Disclaimer: As they say, I do not own anything that is of Fruits Basket and of course, I'm not earning any profit from this either. I take no credit for the creations of Furuba.

A Pledge of Onigiri – Chapter Three – By Cherry Chibi

Gentle surprises

Come from all the directions

And land in your hand

- - - -

"Thank you very much!" Tohru said as the workers positions the four medium sized boxes of her possessions against her new bedroom wall. They smiled to her and left soon after. In less than two days, she had been able to pack her things and organize a way to get all of her stuff moved to Shigure's house. 'The Sohmas are so kind to allow me to stay with them…'Tohru thought as she began to open one of the boxes to unpack. 'How can I ever repay them…? Mum… It makes me so happy to see their kindness.'

"Is that all you have?" A masculine tone asked her almost in an uninterested tone. Tohru turned around with a smile plastered on her face. Kyo stood at the door way with an arm rested against the door post. "I would've thought that you would have more…" He had expected her, being a girl, to have a lot of clothing and other 'girl like' possessions but it by the looks of it, Tohru only had her school things, a few outfits for casual and formal and then a few photos.

"Yes, it is." She replied brightly. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

Kyo shrugged, "I said it before, it's not safe for a girl to live alone." A quiet moment took over and Kyo caught himself staring at Tohru's happy and elegant face. He flushed and immediately started to find some sort of distraction. "I ah- I've got to do the grocery shopping. See you later." Just as he was about to leave, Tohru reached the door way.

"Kyo-kun, would you like me to come with you?" She asked.

"Ah… nah…" He replied, glancing over his shoulder. He could still feel the colour on his cheeks. "You just unpack and take a break." Tohru watched Kyo's retreating figure. 'He's so sweet and kind but he acts strong…' She wanted to get to know the Sohma family better and therefore, she was going to slowly learn about them, what they liked and disliked along with how they are. 'I wonder… the other night he turned into a cat… what is the reason?' Her hand drew up to the onigiri pendant on her necklace.

After her moments of daydreaming, she retreated back into the bedroom and continued unpacking her things.

- - - -

'What the hell is wrong with me?' Kyo questioned himself as he prowled along the foot path. His hands shoved inside his pockets and his head lifted high. 'It's not like I know her… so why would I suddenly be so nice to a stranger?' He didn't know why the thought of having Tohru alone in that apartment made him so angry – he didn't know why he acted the way he did. 'I don't even know the girl and here I am acting as though we've been friends for years…'

"Hey! Kyo!"

"What?" Kyo responded to the call. He turned around and found Shigure walking up to him with a white envelope in his hand. 'Now that's a surprise… to see that dog walking around on public streets at this time…' Shigure caught up with Kyo and held out the envelope.

"Message for you, it sounded pretty urgent." Shigure said as Kyo took the envelope from his grasp. "Akito said that you should get it as soon as possible."

'Strange…' Kyo thought as he looked at the envelope with curiosity. "Thanks."

"Well, finish the grocery shopping as soon as you can alright? Tohru-kun is going to be making lunch pretty soon!" Shigure grinned and turned to the opposite direction. "See you later."

Something about Shigure's tone made Kyo suspicious and untrusting towards Shigure. After pondering for a bit, he continued heading towards the shops. On the way he opened the envelope and immediately noticed the necklace in there. He froze as the necklace slid out of the envelope and onto his open palm.

The sapphire jewel shining brightly at the centre of the onigiri pendant.

Immediately, a memory triggered.

- - - -

Seven year old Kyo was slumped against the tree trunk feeling glum and angry. His scowl was written all over his face. There never was anyone who would treat him fairly. Just because he was the cat of the zodiac, they treated him like dirt – an outcast. Worse of all, they always compared him to the rat. "They're always picking on me!" He said getting louder by each word. "Just because I'm different! They pick on me!" He growled frustrated and punched into the thin air. His orange hair had been ruffed up and his t-shirt was messy. "I'm glad that I'm moving out of here!"

"Hey little guy, what's the matter?" A feminine voice questioned.

Kyo looked up and saw the woman standing before him. A beautiful smile on her face.

"You seem to be very upset. Are you alright?" She crouched to be at his level and locked eyes with him.

"I… I'm…" Kyo was taken aback by the woman's sudden actions. She acted as though she saw a normal boy. Not someone who had orange hair or had a bad attitude. He couldn't help but feel a bit more relaxed. And then, he saw that she had a very similar, if not, the same hair colour as he did. 'May she's also a cat…' Kyo thought. "The other kids have been picking on me." He saw the woman frown for a moment, almost as if he had proven that her suspicions were correct.

"You poor thing…" She said placing a hand on his head. "Don't worry. As long as you are yourself, they can never take you down." It was almost like she knew what was going on. Something about her made him feel close. "What's your name?"

"It's Kyo." He felt himself smile when the woman giggled.

"How coincidental. My name is Kyoko." She said. "Oh, you have a beautiful necklace… was it your mother's?" Kyoko touched the onigiri pendant that hung around Kyo's neck. He nodded.

"My mother gave it to me before she went away…" Kyo said. He sat on the grass against the tree and Kyoko settled in front of him. "She never came back." He saw that Kyoko shared his sadness with him.

The next couple of hours, he spoke to the woman about his feelings and he was grateful that he had met her. She told him about her family and some of her feelings. It showed him that he wasn't the only one suffering from the feelings that he had felt. During that time, he felt like a normal person for once. He felt as if he belonged somewhere. But those hours went by too quickly, soon Kyoko had to leave. It was probably the first and last time he would ever see her – after all, he was moving away. "Kyoko-san, wait…" He caught up with the woman. He removed his necklace. "Please take this… thank you for today." He held out the necklace to her and she accepted after Kyo's pleas. "I want to thank you for today!"

"That's alright Kyo." Kyoko said, "I hope that you would meet my daughter someday. I'm sure that you two will be best friends." The woman smiled one last time before she walked away.

- - - -

"Kyoko-san…" He clenched his hand into a tight fist around the pendant. He had read the note in the letter. It was stating that in Kyoko's will, he was to be given the necklace. A great sadness and feeling of loss swept over him. A great woman who he had respected… taken away in a car crash… it wasn't the kind of death she deserved. A thought rose in his mind, 'Tohru's mother… could she have been… Kyoko-san?'

That question remained in his mind for the rest of the evening.

- - - -

"Ta-da!" Tohru smiled as she presented the cooked food that she had just made for dinner. Everyone was eager to start eating. It had been rare eating a meal that wasn't take-out… None of them knew how to cook properly anyway except for Kyo but there was very little chance of getting him to cook dinner.

"Wow…" Shigure picked up his chopsticks. "You really out did yourself didn't you Tohru-kun?" He soon began eating, enjoying the taste of fresh healthy food.

Tohru took her seat beside Kyo and waited for the others to start before beginning herself. "How is it? Do you like it?" She asked waiting for the comments on the food. It was her first time cooking for them so she really didn't know whether or not they would like what she had made.

"It's delicious Honda-san." Yuki said warmly after finishing a mouthful. "Perfect."

"You think so?" Tohru asked, "It isn't too bland?" Yuki shook his head slowly. Her smile broadened. 'I can't believe this mum… I'm living with the Sohma family… it's so sudden. I guess I'm lucky.' After all, she would have never imagined herself to be living in the same house as Prince Charming of her school – and she would have never thought that she would be accepted into the household so readily.

Kyo was eating silently. The question from earlier still in his head. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he was suddenly the topic of the next conversation in the group. "Oh, Kyo, I see that you got your old necklace back." Shigure stated. "How did you find it?"

"I didn't know he was still interested in wearing female jewellery." Yuki said in a quiet and uninterested tone. He glanced at Tohru who had an awestruck look on her face. "Something wrong Miss Honda?"

"It's none of your business!" Kyo shouted at Shigure and Yuki – totally unaware of Tohru's expression. "Anyway, you don't even know what this…"

"Kyo! Th-that's the necklace my mum used to wear!" Tohru exclaimed.

Kyo stopped his shouting and settled back in his seat. "Oh… yeah, it is." At that moment his question was answered. Kyoko's daughter had been right before his eyes all this time. 'It's a small world…' He thought. "It's a long story." Kyo said to Tohru in a tone telling the others except for Tohru, that it was none of the business. He explained her about how he had received the necklace from his mother and then onto the day when he had met Tohru's mother and had given it to her to how he had got it back.

Tohru's eyes were starting to water at the memory of her wonderful mother. "Hey! What-What are you crying for?!" Kyo said out loud. He really couldn't stand tears.

"I-I'm okay…" Tohru said between sobs. "Really… I am!" She stifled her sobs and sniffles. Kyo easily figured that she didn't want to let others see her cry. "I'm… I'm just touched by the story! After hearing it, I just felt so glad that I just started crying…" She started making up an excuse to justify her tears but Kyo sighed.

"Yeah, yeah."

Yuki and Shigure didn't understand what was happening totally and had been speculating upon the whole scenario. Suddenly, Shigure raised a curious eyebrow. He took note of Tohru's necklace and Kyo's one. They were both almost alike. "Did Kyo give you that necklace Tohru-kun?"

"What does that have anything to do with you?!" Kyo shouted.

"Yes. He did. He gave it to me on the night when we first met…" Tohru said. She flinched when Kyo directed his shouting at her.

"Don't make it sound like that!!!"

"You didn't do anything to Miss Honda did you?" Yuki asked. Kyo shot a death glare at him.

Shigure chuckled. "Oh I see… how did you and that cat meet?"

Tohru blinked a few times. Did Shigure just say 'cat'? So did that mean that they knew about how Kyo turns into a cat? "Uh… Um…" She was getting nervous again, "I was walking on the street and then I bumped into him… he turned in a cat… and so I… I took him back to my place and made sure he was okay…" There was an odd silence. Especially from the three guys. Some sort of silent communication was occurring and she felt nervous knowing that it had something to do with what she had said.

"You haven't told anyone else about that have you?" Shigure asked Tohru.

She immediately shook her head. "No! Mum always told me that gossiping is wrong and-and I would never do such a thing!" There was a deep knocking sound pounding through the air. She quickly stood up, "Um-um… I think… I hear someone knocking at the door." She hurried straight out of the room.

When she opened the door way, a blond guy jumped in. "Tohru? Tohru Honda?" He asked her with his bright and cheery voice. He sounded almost as if he were surprised. She took was taken aback and took a couple of hesitant steps.

"Ah, yes… I am." She replied. Who was this boy?

"Wow! I can't believe that you would come so soon!" Next thing she knew, the stranger threw his arms around her waist. Puffs of colourful smoke appeared from no where as Tohru fell backwards from the impact of the embrace.

Next thing she knew, there was a rabbit resting on her stomach. 'Oh my... oh my… I turned him into a rabbit!!!!' Tohru screamed in her head. She scrambled onto her knees. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to turn you into a rabbit! I'm sorry! So Sorry!" She took note of the confusion in the rabbit's eyes.

"You didn't turn me into a rabbit silly." He hopped up closer to her. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. I'm Momiji Sohma. I'm a relative of Shigure, Yuki and Kyo,"

"Argh! He's… he's talking!" Tohru didn't know what else to think. First, she turned Kyo into a cat… and now she turned the little boy into a rabbit! "I need to get you a doctor! Don't worry! We'll get you help right away" She felt her head spin round and round from the confusion. 'Mum… is this all a dream…?'

"Um, wait…" Shigure placed a hand on her shoulder. The sudden string of events had caught him along with the others off guard. "Can you um… just… ah…" Shigure then felt the weight pushing against his hand. "Tohru-kun?" Before he knew it, the girl bundled up and fell against him. "Yuki, get some ice!" He touched Tohru's forehead and felt it warming up.

- - - -

Kyo heard the commotion and when he reached the point where the noises had come from, he felt a nerve twitch. Yuki was handing a pack of ice to Shigure who then applied it to Tohru's forehead. 'What the hell happened?' He questioned. Then he saw the yellow rabbit sitting nearby. 'That little…' His hands balled into fists. 'What is he doing here?'

- - - -

Momiji, clueless at what had just happened remained seated where he was on the floor. "What happened to Tohru?! Is she sick? Is she going to be alright?" He hopped around looking worried. Soon enough, he transformed back into his normal form and got dressed. He approached the others closer. "Did I do something wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong Momiji. She's just been having a lot happening lately." Shigure replied. He glanced down at Tohru's flushed face.

"We should explain to Miss Honda about what happened…" Yuki said coolly, "I think that she should know."

"YOU LITTLE PUNK!!!" An angry voice roared and two fists sandwiched Momiji's head.

"Ow! OW! Kyo's hurting me!!!" Momiji started whining, "What did I do?!" He started to whine even more and his child-like cries turned louder and louder.

"Could you two take your arguments somewhere else?" Shigure questioned them. "I think we need to get Tohru in bed." He watched as Tohru's eyes closed and she passed out.

- - - -

AN: Hi again!!! Another chapter finished. Sorry for the long wait! (I've been going through a period of writer's block… and I've just come back from my two week field trip thing...) Thank you for your support everyone and I hope to see you around! Until next time!

Cherry Chibi