I do not own Fruits Basket or any other anime/series referenced to in this fanfiction.

Chapter One

It was late at night in the forest. There was a full moon high in the sky; you wouldn't need a light to see. On the forest path, four people walked home. There was the dog, Shigure; the rat, Yuki; the human Tohru, and an orange cat, Kyo.

"I'm warning you, dirty rat, next time you try that, I'll rip your freaking head off!" Kyo growled at his cousin.

"You say that every time I upset you," Yuki replied calmly, obviously not fazed by the cat's cocky threats.

"Whatever, I mean it this time," Kyo hissed.

"You're saying you weren't serious before?" Yuki guessed sarcastically.

"Of course not!" Kyo yelled, cat ears forming at the top of his head comically.

"Alright, you two," Shigure said. "Is an hour not long enough to settle this dispute?"

"Fine, we'll settle this tomorrow, rat-boy," Kyo said dismissively, turning away from him.

"Isn't the moon so pretty tonight?" Tohru asked, looking at the full moon. It was bright enough it seemed to have a bluish tint around one edge.

Yuki nodded, amused and admiring at how she would change the subject to one that was harmless as soon as he and Kyo quit fighting. Shigure glanced up at the moon as well.

"It is a sight," Shigure agreed. "We do best to look out for wolves tonight."

"What? Wolves?!" Tohru cried, freezing like a pile of snow. Yuki smiled softly at her.

"Of course, I was only kidding!" Shigure laughed as Tohru composed herself once again. "There aren't many wolves in these parts. Even if there was, I think they would stay away from humans."

"Oh," Tohru muttered, a light blush coming across her face.

"Even if wolves tried to attack us, Miss Honda, I would protect you," Yuki murmured in his soft way. Tohru smiled and blushed deeper. Why did he have to be so charming?

They walked casually in silence, listening to the crickets chirp softly. They were almost home when something on the side of the path caught their eye.

"What's that?" Kyo asked, stopping to point at the strikingly white figure.

They all gasped and stopped walking immediately. The figure was a human girl. She was dressed in a white kimono of some kind. She had black hair that arrayed around her face in a way that they couldn't see how long it was. The oddest thing about her was a dark, furry tail curled around her legs. She also had what seemed to be thick, furry ears on the top of her head.

Tohru's first thought was that the girl was a Zodiac animal. She relayed every Zodiac animal in her head, trying to remember which ones were furry. She looked a lot like a dog, but Shigure was the dog. Kyo's thoughts were similar; he thought along the lines of what she was and what was she doing here. Yuki's thoughts were more concerned about what she was doing unconscious in the middle of the forest. Shigure was surprisingly mature about this and worried for her health as well.

In fact, Shigure was the first to try to approach her, but Kyo held him by the back of his collar.

"Kyo, she might be hurt," Shigure protested.

"Yeah, I know that, but right now I don't want you to go near her," Kyo snarled, annoyed.

The girl yawned as she stretched out, making the others become statue-like in their surprise. She sat up on her knees and opened her amber eyes. Turning to the bright moon, she inhaled a large portion of air. Doing this made her unnaturally pointed teeth bare. A loud, long howl burst out of her mouth as her surveyors jumped.

They knew at once that she was a wolf, not an animal of the Zodiac.

Her startling and majestic howl was interrupted when she fell forward on her hands, coughing once. A few drops of blood splattered silently on the ground. After this, she fell to her side and remained motionless.

Shigure tried to step forward again, but Kyo punched the side of his cheek hard enough to make him fall to the side.

"I don't care what happens to her, you're not carrying her!" he shouted, enraged.

"We can't just leave her here, Kyo, she's hurt," Tohru objected quietly.

"I know that," Kyo said, a little bit awkward since he was admitting he cared about the wolf-girl.

"Wait a minute, what if her howl was summoning the others?!" Tohru suddenly shuddered, terrified.

Yuki, who no one saw step forward, cradled the girl in his arms and lifted her off the ground.

"It's okay, Miss Honda," he murmured to Tohru. "We should help her."

Tohru relaxed and nodded once, following the others as they began to walk again. Once at the house, Shigure put some pillows and blankets on the couch. He, of course, earned a rough slap from Kyo, who felt Shigure was just trying to be a pervert.

"What was that for Kyo?" he whined, rubbing his head.

"I know you just want to sleep with her, pervert," Kyo growled, irritated once again.

"That's ridiculous! Someone as young and innocent as her? I would never," Shigure said, rising off the ground. "But she is pretty cute."

"Alright, that's it!" Kyo said, rolling up his right sleeve.

"Um, guys, don't you think it's a bit late for that? And we have a guest, she needs to sleep, remember?" Tohru said, off to the side nervously.

"Be quiet," Yuki commanded. The three were surprised at his sharp tone and looked up at him. The girl was tucked into the blankets already, Yuki stood in front of her. "She needs to rest."

Kyo merely walked up the stairs. Shigure stared at Yuki for a moment, but shrugged off the incident. Maybe it was a sign that Yuki really cared about her.

"We'll talk to her in the morning," Shigure said, heading towards the stairs.

Tohru and Yuki nodded. Yuki turned to the wolf one last time and stroked her cheek softly before following Tohru upstairs.

That was the first chapter. I do intend to FINISH THIS STORY. Don't worry. Tell me in the comments what you think. If anyone seems out of character, or it wasn't paced correctly, or I made a simple error regarding Fruits Basket itself, I'd like to know so I can correct it right away.

I probably won't upload for about a week; I'm going out of town until next Friday. But I'll have the next chapter up before you know it.