The Missing Zodiac [A Fruits Basket FanFiction]

Chapter 14

The next morning when Hatori brought me my school books, he had knocked gently on the door before slowly opening it. At first, he was puzzled as to why I was sleeping while laying down on the floor, but after going further into the room and seeing my legs (which had been previously blocked by the small table) did he fully realize what happened and sprung into action.

He had gently shaken me awake "Morumotto? Morrumotto, can you hear me? Wake up." I then slowly blinked my eyes open, looking up at Hatori with a small smile on my face. I was about to open my mouth to give him a good morning, however the pain that was shooting through my legs had intensified as I began to wake up. I gritted my teeth and hissed in pain, Hatori going down to my legs and tenderly inspecting them. "This is why Akito had personally seen me out last night." He stated.

Hatori then got up from his spot on the floor, going into my closet where he kept a large and fully stocked first aid kit at all times. He had then begun to attend to my legs, putting ointment on some small cuts and a higher strength topical pain reliever to the bruises. He then had splinted both of my legs before wrapping both of them up separately in a white gauze roll. Sighing, he looked at me before giving me a word of warning "I would stay off of your feet for several weeks. Your legs have seemingly been fractured in multiple places and in order for them to heal properly you need to let them rest." He paused for a moment, seeming to think deeply about if he should ask what he wanted to ask "Did he say why he did this?"

There was a second of silence before I had spoken softly "Proper punishment for leaving." Hatori seemed to nod in understanding before putting the first aid kit back in the closet and gathering the books he had dropped.

"Let's get started, shall we?" He spoke, referring to the content of the textbooks he was holding and completely disregarding what had just happened. From that moment on, my life continued on like a blur. Getting back into the habit of a normal routine was more debilitating than one might think. I could tell Hatori knew that I was miserable. But he didn't state what he thought, knowing he didn't need to tell me what I already knew.

Days blurred by into weeks, by the time several weeks had gone by Hatori had checked on my legs again. He had to rebreak them to get them to heal properly. He was reluctant to do it and hated every second of it, but he knew it wasn't something that could be avoided. That meant the next month or so would be filled with recovery as well. I had stuck with the curriculum that was given to me, diligently doing my work even though it seemed like there would be no use for it. Maybe I could be an assistant to Hatori one day. I brought this up to him and he brought me a medical textbook that I read in my spare time. The month and two weeks of recovery flown by in a breeze, I was shaky to walk on my own at first but I soon got used to it.

Akito had been coming by scarcely these days. It seemed like he didn't get angry enough to get the urge to find me and take it out over my already existing injuries. Maybe he was being generous and allowing my body to rest. Either way, I didn't miss the pain that came with his visits but found that I missed his presence.

Another month flew by. The kids who had gone on break from school didn't have to do work, so I didn't have to do any. That doesn't mean I didn't do anything at all that pertained to learning, but I also had taken up painting with supplies provided by whoever decided to leave painting materials outside of my door after I had informed Hatori about my desires to do so. Hatori says he didn't place any sort of materials outside of my doors.

Another month flew by. I trimmed the ends of my hair with scissors and tried to find a new way to style it. I found that I liked the original way it looked better. Hatori had also kept giving me more challenging material to fill my time along with more medical books that I had found more of an interest in.

Another month passed. Hatori had also asked me if I had wanted to go to his office and home in the estate to take a break from the confines of my room. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. Hatori left with a sigh.

Another month. I had tripped in my room and hit my head on the floor. I was able to tell that there wasn't any significant damage done except for a small bruise on my forehead that went away in a matter of days.

Another month disappeared. One of the paintings that I left outside of my room to dry went missing. It was just a simple cloud practice to test out a new brush set that Hatori had gifted me for my birthday.

Another month. I went back to studying full time and started to paint pictures about what I read about. There are now paintings in my closet that depict a plethora of math symbols and fractions.

Another. The information I learn stays in my head and bounces around to the point where it makes me uncomfortable. I haven't told Hatori.

Another. I swore I heard footsteps outside my door but there was no knock. I went to check but the hall was empty.

Another. I find myself thinking about the people I met during my short time at school.

Another. Hatori had given me a hug, but it was less memorable than the last one.

Another. I never figured out who was stealing my paintings.

Another. I think I miss Akito.