Hanashi
Chapter Two: The Tragic Prince
by Ina-chan
First Posted Online: July 24, 2003
History: Inspired by the storytelling style of the
"Princess Tutu" anime
[Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and all its
characters are properties of Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to
Yume comics. Everything else in this fanfic are figments of my
imagination. Any similarities to name, places, yada yada yada
are simply examples of the world’s many coincidental
mysteries. Earlier chapters of this fic is available both in
Fanfiction.net and Mediaminer.org]
*****
One step… and it was right in front of her. It was so
near that if she was to reach out her hand, she would be able to
touch it to figure out if it really was a ghost… that is, had
her mind-state not been trapped between feelings of fear and
wonder. If one was to see it for the first time, one would even
think that the creature would be a wood nymph… or an angel…
or even a…
“…prince…?” The girl mumbled almost inaudibly
But the mysterious figure before her gave no answer
to her one-word question. Instead, he took another step and
walked passed her, unnoticing her, as if he devoting his entire
attention in moving towards the edge of the woods. He was so
focused on reaching wherever his destination was that he
completely paid no attention to everything else around him…
…the beauty of the woods in the morning…
…Honda Tooru seated on the ground watching him in
admiration…
…the low hanging branch on his path…
As if watching a 30-second-stop-animation sequence,
the girl could only watch speechlessly as the mysterious figure
walked into the tree, reeled backwards despite the low impact,
tripped on its own feet from the motion, and clumsily fell on
the ground… its eyes whirling comically.
Not very coordinated for a prince… or even a
ghost… is he?
“HAAAAAAAAA! WHAT HAPPENED?!!?! EMERGENCY!!!!
EMERGENCY!!!! WHAT SHOULD I DO!?!?!” Tooru cried out in
horror, arms flapping wildly in the air. She crawled closer and
surveyed the fallen body before her.
Upon closer inspection, the loose white outfit it wore
looked more like oversized bedclothes rather than a scary
ghost’s robes. Its silvery gray hair framed its pale face,
making its owner’s sleeping figure look like as if it were a
delicate porcelain doll. No matter how you look at it, the
stranger was really beautiful, you can’t even tell if it’s a
boy or a girl.
“Ara? What if prince
was really a princess?” The girl blinked at the thought, she
bapped her forehead lightly, silently laughing to herself ,
“Haaaa! If that’s the case, then no wonder I couldn’t find
him after all this time!”
“AAAAAAAH! This is not the time for this!” The
girl snapped back to the present as she looked over the prone
figure in front of her. She wrung her hands together nervously,
and called out in a soft voice, “Anou… etou… excuse me…
are you dead?”
Panic shot right though the girl at that realization,
as she immediately grabbed and shook the unconscious person’s
right arm, “Ara! Don’t die! If you die, you really will
become a ghost!!!”
The figure didn’t respond, but her shaking caused a
small silver tag bracelet around the figure’s hand to glint
for attention under the morning light. The girl’s eyes widened
upon recognizing what it was.
“Ah! A medic alert bracelet! This is serious!”
She put two fingers on each temple, deep in thought,
“Ah! What did sensei said about people with these? They could
be diabetic and be going into shock… Or epileptic and having a
seizure… or have a heart condition and having a heart
attack… AAAAAH! Which one was it?”
Anou… won’t it help if you took a look at the
bracelet first?
“Ah! That’s a good idea narrator-san!” The girl
agreed cheerfully as she took the unconscious figure’s arm and
inspected the bracelet on his wrist, “Etou…. Souma Yuki…
If found, please call XXX-XXXX
or return to XXX XXXXXXXXX…”
Standard disclaimer #2: All telephone numbers and
addresses have been censored upon request.
The girl sweat-dropped and made a nervous laugh,
“What is this? Is he like a lost dog?”
“Not quite, but close enough,” A new voice
suddenly spoke from behind her
The girl looked up, her eyes in surprised beady
little dots… and saw an upside-down view of a man’s looking
down at her. “Haaa?”
“Harooo!” The man, clad in a yukata, said smiling
and waving down at her, “What’s a girl like you doing here?
A school girl to boot!”
My, my, my, what interesting woods! It really does
have everything… disappearing princes (or princesses), ghosts,
poisonous plants, wild animals and…
“…a pervert?”
******
/Once
upon a time, there lived a prince. He was a child of beauty who
possessed a gentle heart and a tongue of gold. The people adored
him, loved him and spoke nothing but their deep affection for
him. But a jealous god also loved the prince. The jealous god
did not want the prince to return the people’s affections.
Thus, god imprisoned the prince in an ivory tower. So
that the prince can adore, love, and say his words of deep
affection for god and god alone.
Resulting a divine tragedy… for jealousy tarnishes
beauty, and a cage hardens the gentlest of hearts. With his
final act of defiance, the prince swallowed a shard of glass to
cut off his own tongue… his golden words, never to be heard by
anyone again./
“Thank you for your help in finding my poor cousin,”
Souma Shigure said gratefully over a cup of steaming tea by the
open engawa, “Aaaah! Nothing like a nice cup of tea on a
summer morning, isn’t it.”
“Yes, it is,” Tooru agreed before turning to a more
serious tone, “Anou… but I really didn’t do anything, I
just happened to be there when he passed by,” Tooru protested
beside him as she shot a glance on the still unconscious figure
splayed on the tatami mat behind them, a bag of ice resting over
his forehead, “Is
he really going to be okay?”
“Don’t worry about him,” Shigure replied
reassuringly, “Its still too early in the morning. Yuki-kun
doesn’t do well on mornings. Ever since he was a child, he
always had the tendency to walk in his sleep. We even had to
come up with different kinds of booby traps to make sure we know
if he’s wandering off.”
“Booby traps?” The girl echoed, her eyes widening
Shigure nodded, almost solemnly, “But, as you can tell,
coordination isn’t really Yuki-kun’s strongest suit when
he’s in that state. We also tried tying him to bed, but that
mouse can figure a way out of any trap even in his sleep.”
“Mouse?” Tooru echoed again, with a puzzled frown
“Ah-ha-ha-hah,” Shigure suddenly laughed nervously,
“By the way, Tooru-kun… you’re still in high school
right?”
“Hai! I’m a freshman in Kaibara Highschool,” Tooru
replied
“Kaibara? Hnnn?” Shigure raised an eyebrow in
surprise, “Isn’t that a coincidence, Yuki-kun is
transferring to Kaibara in time for the summer classes.”
The girl brightened at the older man’s words,
“Huaaaaaa! That’s great! But… why is Yuki-kun transferring
to a new school in the middle of the school year?”
“Hnnnn… it’s actually a complicated situation,”
Shigure hummed, “Yuki-kun has been isolated from the outside
world most of his life. He’s been sickly as a child… and
various things happened afterward. It was a lot of work, but we
finally managed to convince our Family Head to let Yuki-kun out
of the Main House…”
Tooru blinked, not quite understanding what the older man
said, “Convince to let Yuki-kun out?”
Shigure sweat-dropped, “Well… let’s just say
that he hasn’t really had a chance to interact with people
outside of a few members of our family… and his behaviour
lately had started become too weird to ignore.”
[Insert flash image of Yuki… barking angrily at
the television.]
“On top of that,” Shigure sighed, “Yuki-kun
hasn’t spoken aloud a single word since he was seven years
old.”
“Eh?” Tooru wondered aloud, ““If that’s the
case, then how did Yuki-kun manage to go to school?”
“Ah, well…
Yuki-kun hasn’t been in school since that one time around two
years ago. Prior to and after that, he had been receiving home
schooling through most of his life,” Shigure replied, “He
may not look like it, but Yuki-kun is actually very smart. He
has the amazing talent to master almost anything… That is if
you actually keep his attention long enough. Mayu-chan considers
him a genius,” The man let out a strained and amused laugh,
“Then again, she has a penchant for lost causes.”
“Mayu-chan?”
“Ah, Yuki-kun’s current tutor. She was an old friend
of mine, she teaches at your school, by the way,” Shigure
explained, “She was the one who helped with getting Yuki-kun
transferred.”
“Mayu-chan…” Tooru continued, deep in thought
This is getting annoying! This story is getting nowhere
with all this feet dragging… so many hints on where to go, but
our heroine is clueless to choose which direction to move
towards to. Haaa… the narrator’s guidance is never done.
Nee, Tooru-chan, don’t you think it’s kind of
strange?
“What’s kind of strange?” Tooru replied aloud
“Strange?” Shigure echoed as he turned to the girl,
an unreadable expression on his face
Don’t you find it strange that a total stranger would
unabashedly tell you all these personal things out of the blue?
“Hmmm… that is a bit strange…” Tooru finally
mumbled in agreement
“Anou…” The older man began hesitantly, “Who
exactly are you talking to?”
“Just Narrator-san,” The girl replied casually as she
pointed to a random direction above her head, “We were just
wondering out loud at how strange you are, Shigure-san.”
“Ha? You’re talking to who?” Shigure blinked as he
shook his head in confusion, “And you say I’m strange?”
Well, normal people don’t usually give out personal
information about family members to strangers.
“That’s right Shigure-san,” Tooru agreed
thoughtfully, “Though my mother did tell me not to be
suspicious of other people, telling strangers personal things
about Yuki-san is not very nice. Yuki-san probably won’t
appreciate you doing that.”
“Yuki-kun wouldn’t mind, even if he cared,” Shigure
replied confidently, “But you’re right. I didn’t expect
you to be such an excellent judge of character. I do have
something else in mind in telling you all this. But it’s all
for Yuki-kun’s sake.”
“For Yuki-kun’s sake?” The girl echoed again
This is suspicious.
“For Yuki-kun’s sake,” The man stated solemnly,
“You are the first stranger that Yuki-kun met since the last
time he attended school. You see, Yuki-kun is not a very social
person. His first instinct is to run away from people he’s not
familiar with. When I saw you with him, I figured that he must
really like you. He didn’t run away like he usually does.”
But if you think about it, unconscious people normally
don’t run away…
“And when I heard that you are going to the same school
as Yuki-kun, I just thought that it must have been a fate.
It’s too much of a coincidence.”
Ah, that line… now, it’s really becoming very
suspicious.
“So I was hoping…”
Hoping?
“Hoping?” Tooru repeated slowly
“…if it’s possible for you to help Yuki-kun around
school. It will be a lot of help if he had someone to show him
around and keep him out of trouble,” Shigure continued
pleasantly, “To tell you the truth, we’re really concerned
because this is actually Yuki-kun’s last chance to prove
himself that he can handle something like this…”
“Prove himself? Did something bad happen to him in his
last school?” Tooru asked in concern
Beads of sweat appeared on the older man’s forehead as
he looked away from the girl uncertainly, “Ah, well… Let’s
just say that… Yuki-kun doesn’t take kindly to adversity…
from strangers…”
[Unsteady home movie image of 14-year-old Yuki
standing in front of his old junior high school, looking at the
camera expressionlessly. Quick flash and close up camera pan to
his lips silently mouthing the word “boom”… quick flash
again to earlier image, as a small ball of fire caused one of
the second story windows to explode...]
Haaaa? Is it really safe to release a person like that in
society?
“Hmmmm… Mother always said to always give people a
second chance,” Tooru mumbled thoughtfully before putting on a
determined expression, “YOSH! Alright Shigure-san! You can
count on me! I’ll help Yuki-kun in anyway I could!”
“Wonderful!” Shigure exclaimed happily, “It’s
great to know that Yuki-kun will have at least one friend in a
new school! I’ll leave it all up to you Tooru-kun! You’re
welcome to come over here to play at any time. I hope you’ll
help Yuki-kun make lots of new friends.”
Uh-oh… somehow this conversation seems to be, once
again, taking a suspicious turn…
“Un!” Tooru replied excitedly, “I’m sure
Hana-chan and Uo-chan will be more than happy to be friends with
Yuki-kun as well!”
“Uwaaaa? Are Hana-chan and Uo-chan Tooru-kun’s
friends?”
A very suspicious turn…
“Un! They’re my most beloved and dearest friends!
They’re really very kind people!”
“Are they pretty?”
Tsk! Tsk! Suspicious… suspicious…
“Un! They’re both very beautiful!”
“Then Hana-chan and Uo-chan can come over here to play
at any time as well!”
“SUGOI! Shigure-san is very kind.”
I rest my case.
But our heroine, God save her kind and oblivious soul,
was too overwhelmed with happiness over the responsibility put
upon her. Causing her to completely forget that there’s also
the fact that today was just the start of summer vacation. There
was a lot of time for more strange things to occur before the
insanity of school even begins…
Things that were even stranger than the sleepwalking
prince who doesn’t talk…
…or his overly-outspoken perverted cousin…
Things like…
…exploding walls.
“EEEEEEH!?!?!?!” Tooru cried out in surprise in the
cloud of dust, instantly going into super shocked mode as pieces
of debris barely missed her
The dust settled and through the big hole on the now
demolished wall, stood a solemn figure of a fiery-haired youth,
still in his battle stance. He lifted his head, showing his
spirited crimson eyes, an arrogant smirk lining his lips.
“Anou…” Tooru began uncertainly
“Haaaa~~~ Kyou-kun…” Shigure sighed in defeat,
“Why can’t you use the door like normal people? It’s a big
pain in the butt repairing all the damage you cause in this
house you know?”
“Etou…” Tooru continued
“SHUT UP!” Kyou glared at the older man, “I’m not
here for you! Where’s that damned rat! Let’s finish this
fight once and for all!”
“Bu-but Yuki-kun is still unconscious!” The girl
protested as she pointed to the empty futon spread on the floor,
“Ha?”
“Hmph,” A new voice mumbled from beside her
Tooru instantly jumped up in surprise as she noticed the
other boy sitting between herself and Shigure, non-chalantly
drinking a cup of tea.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?” Kyou yelled angrily
as he rushed closer to his opponent, “GET OFF YOUR ASS AND
FIGHT ME!!!”
Yuki let out an annoyed sigh, and before any one can
blink an eye, reached out and quickly pushed Tooru with the palm
of his hand. The girl let out a yelp and stumbled forward,
loosing her balance and falling unto a very surprised Kyou.
A loud poof…
A puff of smoke…
Another yelp of surprise…
And a loud groan of disbelief later…
Honda Tooru suddenly found herself on the floor,
clutching a very shocked orange cat.
“You really want to sabotage this plan and make things
difficult for yourself, don’t you?” Shigure groaned again as
he gave the grey-haired youth a silent glare
Yuki simply raised his cup to his lips and quietly sipped
his tea.
[End
of Chapter 2: The Tragic Prince]
Return
to Chapter 1: A Plain,
Simple, And Kind Girl
To be Continued
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