Disclaimer: Neither Fruits Basket not the Fruits Basket characters belong to me. They are the property of Natsuki Takaya.

Wow, people read my update really fast and I received several reviews. I am so thankful I have both readers and reviewers. I wasn't going to post this chapter until tomorrow night, but I just can't seem to leave it be.I hope this chapter blends in with the rest of my story because it is a little different in tone from the others. Akito receives honorable mention in this one and fun and light doesn't work too well when he has a part to play.Please read and enjoy (of course reviews are acceptable as well."hint" "hint" :-)

To all of you that reviewed I know that I usually have a message for each of you at the beginning or end of my chapter. Please forgive me this time. If I say thank you to everyone individually, I probably won't post until tomorrow.Thank you everyone!I promise I will remember you with my next update. I think you would prefer the chapter to all the niceties.

Chapter 7 Tohru's Memories

Kristin sat down on the sand and Tori joined her. The picture of Kristi being huddled with her chin resting on her knee, the hurt still shining in her eyes, pulled at Tori's tender heart.

"Kristi-chan, I am so sorry. If I had realized how much this meant to you, I would have told you a long time ago. I think Risa and Hana kept it secret because they felt it was for my protection. I didn't talk about it, because I didn't really think it mattered in the grand scheme of things."

"Tori, my friends matter to me, very much."

Tohru thought for a minute, soft eyes on the incoming waves. "Before I came to America, my name was Tohru Honda. I grew up with a wonderful mother, but at school, I got teased a lot. We used to play this game called Fruits Basket. The point in the game was for everyone to be named as a fruit of some type, but when it was my time to play, I was told that I was an onigiri."

"But Tori, or should I say Tohru, that's a rice ball, it's not a fruit."

"Call me Tori, that is the name I am used to now. I know, but at the time I thought it was a wonderful thing because I loved rice balls. I watched this fun game unfold before my eyes and waited for the person in the center to call rice ball. It never happened. In time I came to understand that a rice ball does not belong in a Fruits Basket. I think I was probably an outsider most of my school career, but it didn't matter because I was secure in my mother's love. When I got into Junior High I met Hana and Uo and the three of us became best friends. I still didn't fit in with most of the people I knew, but I was accepted by those important to me."

"Tori, I can't quite believe you were ever an outsider. You are so sweet and kind"

Tori laughed softly. "I was an outsider but it didn't matter. Then shortly before my 16th birthday my mom left the house and never came back. She died in a car accident. It was then that I finally found a place where I belonged. I happened upon Shigure Sohma's house on my way to school about a week after I had taken up living in a tent. Well, I lost the tent in a landslide and I got sick that same night. Shigure and his cousin Yuki took care of me that night and helped me recover my belongingswhich I thoughtlost when my tent was covered by all that dirt. After that I discovered a secret that the Sohmas had kept hidden for many years and promised never to divulge it. I haven't to this day and that is something I cannot tell you or anyone Kristi. Not even Uo or Hana know this."

"I can live with that, I think" Kristi said softly.

"Good. Now this is where the story becomes very interesting. Yuki Sohma was the prince of our high school and we actually became very good friends. Perhaps Momiji has some pictures, I was not allowed to take any of mine with me. After Yuki I met Kyo Sohma. Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun hated each other most of the time but eventually they came to understand each other. Shigure-san had taken in both of them as well as myself. The four of us were a family, I felt as if I truly belonged somewhere. After that I met Kagura-chan, Hatsuharu-san, Hatori-san, Momiji, Kisa, Hiro-san, Ritsu-chan, and I also met the head of the Sohma family, Akito-san."

"That was quite a large group of people."

"It was and they were all very dear to me, even Akito-san. However, I don't think he liked me very much. He was the reason I left Japan."

"How can one man have that much power over you Tori? I don't get it."

Tohru's thoughts flashed back to her last day in Japan.

The dark haired man with hard agate blue eyes looked at her as if she had no right to exist on the planet earth.

"Miss Tohru Honda-san, you will leave Japan and you will leave permanently. I will no longer allow you to remain with my family. You are the cause of all my problems. My whole family is in rebellion and I will not tolerate that. It is your fault and you will go. If you do not, I can make very sure that you never see any of my juunishi alive again! Get out of my sight and out of our lives!"

"Akito-san, what have I done…"

"Out of our lives I tell you. You only cause us more hurt and suffering. You make us believe we can live normal lives and be accepted. Then we get hurt again! You must go."

His anger got the upper hand and Tohru found herself cowering on the floor as his blows rained down up on her. "Oh please, kami-sama, let someone hear, let someone come to help me." For the first time in her life, hope deserted her.

Shigure raced into the room with Hatori close on his heels. "Akito-san you must stop, you are going to kill the girl. Tohru-kun run, get out of here, find some place safe."

"You must leave! If you don't, no one will be left without feeling my wrath. I have the power, I can make their lives miserable, I can…"

Hatori gave Akito a sedative, which immediately knocked him out. Tohru limped out of the room very slowly. Every part of her body was in pain. She fainted outside the gate and that was where Shigure found her.

"Tohru-kun, our dear flower, let me help you." Shigure gently carried her to the car in which he had arrived at the estate. He had been too late to be of much help to Tohru though. "Tohru-kun, I am so sorry, I came as soon as I heard that Yuki and Kyo had been sent on a wild goose chase by Akito and that you had been ordered to come see him. I was too late Tohru, I'm so sorry"

He took her to an emergency room in an out of the way hamlet where she was treated for multiple injuries and internal bleeding. Her left arm had been dislocated and rested at her side helplessly.

Shigure had made all the arrangements to have her cared for until she was able toget aroundon her own again. He then had his editor, Mii-chan, arrange passage for Tohru out of the country. Upon Shigure's advice and because of her fear for the others safety if she had contact with anyone else again, Tohru did not see any of the other Sohmas after that day.

"Tori…Tori-chan" Kristin said in concern as she saw the huge tears trickling down her face.

"He wouldn't even let me say good-bye and he hurt me so much. I was afraid…afraid for the others." The sheer horror on Tori's face and her inability to bring Tori back to the present scared Kristin terribly. She raced to the bungalow calling for help. Hana and Uo had gone into town for some supplies for the party, but Momiji came to her call.

"Kristi-chan, what's happened?"

"It's Tori, she freaked out on me and I can't snap her out of it. Please go see what you can do Momiji-kun…I'm so frightened."

"Stay here Kristi-chan and get a bed ready for her. I will see what I can do." Momiji raced down to the beach where he saw the motionless Tohru. When he approached her, she was shaking horribly and crying silently.

"Tohru, Tohru, please come back to me. Tohru…"

Momiji kneeled in front of her and took her hands in his. "It's okay Tohru, it's all behind you now. I'm here and everyone is okay. Yuki, Kyo, Shigure, everyone, we are still okay."

Finally Momiji's words started getting through to her and Tohru finally surfaced from the waking nightmare. "Momiji-kun," she whispered and hugged him tight.

Momiji allowed her to hold on to him in rabbit form until she finally stopped shaking and the light began to shine in her eyes again. "Oh, Momiji I am so sorry. I never meant for anyone to see me this way. Please forgive me."

"Tohru, it's okay." Tohru released her strangle hold on Momiji's furry neck and let him hop down onto the beach. "Of course if anyone did see us it would be hard to explain why there is a furry bunny on a San Diego Beach…that would be interesting Tohru, don't you think?"

She started giggling. "I guess bunnies don't really belong on beaches, unless they are beach bunnies of course" she said with a grin.

"You better turn around or you will get an eyeful soon enough…" He said smiling in response.

"Oh my…" Tohru turned around just as she heard "POOF".

"It's okay, I'm decent now." Momiji said from behind her back. Tohru turned to face him. "I'm so sorry Momiji, I should never have hugged you where someone might see…Kristi, where is she?"

She's at the house making sure there is a bed ready for you. Do you think you can walk back to the house now? That's one disadvantage to this curse, I can't carry you back unless…" He had a theory but wasn't sure if it would work.

"Get on my back Tohru. Hold me only around the neck, not the waist or chest. I think I may not change if you do that."

"Momiji-kun, that is too much trouble. I can walk, see?" Tohru took a few stumbling steps and ended up in the sand again. She struggled to stand again, but the emotional turmoil had taken its toll.

"Tohru-kun, Tohru-kun…" Momiji said in an unconscious imitation of the way Shigure had often calmed Tohru when she got hysterical or embarrassed. "It's okay…Let me help you."

Momiji knelt and Tohru climbed on his back. Her legs twined around his waist and her arms about his neck. Momiji was relieved to find out that he didn't change as long as Tohru was not in contact with his chest. He had thought about this a long time. He had analyzed which movements caused him and other members of his family to change and finally concocted a theory. Apparently, he had been correct in his hypothesis.

The two of them made it back to the bungalow in this fashion. When he set Tohru down on the veranda, she was able to stand with some stability.

"Thank you Momiji-kun," she said softly.

"Tohru…"

"Yes…"

Momiji took her face into his hands and kissed her gently on the lips. I am still in love with her, even after all this time. What caused her reaction on the beach? I wonder if Shigure might have some idea, or maybe Haru. Probably Shigure, Haru already told me everything he knew.

Tohru stepped back and looked at him in surprise. "Momiji…"

"I'm sorry Tohru, I should not have done that. I just wanted to comfort you and that was one of the only ways I know how."

"No, no it's alright. You just surprised me." The red blush on her cheeks was evident even in the moonlight. "I do feel better, thank you."

Just then Kristi came out onto the verandah. "Tori, you are okay now, I am so glad. You had me worried. Thank you for bringing her back Momiji."

"It was my pleasure Kristi." Momiji's easy smile was once again on his features. He had been very worried about Tohru as well. What had happened on that last day with Akito? Neither Hatori nor Shigure said much. All they would say is that Tohru had to leave, it was Akito's orders. Shigure had delivered notes that Tohru had written to each member of her beloved family and that was the only way they knew she was gone, forever.