AN: Hello everyone! So excited for the Fruits Basket reboot, so much that I have in fact decided to write a fanfiction! Been a long tme fan, read all of the manga and of course, watched the first anime. And sicne my younger self had no intention of writing fanfiction for this, older me now does. please enjoy and of course, please leave any review/criticism you see fit. Thank you!

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[Wallflowers Don't Eat Lunch]

"I'm sorry, Ki-chan," her father's tears spilled into his mouth as he gargled on his apologies. Within his trembling embrace, Kiyui's school bag almost dropped from her shoulders, "Papa lost everything. We're broke!"

It was in that moment, Kiyui's high school days would be nothing like the mangas she grew up reading. After the grand announcement of the Watari families impending financial doom, Kiyui hardly tasted the burnt rice she had cooked for supper. While her father slept and drooled onto his pillow, Kiyui glanced sideways at the room fan blowing warm air onto her cheeks. The simple girl wondered what would happen to them onward. Would they lose everything including their apartment and perhaps…worse? She shook her head to rid of the unpleasant scenarios bombarding her thoughts.

For the rest of that night, Kiyui hardly slept. Her dreams consisted of mostly nightmares; unable to see or speak to her father again. When she woke, her father was absent in his futon mattress. Messy and undone, it appeared he left in a hurry at an unreasonable hour before her alarm for school. Like a bell toll, the buzzer of their doorbell rang insistantly, followed by a barrage of rude knocks. With caramel eyes still glued with sleep, Kiyui stumbled in her pajamas to answer. Hesitantly, she cracked the door and addressed her guests softly, "Hello, may I help you?"

"As a matter of fact, you can little miss," came a sadistic voice. Kiyui jumped on her toes when the door was forced open, revealing a man gowned in a red tailored suit, slicked jet black hair, and a toothy grin. "Listen here, your pops made a tinsy-insy little mistake. You know what that is?"

Kiyui shook her head, gulping as she took notice of his accompanying bodygaurd's built like Ox's standing just behind the not-so-gentleman.

"He took my money and blew it," the hustler gritted his teeth and smacked the door frame beside her. "Now, I'm a nice guy and not into hurting girls, but if your pops doesn't pay me back within two months—he's dead." The loan-shark furrowed his bushy black brows, leaning close and narrowing his shaded eyes devilishly. "Ka-pish?"

"Mhm," Kiyui sucked in her lips and bobbed her head in compliance.

"That's a good girl," Satisfied, the suited man adjusted his tie and began to walk away, stopping short before the complex stairs. "Oh, and one more thing," he raised a definitive finger into the air. "Don't think you guys can just pack up and leave. I've got my eye everywhere—so don't let your pops do anything stupid."

Kiyui glanced past the complex stairs and out into the neighborhood streets, catching sight of a misplaced black van parked along the curb. Kiyui swallowed hard, withdrawing back into her apartment. Still dark, Kiyui slumped against the door and slid to the ground exhausted. Her heart was bounding and tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes.

Looks like she was going to be late for class.

. . . .

"One, two…" Kiyui counted the insignificant amount of coinage in her palm. She sighed, and placed herself on a school bench. Lunch hour had just begun, but for Kiyui, it was long over. "I can miss lunch," she rationalized to herself.

Lifting her eyes from her poor hand, she hadn't notice anyone beside herself in the school courtyard. Yet, a few meters away, a particular classmate of hers busied themselves with a homecooked meal. The person was not of importance to her. What caught her eye was the fresh steaming rice wafting in the air, accompanied by a sweet yet savory curry sauce poured on top. Not to mention, the mouthwatering slices of beef perfectly placed upon the delicious mound. Kiyui gripped the edges of her pleated skirt; she had always been glutinous, and could compete with any competitive food eater if she chose too. Part of her wondered if the main reason her family had no money was because of her animalistic eating habits.

Unintentionally, Kiyui's stomach growled in response to the display and scents. The noise caught the attention of the individual enjoying their meal. They lowered their chopstick form their lips, and with a modest swallow they spoke, "Have you had lunch yet?"

"Mmm," Kiyui's vision began to float upwards from the bento box, up to view the actual human being possessing it. Kiyui stared hard; "Prince Yuki" was the owner of the lunch her stomach craved. Kiyu had to blink a few times to digest that an actual conversation was about to occur; "No…I'm not hungry."

Yuki paused, presenting a smile that was customary for him; one that she had seen given to everyone that he conversed with. It was gentle, no doubt, but carried almost nothing reflecting himself honestly…or so she imagined. With a careful distance, Kiyui became rather observant of others; though people were of no interest to her. Real people, that is. The characters from her manga and novels were much better company to keep.

"Are you sure?" Yuki's response came.

"Mhm. I'm okay—"

Another growl erupted from her stomach, contradicting Kiyui unfairly. Kiyui noticed Yuki's smile crease higher into his cheeks, giving her a little more than the previous one. It was more genuine this time around, enough so that Kiyui naturally felt the warmth in her cheeks and dipped her chin shyly in defeat.

"I guess…" she began softly, barely audible to even herself. "I am hungry."

"I can share some of mine with you," Yuki addressed her kindly, gesturing for her to sit beside him. He chuckled somewhat to himself, "To be honest, the portion today is bigger than I expected, so I don't think I can finish it all by myself anyway."

"Okay…" Kiyui nodded, lifting herself from the bench across and padded towards her classmate. Sitting, she humbly accepted the bento box offered to her. With a small 'thank you', she began to chew and chew. It had only taken a minute until she reached the bottom where only small pools of curry remained. She stared confused inside, before baring an apologetic gaze towards her company, "Oh, I ate it all…sorry."

"Wow, that was—" Yuki could barely conceal the amusement of his features and voice; quickly, he cleared his throat to continue his 'princely' composure. "It seems you were pretty hungry after all."

"Mhm," Kiyui replied, baring her warm eyes down to her lap and allowing the bento to be taken from her. Kiyui rose from her seat, garnering a curious look from her company. She turned to face him, brushing the scraggily short blonde locks from her face. "Thank you…Sohma-kun," a small smile spread across her lips. "Ah…one more thing."

Yuki blinked up at her, "Yes?"

She jutted out a pointer finger in the direction of his face, "You have rice on your face," Kiyui stated simply.

"Eh—!"Yuki flushed, painting his face a whole new shade of pink. "Where on my face?" He asked, frantically rubbing his chin and cheeks with his hands. "Is it still there?"

Kiyui shook her head, "No, you got it." She picked up her school shoes and turned towards the direction of the classrooms, "Good-bye …Sohma-kun."

"Good-bye," Yuki awkwardly raised his hand in a small attempt to bid his farewell. Yuki took a moment to stare down at his emptied bento box which Tohru had made special for him, replaying the strange encounter in his mind.

"What on earth…?"