Okay, This story is kind of like Fruits Basket but there's been a slight change in characters. The Sohma family is still the same though, so dont worry about that .

When this story begins, Fruits Basket was only known to be a manga and nothing more. Until what happens to Chii Yamane and Meilin Kondo.

A New Beginning

A girl sat on the couch in a large living room, flipping through a manga, a slight smile curling her lips. She had long brown hair that tumbled in soft waves to her waist and bright sapphire blue eyes. Her skin was the color of spun gold and she wore a simple light purple spaghetti strap dress that stopped at her knees. She looked to be between the ages of 16 and 18. The living room was nicely furnished with a tan sofa and recliner with a matching coffee table in front of the sofa. The floor was polished black wood and the walls were a light beige. The orange glow from the setting sun shinned through the windows and gave the room a peaceful feel.

"So cute!" The girl suddenly squealed loudly.

"What's cute, Chii?" Came a female's voice from upstairs. A second later, another girl that looked to be around the same age as the one on the couch descended the stairs and came to lean on the back of the sofa, peering down at the manga being read. This girl looked the same as the other one, except she was a little taller, slightly more tan, and had long, straight black hair. She wore black capris and a white tank top, her hair pulled back in a long, thick braid.

Chii lifted the book so her cousin could see what she had been looking at. It was a scene with a young boy with curly blonde hair and wearing what looked like girls' clothing, "This!"

The raven haired girl, Meilin, laughed, "Yes, Momiji is cute, isn't he?" As Chii nodded, Meilin jumped swiftly over the back of the couch, landing right next to her cousin.

"Almost everyone in this manga is cute. Fruits Basket has to be my most favorite manga ever!"

"Who's your favorite character?" Meilin asked, pulling her braid over her shoulder.

Chii's smile grew, "Hmm… Without a doubt, it would have to be Yuki."

Her cousin raised one brow, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! … No, wait… Kyo! Kyo is my favorite!"

Meilin stayed silent, watching as the other girl struggled with her decision. Clearly, she didn't know who her favorite was. That brought out a laugh from Meilin. Chii set the manga on the coffee table and glared at the girl. "Fine! Who's your favorite?"

"Haru, of course." She answered with ease.

"Oh really? I always thought that you'd be the Shigure type."

Meilin's laughter quickly died and she threw her hands up in the air, "HEEEEEEELL NO! Are you loco?"

Now it was Chii who was having fun, "Settle your feathers, no need to get so defensive. You make it seem like I just discovered who your secret crush is or something." She teased her eyes bright with amusement.

"He's not a secret crush. Not even close!" Meilin took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming herself. "Anyways, I came down here to give you something but now I'm not even sure if you deserve it." She sighed, reaching into one of her pockets.

"Oooooohh! What is it? Please, please, please let me have it! I'm sorry about the Shigure thing! I love you!"

After giving the pleading girl a bored glance, she pulled out something from her pocket and tossed it to her.

Catching it easily, Chii frowned and poked at the small charm in her hand. "A charm?"

"Yeah, I know, that's what I said what I first saw it. Some guy in town stopped me and gave me two of these. He said, 'Here, take these. I've seen no one else here that deserves these more. I hope your New Year's wish comes true.'" She said, deepening her voice when she quoted the man.

The smile returned to the brunette's face as she examined the small charm, flipping it over gently in her hand. It was a different type of charm, but common like the one's that were sold everywhere in the town a few miles away. Since the girl's lived out in the woods, they didn't really have neighbors and they only ventured into town to go to work, shop, or go to school. Right now they were on winter break and it was the 31st of December, soon to be New Years.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to make a wish this year. What do you say, Lin?"

Shrugging, Meilin fished out her charm, weighing it in her palm. "I guess. But first, let's get dinner started."

After eating their dinner, the two cousin's washed up, got in their pajamas, and met each other back down stairs. They read some of the Fruits Basket manga by the lit fireplace as they waited for it to get close to mid-night. When it was one minute till mid-night, they both kneeled by the window, staring up at the winter sky as star twinkled. The woods were covered with a heavy layer of freshly fallen snow and no clouds could be seen in the sky.

"Alright, let's get this over with so I can go to bed." Muttered the raven haired girl.

"You could at least pretend to enjoy yourself."

"What's the point? Its only the start of another year. Another year of bills, angry teachers, working late- "

At the stern look Chii gave her, Meilin rolled her eyes and muttered, "Woo-hoo…"

Chii shook her head, her smile returning and she held her charm in between her hands. "Anyways, lets make our wishes now. Wait… Meilin, where's your charm?"

"I guess I left it upstairs. Ooh well, you can just make a wish for the both of us." She said without really caring.

"Fine then, but don't complain later when my wish comes true and you're left feeling bad because you should have made your own wish too-"

"Its about to be mid-night…"

Gasping, the brunette bowed her head and began speaking under her breath as the grandfather clock from in the corner chimed twelve times. When the chiming stopped, Chii lifted her head and glanced around. Nothing had changed. Not one thing. Sighing sadly, Chii pushed herself to her feet and shook her head. "Guess they were just phonie charms after all."

Seeing the disappointed look on Chii's face, Meilin reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey… don't let it get you down Chi-chii, you don't even-"

Suddenly the house started shaking violently. The furniture moved and glasses could be heard dropping in the kitchen. Both girls shouted, "Earthquake!" and ran for the door leading to the basement.

They ran into the bathroom in the basement and hid in the tub, grabbing towel's off the racks and putting it over themselves. Huddling close together, they watched as the power flicked on and off and listened to the house groan and felt it shifting and shaking all around them. They weren't sure how long the earthquake lasted but when they woke up, the power was on in the bathroom. Meilin was the first to wake up, tossing the towels aside and nudging her sleeping cousin.

"Yo, get up. Its over."

Chii blinked her eyes open and it took a few seconds before she recalled what had happened. "The earthquake!" She shouted, startling her cousin and causing her to flip out of the tub.

"Oof! Thanks Chii-chii…" She rubbed her head as she sat up.

Calming down, Chii smiled sheepishly, "Sorry Lin."

"Come on, let's go see the damage upstairs."

Both girls then left the bathroom and made their way upstairs. Everything in the basement was still in tacked and when they got upstairs, not one thing was out of place.

"What the hell? I heard things breaking! How can everything still be clean up here?" Meilin asked no one in particular.

Chii shielded her eyes from the bright sun light coming through the windows, "Well… Its morning now. Maybe the earthquake didn't really happen."

"That's not possible. We both felt it." Meilin pointed out, walking around and examining things. "Hey, what happened to my mangas?"

The brunette came to look at the mangas on the coffee table. Or at least she thought they were mangas. The books on the coffee table were nothing but blank covers with a bunch of blank pages.

"Hmm… very strange…"

Suddenly there was a knock at the front door and the girls glanced at each other then the door. Meilin was the one to go answer it but Chii was right behind her. Unlocking the door and yanking it open, a gasp escaped both girls when they saw their visitor.

It was a little boy who looked to be about twelve with curly blonde hair and big brown eyes.

"Guten Morgen!"

'Momiji?'

Alright, that's it for Chapter 1. It was a short chapter, I know, but I'm just getting started. Now things are really about to get good. Please leave comments. I'll be updating really soon!