Chapter 14: Distractions

By the time she was found on the ground, significant amounts of blood had pooled around her hands. She couldn't see her husband run toward her and lift her off the ground. She didn't hear her daughter Momo crying as her husband cradled her form down the stairs and placed her gently into the car. She wasn't aware of their drive to the hospital, nor was she aware of the commotion surrounding her once admitted as a patient. 'That creature!' she thought, repulsed. An impure monster that plagued her mind had returned to haunt her. An acidic taste filled her mouth, thinking of all the times she had seen the Sohma boy with her daughter. She couldn't fathom the damn that broke, drowning her mind with memories of her supposed child. She couldn't escape the torment, realizing her role in his horrible creation. The light around her dimmed until all that remained of her vision was black. Engulfed in darkness, she didn't even realize when she slipped out of consciousness.

~ 4 hours later ~

"Are her injuries substantial? Will they be keeping her overnight?" A deep, professional voice asked. Momiji's mother could recognize the voice but didn't put a face to it.

"Just her hands are hurt. Apparently she cut her hands when breaking the bathroom mirror. I have no idea why she did that. The doctors apparently want to run a psychiatric test in the morning to make sure she won't try to hurt herself again. I don't understand! She isn't like this! Why is this happening to my wife, Hatori-san?" She recognized her husband's concerned voice asking the question.

"I am under the impression that your wife's memory is returning to her. Others who also had their memories taken have been recalling the past."

"How can you be sure? She hasn't recognized her own son for years, why should this happen now?"

She heard the Sohma physician sigh. She still could not fully register her surroundings. A knock on the door, however, caused her to stir.

"Otou-san," a boy's voice whispered, "Momo just fell asleep… do you want me to take her home?"

"Momiji-san, you shouldn't be in here. I can handle Momo, you should just go home."

The name her husband spoke pulled her forward, prying her eyes open and forcing her lips into a venomous snarl.

"You!" she hissed, lurching forward in her bed. She flinched at the sight of him. It was like looking into a mirror; his blonde hair and bright eyes were nearly identical to her own. Just looking at him revolted her. He was everything she hated about herself. He was the lasting proof of her failed maternity.

"Get out!" her husband yelled, pushing the boy out of the hospital room.

"Stay away from my daughter! You were never a part of this family! Never go near her again!" she screamed, waving her bandaged hands desperately through the air. She expected anger from the boy but instead was met with a pitying stare, which made her even more vitriolic.

"I'm already gone." He smiled gently, and quickly left the room. Her husband followed him out and collected her daughter in his arms. Suddenly feeling exhausted, she returned to a supine posture and exhaled deeply, already feeling her head throbbing from the confrontation. She closed her eyes, ignoring the pain from the cuts on her hands. In no time at all, sleep consumed her mind; her only reprieve from her restored past.

Defeated, Tohru laid her head against the table and heard Kyo snicker from across the room.

"Still having trouble?" he asked, crossing over to where she sat despondently. She quickly hid the notepad in front of her under her arms and looked up at him with a worried smile.

"I don't think I have your way with words, Kyo-kun. I'm caught in a writer's block!"

"Don't be ridiculous," he bumped her shoulder, leaning down next to her seat, "My writing is completely shitty. Wanna show me what you have so far?"

"Eh….."

Kyo snatched the notepad from where she was hiding it. She shrieked and frantically tried to grab it back. He looked down at where she had been working on her vows for the past hour. The page was blank aside from a crudely drawn cat sleeping next to what appeared to be a stick figure Tohru with her head on a table. Kyo raised his eyebrow and stared questioningly down at Tohru, who was now very red in the face.

"Your vows certainly… paint quite the picture…"

At that moment, Tohru's flip phone buzzed impatiently on the table's service. She hastily stumbled to grab the phone, thankful for the escape from her embarrassment.

"Hello, Tohru Honda speaking, who is this?" she asked, forgetting about caller ID entirely.

"Hey Tohru! It's Momiji! How are you?"

"Oh Momiji-san, hi! You've saved me from a terrible case of writer's block! How are you?"

"I'm… not so great. I was actually calling to ask you a favor."

"What's wrong, Momiji! Are you okay? Anything you need, ask!"

Kyo, listening indifferently at first, suddenly grew anxious with her abrupt worry and widened his eyes in concern.

"I was wondering if I could spend a weekend up with you and Kyo-kun, if that wouldn't be too inconvenient."

"Of course you can come visit us," she said partially to Momiji, and also to Kyo, ensuring his agreement, "but isn't that a pretty far trip for just a weekend?"

"It's a long weekend. Don't worry I'll explain everything when I get there. I'm sorry for the short notice, but is tomorrow morning too early?"

"No, tomorrow is fine. Do you want me to meet you at the train station?"

"That's okay, some walking will help clear my mind."

"Ah, alright then! I'm excited to see you!" she said, secretly wondering what was causing her friend's voice to sound so dark, when suddenly his voice shifted to one that almost mimicked the high-pitched voice reminiscent of his younger self.

"Haha, yep! I'm excited to see you too! We're going to have so much fun! I'll see you then, Tohru, Thanks again! Bye!"

"See you then." She closed her phone and looked up at Kyo.

"That was weird," Kyo commented, shoving his hands into his pockets and replacing his expression with one of deep thought. "Isn't he in school?" he added.

"Perhaps we should contact Haru-san and see if he knows what's going on." "Maybe. But it's probably not our place to ask. Let's just wait for Momiji to tell us himself, okay?

"Right!" Tohru agreed enthusiastically, standing up so quickly that she felt dizzy for a moment. Kyo handed back her notepad and brushed back her hair behind her ear. Tohru used he moment to seize her notepad back from him and pranced away from his arms reach, smiling at him with a glimmer of mischief.

"Kyo-kun, since you saw what I've done so far, can I read what you've written?" she asked, not hiding the excitement in her voice.

"No! No way!" he retorted sharply.

"Oh! Um, I don't need to see it Kyo-kun, you definitely shouldn't show me if you don't want to!"

"Dammit, no that's not what I meant! What I mean is, well, I haven't exactly written that much either." He shuffled into their bedroom and returned with a slip of paper that looked as though it had seen better days. He handed it over to her and she took it out of his outstretched hands. The slip of paper was entirely filled with words that were all crossed out, making the entire thing illegible.

"Can we get someone to write them for us?" Kyo asked in a small voice, letting his head dip in shame. Tohru beamed at him and returned his paper back to him.

"I think they're perfect!"

Thumb. Index. Middle. Ring. Pinky. Ring. Middle. Index. Thumb. Index. Middle. Ring. Pinky. This scrutinizing evaluation of his fingers occupied Momiji's interest during the commencement of the train ride. He clung to any trace of a thought that lacked relation to his mother's predicament, expelling the dark thoughts from his mind that he struggled to keep at bay. He had feared his mother's reaction, knowing that it would likely be one of disgust, but he hadn't planned ahead. The thought hadn't occurred to him that his sister would be forcefully extricated from his life. He didn't want to think about that. He instead thought about the past, when he and his friends visited the Sohma vacation home. He recalled looking for beetles with Tohru and prancing around in the sun as if he hadn't a care in the world; harshly contrasted with the night Akito had come, attacking them both. He remembered how helpless he felt. He couldn't help but marvel at the significant growth spurt he'd encountered, and wondered with an abysmal melancholy if he could have changed things had he been taller or stronger then. Fortunately, the taunting reminders he supplied to himself of a now distant romantic love for his friend had all but vanished. With Tohru so far away, though, he could help but feel partially void inside, in fact, he was fairly certain a few other former zodiac members felt the same way. At least he could always blame Kyo for that. His contemplations continued to stray as the train made a stop, pulling to a station along the route to allow passengers aboard. He hardly noticed the figure slip into the seat across the aisle from him, a tall young woman with her brown eyes transfixed on his refined features.

"So handsome, and yet you still look just as troubled as before." She spoke in her candid tone.

Momiji jolted from his reverie in time to hear what the woman was saying. He couldn't help but wonder why he always sat next to bizarre people on public transport. Turning to observe his sudden admirer, he recognized the woman almost instantaneously.

"Oh, it's you, the shop girl with the violin." He recalled.

"Kasumi Oshiro. My friends call me Sumi-chan. You can call me Kasumi."

"Kasumi-san, nice to finally have a name to the face." He laughed, remembering the awkward encounter from before. 'At least this train ride won't be boring,' he thought.

"Are you off to visit family, Momiji-san?" she asked.

"You have a far better memory than I do, remembering my name," he noted, impressed, "and yes, I'm visiting my best friend."

"The fiancé of the abrasive orange boy, I presume?" Momiji could tell she was referring to Kyo.

"That's the one."

"Do you think she'll solve whatever is bothering you?

Momiji couldn't help but smile. This Kasumi girl certainly had a knack for asking difficult questions.

"I don't think what's bothering me can be solved that easily. But if anyone could solve it, it'd be her."

"You put far too much faith in a single person." She cautioned him.

"Uh, I suppose. So where are you heading, Kasumi-san?"

She eyed Momiji almost to a point of suspicion. He could help but wonder if she must've had a negative experience with a past boyfriend, explaining her blatant distrust in him.

"I am going to visit my mother. I don't like to leave my father alone for much time, but it has been too long since my last visit, and my mother grew anxious. Thus, here I am."

"Your mother doesn't live with you?" Momiji asked, before he realized how rude his question was, while being far too informal with someone he hardly knew.

"No, my parents separated many years ago," she said unaffected, then turned and eyed him for a moment, "You would like her, my mother. She plays violin as well. That was her career."

"She sounds very talented." Momiji offered, remembering his manners.

"Not as good as me, though." He turned to look at her, realizing she was joking when she gave him an exaggerated wink. He couldn't help but laugh, and the feeling felt so foreign to him given the recent events that he almost immediately started coughing instead. She smiled at his laughter, and took the opportunity to pull a small novel out of her purse, setting the book on her lap as a signal to him that she intended to read. Momiji nodded in acknowledgement, and turned back to his window watching transient cityscapes pass by. He glanced back at the woman, who was now deeply engrossed in her book. His initial impressions of her hadn't done her justice. Her face had a natural blush that highlighted her cheekbones framing her face. She had a slender nose that led followed down to thin lips, however the small features only lent to her beauty. Long eyelashes, almost hiding her rapid exploration of the page in front of her, encompassed her large brown eyes. Her short, brown hair was anything but plain; the sunlight danced through the window and created strands with red and gold, illuminating her face in a warm glow that continued to mesmerized Momiji until she jerked her head up and met his gaze, eyes clouded with misgiving.

"Is there something you need?" she asked hesitantly.

Momiji couldn't help but blush, as even he was unclear as to why this abnormal girl, who instantly assumed he was homosexual when they first met, now was capturing his undivided attention.

"Sorry, I was distracted." He tried to laugh it off, shrugging his shoulders. She pulled a card out of her purse and handed it to him in a business-like manner. "If you want to get distracted later… feel free to call me. I'll continue reading now."

He looked down to see her business card in his hands. Her contact information shone in a rose gold that looked uncannily like the light flecks he noticed in her hair. He was amazed to find that even amongst the chaos of his family, he could still feel excited about something. He pocketed the card and responded lightly,

"Will do."

Hi guys! Thanks for all the kind reviews, I'm enjoying writing this story and hope you're enjoying reading it! I've been a little hesitant with updates recently due to Fruits Basket Another, a new portion of the manga being released (since I want to stay true to the story line, I don't want to write anything that can't be altered to any new information from the manga.) Despite that, I'll still try to update! For those who only watched the anime, this may be a confusing chapter... you should read the manga it's really great!

Edit: From reading a review I realized I should provide more information. The manga is done yes, but Natsuki Takaya, the manga creator, launched Fruits Basket Another, a sequel to the original manga. It won't be nearly as long as the original, but it is still a great read! It is where I got the character in the Halloween Chapter, Hajime, Tohru and Kyo's child, because he is a high school senior in this manga sequel. There is a translated version of the sequel on tumblr, with the user Yukariscans.

-Simonesummers