Without the Rat

By AmuberuMukku

Chapter One: The Average Day, Or Not

I woke up feeling terrible, as usual. Every day is a fiasco when it comes to the Sohma household. But there is one person that I wake up every day for. Only one.

"Sohma-kun? We have to go to school in fifteen minutes!" Tohru knocked at my door.

"I will be down in a minute!"

"Mmmkay!"

I pulled off my robe. She is the only reason why I even stand this life of mine. She is the only person who sees me not as a rat, but as a human being. I always felt that I had no connection with anyone outside my little Yuki-shell. She brought a change. But Tohru loves the Cat from the zodiac legend. I wonder if she loves the Sohma cat… Kyou doesn't know how good he has it. Bastard gets on my nerves, always trying to beat me at something. Anything.

As I walked down the staircase, I noticed that Shigure was giving me a weird look, like I had done something that had shocked him. I shrugged it off and said, "Ready, Miss Honda?"

"More than ever!" She smiled at me.

I can never resist that smile. It's so carefree, like not even the worst of things can affect it. It's always there, whenever you look. Rarely does it disappear. She is so cute and bubbly about everything it almost scares me. But that is just how Tohru is.

The stupid curse confines me to just the family, which is the last thing I want. I have lived my life secluded from everyone else because I am afraid of what people might say. Apparently, Tohru doesn't care that I am truly a rat. But of course, she is so willing to share her feelings and… she is just so lighthearted all the time. A person like her wouldn't be disgusted by me or any of the family, no matter which animal it is. Even Kyou in his true form – she has already accepted him for what he is.

We were almost at school when we meet up with Uo and Hana, Tohru's friends. They talked and laughed while I consulted with people from the student government.

In school, it takes every ounce of my energy to stay away from the girls. Tohru told me once that most of them were in the "Prince-Yuki Fan Club" or something like that. I just hope she was talking about "snow" yuki and not "Sohma" Yuki. Of course, that would explain a lot, since they do seem to follow Tohru and I around everywhere, but I try not to think about them.

Class passed uneventfully until GYM. We had to take partners.

"Um, Sohma-kun, you might want to…"

"Hi, Yuki! I just happened to notice that you have no partner, and I don't either! So how about we hook up?"

"… watch out."

"Actually, I have a partner already… um… Tohru."

---

Tohru blinked twice. The first for Yuki saying that she was his partner, and the second time for saying her first name. He usually called her Honda-san or something like that. But he just said Tohru. It sounds so natural that way, she thought.

"Oh… fine." The girl smiled sweetly at Yuki, gave Tohru a death-threat like glare, then went on her way to ask someone else.

Tohru looked up at him and said, "You really want to be my partner?"

Yuki blushed slightly and smiled. "Yes, Tohru. At least you won't try to molest me." He smiled wider. That smile made Tohru have butterflies in her stomach.

---

A couldn't believe it. Yuki said he would be my partner! And he said my first name. Things were happening too fast…

Apparently the partner thing was for relay racing. I saw what he meant.

I am not afraid of those girls. They have threatened me more than once, and all just because Yuki and I were walking together a little too close or he smiled at me one second too long. They are jealous, and for what reasons? I am only Yuki-kun's friend. They say that that might change, but I am not worried about it.

I found that Yuki is a true friend, no matter what people say. The girls say that he pities me and that's why he hangs around me. Other people think that I am just the lucky girl that gets to hang around him and not get pushed away.

I think none of those things. I feel that he sees me as a friend that just happens to live with him. Since I know a lot about him now – what he likes do and such – I think that we have grown closer. But I would never think that we could be more than friends.

After GYM, I thanked Yuki for letting me be his partner, and he gave me one of those smiles. Those irresistible smiles of his… it's no wonder why he is so popular.

---

The rest of the day went by in a blur. No one would have guessed what Yuki Sohma was thinking about. Except for Tohru, maybe, on a slim to none chance.

"Yuki, are you okay? You seem quiet," Tohru said as they walked home together. She looked at his face. The hair, the eyes, the whole thing… It all said that he was deep in thought about something. Was it the curse?

"Tohru, do you know how to break the curse?"

Tohru's breath hitched in her throat. So that's where his mind was. She had thought he was thinking about something else.

"Why do you… I mean… what is your… motive… why?"

Yuki managed to translate that into normal speak and said, "Mainly because I want to be normal. But I have other reasons too."

Tohru practically choked at that. "Am I one of those reasons?" she thought and said. She hadn't meant to say it aloud. She clapped her hand over her mouth and looked fearfully at Yuki.

Yuki looked down at Tohru and smiled at her slip. So she has some feelings for me. For that I am glad. Yuki nodded, trying to think of a way to change the subject. It was a very delicate topic and he felt that rushing things with Tohru would only bring problems. He would have an opportunity to tell her everything he felt for her, but now wasn't that time.

They walked into the house and greeted Shigure, who was dressed in his traditional clothes as usual. Since she had no homework, Tohru immediately went into the kitchen. She still had some time before work and she wanted to make a big dinner. Yuki just sighed and went to his room.

He sat on his bed. He needed a way to break the curse. Otherwise, the only other people that they could be with were the cursed family members. And there were only two women! Well, it is not like they could share them. And Kisa was still so young. Kagura would not be willing to share herself – she was too deeply in love with Kyou to do that.

Overall, the two Sohma girls could not become Sohma whores. That wouldn't be right or fair. The only other option was to break the curse.

---

I laid back and thought about everything that I couldn't do with the curse. I can't hug Tohru, or any girls for that matter. I can't have many friends. I can't date anyone. I shouldn't even be going to a school that has girls in it! I can't run away, I can't have a normal life, I can barely do anything!

I banged my fist against the headboard of my bed, making a small dent in the shiny surface. "I hate the curse! I wish I had never had it!"

"Dinner, everyone!" Tohru danced out of the kitchen, carrying three huge plates of food. How I love that smile of hers. I sighed and got off my bed. It is the only reason why I even get up in the morning – that cute, kind, bubbly smile of hers could get you out of the worst of bad moods.

---

Well, that's my intro. I don't own Fruits Basket or the characters. Only the characters that I make. Trust me, there won't be many :)

Review and tell me what you think.

-Amu-