Chapter Two:

Weirdo Japanese names

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or the characters…Though they are coming over for a sleep over soon… :]

Review from last chapter:

"WAIT! What's that suppose to mean?" I called after him in frustration. He paused to give me a grin and then took off into the forest. As much as I would've liked to sit there, balk at Leo, agonize over my crazy life and my apparent stalker cats, I couldn't.

In front of me stood a girl.

In retrospect I totally would've gone with the stalker cats instead of what would happened next.

"Oh! Are you okay? Those cats! I haven't seen them before but…They were pinning you down and…Oh! Did they hurt you? Do you have any scratches? Oh here! Let me help you up!" A girl with long brown hair and big blue eyes said as she grabbed my right hand and yanked me up. That actually did more harm than good but I wasn't about to tell her that. She stared at me worry plain in her eyes.

"Come inside! We were just eating breakfast so you can sit down in the living room and I'll do something…And you can have…Breakfast with us!" The girl said nervously as she shuffled her feet.

"Uhh…" It seemed that she was waiting for me to say something so I continued, "I'm okay…The cats didn't really hurt me all that much…Really. I was mainly surprised since they sort of tackled me…But other than that they didn't do anything to hurt me…And I wouldn't want to intrude on you and your family so…" I trailed off as I fiddled with my black Anarbor concert T-shirt. The baggy faded black cargo pants I had on were covered in dirt from my fall so I dusted them off in nervousness.

"They…Tackled you?" She asked in surprise.

"Well…Yeah. They sort of came out of nowhere and pounced on me, efficiently knocking me off balance, which isn't really that hard to do." I admitted.

"That's strange. And that one big cat…He placed a paw on your forehead, that was odd." She observed.

I sighed, "Story of my life."

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow…"

"It's okay not many people do." She gave me a pleasant smile. "Well…Bye then…" I muttered as I turned around and attempted to walk away with my bag. My ankle forbade me to do so apparently. As soon as I put my weight on it, it gave out. My right knee hit the ground as I fought the urge to gasp in pain.

"Oh no! You are hurt! Oh! You should come inside!" The girl said as she fluttered her hands about me in a fruitless attempt to help me. I closed my eyes for a moment as I breathed through my mouth to try and ignore the pain in my ankle. How the hell did a bunch of cats do this to my ankle? I forced myself to stand and leaned heavily on my left leg. I gripped my bag so tight that the skin on my knuckles were straining against the bone.

"I'm…Fine. I should be going now anyway…" I said while giving her a forced smile.

The girl frowned, "Oh no! I couldn't possibly let you leave now! You're hurt! At least let me…Help you with your ankle." The girl said softly pleading with me with her big blue eyes. Anyone else and I would have said 'no' and walked away. But this girl…She seemed different.

"I don't know if that's a good idea…" I trailed off.

"Nonsense! I think it's a wonderful idea!" A light guys voice sounded from directly behind me. I tensed up and turned around as fast as I could. (Which wasn't fast since my ankle was throbbing and burned like someone was holding a flat iron against it.) Through my blurred pain-filled vision I saw a man. He was fairly tall with black hair, fair colored skin, and dark eyes.

"See! Now come on in! We'll have you walking in no time!" The girl exclaimed while gently taking my bag from me with her right hand, she wrapped her left arm around my waist to support half of my weight.

"But I don't want to cause any trouble…" I protested weakly as I hobbled up the steps of the strange house.

"Oh you'd cause us no trouble at all! I'm happy to help!" The girl said cheerfully.

"Okay…I guess." I said reluctantly as we hobbled through the doorway. I saw the shoes lined up by the door… "You take your shoes off before stepping on the carpet?" I asked as I counted two pairs of shoes plus the ones the girl and the dark haired man added.

The girl looked up and paused, "Well, yes…Oh! But you don't have to! Your ankle is hurt! You can just walk in!" She said assuredly.

"No, no." I said while shaking my head as I bent down.

"Oh, but you don't have to!"

"I want to."

"You…Want to?" She asked in confusion. I nodded.

"I'm from America. Might as well learn the customs now right?" I mused aloud as I slid my left shoe off easily. "This is the beauty of slip on Vans." I murmured as, with a gentle hand, I ripped off my shoe. (A/n: Yes I realize that was a major contradiction…) Like a band aid. The pain was so sudden in my foot that tears burned at the back of my eyes. "Ouch." I said in a strained voice as I clenched my jaw to keep from whimpering. The girl's worried expression increased as we slowly made it to the living-room-like place in their house. With amazing gentleness she helped me sit down on the grownd. My right leg was stretched out in front of me while my left leg was leaned to the side.

"Stay right here. I'll go get some ice for your ankle." She said as she dissappeared through another door. I stared at my right foot. I reached towards it and peeled back the black sock as I rolled up the right pant leg of my black cargo pants with the other hand. It was swollen and angry looking. Fabulous.

"It was very unfortunate for you to have hurt your ankle so bad." The man with the black hair observed.

"Man, you don't know the half of it." I muttered darkly. He was about to reply when the girl came back into the room.

"Here's your ice. Oh! And I brought you some nice warm tea." She placed the ice on my swollen ankle and then held the tea out to me. I wasn't particulary keen of hot tea, but I was a guest so I figured I couldn't refuse it. I gave her a small smile as I sipped the tea she had made for me. An awkward silence ensued. I was about to break it when I heard shuffling in the kitchen, along with a muffled thump.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing that you have to worry about." The dark haired man said pleasantly. I pursed my lips and was about to question him further when I heard shouting.

"DAMN RAT! COME ON! FIGHT ME!" I heard a boys voice shreik. I gave the girl a confused look. But she wasn't looking at me. She was staring off in a different direction with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you sure it's no-" I was cut off as something smacked into me. Hard…And sent me flying across the room into a rice paper wall…Which promptly…Broke. When whoever it was knocked into me, it twisted my ankle the wrong way and the pain it caused my ankle made me see stars.

"Why does the whole world plot to destroy my house?" I heard the man with the black hair ask, right before I heard the girl gasp. I opened my eyes and found…That a strange boy was lying on top of me.

"Are you okay?" I heard the girl ask someone, she was probably talking to me but I didn't respond. I was too busy staring into said boys' strange reddish-brown eyes. His eyes were wide and he looked shocked. The throbbing in my ankle got worse. During the amount of time it had taken for me to fly across the room, I had apparently clutched onto the boy. In fact, I was sorta hugging him. I was sure I was blushing. I was horrible at hiding blushes. I took a moment to look around the room. Shocked faces. Strange. Why were they so shocked…? I didn't have time to debate with myself. With a tightly controlled movement I dropped my arms. I stared at him for a moment before addressing him.

"Um…I don't mean to be rude…But…Could you please get off of me?" I asked in a clipped tone. Red bloomed on his cheeks as he jumped off of me hitting my ankle in the process. I closed my eyes and didn't move. Everyone hated my ankle today…

"Uh…Are you okay…?" I heard the girl ask. Her voice was high. In worry?

"Peachy." I said in a strained voice.

"Do you need help getting up…?" She asked.

"Nope." I didn't make a move to get up.

"Are you going to get up?" I recognized the black haired man's voice this time.

"Eventually." A couple of moments passed in complete silence. I sighed as I heard someone shuffeling their feet. I opened my eyes and with some effort, managed to get myslef in a sort of sitting posistion; my left leg was tucked under me, while my right leg was stretched completely out. I shoved my curly bangs behind my ears with a bit too much force.

"Are you in pain…? Oh! What was I thinking of course you're in pain! I mean your ankle was already hurt…And then you were knocked almost completely into another room…You're probably in a lot of pain." The girl babbled. I glanced down at my right ankle. Remember when I said it was swollen and angry looking? Yeah. Well…Now it was even more swollen, turning black and blue, and…I can't move it as easily. Friggin' great. I reached toward my foot and poked it. Pain electrocuted my leg. I clenched my teeth.

"Hey...Can you hand me my bag?" I asked no one in particular. My bangs had fallen back into my eyes but this time I didn't try to restrain them.

"Oh! Of course! But…Your ankle…Shouldn't we call a doctor?" The girl asked as I heard something land near my left hand. I shook my head as I reached inside the carry on and rummaged around a bit until I found what I was looking for. My first aid kit. You never know when it invovles me. I popped it open and grabbed the Ace bandage inside. As gently as I could I wrapped it around my ankle. One slow, agonizing, loop at a time. It seemed like it had taken me hours to wrap my foot. Must have been the pain. As I stared at the ground, while clamping the clamp down so that the bandage wouldn't come off, I saw something wet hit the floor. Then I felt something wet slid down my face. Tears? I had started crying without even knowing it. Swell.

Slowly I put the first aid kit away and zipped up my bag.

"Miss?" I heard the girls voice ask in worry. I looked up at her. It was a reflex reaction. She saw me and her eyes widened. "Oh no! You're crying! It must really hurt if you're crying!" She cried as she stared at me.

"Huh?" I asked innocently as I swiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Oh! We should call a doctor! I knew it-" I cut her off.

"I don't need a doctor…Really. By the way it feels it's only a hairline fracture. My ankle's not broken." I reassured her with a small stressed smile.

At least not completely… My inner voice reminded me.

Shut up inner voice. Always so damn negative…Or nagging.

"But! Oh…A hairline fracture sounds bad! I thought it was just a sprain! I didn't know that those cats had hurt you so much…" She trailed off. When she mentioned the cats the black haired mans eyebrows raised in amusement.

My eye twicthed, "It was just a sprain…Until your friend here sent me flying across the room and landed on top of me, with my already damaged ankle twisted in an odd way." I said nodding.

"Oh! Oh no! I'm so sorry! Maybe we can-"

"I'll be fine. I'll probably just have to wear a brace for the next few weeks…That's all." I gave her a tired smile. The girl fidgeted nervously. Then silence. Awkward silence.

"Well…I'd better be going." I said as I forced myself, with almost all of my strength, to get up. I then leaned heavily on my left leg. Ow. Pain. Pain. Searing pain. And I was gonna have to walk like this? Oi.

"Going? You can't go anywhere Miss! You're hurt! And you shouldn't get up! You could hurt yourself more! I think you need rest!" She said in a cheery/worried kinda way.

"Uh…Actually I have people that are probably expecting me soon…And I still have a while to walk I bet. At least five miles with my luck…" I added under my breath. The three guys in the room seemed to have heard me…They were half-way across the room. They weren't suppose to hear that at all. Maybe I was imagined things…?

"You can't walk with a…A…Hairrhine? Hairline…Fracture? Yes! Hairline fracture! You can't walk with that!" She exclaimed in worry.

I shrugged, "Been through worse."

"Eh? What's worse than that?" She asked. I blinked at her.

"Many many things." Was the answer I gave her. I didn't want to relive any of those 'things' I had mentioned. They were horrible memories that I did not want resurfacing.

"Okay…If you say so…But I still don't think you should walk! Maybe we could call Hatori and he can give you a ride!" The girl suggested. Hatori? Weirdo Japanese names. I'd have a hard time pronouncing them.

"Uh…I wouldn't want to…Be a burden…" I trailed off.

"Oh you wouldn't be a burden! Not at all! Like I said before I'm happy to help!" She gave me a 100 watt smile. Was she always this cheerful? She reminded me of my mom…When she was in remission…She was always just so…Happy. "Oh! And won't you tell us why you're in Japan? You said you were from America right?" She asked me in excitement. I pressed my lips together. Slowly, I nodded my head.

"Yeah. I'm moving here from New York City. I'm in Japan because…Well, my family just thought that it would be best. I was living with my uncle, but he's gone a lot because of business, so he made arrangements for me to live here for a while." I explained ommitting the parts about my mom dying and my father not being around. The girl furrowed her eyebrows at me.

"Really?" She asked. I nodded.

"Just out of curiousity…Where exactly is the house you're suppose to be staying at?" The man with the black hair asked.

I shrugged. "Not exactly sure. Somewhere around here." I muttered as I glanced around. There was a second boy about my age standing near the entrance to the kitchen. He had light silver hair, with big amethyst colored eyes. He actually looked sort of girlish. If I wasn't in so much pain at the present moment I probably would've asked him what the deal was. Really, I was in so much pain that I didn't even notice the suspicious and shocked glances they were all shooting my way.

"Oh, you must be mistaken." The girl said her eyebrows furrowed, "All of the area around here is Sohma property." She murmured.

Sohma…Property? Wait a minute…Then it clicked. Those two girls that I overheard in the woods, they were talking about…

"You're…You're Tohru Honda!" I blurted the first thing that came to mind. The girl, Tohru, stared at me in surprise.

Oh, yes.

This was turning out to be a very interesting day.

A/n: Hello again! I'm delighted for being able to update again so soon! A special thanks to xxPARISxx for being my first reviewer! Thanks bunches! So, just press the green button…And R&R. Please. I have the next chapter. All you have to do is review…

xxPARISxx: First off I'd like to thank you for your review. Second thank you also for your advice about description. (I realized it was dragged out). And to answer your question…I'm really not sure what's up with the freaky stalker cats yet. I do have an idea though…I'd tell you but…Then it'd spoil it for you. Thanks again.

~ XOXO EmiShae