Disclaimer: FRUITS BASKET is not owned by this poor fic writer.

I always wondered what goes on at the Sohma's New Year banquet. Typically, New Year's eve in my family involves loads of relatives, some of whom you never knew existed...like the discipline master you poked fun of. And yummy goodies, angpows, sparklers and granny's curtains catching fire from wayward sparks. So here goes...

Almost everyone has a bit in it... may be OOC at times.

1. Prelude to Disaster

Shigure's house. "Moshi-moshi?" Shigure answered the phone. "What!? Akito-san…" He quickly dropped his voice as his two young charges entered the room. He nodded solemnly. Akito-san, I always warned you what goes round will come round…

"Going so early?" Kyo asked as he saw Shigure wearing his shoes. Yuki was still semi-asleep. He wouldn't have gotten up so early if it weren't for the promise both he and Kyo made to accompany Tohru to visit her mother's grave this morning. "Something cropped up at the main house…" Shigure fobbed Kyo off with these words and left.

"What did the stupid dog say?" Yuki was awake now. The two boys stared at each other. Tohru came in at this point with her basket. "Yuki? Kyo?" The boys shrugged in unison. No point pursuing the matter with Shigure. They might as well go out with their Tohru to the local cemetery.

Local cemetery. Two familiar figures were already at the grave of Tohru's mother. "Saki!" Tohru hugged the dark-haired Goth girl. "Arisa! You came!" They should have expected Tohru's two best friends to show up.

"Kyo, you better take care of Tohru while we are at the party…" Yuki watched the girls chat merrily. He was dreading having to return to the oppressive main house for the New Year party that night. A brunch at the cemetery in front of a grave is loads more enjoyable…

"You have to rub it in, don't you," Kyo hissed. He tensed as Uotani strolled up to him. "Orange-top!" She flicked his forehead. "Ow! That hurts!"

"Take care of our dear Tohru or you'll hurt even more!" Kyo nodded as he caught sight of the iron pipe she was holding. Arisa raised an eyebrow and made it clear she was not afraid to use it if need be.

Sohma main house. Shigure pushed his way past the maids and servants as they busied about the preparations for the coming party. With what he got out of a distraught Kureno over the phone, there may not even be a party! Not that the sorry charade they all put up with was a party to start with…

The place's a mess! Shigure cursed as he caught sight of the bloodstains and scattered glass shards and flowers on the wooden floor. Hatsuharu, Momiji, Kisa and Hiro have gathered about and were talking all at once. The Ox was trying to throttle the Sheep while the Tiger's trying to dissuade him. The Rabbit's running about, shouting in German. Shigure noted that the calm Hatori was not among them. Crap!

"QUIET! One at a time, please! Haru put Hiro down!" Shigure exclaimed. This situation needed taking charge of. Kureno was right. Unfortunately it appeared he was the only one who can restore some order. "Kureno! Tell us what happened… slowly…"

Kureno was very pale and shaking visibly. He had been quietly ignored by the others in the ruckus. The Rooster was clutching a garment in his hands that Shigure recognized instantly as one of their ceremonial robes. He smattered as he suddenly became the focus of attention.

"I-I f-found h-him…" He pointed at a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs, and promptly dropped the ceremonial robe into it by accident. "Argh!" Momiji tried desperately to save the garment as it fell, forgetting he was wearing one as well. The blood was still wet and stained the hem of Momiji's robe. Shigure groaned. Now both robes are ruined! Blood never, ever comes off.

"S-sorry…" Kureno apologized. What he saw must have really ruffled his feathers. Momiji came to his rescue. "He was the first to find him. He shouted for Hatori. Hatori and I came out onto the landing there and we saw him lying at the bottom of the stairs… Hatori called an ambulance…" The Rabbit grinned nervously.

Shigure raised an eyebrow. He was that badly hurt? Haru's tone was numb. "The banister. He must have leant on it, overbalanced or something and fallen over. We found his book up there." Kisa and Hiro nodded in agreement with the Ox. The Tiger held out the dog-eared book. Shigure took it. Akito's diary… he smiled secretly. Well, well…

"Then he tumbled down the stairs…" Hiro continued. Shigure winced as he looked at the dangerously steep stairs. "And hit the table… Then the flower vase fell onto his head."

"He was semi-conscious when they took him away. 'The party must go on.' Those were poor Akito-san's last words…" Momiji blew his nose into his lacy hanky. Kureno glared at the Rabbit.

"Moron! He's not dead…" He cuffed the blond boy. Momiji ducked behind Haru for protection.

Rin and Kagura just joined them. "He actually survived that?" Rin flicked her hair from her face and studied the mess. Their sickly clan head must be a lot tougher than he seemed. "Does this mean the party's cancelled?"

"NO!!" Kureno retorted. "Akito wants it to continue with or without him…" The Rooster was in a state. He stared at the blood-stained robe on the floor. Thanks to his clumsiness, both Hatori's and Momiji's robes were ruined.

"I'll call Ayame. He may have something we can use for the dance," Shigure picked up the phone and dialed Ayame's number. What a mess…

Author's notes:

Poor Akito-san. The fall sequence idea was provided bymy ill-fated rubber ball. Actually it fell into the sewer after bouncing off the flower pots. But considering the lack of a convenient manhole in the Sohma residence....(Hysterical laughter at the possibilities...) Ah well, the bad karma he collected over the years gave him a super whammy. Last minute change of plans? Shigure taking charge...

I didn't want it to be too far off, so it's the Rabbit year to the Dragon year.
Kureno's character is a bit unknown... so I'm making it up. Figured he'll be very upset about what happened enough to call the Dog for help...