Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket for I lack the capability of keeping pets alive.
Soul Beauty
Chapter 1
The early spring morning sunlight slowly crept across the blanketed form of Tohru Honda. It tiptoed along her curved shoulder and up her slender neck to finally rest warmly on her face.
The pleasant warmth slowly woke the sleeping girl. She sat up and lazily stretched as her mind cleared. She stared blearily at her surroundings, trying to recall her pleasant dream from the night before. For some reason she felt it was of great importance to remember. She tried to focus on certain aspects, but it was quickly fading from her memory every second. She finally gave up when all she could summon up from the dream was the image of two intense eyes the color of warm cider. It had felt as if their gaze had pierced her very soul.
A cold shiver ran down her spine at the thought of anyone being able to see inside her spirit.
Deciding that spending her time pondering dreams to be a waste of such a beautiful morning Tohru hopped out of bed to get ready.
'Its time to make breakfast' thought Tohru eagerly. She hurried downstairs to the kitchen to cook for her beloved but somewhat abnormal family. She looked in the fridge and spotted a carton of eggs. 'I'll make some delicious omelets today. 'As she cheerfully set about her task others in the house were just waking up.
As Kyo walked downstairs he smelt something odd, but completely disregarded it when Tohru turned to greet him with an extremely cute smile.
For some reason her smile was different today, it was even cuter than normal, if that was humanly possible. Or Kyo was just hallucinating whichever the case the smile deeply affected him. It caused a majority of the blood in him to rush to his face and other regions of the body.
He stumbled back and knocked a dish onto the floor. He stared at it dazedly then glanced up to see Tohru looking at him with concern. As he stared at Tohru she started to speak to him. But Kyo heard nothing as his eyes focused on her soft lips as they moved. He couldn't tear his eyes from that lovely mouth. Dark desires of what he wanted to do with those plump rosy lips rushed to the surface of his mind. Thoughts, that he had only ever let himself consider while all alone late at night.
As Tohru started to walk towards him, Kyo backed away quickly while blushing madly. She reached out touching his shoulder gently voicing her concerns. He jumped at her touch then roughly swatted away her hand.
He stuttered out a response to her queries then hurried out of the room before he did anything else stupid.
Or even worse, grab the innocent Tohru and tickle her tonsils until he had her gasping in pleasure and begging for more.
Tohru stared after Kyo in bewilderment. Hurt flashed across her face from Kyo's cold brush off. Her eyes glinted with unshed tears. Tohru started to feel guilt build for any possible slight she may have done to the cat. Then unexpectedly her eyes hardened and an angry glint took the place of her tears.
She quickly put the finished breakfast on the table. She then scribbled a note leaving it by the food before heading out the door and into the back woods.
Yuki stumbled to the breakfast table in a daze, where he then plopped down and proceeded to eat whatever was sitting in front of him. His eyes were closed and he was still half asleep when Shigure came down to join him at the table.
"Hello Yuki where are Tohru and Kyo this fine morning?" Shigure asked cheerfully.
Yuki being that he was barely among the living let alone awake just continued to chew. He then gave a slight nod of his head to their empty spots as if he fully expected them to be sitting there eating with him.
"Umm right that was helpful"
As Shigure sat down to help himself to another one of Tohru's great meals he spotted the note next to his plate. He looked it over quickly, and then frowned in constintration.
It said simply "I am going for a walk be back later"
When has Tohru ever left with out verbally telling anyone? It is odd that she wouldn't leave a longer letter. Shigure thought on this for a moment. Then his face lit up and he smiled impishly
"Tohru's got a boyfriend!" He cried happily.
Yuki who was still eating while half asleep snapped wide awake at Shigure's words. He reached over and grabbed the dog by his shoulders and leaned in close while shaking Shigure frantically.
"Tohru What! Say that again!"
Shigure just smiled happily while waving a small piece of paper. Yuki tried to snatch it from the man's hand, but he pulled it out of reach.
"Now Yuki if you want it say please." Shigure said playfully.
Yuki responded by slamming his elbow into Shigure's gut. He grabbed the note while the other man was holding his stomach and gasping in pain.
After he read the short letter his calm façade returned. Then he sat back down to return to his meal.
Shigure having recovered started eating also. After two bites of his food his face took on a sickly shade and he grabbed his throat in pain. He looked down at his plate in horror trying to discern what it was that tasted so wrong. That's when he noticed everything on his plate. He couldn't fathom it being of anything even slightly related to food, he couldn't even guess at its origin. He just knew that food was never meant to be that color, or smell that bad. He was also pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to hiss at him either.
He glanced at Yuki who was still calmly eating the monstrosity before him.
Kyo had intended to go up on the roof to escape from everyone but changed his mind. If he wanted to be alone he needed to go where know one would think to look for him. So he left the house, picked a direction and started walking.
He had been wandering around aimlessly for what seemed like hours when his feet finally brought him to a halt. He glanced around he was standing in front of a little shop that most would consider quaint. But to Kyo's eyes this little store was unbearably girly.
Ironically it looked like the kind of place Tohru would absolutely adore. It would seem lady luck was not on his side today. Sadly his efforts to get away from a certain someone would be for naught, because every where he seemed to go he would be bombarded by remainders of her.
He looked at the building with ill-disguised irritation as if it were at fault for his current predicament.
He was about to continue on his journey leaving the god-forsaken den of evil behind him when he heard a familiar voice. The owner of that voice could strike terror in the hearts of even the bravest of men.
"The shop is this way. We need to hurry if we want to get there before it closes." Said the one that could scare even the bravest of fools in a calm monotone.
"That's what you said ages ago. Why are we even going there in the first place? Better yet why am I going with you? I don't even like to shop." Said the other rather irately.
"I was very persuasive." Said the monotone
"How in the world could anyone consider what you pulled back their persuasion? You didn't even say anything! You just showed up at my work and stared at me until I agreed to come with you to make you stop freaking out the other customers."
"Your point?"
"That's not persuasion that's blackmail."
"Exactly" said the monotone with a slight air of smugness.
"Hana-chan you can be very frustrating sometimes. You know that right?"
She just smiled mysteriously.
As Tohru's friends were having this odd chat they were steadily closing in on Kyo's location. They were to close for him to make a run for it. If he tried they would spot him immediately. Lacking any other alternatives Kyo in a fit of desperation dived into the lair of girly cuteness.
He slammed the door shut just as they were passing by. As he was about to relax Hanajima slowed to a stop, then slowly looked over her shoulder to stare directly at Kyo.
Or rather, to stare at the door that he was hiding behind. He held his breath trying not to make any sudden moves, hoping against hope that the psychic hadn't spotted him.
"Hey what are you looking at? Don't we need to hurry?" asked Uotani.
"It's a store to make clothing for maid's, stewardesses and nurses." Hanajima said with a slightly mischievous smile, still gazing directly at the door.
"Great now you're talking to doors! Are you gonna read it's fortune next?" said Uotani in exasperation.
Hana ignored Uotani's somewhat rude statement and continued walking. after a few moments she paused to look over her shoulder.
"Good luck is headed their way."
Uotani sighed in defeat.
As they were strolling away from the shop, the blonde questioned her companion "Hey Hana-chan what was that all about? It was creepier than usual. You don't normally talk to doors do you?"
"Oh that I thought I saw a cat that's all."
As they faded from sight Kyo let out a relieved sigh. Then slowly turned to find much to his surprise, a pair of amused amber eyes inches from his own.
Tohru walked quickly through the forest while memories of hurtful things Kyo and others has said or done in the past raced through her mind. Some new unidentifiable feeling churning in her gut and it kept building as memories of wrongs done to her by others surfaced in her mind. Causing her body to heat and her fists to clench. It wouldn't leave, this emotion inside her, it just kept growing.
Tohru started walking faster trying to escape the feelings roiling inside her. The memories would fade, but only to be replaced by new ones even more vivid than the last. Her pace picked up, until she was running, fleeing this unpleasant sensation.
She raced through the trees, going faster and faster. Her rapid breathing burned her throat like fire yet she felt exhilarated from her speed. Adrenaline was pumping, power for the first time flowed through her veins. She felt as though she could do anything.
"Tohru you're the onigiri!" yelled the child
The other children all laughed.
Tohru just smiled happily.
The cruel game began. Children stood up and ran to join the others when their assigned fruit was called. But no one called for Tohru Honda. No one called for a rice ball.
One after another the children joyfully ran off to join the others. Soon all the children were called… all except the Onigiri. They were all far away now in the distance. They were happy, for they belonged.
Tohru watched as they faded away. She was all alone. All that was left was an empty void even the light was fading. She searched the gloom in vain, hoping that someone would come back. Some one would care. Someone would remember the onigiri.
Finally all light was gone and an impenetrable wall of black surrounded Torhu. As the darkness pressed in Tohru gave up hope. She knew no one would come back. None of those children were going to call her name.
She stood there in the dark, looking in the direction everyone else had gone with misery-clouded eyes. Her schoolmates had abandoned her. The urge to cry away the pain filled Tohru. But for some reason the tears wouldn't come.
As she stared blindly into the void with dry eyes, she finally spotted something in the distance. She couldn't discern its shape or even color. All she could see was something slowly coming towards her. As it got closer the mysterious creature took on a humanoid shape.
Its pace was agonizingly slow. It didn't walk like a human, but rather seemed to float as it came towards the girl.
Tohru looked on in fascination. Though it was close now, this creature still had no identifying features. She couldn't even guess at its gender. It was like a shadow.
Oddly enough Tohru felt no fear for this being. Instead she felt a warm connection. She instinctively knew with every fiber of her being that the figure before her was a kindred spirit.
It was finally standing directly in front of Tohru when a pair of beautiful intense cider eyes appeared where its face would have been located.
Tohru's eyes met the beings and locked on. She couldn't look away. She was drawn into the powerful gaze.
As Tohru stared into those compelling orbs she felt as if she had been given permission to look inside the creature and vice versa.
As they looked into each other's souls that same unidentifiable feeling from earlier filled her body. It started at her center like a small spark, then glowed brighter and hotter every second, spreading through her entire being running across her nerves filling every nook and cranny. Her blood heated and her heart raced. As she stared into those glowing eyes this unknown emotion that had been building inside her finally exploded.
Tohru sat up with a jolt. Her eyes focused on the surrounding area. She was sitting in a sunny clearing near a crystal blue pond. As she took in her beautiful surroundings she pondered.
'How had she come to be here? The last thing she remembered was going downstairs to make breakfast for everyone. Why would she be napping in a meadow?'
As she tried to remember the events that led her here Tohru let her gaze wander over the lovely clearing. She focused on a spot a little to her left. Something was off about that area that just didn't quite fit. As she got closer much to her horror, she could tell why. The emerald green grass of the meadow abruptly ended. Where there should have been healthy growth only a very large perfectly charred circle remained.
A/N: Someone in this fanfic will die. if you want to help me choose who that lucky character may be leave a message.