Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. Just wanted to say thank you to all you reviewers out there! Keep them coming! I love it Oh yeah, I'm using a new format with my typing, let me know if you like it, my way of separating scenes or if I should just go back to the old way!

Chapter 9 Connections

Yue pulled into the Sohmas driveway, and Tohru hopped out waving a goodbye. She ran to her room as quietly as possible, thankful to see there was no one awake. It had been a most exciting night, especially being with Clarity and seeing Kira again. Tohru took the roses and left them in a vase on the kitchen table before turning off the lights and heading off to sleep.

Morning came all to early for Tohru, but she only stretched happily, still feeling the great sensations from being online last night. She danced into the kitchen cooking up a skillet of rice and fried vegetables for breakfast. She poured the orange juice, and brewed the coffee.

Kyo sat on his bed quietly again, staring at the bunk bed above him. He couldn't keep his mind off of Tohru. Tohru dancing with her microphone and stand, her ravishing body, and that smile. Tohru had been really shaky after what happened, and he had never seen her so happy.

Her short little skirt flared around with her as she shook her hips and smiled, singing into the mike with all her heart. Her whole body giggled as she danced, and sweat lit with the colorful lights behind her.

Kyo could feel himself start to throb. He sat in his bed, trying to ignore the feelings and he turned over in bed, trying to shut his eyes again. But he just couldn't, every moment whether his eyes open or shot fell back to Tohru. He fell back into more thoughts from last night, and her bending over as she danced, her whole body, he needed it bad. Irritated, he threw off the covers and stormed off into the bathroom, sitting in a nice warm bath. He slipped in slowly, and frig was his only comfort. He felt a soft moan appear in his throat as he continued. He needed to find some sort of satisfaction, but he needed her.

Kyo knew he couldn't sit in the tub forever, so he got out, cleaning everything up, and dressing himself in a black sweatshirt and pair of cargo pants. He walked into the kitchen still rubbing his head with a towel.

"Oh good morning Kyo! You're up early" Tohru replied cheerfully.

Kyo simply sat down at his place at the table, and Tohru came beside him serving him his food and orange juice. "Thanks Squirt" he replied blandly sipping at his drink

"You do know that I'm the same age as you" Tohru replied. Not even angry with the nickname.

"Whatever, you're still Squirt in my book" He replied with a mouthful of rice.

Tohru only giggled and went back over to the sizzling stove. Kyo watched her for a while, resting his chin on his shoulder. Tohru was humming, humming the songs from last night, as she dished the food onto plates upon the counter.

"Shigure already left this morning, I'm surprised since he was out so late"

Kyo picked his head up surprised, Did she know we followed her? "What do you mean?"

"Well, he wasn't home by the time I left with Ou and Hana, and that was nearly seven. He's usually home at six, I can usually plan dinner on his arrival and departure."

"Oh. Yeah, he said he had some meeting" Good, she doesn't know

"But now that I think about it, the holidays are coming up. I better go shopping for everyone's gifts after school today" Tohru replied, pondering as she looked up at the ceiling. "But what to get everyone...." She replied again thinking.

"I'll go with Squirt, if that'll help you at all" Kyo suggested, it sounded like a good excuse to spend time with her.

"Oh Kyo really? That's be great!" Tohru turned to him smiling, and Kyo found himself smiling too.

Tohru and company sat in their seats in class. The bell sounded, they rose, and bowed to Sensei Honda as he entered and bowed to them. He placed his books on his desk and rested his hands on it smiling as he leaned forward.

"So. Here begins another day of November. Can you believe how fast these days are going by?"

The class moaned, already complaining on how tired they were of being in school. Haru and Kyo rolled their eyes, and Kei shook his head in disapproval. Those three, whether they were friends or not still were very similar.

"Oh come on now? Is that anyway to respond to a teacher who hardly gives homework? Or should I give more?"

"NOOO" the whole class screamed, instantly abandoning their moaning and whining.

"Alright class I was just kidding" Sensei Honda replied laughing holding his hands back in the easing position "Unfortunately, its that time again, group projects!"

There was again another chorus of moans and growls. School was school, no kid truly loved it like the teachers did.

"This project, is actually got some good to it really. This whole class, will be taking a trip up into the mountains for a camping trip. You will be given rations and emergency supplies only. We will as groups, will learn to depend on each other and learn to trust. Each group, besides basic activities, will also have to finish a scavenger hunt with many clues and puzzles. If all 5 groups can finish within the time limits, the whole class will be given one hundreds. If those don't, you don't fail no, it will go in order of who arrived first. If the team came last, missing it even by an hour, as long as completed you will get a B. So no one can leave the camping treat without a great grade to bump up averages."

The whole class was on their feet shouting.

"I can't wait to camp! Survival in the wilderness" Ou replied cracking her knuckles

"Peaceful relaxation" Hana replied quietly

"A week of no real homework or school" Kei and Haru exclaimed clapping hands.

"Getting away..." Kyo replied thankfully.

"Ghost Stories" Momiji piped.

"Smores!" Yuki replied excitedly

"Everyone outdoors, a great time" Tohru answered

"All right class. I'm distributing the permission slips. You lose these, no go, the trip is free, but you must pack the necessities." Honda replied again handing out an equipment sheet and the permission slips.

Tohru, Ou, and Hana were already talking about coordinating outfits, and talking about all the fun activities they could plan together as a trio.

"You know, it could be fun having a nice girl beside you around the campfire" Kei replied sheepishly nudging Haru in the side. Haru only rolled his eyes

"You know, in an hour the girls will be complaining that they broke a nail or are too tired" Haru replied shooting down all possible ideas for romance.

"Oh Prince Yuki!! Will you sit with me on the bus?" One of his prowlers asked, linking arms with him. "NO me Prince Yuki" another girl replied, grabbing his other arm. Without in a few moments, there was a huge cat fight going on between Prowlers on who would sit with him. Yuki only drooped his head and sighed

Kyo stood next to Momiji.

"This sounds great Kyo. Maybe we'll even run into some wild animals, wolves, bears, spooky!" Momiji replied making a scary face.

"It should be interesting. Canoeing, rapids, whichever, just get me in a boat."

"I hope the chores aren't too much." Momiji asked "But it should feel different, since we're in the wilderness, I guess it won't feel like work now will it?"

"Attention class attention!" Sensei Honda asked standing back at his desk. The class all took their seats again. He rested his hands on hips smiling "I'm glad you like the sound of this trip. But here are ground rules."

"Rule one. Tents are arranged with same sexes. I don't want any of that crap on this trip.

Rule Two, you are to remain with your parties during all activities. You will be separated into groups of 8. Unfortunately there are more guys then girls, so the girls might be a bit outnumbered.

Rule Three, the group you have, is completely permanent, there is no changing it no matter if you are arch rivals or not.

Rule Four, in the case of an emergency, each group is given a cell phone. This cell phone links directly to me, and for emergency cases only, if you are caught calling anyone for fun, you will be punished.

Rule Five, students are to attend all class activities, you will however, be given time to hang out on your own.

Rule Six, HAVE FUN! This is a trip, it might be school, but do have fun. I'm lenient for misbehavior, cause this is a class trip, but you guys get out of hand, your on the next bus home in the morning! Understood?"

"Hai!" The class replied.

"Final thing. Let me announce the groups... Group One ((kids in class blah blah blah. This goes on until he gets to final group)) Group 5. Ou, Hana, Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, Momiji, Haru, and Kei!"

"ALRIGHT! What a great group" Ou said rising from her seat, holding a fist in success.

The rest of the group broke out laughing, but smiled too. The lunch bell rang, they had wasted most of the day discussing the trip, and it was all that was on any of Mr. Honda's students minds. The Sohmas entered the cafeteria with Tohru, Hana, and Ou.

Tohru bowed to them politely, grabbing her paper bagged lunch, and walked off to the outside courtyard. She had not meant to be rude, abandoning the group, but they seemed content about talking about the upcoming trip. Tohru unwrapped her sandwich, and took a small nibble from it. She enjoyed the cool fall season breeze, she let out a nice content sigh. Tohru had not heard Haru approach her from behind.

"Hey Tohru." Haru replied quietly unsure of she'd want him out here alone with her.

"Oh hello Haru you startled me there." Tohru replied smiling

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." he replied wandering off

"You can sit Haru, its alright" she replied nodding gently. Her eyes gave Haru reassurance.

She handed him half her sandwich, and the two ate their halves silently. Tohru ran her hand through her hair staring out at the gardens and flowerbeds before them

"So what are you doing out here Tohru? I thought for sure you'd be with Ou and Hana discussing the trip"

"Well, there's plenty of time to do that. I just like being outside when its Autumn. Its not too cold, but brisk enough to give you a small shiver once in a while. The air is crisp, and you can hear things you don't usually detect. Autumn is my favorite season, it was my mom's too."

Haru glanced at Tohru, who still stared out at the environment in front of them

"That was really deep Tohru. Here, I've been meaning to give this back to you." From his pocket Haru pulled out the Clarity star, he had cleaned it, and placed it in her hand, and folded it over so she held it tight.

"Oh thank you Haru! I've been looking for this"

"Yeah. What is it anyway?" Haru asked curious, as Tohru squeezed it tight.

"It's a wishing star. Just like how you wish upon a star, you wish upon this one. If you wish with all your heart, its said that whatever is written on the star will come to you"

"Interesting...then, why did you pick clarity?"

"I picked it because, there is a lot about my life I'm unsure about and I want answers to them. Its hard to walk in a world filled with unanswered questions. I just want to know, who I am, stuff like that, and maybe if I'm lucky it will also help to clear up my math grades. I'm so bad with geometry," she replied laughing as she stuck out her tongue and rubbed the back of her head.

This caused Haru to laugh and rub her head like a little sister.

"You'll get your answers Tohru. Everything comes with time" He replied rising as the class bell rang once more.

Together the two quietly walked back to class, enjoying their peaceful time together. This cleared up any of the worries from the cemetery, it was indeed two weeks ago, and now completely in the past. Haru allowed Tohru to walk maybe a step in pace ahead of him, as he let out a sigh of relief. But as he stepped through the doors, he put on his cold emotionless face again. He could not let any of the Sohmas know of his relief.

The rest of the class day went by very quickly. Tohru and the Sohmas returned home quickly. Tohru and Kyo changing out of their school uniforms, and returned to normal clothing. Tohru wore a white blouse and her green skirt. ((Remember? From Chapter 5?)). Kyo wore his black sweatshirt and his cargo pants from earlier. Tohru walked down the stairs and Kyo was just on the couch waiting bored.

"Sorry about that Kyo." Tohru bowed apologetically. Kyo only smiled at her innocent behavior. He opened the door and she walked out, he following behind.

They walked down the town street which was filled with many happy couples and pairs. Kyo felt somewhat lonely, seeing all those people, and he'd gaze to Tohru, who was looking away. She shifted her eyes, seeing him looking at her, and she smiled, saying nothing, and then continued walking looking at the buildings. Seeing a store Tohru liked, she grabbed Kyo by the wrist and pulled him inside.

The store was more directed towards girls, it was sort of like a cross between a hobby store and a craft store. Tohru wandered down the shelves stopping as she found a orange tabby cat statue. She stared at it for a while, and as Kyo stood behind her, she glanced up at him, and they both just smiled. Tohru left the cat on the shelf, and continued on.

Tohru searched another isle and came across something she thought maybe Ou would like. Tohru's hands rubbed the cover of the book, feeling its nice hard texture. None would have guessed, that a head strong active girl like Ou would be such a soft writer. Ou wrote many beautiful poems, and this book was perfect for her. Embedded in the cover of the black book, was a lunar flower in the bottom left corner, it was golden, and gave the book a hint of elegance to it.

"What do you think Kyo? Would Ou like this?" Tohru asked holding the book up to him.

"I think she would, you know your friends well Tohru" He replied, and Tohru only smiled felicitously.

Inside the store, Tohru also bought Hana many beautiful candles, ranging in colors, and even a few shaped like the colorful Chinese Dragons. Those were Hana's favorites, and Tohru was very pleased with the gifts. She paid for them quickly, and without thinking Kyo took the bags from her and carried them.

After gazing and wandering past a few more stores. Tohru entered another formal wear store.

"What are we doing in here Tohru?" Kyo asked confused.

"Well, I know Shigure needs a few ties, and a watch, he dropped his a few days ago and it shattered the glass" Tohru replied.

They grazed the isles once more, until they came to a giant selection of ties.

"Now, which one to get him?" Tohru asked

"How about this one?" Kyo held up a tie that read "Old is a lie!" on the tie was drawn in many old looking smiley faces.

"Or this one?" Tohru held up another one "Don't Talk to Me," With a bunch of men with no mouths. The two laughed and tried to mimic Shigure as an old geezer.

Tohru quickly picked out a few more formal ones and, while Kyo was bent over looking a lower shelved selection tied one on his neck. He stood up quickly looking confused

"Ack what is this?" Kyo asked tugging at the tie

"Look in the mirror silly" Tohru replied.

Kyo let out an exasperated sigh, but walked over to the mirror anyway. He looked at himself, straightening out the tie, and Tohru appeared behind him peeking her head around his side her hands on his shoulders trying to see over him.

"Aww look how professional you look Kyo!" Tohru replied cheerfully, her hand sliding up his chest to straighten the tie again, which made Kyo tense, but Tohru hadn't noticed.

"Yeah yeah, I'm not the professional type." he replied adjusting the tie again.

"What a shame, you look so handsome when you get dressed up" Tohru replied, not really suggesting anything, but it caused Kyo's mind to wander while she unlaced the tie.

Tohru finished in this store quickly, buying four ties for Shigure and a new watch. While Kyo wasn't watching of course, she snuck in the tie she had gotten him to try on, just a souvenir right? She smiled to herself and walked out the store, Kyo again taking the bag.

After the two finished that store, Kyo went over to a proletarians behind an ice cream cart, and bought each of them a small vanilla cone. He sat Tohru down on a bench placing the bags down at his sides as he handed a cone to her.

"Here Tohru, you must be hungry"

"Thanks Kyo!" She replied sweetly taking a small taste of it shivering slightly. But she giggled, and Kyo only smiled again as they continued eating. The two finished relevantly quickly, Kyo not realizing he had gotten some on his nose ((Hey it can happen? I've done it! :-p)) Tohru giggled seeing this, and covered her mouth trying to contain herself.

"What?" Kyo asked confused scratching his orange hair. Tohru simply pulled out a napkin and wiped at his nose. Upon reaction, he reached out grabbing her hand, causing him to blush slightly. He held onto her hand, as if a silent connection between them and slowly let her go "Sorry, you surprised me Squirt" he replied hostilely standing up and taking the bags. "Lets go, we've got more shops for you to see" he added vapidly.

Kyo cursed quietly to himself, for ruining such a perfectly good time. But he continued walking, and Tohru soon scampered after him. She bought a new bike helmet for Haru, a variety of seeds for Yuki, and a new music CD for Momiji. Tohru sighed miserably, she had yet to find Kyo a gift, and she felt defeated.

Kyo, he too felt defeated, not finding a good gift for Tohru. The two agreed on one final store. As they entered the store, Tohru screamed delicately as she found a beautiful husky dog asleep on a rug before the cash register. She quickly bent over and stroked him behind his ears.

"You like Ace there pretty miss?" The owner asked behind the counter. He looked old, just like his dog, those two, must have spent a long lifetime together.

"Oh he's gorgeous sir."

"A grand companion, I've had him for twelve years now"

"That's great, to share such a long part of your life with someone" she replied continuing to stroke Ace "Animals have such connections with people, they understand you better then any other person, feeling the worry, feeling your pain, and always knowing that their wagging tails can bring the joy and smile from that hardened shell"

"You're indeed right pretty miss. Ace is my best pal, and we know each other till the end"

Kyo stood in the back round, watching Tohru speak so vividly, with such compassion and listened to the old man as well. Tohru kissed the top of Ace's head, and Ace lifted that head and wagged his tail licking at her chin. She rose slowly and took her time walking around the store. Kyo stood at the counter with the old man.

"She your girlfriend Sonny?"

"No. But we're very close"

"You'd be very lucky to have a girl like her. You can see in her eyes, how much she understands the world around her."

"Yeah I know." He replied dreamily crossing his arms before his chest, and then looked down at Ace who was now sitting beside him. Kyo rubbed the dog's head softly.

"Lucky indeed..." The old man replied chuckling as he walked into the back room, leaving Kyo alone with Ace.

Tohru searched the shelves, looking for something for Kyo. She stood there fading out into thoughts. Kyo was a very withdrawn person, and only so often did she open up to anyone in general especially her. But Tohru couldn't forget the day she had first fainted, and how well he had taken care of her.

Tohru's eyes were drawn to a jewelry box. She lifted the lid quietly, and was shocked to hear the twinkling melody that emerged. This song, was her mother's favorite song, she used to sing it all the time to Tohru before she fell asleep at night. Tohru's eyes filled with tears, but she could not find the strength to shut the box. The soft melody, echoed in the small shop.

Kyo watched from the counter, seeing Tohru grow extremely rigid, and could see her shaking, holding in tears. Kyo walked over, and stood beside Tohru, just as the music slowly stopped, the winder coming to its halt. Tohru looked to him sadly. "It was her song..." She mouthed, her words scarcely audible. Tohru shut the lid to the box firmly, keeping her hand upon the box, and then turned slowly, resting her head against Kyo's chest. "It hurts..." she mumbled again and again.

Kyo frowned, feeling very sorry for her. She had lost someone so dear to her, at such a hard age, and no matter how many times Tohru could smile, it did not remove the pain. He wrapped his arms around her and she only remained very still "That was her song...she used to sing it to me at night, before I fell asleep." she whispered again. "I miss her Kyo...I miss her, it hurts. It hurts so much Kyo" she cried again.

Kyo only cooed her quietly, rubbing her back with her warm hands. "I know Tohru I know" he replied, his eyes hurting to see Tohru so sad. Worst of all, there was no fixing the pain, and it would forever remain. Tohru opened her eyes once more, resting still.

"I loved that song" she said finally looking up him, her face still stained with tears. Tohru took in another deep breath, trying to regain her poise. She then turned, leaving the isle, and moved on to another. Kyo took another look at the music box, and already missed her warmth. He walked back over to Ace, who nuzzled against Kyo's leg.

Tohru quickly bought Kyo's gift without him seeing. She pet Ace one more time, and told Kyo that she needed to get some fresh air outside. While she left, he followed after her. Waving a goodbye to the kind old man, and gave one last pat on Ace's head.

"You bring her back here anytime you like"

"I will sir."

"You might be able to bring her back." The man said quietly.

"Bring her back?" Kyo asked confused.

"She may be standing there beside you, but the only thing real in her are those tears." he replied, walking again in the back, and Ace followed him. Kyo left the store soon after, never forgetting that man's words.

Author's Note

Well there's the end of Chapter 9. I can't wait to write about that camping trip, and I wonder what Tohru got Kyo as a gift, even I don't know yet.