Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with 'Fruits Basket', except this fanfic and my own characters.

Author's Note: First 'Fruits Basket' fic. About a girl called Natsu Amaya, [own character], who is pursuing a career as a journalist. Living far from home, she meets the Sohma family.

Hi there, just thought I should tell you this fic was originally posted under a different title, but I didn't really like it so I changed it :)

Chapter Four: More Sohmas, More Surprises

"Do you know that man?" I asked Kisa.

"It's Uncle Hatori."

"Your uncle?"

She nodded.

"What are you doing out at this time, Kisa?" started Hatori. "Where are the others?"

Kisa shrugged her shoulders.

"Your parents only agreed to let you stay at Shigure's house, because they said they'd look after you." He paused for a moment. Kisa lowered her head. He continued "You shouldn't really be wandering about alone. What if your mother saw you?"

"She wasn't wandering alone," I accidentally opened my big mouth. "She was with me," I told him. I couldn't help it. It was like he was interrogating the poor child.

"You are…?"

"A friend."

"Of Kisa's…?" He enquired. "If that is the case, I really think Kisa should be making friends with people her own age."

I stayed calm, choosing to ignore his remark.

"Natsu's a guest," Kisa intervened.

"Kisa," I told her gently, "not anymore."

At that moment, for a reason unknown to me, he held out his hand and introduced himself, "Hatori Sohma."

"Nice to meet you," I replied, "but I'll be leaving soon." As I had no intention of staying I didn't shake hands. I didn't see the need to get acquainted with another Sohma.

"Where are you going?" Kisa looked worried.

"Home, Kisa." I knelt down. "You should go to yours too. I'm sure your uncle will take you," I glanced at Hatori then I looked back at Kisa. It was heart-breaking. Her expression was full of sadness. Even though I hadn't known her that long, I had grown very fond of her. No doubt she felt some attachment to me.

She reminded me of my brother of whom she was just a few years younger. Although there was a considerable age gap we had always been close. I remember when I had to choose between my career and staying at home. I was torn in two. Being the eldest was something that I took seriously. I believed I had to be there for my family as long as I could, for my siblings. In the end my mother had convinced me to grab the opportunity with two hands. Parting from them was the hardest part, especially from my brother as he always looked up to me. He did wish me luck, but no words made it any easier. The words that I had chosen, which seemed the least upsetting were "We can always write," and that's what I told Kisa. We embraced each other tightly.

"Kisa, what's the matter?" Shigure asked her.

"I believe it has something to do with Natsu's decision to leave," Hatori intervened.

"Hatori…?"

"Shigure, was there something you wanted to tell me?"

"If she's gone, it doesn't matter."

Yuki hinted at Tohru.

"Come on Kisa," Tohru told her, "Let's see what we can make for dinner." Kisa did as she was told and went with Tohru. Yuki followed after them.

…

"Kisa, this is important," Yuki spoke softly. "When did you see Natsu?"

"I saw her before I came here."

…

"Shigure, who is she?" Hatori enquired.

"She's a friend," replied Shigure.

"I established that much," he paused. "Kisa said she was a guest."

"She just stayed for a couple of days. She got evicted and didn't have anywhere to stay."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"She doesn't know anything, Hatori," Shigure told him. Hatori cast him a doubtful look. "I give you my word."

"She's really gone."

"Shigure, we did try," began Yuki. "It just wasn't meant to be."

Yuki was right. We did try. In the end it was Natsu's choice and we had to accept that. If only she could have left on better terms.

"I'm going over to see Ayame," I told Yuki. "Do you want to come?"

"Maybe another time," Yuki said impassively.

Ayame's shop was shut. That was odd. I knocked on the door and waited a few minutes before knocking again. I was just about to give up on him when the door opened.

"Shigure, what a pleasant surprise," Ayame smiled.

"I started to think you had gone out. How come you haven't opened up yet?"

"I was entertaining."

"Really…? Who's the lovely victim?"

"Not like that. It's purely professional. I just did her a favour, but what about you? You look like you had a long night."

"I'm exhausted."

"Couldn't keep up with her, eh, Shigure?"

"It was something like that," I sighed. "Things didn't really work out."

"Don't despair. I'll introduce you to my guest. She's seems like a nice girl. Wait here." Ayame then called up the stairs. "Natsu, I'd like you to meet someone,"

"Natsu…?"

…

"Mine, where are my clothes?" I asked her in a panic.

"You look fine, Natsu," she told me. "That dress looks good on you."

"... but –"

"Trust me," she cut me off. "Besides we can get a second opinion on the design."

"I guess...," I was still uncertain.

"Please… It would be a great help to us."

"Okay," I agreed reluctantly.

"Great. I'll go first and then I'll introduce you and then you come down the stairs."

I watched Mine go down the stairs until she was out of sight. Then I listened for the signal.

"Hi, Mine, looking good as always."

That voice…? Surely it couldn't be…

"Thanks Shigure."

My fears were confirmed.

"Is she coming?" Ayame asked Mine.

"Yes and she's going to model that new design for us," she replied. "Now Shigure, I know you don't usually need the encouragement but take a good look. I want to know what you think too."

"I'd like to present Natsu, wearing the 'Miname' evening gown. Do you like the name? We designed it together. So I put our names together and we got 'Miname'."

I couldn't go down now. Not after yesterday. This was all getting too much. How did Shigure know Ayame…? I thought about this for a moment. Ayame did mostly cater for men. Maybe he shopped here.

"Natsu, you can come down now," it was Mine. What was I going to do?

There was a knock on the door. It opened and Ayame entered the room.

"What's wrong?"

"Ayame, I'm sorry, it's just –"

I saw Shigure in the doorway. I turned around, facing away from Ayame and Shigure.

"What's going on?" Mine had come back upstairs.

"Come on Mine, I think they need to talk," Ayame told her.

I heard the door close. There was tension in the air.

"We thought you had gone for good," Shigure paused. "Why did you go off like that?" He waited for a response, but I didn't know what to say. He continued "You have to start facing up to things, Natsu. You can't just keep running away."

"I wasn't running away," I took a deep breath. "I've decided to go back."

"That sounds like 'running' to me."

"You wouldn't understand, Shigure," I turned round to face him. "You've got your family with you."

"That's true, but it's also true that you told me that you couldn't go back."

"Maybe I was wrong."

"You can be a part of it."

"What…?"

"Being part of a family isn't just about blood. Family are those who care about each other. Look at Tohru. We're her family. What about it Natsu? Do you want to come back?"

"How can I? What will the others say?" I said quickly.

"Family's also about forgiveness."

"I don't know, Shigure," I told him uncertainly. I began to examine my nails for lack of anything else to say.

Shigure broke the momentary silence "You need to let go and live in the present, Natsu. You can't keep holding on to every little thing someone says," he spoke abruptly. "You're too, damn, sensitive."

I hadn't heard him speak like that before. I just stared back at him.

"Natsu, I didn't mean it like that," he added quickly. "Natsu say something." He waved his hand in front of my face. I couldn't help but blink.

"I'm –"

"But please, don't apologise," he placed his hands on my bare shoulders. I felt uneasy. I gave him a troubled look. He let go of me quickly but gently and started to back away.

"You're right," I heaved a sigh, lowering my eyes to the floor.

"There's nothing wrong with that, though," he tried to reassure me. "You just need to lighten up a bit."

As I was looking towards the floor, I noticed something move from the corner of my eye.

"Natsu, what is it?" Shigure asked me. He must have noticed the horrified expression on my face.

"There's a spi –" I couldn't finish. My eyes fixed on the ground, in case the creature reappeared.

"So you weren't joking about being afraid of spiders?"

I shook my head.

"There it is," I burst out suddenly as it scurried across the floor.

"Where?"

"There," I pointed, stepping back.

"Don't worry, I'll get it," he spoke confidently, taking off his shoe. Shigure knelt down on all fours with a shoe in one hand. He hit it down hard on the floor.

"Did you get it?"

"No, sorry. I missed."

"Where's it gone…?"

"There," Shigure crawled across the floor. He missed again. It was hopeless.

"Why don't you just step on it?" I asked in a panic.

Then he crawled towards me. The spider was on the floor between us. I tried to move backwards, but the spider scurried beneath my dress.

"Stand still," said Shigure.

"The spider…?"

"No, I was talking to you. I think I've got it."

"Okay," I said hesitantly.

He went behind me. I felt a draught on my legs.

"What are you doing?" I shouted.

"Sorry about that. I had to lift it slightly to get to the spider."

"Did you get it?"

"No. I don't think this little fellow's ready to give – Now I got you. Natsu, lift up your dress."

"What? Why?"

"Gotcha."

Just then the door opened. Ayame stood perplexed in the doorway. It wasn't hard to understand why. I froze still standing with my dress raised in my hands. To make things worse Shigure was on all fours but also between my legs.

"We heard noises," Ayame said watching us intently.

Embarrassed, I quickly let go of my dress.

"I was killing a spider," Shigure told him, holding up his shoe. Ayame didn't seem very convinced.

We said our goodbyes to Ayame and Mine and hurried out of the shop. Mine did ask us to stay and have tea with her and Ayame, but after what happened I felt a bit awkward. I had managed to convince her that we would drop by another time. Shigure on the other hand had a triumphant smile on his face and was all up for it.

"Not a word Shigure," I said as we turned the corner.

"I wasn't going to say anything," he smirked. "However, if you don't mind me saying, you looked great in that dress."

"Just don't forget."

"How could I forget that?"

I stopped to face him "That's not what I meant."

"Natsu, I'm teasing."

"Then you agree with me that nothing happened?"

"Sure, that's fine with me," he paused, "as long as you don't forget to lighten up."

"Deal."

"Besides, there's plenty of time for something to happen," he gave me a playful smile.

"How do you know Ayame?" I asked changing the subject. We continued walking.

"Ah, great minds think alike. Ayame is Yuki's brother."

"His brother…?" I hadn't made the link. Come to think of it, Ayame and Yuki did have similar features. Ayame was just older.

"And you?"

"I first met him when I had to pick up something for my boss, for a party." I started to explain. "I needed a dress too, but I hadn't realised that Ayame's shop catered just for men. Then Mine and Ayame said because I had asked so nicely they'd make me something to wear. I'm certain it was because I was new around here and just starting out on my own. The day after the party, I went to say thank you and to give them some flowers. That day Mine said if I ever needed anything I mustn't be afraid to ask."

"So you stayed at Ayame's shop?"

"Well, I couldn't get a ticket until tomorrow and I couldn't come back to yours after the way I left."

"You're coming back now, aren't you?"

"Yeah… you can be very persuasive."

"Just one of my many talents," said Shigure looking quite pleased.

When we arrived back at the house, everyone was quiet. We had a visitor. It was that same guy that took Kisa home that night.

"Hatori, this is Natsu Amaya," Shigure introduced us. "Natsu, this is Hatori Sohma."

"We've already met," said Hatori.

"Briefly," I added with a glance at Shigure.

"Tohru, would you make us some tea please?" Shigure asked her.

"Sure," replied Tohru.

"I'll help you," said Yuki, standing up.

"Thank you, Yuki."

"It's okay. I got it," Kyo intervened.

"I insist," Yuki told him. Then he and Kyo both left with Tohru. It was almost as if they were fighting for Tohru's affections. I hadn't noticed before. Perhaps because I had seen Yuki and Kyo in a physical fight, the tension between them was more obvious."

"What line of work are you in?" began Hatori. He was straight to the point. I did wonder at first why he had chosen to open the conversation by talking about my profession. On the other hand I suppose it was as good a topic as any. At least his first question wasn't anything like Kyo's. If it was, however, I would seriously be concerned. He seemed much older, after all.

"I was hoping to have a career as a journalist, but things don't always go to plan."

"A journalist…?" Hatori gave me a piercing look.

"A girl after my own heart," Shigure commented.

"So do you have the spirit to follow a story no matter the consequences?"

"Why do you say that?"

"I've always believed that journalists don't have a real sense of ethics," he glanced at Shigure.

"Do you have a real sense of ethics in your career then?" I asked him.

"As a doctor, it's definitely a priority." There was a beeping sound as Hatori said this. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pager. "Excuse me." Hatori stood up. "I am needed by a patient." Then he left the room.

"What's with him?" I asked Shigure.

"Don't take it personally. It just takes him time to get used to people."

"Tell me. You were a journalist?"

"I wanted to be one. I was just starting out, and then I lost my job."

"How did that happen anyway?"

"I – I hit the guy I was interviewing in the face."

"Are you serious?" Shigure expressed his amusement.

"I wouldn't make that up."

"I guess," he paused. "What did he do to deserve that then?"

"He was a jerk… He tried to kiss me."

"I can see why that may have been a problem."

"Hatori was right about journalists, wasn't he? You have to be willing to go all the way."

"Not everyone's like that. I write articles for the newspaper sometimes. I don't get girls trying to kiss me, which is kind of unusual for me. It's true though that…" he drifted off. His mind was obviously on something else.

"Shigure," I poked him in the ribs to get his attention.

"Ow, what is it?"

"We were talking about journalism. Then after you started talking about girls you went all distant."

"Oh, right. I remember. Girls… yeah – That really hurt, Natsu. Have you got long nails?" He grabbed my hand and started examining my nails. "You really haven't been looking after yourself, have you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you bite your nails?"

"That's none of your concern," I said, pulling my hand away. Then I looked at my nails. They were fine.

"Made you look," Shigure laughed. I couldn't understand it. When I first met him he seemed quite serious, but now he was acting immaturely. Maybe he was normally like this. Now he had got to know me, maybe he was just being himself. Then again, he had only started being like this around me since this morning when… Oh, it was just too embarrassing. "Is that the only avenue you wish to follow?"

"Huh…?" I said distantly.

"We were discussing where you could work, weren't we?" Shigure looked more puzzled than I did.

"Oh, yeah," I spoke quickly, coming to my senses. "I've never really thought about anything else, but I'm open to suggestion. Maybe someday I'll write a novel. That's always been one of my dreams… but right now, I just want a job."

"What about working in a bookshop?"

"You know of somewhere?"

"Sure, I know just the place," he said smiling.

Thank you,

Lady Leonhart 25/06/04