tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Rating; PG
Characters; Tohru Honda (

beware_of_kitty)
Summary; Tohru and Kyou both go out on their real first date. Afraid of standing him up again, the Onigiri goes despite the slight fever she’s begun to run.
Log;

It was cold. Sitting on a bench outside of the entrance to the zoo, Tohru lightly rubbed her hands together while sinking further into the scarf she had wrapped snuggly around her neck. Cheeks pink, her eyes were a little unfocused as she waited, two boxed lunches wrapped neatly together at her side. Although it was cold her face burned, whether from the sting of the icy air or not, she wasn't sure. That morning when she had woken up, she'd fought a bit of a headache. When she'd eventually broken down and taken her temperature, it was a little above normal. Today wasn't a good day to come down with something however. No...today...was her first REAL date.

Stomach doing somersaults she felt anxious. The day they were originally supposed to have gone to the zoo, apparently a couple weeks ago, she'd disappeared from the city. Kyou had been abandoned and left hanging, and the words his shadow had said to her continually kept creeping through her mind. Rejected... Why...did the fact that it had said Kyou had done such a thing...bothered her so much. It was like a tightening in her heart. Some of the other things it had told her though had been enough to put her mind into a whirl, it was all really confusing. Especially right now. Head throbbing a little, she tried not to think of it too deeply. The rest of that didn't matter right now. Whether she was beginning to come down with a cold or not, she refused to stand Kyou up twice. Besides, she was too tough to come down with something serious. If she became sick, who would help with he meals and make sure everyone else was all right? She'd be useless. Beyond that...she wanted them to spend their day together, and had been looking forward to visiting the Zoo. Something like a slight fever was not going to stop her!

Picking up the thermal that was keeping their tea warm, she wrapped her fingers around that while she waited. Today would be their fun day out together, and nothing would ruin it.

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Even after everything that had been said by their shadows that day, Tohru had still asked him to accompany her to the zoo. She'd remembered their plans and how because the city had returned her home, she'd unintentionally stood him up when they'd had a date. It might have taken a little prodding by their shadows, but she'd finally remembered.

More importantly, she'd still wanted to go with him. Not with her mother, not with any of the other Sohma...she'd wanted to go with Kyou. It hadn't mattered to Kyou where or what they did, just as long as he'd gotten to spend time with her. That was something that had been lacking since her mother had arrived in the city.

To say he was avoiding Kyoko was an understatement. Though it was hard to do, Tohru had found a way to combine both of her families during meal times so Kyou couldn't avoid her entirely. Still, he never allowed himself to be alone with Kyoko...no matter how hard she'd tried.

It wasn't as if Tohru hadn't noticed though, especially after the 'events' from the Shadowplay curse had shown everyone that Kyou definitely had issues concerning Kyoko. Still...Tohru was Tohru...wanting everyone to get along, especially those she cared about most. He knew what he did hurt Tohru...and that was the hardest part of all.

Making his way toward the entrance of the zoo, Kyou had preferred meeting her away from their apartments and in that way away from the prying eyes of their families. He'd agreed to meet her after his morning training, forcing them to meet there instead of walking together. 'Picking' her up could quickly turn catastrophic and he didn't feel right having her pick him up at his place.

Arms wrapped tightly around himself, he was strangely grateful for the curse they'd had several months ago which resulted in a freak blizzard during the summer. He hadn't realized how cold it had gotten in the last couple of days, the hat and gloves he'd purchased back then coming in handy today.

The familiar figure sitting on a bench caught his attention, bundled up in clothing to keep her warm. Smiling, Kyou slid his hands into his jacket as nervousness crept up inside him. "Hey," he said, lightly tapping her foot with his shoe as he reached her side. Strangely he couldn't get the nerve to look her in the face, choosing to stare at the ground surrounding her feet. "You made it."

Gaze fixed on the ground as she waited; she was surprised when I pair of legs came into her vision. A foot lightly knocked her shoe, and Tohru looked up as Kyou’s voice appeared above her. Bundled up as well, he had a hat covering part of his orange hair, and a glove on each hand. The lack of scarf didn’t surprise her; he generally didn’t like anything covering his neck. She was glad he was bundled up though, especially after he’d just gotten over the flu.

“Hey. You made it.”

A smile spread across her face warmly as she looked up at him. No longer sitting out there alone, it was always amazingly calming when she got to be with him. Maybe that alone would be enough to fight off whatever she’d woken up with.

“Of course. I promised myself that this time City-san wouldn’t have a say in the matter.” A little guilty, she felt bad once again that last time she had disappeared at such an inconvenient time. Had she been in Kyou’s place, she would have been upset. Not to mention being in the city without someone as important as him, or her mother, Tohru thought that likely she would have become a bit down. Lately, the thought that she didn’t want to leave the city had crossed her mind more than once. Beyond that, the thought of hurting Kyou again was out of the question. “I wouldn’t want to miss our day out.” The words were earnest.

Pushing up from the bench, she ignored the slight headache that arose from the movement. Opening the bag she’d brought along with her, she put the thermal and things back inside it. She’d only taken them out in order to hold the container for a bit of warmth. She thought that the heat would last a while, so they didn’t have to eat right away. Looking back up at him, she smiled again, blushing just a little bit as she lifted the small bag.

“I’m excited, Kyou-kun! I’m really happy. I’ve never been to a Zoo before, so it’s my very first time. I can’t wait to see all the cute animals, together.”

As she spoke, Kyou lifted his gaze to her face, quickly noticing the brilliant smile that graced her face. The nervousness he felt prior to arriving dissolved away with the genuine happiness he could read in her expression. Watching her as she rose to her feet to accompany him, he noticed a slight glossiness in her eyes that normally wasn't there. Choking it up to the chill in the air, since what he could see of her cheeks were unnaturally flushed as well.

“You look cold,” he said, pulling his hands from the pockets of his jacket to take the small bag she held from her grasp. With his free hand, he grasped Tohru's now empty hand and squeezed gently. “I've heard that they have some really strange looking creatures here. I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate being called 'cute'.”

Tugging her along with him, Kyou took several steps toward the entrance of the park to purchase tickets for the two of them. Looking down at her, he practically had to stifle the excitement he felt by just being there with her like this. This 'date' had been planned during her last visit to the city, but it almost had been cancelled because of a curse gone array moments after being planned. To be honest, the curse had caused her to change her mind when his feelings for her had been expressed a little too vehemently, Tohru had quickly came up with excuses on why then wasn't a good time for them to do this trip. Several days later she'd approached him on coming here.

She'd left, but the city had brought her back to him at a time period that to Kyou was particularly special to him. Tohru, as she was here in the city had come from the trip where he'd realized he'd loved her. A trip that had forced the two of them to spend most of their time alone...together. Now that he really thought of it though, it had started a pattern for a lot of their interactions from that moment on.

Dropping her hand to give the attendant the proper coins for entrance, Kyou turned back to her as he lifted his hand to her head to ruffle her hair. “I wonder how many animals we'll actually recognize,” he said, giving her a smile. “I heard that--”

Suddenly frowning, he tried to shake off the bad feeling he had. It's just cause it's freezing out, I'm just overreacting. The heat radiating from her head had been a strong contrast to the cold, making it feel warmer than it actually was. “I heard that most of the animals here are different from ours back home.”

Edited 2008-11-19 06:15 (UTC)

Peeking up at him from beneath her hair as he rubbed her head, she automatically raised a hand to the spot he stroked as she felt her hair mess. A small smile covered her lips, despite the disarray. In actuality with the headache she was fighting, the gentle feel of his hand on her head had felt good. Smoothing it back down once finished her hand unconsciously sought his out again. Her own were freezing, though easily made clammy with warmth.

“If they are different from our own world, that’s even better Kyou-kun.”

She didn’t know what kinds of animals would be housed within the zoo. I wonder...if there would be something like unicorns..o-or dragons! Even if they were just regular animals she would be excited. There were set ones she knew she wanted to see though, like the lions and tigers. A little worried, she wondered over the temperature outside. It was affecting her and making her feel a little worse than she thought she should be. What about the animals, then?

“…What about the animals in the zoo?” She asked, before realizing she hadn’t voiced her concern. Shaking her head lightly, she started over, rephrasing. “I mean…if it’s so cold outside, what do all the animals in the zoo do? Elephants can’t be in this kind of temperature, right? And snakes?” Ayame had even needed to hide inside her coat once before because it had simply been to cold outside. She hoped that the animals inside were safe and warm too. Walking along next to him as they passed through the gates she naturally gravitated a little too closely to him, as though seeking his body warmth.

“Do you think that they give some of the animals’ coats and scarfs too?”

Edited 2008-11-19 14:34 (UTC)

Coats and Scarfs? For the animals? He chuckled to himself at the thought. Only someone with the mind like Tohru's would think of something like that. It wasn't surprising though, Tohru's kindheartedness extended beyond the people in her life to anyone and everyone she'd met. Even here in the city she'd managed to charm some of the strangest and most unlikely people during her time here.

"I'd hope that the city would have them in an environment best suited to them, like a habitat or something. Though...this place doesn't particularly like to make life easy for it's inhabitants," Kyou answered with a thread of knowledgeable authority in his voice. He was trying his best to keep himself focused as she continued to snuggle closer and closer against him. Still...within seconds, the distraction was too much. He knew that by now she'd be comfortable with him, but this wasn't normal. Finally he took the time to actually look at her without his distracted giddiness getting in the way.

Blinking as he realized she was shivering, he felt like a complete idiot for not noticing it earlier. She was obviously freezing cold with her thin gloves and scarf for protection. She wasn't even wearing a hat. Quickly taking a detour toward the souvenir store, he dragged her inside and grabbed a scarf, hat and gloves from the display tables and paid for them before she even had time to realize what was going on.

Wrapping the orange and blue striped scarf around his own neck, he hadn't needed it but knew she'd protest more if she knew he was only buying things for her. Taking the orange and blue striped fleece hat, he ripped the tags off it and slid it over her head before handing her the matching gloves. "Put those on, you look like you're freezing."

Though...come to think of it, she hadn't even protested when he'd bought their tickets...

Suddenly suspicious, he frowned down at her she looked back up at him with surprise. Eyes glassy and slightly unfocused as she glanced back at him...

"What's wrong with you today?"

Edited 2008-11-19 21:05 (UTC)

Whisked into one of the nearby stores, Tohru barely knew what was happening as Kyou moved quickly about her, having tugged her inside along with him. A little dazed she stood to the side as he grabbed something off the wall, quickly purchasing it. The light transition from warm to cold flushed her cheeks more inside the building, and she felt a little dizzy. Eyes creasing, she concentrated on fighting that off. They hadn’t started their actual date yet, so if she was weakening already than she wasn’t doing a good job of holding her iron will. The strength of a tiger…or a lion. They were supposed to be incredibly noble and strong animals. Or maybe a…what had she heard it called in the past before? It was a mix between the two. A tion…maybe, or was it a liger? She couldn’t remember which animal came first…

Something suddenly descending over her head, Tohru blinked in surprise. A pair of gloves found their way into her hands, and she stared at them a moment in confusion as Kyou’s voice filled her head again.

“Put those on, you look like you’re freezing.”

He’d already come back? That was right; he’d dragged them both into the store for something. The gloves are…for me? Brown eyes lifting, her gaze rose up to stare uncomprehendingly at her companion. She realized that despite the burning of her cheeks after the transition from outside to inside, she was still shivering. He was wearing a scarf of the same color, and she assumed then that the hat she was now wearing was probably the same.

“What’s wrong with you today?” He asked. Confused, she stared vacantly again. His voice had been tinged with a hint of suspicion. Ah--! Did he think something was wrong with her? Eyes widening she shook her head, raising her hands into the air to shake them in the negative.

“Nothing--! I’m sorry, I dazed out a moment. I’m perfectly all right, Kyou-kun! You don’t need to worry about me!” Slipping on the new gloves he purchased her, she did that as though by following that direction alone proved everything. She waved the newly covered hands in the air in front of her with a grin. “Thank you for these, Kyou-kun! You didn’t have to do something like that.”

Was she troubling him? The last thing she wanted to do was have him begin worrying about her. She attempted to think quick and on her feet, but her mind felt a bit sluggish. Normally the cold helped wake her up and would keep her on her toes, but despite it she felt a bit tired. Maybe because they were still inside it was having that affect on her. Making a fist she turned around and pointed back toward the direction of the zoo (which was actually the direction of the entrance again). “Right, let’s go see those animals!” Feet moving, she marched toward the door. They would have a good day, regardless of her cloudy head. She refused to give into it or make her friend worry.

The burst of panic was so typically Tohru that Kyou couldn't help but find amusement in it. Though she was obviously doing her best to snap out of whatever was bothering her, something was still wrong. She seemed distracted, and not the adorable spacey distracted that she was every other day. Where it often seemed like her head was in the clouds, today it just seemed like...well...like...the lights were on but no one was home.

Following behind her a step or two, Kyou wondered if she was still bothered by the shadowplay curse. The things that had come out that day hadn't been anything he'd wanted her to know. Feelings, dark feelings, that he'd attempted to bury deep within himself had come out for everyone to see...and the last person he'd wanted to know about them had been Tohru. She'd had her own secrets, he'd known that and though he'd known the things about her that had been exposed that day...didn't mean it wasn't a violation for her.

Maybe things weren't going as well with Kyoko as she'd thought they would go. Tohru tended to bury those type of things, especially if she thought she needed to be thankful for having her mother back and that being upset about it at all would be ungrateful. Because of his own issues with Kyoko, Tohru wouldn't want to talk with him about it...when...normally....

Oh hell...how selfish and stupid have I been? Of course she'd not want to talk about it with me, but who the hell would she feel comfortable talking about it with? Feeling stupid for making her feel that there was anything that he wouldn't be willing to talk to her about,. Her thinking that only put a bigger wedge between them. “Hey...how's everything going at home? I know it has to be a big adjustment and all...is everything okay?”

Surprised by the question, Tohru looked back at Kyou. Still glossy-eyed her head tilted in thought. Things at home…? That made sense that he would be curious, since she’d lived with the Sohmas for so long now. “Things are fine of course! Mom’s super accepting, just like she’s always been so I’m very happy!” A measure of guilt striking her, Tohru wondered if that was a little bit of a lie. Happy…she WAS happy. She didn’t want to ever let go of her mother again. Somehow though, when she thought of her old room over there with the Sohma, and being there all of the time with all of them…she felt a bit nostalgic.

Rubbing one of her eyes with the palm of her glove, thinking over it didn’t help her headache too much. What bothered her the most, she thought, was that it seemed that Kyou didn’t want very much to do with her. It was strange, since Tohru knew he had mentioned knowing her as a small child. She had thought he’d be happy to see her, just as she was, but instead he grew uncomfortable whenever she was mentioned, and always seemed strangely absent when her mom was around. It bothered her a little, because the two people that she would have liked the most to get along…seemed the farthest from it. She wasn’t quite sure…that she understood.

A little lost in thought, her gaze fell inward. Something about the shadow curse...it had mentioned her mom too. A regret…?

Edited 2008-11-20 04:14 (UTC)

She wasn't lying to him. Though he could tell that something about it bothered her slightly, it was obvious that living with her mother again wasn't upsetting her today. The adjustment was bound to be hard on both of them, but from Tohru's reaction to his question that process was going much smoother than he'd anticipated.

The problem wasn't with Kyoko. Was she getting enough sleep? Was she working too much? When stressed, Tohru's entire body tended to shut down and she'd end up sick. Maybe all of the changes were catching up with her and she had just needed some time away from everything for awhile.

Crossing the gateway into the park, Kyou blinked twice at the first group of animals walking around in their large habitat. "You think that having wings would make them able to fly away," he muttered in shock, stunned by the beauty of the creatures. "I don't think there's anything to stop them from leaving here."

Unable to tear his eyes away, Kyou marveled at the winged horses of every size and color he could have imagined. "Are those seriously Pegasus?"

Head making contact with the back of Kyou’s shoulder, Tohru put her hands in front of her worriedly a moment, not wanting to suddenly trigger a transformation here. She hadn’t been paying too much attention to their footsteps, so when he’d stopped it had come as a surprise. Hearing the wonder in his voice and question, she peeked out from behind him, looking up to the first exhibit.

“Are those seriously Pegasus?”

With her own shock setting in, Tohru’s eyes widened in complete awe. Impossible…they were so beautiful, with long wings wrapped around their bodies and beautiful manes, they were gorgeous. Kyou was right, it really seemed like there was nothing preventing them from flying right out of the place they were, and no wings looked clipped. Magnificent, the creatures looked proud and strong. Some were sleeping, while others obviously playing and interacting together. Unable to help herself, she took a step forward. She might not have been feeling well, but surprise at seeing something she never knew actually existed was too much excitement to contain.

“T-They’re so AMAZING! Oh my gosh! I’ve never seen anything like—it’s incredible! Kyou-kun! I-I wonder if Isuzu-san could understand them…!?”

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Log; Ongoing

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