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For You, I\'ll Be	By : ErieDragon Category: Fruits Basket > Het - Male/Female Views: 8603 -:- 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.

Chapter List
- 1-For You, I'll Be
- 2-The Unexpected Part Two
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Oh my GOD this is so lame. Forgive me. I had the first part done a long time ago, and then I finished it. Whatever.

For You, I�ll Be

The Spontaneous Part Two, or the Last Part, of Which There Will Be No Others. Really.

Yuki had never felt as guilty as he did at that moment, watching Tohru hurry about to �straighten up� the arguably cleanest house he had ever seen. He wished someone had bothered to tell him. He wondered why nobody had.

He was startled when he heard a loud cat noise at his feet; his instincts were long tried by fighting endlessly with Kyou during their teenage years, so his surprise was merely from the bizarre tone of the small cat�s voice. �Hello,� he greeted, leaning down to pat its head. It was hardly perturbed by the fact Yuki was, most definitely, a mouse.

�Ah, you�ve met Monkey,� Tohru commented from the seat across from where he sat at the table. Hastily Yuki drew himself back up to look at her, rather embarrassed to be caught talking to an animal�a cat, nonetheless. �He�s a sweet cat, but Hatori doesn�t like him very much.�

Yuki raised his eyebrows. �Really?� he puzzled.

�Monkey gets fur everywhere he goes. Hatori�s very cleanly, but he�s gotten over it. I vacuum every day, though.� She laughed.

Yuki thought that rude; she cleaned so often because his cousin was afraid of a little cat hair? Yuki knew for a fact Hatori wasn�t allergic to it, or anything, but he decided against continuing his thoughts. Instead, he tried to focus on Tohru�s smiling face.

�How have you been?� he asked, not quite sure how to address her anymore. His guilt panged again. They really had been apart for longer than he cared to compute.

�Wonderful,� Tohru instantly replied. She seemed to have a glow about her�her hair was down, with some of her bangs drawn back in small clips, and her skin was vibrant and full of color. Yuki could tell she was happy, probably happier than she�d ever been before. �What about you, Yuki-kun?� Still, she was so familiar with him. It would have been silly to call him by his last name now, surely, but it still reminded him how long they�d been apart.

�I�ve been well.� His voice let on little. �I work, mostly.� There was more to say, always. Yuki could have mentioned he was now vice president of the company, or he had already been through two failed relationships and was nearing on a third. Probably even telling her about his new couch could have sufficed, but for reasons inexplicable to him, Yuki couldn�t begin. Tohru was watching him curiously as each thought bounded through his head.

�Ah, remember Kyou and Kagura�s wedding?� she reminded him brightly. Of course Yuki remembered, he groaned to himself: it was another consistent reminder of his bachelorhood and seeming disinterest in the opposite sex. Kyou, the unlovable cat, had found a partner in the equally violent boar�as unlikely as it seemed to Yuki, he admitted they made quite a pair. But even then, the wedding only six or seven months ago, things were different. Still, no one attempted to bring outsiders into the family; Yuki was surprised that he had managed to maintain his secret during his previous two relationships and his currently crumbling one. Listening to Shigure and Ayame gossiping about the rest of the jyuunishi�s love lives had, by far, been the worst part. He remembered the conversation vividly.

�You know,� Shigure commented, tilting his drink to one side, �I had Ha-san and Tohru-kun over for dinner, a few months ago. They stayed the night.�

Ayame seemed unimpressed. �Shocking,� he replied, his tone uncharacteristically bored. He swirled his juice.

Shigure shook his head and leaned towards his taller, golden-eyed cousin, murmuring, �Every bit.� Ayame blinked, and the dog continued, his eyes narrowing as he sought out the two persons in question in the crowd. �Ha-san and I were having a little drink together when he told me they were trying for a baby.� At this, Ayame briefly choked on a hors d�ouvre.

�You�re absolutely joking,� gasped the snake as he coughed, managing to recover.

Shigure shook his head. �I love watching them, you know. It was a shame neither of us caught her,� he told his friend with a sigh. �I couldn�t decide if it was a mistake or good entertainment to give them one room. I think the whole endeavor has made them into hormone-driven teenagers.�

�Unbelievable.� Sighing, Ayame brought one hand to his chin. �You�d think they would have succeeded by now. Making babies doesn�t seem too difficult,� he commented.

Shigure shrugged his shoulders. �Who knows. But imagine�our dragon! I can�t imagine it.�

But Yuki could, and was rather displeased by the unpleasant, recurring imagery of it. He sighed and looked up at Tohru. �Oh, yes, it was a beautiful wedding, wasn�t it?� he said politely.

That was it, really�time had gone too quickly for him to keep up. Sometimes Yuki sat awake and wondered if he still loved her, and it was that fact that convinced him he did. The stupid cat, now one of his most trusted friends, told him once, �I moved on. You should, too.�

Tohru smiled at him, nodded, and collected up his empty saucer and cup of tea. Maneuvering her pregnant belly she passed into the kitchen and put the dishes in the sink, washing them quickly. Yuki only watched, and a part of him shivered with its loneliness, but he quelled it instantly.

Really, why he had come to visit at all, he couldn�t tell�he was passing nearby, taking advantage of his day off to relieve some stress by running long-forgotten errands, when he remembered the vast Sohma estate was rather close by. He knew his older cousin would be at the office, working, so he could take the opportunity to see the only girl he had ever really loved. Now, though, Yuki was hardly comforted.

�Yuki-kun,� Tohru said at last and broke the mouse from his daydream. �You look tired. Do you need a nap?� Yuki blinked. Before he could think much of anything, he laughed, a light, quiet laugh, but a genuine one.

�Tohru-san,� he replied, smiling at her, at last, �it wouldn�t do to impose, but thank you for the thought. I should be going soon, anyway, I need to get to the dry cleaner�s eventually.� She looked about to reply that it wouldn�t be any sort of imposition, but Yuki only smiled and stood. She truly was happy.

�It was wonderful to see you again,� Tohru said as Yuki walked to the door. When she opened it, he stood there, looking outside, and Tohru spoke again, �Are you sure that you�re all right?�

Yuki�s foggy expression turned back towards her, and he took the ribbon in her hair in one hand. Her eyes went wide, but she didn�t move; he clasped it for a moment, then dropped it back to her shoulder, and nodded his head.

�It�s good to see you again,� he said, and his voice was much quieter than before. �I absolutely do wish you the best, and I hope you tell me when�� he trailed off, and his eyes dropped down to the belly that somehow made her even more beautiful than before. She smiled a smile he knew would last him another good long time. Never usually one for physical contact, she put a hand on his cheek and said:

�I will.�

He walked out the door then and closed it behind him, no longer able to look at her. He stood on the doorstep for a couple of minutes while he listened to her walk back into the house and close a door. He thought about his girlfriend, who he hadn�t called back in more than a week, and realized she wasn�t that bad of a girl. He simply couldn�t forget about Tohru, and his ideal of her blocked out any possibility of finding and loving anyone else.

Yuki walked to his car and the sound of the door slam comforted him. Maybe he would call the girl back. Maybe he would try a little, this time. He wondered what it would be like to be in enviable Hatori�s position, and thought he wouldn�t mind it much himself.

He would steel himself not to forget�but to move on.

--

�Yuki was by today?� Hatori had spread the mail out on the counter on the outside of the kitchen, so he wasn�t in Tohru�s way, and leafed through it with a dull expression on his face. Unable to ultra-sound his wife himself (it was discouraged, and he didn�t trust himself completely as he might a specialist) he was shocked to find a medical bill in the mail. He grimaced and put the mail aside.

Tohru nodded, stopping a moment from chopping some carrots, and said, �He was running some errands, and it was on his way.� She carefully unloaded the cutting board and took out some peppers. They were diced in seconds. �He seemed a little tense, to be honest, and wouldn�t tell me very much about what he�s been doing.� She smiled, though, and rested her chin on her palm, leaning her elbow on the counter. �It was good to see him again.�

Hatori knew where Yuki worked, and was menially proud of where the rat had gotten himself without running into any trouble. He didn�t have to erase memories anymore, which he was grateful for, but the family still had its small problems.

Sometimes, Hatori just didn�t care. He watched how easily Tohru moved around and the thought of Yuki, the thought of the Sohmas, easily faded from his mind. He knew the boy probably still loved her�when Hatori and Tohru decided to get married, Yuki had been the first to come to him. The rat hadn�t know what to say, though, and after the short, pointless visit, he had left with his shoulders slumped. Sometimes the dragon felt guilty about taking Tohru for himself, but it had been her choice. She wanted him, and he wanted her; there wasn�t anything else he could have done about it.

He was sitting at the table thinking when he heard a slight groan. Curious, he peered over the counter and saw Tohru leaned over, holding one bare foot out of her sandal in her hand, massaging it.

�Are you all right?�

She jumped, nearly slipping, but managed to catch herself on the oven handle. She smiled and nodded. �Oh, fine,� she replied, far too high-pitched and quick.

He hadn�t thought about it, but the tile floor and standing up for however many hours a day she spent cleaning and cooking probably didn�t help, along with her increased weight. Now he smacked himself for conceding to not get a maid. �Tohru,� he said, his voice in lecture-mode, �go sit down on the couch.�

�But I�ve got to finish��

�Go on. I�ll do it.�

�Hatori��

He gave her a pointed look and she sighed, slipping her foot back in her sandal and walking across the living room to the couch. She had to hold out one hand for balance when she sat, and once down, a nearly inaudible sigh fell from her lips and her eyes closed.

He wasn�t quite sure what she was making, but Hatori did his best to finish it. When it was ready, he took out a mostly unused dinner tray from the broom closet and set it up, putting her food down in front of her. She tried to object, but the dragon simply wouldn�t hear it and joined her on the couch.

They ate in silence for a while, until Hatori spoke. �I�m glad you saw Yuki today,� he told her. �It was important to him, even though he might not admit it.�

Tohru nodded.

�I�m going to have one of the maids from the other house come here, and do all the cleaning.� He was going to add a chef, but Tohru loved cooking more than anything, and so he figured if she wasn�t on her feet the rest of the day, just making dinner shouldn�t be much of an issue. When he finished eating, he put down his napkin and took their trays away, cleaning up dinner while Tohru sat quietly on the couch. When he came back, her melancholy expression had faded and she was staring down.

�What is it?�

She didn�t speak, but took his hand and placed it on her belly. This wasn�t new�most nights the baby came to life (especially when Tohru read out loud, something Hatori was guilty to admit that he enjoyed) and had a grand old time�but what did surprise him wasn�t movement, but the almost indiscernible beating of a very tiny little heart.

The gasp rose in his throat and caught there. Tohru leaned up and kissed his cheek, and pushed his hair away from his face. �Thank you,� she said, and he couldn�t imagine what for.

--

Kagura had a surprise baby shower, naturally. The women gathered in the great room (which had once been where the jyuunishi had their yearly gatherings, and while they still did, it was no longer a sordid affair, and the room was used for almost any occasion now) and the men were all banished. They sat on the porch outside and listened to the trills and coos of the women showering Tohru with presents and good-natured advice.

Shigure was there. He�d married his editor, naturally, and she was inside. Ayame too, with Kyou and Haru (who�d come with Rin, but not for any particular reason besides seeing Tohru again). Hiro lived on the estate and so after giving Tohru a very formal hello and congratulations, he went back to his house and sulked.

�How does it feel?�

Hatori had expected this from Kyou, who had just gotten married, or Shigure, who was hornier than a rabbit. Maybe even Haru, who was inclined to such questions. But it was Ayame who looked at him with wide, receptive golden eyes. The doctor couldn�t help but lean back a little from his cousin and clear his throat.

It wasn�t something he was totally comfortable talking about in front of all of them, but Haru wasn�t paying attention and Kyou was staring off into the distance, scowling. Shigure only watched them with one eye.

�Like nothing else,� was all Hatori said, in his plainest voice. Ayame let out a dreamy sigh.

�I can�t imagine.�

Hatori raised one eyebrow. His cousin wanted children, did he? He supposed if any of them were the type, it would be Ayame. He conjured an image of all the ridiculously adorable things he might dress his baby in, and almost groaned out loud. It would be like having a living mannequin, boy or girl.

To be honest, Hatori was excited. He had been nervous at first, both for Tohru�s health and for his own ability to be a father�but in time his anxiety had turned to anticipation and with only a couple more weeks to go, he buried himself in his work with newfound vigor and enjoyed every moment the two of them spent listening to light classical music before bed. �Kagura told me about it. Her mother did the same thing when she was pregnant, and Kagura says sometimes she can hear pieces she�s never heard in her dreams.�

When the shower was over and everyone had finally left, Hatori was cleaning up the wrapping paper and disposable tableware when Tohru came up behind him. She put her arms around his waist and buried her face in his back, murmuring, �You�ve made me so happy, Hatori.�

He sighed, and took her hands in his, dropping the things in the trash. They hadn�t wanted to know the gender, so the doctor they�d gone to left it out of the ultrasound reading. The gifts Tohru got were all reasonable, but it was clear which guests had favored a girl child and who had favored a boy. Hatori wanted a boy himself, but Tohru had no opinion at all either way.

Hatori said nothing, and sat down at the couch, so she was standing up in front of him. His practice would be expanding soon. Another doctor was coming on, and they had already arranged for a new building, and the hiring of another receptionist. There would be more rooms and nurses, and after a couple of years of regular seminars, Hatori was ready to raise the bar.

To be honest, he wanted them to move away.

But he hadn�t told her yet. After the baby was born, he was going to show her his proposed income change. Then, if she liked the idea, he would find them a place to live away from the Sohmas where they could truly be by themselves. There was a good school nearby a place he�d seen a few weeks before. It was a five minute drive from Shigure.

Hatori leaned his head against her belly and wrapped his arms around her. She wound her hands in his hair and he wished that his younger cousin would find this kind of happiness for himself, before his chances began to slip away.

But Yuki was intelligent, and while Tohru would always be his first love, he knew it was time to move on.
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For You, I\'ll Be