I know. ANOTHER story. haha. I just can't get enough. I've never done a Fruits Basket fanfic before so this will be my very first. I read a HaruXOC fic and decided I wanted to write one. This is also a HaruXOC fanfic.

I will try to update all my stories. See, most of my stories are either finished or already half way finished. It's just a matter of getting the chapters up. By the way, I haven't had time to beta this chapter as I usually don't. So please don't murder me if they are a few mistakes. :O

I hope you like the first chapter! I think my OC character is a little different from other OC's. I didn't want to make her Mary-Sue and if you have read my other writing you know that my characters are usually dark and mysterious. This girl isn't evil, but she's definetely mysterious. This one is more damsel in distress though. You'll see. haha. This is set whenever they do actually still have the curse but it's SLIGHTLY going away.

I'm afraid I don't know exactly what to do about Rin. So, if anyone has any suggestions on why or how Haru and Rin would not be together, I'm open suggestions.

I

Silence is not Golden

A girl snuck into the grocery store at 34 rivers street. She was dressed in black. Her clothes were far from presentable. Torn and ragged all of them. Her face was dirty and pale and her hair laid tangled down at her sides. It scarcely seemed to bother the teenager, though. The teenager was browsing suspiciously through the store. A few employees eyed her hesitantly but thought against approaching the girl. She had a rather intimidating look to her face that was clearly meant to say 'do not mess with me.'

She was browsing the bread isle in the store. In her right hand, she held two water bottles and with her left, she grabbed two small loafs of bread. When she was positive no one was around, she hid the loafs underneath her jacket and leisurely made her way towards the exit, but she was spotted.

"Thief!" someone yelled. Her eyes widened and she ran at a run. She heard an angry voice afterwards.

"I'll get this one," she heard someone say confidently. Petrified, the girl ran faster and faster, but not fast enough. Her chaser was fast. She felt herself hit and thrown to the ground viciously. She refrained from whimpering and tried to scramble to her feet, only to get pushed down again. She slowly looked up at the man who had caught her. He had white/black hair and was staring intently at her. However, when she saw her, his gaze only slightly softened.

"You…you're a girl," he said, surprised. Apparently, girls weren't normally pegged as thieves. Big surprise. Her bread and water was spread on the ground and the boy picked it up. Right on cue, her stomach grumbled and her eyes went to the ground, embarrassed. "You're hungry," he said. He finally reached the conclusion that this girl was homeless. She was only stealing the bare essentials and he felt extremely sorry for her.

The boy let out a hand for her and softly smiled at the girl. "I'm Haru," he said calmly. The girl did not return the gesture. She did not grab his hand, but stood up herself and did not respond. Haru was not used to people not responding to things. He thought perhaps that she was mute, but didn't think that was the case. He was pretty sure she just chose not to talk.

She took this as a chance to get away, leaving her bread and water behind. She would not be placed in jail for trying to survive. Haru decided to let her go for the time being. Truth be told, he would have let her take the items. She seemed very hungry. When he saw her running, he saw a policeman confront her, and that's when Haru decided to intervene.

"Thief," the policeman boomed. The policeman grabbed the girl by the back of her neck. The girl squirmed in his reach trying to get him to let her go but the policeman was rather big and didn't look like he was going to budge.

Haru came over and intervened. "I'll take it from here," he said. The policeman stopped for a second.

"Hatsuharu Sohma," he said. Many people knew of the Sohma's. They were a rather popular family for some reason.

"I was going to deal with her personally, but-" he was cut off by an action taken by the girl. The girl didn't seem to need any help. She bent under the policeman's arm and punched him in the stomach then lifted her let up to kick him in the head. The girl retrieved her freedom and ran for it. She ran towards where the bread and water were. Haru was right behind her. He grabbed her wrist as she knelt down to pick the items up. The girl lifted her leg up to try and kick him in the face but Haru dodged it.

"Please, stop," he said as she struggled. "I won't do anything to you. I promise," he said with a kind smile. The girl glared at him. It was clear she did not trust him. "Are you hungry? We will feed you," he said in a promising tone. The girl stopped budging. It was clear the girl was starving. She was skinny enough to see her bones and her tremble looked like an earthquake.

The policeman came over but Haru reasoned with him saying the stolen items would be returned and the Sohma family would take care of the girl. He seemed unconvinced but let it slide this time. There were a few other Sohmas that were in the store with Haru after he ran off to catch the thief. Haru explained what happened and the Sohmas eyed suspiciously at the girl.

"What's her name?" a girl asked. She had brown hair and a kind voice.

Haru shrugged and sighed. The girl was sitting on the ground, tracing the ground with her finger. She seemed hesitant to join the family. That much was certain. She seemed to be a rather proud being but Haru was determined to help her. He didn't really meet many young homeless girls. He felt a great amount of pity for her.

"I don't know, Tohru. She won't say. She hasn't spoken one word since I met her," he said with a defeated sigh. The girl named Tohru walked over to the girl who cringed away from her slightly. Tohru gave the girl a kind smile.

"Don't worry. We won't do anything to you. We just want to help you. Are you hungry?" With hesitance, the girl nodded. Tohru smiled and giggled happily. "Will you come with us then?" she asked with a kind tone that only Tohru could manage to strangers. The girl looked up at Tohru and then at the others, with another hesitant nod.

"Why doesn't she talk?" an orange-haired boy said as if the girl were stupid. Haru punched him slightly in the stomach and the orange-haired boy cringed forward from the sudden blow.

"Kyo, curiosity killed the cat," a calmer boy said, managing a smile.

"You're one to talk, you overgrown rodent," the orange-haired boy, Kyo, yelled at the calm one. He only laughed at the remark. Tohru frowned disapprovingly at the two boys who decided their fight could continue later. Tohru let out her hand for the girl, but she denied it again. She stood up of her own free will and glared at the group.

Haru looked at the group and nodded. "All right. Our house is that way," he said to the girl who still hadn't spoken a word. Tohru walked next to the girl and smiled. It was very rare that they had found someone who refused to speak. The girl reminded Tohru of a girl named Kisa who refused to talk until she finally broke out of her shell. Tohru had a feeling that this girl had more than just a will to not talk. There had to be something wrong.

The whole group tried to ignore the fact that the girl was deathly skinny, pale, and that her clothes were old, dirty, and torn. They didn't ask, for they were pretty sure they would get no response. It was, however, obvious that the girl had been living on the streets for some time and was starving.

"I think I shall make a large meal," Tohru said with a smile. The girl looked in her direction but gave no expression. Haru gazed puzzled towards her. He had never met someone who just refused to talk. He wondered what kind of horrors there were in her past. He could only assume that her silence had more than just a will to not speak to do with it. There was something behind her that made her be silenced so.

When they got to the house, another man was there to greet the man. The girl was slightly confused. Just how big was this family?

"Shigure!" Tohru said happily and bowed slightly to him.

"Hello there, Tohru," he said with a smile. Shigure turned towards the girl and bent down, smiling at her. "And who's this?" he asked.

The girl frowned at him. Without a word, she raised her foot and kicked him hard in the stomach. The man let out a large breath as he maintained his smile. "Well….aren't you lovely?!" he said rather dramatically, but kind at the same time. The girl stormed into the house without another word.

"Well, would you look at that?" Shigure said. "She's got some black in her too, Haru," he laughed.

Haru frowned and went inside, followed by the other two boys. When Haru entered, the girl was being tended to by Tohru who had already found her something to eat. Tohru sat next to the girl as she hate. There was no expression on her face but somehow Haru knew that the food was giving her more energy.

Once the girl had finished eating the quick thing Tohru had made, Tohru proceeded to make the entire meal for all of them. The girl was just sitting near the table keeping her eyes painfully focused in her lap. Then, her eyes would scan the room. There was fear in her face. A look of utter confusion. She looked almost sick to her stomach and her breaths were slowly getting heavier and shorter.

"What's wrong?" Haru asked. The girl lifted her hand up to punch him but Haru caught her arm. He had to admit…she was pretty strong for such a small girl. Haru noticed that she had started to sweat. The girl forced her arm out of his reach and suddenly stood up. She ran outside the house and Haru was right after her. All the people in the house were looking just as confused. What, exactly, was going on?

The girl was whimpering as she ran through the forest. She let out tiny short screams every once in a while. The world suddenly started to turn slightly and she lost her balance, falling to the ground with tears streaming down her face. She felt extremely dizzy and completely sick to her stomach. Not to mention her heart was pounding ferociously. The girl crouched into a ball and held her stomach tightly. She was in terrible pain and didn't see to have any idea as to where she even was. Her eyes scanned the area in terror. When Haru came over, she tried to scramble to her feet but failed. Haru hesitated slightly but knew he must help her. Something was going on.

Haru knelt down next to her but she got onto her feet and started running, looking behind her. However, she wasn't looking and ran into a tree and falling to the ground. Haru gasped and went over to her. The other members of the Sohma sensed the commotion and ran over to see Haru leaning next to the girl. His hand was moving some hair away from her face as he helplessly looked up at the others. Tohru instantly saw the problem.

"I got her," she said confidently. The boys exchanged looks.

"Are you sure, Tohru? We don't want you getting hurt to," one said, concerned.

"Positive, Yuki. But thank you," Tohru said. Tohru walked over to the girl and picked her up gently. The girl, not surprisingly, was not heavy at all. "She's so small and thin," Tohru said with a sigh as she took her back to the Sohma house.

The others followed Tohru and put the girl on the couch. There wasn't much else to do except wait until she woke up.

"I'm calling Hatori," Shigure said suddenly. Haru rolled his eyes. Of course. When in doubt, call Hatori. He sat next to her on a chair near the couch looking at her. Something wasn't right. He had never seen someone act like that.

Please review and tell me how I'm doing. I've never EVER written a Fruits Basket fanfic before. I'd love to know about if my characterization is good or if I made any mistakes. It's been awhile since I read FB. Thank you so much for reading!