caged bird; 愛玩鳥 ( a fruits basket fanfiction )

004. losing feathers

(A/N: no one is reading this but fuck it, I'm enjoying it.)

Kotori spent the next three days under Shigure's roof, sharing a bed with Tohru. No one minded Kotori's presence, she kept mostly to herself, and helped Tohru around the house. Tohru also agreed to teach Kotori how to cook.

Kotori wasn't smiling as much as she was at the beginning of the school year, seeing her mother who had completely forgot about her clearly affected her mental state. But she pushed through the days as normal, chatting with only Sohma's and Tohru of course.

The four of them would walk to school together, meet up with Momiji and Haru at the front gates and then they would all walk home together after school ended. Tohru had to work some nights, Momiji had the occasional violin lesson, Kyo would go to the dojo to train and Yuki had student council meetings. That meant most of the time it was just Haru and Kotori, which bothered neither of them.

This morning, however, Kotori opened her shoe locker to replace her outdoor shoes with her indoor shoes and found quite a mess. Her indoor shoes were full of tacks, mean notes were stuffed into the locker along side what looked like trash. She stood there for a moment, staring into her open locker, her shoes in one hand.

"What's wrong, Kotori-san?" Tohru asked, having already switched out her shoes. She peered around the open locker door and gasped. "W-what happened?!"

Kotori remained silent, slipping her shoes back on her feet. She went and retrieved a small trash can by the school's main door and emptied out her locker and her shoes.

"Are you okay, Kotori-san?" Tohru timidly whispered, as they walked down the hall together. Kotori smiled over at her, a small smile, that was not so genuine.

"Of course, Tohru-chan, I'm alright." Kotori lied, she looked back to the hall and bit the inside of her cheek. It wouldn't surprise her if it was the little fan club of girls who follow Haru around all day, like Yuki's but much more vicious, obviously.

--

"Isn't he like your cousin?"

"You're such a freak!"

"He probably hangs out with you because he feels bad!"

"How can anyone love someone who's so scarred up?!"

"You're a disgusting pig!"

Kotori didn't think she'd ever find herself in a situation like this, she almost wanted to laugh, but words cut deep no matter how you feel about it. It's just mean.

The teacher had asked her to take the trash to the incinerator outside the building after class. This is where she was now, pushed up against the wall of the school, surrounded by six jealous classmates.

They stood in a half circle around her so there was no escaping their torment. She didn't even make it to the incinerator, she still had the bag of trash clutched in her hand. She kept her gaze fixed to her shoes, trying to block out their voices.

"Haru-kun doesn't belong to you! If anything he just pities you!"

"Yeah! You're just using him, cause you're never gonna get a boyfriend!"

Kotori didn't struggle when the girls ripped the bag of trash from her fingers. She didn't make a sound as they dumped the bag's contents out on her head. She didn't cry as they walked away, laughing. Kotori simply sunk to her knees and placed her empty hands on her thighs.

She continued to sit there, staring at her lap, when a small white feather gently landed on her skirt. She held it between two fingers, twirling it around. And she cried.

--

Haru stood outside the school, looking around for the missing little bird. She hadn't returned to the class, as she had promised. Haru turned to face the clock that was built in above the entrance. It was an hour after school had ended, the after school activities would soon be over and the building would be closed for the night. Haru started toward the building, in hopes to find Kotori before she was locked on school grounds.

Haru searched the building, but had no luck, he found himself in the courtyard, heading back to the entrance. Next to a tree in the courtyard was a bag, and behind the tree was a a stretched out leg. Haru approached the tree quietly and peered around it.

Kotori sat quietly in front of the tree, her legs straight in front of her, a small flock of maybe six birds sat around her. Her head was hung low so her hair hid her face. Her uniform was rather dirty and there were bits of paper entangled in her hair.

"Ko-chan, I've been looking for you."

Kotori's head snapped up and she met Haru's eyes through her thick hair that dangled in her face.

"Haru-san, I'm incomplete, I-" She started, but was cut off by Haru who kneeled beside her. He pushed her hair from her face and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"I was worried about you." Kotori's eyes filled with salty tears, as Haru continued to press his lips to her face, where he caught her tears with his lips. "I don't like worrying."

He finally placed his lips on hers, Kotori paused before returning the gesture, her heart beating out of her chest. Haru took her hands in his gently, rubbing small circles on the backs of her hands as he continued to kiss her.

The birds that had once surrounded the two had now taken flight, almost as if to give them privacy.

--

Kotori sat quietly in her and Tohru's shared room, her homework splayed out in front of her. Her hair was damp having just got out of the bath, she wore a simple strapless blue dress that ended midthigh. Tohru and the others were downstairs watching an anime with Kisa and Momiji.

Kotori drew mindless circles in the corner of her notebook, her thoughts spinning around Haru. She remembered clearly the first time she had ever met Haru, other than seeing him play on the other side of the wall.

"Ko-chan, would you like some candy?" A young Haru asked, holding out an arrangement of different colored candies in his small hand.

Kotori looked over to Akito, who was busy being coddled by Shigure-nii to pay her any mind, so she nodded excitedly and took a blue candy from his palm.

"Thank you, Haru-san" Kotori smiled, as she put the candy between her lips. Hatori would bring her candy often when he visited for her checkups. Usually lollipops and chocolates, which were her favorite.

Haru looked around the room, then leaned close to Kotori's ear, whispering softly to her.

"You're very pretty when you smile, Ko-chan."

Kotori's faced reddened by the memory, she put her hands on her face and closed her eyes. Trying to calm herself.

She knew very well that Haru was in love with Isuzu, everyone calls her Rin, but Kotori also heard that they recently broke up. Kotori wasn't much in to the relationship thing, not really knowing much about it.

Haru was a very good friend of hers, and she didn't want to ruin that or harm his chances of getting back with Rin-san. Rin never really visited Kotori, which she understood, no one really wants to be too close to Akito. But she didn't hate or dislike Rin.

Haru would come and visit her often and told her a lot about their relationship. He seemed so happy when they were together. Akito hurt Rin,  because of her and Haru's relationship, that was for certain. But it didn't seem like Haru really understood what happened to her, and she broke up with him so suddenly.

Kotori paused in her thoughts and remembered Haru storming into her room that day, as Black Haru. He started off yelling, punching walls and stomping his feet as he paced back and forth. She only sat there calmly and listened to him, once he had calmed down he cried on her lap till he fell asleep.

Haru was so in love with Rin, why would he kiss Kotori?