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My, My, Imai! Redux (2019)	By : VanillaToast Category: Fruits Basket > Het - Male/Female Views: 747 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story or any brands/names herein. The only character of my own making is Imai.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
Christmas Eve day was bustling in the main house. The maids spent all day decorating the banquet hall for Christmas. The giant tree that sat at the back of the banquet hall was huge and decorated with beautiful crystal and glass ornaments, white garland, and twinkling white lights. The walls were decorated similarly, giving the entire room a very Nutcracker Fantasy feel. Gifts were piled under the tree as members of the zodiac arrived with their closer family members and each were in abundance.
Ayame had arrived early enough to make sure that Imai’s dress, hair, and makeup were “absolutely perfect” before the party started, and so the pair spent a great deal of time at the bath house together. Only when the festivities were announced to begin were the two seen for the first time since that morning.
As Imai entered the now crowded banquet hall to take a quiet seat away from her brother, it was obvious that her holiday spirit had entirely vanished. Imai regretted having sent Shigure to purchase Hatori a gift now that she knew what she felt for him, but it was too late to stop it.
Imai did her best not to look at Hatori, using Kisa and Momiji’s sudden presence to distract her from him. In the lighting of the room, the colors of Ayame’s creation paired with the lovely up-do he had done to Imai’s hair had gotten Imai quite a bit of attention. Kisa and Momiji marveled at their older cousin, and she conversed quietly with the two, only smiling faintly in an attempt to hide her sudden onset of depression.
“You look so different, Imai-san!” Momiji said as he excitedly paced around the rooster, admiring her new look. “You look ganz ziemlich this year!”
“Thank you, Momiji-kun.” Imai responded before her attention was taken away by Shigure calling out that it was time to open gifts.
Shigure sat next to a mound of gayly wrapped gifts, passing them to members of the family, some of which Imai didn’t even truly recognize. As soon as one wrapped gift entered Shigure’s hands, Imai felt herself start to sweat. The gift was medium-sized, wrapped in embossed white paper and glittery ribbon.
“Ha-san!” Shigure called out to Hatori. “Catch!”
Shigure tossed the gift to the doctor with a knowing grin. The tag on the gift read “To: Hatori, From: Santa”.
Under the white tissue paper inside was a finely made, burgundy silk tie, a box of chocolate-flavored gourmet coffee. Beneath the two rather innocuous gifts was one that stood out a little more; a small paper cherry tree, in full bloom, was encased in a plastic box. Taped to the box was a note that read “These should put a Spring in your step.” in very neat, pink calligraphy.

Hatori had no idea on what to say about the gift as he hadn’t been expecting to receive one from anyone save Ayame or Shigure. He stared almost dumbly down at the gift in his hands as receiving a present was a concept entirely foreign to him. The card left no suspicion on who the gift was from and Hatori’s wintery eyes fixed on Shigure briefly. His eyes then turned to Imai, who was the epitome of Christmas beauty in her perfectly colored clothes.
“Thank you.” Hatori muttered, his gaze not lingering on either one of them for too long. He worked to put the lid back onto the box in silence, though he could hardly hide the soft tremble in his hands.

Despite herself, Imai watched as Hatori opened his gift but remained silent. The night continued on without incident and once all of the gifts under the Sohma tree had been given out, Shigure dragged Imai to her feet, trying to invite the girl to dance with him. Imai didn’t seem terribly keen on the idea, but as she was still trying to act as if nothing was amiss in front of everyone, she finally acquiesced to Shigure’s pleading. Between Shigure and Ayame, poor Imai was whirled, dipped, and twirled with the pair’s less-than-graceful dancing.
As Akito watched his sister get dragged about, he decided that he had had enough festivities for one evening. He stood, looking at the rest of his precious family with growing disgust at the good time so many of them seemed to be having.
“I’m retiring for the night,” Akito said, sneering as he made his way to the door of the banquet hall. “I hope you all enjoy yourselves to the fullest extent.”
Imai only seemed to perk up when Akito’s face disappeared behind the now closed door to the banquet hall. Eventually, Imai pulled herself away from Shigure and Ayame’s terrible dancing long enough to breath and made her way over to a more isolated corner. She gazed out of the window there and tried to ignore the sounds of laughter mingled with the Christmas music that softly played. Imai wanted to leave, but she had an image to maintain as the secondary hose of the party; if she left too early, she would surely be beaten by Akito.

For a little while, Imai had the peace she wanted as she stood tucked away in that lonely corner of the hall, but it wasn’t too long before she was found out by Hatori. Ayame and Shigure had wandered off to mingle with others in the family, leaving Hatori on his own for a bit. That gave him a chance to try and figure out exactly what was going on with Imai.
Hatori’s shadow blended in with that of the corner’s, his approach only given away by the steady steps of his long strides. He kept a respectful amount of distance between him and Imai when he finally came to a stop, the gift box full of presents tucked securely under one arm.
She’s been avoiding me since last night, Hatori thought. And I want to know why.
“Have you eaten yet tonight?” Hatori asked without showing any particular emotion. He wanted to start off the confrontation with simple small talk to keep the ice around them from thickening.

Imai could feel Hatori’s approach before she had even heard his footsteps. She had hoped to avoid him longer, but she knew that it was futile; she and Hatori had already gone too deep to be able to simply ignore each other without some sort of explanation. Imai kept her back to Hatori, still gazing out of the window at the snow.
For a few moments, Imai didn’t answer Hatori right away as though she hadn’t even heard him. But when she finally turned to face him, her eyes were watery and her lip trembled almost imperceptibly.
“Yes…” Imai responded, having reverted back to the soft and shy tone she had once taken with him before they knew each other. “I ate before the party.”
Imai swallowed a heavy lump that rose in her throat and pulled her golden eyes away from Hatori, lowering her face as if in shame.
If I don’t look at him, Imai thought ruefully, then I can just pretend that things aren’t any different, right?

Hatori had never, since the day Imai finally opened up to him, received that sort of treatment. It was harder for Hatori to handle when it was right up before him instead of in Imai’s head behind his back.
“Are you angry with me for not saying a better “thank you” for the gifts?” Hatori said, pausing a moment as if saying more than five words in a single sentence winded him. “I didn’t think it wise in front of Akito-san, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like them.”
Hatori was well aware that their small talk wasn’t getting him any closer to addressing the problem at hand right away, but the cold tension that had settled between them now was far different than the peaceful warmth they had shared before. Hatori didn’t like the chill between them now and it surprised him a little to find himself being more concerned over the matter than he originally thought he was.

Imai looked nervous, as if she were ready to bolt again and knock people down in the process, but she remained where she stood.
“N—no!” Imai said, her eyes raising suddenly to Hatori’s face once again as if in a panic. “I’m not angry with you at all, Hatori-san! I…”
Imai had a good guess as to why Hatori had come to her in the first place, and while it was surprising to think that he would even approach her about it, she decided that she couldn’t quite face him with the truth yet.
Imai’s eyelids quivered when she finally broke her gaze away from Hatori’s. She felt pinned, as though she were a helpless animal being stalked by a wolf. Hatori’s gaze was so intense that she couldn’t look him in the eye for very long. Finally, Imai took a shaky breath to steady herself before speaking again.
“I… I’m sorry I ran out on you like that last night. I …” Imai stammered over her words, unable to find a way to finish her apology without telling him the very reason she had run off in the first place. She couldn’t tell him. There was no way that she could possibly find the courage to tell him how she felt for him. Imai’s mind was reeling and her face reddened as it had the night before.
“I’m sorry.” Was all Imai could manage. She looked almost terrified, appearing to tremble as she found herself still unable to look Hatori in the eye.

So far, nothing had been accomplished and the dissatisfaction with that was etched all over Hatori’s face. He was still left with questions that he wanted to ask but felt uncomfortable doing so after seeing Imai’s reaction. Hatori simply stared down at the rooster the way he always did, unaware that the intensity of his gaze could have brought a grown man to his knees.
“It’s all right,” Hatori said a moment later, his tone still void of any sort of emotion, though he was still very confused. “My door will never be locked.”
Imai might have tried to shut Hatori out of her life, but he would never resort to doing the same so easily when it came to her. Hatori was certain that Imai had her reasons and he respected her enough to give her whatever sort of space she felt she needed, despite the fact that it directly involved him.
“Thank you for the gifts.” Hatori said, finally turning to move away, leaving Imai in the shadows that she had retreated to. He had no intentions of socializing with anyone else present and left the banquet hall.
- 9
- 10
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My, My, Imai! Redux (2019)