Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Baskets or any of the fairytales you shall read in this here story.
Ok, hey people. This is gonna be a big story full of short story fairytales. Sorry if it's a little confusing... Kind of like A Holiday for Everyday, which I haven't updated since Christmas... -.-' Heh... sorry. Anyway, this is the opening, the only part, so far, that doesn't take place in the book.
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It was early morning, and the sun rose surely over the Sohma residence. In the kitchen, a girl with long chocolate locks slaved over a stove, singing to herself as she began to make omelets for her house mates. From her lips spewed a senseless melody, an improvisation diluted with her feelings of bliss that came from the quiet sounds of the world waking up before her very eyes. "La di di da," she warbled, going into a refraid that seemed to echo the chirps of the birds nesting in one of the closest trees as they awoke to the rising sun.
But despite her happiness, the girl couldn't help but feel... uneasy. She knew something was going to happen. She wasn't sure what it would be, or why, and she couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing. But she still had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach, which often rooted itself there when something gigantic was about to happen. But she shrugged it off with her melody; it was just a feeling. She had been wrong before.
"Oi," a voice called from the next room over, and an orange-haired teen came strolling into the kitchen lazily, one hand hidden under his shirt as he scratched his chest and the other hanging limp at his side. With a lazy plop, he collapsed at his place at the table and let out a rather large yawn, resting his forehead against the cool wooden surface before him. "Morning, Tohru."
The girl, Tohru, let out a quick nod before, glancing forlornly at the slowly condensing egg yoke, scurrying over to the refridgerator. From inside it she pulled a carton of milk and, without bothering to find a cup, she placed it in front of th carrot top. She knew he wouldn't use one, anyway. Cups cramped his style.
"Good morning, Kyo-kun," Tohru replied warmly, finding her way back to the stove. The omlette was ready, and she plopped it onto a plate before, with a quick wash of her hands, rolling it up and then sectioning it off with a knife. "Breakfast is almost ready! We're having omlette and rice, if that's fine with you. There's not much left in the fridge. I suppose I should go shopping after work..."
Tohru didn't get a response, and she hadn't expected one. If she knew Kyo, and indeed she did, he would have been too enamored with his goal of shugging down half the carton of milk to respond. She recieved a grunt. Tohru smiled widly. Yes, she knew Kyo well.
There was a comfortable silence that fell in the kitchen, and Tohru only dared to break it with a few lyrical lines as she drew out all the plates and utensils blue eyes flickered to the rice steamer; there were only a few minutes left... Perfect.
"I'll go with you," Kyo stated, and Tohru smiled to herself, blushing as she continued to go through the motions of preparing the table for breakfast.
"Go where?" Another man by the name of Shigure made his entrance into the room, his smirk larger than both Kyo and Tohru remembered. His eyes traveled from Tohru's blush to Kyo's bashful face, then back again, and somehow his smile grew more. "Good morning, my precious flower. And you too, Kyo." He, too, took his seat at the table, producing a rather large, leather-bound book from where he had kept it hidden behind his back. With a large slam, it came down on the table. Shigure fingered the cover, opening the book to the title page. Before either Tohru or Kyo could find it's title, he smalled it shut one more and placed it at his side on the floor.
"What's that, Shigure-san?" Tohru asked, trying to lean further to read its title. Shigure smiled and gently pushed her shoulders in the opposite direction and, blushing at her nosiness, Tohru moved to where four plates sat, each equipped with a pair of chopsticks and bearing an omlette slice atop a mound of white rice. She placed a plate at each side of the table, and immediately Shigure dived head first into the food. Kyo, still drowzy, was less enthusiastic, but even then as he took the first bite, his eyes seemed to shine just a bit more.
"Sohma-kun, breakfast is ready!" Tohru cried, making one final trip to supply each place at the table with a cup of steaming tea. The, she herself sat down at one of the two remaining plates and began to eat daintily and slowly.
"It's a storybook," Shigure answered as the silver-haired teen named Yuki took his place at the table sleepily, not muttering a word as he began to eat the delicious food Tohru had cooked. "I want you three to read it together, along with the others. I feel it will have some meaning to you. After all, I wrote it."
"Momiji-kun, Kisa-chan, Haru-san, and Hiru-san are coming over today," Tohru stated between bites. "Should we read it with them? I'm sure Hiro and Kisa would like a good story." Shigure's mouth turned up in a mischievious smile, and he nodded slightly before shoveling another bit of egg into his mouth to hide his smirk. Kyo and Yuki caught his grin and, sharing a rare look, began to feel appprehensively about the large book sitting beside Shigure.
"Only the first story, my flower," Shigure replied, "I am quite sure you will... enjoy it."
After returning from work with Kyo, who was carrying a considerable amount of groceries in his arms, Tohru found those she had mentioned sitting boredly in the Sohma house's family room. Shigure resided over them with a tough smirk, and one could easily tell he refused to let them leave until the story was read. Hatori sat in the corner, checking his watch, thanking the good Lord for giving him the judgement to not leave the motor in his van running and hoping that Akito wouldn't particularly miss his absence in the time this visit was taking. He had been ordered to pick Hiro, Haru, Kisa, and Momiji up from Shigure's house. He had arrived two hours ago, and still there was no progress towards leaving.
"Can we get this over with?" Hatori asked, handing the storybook to Tohru as she made her way into the living room with Kyo close behind. He was curious to know what the importance of this simple book was, but he knew it couldn't be good. After all, Shigure, the King of Naughtiness, had written it himself.
Tohru unsuspectingly opened the book to the first page, then the second. After the title page came a picture of a large, beautiful castle residing over a great kingdom. And then, she turned to the next page. Promtly, Kyo, who sat beside her, turned impeccably red. Tohru's vision grew hazy, and she felt the blood rush to her cheeks as well.
"Oh my," she whispered, but she just couldn't look away from the book. There, taking up the whole page, was a picture of her and Kyo, both dressed up as royalty, in the midst of a beautiful kiss. Over the top read the title, Sleeping Beauty.
"Well," Kisa spoke up, not knowing what laid on the page her cousin and her big sister were staring at, "are you going to read it outloud, Onee-chan?" Yuki and Hatori sent a combined glare at Shigure as Tohru tried to stutter out an answer. The dog promtly fell over in maniacal laughter.
"I su-suppose," Tohru murmured, taking a deep breath to rid herself of her tomato-like coloring. "Once upon a time, in a distant land, there was a small, peaceful little kingdom..."
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And so our first tale begins. I wanted to redo this first bit, too, because it wasn't well thought out, and too short. With my editing skizizzles, it went from 617 words to 1,515. I also took the first line from what is the next chapter, or Sleeping Beauty, Act I. Well, please review! It would be very nice of you. And, of course, read on. This is very stupid in comparison to the next chapter, anyway. Ja' ne!
- Neko Warrior, nya!