Ritsu Sohma sighed and looked around his new apartment with a satisfied smile

Hello and welcome to my new project. This whole thing has been written during my uni lectures and even some tutorials. Heh, anyone would think I was bored. This is my first Furuba fanfic in a while, so I hope you all like it. I would like to thank dextrousleftie, whose impeccable fanfiction made me realise how well OC characters work with Ritsu and the other Sohmas.

So, on to the fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any other recognisable character. What you don't know is mine! Yay!

Learning to Live

Prologue

Ritsu Sohma sighed and looked around his new apartment with a satisfied smile. He knew that moving out was going to be hard, especially with his crippling shyness, but he also knew that he had to try, before he suffocated under the family's oppressive nature.

His apartment was small, but he loved it. It meant freedom, and the beginning of a new life for the young monkey. The twenty-one year old had finally stopped apologising for everything at the top of his voice, mostly thanks to Tohru's kindness and patience, but his shyness still made it hard to stop entirely.

Ristu sighed again, sadly this time. His parents had not approved of his moving away from home, but he knew it was something he had to do. He started college on Monday, a three year course in sound engineering at the Sagara School of the Arts. He was looking forward to it, this new life of his. With a happy smile, Ritsu began to unpack his things.

Monday dawned, and Ritsu began his first day at college. He sat himself roughly in the middle of the lecture theatre, having got there early enough to take his pick. Slowly, the theatre began to fill, and a girl his age sat down beside him. "Hi!" she said brightly. "You looked lonely by yourself, so I thought I'd come keep you company."

"Uh… hello." Ritsu said shyly

"I'm Takamura Nanako." She said kindly, sensing his shyness.

"Sohma Ristu." Ritsu replied hesitantly, and the girl smiled. "So are you doing the sound engineering course, or is this an elective?" she asked.

"N-no, this is a core topic for me." Ritsu stammered. "W-what about you?"

She grinned. "Nah, just an elective. I'm a vocal major, but we all have to do a topic outside our major." She explained. "It's the same for you right?"

Ritsu nodded. "I'm taking history of musical theatre. I like that kind of music." He said. "And it only teaches the music, they don't make us act." He added with obvious relief.

Nanako laughed. "I'm taking that too, it's a core. This will be fun." She was excited, and Ritsu couldn't help but smile back. Her flamboyancy was catching. She was silenced prematurely by the arrival of the lecturer.

Ritsu thoroughly enjoyed the two hour lecture, but he knew that Nanako had gotten bored half way through. When it was over, Nanako waited patiently for him to pack up before saying "C'mon, coffee is calling us." She smiled.

"Oh, uh… are you sure?" Ritsu asked nervously, uncertainly.

"Of course I am! Nervous little thing aren't you?" she said. "C'mon Ri-chan, I don't know about you, but that coffee is calling my name."

"Takamura-san…" Ristu began.

"It's Nana-chan." She cut him off. "Takamura-san is my mother… and possibly my grandmother." She pulled him up and dragged him away.

Finally, when they sat in a small on-campus café, Ritsu hung his head. "I'm sorry." He mumbled.

Nana looked taken aback. "For what?" she asked.

"For being do nervous. I'm just not used to doing this sort of thing, or having someone really talk to me."

Nanako sat, shocked, staring at him in perplexity. "Kid," she said finally, "What did your parents do to you?"

Now it was Ritsu's turn to stare in shock. "W-what do you mean?" he stammered.

"I don't mean to upset you Ri-chan." She said quickly. "But if no-one has really ever talked to you or befriended you before, then your parents had to have kept you fairly secluded. It must have been very lonely."

Ritsu thought for a moment that he might burst into tears. He was shocked that someone he had just met understood him so well. He took a deep breath and said haltingly. "Living in the Sohma household is doesn't make for a happy childhood." He paused, trying to find the right words. "We weren't abused or anything, but my cousins and I never experienced much love or affection. We all dealt with it differently, and I dealt with it by dressing like a girl for most of my teenage years. I've always been this shy, worse actually, until not too long ago, and it made me feel more comfortable. Still does really. My mother and father were embarrassed by me and always apologising for me, but I couldn't stop." Ritsu couldn't believe he had said so much to a girl who was almost a total stranger. Guess that proved how comfortable he was around her.

Nanako was quiet for a long time, processing the information. Suddenly, she grinned. "Cross-dressing huh?" she asked and Ritsu nodded. She laughed. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

Ritsu stared at her. "It is?" he asked, confused.

"Of course!" she answered, giggling like a maniac. "You're gay, aren't you?" she guessed.

Startled, Ritsu nodded, speechless that she could read him so well. "See?" she said "This is great! Every girl needs a gay best friend, and cross-dressing makes it even more fun!" she giggled.

Ritsu found himself laughing with her, his heart warmed by the words best friend, and more than a little relieved that Nanako wasn't fazed by his tendency to cross-dress, and wondered briefly that if she would be so calm about his tendency to transform into a monkey.

Ritsu spent most of the day with Nanako, separating only to attend their individual classes. In fact, from that day on, Ritsu and Nanako became best friends, and would've been joined at the hip if not for the fact that it would cause Ristu to transform.

Even the family noticed the change in Ritsu. While he was still shy beyond belief, he had somewhere found the confidence to speak for himself without backing away, and the ability to hold a conversation in a rather small, quiet voice. All the members of the zodiac who gathered at New Year were greatly impressed by this new Ritsu, who blushed and said, without stammering, that Nanako had to take the credit.

Kagura squealed, "Oooh! Is she your girlfriend?"

Ristu shook his head. "No! Of course not!" he said. "She's my best friend."

Even Hatori smiled at that, glad to see that Ritsu was at last living is own life.

It was a year and a half before Nanako finally found out Ritsu's secret. Half way through their second year, the pair were on their way back to Ritsu's house after their last class, like they always did on a Friday night. Ritsu let them in and said "Coffee, Nana-chan?"

"Love one." She replied with a smile. She groaned and laid her head against the table she sat at. "Jeez, I swear Narugawa-sensei was gonna kill me! It's a wonder I still have a voice!"

She heard Ristu laugh from the kitchen and grinned wickedly, amazed how far her shy friend had come in the last year and a half. Still grinning, she got up and crept into the kitchen. "Think its funny do you?" she asked, poking him in the sides.

"Yes!" Ristu said with a small shriek, skittering away from her. "You're only whinging anyway."

"True." Nanako conceded absently, wondering for the thousandth time why Ritsu never let her get close enough to hug him. Suddenly determined, she waited until Ristu returned to the coffee pot, putting his back to her briefly as he reached up for a mug, and then pounced. "Gotcha!" she laughed.

The laughter died when there was a loud 'pop' and a cloud of orange smoke. Nanako dropped to her knees in disbelief as she stared at the monkey she was now holding. "Oh my God…" she breathed.

"Oh no… no, no, no!" the monkey in her arms began to babble.

"You can talk?" Nanako exclaimed, and Ristu fell silent. Nanako found herself stroking the tiny monkey's fur. "You're so soft." She murmured. "And so cute!" she hugged the small body to her tightly. "Now I know why you're so afraid of close contact." She mused, her fingers gliding soothingly, yet absently over the orange fur. "I would be too."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Nana-chan." Ritsu said miserably. "I'm forbidden by family law."

"It's all right Ri-chan." She replied. "I understand, and I'm not mad. You're absolutely adorable."

"I-it doesn't scare you?" Ritsu had regained his stammer.

Nanako shook her head. "I'll admit to being a little freaked out." She answered softly, "But I'm not scared." She saw the young monkey's eyes filling with tears, and instantly sought to halt the flow. "Ri-chan, I'm not going to stop being your best friend just because you turn into a monkey." She said sharply.

"Y-you're not?" Ritsu asked.

"Of course not!" Nana replied indignantly. "Why would I turn my back on the best friend I've ever had over something like this?" she wiped the tears from his furry face.

He was silent for a long time before he said quietly, "Thanks Nanako."

She smiled. "You're welcome."

The monkey smiled weakly back, and clambered neatly out of her arms to await the transformation back.

When he finally transformed and dressed, they sat down with the long forgotten coffee. "My cousins and I transform into the thirteen animals of the Chinese zodiac." Ritsu explained softly.

"Thirteen?" Nanako asked, "Oh! The cat, right?"

Ritsu nodded. "We are ruled by the head of the family, and no one is supposed to know! I mean, it's a wonder he let Tohru keep her memories!" he ranted, scared not that he would lose his friend to the family secret.

"Ri-chan." She reached over and clasped his shaking hands. "No one has to know. I'm sure as hell not going to tell anyone."

"R-really?" Ritsu asked.

"Really." Nanako promised. She frowned. "But what do mean by keeping memories?" Ritsu sighed. "Cousin Hatori can erase memories." He said. "If you ever meet him, be careful."

"I will." Nanako promised, patting the back of his hand and smiling gently.

Ritsu smiled back, glad to still have Nanako on his side.

And thus ends the prologue. I know it might seem a little rushed, but it's actually designed to be that way. I wanted to set the scene for the bulk of the story, and this is set a few years before that. By the way, Ritsu will not end up with Nanako, this is a slash fic after all!

See you all soon!