Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket
Finding a Place
An Onigiri Tale
Tohru Honda placed all the fruits she bought in the basket she was carrying. A peach for Yuki, a pineapple for Ayame, a strawberry for Kisa, a rambutan for Hatsuharu, a pear for Hiro, a banana for Shigure, a mango for Hatori, a plum for Rin, an apple for Kagura, a lychee for Momiji, an orange for Kureno, grapes for Ritsu, a grapefruit for Akito and a tomato for Kyo. She didn't know why but she felt like buying something for all of them. Tohru paid for what she bought and started walking home. Along the way she passed by a shop that sold Onigiri and she bought one. Since she didn't feel hungry she placed it in her bag and decided to eat it later.
x
In the basket…
The little onigiri woke up and looked around. She could see fruits everywhere and since she was a very friendly onigiri she decided to go and make friends with the other fruits. The little onigiri ran off and accidentally bumped into a pear. The pear angrily turned around to look at her.
"Watch where you're going you clumsy little onigiri" The pear angrily told her. The little onigiri just looked at the pear in shock and bowed down to apologize.
"I'm sorry pear-san. I didn't mean to-" But before the onigiri could finish what she was saying the rude pear cut her off.
"What? Are you trying to say that you run around without looking where you're going?" The pear asked "Are you saying that your such an idiot that you don't actually know where you're going? Sheesh! I hate onigiri's like that!" The pear finished and angrily looked down at her.
"I-I'm sorry pear-san I will try to watch where I'm going next time" The little onigiri apologized. The pear rudely snorted at her. The little onigiri doubted if the arrogant pear actually heard her.
"Pear-kun what is going on?" A soft voice from behind the onigiri asked. Surprised the onigiri quickly turned around and saw a cute little strawberry standing behind her.
"Kyahhh! What a cute little strawberry!" The onigiri cried. The strawberry blushed and shyly whispered a word of thanks. Jealous, the pear grabbed the strawberries hand and stalked off. The little onigiri watched the two walk away and decided to go find more friends in the fruits basket (But she doubted if she made friends with the strawberry and pear) It didn't take long for her to find another fruit to befriend. This time it was a pineapple. The little onigiri shyly approached the pineapple and gave it a smile.
"I am the king of fruits! All of you will bow down before me!" The pineapple cried, vainly strutting around the whole place. "I have a pretty green crown which all of you don't have and I have a lot's of-"
"Umm…hello pineapple-san" The cute little onigiri shyly mumbled. The pineapple did not seem to hear her. The onigiri tried again and still the pineapple did not pay any attention to her. She sighed and slowly started walking away. The little onigiri stopped in her tracks when she heard voices approaching her. She turned around and say that it cam from an apple and a very bright red thing that the onigiri could only guess as a tomato. The tomato was running away from the apple.
"I LOVE YOU!" The apple cried. A mad gleam could be found in her eyes. "MARRY ME!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" The tomato cried and he ran faster.
"SOMEDAY TOMATO MY LOVE, WE'LL BE TOGETHER!" The apple cried and she continued her mad pursuit after the poor tired little tomato. The onigiri just stood there, confused. What on earth was going on?
"Plum I love you" A male voice to her left said. The onigiri quickly turned around and saw that it was from a rambutan. The rambutan was kneeling on one knee and he looked as if he was proposing to the plum.
"No you don't rambutan now leave me alone" With those cruel words the pretty plum turned around and left her heart broken suitor.
"Why…" The rambutan asked in a pained whisper. A loud snapped filled the air and the rambutan started hitting everything in sight. He ran towards the pineapple and pushed it. After that he started hitting the wall's yelling "Fruit Juice" all the time (A very offensive swear word in the plant kingdom).
The onigiri decided to leave the demented rambutan alone, in fear that his vocabulary would get more offensive (Like the worst word of all, coke). The onigiri kept on walking and slowly she started feeling tired. She sat down the ground and massaged her poor aching legs.
"Ouch my feet hurt" She muttered. She didn't see the grapes standing beside her. As soon as the grapes heard he let out a gasp and delivered apologies to the little onigiri.
"I'M SORRY FOR CAUSING YOU SO MUCH PAIN! TO EVEN HURT SOMEONE'S FOOT THAT WAS UNTHINKABLE OF ME! I APOLOGISE! I APOLOGISE TO THE WHOLE WORLD!" The grapes yelled and he started bowing down at the onigiri. The onigiri was getting scared by the strange behavior of the grapes and she did the only thing a scared little onigiri would do, she ran. She kept on running and running until she was sure that the demented grape wasn't following her anymore. That was weird! She thought as she painfully sat down the ground. She painfully started massaging her feet.
"Is anything wrong?" A male voice from behind her asked. The cute little onigiri quickly turned around and saw that it was from a yellow mango. The little onigiri nodded and the mango bent down to check her foot. "Everything's alright. Nothing to worry about" He muttered. The mango continued his check-up when they both heard a hoarse cruel voice calling for the mango.
"Mango come here right now. I need you" The little onigiri quickly turned around and saw that it was from a sour grapefruit, beside the grapefruit stood a stern looking orange that seems to be guarding it. Sighing the mango stood up and dutifully went to the sour grapefruit. Is everyone here so weird? The onigiri thought before she stood up and started walking again. She sighed. Maybe her friends back in the shop were right. Maybe onigiri's didn't have a place in a fruits basket. She continued walking when a small lychee ran to her and started speaking rapid lychos (Lychee language).
"ly lylyl lychee!" The lychee said cheerfully. The little onigiri just stared at it, confused. "Ly lylylylylychhee lychee!" the lychee cried and it jumped up and kissed her on the cheek. The little onigiri blushed and started running as fast as she can. What a strange lychee! The little onigiri thought.
She kept on running and running when she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, turned around and saw that it was from a banana.
"Hey, slow down. Why's a pretty little onigiri running around the basket like something's wrong?" He asked. The banana gave her a flirty wink. The onigiri blushed.
"I'm sorry banana-san but the fruits here are so-so weird" The little onigiri apologized.
The banana chuckled and looked at her "That's because we are weird. Do you have a date for tonight?" He asked as he gave her another one of his flirty winks. He saw the cute little onigiri blush and he started laughing like a maniac and the little onigiri decided to leave. Why was everyone in this basket so strange?
She kept on walking and walking. Until she came to a hidden place where she found a peach and the tomato she saw earlier, fighting.
"I am a fruit!" The tomato heatedly yelled. The peach let out a sigh and leveled the tomato's heated gaze with his own calm ones.
"No you are not. You are a vegetable" He calmly replied.
"I am a fruit!" The tomato yelled his red face getting redder. "The grocer placed me on the fruits section"
"The grocer didn't place you in the fruits sectioned a couple of old ladies did" The peach calmly retaliated "The placed you on the fruits section when they realized that tomatoes were not worth wasting their money on"
"Why you! You'll pay for this-"
"Please stop!" The little onigiri cried. She hated it when fruits fight. The peach and tomato looked at the little onigiri in surprise. "Please stop fighting." The peach and tomato looked at the little onigiri in surprise. "Everyone should live in peace. No matter what or who we are we are still food that humans love to eat and we should be proud by that" The little onigiri added. There was a pause and the peach and the tomato looked at each other.
"Well…she is right" The peach mumbled. The tomato grumpily nodded in reply. The onigiri was right.
"That's great! Now you can shake hands and say sorry" She brightly told them. The peach and tomato grudgingly shook hands and exchanged words of apology. The onigiri let out a smile and she started to leave. The peach and tomato watched the onigiri go.
"Hey, wait!" The tomato cried out. The onigiri stopped in her tracks and looked the the two of them.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Have you found your place here? In this basket?" The tomato asked. The little onigiri sadly shook her head. The tomato and peach fell silent for a moment.
"You can sit here with us" The peach kindly offered.
"Yeah, we have more than enough space and I also heard that a perverted banana is lurking around somewhere. It's not safe to be alone. Especially for an onigiri like you" The tomato added.
"Really?" The onigiri asked in shock. The two gave her a nod and she happily looked at them with tears of happiness in her eyes. "Thank you!" The onigiri gratefully cried. The peach and tomato gave her a smile and they made space for her. The onigiri happily sat down in between the tomato and the peach. She had finally found a place in the fruits basket.
x
"Tohru you're back!" Shigure cried. Yuki and Kyo both let out relieved sighs. They both had the terrible idea that she got lost. No one could blame them since Tohru usually never pays attention where she goes and she usually ends up lost. The rest of the zodiac was there in Shigure's house waiting for Tohru (Even Akito) and they all gave Tohru a warm welcome.
"So what did you buy for us onee-san?" Kisa asked in a soft voice. Tohru gave her a smile and showed her the fruits basket she was carrying.
"A strawberry!" Tohru brightly replied. "I brought fruits for everyone" and she started handing everyone the fruits she brought for them.
"What did you buy for yourself?" Kagura asked as she was happily munching on her apple.
"An onigiri" Tohru replied. She started searching for the onigiri and she let out a tender smile when she saw it places in between the tomato and peach. The onigiri had found a place in the fruits basket. Just like how she found her place among the Sohma family.
The End