Author's Notes: Hello, people! This a oneshot I have been thinking of for a long time now, but I could never get it into words until now. This is also my first Fruits Basket fan fiction. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my best friend Kukki-chan (a.k.a. Amai Melody), who I will dedicate this story to.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket in any way, shape, or form!!!
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Walk Away
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Soft, gentle eyes the color of coffee gazed out at the never-ending black satin illuminated by the tiny diamonds and the large pearl that stood so high up in the night sky. Her stare, though tender and kind, was full of a hidden sorrow. A sorrow that was so well-hidden it was almost invisible to the naked eye.
Her brunette locks swayed as the night draft caressed her being. She was sitting on the roof of her grandfather's house, just like she had many times before with a certain someone in another house, but that someone was gone. Where he had gone, she was not sure, but she knew he and the other people who had once lived in that house were gone and they would never come back.
Never…
That simple five-letter word haunted her. Those people would never come back, and neither would her deceased mother. Never would they come back to her again. Never would she be able to see them once more. Never again would she feel their warmth and love. Never again…
She stood up suddenly and wiped the small liquid crystals that were forming in her chocolate orbs. She didn't want to cry anymore, she had done too much of that so many times before. She wanted to be strong and be able to prevail over her weakness, but it wasn't so easy.
Every time she thought about them, her grief would overcome her. She felt powerless against it, no matter how much she fought it.
She forced herself to stop crying, and got off of the roof and headed towards her room. On the way there, she encountered a kind old man with a worried expression on his face.
"Were you out on the roof again tonight?" The old man questioned the young adolescent girl in front of him. The young girl tried to smile despite the horrible pain she was feeling at the moment.
"N-no, I just went to the restroom, that's all, grandfather." The girl tried to assure him.
"Tohru, I can see right through you. I know by your face that you were out on the roof again." The older man told her.
"I guess I can't fool you, grandfather." Tohru said smiling lightly. Tohru smiled and muttered a kind 'good night' to her grandfather before continuing on her way to her room.
She laid down on her soft, comfortable bed and let sleep take over her.
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The alarm clock shrieked as it stared back at Tohru's sleeping form. Tohru groaned in complaint at the obnoxiously load screaming of the alarm clock, which had disturbed her peaceful sleep. She slowly got up and turned the alarm clock off and got off of the bed.
After she took a shower, her drowsiness had disappeared. She was wearing her blue school uniform and had a book bag in her hands. She seemed to be ready to go on the short walk to her high school.
On her way, the only thing that accompanied her were the silent leaves that were dancing around her in the cold autumn breeze. She smiled at them. The smallest things made her smile widely.
She couldn't help it. In her mind, everything, whether it was people or nature, was beautiful.
Time passed by quickly, and before long, she was standing at the entrance to a large building which happened to be the high school she and many other students attended.
She was met by two girls her age when she crossed through the doors of the school. One was tall and had blonde hair, the other was not as tall, but had black hair tied into a single, long braid. The tall one smiled a wide smile as she spotted Tohru. She appeared tough and strong. The other one was smiling slightly and was wearing black nail polish and seemed a bit distant. Also, her eyes were like dark abysses.
"Hey Tohru!" greeted the blonde-haired girl.
"Hello, Uo-chan!" exclaimed Tohru cheerfully. "Hello, Hana-chan!" Tohru added to the raven-haired girl, who greeted her back.
The sound of a bell resounded through the whole school; signaling the students that class was about to begin. Hearing the bell, all the students began walking to their classes en masse. Arisa, Saki, and Tohru without a word began to travel to their class.
As soon as they got to the room they were supposed to, they all sat in their corresponding seats. The bell rung once again, indicating it was time to start.
The teacher immediately got started on teaching. Soon, the teacher's words started to become jello as they were inaudible and too hard to understand anymore to Tohru. She began once again thinking of the people she once knew as she stared at the two empty seats on either side of her.
The desolate desks used to have bodies in them, but those two bodies were gone forever…
Forever gone…
Those words also haunted her like ghosts every day. There was no single day that they didn't haunt her. She looked out the window and remembered a lonesome silhouette looking out of it.
"Tohru…" she imagined a boy with peculiar orange hair calling out to her from the window. He was holding his hand out to her, but it was only her imagination fooling her, making her believe what can never be again, making her suffer even more.
"Honda-san what's wrong?" Another voice from her imagination called to her.
"Yuki…" She whispered softly. Arisa and Saki, who were sitting next to her, looked at her with a questioning stare. What was the purpose of their friend's strange behavior? As much times as they asked her, she would only reply by giving them one of those false smiles and saying, "Me? Okay? Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be fine?" Arisa and Saki didn't buy their friend's little lie. They knew something was bothering the klutzy girl. However, since they could net get out a word from Tohru, they decided that they would wait until the day came when she would say so all by herself; without them asking her.
"Tohru… Tohru…" A soft voice rang through Tohru's tense thoughts. 'Who's calling my name?' thought Tohru. "Tohru! Wake up!" The voice that had been calling her was just the voice of the teacher.
"Eh?!" responded the alarmed Tohru. She was so deep in thought during the class that she had missed the teacher's entire lesson.
"I was just telling the class about the Battle of Sekigahara. I trust you were deeply in thought about the battle, correct? Or am I wrong?" Questioned the teacher.
"N-No, you're right! I was thinking about the lesson you were giving!" Tohru said; disheveled.
"Oh really? How about telling us about it." The teacher replied.
"Uh… um… it was a battle?"
"Really Tohru, you must pay attention! The Battle of Sekigahara took place on October 21, 1600…." Tohru sighed as she once again tried to focus on the teacher, but she got distracted again, and her friends followed suit.
The loud wailing of the school bell rang, interrupting all three of the girl's thoughts. School was now done with for the day, and students could now return to their homes and relax; that is, after they have done their assigned homework.
Tohru got up from her seat, and muttered a farewell to her two best friends. They returned the farewell, and let her be. Tohru walked through the long hallways of the school in order to get to an exit. Many events had happened in the school for her. She remembered that this is where she had first met Akito, or the head of the Sohma family. The Sohma family was precious to her; they had been her companions for a long time. Until recently, she had been living with them, well, at least with three members of the Sohma family anyway. In her time together with Kyo, Yuki, Shigure, and all the other Sohma's, she had grown close to each one, making it even more painful for her when she would have to separate from them, but she didn't imagine that her stay with them would be cut so short.
When she was with them, she knew that one day everybody would go there own separate ways, but she didn't imagine it that they would all end up separating like this. All 12 members of the zodiac had gone away almost suddenly… It has been long since they disappeared from her life, but she hasn't stopped missing them ever since then. She wondered if they had forgotten about her already… Did they miss her as well?
'Of course not! I was an outsider; afterall, they don't need me… But I still wish I could have saved them from their terrible fate as members of the zodiac!' Tohru berated herself inwardly.
Soon, the distracted Tohru ended up in the streets surrounding the high school, and was on her way home. She wasn't necessarily paying attention to where she was going; letting her feet do all the thinking of where her home was located.
'It's all so strange… The strangest of all is the fact that nobody seems to be bothered by their disappearance except me… It's like they all forgot about them.' Tohru mused as she absent-mindedly walked through the cross walk; not looking both ways before she crossed the street.
All too suddenly, she heard the squeal of a car. She was immediately snapped out of her thoughts as she turned her head rapidly to face the incoming car. Her eyes widened considerably, and her heart began thumping wildly against her chest; her adrenaline increasing. Her mind screamed for her to move out of the way, but her legs refused to move. The person inside the car was going insanely fast, and whoever was inside the car tried their best to stop, but the brakes couldn't stop the car from its wild rampage. Tohru could only watch as the car came near her, but suddenly she felt arms wrap around her taking her to safety, which in that case was the sidewalk.
She saw a flash of orange, and there, beside her was an orange cat with an expression of anger on its face. Tohru's expression was one of extreme shock, and it took her a moment to register who the orange cat exactly was.
"K-Kyo? Kyo!" Tohru said as she squeezed the little cat in her embrace, who looked extremley confused. Tohru realized that as soon as Kyo returned to his human form, he would be nude, so she ran behind a building, taking him and his clothes with her. She gently placed him on the floor, and turned opposite from him. Soon, she heard a soft poof and the angry voice of a boy.
"Stupid girl, what were you thinking?! Really, if it weren't for me, you could have been injured!" Kyo yelled at her, now fully dressed.
"Kyo-kun! I'm so happy, you're back! I missed you so much!" Tohru exclaimed cheerfully with a genuinely happy smile. The grumpy Kyo only looked at her strangely before answering.
"How do you know my name?" He asked her; suspicious of how she uttered his name with such adoration.
"Kyo-kun, don't you remember me? It's me Tohru…" Tohru said soflty. Kyo looked like he was in deep concentration, as if trying to conjure every single person he had met until now.
"Uh, no. I don't know you. Look, you didn't see anything, and I didn't just turn into a cat, got it?" Kyo said rather curtly. Tohru looked at him with her big chocolate brown eyes.
"But, Kyo-kun… I knew that you were a cat long before this happened… And how can you not remember me? It's only been about eight months since we last saw each other…" Tohru declared sadly. How could've he forgotten so easily about her? Was she really so insignificant?
"Well, look: I'm sorry, but I don't remember you, okay?" Kyo assured her. He knew that she had seen him turn into a cat, and that he would have to tell Hatori to erase her memory, but somehow, he didn't want to. She stirred a curious feeling within him, and for some reason he felt like protecting her no matter the cost. 'Who is this girl?' He thought. A faint image of a happy smile of a girl passed through his mind.
"Oh… Okay…" the small, trembling voice of Tohru interrupted his thoughts. He looked towards her and saw tears forming in her now dull brown eyes, which happened to be so full of life just a while ago. 'He doesn't remember me… Were his memories of me erased…?' The tears that had formed around her eyes were now spilling out of her earthen orbs freely. She couldn't help but cry.
"H-Hey! D-Don't cry! W-Why are you crying!" exclaimed the alarmed Kyo. He felt something tugging at his heart, like if his insides were being squeezed by a heavy metal chain. For some strange an unknown reason, he couldn't stand to see this girl, Tohru, in so much agony.
"I-I'm sorry to b-bother you… I should get g-going now. I r-really a-am sorry." Tohru choked on her words; the tears still spilling out of those soft and gentle coffee eyes. Kyo could only stare stupidly at her; totally confused of what he felt. Tohru turned around as if to leave, but Kyo grabbed her by the wrist; stopping her from going anywhere. "Eh?" She muttered out.
"Ugh… Nevermind…" He said as he let go of her wrist. He didn't know what had driven him to do that, it's like he didn't want her to leave, but he still didn't know why. Kyo had never been so confused in his whole entire life until now.
Tohru decided that it was best if she left, for she knew that her presence was causing him mass puzzlement. She started walking away, leaving him behind. She heard footsteps coming towards Kyo and heard the familiar voice of Momiji question, "Hey, Kyo! Who was she? And why was she cryin'? Did you make her cry? Kyo, you're so mean!"
She wasn't completely sure, but it was clear to her that whatever had happened during those eight months of their absence, they had lost their memories of her.
"I would rather live on, carrying the memory till the end... Because even if it is a sad memory, even if it's a memory that hurts me... Even if it's a memory I would rather forget... If I carry it with me until the end... Without running away from it... Someday I will become someone who won't lose to those memories ... because I believe that there is no memory that's okay to forget…" She remembered Momiji's exact words. Tohru's tears still continued to flow, and she continued to walk away, slowly and indecisively; hoping that they would call out her name any minute, saying, "Oh, Tohru, come back! We still remember!" But such a thought never came, and she ran; not strong enough to bear the pain she was feeling.
Kyo stared after her, and suddenly many memories started to flow through his mind like a river. His mind was flooded with memories of a smiling girl calling out his name.
"Kyo-kun!" The girl called to him. He remembered him thinking once that his name had a specail ring to it when she spoke it. The memories bombarded him one after another, and finally, he remembered everything. "Tohru…"
"Huh? Who's Tohru?" The curious Momiji asked. Kyo ran as if to catch up to Tohru, but he was stopped by the imposing hand of Hatori.
"Kyo… It's better if you didn't. Akito would be displeased if you ran after her. In fact, I beleieve he would get displeased if he found out you acquired your memory back." Spoke Hatori. He wore a guilty expression on his face as he remembered the task Akito had commanded him to do. He had been ordered to erase all of the younger members of the zodiac's memories of the young girl who had brought them hope and happiness.
Tohru continued walking away; from them and from her past with them. Somewhere within her she knew that this would be the last time she would see them, and also that it would be better if she walked away from them. She felt like it was better for them and for her if she never returned…
"Tohru!" Kyo called out, but the distance between them was far too great, and what Tohru heard was nothing more than a faint whisper in the gentle breeze of the wind. Tohru thought of that faint voice as only part of her imagination, but to Kyo, it was a call of frustration and sadness, because he too, felt like this was the last time he would ever see her again...
And she continued walking away…
OOO
Author's Note: So, how was it? Great?Cheesy? Corny? Just plain dumb? Well, whatever your opinions were, I would like to know! Oh, by the way, this is not following the current Furuba storyline, since currently in the manga, Kyo was freed of his curse. So, yeah, please leave a review!
