FicWad

Ayame was very predictable. Just as she had thought he showed up and promptly began to annoy Yuki, who hadn’t even realized he was coming. Ayame had waltzed around the room blabbing about Yuki’s ‘moment of romance’ as he called it. Yuki blushed the entire time and tried desperately to escape. Eventually Hatori did turn up to take Aya home, and Inora flashed him a huge smile as he walked in. He, however, never looked in her direction, and she couldn’t help but feel a little hurt at that. She didn’t get a chance to figure it out because Yuki had taken advantage of the distraction and ran off. She felt that somehow his mood was her fault so, ignoring Aya’s questions about how long she had been dating Yuki, she followed him.
“Yuki?” she asked hesitantly through the door to his room.
“Yeah,” he sounded like he had seriously considered not answering.
“I’m sorry,” she said simply, pulling the door open.
“About what?” he asked curiously looking at her for the first time since after school. She walked over and sat next to him on the bed.
“Well I should have warned you about my plan, I didn’t realize it would throw you off so much,” she said playing with the edge of his comforter.
“Oh n-no it was fine, I mean yeah you surprised me a bit. But this should keep them off my back for at least a while. And that’s what I wanted so I can’t-”
“Ok Tohru. Stop blabbing,” I said with a smile, and he chuckled lightly. They spent quite a bit of time talking about their lives after that. For some reason they stayed away from topics about the future and the past. They mostly talked about what their hobbies were and what they did in a usual day. Inora had noticed something a while ago and decided that this was a good a time as any to ask him.
“So,” she said with a knowing smile. “You really like Tohru huh?”
“Oh yes she’s a great friend,” he replied quickly, she saw a faint blush on his cheeks that told her that he knew that wasn’t what she was asking.
“You know that’s not what I meant,” she said quietly. He looked at her for a long moment then sighed in defeat.
“Yeah… in all honesty I don’t know how I feel about her, I just know that I care about her.”
“Fair enough,” she said and dropped it. She heard a car leaving in the distance and sighed, why wouldn’t Hatori look at her? As if Yuki had read her mind he looked at her with a smile.
“You really like Hatori don’t you?” he asked her quietly.
“I hadn’t realized anyone besides ‘Gure had noticed,” she said blushing slightly. Since he had been honest with her she decided to return the favor. She spent the next half an hour telling Yuki about all of her and Hatori’s conversations and about how they would stare at each other without even realizing it.
“I mean, is he usually like that or do you think it’s something else?” she asked him. Yuki had already told her that he had needed to see Hatori a lot when he was young for some breathing problems. She thought that he might know him well enough to know.
“Well Hatori is usually a very serious person, if he is smiling a lot around you then… yes, I would say it’s something more,” he said with a smile that for some reason didn’t quite look right to Inora, but she smiled back anyway.
“Really? That would be… awesome,” she finished lamely, she couldn’t seem to put it into words. “Anyway sorry for taking up all your time, I guess I just really wanted to talk about it. I hadn’t realized.”
“It’s ok, I don’t mind,” Yuki said softly.
**
It was a few days after she had had he conversation with Yuki and it was very clear to everyone that they had quickly became friends. Inora found it odd that even though she shared a room with her, Tohru was the only person she hadn’t really gotten to know. She had talked to Yuki about his student council problems and other school events everyday since their talk. She had also taken some martial arts lessons from Kyo who had been very impressed with how hard she could punch. With Tohru, however, she would help with diner and maybe make small talk. But then again, for some reason, Inora had always gotten along better with guys more then girls.
She had something else that concerned her more than her inability to make girl talk. She couldn’t get Hatori off of her mind and, more specifically, the way he had avoided her eye the last time she saw him. She had been warring with herself on whether or not to ask Shigure for advice. But when it came down to it, Shigure probably knew him better then anyone.
“’Gure?” Inora called into his study. “Can I ask you for… well, help?”
“Of course, come in,” he said kindly, she closed the door behind her so no one would hear them.
“What is the deal with Hatori? I mean, did I do something wrong to upset him?” she spilled out, and Shigure chuckled lightly.
“Ah I was wondering when you would come to me with this. In all honesty I believe that night he was a little hurt by what he had heard,” he said.
“Hurt? But…how?” she asked.
“Well by you kissing Yuki of course. You see, he’s not someone that has to deal with jealousy very often, so he didn’t know how to deal with it,” he said.
“He’s jealous? But I didn’t think he…” she trailed off.
“My dear girl, if you don’t think he has some strong feelings for you, then you’re not as smart as I thought.” He said with a sideways smile, she had to think about that one for a moment.
“It’s more like I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” she mumbled.
“Ah… hope does have the potential to crush ones spirit, but it can also lift you up, to a higher place. And in my experience the second outcome is well worth risking the first,” he said, she stared at him for a few moments.
“So there is a reason why the others come to you so much… you can be really sensitive when you want to be,” she said smiling at him and he smiled back.
“Well I try anyway,” he said in a lighter tone. She got up to leave when she suddenly thought of something else.
“Oh would you mind telling him, subtly of course, that that was just an act? That I was just trying to help Yuki?” She asked as she backed towards the door.
“Already did it! Who do you think I am, some sort of amateur? That’s why he didn’t leave right away, and he was defiantly feeling better when he left,” he said happily.
“Thanks ‘Gure I owe you one,” she said blowing him a kiss then bounced out of the room. She went down to the living room to find Dan organizing his things.
“(Oh Inora, I’ve been wanting to talk to you but you’ve seemed really busy,)” he said only glancing up once. She immediately felt bad for not paying too much attention to him for the last few days but she had had a lot on her mind.
“(I’m sorry Dan,)” she said whining a little. “(But I’ve just been dealing with some stuff.)”
“(Yeah I know,)” he said and smiled when she looked confused. “(I don’t have to speak the language to know, drama is still drama in any language.)”
“(Well I wouldn’t exactly call it drama…)” she said quietly.
“(Anyway that’s not what I wanted to say, I’m sorry for not telling you sooner but I’m leaving tonight,)” he said abruptly
“(Tonight?)” she almost yelled. “(Well thanks a lot Dan, I was gonna plan something nice for you!)”
“(I know, I know, I’m sorry. But I don’t really want anything anyway. I see now that you are safe so there’s no reason for me to be here anymore. The only thing I ask is… I wanna talk to that Hatori guy, and threw Hatsu not you,)” he said.
“(Well I could see if they can come, I mean, they would want to say bye anyway. Also Hatori will probably drive you aga-…Wait, what?)” she had been so distracted by his sudden departure that she didn’t even think about how weird his request was.
“(I uh… want to thank him, you know for fixing your shoulder,)” he said quickly. It was a lie and she knew it, but she just shrugged and went to the phone. She called Hatsu first and he agreed quickly to come, and just as she thought, he wanted to say goodbye. She was a little more nervous calling Hatori, but to her relief he agreed even quicker then Hatsu had. They were both coming soon so she didn’t even have to tell them a time. By the time she had finished telling everyone in the house she heard a knock on the door.
“Hey Hatori,” she said as he walked in, she was glad to see that he was acting almost like he used to. There was just something… different, but it wasn’t necessarily for the worse.
“Don’t I get a ‘hey’?” Hatsu asked from behind Hatori. She ran up to him and threw her arms around him.
“Hatsu, I miss our lessons,” she said as she let go, he beamed at her.
“Well you know you could always learn to read and write Japanese,” he said brightly. That thought had never occurred to her; after all she was only staying for the year.
“Awww, it’s ok to just say that you missed me,” she said putting an arm around his waist and walking with him to the door. She looked up and saw Hatori watching them with an expression that looked halfway between amused and…something else.
“Damn straight I missed you,” he said while kissing her lightly on the top of her head. Inora smiled as she realized that she had been wrong, he wasn’t like her grandpa, he was more like her dad.
“Well I’ll have to visit more often,” she said. “Anyway Dan’s in the living room and is very set on seeing you, you’d better just get it out of the way,” she added looking over Hatsu’s shoulder at Hatori. They both moved silently into the other room and she sat down at the dining room table curiously. They were in there for maybe five minutes before they all came out. Hatori led the way looking like he seriously wanted to escape, this time she could read the expressions clearly. There was a lot of amusement mixed with a good dose of embarrassment, but there was also a hint of fear. Hatsu was just straight up amused at whatever had been said. And Dan had his lecturing face on, which made Inora sigh.
It was almost lunch time so she figured that she should go see if Tohru needed any help in the kitchen. Inora had tried to get Tohru to give her more of the chores but she had insisted that there wasn’t that much to do. Inora just settled for helping with the meals sometimes. Tohru sent her to work chopping vegetables and Kyo came in to get something to drink. She tried to make some conversation with both of them but with no luck. She didn’t know why but they seemed to be really distracted lately.
Yuki walked into the room completely spaced out. He had been doing that a lot lately she noticed, ever since the fan club thing. While he and Inora had been talking a lot more lately, he still hadn’t truly opened up to her since they had talked about their feelings for Tohru and Hatori. Because of her own issues lately with Hatori she hadn’t asked him what was wrong. He walked through the kitchen while looking out of the window, so he hadn’t seen Kyo looking in the refrigerator for milk and he bumped right into him. Kyo was predictable as ever.
“Watch where you’re going you damn rat!” Kyo said. Yuki’s response was what caught everyone off guard.
“Well if your stupid ass hadn’t been so far out into the walkway I may have been able to avoid it!” Everyone stopped and stared at Yuki. Kyo was thrown for a second as well.
“Huh? Well…uh…” he fumbled then recovered. “YOU THINK SO?! I’LL WIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOUR FACE! LET’S TAKE THIS OUTSIDE!”
“After you,” Was all Yuki said. Hatori and Shigure were already outside smoking when the two of them stomped past.
“Again?” Shigure and Hatori said together. Inora and Tohru followed them, Inora just found it interesting to watch them still. Tohru, on the other hand, was jittery and biting her nails. She kept up her usual string of “eh” and “er's.” Inora walked over to stand by the two men.
“Don’t you know the day wouldn’t be complete without it?” Inora chuckled.
“True,” Shigure said. Then something occurred to her.
“You guys smoke? How did I not know that?” she asked them, but their response was drowned out by Kyo.
“ALRIGHT RAT BOY, BRING IT ON!!!” Kyo shouted. Yuki didn’t bother to respond, he simply took a swipe at Kyo. He missed, and it wasn’t just a miss, he was way off. Hatori and Shigure, who had seen those two fight more times then they could count, sat up. Kyo didn’t miss his chance, while Yuki was recovering from all of his force going into nothing Kyo connected forcefully with the side of his face. Yuki stumbled more, for some reason he kept glancing at the group on the porch. Inora tried to figure out what he was seeing that was so distracting.
From where Yuki was Shigure was sitting on the far right with Hatori sitting to his left. Inora was standing beside Hatori with Tohru bouncing around on the far left. Inora decided he must be looking at Tohru, and also that she is why he had been so distracted lately. Yuki kicked towards Kyo’s head but missed again, he had to turn away from Kyo in order to put his foot down and regain his balance. Kyo planted his left foot in the ground and used all of his force, his right hand connected with the very centre of Yuki’s back. Yuki flew forward and sprawled out on the ground. Kyo drew himself up to his full height.
“Now you know how it feels rat boy, not so cocky now huh?” Kyo laughed. Yuki was pissed. Inora knew this wasn’t over, and from the way it was going it may last a while, she sat down next to Hatori. The movement seemed distract Yuki again for just a moment. He jumped up and did some sort of roundhouse kick and finally connected with Kyo’s head. This time Kyo flew backwards and skidded along the ground, Yuki slowly put his foot back down and started screaming at him.
“I’m cocky? YOU SELF-CENTERED BASTARD, YOU’RE THE COCKY ONE! YOU THINK YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT? WELL YOUR WRONG HATORI!!!”
“What the hell?” Shigure, Kyo and Inora said together. Yuki realized his mistake as soon as he said it. His eyes bugged out and he had a very intense staring contest with the ground. Hatori was seriously confused and was studying Yuki closely. Tohru had missed it completely so she was also confused. Yuki tried to recover but was failing.
“I… I mean… you…” He stammered. He looked at the porch again and, now that she was suspicious, Inora saw it was right at her. They made eye contact then he turned and ran into the woods. ‘Is that what everyone does when there upset around here?’ Inora thought. Tohru made to follow him but Inora grabbed her arm.
“I think I should go,” she said. She stood up and started off after him. When she was a few feet away she glanced back. Shigure, in his all knowing smugness, smiled and winked at her. Tohru and, to her relief, Hatori still looked just plain confused. As she walked by Kyo he finally got up.
“What the hell was that all about? Ah damn it, and I almost won!” he said. Good, he already moved on from what Yuki had said and was mourning his loss. She sprinted to catch up to him, but he was fast. It was all she could do just to keep him in her sights so she wouldn’t loose him. She was far enough behind that he didn’t know she was there, so he stopped in a clearing to catch his breath. As she ran up to him he blushed, and it was very clear that he didn’t particularly want to see her right now.
“Damn…you’re fast,” she said in between her gasps for air. She hadn’t realized how out of shape she was. She took a few seconds to catch the rest of her breath.
“Again I need to apologize,” she said. “I hadn’t realized. Do you want to tell me about it?” he stared at her for a moment then sighed, much like he had the last time they had talked like this.
“When I first met Tohru and we became friends, I actually looked at her like the mother I never really had. But then I slowly began to have…other feelings for her. It was pretty weird having those types of feelings mixed up. But just as I started to think like that I realized that her and Kyo, well… there meant for each other. Have you seen it?”
“Yes… I have,” she said quietly, not really sure where he was going with this.
“Well that hurt for a time but I’ve moved on for the most part. Then you came along… well let’s just say I never thought of you like my mother. I know that we never had much interaction but I found you funny… and strong. Your one of the strongest people I have ever met. But now I see that you belong with Hatori, and well…”
“You bundled Hatori in with Kyo and took it out on him,” Inora finished for him and Yuki nodded slowly.
“I’m just… I want…” he was struggling to find the right words. “When will it be my turn? When will someone be meant for me?”
“Yuki,” she almost whispered. “She’s out there; you just have to believe it. You’re still young you so don’t need to hurry or anything.”
“Some people never find them,” he said quietly.
“That’s because there not looking. I know you Yuki you are the type of person who will fall in love. Believe me when I say: she’s out there, and she’s trying to get to you. She just doesn’t know it yet.” A single tear slid down his face as he walked over to her and gave her a tight hug.