Pre-Sohma Tohru
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or any of the characters included... sadly.
Every single day Tohru Honda said 'Be Safe' to her mother… but the day she didn't say 'Be Safe', something happened that devastated Tohru forever.
Everyday Tohru would wake at the crack of dawn to say 'Be Safe' to her mother before she went off to work. On May 1st Tohru finds out that her mother dies because of a drunk driver causing her to crash into the side of her work building. The night before Tohru was up all night studying for the hardest history exam in the world. She stayed up all night, till 1:00 in the morning. Her eye lids felt heavy as she read the same sentence in her 345 page history textbook.
'I give up,' she thought, 'I'll just get up before Mom and study then.' As Tohru Honda slept she had no idea of what would happen the next day. When she got up and looked around, her mom had already left for work. Tohru felt bad that she didn't say 'Be Safe' to her mom so she promised herself that she would do well on the test so her mom would be happy. Quickly, Tohru Honda got changed for school and ran out the door, only to bump into Uo and Hana, her best friends in the world.
"Tohru, you look sad today. What's wrong?" Uo asked protectively. "Did someone do something to you?"
"No, it's just that I didn't say 'Be Safe' to my mom this morning." Tohru sighed. Hana and Uo had known Tohru and her mom, Kyoko-san, since they were in elementary school and middle school. Kyoko saved Uo from her gang and Tohru met Hana and just started hanging out with her. It was hard to keep secrets from them because they wanted to know everything about what was going on in their friend's life. When they got to school, they went through the regular school day. They learned about the incident a few minutes after it had happened in history class. In the middle of the test the principle walked in and asked to talk to Tohru. 'I wonder what he wants,' Tohru thought as she got up from her seat and walked towards the principle.
"Tohru, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you," the principle said, gloomily, but calmly. "Your mother has just been in a car accident." When Tohru heard that, she started to cry. Not wanting to people to see her cry she ran out the door and down the hall. Back in the classroom Uo and Hana stand up and start running after Tohru. When they caught up to Tohru they find she had met with the police. Trying to calm her down they tell her she can see her mom. Tohru only calms down when she sees Uo and Hana and collapses into Uo's arms crying. "Why me? Why now?" Tohru sobs. After Tohru calms down the police bring Tohru, Uo, and Hana to the hospital where Kyoko was staying. One by one they all walked into Kyoko's room. She was in very bad condition and the doctors believed that she would die soon. When Tohru walked in she started crying. Her beautiful mom was now covered in bandages and scratches. Kyoko tried to look up, but it was painful for her. All she managed to say was, "Tohru come here." As Tohru walked over, all you could hear was the beeping of the heart rate monitor that told everyone that Kyoko had just died. Sobbing, Tohru reached over the side of Kyoko's bed and reached for her hand. Holding it tightly, Tohru said, "I'm going to bury you next to Dad. That was your dream, to be buried next to Dad. I'm going to fulfill that dream for you and all your other dreams."
Tohru, Uo, and Hana all when to Kyoko's funeral. Tohru, as sad as she was, tried not to cry and tried to remain optimistic. She kept her mother's wish for her to graduate high school in her heart. After the funeral, her family got together to find out where Tohru could stay. Not wanting to be a burden to anybody, Tohru tried to refuse. Eventually, her paternal grandfather asked her to come live with him. He needed someone to help take care of him because of his old age. Tohru accepted and moved into her grandfather's house.
Two months later, Tohru's grandfather said, "Kyoko-san."
"It's Tohru."
"Yes, Kyoko-san. Some of my relatives are coming over and I wanted to renovate the house for them. Is there any friend's house you can stay at while I live at my daughter's?"
"Yes, Grandpa," Tohru lied. She knew Uo lived in a small apartment and Hana lived with a big family. She finally decided the answer to her predicament was to buy a tent and live in the woods. She went out and bought the tent and pitched it in an open part of the forest. She continued working and going to school, but refused to tell her friends where she was living. A week later, she happened on the house of Shigure Sohma, the guardian of one of her classmates, "Prince" Yuki Sohma. After that, she moved in and learned of the many secrets of the Sohma family.
A/N: First post... yeah. Please review, and this is my first published fanfiction, so no flames, please, but constructive critizism is always helpful... :D