Neptune Bride and Chess-chan only please.

[Chess-chan]

Okay, sorry about taking so long! Here's my post.



Tohru's eyes slowly opened as she felt some of rays of the sun against the tan tend she was in. She moved slowly as she stretched out feeling a bit stiff having just slept on the ground for the forth time. She smiled as she looked up at her mothers photo. "Morning mom." she said as she grabbed her brush and began untangling her messy hair. She smiled to herself as she finished her hair then grabbed a towel and started for the little river that was in the woods. She wasn't sure who it belonged to but she was sure that who ever it was that they wouldn't mind she was using a bit of it. She washed her face and some of her body before walking back to her tent. She smiled at the feel of the soft green grass against her bare feet. It was nice. She crawled back into her tent and then took her pajamas off before putting on her school cloths. She pined her hair up like she always did and then grabbed her bag. "I'll see you later mom. It wont be till late because I have work today. Good bye." she said as she walked out of her tent and started for the road that would lead to the school.  

[Neptune Bride]

Shigure put the finishing touches on the last of the zodiac stones and added it to the trey with the others. Standing, he picked up the trey and walked out to the porch, setting them out to dry. Walking back inside, he called up the stairs. "Ohhh Yuki! Better hurry up or you'll be late for school."

Up in his room, Yuki was just straitening his tie. He rolled his eyes at Shigure's call. Picking up his books, he headed down stairs. "Like I'm every late? So, what are you doing today? causing more heartache for your publisher?"  

[Chess-chan]

Tohru saw the zodiac stones and smiled happily as she let her fingers run over them. "Wow!" she said excitedly as she sat down on the porch and looked at all of them. She knew she wouldn't get to school at her normal time but she didn't care. They were just too cool not to look at. She brushed some of her long hair behind her head as she let one foot dangle over the side of the porch as she sat with the other tucked under the dangling one. She picked up the rabbit and smiled. She was born the year of the dog but couldn't help but to wish that she was born the year of the cat. She knew the old story, her mother told her when she was younger, and from that point on she'd always wanted to be the year of the cat. Her smile grew as she looked at all of the other ones. She hoped who's ever house she was at didn't get angry at her for touching their things. She didn't like to be a bother.

[Okay. sorry. I forget sometimes. Thanks for telling me. And edited. ^^]  

[Neptune Bride]

((Umm, if I remember correctly, Tohru was year of the dog, not the horse and Shigure hadn't made a cat stone. The second part isn't so big a deal, but making her a horse instead of a dog, changes her age by several years.))

Shigure's keen ears heard a noise outside on the back porch and he went to investigate. He found a young brunet girl in a school uniform sitting by the tray of stones he had just put out and holding the cat. "Well, hello there. I didn't know there were any young ladies living around here." He looked down at her hand. "I see you're admiring my works. They aren't much to look at from a young person's perspective, hmmm?"  

[Chess-chan]

Tohru jumped a bit as her face lit up with a small blush. "H-Hello...I-I'm sorry for looking about without permission first!" She said as she got up off the deck and onto the grass. Someone's out here...Of course there is. she thought as she mentally hit herself in the head. "Oh no. The twelve animal ornaments are very cute. But there's not cat." she said as she looked down at them on the pouch. She looked up at his hand. "Oh you made one!" she said a bit more excited then she should have been. The blush only increased as she talked and the wind kept blowing some of her long hair in her face.  

[Neptune Bride]

Shigure smiled. "Not at all. I just left them out here to dry. I'm glad you like them. I'm very fond of them myself." He cocked his head a little when she mentioned the cat, then made such a fuss when she found the cat among the other ornaments. "So, I see you have a special fondness for the cat." He chuckled to himself. "I wonder what he'll think when he hears that."  

[Chess-chan]

Tohru looked back up at him with a bit of confusion placed on her face. "What did you say?" she asked as she heard the door to the room behind him open and Yuki stepped out. He hit him in the back of the head. "Don't move closer." he said with a sigh and he didn't look that happy either. Then again in the mornings he never looked happy. "Ah, Handa-san are you okay? My stupid cousin didn't do anything to you did he?" he said as he smiled at her. "Souma-kun Good morning!!!" she said blushing bright as she felt her mind race a mile a minute. She had no idea that he lived here. Or that he even had a cousin. She couldn't calm down. Her face just wouldn't stop blushing. Now what was going to happen when she got to school. She hoped this wouldn't cause a problem for him.  

[Neptune Bride]

Shigure's eyes nearly popped out of his head when Yuki hit him in the head. "Ouch! Yuki why must you be so cruel? I just found this young lady looking at the zodiac ornaments we made, and we started talking about them," he whined. But then something clicked in his head. "Oh, you two know each other? I see. How interesting. Yuki, you bad boy. Such a daredevil, aren't you. Of course, for such a pretty young girl, I might take the risk too."  

[Chess-chan]

Yuki hit him in the head again. "We should head to the school." he said as he smiled at Tohru then lead her away from the perverted old dog and over towards the school. He sighed a bit. He couldn't believe that she lived close to him. But he didn't remember seeing anyone that lived close to them. He looked down at Tohru and she was watching her feet as she walked.

I'm walking to school with Souma-kun!!! she thought to herself as she blushed deeper. She left him at the gate with a bow and walked to her class when she was stopped but the Yuki fans. She blushed as they attacked her with their words but Hana-chan and Uo-chan saved her. They laughed a bit as they hugged her softly. "Our Tohru." they said at the same time.  

[Neptune Bride]

Shigure's eyes bugged again when Yuki hit him the second time. A few tears ran down his face, but were they real? "Yuki, you're so mean." But he didn't have time for any more complaints as Yuki and Tohru left for school.

Their walk was a rater quiet, shy one and they parted quickly at the gates. For some reason, Yuki found himself watching Tohru as she left.

He saw the girls of the so-called 'Yuki Fan Club' harassing Tohru and was about to go help her, but then two other girls, Hanajima-san and Uotani-san he believed, came to her rescue. With a small smile, he watched as the fan girls ran off in fear. Seeing that Tohru was in good hands, he headed off to class.  

[Chess-chan]

The day went by normally after that. Her friends watched for her safety but she had to get to work quickly. She rubbed at her sleepy eyes as the day ended for school. She waved good-bye to her friends then head for work. She yawned softly as she walked into work then got her game face on and worked her hardest.

It was late when she was finally finished and she was a bit dizzy. She walked back to her tent and smiled at her mothers picture. "I-i'm home." she said softly as she laid down for a quick second. "bath and then some sleep." she said as she grabbed her towel and headed out towards the little lake to wash up.  

[Neptune Bride]

Yuki went about the rest of his day as if nothing had happened that morning, but every once in a while, he would find his thoughts drifting to Tohru. What had she been doing so close to the house this morning? Why hadn't they run across each other before if she lived so close? It was all rather strange, but he let it go. It wasn't his place.

That evening, Yuki and Shigure went in to town for supper, as was their routine, since neither could really cook. On their way home, they took a path through the woods.

"That food was so good. If we keep eating out like this, I'm going to need to buy some new clothes."

Yuki rolled his eyes. "Well then, why don't you cook?"

"If I did, you'd just complain about it."

"Pickled radish and curry isn't food. It's disgusting."

"You know what we need, Yuki? We need a maid! Someone to cook and clean and add beauty to our house...."

Yuki rolled his eyes again. "No, a female in the house will just cause more problems."

Just then, they were walking over the top of a ridge. Looking down, they spotted a tent pitched below. As they stared, Tohru came walking up to it and went inside. "Miss Honda? What's she doing going into a tent out here?"

The pair made their way down quietly and stood outside the entrance of the tent in shock and disbelief.  

[Chess-chan]

Tohru slowly walked out, almost tripping over herself and she blushed when she saw the two souma's standing there. She didn't know what to do. She was a bit worried that she was going to get into trouble. She slowly moved towards the two and away from the tent and a few rocks fell before the cliff above the tent slid down and over her things. "MOM!!!" she cried as she ran back towards the tent and started digging at the soil. "MOM! Are you okay! MOM!" she cried as she digging at it. She felt a little dizzy and leaned towards it a bit but didn't stop digging.  

[Neptune Bride]

When Tohru crawled out from the tent right in front of them, Yuki just stood there staring while Shigure burst into rollicking laughter. Ignoring his rude cousin, Yuki instead focused his attention on Tohru.

"Handa-san, you live here? For how long? You know, it's really not safe in these woods."

Shigure stopped laughing and looked around with a serious expression, then as if to emphasis Yuki's words, there was a landslide that completely covered Tohur's tent.

When she began yelling for her mother and digging in the mud, Yuki's eyes widened. He didn't have time to ask what she was talking about before she passed out. "Handa-san! Are you alright?" He knelt beside her then turned back to Shigure. "Did you sense anyone else in there?"

"No, I didn't. I don't think anyone except her has been here in quite some time. Come, we should take her back to the house."

The pair carefully carried her to the house and made sure that she was comfortable and put a cool washcloth over her forehead to help bring down her fever.

(geeze, not that I'm complaining, but how do I always end up with such long posts?)  

[Chess-chan]

(I'm sorry. I'll try to do a longer post and i'm not sure.)

Tohru whimpered softly in her sleep, her one hand rested at her side while the other clenched at the blanket a bit. She slowly moved on her left side and curled in a ball pulling the blanket closer to her face as the rag slid off her face and onto the floor. She pulled her legs closer to her chest a bit as she coughed a bit. She had a small cold but since she hadn't been resting it was bad now. She slowly relaxed a bit when she found a comfortable position that she found. Her hair was a mess from her rolling a bout in a bad dream she'd just escaped. She would end up sleeping the hole night trough.