DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket.
On the mossy bank of a river, Tohru awoke with a start, gasping raggedly. She coughed up the excess water in her throat and pushed the wet hair plastered to her forehead off with her bound hands.
Bloody bruises marked her face, her wrists, and her ankles. The rough ropes bound tightly about her wrists and ankles had irritated her skin. The debris and sediment in the rushing water of the river had done the rest.
For a minute, Tohru just lay back, breathing raggedly, onto the soft damp grass of the riverbank. Her throat felt tight since she was trying not to cry. Pushing herself wearily onto one elbow, she crawled slowly toward the base of a tree.
A huge splintery root was jutting out of the tree. Tohru dragged herself toward it and started rubbing the tight ropes against the sharpest section of the root with what strength she had left.
Halfway through her work, Tohru was exhausted. She rested against the tree for a while before starting in on freeing herself again.
About an hour later, the ropes had fallen away with the help of Tohru's teeth. The tough rope had irritated her gums, making them bleed a bit.
Tohru ignored the tiny trickle of blood making its way down to her chin. She was busy untying the ropes on her ankles.
When the ropes on her ankles came free, she immediately fell asleep again, against the tree.
And that dream came to her.
Flashback
Tohru noticed how quiet everyone was when she woke up. Even as she got started in on breakfast, no one gave her a morning greeting.
Shigure looked grim and strained, his expression a mixture of hesitation and failing self-composure. Yuki was quiet, almost cold. For once, he had woken up early that morning and didn't get drowsy. He stayed, with his arms folded, tucked away in the corner of the living room, his hair hanging over his eyes. Kyou looked tired out, exhausted from emotion. His eyes were almost glazed, but not quite. A thick blanket of gloom hung over them.
Tohru didn't want to interfere with the way they were acting. She wished she could ask about it, but it would probably be rude. So she made a more extravagant breakfast than usual, hoping that it would lift their spirits. It didn't.
No one looked hungry, but they ate anyway. Tohru also noticed that they ate very slowly, as if they were savoring each bite and burning it into their memories. Which was a strange thing to do...
Trying to act oblivious to their behavior, Tohru ate quickly and stood up,"Um... I'll just leave for school early today."
Everyone looked up at that. Both Yuki and Kyou jumped up and said,"No... we'll go with you."
Tohru shook her head,"No, it's alright. You're all still eating..."
"It doesn't matter," Yuki and Kyou muttered as they grabbed their bags and headed out the door with her.
And when that door closed behind them, Shigure began to sob.
End of Flashback
Tohru almost screamed when she woke up again. She felt amazingly stiff and sore.
Feeling strangely numb with severe emotion, Tohru buried her face in her bleeding fingers and started to cry.
Feelings of abandonment, fear, betrayal, and confusion were overwhelming her.
Flashback
School went by as usual. But...
"Tohru... why are the Prince and Orange-top acting so strange...?" Uotani looked half-concerned and half-angry,"Did they do something to you!"
Tohru was about to object when Hanajima suddenly intervened.
"No... it's not something they did... it's something someone else is about to do..."
Both Uo and Tohru swiveled their heads to look at her.
Hana continued,"There's something terribly wrong... at least... that's what they think... Tohru!"
"Ah, yes!"
"Please, let us accompany you home... it's the only way I know will guarantee your safety..."
"Oh... okay..."
End of flashback
An hour of salty tears, choking, racking, and weeping later, Tohru gripped her stomach and keeled over.
Sharp stabs of hunger were plaguing her.
How far had she been carried away from home?
Tohru paused, eyes wide and blank. Home... where was home now?
With several failed attempts of standing up, Tohru finally but shakily got to her feet and started walking.
Flashback
Yuki and Kyou were surprised when they came out of school to see Uotani and Hanajima waiting with Tohru.
"Y-you're coming with us?" They asked hesitantly.
"Yeah..." Uo replied,"Got a problem with that!"
They didn't answer.
"Uo-chan, Hana-chan," Tohru turned to her friends,"Is it okay if you just walk me home instead...?"
Hana looked like she was thinking, despite her emotionless expression,"Perhaps... unless other circumstances demand other necessities..."
The walk home was quiet. Tohru felt very uneasy without Kyou's usual muttering and Yuki's questions about how her day had went.
When they caught sight of Shigure's house up ahead, Uo turned to Tohru.
"I guess we should go back now," she sighed, running an exasperated hand through her hair.
Hana was quiet. Tohru turned to her,"Hana-chan...? Is something wrong?"
Hana turned to Tohru and replied,"Please Tohru... be careful..." And she gripped Tohru's hand for a moment before she rippled away with Uo.
Tohru could hear almost inaudible sighs emitting from the two boys standing behind her. She turned to them. But, no, they didn't look back at her. They were looking towards the direction in which Uo and Hana were going, watching until they vanished.
"Kyou-kun? Yuki-ku- Mmph!" Tohru's yelp was muffled by Yuki's hand as Kyou grabbed her around the waist. Careful not to embrace her, Kyou roughly dragged her to the porch of the house as Yuki grasped the roll of black tape Shigure had just thrown him from the open door in one hand and muffling Tohru's cries for help with the other. Nobody looked into Tohru's wild, confused eyes.
Tearing off a rectangular length of tape, Yuki plastered it quickly over Tohru's lips. Shigure walked onto the porch from the entrance and handed Kyou a long length of rope. They started to bind Tohru's wrists and ankles very tightly together.
Then they just left her on the porch, their hair hanging low over their eyes as they waited, for something...
Tohru writhed and shouted wordless cries and screams through the tape.
And-
Over the distance, through the thicket of trees that made up the forest... a rippling figure headed toward them.
For one hopeful moment, Tohru was hoping it was help, that it was Hana or Uo coming to save her-
It was Akito.
More shadows of figures rippled behind them. As they came closer, Tohru could easily recognize them, and her eyes contracted so widely that her forehead was lined with deep furrows.
Kisa, Hiro, Momiji...
'Will they help me, will Momiji and Ki-' Tohru's frantic thoughts were hastily interrupted when Akito approached the porch and lingered in front of her. Staring down at her, loathing and hating and raging against her.
"Do you see now?" Akito sneered, gesturing to Tohru while casting the most contemptuous glances toward the several Juunishi surrounding him,"This is your so-called witch. The one who would take you all from me. Look at her desperation and bathe in it. She will no longer, not ever take any of you away from me. That she would even think-!" Akito had suddenly struck Tohru across the face, the satisfying slap caused him to smirk.
"You shall see, you shall all see!" Akito shouted in a sour, angry tone,"The monster will carry her to the river, and the despicable dog shall aid him." He turned to walk towards the river first, but suddenly stopped, as though a brilliant idea had struck him,"Ah yes... it will be done..."
End of Flashback
Tohru could hardly see through the dense shadows of the forest. The sky was darkening and so was her spirit. She couldn't let go of her needs, she needed food, shelter, warmth...
Seeing a clearing up ahead, Tohru was seized by hope and half-ran, half-limped towards it. Before Tohru could even step onto the crude stone road that lay in front of her, she collasped, a mere blurry vision of someone standing in front of her fading away.
"Are you alright," a soft voice echoing and echoing into a soft dark blanket of unconsciousness, quieter and quieter...
Flashback
Tohru couldn't even think of the growing fear and panic that was gripping her. Her wide eyes looked with hope at Kyou, who was supporting the upper half of her body and Shigure holding the lower.
Kyou wouldn't look at her, but his face was deathly pale. Tohru's eyes narrowed with concentration as she struggled within the ropes. She needed time to think this through. Why was this happening?
Tohru managed to struggle enough to make contact with Kyou's chest. In a cloud of smoke, an orange cat now lay on the grass instead of a boy.
Akito turned abruptly at the front of the group and he shoved his way through the Juunishi and took in the scene. Grabbing the collar of Yuki's shirt, Akito thrust him at Tohru,"The rat will take over your task, you useless cat," he seized Tohru's hair roughly,"Nothing will stall my plan."
Yuki bent down simultaneously with Shigure and lifted Tohru up while Kyou padded along in the grass.
No one would look into her eyes. Tohru could feel hot tears flowing down her face. They weren't melancholy tears, they were tears of helplessness and white hot fear.
What was going to happen to her? Was she going to die?
Through the trees, there could be seen a rushing river.
End of Flashback
Shivering body fraught with fear and pain, Tohru awoke with a sharp gasp. She was in a soft bed. A thick yellow blanket was draped over her sweating body and a purple pillow was cushioning her head.
Tohru sat up in shock, and as she did, a white cloth fell from her forehead. When she felt it, it felt wet with her sweat.
She was in a small, but comfortably furnished bedroom. It obviously belonged to a girl, what with the posters of male Japanese singers, the polished desk of pink stationary, and the multitude of plush dolls. A pile of pastel colored blankets was in one corner of the room.
A window was to her right, and the view was spectacular. A pale gold sun was rising in the distance and willowy trees graced the lush garden outside.
The door to her left squeaked open,"Ah... you're awake."
Flashback
With a sudden, fearful realization, Tohru started to strain ferociously against her ropes. Strangled screams and shrieks were issuing from her muffled mouth.
A soft, warm hand was tugging gently at her sweaty, cold one. A tearful Kisa was looking mournfully at her with golden eyes.
Yuki and Shigure gently placed Tohru on the grass, an inch from the edge of the dark river.
A maniacal laugh filled the air as Akito crouched next to Tohru,"It's only what you deserve... afterall, weren't you trying to break the unbreakable bond between the Juunishi and me?" He smirked and stretched out one, pale and bony forefinger. It scratched a long, bloody line against Tohru's cheek,"This is punishment."
Akito stood up.
"Do it."
End of flashback
Tohru's head swiveled wildly to the door. A girl who seemed a few years older than her was standing with one hand on the knob, the other supporting a tray of steaming food.
"Where am I?" Tohru asked, suddenly feeling a dull ache in her brain.
The girl walked over to Tohru and balanced the tray carefully on Tohru's lap,"You're at my house. My name is Kawazoe Michiyo. I just moved in three weeks ago," she peeled back the foil from a small plate," It was a graduation present from my parents. They must live about four miles away from here."
Suddenly, the girl gave Tohru a concerened look,"Do you feel okay? I found you at the side of the road, all bloody and beaten. What happened to you?"
Tohru opened her mouth to answer but, she fell silent again.
"Well," Kawazoe sighed,"Whether you want to tell me or not, I guess you should have a bite first. You were out for two days."
Recovering her former politeness, Tohru nodded and said,"Thank you very much, Michiyo-san."
"Hey, I just graduated early from two years of college, you don't have to make me sound so old. You can call me Kawa-kun," said Kawazoe. She stood up and started heading toward the door before whipping around,"Wait a minute. I didn't catch your name."
Tohru hesitated, then very slowly answered,"Tohru Honda."
Flashback
Kisa and Momiji burst into tears while Hiro looked on, face hollow and eyes blank, as if he couldn't fathom what was happening. As if lost.
Yuki and Kyou moved forward at Akito's words and balanced Tohru in their arms, who looked at them with hurt and despair. Finally, they looked down at her face as they tossed her unceremoniously into the glacial water.
And they all watched with hollow eyes and raging emotions as Tohru bobbed, splashing hopelessly with her thin body at the surface, before vanishing into the water.
Akito gave a satisfied cackle before knitting his pale, spidery fingers behind his back and walking away, as the other looked into the rushing water, as if hoping to see the one face they had always looked forward to seeing.
Tohru was carried further downstream, away from the Sohmas' view. She was fighting, bucking against the freezing water, trying to get at least one more breath at the surface before being dragged under again. At this rate, she'd catch hypothermia. Eyes closed and head shaking, Tohru reached up with her rope tightened fingers and ripped off the tape Yuki had sealed her mouth with.
Mercifully, her drenched head resurfaced, taking in the arching blue sky with a giant gulp of air, before the rush of the water overtook her again.
Below the raging surface of the river, Tohru could barely see. Thick clouds of dust and sediment were pelting at her, clumps of algae and water plants drawing at her feet.
Bubbles issued from her mouth as her supply of oxygen ran lower. She started kicking at the water with her feet, although limited to the smallest of kicks because of her bound ankles. But, she managed to propel herself against the clayish wall to the left of her, her bare arm banged against it, gaining bloody scratches.
Amazingly, Tohru saw an opening in the cave wall. It was large enough for at least three people to wriggle through, so she impeled herself towards it. The water inside was much calmer, if a bit dustier. She managed to surface quite easily, tiredly treading water like a roped stick. It was almost like a cave of clay, starting from a niche in the clay wall, and eventually turning into a bigger hole. More or less, it was an air pocket in the river.
Tohru could hardly believe it, she had survived. Surely, if it hadn't been for this air pocket cave, she would have drowned.
As Tohru explored the small air pocket, she observed that half of it was underwater, and half of it above water.
She weakly paddled herself towards the entrance, making sure not to move too much forward, or she would be swept away by the current again. As if they were placed there just for her, Tohru found crude, rocky footholds in the clayish mud wall, leading back up to higher ground.
Bracing herself, she took a deep breath and plunged into the current again, automatically clinging to one of the lower footholds with her bound hands. It took her longer than usual for her to heft herself up the footholds, since her wrists and ankles were roped together.
Finally, she achieved a great feat as she collasped onto the damp grass above the wall where we began this story... survival.
End of Flashback
Tohru looked down at the first hot meal she was about to eat in three days. It seemed that the meal was comprised entirely from canned foods. Canned tomato soup, canned peaches, canned tuna, and a glass of water.
Nevertheless, she was enormously grateful for Kawazoe's efforts and feasted more ravenously than she usually would have eaten before the 'incident' had occurred.
And soon, she fell asleep again.