Hello! I am happy to announce that this week is time, I am sorry it took so long to upload it. But…but, I have finals today. But today is my special day, It's the 20th of December, my birthday! I am officially 16! Anyway, on with the fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Chapter 7

Her Birthday

Tohru sulked home, walking with Kyo, Hana, Uo, and Yuki. They understood why. She had to go back to her original home to get the slip signed by her grandfather.

"We'll come with you." Yuki suddenly said.

"Yeah." Kyo comforted, which took Yuki and Uo by surprise.

"Oh, I couldn't ask you two to do that." Tohru said.

"But we want to." Yuki told her.

"We are coming with you even if you don't want us too." Kyo said.

"All right." Tohru said happily.

'Mom, I really think this is where I belong, not with Grandpa, or Aunt and Uncle. I am needed here, with them. I feel much happier with them. I wish you could be here. I would have liked you to meet them. I found out that the little boy I had told you about when I found my way home, was one of the Sohma boys. But as long as they are happy…I am happy.' Tohru smiled at the sky as she thought of this.

When they got home, Tohru persisted to tell Shigure that she needed to get her permission slip signed by her grandfather.

"Oh, then I will go with you as well. I would like to meet these "relatives" of yours." Shigure said happily.

"Oh, you don't have to do all that for me."

"Oh, but I must."

"Hey, Shigure, we needed to talk to you about the…thing." Uo said gesturing behind Tohru.

"Oh, yes, okay. Well, as soon as we are done talking, we will go to your grandfather's house and get it signed." Shigure said patting her on the head.

"Thank you so much Shigure. I really appreciate it." Tohru said happily as she walked upstairs to change into a nice summer dress.

"I wont be home in the afternoon tomorrow Ms. Honda. I…have some things to do."

"Oh, okay." Tohru said happily cooking dinner.

"What are we having?" Kyo asked walking in.

"I thought we could try a new dish. I found an old cookbook in the cupboard. I thought we could have some Hamburgers. They're an American dish." Tohru said flipping the slabs of meat.

"It smells good."

"Uh huh. There are no onions or leeks in them. Most of the recipes don't." Kyo mentally shouted for joy. To tell the truth, he was getting tired of having fish every night, even though it was his favorite dish.

"Well, kiddo, love to stay and chat but we got to go." Uo said finally stepping out of Shigure's office. Hana following close behind.

"Aw, really. But I made enough for all of us to eat." Tohru asked.

"OH! You made Hamburgers?! I'm staying, where's your phone?" Uo asked excitedly.

"I would like to stay as well and try these, Hamburgers of yours."

"Oh, Hana, you've had hamburgers before, they were just from McDonalds. But those aren't real burgers." Uo said.

"Oh. Well, I'd still like to stay."

"After dinner we are going to walk Tohru to her grandfather's to get the permission slip signed." Yuki said.

"Oh, I wouldn't mind seeing Gramps for once." Uo said happily.

"How is your Grandfather Tohru?"

"He seems to be fine. No one has told me otherwise." Tohru said matter-of-factly.

"Then it's settled, we are going to stay the night." Uo shouted. Shigure handed them the phone so they could call their parents.

After dinner, which was great by the way, they went to Tohru's grandpa's house to get it signed.

"Hello Grandpa."

"Tohru? Is that you?" An old man asked as he walked into the room.

"Hey gramps." Uo said.

"Oh, hello young lady."

"Grandpa, I want you to meet someone." Tohru said leading her old grandfather to the Sohmas.

"Grandpa, This is Shigure. He lets me stay at the house. And you've already met Kyo and Yuki. They were the ones who brought me back with them. And this is Momiji. He's a year younger than I am." Tohru introduced them happily. Yuki held out his hand to shake her grandfather's. Kyo on the other hand, did not want to do anything of the sort. When they came and got her last year, her Aunt and Uncle were abusing her kindness. They were saying that her grandfather should leave her at the orphanage.

"Oh, is this young man your boyfriend?" Her grandfather asked as he shook Yuki's hand. Yuki blushed.

"No grandpa." He grandfather stared at Kyo for a second.

"Then he must be your boyfriend." Kyo flushed and glanced at the old man.

Tohru flushed, and shook her head.

"Oh, I guess these are just the men you live with then. You came to give your old grandpa a visit."

"Yes. How are you doing?"

"Oh, I get by. There is a lady that comes here every so often and she cleans the house. But I never can get her to cook something. There is another lady who does that. But her food is not as good as yours is. I would like to have some of your food again."

"Of, course. I could make you something now if you like?" Tohru asked kindly.

"That would be lovely. A rice ball or two would be just great." Her grandfather said kindly. Tohru smiled and walked swiftly into the kitchen.

"Hello, I'm Shigure. I was wanting to ask you something."

"Oh, what is that?"

"It's about little Tohru's birthday. I was wondering if you would like to come?"

"Oh, that is a very kind offer. But I am afraid I can't make it. I have a doctor's appointment. They want to check me out."

"Oh, I am very sorry to hear that." Shigure said.

Tohru came back into the living room a 30 minutes later carrying a plate of 6 onigiri.

"I hope they are good." Tohru said as her grandfather picked up on of them and bit into it.

"It's as wonderful as could be. I haven't tasted food like this in a really long time. Thank you my dear." He said.

"Thank you Grandpa. I was wondering if you could sign my permission slip, so I can go on a class field trip to America?" Tohru asked. Her grandfather looked at her for a moment and then nodded happily.

"Of course I will." Tohru squealed for joy and hugged her grandfather tightly.

"Thank you so much Grandpa." Tohru's face light up. Kyo could feel himself grinning and quickly removed it.

Gramps signed the paper and they waved good-bye.

"I can't wait to go! This will be so much fun. Especially since Shigure and Ayame both volunteered to look after our group!" Yuki sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I wish he hadn't." Yuki muttered.

They walked home, Tohru and Momiji emerged in deep conversation about the trip and what they would do. Haru was going to be there, too. All the Sohmas except for Akito and Hatori were going. Unfortunately, Akito caught a really bad virus and was going to bed ridden for weeks. But Hatori did tell Shigure that he would be at Tohru's surprise birthday party.

"Tohru, dear, I won't be home for dinner tomorrow. I am taking Kyo and Momiji shopping for supplies." Shigure said as they entered the house.

"Oh, well, I guess that works out then, because I have to work tomorrow night. And since I wasn't there the other night, I'm going to work late. So I'll be home a little later than usual. But I'll leave you guys some food in the fridge to heat up." Tohru explained.

The three boys looked at eachother and grinned.

The next day Shigure picked the boys up early from school and took them to the mall.

"Okay boys, I am giving you each 4000 yen so spend it wisely."

(I don't know the value of Japanese money so yeah. I'm just going to imagine that it's a lot.)

"Met me back here at half past 6. Go to work guys." They all split up, Momiji however went with Shigure.

Kyo wondered through the mall looking in many different stores trying to find the perfect gift. He walked into a bookstore but all that came close to being a good gift was a diary like notebook with it's own matching pen. He walked out of the store and went to the next store. It turned out to be a costume store and the clerk was dressed in a pretty skimpy outfit. She eyed him with great interest. He ran out of the store.

'Never again!' He mentally screamed.

He went into another store. This one seemed nice. It was filled with brightly colored jewelry. There were birthstone necklaces and earrings and bracelets. There were diamond rings and pendants. One especially caught his eye. He picked it out and paid the woman who helped him and thanked her.

At the same time…

Yuki was walking through the stores looking for the perfect gift for Tohru. He was about to go into a candle store when something caught his eye. It was a gardening shop. On a table, next to some other things, was a bag of seeds labeled "strawberries"

"How much is this?"

"That? That is 500 yen. Do you want to buy it?"

"Yes, what other kinds of seeds do you have?" Yuki asked with great interest. The man grinned and started to guide Yuki through the store pointing to all the different seeds.

(I'm not going to tell you what Shigure got. Because, it's a surprise)

By the time everyone was done shopping it was about 5:15. They would need to be getting home soon. Tohru's birthday was in two days and they still needed to get all the decorations. The plan was that Kyo would distract her while Yuki and Shigure put up the decorations. Uo and Hana would make the cake, and Haru and Kisa would be in charge of the look out. All of Tohru's "real" family would be there. Even Ayame, much to Yuki's disliking, was going to be there.

The guy's hide their presents in their rooms knowing that Tohru would not go looking for them. It was about 9:30 when Yuki and Kyo went to go pick up Tohru from her work.

"Ready to go?" Yuki asked kindly as Tohru walked out of the doors.

"(Yawn) yes. Very." Tohru said sleepily.

Kyo walked in front of her while Yuki walked behind. They knew that she was exhausted from working.

When they got home, Tohru took not but two steps towards the couch and collapsed on it.

Kyo shook his head and pushed the rest of her body up on to it.

Momiji came bouncing down the steps.

"Is TorTor ready…" Momiji was shushed harshly and Kyo pointed to the upstairs.

The boys silently crept upstairs and into their rooms. They were all exhausted.

The next morning Tohru awoke to find herself on the couch, covered in a blue blanket.

'I wonder how this got here?' Tohru thought as she sat up.

Looking around she saw that it was as quiet as ever and the sun had not risen yet.

She crept upstairs and pulled on her school uniform. Then she went back downstairs silently. The Sohmas wouldn't be up for a little while longer so she pulled out one of her old notepads and started scribbling down things.

"What are you writing about?" Shigure asked looking over her shoulder.

"Oh! Shigure, you scared me. This, I am just writing a story."

"Really? What about?"

"Action/Adventure, Romance, and a little bit of humor."

"May I take a look?" He asked kindly.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm not very good. But I guess so." She handed him her notepad and started reading. It took him a few minutes and then handed it back to her.

"Tohru, have you ever thought of taking up a career in novels?"

"Me? No, not really. This is just a little hobby I took up when I was little. Why?" She asked.

"Because that is some of the best writing I have ever seen."

"Oh, I'm sure that it isn't. You are a much better novelist than I am."

"Well, you come pretty darn close to me. Do you mind if I borrowed this for a little while?"

"Sure. That is just fine with me." Tohru smiled and Shigure patted her on the head.

"Thank you flower."

"Would you like me to make you a cup of tea now?"

"That would be lovely." Shigure said happily.

B-DAY!

Tohru was awoken early that morning.

"Tohru, come on, get up." Kyo said shaking her gently.

"Kyo? What is it?"

"It's time to get up. I want to take you somewhere."

"Okay, I'll be right out." Tohru got up and Kyo left the room so she could change.

Tohru put on a white hanker top dress and a light jacket on over it.

(Hanker Straps go around the back of the neck.)

"Is this okay?" Tohru asked as she twirled around for him.

"It looks great." Kyo said. He was smiling, actually smiling and was not afraid to show it.

"So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Kyo whispered.

"Oh, okay. Does Shigure know that we are going somewhere?"

"Of course, it was his idea in the first place." Said waving her on.

" Well be back Shigure." Kyo said as he and Tohru walked out of the door.

"Can you tell me where we are going now?" Tohru asked curiously.

"No, I told you, it's a surprise."

"Oh, okay."

They walked into town and then to the park.

"Oh, wow, this place is beautiful."

"Well, its spring and all the flowers bloom at this time." Kyo said.

Tohru looked at him happily and smiled.

"It looks lovely Kyo. Thank you for bring me here. But we have to get back to the house. I haven't even made breakfast yet." Tohru said panicking.

Kyo waved away her words as if they didn't matter.

"This is your birthday, you should enjoy it. You do stuff for us every day; we can at least do things for you one day of the year."

"Thank you." Tohru wanted to hug him but knew she couldn't, do to their curse. She often wondered why they were cursed but she didn't press the matter, because, in her mind, it didn't matter.

'One of these days, just you wait Tohru; I'll be able to hold you in my arms.'

They went to the stores in and somehow, Tohru convinced Kyo to go into a flower shop.

"Oh, look at these. Aren't they beautiful?!" Tohru said excitedly, pointing to some white and red roses.

"Yeah. Lovely."

"But I like these better." Tohru said picking up a bouquet of white lilies.

"Do you want it?" Kyo asked.

Tohru looked up at him in surprise. He was being so nice to her. Well, he had been nicer to her ever since she told him she loved him more.

"You don't have too." Tohru said as Kyo took the Lilies from her hands and walked over to the counter to pay for them.

"I want to." He said paying for the lilies. Shigure had given him some money in case Tohru dragged him someplace.

"Here." Kyo handed her the bouquet.

"Thank you Kyo." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before walking out. Kyo blushed slightly and walked beside her.

"Where to now?"

"Can we go home? I want to get these in water as soon as possible." Tohru asked happily.

"Not yet." Kyo said. He was waiting for Shigure's call.

"Okay, then how about we go to that store over there." Tohru pointed to a costume store.

"Oh no, no, I am not, under any circumstances, am I going to…"

In the store…

Tohru had given Kyo a whole bunch of costumes and sent him into the dressing room.

"Come on Kyo, It'll be fun." Tohru persisted.

"I'm not coming out!" He shouted.

"Oh, it can't look that bad." Kyo stepped out looking like Jack Sparrow. (Pirates of the Caribbean).

Tohru giggled.

"You look so good though." Tohru said happily.

"I look like a freaking pansy." Kyo said.

"Okay, you don't have to put on any more costumes." Tohru said.

Ring ring ring ring.

'Thank god.' Kyo clicked up his cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kyo, we're ready back at the house. So get back here okay."

"Um, sorry you must have the wrong number." Kyo said. That was the signal for okay if Tohru was paying attention.

Kyo hung up the phone and faced Tohru.

"Who was it?"

"I don't know, some guy asking for a Fu Long Japanese restaurant. We better be getting home or those Lilies are going to die." Kyo said. Tohru looked at him weirdly and nodded.

"Okay." Tohru said happily.

They walked home and soon they were at the front porch.

"Kyo why do we have to go in through the back?" Tohru asked.

"Because, just…because." They walked through the front door and suddenly the lights flipped on.

"SURPRISE!" All of the guests jumped out almost making her drop the beautiful flowers Kyo had bought for her earlier.

"Oh! Oh, my goodness what is all this about?" Tohru asked anxiously.

"Oh, you squirt, don't tell me you forgot it was your own birthday kiddo. Shigure invited us all for your birthday party. You should have known that if we didn't he would." Uo said giving her best friend a nudge.

"Happy 16th birthday Tohru." Hana said giving her friend a hug.

"Oh, you guys. I really wasn't expecting all of this."

"SISSY!" Kisa came running over to her and jumping into her arms.

"Aw, hello Kisa. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Haru brought me." Kisa said pointing to the silver haired boy leaning up against the doorway.

"Hello Haru-kun." Tohru said happily.

"Hey."

"Sissy, I got you a present! Want to open it now?"

"Of course she would, You have to open presents before you have cake!" Shigure said.

Tohru looked up at Shigure accusingly. He shrugged sarcastically and winked.

Yuki, Haru and Kisa pulled Tohru into the living room. There, Ayame, Hatori, and Momiji sat waiting for her.

"Hatori-san! Ayame-san! It's nice to see you again." Tohru said happily as she was forced to sit down in a chair. A stack of presents in front of her, Kisa ran up to her, a small present in hand, and handed it to her.

"Thank you Kisa-kun, you shouldn't have." Tohru said happily taking the small gift from the little girl. Kisa smiled brightly and sat next to her, anxiously waiting to see Tohru's reaction.

Tohru carefully unwrapped the paper so to not tare it. It was a small box, and inside was green stone.

Tohru looked at it for a moment. Engraved in white letters was the Japanese symbol for clarity.

"I thought that it was a nice word so I got it for you." Kisa said. Tohru hugged her tightly.

"Thank you so much Kisa. I love it." Tohru said happily. Kisa bounced in delight that Tohru liked her present.

"Here, this is from me." Haru said handing her yet another small box. Tohru looked up at him lovingly and opened it. Inside was another stone, but this one was pink, it had on it, the Japanese symbol for kindness.

"I thought it suit you." Haru said in his usual emotionless tone. Tohru stood up and peeked him on the cheek.

"I can't hug you, so this will have to do. I love it." Haru blushed.

She walked back over to the couch and plopped down next to Kisa again. She reached over at the table and picked up a medium sized present.

"That's from me." Hatori said smiling.

Tohru smiled happily at him.

"I'm serious, you all really shouldn't have done all this for me." She said.

"Don't talk like that Ms. Honda, you do stuff for us all the time. So we should do something for you." Yuki said.

Tohru just smiled at him and persisted in opening the present.

It was a cookbook.

"Shigure told me that you like making new things to cook." Hatori said blushing slightly.

"I do, you should come over sometime and eat dinner with us. Just for fun." Tohru grinned. Hatori chuckled a little and patted her on the head.

"Oh, Tohru, I got this present for you." Ayame sang, as he handed her his present.

"Thank you so much Ayame-san." Tohru giggled and started to unwrap the present.

She pulled out a silk white kimono.

"I brought it from my shop. I thought you might look ravishing in it." Ayame said.

Tohru's excitement boiled to the surface. She was having a lot of trouble trying to not hug everyone, especially since Hana and Uo were there.

"I love it so much, I hope you didn't spend too much on it." Tohru said worriedly.

"Oh, no, it was no cost at all. I am the owner of the company so I get stuff for free." Ayame sang again. Yuki and Kyo were to their breaking point.

"Here kiddo, Hana and I got this for you. I thought it would be of good use to you in America." Uo said as Tohru pulled out a map and an outfit.

"The map was Uo's idea. She thought it would be funny." Hana said trying to hold in a fit of giggles. Tohru laughed.

"Thank you so much you two. I couldn't be happier." Tohru said as she hugged her two best friends.

Yuki handed her his present.

"I thought maybe we could plant them in the garden." Yuki said. Tohru looked at the many different bags of seeds and grinned.

"That would be great. I can't wait till we do."

Kyo handed her his present. It was a long velvet white box. He was blushing like crazy and wouldn't look at her.

"Please, don't open it yet. I want you to open it later." Kyo whispered. Tohru nodded and set it in her lap.

Konnichiwa, how are all of you. Sorry, but you'll have to wait to see what Kyo and Shigure got her, but I'll try and update both chapters today if I can. That way, you wont have to wait to see what crazy thing Shigure has gotten our ever so optimistic heroin, and what romantic thing our favorite orange cat has got her. Until then you'll just have to hope that I get it done in time. Bye! -