Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Chapter 38: You're No Son of Mine

Thundering footsteps boomed down the corridor, heading straight for Momo's occupied room. The owner of the feet stared menacingly at the closed door, hearing the muffled voices echoing from within. A loud knock rattled the door before a hand burst through the painted wood, piercing a hole through the hard centre.

The onlookers froze in their spots, swapping a flurry of shocked looks and whimpers as the hand retracted silently from the inverted hole, leaving the remaining wood to peel and splinter away.

The Duchess' head appeared through the inhuman gap, meeting the eagle's petrified eyes. Her face looked drawn and tired, lighting the heavy bags under her eyes as she bared her teeth like a dog, wrenching the door open by its handle. It seemed that her fight with the cook was over.

"Momiji," she stalked into the room, casting a dark shadow over their shocked faces.

The rabbit flinched at the sound of his name, recognising her tone all too well. She was pissed. "M-Mother-"

The Duchess levelled his timid gaze with a hard glare, reaching up to yank a hidden fork from her blonde, tangled mess of hair. "What. Did. You. Say?" she spat, gripping the bending fork with a shaking hand. "Who would want a TWISTED boy with the curse to change into a pathetic rabbit for a SON!?" she yelled, dropping the fork to the ground with a growl. "You're not my son! Momo is my only child-"

"P-Please stop!" Tohru stood from her chair, taking a quivering step forward. "Can't you see that you're upsetting him?" she cried, pointing at the shivering boy standing before his sister's bed to try and push some sense into the woman. "You're treating him like dirt!"

"THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" she shouted at Tohru before rushing towards Momiji. She raised her hand in a flash and brought it down with enough power to break a glass vase, "YOU'RE NOT MY SON!"

Fen flinched at the resounding 'slap' as it sounded loud and clear. He looked at the rabbit in shock to see the damage, but found nothing of it.

Momiji had collapsed to his knees, prepping himself for the slap when a figure had thrown themselves between the pair, taking the hit for him. He whimpered timidly, throwing a frantic look back in hopes that it hadn't been Momo.

She was still asleep.

"...T-Tohru!" the rabbit twisted around in search of his saviour, finding her lying a few feet away, holding her cheek with numb hands.

The Duchess stumbled back, staring numbly at her reddened hand. "...This is all your fault," she whispered, directing her statement at the boy. "Your friend wouldn't have been hurt if you had taken the blow-!"

"Enough!"

All eyes landed on the girl lying awkwardly on the wooden floor, nursing her throbbing cheek as she spoke. "No more," she shook her head, looking over at Fen with pleading eyes.

He hopped from his perch and glided over, landing neatly beside her feet with only a few feathers out of place. "She's right," he squawked, digging his claw into the floor. "You've gone too far. What kind of parent would hit their own child for telling the truth?"

She didn't answer, finding the floor more interesting as she gazed at the leftover splinters littering the ground. This wasn't her fault, none of it was. It was the boy's. He walked into her life, disrupting their livelihood, claiming to be her son. Nonsense!

Posting Date: 29th June 2014

Words: 599

Symm: I have my first prom in 15 days and I'm kind of scared. No way am I dancing, 'cos that's not my thing. Sitting there and being quiet is most likely what I'll do, and I might even capture one of my friends and make them stay with me so I don't look like a complete loner, haha!