Author's Note: This story basically puts the main Fruits Basket plot on hold and proceeds as if the current status quo, midway through the North American release of the series, were to remain in place for several years. It is necessarily AU from the point of view of the already-released Japanese manga. The story takes place a few years in the future when Momiji is eighteen and attending university, and it is Momiji-centric. It also ships him with an OC. I've tried to avoid some of the most common pitfalls that turn original characters into Mary-Sues so I can tell you upfront that my OC is not the fourteenth member of zodiac, does not have strangely-coloured hair or eyes, and she will not release the entire Sohma family from the curse. However, if AU and OCs aren't your thing, please remember the "back" button on your browser and find something more to your liking. As for everyone else, please let me know what you think.

Note on the German: I have included several German words or phrases in the story. Where their meaning is not explained in the text I have provided notes at the end of the chapter. I do not myself speak German but consulted with someone who learned it and lived in Germany for a time. However, if anyone more knowledgeable of the language notices an error feel free to let me know.

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Keine Rosen Ohne Dornen

Where does love begin? In the first kiss? The first caress? Does it survive the winter, buried beneath drifts of snow, waiting for spring? And after the disappointments and the sorrows, if it blooms, does anyone dare reach for it and risk the thorns?

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Chapter One

The patter of raindrops filled his ears. It trickled down the window pane slowly at first and then in flowing rivulets like tiny streams coursing earthward. He looked through his reflection, past it, to the open field below where a handful of already sodden boys dashed for cover from the downpour.

"Damn. So much for our soccer match. And here I was looking forward to wiping the floor with those upper classmen, right, Momiji?"

Hearing his name, Momiji turned to face his friend, a fellow undergrad. "What?" He pushed back a lock of blond hair from his eyes.

"You spacing out on me, Momiji? I said–"

"Momiji? Momiji Sohma?" What his friend had said Momiji never found out for all at once someone was bounding towards him, calling his name and his entire body tensed. He'd become an expert at sidestepping female admirers during his senior year of high school, but he'd not thought he'd have to continue once he reached university. He was about to hop to one side to avoid any possibly disastrous physical contact when the girl, tall with dark hair pulled into a pony tail, came to a sudden halt before him.

"Momiji, it is you!" she said smiling and taking both his hands in hers. "It's been so long. I never expected to run into you here. You look so grown up," she added and, dumbfounded, he watched in fascination as her cheeks coloured.

"Miss Ame, please come along. We really must get you settled in as soon as possible."

Momiji tore his eyes away from the girl and saw a woman who looked to be a member of the university staff watching them impatiently from down the hall. He looked back to the girl only now noticing the pair of hefty travel bags she carried with her, one dangling off each shoulder. She appeared flustered at the staffer's words. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm coming," she said with a bow which turned into a lopsided crouch beneath the weight of her bags. "I'm staying at Kasumi dorm. Leave me a message at the desk, okay?" she told Momiji before hurrying off, bags and all.

"Who was that?" asked Momiji's friend.

"I– I'm not sure," replied Momiji, his thoughts racing like wild hares but with nothing to show for it. "Ame... that name is so familiar, but I just can't place it."

"Can't keep track of all your admirers anymore?"

"I'm going to find out who she is," he announced with his usual enthusiasm.

"That's the spirit! Go get her!" his friend chimed in. "And if she's not your type how about you give me her number, okay?"

But Momiji's thoughts were already leaps and bounds ahead.

ooo

The sun beamed on Momiji Sohma as he strode down the cobbled path leading to Kasumi dorm and it was all he could do to keep himself from skipping. The smile on his face he was quite unable– and unwilling– to repress. He felt almost as excited as he had upon Tohru's visit last week when he'd been settling into his new quarters. As always he'd had to restrain the urge to thrown his arms around her. He missed her– and the others as well– now that they'd been split up by university. He would always treasure their school years together: they had been among the best of his life.

Humming a tune under his breath he took the final steps to the Kasumi women's dorm and threw open the doors to the reception area. A tiny woman with large, oval glasses perched on her nose sat behind the front desk shuffling through a sheaf of papers.

"Guten Morgen, Frau," he said, reverting to German in his excitement.

She peered at him over the top of her glasses. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for Miss Ame?"

"Ame... Ame..." she murmured. "Oh yes, our late arrival, Miss Tsuki Ame."

Momiji's heart sank with what he imagined must be an almost audible clunk. His good humour melted away like an ice cream cone in a downpour. Tsuki. Of course. Tsuki Ame: he'd not heard that name in nearly fourteen years.

"She's not in right now but I can let her know you were in to see her."

"No!" he said– a little too quickly he realised as surprise flashed over the woman's features. He took a breath and put on the most genial smile he could muster while his heart thudded desperately in his chest. "No, that's fine, thank-you. I'll try again another time."

And with that he raced from the dorm back down the path as if he had a pack of hounds nipping at his heels. Tsuki... How could it be?

He didn't slow his pace until he was safely in his room where he could collapse onto his bed and try to sort through his jumbled thoughts and soothe his frayed nerves. Tsuki! Gott in Himmel!

Tsuki, his childhood playmate whom he'd not seen in fourteen years. He remembered her as a small girl, dark hair in pigtails, with scraped knees and grass stains on her dress, sodden from a sudden downpour. No wonder he hadn't recognised her. His most vivid memory of her was from the last time he'd seen her. He remembered her rushing towards him, her eyes glistening with tears, and then her arms around him and the rush of his transformation, the "pop", painfully loud in his long, floppy ears, and her hands, warm around his furry body as she clutched him close against her. It seemed as if she'd held him a long time, but he could never be certain nor could he remember what had happened afterwards. All he knew was that it had been the last time he'd seen her.

He'd never had the courage to ask Hatori about it: it would only cause him pain. And what was the point? If she'd discovered the family secret then she would be doomed to have her memory erased, which was what he had always assumed had happened. But if that was so, why did she remember his name?

ooo

During the days that passed even the grind of classes and schoolwork was not enough to keep his mind from leaping at odd moments to the puzzle of Tsuki Ame. Frequently he found his feet leading him out of his way to walk past Kasumi dorm. Not once did he catch a glimpse of her, though. It was just as well. His family curse had caused her enough trouble already. She was better off without the Sohma family in her life.

It was with an armful of books and with the hope of finding some time to spend with his violin that evening that Momiji trotted down what had become his habitual, if circuitous, path by Kasumi dorm beneath a sky heavy with clouds. By now he was so used to this route that his feet could navigate it without much direction, leaving him to his thoughts which today hopped from memories of Tohru to his mother to Tsuki. He was so caught up by these bounding thoughts that he was taken aback by the first raindrop which hit him squarely in the eye. Moments later the rain-laden clouds burst in a deluge that left him immediately drenched and sent him scurrying for cover.

The dorm entrance was still too far away so instead he dashed in the direction of the adjoining building and sought the shelter of the overhang. He could head for the door once the rain had slacked off. It was only at the last moment that he noticed the other figure headed towards the same spot and managed to skid to a halt in time to avoid a collision.

"I'm so sorry," she said, bowing, clutching several rather damp textbooks to her chest. "I didn't mean to– It's you."

"Tsuki."

Bedraggled and slightly muddy, there could be no doubt; she looked as she had all those years ago. Suddenly, in spite of the rain, Momiji felt his face growing quite warm and his palms becoming slick with sweat. "Guten Tag, Fraulein," he managed.

"This isn't so much a good day as a wet one, is it?" she replied, earning a smile from him.

"It certainly is."

"I'm surprised to see you. I was told someone stopped by to see me. I was sure it was you but you never came back."

His face grew even warmer at this and the humid air was beginning to seem sweltering. "I'm sorry. All the work lately– it's just been overwhelming," he mumbled, not meeting her eyes as he spoke.

"That's all right. I remember my fist year. I felt the same way."

He cocked hi head. "You're not in first year?"

"No. Don't you remember? I'm two years older than you. I just started my third year."

"I'd forgotten... So... what have you been up to all these years?"

She laughed at this and he could feel himself redden at the absurdity of what he's just said. He'd not seen her in thirteen years and that was the best he could come up with? "School, life," she replied and then shook her head. "I can't believe it. I never would have recognised you. If I hadn't heard your name I'd have walked right by. You look so..." She trailed off and he could see a tinge of red in her cheeks.

"I grew. You look a bit different yourself," he said, letting his eyes trail over her appreciatively as her cheeks grew quite scarlet. But she was smiling and he found himself smiling in return.

"Your eyes are just the same," she said quietly and once again he felt too flustered to assemble a coherent sentence. She cleared her throat then and, smiling rather nervously, he thought, said, "So what are you studying?"

"Music."

"Really? What instrument to do you play?"

"I'm focussing on the violin. I've been playing since I was young."

"You must be very good. I heard we had a conservatory here but they say only the best get in."

He could feel himself colouring and decided to change the subject. "And you, what program are you in?"

"Languages. I want to be an interpreter," she announced, her facing shining with glee. "I've got advanced English, intermediate Spanish and I'm taking French this year as well."

"No German?" he said, pouting his lips.

"Sorry," she replied, ducking her head. "I couldn't fit it in."

"Ah but you simply must learn German. It's a beautiful language. Here I'll teach you something right now. Keine Rosen ohne Dornen."

"Say it again." She tilted her head to one side as she listened. "Something about a rose?"

He nodded. "There's no rose without a thorn."

"It seems like such a sad saying. I'll remember it, though."

"Gut. We'll have you speaking Deutsch in no time."

Th rain had eased off into only a light sprinkling. Tsuki glanced at her watch. "I need to get going. I have another class and I'll need to change out of these clothes first. But... would you like to do something sometime?"

He thought about the curse, about his resolution to leave Tsuki be, but as he looked down into her brown eyes, he felt all his resolve melt away. After all, what harm could it do to be friends? She didn't seem clingy or likely to throw herself at him at a moment's notice. It should be fine.

"I'd like that," he replied, smiling.

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Guten Morgen, Frau: Good morning, Madam.

Gott in Himmel! :God in Heaven!

Guten Tag, Fraulein: Good day, Miss.

Gut: Good.

Deutsch: German