A/N: Written for

Diversity Writing Challenge, h51 – write a fairytale retelling
Advent Calendar 2015, Day 25 - Roll up to five dice (that means you only have to roll one or two if you want). That number is how many chapters your fic will have. Rolls: (1)5=5
Chapter Set Boot Camp, #042 – 5 chapters

Short and more or less lighthearted idea that cropped up from a poem I wrote earlier in which I called Tohru Alice… So here's Tohru in Wonderland…kind of.

Alice Down the Rabbit Hole
Chapter 1 – Following the Cat to Nowhere

My name's Honda Tohru. At the moment, I'm living on a tent in the woods.

Actually, at the moment I'm not sure where I am, but I'll get back to that. First, the tent in the woods.

See, my mother passed away this May. It was just the two of us since my father passed away when I was three years old. I'd been living with my grandfather after that, but he's getting his house remodelled at the moment and moving in with one of my aunts. When he asked if I had a place to stay, I told him not to worry.

Of course, I didn't have a place to stay since Hana-chan's got a big family and Uo-chan hasn't got much space in her apartment. But that's okay! I can manage in the tent and I've been managing pretty well. It's actually pretty nice, listening to the animals when I fall asleep, not having much housework after coming home from work…but I like housework. It calms me. My mother says it's part of what will make me a good housewife one day, but that's a long way off. Still, there's always cleaning to do at work so I guess it's alright. And it won't be forever. I'm getting used to the insects crawling in, and the wind. And it'll be good practice for when I'm on my own after school as well. I'll just enjoy the fun parts and smile through the rest, and become stronger from it all (hopefully) because that's the sort of person I am.

But to get back to that, I'll have to find the tent again. I'm lost, somehow. Though I better get to school first, and who knows how late it is now –

I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!

Oh yes. A cat raced past my tent, yelling exactly that.

It's a really pretty cat as well. Orange, though rather on the small side. I'd have loved to take him (or her) back to the tent and give him some milk, but he's raced off before I could even call to him.

So I followed. I had time before school. Or I thought I did. At some point in following the orange cat, my watch stopped.

And then I lost the cat as well. The woods were pretty thick by that point, and not an area I'd been in before. I went a little further, just to try and find a landmark or something – and found a house.

I didn't realise people lived here. So I went to ask them for help. I'd made sure my tent was in an easy to find place just in case I did wind up lost. After all, between leaving for school early in the morning and coming back from work late at night, I didn't want to risk completely bypassing my tent in the dark. So I could ask for directions easily enough.

Except things didn't go quite according to plan there either. This time though, it's entirely my fault.

Okay, the last time is entirely my fault as well, following the cute orange cat. But I can't help it. I love cats. And whenever my mother would tell me the tale of the Zodiac, I'd cry because the cat was tricked and left out of the banquet.

And speaking of the tale of the Zodiac, there were twelve painted figurines drying on the front porch of that house. And, curious, I looked more closely at them. All of them were beautiful. Well made. But there was no cat.

'Hello there!'

Of course, I jumped when I heard that voice out of nowhere – but hadn't I come initially looking for someone to lend me directions? 'Hello,' I bowed back. 'I was just – '

'You're interested in the tale of the Zodiac?' The speaker came closer. As tall as Uo-chan but slightly older. 'It's a fascinating story, isn't it?'

'Yes,' I agreed. 'My mother used to tell me the story all the time. But the cat…'

'You know about the cat?' He sounded almost surprised.

'Yes,' I replied. 'And I think it's very sad how the cat missed the banquet and wound up all alone.' I smiled. 'I'm a big fan of cats, you see.'

'Really?' He seemed to be asking something else, or more, but I couldn't tell what. He spoke lightly enough, but there was just something about him…

Still, I nodded enthusiastically.

'But you're a dog, aren't you?'

And how had he figured that out just by looking at me. I nodded again.

'Just like me,' he grinned.

So he was a full twelve years older than me! Wow. I looked at him again. He certainly didn't look that old. But he was far too refined to be my age so I suppose he must be.

The figurines suddenly fell over like a pile of dominoes, shattering on the porch.

The man growled – and then I noticed a rat in the mix as well.

'We're already late,' the rat snapped. 'And you're wasting your time with these.'

'I have a guest,' said the man calmly. 'Which reminds me – ' He turned back to me suddenly, while I was still trying to process the fact that the rat – the cute grey little thing, granted – was talking. 'I'm Sohma Shigure. And that over there is Sohma Yuki.'

'Eh!' I exclaimed. 'Sohma-san?'

'We're in the same class,' the rat said calmly – as though there was nothing strange at all at using a classmate's name to describe a talking animal. 'Honda-san, what are you doing here?'

'I – ' Oh right, the cat. 'I was chasing an orange cat and got lost in the woods.'

'The cat.' The rat was suddenly sprouting a scowl. 'So you know the story.'

'She's a fan of the cat, you know?' Shigure-san inserted helpfully.

'In all the times throughout history,' said the rat flatly, 'the cat has never been accepted as a part of the Zodiac. And yet it races ahead as though it will make it to the end. Pathetic.'

'In any case.' Shigure cast a final, mournful, look at his broken figurines, before standing up. 'Yuuki-kun is right. We are late. Forgive us, Honda-san.'

'Ah – ' I was still having trouble following things. 'Not at all –'

And they were out of earshot when I remembered what I needed to ask them. So I did the only thing I could. I chased after them.

But the two of them were surprisingly fast. Shadows through the forest accompanied by chitters and barks, and after a bit I could only follow the barks because the only thing ahead of me and to all sides were trees. Endless trees that provided no landmark at all.

And then there was the rat Shigure-san had called by my classmate Sohma-san's name, and a pale yellow rabbit with brown-tipped ears and a watch.

'Kyo-kun's already here,' the rabbit said brightly. 'You're late, Yuuki-kun, Shigure-san.'

'Respect your elders,' the rat muttered.

I wondered how they could tell which one of them were older with different species – and I didn't see Shigure-san anywhere. Just the rat…riding on a black dog? How had I missed that earlier? Maybe I missed Shigure-san as well – but although I looked, I couldn't see him at all.

And then the dog and the rat stepped forward and vanished as well. And the rabbit snapped his watch shut. 'Almost done, almost done,' he said in a singsong voice. 'Except I'm bored now. Hatori-san, why did you make me wait up here?!'

I didn't know who Hatori-san was, but I did need directions and it seemed the yellow rabbit needed someone to talk with…even if only for a little bit. I wondered how much time I had, just in case – and that's when I noticed my watch was stuck.

Which meant I could wind up terribly late for school and not even realise.

But the rabbit had a clock, didn't he? She?

'Ano – ' I began, but didn't get any further because the rabbit squealed in happiness.

'Company!'

'I just – ' It landed with a soft plop on my chest, and I grabbed it quickly so it didn't fall back down again.

'Oh,' said the rabbit, blinking. It had red eyes, I realised. Pretty red eyes, but they were squinting, as though the sun was painful…or maybe I was just too close? I moved anyway and set the rabbit gently down. 'You're pretty… And thanks!'

Pretty? It's not every day you get complimented by a rabbit, I guess. 'Thank you.' My cheeks were hot. People – aside from my mother and Hana-chan and Uo-chan – didn't tend to compliment me.

Then again, this was a rabbit.

Who suddenly vanished into yellow smoke.

And when the smoke faded, there was a young boy there instead. Without any clothes on.

I shrieked and stepped back – but there wasn't any ground there. 'Onee-san!' the boy cried, and grabbed for my arm.

He made it, but we fell anyway, down down down the rabbit hole.