Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits basket, but Julian, Trent, his 3 friends and Howard are mine! Pairings: There aren't any romantic pairings in this fanfic, at least not yet( A/N- Occasionally, in specific lines of dialogue, there will be words in brackets. These words are simply thoughts, and are not spoken aloud.
"I've been trapped here 5 days now." Julian hissed at the mirror that Wednesday morning, a scowl on her face. She jammed her toothbrush in her mouth; violently scrubbing at her teeth as she made a face at herself in the mirror. Her stupid ecru colored hair was sticking out in all directions again that morning, but she couldn't find her brush. But that's what happened when one shared a house with 4 other people.
"I want my apartment back. Where only I live." She grumbled after she'd spit the toothpaste in the sink and rinsed her toothbrush off, letting it drop back into the holder on the sink. She walked over to the linen closet and pulled the doors open, rummaging around for her hairbrush. Or any comb or brush for that matter, but to no avail. She shut the doors and glanced around the bathroom again, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
"Where could it be?" She thought, suddenly startled out of her wits as someone abruptly pounded on the door.
"Hey! Prima donna! Hurry up! Some of us got places to go this morning!" A familiar voice yelled, the pounding continuing.
Julian stalked over to the door and threw it open, glowering at Kyo, who glowered back.
"There. I'm done!" She hissed as she brushed past him. "Oh, and by the way! I always liked you well enough, but Tohru still deserves to end up with Yuki. Just so you know." Julian announced suddenly, turning back to point at him. He flushed, his face turning a bright shade of scarlet.
"Wh...what are you babbling about?! I don't got time for this! I'm gonna be late for school!" He yelled in embarrassment before he entered the bathroom, slamming the door. Grinning to herself, Julian continued down the hall, heading for the room she was sharing with Tohru. Things sure had gotten livelier once Kyo had come home. Though those prima donna cracks would have to go.
"Bye! Be safe. Have fun on your class trip." Shigure called after Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo as they left that morning, a grin on his face. Tohru smiled as she turned and waved back.
"Good-bye Shigure! Remember to go get some groceries and eat properly! " She called before she turned around again to find Yuki smiling at her.
"Miss Honda, you don't need to worry so much. I'm sure Shigure will be just fine. After all, Julian is still there with him and I'm sure she'll keep an eye on him for you. "Yuki told her as Tohru smiled and nodded.
"You're right! She promised me she'd take good care of him, so I won't worry!" She replied as Kyo turned around, a scowl on his face.
"I don't like her. She's weird. I wish she'd go home or something'. And I don't believe that crock about having amnesia at all!" He snapped sullenly.
"You're just mad because she probably insulted you again. What did she say this time?" Yuki replied as he flicked a strand of hair out of his face. Kyo flushed.
"Oh shut up! I don't wanna talk to you!" Kyo snapped as he stalked off.
"So, you said they were going to Okinawa on a class trip right? How long are they going to be gone again?" Julian asked as she followed Shigure back to the dinning room.
"Yes, that's right. They'll be gone until Sunday, so alas, it'll just be you and I. Sweet Tohru won't be here to cook or do our laundry for us." Shigure replied, a mock tear rolling down his cheek as he seated himself at the table, grabbing the paper.
"Oh please. Like a 27 year old man can't do his own laundry for 5 days." Julian replied as she rolled her eyes, leaning in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest.
Shigure looked up from his paper, perturbed.
"How did you know how old I was?" He asked her in surprise.
Julian kept her face void of emotion as she had a mental breakdown on the inside. "Oh, well, um, Yuki told me. (Please, oh please, never ask Yuki about this) "She replied.
"Oh, I see. How lovely." Shigure replied with a grin, holding his paper back up again.
"I think I'll go see if Tohru left me anything to do in the kitchen. After that, we can go do that grocery shopping Tohru mentioned." Julian finally said after a moment of silence, pushing away from the doorframe, to enter the kitchen.
"Tohru's pretty thorough. I doubt you'll find much to do. I do believe she left the grocery list on the counter, however." Shigure replied, never glancing up from his paper.
"I'd noticed, but you never know."
"No, I suppose not." Shigure muttered under his breath as he lowered the paper and watched her retreating back, his face unreadable.
Shigure had been right. Tohru had taken care of everything.
"What's she expect me to do all day?" Julian muttered to herself as she snatched the grocery list up off the counter, scowling after a few minutes as she glanced it over.
"What does she think I am? I don't know what to make with half this stuff." Julian muttered as she finished reading the list, sighing in irritation. She noticed Tohru had written a tiny note on the bottom of the list, that she'd left them a pot of stew and a strawberry pie for dinner that night, so Julian was glad that one night was covered at least.
"Eww. Strawberry pie." She muttered, making a face as Shigure wandered into the room.
"Did you say something about strawberry pie?" He asked her hopefully as she whirled to face him, the list clutched in her hand.
"Yeah. Tohru left us one for dinner."
"Oh! I love strawberry pie!" Shigure exclaimed happily, positively swooning over the idea.
"(Geez. He acts like he's never even eaten it before) That's good, cause I don't. You can have my share."
"Oh? You don't like it?"
"Nah. Don't really like any kind of fruit except watermelon." Julian replied with a negative shake of her head.
"Oh, I see. Hey! You're making progress! You just remembered something about yourself! That you don't like fruit." Shigure exclaimed, grinning.
"Oh. Yeah. I guess I did. (Great. Can't even make ordinary conversation without slipping up and giving myself away.)" Julian replied with a hesitant smile.
"That's just lovely. So, are you ready to go shopping? It looks like it might rain."
"Uh, yeah, about that. I don't really know how to make anything with the stuff Tohru has on this list here. I'm not a bad cook, but I don't particularly like to cook." Julian replied as she pointed at the list.
"Well, that's easy to fix. Just buy some stuff you know how to cook with. And you've remembered something else now too. That you don't like to cook."
"(Dang it! I just did it again!) Well, I just seem to be moving along in leaps and bounds today, now aren't I?" Julian replied, forcing a laugh. Things just weren't going well today
"Well. Isn't this a cute little store." Julian replied later that morning as she and Shigure neared the little grocery store, the modified list of groceries in her hand.
"Isn't it though? Just like from the pages of a storybook!" Shigure replied wistfully as Julian gave him a look before she rolled her eyes, a slight smile on her face.
"Why, people might even think we're married."
"Well, they certainly won't think I'm you sister. What with my ecru colored hair and all." Julian replied dryly as Shigure pulled the door open and waited for her to walk inside before he trailed after her. She grabbed a basket and strolled through the store, aware he was babbling on about something or other behind her, though she wasn't really listening. She smiled as she grabbed several items off the shelves in one aisle, before she headed for the frozen foods section. She walked over to one of the ice chests and peered inside, hurriedly clamping her hand over her mouth in shock. At least she hadn't screamed out loud or something. She saw Trent staring back at her, an eyebrow cocked in surprise. He began to open his mouth to speak when Julian began to make wild waving motions with her free hand.
"Jules? Is everything alright?" Shigure asked in concern as he noticed her antics, eyeing her in curiosity.
"I...I'm fine. A bug startled me. Could you do me a favor and go get me a bag of Potato chips? I'm suddenly craving something salty." She asked him, naming off the first thing that popped into her head.
"Potato chips? But we already have a bag at home." He said, shooting her a weird look.
"I...I know. But I...I want some, uh, salt and vinegar chips." She told him quickly, though she personally couldn't stand salt and vinegar chips.
"Well...ok. Stay right here. I'll be back." He replied, shooting her another weird look before he walked off.
Julian quickly glanced around and seeing no one, leaned toward the glass case, her hands planted on the glass.
"Trent?! Couldn't you have picked someplace more convenient to appear?!" She hissed, knowing she must look a bit on the crazy side to be talking to a freezer case.
"Well, I didn't plan this. I just turned the TV on and there you were. Anyway, what's happened to your hair now?!"
"I don't want to talk about it. Tell me what's going on? Have I been on the news yet? Are people wondering where I am?"
"What? No. What are you talking about? It's only been ½ an hour since I talked to you last. I just got back from checking out that alley. Which does not dead end where you said it did. I did find your cell phone, though. So you must have been there."
"Only ½ an hour?! It's been 5 days! 5!"
"Well, I don't know what to tell ya, Jules."
"Don't call me that. You know I hate that nickname." Julian snapped, hurriedly glancing around again.
"Oh. But you let Shigure call you that. That was his voice I heard, right?"
"...Yes. You've seen the episodes enough to know how he is."
"Yeah, I know. Anyway though, I had a thought on the way home from the alley. I'm going to try something real quick, so hang on a second." Trent replied as he walked away, the only thing Julian could see of him still was his legs.
"Where am I supposed to go. What are you doing, anyway? Trent? Can you hear me?!" Julian replied, beginning to panic when he didn't answer. She straightened slightly as Shigure rounded the corner, a bag of chips in his hands.
"Here are your...is everything ok?" He asked her in concern.
Julian forced herself to smile as she reached out, grabbing the bag. She swayed suddenly, feeling strange.
"I knew something was wrong!" Shigure exclaimed, reaching out to grab her arm, as her surroundings seemed to swim in front of her eyes.
"Uh, you might not want to do that." Julian replied weakly as his hand clamped down onto her arm. Suddenly everything seemed to freeze, than slant, all the colors bleeding together. Everything turned black suddenly, static ringing in her ears. Julian felt herself falling again. Except this time she wasn't alone.
A special thank you goes to my one reviewer for chapter 5, lol!
Myu Higurashi- Thanks for reviewing twice! I'm so glad you like the story, and yes, he does. Lol. But this will just be between us for now!
Stay tuned everyone! Chapter 7 is coming soon! It just needs to be typed up! And tweaked a bit! Are any of you surprised the big Sohma family secret hasn't been revealed? Me too.... Lol.