Fruits Basket: Give me wings

Chapter 9- The hot spring catalyst

Helllooo :) Chapter 9 here, enjoy! (I love this chapter, since Haruhi and Tsuneo share a gorgeous moment, and you get to see it from Tsuneo's viewpoint :D *falls on the floor*)

Might be a little cheesey, I dunno, but it was fun to write.

Anyway, read, comment, vote, and most importantly, enjoy! :)

Chapter 9- Hot spring catalyst

Tsuneo’s view

Since arriving at Tohru and Kyo’s home, Tsuneo had gone through a whirlwind of emotional change. Day one was bewildering and arduous; he had been ripped out of Sohma house, right out of Akito’s room. He had been so terrified, so afraid of leaving the house that they had to drag him.

"Let me go, now!" Tsuneo had whispered. "I'll wake Akito up, I swear, I will! Then you will have to let me go."

Kyo sighed. "You will be happier outside. You don't know what yet, but there are a whole lot of things in the outside world to do. Being trapped in the main house for the rest of your life isn't good for you; look what it's done to you so far."

He had looked up at Kyo with terror, his childlike mind conjuring up all sorts of crazy ideas about who or what Kyo and Yuki were. Kidnappers, monsters, or just plain evil people. He had struggled and wept, he had threatened to grab onto Akito and wake her up, since she was slept next to him.

At Kyo and Tohru's house was no different. The troubling devotion that Akito had scarred him with still ate away at him, and it made him distance himself from the group, stare at a wall and long to be back in the security of the main house. Truly, the outside world was frightening to him. Everything was new, and the fear he felt was more intense than that of the others, who were pleased to be free. No-one understood him. No-one tried to reach out to him. Until Haruhi. After she agreed with him, acknowledged his presence in that conversation, he, like a scared child, latched onto her emotionally. However, it wasn’t until he saw her upset and hurt for the first time after her fight with Kyo, that he realised he wanted to protect her from harm. He had found something more precious to him than Akito. However, every time she tried to get a little closer, alarm bells inside him started ringing.

“Hey, Tsuneo!”

He felt something heavy hit him on the back.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, rubbing his back. “Ben, I don’t like being touched.”

Although Ben was a little irritating, and he only tolerated his presence, Tsuneo found it impossible to get mad at him. Ben didn’t mean to be that way- he now had to opportunity to relax and be a kid again, and Tsuneo wasn’t going to take that away from him.

“Sorry man, I just wanted to tell you something,” Ben replied.

“What is it?”

“We’re going to a hot spring!”

“A what? I read about one of those. It does sound nice,” Tsuneo mused, finally relaxing enough to talk properly. “What is the occasion?”

“Oh, I just thought we needed time to relax, to cool off a bit. Things have been pretty intense lately, haven’t they?”

“And you thought the best place to ‘cool off’ would be a hot spring?” That was it. He was officially confused.

To his relief, Sora arrived on the scene to rescue him. “You dummy, Tsuneo. He doesn’t mean it literally. I think the hot springs is a great idea! I’ll get Haruhi.” She ran to the door, and yelled out, “Haruhi! Come here a sec!”