The Puppet Master's Last Testament (Fruits Basket FanFiction)

Chapter 21: Catch and Release!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Fruits Basket.

What does it take to set the Sohmas free after Akito's death?

The Puppet Master's Last Testament

Chapter Twenty-One: Catch and Release!

Tohru finished putting on her clothes and went into the kitchen to pack a little picnic.

She planned to cook a spectacular dinner, so lunch would be really simple. She filled a plastic bag with freshly cut peppers and two tomatoes, and made four small omelets. She put it in a black tote bag (that she found under the couch when she was dusting two days ago) and called out to Shigure, "Are you ready to go yet?"

As she waited on the couch, the door was suddenly flung open. "I am."

She looked up and locked eyes with Shigure. He had decided to take a cold shower before embarking on the trip with the little unknowing vixen.

If she knew what he wanted to do with her (ravish, ravish, taint, taint!), she would be out the door in half a second. He was not a good guy.

He had changed into cargo shorts and a grey tee. Tohru didn't know he owned anything besides traditional yukatas! He looked utterly adorable, she thought, almost a little like a schoolboy.

"Ooo, I smell green onion omelets. For lunch?"

"Yep."

"Yummy," he responded, thinking, like you in that cute little outfit.

They left the bungalow and slowly walked to the beach, side by side. Tohru, out of the blue, announced, "Oh no! I don't have any shoes. The rocks over there are slippery."

Shigure thought.

"Don't worry, I will help you."

"Are you sure, I mean, I've already been nothing but a burden, coming here, crying, not being able to cook anything, being unprepared, wearing your clothing—"

"Pish-posh. You've been nothing but a pleasure."

They went on there way, taking off there shoes to walk on the soft fine-grained sand. Shigure looked over at Tohru who seemed to be doing a little hot-potato dance.

He chuckled.

"Hot sand, eh?"

He put an arm around Tohru's shoulder, his other hand with his sneakers, and together that walked briskly over to the wet sand and finally arrived at the rocks.

"We're here!"

"This place. I don't see anything interesting. Some green rocks."

"Shigure, look over there. There are tide-pools, and hiking trails!"

She pulled his hand and they edged the rocks. "Put your shoes on," she commanded.

"Okay, okay, don't get you panties twisted, little flower. I'm getting old. I need time to do these things."

She pulled him to a flat rock and they pulled him down with her. He pulled on his sneakers (that brank-spanking-clean; Shigure doesn't wear 'shoes' too often).

"I'm ready," he grumbled.

Tohru let go of him, and they each started crossing over the rocks to get to the tide-pool on the other side. The sand on the other side was only 50-feet of so away. Tohru stumbled a few times, making Shigure's heart bang against his chest, but she got up after each time. They were each slow and steady, using their hands so that their legs wouldn't get stuck in the crevices and cut on an edge.