Disclaimer: If I owned Furuba, it'd be releasing in the US before Japan, wouldn't it? Yes. American I be. So, no. I do not own Fruits Basket.

I've wanted for so long now to start a Fruits Basket/Furuba fanfiction, you have no idea. I'm slowly making my way through the manga, English versions, and I'm in love with this series.

This is an AU (alternate universe) fanfiction, and it's set when Tohru is eighteen, freshly graduated from highschool. I got the inspiration for this fic from another one in another anime, but this one's concept is completely different. It's got it's roots twisted firmly into what the manga tells, but I've molded this into something my own. Tohru's grandfather has the box of money because Kyoko left it with him, before she died, so it would be safe, just in case. Also, this does take place in Japan, but I'm American. If something seems very... American to you, sorry! I am keeping the honorifics, too.

This is a KyoRu pairing fanfiction, because for one, it's apparently canon in the latest volumes released in Japan, and I think it's cute. I hope that you enjoy it!

In future chapters there will be cussing, angst, abuse, and... that's all I can think of at the moment.

You have been forewarned.

Started on 6/6/06
Such a lucky starting date.

Novocain
I. Impressions

Dusty picture-frames with their pictures safe and secure inside of them; old couches, stiff from disuse. Cracked and whole glasses crammed into the cabinets, and the moldiest looking food she'd thought she'd ever seen in the refrigerator. Yes, Tohru Honda thought, the house would be a project, but a fun project. Tucked away, a mile from other houses and the town... total seclusion and peace. This was exactly what she needed; a vacation before getting shipped off to the university. Oh, she wanted to go to the university, but the stress of everything else in her life...

She'd miss it -- her friends, school, her daily routines -- but this would be nice. The beach outside, lapping softly at the sandy shore. The summer nights she would spend, all the windows wide open, letting the ocean's whisper lull her to sleep... Now she was getting poetic. Hauling her bags in from her car and up the stairs to the main part of the house, Tohru began to search for the master bedroom. She hadn't been to the beach house in what seemed like ages. She'd have to recollect her memories of the place to adjust properly.

Finding the room, she lugged her suitcases to it, and began to straighten it up. The rest of the day was spent cleaning, unpacking, and settling nicely into the house, standing sturdily on it's many wooden stilts. That night she threw open the windows, and smiled as the salty breeze tousled her bangs, and cooled her off after a hard day's work. She slept soundly, never anticipating that tomorrow her perfect vacation would be tilted and altered. Of course, at the end of it all, she would pray her thanks to whatever God there was out there. She would never dream of having this vacation go any other way.

Tohru awoke when something cawed in her room. What could that be? She opened her eyes and sat up. Oh! There was the cause of the racket; a seagull perched haughtily on the windowsill, cocking it's head to the side, staring at her with it's black eyes.

"Caaaaa," it cooed. It shifted from foot to foot.

"What do you want?" Tohru asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. The sun's morning light streamed in, hurting her eyes as they tried quickly to adjust. "Are you hungry?"

She threw off the covers, and stumbled out of the bed. "Don't you catch your own food, seagull? Fish, right? Why don't you go and catch some fish for breakfast? And I'll make something for myself."

Blinking at her, the seagull took flight, and landed on the sandy shoreline outdoors, running forwards when the tide went out, skittering backwards when it surged forward again. Tohru gave a soft laugh at the gull's antics, and trudged downstairs. She opened the fridge -- she'd cleaned it out yesterday after she'd arrived -- and found it bare. Oh, right, she thought. I cleaned out all the food yesterday. Old, moldy, black and rotting food doesn't make for a good meal. I guess I'll have to go shopping.

She headed back upstairs and got dressed. She looked around for a few seconds until she found the box that her Grandfather had given her. Taking a few bills from it and replacing it's lid, Tohru grabbed a purse with her keys and wallet inside, and went out to her car. She put the bills from the box into her wallet. "It's going to be a hot day," she noted to herself. "Should probably buy some ice cream and frozen things. There's a freezer in the storage room, by the stilts, I think."

She backed out of the dirty, cracked, paved white driveway, and began the drive towards town at a slow pace -- why not enjoy the scenery? -- down the old asphalt road, cracked in so many places Tohru didn't think they'd bothered to repave it in at least five or so years. The road curved, and she passed by what seemed like a forest of low-growing trees; the very things that made the beach house invisible to other, prying eyes. If those plants weren't there, she'd be able to see the other houses and hotels.

Every once in a while she passed by another house, and even a small restaurant, planted so far from town Tohru wondered if it even got any business at all. She didn't remember it from her trips to the beach, years and years ago. Then about another mile and a half down the road she hit the main tourism zone. Beach houses and hotel complexes for at least two miles straight, with small restaurants here and there. And, of course, palm trees were scattered about, their big leaves waving softly in the breeze. Finally, she hit the town.

The island had no connection to the mainland, and so the only way to reach it was by fairy boat or the swinging bridge. It also only had two towns, both relatively small yet providing everything a local and tourist could need with the beach as their entertainment. There was a northern town and a southern town. The beach house was on the southern end of the island, and so to the southern down Tohru went.

There were no supermarkets on the island, and so Tohru popped into a quick-mart, pushing a rickety old shopping buggy down the food aisles.

"Mm... What to buy?" She asked herself, throwing some leeks into the cart. She spotted a bunch of red things in a carton... "Strawberries! I love strawberries! I haven't had them in such a long time!"

An elderly lady, also shopping for strawberries and other fruit, smiled at Tohru's enthusiasm. "They do taste good, don't they, dear? I especially like them dipped in sugar."

Tohru smiled at the senior, nodding. "Oh, I like them with sugar too... but you can't go wrong with a little bit of chocolate on the tip!"

The old woman laughed, shaking her head. "What is it with you young people and chocolate, these days?" She rolled her cart away, going to inspect a bunch of bananas.

The people living on this island seem so nice... Oh, I'd forgotten what it was like! I never had the time to come down here, anymore, what with school and all. Mom... I hope I can make friends, here. Maybe even get a tan!

Tohru went to the register when her buggy was full of food and other things, together it filled the trunk of her car nearly to the brim. "It's going to be an experience carrying all of this up to the kitchen," she said, already thinking of having to climb the wooden stairs up to the kitchen; up and down, up and down.

The house wasn't hers, oh, no! She was only eighteen. Hardly able to afford a secluded beach house. No, it was her grandfather's. Dear, sweet old Grandpa, that called her Kyoko like Tohru was... Well, Mom, it's not like I look like you at all. No, you were beautiful, weren't you? Tohru smiled. She missed her mother, so much, but the accident had been four years ago. She was well adjusted. Her mother would always be with her, she knew. Always.

Mom, you must have had fun at the beach house, didn't you? With Dad, before I was born, Tohru thought, driving back down the road, back towards the beach house. Even though it's been renovated so it doesn't fall over at the push of the wind, I bet both of you had a lot of fun memories there. I'm sure I'll make some fun memories too, Mom! It'll be fun, this vacation. You'll see. Uo-chan and Hana-chan even said that they might be able to come down, together! That'd be so... perfect.

She turned off the air conditioner and made the windows of the car roll down with a push of the button that did such a thing. The sea air came rushing into the car, and Tohru breathed in deeply. She loved the smell of the ocean. She hadn't been to the beach since near the beginning of high school, she'd been so busy!

Well, now she finally had the time. The whole summer, to spend as she pleased. Her grandfather had said she could stay at his beach house as long as she wanted and however she wanted, he'd pay the bills for electricity and such. He said it was more of a family beach house... the rest of the family just didn't know about that. Tohru had always suspected he didn't like his other relatives, much. He'd also handed her the small box, the one currently up in her room, with all the money inside of it.

"This is a bunch of money you saved up, Kyoko-san. I put it away, but now you can use it. Use it to have fun, and if you need more money, let me know. An old man doesn't retire until he's ready to spoil all of his relatives."

"My name is Tohru, Grandpa. Kyoko-san was my mother, remember?" She had then peeked in the box. "Eeh? G-grandpa! I-I can't take all of this money! There... there's so much! I can't take this from you; it's not mine at all!"

"Don't be silly, Kyoko-san. You earned it, remember? I know you said you were going to save it for a vacation. I guess you forgot about it. I don't know where you got the money, but it's yours. Use it, it's what you wanted to do with it, anyway. See, there's a note in there, somewhere. It says so, on that note. Read it, when you have the time."

Well, Tohru had forgotten about the note. She'd just taken a few bills out of the box to pay for the food, and hadn't searched through it at all. Now that she remembered, she wondered what it said. Was it her mothers, from years and years ago, leaving herself a memento? She pulled into the driveway, and got out of the car. She squinted up at the sun, looked over towards the stairs, and sighed, slouching in posture slightly.

"I really don't want to have to do this," she muttered. "I mean, I like cleaning houses, but this is how you get those horrible problems with your back and knees when you're older. I don't want to wake up every morning, with aches and pains and -- what am I saying? I'm supposed to be the positive one, aren't I? This is good exercise! Heh... and I do need exercise..."

Popping open the trunk, Tohru began the trek. Up and down, up and down. After putting things into their correct places, and pouring herself a glass of water, she nodded in contentment. That wasn't so bad, she told herself. It would have been nice to have some help, but it wasn't like the end of the world.

Tohru made her way upstairs, hand gliding along the wooden banister for balance. She went into the bedroom and saw the box where she left it, on top of the bed, closed and looking lonely. It was a simple cardboard box, covered in a rough black fabric. She lifted the top off, and set it aside. Paper money of all kinds was scattered around, Tohru took the box and turned it upside down; the money fell out... but that was all that fell. She shuffled through the bills, looking for something other than green, but came up empty handed. She looked in the box again -- maybe it'd gotten stuck on the bottom or something? -- but there was nothing left inside.

"Grandpa, what were you talking about? There's no note in here. It's just a box of money. I bet you just used the note as an excuse to make me take the money, didn't you? Well, it worked," she sighed. Picking up the lid of the box, she twirled it in her hands. She froze, her breath hitched for second or two. "Oh," she murmured, looking at the lid, currently upside down in her grasp. "What are you?"

Taped to the top of the box was a piece of blue-lined notebook paper. On it, written in pencil, was a note from her mother, to...

"Oh, Mom!" Tohru gasped. It was written to her; to Tohru herself! She looked at the date... it was dated a year before her mother's death. The girl quickly read the note, which was really more like a letter, deciding to leave it taped where it was. The writing was small, to fit it onto one page, but to Tohru it could have been the largest writing in the world.

Tohru,

I know that our life -- your life -- hasn't been the easiest. I guess I'm to blame for that. I did everything I could to give you everything I didn't have, which is a lot. I know there was so much lacking in your childhood, and you'll probably lack a lot more in your teenage years... and I'm sorry for that.

I'm not talking about material possessions, either. I mean like a wonderful, loving home with both of it's parents. Things like that. Though, there are other non-material things that I hope I have given to you. Such as teaching you how to be yourself, and to be optimistic. Believing in others.

Despite all that, we're both female. Every female loves to have something material, right? And, so, here it is. I've been saving this up for what seems like forever. This money's purpose has changed from time to time, but it's current purpose is the best one it's had yet. I want you to use this money to go on a vacation, after you graduate high school. No, I'd love to go with you, but I want you to go on this vacation alone.

I won't be able to save any more money for this, because now I'm saving for your college fees -- you'll get there! But before you do go, spoil yourself a little. I'll pay for the bills at the beach house, don't worry about that. I'll see you when you get back from a wonderful and lavish 'vacay,' as I think they call it. Have fun, and write to me, or at least send a postcard or two. This is all about you, for you. Enjoy the experience. Okay, Tohru?

I hope that you have a lot of fun; the best vacation ever! Well... something like that. You deserve it, so much. You've worked so hard, and you've become so much better than I ever was. I'm so proud of you for graduating -- you've completed something that I never could. No mother could ever be more proud or prideful, Tohru Honda. I want you to know that.

Love forever,

Mom

Tohru wanted to cry. She wanted to, but she didn't. This wasn't a time for tears, it was a time for, like her mother said, having fun. "Thank you, Mom!" She smiled, carefully placing the money back in the box, and tenderly replacing the lid. "Thank you so much, I'm so happy! Though you didn't see me graduate, I did, Mom! Thank you for this wonderful present! Thank you!"

Tohru eventually left the bedroom, and went downstairs. She stood out on the deck, looking at the waves. They glittered in the setting sun. She walked the wooden bridge over the sand dunes to the shoreline. Clasping her hands behind her, Tohru smiled to the salty wind. Yes, this would be a fantastic vacation. Oh, Mom, she thought. You say that you're proud of me, but I'm proud of you. I'm proud that you were my mother, and that I knew you. I can't imagine where I would be without you.

Suddenly, something rumbled in the distance. Tohru scanned the skyline, and bit her lip. Behind the house, heading towards the ocean before her, large ominous and threatening clouds were looming. They were fast approaching, grey and dangerous. Tohru stood on the beach, the wind spontaneously wild, her hair whipping around her. She stood, watching, even as cold rain began to fall, soaking everything it met. The ocean churned, crashing on the sand, white and frothy. The girl let out an "Eep!" as a bolt of lightening struck somewhere, way over on the mainland.

Oh, she thought. I need to get inside, I have to get inside! She ran towards the wooden stairs that would lead her over the dunes, to the deck, and safely inside. She was running, but then she thought she heard something. A distant noise, a plea for help, that was being carried away by the wind. Hands clasped at her chest, Tohru looked quickly over the sands, the dunes, the ocean -- what was that?

Something small and orange was coming up on the waves, splashing in the water, yowling.

It was a... a cat? It looked like a cat, so it must be one, but why was it out on the ocean? Tohru could have almost sworn she heard it swear obscenely, but that made no sense at all! Cats couldn't talk as she could, and most certainly couldn't curse.

The yowling, hard to hear over the thunder, waves, and wind ceased. The orange cat, looking more limp than before, was coming close to the shore and Tohru, fighting the urge to save herself and get into the dry, warm, safe house ran back out and splashed into salty water. Nevermind that her clothes were getting soaked, they could always be cleaned. Nevermind that the rain was cold, and her skin prickled because of it. Tohru had always been like that. Selfless, you could say.

The rain poured down harder, and the waves were harsh. Tohru fell, struck her knee on something hard underneath the surface of the sea, but hurriedly got back up. She had to help that poor, defenseless cat. It stood no chance left with the ocean, especially with the heart of the storm creeping ever closer.

"Don't worry, kitty! I'll get you! I'll save you!" She took a lunge, arms outstretched, hands open. Her fingers curled around a soggy but furry body, and held it tightly as the waves pushed her under. The salted water found its way down her throat, up her nose, into her eyes; stinging everywhere. Tohru kicked her legs, and forced herself to break the surface of the angry ocean. She walked, with great difficulty, to the soaked and cold sand, and when she made it there she shifted the unconscious cat, half-walking, half-running -- stumbling all the way -- to the stairs. She made it over the dunes, to the deck, and would have fallen through the glass door blocking her from the indoors if she hadn't caught herself first. She fumbled with the handle and jumped as a clap of thunder followed another streak of lightening.

Right when another flash lit up the sky brilliantly Tohru made it inside, slamming the door shut against the wind, and slid down it, coming to rest on the floor, a puddle of water growing around her. She gasped for breath, shivering in the quiet room, and whipped tears of fear from her eyes that she hadn't even known were there. She looked down at the cat. It was pitiful looking. It's body was battered from the sea, but Tohru knew that the ocean itself couldn't have caused all of the cuts and gashes along the poor creature's body.

"What happened to you," she asked, softly, hugging the cat to her chest. "Why are you like this? I'm sorry... I'll clean you off. It's just that... I'm tired."

Tohru made her body stand up, bringing the cat with her, and collapsed onto one of the old couches in the living room. She pulled a blanket hanging off the couch's back over her and the cat, and closed her still stinging eyes, breathed out of her still burning nose. "I'll... I'll clean you up after a nap, okay? Don't die while I sleep... Don't die on me. Okay?"

She fell into a deep, unpeaceful slumber. She dreamt of waves, cold and vicious, and the wind, roaring in her ears, nipping at her cheeks and nose; her hair flying into her eyes and mouth. She dreamt of a cat and a mouse, chasing each other forever and ever, equally distanced, never able to reach the other, never able to give up and say that it didn't matter, anyway. She dreamt of her mother, and as she slept, she cried.

Ended on 6/11/06

There's that. It's not the longest thing, and the second chapter is even shorter. I've already got it written, and the third chapter is already formed. And can you believe I forgot what noise a seagull makes? I still can't remember. So I just plugged in a basic bird noise. Tch. Anyway! If you liked it, please review it. If you didn't like it, please review it. Your feedback helps to improve my writing. It's much appreciated. Until next time, this is Mysvi, signing out!