Author's note: for context for this AU- Tohru never went to live with the Sohmas, never learned about the curse, and never befriended any of them- she only ever knew Yuki as 'Prince Yuki' - barely an acquaintance and that's all- be kind and don't admonish for any issues there might be- I've read the manga and seen both series- been a fan for over a decade!- but I'm far from an expert in Japanese culture. :P For now this is a one-shot only

BUILDING ZERO THIRTEEN

Tohru couldn't believe her luck. She'd been working hard at the same office building to pay for high school, and somehow the right people had noticed, for she'd been offered a job at the Sohma estate, as well as room and board. She was able to move out of her grandfather's just days after graduation, no longer be a burden to anyone, and be independent just like Mom would like.

It was easy to get lost in the elegant estate, but what a beautiful place to get lost. The interior of the estate was enchanting, with a creek running through it, cherry trees and greenery lining the winding water, and a multitude of gardens no matter where she turned. After she'd been given the tour of the place and her duties she was left mostly to herself. It was a bit lonely, but she was able to visit Arisa and Saki many nights, getting to keep much better hours than the janitor duties she had before. The summer had been a pleasant, if overly warm one, but the well built buildings and landscaping provided plenty of shade as she toted her cleaning supplies from building to building.

"Honda," she heard her manager call.

She nearly dropped the refuse bag she'd been carrying, she was so shocked to hear her name. "Y-yes?"

"One of our attendants has moved on. I need to ask you to take on some of her duties," the older woman said. Madam Furukawa was very serious and rarely smiled.

"Of course," Tohru said with a small bow of her head.

"It is of utmost importance you do not speak of this to anyone."

"Yes m'am!" she said, making sure she looked as serious as possible.

"You are to take food to building number zero thirteen a few times a day. Leave the tray inside the building in front of a metal door, and remove any empty trays you see. You might need to clean a bit outside the house, but do not attempt to go inside the metal door, is that clear?"

"Yes," she said with a final deep nod, taking the tray of food that had a metal cover on it.

She wasn't entirely certain where the building was, but she didn't want to look spacey. It was a good job, after all, and she didn't want them to think her inadequate to whatever tasks they gave her.

"Zero thirteen… Zeroooo thirteen…" she murmured to herself. After almost thirty minutes she finally found what she thought was the place. The numbers on the side were faded and hard to read. Unlike most of the other buildings on the estate this little pavilion seemed gray and abandoned.

She peered inside, but there were no lamps and barely any windows to let light in.

There was a small noise, and she could just make out the outline of a figure far behind the metal door. Or was it just a trick of her imagination?

"Hello?" she called, inside, her voice giving the slightest of echoes. "Um… Is this building zero thirteen? I'm supposed to bring food, but the letters outside aren't very clear and— Oh! I'm Tohru Honda— "

She hastily bowed. "Sorry I didn't say that, but I want to make sure I'm doing this right. I got lost. There are so many buildings that all look a lot alike, so sorry if you've been waiting for your food."

She saw an abandoned tray of food near the metal door. She inspected the contents and saw a barely touched meal of rice and leeks.

"I have food?" she said, sliding the old tray aside and placing the new one down. "It might be a little cold. I got lost… But next time I won't, I promise!"

The figure almost imperceptibly moved, verifying there was a person there.

"I'm going to clean in here for a bit, if that's okay? It's very dusty, so I hope you don't have allergies. I'll try hard not to get too much dust in the air!" she pledged to the unknown figure.

The figure didn't speak, so she decided to quietly clean and not disturb them further. There was a stale smell to the air as if no one had properly cleaned the place in ages. She had a lot of other duties to see to, and had only been instructed to clean outside the foyer, but it didn't seem right to leave it like this.

"Um…" she began, and saw the outline of the figure twitch. "I have to go and finish other places, but I'll be back with breakfast tomorrow and clean this up more."

The figure said nothing.

"Well, I'm going to take your old tray then…"

And with that she left the run down building, taking the tray and her cleaning supplies with her.

The next morning she was able to find her way much easier than before. She was surprised that the food she'd been given was already cold.

She knocked at the open foyer.

"Good morning?" she called into the house. She heard a small bit of shuffling, but couldn't see the figure. "I've come to deliver your breakfast, and maybe clean a bit more."

She put down the breakfast tray in front of the door, and removed the cover. It was cold eggs on cold porridge with scallions mixed in. She put the tray cover back over the sad looking meal.

"It looks like they didn't keep it warm. I'm sorry, I must have been late… I'll try harder next time!"

She took the cover off the last meal and saw only the rice had been eaten- the leeks were intact and untouched.

"You didn't eat much of your last meal… I hope you're okay?" she asked the figure. It didn't answer. "Well… I'm going to clean a bit more."

The cobwebs looked as if they'd been there for decades, and there was a pungent sweet smell to the room a bit like decay. It was so dark and sad inside the building, which sat odd with Tohru. The Sohma estate was so beautiful and richly furnished everywhere, with every detail perfectly seen to, all except this old tiny house with the odd metal gate and metal door on the inside.

She cleaned the place as best she could, given the little amount of time she could dedicate to it, then went on to her other duties. After doing much of her duties she arrived at Furakawa's office to get the next tray of food. It was as tepid as the last meal- some sort of brown rice with leeks and mushrooms, not cold or hot enough for any sort of meal, really. She must've been late again.

The breakfast was barely touched, with only some of the eggs eaten. She delivered the meal to the figure, not able to say anything she was so embarrassed to deliver such cold food to whoever they were.

As the days went on, Tohru realized the food was always cold, there was almost never anything like fish or meat in the simple meals, and whoever was eating the food never touched the leeks, onions and scallions always placed in the meals.

After over a week of this, Tohru felt nothing but guilt every time she delivered the meal. The guilt weighed in her so heavily that finally she willed herself to address it.

"Um… Madam Furukawa? Did I arrive late to pick up their food again? Tohru managed to ask the formidable looking lady.

"No. It doesn't matter what time you get it," she replied, looking entirely unbothered.

"Oh… But, the food has been very cold each day and I was thinking—"

"You are not paid to think. You just need to deliver food, remove trays, and keep that place from smelling up the rest of the estate. Is that too difficult for you?"

"No Ma'am!" Tohru said, eyes wide before bowing. Despite not wanting to raise the ire of the woman she continued. "And… I don't think the person there likes onions and leeks. They don't eat them… Maybe we could—"

"If you want to make different food on your own time with your own money, you can, but the estate won't waste it's money on the likes of—" she stopped herself. "That's all. See to your duties."

Tohru deeply bowed, took the tray of horrible looking food and threw it out, thoroughly cleaning the tray and bowl, grabbing a few new ones and taking them to her kitchen. No one deserved to eat bad food.

The next morning she went to more trouble with her breakfast than usual. For herself she kept it simple, but for the unknown person in building zero thirteen she wanted to make sure they had a warming meal that would be appetizing and filling. She didn't know why the person was there all the time— maybe they were sick? They wouldn't get better on half eaten brown rice, that much she knew. She made sure to leave off any chives, leeks or onions and put a hearty serving of fish, spinach salad, soup and eggs.

"Good morning," she said with a knock at the door. She heard the unknown figure shift, and the sound of some footfalls. "Um, I hope you don't mind, but I made you the food myself today…"

They didn't move or answer.

"And, um… I don't want to pressure you or anything, but the food is fresh and warm and… And I don't want you to have to eat cold food, so please… Please try to eat it soon."

She felt her cheeks color. Maybe she was being rude to do this, or presumptuous.

"Well… I have to go. I hope you enjoy it," she said with a bow, practically running with the old tray of uneaten food, tripping a bit on the hearth but managing to catch herself before she hit the ground.

At lunch she brought onigiri and miso soup. She checked the tray of food from breakfast and was pleasantly surprised to find it empty of everything- not one grain of rice left.

"Oh! You ate the food," she squealed out. "I'm so glad! I was worried you might not like it. I noticed you didn't eat leeks and onions so I tried to not put any in there and…"

She trailed off.

"Sorry, you must not like me talking so much, since you don't talk back. I mean, maybe you don't even speak Japanese, or are deaf or just shy— and all of that is okay of course! I can understand being shy or not knowing what to say— I never know what to say…" she said with a shrug. "If you'd like to talk to me, I'd like to hear it— but it's okay if you don't want to ta—"

"Why?" came a rough voice.

Tohru let out an 'Oh!' in surprise.

The voice that had answered her was male, and rough as if from disuse. It didn't sound old, though.

"Why what?" she squeaked.

"Why… Why are you feeding me good food…? Talking to me?" The voice sounded sad and defeated.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Her question was met with silence.

"Well… I'm glad you liked the food. Hopefully you'll enjoy the lunch I made," she said, trading out the trays.

She made the man in building zero thirteen food three times a day, and three times a day he left an empty tray for her. They continued like this through the months. He almost never spoke. He once said it 'was okay and he didn't mind,' for her to tell her story one time in the fall when she'd apologized if she was boring him. At the beginning of winter he'd said, 'Hey, I know I've never said it… But thanks… For the food, I mean.' That was it, though. He didn't talk besides those two times, but never stopped Tohru from speaking to him. She'd tell him little stories of her day, nothing important really, but she noticed his outline would sit still and not move when she did this, so he must have enjoyed the company a bit.

One very cold and wintery day she was delayed and not able to deliver the food until later in the afternoon. The paths were slick with snow that had melted and frozen again, making it treacherous conditions for anyone, but especially treacherous for someone as uncertain on her feet as Tohru.

She'd managed to get to the garden of zero thirteen when she heard voices. The snow and ice made the men's voices carry and bounce around the snow covered garden. There was the rough plaintive voice of the unknown figure, and another voice. It didn't sound the same as the unknown figure she'd heard before— it sounded a bit older and more mature.

"Should I go and get you some lunch? It's quite—"

"No, she'll come… She always comes... She probably fell or something, though. She's clumsy. You might need to check on her," the younger voice of the unknown figure said.

"I can do that."

"Thanks, Master."

'Master' came out of the house and smiled at her as he went her way. He was a tall handsome man with long brown hair in a low ponytail, wearing a simple dark blue kimono with a black belt.

"Ah, you must be Honda Tohru," he said with a bow. He had kind eyes.

"Y-yes!" she said, trying to bow her head and nearly dropping her tray, only to have it caught by 'Master''s quick reflexes.

"I am Sohma Kazuma , Kyou's… Sensei."

"Kyou?" she let out. Kyou… That must be the name of the man she'd been feeding! She blushed when she realized she hadn't said anything for too long. "Oh! It's nice to meet you, Sohma Sensei!"

"Kyou tells me your food is very delicious, Miss Honda."

"Oh no, it's only… I try, but I don't know if I'd call it delicious," she squeaked as they made their way to the inside of the dark house.

"Kyou, Miss Honda is here with your food."

As usual, Kyou didn't approach and stayed in the shadows.

"You know, it's a bit rude to not say anything," Sensei Kazuma said to the shadow, though he didn't say it meanly or even with a frown— just said it, the same as one would comment on the weather. Tohru could hear a sound, almost like a cat's growl from inside the room, but that was all. "Well, I'll see you in a few days. Kyou."

Kyou said nothing.

"Sorry I'm late, it was very slippery," Tohru called out, placing his food in front of the metal door. "It's so neat you have a Sensei. What does he teach you?"

Kyou didn't answer.

"Is it… Is it okay if I call you Kyou-san? If not, I understand- only I don't know any other name for you- but that's not been a problem in the past, but I can —"

"Just Kyou's fine…" said Kyou, so quietly she almost missed it. "Or whatever you like. It doesn't matter."

"Really?" she asked in wonder.

"I said it, didn't I?" he said much louder and grumpier than before.

"Ok… Kyou," she said, a large smile making her eyes almost disappear. She gave a happy little nod to him before heading towards the door only for her foot to hit a piece of ice. She felt her foot slip and slide forward, but hands full of tray she was unable to catch herself as she felt herself fall backwards, tray flying in the air.

But instead of stone hitting her back, or her head knocking on a wooden step, she felt her fall stop. She opened her eyes and was looking at the ceiling, body poised halfway in the air, held there by a pair of arms. Arms? She followed the trail of the arms to the other side of the metal wall and saw a handsome young man panting at her, red-brown eyes wild, and hair orange as a sunset. The hair was long and unkempt, handing down to his shoulders.

"Be careful!" he admonished, somehow straightening her up through the metal… she'd thought it was a metal window of some sort, as it'd been so dark in there, but the metal seemed less like a window as she looked at it and more like bars to a cage. His hands had somehow caught her through the bars and kept her steady. And the bars were thicker than she realized- not flimsy or ornamental. She looked to the side of the door and noticed for the first time a lock.

Something clicked into place for her. The lock on the far side of the door was on the outside. He wasn't just some hermit in a house, or an invalid who needed privacy. He was so young and he was being locked away in a decrepit house all by himself.

"A lock!" she said nonsensically.

"Huh?" he asked.

"There's a lock on… the outside."

"Yeah," he said with a shrug. He was beautiful, and looked so sad.

"But… Why is there a lock?"

His cheeks colored and he looked to lock and his mouth opened, as if he'd answer, but then he thought better of it, gritted his teeth and fled deeper in the building.

"Kyou—" she called to him, but he didn't answer.

Not knowing what to think she slowly made her way to her own living quarters. She didn't have work on Saturdays, but had asked to feed him each day so he wouldn't have to eat horrid food. It made it harder to have plans with Arisa and Saki at times, but it was worth it to make sure the man— no, Kyou, had real food.

She had thought she was bringing food to someone who was perhaps an invalid- but his grip had been strong as he held her. He had color in his cheeks. And there was a lock! Why was there a lock?

She had a feeling she could not ask anything about it from Madam Furukawa. The one time she'd asked about food, Furukawa had made it clear she had disdain for Kyou, saying the estate wouldn't 'waste its funds on the likes of' Kyou to give him good properly temped food.

There was a lock in the house. She was so stupid not to have realized. He was being caged, and locked in there. How could they do it? How were they getting away with it? And Kyou's Master— Sensei Kazuma. He'd seemed so nice and gentlemanly, but if he was so nice, how had he let the Sohma estate lock Kyou away.

At dinner she called to Kyou, and unsurprisingly he didn't answer. She walked around the building and realized it didn't go very far back. She had never considered that it was just one dark room barred with metal. Most of the building was just the dusty foyer she cleaned. It must have been so cold in there during these winter months. Did he even have a light in there? Did he have enough blankets? Did anyone ever visit him aside from herself and Kyou's sensei?

They had locked him up.

She couldn't imagine any man that young being able to cope with being locked into such a small space. Was he ever let out? The next day she bundled up in layers and watched and watched his home, with few breaks. No one aside from herself came or went. Kyou must have been trapped in there.

She cried herself to sleep thinking about how lonely Kyou must have felt, wondering how long he'd been there, thinking on the fierce look on his face.

She did her duties the rest of the week quickly, so she could sit and wait for Sohma Sensei. He was the only one who she'd seen come to Kyou, and maybe he would have answers.

Days passed but finally Sohma Sensei came. She didn't want to delay Kyou from having company, so waited until their meeting was done. After an hour or so he emerged, looking forlorn.

"S-Sohma Sensei?" Tohro asked as she came from behind a wall. He turned and gave a tired smile.

"Hello Miss Honda."

"I have something I need to ask you…"

Author's note

That's it for now- might continue it or not- not sure- but wanted to write this. :)

If you enjoyed please let me know- also again be kind and don't admonish for any issues there might be when it comes to capturing Japanese culture- especially names :P