Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

"I guess this is it," Yuki said. His bags were packed. His car was waiting. It was just the two of them now in the bitter silence.

"Yeah, good luck, Yuki! Oh, not that you'll need it. You'll do great, I know you will," Tohru chimed, finding it in her to give him another smile. But he could tell it was strained.

But her smile still caused Yuki to smile in return, though now half-heartedly as the sorrow of the situation weighed on it. "I wish the same for you, Miss Honda," he replied, just as any perfect gentleman would. The two looked at each other another moment. They said nothing, but no words were needed between them.

Then finally, Yuki stepped forward, tilting his head down. He was so close that Tohru felt his warm breath as it settled in her hair. Then, gently, Yuki left a lasting kiss on her forehead. This made Tohru feel better. When he just stood on the other side of the entryway, he had already felt too far away.

Yuki hovered, his eyes closed. "I will miss you dearly," he finally breathed before he stepped back, taking his last suitcase and forcing himself out the door.

Tohru clutched her fist to her chest as she watched him. That was when Shigure showed up, upbeat as usual despite the situation.

"Bye, Yuki!" he hollered, smiling. He held tea in one hand and used his whole spare arm to wave goodbye. "Don't get in too much trouble now!" he taunted just before Yuki closed himself in the car.

Tohru couldn't bring herself to wave. This was harder than any time before. This time he was really gone.

Shigure turned to look at the girl, her state obvious, but he pretended to overlook it. "It's all so exciting, isn't it?" he remarked. He gave her a second just in case she was going to respond, but she still stared after Yuki, so Shigure returned to his study.

After a moment, she heard Kyo's voice from behind her. "You know it won't be long until you're traipsing out the door just like that," he reminded her, his tone making this all seem like no big deal. Even though he knew within a week, after she left too, he would be just as she was now. Maybe he would even be worse. But he wasn't about to let that show as he stood there, arms crossed and leaning in the doorway.

"Oh, Kyo, I didn't know you were there," she uttered, finally turning. She was trying to play it off as casually as she could, but Kyo knew better.

He finally acknowledged it, taking a shot at making her feel better. "You know there's nothing really to miss about that damn rat. You'll finally see that now that the bastard's gone." Quiet. Her eyes downcast. It hadn't worked. Kyo sighed. "Come on, we'll go to the roof," he grumbled, turning to lead her away.

He couldn't stand to see her like this and wanted her to feel better. But he also wanted as much time with her as he could, it now starting to set in that she would really be gone soon, and he wouldn't know what to do.

~Four Years Later~

Tohru*

"So, my god, this is it," my roommate voiced, shaking her head as she began haphazardly tossing her books in a box. Airi was a sweet girl, and she had befriended me in college, what with all the Sohmas somewhere else. But when I had agreed to room with her our senior year, well, I didn't know how disorganized she'd be.

With her books packed, she moved on to her clothes. She had managed to keep most of them off the floor in consideration of me. However, they did seem to be everywhere else, and she now went about hunting each item down, shoving them all, clean or dirty, into a bag.

"... Do you need any help?" I asked, a little horrified by her packing strategy.

"No, don't worry. I got this," she replied as she dropped down to lay her belly on the floor. I was glad I had just cleaned it, the floor, that is.

I tilted my head and forced a smile "Ok..."

"You know, Tohru, I'm going to miss having you as a roommate. You really kept this place spick and span," she declared from down on the floor, hunting for more clothes under her bed. "So what's next for you? Do you know?"

"Um, no," I admitted, looking aside and bringing a finger to my cheek as she pushed herself up from the tile floor. "I'm really not sure what I'm going to do next. Try to find a good job and somewhere to live, I guess. How about you?"

"I'll be moving back in with my parents for now as I try to figure things out."

I glanced at the time and realized I was supposed to meet someone. "Hey, Airi, I'm going to go meet Botan for dinner. Do you want to come?"

She didn't look over at me as she pushed harder to try to shove more clothes into the bag. "Nah, I'll go later. I should work on this while I'm in the mood."

"Well, ok," I uttered, starting on my way out the door.

The dining hall wasn't far from my dormitory. I took a moment to look again at the big glass building as I approached it. It looked a lot grander than the food it served. I mean, don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad. I had just gotten so used to eating whatever I had cooked for the Sohmas before. There had been plenty of times here where I would have liked to have a kitchen at hand, but having warm food ready for me every day was nice. And I was grateful. I was grateful to just be here in the first place.

I remember how Shigure had insisted, along with other Sohmas, that I go to school if that was what I wanted to do. I had, of course, declined. I had declined over and over again. I couldn't possibly accept such an offer! But Shigure kept asking. It wasn't until I talked with Hana about it that I decided to do it.

Her dreary eyes had looked off listlessly and she drew out each word as she spoke. "Your mother worked so hard. She would be so proud of you, Tohru, no matter what you choose. But you do have this opportunity, and it will affect the rest of your life. Your mother worked so hard to give you the life she did. I don't think she would want you to struggle like that. And from what I understand, this is their money, and this is what they want to spend it on. Honestly, I couldn't have thought of anything worthier to spend it on myself."

So here I was. It had been hard, really hard, especially without Yuki to help me. I had missed the Sohmas so much and thought of them often. I kept in touch with Shigure, and I had heard from Yuki and Momiji from time to time. Yuki a lot in the beginning, then less as the years passed. Kisa would contact me irregularly, but I still heard from her plenty. Haru even contacted me once, but that was it. Kyo had gone to train, saying that was all he cared to study, that beating Yuki was the only thing he needed to accomplish, that he couldn't even think of doing anything else until he beat Yuki. Though I missed the Sohmas, I had made new friends here. With their help, I had pulled through to earn a hospitality degree.

"Hey, Tohru!" I recognized the voice. I turned to see Botan catching up with me. He was tall with brown hair like mine and kind hazel eyes. His walk was more of a strut as he walked beside me up to the doors. Botan was always well-dressed, and his blue blazer now opened a bit with the wind.

As a person, he was nice and understanding, and we had spent most of our time among mutual friends. Only recently had we spent more time alone, studying and going to dinner. It was too bad, because now that we had become better friends it was all about to end.

"Are you hungry?" Botan asked, twisting to look down at me as he pulled the glass door open and stood back.

"Oh, thank you," I said, a little humbled as usual as I passed through the entrance. "And, um, yeah, I am."

It seemed like an odd question to ask now that I had already agreed to dinner. But I pushed the thought aside and thought nothing more of it as I looked to see what the hall was offering today.

"I'll meet you at our table," Botan mentioned as he slipped past me to find a meal.

"Right!" I chirped as he passed.

The college really wasn't that big, and each group had found its own area in the cafeteria. Our table was by one of the big glass windows of the building. Today it was just the two of us, with our other friends, like Airi, busy or not really hungry. He was already there munching when I slid into the hard, plastic seat across from him.

"So I have news. I took that job offer in Tokyo," he said, jumping right into conversation. He probably couldn't hold it back anymore.

I was ecstatic and lept from the my seat to go around and hug him. "That's wonderful, Botan! I'm so excited for you. Congratulations!" I exclaimed. He wrapped his arms around me in return from where he sat, and I smiled as I briefly rested my cheek on his soft hair. But I didn't linger, and slipped away to return to my seat.

"I see you chose from the 'home-cooked' section again," he mentioned, eyeing my food. Botan rested against the table once I sat down, leaning towards me.

"Yeah," I confessed as I tucked the paper napkin on my lap, "I cook it at home a little differently, but it's still good here. Still, I wouldn't mind having a kitchen again."

"That's right, you cook," replied Botan, smiling. He still smiled as he watched me, and he watched me for a long time. It seemed to me that he was thinking about something, so I didn't bother him and just ate. But after a minute, he couldn't seem to help it, and professed, "You're so cute."

I didn't really know what to say, so I just smiled at him before taking a sip of water. But as I set my cup down, Botan reached out to take my hand in both of his, pulling it towards him. I froze.

"Tohru," he began, then took a breath. He was different tonight, and I didn't know why. "Tohru, I've wanted to tell you this for a while now, but I wanted the right moment. It never came, and I don't want this year to end without telling you that... I've fallen for you."

I was stunned. "Fallen for me?" I echoed.

"I've fallen in love with you, Tohru," he clarified. "If you would, I would love it if you came to Tokyo with me."

I felt my eyes get real big. My heart quickened, but it was panicked. I didn't know what to say. This feeling I had. It was different. It was bad. I didn't know what to say. How could someone love me and I not love them back! Oh, I was a terrible person.

Botan was nice, and I enjoyed having him as a close friend, but my relationship with him felt different from my friendships before. I felt nothing more than friend feelings for him, and had never expected or thought of this.

Botan clutching my hand now just made me feel uncomfortable. It felt nothing like when Yuki used to softly look into my eyes and brush a lock of hair away from my face. Nothing like when Kyo would tell me I had a dumb look on my face, but would muster up the courage to add that he found it cute. This was different, and now that I was here, at the end, with a close friend professing his love for me, I couldn't have missed the Sohmas more.

I closed my eyes, trying to get my head together. And I saw Yuki's face, soft like before, here to comfort me. Lost in that moment again, I squeezed the hand that held mine, only to open my eyes again to see the hazel eyes, not violet, staring at me intently, but I could see the worry in them as he started to realize I did not return his feelings.

"That's very sweet, Botan." I gently pulled my hand away. It was terrible, but I couldn't think of what else to say. I looked down quickly so I didn't have to see the hurt I had so shamefully caused. "Um, I really have to hit the books. I'll see you later," I tried to say as casually and warmly as I could, but knew I would not be able to make this situation better. I felt terrible, but I didn't know what to do.

Slowly, I grabbed my tray and slid back out from my seat, leaving Botan behind me. But then I had an idea, or really in that moment a decision that I was overwhelmingly sure about, and turned back around to look at him. "I'm sorry, Botan, but I have plans to go back home. We'd just be too far apart. But I wish you the best, and I'll see you later, ok?"

I shouldn't have felt that good in that moment as I left him there, but everything seemed to feel right now that I knew that I would be returning to the home I had been missing this whole time.

*I think "Name's POV" is very aesthetically unappealing. For this fic, centered, italicized names indicate POV

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