Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is the property of Natsuki Takaya-sensei and TokyoPop.
A slender man with silver hair that went to his ears stepped out of the grocery store and out onto the street, bags filled with various frozen TV dinners. It was raining. Just like the night she left. It seemed as if it rained whenever he thought of her. He sighed, remembering the umbrella that Shigure had told him to bring. Yuki, of course, had learned earlier that advice from idiots was usually better off ignored; this time he was wrong. He walked down the street, ignoring the rain. Suddenly he felt a tug on his sleeve. Startled, he looked down at the cause of the tug. There stood a small girl, who couldn't have been older than five, with silver hair tied in shoulder-length braids, and inquisitive, yet oddly familiar amethyst-colored eyes looked up at him.
"Okaa-chan(1), why does this man look so much like me?" the girl asked in mildly familiar voice.
"Sakura-chan, don't bother strangers like that, I keep on telling you!" gently reprimanded a very familiar voice. "Sumimasen(2), Sakura-chan is still small, so her manners aren't what they should be…"
The voice faded away as a woman with warm, turquoise eyes and silky, chestnut hair tied up in a ponytail that reached the small of her back stared at the twenty-four year old man.
"Yuki-kun?" she asked, shocked. Before Yuki could respond, she collapsed in a dead faint.
"Okaa-chan! Doushita ka(3)?" the little girl shouted worriedly, "Please help my Okaa-chan! Onegai(4)!" she pleaded to Yuki.
Yuki didn't talk. He just supported her carefully so that he wouldn't transform, and led her to Shigure's house.
At Shigure's house:
"Yuki, what took so long with the groceries? Was there a pretty girl that you were— Tohru-kun?" Shigure's astounded voice asked. "Yuki…"
"She fainted after she saw me. I took her here." Yuki said softly.
"A-Ano(5)… Oji-san(6), how do you know my Okaa-san?" asked a soft voice.
"Yuki-kun, who's this?" inquired Shigure.
Yuki faced the young girl. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite get your name earlier. Could you tell us who you are?"
The small girl nervously said, "A-ano… My name is Honda Sakura. I'm five years old, and my mother is Honda Tohru.
"What about your father, Sakura-chan?" asked Shigure.
Sakura didn't get a chance to respond because at that moment, Tohru woke with a start. "Where am I? I remember seeing Yuki-kun…Sakura-chan…"
"Tohru-kun, is it really you?" asked Shigure, somewhat nervously.
"Shigure-san? Sakura-chan, come here, please. I think I'm hallucating"
"Okaa-san, you're not seeing things. They're real. Can you tell me who they are?
"I'm Sohma Yuki, and this is my cousin, Sohma Shigure. Pleased to meet you Sakura-chan." Yuki introduced himself.
"Sakura-chan, we have to leave. Now. We can't stay in this house."
(1) Okaa-chan Mom, Mother, etc.
(2) Sumimasen I'm sorry, or Excuse me
(3) Doshta ka? What's wrong? or What's the matter?
(4) Onegai Please
(5) Ano… Umm…
(6) Oji, Oji-san A respectful term generally used for an older man, uncle, or grandfather
A/N: I went through and edited it. I changed the name format to the Japanese form of surname, then given name, moved the translations to the bottom, and other small things. I am currently looking for a beta-er, because I am a sad, clueless author. Email me if you're interested, please.