BIRD present. First of all, this is all new to me, and I'm the type who just writes whatever comes to mind. And I'll probably never make another Fruits Basket fic again since I'm not that interested in the series. Either way, I hope you enjoy this story!
Please read and review on the way out!
Summary: Yuki's life didn't turn out so bad. In fact it turned out better than he could've hoped. Indeed, things are moving forward and he didn't want to look back. If only Kyo hadn't come into the picture and made that stupid wish. "Who knows?" Kyo shrugged. "Maybe if things had been different, we could've been friends." Time Travel
Chapter 1
When Yuki woke, he didn't notice immediately that anything was out of place.
His lethargy kept him unfocused enough not to be suspicious of why he was on a futon when the night before, he had slept in a bed. It kept him from noticing that he was in a Japanese styled room, sliding doors and all, when he should be inside his modern apartment that he moved into right after high school.
He did, however, perk up just a bit when his sleepy mind registered the utter silence that reached his ears.
He vaguely remembered Kakeru coming over last night after the party, deciding without permission to sleep over despite Yuki's threats. Too tired to deal with the zealous man at the time, he had stumbled to his room and was knocked out before his head even hit the pillow.
Since it wasn't the first time his best friend slept over, Yuki had been fully prepared to have the exuberant young man barge into his room and annoy him till he got out of bed. And promptly punch said annoyance while his friend whine from the unfairness of the treatment. His huffing and puffing about never helping Yuki again when both knew that was a lie, never failed to amuse him, his previous irritation evaporating every time.
So with some effort, Yuki blearily opened his eyes and froze when his surroundings snapped him into awareness.
This room. He knew this room.
He scrambled to his feet and nearly fell down again, confusing the hell out of him. He may not be much of a 'prince' in the morning, as some people put it, but he was never graceless enough to trip when he was awake. For some reason, he felt incredibly awkward in his body, if that made any sense. The room almost seemed to engulf him in a way where he felt very small.
Dismissing this perplexing observation for the time being, he stumbled toward the sliding doors that led out of the dark room and slammed it open. His throat hitched when he saw a huge compound staring back at him, a large bonsai garden and a bunch of small, Japanese houses in his line of sight. Feeling numb, he slowly slid the door closed, just standing there trying to take the strange situation all in.
He was back at the Sohma Main House. Hell, he was in his old room, a place he hadn't been in since he was fourteen.
How in the world did he get here?
He threw out the idea of Akito kidnapping him and putting him here just to mock him. The head of the house had changed, even he could see that. What the man-woman said to him after the curse broke was enough proof to him.
Maybe one of the other Sohma members, like Akito's old caretaker? After all, not many had been happy with Akito's change of heart. They could be using Yuki as a bargaining chip since almost everyone knew how much Akito had favored him over any of the zodiac members, even if the reasoning behind it was twisted.
Still trying to come up with a logical explanation, he took a step back and felt something under the heel of his foot. The cold touch made him glance down, letting him see a small, round mirror on the floor. The object looked for some reason familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen the object. All thoughts of the mirror flew out of his mind though when he saw his feet.
They looked tiny, almost as small as a child's. Alarms rang in his head along with some panic. He wiggled his toes. They wiggled back. He felt his head spin.
He rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit dizzy, and was startled when he felt how utterly soft his face was. He looked at his hands and saw a miniature version looking back at him. Just like with his feet, they have also shrunk, the calluses he gained from years of martial arts training simply gone.
Closing his eyes, he tried to calm himself and his whirling mind down. Taking deep breaths to lower his heartbeat, he waited for a minute until he felt his nerves settle down a bit. He looked down to the mirror again that was still covered by his foot and swallowed. He slowly took one step back, revealing an image he had half expected and half dreaded to see.
Staring back at him was a child with huge, grey eyes that were wide from shock, his silver hair wispy and short as it framed his petite, childish face.
He felt feint. He pinched his arm hard and winced at the sharp pain. Well, he could rule out dreaming. And other than the thousand questions that were running rampage in his mind, he didn't feel at all nauseas like he usually did when he got sick, so hallucinating was out of the question too.
So…What the hell was going on?
Thinking hard on how this was possible, he thought back to the party Tohru had invited all the members of the zodiac too, in celebration for the one year anniversary of the curse breaking. It was kind of symbolic, seeing how they had never truly gathered together to discuss or be joyous over their marveling freedom.
All of them went their separate ways after high school ended, so the idea of a reunion excited Yuki when he got the invite from the mail. He had been away in college for a year, not able to see even Hatori during the time, who he had always needed to see before when he still had the spirit of the rat. Since he was a normal human now, he didn't explicitly have to have the Sohma doctor check up on him.
Also, he really had wanted to see the others again. Though he would never admit it, he missed all of them, even the damn cat to be honest. So he hadn't hesitated to start packing immediately and didn't even stop to think of how many days of school he was planning to skip.
He had inwardly snorted to himself later when he had gotten on the plane. Kakeru really was rubbing off of him to make him this reckless.
The party allowed them to bring guests as well, so Yuki took the liberty to visit Machi's apartment and ask her to go with him. Kakeru had somehow found out and instantly invited himself. Seeing how he could never out-stubborn the guy, he gave up and agreed. The wail of pain his friend let out when he banged his head did help lessen his throbbing headache though. Just a bit.
Machi, of course, had been nervous out of her mind at the idea of meeting his family. She was scarred by her meeting with his nee-san, and had barely interacted with any of the other zodiac members, or even Tohru and her gang. It took a lot of coaxing on his part and enthusiastic encouragement from her half brother to get her to finally agree. Though she did still freeze at the entrance of the park where everyone was meeting, her whole body not budging as if she turned to stone.
Without being aware of it, he felt his tense shoulders relax a bit when he thought of his girlfriend. Together for a year, both were still deeply in love with each other. Kakeru's and even Ayame's teasing didn't even annoy him that much when they called from time to time. Though Yuki did wonder how they managed to call so much with the cost of the electric bill hanging over their heads.
When it became obvious she wouldn't move, he had casually thrown her over his shoulder and carried her through the gate. The sight of a beautiful young man carrying a yelling girl with a snickering black haired guy behind them had attracted many stares on their way to where everyone was. Machi had been embarrassed as hell and had yelled at him later for the action.
That did not, however, stop Yuki into thinking that she was incredibly cute when her face was flushed like that. When he told her so, she had spluttered and turned an even deeper red, her whole face like a tomato.
When they reached their destination, they turned out to be the one of the last ones to arrive. Hatsuharu took one look at him and had said the irony of the rat being last was amusing, his face completely blank as he said this. Tohru went up to them and had welcomed them with a warmth that Yuki had missed. Everyone greeted him, some cordially and some enthusiastically (Ayame, of course).
Meeting Kyo, though, had been…strange.
All previous resentment and hate had all but vanished, yet it felt so weird to be anything but rivals who hated each other. It was like looking at someone in a new light, and having no idea what to do now that they did. It was more than a little awkward. It scaled to be even more awkward than Yuki's relationship with Akito.
He hadn't been given time to think about all this however, when his brother had abruptly proclaimed his love for him and dragged him off with Momiji trailing behind and laughing. Kakeru had pretty much given the man the thumbs up, something Yuki had planned to make him pay for later.
He had been pleased though when he caught Hanajima, Tohru, and Kazuma leading Machi away from the madness and calmly conversing with her like normal people. Well, as normal as the psychic girl could get.
The festive mood lasted for a while, as the younger zodiac members had played smashing the watermelon again, Yuki participating for memories sake. He did enjoy seeing Kakeru look almost unnerved by how Haru practically smashed the watermelon apart with his bare hands. It was rare for the guy to actually show any emotion other than being annoying, so it was refreshing to know that even he thought it was abnormal. While this was all happening, the older members had started a drinking contest, Hatori solemnly taking each glass while Shigure and Ayame were flat out drunk, singing off tuned while jerkingly dancing in a jitter. Akito had looked away from the scene, as if trying not to associate herself to the strange men. The sight had been so strange, that even Yuki had laughed at the scene.
The excitement died down around nine o'clock when they started to get tired. The idea of stopping, though, never crossed their minds. They were having too much fun to stop. Even Machi looked reluctant to leave, having been comfortable hours ago while she had talked to Hatori as both ignored Ayame and Shigure's knocked out figures on the grass. It was then that Uotani had the idea of setting off fireworks. The more sensible ones worried over catching the field on fire, while the others eagerly agreed.
It only took a quick stop from Hatori to bring the supplies, the trunk almost popping open from the amount he brought. Yuki had the feeling the only reason why the former zodiac member brought so much was due to Ayame's and Kakaeru's constant begging, both even going on their knees while hugging Hatori's legs like a life line. Yuki sure would've been aggravated by it.
During the whole time of the party, Yuki had avoided Kyo like the plague. It wasn't that he was running away really, it was more that he just didn't want to deal with the cat. He had been sure that Kyo had felt the same.
Which was why he had been more than caught off guard when the orange haired young man came up to him, grudgingly asking if he wanted a soda. Yuki did a good job at not gaping at him and agreed. Kyo had tossed him the drink and took the silent invitation to sit next to him as both watched the younger generation shooting out the lights.
Kyo had shifted a bit, looking uncertain. "So, uh, how's college?" was the first, unexpected words that came out of his mouth.
"Not bad." Yuki shrugged. "The crowds are still something to get used to though."
It was true. He had spent his whole life avoiding people for so long, that he forgot most of the times that he didn't have to anymore. It was still a novelty to him.
Kyo nodded at his response. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
"What about you?" Yuki blurted out. "Are things going well for you and Tohru?"
Kyo looked startled. For some reason, his hand clenched harder around his bottle. He looked away. "Yeah. Things are going well." he said tightly.
The atmosphere felt somewhat tense to the former rat. It confused him. Did he say something wrong?
Suddenly, it hit him. Of course the stupid cat was jealous. Almost everyone thought he had a crush on the sweet girl. Asking about their relationship may have looked like he was probing. Yuki sighed, irritated. That idiot.
"Stupid cat."
Kyo whirled to face him, glaring. "What did you say? Say that again to my face you-"
"I'm not attracted to Tohru."
Yuki could tell his answer threw Kyo off. The guy swallowed. "You-You're not? But I thought-"
"You thought wrong." he interrupted swiftly. "I've not once been attracted to her that way, so you can keep your fantasies and moronic ideas to yourself." He sighed and ran a hand through his grey hair. "Honestly, you would think me having a girlfriend would be enough proof of that."
Kyo flushed and looked appropriately embarrassed. Yuki felt a vindictive satisfaction at the look. It truly was frustrating to think that people still thought that way. What, did he look that desperate to pine after a woman he didn't have an ounce of romantic interest in?
Yuki could almost imagine Kakeru's reaction if he heard that such rumors still existed. Contrary to popular belief, the guy had quite a temper when it came to serious matters, and that included his younger half-sister.
Feeling that the orange haired young man had suffered enough, he clapped his shoulder, jerking the guy out of his mortification. "Well, now that we have that issue out of the way, why did you want to talk to me? I doubt you did all this so we could talk about past relationships or small talk." Kyo frowned and bowed his head, causing Yuki to smirk. "What, cat got your tongue? You're usually more vocal than this." he couldn't help but tease. Again, he blamed his best friend for rubbing off of him.
The man scowled. "Shut up. I'm thinking."
Yuki snorted but still complied to his request. Knowing how long it would take till the cat put his thoughts together, he popped open the now slightly warm bottle and gulped the popping soda down his throat.
After two more sips, he heard more than saw Kyo turn to look at him. Glancing at Kyo's conflicted expression, he waited. It didn't take long.
"Why did you aspire to be me?"
The question was sort of out of the blue, yet it didn't surprise Yuki that much that he asked.
"Because," he paused, struggling to get the words out. He had never verbalized his deepest, darkest desire that's been clouded from many years of hardship. Not even Kakeru, who he told more than most, knew how deep his conflict went when it came to the outcast Sohma.
"When we were younger, before a lot of events twisted what I felt, I had," he swallowed, "admired you. You were always surrounded by people in my eyes, always looking like you were at the center of everyone's attention." He smiled bitterly. "The only reason why people hung around me was because of my 'prince status.'"
"You, on the other hand, never pretended to be something you weren't yet had people accept you. It's part of the reason why I hated you at the beginning of high school. I felt like I was going to disappear with you there." Like a light extinguished from the brighter flame, all the moths covering him while he was left in the cold darkness.
He jolted when Kyo suddenly burst out laughing, not in a mocking manner, but in a self-deprecating way. He smiled at him with some disbelief and amusement, a look that the cat had never directed at him before. He looked to the sky.
"Man, we've been duped."Kyo shook his head in bewilderment. He looked far more relaxed than at the beginning of their conversation. "Maybe that's what Tohru meant when she talked about looking at the back of the onigiri."
Yuki blinked. "Huh?"
Kyo waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing."
Both fell into silence after that, content on not saying anything now that everything was off their chests. It felt good to just watch the childish, endearing scene in front of them, no hatred or jealousy between them.
If Yuki hadn't known any better, he felt like he was sitting next to a friend.
When he voiced this out loud, Kyo gave a small smile.
"Took us a while to get here, huh?" he tilted his head. "Wonder what would've happened if we met under better circumstances."
"I'm surprised you can use such a long word."
"Ha ha." he said dryly. Still looking at the night sky, anything seemed possible. "Who knows?" Kyo shrugged. "Maybe if things had been different, we could've been friends."
Yuki didn't even look at him, yet he could feel the thoughtfulness of Kyo's comment. "Yeah." he said softly. "Maybe."
Yuki almost missed a white, dashing figure in the sky when he agreed, the falling star passing like quicksilver in the black, night sky. He was sure nobody but him had noticed, yet he dismissed that detail without much thought. It was only a star after all.
After another half an hour of just messing around, everyone unanimously agreed that it was time they all went home. Yuki greeted everyone good bye, planning to stay over at his old apartment. With the college having dorms, he only had the apartment due to convenience, since he always planned to visit back to where he lived before. He knew it was expensive to keep the apartment, but it wasn't like he couldn't afford it with him being a Sohma.
Kakeru chased after him and had managed to 'convince' him to let him stay over. Hatori made him promise to call if he ever needed medical assistance, and Kyo gruffly told him to visit more, the warmth in his voice more than telling that he really did want him to come and not just for Tohru's sake.
He had replied by calling him stupid for him to think otherwise. The outraged yell that sounded half-hearted at best made him grin. It really was fun to make fun of him. He made it too easy.
So he got to his apartment, argued with Kakeru, and slept.
And now, this happened.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, his head throbbing.
Just what in the world got him into this situation? Surely there had to be a logical explanation to all this. Sickness and dreaming was ruled out, so…
Did that mean all of this was real?
If that was the case, then he was sure that god, if there even was one, had it in for him.
'Okay Yuki, just calm down.' He mentally thought to himself. 'Think back. What was out of the ordinary yesterday?'
Focusing his mind on this, he traced back the flashback, trying to find an out of place occurrence, trying to see what could've possibly landed him in this impossible-
"Who knows? Maybe if things had been different, we could've been friends."
This rang in his head, like an alarm clock that wouldn't leave him alone.
Good god no. It can't be.
But what other explanation was there?
Before he could think even further on this revelation, he jumped when he heard a knock on the screen door, sharp and to the point.
He gulped, feeling his heart thumping. "Y-Yes?" he was astonished to find his voice extremely high, as if he drank in a big gulp of helium. He felt someone shuffle behind the door before a woman spoke.
"Yuki-sama, Akito-sama wishes to have you in his presence."
It was amazing how this single sentence made his world tilt at that moment. He never ever thought he would hear those words again in his life.
He didn't answer at first, trying to figure out why Akito would want to see him right then. Judging from what he could see, he looked to be around ten years old, around the time when he was first brought here to the Main House. Which meant that he still shared his meals with the head of the house.
The thought of food triggered his stomach to grumble, a sharp need to satiate his hunger overcoming him. With how little he ate when he was younger, it was no surprise how hungry he felt at the moment. Especially when he tended to throw up all the food due to depression. Not that it was that serious at the moment, a small blessing at least.
Another knock rapped on his door. "Yuki-sama? Is everything all right?" The poor woman was probably worried about getting in trouble if he was late. So with heavy reluctance he opened the screen door.
In front of him was a young, dark haired woman who stood nervously in front of him in a white, servants' kimono. She looked to him and gave a solemn bow, her back straight and stiff. Yuki half wondered how her back didn't ache from the practiced action.
"Yuki-sama. Good morning." she greeted formally.
Yuki quickly bowed back, almost stumbling from how awkwardly small his body felt. "Oh! Uh, good morning to you as well ma'am."
She looked up to him and gave a miniscule frown when she took in his whole appearance. "Yuki-sama, you're not dressed yet."
Yuki blinked and looked down to his clothes. Now that she mentioned it, he noticed he was wearing a yukata, the shoulders slipping off while his hair probably looked like a bird's nest. He couldn't remember the last time he ever wore a yukata, especially when Kakeru introduced him to looser, modern clothing that wasn't as stifling as his collar shirts and ties. With him paying attention now to the formality of his clothes, he found that he didn't like it.
So with another formal bow, he quickly went back to his room, closing the door behind him, and immediately beelined to the corner where the wardrobe was.
He grimaced at the sight that awaited him. Lines and lines of former clothes met his eyes, so much that it was stifling to simply look at them. After hanging out with Kakeru so much, he had adapted into more comfortable clothing, just to have the black haired annoyance stop nagging him. He had quickly discovered that he, grudgingly, liked the type of clothes Kakeru advised him to wear.
Not that he'll ever admit it, if he ever even gets to.
He shook the depressing thought out of his mind and started to get dressed. He quickly improvised and chose a blue, collared shirt that was slightly loose around his neck, giving him some breathing room. After choosing some loose, black slacks and white socks, he quickly left the room, hand brushing his hair while he was hurrying.
The woman didn't comment on his choice and began to walk next to him. Yuki took this as his queue to follow and did so, keeping his practiced, blank expression in place. He observed his surroundings and was assaulted by memories he never wanted to revisit.
Being here was definitely not healthy. It brought too many unpleasant images to mind.
It didn't take long for them to reach a house that was larger than most of the other houses, the entrance looking ominous to Yuki's eyes. The woman knocked on the door, and cleared her throat.
"Akito-sama, Yuki-sama is here."
There was a slight pause. "…Bring him here."
Though Yuki had tried to be mentally prepared, he still slightly jumped at the high voice that sounded so child-like, having a hard time believing that it was his old tormentor behind the doors. Steeling himself, he nodded to the woman to open the doors, revealing a sight that lodged his heart into his throat.
There was Akito, young and deceivingly innocent, obsidian eyes narrowed at him with a chilling smile. To see him-her, like this was like a slap in the face.
Maybe at the back of his mind, he hadn't been able to fully comprehend that he was in the past again. What he was looking at, however, erased any doubt he had before, leaving him with a feeling of dread so deep, that it was amazing that he wasn't having a panic attack at the moment.
He waited to feel the bond take hold of him, the mixed feeling of love and hatred to take over. He waited… and waited…
Nothing.
He couldn't move. He couldn't speak do to speechlessness.
Nothing. He felt absolutely nothing.
What the hell?
"Yuki?"
His attention snapped back to the present at the impatient voice. He looked to where Akito was, who was staring at him questioningly. He swallowed hard and gave a low bow before mechanically sitting next to him, his mind off a mile a minute.
What in the world was happening? Why was there a feeling of emptiness inside of him? He had fully expected to have his old zodiac spirit inside of him again, and yet he still felt a void. He felt exactly like his present (or is it future now?) self, unattached to this being who made his life a living hell.
"Yuki?" Yuki snapped his head to look at the growing frustrated head of the house. "I asked you a question. Where are you?"
He swallowed, trying to regain what little composure he had left. "Still here, Akito." He was embarrassed by how hoarse his voice sounded and cleared his throat. Akito didn't seem to notice the slip up and continued to eat, putting a bit of rice into his mouth. Yuki was a bit puzzled by his apparent lack of concern when he realized that at this stage, he was a very sickly child. It made sense that his voice would grow hoarse sometimes due to illness.
Now that Akito had mentally dismissed him, Yuki carefully ate his food, trying to think up an explanation that would explain what was happening now.
So his curse was still gone, despite going to the past. To some degree, it was relieving. He didn't have to deal with the emotional mess he had at this stage. At the same time, this was most troubling. If he ever hugs a girl by accident, people would definitely know that something was up, which could draw suspicion to himself, making his adventure through time much more difficult than he wanted.
If he turns. Or maybe he will. At this point, anything was possible.
That still, however, did not explain why Akito wasn't sensing anything off. From what he could remember, all the zodiac members were at least aware when one of their members wasn't one of them anymore. After all, they had all avoided Kureno while still not knowing his curse had already been broken. Did the wish somehow cloak the fact that his curse was now nonexistent?
He mentally shook his head. This was all so confusing. He had no idea what he was doing in the past, and couldn't shake off the feeling that it had to do with the shooting star.
He wanted to groan. Why do these things always happen to him? Did he piss off some entity up in the sky in his past life? It would explain why his karma was so bad.
It didn't take long for the breakfast to finish, as both did not speak. Akito felt no need to, while Yuki was still lost in his thoughts. When the servants came and cleared the dishes on the table, Yuki felt the young master shift next to him, causing him to stiffen.
It wasn't that he really felt threatened. With the spirit absent, he didn't fear the god like he used too. No, he was just worried that he would ask questions he wouldn't be able to answer. He wasn't his younger self, so his every move could instantly make him suspicious if he wasn't careful.
"So Yuki," Akito said in a silky voice, eyes piercing. "what do you feel about the New Year's celebration that is coming up?"
Yuki rolled the question carefully over his mind, ignoring the fact that the subject came out of nowhere. Akito always did have the habit to try and catch him off guard, just to have a reason to punish him.
"I feel that this year will go well." he said carefully. "It's good that all the zodiac members can get together."
He inwardly felt distaste by the outright lie he was spouting. Nobody liked the feast. It was just a way for the Sohmas to jail them all in one place for once.
When he and Akito had the chance to talk in the future, they talked about a lot of things. They discussed why Akito had been so desperate about wanting to keep them all to herself, that she did it due to her own low self esteem. She had been so honest that Yuki couldn't truly hate her after that conversation. He himself had needed to work on his own self worth.
So dispelling his initial bitterness, he directed a small smile to Akito, causing the other to widen her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure that this year will go very well indeed."
His answer made the other peer at him for such a long time, that he began to worry that he said the wrong thing. He was relieved when Akito finally looked away, looking down to her now empty rice bowl.
"…That is all for today. You may go."
Yuki almost gaped at her response but shook off his amazement as he jerked a nod to her. He stood up and strode to the door, glancing back once to see Akito still looking down, her eyebrows furrowed with an unidentifiable look on her face.
He left the room and closed the door as he did, wondering to himself what had just transpired at that moment.
Not that he wasn't happy about leaving, but still. It wasn't like Akito to just leave things like that. Tilting his head, he finally just shrugged off his confusion and started to randomly walk. There was no point mulling over things he definitely wouldn't be able to solve.
He looked up to the endless, blue sky, the fluffy clouds moving leisurely along without a care in the world. He was ten years old again, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do now. His life had been good, figured out. He finally had reached happiness, and now he was stuck here.
It just didn't make any sense. What was the purpose of this whole time travel business? If he remembered anything from movies, it was that people usually got in these situations to be taught a lesson.
But what was it? What did he need to be taught?
Maybe this was all a second chance.
This one, tempting thought rose up from his mind, and he couldn't help think that maybe it was true.
But why him?
He was imperfect as they come. Greedy and self-hating, and still trying to heal the scars he acquired over the years. He had made headway with Kakeru, Machi, and Tohru's help, but he still had some ways to go. What made him so special to get this opportunity?
Though he didn't know why he was here, the idea of a chance to make things better, make others and his life better, was too tempting to pass.
Looking up to the sky, Kyo's words repeated to him again.
"Who knows? Maybe if things had been different, we could've been friends."
"Well," he muttered, not caring that he was saying this out loud. "guess I'm going to find out."
*SSB*
Well, there's the first chapter. I hope you liked it.
Please review when you leave!