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The Fox and The Rabbit	By : naturechild02 Category: Manga Misc > General Views: 4788 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fruits Basket, nor do I make any monies from this fanfic. For entertainment purposes only.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Summer break was finally upon them. Aimi was excited to have time off school so she could spend more time with her friends. The thought of living in the moment with them, laughing and joking, playing games and eating, was enough to lift her spirits. She needed it. She needed to surround herself with smiling faces so she could forget her own darkness for a time.
Lovingly running her hand over the ivory keys of the school’s piano, Aimi sighed in contentment. She felt her entire body relax. Just the feel of the cold keys under her fingers was enough to put her mind at ease. It was like coming home. She haltingly played a cheerful tune as the few remaining members of the music club packed their things and chatted with each other as they left for the day. Everyone was anxious to leave to start their vacation. As the room cleared out, Aimi launched into a melody that was slower, more melancholy.
She cherished her alone time with the piano at school, since all she had at home was a keyboard. It wasn’t the same. It didn’t sound the same. Didn’t feel the same. So, before she readied herself for an afternoon at home relaxing with her father, she let the music consume her. She closed her eyes, her fingers finding the keys on their own, as the song swelled out and took life around her. She began singing the lyrics at just the right moment of the chorus, her clear soprano filling the room. She sang with abandon.
itsuka eien no nemuri ni tsuku hi made
dou ka sono egao ga
taema naku aru you ni
Her fingers began banging away at the keys as the song intensified, her voice hitting notes she had never tried before. Just as the song was ending, she came back to herself and realized where she was. Her eyes flying open, she saw movement in the back of the auditorium. Faltering in surprise, her fingers struck several keys at once and she stood, shoving away from the piano.
“Oh, don’t stop please! Sorry I startled you. I was just about to leave and heard you playing,” a familiar voice called. Squinting to see past the stage lights, Aimi gasped when she spotted Momiji walking down the aisle towards her. Her breathing sped up. Oh no! He heard me! Okay, just relax. Calm down. Aimi tried to talk down her racing heart as she smiled at the beautiful boy.
“Momiji kun! What are you still doing here?” Aimi tried to sound as normal as possible while her insides tied themselves in knots.
“I’m about to take Tohru out for a surprise.” Standing right before the stage now, he put a hand beside his mouth and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “The surprise is a haunted house! I was going to see if you wanted to come with us and I heard you singing. I didn’t know that you played so well. Your voice is beautiful.”
Aimi felt the heat rising to her face. “Oh, um, thank you. Uh…” As much as she wanted to go with her friends to a haunted house, she knew she had to head home. Her father wasn’t allowing her out anywhere without his express permission these days. Not that she could blame him.
Momiji stood there blinking at her expectantly and she wished she could put off refusing his invitation. She wished she could just stand here staring at his lovely face for the rest of the afternoon. If only time could stand still so she could appreciate his beauty longer…
“Sorry, I have to get home to my father. Maybe next time?” She tried to sound as apologetically cheerful as possible.
“Okay, I understand.” He gave her one of his radiant smiles and Aimi’s heart melted. “Hey! Maybe I can join the music club soon and we can play together! My father lets me take private lessons but maybe I can convince him to let me play here, too.”
“It, it would be great practice,” Aimi stammered out, the idea of playing beside her crush thrilling her and terrifying her at the same time. “And I would love to play accompaniment to your violin.”
“Nonsense, it would be a duet! See you later, Aimi chan!” Momiji called as he ran back up the aisle. In moments, he was gone and she was left with her heart racing and hands trembling.
“That boy is going to be the death of me!” She giggled to herself.
* * * * *

“But all my friends have part-time jobs!” Aimi complained.
“All of them?”
“Well, okay, the Sohma kids don’t but that’s just because they’re all rich. C’mon dad, I want to work.”
Daisuke heaved a sighed and shook his head at his daughter over their dinner. “It isn’t necessary. I make plenty enough that you don’t have to go out and slave at some horrible diner or something.”
“But, but I want to go to college in the states. It’s so expensive there and I should help to pay for it myself.”
Her father’s eyebrows shot through the roof and Aimi realized that she hadn’t discussed it with him yet. Whoops. He took a few more bites, obviously chewing on her words as much as his food. Finally, he put his bowl of noodles down and cleared his throat.
“I wasn’t aware that you wanted to go to college in America. The schools there are… decent, but you could do just as well here. Still, if that is what you have decided then that is your choice.”
“I…” Aimi regretted that she hadn’t had a sit-down talk with her father about her ideas before now but it was too late to run away. “I might go to school here for a while, then transfer. Dad, it isn’t that I want to leave you so far behind. It’s just… that is part of my heritage, too, and I feel like I should learn more about it. Do you understand?”
Her father’s eyes softened as he grabbed up their empty bowls. “I do. It’s okay if you need to go, Aimi. I hope you find what you are looking for in life and sometimes you do have to do that on your own.”
“So, I can get a job?” she asked hopefully.
He stood and took their dishes to the sink and she heard the water rushing out as he rinsed them off. “Perhaps next year. Why don’t we just focus on grades this year, okay?”
Aimi made a sound of acknowledgement but said nothing. Focus on grades, indeed! Her grades were perfect, especially since Yuki was still tutoring her in her worst subject. She knew the real reason that he wanted to keep her home, keep her close. And again, she couldn’t say that she blamed him.
But Aimi was determined to try her hardest at living the life of a normal teenager. She clung to that idea of normalcy like a raft on white rapids. The madness of the water may try to drown her but she had to hold on to some kind of hope. Otherwise, how would she ever survive?
- 12
- 13
- 14
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The Fox and The Rabbit