In the Corner

By Black Rose

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket but the poem is mine.

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Each day you just pass me by,

Barely even notice I'm there

Kyo sat in a corner in the Sohma family house. It was New Years again. How he hated New Years. He had to go back to the Main House and 'spend quality time with the family.' Ha! Quality time . . . yah right . . . more like sit around and be scorned for being the cat. Hardly anyone even looked at him, let alone try and 'catch up on old times.' No matter what they said, it was just another excuse to exercise their authority, and he knew it even if no one else did.

Nothing ever goes my way,

Just pain and misery everywhere

He watched with silent envy as the Jyuunishi members all went into the special hall for the banquet. They looked reluctant and he never understood why. THEY all had a place where they belonged. THEY all knew who they were. He had no place. He was totally alone. he turned his back on the door as it slammed shut with a loud 'BANG' that had a certain finality to it.

I've seen the world,

Inside a glass bottle

He stared at the strange people around him, most socializing, the rest eating, then there was him. He always felt apart at these 'parties' though he had come to think of them more as torture than as a party. He felt like he was on the outside looking in, he didn't really know many people here and the people he did know mostly scorned him for being cursed as the cat. There was only one person who didn't hate him for being the cat, Kagura, and he would rather go through a hundred of these torture sessions that admit that he actually wanted to spend time with her; he would never live it down! She would always be following him around saying 'You wanted to spend time with me BEFORE!'

And I'm here to say;

It's not a pretty sight.

He turned more towards the wall so he wouldn't have to look out at all the strange and hostile faces. He was feeling especially melancholy today, and he didn't want to show it, it would be 'disrespectful'. He had gotten that lecture who-knows how many times. He sighed and glanced at his watch hoping against reason that he could leave without seeming 'rude' he would never hear the end of it if he left and was rude or whatever they called it, only a few more hours . . . just a few more.

One day I could disappear,

Suddenly nowhere

And you would just stare and think,

'Didn't someone used to be there?'

He thought about running away from the stupid party, he had tried that before as a child, it never worked though. Sometimes he just wished he could fade away into the off-white walls and then no one would be able to find him and he could live in peace. Or maybe leave the retched curse behind somehow and then he would never have to come to these parties again. He could move far away and no one would notice until it was too late. Maybe go somewhere in the mountains to train and become a hermit for the rest of his life, foolish dreams he knew for he had dreamt them many times, they would just drag him back again. He never quite understood that. They hated him and couldn't stand to be near him most of the time, but they forced him to come to these torture sessions and if he left they would act like it was the worst thing in the world. Maybe it was just Akito's need for complete control over everyone bearing the Sohma name.

But why should you care?

I'm just a nameless face, walking in the crowd

Most of these people he had never seen in his life, he wasn't surprised that no one came to talk to him. He was just another distant relative that you saw only once a year, if at all . . . why should they care, he had never met someone new at these parties and he never expected to . . . the people didn't care really . . . not at all.

So I just sit here,

And watch the fun

Just pass me by,

In my little corner

He caught a glimpse of a group of people laughing hysterically, and wished furiously that he could belong to one of those groups . . . just a few more hours . . . just a few more . . . he thought wistfully as he turned his face back to the cold, unchanging walls of his corner.

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There! Done! I just redid it, like it better? I had to get it up to 800 words because I wanted to enter one of my fanfics into a contest a friend told me about and this is my best one, I think. I doubt I will win but it doesn't hurt to try, right?