Looking for a Weakness
Chapter One
Saki “Hana” Hanajima was worried. She was often concerned about her friends, but she was never frantic. Her pace was swift as she headed down the school halls. Her mind was pushed to its limits as she used her uncommon psychic abilities, searching for one particular signature. One that was precious to her.
‘Where are you, Tohru?’ she thought. Her friend was not in class when she had returned from the faculty office. There had been suspicious circumstances involved. One of the Prince Yuki fan club had said that a particular teacher had wanted to see her. Surprisingly, Arisa, or “Uo,” had been called to another location on the far end of the school. Things didn’t make sense. Thus, she was worried.
----
Five minutes later, Hana was standing outside of a locked janitor’s closet desperately trying to open it. Inside was her sobbing friend. Only a moment later, Uo showed up with a janitor in tow.
Hana blinked her tears away as she looked at her friend in surprise. “How did you know where to go?”
“I didn’t trust the look in that fan girl’s eyes, so I ‘persuaded’ her to tell me the truth.” The janitor was hurriedly trying keys in the door.
“Arisa, what happened?” Hana was anxious and talking kept her from frying the door.
Uo clenched her fist. “An ambush…to send a message to stay away from ‘their’ Yuki.” Uo growled. If not for concern for the well-being of Tohru, there was no doubt what her blond friend would be doing.
Hana was also restraining herself. Unlike Uo’s physical approach, she did not have to be close to zap the fanatical females. However, she was could not maintain her concentration with the sound of her Tohru’s crying in her ears.
Finally, the door flew open. The janitor leapt out of the way as the two teenagers practically lunged at their friend. They carefully embraced their friend between them before they pulled back to examine her for injury. A black eye was obvious. There was a swollen knot on her temple that was bleeding, as was her lip. Her uniform was torn in multiple places, making it almost indecent. They were shocked beyond belief that someone had actually dared to strike Tohru Honda, the sweetest, kindest girl in the world.
Uo carefully picked up the sobbing girl and proceeded to carry her to the Nurse’s Office, closely shadowed by Hana.
----
“What happened!” A furious Kyo demanded.
“Keep your voice down. Miss Honda is resting.” Yuki replied, trying to tame his cousin.
He grunted which was as much of an apology as could be expected. He growled. “I’m just so pissed that someone would do this.”
“I understand how you feel, but there’s nothing we can do right now. Her friends will take care of her and then tell us what we need to know.” Yuki sighed. That was one of the few signs of frustration he let out.
“I’d wish they’d hurry up and let us see her…” Yuki nodded in agreement.
----
Tohru Honda was lying under a blanket while a spare uniform was being sought out. She had related the tale to her friends, obviously leaving out the painful parts of the story.
“They said that they didn’t like me being around Yuki so much and wanted me to stay away from him or this would happen again...” She trailed off, in that gentle voice of hers. Hana sat next to her holding her hand. Uo was on the other side of the bed, protectively between Tohru and the door. Tohru had several bandages on her mid-section, bruises and cuts that were once hidden by her uniform.
“I won’t let this happen again…” Uo said, grimly.
“Yes, they won’t attempt this again…” Hana agreed, darkly, if not more so than usual.
“No!” Tohru’s voice stopped their vengeful thoughts in their tracks. “Don’t strike back… I don’t want you two to get in trouble for me.”
‘Typical Tohru. Always working so hard for everyone else’s interests, while always ignoring her own.’ Hana thought with a sigh. She spoke, trying to reason with her friend. “But we can’t let them get away with it. They might take it as an opening to do it again, because we know you won’t ignore Yuki.”
“They’ve become a lot more aggressive since Motoko graduated. They’ve been harassing you constantly and they’ve got it coming.” Uo commented.
“No. Promise me you two won’t attack them or use your abilities.” A moment of frustrated silence. “Promise me, Hana.” She was pleading with those big blue eyes. Hana couldn’t resist that look from the girl that she secretly loved more than anything.
“Okay, Tohru.” Hana sighed and squeezed the hand she held.
“Uo, promise, too. My mother wouldn’t want you to do this.” Tohru hit Uo’s weakness hard. Kyoko was the one person looked up to. She had gotten Uo out of the gang she was in. Hana was sure her tall friend had once had a crush on Tohru’s mother.
“Fine, but I don’t have to be nice to them, okay?” The Yanki grunted as Tohru’s smile appeared. It was only slightly dimmed by the shiner she had received. She had two stubborn and tough friends, but they didn’t stand a chance against Tohru’s bright, determined nature.
Hana was pondering something. There had to be something that could be done. She looked at Uo. “Maybe we can take some other strategy to protect Tohru…”
“What do you mean, Hana?” Tohru was curious.
“I mean, that perhaps there is a way to make you seem less threatening to the Prince Yuki fan club girls. A preventative strategy, if you will…”
Uo was a little irritated. “Hana, I know you like to be all mysterious and all, but how about explaining that to the rest of us…”
Hana sighed. “If Tohru’s going out with someone, the fan club girls won’t be as hostile towards her.”
“So who do we set her up with? Kyo?” Uo reasoned. (Outside a pair of Sohmas’ start sneezing.)
“No, he’s too close to Yuki. They might take it as some sort of ‘conspiracy’ to throw them off.” Hana said. She didn’t like where this plan was leading her.
“Well, if you eliminate all the Sohma’s then there’s not any males left that I could trust… Wait a minute. Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?” Hana nodded, blushing slightly.
“What are you two talking about?” Their conversation was going over Tohru’s innocent head.
“So is it going to be me or you?” Uo looked as if she were getting ready for ‘rock-paper-scissors.’
“I’ll do it.” Hana said. She knew it would be hard for her to keep her feelings hidden, but if it was to keep the girl beside her safe it would be worth it. A small glimmer of hope grew. ‘Maybe she really might feel the same way.’
“Do what?” Tohru was still confused. Then, the nurse returned with a spare uniform. They gave Tohru a bit of privacy to change. She came around the screen slowly. “Okay, now, can you explain to me what you were talking about?”
“Okay.” Hana was nervous. ‘This might take a moment.’
----
Yuki and Kyo were anxious to get in when they saw the nurse go back into the office, but she told them to stay put. A few minutes later, Uo came out first, followed by Tohru who was leaning on her psychic friend.
“Hi, Kyo, Yuki,” she looked a little surprised to see them. She let go of Hana for a moment to show them that she was fine. Then, in a surprising move, reached over and grabbed Hana’s hand. Kyo and Yuki looked at their joined hands. They looked at Tohru, Hana, Uo, and then each other, clearly confused at the gesture. Tohru blushed and looked at Hana expectantly.
“I guess I should explain… Tohru and I are going out.” Hana explained as if it were completely normal. The two Sohmas’ reactions were similar. Their jaws dropped and they were speechless. She and Uo decided to use this opportunity to explain the circumstances of the ambush. Yuki looked angry, at himself and the fan girls. Kyo was furious. However, their emotions cooled when they looked back at the joined hands. “This incident helped me realize how strongly I felt for Tohru, so I asked her to be my girlfriend.” She finished with a small smile. She had always liked to watch them squirm, even if she had something important to tell them.
“What! That’s not how things are supposed to happen! It’s not normal!” Kyo yelled.
“Maybe not, but we’re not exactly so normal ourselves…” Yuki replied. “Besides, if Miss Honda has accepted her feelings, then she must reciprocate them. Doesn’t she deserve to be happy, cat?”
Kyo remained silent. Uo spoke. “It surprised me too, orange-top… But I really want Tohru to be happy. I know that her mother would be okay with it.” She patted the other girls on the shoulder with a smile.
Kyo wasn’t satisfied. “Well, I’m not Tohru’s mother and neither are you! How can you be so sure she’d be okay with this…relationship!” He took off down the hall at a sprint.
Uo clenched her fists. Kyo had a way of hitting someone’s sensitive spots, not to mention he wasn’t gentle about the prodding.
Yuki sighed and shook his head as he watched his cousin retreat. “He’s probably already sorry he said it.” He turned to Tohru. “He’s probably a little jealous. Anyway, we were both really concerned about you. Are you okay, Miss Honda?”
“I’m a little sore, but I’ll be fine so don’t worry about me.” A typical Tohru answer. She would never admit to feeling ill until she passed out. She always put the needs of others before herself. (Her application for a shrine is in the mail!)
Yuki turned to Hana. “You know that it will be difficult for people to accept your relationship, unless you keep it secret.”
Hana nodded, but it was Uo who answered. “It’s not like anybody will mess with Tohru if she’s going out with Hana. Tohru’ll probably get less crap from it than being around you…” It took a second to realize what she said before saying: “Sorry.”
“I understand. As long as you two are happy I will do my best to support you.”
Hana spoke. “Don’t worry; I can handle it as long as Tohru’s with me. We’ve been through so much together all ready.” She looked longingly at her ‘girlfriend.’ To Uo, it was quite convincing. Of course, Hana had told her how she felt about their friend after the incident with the fan club girls at her house. She let out that Tohru was her ‘weakness.’ Not to mention, she was also her source of strength. “By the way, Tohru’s coming over to stay with me a few days until the fan club girls cool down, so could we stop by and get some clothes for her after school?”
Yuki nodded before asking: “What are you going to tell your parents?” Yuki asked.
‘Good question…” Hana thought. “Well, my mother won’t care. She had a girlfriend for years and loves Tohru. I won’t have to worry much about father. He’s always at work. Megumi has always thought of her as another sister, so things will be fine.”
“Well, I’ll see you later, I have a meeting to attend.” Yuki slowly walked off as the three girls returned to class.
End Chapter One
So how did it go? I’ve been tinkering with this story for over a year and finally decided to publish it. Mostly because of the pressure of my other stories. I’d want to finish something first, before adding on more to the pile.
I wouldn’t expect swift updates, but I’ll try according to how enthusiastic a response I get. (Not trying to force you to update, I swear)
Thanks for reading!