I don't own Fruits Basket. This also covers the Fruits Basket: Volume 1 quotes in here.

Sorry for taking a while – I have shitloads of homework. I have to write a letter for this one 'write a letter to the author of your favorite book and tell them how the book changed your life' or something like that. I chose Fruits Basket for this project. It basically talks about bonds and shit (how any bond can be broken). Apparently, I'm in Level 2, so I have to have 400-600 words. Before I realized that, I WROTE OVER 900! I had Momiji, Yuki, and Kisa as my examples, but then I had to take out Yuki. Now I have about 720. Damnit, why can't I just do Level 3 so I can have 600-800?

Now…ON TO THE STORY!

-Point of View: Tohru-

"So, did the cat dump 'Little Miss Pain in the Ass' already?" a familiar voice said. My tear-blocked eyes flashed to a tree that was just a couple of feet in front of me. The figure that the voice belonged to stepped out from behind the tall body of bark. I gasped as my brain recognized the person.

"Akito," I stated.

"Did you expect anyone else?" 'God' sneered. I thought about it for just a second before nodding my head. She knew who I meant. "Kyo isn't going to come for you."

"Why?" I replied, my voice become increasingly assertive. "He'll come for you instead of me?"

Akito laughed eerily. "Hell, he'd come for me even if he wanted to come for you. I have something over him that you never will: fear. Control. I control his future. If he doesn't do what I say, I'll have him locked up faster than he can lash out at Yuki."

At my sides, my fists were clenched. "But I have something for him that you never will."

"Really? What would that be?" Akito said condescendingly. I paused with my jaw frozen; what did I have with Kyo? As I closed my jaw, thoughts swirled around in my head.

Ever since the day I met him – the day I discovered the Sohma family secret – the way I felt about the cat was never clear. Back then, I was hesitant to even talk to him, thinking that he hated me. Later on, I became friends with him. We had fun. I had fun. Then came the night his foster father, Kazuma Sohma, pulled off his white and blood-stained bead bracelet that had consisted of human bones. That night, I discovered Kyo's true form. It was disgusting. It reeked of a smell worse than leeks. I almost ran away from him. But instead, I ran to him. It's now that I finally realize why.

"Love," I answer. "I have love for him." Once that confession passes my lips, I think about my mom. I promised that I would never forget her. In order to forget her, I promised to never give that much love to anyone else. Does this mean I'm betraying her?

'Tohru, you must always be yourself,' I recalled my mother telling me numerous times in the past. That's exactly what it was – the past. My mother was then. Kyo is now. Besides, she wants me to be myself. Loving Kyo is part of that.

As my attention returned to the setting Akito and I were in, I saw her rolling her eyes at me. "You're pathetic," she scoffed. "Tohru Honda: the 'innocent' little bitch that has fallen in love with the cat. You should know that Kyo, like all the other Sohmas, belongs to me."

I then did something I had never done since the day I had been born. I glared at Akito. What can I say? She's just not…nice. Kyo would be unhappy with her – he'd be even more miserable with her than he ever would be with me. That sounds conceited, but it's true. Ever since the day I met him…

"Yo," he said bluntly, rubbing his shoulder. "Are you ready for me to break your neck, rat-boy?" Kyo taunted.

I could still remember what my first reaction of him was back then…

The ceiling… Is he hurt…? I thought. Wh-who… Well, hello, orange-head…

That orange hair of his is just one of those things that can bring a smile to anyone's face, whether it be of mockery or because it's just plain cute.

Then, on his first day attending school with me and Yuki, Kyo was acting as if he hated me. It hurt, but that's just how he is: he speaks without running it all through his head sometimes. I chuckled at the thought. My smile faded when I recollected what he had said to me.

"Would you shut up?" His voice was so angry. He was mad that I had made him transform into his cat form. But I couldn't just let him fight Yuki. For one thing, quarreling has always been against school policy. Then again, maybe…maybe I just didn't want Kyo to get hurt fighting the rat. "I don't care if I get in trouble, as long as I beat Yuki! Stay out of my way! What's with you? I can't even stand to look at you! Even in this point in time, when I am the receiver of Akito's fury, I can't help but wonder: did Kyo really mean that? Based on what he previously told me only minutes ago, it seems like he did.

However…the day I saw his true form…he let me into his heart. I couldn't know what he was thinking at that exact moment, but I did know that Kyo wanted me to be with him just as much as I.

"Let's go on living…together," he told me. Kyo hugged me. It was one of the only times he ever hugged me. Sure, I've hugged him, but they were all accidents – just like those kisses were. If we never kissed, the relationship the two of us shared would have never been shattered like this. We would have just gone on living together as we normally did.

Do I regret it? I don't feel sorry for what happened – not as much as I thought I would, anyway. Even though the strain grew between us over the past week, I was happy. He was, too; I know he was. I guess…he just doesn't want to admit it. It is a bit of aheartbreak, knowing that we may never be together. But does that mean that I should feel lamented about it? No!

So what if I am pathetic? "I may be pathetic, but at least I am not a bitch like you," I said. Suddenly, I gasped softly. Oh…my…goodness. Did I just swear?

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the black-haired female whispered, shaking her head in disappointment. "Tohru, you know you can't beat me, right? You can't save Kyo or even the other Zodiac members. You can't even save yourself." Her hand traveled to a pocket in her burgandy kimono that I didn't even know existed.

My eyes caught the sight of something shiny flash in the warm light of the setting sun. A knife.

"No!" I screamed, running in the opposite direction. The path I took led me up a steep incline to the top of a nearby hill. Grass concealed my legs from view. The green blades also hid the little thorns on the nearby rose bushes. I felt sharp edges scraping my revealed skin, turning it from clear and fine to scratched and bloody. Trees shaded my figure, which would keep Akito from spotting me easily, if not for the yellow dress I was wearing. She kept up with me quite well. But it's strange – Akito could easily catch up to me and stab me right then and there. Instead, she was slightly trailing behind me, as if waiting for the opportune moment.

Glancing behind me every five seconds, I climbed to the top of the highly-elevated hill. Before the pursuer could catch me, I took a moment to gaze at the scene that lay before me. The sun spoke its last words of light for the day before disappearing below the horizon. In the last light of the afternoon, I saw how the trees shone with blazing red colors. Then it was gone. Only the small shades of pink remained, painting the forest with the color of carnations.

As I looked upon the view, I felt a sharp pain enter my right side. I clutched the wound, grimacing in pain. Behind me, I saw Akito. She smirked evilly before poking my arm. The slightest pressure caused me to lean a little too far over the edge of the hill. I reached out my hand towards nothing. This was it. Akito killed me. I was never going to see Kyo again.

Goodbye, Kyo, I thought. I love you. Those were the last words that ran through my mind before I plunged into the woodlands below. By then, everything went black.

-Point of View Change: Kyo-

My eyes lay upon Tohru's body. Not in that perverted way! That's Shigure's job, damnit! Once I realized that my focus had drifted away from her, I snapped back to the present.

"Tohru," I breathed. Her crumpled figure lay on the ground, battered and scratched. Blood stains decorated her legs, arms, and face. A large red circle slowly grew larger on her left side. It was faint, but I could see the slight indication of a stab wound. Running over to her, I knelt by her side.

Why did I let this happen? See, this is why I couldn't be with her. I cause pain for everyone that I care about. I love her so much I hurt her. Damnit, I should've rejected her before this all happened. I shouldn't have kissed her.

But…there's one important aspect. Sure, I felt pretty damn guilty about myself for bringing Tohru into this mess, but I didn't feel guilty about how I felt. I knew I loved her. I knew that. I also knew that she felt the same. That's what made this so freaking hard! How could I rebuff her like that and not expect her to be upset? And now…look what's become of her. She's been stabbed. She fell down that hill. Akito made sure that Tohru wouldn't be able to have me. Heh. If only she knew…

"Stupid cat. Look what you've caused," Yuki said, kneeling down on the opposite side of Tohru.

"I know what I've caused! Don't make me feel any worse about it!"

"But you deserve it. She loves you, Kyo."

That's the first time, I thought. That's the first time he's called me by my actual name. Perhaps I looked as shocked as I felt, because that damn rat smirked.

"I'm trying not to insult you too much – for Miss Honda's sake," the rat explained. I opened my mouth to reply with some smart-ass comment, but I was interrupted by a sound in the distance.

In front of us, the green leaves rustled. My head snapped up to see Akito. She leaned against the tree beside her, pursing her lips. Was she trying to look sexy? If you ask me, she didn't even look remotely attractive to me.

"Well, Kyo. You've finally come," she said in her female voice. I blinked. "I had a surprise for you, but I see you have already discovered what it is." It was as if she was calling Tohru an 'it'. My eyes flashed to Tohru, who didn't even look like she was breathing. "See? The obstacle is gone. We can be together now, Kyo." She did this to her?

As I stood to my feet, my breathing became louder and rougher, my nostrils flaring.

"I will never, never, be with you, Akito," I growled.

"You don't exactly have a choice. I am the head of the family, and you must do as I command. Haven't you learned that already?" Akito said with a fake sweet-voice. Clenching my jaw tightly, I shook my head. "It figures. Even Yuki hasn't soaked it in yet." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yuki flinch at her sentence.

"But haven't you learned?" My eyebrown rose as I spoke. "I'm not a part of the family, or did that little fact slip your mind?"

The murderer pulled something out of her dark red kimono. A knife with a silver blade glowed in the light of the rising moon. "Did you forget that I just killed the one person who kept you from obeying me? Do you want me to do the same to you?"

I glanced back at the rat, who shook his head furiously. Yuki cocked his head in the direction of Tohru's body. Her chest remained still. Before I met her, before the day she stumbled upon our Zodiac secret, I thought I could live without anyone else. It's only now that I finally realized that there is one person whom I cannot be deprived from: Tohru.

"Yes," I stated. "I want the same to happen to me." The ferosity of the crime – that should've been me. Yuki was right: I did deserve it. I deserved to die, just like she did. Maybe, if we meet in death, I can apologize for my actions towards her during life.

"Suit yourself," Akito said. "If you don't want me, and if I can't force you to come with me, then that gives me no choice." She ran towards me, knife in her hand. I cringed, waiting for the pain to come. I waited for the blood to rush out.

"No!"

…7:55 – 701…8:00 – 696…8:15 – 687…8:29 – 666…The next day – 587. I'd say I did pretty well. Kisa's my only example, but it's okay.

I have to say...writing things about certain characters (Kyo, mainly) is really easy for me. I also just realized that this is my longest chapter for this story. YAY!

R/R/KR