Kags21 & Midnight 1987 & nozomuloverilovecrescentmoo...- don’t worry, they will meet. And there will be plenty of torture and other fluff. Poor Tohru. I promise. : ).

Ok, before we start. I have this issue about torturing, raping, and god knows what else that happens to Tohru every time in Tohru/Akito fanfiction stories. And as much as I am enjoying them, I wish that Tohru would rebel against that madness. So, I decided to make her a little bit stronger this time. To give her a backbone and make her a feminist, actually (Since I am one too ). But, don’t worry, Akito will put up one fine fight against her. What do you think? R & R.

Chapter 8: The Rise of Feminism

Yuki waked up really late that morning. He yawned loudly, and a lovely smell of fresh coffee reached his senses. I think it is time to get up.

Walking downstairs, he heard Tohru’s voice and smiled. As he was about to say greet everyone, hesaw her. Speechlessly, the rat moved closer and kept staring at Tohru from behind the kitchen doors. She was wearing her old pink apron and chatted with Kisa. Funny, he thought, she looks almost the same as years ago. Unnoticed by anyone, he studied Tohru; her sweet face and the beautiful body. But something about her made him uncomfortable. She used to be a forbidden fruit, the girl he starved and longed for; but now…he stopped trying to capture an essence of “the new Tohru,” she is a … woman. He stared at her, observing her every move and each gesture, listening to her laugh, smiling. She is even more attractive as a woman than she was as a girl, he concluded with his eyes still fixed on Tohru.

“She changed. She is like a ripened fruit, isn’t she, Yuki? I can almost taste her sweetness on my tongue…” Yuki was so absorbed with his thoughts that he didn’t notice Shigure standing right behind him. The dog stood with his head tilted, and with his eyes tracing Tohru’s moves. A familiar mischievous smile spread on his face.

“Would you stop? This is Miss Honda you are talking about, stupid dog!” the younger man hissed angrily.

“My, my! My dear brother, are you jealous?” Ayame’s voice reached Yuki. The silver-hair man appeared next to the rat.

“Shigure, you left the bed without saying good morning to me” the snake cried out forgetting about Yuki for a moment.

“Oh, I am sorry my love, but you looked so lovely sleeping that I didn’t want to wake you up…” Shigure said softly as put his arm around Ayame’s waist.

“Aren’t you two too old to sleep together?” Yuki asked with annoyed look on his face.

“Well, dear Yuki, it depends how you look at this” Ayame smiled mischievously towards Shigure.

“Actually, I would say that the older we get, sleeping together gets more fun…” the snake added, and Shigure chuckled.

“What do you…” Yuki looked at his brother.

“There is so much you still have to learn, Yuki.” the snake grinned at his brother sipping coffee from a delicate cup and continued as Yuki’s face tensed in anger.

“But how lucky you are, my dear Yuki, that I am your older brother, and I can teach you everything; lead you trough the fields of pleasu…” he couldn’t finish as Yuki punched him and pushed away from the dining room.

“Hmm” the dog chuckled again, but than smiled, and reached for a newspaper that laid on the table. After all, some things never change, he thought and started to read.

Aaaaaaaaaaaa

The breakfast proved to be just an extension of the previous night’s party. During the meal, which was prepared by Tohru and Kisa, everyone talked and laughed. And gain, Tohru was in the center of everyone’s attention. This time, however, the conversation was not as hectic as yesterday.

They talked about college and school, the books Shigure wrote, and about plans for next couple of days. They listened as Tohru talked about studying photography in Tokyo, chattered about their old high school, and laughed over silly stuff that happened last night. They talked for hours, and finally, the “breakfast” ended about 2P.M.

After that, Tohru decided to talk to Shigure about her plans for future. After all, he was the head of that house, and she wanted to inform him about her intentions.

She knew that this conversation might turn awkward; she realized that he still looked at her as “his little flower,” and frankly, this made her feel kind of …uncomfortable.

“Shigure, I am sorry to disturb you, but do you think we could talk about my and yours plans?” she finally approached him.

“What do you mean, Tohru?” Shigure looked at her surprised, and put away the book he was reading. “What plans?”

“Well, you know” She started “Now, when I am back, I have to think about finding a job…”

“A job? Oh, my dear flower, you don’t have to hurry with finding a job.” Shigure beamed and waved his hand as if trying to dismiss the topic.

“You can stay here and help us with the house. Taking care of us is like a full –time job, anyway. It will be as usual… “ He grinned recalling her cooking and taking care of the household “We really need a women’s help.” He added smiling, satisfied with his answer. Besides he added in his thoughts, having YOU around will be so much fun!

“U-Umm… Well…” Tohru knew that what she was about to say would break Shigure’s heart “You see, I want to find a real job. It is not like I don’t like helping you here,” she added trying not to upset him too much “but continuing my career is very important to me.” Tohru tilted her head as if pleading for him to understand

“And actually, while I was still in Tokyo, I started to look for a job here. And I already received a couple of offers from two newspapers and one advertising company.”

“But how… I though that finding a job right after college is not so easy…” Shigure was amazed with “the new Tohru.”

Her face became more serious as she started to explain him details of her plan.

“During last three years of university, I worked as a freelance photographer and photojournalist for a couple of Tokyo papers. Additionally, I had a part time job as a fashion-photographer creating photo-catalogues. This allowed me to become more professional, meet new people, and make a name for myself.” She blushed. “Not that I am famous or something” she continued “but I have plenty of offers from local magazines.” She smiled noticing how shocked Shigure looked right now.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Oh, nothing, Tohru, It’s just that when you talk about photography, you look so…” he looked for a right word “assertive. Assertive and strong.” He said, and the girl blushed again.

“I guess. You know, during past years, I started to understood that my life should be about something more than family.” She said firmly. “The family is important, but as a woman, as a human being, I should have other goals too.” She said and looked at Shigure. He looked at her with calm, optimistic face. He understands me, she thought happily I knew he would.

Waiting for him to respond, she heard a phone ringing in another room. “I’ll answer.” She declared and left to pick up the phone.

Shigure didn’t respond; he couldn’t. I have a feminist in my house. Tohru is a feminist. Why, oh, gods, why! What happened to my little housekeeper-bride, my little flower? He thought, and almost burst into tears. Life is SO unfair.

Aaaaaaaaaaaa

“This is the Shigure Sohma’s residence” Tohru answered the phone.

“Is that you, Tohru? It’s Kureno.” His voice was impersonal and dry.

“Hi Kureno, How are you. Would you like to talk to Shigure or Yuki?” Tohru was sure that Kureno looked for one of the Sohmas.

“No, actually, I am calling in the name of Akito. He wishes to see you today.”

“…” Tohru was speeches. Akito’s name brought the memories of the last night before her eyes and her face turned slightly pink. O, my…she thought.

“You will be expected at 7 P.M.” He added formally “And please, don’t bring anyone with you, Akito wants to talk to you in private.”

“O-Oo. K.” she tried to sound positive, but couldn’t. “I’ll be there. “ She said finishing the conversation.

She stood by the phone, frozen. The image of Akito’s piercing eyes stayed with her for the rest of the day.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Tohru walked slowly towards the Main House. The evening air was filled with scent of jasmine and honeysuckles. Around her, hundreds of tiny fireflies lighted up, as if they wanted to illuminate the path for her.

In spite of the lovely and calm evening air, the girl was nervous as never before. Her heart beat fast and her palms were sweaty. Why do I worry so much? Hatori said that he is not so violent anymore, she thought and took a deep breath. Besides, when I met him, or rather when I bumped into him yesterday, he seemed calm, right? So there is nothing to worry. I just should be myself. Tohru’s attempts to boost her self-confidence failed miserably as she approached the residence. It was so large and quiet, so intimidating she thought.

She took another calming breath, nervously touched her hair, and smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle on her white dress. She was ready.

Tohru rang the bell and waited in silence. After a while she heard a soft steps and whispers approaching from the inside of the house. Next, the doors opened, and Tohru saw a welcoming smile of Momiji.

“Welcome, Tohru. I hope you had a pleasant walk?” He asked, and she noted that the rabbit looked nervous too. She looked inside trying to see who else stood behind the doors, but she didn’t see anyone.

“Oh, yes, thank you.” As she walked trough the doors, Momiji looked at her carefully.

“You look lovely” He said and looked away, pretending that something else captured his attention. Tohru was puzzled with his behavior. Nervousness and ambiguity were not like him. She considered asking him what happened, but decided not to.

“You know, we probably should hurry up” he said softly “Its 5 past 7, and he doesn’t like to wait. You know how he is”

She just smiled and fallowed the rabbit, who was leading her towards the audience room. As they passed the corridor, Tohru entered the large and strangely official room. There was no furniture, except one low table and pillows. The only lamp that illuminated the room emitted strangely dim-gold light; the walls drowned in the darkness.

Tohru stood there for a moment, trying to adjust her eyes to the light. She didn’t move or say anything; she just looked at the room. The emptiness of that place, the reminiscences of her visits here, and memories of Akito screaming at her and pulling her hair made her even tenser.

A sound of closing doors broke the silence.

“Momiji?” she turned around and noticed that the rabbit left her without a word.

She was alone in the dark, quiet room, scared too much to move. Waiting.