Hey there. Thanks for taking a look at my story! :)

This is also my first Fruits Basket fic, so if you have any positive criticism or helpful advice, feel free to shoot it my way! And without any further ado, I present to you the first Chapter of Insert Title Here.

~ Insert Title Here ~

~ A Fruits Basket FanFiction ~

"I told you already! Don't you listen to me when I talk? I would never-"

The woman never got to say her intended words, cut off by a masculine baritone, one that sounded just as irate as she, "Oh, you've told me already, have you? Well, how the hell am I supposed to know if that's even the truth?! How do I know if anything you say is true? Maybe you've been lying to me for years!"

There was a heavy pause. A person would have been able to hear a pin drop in the silence that had ensued.

Then, the woman spoke, "You know what? I'm going to bed. I can't deal with this - or you - right now." Her declaration was punctuated by the sound of a door slamming shut, as if to block out the sound of the inevitable response the man would spit back.

"So that's how it is, huh? Just slam the door, and that will solve everything-" small hands clamped down over tired ears, and the loud, angry words became muffled and indiscernible.

A small, unhappy frown marred Shoko's face and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She refused to let them fall, afraid that if she gave in her parents would hear her cries and come investigate. Something like that, it would only be the catalyst to another heated argument.

That was the last thing the six year-old wanted.

Holding back sniffles, the small brunette child curled up even further beneath her blankets. Sad, forlorn eyes, the colour of liquid honey stared out the window into the night. When she thought it was safe to move her hands, she gently uncovered her ears, listening warily for the telltale noises of a quarrel.

Her ears met with calm silence, and Shoko used one of her now free arms to wipe furiously at her damp eyes, relief pooling in her stomach.

Her parents fighting had become something she was used to hearing - it seemed as if they couldn't agree on anything anymore, and was always able to find something to start screaming at each other over. It was horrible to listen to.

Shoko wasn't sure if her mom and dad knew that she knew that something was wrong. She always did her best to smile and look happy for them every day, so maybe they didn't? Not to mention that whenever she walked into the same room, they would instantly be all rainbows and sunshine, as if they hadn't been at each others' throats not five seconds before - and she would pretend that she had no idea, smile her best smile, and let her mom make her favourite snack and send her to go play in her room.

She honestly didn't know what else to do at times like those.

The little girl certainly didn't know what was happening between them, but what she did know was that more than anything, she wanted them to be as they were before all of this.

That would make her happier than any homemade snack anyday.

"I just want them to get along again," Shoko whispered into the dark of her bedroom, "I want to see them happy like before."

Of course the quietly spoken words were met with stark silence. She hadn't been saying them to anyone, after all. But somewhere deep down, she wished someone could hear her.

"I wish everything would go back to normal."

"Shoko! Hurry up or you'll be late!" The teen flinched at the words, scrambling to pull her uniform on properly, double-checking that her skirt or shirt wasn't on backwards. As funny as it sounded, putting on articles of clothing backwards wasn't exactly out of question for her - especially when she was in a hurry. Some of her most embarrassing moments involved wardrobe mishaps such as those.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She shouted back to her mother, scowling at her reflection in the bathroom mirror briefly when she saw the shapeless mass that was her hair. "Bloody hair-" growling, she grasped for her brush and yanked it through the tangles, wincing at but otherwise ignoring the pain when the bristles snagged at a particularly stubborn knot.

Finishing with her hair - and losing what felt like half of her brunette locks in the process - Shoko stumbled out of the bathroom, thundered down the stairs and came to a screeching halt at the entrance of the kitchen, where her mother sat calmly at the dining table, sipping at her morning tea.

"Okay, here! Where's breakfast?"

Her mother - named Hideko, but otherwise just known as 'mom' - looked up and gave her an incredulous look from eyes identical to her daughter's. "Does it look like I have anything made and ready to be served?" The older woman sipped her drink, and added, "You don't have time for a big breakfast anyway - you'd better just grab a bagel to go. At this rate, you'll be late no matter what you do."

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you," Shoko mumbled, walking across the room to grab a bagel and a bottle of water, and her boxed lunch from the fridge. Her mother didn't grace her with a reply, going back to her own devices, which she was fine with.

The woman had been somewhat emotionally distant and aloof from her daughter since the divorce - not necessarily cold and uncaring, but not exhibiting great amounts of warmth and affection, either. She was mostly just a bit snippy and irritable nowadays in regards to almost everything.

Shoko had long since learned to live with and accept that fact.

And so, snatching up her schoolbag - thank goodness she had packed it the night before, she really didn't have the time to stuff her things into it now - she was out the front door, bagel and water in hand, about to begin her journey to Kaibara High. She cast one glance over her shoulder at her mother before she went, and decided to call out, "I'm off!"

Hideko merely looked up at her with identical liquid honey eyes, and gave a single nod.

Shoko sighed and shut the door behind her. Biting into the bagel - and making a face at its plain taste - she moved forward towards the day ahead of her.

The walk to Kaibara was always rather uneventful, and normally Shoko would take her time and enjoy the gentle breeze that swept by her. Of course, this was only true on normal days when the girl wasn't in danger of being late. And as it was, she was going to be late this morning.

And because she was going to be late, the brunette had no time to stop and smell the flowers - no time to stop and do anything, really. And apparently that also meant taking the time to do something that all children learnt to do from a young age - to stop and look both ways before crossing the street. So, being the reckless and unobservant person she was in her haste, the teen darted down the sidewalk, cut across some elderly couple's yard, and made a direct beeline for the road.

She should have slowed down, stopped, looked around, done anything, really. Instead, she bolted across the road at a dead sprint, carelessly, much too focused on the fact that, 'Oh jeez I'm gonna be late and Mr. Omura is gonna make me stay after school to clean the classroom. I hate cleaning the classroom!'

A sudden car horn blared, loud and insistent. Shoko's head whipped around at the distracting, ear-drum bursting noise, her honey eyes wide and startled. Her run faltered for a split second in her surprise, and a shriek tore from her lips as she recovered and all but threw herself toward the opposite sidewalk with her entire being. Her feet hit the sidewalk and she stumbled, going down on her knees and scraping them in the process. She felt the wind blow past her as the car zoomed by, honking again, but she was too busy marveling and trembling at the fact that she had narrowly avoided a horrible accident.

She swore then and there that she had just lost ten years off of her life.

Remaining on the ground for a few seconds longer trying to slow her racing pulse, the girl politely waved away the people that came up to her inquiring if she was alright or if she needed help. Getting shakily to her feet, she shot a sheepish smile to the people that were eyeing her - they either returned that smile half-heartedly, or shook their head in disbelief. Not that she could blame them, since she did just nearly die because of her own stupidity.

She brushed herself off, pausing to wince at the sight of her slightly bloody knees, and continued on her way, at a much slower pace this time. She had no intention of having another near accident.

She'd probably have a heart-attack, if she didn't get hit and die first, that is.

Eventually, the brunette teen made it to Kaibara High, and in one piece, too. Taking a moment to rejoice in her own alive-ness again, Shoko then set off toward her classroom. The halls of the school were borderline empty, but since she was late, it was only to be expected.

She lingered outside the door for a moment, almost contemplating skipping class. But she knew if she did, she would be inmuch more trouble than for simply being late. Summoning up her nerve, she gripped the door's handle tightly and cracked it open an inch or two.

And proceeded to wince and internally cuss the hell out of the door when it made a very audible rusty squealing noise.'Damn, don't they oil these stupid hinges? This retarded ass door is making this much more difficult than it needs to be!'

When Shoko opened the door fully, it was to see the entire class staring directly at her. Mr. Omura, her teacher, looked less than pleased. The teen swallowed thickly, trying and failing to force a grin onto her lips.

"U-um," she started, looking at her homeroom teacher with earnest eyes, "Sorry?"

The older man just heaved a sigh, fixing her with his no-nonsense gaze, and told her quite bluntly to, "Go sit down. I'll talk to you after class."

Slinking off to her seat with a nod, Shoko plopped down beside her seatmate - who was also one of her only friends here at high school. Katsura Nami, with her dark hair and sapphire eyes, smirked at her. Shoko shot her a nasty glare, mouthing, 'Don't you dare.'

Nami merely smirked wider and turned away. Shoko scowled.

Class passed by as it usually did, and more than once Shoko felt a prod in her side, only to turn with a glare and find Nami innocently working in her notebook. But the brunette knew better. How was it that her black-haired friend was able to get away with disturbing her frequently without getting caught?

"Crafty woman," Shoko muttered under her breath, and saw said crafty woman grin impishly out of the corner of her eye. 'Oh yeah. Definitely crafty, no doubt about that.'

Soon enough, it was time to pack up and head to the next class. Only, Shoko remained behind while everyone else left. She watched Nami pass by her and head out the door, but not before mouthing, 'See you at lunch,' at her with another one of her trademark smirks.

The honey-brown eyed girl sighed in exasperation at her friend and shook her head fondly. Nami was certainly something else.

"Miss Murata," her teacher spoke up as the last student trailed out of the room. Shoko looked up at him, preparing herself for a lecture and a invitation to stay after school to clean the classroom. "You were late this morning."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry for that. I'll do whatever it takes to make up for it." She winced inwardly at her own words as she practically saw the gears turning in Mr. Omura's head.

"Then you don't mind if you come back here after classes and clean up, do you?"

Ah, there it was. She knew it was coming. This man loved to make his students clean up after school hours. It was one of the reasons she didn't like him very much - and she knew for a fact that she wasn't the only one who shared that opinion.

"N-no, I can do that." Not that she wanted to. She just didn't have a choice.

"Good. You are dismissed then," Mr. Omura said briskly, and turned to the papers on his desk. Shoko resisted the urge to scowl and make an unpleasant hand gesture at him, and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Miss Murata?" Her teacher's voice made her pause and turn partially to face him, a blank look on her face, "Don't be late again."

"Yes, sir." The brunette replied in a monotone voice, and turned and left before the man could say anything more.

Shoko's next class passed in a blur, and before she knew it, it was time for lunch. Gathering her things together and racing up the stairs to the roof, she very nearly mowed down Nami on her way there, who was headed in the same direction.

"Whoa, whoa, where's the train wreck?! Slow down!" Nami scolded her lightly, but she was grinning.

"Sorry, sorry," Shoko apologized, a grin of her own working its way onto her face. "I just wanted to get some fresh air. I haven't had the chance to really unwind since I got here late."

Nami nodded as she pushed open the door to the roof. Not many students ever came up here aside from them, so it wasn't a surprise to see that they were the only ones there.

"Speaking of," the black-haired girl started as she sat down and pulled out her lunch, "Why were you late this morning?"

Shoko took her own seat and answered as she fished out her food from her bag, "Woke up late. Damned alarm clock didn't go off." She opened up her lunch and picked up her chopsticks, digging in.

"Sounds like you need a new one," Nami commented, and then smirked devilishly, "But isn't your mom good enough to fill that role? She's always barking at you to get up and not be late."

Shoko snorted. "Yeah, and look what happened. I was still late this morning. I'm not sure that would work."

"Mm, I guess." Her friend said simply, and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Until Nami decided to break it out of the blue and inquire, "So...Shoko, what do you think of the Prince?"

Shoko started at the unexpectedness of the question and forcefully swallowed her bite of food. "The Prince?" She repeated incredulously.

Nami nodded, poking at her own lunch. "Yeah. You know, the one those girls go absolutely batsh-" she noticed Shoko's glare and quickly corrected her foul language, "crazy over? Prince Yuki Sohma?"

Shoko blinked at the name. Yeah, she knew him. She had a class or two with him, actually. But that was all he was to her - a classmate - though she wouldn't deny that he was somewhat attractive. Her teenage hormones forced her to notice that much about him at least.

"Oh, him." Shoko paused, recalling Nami's initial question. What did she think of him? Besides finding him a bit - slightly - good looking? "Well...to be honest, I think he's a bit strange. I mean, he's got all of these girls pining after him but he doesn't seem to care. He doesn't seem to have very many friends, either."

When, exactly, did she take the time to observe this? As far as she could remember, she didn't remember spending any lengthy amount time observing the resident 'Prince' of Kaibara. Had it been during her bored people-watching sessions she'd sometimes engage in when her mind couldn't focus? Or did Yuki Sohma just interest her more than she had originally thought?

Nami didn't seem to be as perturbed by Shoko's answer. She just nodded as if just realizing it was true. "Yeah, that's true I guess. Kinda strange since he's so popular."

Shoko merely nodded, shaking her clinging thoughts away. Why should it matter anyway? It wasn't as if she was friends with him or anything. Heck, as far as she was concerned, she didn't need to know anything about that guy. 'Prince Yuki Sohma' was worlds away from her little designated lot, anyhow.

Their paths would never cross, that much she was certain.

"Damn it all," Shoko cursed under her breath, broom in hand as she swept the floor. "Damn teachers. Why do I have to do this, anyway?" She let out a low growl, grip tightening on the broom stick convulsively.

"It's not like it's killing you," a voice grumbled from across the room, and the brunette girl looked up to shoot a glare at her fellow student, also tasked with cleaning the room alongside her. Irie Jiro was his name, if she recalled correctly.

"How would you know that?" Shoko grumbled, aggressively sweeping her broom across the floor, with more force than needed, "Maybe I'm allergic to dust and dirt and all of these stupid little particles floating around are slowly killing me. I could be dying right now and you'd have no idea unless I said something."

The boy rolled his eyes and decided not to reply. That suited her just fine. She was used to not getting replies to her smart remarks. She let out a small 'hmpff', noise, and turned her attention back to the job at hand.

'Useless. Stupid sweeping, stupid brooms, stupid cleaning, stupid teachers, stupid Irie...' not that the other student was to be blamed for anything. He just had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shoko was actually normally quite amiable on good days. Today just wasn't a good day.

Another ten minutes passed, and they were almost done. Shoko, deciding to be generous - and partly to make up for being such bad company - told Jiro to head out and that she would finish up. The male gave her a surprised look, but didn't argue the point.

So now it was just Shoko in the classroom, finishing up the last touches of her after school task. She was going to make this room so spotless that Mr. Omura would have absolutely nothing bad to say tomorrow.

"And...done!" The brunette looked around the room in a way that was a bit triumphant, and a bit relieved. "I cleaned this damn room, now I can go home. I'm getting hungry."

Stepping out of the newly cleaned classroom, Shoko closed the door behind her and brushed her hands together in an accomplished way. A smirk in place on her face, she then made her way toward her locker, where she would gather her things and head home.

Only thing was...things didn't exactly go according to plan.

On her way out of the school building, she noticed she had forgotten one of her textbooks back in her last class of the day. She needed that one to do her homework, so cursing her forgetfulness, she turned and sprinted back the way she had come, hoping that the door hadn't been locked yet.

She should have taken a memo from this morning really, when she had nearly gotten hit by that car. Running about recklessly without paying attention to your surroundings rarely ended well.

But this was Murata Shoko here, and when she had one thing on her mind, everything else just zipped over her head, unnoticed.

Darting down the hall, the young brunette was just about to round a corner when unexpectedly, a lone figure turned down the very hall she was streaking headlong across. Alarm flashed in her mind for the briefest of seconds, and she was dimly able to recognize a look of shock and growing horror on this other person's face before everything went blank and she made sudden, forceful collision with the poor soul. A strange 'POOF' noise followed, and suddenly her vision was enveloped by a weird purple cloud.

The next thing she knew, she was laying flat on the ground on her stomach, confused and a little irritated. Sitting up slowly as the purple cloud dissipated, Shoko glanced down, expecting to see whoever she had ran into sprawled out on the floor.

...much to her surprise, she was met with the sight of a male Kaibara uniform, but no person.

"...eh?" Was all that she was able to say at that moment. 'What in the world...?'

Then, she spotted movement among the clothes, and she leaned away from the pile almost warily. Who knew what was happening right now...

A tiny nose poked out from the shirt, followed by a head. Then out came the rest of the body, along with a thin, skinny tail.

A rat.

...okay, maybe the brunette hit her head really hard and was dreaming in LalaLand right now. Yeah, that sounded right for a situation like this.

There was no way this could be really happening. People didn't disappear in a poof of purple clouds and have small rodents take their place. That, that just wasn't possible.

"...alright. You're a person turned into a rat and I'm obviously knocked out cold and dreaming. That's the only plausible answer. Right? Right." Shoko nodded her head to herself as if that made perfect sense. "Damn, what a time to have something like this happen..."

"Ow..."

Shoko froze. Slowly, she glanced around the hall, expecting to see someone who could have voiced that complaint, but was met with nothing but empty space.

It was just her and the rat.

The girl's gaze wandered down to said rat, and she stared at it. It stared right back.

"...that...wasn't you, right? Rats...rats can't talk..." why was she talking as if it could understand her?

"I'd like to agree with you, Miss, but I'm afraid it's too late for that."

...

"...WHAT?!"

Well, that's that! And the first chapter of Insert Title Here comes to a close.

An interesting fact about the story's name? Actually, I had originally put {Insert Title Here} when I was typing up the first bit of this chapter, as a reminder to go back and give it a name after I was done. But it turned out that I didn't need to, because strangely enough, those three words already kind of fit the idea I had for the story overall. So I just left it.

Anywho, I hoped you liked this first chapter. I'm not sure when Chapter 2 will be out, but hopefully it won't be too long. No guarantees, though. XD

Alright, so that's all.

See you next time!

~TheAzuraStar