Hallo everybody. This idea had been in my head for a while. Almost two years, actually. I just haven't gotten around to write it. I don't think friendship fics are really popular. Congrats to you if you decided to read this. I am entranced with the Zodiac members' childhood. I hope that you will enjoy this and review. They make me happy. •.•

NOTE(S): Yuki is about seven, close to eight, in this fic. I don't know his proper age, so please tell me if I'm way off. This is after:

-he loses all of his friends

-he finds Kyo's hat (Hey---that rhymes!)

-Akito tell him he is not needed

I noticed that he was driven to school but he walked home. The reason why they haven't met up before will be explained in the chapter.

In the anime, Yuki has purple hair but in the manga, he has grey. So I just made it dark grey.

Summary: Yuki Sohma walks home everyday, by himself. He's depressed and all alone. One day, he meets a highschooler who wants to be his friend and cheer him up. She and Yuki become friends, but with Akito around, Yuki's friendships never last. YukiOC friendship.

Rating: K

Genre: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort. No romance. It's a childhood friendship fic peoples.

Guide:

"Talking."

'Thinking.'

Emphasized words will be italicized or bolded depending on the amount of feeling.

Flashbacks will be italicized and not introduced.

Friend (n): An ally or supporter

Friends

Chapter One

Yuki Sohma walked slowly, dragging his feet as he walked home. He sighed and looked up into the cheerful blue sky.

'Why does everyone hate me?'

"Hey, if you keep dragging your feet, you'll ruin your shoes," chastised a feminine voice behind him.

Yuki turned around quickly. A girl, high school by her uniform, smiled kindly at him. She wore the standard public high school uniform; a dark blue sailor top and long skirt. She had warm brown eyes and a soft chin. Her dark brown hair was in a simple bun.

Yuki was surprised. He had never seen this girl before. In fact, he was normally disregarded on his walk. Even kids in his own class who walked home along the same pathway ignored him, not wanting to associate with such a glum, boring boy.

The girl frowned, "Why so melancholy? Is something wrong?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, and then opened it again, "What's 'melancholy'?"

"Oh wow, you have such a cute voice," she said with a smile. Yuki blushed, and clenched onto his backpack, gripping it tighter.

She stepped forward and kneeled down to his height, "Melancholy means depressed, or really sad. I've noticed you walk around like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. Why so sad?"

Yuki shifted uncomfortably, averting his gaze.

The girl stood up and mussed his hair, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, little guy," she said softly.

Yuki looked up at her. 'I want to tell you, but I can't,' he thought sadly.

She noticed the change in his demeanor, "My name's Yuka. What's yours? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Yu…Yuki."

"You've got a nice name there, Yuki-chan. Tell me, where you named after snow or luck?"

Yuki frowned, "I…don't know."

Yuka shrugged, "Its okay. Better than me, I got named after the floor."

Yuki smiled slightly.

"Ah!" Yuka exclaimed, "He smiles!"

He smiled wider.

"You have such a lovely smile, Yuki-chan. You should smile more. Smiling helps you forget the reasons why you're sad. Come on, let's walk together. My home is farther than yours."

Yuki took a step back, confusion clouding his cute face, should he walk with her, this stranger with kind words and a warm smile? Should he run? He couldn't run, he realized. It would aggravate his lungs. Akito wouldn't let him walk home.

"S-sure," he agreed finally.

Yuka smiled and began to walk.

They walked in silence for about half a block when Yuki got up the nerve to ask her, "Yuka-san, how come I've never seen you before?"

"Mm," she said. "Ah, I get out a little later than you, and I did various activities after school. When I would walk home, I always saw you walking ahead of me. You walk slowly and my legs are longer, so I caught up to you. I never got close to you; I usually prefer to walk alone."

She glanced at him, "But I saw how lonely you were. You always sighed and dragged your feet."

Yuka looked ahead, "To be honest, I felt sorry for you. It's not fair to see everyone walk home with so many friends, is it?"

Yuki had stiffened when she said that she felt sorry for him, but relaxed, "…no…" he said softly, looking at the ground.

"Don't worry, though. I walk alone, too. I…kind of got tired of it so I decided to walk faster today, so I could catch up to you. I don't want to walk alone anymore, do you?"

"N…no," Yuki replied quietly.

"And thus, an alliance is formed," she said in a deep voice. "I'll try to catch up to you from now on, okay?"

Yuki smiled and nodded his head.

"Its funny how our names are only a letter apart, isn't it, Yuki-chan?" she asked thoughtfully as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Y-yeah…"

"Mm, do you want to talk or would you rather I shut up?"

Yuki looked up at her, "I don't mind, Yuka-san."

She smiled again, "Tell me about yourself, then. Favorite color, food, animal, that kind of thing."

"Um…I like red and um, peaches. My favorite animal is…" he trailed off, not able to think of an animal.

"Anything at all? Not even a worm?"

Yuki grinned, "Not a worm. A rat, I guess…"

"Hum…I like lilac, cherries, and cats. I like to draw and read and my favorite thing to do is sleep next to my cat."

Yuki frowned as he walked, thinking about Kyo the Cat and how much Kyo hated him.

"Is something wrong, Yuki-chan? Not fond of cats?"

"Um…" he didn't want to offend her, to drive her away. To lose another friend.

"Mm, it's okay. I'm not too fond of rats, either. Not that I hate them or anything. I don't mind pet rats; it's the wild ones that scare me. And the bald ones. Those are freaky."

"Bald rats?"

"Yeah. They're hairless rats. They remind me of naked mole rats," she shuddered.

Yuki giggled.

They walked in silence the rest of the way. The Sohma estate was getting closer.

"This is probably about where I leave you, isn't it Yuki-chan?" Yuka asked as they got closer to the door.

Yuki's shoulders slumped a little, "Yeah…"

"Mm," she ruffled his hair. "I'll see you tomorrow, m'kay?"

"Okay," he said, grinning at the thought.

"Take care," she called as she waved at him while walking backwords.

"Bye!" he waved back.

'Will she really walk with me again?' he thought as he walked past the entrance gate and over to his shared house with Akito. 'It would be nice to see her again.'

"Welcome home, Yuki-san. Akito-san is waiting," greeted a maid when he walked through the door.

He slid off his shoes and followed her.

They walked down a hallway and stopped in front a door. The maid knocked, "Akito-san, Yuki has arrived."

"Come in," said the occupant.

The maid slid the door open and gave Yuki a push inside. She shut the door and Yuki heard her footsteps slowly disappear.

"How was school," Akito asked as he got up from his sitting mat and walked over to Yuki, putting a soft hand on his face, "…my vengeful little Yuki?

Sorry, it wasn't that interesting but I'm working on the other chapter right away. I just wanted to put the idea out there and see if anyone liked it. If I get some reviews, I'll post up another chapter. If not, then I'll alter this one a little bit and make it a one-shot.

Please review if you like it.

Written in Tahoma, size 10.5, five pages, 1,373 words

March 14, 2008