Disclaimer: I have and never will own Fruit's Basket.
To be the Cat, you are readied from an early age to accept that you are completely and utterly alone.
I realized this, too. It wasn't a particularly difficult thing to believe; after all, I was the abomination among the cursed. The cruel whispers ("Monster, Monster"), the strained smiles ("Don't be silly, sweetheart"), the dark looks ("Disgusting") were all indications. I was no fool, as they would have you believe. I thought I had accepted this a long time ago, when I first learned of my inevitable fate all those years ago. It was okay to be alone, I had thought, because everyone is alone.
We come into this world alone and leave the same way. I never denied that fact.
A bitter smile curled at the corner of my lips, you foolish cat.
But, I learned, just because you accept it doesn't mean once it hits you like a tidal wave that you'll calmly, quietly accept it. Once you fully realize what it truly means to be alone, completely and utterly, you panic. You kick and scream, "No, No, No!" You rush for the door still unlocked, but are pushed back by cruel, pale hands.
All our lives we seek not to be lonely: "Let's talk to each other; let's do things together so we won't be lonely." We can pretend, we can entertain; but that's all we can do. In the bitter end we're very much alone. All the crying and screaming, the kicking and tantrums, nothing will change this. Absolutely nothing.
Foolish, foolish cat.
Despite knowing this, all of the harsh truth my life has taught me, I couldn't help but whisper once, just once:
"I'm lonely."
But no one heard me in this silent room, nobody's home, and nobody would ever be.
A/N: I can rightly say this has been the most difficult piece to write, because it hits very close to home for me. It's very hard to express emotions thru writing, at least for me. Which is probably the main reason I use first-person, ironically enough. I've been wanting to write a one-shot on loneliness in particular for a long time, but I never could find the right setting or character. But last weekend I bought the Fruits Basket complete collection and it hit me while watching the final; so much, in fact, that I stopped watching and went straight to write.
Not all the ones cursed by the cat were as lucky as Kyo, after all.
Cheers.