I decided to write a Halloween fic! It was going to be with Riku and Sora, only I couldn't think of anything. Inspiration struck when I heard about this one story about a real-life incident, so I thought, what the heck. It's a quickie so it's not as good as Life, but it's kinda weird and (I hope) unconventional.

Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba, but YUKI is MINE.

Tohru Comes Home

Kaoru drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and looked out at the Japanese traffic in frustration. At this rate, he wasn't likely to get home for several hours. The new car, a gift from his father, was a prize possession of his, but, at times, it got impractical. "Should've just taken the subway," he muttered under his breath.

As he scanned the traffic in search of some opening, in case some miracle occurred and he saw it before everyone else, his eyes turned lazily to the rearview mirror that showed him the sidewalk right next to his car. It wasn't usually crowded, since this was a bridge and it tended to be an inconvenient route, and no one seemed to be passing by. As he watched, though, he saw a girl coming up from behind. Her hands were clasped around the school bag in front of her, chocolate brown hair bouncing occasionally against her blue winter uniform. Her eyes were partially closed and she looked deep in thought, but her lips were moving. Was she talking to herself? Kaoru blinked in confusion. The thought was strange to him since he tended to keep to himself. He just couldn't imagine being prone to talk out loud about such important things.

"Hey," he called out as she passed, lowering the window. "Could I give you a ride?"

She blinked at him for a moment, her mouth half-open in the formation of another word, but then she shook her head violently. "N-no! I—oh, don't get me wrong," she added quickly, seeing the surprise in his eyes. "That's very nice of you—thank you very much—I just couldn't. It's too much trouble—I mean, look at all the traffic!"

"Are you sure?" Kaoru cast a doubtful look toward the end of the bridge. It looked awfully far away and, if she had even farther to go, then it was almost rude of him not to take her there. "It's no problem, really, miss. I just hate to see you walk so far."

"Um…okay," she agreed reluctantly, still looking at the traffic. "It's just that it's kinda far. I don't want to waste your gas…"

"Gas," Kaoru repeated, shrugging. "Comes and goes. It's no big deal, I promise."

"Thank you so much," she said to him enthusiastically as the door slammed shut behind her. She obediently pulled on her seat belt and turned to smile at him. He was surprised by the intensity of that smile—almost as if she had everything in the world she ever wanted and she could never ask for more. He suddenly noticed that a flowery scent seemed to have come into the car with her, although what kind of flowers he couldn't place.

"So…um…Kaiwara High?" he asked finally, feeling oddly flustered.

"Yeah. Oh, you too?" she asked, noticing his uniform.

"Uh-huh." He frowned suddenly, trying to recognize her. Being a third-year and about to graduate, he was by now usually aware of who was around the school or not. "Freshman?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Nope. This is my second year."

"I haven't seen you around."

"Yeah. My schedule's a little weird this year."

"I see. Well, I'm Kaoru Sohma."

She blinked. "Sohma? Wow, there sure are a lot of you," she remarked, smiling again. "I never know who I'll run into next!"

He nodded, not knowing quite what to say to that.

"I'm Tohru Honda. Nice to meet you!"

"You, too."

Tohru suddenly looked deep into his eyes, so deep that she caught him off guard. "Wow," she said suddenly. "You have really purple eyes. They remind me of someone I know."

"I guess it's not really a common trait to have."

"Yeah. I noticed most of the Sohmas have weird hair colors and stuff." She blinked and looked at his short hair, a mess as always. "Yours is kind of like Kisa's, now that I think of it."

Kaoru blinked and frowned again. Kisa? A Kisa Sohma? He couldn't remember one in his family, but then, he hadn't been exposed to it all that much. Even so, it seemed like that name had been mentioned to him once before. Maybe she was one of the Juunis—

Oh. Right.

He looked at Tohru as she watched the scenery go by, humming complacently to herself, and then forced his eyes back to the road. Did she know? Should he tell her? It really wasn't his place, but maybe she knew already from having Sohma friends. "Um…do you know about the…about how sometimes if you hug someone—"

"They turn into an animal? Yeah, that's happened to me a few times," she told him. An excited gleam appeared in her eyes. "Are you one of them? Which animal are you? Or wait…haven't I already met them all?" she murmured almost to herself, and started counting silently on her fingers.

"No, I'm not one of them. Sorry," Kaoru told her, a bit relieved. It would be very bad if she decided to hug him in the car and he suddenly turned into a cow. Or a rat. Or pretty much anything—it would be exceedingly difficult to drive in that state.

"Okay. I think I've already met everyone anyway," Tohru explained. "It must be fun to be able to do that. They say it's a curse, but it has to have a bright side somewhere, right?"

"I guess so," Kaoru replied neutrally. He didn't really see that there was one, but the girl could dream if she wanted to.

"Oh! I'm sorry—we're almost there now," Tohru told him, looking out the window again.

Kaoru looked up in surprise. Somehow it seemed like time had melted away, and they were approaching the Sohma estate. His house was farther away, a bit to the left, but the thought of living close to her made him feel strangely privileged somehow. "Are you to the right?" he asked, seeing a dirt road curve away from the main one.

"Yeah. Just down that road a little ways and I'll get out before you reach the turn. I really appreciate all you've done for me," Tohru told him then, smiling that brilliant smile once more.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Kaoru looked out the window, realizing that this was the middle of the forest. Was there a house out here? He frowned trying to remember a house—and who might have lived there. His eyes narrowed. That house…

"Thanks again!" Tohru said to him, jerking him back to the present. "Bye!"

"Goodbye."

She slid out, closing the door and waving once before she left. Kaoru watched her go, her flowery smell fading from the car. Her form grew more and more slender as she walked away down the dirt road. He looked away for a moment, sighing and straightening a few things that had fallen out of the side pocket of his door. When he looked back, she had vanished.

I

The next afternoon found Kaoru craning his neck above the sea of students, seeking out Tohru. He hadn't seen her all day and, although he knew she had a hectic schedule, it seemed like he would have seen her by now. It was almost winter, after all, and the school year was about to be half over.

He finally spotted her walking away from the students, talking to herself as she had the other day and smiling silently. Pushing through a group of chit-chatters, he approached her quickly. "Tohr—I mean, Miss Honda!" he called.

She turned, a smile on her face. "Yes, Yu—?" But then she stopped short, blinking at him. "Oh. Hi Kaoru!"

Kaoru felt a sudden surge of jealousy without knowing why. "Hello, Miss Honda. Do you need a ride home?"

Tohru suddenly looked flustered. "Ah—you've already been too kind, Kaoru! I don't want to end up taking your services for granted—"

A smile tugged at the lavender-eyed boy's lips. "I already told you. It's fine, I promise. It's getting closer to winter and I wouldn't want you to catch cold."

"A cold…!" Tohru looked panicked and checked her forehead quickly. "Um…all right, but still! I think you're doing too much for me. I hope there's some way I can repay your kindness!"

"It's a pleasure, Miss Honda."

Tohru suddenly blushed a brilliant scarlet and looked away. "…calls me that."

"What?"

"I-it's nothing. Never mind."

But she was silent throughout the course of the trip and her face was troubled.

I

Kaoru was looking for her the next morning to say hello and it had occurred to him that perhaps she would need a ride to school as well. But he didn't see her in the crowd at the front of the school and she didn't show when the bell rang and the throng trouped inside. Perhaps she was late, he surmised. Or absent.

But he saw her, unfailingly, in the afternoon as she left the school and started home. "Happy Halloween, Miss Honda," he greeted her.

"Oh—you too, Kaoru!"

"I actually didn't bring the car today," he admitted, feeling a sense of shame. "My father wouldn't let me. He's a little worried I'm using too much gas."

Tohru looked stricken. "It's all my fault! Oh—I'm sorry, Kaoru! I'm really sorry! I knew you shouldn't waste your gas on me—!"

"Don't worry about it," Kaoru assured her. "It's just Dad. He gets like that sometimes." He waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, I thought we'd take the subway. There's a new stop that's close to the Sohma estate, so it should be easy on both of us."

"Okay! Hana has to take a subway to her house, too! It's fun to ride on," Tohru told him happily.

"Hana? Oh—Hanajima? The little dark one?"

"Yeah! Saki Hanajima. Have you met her?"

Kaoru frowned. "Not Saki—I met a Sakura Hanajima, but not Saki."

"Well, she has a lot of brothers and sisters. Sakura might be one of them," Tohru explained. She fell silent for a time as they walked toward the subway. "So…what's your dad like?" she asked finally, a strange tone in her voice.

"Stiff," Kaoru told her promptly, looking sour. "Distant. I think we'd have a better relationship if I could understand him, but it seems like I can't get him to talk to me."

Tohru suddenly drew closer to him, smiling. "I'm sure you can! You just have to try. Sometimes people don't understand each other because they aren't listening hard enough."

Kaoru considered that for a moment as they walked. He'd always taken it for granted that he was listening, but now he couldn't remember anything his father had said in his defense. He could only remember the things he had objected to—the ones that made him mad.

"I could probably pick you up in the mornings, too," Kaoru offered when they were on the subway. "It's really no trouble at all," he added quickly when she started to object. "Sometimes I worry you might be late. Oh—by the way, I didn't see you come in this morning. Did your walk here work out okay?"

The brown-haired girl frowned, cocking her head to one side. For a few moments her eyes were distant, remembering as though long ago. "No," she said finally. "I remember. I wasn't late—I tripped just this morning and spilled my books on the ground, but I wasn't late."

"Hm. I must have missed you."

"I think so. I'm really kind of plain-looking, I guess. You wouldn't spot me in a crowd!" she added light-heartedly.

"I think you're beautiful."

There was silence and Kaoru blushed, turning away sharply. He hadn't meant to say that—he hadn't meant to say it at all—but somehow it had just slipped out. A rustle at his side told him that Tohru had turned away also. "Um…thank you…" she murmured softly.

The awkward silence continued until the subway ride was over and they were walking toward Tohru's house. "The others usually walk me to and from school," Tohru explained when Kaoru offered to walk her home. "I guess they haven't been around much, huh…" Her voice had suddenly turned shaky with suppressed tears.

Kaoru looked at her quickly, concern appearing in his eyes. "Miss Honda—Tohru—is there anything wrong?"

"Well, sort of." Tohru's feet started to shuffle along the dirt road self-consciously. "It's no big deal, really, but…the others haven't been letting me into the house."

"…What?"

"It's locked from the inside, so I can't get in," she continued, and her arms seemed to draw closer to her body protectively. "I don't think they can hear me. But it's okay, really—I just sit out there, do my homework, and then walk to school in the morning. I have to finish, you see. I promised my mother I would…"

"If you don't mind my asking," Kaoru began in a voice edged with iron, "who is it that you're living with?"

"Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo Sohma!" Tohru proclaimed triumphantly. "I haven't seen them in a while, but I've been living there ever since they brought me in from the woods. Uh—I know that doesn't sound reassuring—it's not like I was raised by wolves or anything, I was just living there so Grandpa could get the house remodeled. Now that I think of it, I haven't seen him, either…"

Kaoru tuned out as she went off on a tangent, shell-shocked. Yuki? And Kyo? Sohma?

"I haven't talked to you about any of them, have I?" Tohru asked suddenly. "Wow. I'm surprised—I just love to talk about Yuki and Kyo. They're both very nice people, and very interesting. Anyway, I'd better go. I can tell you about them tomorrow!"

And she was gone down the side of the road, starting for the moderately-sized house in the center of a clearing. Kaoru watched as she approached it and rattled the door hopefully. Then her head came down, as though bearing a great weight, and she walked back and sat down on a rock, pulling out her homework.

Yuki…with this poor, defenseless girl…

Kaoru turned on his heel and headed home, intent on some answers.

I

"Dad!" Kaoru shouted, the door slamming behind him. "Who is she, Dad?"

His father looked up from some papers and blinked owlishly, returning slowly and laboriously to the present. Violet eyes landing on his son, he pushed aside a stray hair of violet-gray and raised his eyebrows. "Kaoru, haven't we already talked about slamming the door?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Tohru Honda," Kaoru demanded. "Who is Tohru Honda?"

A strange emotion appeared in his father's eyes, and they drifted away to land on the papers again. For a moment, Kaoru thought his father was ignoring him, but then Yuki spoke. "She was supposed to be the one. We all thought she was going to be the one to lift the curse."

"Right, I see. So you trick her into waiting outside an empty house every day. Is that it?" Kaoru asked, ignoring the fact that his voice had grown caustic and his tone was unusually sarcastic. "That sounds like something Akito would do to her, if he was still alive."

Yuki turned curious violet eyes on him. "What are you talking about?"

"She's at the house. I've been bringing her there for the past three days—that's why I've been late," the boy explained. "Why are you doing this to her?"

But Yuki was shaking his head, concern in his eyes. "That's not possible, Kaoru. The Tohru Honda I knew died in a car accident almost twenty years ago."

Kaoru stepped back, almost stumbling, and fell into a chair, his fingers flying to his forehead. "…But…I…"

Yuki rose, going toward the phone. "If this is the case," he began, his voice holding a quiet agony, "then Tohru's spirit is not at rest. I'm sure…" He hesitated. "I'm almost willing to bet that she's been going to school every day for twenty years, trying to finish and keep her promise to her mother. She…Kaoru, she doesn't know she's dead."

"But I saw her," Kaoru protested weakly, trying to remember. There had to be a time when he touched her, or perhaps she fell against him, or something. Something concrete and real that would prove to him that she was alive. "She…she rode in the car and pulled on the seatbelt…I saw it move, Dad…"

His father, however, was standing by the phone, the receiver pressed to his ear. "Kyo," he said after a pause and Kaoru could hear an expletive or two shouted through the earpiece. Yuki waited patiently for Kyo to finish ranting. "Kyo," he said again, "I think you had better come over here. It's about Tohru."

There was a shocked silence on the other line and an almost audible click. Yuki hung up and sighed, crossing to sit in front of Kaoru once more. "So, she still thinks we're all at the house?" he asked.

"Yeah. She…she doesn't show up for school in the morning, but she's always walking home in the afternoons. She said that she never sees any of you anymore," he added.

"I'm not surprised," Yuki admitted glumly. "After she died, we all broke apart and moved out of the house to get on with our lives. There was too much there. Too many memories and hopes."

"She started talking about living in the woods," Kaoru murmured thoughtfully. "Something about that. I wonder why…"

Yuki leaned back in his chair, chewing thoughtfully on a violet-gray strand. It was a habit he'd picked up in the last few months. "I guess I had better start at the beginning, then, shall I?" he asked. When Kaoru looked at him expectantly, he nodded. "I first met Tohru Honda when…"

I

The door banged open abruptly and Kaoru jumped.

"You're late. Stupid cat," Yuki added as an afterthought.

Kyo entered the room, his blood-red gaze on Yuki. "You almost forgot again, you damn rat."

"I did. I'm sorry."

"Feh." Kyo's eyes moved to Kaoru. "Is he the one with his hands on Tohru?" he asked in a low growl.

"Don't start cheating on Kagura, now. You know what happened the last time you got Tohru involved."

"It's none of your damn business, Yuki, and on that note you'll want to stay away from her too," Kyo added bitingly. "I'd hate to tell Haru why his lover boy's always at Shigure's old house."

Kaoru smirked. Pa. He'd be infuriated—he might even go black, which he hadn't done since Kaoru was a baby and the telephone repairman did a patch-up job on a faulty line.

"There's no danger of that, Kyo." Yuki stood a second time and this time Kaoru stood with him. "We're probably going to have to somehow get a hold of Shigure and go over there. Then we can figure out what to do."

"About that," Kyo broke in, jabbing a thumb at the door. "We have company."

Two women were standing at the door, seeming to radiate a protective shield between them around a space that was almost painfully vacant. "Good afternoon, Yuki," Hana greeted him smoothly, her dark eyes sweeping over Kaoru briefly. "It's been a while."

"Didn't you two move to Tokyo or somewhere?" Kyo demanded sourly.

"We did, but I thought we might need to be here today," Hana explained. "From the look of it, I was right."

Kyo growled disconsolately and moved toward the door. "Great. Now we have to deal with the psychic and the psycho. What else can go wrong?"

"Hi, Kyo! Are you having fun destroying your own house now?"

"What are you doing here?" A vein had popped out on Kyo's head and was now throbbing angrily.

"I saw you leave," Shigure told him simply. "It seemed like it might not be a bad idea to follow."

"You goddamn stalker." A thought struck Kyo just then and he groaned, rolling his eyes. "Are you still going after those high school girls?"

"Of course. A man like me never grows old!"

"That's not what the gray hairs say."

"They're really black. You can't tell in this light."

"Just keep telling yourself that."

Yuki called an end to it and the four of them were briefed on the situation. Shigure regarded it thoughtfully, a hand on his chin. "I'd say we should bring the others into it," he began, "but I think it would be better if we dealt with this one ourselves. It sounds like Tohru only wants to go home—she doesn't need a huge welcoming committee."

"My sentiments exactly," Kyo muttered.

Hana shot him a very direct look and he fell silent.

"The best thing is to go on over there right now," Uo told them fiercely. "Tohru's been suffering all by herself. We have to end it before it hurts her more."

With this in mind, they piled into Yuki's car and, with some shifting and pushing and cursing on Kyo's part, started along the familiar road to Shigure's old house. Kaoru, sitting on the floor of the car and hoping fervently that Yuki could keep his driving under control and not call this to a policeman's attention, caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see that Kyo had shifted, and that an unreadable expression was on the orange-haired man's face as they turned in along the old dirt road.

"She's not here," Hana alerted them when they got out of the car and approached the house. "She's been here, but she isn't here right now. I can't tell where she's gone."

"We should probably go back inside the house, for now," Shigure suggested, his voice oddly serious. "That should probably call us to her attention."

"Kaoru, please wait outside," Yuki said to him as the others gravitated towards the house. "This is very important to all of us, and…"

"I understand, Dad. It's okay," Kaoru assured him, although he felt a twinge of rejection. "I'll see if I can find her. Maybe she's gone all the way back to the school."

Yuki gave him a grateful look and disappeared into the house.

"…stupid rice cooker is still here," Kaoru heard Kyo say from somewhere inside. "I wonder if your stupid garden's still intact."

"As a matter of fact, it is. No thanks to you. Have you been desperate for leeks lately?"

"Shut your face! Or do you need me to do that for you?"

"You can try. It'll be just like old times."

"In your dreams! This time I'm gonna beat you, you damn rat!"

"There they go again," Shigure remarked to Hana and Uo. "If that doesn't draw Tohru, I'm not sure what will."

Kaoru smiled a bit wanly and wandered away from the house, wondering vaguely what it was going to be like when Tohru walked through that door. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see her go. She'd grown on him in such a short time and he'd expected to see her for much longer than it had turned out.

"Kaoru?"

He looked up to see her standing there on the dirt road, her schoolbag in her arms. "Hello, Miss—ah, Tohru," he amended quickly. "We were…I was looking for you."

She giggled then, a bright, bell-like sound. "I went to school, silly!"

Taken aback, he stared at her for a moment. "But…"

"I hope I graduate soon," she said then, looking up at the sky reflectively. "Only half the year is over and it seems like it's been so long already. Another whole year…"

"Weren't you late? It's almost seven o'clock already," he remarked to her.

"No, it's only four," Tohru told him, pointing to the sky where the sun was heading for the horizon. "I just got out about an hour ago. I didn't see you today. Or…yes I did…" She frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry! I don't remember. I just can't tell the days apart this year."

A thought occurred to Kaoru then and his question was hesitant. "Tohru…was there a car crash while you were walking to school?"

She frowned and that distant look came into her eyes again. "Oh, I think there was! I almost got hit, but I just tripped and dropped my books. I wanted to stay and help, but I had to get to school."

Then she's been reliving the day she died…for twenty years…

"Tohru, I think you'd better come with me," Kaoru told her with a heavy heart. As much as he would have preferred her to stay, she couldn't—she just couldn't. It wasn't fair to her.

Tohru blinked, making Kaoru visualize a question mark dangling above her head. "Okay," she agreed a bit uncertainly. "Where are we going?"

"To Shigure's," Kaoru explained as they walked, restraining the urge to say "old house."

"Okay! Maybe I can get in this time," she remarked brightly.

"I think you will."

They approached the house and Tohru reached for the door. Just then there was a crash as Kyo flew through the side of the house and very nearly collided with a tree. "Damn you!" he shouted, getting to his feet and running back inside.

Kaoru looked Tohru quickly, wondering if it had registered with her that Kyo was now a man fast approaching middle age. But excitement had appeared in her eyes, and she pulled back the door happily. "They are here! I knew it!"

She rushed inside. "Hello Kyo, and Yuki, and Shigure! Uo and Hana? Oh, hi! I didn't expect you to be here!"

The five of them stopped abruptly, turning to look at her. For a moment, it seemed like they flickered before Kaoru's eyes. Kyo and Yuki's bodies shrank to the size of teenage boys and the gray hairs beginning to appear on Shigure's head vanished. Uo and Hana walked forward to seize Tohru's hands in their own, a fierce anxiety on either face.

"Tohru," they said as one.

Tohru…it's time to come home now.

"Okay, Mom. I'm ready now."

There was a flash of light and she was gone. Uo and Hana's hands fell to their sides again as they retreated, their fingers linked together and their heads bowed in unutterable sorrow. The wrinkles on Shigure's face seemed suddenly more tired and Yuki and Kyo, standing still with dull eyes, seemed to have forgotten their raised fists.

The departure was quiet and abrupt. Uo and Hana seemed to vanish as Shigure and Kyo took their cars back to their houses. Yuki stood outside with his son, his eyes still distant, recalling memories of a time twenty years before. It was then that Kaoru remembered something Tohru had said to him earlier that day. "Dad," he said quietly. "Could I…could we talk for a while?"

Yuki's answering smile seemed to be directed both at Kaoru, and perhaps at someone else.

I

Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed it, and I really hope you thought Kaoru was a stupid Gary-Stu at first, because that was the point of the beginning. And then the major twist. In the meantime, Yuki and Kyo must have all kinds of fun picking out Halloween costumes. XD

Yuki: You could go as a pumpkin, you know.

Kyo: THAT'S NOT FUNNY!

Yuki: Or a cat. Maybe Tohru could help you with that.

Kyo: (growl)