  I’ll just put them in the washer again.” Tohru replied smiling, then turned away as she felt her cheeks heat up.  “Thank you so much for trying to do my laundry, Yuki.”

“Well, you had a fever, so I thought it was the least I could do for you.”

“Thank you very much,” Tohru bowed, then paused, “Wait, I had a fever?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I’m…so sorry I troubled you, Yuki.”

“No, it’s alright, Miss Honda.  I didn’t mind.  It was no trouble at all,” Yuki assured her.

They stood looking at one another in silence.

“Now what am I going to do?  I have nothing to wear,” Tohru sighed as she sank to the floor.  “I can’t possibly wear this,” she continued, tugging on the borrowed shirt, “I wore it all night…”

“Hey, Tohru, hurry up!” Uo called.

“Coming!” Tohru replied before beginning to panic.

“Just borrow something else of mine, Miss Honda.  I don’t mind.”

Tohru gave in to his request and a few minutes after Yuki gave her another set of clothes to borrow, and after changing she descended the stairs ready to go out with her friends.

“What are you wearing, Tohru?” Uo asked, in disbelief she was wearing yet another pair of Yuki’s clothes.

“Well, uh…all my laundry is dirty and uh…Yuki was kind enough to lend me his clothes.”

“We can go another…” Uo began to suggest.

“No, that’s alright!  You two came all the way here to take me out for breakfast and it would be rude of me to refuse your offer.”

“Oh, alright.  If you are sure about going out in those clothes.”

“You do realize that those Fan Club girls might be out as well?  What would they say if they saw you in the Prince’s clothes?” Hana questioned.

“Um…uh…eh heh…I don’t know…I never thought of that…” Tohru softly answered, staring blankly at her friends.

“You simply alter the outfit so that they aren’t recognized as his clothes.  It has taken me many years to perfect this art, but finally…” Ayame dramatically answered, emphasizing his points with dramatic hand movements.  He approached Tohru, lifting her chin with his index finger to gaze passionately down at her, and after whispering a soft “hello” to the dumbfounded girl he continued, “…after many disappointments, mix-ups, and failures, the art of designing clothing has become my forte.”

In an instant Yuki slapped his brother’s hand down and put himself between Ayame and Tohru.  Uo and Hana didn’t know what to think of the tall, long-haired stranger who was flirting with their friend.

“Who invited you!?” Yuki and Kyo asked, annoyed at Ayame’s sudden appearance.

“My Yuki, you’re rough,” Ayame whined, caressing his sore red wrist.  “Can I not simply come over to visit my brother once and a while?”

“No, now get lost!” Yuki yelled.

“I would do as you say, Yuki, but I have other matters to deal with here.  But first I need an obi!” Ayame dramatically demanded.  “’Gure, go get me that navy blue one of yours.”

Shigure returned a moment later with one of his neatly folded obi’s.  Ayame took it and approached Tohru once again.  “Come now, Yuki, move aside.  It isn’t as if I’m going to bite her.”

“Knowing you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did!”

“Temper, temper,” Ayame lectured, waving his finger at his brother.

“Hey!  Hold on a minute!  Just who the hell are you?” Uo shouted.

“Who am I?  I am Ayame Sohma, older brother to Yuki Sohma!” Ayame introduced himself, bowing to Uo and Hana.  “And might I add that your beautiful golden locks would look exquisite against the cool color pallet of the dress I am designing.  I would be honored if you would model for me.”

Uo crossed her arms and scoffed, “Charm doesn’t work on me.  Besides I don’t like to do girly stuff like that.”

Ayame frowned at Uo’s refusal of his proposal.  He then turned his attention back to Tohru, who was still clueless as to what was going on around her.  Taking her hand Ayame whirled her around as he wrapped the obi around her, before tying a precise and beautiful bow.  Standing back, he admired his alterations, tilting his head this way and that and circling around her.  He concluded that there needed to be another alteration, so he found the sewing kit in the sitting room’s cupboard.  Unwinding a small spool of thread, cutting it with his teeth with a ‘snap’, and quickly threading the small needle.  He then proceeded to weave the needle in and out of Tohru’s pant leg with ease as if he was cutting butter with a hot knife.  Ayame gathered the fabric loosely and knotted the ends of the thread together, then continued to do the same with the other pant leg.  After he finished, he took each of the pant legs and folding them up inside them, so that the pants were now a little below Tohru’s knees.  He stood back again, admiring his adjustments.

“What do you think, ‘Gure?” Ayame asked, crossing his arms and placing a thoughtful finger on his lips, looking over at his friend.

Shigure tilted his head and mirrored his friend by crossing his arms inside his kimono and raising his finger to his lips.  “I think it is a wonderful transformation, Aya.  All the curves are were they should be, not just boxed up in a baggy shirt.”

“Perverted bastard!” Kyo shouted as he punched Shigure, catching him off guard.

“Well, girls?  Don’t just stand there.  Breakfast awaits!” Ayame announced, dramatically waving his arm leading to the outside beyond the shoji doors.

Uo and Hana each took one of Tohru’s arms and directed her out of the house to breakfast, their glares never leaving Ayame’s eyes.