Author's Notes: Hello, hello, it has been a while since I have put anything up on FF(dot)net. Isn't that amazing? Haha. This story is one that has actually kept my attention for over the course of a few months, even if I have just started to write it now. Heh. Well, I hope you like it a lot, because it's my baby right now. Mwuhhahahaaaaa. Yeah.

Disclaimer: Do I look like someone who would own Fruits Basket?

The Wolf and Lion: Predators of the Zodiac

Author: T hea R ea

-

Death Knocks

In the olden ages, when someone important to the country died, the death bells tolled for so many times as the age of the deceased. The sound was heard throughout all of the villages, and all of the villagers were given the honor to gather to the place in which the dead was to be laid for eternity. It was a melancholy time when they rang the bells, and all wore their black garments and prayed for the safe bringing of the soul to the heavens. It was beautiful, yet sad, a ritual that was carried on for years and years on end. For hundreds of years, before they abruptly stopped.

Now, at least a few thousand years later, there were no bells to shake for the death of two very important people, at least to the heart of a young high-school girl. Their deaths would become mere memory to those who lived in a matter of days, for there were no whole villages garbed in black and bowing their heads to pray. Their deaths would be unnoticed after weeks, and life would return to as it had been before their accident. With the absence of themselves, of course. But even in this modern time, there are some who would wear black and pray for weeks on end. It just so happened that these two had one who would not ever forget them, this young woman, Tohru Honda. She would remember she did not forget things so traumatizing.

And so, these two young deceased people would forever be remembered by Tohru. But, in their remembrance there would bring pain to the same mourner. Their absence from her life would take a deep toll upon her heart and drive her into direction that even they did not thin she would ever go. An ill fate befell poor Tohru Honda the day Arisa Uo and Saki Hanajima died.

-

"Excuse me, Miss Honda, would you please come to the main office?" a woman wearing glasses came from outside of the room, holding the door open with the palm of her hand. "It's important."

Tohru Honda popped her head up, aqua eyes flecked with surprise. What had she done to end up in the office? "Yes, I'm coming," pressing her hands down upon her desk; she pushed out her chair from behind her. Carefully placing it back into its place, Tohru lingered there for a few moments, eyeing the class for her friends before finally walking towards the exit. She saw both Yuki and Kyo's heads turn as she exited and she gave them an easy smile, though she secretly wondered what exactly she had actually done. Shutting the door behind her, she met up with the women in glasses in a silent trot.

The white-painted hallways were completely silent, with the exception of the woman's loud clanking heels. Tohru's black shoes made no sound upon the ground, and though the clapping of the shoes bothered her, she remained polite.

Staring directly ahead, she brushed a piece of stray brown hair from her eyes before asking, "Why have I been sent to the office?" Blue eyes flickered over to the woman momentarily, looking for an expression of recognition from her question.

"Miss Honda," the woman started talking quietly, her heels clapping loudly, clap, clap, clap. "There is some bad news… We have found two bodies and we…" Tohru's shocked eyes met the woman's, and the woman dropped her gaze immediately. "And we… identified that they were the bodies of Arisa Uo and Saki Hanajima."

Tohru's silent footfalls stopped, and she turned her head quickly towards her company, braided brown hair flying on her shoulder. "Y-You must have been mistaken," Tohru mumbled quietly, bowing her head onto her chest. She was shaking visibly, fingers clenching into a fist to try to avoid breaking down completely. "No offense, Miss, b-but I am sure that you are m-mistaken. Arisa and Saki are fine, I just talked to them yesterday." With an attempt to remain stable, Tohru veered of to the side of the hallway, resting herself against the walls. "Please tell me that you are wrong… please?"

"I'm sorry Miss Honda, but there is no mistaking who they are. I'm sincerely sorry at the loss," the glasses woman bowed her head. "Do you want to get back to class? Or do you want to go home? Or…"

Tohru shuddered and slid down onto the floor, distraught over the news that had touched her ears. This was too much for even Tohru to handle. She had experienced so much death in her life, why couldn't it just go away? Why was it that death knocked upon the door of the people she loved so often? Was she bad luck, was death meant for her as well? What could all of this dieing mean?

"I'm… I'm going to go back to class. But… can I go alone?" pain was clear in her words, she strained to make them croak from her throat. The woman bowed and nodded her head solemnly before turning around and scurrying away. This left Tohru to her own devices and most of them were not bent on returning back to the class room. There was too much pain there, so many fine moments shared with Saki and Uo. She could not return to such a place yet.

Standing up with a struggle, Tohru balanced her frame against the white wall. What was she going to do now? The only one she had left from her past was herself. Mother, gone. Father, long gone. Now her two best friends were lost to her. She felt like death was coming towards her next, the icy grip beginning to swarm over her shaken body.

"NO!"

The white of the hallway floor was a blur in her vision. Her footsteps now echoed ominously in the empty passage way, the reverberating making it seem like another was chasing after her. Black shoes dug into her heels, red abrasions would prove the injury later in time. Her heart was pounding at an unhealthy rate, fear making it escalate high. She felt as though it was about to explode inside, and she was to fall into the arms of death, even as she ran from it. Tohru's throat was on fire, dry and cracked, she couldn't breathe properly. Her eyes watered and stung, salty tears running damp streaks down her face. Aqua irises turned a startling sky-blue, the tears making the pigment react in a strange way. Her braid flopped behind her, hitting her back. She couldn't make sense of anything. Why did this have to happen again?

Tohru Honda, the angelic heroine, the helper of the Zodiac, was in a state of complete shock, She couldn't see the ground below her as she ran, the world a blur of white. Fear ran lines down her face, etching the emotion deeply in her newly turned sky-blue eyes. Her skin was shining with a slim sheen of sweat, a nervous appearance. Not such uncommon behavior for a person who just caught wind of the death of her two best friends. As she quickly ran down the hallway, oblivious to her surroundings, her class far behind her, she thought on singular thing;

Please god, not them too.

SLAM!!

Tohru was tossed forcibly back at the sudden impact. Her chest felt as though someone had punched her, pain clotting there for moments. Her eyes closed as she flew back, breath release in an airy 'huff'. She was temporarily stunned as she collapsed sprawled on the ground, pain brushed heatedly through the leg that she had awkwardly landed on. A slight splash of hurt curtained her sad expression as she sat there with the pain shooting through her right leg. Sky blue eyes gazed up hesitantly at the person who she had collided with. With her mouth half open, ready to release a string of apologies, Tohru was stunned into a stupor.

In front of her stood a human of the most beautiful appearance she had seen in quite a while. (She had gotten over Kyo and Yuki's beauty quite a while ago.)

A man with the most golden hair graced her vision. While others may have looked ugly under the harsh lights, this man had such gorgeous features they made him look even better. His dark eyes were trained harshly on her face, an almost sickened look twisting his beautiful expression. He looked like a lion standing above its injured prey, within those black orbs there crawled amusement at her pain. He wore the school's uniform, the navy bringing out his gold hair even more because of the contrast.

With the movements of a predator, he swished towards her. A small squeak finally escaped her lips as the beauty crouched next to her.

"That was incredibly rude, aren't you going to apologize?" his voice was not what she had expected. Instead of the harsh, gravely tones she had assumed, he spoke with a velvety, but icy quality to his tone. Tohru's throat closed momentarily as she stared up at him, the teenager's expression was dead serious. His face was suddenly inches from her own, eyes shimmering with what seemed like menace. "Apologize." Tohru breathed heavily, clearly entranced, suddenly not even noticing the pain that groped at her injured leg.

"S-sorry…" Tohru murmured dryly. Her mouth was nastily parched as she gazed upon the looming guy, terrified of what was to come next. The lion like boy rose from crouched position, an amused flare within his eyes replacing the menace. "I didn't mean to run into you like that, I'm so sorry!" Tohru exclaimed, suddenly flustered at how he was looking down upon her.

He was so condescending; it seemed, peering at her like she was somehow lower then him in all ways. He stood feet in front of her now, seeming to study her face for a few spare moments before cracking a smirk. Tohru's blue eyes watched him, waiting for him to say something that would make her wince again.

Tohru flinched as he extended a pale hand, but she quickly could tell that he was not going to strike her. She had never been so easy to flinch before, scared of someone so much like this. He just seemed so threatening, and his pompous behavior did not make him seem anymore likable. Meeting his hand with her own, he easily lifted her from her seated position. She grasped hesitantly onto his fingers, reluctant to let him help her. As they separated hands, she quickly placed her hand against her leg, rubbing the sore appendage as she stood awkwardly before him. He gave her a skeptical look, noticing how she so quickly let go of his hand.

"Do you need to be somewhere?" his smooth voice broke Tohru from her pain induced trance. Suddenly it all came crashing back down upon her. The lovely, but frightening, daze he had put her into shattered, and she could feel herself trembling again. Waves of fright settled down into her, and she leaned once more against the white walls.

"Are you… okay?" he questioned the wavering Tohru hesitantly.

"Ah… y-yes. I… just really need to be somewhere right now. Thank you for helping me," Tohru trailed off absently. She was so overwhelmed now, recalling her friend's fate was really breaking her down again.

Her leg hindered her movements, and she could not longer run, she realized. She couldn't run from her friend's deaths anymore, she had to get back to class. She had to…

"Miss…"

"My friends…" she croaked, staring emptily into the space before her. Her heart tugged viciously, her mind protested. She clutched her chest, it hurt so badly. "Are… dead? No…" She mumbled so quietly that he could almost not heart her. She turned towards him. "Are they… dead? T-they can't be…" The lion-boy's expression was blank, almost appearing to be bitter. "No…"

"Miss…" he was talking again, and this time his voice seemed a little afraid. Tohru turned her face towards him; tears lingered on her cheeks, blue eye half-lidded. "Miss!" the lion-boy stepped towards her, his tone was frantic.

Tohru couldn't feel her right or left leg, pain faded into numbness. Something wrapped around her wait securely. "Dead… Saki… Arisa… no…" Lids shut over her eyes, sight disappeared. Hearing was rapidly fading; the only thing could be heard was the boy's shoes on the floor. His soft voice chanting, "Miss… Miss… please wake up."

Why were they gone? Oh god, why them?

-

"Why did you leave me here all alone? Why did you go?" Tohru's voce was faint; she could feel strong heat blaring down on her face. Her body felt as though it would explode at any moment. Too much heat was focused on her, too much pain was scattered around her. Limbs refused to move, or they were so numb she could not feel them. "Why did you leave? Why… Saki, Arisa? Why…? Mom… Dad?"

"Tohru-chan, what are you talking about?" a voice she loved called out to her, Arisa Uo's voice, tough but sweet.

"Tohru-chan, we're here. Please don't cry anymore," the soft tone of Saki.

Tohru could almost open her eyes to look at them, but eyelids remained loosely closed. Tears slipped past them still, and finally one of her arms would move. As she rose it, it groped hesitantly, only to meet air. Fear churned over her, and she flung out her arm again, this time landing on something. Fabric, by the feel of it. Happy tears spilled once more past her eyes.

"Oh, Arisa, Saki! I missed you so much! Don't scare me like that anymore!" her voice was high-pitched and filled with joy. Her fingers ran soothingly down the fabric, assuming it was the clothing of her dead friends,. She hesitantly raised it to touch the face of the owner. When skin brushed her finger tip she sighed happily. "Thank god." Running her frail, trembling appendages over the face, feeling the curves, making out the features, the eyes, the lips, the cheeks, the chin.

Suddenly a gasp of air left Tohru's mouth, and with her eyes closed, she felt the resistance of air beneath her. She was falling!

"ARISA! SAKI!" groping out at the air, she could grasp onto nothing. "NO!"

Something caught her fall, warm and soft beneath her touch. A sigh of relief fell from her lips, and finally she was capable of opening her eyes to see her friends. But when blue eyes opened to the hopeful sight of her dear friends, they met ebon eyes instead. Her mouth was hanging open, her eyes blank, but still spilling tears. Her just dried cheeks had more paths of damp skin now. She reached out for something, anything to steady herself on. His arm was the closest thing in her capacity of reaching.

"I…" her thoughts clogged, words were once more choked. "I… I… don't know what to…" Shaking her head, Tohru couldn't complete the rest of her words. Fingernails punctured deeper into the sleeve of the lion-boy who didn't even flinch at the tightness of her grip upon him. "No. No. No." Clinging helplessly to him, she pulled herself closer and rested her head against his arm.

The lion-boy flinched, "Hey… Who… do you think you are?" His words were dark and unkind, ripping deeply into her heart. Her sniffling stopped momentarily, blue eyes pulling up to stare at the black-eyed stranger she slung onto for dear life. "Why… do you think you can do things like this?" Cutting, his voice was on the edge again. Threats were involved in his speech, words heavy. Tohru's grip died slowly, fingers loosening around his navy sleeve.

"I'm sorry," when she spoke, her voice was mechanical; her eyes grew blank as she looked upon him. Wasn't she used to this kind of behavior? Hadn't she been treated like this before anyway…? At her father's funeral. At her mother's funeral. People weren't all sympathetic. People weren't all nice. "I'm really sorry; it was extremely rude to be forcing myself on you like this…" Brushing a stray brown hair from her face, Tohru's expression turned downward, hiding the tears that still ran.

"Ch. What is so wrong with you anyway? Screaming people's names at the top of your lungs like that? Groping at my face like a molester? Are you stupid? I can already tell inconsiderate. Obnoxious might fit into that category as well," the lion-boy was taunting her, quite cruelly.

For some reason, Tohru's mind couldn't handle the taunts like she had at the other funerals. Dipping her head down onto her knees, she tugged at the top of her hair as the boy stared down at her with disgust. Her voice muttered apologies and the boy didn't even acknowledge them as they came down upon him. Her heart still tugged viciously, causing her chest to burn with pain. Her leg stung heatedly, her eyes felt as though they were on fire, her voice cracked as she spewed her apology. As her fingers jittered uncomfortably against the top of her head, pulling at the strands of brown hair, she raised her head ever so slightly. Above her the golden-haired teenager was giving her a long stare.

"Thank you for helping me… Sorry for being a burden and wasting you time with my hysterics. I will be fine, please go," Tohru stated in a low voice.

"I don't know if I should actually go. You might decide to commit suicide," the lion-boy shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to her on the bed. "And I'm sure there are some people in this school that would be upset at your death. A boy or two who would regret not asking you out. Also people who would think you were insane, and I'm sure a few who would find you a disgusting example of their student body."

Tohru shuddered, feeling another jolt of pain surf through her leg. Eyes looked towards the boy again, who was staring absently into space, as if she wasn't there at all. But, though his gaze looked inattentive, Tohru could tell that his eyes were also watching her. Such predatory eyes, she had already judged him to have, ones that seemed to scare you into a frozen trance. The air around him was threatening, and so she sought the other side of the bed to sit upon.

"Afraid?" he spoke quietly, noticing her subtle movements to the other edge of the bed. "You probably should be." Though he spoke to her as though he was a threat to her life, he inched closer. His face drew closer to hers, and he bore his teeth at her, smirking. "You see, I'm a very dangerous individual. I might do something unthinkable to you," the boy completed his words by chuckling darkly. Tohru had the image of his bore teeth in her face. There was a slightly sharp edge to his canines, as though he were some dangerous animal. This, combined with all else about him, frightened her.

"I-I think I should go," Tohru hurried herself up, pain flickered briefly through her face. "Mayuko Sensei is my Homeroom teacher and I have Homeroom next." Letting a fake smile cloak her pained expression, Tohru turned her head briefly towards the lion-boy, "Uhm… Can I get the name of my help?"

The teenager stared at her for a few seconds before giving her a strange smirk, "No."

Seemingly unconcerned about her stumbling frame and her pained face, the lion-boy stood up beside her. With animal-like grace he left the room in few strides, long legs carrying him far. Enchanted briefly by this golden-haired stranger again. Tohru's blue eyes watched him remove himself from her sight.

Shaking her head with relief at his absence, Tohru moved her right leeg forward. Pain laced it's way up but she clenched her teeth through it and completed her steps towards the door. But when she touched the smooth wood, the chill soothed her steaming mind and she leaned against it for support. Breath was heavy and she knew that she was running a fever, because the wood was too cool for her body temperature to be normal.

Light eyes wandered the room, searching for something that would help her. It was in this moment that she noticed she in the infirmary, but the school Nurse wasn't here. She attempted to steady herself as the starch white room spun her vision. Why wasn't he nurse here? Why wasn't the stupid nurse here?

That lion-boy probably had known she had a fever, he carried her all the way here…

"And yet he left me here alone anyway…" she mused aloud, before collapsing against the door and leaning her head against it. "Someone… help…" Throat tightened, heavy breaths even harder to gasp for. Why am I always so… useless? Heh." She swallowed hard and gave into the heat that poured over her.

Outside of the room the lion-boy stood against the same door and shook his head in boredom. Golden hair rustled as he brushed it against his face. "So useless."