Fruits Basket episode 27

"Here Shigure-san" said Tohru as she handed the 27yr old inu a cup of green tea.

"Arigato, Tohru-kun!" He smiled.

Tohru looked up distracted by the movement of another body coming toward them. A concerned look wiped across her face,

"Sohma-kun, are you ok?" she asked.

"Hai…" he said in a depressed tone as he sat in his place at the table. Yuki was still suffering from heart ache to the loss of one of the most important battles of his life. Tohru had chosen Kyou. Kyou won this time. Yuki still couldn't get over the fact that the baka neko had actually won against him. He was pretending to be happy about it though and in a way he was. He was happy that Tohru was happy and he had a little happiness for Kyou aswell, knowing how much Kyou wanted to win against him in one way or another. But still, he couldn't help but feel depressed and lonely. He had always felt a lot for Tohru and that was mainly the reason he behaved the way he did around her. Now he just wasn't sure how to act but he didn't want to be selfish and let the others know how sad he really was.

Kyou and Yuki got along better than before so he had to have some kind of happiness for him, although he still and always will think he's just a baka-neko.

Tohru poured some hot tea into a cup and handed it to Yuki.

"I hope you're not unwell, Yuki-kun?" she asked.

Yuki smiled softly as he looked down at her small, slim hand wrapped around the cup she was offering him. He remembered back when she first called him that, Yuki-kun. He had an attack and a pretty bad fever that day. He originally had a cold but refused to stay home and rest, since there was a cross-country run through a part of the city for school. Kyou had gotten so excited knowing it was some form of challenge against Yuki and Yuki knew he couldn't let the baka-neko beat him just because of a small cold. Unfortunatley due to the cold weather outside his cold had gotten much worse. Yuki, Kyou and Tohru had found Hatsuharu and all stopped to talk to him to see why he was there. Hatsuharu had wanted a fighting match with Kyou probably to test his strength although Kyou was much stronger. While they were fighting and Yuki was talking to Tohru, he fell weak in an attack, which turned into a fever. While he had been unconcious, Haru helped him home with the others and he had figured that Yuki had feelings for Tohru from the way he looked and smiled at her. Haru had told Tohru to call him by his name instead of the usual 'Sohma-kun' to see what his reaction would be. Tohru of couse had agreed although she thought it was silly and a waste of time because she didn't believe Yuki looked at her anymore than a friend. When Yuki awoke, Haru had told Tohru how much Yuki ment to him. When Yuki told her not to take what he said seriously she said,

"I think it's a wonderful story, Yuki-kun"

Yuki at first didn't notice his name being mentioned with her voice but when he did he blushed and transformed. Tohru still couldn't believe he had more-than-friends fellings for her.

"Sohma-kun?" Tohru tore Yuki away from his thoughts.

"Hm?" he looked up at her.

"Do you want this tea?" she asked, "If you do can you take it? It's very hot" she said while glancing pointedly at her slowly burning hand holding the cup.

"Oh! Hai!" he took the cup quickly from her grasp, "Gomen ne" he said while looking down.

"You know, Tohru-kun, you could have just put the cup on the table…" Shigure said before taking another long sip of his hot drink.

"Ano, hai" she looked down sheepishly.

Tohru looked back at Yuki with still the same concern on her face.

"Didn't sleep that well", he said with a fake smile.

"Oh. Ano-" Tohru was cut off when everyone turned their heads toward the front gate on the other side of the sliding door. They heard slow footsteps coming toward the house.

Shigure looked at Tohru, silently asking to see whom it was.

Tohru nodded, understanding that look on his face straight away but suddenly gasped as she heard loud boiling from the kitchen.

"Ah! The rice!!!" she spun around and rushed into the kitchen, waving her arms around in panic.

Yuki sighed. Some things will never change. He got up and walked to the door. He slid it open and saw a tired looking girl with her head hung low.

"Sorry to bother you…" she began, "But do you know where I can find Hatori-san?" she asked. Her voice sounded depressed, upset and very tired.

"Ano…" was Yuki's only answer. Who was this girl? And why did she want Hatori? Strangely enough Yuki could have sworn he'd heard that voice somewhere before or at least a simular voice.

Not getting a straight answer, the girl looked up. She had dark geen eyes that looked very upset and worried. Her face looked a bit dirty along with her clothes. It looked like she'd been travelling for weeks, either that or just had a really rough time getting there. She had dark brown, slightly wavy hair, which was just below shoulder length. Yuki's eyes widened. He knew this girl, he was sure he'd seen her before! But where? And if he had why didn't she recognise him? He wasn't exactly common looking. He'd be easy to recognise wouldn't he? The girl just mantained her sad, depressed looking expression. She obviously didn't recognise him at all.

"Onegai…" she pleaded, "I really need to see him, Hatori-san!" she had more hurt in her voice this time.

Yuki snapped out of his thoughts and nodded, with the same wide-eyed expression.

"Ah, Hatori-san?" Shigure stepped behind the shocked nezumi.

"Hai, can you tell me where he is? Onegai?" she bowed slightly as she talked.

"Hai!" Shigure said cheerfully, "Hatori is one of my closest friends!"

"Really!?!" She looked up with wide eyes that seemed to be holding back tears,

"Onegai! My mother is very sick and I really, REALLY must see him! Onegai! I'll do anything just tell me where I can find him onegai!" she pleaded again.

"Ok, ok!" Shigue held up his hands in defence, "Come in. I have his phone number if you'd like to call him?"

"Oh, hai!!! I'd really appretiate that!" her eyes were clearly flooding with tears now.

Tohru walked into the main room and joined everyone at the table. She looked around for a moment. She was sure it seemed a bit more crowded than usual. She then noticed a girl sitting uncomfortably at the table with the others with her head hung low.

"Ah!" Tohru suddenly jumped to her feet in panic,

"Gomen nasai! Gomen ne!" Tohru appologised in a panicked voice while bowing continuously. The girl looked up at her.

"My name is Honda Tohru!" she said then took a deep breath to calm down. She looked up and smiled.

"I've never seen you before. Onegai forgive me! I hope I wasn't rude!" Tohru said.

The girl smiled softly. Yuki looked a little shocked again. He remembered that smile, he was sure he did.

"Ano…" she started shyly, "I'm Sachiko Deiji" she bowed her head slightly.

Yuki gasped. He did know this girl! He infact had clear memories of her. He remembered everything. She was one of his closest and best friends when they were kids. It must have been at least 10 or 11 years ago since he last saw her. They got along so well and never argued over anything. They used to play all day long. He remembered when her mother had let him stay the night a few times and they'd stay up all night eating snacks, telling jokes, and playing little word games until they finally fell asleep. She didn't live far from him, just on the edge of the city right by the forest, which Yuki lived in. Yuki at that time lived at the main Sohma house. He hated being anywhere near Akito so he used to escape by going out and playing with Deiji. They used to do all the silly little things kids did like food fights, pillow fights, playing in the forest, sleeping over at her house and loads more, which he couldn't think of. Once Yuki had upset Akito by being out so much that Akito lost his short temper with him. Yuki went outside when he got a chance, crying while holding his bruised cheek and trying his best to cover his extra bruises and cuts over his arms and legs. He found it hard to move without his stomach and ribs hurting from the abuse they received. Deji had spotted him and came to see what was wrong. He had told her what Akito did and what he was like even though he was forbidden to mention anyone or anything from his cursed family. Deiji had been there for him, even though they were only very young she always tried her best to comfort him. She always managed to cheer him up easily and he soon forgot about Akito and the abuse he got from him. Both Deiji and Yuki of course had other friends they played with. There was 2 other girls, Akako and Kaiya, and 3 other boys, Toyo, Shoichi and Kin. They all played together a lot. Then Yuki remembered the day he'll never forget and definetly never forgive for. They were all playing a game. They had seen this game on TV called 'Stuck in the mud' and they wanted to play it. They all chose which one would be the one to chase everyone and make them stuck and it was Akako. Akako had chased everyone and tapped them so they froze in their spot apart from Yuki who was hiding behind a tree. When Akako had finally caught Shoichi who was the last one left apart from Yuki, he jumped out from behind his place at the tree. Everyone reached their hand out for Yuki calling for him to tap and free them. But Akako was right behind him, chasing him at a fast pace. Yuki looked over his shoulder again to see how close she was but didn't see the tree root sticking up from the ground and tripped on it. He fell down suddenly and Akako tumbled onto him without a chance to stop in time. That was the moment he'll never forget. Suddenly there was a loud POOF and a huge cloud of smoke appeared out of nowhere where they landed. Everyone gasped in surpise. They didn't have a clue of what happened. When the smoke cleared they saw Akako propped up on her hands and knees. She was on top of a pile of clothes.

Deiji gasped, instantly recognising the clothes. They were Yuki's robes! But he wasn't there! Suddenly a small grey mouse shot out from under the sheets of clothes and scattered passed Deiji into the forest. Deiji saw the mouse and seemed to be the only one. Unsure of what was going on, she followed the mouse. He didn't go far, fortunatly. Meanwhile Kaiya had panicked and called for help. Soon after Hatori walked casually up to the panicking children.

"Yuki! Yuki-kun!! Yuki's gone! He's gone!!! Yuki-kun's GONE!!!!!" Kaiya cried while waving her arms in panic as the other kids looked as shocked as she did standing behind her.

Hatori looked down. He knew it'd come to this sooner or later but he knew how much Yuki loved his friends. They were his only escape from reality of his inherrited curse. He sighed as he placed his hand calmly on Kaiya's shoulder.

"Calm down" he said simply in his emotionless voice.

"Ano, B-B-B-But!"

"Come with me…" he said, gripping tighter onto her shoulder and leading her in front of him, away from the other confused, shocked kids.

Deiji found the small nezumi sitting on a high tree root, watching something. Deiji had quietly crawled close to it, not wanting to startle and lose it again. She bit her lip, feeling very silly for doing something like this but she was too worried to care so much about it.

"Nezumi-desu?" she whispered. The mouse's head snapped around to her, looking terrified.

"Onegai…" she pleaded, hurt and concern in her eyes, "Don't run away…" she continued to talk quietly and softly,

"Y-Yuki-kun?" she asked. Her voice was shaking slightly. She looked so concerned.

Yuki knew he couldn't run now. If he did he had a bad sinking feeling that he'd never see her again. If she was to ever learn his secret, now was the time.

"Hai…" the nezumi replied it closed it's eyes and it's head sank into a sulk.

"It's really you, Yuki-kun?!? Or am I going crazy??" She asked, looking around to see if anyone saw her talking to a mouse like a best friend.

"Hai. Gomen-nasai, Deji-kun" he said.

"B-But-But how?! Why?! What happened!?! What's going on!!?!" she asked with a panicked voice. She needed to know.

"If I tell you this you must promise with everything NEVER to tell anyone ever about it! Even if something happened and we wern't friends anymore, you must keep this promise! Onegai" he said.

Deiji looked a little more worried. Was it really that serious? Yuki knew he could trust her anyway, she's kept so many secrets about him and never mentioned them again unless he talked about it.

"My family, everyone I live with behind that big gate is cursed", he began as she shifted closer to him wanting to know more.

"You know the story of the Jyuunishi?" he asked. She nodded. She loved those stories.

"Well…everyone is cursed with their own Jyuunishi depending on what year they were born. There's only one of each Jyuunishi cursed person. When they die, another will be born with that same curse. At the moment there is only one Jyuunishi that doesn't exist yet or we don't know who it is and that's the monkey.

Deji nodded, wanting him to continue.

"I was born on the year of the nezumi, so I transformed into one. When anyone of us who are cursed is embraced or has body contact with anyone the opposite sex who isn't cursed we turn into our Jyuunishi. That's what happened." He said.

Deiji's mouth hung open. She couldn't believe it! She understood why no one could know and why it was such a big secret although she wished he had told her sooner.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked

"I didn't want to scare you. You might have gone away thinking I was some kind of freak, either that or thought I was a liar"

"I wouldn't think that!" she protested.

"Well… you know now" he looked up at her. She still looked concerned. He knew the danger she was in with Hatori around. He needed her to get away. If she didn't, all of her memories of him and their friendship would be erased and he'd probably never see her again. There wasn't much he could do about his other friends now, but at least he'd still have her.

"Deiji-kun" he said, getting her full attention.

The small nezumi glanced forward, on the other side of the tree that Deiji was behind.

"Look" he said simply.

Deiji hesitatedly peeked around to whatever he was looking at on the other side of the tree. Right infront of them was Hatori. He had Kaiya down on her knees in front of him as he was crouched down in front of her. Deiji didn't understand what he was doing. They were too far away to make out what they were saying. Next Hatori raised his hand to cover her eyes. He dropped his head down slightly and closed his eyes in concerntration. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and Kaiya's limp body flew backward down to the ground behind her, unconcious.

The nezumi's eyes widewned. He knew it. Hatori was after all his friends, one by one taking them away from him. His head snapped back up to Deiji as he heard a little gasp of fear escape her hung open mouth. She looked terrified.

"W-wh-what-what did h-he-do to her!?!" she stuttered in shock.

Unfortunatly Hatori's hearing was much better than she thought and he glanced up at her.

"Ah!" Deiji spun around and crouched behind the tree in attempt to hide.

"Listen!" The nezumi raised its voice but was suddenly cut off by a huge POOF! There was another huge cloud of smoke.

Deiji screamed when Yuki's naked body was crouched in front of her, with just the tree root covering his more private area. Yuki stared at her with a pale face, which was almost completely covered by a crimson blush and his eyes as wide as they could get. Suddenly a long, white over coat flung over his head.

Deiji felt her heart pounding harder and faster. She slowly titled her head up as her face got more and more pale and her breaths were shaking more and more.

There he was. Hatori was staring down at her with his same emotionless face.

"Ahh!" she screamed and jumped to her feet, stepping back slowly in fear as he moved closer toward her.

"Wait!" Yuki yelled in panic.

Deiji glanced around the tall doctor to him.

"Hatori isn't going to hurt you!"

"B-but what did he just do to Kaiya!?! He killed her, didn't he?!?" she said nervously while stepping back further.

"No, he didn't!" Yuki said still panicked.

"B-b-but…"

"He erased her memories of me. When she wakes up she'll have no idea I even exist! She'll remember everything that happened when we played but I'm just not in the picture", he said, sulking slightly.

Deiji's fearful expression slowly faded. Tears began to flood the corners of her eyes.

"S-so he wants to erase my memories?" she asked, "Why?"

"Because no one can know about our secret. I totally trust you with it but it's too risky…and-"

"Ok" she said simply but clearly didn't want any of this. Her eyes flooded more.

"If I have my memories erased…" she began, Yuki looked up at her, "Will you be my friend again?" she asked.

Yuki's eyes widened as well as Hatori's. This was going to be harder than he thought.

Yuki smiled softly and nodded,

"Hai!" he said.

Deji smiled softly in return as the tears remained in her eyes.

"Sit down" Hatori said simply.

Deji obbeyed and sat on her knees, looking up at him.

"This won't hurt, so don't worry. You'll be unconcious for about half an hour…" he said, with no trace of emotion at all.

He covered her eyes with his hand and was about to finish this,

"Yuki-kun?" she asked painfully,

"Ano, hai?" he replied.

"I-if this doesn't work out and-and you can't be my friend, onegai… onegai don't forget me" she said as tears leaked from Hatori's hand down her slightly flushed cheeks.

Yuki's eyes widened again. Before he could say anything Hatori had enough and there was a bright blinding flash of light.

Yuki gasped as he saw Deiji's limp, unconcious body fall back while tears floated from her closed eyes. He jumped off the tree root onto his feet and ran to her side when she had landed. He looked down at her unconcious face.

"You are forbidden from seeing her again, Yuki-kun" Hatori said effortlessly. To Yuki that sounded like the coldest thing he'd ever said.

Yuki's wide, flooding eyes finally closed as tears dripped from his face.

"Gomen naisai, Deiji-kun…" he said painfully and stood then walked away while wiping the tears from his eyes.

That was the last time he ever saw her. Now here she was, 10 or 11 years later in his house, sitting at the same table as him. She had no idea who he was.

Yuki brought his head up suddenly, broken from his thoughts again.

"Yuki-kun?" Tohru said,

"Maybe you should go and lay down?" she suggested.

"Ano…" he glanced briefly to Deiji's innocent face as she stared at him,

"No," he said simply. "I'm fine, really. Sorry to worry you, Honda-san" he smiled then glanced back to Deiji and smiled.

She continued to stare at him until she was distracted,

"So, Sachiko-san?" Shigure said, "Do you want Hatori's number?" he asked.

"Hai onegai", she bowed in appretiation.

Shigure smiled and quickly scribbled something down on a small piece of paper then handed it to her.

"The phone is just out there" Shigure pointed into the hall outside the room.

"Arigato" she smiled and got to her feet to leave.

There was a moment of silence until Shigure finally spoke,

"It's a shame she's in the situation she's in…" he began before smiling mischiviously, "She's pretty cute! If she weren't so upset about everything that's going on I'd like to talk a little more to her! Maybe she'd-"

"Shut up!" Yuki yelled in disguist.

Both Tohru and Shigure looked at Yuki in surprise. Shigure grinned wickedly and shifted closer to him,

"Ah, I get it! You want her all to yourself, right? Well she is very cute and polite! You missed out on Tohru-kun, so maybe this is your second chance!" Shigure reached his hands up into the air above him, "Ah, the heavens must really like you, Yuki-kun!" he chimmed.

"What is wrong with you!?!" Yuki hissed, "She's obviously very upset about her mother, and you have the nerve to say stupid, perverted things like that?!" Yuki stood and turned away from him,

"You have no heart." He said finally and left.

Shigure just sat there wide-eyed.

"Wow, that was harsh. I was only kidding!" Shigure said more to himself.

Yuki stepped outside and turned to see Deiji sitting on her knees while holding the phone against her cheek.

"Onegai, Hatori-san! My mother really needs help!" she said.

Kyou walked through the door with his hands stuffed in his deep pockets. He looked up suddenly, noticing a stranger in the house. And not just any stranger, but a girl!

"What the hell is going on?!? What is SHE doing here!?!!" He pointed at the oblivious girl.

"Ah, Kyou-kun!" Tohru stepped behind him from the other room.

"This is Deiji Sachiko. She needed help on finding Hatori-san" Tohru smiled brightly.

"But why would she need Hatori!?! Hatori is a family doctor! And she is clearly NOT a Sohma! I've never seen her before!"

Yuki frowned coldly.

"Stop talking about her like she doesn't have feelings, like she's an object" he said.

"Don't be a baka, Yuki! You know the dangers we're in with her being here!" Kyou screeched.

"Hai, I do. But she must have some sort of connection already with Hatori if she just knocked on our door asking for him, baka-neko" Yuki said.

Kyou gritted his teeth. He needed to know who she was and Yuki needed to shut up! Kyou stormed toward the still oblivious girl before Tohru held his arm, holding him back.

"Onegai, Kyou-kun…" she pleaded, "Deiji is a nice person. She won't cause any trouble" Tohru looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Ano… AH! Do what you want!" Kyou yelled to Yuki and spun around with his arms crossed. He glanced up at the girl realising she had already finished on the phone and was looking at him.

"Ano, Gomen ne. Am I causing trouble being here?" she asked softly in a hurt tone.

"No no!" Yuki walked toward her with his hands up,

"Don't listen to this baka-neko!" he said.

Kyou growled.

"Why do you call him that? Neko? He doesn't look much like a Neko-desu to me?" she said, confused.

"Ah, Ano…" Yuki tried to think of a way out of this.

"So, how did it go?" Tohru asked happily, changing the subject.

"Ano…" the girl's depressed face smiled softly as she looked down,

"Hatori-san is very kind", she said, "He said he'll go and see Okaasan even though he's very busy with other things. But…" she stopped and looked up at them.

"But?" Yuki and Tohru asked together. Shigure stepped in the doorway un-noticed to hear.

"But… but he said what Okaasan has is fatal and…and contagious" she stopped again.

"How would he know? He hasn't seen her yet." Kyou said, suspiciously.

"Hatori saw Okaasan a month ago and said if she gets worse I must see him straight away." She looked down,

"What my mother has is contagious and he said if I don't want to catch her illness and risk losing my life, I must stay away from her for a month at least" she looked down.

Kyou's expression softened. Both Tohru and Yuki looked concerned.

"Gomen ne" she said so quietly it was almost unheard, "Arigato for allowing me to contact Hatori-san. You've helped a lot and I can't begin to show how much I appretiate it!" she smiled and walked to the front door.

"I should really be going now".

"Why? Do you have somewhere to go?" Tohru asked. She froze.

"I've just made dinner. Would you like to stay? You must be hungry from walking so far!" Tohru said happily.

Deiji turned to face them to see the look on their faces to reassure herself that they all wouldn't mind if she did stay. They all looked somewhat happy and normal. She smiled softly in appretiation.

"You are very kind, Honda Tohru-kun" she said, "I don't want to be a burden…"

"You won't be!" Tohru continued to smile, "There's more than enough for you aswell!"

"So that's how we end up with so many bento ingrediants…" Shigure poked his head out with a sweatdrop.

"Ano, hai! I would love to stay if you really don't mind?"

"Of course I don't!" Tohru said.

"Onegai stay." Yuki smiled.

"Ano…" she glanced over at Kyou who looked at her with a soft expression, then turned with a muffled 'hmph!'.

"Hai." She said finally.

~*~

Deiji placed her chopsticks neatly on top of her bowl and drank the last sip of tea in her cup.

"Honda Tohru-kun, that was delicious!" she smiled.

"I'm glad you liked it" Tohru smiled.

Yuki smiled. It seemed like forever since he'd seen a smile that happy come from her.

Soon her happy smile faded into the same depressed look as before.

"I should go now", she said, her head sulking.

She stood up and walked over to Tohru. She got down on her knees beside her and handed her a couple of Yen notes.

"Arigato for the lovely meal" she said. Everyone stared at her, shocked.

Tohru stared at the money she was handing her. She looked up at Deiji's face and pushed her hand holding the money back.

"Onegai", Tohru said, "I can't accept your money. I offered for you to eat here as a friend. You keep the money" Tohru smiled.

Deji looked surprised. She looked down at Tohru's hand, which was holding hers pushing her money back to her.

"Are you sure? You don't need any money?" Deiji said.

"Hai! I have a part-time job so I earn more than enough money anyway!" Tohru said brightly.

Deiji looked around the room at all the shocked faces staring at her. She gasped and jumped back on her knees and bowed continuously.

"Gomen! Gomen!" she panicked, "I hope I didn't come across as being disrespectful!"

"It's fine" Shigure said with a smile, "I'm sure many families would expect money if they fed you but we really have no need for it."

Deji looked up at him for a moment then smiled.

"Hai". She got to her feet and bowed again, "I should leave now. Unless…" She looked down to see Tohru's big, curious eyes, "Unless you would like some help with the dishes?"

Tohru smiled.

"I don't really need any help", Tohru said. Deiji looked a bit sad.

"But I wouldn't mind the company! And if you helped it'd be done faster!" Tohru smiled.

"Ah! Hai!" Deiji said cheefully.

~*~

"So what's it like living with 3 guys?" Deiji asked, "I would guess it'd be pretty annoying sometimes. I mean you wouldn't have a girl to talk to much, ya know someone who understands more about you and what it's like for you, and you probably have to do the housework all by yourself… and-oh! And what about when it's your time-of-the-month? That must be pretty awkward!" she said with a little chuckle.

"Ah no. It's fine, really! At first when I moved here I thought it could be a bit difficult at times but its really not all that bad! Shigure-san, Sohma-kun and Kyou-kun are really kind and great people! They're all like my best friends! I could depend on them with my life! Kyou-kun and I are actually a couple. We fell in love and got together about a month ago." Tohru looked down smiling as he continued to scrub the dishes clean.

Deiji smiled brightly as she grabbed Tohru's wrist and held it up between them, "Oh I'm so happy for you! Congradulations! I hope you guys will always be happy with eachother!" she cheered.

"Hai, arigato!" Tohru smiled brightly.

Deiji continued smiling as she turned back to the wet dishes.

"From first impressions, Kyou-kun didn't seem to be the type to fall in love and be with someone… mind you that's a pretty stupid thing to say!" Deiji said mixed with a giggle as she bonked herself on the head with her fist, "You can't just look at someone and persume if they're single, or have a partner or are even married and have kids! I just thought Kyou-kun looked a bit…I dunno…a bit…I don't really know how to put it" Deiji said as she placed a dry dish on the pile of dishes she recently dried.

"He seemed a bit like the type who hide their feelings. I mean earlier when I saw him first he looked really mad or unhappy with something. Then when I talked about Okaasan his expression seemed to soften almost as though he had a little sorrow, of course I could be totally wrong about that! Then everytime I looked at him or smiled at him he turned away. Maybe its just because he's mad at me for something? Oh I dunno. Sorry for trying to judge his character like that!" Deiji's voice raised a little as she apologised.

"Don't worry!" Tohru smiled, "I think you're right"

"Eh?" Deiji looked at Tohru surprised but a bit confused.

"I think you're right about Kyou-kun. He does hide his feelings a lot. But that's what makes Kyou-kun! He's a really good person! If he didn't hide his feelings the way he does he just wouldn't be the same! Kyou-kun had a bad childhood, which affected him a lot. It was mainly his past with his parents that hurt him. Things happened when he was young, which caused him to think he'd be safer if he didn't show his vulnerable side" Tohru said as she continued washing the dishes and handing them to her.

"Oh…" Deiji continued drying the dishes she was handed in silence. She felt the air becoming heavy so she decided to change the subject.

"So, how did you come to live here anyway? Are you a relative of Shigure-san or Sohma-kun?" she asked.

"No" Tohru giggled, "Well it's a pretty long story… but when it all started I was going to the same school as Sohma-kun, which is the school we all go to now, and Sohma-kun and I seemed to keep bumping into eachother, which caused us to be friends. And well Sohma-kun is known as the 'prince' in our school because of his good looks and politeness. Although he was a very mysterious person then, always saying such little and seemed like he was hiding something. Well things happened and I became homeless and camped in a tent in that forest out there", Tohru pointed out the kitchen window toward the group of trees surrounding the house, "which happened to be owned by the Sohma's. The family of the Sohma's is a very big and wealthy family so they own a lot of land, mainly around the area they live. Anyway, one morning before school I was curious of this small house near where I was camping and came to have a look. I noticed some Zodiac figures left out. I'm a huge fan of the zodiac stories so I couldn't help but take a closer look and then I met Shigure-san. Soon after I realised Sohma-kun lived here. Well later that evening after school Sohma-kun and Shigure-san both came out into the forest. I still don't know what made them do it, anyway they found a tent. When they came closer to investigate they found me and realised that was my temporary home… So Shigure-san was kind enough, after a bit of teasing, to offer for me to live here until I can move back with my family! So that's how it all started!"

Tohru turned to look at Deiji, who had teary eyes,

"That's such a wonderful story! Who'd have ever thought something like that could be the start of a new life like you have now?!" Deiji's expression then returned to normal, "But you didn't mention Kyou-kun? How did you meet him?" she asked.

"Oh well that's simple" Tohru started, "He smashed through my bedroom ceiling and landed in front of me!" she said casually.

"Ah…" Deiji said as a huge sweatdrop slid down her head.

"So how are you two getting along?" Shigure walked in cheerfully as he hung his arms over each of their shoulders.

"Ah, Ano…" Deiji tried to pull back nervously.

"Great!" Tohru smiled,

"We were just talking about how we met and-"

"Ah…lovely memories!" Shigure said as he rose his head and gazed up at the ceiling dreamily.

Yuki stepped up to the kitchen door, curious of what they were talking about,

"I think it's a great story!" Deiji said happily as she smiled up at the older man,

"Hai. And now we have such a beautiful flower such as Tohru living with us! What more could a man want?"

"Ah…" Deiji took another nervous step back from him with a sweatdrop.

"Ah! No no! Don't worry! I don't bite!" Shigure said while reaching out for her to come back to her place next to Tohru.

"Gomen" Deiji said appologeticly, "I'm not used to being surrounded by so many men. I only grew up with my mom" she smiled nervously.

"Would you like to?" he pulled her toward him as close as he dared, "It would be much more fun!" he winked.

"Ano…!"

Shigure grinned but was cut short with a hard smack.

"Ow! What was that for?" Shigure whinned as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Stop harrassing her!" Yuki hissed.

"That wasn't harrassing I was only asking-"

"Hai! I'm sure it would be much better!" Deiji said happily, trying to distract them from an upcoming fight.

Yuki looked at her a bit surprised.

"Especially more than one! Living with one person is a bit lonely and quiet, so hai!" she said again.

Shigure grinned. For once someone was agreeing with him.

Suddenly Deiji's bright smile disappeared when her head shot up to the ceiling.

"Did you hear something?" She asked, "Have you got creeky pipes?"

"No" Shigure, Yuki and Tohru answered together.

"Ano…" She looked up again, "I'm sure I heard something! You don't have anything on your roof do you? No that's a stupid question!" she bonked herself on the head with her fist.

"Kyou-kun" Tohru said.

"Eh?"

"Kyou-kun always goes up on the roof!"

"Nani?!?" Deiji asked, shocked. "Why??"

"The baka-neko likes high places" Yuki answered with annoyence in his voice.

"Oh I get it!" Deiji said loudly, "That's why you call him a neko-desu! Right? He likes high places! Just like a neko-desu!! Wow that's amazing but strange!"

"Ano…" they all stared at her for a while with sweatdrops,

"Ano, hai! I guess you could say that." Shigure said.

Yuki looked at her for a moment, then glanced out the window in thought. Maybe he should call the baka-neko just by his name when she was around… Yuki suddenly clicked back to reality when he realised the sky was dark orange.

"It's getting dark" he said absent mindedly.

"Oh!" Deiji said aloud. She folded the towel and placed it on the work surface of the kitchen when she finished drying the last plate.

"I should get going" she said, "Say goodbye to Kyou-kun for me"

"Where would you go?" Shigure asked.

"Ano" Deiji tried to think. There wasn't really anywhere to go. Maybe she could look for a motel or something.

"I'll find a motel. I should have enough", she said as she reached inside her pocket and pulled out a handful of yen notes.

"Oh don't worry about that!" Shigure placed a hand on her shoulder,

"You can stay here for the night. I'm sure Tohru could do with the girl company!" he grinned.

Yuki frowned,

"More like you, you pervert", he said calmly in distgust.

"Nani? How can you think so low of me?" Shigure whinned.

Deiji fortunatley wasn't listening.

"Only if you don't mind. I don't have anything with me to sleep in or wear…"

"You can sleep in my bed! And I have an extra set of night clothes you can use!" Tohru said happily.

Deiji smiled.

"Is your bed big enough for 2 people?"

"Hai! I've got a double western bed!" she smiled.

Deiji's head hung low as she smiled again.

"Ano…" Tohru looked at her.

"What's wrong?" Yuki asked.

"Arigato" Deiji said softly as her shoulders shook a little. She brought a hand up to her face as she looked up at them with the same smile and tears leaking out the corners of her eyes,

"You are all so kind!" She said.

They all smiled.

Shigure grinned.

"So you're staying tonight! You didn't expect us to let a young girl like you to go out there all alone did you?" he turned to leave as a more wickid grin spread across his lips. She's going to be sharing a bed with Tohru!

"Two highschool girls sleeping in my house! Two highschool girls! Hehe" he chimed in his head as he left.

~*~

Deiji's eyes widened when she saw Tohru's giant bed.

"Wow! You're so lucky!" she said in amazement.

"Hai. Shigure-san bought it for me!" Tohru said as she climbed into the bed.

"I've never slept in a western style bed before!"

Yuki was walking passed toward his bedroom when he heard them giggling with eachother. He glanced through the gap in the door and watched them both laughing with eachother as they bounced on the bed. When they calmed down Tohru tucked herself under the thick cover of the bed while Deiji leaned against the wall on the other end.

"It's amazing…" she said,

"What is?"

"I've never been so close to a group of people for such a long time. Especially guys!"

"How come?"

"Well I don't remember much of Otousan because Okaasan ran away with me from him when I was very young and we used to live not that far from here. We lived on the edge of the city right next to a forest similar to this one and I made some friends…"

Yuki looked a little upset listening to her. He knew she remembered all of their friends apart from him.

"But I only lived there for a few years before Hatori-san persuaded Okaasan to move somewhere else. For some reason Okaasan moved to a more isolated area in the mountains."

Yuki couldn't believe what he just heard. Hatori DID have a connection with her and her mother! But why did he want them to move away? Was it so he could make sure she didn't make friends with him again after he erased her memory?

"Hatori-san is so kind. But I'm still not so sure why! He always used to visit, at least twice a month although he was always busy with other things. He seemed a little like he was protecting us from something, although Okaasan always said he was just a close friend. Not too long after that Okaasan met a man named Takai who later became the father of my Ototo, Arekanderu."

"You have an Ototo?!" Tohru asked.

"Hai. I had an Ototo" her face hung low as she smiled softly.

Yuki noticed the sadness in her voice although she tried to hide it. He also noticed she said she 'had' an Ototo. He then shook his head. He was probably being way too observant.

Deiji smiled brightly as she looked back up to Tohru.

"I'm getting tired" she said and yawned.

Yuki smiled again and walked away, heading finally to his room.

"Night, Kyou-kun!" both girls called out of Tohru's open window.

"Hai" he mumbled gruffly.

Deiji layed back on the bed and closed her eyes. Tohru looked at her, smiling.

"I don't know what it is but for some reason I want to get to know Deiji-kun more! I want to learn more about her. It's strange, I felt the exact same way with Sohma-kun, Shigure-san and Kyou-kun at first. It must be coincidence. I want to be good friends with Deiji-kun! I want to know about her Ototo, Arekanderu-chan!" Tohru finally looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes.

(Next Episode)

(Note: The following scenes are taken from the next episode, meaning it has been written. These aren't nessersarily in order or are together in one scene. The '~' indicates that it's from a different scene or isn't close to the previous quote from the episode.)

~"Ah! Good morning, Tohru-kun!" Deiji said happily, "I'm glad you're awake! I was about to come and wake you! Breakfast is ready!"

~"Ehhhh?!?"

~"Normally guests wouldn't be the ones clearing up and doing chores like this…?"

~"So what are you planning on doing today, Deiji-kun?" Yuki asked

~ Shigure smiled, "Before you make any arrangements, come back here. It'd be nice having you for dinner again and I know a few very good places you could stay for the night so you won't have to worry about that"

~"So where are we going to go?" Kyou asked. "How about we watch a movie?" Yuki suggested.

~"Ah! Hatori? What are you doing here at this time?!?!!"

~"What's wrong with you Shigure? You know the risks of her being here!"

~"All the kids have gone out, Ha-san" "I'll wait here until she gets back" Hatori said as he sat down. ~"As long as you don't ruin my surprise for her!" Shigure grinned. "Surprise?"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, however I do fully own the stories I've written based on Fruits Basket beyond where the anime finished (Episode 26). All of these stories were written by me. I do not own any of the characters apart from the characters that do not appear in the original anime or manga. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me at Bishie_lover@hotmail.com.