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The Fox and The Rabbit	By : naturechild02 Category: Manga Misc > General Views: 4792 -:- 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
- 16
- 17
- 18
It was time for parent-teacher conferences at school and the girls were going first. Aimi wasn’t nervous about her father speaking with her teacher. Sensei really seemed to like her after all, not to mention her grades were higher than they had been at the beginning of the year. Yuki’s tutoring had paid off; her worst subject had now become one of her best. Yuki’s unending patience was certainly something Aimi admired, especially when he first began helping her and her understanding of history studies was limited. But her friend had stuck by her and showed her new studying techniques and, once applied, she found herself memorizing the facts quicker and easier.
Her father was meeting with Sensei just after gym class. Today was volleyball practice. It was unbelievably hot, and though all the girls had their hair up in ponytails, Aimi still refused. If anyone commented on it, she merely shrugged and smiled, but in truth, her neck was sweating buckets under her thick hair. And, of course, being the klutz that she was, Aimi fell against the chain link fence trying to hit a ball and snagged one of her elbow-length gloves.
Cursing quietly to herself, she inspected the damage to find that there was a long rip on the wrist side, making her scars clearly visible to anyone that looked. Luckily, the bell rang and everyone was filing back inside to change clothes. Just great, Aimi thought, now I have to run all the way back to my locker for my extra pair before I get changed. I’ll be late for the conference for sure!
Her guess was correct when, no matter how fast she hurried, she was the last one out of the dressing room and one of the few students left in the halls. Aimi hated being late. Mumbling curses quietly to herself, she almost didn’t hear a certain conversation until too late.
“…I’m doing well, sir. And you?”
“I am fine.”
Aimi paused before turning the corner. That was her father’s voice. And if she wasn’t mistaken, that first voice belonged to Yuki Souma.
“Fujimoto san, if I may be so bold as to ask, how is Aimi doing?”
“What do you mean? You see her every day, don’t you?”
Yuki’s voice grew stern. “You know perfectly well what I mean, sir.” There was a moment of silence before Yuki continued. Aimi found herself slinking to the wall so she could overhear them. She tried to calm her racing thoughts.
“I understand that it isn’t my business and that I may be crossing a line here. I only ask because she is my friend and I worry about her. She isn’t very open about her problems. She doesn’t share her worries, but glosses over them and pretends that all is well.”
Aimi heard the unmistakable sound of her father sighing. “That is her way. The truth is, Souma kun, it isn’t my place to explain why Aimi has such dark thoughts, though kami sama knows there are some legitimate reasons why she would take such drastic measures. All we can do is be there for her. She does seem to be doing better lately, thanks to you and her other friends. She hasn’t had close friends like this in a long time. Aimi will open up to you if she trusts you. Or she may not. There are some things she keeps even from me. I just hope that one day she can find someone she can truly open her heart to. Maybe that someone is you.”
Yuki made a strangled sound and Aimi tried not to giggle out loud. “Oh, no, sir. It isn’t like that between us. We are just friends. Honestly, she is like a sister to me, that’s why I worry about her so.”
At this point, Aimi was overcome with a barrage of emotions. She was touched that Yuki cared to ask about her, but angry that he and her father would talk about her so openly behind her back. Where does Yuki get off being so nosy when he’s told me nothing about his own past or current issues?
She chose that moment to step around the corner. Beaming at her father, Aimi walked over and slipped her arm into his. “Hello, Dad. Sorry I’m late. Let’s go inside and meet Sensei before she comes out here and yells at me!”
Daisuke smiled at her. As they turned to enter the classroom, Aimi glanced back at Yuki and gave him a scathing look. He merely stood there with a guilty expression on his face as the door closed.

That afternoon, when classes were over, Aimi caught Yuki ahead of her in the hall. “Hey, I have a bone to pick with you, Souma!”
Yuki paused and turned, his eyes widening when he saw who it was. “Oh, hello, Aimi chan.”
“Don’t hello me, mister! We haven’t had as much time to really chat since summer break. You are going to take five minutes to speak with me now, instead of giving my dad the ninth degree.”
“But, I’m on my way to a student council meeting,” Yuki began but Aimi shook her head.
“You’ll just have to be late!” She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the slowly emptying halls. Yuki didn’t complain as she led him up the staircase. In fact, he didn’t utter a word, even when she opened the door to the roof and yanked him out into the sunshine.
“There we are! Now we can have a chat.” By this point, Aimi no longer appeared upset. When she turned to face him, a watery smile was plastered across her face. It surprised him when she chose to talk about him.
“You seem to be, well, more ‘together’ these days,” she said.
“What does that mean?”
“You seem to have figured a few things out, you know, got your head straight.” Her voice was low and soothing.
“Oh, I guess so. I mean, I still feel like I am lost sometimes.” Yuki flushed at his own words, obviously not used to admitting such things out loud.
“Like you aren’t sure of your place in the world?” Aimi offered. Her expression softened, as if she understood perfectly.
Yuki nodded, then blushed harder. “Aimi…”
“I still have to punish you for being so nosy, you know. If you have questions, you could just ask me.”
Yuki bristled at that, even though her tone was half playful. “You aren’t always forthcoming about your problems. You pretend things are fine when they’re not.”
Aimi stepped closer until they were nose to nose, then she slid her hands up his cheeks, taking him by surprise. “Oh, Yuki. You have no room to say such a thing to me. I know nothing about the darkness inside you, even though you know all about mine. We all have our own secrets, true, but perhaps it’s time you and I stopped playing around. You see, I know a secret that you don’t know I know, and it’s about time that you knew that I know.”
Yuki managed to furrow his brow in confusion before Aimi hugged him.
- 16
- 17
- 18
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The Fox and The Rabbit