Jokess- Hello and welcome to the first, but hopefully not last, chapter of Bind Us, my OC Fruits Basket story. Though I am doing this mostly out of the personal satisfaction of seeing an rp in fanfiction form, any and all reviews and critiques are more than welcome. I have a lot planned and ready, but I don't want to reveal too much now, so I hope you enjoy and understand the story as it progresses.

As always, I don't own Fruits Basket or anything related to it. However, most of the OC's are mine, save for a few my rp friend created. They have had some minor changes made to them, age, a name, some backstory, but these characters are hers, and credit goes to her for the following characters: Kana, Akio, Hikari and Ouri Sohma. Thanks Bori, may you one day see this fanfic of mine(ours?) and be delighted by it and any spoilers we have not yet rached.

Now, without further ado, here is Bound by Tradition the first chapter of Bind us so we May be Free

Bound by Tradition.

"Hiroto, no, that yellow snow isn't coated by honey, don't eat it!" exclaimed a man in his early thirties, dressed in little more than a pair of faded red pajamas and snow boots. Just twenty minutes ago, Hiroto had woken him up at three in the morning, demanding they go outside since he had been patient for an hour already and could no longer wait to play. Yuri, the man now running after Hiroto, had ignored the six year old's pleas and had pulled the covers up higher, mumbling something about the snow being there later in the morning. Of course, Hiroto hadn't listened, and had made a huge ruckus before flinging himself outside dressd like it was 32 below instead of just under freezing. With little choice, Yuri had gotten up and hadn't even gotten undressed when Hiroto had popped up in his window, a handful of suspiciously yellow snow in his hands.

"That's exactly what Kana said you would say! And she also said this snow would be good, and she doesn't lie!"

"That doesn't mean she thought you'd eat yellow snow Hiroto! She was teasing you, joking because yellow snow means-"

Before he could explain further, Hiroto used his free hand to throw a fistful of snow at him. From just feet away, the snow hit Yuri in the face, temporarily stunning him as well as making his face go numb. "Hiroto, that isn't funny!"

"You sure look funny though!" the young boy replied, obviously not put off by Yuri's current mood. "And besides, Kana said you would say that to. She knew you would try to be sneaky, like she said, you are the rat!"

"If I were so sneaky would I really be so obvious as to do everything Kana expects?" Yuri asked, now certain that someone was pulling a joke on him. Ha Hiroto been serious about eating the snow, unaware what it was, he would have already.

"It would mean you were being extra sneaky because trying to do something so expected is totally unexpected in this case." With this said, Hiroto took a bit out of the snow, and his face instantly transformed from one of glee to absolute disgust.

Horrified, and thinking he must have miscalculated the current situation, Yuri shouted to Hiroto, then for help and then, only seconds later, ran to the boy. Kneeling down to him, Yuri hadn't said so much as a word when a bucket full of snow was poured down his pajama tops and bottoms. Surprised, Yuri leaped up only to lose his balance and fall face first into the snow, much to the delight of a now hysterical Hiroto.

"I'm glad you found tat funny, because you just about scared the life out of me."

Laughing too hard to reply, Hiroto could only laugh harder as his accomplice, Kana Sohma, found her chance to pour a bucket of snow over Yuri's head, resulting in nearly loosing his balance and eating snow again.

Turning to Kana, Yuri quickly stood up, glaring at her the best he could through his teeth chattering and shivers. "Was the snow on my head really necessary?"

"Yep, of course." Kana replied, beaming as she walked toward Hiroto to share in their mirth at hs expense. And probably to protect themselves from him since, most days, Yuri would have payed the both of them back for his embarassment.

"Right, of course." Yuri muttered with a sigh, rolling his eyes. "Well, consider this battle won. As much as I would like to play in the snow, we do have preperations for tommorow, the dance and feast is tommorrow and that means we all should get some sleep."

"Right, it is New Years for us starting tommorow." Kana muttered. "I almost forgot, and it still feels just like yesterday it was Ai and I dancing. Can't believe that was a year ago already."

"Time does fly when you're young." Yuri agreed, with a wink to the eight year old Kana. "I wish it had flown faster this year though. It's going to be interesting seeing Eiji and Ai have to dance. If nothing else, Tadahiko won't be happy."

"That old stick in the mud is never happy, and all his shots hurt me more than him no matter how much he says otherwise."

"Well, then we best be inside already Hiroto, unless he end up needing to give you another shot after all." With a truly disgusted look, Hiroto nodded at Yuri before running inside and getting some water boiling.

From the window, Yuri watched his God for a moment before turning back to Kana. "You should be getting to sleep to young lady. Even if you won't need a shot, Tadahiko will never let me hear the end of it if you catch a cold now."

"It's not like I live far away." Kana grumbled, her stubborn streak flaring up as she glanced back at the house she lived in, just across the street from where he and Hiroto lived. "And its not like anyone would miss me if I was late anyway."

"You still should get some sleep, if not for your own sake, but for Hiroto's. He'll be sad if you oversleep and aen't there to play with him later today."

"Yeah, I guess." she grumbled in an eerily animal tone. Perhaps not surprising, she was the tiger after all, plus she had just been with Hiroto. The boy always seemed to make Kana curse more prevelant. His presenece did that to everyone to some extent, but Kana was affected the most, perhaps because she was the closest in age to Hiroto, as well as the closest in general.

"Good night then." Yuri replied as Kana walked off, her arms crossed as if she hated the idea of having to listen. She probably did, but she also had to understand it was best for everyone is she listened. Hiroto was her god, everyone's god, and having him upset was not an option. As the closest to him, she was expected to put him before herself, no questions asked. It certainly couldn't be easy, but Hiroto had made his decision, even if he didn't realize it.

"She really is very lucky. Even though her parents left like that, it gave her Hiroto. They can't ever be equals, or even friends really, but they can still depend on each other. I wish I could still be lucky, standing on your own feet isn't easy, especially in the snow." With a sad smile, Yuri looked to the sky, the melting snow mixing with the tears that had started to fall. "I'll save my last dance for you Shiro, you deserve to be remembered that much at least."

That said, now colder than ever, Yuri went back inside and helped Hiroto with the finishing touches on some hot cocoa and tea before sending him to bed admist a feeling that something had started to go wrong.

Hiding just beyond where the light touched, a small, shadowy figure watched as Kana headed home. Once the girl was inside, the figure moved, never once stepping into the light as it made its way to Kana's door, to freedom inside this prison.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

Jokess- Not much happening yet, but I like this start anyway. It's going to set a lot up for the chapters to come.

And, now for a quick summary of the characters introduced thus far, in order of introduction
Hiroto Sohma, 6, God
Yuri Sohma, 32, rat
Kana Sohma, 8, tiger
Eiji Sohma,?,?
Ai Sohma,?,?
Tadahiko Sohma, doctor,?,?
Shiro Sohma,?,?