Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and all the characters belong to the guy who made it up. I don't own anything, I don't have any right to anything.
Ohemgee! SQUUUEEE!!! I LOVE YOU, ALL OF MY WONDERFUL REVIEWERS!!! reverseturninghuggleglomp Seriously, I feel overjoyed when I sign in on msn and the window pops up saying I have 8 new messages, just overnight! And it makes me very happy to know that people are reading my stories, and enjoying them too I feel loved, so it's only natural that I should love you all in return 3 (and you must all think I'm pathetic for being excited over 8 messages, but I hardly ever get emails, so I'm not really as weird as you think)
Ok, now for replies and stuff:
Animefreakkagome - XD sorry, not telling! Heh, you said you want it to be Yuki… And being the annoying contradictory person that I am, I'm seriously considering NOT letting her choose him! But you never know… Even I don't know what goes on in Tohru's mind…
Sparklestar127 - Yes, Yuki wouldn't be that forward… But he's changed! He's a slow grower, and he's finally been bombarded with teenage hormones, and starts thinking weird perverted thoughts!! Haha sorry, that is sooo not Yuki's character…
Faerie-kittie306 animelover - Ok, I'm really crap at this. In the anime, they don't actually tell you their names are spelt, and of course I can never be bothered researching it. So, thankyou for pointing it out.
And to all the others - Thankyou for reviewing, and I hope you will keep reading this And of course, don't hesitate to point out mistakes and stuff. I always try to make my writing better. Just… no flaming please X3
Animefreakkagome - Haha yes, I will be gone for 16 days. But I'm only leaving on the 12th, coming back on the 28th, so don't worry, I should be able to write a few more chapters before I leave . And I'll be handwriting on the plane and while I'm there, so I can type the chapters up straight away when I come back…
And on another note, yes, I did borrow the red moon idea from Love Hina. Sorry if it pissed anyone off, I just thought it was an excellent theory-thing, and it would work well with this chapter…
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Red Moon Magic
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Kyo knew there was something very strange going on. Not that strange, but it was odd for Yuki to shut himself in his room so often. He figured it must have something to do with the date. After all, he was feeling pretty annoyed about it himself. But why? It's not as if he actually liked her…
"Who am I kidding, of course I like her!" he muttered ruefully to himself as he stared up at the night sky.
"Oh, who do you like, Kyo?" Kyo jumped up, startled as Toru climbed onto the roof and sat next to him.
"Uh… no-one, just forget you heard anything," he stammered.
"Oh… ok. Anyway, you missed dinner, so I brought you something to eat." She handed him 3 rice balls wrapped in a napkin. (Author's comment: Have you ever noticed, she always gives him rice balls to eat? In the anime, in fanfics, it's always rice balls. I mean, he must get pretty sick of them after a while.)
She watched him eat, then said, "By the way, do you know what's up with Yuki?"
Kyo was instantly alert. "What… what about Yuki?" If that damn rat had actually confessed his feelings for Tohru, he was gonna kill him.
"He's just been holing himself up in his room a lot. He didn't even come to dinner," Tohru explained.
Relieved, Kyo turned away. "Nah, I dunno what's wrong with him. Who cares, anyway?"
After a brief silence, Tohru sighed. "I'm going to bed. Don't stay up here too long, or you'll catch a cold."
Kyo stared at the space where she had been sitting a moment ago, then lay down again, staring at the stars. How could he stand a chance against Yuki? Yuki was so popular, smart, calm, concerned about others, and happy. Yuki never had any problems controlling his temper. Yuki never had any problems with girls. God, Yuki never had any problems with anything! It just wasn't fair.
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Yuki was dreaming. He was in class, copying down history notes as the teacher wrote dates and famous names on the blackboard. Suddenly, Motoko Menagawa, the president of the Prince Yuki Fan Club, and her three followers barged into the classroom, grabbed him, and dragged him away. He shouted out for help, but everyone just stared. Kyo lounged back on his chair, smirking, and Uo and Hana looked at him expressionlessly. Frantic, he called out to Tohru, but she merely sneered, and sniggered behind her hand.
They took him to an empty classroom, and locking the door, they proceeded to take all of his clothes off, then tied him to a chair. He struggled, but the ropes were knotted too tightly, and the girls laughed at him.
Unexpectedly, the door banged open, and Haru and Momiji were standing in the doorway. Yuki sighed with relief, and the two boys chased the girls out of the classroom. However, they didn't remove the ropes holding him to the chair. Haru started eyeing him with a hungry sort of expression that Yuki felt uneasy about. "Hurry up, Haru, get it over with, I wanna have a go with Yuki too!" he heard Momiji squeal.
Now he was lying in the snow, as Haru stood over him. The school was gone, and so was Momiji. It was just him, and Haru, alone in a park. He was shivering from the cold as it bit into his tender skin, and he tried to get up, but Haru hit him, and he fell back down. "Haru… What are you doing?" he cried, as Haru proceeded to beat him every time he tried to move. "You're drunk! Get away from me! Please, Haru, stop it!"
But the cow didn't appear to hear him. "Yuki… All this time, you've known I love you. But you always rejected my advances. Why? WHY?! Answer me, Yuki!" Haru yelled, hitting him harder.
Then, Haru was ontop of him, and their lips met. He struggled, but Haru's grip was just too strong. Haru let out a long sigh of satisfaction, a maniac gleam in his eyes. "Finally, finally! I have longed for that kiss for so long… And now, before you get away, I'll be able to do everything I've wanted to do to you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. There's nothing anyone can do to stop me! I care about you Yuki, I care for you so much, that's why I'm doing this. I love you, and my yearnings get so strong sometimes, and this is one of those times... Did you know, that sometimes, I cry for hours, because you don't return my love? But now…" Haru's leering face drew closer. "Now, we have all the time in the world, no-one can come between us…"
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Yuki's eyes snapped open. Why had he had that nightmare again? He thought he had managed to erase it from his memories, as he did with all the unpleasant things that happened to him.
It had happened two years ago, on Christmas Eve. He had just visited his friend's house, and was walking back home, when suddenly a hand had wrapped over his mouth, and he was dragged, struggling to a hidden corner of the park. Most of the memory was a blur, but next thing he knew, he was lying on the snow naked, with Black Haru straddling him, whispering those words in his ear. And then…
He shuddered. What Haru had done was too painful to recall again. But it was on that night that he had lost the remaining traces of his innocence. All of it, chased away by the actions of Haru, driven by a lot of alcohol, and his insane desire for Yuki.
Later, he had managed to get away from the drunken Haru, bruised and crying. He had hidden it from Shigure, and tried to act normally, and nobody suspected a thing. He had been very reluctant to go to the New Year celebrations at the main house, but when he arrived, Haru was his normal white self again, with no recollections of what he had done. So Yuki had found it in his heart to forgive Haru, and not mention the events to anyone. He had been plagued by nightmares of it for weeks, but managed to drive it out of his mind. So why had it suddenly come back to haunt him? And what was that all about, the part at the beginning… Why did Miss Honda laugh at him?
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Monday Afternoon
When Tohru came home from work, Shigure was rather startled when she asked if she could use the phone to call Hatori. "Why would you want to do that, Tohru? You know, you can just ask me, if you need anything."
"No, no, I just wanted to ask about Momiji. He didn't come to school today, and didn't come to work either, so I was a bit concerned, because he didn't tell us that he would be going away or something…" she explained.
A few moments later, she was talking with Hatori. "Well, of course Momiji wouldn't be at school or work, he has to stay here at Sohma House, because it's the night of the red moon," Hatori's voice explained.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand," Tohru said.
"I suppose you'll need to know sometime. But I can't tell you now, Momiji's gone missing. Next time we see eachother, I'll tell you all about it, promise. Oh, and if you see him, please call me immediately. He's not supposed to go out when it's the red moon. By now!"
Tohru put down the phone, but almost immediately the doorbell rang (I don't know if Shigure's house has a doorbell, but let's pretend it does for now). She ran downstairs, and opened the door. On the doorstep stood a very handsome, blonde-haired boy, who looked to be about Yuki or Kyo's age. "Um, excuse me sir, would you like to come inside?"
He smiled at her. "I don't think that would be necessary, but thankyou, Tohru."
She blushed, flustered that such a good-looking stranger would know her name. "May I ask you who you're after?"
"Well, actually, I wanted to talk to you. Could you come outside with me for a moment?"
"Oh! Of course, but as long as it won't take too long, because I really do have work to do."
Walking along the path with the boy, she felt a calming aura radiating from him. She studied his face admiringly. He was so gorgeous. The way he walked, held up his head… It was so attractive. Yet there was something vaguely familiar about him…
"Tohru, do you know who I am?" he asked suddenly.
Caught completely off guard, she stammered, "Oh, I can't say I remember you from anywhere, but you do seem familiar!"
He chuckled, and lifted her chin with his fingers. She felt herself drowning in his beautiful eyes. "It's me, Momiji," he told her.
She gasped. "Momiji? But… how? You're so tall and handsome!"
She realized what she had said, and clapped her hands over her mouth, embarrassed. "That's not to say you weren't handsome before, I mean, you were more cute than handsome, but…"
He laughed, cutting off her blabbering. "It's because of the red moon. Twice a year, the dust from the desert of some far away land blows all the way over here, making moon appear red. My mother's family was also cursed, although nobody knew it, and that curse makes me look and act eternally like a child, except for the times when the moon turns red. If I wasn't cursed with my mother's family's curse, this is what I would look like normally. That's why during the red moon period, I'm not allowed out of Sohma house, because people would suspect something odd. I mean, you didn't even recognize me, so of course everyone would think something strange was afoot."
"So, how about it?" he continued.
"How about what?" Tohru asked, blushing, noticing that his face was slowly getting closer to hers.
"Why don't you give me a kiss? Don't you like me when I'm like this?"
"I… I'm afraid I… can't. I mean, you're very attractive and everything, but you're still Momiji, and that's just a really weird thought."
He sighed regretfully. "Damn. I've always liked you, but I knew that somehow you'd never like me as a boy when I'm my normal form. It's just too childish, isn't it? I know. I thought this would be the ideal time to tell you how I feel, when I'm under the influence of the red moon. But, I completely understand. You belong to Yuki. I'm sorry for doing this… I'll walk you home, and then I should be getting back to Sohma House. Hatori will be worried about me."
They arrived back at Shigure's house, and Tohru turned to face him. "I'm sorry, Momiji. But don't worry, I still like you, as a friend," she said cheerfully, and standing up on tiptoe, she kissed him on the cheek, then went back inside.
Momiji reached a hand to the closed door, then let it fall back to his side. "…Goodbye… Tohru…" His voice still lingered in the night air as he vanished into the darkness.
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WHOA. LONG CHAPTER!! Ah well, all those reviews encouraged me, and so did all the chocolate cake I just ate Leftovers from New Years dinner, you know. Anyway, keep reviewing please, you guys really make my day.
I really should get to work on finishing my website. But I'll try to cram in as much writing as I can. God, I'm becoming a regular computer whore now. I'm never going to hear the end of this from my cousin…
EDIT: Hey, you! Yes, you, wonderful reader who has read all the way down to the end of the chapter! (oh man, that sounded cheesy). Anyway, I need your opinions! Or rather, Tohru needs them. She's in a spot of trouble, you see. She can't make up her mind who to choose! Here's the list:
Yuki
Kyo
Shigure
Hatori
Ritsu
Ayame
Akito
Yepyep, you don't want poor Tohru to be caught in her indecision for too long. So please, review and tell me who you think, she should choose in the end, and gimme a reason!
Thankies!!
- Elenril