****I do not own Fruits Basket, or Simon and Garfunkel, or PJ Harvey's music. though that would be fun.****

"The Water Soaked His Grey Hair Black"

5:30 AM. Late November. A chilly fresh feeling kind of morning. Yuki took a deep breath and gulped down his black as night coffee. His eyes were beet red from the midnight shift he had been working since 9:00 PM.

It was always hard at this time of his shift. His body ached for sleep, but he always built up enough wind to make it until the end of his shift. He fantasized everytime about going home and soaking in a piping hot bath and sinking into his bed.

Hopefully this morning, his fantasy wouldn't be wrecked by a certain someone who had the key to his apartment. His beloved miss Machi who liked to wreck his shit.

After the Sohma curse was lifted, he moved away from his old life. Away from the Sohmas, away from his dreaded childhood. Once Machi graduated from highschool, she started attending a college close to Yuki's. She often came by with that damn key he had given her when he graduated and she was still in school. He worked almost full time and and resorted to taking only part time online classes.

He wanted to support himself. He didn't want any debts to his family. It was the first time in his life that he felt free...almost.

Aaaahhh. It was time to leave. He clocked out. He liked his job at the factory, even if it was monotonous.
It paid for all of his bills, with even a little leftoverto save. Even though he grew up in a wealthy family, he enjoyed being crafty and frugal. Unfortunatley, he made the very poor decision to start a joint savings account with Machi. She started wrecking that as much as she did his apartment.

He still felt sorry for her, so for the time being, he let her enjoy some of his savings. However, he knew she'd rip him up a good one if she knew he opened up a secret savings account at another bank with his name only. He made damn sure to hide his statements asap, as she would often rummage and rip up his mail before he got home.

As he drove back to his apartment (he even got himself a simple little black Corolla), he saw everyone going to work, starting their days. His was just ending. They were drinking thier coffees, probably complaining about how tired they felt, soaking in the sunshine, enjoying having regulated circadium rhythms. It made him feel a little isolated, as if he was living in his own dimension, his own little world. Just like he did when he was locked up all the time by Akito. He shook the feeling off. He needed the money. It was a decent paying job for a college student, and it wasen't forever.

All he wanted was to go home, rip off his dirty work clothes, and relax in every way possible.

He attempted to walk into his home in his midnight cloudy haze and he tripped. He tripped over his desk that was flopped on it's side. He was pretty sure he sprained his ankle but he was too damn tired to deal with it. He looked around and saw that his mail was thrown helter skelter all over the ground. His beloved coffee maker was thrown on the ground. There was some sort of strange black substance on his wall.

There went his damage deposit...how would he explain this shit to the landlord. Machi always threw his stuff around, but these black marks was a first. "Machi, where are you?" Yuki said in a disturbingly calm manner with some fire boiling inside. No answer. She must have came, wrecked it, and left. At least he locked the door when she left.

Yuki decided to put the cleaning off until he got some sleep. Between the possibly sprained ankle and no sleep for over 24 hours, he couldn't clean if he tried.
He decided to draw a bath in the tub that Machi threw a bunch of random objects in. He removed them begrudgingly, cursing to himself and noticed the black marks on the bottom of the tub. He couldn't get it to wipe off. What the hell. He'd just bathe in whatever it was.

He didn't care. He as a midnight worker.

The water was murky black as he laid in the tub. At least the water was piping hot as he had hoped,even if it had possibly carcinogenic black muck. Then he heard his front door slam.

He heard Machi cursing and fuming. If he haden't been so tired, he would have gotten up immediatley, stark naked, and seen what was wrong. Hugged her. Consoled her. But ugh not this Monday morning. He sighed and submerged his head face down under the water.

It would have been a good way to drown out most of the noise for a bit if it wasen't for her damn black muck in the tub.

Under the water he gurgled "Crazy Bitch". Something he would never say to her above the water. But on days like this, it was hard.

He was so tired from his shift and Machi's antics that he could have fell asleep under the water.

"Sounds like a good idea" he thought to himself.

"Nah"

He lifted his head from the black water, got straight out of the tub and plomped his wet naked body on the bed and went to sleep.

****This is my first Fanfiction. I've written about a gazillion essays in college, but I've never really written a story like this before. I've never used this site either so sorry for any mistakes. As you've probably guessed, I'm not a fan of the Yuki/Machi pairing. I know I should feel sorry for her, but I just really wanted someone else for Yuki. That someone else who is often displayed as an Onigiri :-). I plan to add more chapters to this story very soon, hopefully this week. I'm probably too old to be writing Fruits Basket fanfictions but ah well.*****