Wishing Not to be Alone

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters and such… Even if I did, it wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is today, because the characters would look horrible, the story would be lame… I have a long list of reasons why.

Chapter 1: The First Day of School

On a fair spring day, about three years later, the sun shone brightly to greet the new school year in Kaibara High. A petite sixteen-year-old girl with golden hair slightly tinted in a shade of orange looked outside the classroom window at the beautiful petals of cherry blossoms falling gently downwards towards the ground. Her golden eyes followed them softly, as they fell.

Her friend, a black-haired, grayish-blue eyed girl, called out to her softly, "Kisa-chan… Kisa-chan!"

Kisa's eyes gleaming like the sun and her mouth twisting into a small smile, she answered in a soft, quiet voice, "Sakura-chan… I'm so happy to see you today."

She hurried over to meet her friend, who was standing by the entrance of the classroom and grinning from ear to ear in cheerfulness.

Sakura answered excitedly, "Me too, Kisa-chan! It's so wonderful that we will be starting our second year today, right?"

"Mm-hmm… It is…" Kisa answered with a faint expression of joy in her expression.

Sakura replied, grinning, "I cannot wait to see the new first-years! That will be most enjoyable…"

Kisa responded, with a rather distracted expression on her face, as if she was thinking about something other than the conversation they were having now, "Yes, it would be very fun to meet them all… Very enjoyable…"

Sakura looking at Kisa's zoned-out expression, she thought to herself about who or what Kisa could be thinking of. It's odd, she had been acting strangely lately, cheerful as ever… yet somewhat distracted… Immediately, Sakura's expression changed to one of understanding, as she remembered, "Hey… didn't you say a friend of yours was starting at Kaibara High School this year? What's his name…? Hiro, I think…"

Kisa's expression lit up slightly, as she nodded and answered, "Yes… Hiro-chan is starting his first year at this school, this year."

Sakura wore an expression of confusion, as she said, "Hiro-chan? Hmm… I don't know of many boys that actually allow themselves to be addressed that way…"

Kisa responded, "Well, Hiro-chan and I have known each other since we were really little…" changing the subject, she exclaimed, "Oh, where is Hitomi-chan? I haven't seen her at all since I arrived at school."

Sakura replied, thinking about the girl that was her and Kisa's best friend, "Hitomi is outside, apparently talking to a first-year friend of hers… I think she'll be back shortly…"

As Sakura said this, a tall, dark-brown-haired girl with bright green eyes walked into the room, waving joyfully at Kisa and Sakura.

Kisa exclaimed joyfully, eyeing the newcomer ecstatically, "Good morning, Hitomi-chan!"

Hitomi replied, "Oh… hello, Kisa-chan, how are you doing?"

Kisa smiled quietly, as she responded, "Very well, thank you."

The three chatted animatedly for quite a while in excitement about the coming year. Suddenly, Sakura wondered, "Kisa-chan… so when are we going to meet your friend, Hiro Sohma? You talk so much about him… but I want to meet him myself!"

Hitomi chimed in, "Yes, yes, Kisa-chan! We want to meet him! Hmm… should we go right now to make our acquaintance with him?"

Kisa, clearly overjoyed at the thought of introducing her friends to Hiro, immediately answered, "Of course! I was thinking of going to meet him later on, myself. We can leave right now."

The other two girls nodded enthusiastically, as the three left the classroom to go meet Kisa's friend.

As they passed by an array of younger students, Kisa, Sakura, and Hitomi got lost in the swarm of new faces they did not recognize. They were about to give up on their search, when Kisa saw a tall boy, with light-brown hair, leaning alone on the wall by the entrance of classroom 1-A.

Kisa's expression lit up dramatically, as she ran quickly to meet the boy, her friends lagging close behind.

"Hiro-chan!" Kisa exclaimed happily, waving joyously to the boy. "I have not spoken to you since New Year's… How are you?"

Hiro answered with a hint (not too much) of a smile on his face, "I'm doing fine, Kisa…" When Kisa started high school and Hiro had one year of middle school left, they no longer attended the same school, thus making it so they spoke to each other much less often then they used to.

Kisa smiled contently, as looked up at her close friend. She answered, "That's wonderful, Hiro-chan…"

Suddenly, Hitomi interrupted, "So now that that is over… can you introduce us to your friend, Kisa-chan?"

Kisa smiled, as she introduced Hiro to her two best friends, "Right! So, Sakura-chan, Hitomi-chan, this is my younger cousin, Hiro Sohma. Hiro-chan, these are my two best friends at school, Sakura Onichii and Hitomi Kuwabara."

Sakura, with a cheerful grin on her face, said, "Pleased to meet you, Hiro-kun."

Hitomi, with a note of playfulness in her voice, remarked, "Hmmm… So you are the famous 'Hiro-chan' that Kisa-chan is always talking about… interesting…"

Kisa's cheeks turned a soft pink, as she said, nervously, "B-but I do not talk about Hiro-chan all the time… do I?"

"Don't worry about it, Kisa-chan," Sakura told the girl, seeing the embarrassed look on her face. "Hitomi is just teasing… You don't always talk about anybody."

Hiro, in the midst of all this, answered sarcastically to the two girls, "I'm happy to meet you, too." (Rivals! Rivals, I tell you! ) Although that Hitomi girl really aggravated him, if they made Kisa happy, then he could cope with them. At least they weren't like that "stupid woman", Tohru Honda, whom Hiro felt was his rival ever since he met her four years ago.

Kisa turned to Hiro. "So, anyway, how are your mom and Hinata doing?"

Hiro replied, "Well… mother's being clumsy, as usual. She tends to trip a lot… The other day, for instance, she was stepping downstairs and accidentally tripped – nearly sent flying. Gosh… how many times do I have to tell her to be more careful? She's such a klutz, and it really worries me, sometimes…" (Kisa smiled slightly, Hiro really did care about his mother a lot - no matter how much he complained about her) "…And Hinata… We just celebrated her third birthday. She's a pain at times, but I guess that's how three-year-olds are supposed to be… Maybe you should come over sometime soon to visit."

Kisa answered kindly, "I'd love to."

Suddenly, Sakura checked the time on her watch, her eyes widening. "Kisa-chan… Hitomi… We need to go! Our classes will be starting very soon."

Hearing Sakura's words, Kisa waved good-bye to Hiro, saying, "Goodbye, Hiro-chan! Until next time…"

Hiro answered, "Ok… See you, Kisa." He watched the girls wander off, as he stood there, alone, waiting for his own class to start. He still had not said a word to Kisa… Even after all this time, he still hadn't told her what he really felt about her. There was a pain in his heart… He could never tell her – the fear of Akito's wrath if her found out was too great. If Hiro were to reveal his true feelings, it would endanger Kisa…

…And there was no way that Hiro was going to let that happen again.

Neko's Rambling Corner Part 2: And so… Chapter 1 is officially over! Wow, that was a long chapter. Over 1000 words… pretty long compared to the prologue. (Well of course! It's supposed to be!) Anyway, Hiro may have been slightly out of character in some parts here, but I think I got a few complaints and sarcasm mixed into his dialogue there… In case you don't know, Hinata is Hiro's baby sister, who was born and first appeared in chapters 103 and 104. Since she's still a baby in the manga, nobody knows what her personality or appearance will be when she's old enough to talk and stuff… for the purposes of this storyline I'll make it all up.