Title: One Less Secret Author: Ysabet MacFarlane (ba087@chebucto.ns.ca) Pairing: Sohma Hatsuharu and Sohma Isuzu (Rin) Fandom: Fruits Basket Theme: # 7 (superstar) Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki and Hakusensha; English-language versions by FUNimation (anime) and Tokyopop (manga). Notes: Takes place sometime after chapter 107; non-explicit spoilers. Not something ever likely to happen in canon. ***** "Hey, Sohma, some girl who doesn't go here is in the building." Yuki looked up. "Does she have permission from the office?" "She--" The boy was blinking rapidly, a blush spreading across his face. "She doesn't look like she has permission. Should you, um, do something? Is it part of your job?" The student council didn't technically have authority over non-students, but Yuki stood up and followed the boy anyway. Down a flight of stairs and around a corner, and he recognized the voice before he saw her, although he couldn't make her out. "You need permission from the office to be on the premises," was the first thing he heard. There was no sense of authority to back up the words; the teacher who had intercepted Rin wasn't one of the most forceful members of the faculty at the best of times, and the combination of Rin's glare and her low-cut shirt was flustering him badly. Yuki grimaced inwardly and went to the teacher's rescue. "Rin." She didn't even look at him. "Yuki." "What're you doing here?" The teacher looked back and forth between them, and Yuki wondered if he was picking up on the family resemblance. "Sensei, may I deal with this? I know her." "Ahh . . . certainly, Sohma-kun." The teacher took another startled look at Rin and backed a few steps away. "I'll leave this to you." "Thank you." He grabbed Rin by the elbow, and her head jerked around. The movement looked strange to him, without the curtain of hair that had been her most distinctive feature. "Let go." "Not until you tell me what you're doing here." She stared silently over his shoulder, and he sighed, looking down at what she was wearing. *How can she have thought they'd let her in looking like that?* The outfit wasn't something she had thrown on without thinking; it showed her body off, but buckles and jewelry distracted the eye from the way her bones showed under her skin. "I'm not going to throw you out, ok?" A small crowd was already gathering around them, students' eyes and whispers full of curiosity and a subtext that took Yuki a moment to identify: the male students' response to Rin, subtly different from the way the girls in the school reacted to him and the other Sohma boys. And making their way through the crowd, he recognized some of the girls from his own fan club. "That's _just_ what I need," he muttered. "What?" Rin asked, tugging against his grip. "WHO are you?" One of the girls had stepped forward, hands on her hips, a mix of envy and disapproval on her face as she stared at Rin. Rin's attention shifted. "What's it to you?" "You're bothering Yuki-kun." "More like Yuki's bothering _me_." She pulled against his hand again, and shot a sidelong glare at him. "Who's she?" "She'sinmyfanclub," Yuki mumbled. "In your--" She stopped trying to break his grip in surprise. "If you stick around for more than an hour, you'll probably have one too. Can we _please_ go somewhere else and talk without me dragging you?" "No. I can't stay, I . . . " "Then what're you--" "I need to talk to Haru." She met his eyes abruptly, and the retort that had been forming on his lips died. "Family business." Terror burned under the blank expression, and Yuki reacted to it without thinking. He looked around at the other students, and raised his voice. "The bell rang for class." He stared at the girls from his fanclub. "I need to talk to her alone." "But who--" one of them protested. "She's Hatsuharu's girlfriend." The reply won a moment of complete silence, and a mix of jealous and knowing nods. No one moved, avid curiosity obviously overcoming the student body's usual deference to him. Rin's hand touched his, prying at his fingers, and he let her go. "What happened?" he asked quietly, hoping whatever it was could be framed in words that meant nothing to the people around them. "A call came. I'm to go home." "Who did you talk to?" "The old aunt," she said, her voice dropping as she used the title that all Sohma children reserved for Akito's most trusted maid. "She says I'm ordered to return." "Now?" "Now. Right now." Her hands spread, empty, and then clenched. The bond sparked between them, a glint in the darkness that had hovered around the base of his skull during the days since Haru had confronted Akito. Yuki had felt the itch, the ache, of needing to fill that void ever since. He couldn't imagine resisting a direct summons to do so. "But you didn't actually speak to Akito?" A murmur of voices around them reminded him of other students' presence, and that the teacher who had first confronted her was also watching. "We really can't talk here." "No." Her head moved awkwardly, and again he expected the fall of her hair. "I need to see Haru. In case I can't, later." *She thinks she might die.* Certainty slammed into him: her tension, her fear, the fact that she was there at all. The other students' presence was making his head hurt, as he tried to think clearly about things that had nothing to do with school. He grimaced and tried to project the aloof image that had earned him the nickname 'prince' in the days before the school's respectful distance had begun evolving into something friendlier. "Come on, I'll take you upstairs." He started walking, hoping Rin would follow him, that the other students would make way. He dug his cell phone out of his pocket as he moved through the parting crowd, and dialed. Something in his face must have conveyed the seriousness of the situation; no one blocked their way or followed too closely as he and Rin walked away. The call was answered almost immediately. "Hatori, it's Yuki. Are you at home?" Rin kept pace with him, listening. "Have you seen Akito?" He shook his head to relay the doctor's answer to her. "Has anyone? Well, can you find the old aunt?" Rin tensed beside him. "She called Rin and told her to come home." He almost missed the word Hatori muttered under his breath, and listened in silence to the doctor's response. "Are you sure?" He noticed a darkened classroom and caught Rin's arm, pulling her inside. "Ok. Ok, I'll tell her." "What did he say?" Rin demanded, shaking his hand off and sliding the door closed as he ended the call. "He says not to accept any more phone calls. Kunimitsu can pass messages on for you." Yuki walked to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk, idly drawing a line. "He says the old aunt told him this morning that Akito hasn't spoken to her in days." "Then--" "He believes her. He says the servants who're loyal to Akito tell him the truth because he's the doctor." "Then _she_ wanted me back," Rin murmured. "Because--" "Because that's where Akito wants you." Rin leaned against the wall and stared at the lines Yuki was drawing. "What if I'd gone back?" she whispered. "I believed her. I can feel Akito _needing_, and I--" Her hand went to her mouth. "Why can't I stop feeling it?" "There's still blood in your body," Yuki replied, and watched her eyes flick to her wrist. "Do you still want to see Haru?" "Will he get in trouble?" she asked, straightening. "Maybe a little. Do you think he'll care?" A faint smile touched her lips. "No." "Everyone in school's probably talking about you by now. Even without knowing you're a Sohma." "You make it sound like we're royalty." "We . . . kind of get treated that way." "And you _told_ them I'm Haru's girlfriend." Her eyes softened in a way Yuki was sure she didn't want him to notice. "No one's ever said that before." The low wistfulness in her voice spoke volumes about loneliness and secrets, and the fear that ran through their veins along with the curse's pull. She opened the door and went out into the hall. "Three doors down," Yuki said as he followed her, and then stopped. Haru and Momiji were in the hallway, with what looked like half of their class looking around the corner. "Isn't it your job to make these people go to class?" Rin whispered, glancing around. "And you saw how well that worked earlier," Yuki muttered back. "Royalty doesn't get obeyed, huh?" She looked at him for a moment, then shrugged as she walked toward Haru and Momiji. A girl leaning around a door waved a hand at her. "Um . . . are you really Hatsuharu-kun's girlfriend?" Rin paused to look at her, and Haru closed the distance between them before she thought of a reply. Yuki watched while he touched her arm, and remembered another day: autumn instead of spring, standing outside under the trees rather than indoors under fluorescent lights, and the hurt that had followed a touch much like the one happening now. He leaned against the wall and watched Rin slide into Haru's arms, the seamless way their bodies met an instant before their lips. He wondered if the onlookers could see any of what he saw, without the weight of shared history: that there was nothing remotely casual about the light kiss exchanged, or the way Haru touched Rin's hair, or the way her fingers lingered on his arm. There was dead silence until Rin stepped back. "I thought I'd come say hi." "Just in the neighborhood?" Haru asked mildly. "Mm. Will you be by later?" "Yeah." He touched her hair again, smoothing the fringe of bangs off her face. "And now I go back to class and you sign autographs or something." "And I . . . what?" She turned and looked around, bewildered, and found an embarrassed girl standing behind her. "Most of them already have our autographs," Momiji piped up from his place by the door. "Maybe they'll try to kiss you." "No, they won't," Haru said, glancing around the hallway, as Rin frowned. "And none of them have kissed any of us, either." A faint, disappointed murmur ran through the gathered students, male and female alike, and Yuki felt a wild urge to laugh. Rin slowly slid her hand out of Haru's, producing a smile that had little to do with the look in her eyes. Haru reacted to the look, putting a hand behind her head and holding her still while he kissed her temple. His lips shaped words Yuki couldn't make out as he let her go again, and she nodded. "Come on, I'll take you downstairs," Yuki said, and she shot him a sharp glance. "Fine." She nodded at Momiji and followed Yuki without looking at Haru again; they made their way past the gathered students and were halfway down the stairs before he heard her laugh under her breath. "What's funny?" Rin paused and leaned against the wall. "You have a _fanclub_? What do they _do_?" Yuki grimaced and ran a hand through his hair; as he did, a flash went off above them. Rin jumped in surprise and craned her head around to look up the staircase. "Well, they take my picture a lot. And kind of stalk me." Her nose wrinkled. "That sounds annoying." "Yeah." Yuki shrugged. "You'll get used to it if you come back at all." She stared at him. "I saw at least five people taking your picture while you were here." "_Five_ . . ?" "At least," he repeated. "Listen, Rin--" "What?" "Remember Hatori said not to answer the phone. Be careful." She frowned at him before starting down the stairs. "Because you care so much, rat." Yuki shrugged. "I care about Haru not being any more messed up about all this. And--" "Don't you dare say anything about 'family'," Rin muttered. "Just don't. Not when our 'family' is what's been hurting all of us all our lives." They'd reached the front entrance, and Yuki grabbed the door to keep her from leaving. "That doesn't mean there's nothing there." "Haru's my family," she said, rounding on him. Anger sparked in her eyes. "Maybe Kazuma-san. And that's it." "What about Kagura?" She scowled at him, and a flash went off before she could say anything else. Yuki realized how close he was standing to her, and grimaced. "That's a photo that won't make anyone happy." "Haru'll like it if he sees it," she replied. "He'll be glad we're talking." The snapshot had caught her off-guard, and exhaustion showed on her face. "If you're going to say Kagura's my family, you might as well say Kyo is too." Yuki shrugged. "I heard you fight like siblings." She smirked at that, an expression that reminded him of Haru wavering on the edge between Black and White. "So what does that make the two of you?" She pushed past him and out the door while he stared at her, taken aback. "I'll be careful, ok?" "Fine." He doubted she'd heard him; she'd already started walking away, and even without actually running, Rin moved faster than anyone else in the family. The rest of the afternoon was business as usual, except for the residual effects of Rin's visit. When the halls filled with students, there was little else being talked about. He heard from several people that Haru had offered to start breaking people's hands if they didn't at least sound respectful when they were swooning over his girlfriend. And after school, Kakeru showed up at the student council room with a double handful of confiscated photographs. "The photo club's been working overtime. So this girl's related to you, right?" He didn't even wait for an answer, flopping down on a chair and rifling through the pictures. "I know a Sohma when I see one. Wish I'd actually seen her. Machi said she was making out with Hatsuharu in the hallway." Yuki tried to imagine Machi saying any such thing. "Or at least, I said that's what I'd heard, and she nodded." Kakeru pulled a photo out and held it up over his head admiringly. "Damn. She got a name?" "Isuzu," Yuki muttered. "Damn," Kakeru repeated cheerfully, examining out another photo. "She's something." He finally seemed to notice that Yuki wasn't as enthused as he was, and sat up a little straighter. "Don't worry, YunYun, all the girls still like you better." "Hey!" "Unless--you don't think she might transfer in, do you? You and the other Sohma guys are all kinda familiar now. School could use a new superstar, maybe." "She's already out of high school." Kakeru laughed. "You make her sound ancient. When did she graduate?" " . . . last month." Yuki stood up and rubbed his eyes, already worn out. "Haru didn't actually hurt anyone, did he?" "Huh? Oh--no, he seems to be taking the whole thing pretty well. There's a guy with confidence in his girl." Yuki looked out the window, remembering: the pure misery on Haru's face when Rin had left him; the bruise on his cheek that had taken days to fade completely; the slow onset of resignation and despair. "Yeah." "I didn't even know he _had_ a girlfriend," Kakeru said cheerfully. Yuki thought about the tentative pleasure in Rin's eyes at being publicly acknowledged, and about Haru out of control, screaming his hatred of secrets. "Nobody really knew." Kakeru laughed as he got up, rifling through the photos again. "Well, everybody knows now. Do we actually need to have a meeting today?" "I don't think so." "I'm off, then." A jaunty wave, and Yuki was alone in the council room. He sat down slowly in the chair Kakeru had vacated, and stared out the window, thinking about secrets.