𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄 | Fruits Basket FF

(39)

unrevised.
/ chapter 39 /

Ichika told her everything. From the sudden call from her mother down to the threat she received if she didn't return to the Estate, though leaving out the reasoning of the threat as she decided she'll tell Tohru about he past properly another time.

Tohru listened intensely, nodding her head every now and then.

By the time she finished explaining, Tohru took a deep breath and dried her swollen eyes.

Ichika looked down at her hands with shame. She didn't mean to make Tohru cry and she felt horrible for doing so. Guilt chipped at her insides. At least now, Tohru knew about everything.

"I'm sorry, Tohru." Ichika apologised sadly before biting the insides of her cheek.

"For what?" The brunette asked in a dry, croaky voice that resulted from the crying.

"For being so cold to you. I just.. I.." She trailed off. A disappointed look appeared on her face. She was disappointed in herself for pushing the kind girl away.

"I understand, Ichika-chan." Tohru started, making Ichika glance up at her slightly surprised. "I can kind of see why you did what you did. Though, I was hurt by it, and I'm sure the others are too."

Ichika slowly nodded. "What can I do to make up for it?" She asked, hesitantly.

Tohru smiled softly, before inching herself closer to Ichika. She gently took her hands into her own and squeezed them. Then she looked at her warmly.

"I want you to tell us when you've been troubled. Don't keep it to yourself, bottle it up nor hide it. Tell us. Please. We want to be as much help to you as we can. We all care about you, Ichika-chan." Stated Tohru. "And yes, even Kyo-kun does as well no matter how much he denies it."

Both girls giggled at the thought of the orange-haired teenager huffing and turning his head away to sulk if he heard what Tohru had said.

Suddenly they heard a loud racket going on outside of their bedroom door.

"Oi! Don't push!"

"Wait, I can't hear anything anymore."

"Eh~~? That's no fun."

The girls turned their head towards the door in confusion when abruptly the door opened wide open with a slam. In fell three bodies on top of each other.

Three very familiar bodies.

Starting from the first level, closest to the floor and practically flattened was Kyo. The second level, on top of the Cat was the Mouse, Yuki. The third level, crushing both teenage boys with his heavy weight was none other than Shigure, who didn't seem to mind being on top.

"Sh-shigure-san..? Kyo-kun? Yuki-kun?!" Gasped Tohru. Ichika looked just as surprised to see the boys of the house crashing on top of each other. What on Earth were they doing?

"I-Ichika-chan, Tohru-kun, I—we can explain!" Shigure started, pushing himself off of the boys with a sheepish smile.

The boys scrambled to their feet with a groan and cleared their throats, cheeks and ears tinted with the colour of embarrassment.

"This is your fault, damn Cat. If you didn't keep pushing us then we wouldn't be caught like this." Yuki snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What?! Me?!" A tick mark earned itself a place on Kyo's face. "You were the one pushing me!"

"Now, now, boys—"

"Shut up!" The boys yelled back before Shigure could even finish his sentence.

With a fake teary eye, Shigure responded with a quick "Ok."

With a sigh, Yuki fixed his bangs before turning to Ichika and Tohru. "I'm sorry, we didn't mean to eavesdrop." He said, and Ichika blinked in surprise. "That means you heard everything?" She asked, and the trio nodded.

Shigure scratched the back of his neck. His usual goofy aura was replaced with awkwardness. "We're really sorry. We all rushed upstairs when we heard a loud shriek because we thought there was an intruder or someone had gotten hurt—"

"That explains the bat Kyo-kun is holding." Tohru inputted, making the orange-haired boy shrug and toss the bat away when he realised he no longer needed it.

The Dog Spirit nodded his head and continued. "By the time we realised that it was Ichika's cries, we couldn't leave and became worried instead. So we stuck around."

"Shigure was also being nosy as well." Yuki commented, earning a playful glare from the older man.

Ichika turned her body to face them and Tohru properly. She sat on her legs, still on her knees, and used it as an opportunity to bend her body over and bowed deeply to them.

Even with hearing subtle gasps or slight movements, Ichika didn't look up from the floor once and shut her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." She said, feeling sorrowful. She felt like she needed to say it to them. All they have done was show her what the meaning of having a family is. They've been taking care of her this whole time, showing her the ropes to actually live. Not as a monster. Not as a Zodiac.

But as a human being.

And she owed them that much after pushing them so far away.

Would they forgive her? She wasn't too sure. But she was fine with that as she knew she made a mistake on her part.

In a novel she read once, there was a quote that she didn't quite understand until now.

It said, "When you realise you've made a mistake, make amends immediately." Obviously, she's never been put in a situation to understand the meaning behind those words. The only situations she could possibly recall are ones where she habitually apologised out of fear, not because she was sincere.

However, this time, it felt just right.

Feeling a heavy hand on her shoulder, Ichika shifted her gaze up to meet Shigure's grey eyes. An emotion swirled within it, but to her surprise, she didn't sense it to be negative.

"You're forgiven, I-chi-ka-chan~" Shigure grinned playfully.

Her navy eyes widened. Forgiven already? But isn't that too soon?—

"You're forgiven, Ichika-san." Yuki repeated, his face softened and a kind smile played on his lips.

"Forgiven." Was all Kyo mumbled, looking to the side.

Ichika blinked as she turned her gaze to the young girl beside her, smiling ever so brightly. All the signs of her crying previously had completely disappeared.

"You're forgiven!" Tohru repeated joyfully.

The blue-haired Sohma felt a warm feeling blossom within her heart. She was fine to wait on their forgiveness no matter how long it took. She planned to do everything she could to earn it, but now here they were already forgiving her. Perhaps if it were her old self, she would have questioned why. But there was no need for a reason. The people before her simply wanted to forgive her, what's there question about that?

There are no needs for whys or uncertainty.

This reminded her of what Hatori said to her once before.

"I'm not doing this because I want to gain something from you. It's simply because I just desire to. I do what my heart tells me to do."

Only now does she truely understand the meaning of it.

The warm feeling blossomed even more in her heart. There was one person left she needed apologise to. The person who taught her those words.

As if reading her thoughts, Shigure stood to his feet and tucked his hands into the sleeves of his dark green kimono.

"He's waiting for you."