Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and all its characters are properties of Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to Yume comics. Everything else in this fanfic are figments of my imagination. Any similarities to name, places, yada yada yada are simply examples of the world's many coincidental mysteries. Earlier chapters of this fic are available in Fanfiction.net and Mediaminer.org

September 21, 2003

Seven Days : Epilogue

By Ina-chan

            "Hnnnnn... I see."

Tapatapataptapatapa...

The sound of drumming fingers accompanied the writer's low rumbling baritone as he cradled the receiver on the crook of his neck. A playful grin made it's way on his lips as comprehension lit his face.

 "So that's the story. I'll make sure to give Tooru-kun the message, Saki-chan."

All of the sudden, the writer's eyes widened in surprise, in response to whatever Hana-chan said on the other line. The impish grin turned into a strained smile, as large droplets of sweat started to bead along his eyebrow.

"Ah, no... nothing's wrong. Tooru-kun is... she's... just busy right now... that's why she can't come to the phone... I'll make sure to tell her to call you back as soon as she's available... BUT..." 

The writer recovered his composure and holding the receiver in his hands and leaned forward, his voice lowering to a gentle hush.

"... if you want to, you're more than welcome to come over and pla..."

Shigure blinked, looking at the receiver on his hand as the dial tone blared loudly. With a small shrug, he replaced it back to its cradle and made his way upstairs. It was just as how he suspected. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, his amusement getting the better of him. After all, it was rather suspicious as to why it took Hanajima Saki this long to give her report.

Perhaps, he wasn't the only one who was curious with how this would end.

Nonetheless, this was the seventh day deadline. It was needless and cruel to put Yuki in any more torture than he had to endure. He only hoped that the chaos upstairs hasn't gone too far...

...without him, that is.

"Ara? Ha-san? What are you doing out there?" Shigure noted, as he noticed his very stressed-out looking best friend standing just outside his younger cousin's bedroom door, a cigarette at hand.

The dragon took a drag from his cigarette before responding, "What did Honda-kun's friend say?"

"It would seem," Shigure replied with a small chuckle, "That the book was a part of some kind of promotion for this forgettable movie a couple of years back. I suppose there's some left-over paraphernalia in some stores that took the promotion a little too seriously. That the whole seven-day curse thing was a hoax after all."

Hatori raised an eyebrow, "After all? You make it sound like you were skeptical about it from the beginning."

"Since when did I say that I believed it," Shigure replied defensively

"Well, you definitely did nothing to help with damage control," The doctor retorted blandly, "It would have been a lot less grief for everyone if..."

"But that's not fun at all!" The dog interrupted in protest, giving the dragon a wounded look

"I should have known..." Hatori sighed as he pulled out a small silver object from his pocket and discarded his half-finished cigarette in the snuffer

"How are they doing?" Shigure asked curiously

The doctor made another long sigh before motioning to open the mouse's bedroom door. He paused to give the writer a condescending look before continuing on, "Just to let you know... everything that has happened and WILL happen from the moment Honda-kun stepped through these doors... it's entirely your fault."

"Ha-san... That's cruel!" The writer whined in protest in mock indignation, "Besides, A-ya was the one coordinated the whole thing after I told him my idea."

Hatori's lips thinned into a line of displeasure, still looking dispassionately at the other man through half-lidded eyes. He, then, finally pushed the door open to reveal the chaos inside that continued since he, Shigure, Ayame and Kyou rushed to the room after hearing a very painful-sounding 'thud' approximately twenty minutes earlier.

Almost immediately, periodic flashes of light greeted Shigure's eyes. Ayame was literally flying all over the room taking pictures from different angles. Kyou still stood at the corner, unmoving since the dog left the room to answer that phone call. It was as if the cat couldn't decide if he wanted to be completely mortified or give in to pure rage... so his body compromised with shock and paralysis as he continued to stare in disbelief at the tableau on the floor...

"That's our Yuki-kun. Wakes like a zombie and sleeps like the dead," Shigure noted with amusement, "But if you think about it... normal people usually fall asleep 'AFTER', not 'BEFORE'."

"SHIGURE!" Hatori chided his best friend sternly

"Haaa..." Tooru's muffled voice warbled in reaction

Sprawled on the floor, just by the bed, in plain view... Yuki finally gave in to his weeklong exhaustion and fell into a very deep sleep. Literally. Unfortunately, a very horrified Tooru happened to be, on his line of descent when he fell. Thus, helplessly pinning a very embarrassed girl underneath him.

"A pillow..." Shigure sighed, almost mournfully, "Who would have thought that such a simple thing could be the answer to our prayers!"

"Shigure..." Hatori gave him another warning tone, before turning his attention to the girl, "Honda-kun, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Tooru forced a cheerful smile, "Really! Yuki-kun isn't that heavy at all... well, my arms are starting to feel a bit numb... but it's no big deal... ha-ha-ha...ha..."

The past couple of minutes until they were interrupted by that prior phone call, the dragon and the dog (since the snake and the cat were obviously too preoccupied to be of any help) were trying to figure out a way to free their poor little flower from her accidental prison without disturbing the sleeping mouse (obviously for fear-motivated reasons).

It would have been so much simpler if the girl were able to wrap her arms around the sleeping mouse. But as Murphy's Law were to have it... in Tooru's attempt to protect herself from the falling boy, she only managed to pin her arms in between their bodies. And despite Tooru's (obviously false) claims about the mouse's weight, she didn't have the strength to push him away without any assistance.

Not that she's in a hurry in any way. An ever-optimist in the worst-case scenario, she was still thankful for the small miracles that were making the experience less unpleasant than it could have been.

Well, it was true that she was dying of shame and was enduring the uncomfortable sensation of being crushed under the boy's weight AND was being driven almost insane with the awareness of his warm breath against her ear....

But Yuki was shielding her AND the embarrassing dress that she's wearing from Kyou and Hatori's unsuspecting eyes... and Ayame's camera...

There was also the fact that Yuki doesn't drool in his sleep...

"Tooru-kun," Ayame chimed as he paused to take another shot, "Can you do me a favour and tilt your head out a little bit for the camera?"

"Ayame-san..." Tooru's embarrassed muffled reply came weakly as she attempted to hide underneath Yuki's frame even more

"Ayame..." Hatori called out sternly, "Can you please be more considerate of other people?"

"But Tori-san!" Ayame exclaimed in uncharacteristic protest, "This is a rare and important occasion in my sweet little brother's life! Such small miracle occurrences should be preserved and engraved in memory. What better way than to freeze this moment eternally with a photograph that can be cherished..."

"...or to be used as blackmail to make sure that Yuki doesn't commit fratricide when he wakes up and finds out exactly what you and Shigure have done," The dragon interrupted blandly

"Well, that too," The snake agreed tactfully, unable to resist admitting the truth to the dragon

"Writhing in agonizing pain is not how I want to go," The dog added as he scratched his chin with a goofy smile, "The only way to die is to have a cigarette in one hand, a bottle of sake in the other, held in the arms of a beautiful naked goddess..."

"GODDAMMIT!!! WILL ALL OF YOU STOP THINKING OF YOURSELVES AND START DOING SOMETHING TO HELP TOORU?!?!?" Kyou exploded, red-faced with fury, finally coming out from his shocked-induced catatonia

"Well then, Kyou-kun," Shigure challenged, "Since you're so much braver than all of us combined, let's see you march over there, haul Yuki-kun off Tooru-kun."

"DON'T!" Tooru called out a little more passionately than she intended, drawing four pairs of eyes to gape at her in surprise. The girl turned to several shades of red before stuttering her explanation, "Anou... eto... I mean... it's not really a problem.... eto... eto... This is the first time Yuki-kun is finally sleeping soundly in a week... so...  let's not disturb him, ne? Besides, this is all my fault anyway. I have to take responsibility..."

"IDIOT!!!" Kyou growled angrily as he pointed an indignant finger at his two older cousins, "THEY'RE PLAYING WITH YOU FOR THEIR AMUSEMENT!!!"

"How rude!" Ayame scoffed with a snobbish toss of his silvery strands, "Why don't you just go out and admit it, Kyonkichi. The truth is, Kyonkichi is actually..." Ayame paused for dramatic effect, his golden eyes twinkling playfully, "...jealous."

"NA!?!?!" Kyou yelled as he stepped backwards in surprise, a telltale scarlet flush making his already red face grow even redder

"Ahh, ahh..." Shigure joined in, "That is understandable. I can't help but feel jealous, myself... Imagine! To have a beautiful girl lying yieldingly beneath---"

"I'M NOT LIKE EITHER OF YOU, YOU PERVERTS!!!" Kyou bellowed indignantly, "I'M NOT JEALOUS OF YUKI!!!"

"Ara! Can it be!?!?"  Ayame exclaimed, his eyes widening in disbelief at his younger cousin, "That Kyonkichi is actually jealous of Tooru-kun!?!?"

"!!!!!!!"

"Haaa~~~~"

Hatori sighed, automatically reaching out for his black bag and started to pull out items he anticipated that he would need.

Shigure sweat dropped and slowly retreated backwards out of the room to the safety of the hallways. The writer couldn't help but flinch in sympathy as the indignant cat's fiery tempest unleashed its wrath on the unfortunate snake.

"A-a-ayame-san... K-k-..." The girl stammered, instantly going on super-shocked mode

Yuki frowned in his sleep and stirred slightly at the noise. As if they were in a video and the person watching them pushed the "pause" button on the vcr, all the occupants of the room froze simultaneously, holding their breath in alarm.  But instead of opening his eyes, the mouse relaxed and simply snuggled against Tooru, shifting to a more comfortable position with a soft sigh.

The temperature in the room seemed to have risen as Kyou's battle aura flared dangerously in response to his cousin's spontaneous actions.

Shigure closed the door behind him and made his escape. That was one inevitable scenario that he did not want to be involved with. There's also the expected confrontation state of affairs with a fully conscious Yuki later on.

The writer sighed. Well, what will happen will happen. There's really nothing much anyone can do about it. Que sera sera..

Though he had to admit, having the chance to observe the drama that unfolded in the house the past seven days was definitely worth it. Everyone reacted within how he predicted they would, as if he had written the chapters of the entire scenario with his own hands.  Needless to say, another wicked smile made its way to the writer's lips as an idea presented itself, in his mind's eye.

The new chapter unfolding as the result of this was something to look forward to as well.

He should be ashamed of using Tooru like that to play with his younger cousins... but both of them needed a gentle shove... and a swift kick on their asses... to get them moving towards the right direction.

He'll never admit it aloud, but he didn't want his younger cousins to let their opportunities with Tooru pass them by, and live the rest of their adult life with the regret of not making enough effort of letting their true feelings be known until it was too late...

 ...of course, it was a lot of fun watching them squirm in the process as well. The expression on Kyou's face was priceless when they first entered the room and saw the state Yuki and Tooru were in...

"Sensei? What are you doing in my house?" A familiar monotone invaded the writer's thoughts, pulling him back into reality

Shigure blinked and saw Hatsuharu sitting in the common room, watching him stoically, "I should be asking you... You're in MY house."

"Hnnnn...." The Ox hnnned as he surveyed his surroundings, "So it seems."

"Ha-kun, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be grounded for a month?" Shigure asked curiously as he stood before the younger man

"I was on my way back to my room from the toilet but suddenly, I found myself here," Haru intoned, "Mystery..."

Beads of sweat lined on the writer's forehead, "Well, you might as well stay until Ha-san is done upstairs and go back home with him."

"I'm sorry for the trouble. Ah Sensei, I found this by the front door. I was wondering why there was a package marked for sensei at my house. It all makes sense now," The Ox replied as he pulled out a small brown package, "It's very strange though. It doesn't have a return address..."

Shigure took the package from the boy and opened it, to reveal a single unlabeled videotape. The dog frowned as two questions blared in his head. What the hell was this? And who the hell would send something like this to him?

"Hnnn..." Hatsuharu hnnned again, "It's just like that movie?"

The writer raised an eyebrow, "Movie?"

The Ox nodded thoughtfully, "It was about this mysterious videotape. It didn't have a label and no one knew where it came from... just like that. But the tape turned out to be cursed. Because on the exact time, seven days after watching it, all those who saw the movie in the tape mysteriously ended up... dead."

"Hnnnn..." It was Shigure's turn to hnnnn as he glanced back down on the video tape, "That sounds very interesting."

"Well... it's either that or it's a video girl tape left for you to end your loneliness by a passing video rental manager from a magical video rental store," Hatsuharu replied without batting an eye

"Ha-kun..." Shigure began in the same serious manner, "You've been watching anime non-stop from the past two of days, haven't you?"

"There's not much to do when you're grounded," The boy replied

"Want to see something interesting?" The dog asked, a familiar mischievous twinkle lighting his eye, "Go to upstairs... Yuki-kun is finally sleeping with Tooru-kun."

Without missing a beat, Haru instantly got on his feet and made his way upstairs... through the kitchen. Shigure contemplated redirecting the boy to the right direction for a moment, but decided against it and shrugged. After all there were other important things to consider... such as the mysterious videotape in his hands.

The dog suddenly found himself in a special dilemma...

He personally didn't believe that whole story about the coincidentally cursed videotape... but Yuki had demonstrated how potent the power of suggestion can be to mustering the silliest of notions into self-fulfilling-prophesies. But at the same time, his curiosity would drive him insane if he doesn't find out what's in his tape.

Tapatapataptapatapa...

The sound of drumming his fingers almost blared loudly in the silence of the room as the writer contemplated. Then his fingers stopped in mid-beat. A playful grin slowly made it's way on his lips as realization lit his face. He instantaneously got on his feet and made his way to the telephone.

"Harro Mi-chan! How are you? Yes... about the 500 pages... I was wondering if you're free to come over and play today... "

Owari...?

Author's squawk:

            It's done! It's done! IT'S DONE!!!!!

            Well, I managed to keep all the promises intoned throughout the chapters except the virginity thing. But this is still fun. ^_^. Thank you to everyone for being patient with reading this fic. Your kind reviews (and death threats) in FF.NET, Mediaminer.org and private mail has been motivational in finishing this. And a very special thank you to Merrow for helping me keep focused!

Did you know that this fic is almost a year old? I started it on December 22, 2002! Whew! I'm glad this is over! Now I can focus on my other unfinished fics. ^_^.

Comments, criticisms and flame throwers at [email protected]

Ja!
Ina-chan