Fruits Basket fanfic!

New Beginnings

By Akari Kazuki

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own, much as I'd love to own, any parts of Fruits Basket the anime or the manga! Natsuki Takaya-sensei, and the nice folks at FUNimation own it, not me!

New Beginnings

By Akari Kazuki

Chapter 10:-Haru's Challenge!

"Come on, lemme tale ya home." said Kitori, as Naeko walked out of the office to go, after her meeting with the manager to make her contract up for her new job. There had been a lot of 'negotiating' on it, but Naeko was eventually able to make it so that she could fit her singing for the ads, and modelling for their shoots, around her High School timetable, her job at the dojo, and, of course still have time for Kyo, too. She didn't want to be tied down, and since they had never encountered a talent like hers before, and were already 3 months behind schedule, the managers agreed to let her have it her own way.

"No, I'll be fine walking, Kitori-kun. Thanks anyways." She smiled u at him. She started to walk off. Stopped. And turned back to him. Her eyes were sad, with some sort of emotion he couldn't quite place. Pain…?

"Kitori-kun, thank you for everything. I'm really grateful to you for helping me out. You're…a really good friend."

He smiled back, and came up to her. He reached out to her hair, and when she didn't jerk out of the way, wound his fingers into it gently, caressing her cheek. "Friend, huh?" he asked her.

She drew away from him, his affection reminding her of her pain even more strongly than before. "Yeah." She said, quietly. She looked back one last time and smiled, before walking off again. Kitori watched her go silently, remembering her eyes, her pained expression when he'd touched her hair.

'What happened to her…?' he found himself wondering.

As she walked through the woods to the house, Naeko became aware of a presence. Someone was here… watching her…!

Suddenly a fist came out of nowhere aiming straight for her face. Naeko bent over backwards, neatly dodging it, sweeping the legs of her attacker out from underneath their body.

"Haru!" she cried out angrily, in shock. She leapt away from him, about 3 feet. He stood up from where he'd crouched from landing after her unsuccessful sweep. His eyes. She shivered. They were so…cold, and dark, as if all light had been lost from them. But…there was also something else…? What…?

"Naeko." He said quietly, his voice low and dangerous. He came closer. She could see his bare torso, bandaged in the stomach area and left forearms. Scratches healing on his chest, face and arms. He smiled darkly at her.

"See these?" he asked her, his face low and hidden in shadow. "I've been training. You beat me last time, but this time you won't be so lucky. This time…I'll be the winner. Let's have that rematch, Naeko."

"No!" screamed Naeko, no longer able to control herself, Tears stung her eyes. "I can't, I won't fight you, Haru! Last time was hard, too! Please don't make me go through it again! I'm begging you, snap out of it! I don't want to fight you again!"

He simply looked at her, no emotion shown in his expression, but his eyes were alive with a fire. Naeko felt another presence watching them both. Akito was further back in the trees, watching the two with an insanely happy smile on his face…

Naeko tried again. "Haru, listen to me," she took a step forward, her hand reaching out to him. "I never thought of you as inferior to me. How could you even think that? I…I, Haru, I believed in you the most. You were the one I-!"

He lunged at her without warning, and she had to leap back in surprise. He glared at her. "I'm not interested in your transparent lies! Fight me, and we'll see who's the best! Come on, Naeko!" He leapt at her again. Naeko dodged his blows, and was surprised when he twisted his body around and got her from another angle! He had gotten stronger!

She wouldn't fight him here! She broke away and ran off, but not towards the direction of the house. She ran away to an open plain in the forest, where the cliff edge started about a kilometre off, that she often used for her training.

She fought Haru, her rage and sorrow accumulating to give her even more strength. She beat him yet again, but it was different this time around. She was exhausted, and her right arm hung injured by her side, panting from fatigue. She'd had to push herself quite a bit, and her mental state hadn't helped matters much either.

Haru walked back to where Akito was. He said, his back turned to her, "I will beat you sooner or later. Kyo will not live, Naeko."

"Haru, why?" questioned Naeko, her tears now freely flowing down her cheeks. "Why are you doing this? Please, come back. Be the Haru I know you really are! I…can't do this all alone! I…need you. Please…" she cried, holding her arm in her other hand, her pain crashing down on her.

She opened her eyes, meeting Haru's. But what she saw surprised her. Haru…looked pained, and…sad? But, why? Could he be…?

He walked off, leaving Akito with her. Akito came up to her, wasting no time in taunting her. "Poor Naeko-chan. It hurts, doesn't it? That Haru…"

"You, you bast-!" yelled Naeko in blind rage, grabbing his shirtfront, ready to kill him. She stopped. "You're not even worth hitting." she said. Akito jeered at her still.

"Face the facts, Naeko-chan. Your Haru is now my humble servant. You are all alone. So stop this little escapade of yours, and bring The Monster to me. Or else…suffer. It's up to you."

"Go to Hell, you damn psychopath!" Naeko sprang from the clearing, running away at full speed into the depths of the forest again. She bumped against Haru, and leapt away again, but not before seeing that same pained…almost urgent look in his eyes again. What was going on…!

'Why do you…looked so pained Haru?' she wondered, her body crumpling at the foot of a tree. It started raining, but Naeko didn't notice the chill, her face washed by hot tears, and her heart crushed by the encounter, and betrayal of the one closest to her. Still, why had Haru looked like that? Was he…trying to tell her something…?

To be Continued…

A/N:-I'm sure you can pretty much see what Haru is all at, even if Naeko hasn't gotten it yet, huh? Can't blame the poor girl, since she's not in exactly the right state of mind to think it through.

Anyways, what did ya think of this chappie!

No new reviews? This is…an OUTRAGE! Come on, guys! Spare a few seconds to write me a damned review, it'd make me soooo happy!

Tell ya what, how 'bout I don't update till I get one? Hmm, how'd y'all like that!

Nah. Only kidding! I'm not that mean, but please review my fic a little! I want to be noticed. I really love this story, and I wanna see what everyone else thinks! Even if you feel it sucks (just don't be too mean in your reviews!)

Come on, and REVIEW, GODDAMMIT! Cya!

Akari Kazuki