Disclaimer: As much as I'd want to, I don't own Fruits Basket. It belongs to Takaya-sensei, etc.
The Boy Who Cried "Onigiri"
"We're going to play a game," announced Matsui-sensei. "It's called 'Fruits Basket'."
Kakeru Manabe's ears perked. "Fruits Basket"…what kind of name is that? His eyes darted around, quickly seeing if anyone knew how to play already. No one did. It was probably some stupid activity Matsui-sensei made up to kill time. Kakeru shrugged. He wished he could nap. He liked napping, unlike his other classmates. It was probably because he was worked so hard at home.
"How do you play, Matsui-sensei?" asked a brown-haired girl with pink ribbons in her hair sweetly. Kiss-up sweetly, Manabe judged. Seriously, who speaks to a teacher like a friend? "I really, really want to play." The second "really" was fake-sweet. Kakeru made a face behind her back. Matsui-sensei shot him a warning glance.
"Well, here's how you play," Matsui-sensei said, keeping a wary eye on Kakeru. "Someone will name everyone else a different fruit. Then, the chooser will call a fruit. That fruit will take the chooser's place and call another fruit. You know, etcetera, etcetera. We keep playing until it is nap-time!" Kakeru grinned. Finally, nap-time! "Kakeru!" called Matsui-sensei. "Why don't you be the chooser?"
Kakeru winked and grinned. "Sure," he accepted. "Oookay! Here we go! Kimi-chan, you're a…peach! Jiro-kun, you're an apple! Riku-san you're a…plum!" He went on and on, quite enjoying himself. Naming people fruits? Creative and hilarious at the same time! He went around in a circle, using up all the fruit names he knew. He went from basic strawberries and grapes to papayas and tomatoes (which are fruits!)
He paused at the brunette with pink ribbons in her hair. He didn't dislike her, but he didn't like her very much. She was much too much of a suck-up and she sounded so fake-sweet….
"Hey Honda," he asked in a quiet voice. "What do you want to be?"
"Oh I don't know!" she replied, smiling every so sweetly. "Maybe if plums hadn't been taken, I'd be a plum! My mom loves plums!"
"Does your world revolve around your mom or something?" asked a blonde-haired girl with a band-aid on her cheek. "Seriously, you're always talking about her."
"That's because I love her!" replied Tohru. "And she loves me, and so did my daddy, before he died. My mom said he loved us both very much and if he had a choice he'd never leave us! And my mom…she'd never leave me! She loves me so much!"
"Oh, yeah," said the blonde, her face saddening. "My mom…went away. Um…hey Manabe—pick a fruit!"
Manabe looked hard at the blonde, whose eyes were now reflective with memories.
"Arisa-san, you're a…pineapple. You're hurt on the outside because of your spikes. And you still hurt on the inside because of that spiked feeling on your tongue, but less so," Manabe said in a sarcastically sincere voice. Arisa narrowed one eye, plainly saying "What the heck does that mean?" Manabe winked.
"Manabe, can you make me a pickled plum? That's different from a plum, right? My mom really loves them—my mom…" Honda began to go on about her mother. How great she was, how caring she was. How understanding and patient she was.
Kakeru's eyes went blank and reflective. His grin slumped into a frown. He looked around (anywhere but into Honda's eyes) dejectedly.
Why didn't his mom understand his problems? How he wanted to quit competing and trying to be better than Machi…. How come Honda had such a wonderful mom when he just got one who pushed him around to do what she said? His mom didn't listen to his problems. His mom wasn't patient or understanding with him. Why…why…why did it have to be him who got the snappy, strict mother? Why couldn't he have someone like Honda's mom?
What about Honda's dad? Caring, would never leave them, loved them…. So unlike his pig of a father, who had left his forceful mother and illegitimate self to avoid getting in trouble with his wife…he was such a selfish, fake, stupid man.
Why did it have to be him to be stuck with these parents? Why couldn't he be like Honda…such nice parents that loved him—not abandoned him or forced him beyond his limits? Why him? Why him?
Kakeru was pushing his thoughts beyond the fathoms a six-year-old mind should go.
"H-Honda, you're an onigiri!" announced Kakeru, wanting to vent his frustration on something. Several people giggled. An onigiri?
And why not vent it on Honda? She was the one who had the perfect life…the perfect mom, and instilled happiness. Kakeru was…jealous. He just wanted to have a different life, after hearing how much Honda's mom loved her.
"W-What did you say?" Honda replied, bemused. "Well, I suppose onigiris are fun and tasty. Um, thanks, Manabe-kun."
"Yeah," Manabe replied, quickly moving on. Once he had named all the people after fruits, he sat down, still pondering.
And then the game began.
"Pear!"
"Apple!"
"Payapa! I mean—Papaya!"
"Strawberry!"
"Grapefruit!"
"Orange!"
All the while, Manabe sat. He seldom got up (he was the tomato, which almost none of his peers knew was a fruit). He stared around. Everyone seemed to be getting up and down fine except for…Honda. No one was calling "onigiri".
"Nap-time!" announced Matsui-sensei quickly. "Now, time to sleep!" Manabe scrambled to get his pillow and blanket and laid down on the floor, immediately falling into deep sleep.
After naptime, it was time for everyone to go home.
Manabe's mom came in her business-y suit and urged him to hurry up—he had much studying to do; Machi was already one level ahead of her class, apparently. Kakeru groaned inwardly. He waved goodbye to his friends and looked at Honda one last time.
The onigiri…that was kind of funny. But he shouldn't tease…but what harm would it do? Honda had this perfect mom and this loving, caring, selfless dad…. What could make it…better? It could only go worse, and teasing wouldn't do that much, so maybe…he needed something to vent his anger on. It wouldn't be so bad for her.
He shrugged. It's not like the onigiri thing would stick; she'd probably forget after today.
Seriously, it's not like her mom was going to die or something. It's not like she was going to end up living with these insanely gorgeous bishies with a curse and do their housework. It's not like she was going to tell this onigiri story and change their lives. It wasn't like that at all…
Right?