Curse of the Sea Horse
Chapter I.
Hatori sat up, his hand over his mouth and eyes wide in apprehension. Then, a second later, he threw himself off his bed and rushed into the bathroom and threw up the moment he reached the sink. He vomited until he threw up everything he had eaten the night before.
After a while, feeling his stomach turned inside out, he was finally able to turn the faucet on and washed his mouth and face with the cold water. Sagging weakly against the sink, he breathed heavily while trying to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to regain his focus.
What the hell has been happening to him?
He had thrown up almost every morning during the last week and several more times during the day. He was certain that he never ate anything unhealthy or anything that shouldn't be eaten, so food poisoning couldn't be the cause. His water supply was one of the cleanest in the Estate, considering his job, so cholera was not possible.
He felt his stomach clench again, and his hands automatically few up to his mouth, gagging painfully, hoping the clenching would stop. He hadn't had anything more left in his stomach to throw up. A moment later, the convulsions of his stomach ceased, and he was left feeling more exhausted than ever.
"What the hell…" he muttered to himself as he pushed himself off the sink and grabbed a towel on his way out of the bathroom. Pressing his face on the towel, he went on his kitchen to fix his breakfast.
He poured a cereal onto his bowl and opened his fridge to get the carton of milk. He stopped short, however on seeing the huge basket of green mangoes filling up his counter.
Frowning, he took a fruit in his hand, trying to remember where he got them. He never eats unripe mangoes. Then, his eyebrow arching in surprise, he realized he bought it himself when he last went to the market. Shrugging nonchalantly, he took a fruit with him in the table and began to eat.
Shigure stepped in Hatori's porch, listening intently. His sharp ears jerked when he heard the sound of footsteps within and a smile broke into his features. He raised an arm and began knocking—no, slamming was the right word— his fist on the door.
"Haa-san. Haa-san! HAA-SAN! HAAAAA-SAAAA—"
The door opened and a pale-looking Hatori stared sourly at him. "What?"
Shigure raised a hand in greeting. "Good morning! I just wanted to see if my favorite dragon's ready for tonight's special dinner at my house!"
Hatori gazed at him for a second before slamming the door on Shigure's face.
"Aww, Haa-san…" whined Shigure. "It's an invitation! Open up!"
The door opened again and Hatori glared at him. "What do you want, Shigure?"
"Really, I want to invite you for dinner and see how you're doing now," replied Shigure, allowing himself inside. He heard the sea horse sigh in annoyance and closed the door after him.
"I'm fine. Now can you just leave me alone? I'm feeling sick already without hearing your perverted comments."
"What's this? Hatori Sohma is feeling sick?" gasped the dog, turning towards his cousin with a shocked expression. "Why, that's as unnatural as me not liking high school girls in short skirts!"
Hatori closed his eyes and massaged his temples. "Shigure, I'm not in the mood for your unintelligible ramblings. Go and bother Ayame instead or anyone else. Just—just let me be. And, will you call the hospital for me? Tell them I'll take a sick leave."
Shigure took a good look at his cousin and approached him with growing concern in his eyes. "Okay, Haa-san, you're starting to worry me. You never call a sick leave until you're short of dying. What's happening to you?"
The sea horse shook his head and wiped the thin sheet of perspiration that covered his forehead. "It's nothing. Fatigue, headache, nausea… they're symptoms of common fever. I'll just have rest and some medications and I'll be fine."
The dog was doubtful. "You look far from fine, Haa-san," he said, taking his cousin's arm to help him. "I mean, you looked beat. Have you been drinking last night? Why do you go drinking alone? You could've invited me! So selfish…" he pouted.
The sea horse snatched his arm away and staggered to a nearby wall. He looked livid, to the surprise of the dog. "I didn't drink last night. Maybe I had, but that was week's ago. Why are you still here? I told you to leave. I'm going to be fine."
"But Haa-san…" the dog tried to reach out to him again, but Hatori slid weakly to the floor. "H-haa-san!"
To the utter confusion and shock of Shigure, the sea horse looked up to him, tears streaming on his face. "I told you to leave me alone!" he shouted, alarming the dog further. Hatori rarely cried, and he almost never raises his voice to anyone. "Why can't you just leave?" he yelled before sobs took over his body.
Shigure, who had been frozen in shock from the sea horse's outburst, sprang into action.
He took hold of Hatori's arm and hauled him over his back before hurrying to the sea horse's bedroom. Laying him down carefully on the bed, he dashed next to the kitchen and retrieved a glass of cold water. He sat beside the quivering form of his cousin, and wiped the sweat-drenched face of Hatori with his own handkerchief.
"Here, Haa-san, drink up," Shigure coaxed. He waited patiently for his cousin to turn to him and sat up gingerly rubbing his visible eye. When his hand flew towards the other eye, Shigure grabbed his hand on time. "Now, Haa-san… your eye hasn't fully healed yet. No rubbing, scrubbing or scratching."
Hatori just stared at him, as if he hadn't understood what he just said. Shigure's frown deepened. "Haa-san?"
"Shigure," said Hatori abruptly, still staring unseeingly towards him.
"Hm?"
Hatori cocked his head while touching his tear-streaked face with a hand. "Did I jut… cry?"
The dog opened his mouth uncertainly, not knowing if he should tell the truth. Hatori hated losing control, just like the way he hated grieving still over losing Kana, how he hated crying over her photographs and their shared memories. "Uh…"
"Shit..." said Hatori in a hollow voice. Then, both of his hands flew up to clutch his hair. "No! NO! This cannot be happening! Why? Why me?"
Shigure's face turned grim. The tragic end of his cousin's happiness was still too vivid even to him, though it was almost two months ago. He felt helpless, just as he did when he watched Akito slammed that vase in Hatori's face.
"Hatori," he said, with increasing resolve. This couldn't go on like this. Hatori must learn to move on. He forced his cousin to look at him. "Pull yourself together, Hatori! This isn't like you!"
But it seemed that the sea horse didn't hear him. "Nausea, fatigue, headaches… sleepiness… body aches, frequent urination…" he kept mumbling under his breath.
Now, Shigure was starting to get really confused and anxious. "Uh… Haa-san, what are you—"
Suddenly, Hatori grabbed him by the shoulders, with a wild look on his face that made Shigure gulp nervously. "Leg cramps! Indigestion, craving for unusual food, mood swings! Kami-sama! Do you know what these even mean?"
The dog was panicking now. What's happening to Hatori? Had he gone mad?
Hatori's hands fell limp on his side, but the wild look never left his face. "Oh, Kami-sama … this couldn't be happening… this couldn't…" his voice faded to incoherent mumblings. Then, his head bowed, he fell silent.
The silence stretched. Shigure swallowed nervously and peered at his cousin's face. "Haa-san…"
"Tell me something, Shigure," said Hatori abruptly in his normal voice. Shigure sighed in relief.
"Sure! Anything! I—"
"It's been two months right? Since Kana—"
"Yes, yes," replied Shigure in a hurry, uncertain on how easily Hatori opened that topic when he hadn't spoken about that since—
"Right…" said Hatori matter-of-factly. "So my worst nightmare came true after all…"
"Um, which is…"
Hatori gazed at him grimly. "I'm pregnant."
A/N:
A story of the Mabudachi Trio as Hatori live out his worst nightmare. Set some three years before the canon of Fruits Basket…
Edit:
Corrected several lines and grammar… Please tell me if I missed anything.. Thanks! (-,-)v