The MagiArtist Collection

'Compared To Them' (Tohru Honda x Reader)

You never wondered why you had a crush on such a plain girl like Tohru Honda. Granted, there's a ton of pretty girls at the school, but Tohru stood out among the crowd in your eyes. Maybe it was her cute face, her nice "girl next door"-type personality, or even her sickeningly sweet voice. Or maybe she stood out to you as a "princess", counter to the "prince" of your high school, Yuki Sohma.

However, her 'retainers' were pretty creepy to be around. You more often than not see the fan club devoted to Yuki cower before them. If they were intimidated by them, then surely you'd have no chance to talk with Tohru without getting the stink eye from them. So you loved her from afar, admiring her quirks and adoring the small little cracks in her voice whenever she got flustered. Yes, she has become to you what Yuki was to those girls... Minus the whole 'forming a fan club devoting to chanting about how awesome she was' thing.

One day, you found her without her friends. Now was the chance, you thought. As you tried to move in, you noticed that she was talking to...

Yuki?! You stopped. You were too far to hear what they were saying, but you chuckled as you saw Tohru talking with Yuki, flustering about something you have no idea of. The only thing you saw to indicate something was how Tohru pulled up one of her sleeves and flexed her arm. Though you assumed she was talking about an old anecdote about someone strong in her family. You chuckled a bit. You could just imagine her squeaky voice as she tells the tale of her dad, or her uncle, or-

And then Yuki pounced. Your body went cold as his hands slammed into the wall, pinning Tohru into place.

This was a classic move that people only do to show deep affections towards other people. It was the dreaded Kabe-Don. This could only mean one thing:

Yuki and Tohru were dating.

You accepted defeat and walked away, hoping not to catch the two lovebirds' attention.

-_-_-_-_-_-

You never told anyone about what you saw. You know that if the Prince Yuki Fan Club would know, they'd target Tohru and seek to eliminate her. If Tohru's friends know, you worry they might resort to their extortion or whatever freaky stuff they do to force you to keep it a secret. So, you kept it close to yourself. You kept it all bottled up inside for about a day or so.

While you were good at keeping secrets, you were horrible at keeping the facade of a positive mood. In class, you would, more often than not, fiddle with your pencil while looking at it sadly, sighing every so often, and even feeling pretty tired. When the bell rang, you were the last to get up. As you exited the class room, you heard a familiar voice speak up.

"Hey, something wrong?" You turned around and saw her. Tohru. Your face went flush red almost immediately. This was the first time you ever spoke to her.

"I... Uh... I..." You stammered, hid your face, looked away, anything to get her to not look at you funny.

"Come on, you can tell me. I know that if I had something bothering me, I'd tell someone." She said. You stayed silent for a moment before you muttered.

"... I... Meet me at the roof." You said. You left, hearing only Tohru squeaking out a "huh?". She liked Yuki? Fine, you can fight fire with fire and act mysterious.

-_-_-_-_-

You waited in the rooftop, watching the clouds drift over the steel railings. The cold air chilled you, but it was a welcome change of pace from the hot summer you had. You heard the door open and saw Tohru.

"So... What's bugging you?" She asked. You gulped. You weren't sure how to say it to her. Do you get right the truth out of the gate? Do you piecemeal her your confession? Eventually you just said something truthful.

"You're a very nice girl. I like you." You said.

"H-huh?" Tohru's eyes went wide. "Y-you really think so?" She then immediately got flustered, shaking her head with her hands nearly covering her mouth. You softly laugh.

"And you're so cute when you get all flustered." Now you just began speaking your mind. Tohru's face went completely red as she hid her face.

"No one's ever said that to me before!" She said. You frowned and looked away.

"I just wanted to say that. You may ignore it and forget I ever said that." You began to walk to the door. However, Tohru grabbed you by the wrist.

"What do you mean?" She asked you. You looked into her big blue eyes. For a moment, you had the desire to move in for a kiss. But then you remembered how Yuki pinned her to the wall. How he gave her an intense stare. How they...

How they could be compatible lovers.

"You and Yuki... You like him, don't you?" You asked.

"W-WHAT!?" When you saw Tohru, you noticed how her body went very stiff, eyes blank white, and mouth stretched to twice its size.

"I saw you and him in the hall the other day." Your hand reached to the iron bar on the door. You let the cold iron freeze your skin as you endured its pain.

"N-no! It's not like that! Yuki and I are just friends!" She blushed wildly as she flailed her arms. Any other day, this would melt your heart. Today? It just made you frown.

"Ah... Well, you two are probably made for each other. Or hell, maybe even that Kyo guy." You hid your face as you shed a tear. "I'm not as handsome, charming, or mysterious as them. Compared to them, I'm just a nobody. How could I ever compete with them?" That's when you felt something completely different to the cold.

A big, warm hug. From Tohru.

"No, you're not a nobody!" Tohru blurted out. Your hand instantly let of the handle. "You may not be like them, but you don't have to be! You're nice, you're caring, you're even a little bit of a romantic... You're great just being yourself!" Tohru said. You turned to face her. "The truth is... I sort of like you too. Even before I met Yuki or Kyo. I just..."

"Didn't have the courage?" You responded. She looked at you and nodded.

"Yeah!" She said. Before you knew it, you held her.

"Thank you... I wanted to say this for a long time. I like you. I really do." You said. Tohru smiled and held you back. As you two finished hugging, she pecked you on the cheek.

"Well, I have to get heading. My friends might wonder where I went." Tohru nearly ran off before she turned around. "Oh! By the way, you should hang out with us sometime!" Tohru said before she went out the door. You smiled. You just got an open invitation to be with the girl you liked. To be with the princess that you had adored so much.