Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fruits Basket Characters or Ideas

My Most Painful Memory

Ch.1

Shiori walked mournfully down the sidewalk. Her eyes counted the lines from her school to her house. A few cars drove past her, but not many.

Suddenly Shiori noticed an open gate. It wasn't like her to pry into other people's lives, but for some reason she couldn't help ducking her head into the yard.

It was beautiful; there were flowers and fountains. There was a rock walkway and a rather large house… and a window with a boy resting against the sill. She stared at the boy, her eyes locking with his. All sound ceased. He had dark hair and cool eyes. Her mouth dropped a bit as she continued to stare at him.

"Excuse me miss…" Came a voice from behind her. She jerked around to see a guy with hair covering one of his eyes. He was tall and muscular. He grabbed her arm and began walking her toward the house.

"Where are you taking me?" Shiori said frightened.

"Don't worry, you won't remember anything in a minute," He didn't look at her as they neared the door. Shiori freaked out and, with her book bag, hit him where it hurt. His grip dropped from her and she ran toward the exit. She reached the gate and pushed it open quickly. She suddenly paused and looked back at the boy in the window.

He was smiling.

Shiori stared at him only for a moment longer before she left. She knew that from that moment on she would love him.

The boy in the window.

---Two Years Later---

Shiori woke up early the next morning to her parents screaming downstairs. "Looks like another normal day…" she yawned the rest of the sentence.

Sliding off the edge of her bed she got ready for school. She picked her school uniform from its hanger and dressed quickly. As she dressed she tried to remember the images from her dream the previous night. The one where she almost met the boy in the window.

He smiled at her and waved her over to him, but she never actually reached the window.

She shook her head and grabbed her book bag. Opening the door she braced herself for the bolt out of the house. In the living room she could hear her mom yell at his father that he was nothing but a bum. She sighed and closed door behind her.

Shiori walked down the hallway of the school staring at the feet of everyone walking near her. Suddenly she was knocked off of her feet, along with another girl. She looked up, "Oh dear! I'm so sorry!" Shiori scurried to pick up all of the loose papers that were flung across the hallway floor.

"No, I'm sorry it was all my fault." The girl smiled and helped her gather up the papers.

The girls looked at each other and smiled. When they had picked up all of the papers they stood facing each other. "The name's Shiori," she said holding out her hand.

"I'm Torhu," she said taking the other girls hand and shaking it kindly.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about bumping into you," Shiori rambled on.

"Oh, that's okay--" Torhu began, but was cut of when two boys came up behind her.

One was tall with orange hair, he was well muscled for his age, and obviously did martial arts. He had red-ish eyes and a sarcastic smile. "Hey Torhu, we have to get home."

The other was Yuki. Everyone knew Yuki. He had silver hair and purple eyes. He had a soft smile and was kind. "Who's your friend?" he asked Torhu as he looked over at Shiori.

"Oh! Were not--" Shiori began, but was cut off when Torhu spoke.

"Her name is Shiori." She smiled at the girl, and Shiori couldn't help but smile back. "Would you like to walk home with us?" Torhu offered.

"Um… I…" Shiori was never comfortable around strangers ever since the incident at the house. But this was different; they were kids from her school. "Sure." She smiled at the boys and walked out the building with them.

They walked in silence for the first part, but that was before the two boys began to fight.

Shiori was confused at first because the kept calling the other the name of an animal, Kyou would keep saying things like "Stupid rat!" and Yuki would just reply by calling him "Stupid cat!" Shiori figured it was just name calling.

Her and Torhu talked about school work and what they wanted to to after they got out of highschool, since they were all seniors. "I just want to do something that will get me out of my parents house," Shiori sighed. Torhu nodded understandingly.

"My mother wanted me to finish high school, because she never got the chance to. I think I'll go to the Tokyo University if I can raise enough money, but..." Torhu took a deep breath and didn't finish. The walked a bit more in silence with the two boys snapping at each other in the background. Shiori once again watched the ground. Suddenly the group stopped.

Shiori looked up and the first thing she saw was the open gate. It was the same gate as last time. The two boys walked around them toward the gate. Shiori's mouth dropped open when she saw the man with the hair over his eye. It was the same man as last time.

She watched entranced as the two boys, Kyou and Yuki, walked up to the man. They put their hands on his shoulder and smiled at him. "Hey Hitori, what's happening?" Kyou smirked. Hitori's facial expressions didn't change, and so he turned his head to look at Torhu and Shiori.

"Torhu," he nodded in greeting, and then tilted his head toward Shiori. "Ms?" He asked.

Shiori's mouth flopped open and then closed as she tried to say something, "uh... I... um... uh..." she stuttered. Hitori gave her an odd look. Yuki, Kyou, and Torhu exchanged confused glances. Hitori closed his eyes and turned to Yuki, "I must be going. Wish Shigure well for me," he smiled at Shiori and Torhu and then walked to a nearby vehicle. Shiori watched in a trance.

After Hitori drove away Kyou and Yuki walked over toward Shiori. "What's with the stuttering?" Kyou asked rudely.

Shiori bowed her head in embarresment. "I've... I've seen him before. He tried to kidnap me," her voice wavered in fright remembering the day.

Yuki and Kyou once again looked confused, "Hitori? Are you sure that's the same guy?" They asked.

Shiori nodded. "Yes, and there was another... I walked into that yard about two years ago and there was a boy about my age. He was inside staring at me through the window and then... he came." Shiori stopped and shook her head. "How do you guys know him anyways?"

Yuki and Kyou laughed. "He's part of the family. What did the boy in the window look like?"

Shiori blushed and described the boy. "His eyes seemed cold, but I didn't mind. He was slender and pale with dark hair." A silence filled the group and Shiori got worried. "What? Was it something I said?" The group turned and told Shiori that it was getting late. Shiori agreed and they finished their walk to her house. At Shiori's door they said their goodbyes.

"I'll see you at school on monday!" Torhu yelled smiling from the sidewalk. Yuki and Kyou just gave polite smiles. Shiori smiled and waved back after they started walkin away she opened the door to her house bracing herself for the sound of her parents yelling. But there was no sound.

Shiori walked cautiously through the house. There was a middle-aged woman sitting in the living room watching TV, she had a spaced out smile on her face and there was a disgusting odor in the air. "Who are you?" Shiori asked the woman. The woman turned her head, causing her limp hair to be noticed. There were dark circles under her bloodshot eyes.

"Oh, you must be Shiori. I'm the babysitter, your parents are off on a cruise... I think they said 'to fix their relationship' but they didn't want to leave you alone, so..." The woman shrugged her shoulders. Shiori narrowed her eyes, it was just typical of her parents to get up and leave, but to leave her with someone who was an obvious drug addict was different. Shiori turned and left the room.

Slamming the door to her bedroom she heard the sound of a few vehicles pulling up in her driveway.

None of them looked familiar.