Because you were there
Disclaimer: I own no aspect of Fruits Basket.
Here's a new story! It's an A.U. , so no curse. I know I left a lot of things unexplained in my other story, so maybe one of these days I'll do an epilogue. Hope you like this; give me some feedback on it so I'll know if I'm wasting my time or not.
Prologue
Kyoko Honda was sitting in the park on a windy autumn day. Her daughter Tohru was sleeping in her lap. Kyoko smiled and raked her fingers through her daughter's short brown hair.
Never in her life did she think she would become a mother someday. In her young life, she was wild and a gang member. Her parents hardly wanted anything to do with her, and she did bad in school. But one day she met Katsuya Honda. He was her breath of fresh air, he was everything to her in her empty life.He inspired her to quit her gang and try to change her life around.
Granted he was a teacher, and much older than her. But he loved her and understood her. And she loved him. Her father was all too happy to hand her over to him when Katsuya asked for her hand in marriage. But she didn't care. It was what she wanted. She got a wonderful husband, and eventually a beautiful daughter. She got a second chance at life and she wasn't going to waste it.
She lifted her face to the wind as it blew. Katsuya was on a trip. She couldn't wait till he got back. She always became worried when Katsuya left for a trip. But he always returned to her okay, so she Always tried not to worry too much...
Lost in her musings, she failed to notice a little boy with red hair as fiery as hers, playing in a sand box not too far from the bench she was sitting on.
She looked towards him when she heard him sneeze. Smiling, she watched him as he dug holes in the sand. For some reason he looked sad. Lifting Tohru in her arms, she walked over to the little boy, and sat beside him.
"Hi, whats your name" she said. He gave no reply. 'Okay, so this kid is not very talkative.' Then she noticed him turning to her, and looking at her tentatively.
Their eyes met, and she saw they were a beautiful russet brown color. "My...my name is Kyo."
" Kyo, huh? That's a nice name. What are you making" She was referring to the mounds of sand he constructed.
"They're houses, and these are people" he said while pointing at the various small twings he had in front of him.
"Well it looks real nice. Are you here by yourself"
"No...Kazuma-sensei is getting hot chocolate from the place over there." He pointed to the cafe behind a row of trees. She noticed his eyes would shift to the sleeping bundle in her arms.
"Her name is Tohru. She's my daughter. She's two years old. How old are you"
"I'm four." He stopped what he was doing and turned to face her fully now. He stared at Tohru, sleeping in her mother's arms, with rosy cheeks and a red nose. He reached out a hand to touch her, but pulled away at the last second.
"It's okay" Kyoko said, giving him permission. His hand reached out again, and he touched her hair like he was petting a kitten or puppy.
"I would wake her up so she could meet you, but she was pretty tired today. Maybe you can meet her some other day."
Kyo didn't say anything in reply. He just went back to playing in the sand. He then turned his head at the sound of his name being called. A tall man in a long brown trenchcoat was waiting at the park entrance with two cups in his hand.
The boy stood slowly, and reluctantly started walking toward his guardian, occasionally looking back at Kyoko. She watched him walk away towards who she assumed was his guardian. The man was tall and handsome, with a quiet air about him. She watched him kneel down to Kyo and zip up his jacket, helping him put on his hat and gloves.
The man looked in Kyoko's direction, and gave her a short wave. She waved back, and watched as they made their way hand in hand out of the park...
"So did you have a good time at the park" Kazuma asked.
"Yeah."
"I see you made a new friend. I've never seen you talk so much to anyone. Was she a nice person"
"Yeah. Sensei...Can we go to the park again, tomorrow" Kazuma glanced at Kyo, suprised. Maybe this is just what Kyo needed to bring him out of his shell.
"Sure, we can go again. If that's what you want" he said, smiling.
So every Saturday Kyoko brought Tohru and Kazuma brought Kyo to the park to play together.
She and Kazuma would always sit and watch on a bench as Kyo and Tohru played together. He would take her chubby hand and they would sit on the swings, her in his lap; or they would go down the slide together, play hide and seek, or play in the sand.
And Kyo was always careful when playing with her. He would swing slowly on the swings, he made sure he had a tight grip on her when going down the slide, and he would make sure there was nothing dangerous in the sand that she could choke or hurt herself on in the sand box.
Tohru's first word was even his name. He was like her big brother; always watching out for her and protecting her. Kyoko and Kazuma regularly told him that, and it always made him blush when they did so.
Kyoko felt motherly towards Kyo, even though he wasn't her son or anything. There was just something so endearing and sad about him. Sometimes she wondered if he even had his own mother. So one day when Kyo wasn't in hearing range, she asked Kazuma.
"No, Kyo's mother is no longer with us. She... died a year ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry. So where's his father" Kazuma looked sadly at Kyo before answering.
"Kyo... doesn't have a very good relationship with his father. His father blames him for his mother's death. After Kyo was born, his mother seemed to fall into a depressive state. No matter what anyone did or said, she became worse and worse. One day, she just committed suicide. And Kyo was the one that found her.
Life has been hard for someone as young as him. Even at her funeral people said cruel things, like he shouldn't have been born and that it was his fault his mother was dead.
He became introverted and bitter, and he was sad all the time. I'm even suprised he responded the way he did towards you.
Ever since he met you, he's become a little more open. And I'd like to thank you for that."
"No thanks needed, it was my pleasure. I like Kyo, he's a sweet kid and Tohru and I like spending time with you guys."
"You're a good person Kyoko Honda" Kazuma said warmly.
Kyoko just blushed and laughed, as the autumn wind blew through her long fiery red hair...
A year later, Kyoko's husband died.
Kyoko invited Kyo and Kazuma to her home. She and Tohru didn't go to the park as often after Katsuya died. So instead they visited her regularly at her home. Her house seemed permeated in sadness and thedrastic change in her was audible.
She was sad all the time and she rarely even smiled anymore. She even cut her long red hair to a chin length bob.
One day he asked her if she was going to be okay, and if there was any family she could call till the pain of her husbands death went away.
"My family and I aren't on good terms. And I'm as okay as somene can be when someone they love dies. The only thing keeping me going is Tohru. She's all I've got now" she said. Likewise, Kyoko was all Tohru had.
"If you ever need anything, you have me and Kyo," Kazuma said softly, placing her hand in his.
Kyoko sniffed, and squeezed his hand, glad for the comfort.
Neither knew that a few years later, Kyoko would also leave Tohru, and all she would have would be Kyo and Kazuma...
TBC
