Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or the characters, they belong to Natsuki Takaya (I hope I spelled that right!).
A/N: Well I've been reading a LOT of Fruits Basket fan fiction lately, and this story started to swirl around in my mind. I couldn't get rid of it, it was taking up my every waking hour! I thought the best way to give myself some peace was to write it, so that's what I'm doing. This is the first fanfic I've ever written, so don't expect too much. ^_^ I should warn that while I did my best, the characters are all probably OOC, partly because the story takes place when Tohru's about 21-22 so everyone has grown up, and partly because when writing I have control over them. *evil laughter* I had trouble coming up with titles for the story and the chapter, "The Journey Home" and "Oh my... oh my..." popped into my head, so I used those. If you can think of something better, feel free to suggest it. ^_^
Warning: As mentioned above, there will be OOC moments (or the whole thing, or something... yeah) so if that bothers you, this might not be the story for you. Also if premarital sex and/or unwed pregnancy bother you, this probably isn't the story for you.
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"The Journey Home"
Chapter 1: Oh my... oh my...
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Tohru stood in the bathroom of the apartment she shared with Hana looking at a small piece of plastic that was resting on the counter. 'Oh my... oh my... oh my' she thought over and over again as her eyes grew wide with shock. Feeling her legs grow weak she lowered herself to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees. She sat that way for a long while, not even feeling the cold of the tile floor as it seeped its way into her bones.
Eventually Tohru came back to her senses, shivered, stood up, and hurled the offending item into the nearby trash can, as if that would make everything ok. 'I should be happy', she thought to herself, 'haven't I always wanted this? So why do I feel so... scared?' She took a deep breath and walked to her bedroom on slightly unsteady legs, torn between being glad that Hana was away for the week and needing to talk to her good friend.
Tohru decided that some air would do her good, even though it was still early in the morning and quite chilly for early fall. She quickly dressed and was about to leave the apartment when a wave of nausea hit her. She stepped back and put a hand to her mouth, waiting to see if it would pass. It didn't. She ran to the bathroom thinking to herself 'why did I bother eating breakfast?'
Ten minutes later she finally stood outside the apartment building, reveling in the feel of the cool air on her cheeks. She started walking with no particular destination in mind and found herself standing outside the high school. 'Well, Mom, I did it, I graduated. I hope you were proud of me, Mom, but now... what would you think?'
Tohru stood for a while staring at the school building, memories of Yuki and Kyo flooding back to her. She was happy to have graduated, but she missed living at Shigure's and being able to talk to him, and Yuki, and Kyo, every day. She sighed, paradise couldn't last forever, and hers had ended four long years ago when she had graduated. Yuki had gone off to college in Tokyo and Kyo had gone to work at his master's/father's dojo. Neither had wanted to leave her but the time had come, they couldn't stop the future, and Akito had decided that Shigure would no longer be housing wayward zodiac members. That would have left Tohru alone in the house with Shigure, which Tohru had no objection to (she wasn't worried that Shigure would ever try anything), but Yuki, Kyo, Hana, and Uo all had their objections. In the end it had been Shigure's own instance that Tohru go and not worry about who would take care of him that got her to agree to moving. He was, after all, a grown man (though you couldn't always tell) and could take care of himself.
Tohru realized that she had started walking again and was now standing across the clearing from Shigure's house. She was about to turn and go when she heard the dog calling out to her. She focused her eyes on the door to the house and there he was, beckoning for her to come in. 'How did he know I was here?' she asked herself, but she just shrugged and walked towards him, knowing she'd never get a straight answer even if she asked.
"Tohru, Tohru, Tohru has come to visit me," Shigure sing-songed as she paused in the entryway to remove her shoes. "Tohru, you don't look too good", he said in serious-mode. "You must be cold, come sit under the kotatsu and tell Shigure-oniichan what couldn't wait until Saturday."
Tohru had moved out of Shigure's house, but had insisted upon coming over on Saturdays to make him a meal and clean up a bit. It was the least she could do after all he'd done for her (and, truth be told, she wanted to see him). Shigure, of course, had agreed that that would be yummy. Tohru had thought he meant the food, while Kyo had thought something else and yelled that Shigure was a sick bastard. Shigure had just smiled, the way he saw it Kyo was the one with impure thoughts where Tohru was concerned, and it was so fun to bait him.
Shigure sat down across the kotatsu from Tohru, lost in his thoughts. 'Kyo,' Shigure thought to himself, 'he usually comes over every couple of weeks, "coincidentally" on a Saturday. but he's not been here in more than a month, where is that boy?'
Shigure was about to ask Tohru if she'd seen Kyo lately when he noticed that she was just sitting there, staring blankly at her hands and looking like she was about to cry. He reached across the table and took her hands in his, causing her to look up at him. Her big blue eyes were indeed filled with tears about to spill. He squeezed her hands and gave her a little smile. "What is it, Tohru? Are you ok?"
Tohru felt him squeeze her hands reassuringly "Shigure I... I'm..." but that was all she could get out, for the tears had started in earnest. It was so comforting and safe to be home that she could no longer hold the tears at bay. 'Yes, home' she thought. She had moved out almost four years ago, but this house still felt more like home than the apartment she shared with Hana.
Shigure immediately got up and walked around the table to sit next to her, wishing he could take her in his arms to comfort her. Barring that he did what he could. He held her hand, patted her back, stroked her hair, and whispered "shh... whatever it is, it'll be alright" while she cried herself to sleep.
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Tohru awoke around noon to find Shigure still sitting next to her, his hand in hers. She picked her head up from the table and saw that he was reading the newspaper. At her movement he looked at her and smiled, but the smile didn't reach his beautiful brown eyes. "Tohru," he said, "are you ready to talk now?"
"Shigure, I didn't mean to trouble you. I was taking a walk... I-I don't know how I ended up here.... I'm sorry, I'll go now." She knew she was cowardly trying to get out of talking to him, and she also knew that he wouldn't allow her to cry and leave with no explanation. She started to get up and as expected, he pulled her back down.
"Uh-uh, no you don't," Shigure said, and then decided to lighten the mood by joking "so, how pregnant are you?"
Of all the things he thought she might do... turn bright red, scream baka or hentai, slap him, laugh... he hadn't expected her to sweat-drop and take on the appearance of a deer caught in the headlights. 'That's not good,' he thought to himself, 'guess it was a bad joke.'
Tohru was becoming panicked, 'He could tell just by looking at me?' she thought. 'I saw myself in the mirror this morning and I looked like me. but if Shigure can tell, then everyone will be able to tell... Hana, Uo, Him....'
Shigure could tell she was beginning to panic, so he tried to calm her down. "Relax, Tohru, I guess it was a bad joke. I thought you'd just laugh and call me a pervert," he said, even though he knew she'd never call him that. After all he'd said (and done) through the years, if she hadn't called him a pervert yet, she never would.
Then Shigure got the shock of his life when she looked down at the table and said quietly "six weeks."
'Oh my,' he thought to himself, unknowingly mimicking Tohru's earlier mantra. 'What do I say? Something, anything! Idiot, if you don't say something she'll think you're ashamed of her and want her to leave'. "Tohru, I... have you gone to see Hatori?"
"No," she answered, still not looking at him. "Hatori is the Sohma doctor, I'm not a Sohma and I'm not even living here anymore, I couldn't ask him to see me."
Shigure spoke slowly as he said "Even so, I know Hatori wouldn't mind seeing you, and besides, you might not be a Sohma," 'yet' he added to himself, "but, uhh, Hatori's practice includes all Sohmas, even those not yet born." Shigure was stretching it a bit, but he knew Hatori wouldn't mind. He saw the look of embarrassment and uncertainty on her face and thought he might be assuming too much. 'Surely, it had to be Yuki or Kyo?' he thought, 'Wait... didn't she just say six weeks? I haven't seen Kyo for about six weeks... wasn't six weeks ago also when Yuki last visited? Damn, that doesn't help!' It was all he could do to not ask her outright who the father was. He thought Hatori's calm, professional demeanor might make her more willing to talk, so Shigure did something rare and held his tongue. "Besides, do you have another doctor to go to?" he added as an afterthought.
There was a long pause, he could see her thinking it over. "O-ok, if he says he'll see me. I'll go," she replied. Then Tohru felt Shigure's hand on her chin as he turned her face to his. She moved her eyes around, looking anywhere but at him. "Look at me," he said, his voice forceful. She looked at him and was relieved to see no judgment, no laughter, just concern, and yes, love. She released the breath she hadn't known she was holding and smiled for the first time since this morning.
"Ahh, there's the Tohru I know," he said and winked at her. Then he kissed her lightly on the forehead and asked if she'd like some tea. When she shook her head no, he got up and went to call Hatori.
And that's it for chapter one! I like the way one author put it, I hope s/he doesn't mind if I quote "if you've come this far you've obviously read, so please review". I will add, though, please be kind since this is my first fan fiction and I'm very sensitive. Bad reviews... "I don't know if I could take that kind of rejection!" (Toy Story... never mind, I'm crazy.) I proofread it myself, which is hard to do, so there's probably still some errors (though I hope not so many that it's hard to read). Please let me know of any glaring errors and I'll fix 'em.
P.S. I haven't really decided yet who the father is. I thought I had. but now I'm not so sure. Being that I love Kyo I'm leaning that way, but Shigure already took over this chapter (bad Shigure!) when I hadn't planned to even have him in it... so I probably have no control over how the rest goes. *sigh*