FRUITS BASKET: WHAT MUST BE DONE

by Vashkoda

(Disclaimer: This work of fiction uses characters belonging to Takaya Natsuki and Hakusensha without their permission. I am getting no profit from it. I only do it because I think Fruits Basket is a great story, and I want to help keep it alive!)

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Once again, Tohru stood silently on the wooded hill overlooking the house. This time, neither Hiro, Momiji, nor Kyo were with her. She was alone.

No, not alone, her senses told her.

She looked up suddenly, expecting to find someone watching her from the branches above. The foliage was thick, and if there was anyone hiding behind the dark leaves, she could not see them. Wait--there.... There was a flicker of light, and she thought she spotted something reflecting it back to her...something that looked like two beady yellow eyes.

She dashed frantically back towards the house, her fear choking back her cries. As she kept running, the woods grew darker and thicker rather than opening into the familiar fields around Shigure's house. She must have made a wrong turn somewhere.

Tohru turned around, only to find that the trees surrounding her all looked the same. There was no sign of the path she had followed to get there.

Something large dove down at her from above, and she ducked and dropped to the forest floor, clutching herself tightly. She had squeezed her eyes shut, so she never saw what had attacked her, but she felt a gush of cold air on her face as it flapped away with powerful beats of its wings.

Tohru didn't wait for it to attack again. She jumped to her feet and ran blindly through the trees, not caring where she went as long as it was away from there. Her fear could only drive her so far, however, and soon she stumbled and fell hard against the ground. The tears came freely then, and she let them fall, wondering why this was happening and if anyone would ever find her.

Opening her eyes slowly, she saw something that made her freeze in fear. It was the monster that she had seen Kyo become, a hairless beast with rows of sharp teeth and gray skin stretched tightly over its misshapen body.

Tohru backed away slowly, and saw it follow her example. Pushing herself to her feet, she kept her eyes trained on it as she rose. It lifted itself up as well, watching her warily through its large reptilian eyes.

"Kyo..." she said softly, wondering if he was here to help her. She reached her hand out towards him, and saw him reach for her too.

The monster's body rippled, and she drew back her hand, surprised to find the tips of her fingers wet.

And then she realized where she was. It was the lake where she and Yuki had found Kyo after his transformation.

Tohru had been kneeling against the shore, staring into the water.

Into her own reflection.

"Tohru-chan, are you all right?" asked Hana in concern. The three had decided to walk to school from Hana's house, but Tohru seemed unusually tired that morning and continued to lag behind. Despite this, she managed a brief smile of reassurance for her friends.

"I'm all right, Hana-chan. Just...a little tired."

Uo looked at her thoughtfully. "Maybe we kept you up too late last night? I know you're used to waking up and going to bed early."

"No no, I had a lot of fun!" she insisted. "Really! ...it was only a bad dream."

Yes, it was a dream, she repeatedly told herself. The whole bit about-- well, it was absurd, of course, and if nothing else, she knew that the sun couldn't have been shining at night.

But despite those reassuring thoughts, she shivered slightly, drawing worried glances from Hana and Uo.

The day progressed from bad to worse as her teacher passed out large stacks of stapled together pages.

"What's this?" one of her classmates asked, waving his copy.

"These are your college application forms," the woman replied brightly. "You will be making appointments to see the counselors next week and discuss the options available to you."

Tohru tried to ignore the copy sitting on her desk. It was painful to look at, thinking that while many of her friends would go on to a university, she would be staying behind. It also made her think of her mother, and the promise she made to finish high school. Would she also have been expected to go to college?

"Are you all right, Honda-san?"

At first she thought the voice belonged to Yuki, for few people called her by such a formal title. She was surprised then to see that it was not Yuki, but the dark-haired boy who usually sat behind her in class. She remembered that his name was Kenta Miyamoto.

"I'm all right, Miyamoto-san, thank you for asking," she replied, bowing her head in gratitude. She was growing a bit flustered that so many people were asking how she was doing. Was she really that transparent?

Since she was now facing the back of the class, she managed to spot Yuki watching her. He quickly looked down at his desk and began rifling through the application papers. But she was sure she had seen him frown when Kenta had spoken to her.

The bell for lunch rang a few minutes later. Tohru felt in need of fresh air, so she hurriedly gathered her belongings and got up to leave.

"Honda-san?"

It was Kenta again. He approached her hesitantly, looking down at her feet instead of meeting her gaze.

"I was...uh, wondering something. I know we don't know each other very well, and I...well, I was hoping maybe-"

"She is already going with someone."

Kenta and Tohru both turned in surprise to see Yuki standing beside them. The sight of the Prince caused Kenta to completely lose his nerve, and he backed away from them quickly, bowing and apologizing as he went.

"Yuki-kun...?"

Yuki had also turned around and prepared to leave. He stopped when he heard Tohru call his name.

"I just wanted to save him the embarrassment of asking you to the prom," Yuki said in a flat voice. They were the first words he had spoken to her since the night he had received all those flowers. "It's difficult enough to go up to a person and admit that you like them; always worrying about being rejected. But when you already know in advance that you have no chance... well, I just wanted to spare him that," he explained gruffly.

Tohru nodded automatically. Kenta wanted to take her to the prom? What did that mean? Was she supposed to act kinder towards him now, or more reserved so that he understood that she wasn't interested? Should she buy him a gift in apology, or would that just make things more awkward?

She realized that Yuki had been standing there watching her as all these thoughts ran through her head, as if he were waiting for an answer. She tried to remember what the last thing was he had said, but before she could open her mouth, Yuki quickly spoke.

"You are coming back, right?" he asked, his voice sounding higher than usual. Despite trying to appear nonchalant, he was obviously anxious about something. Tohru didn't understand why, and simply stared at him blankly.

"I mean, after spending the night at your friend's house. I hope you still decide to come back and live with us?"

"Oh, of course!" she assured him with a smile, though it quickly changed into a frown of concern. "I know there must be a lot of chores I need to catch up on! I'm sorry that I had to leave without cooking everyone their dinner. I hope-"

"That's all right, Honda-san," he answered with a curt nod. "I will see you later, then."

"Hai," she added, though Yuki had already moved too far away to hear her.

"So, what did you and Tohru talk about?"

Yuki looked up from the water fountain to see Kyo standing there, leaning casually against the wall. Yuki decided to ignore him and finish his drink. As he straightened and turned away, Kyo called out after him.

"Hey! I thought we weren't going to talk to her?"

Yuki stopped and clenched his fists. He did not turn around.

"Baka," he growled. "What you think this is--some sort of game? Do you think I'm avoiding her because I want to hurt her? Is that what you're doing?"

He heard the scuff of Kyo's shoes against the floor as the latter positioned himself to attack. Yuki smiled to himself, looking forward to releasing some of the tension that had built up that morning. It was hard for him to sit so close to Tohru during class and yet be unable to say anything to her.

Kyo charged at him from behind, hoping to tackle Yuki to the ground. The neko was so predictable.

Yuki waited until the last possible second, then slid to the side and crouched, swinging his leg out to trip the startled Kyo. His cousin managed to recover as he fell, tucking his body and rolling out of the way, then leapt to his feet.

"Then why do it?" Kyo asked in a low hiss. "Why don't you go and comfort her; tell her how much she means to you?"

Without waiting for an answer, Kyo jumped up and twisted his upper body to the left, causing his hips and legs to follow suit in a powerful crescent kick. Noticing the direction his upper body had turned, Yuki knew ahead of time what was going to happen, and shuffled to Kyo's other side, which his swinging arms had left exposed. Yuki did a palm strike to Kyo's spine, throwing the other off balance so that he couldn't recover in time to deliver a follow-up kick.

"I am simply giving her space," Yuki explained calmly, as if they were discussing the matter over tea. "I know she feels uncomfortable around us, wondering whether we're angry with her about going to the prom with Shigure. You obviously are."

Yuki waited as Kyo repositioned himself, no doubt trying to decide what to try next.

"You're the baka," Kyo scoffed. "You think I don't see how hurt you are that she didn't choose you?"

Yuki grabbed Kyo's arm and flipped him over his back. Kyo landed hard against the ground, not at all expecting the move and thus unable to brace himself from getting the wind knocked out of him. It was making it very difficult for Kyo to speak, although that could also be due to the pressure Yuki was currently applying to the neko's windpipe. Not enough to strangle him, but enough to force Kyo to admit that Yuki had won the match.

Kyo began making odd wheezing noises, and at first, Yuki wondered if he was maybe pushing a bit too hard against Kyo's throat. But when he saw Kyo's lips curve into a smile, he realized what it was. Laughter.

"It...seems I hit a nerve," he rasped, speaking slowly between breaths. "You pretend it doesn't hurt...but I see that it does. I don't care if she goes with Shigure. It's worth it...to see you lose for once...even if it isn't to me."

"Yuki, stop!"

Yuki barely heard the voice through the angry red haze clouding his mind. He felt strong arms pull him off Kyo and push him aside. The haze suddenly dissipated, and Yuki realized in alarm what it was he had almost done.

"I thought you had a bit more sense, Yuki," said Kazuma reproachfully, kneeling down to help Kyo stand. "It was a good thing I was the one who spotted you. You very well could have lost your position as class president, and had a black mark placed on your record--not something you want on your college application."

Instead of his usual glare, Kyo watched Yuki with a smug grin of satisfaction.

It was a small consolation to Yuki to see the red marks on his cousin's neck that would surely turn into bruises by the next morning.

"I am ashamed to be your teacher. Haven't I taught you not to fight outside of the dojo?"

Kyo and Yuki muttered in agreement, avoiding his gaze.

"Obviously the lesson hasn't sunk in. Well then, I expect to see both of you in my class this afternoon."

The two students exchanged a look of surprise. "But...but that's the beginner's class!" objected Kyo.

"And that is were you belong until you show me otherwise," frowned their sensei. "Oh, and I almost forgot the reason I came. I have a message for your friend Tohru--do you know where she is?"

"Tohru?" they repeated in unison, exchanging glares as they realized they had spoken together.

"Yes. Tell her that Hatori-san came looking for her at the house this morning, and was very disappointed to find she was not there. He would like her to drop by and see him as soon as she can."

"Hatori-san was at out house?" asked Yuki in surprise. "How come we never saw him?"

Kazuma shrugged. "He only spoke to Shigure, who told him your friend was at a sleepover. My guess is that the two of you were too busy fighting to notice him there."

"We were not!" argued Kyo. But of course there had been a fight, like every morning, though Yuki couldn't remember how this one had started. None of them had been in a very good mood after having to suffer Yuki's cooking the night before, and with Tohru gone, no one had thought to buy more milk.

"Please pass on my message. I must get going now to prepare for today's lesson. Don't be late." With those words, sensei Kazuma strode purposefully down the hall and out of sight.

"Hatori-san," spat Kyo in disgust, though there was also a note of worry in his voice.

Yuki understood his meaning perfectly. A summons to the Sohma doctor was never good news.

Especially for someone who wasn't a Sohma.