Disclaimer: I don’t own Fruits Basket.

A/N: Basically, I love this fic. I’m so sad that this I the last chapter. But YAY, I finally finished!! It’s taken so long, thanks for staying with me despite my procrastination in updating. XD Hope you enjoyed it!

This was pathetic. This was the epitome of pathetic. Mayuko was sitting there like an idiot, crying her eyes out in front of Hatori’s doorstep. What if one of the neighbors came out and saw her? This was so bad, she had to get up, but it was really difficult when she was crying so hard.

“Hey, are you okay?” A deep voice came from above her. She saw feet. Feet wearing the same shoes as Hatori. How was she going to explain this to him? Saying she had some dust in her eye wasn’t really going to cut it this time. Mayuko reluctantly lifted her watery gaze.

An unfamiliar redheaded man stood before her. She had been fooled by the fact that he wore the same shoes as Hatori. And their voices were a bit similar.

“Mayuko-sensei?” A tall blonde peeked over at her from behind him, looking utterly shocked to see her there.

Oh god. Things couldn’t get more embarrassing than this. She was sitting there, next to her suitcase crying, and this was all being witnessed by none other than one of her former students. Uotani knelt down next to her and tilted her head.

“You okay, Mayuko-sensei?” She asked, looking concerned.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Mayuko wiped her tears quickly. “J-Just a moment of weakness, it’s nothing.”

The two stood up and joined Kureno who was looking plainly confused.

“What are you doing here, Uotani?” Mayuko furrowed her brow.

“I should ask you the same thing.” Uotani laughed, both of them baffled by the coincidence.

“Well, I was just staying here at a friend’s house, because my apartment was having some work done.” Mayuko explained, being sure to leave out the details.

“Oh, you mean Hatori-niisan?” Kureno supplied, blinking innocently.

“Y-Yeah…” Mayuko blushed and looked down.

“Eh? Sensei’s been living with your cousin?” Uotani asked Kureno, who nodded. A fox-like grin stretched in Uotani’s face as she turned back to Mayuko. “What’s this, Sensei? You’ve been living with a guy?”

“We’re just friends!” Mayuko’s face turned a deeper shade of red as she waved her hand dismissively. “What are you doing here anyway?” She diverted the conversation quickly.

“Well, we were in the neighborhood, so we thought we’d save a stamp.” She pulled a pink envelope from her bag with a grin. “It’s an invitation to our wedding. Oh and, this is my fiancé, Kureno.” She turned a little pinkish despite herself.

Mayuko smiled. “Congratulations.”

Uotani shrugged, and Kureno grinned sheepishly. “Here, you’re invited too then!” Uotani smiled, handing her the invitation. “You’ve always been my favorite sensei anyway.”

“Thank you! Wow, this is my second wedding invitation this week.” She laughed, feeling a bit nervous about the fact that her students were getting married before her.

“Oh, you must mean Shigure-niisan’s wedding.” Kureno smiled. “I’m happy for Akito…” Something in his eyes said that he knew something that the other two didn’t, but he didn’t venture further. Instead, his eyes widened in a moment of realization, and his gaze snapped back to Mayuko’s. “Hey, wait…” He said slowly. “Did you say that you and Hatori-niisan were just friends?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s kind of weird… maybe I was just assuming things…”

“What…?”

“Well… Normally it would be with someone you love right… I mean I have one of Arisa…” Kureno looked down, his fingers lifting to his chin.

“What??” That was both Mayuko and Uotani this time.

“…Well, he keeps a picture of you.” Kureno’s gaze locked with Mayuko’s.

“What…?” Mayuko’s face was now flushed fully red.

“In his top drawer in his office desk. I found it when I was looking for a pen.” Kureno explained simply.

Uotani laughed and slapped him on the back. “Hey, hey, you know I don’t think this Hatori-san would appreciate you telling her that. Did you think maybe it was a secret?”

Kureno’s eyes widened. He really was an absent-minded fellow. “Oh. Well, I’m sorry then.” He bowed to Mayuko, who was still just staring with her mouth open, not sure what to say.

Uotani kicked him playfully, causing his stance to falter a bit. “Why are you apologizing to her?”

“Oh…”

“You’re so silly.” She elbowed him, smiling. “You idiot.”

Mayuko was momentarily distracted, thinking about how cute they were. She caught herself before her mind could wander away from the point. “Hey, Kureno-san? Was it a picture of me and some other people… like Shigure and Ayame, or… or a brown-haired girl?”

Kureno shook his head. “No, it was just you. A very nice picture of you laughing.”

“O-oh… is that so…” The three stood in silence as Mayuko turned this over in her head. He kept a picture of her. He kept a picture of her.

Her blush then was beyond comparison. “Then… could he… possibly…?” She looked down, mumbling her thoughts aloud.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask him yourself?” Uotani winked, tapping Mayuko on the shoulder and pointing.

Mayuko looked up. Sure enough, Hatori was exiting the elevator down the hall, loosening his tie and looking quite a mess. His face was flushed, his hair was windswept, and he never looked more attractive. He spotted them in front of his door and approached quickly, stopping just next to Kureno.

Mayuko wondered if he’d run all the way here. He sure looked like it.

Hatori wondered if she had been crying. She sure looked like it.

The two just stared at each other, sporting similar blushes.

“Oh, Hatori-niisan… here’s an invitation to my wedding.” Kureno grinned, holding up an envelope.

“Thanks…” Hatori said distantly. He took the envelope but his gaze never left Mayuko’s.

“So, Hatori-niisan—”

“Kureno.” Uotani interrupted Kureno in mid-sentence. It didn’t really matter, considering Hatori probably wasn’t listening anyway. “Kureno, do you know what cock blocking is?”

“No I’m not familiar with that term…” Kureno tilted his head to the side curiously.

“It’s what you’re doing right now.” Uotani turned to the two who were still staring at each other. “We’ll see you two at the wedding! Now you come on!” Uotani grabbed a very confused Kureno’s arm and dragged him to the elevator.

“Hatori… I…” Mayuko started, but Hatori ignored her and stepped forward. Mayuko instinctively took a step backwards, her shoulder blades bumping into Hatori’s door. Hatori placed his hands on either side of her and stared determinedly into her eyes.

“Stay.”

“What…?” Mayuko’s voice came out breathlessly, caught off guard by their sudden closeness.

“Don’t go. Stay with me.” He repeated, inching still closer to her.

“Okay… if it’s not inconvenient to you Ha… to…” Her voice trailed off as he came still closer to her.

“It’s very conveniently inconvenient, actually. Absolutely, perfectly convenient.” That’s the last thing he said before capturing her lips with his. She had no idea how long they kissed in that empty hallway, but it couldn’t have been that long, because before she knew it they had slipped back into his apartment and locked the door behind them.

“Mayuko, are you sure this is what you want?” Hatori asked urgently.

“Yeah… I know it might hurt a little, but… I want this. I’ve wanted it for a long time.” Mayuko smiled up at him, touching his cheek lightly.

“Are you ready?”

She took a breath. “Yeah. Let’s do this.”

Hatori nodded and pushed the door to the salon open, holding it for Mayuko. Mayuko grinned and walked in. Yes. She was going to finally cut off all that hair.

What were you thinking?

She did cry a little, she had to admit. I mean, she’d had her hair long for ages. Hatori was baffled at how attached women were to their hair. He took note that his had grown quite a bit too. He still let the dark locks cover his damaged eye, but it was getting a bit too long in the back.

Despite the tears, the haircut looked quite good on her. Or so Hatori said, and that was good enough for her. She felt lighter and more refreshed as she exited the salon with hair even shorter than Hatori’s. They were so involved in a conversation on their way out that she walked straight into someone.

“Sorry!” She apologized quickly.

“Mayu-chan?”

Mayuko looked up to see a shorthaired brunette blinking up at her.

“Kana!” Her face brightened immediately. They hugged, and in the meantime Hatori and Kana’s husband exchanged polite greetings.

“Oh my gosh, it’s been ages since I’ve called you—nearly a month!” Kana exclaimed, gripping her hands. “It’s just been really crazy lately… but I was just thinking about calling you. I wanted you to be the first person to know, well besides our parents…”

“What…?” Mayuko blinked.

“I’m pregnant!!” Kana burst, her face flushed with joy.

“Oh my god! Congratulations!! I can’t believe this!! Boy or girl??” Mayuko laughed, hugging Kana for the second time.

“I don’t know yet, but I don’t care! A baby, Mayu-chan, a baby!!” The two of them squealed together, while Hatori and Kana’s husband smiled fondly at them.

When they finally released each other, still laughing a little breathlessly, Kana looked up and noticed Hatori. “Hatori-san! Now I haven’t seen you in even longer!”

“Congratulations.” Hatori offered a smile, and Kana returned it with an even bigger one.

“Thanks.” She then looked from Mayuko to Hatori. “Oh, what’s this? Could it be… that you guys are together?” Her eyebrows rose.

“Well… y-yeah…” Mayuko admitted, and the two looked down blushing.

“Oh man, I knew it!!” Kana clapped her hands together, a mischievous grin emerging on her face. “The moment I saw you Hatori-san, I knew that you would be perfect for my Mayu-chan!”

The two smiled, although a little sadly as they remembered the truth.

“Well, I’m going to be late for my appointment.” Kana explained, pointing to the salon. “But I’ll definitely call you later, Mayu-chan. You have shop for cute baby clothes with me!!” The two hugged goodbye, and they parted with waves.

“They look happy.” Mayuko commented with a smile as she watched Kana walk into the salon, talking animatedly to her smiling husband.

“Yeah.” Hatori watched her go with a nostalgic look.

“Hey, you’re not getting all hung up on Kana again, are you?” Mayuko poked Hatori in the arm with a frown.

Hatori chuckled and slung an arm around her shoulders. “Of course not. I’m just glad she’s happy.”

“Yeah… but… we’re happy too, right?” Mayuko looked up at him.

“Yes. Extremely happy.” He replied with a soft smile.

Mayuko blushed and leaned her head against him as they walked.

Hatori tilted his gaze towards the sky. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… really nice.”

And slowly but surely, time passed.

Aww. The end. Thanks for reading!!