Fruits Basket Prompts

76. Clumsy Family

49. "If being clumsy was a currency, we all would be billionaires."

When you are a clumsy person and currently seven months into your pregnancy and have got three protective men in your family, life isn't exactly all rainbows.

As if her husband chiding her all day wasn't enough, now Tohru Sohma has got her two sons adding to that misery.

Especially when it's the end of the month family cleaning day (Tohru's favorite day of the month) when everyone thoroughly cleans every nook and corner of the house. Although... right now, Tohru is being excluded from her own invented day.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Hajime exclaims and snatches the duster out of Tohru's hand. He just finished wiping down all the windows in the house.

Tohru puts a hand on her hip and looks down at her eight-year-old son in annoyance. "Hajime-kun, I can do this much at least."

"I know, Mom. But we can handle this. It's just dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, and etcetera," Hajime says as if it's easy to complete the aforementioned tasks in a house with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two hallways, one living room, and a big kitchen. "You don't have to do anything. Even Kazu is helping."

"Yes, I can even clean the bathrooms!" Kazuya jumps in from the open sliding glass doors of the engawa, and Tohru wants to bang her head on the wall for having another offender.

"No! I'll clean the bathrooms. You can take care of the dusting," Hajime protests.

"No, I don't want to dust! I'm too short to reach anything!" the four-year-old argues.

Most people's kids fight over toys. Why are Tohru's ones fighting over chores?

"Then do the sweeping!"

"No, I want to use the vacuum cleaner!"

"Dad said he will do the vacuuming. He will kill us if we damage this new vacuum cleaner!"

Last week, when Kazuya tried using the vacuum cleaner on his own, he screwed up, and his elder brother somehow managed to make it worse. After that, they neatly put it back in the stairs closet. Only to have Kyo find it in pieces when he was about to do the daily vacuuming, and he immediately knew whose handiwork it was. So much for thinking their parents will never figure out the culprit. It could have been a burglar for all they knew!

"We won't damage it this time! I properly saw Daddy use it last time!" Kazuya reasons.

"Still, you can't do it—"

"I know how to make it work. How about you guys let me do it then?" Tohru chimes in.

"No!" Both of her son's react explosively, and Tohru withers.

Kazuya runs to her and grabs her wrists before pulling her towards the couch with all of his strength. He forces her to sit on the couch and says, "Mommy, you should stay still. Baby sis needs her rest!"

Usually, Tohru's heart would melt at how caring Kazuya is already at his age, but right now, it's only annoyance that is piling.

"Exactly! You should rest, and we can take care of the cleaning," Hajime adds, taking over the dusting she had been doing.

"Kazu!" Kyo hollers, and all three of them turn to look at a fuming Kyo standing in the snow-covered front lawn with a shovel in his hand. "I told you to bring me a muffler from your mom, not idly chat with her. I'm freezing out here, you know."

Kazuya shoots his dad a sheepish look and turns to his mom. "Mommy, Daddy needs a muffler!"

"What's the point of telling her now? I am already here." Kyo puts the shovel on the engawa and climbs up to go stomping inside to grab wherever his muffler is.