Forgotten Over The Years

Tohru stared out the window blankly, her large blue eyes frosted over, cold and blank. Her body was relaxed and her chin rested easily in her hand; if one didn't know her they might say she was relaxing and enjoying the scenery.

She stared, stared, and stared. Not moving as the minutes flew past, her body motionless, and her mind empty. The cheerful smile that once lit her face as a teenager had disappeared, too easily, long ago, in a matter of days. Years had past since she had lost the will to smile, and the naive innocence was long gone. Year after year she looked out of this fogged window, dreaming. Dreaming of things that once were. Dreaming that maybe they --he-- would come back.

"Tohru?" A soft voice asked, and a hand rested on Tohru's shoulder. Tohru turned, and gazed at the intruding girl. "Are you alright?" The girl asked and sat beside Tohru, tilting her head so her blonde hair fell across her cheek. Tohru gave her a small, wavering smile.

"Uo-chan…" She whispered and took the blonde girl's hand, squeezing it lightly. "I'm fine." Arisa Uotani gave her a skeptical look and slung an arm around Tohru's thin shoulders.

"Have you eaten lunch yet?" Arisa asked. Tohru opened her mouth before clamping it shut tightly, a blush creeping across her pale cheeks. She shook her head. Arisa shoved a lunch box at her. "No need to go starving yourself, you're not the model, remember? You don't have to be super skinny."

"Ano, I… I wasn't…" Tohru gasped before taking the box and shoving some of the food into her mouth. Arisa smiled at the chipmunk-cheeked girl in front of her, catching a small glimpse of the friend she once knew. Tohru smiled at her.

"Do you want to go to the roof?" She asked, and tapped Arisa's hand. Arisa was about to refuse when she saw a look of desperation cross Tohru's face. She looked away, frowning.

"Okay…" She murmured and helped the small girl beside her up, taking small strides so Tohru could keep up with her. They sat on the roof together, the wind brushing past them, softly ruffling their hair and kissing their cheeks.

"You haven't been eating enough," Arisa said, noting Tohru's small waist and bony wrists. Tohru smiled dreamily, and either ignored her or didn't hear her.

"This was his favorite place you know." She murmured softly, lifting her eyes to the skies, blue matching blue. Arisa winced; she didn't want to talk about him. "He would come up here when he was upset, and most of the time I would come too, and that would cheer him up. He always loved high places." She continued and turned to Arisa, her eyebrows tilted and a tear slid down her pale cheek. Arisa's eyes widened and she gulped down her own tears.

"Tohru…" She murmured and reached out, pulling the fragile girl into her arms.

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Kyo Sohma stood solemnly on the sidewalk, his auburn hair ruffled in the wind. His strange, golden eyes drifted across the busy streets while his hand clutched the handle of his guitar case tightly. He gave a stiff smile as a taxi finally pulled up.

"1-22-14 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-Ku." He said, swinging the door open and plopping into the seat roughly. The man in the driver seat smiled at him.

"So you're going to the Yoyogi-koen apartments?" The driver asked, and then chuckled, his hands clutching his jiggling stomach. Kyo frowned at him.

"Just start driving." He said and turned back to the window, clutching the guitar tighter in his lap. They were silent for a few moments before the man spoke again, his voice carefully light.

"What type of guitar is that?" The driver asked, though he kept his eyes on the road.

"A Martin." The fat man raised an eyebrow at him.

"So, um, do you plan on investing in the music business?" He asked, eyeing the guitar. Kyo couldn't help but give a small grin, the mention of music cheering him up a little. He turned to the man, his attention fully on him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. Made a contract with the music company, Choux's Music." Kyo's awkward smile faded and he played with the handle of the guitar. His foot tapped his suitcase at his feet as he waited.

"Well, here we are." The man said and gave Kyo a business-like smile as he climbed out of the car. "That will be 800 yen." Kyo frowned and fished into his pocket before handing him the money. The fat man chuckled as he counted it before turning back to Kyo, closing the car door.

"Good luck with your music." Kyo stared after the taxi as it sped away and he turned to face the tall apartment building behind him.

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A young man gracefully slipped out of the bus, leaving his fellow, female passengers blushing. He walked away from the bus, each step graceful and long, not sparing it one glance as it pulled away noisily, leaving a trail of smoke behind him.

"Sir… Sir!" A loud voice cried at him and Yuki Sohma turned to him, a celebrity smile plastered onto his face. The young man hesitated and blushed.

"Ah… Ano… I thought you…" Yuki continued to smile and reached a hand out.

"Yuki Sohma. I believe you are Fujita Hoshi?" The man nodded a puzzled look on his face.

"Ano… Y-Yes…" He said, blinked a few times before picking up two of Yuki's suitcases and swept an arm gracefully at the large, expensive looking hotel.

"Welcome to the Asagaya Amista Hotel. We hope you enjoy your stay here." He said and walked briskly into the hotel. Yuki sighed tiredly before trailing in after the man.

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"Kyo-kun?" Kagura asked, smiling as she heard a cough come from the other side of the phone; he was too cute.

"What do you need Kagura?" He asked. Kagura had meet Kyo Sohma a few weeks back and was already quite obsessed with him.

She giggled into the phone, "Have you arrived yet?"

"Yeah, I'm staying at the Yoyogi-koen apartments… Ah, Kagura?"

"Yes, baby?"

Kyo coughed again. "Don't call me baby. Anyway, I don't think you should come by…" He said. She sighed. Kagura knew he was trying to tell her to just not come, not bother him, kindly but it wasn't working. It was strange; most boys fell right into her. She was cute, giggly, and gave off the "I'm dumb!" look. Most of the time it worked, and she could get the person she was interested in to hook up with her, at least for a few months. But not Kyo. He avoided her, snapped at her, and did everything to get her away from him. It just didn't make sense.

Kagura smiled stiffly and said in a cheerful tone, "Well, not today if you don't want, hon. But, I'll drop by this weekend, okay? Oh, I have to go, see you then!" She said and quickly hung up the phone before he could protest. Kagura Sohma was a girl that always got what she wanted, and she wanted Kyo. She wouldn't lose.

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Kyo walked down the street, tugging his collar. He hated this, but if he didn't show up, she'd be on his back for months. He stopped at the restaurant they had decided on and looked, dreading seeing her, into the window.

"Phew." He said and grinned; she wasn't there yet. Her being late was an unusual thing. Most of the time she'd be early, skipping from one foot to the other until she saw him. And that's when her face would light up and she'd run over. And bug him until he sank to the depths of hell.

He decided to not go into the restaurant, for fear that she would be in the bathroom and suddenly appear, and continued down the road a little. He looked at the bookstore beside the restaurant; he wanted to be able to see her when she came, so he could pretend that he was the one that was late and not her. She was less annoying when she was mad at him then when she was apologetic; he would never hear the end of it if she had to apologize.

He went into the bookstore, enjoying the smell of books, and randomly picked up a book. He wasn't much of a reader, and he was horrible at picking them out, but, just to pass the time, he would read now. He was flipping through the pages, skipping the random sex scenes or the cussing and violence, and wasn't really enjoying himself when he heard the voice. The voice that struck a cord in his heart strings. The voice that made him drop his book and whirl around to see the speaker. The voice that reminded him of home.

"Kyo-kun!"

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It was just another normal day for Tohru Honda as she walked down the streets, past the apartments, and into the bookstore. She looked around and took a huge breath, inhaling the delicious fragrance of books. She loved books. They reminded her of Shigure. She shook her head, a bitter smile coming to her face, and walked towards the desk.

"Um… Excuse me?" She asked quietly and waited until the man turned to face her, an impatient scowl on his face. He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose.

"What do you need?"

"Do you have the book… Um…" She paused and glanced at the slip of paper in her hand, the title neatly written across the page. "Ah, um, do you have the book called She Walks These Hills?" The man sighed and shrugged.

"Dunno. Let me check." He said and turned to the computer, his fingers racing across the keyboard. Tap, tap, tap.

"Mmm, yeah we do." He turned back to her and she looked at him blankly.

"Ano…" She blushed. He sighed again and glanced back at the computer screen.

"Don't even have the author's name? Well, it's in shelf 'S'. Written by Sharyn McCrumb. American." He pointed to a shelf.

Tohru's finger brushed the back of books until she lifted one out, smiling at it. Now she could finally get that book to Hana. Hana loved these types of books, and had read all the others by the author, before requesting that Tohru go get her this last one since she lived closer to the bookstore. Tohru had been happy to go, of course, but three days had past since she had forgotten. How lazy of her.

Tohru didn't turn as the bell on the door rang, just another customer, and started to flip through the book. She heard the man at the desk yell out the usual greeting before, from the clicking, went back to the computer.

Now, orange hair would have caught anyone's attention, and even someone as polite as Tohru would have stared. Orange hair wasn't common in Tokyo, though you would see it sometimes on rebellious, outgoing teenagers. Tohru couldn't help but stare at anyone with orange hair; hope was to blame.

A shiver passed through Tohru's body as she saw the handsome, chiseled, familiar features of the man and the golden eyes roaming the pages of a book. She didn't mean to, after all she might be mistaken and she wouldn't have wanted to go into the embarrassing situation of having to apologizing for yelling out at a total stranger, but at the moment she had no doubt.

"Kyo-kun!" She heard herself yell out and the man turned to her, dropping the book at his feet, his eyes wide with shock. The both stood there, silent, as a voice rang out in her head. A voice she hadn't heard for years, a voice that sent shivers through her body.

"Four years. Four years they'll be gone, forgetting everything… You, their past, themselves. At the end of these four years, they'll come back. They'll each have a chance to escape, but the spell is easily broken. And if it is broken…" A laugh and then a deep inhalation of breath "If it is broken, they'll never go under it again. They'll come back to me and the curse will remain."

AUTHORS NOTE!!!

So? Was it good? I've had this plot in my head since forever, and I really needed it to be out… So here it is. : D I'm not sure if I did it well though… Oh, just to tell you guys, this is no way what the real Fruits Basket is going to do. I made this up, thus, it will have no spoilers in it. I'm going to bring in more of the zodiac as it goes, and maybe some of the people who aren't in the zodiac too. Like, Machi for instance. She and Yuki make a wonderful couple, so what can I say?

Oh, and the book She Walks These Hills is not a figment of my imagination. It is a real book. Written by Sharyn McCrumb, who is a real author. Good book. : )