She Found Me, a fruits basket fanfic

Ok, so as my first Furuba fic, and my first song-fic, I present you guys this. It just came pretty randomly, as I was listening to Kelly Clarkson's song "You Found me" If that's gonna be the case, you may see a lot more song-fics, as I listen to loads of music. xD I hope you like it. If not, well, just don't toast my ass, ok? I like being critiqued, but if you don't like it, then, please. Spare me. Although, flames would be useful…I could roast marshmellows…oooh…possibilities…..

I keep finding errors and spelling mistakes in this fic…this is the third time I've revised it. Lol.

I've decided to do this fic in Hana's POV. I listened to the song and was like, 'You know, this reminds me of Hana…' So, I decided to try and write something. There's a slight hinting of Hana/Tohru in here, just so you know.

She Found Me: by Resuri

Is this a dream?
If it is
Please don't wake me from this high
I've become comfortably numb
Until you opened up my eyes
To what it's like
When everything's right
I can't believe

It was Saturday. Arisa and I had both decided to get Tohru away from the Sohmas for the weekend. We 'kidnapped' her Friday evening after dinner at Shigure's house. It had been a long time since the three of us; just the three of us had been together in a long time. Long, as in days. But still. It makes me feel lonely when I'm not around her. We had decided on going on a picnic today, with Tohru providing the lunch, which was delicious, as usual. She's going to be a wonderful wife someday…Perhaps to Yuki, or perhaps Kyo….But, it does make me want to cry, just thinking that I may have to give my little Tohru away someday. I hope not too soon though…

Back before I even met her and Arisa, I never thought I would ever hear any such words coming from my mouth. But, here I am now. 4 years later. And I appreciate my Tohru more and more with each passing day. Arisa would agree with me- if she and Tohru weren't busy trying to scare off a flock of pigeons right now. Why am I not joining in? I never was one to be good at running. Or, perhaps I'm just lazy. Either way, I'm content with just sitting here and watching them.

It was actually a complete miracle that we even met. When I was still in middle school, Father had insisted on moving me to a different school, to get away from "my tormentors". I was….naive back then. I did not think my classmates were tormenting me. Rather, I believed they were punishing me in a way that I couldn't do myself. I believed I deserved to be teased, labeled an outcast of my school. I did everything to keep it that way, my most famous way of doing so was wearing nothing but black. However…there were nights I would fall asleep, silently crying. Deep down…I did wish for someone, anyone to accept me. Someone who didn't think I was just some stupid witch girl. With the exception of my family, I had no one.

The black fingernails were the first things my new teacher spotted on me when I walked in the classroom. He didn't see my face, which was devoid of any emotion, and hidden behind my bangs. He didn't see that I was silently shaking; nervous on my first day at this new school. He couldn't see the war raging in my head at that time, for which I was extremely grateful. No. He only saw my fingernails. Painted black just that morning by my Grandmother. She said, since I couldn't wear black at this school, that painting my nails that color would probably help calm my nerves. She wasn't right, but, at the same time, she wasn't wrong either. After telling him to his face that I was a sinner, and that was the reason my nails were that offending color, he left me alone. I could hear the other kids' waves coming in my brain in droves; all of the thoughts I was hearing, said that I was weird and/or scary. No surprise there.

You found me
When no one else was lookin'
How did you know just where I would be?
Yeah, you broke through
All of my confusion
The ups and the downs
And you still didn't leave
I guess that you saw what nobody could see
You found me
You found me

Two voices, however, caught my attention. They weren't loud and obnoxious like the others. They were soft, and almost inaudible; even I couldn't hear them very well, and though it was probably rude (and most likely insane) to do so, I strained to hear what the voices were saying.

"…Poor Hanajima-san. She looks lonely and scared. I hope the other kids will be nice to her! Maybe Uo-chan and I can meet her up at lunch…Oh no! Lunch! I forgot my lunch money at home! I can't ask Uo-chan. That would be the rudest thing! And she's got enough to worry about. I hope she's ok. She looks like she's gotten beaten up again! Why? She didn't do anything wrong! I worry about her so much…she says she doesn't like to keep staying at our house, but I really don't mind! I like it when she stays….!"

"….Ugh…dad's being a total jerk again. I hate to keep asking Kyoko-san if I can stay overnight. This is what? The 5th time this week? I really am imposing, but where else can I go? Dad can't cook worth crap, we have less to no food in the house…Oh my god. I can't stand it! Damn gang members giving me hell yesterday…didn't think I'd even make it to school today. And poor Tohru's going crazy wondering what happened, and if I'm ok or not…"

I was unable to tell where they were coming from, but I sensed that they were…troubled. They seemed to be crying, trying to reach out to someone. I dismissed it, thinking I was going too far into others' business.

The day went by slowly, without much incident. On the way to lunch, I kept my head down, trying to drown out the endless stream of voices that flooded my brain, and also averting any kind gaze or gestures that might be thrown my way. It was for the best. I couldn't let anyone get hurt because of my cursed existence. It was harder everyday to even wake up anymore. But, I couldn't let my brother, Megumi, down. He'd been there for me so often, and I can't be more grateful for his presence in my life. Even so…I kept myself away from anything that may provoke me into doing the unthinkable.

So, here we are
That's pretty far
When you think of where we've been
No going back
I'm fading out
All that has faded me within
You're by my side
Now everything's fine
I can't believe

"Here you go! Today, you get a double helping for free, Hanajima-san!"

An overly happy voice jerked me out of my reverie. I looked up into the bright blue eyes of the owner of one of the soft voices I had heard this morning. It puzzled me; why was she being kind, when, if she knew the truth, she'd run away from me?

She continued to chat animatedly about how good the school food was, and how she'd be honored if I'd like it too. She was yelled at by the other kids that were behind me, telling her to shut up so they could eat too. She jumped and gave out a hurried apology to me, and another one to the less-than- happy kids behind me. In a way, I was happy to be able to get away. However…it was the first time anyone had spoken towards me normally, like they weren't afraid of me. And with such polite language too. I wondered vaguely why she talked like that. I searched for an empty table, so I could eat my lunch in peace, when-

"Oi! New Kid!"

New kid. That would most likely be me. I looked around and saw the owner of the second voice that had caught my attention this morning; a tough looking (and sounding) blonde haired girl with a bandage on her left cheek. She was motioning for me to come to her table, so, rather hesitantly, I did.

"You look like you're about to go off by yourself. I hate that, so, sit down!"

It wasn't an offer. It was a demand. I stared at her. Wow, but she was arrogant. She stared back as if to say, 'Well? Why aren't you moving?'

She broke eye contact with me just long enough to yell, "Yo! Tohru! Over here!"

We both looked over to see that brown-haired girl hurrying over, apologizing for making us wait. Then, she turned and stared at me. Her reaction was not what I was expecting.

"Hanajima-san!? Hanajima-san is really going to eat with us?!" Tohru said, clapping her hands.

Her blonde friend gave her a grin. "I just picked her up!"

Now, hold on. Who said anything about picking someone up?! She was the one who basically forced me over here!

"YAY! Come on then, Hanajima-san! Sit down and let's eat together!!

At that point in time, all I could think of was how psychotic and ditzy this girl was, as Tohru tried pushing me down into a chair at their table.

"Hanajima….Hanajima…" the blonde was muttering incoherently to herself. Tohru and I both looked up.

"What is it, Uo-chan?" Tohru asked, looking worriedly over at her friend

"Y'know, if Kyoko-san were here, you'd be Hana-chan!" the girl dubbed "Uo" said with a grin.

Tohru's eyes grew wide, and they seemed to shine with delight. "Oh! Yes! You're right! You're Hana-chan, Hana-chan!!!"

Hana-chan. I kinda liked the sound of that. Wait. No. I couldn't - no, wouldn't get close with them. I could seriously hurt them! I had just sat down, but I stood up with every intention to go somewhere else.

"I'm sorry…But, you two are better off if you didn't associate with me."

I shot a sideways glance at Tohru, whose happy expression had dissolved into total disappointment. For some reason, I felt guilty that I had made her sad.

"If you associated with me in any way, it would be hurting you, and not one good thing would come out of it. I'm sorry." I turned to go.

"Come off it! In my case, it'd be all hurts and no good things!" Uo chuckled.

"I don't think anything good comes from associating with me either" Tohru stared the table down.

"I definitely didn't want to make anyone depressed…" I said softly.

"Give it a rest. Who the hell cares? Either you want to sit with us, or you don't. But, I'll force you to sit here if I have too if your answer is no. Look. It's your first day here, the sun is shining, and we got this school lunch which kicks ass. Now sit down and eat with us weirdos!"

She and Tohru said a grace over the meal and started to eat. Well, Uo did anyway. Tohru sat and just smiled that goofy smile I saw earlier. What the heck. What did I have to lose? I turned back around, and sat down in the empty seat. Tohru gave me a smile that appeared brighter than the ones I'd seen before.

"I'm glad you're eating with us today, Hana-chan!" she said cheerfully.

I couldn't help but give her a smile in return…It was then that I realized that it was the first time I had smiled in days.

"Before I forget, what's your name?" Uo glanced up at me. "My name's Uotani. Arisa Uotani."

"It's Saki. Saki Hanajima." I replied with a faint smile.

Lunch flew by rather quickly, to my surprise. It was…fun to sit with and talk to people that seemed to like me. The remainder of the day went sluggish. I never did like math and science very much. After school, Arisa and Tohru met me outside.

"Will we see you tomorrow?!" Tohru asked me excitedly

"Of course we will! She transferred here, remember?" Arisa smiled at her.

"Well then, see you tomorrow!" she said cheerfully, waving furiously at me.

"See ya!"

'See you tomorrow'. No one had ever said that to me before in my life. I found myself wondering if they would say 'good morning' to me the next day.

And they did. And the next thing I knew, we were more than friends. We were a team.

The days and weeks that followed were a blur. From Arisa and Tohru introducing me to Kyoko, to sleepovers with conversations that lasted until 2 AM (or, until Tohru fell asleep on either of our shoulders), not a moment went by that I wasn't happy. Me. Saki. Happy. It seemed too good to be true. Until the one day that nearly ruined everything. I used my powers again. Unintentionally.

I ran from the room in utter terror. Memories of the past flooded my mind. Why was I alive when all I did was cause others pain and turmoil. I distantly heard footsteps running after me as I ran off toward the stairs. I saw a window as I climbed; a perfect opportunity was right there in front of me. What scared me was that I probably would have jumped too, if I hadn't heard her voice.

"Hana-chan?!"

Immediately I turned around and came face to face with Tohru, a worried look on her face, and a braid I was working on, half finished, lying limply on her head.

"Hana-chan, what's wro-"

"Please, stay away from!" I begged. I saw her eyes widen a little, but she still continued to climb the stairs.

"STOP!" I whispered harshly, holding out my hands. This time, she did.

"I'm sorry for not telling you this before, but I do have a power. It almost killed someone a few years ago. So please. For your own safety, just leave me alone!" I willed myself not to cry. Tohru and Arisa had given me something to live for in those few weeks that we were together. Friendship. And now I had ruined everything. Perhaps, it was what I deserved after all.

I felt a pair of hands touching my own. Tohru's. She seemed close to tears. I had made her cry. Oh god, will my curse ever cease? Why her? Why did I have to go and make her cry?

"Th-there may not be a whole lot that I don't know about you yet, but, I'm not going to run away from you! We-we're becoming so close! Please don't run away!"

She sounded so desperate, and so sincere. I felt a couple tears work their way out of my eyes and down my cheeks. I felt horrible. But nothing could have prepared me for what she said next;

"I love you, Hana-chan…"

I froze. Time seemed to stand utterly still. Why…? I can't explain what was going on in my head when she said that. But… I…was shocked. All of a sudden, I remembered my little brother's prayer that I deemed absurd.

"In this world…in this world full of people…I can't believe that there isn't one person out there who wouldn't love Saki…If you are in a far off country, then get on a place…Hurry…come to Saki….as fast as you can…Please…"

I never thought that anyone would grow to love me as a friend. I thought that I lived to be punished by others. And now, two people had come into my life with open arms, accepting me for who I was and they weren't afraid, they weren't going to run away. More tears started to pour down my face.

"But…I could hurt you" I murmured softly, turning my head away.

"Do you want to leave?" asked a second voice. It was Arisa. She had followed us.

"Don't think that things have to be the way they are, just because someone else said so. All I'm asking is do you want to leave? Or do you want to stay. It's your choice; no one else's.

And I was hiding
'Til you came along
And showed me where I belong
You found me
When no one else was lookin'
How did you know?
How did you know?

I did. I did want to stay. I held Tohru's hands like they were a lifeline.

"I-I do…I do…want to be with you…" I couldn't take it. I started crying for real. Tohru hugged me, tears streaming down her face. We stood like that for god-knows how long, until Arisa came up and joined us.

"Look at us, crying like a buncha sissies." She laughed through her own tears. I had to smile.

I can remember walking home alone from school, and looking down at my shadow. It must have been a lonely sight, but I never noticed. Since the day I met Tohru and Arisa, whenever I looked down at the ground, it wasn't just me and my shadow anymore. There were two other shadows giving us company. And when I looked up, Tohru and Arisa would be there, on either side of me. I wasn't alone.

Megumi's prayer had been answered.

"Hana-chan!" a voice calls out to me. I look up to see both Arisa and Tohru standing there, both of their cheeks flushed from running around.

"Yes?"

"You done day-dreamin' yet? If yes, then let's go get some ice cream!" Arisa said, punching the air with her fist.

She and Tohru each grabbed one of my hands and pulled me off the bench. "Let's go." I said with a smile.

And the large hot fudge sundae that the three of us decided to share was the best one I had ever had.

The End.

So, what do you think? I don't usually beg, plead, or sic certain characters on people to ask for reviews. But, kindly do leave a message if you can. It would be greatly appreciated!

-Resuri (AKA: Les)