Chapter summary: unlikely questions unfold. A normal day at school starts the ball rolling for some rather out-of-the-ordinary occurrences. Friendships may even be tried.

Author comments: there are lots of comments I'd like to make, but for the sake of not revealing anything too soon, I'll refrain. You get to hear my reasons for writing the story later

Standard disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. I'm sure you're all shocked. No, I'm just a nerd that's fanatic enough to make up more to the Fruits Basket story. Just like most of the people on here ;3

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Another day. Another slow, boring, uneventful day. One of the fan girls had tripped in the hall, and Uo had a laugh about that, but really, that's about all that's happened. Tohru was of course still cheery as ever, and there was no doubt that despite the normalcy, she was having a blast, as always.

"Tohru."

"Eh?" The girl blinked up from her paper to look to Hana, who now stood beside her, gazing calmly down.

"Have you seen Arisa?" Tohru blinked around the room, then shrugged.

"No... I mean, I saw her earlier to day, but I guess... she must've gone home sick?" Hana's deep eyes glanced to the side, at nothing in particular. Electric signals pulsated throughout the building, allowing Hana to read them, and the psychic girl shook her head.

"No, she's in the building. Shall we go look for her?"

"No-you go on ahead. I really want to work on this. I'm sure she'll wander in before class starts, though."

"Alright. I'll be back before the bell. Hopefully with Arisa." With that, the girl calmly walked off towards the door, her skirt dramatically billowing out behind her. "Although, now that I think of it..." her head tilted to the side as she shut the door behind her, and her eyes scanned the empty hall. "Kyo was absent as well. I hope they haven't done something foolish." The girl eloquently slipped her braid behind her shoulder and started down the hall, following the familiar signals of her companion.

-/-/-

"WHAT!" Kyo's face was flushed; he was pissed, frustrated, and speechless. Arisa coolly held back her bangs and grinned at the boy. She loved getting that reaction from him.

"I said I think we should go out some time."

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND, YANKEE! I HATE YOUR GUTS!"

"Whatever."

Arisa shook her head and released the bangs, though she still grinned. It made Kyo even more pissed that he couldn't tell if she was joking around with him or what.

"Screw it, I'm going to class. We're both gonna be late if we hang around out here too long."

"Suit yourself." The blond turned and stepped to the side to let the carrot-top storm past, muttering obscenities to himself. The boy had long gone when Hana finally stepped out from behind the corner, blinking, and for once in her life looking perplexed.

"Arisa."

"hm?" the blond turned around, still grinning mischievously.

"You weren't joking."

"Heh, no. And neither was orangetop. You saw him, right? He was totally red!" she laughed playfully, while her friend just blinked.

"You know, Arisa, I can't say I've ever been in love, but I do have a sense about me, that tells me that Kyo is more interested in Tohru, to put it bluntly. I would have thought this would be obvious to you, as well."

"What?" Suddenly Uo's grin left and she looked as pissed as Kyo was just a moment before.

"Kyo - and Tohru." Hana repeated matter-of-factly. "I believe that they might-"

"That stupid orangetop cant have Tohru! She's too good for him!" Once again, Hana was confused beyond words.

"And, yourself, Arisa...?" the grin returned as suddenly as it had left, and she tactfully swept her hand under her bangs.

"Well, actually, I think he's just my type."

"You have no sense of logic, Arisa." Hana shook her head, but could say nothing more. Arisa just laughed.

"Just try not to think about it, Hana." Sighing, Hana shook her head again and started calmly back for the classroom.

"Come on, Arisa. Kyo was right, that we're going to be late."

"We are not." the blonde still laughed while she followed behind her friend. "besides, it was worth it just for the look on his face! Priceless!"

-/-/-

"Where were you?" Yuki barked at his cousin when the orange-haired cat came loping into class, his face disgruntled, cheeks red, and fists stuffed deep in his pockets.

"None of your business, rat." Yuki glared, but said nothing.

"Oh, hi, Kyo!" Tohru looked up from her paper and raised a hand in greeting, while Kyo gave her a barely recognizable grunt on his way past. Tohru interpreted it as a friendly hello, and smiled as she looked back down to her paper. Yuki sighed and took his seat.

"Amazing." Hana blinked around the classroom, taking note that the teacher had yet to show and the bell had yet to ring.

"See?" Arisa grinned at her. "I told you we wouldn't be late." then she flashed a smirk to orange top, who twinged and looked to the window, then she cheerfully took her seat.

"Welcome back Hana, Uo."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Tohru." Uo took Tohru's head into a playful hug, though she released her soon after.

"Where'd you go?" Tohru asked innocently. Arisa shrugged, shooting a very brief sneer to Hana to make sure she didn't spill the beans. The green haired girl closed her eyes and tilted her head to refrain from saying anything. Tohru, of course, didn't catch any of it, and watched Uo, waiting anxiously for her reply.

"For a walk. Today has been so boring I didn't think I could take another conventional fight with orangetop over there."

"SHUT YER MOUTH, YANKEE!"

"Actually, it's impressive that he heard that." Hana remarked softly and looked to the orange-haired boy on the other side of the room, but Arisa and Tohru ignored her.

"What about you? You've been intent on this paper all day - what is it?" she reached for the paper under Tohru's arm, and at first the brown-haired girl protected it, but with a begging glance from Uo, she let the blonde slip it out.

It was a regular sheet of notebook paper, the words 'Once upon a time there was a girl named Shiori and she really liked cows but one day all the cows disappeared and she was very sad so she cried' written at the top of the page. Arisa blinked, and tried to stop herself from laughing. Tohru quickly snatched it back and looked dejectedly at the paper.

"Oh, it's horrible, I know. I'm no good at this!" With a sigh she put her head down on the desk and let her arms hang limp by her sides. Uo lost it and broke out laughing, while Hana put her hand on the girl's shoulder reassuringly.

"Nonsense, Tohru. It's a very beautiful start to a story." She lied very well. Tohru blinked and looked up.

"Really, you think so?"

"Hana, I don't think we should lead her on," Uo regained enough composure to speak. Hana sighed and shook her head.

"Our Tohru can write just as wonderfully as she wants to, Arisa. It's rude to say otherwise. Now, Tohru," she looked back to her brunette friend, who blinked between Arisa and Saki, unsure who to believe, "May I ask what inspired you to write a story? I don't believe you ever felt compelled to novelize before."

"Shigure asked me to," she replied cheerfully, then imitated Shigure in a lower voice, "I'd like to see you write a story, Tohru, he said, I think you'd make for a wonderfully creative person, if you gave it a shot." She paused and looked at the paper again, her cheerfulness quickly dissipating. "Oh, but I'm horrible at it, Hana!"

"I'll say," Arisa remarked, earning a death-glare from Saki. Tohru sniffed.

"I let Shigure down."

"What's all this babbling about that idiot?" All three girls paused to blink at the newly arrived Yuki, who apparently was just now able to dodge out of the way of the class's fan girls.

"O-oh, Yuki, hi!" Tohru greeted, her cheerfulness returning instantly once again. Hana slightly bowed her head, giving him a cryptic "Hello." Yuki glanced at Hana, and noticed that Uo was slinking away, but he decided it was all for the best. They were Tohru's friends, but he found they had a way of making him uncomfortable, so if one of them wanted to leave, it was fine by him. Of course, he'd generally prefer the Yankee to the psychic, but oh well.

"I get enough of that fool at home, why are we talking about him at school?"

"Oh, Shigure? I-its nothing, really. He asked me to write a story, and, well...it's not going very well..."

"May I see, Miss Honda? I'm sure its coming along wonderfully."

"Oh, well, um-"

"Please? I can give you some pointers. Although I doubt that with even my help it will measure up to Shigure's standards - there's no pleasing that man when it comes to literature."

"Well...alright...but it's not very good..."

She tensed a bit as she handed him the piece of paper, anticipating him bursting out laughing like Arisa had.

"Interesting premise," he nodded thoughtfully, surprising Tohru quite a bit with the mock-lacking comment.

"It would help if you used more sentences - this is a run-on,"

"Oh, right. I forgot about run-ons!"

"...I think Ill go check on Arisa..." Hana slid off of the desk she'd taken a seat on. She enjoyed reading just fine, but she was no good at giving constructive criticism. Yuki, however, was doing a magnificent job of taking Tohru's little run-on sentence and transforming it into a cute idea. They'd likely have five pages by the end of the day.

Hana would be just as content leaving them to their own devises, while she tried to satisfy some of her curiosity about Arisa and Kyo.

-/-/-

Arisa had slunk away over to Kyo, anxious to know if he'd made a decision - or at least thought about it more yet.

"So? Hah? Did you make up your mind yet?" She set her hands on the front of Kyo's desk, right next to where his feet were propped up on it. He hmpd and turned away, blushing a violent pink.

"Hey- if you do, I promise I'll let you win Rich Man, Poor Man every now and then,"

"What would I need you to LET me win for! I can take the game on my own, without your stinking help, Yankee!"

"Someone's a bit bitchy today," Arisa grinned at him. She was enjoying poking fun at his trigger-buttons.

"Yeah? Well the person I hate the most in this school just asked me to-"

"Don't say it out loud, dipshit!" Arisa bopped him on the head, making him wince and grab at his hair.

"Hey! What was that for!" Arisa glanced over to where Yuki and Tohru were happily chattering away over her paper, then leaned her elbows down on the desk and brought her hand up to shield her mouth.

"The fan club girls don't know," she murmured.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY-" He was quickly shut up with another bop to the head.

"You may not exactly be prince material-"

"HEY!"

"- but you are his cousin, and they already hate my guts. I don't think they'd take kindly the notion of me dating Mr. Sanctified's flesh and blood."

"That's a load of crap," Kyo muttered, so Arisa sighed and gave him the real answer.

"Tohru doesn't know yet, either," Kyo blinked and finally looked her in the eye. He wanted to shout out another why should she care? but he realized Arisa brought up a good point. It was just that Kyo hadn't really...thought about going down that road, not yet. And then there was Yuki to consider, too... Damn it, why did the Yankee have to be right?

"I don't want her to know until its official," Kyo gave her a crooked glare.

"What makes you think it's ever going be be 'official,' Yankee?" Arisa cocked a smirk again.

"I'll tell you what - I can give you all the reasons you want, but not with Tohru, the prince and his fan club present. Meet me after school and we can take a walk." Kyo was silent for a long moment, and if he really had cat ears, they'd be down and to the side, twitching like crazy while his mind went through a jumble of things.

He couldn't say okay to Uotani. He hated her guts! ...Didn't he? He glanced at her again, the ears folded further back but no longer twitching. She was pretty. DAMN IT, what did he have to think that for? No, damn it-

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" His unending blush didn't waver Arisa's grin, though.

"Whatever," she pushed herself off the desk and brushed back her bangs, "I'll wait for you by the door." And with that she slipped away. Kyo staid in his desk, muttering and murmuring, frustrated beyond belief with this situation. Goddamnit, why did girls have to be so fucking confusing?

-/-/-

"You've been standing here the whole time, haven't you?" Arisa plopped herself down on top of a desk next to Hana's. The green-haired girl tilted her head to the side and nodded.

"Sadly, yes. For quite a while, at least. I supposed that your affair with Kyo would prove more interesting than Yuki trying to make something decent of Tohru-kun's little sentence." Arisa blinked over to where Yuki and Tohru were still hard at work on her paper. She smiled.

"Well, is that so? ...Say, Hana,"

"Yes?"

"How would you feel if it was me and orangetop and Tohru and the prince?" Hana paused a moment, twirling her braid around her finger, contemplating the situation.

"I suppose I would be very jealous," she commented plainly.

"What about Haru? You've never had a problem with fixing your eyes on the younger boys before, have you?" Hana actually cringed with disgust, surprising Arisa a bit.

"That boy frightens me to no end," she said dryly, "His signals seem even stranger than that of Yuki or Kyo."

"Aheh, really?" Arisa rubbed at the back of her head. Haru was strange, she supposed. She had only meant the suggestion as a joke, though, and was a bit taken aback that Hana was giving it serious thought and serious answer. She wasn't done yet, either.

"Yes; his signals are always fluctuating; chaotic; shifting...almost as if every time I saw him...he was a different...person."

"Right. Hana? Now you've really lost it." Arisa playfully slung her arm over her friend's shoulder, her feet kicking back and forth under the desk.

"But, seriously, would you be okay if I went with orangetop and Tohru went with Yuki? Because...if Kyo says yes to me, I think Tohru and Yuki might get more serious with orangetop out of the picture..."

"Yes, I think they might."

"...So, will you be, okay with that?" Hana sighed and brushed back her bangs.

"...It will take some adjusting to. But in the long run I will be happy for you both. Don't make a decision on my behalf."

"So selfless, Hanajima," Arisa joked, "So like Tohru-kun."

I wish I could be, Hana thought, I'm trying.

Hana watched as Yuki and Tohru laughed together, no doubt coming up with some lamely adorable joke about cows and rainbows. They would make an excellent couple. Kyo and Arisa, she wasn't so sure about, but...it would be an interesting thing to see. Nothing but intrigue, Hana thought, could possibly fill these next few days.

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How fun. I have no witty comments. Because I'm just that uncreative. Now go, review and eagerly await the arrival of the next chapter xD