Okay, I changed the title. :P I had no problem with the title before, but I showed the story to my friend, and she said it looked good, but the title was stupid. I hope this one is a little better. (Word of warning: this chapter is a tad more violent than I originally planneditto be...)-Maple Chan

Kisa's Hero

Unrest lay in the air. It hung from the tops of the lockers and crept across the floors of the hallways. It stole away in the bathrooms, and hid around corners. No one could see it, but every one could sense it. Especially one who had many dealings with these kinds of things.

Megumi Hanajima walked along a row of lockers, silent as ever. As usual, he was alone. The other kids in his grade avoided him. It wasn't because he was mean, or even because he was scary…no; it was because they couldn't understand him. He wasn't like the rest of them. While every other eye darted back and forth, his deep, dark eyes stayed focused on an imaginary goal. While every other foot landed with either over confidence or great uncertainty, his seemed to have found a happy medium. While every other body was dressed in the standard slightly green school uniform, his was a uniform of pure black (the faculty had been too unsettled by him to bother asking him to change).

Yes, he could feel the unease vibrating from every mind. Although Megumi did not posses the electromagnet powers of his sister, it didn't take waves to tell that something was going to happen. He had heard rumors of an upcoming fight, but he had thought nothing of it…until now. Everywhere he turned, the school reeked of violence. "It's only a matter of time", he muttered aloud, scaring those nearest to him.

As if by his doing, at that moment, a yell was heard from a nearby corridor. Students rushed in mass confusion, some away in fear of their own safety, others towards the outbreak. Megumi was one of the latter. However, unlike the majority of the latter, he was not heading there for a source of entertainment. Upon arriving, Megumi stopped on the edge of the crowd, and witnessed something that unsettled even him.

A group of four or five gang members, both male and female alike were beating up what appeared to be a ball. One chucked pebbles, while the other few randomly kicked it. Slowly, the ball uncurled, revealing a girl, in Megumi's grade.

"Please…", she pleaded quietly.

"You filth!" the apparent gang leader said. "What right do you have fouling up our school air with your 'uniqueness'. That hair, those eyes, are a sign of an animal…the sign of a freak! And that's what you are, a freak!" As she said this, her foot landed hard into the girl's side.

Megumi's heart stopped at the sight. Recognizing the girl as Kisa Sohma from his class, he felt a chill creep down his spine. As he watched the leader's foot pound repeatedly into Kisa, his eyes narrowed.

"Did you hear me! You…", once again her boot landed on Kisa. Megumi twitched.

"…Are…". A small whimper arose from Kisa as the boot found it's target. Megumi's lip curled, showing his teeth.

"…A…". This time Kisa cried out, and a spot of blood showed through her uniform. As the leader prepared to another kick, Megumi stepped out of the crowd.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked, showing no sign of any emotion, although his blood boiled with anger. A slight inhale of breath could be heard in the crowd. This was the first time a seventh grader had ever stood up to a ninth grader, let along a group of ninth graders.

"What are WE doing?" The rock thrower replied, putting his hands on his hips. "What are YOU doing? Get back in line, Sevie!"

"You act as though you are superior, yet your actions prove otherwise". All action stopped, including the gang leader's foot, which now hung mid air. Heads turned toward the gothic boy. Megumi continued. "If you were really superior to us, what need would you have for violence? Would you not have better ways of taking out your anger? The truth is, your afraid". The rock thrower dropped the stone currently resting in his hand. "Your afraid of what others will think". The leaders mouth opened slightly, her bafflement written clearly on her face. "You think that if you do nothing, you will be the brunt of the jokes. So you take out your anger, your insecurities, on someone else".

Kisa turned painfully to look at her long time classmate. Megumi and Kisa had been in the same class ever since preschool, and yet they had never once exchanged words, let alone glances. And now he was standing up for her, something no one else had been able to do…not…even Hiro…

Megumi turned to see Kisa staring at him. Her look was one of wonder…and…something else… Megumi stood speechless for a moment, staring back at the girl he was saving, before turning back to the gang. "You are so insecure, so unsure of yourself, that you take it on some one innocent, and, by doing so, you defeat your original purpose". He started striding toward the gang leader. As he approached, she slowly backed into the wall behind her.

"You aren't making yourself superior…your only showing your own inferiority". With every step, she felt Megumi's overwhelming aura start pressing in on her (similar to Saki's electrical aura).

"By trying to appear stronger, you only show your own weakness". Kisa stared after Megumi, surprised at his impact on the gang's leader. As he cornered her, the rest of the gang started to slip from the scene of the crime, taking flight.

"Well, guess what". He was now face to face with her. She cowered in fear, as she stared into the dark pools of Megumi's eyes. "You're not fooling anyone. We all know you are weak, and we can see it". Before he could continue, a shout was heard from down the hall. Seconds later in ran Haru, with a surprised Momiji trailing behind.

"Kisa!" Hatsuharu yelled. As he and Momiji rushed to her side, he tried helping her sit up. Laying a hand on her side, he was surprised to hear her yelp with pain. Withdrawing it quickly, he saw his hand was covered with blood. Staring down at the blood soaked uniform Kisa was wearing, his now red hand curled into a fist. "Who…who caused this?"

The crowd who had gathered to watch the fight shuffled away from the corner where Megumi had the ringleader cornered, and broke up as a teacher herded them away. An angry Haru, Black Haru to be exact, charged at her. Megumi, however, moved to the side, allowing her to escape at the last second. And escape is what she did. As thankful as the gang leader was for this, Haru was not.

"WHAT DID YOU DO! YOU ALLOWED HER TO ESCAPE! ARE YOU ON HER SIDE, IS THAT WHY?" Haru's hand snatched Megumi by the shirt and lifted him a foot or so off the ground.

"Stopping her from escaping, letting you get your hands on her would have only continued the chain of violence".

Haru growled under his breath, and lifted Megumi even higher of the ground.

Kisa, who had been watching while Momiji attempted to bandage her side with part of his uniform, let out a gasp. "Brother!"

Immedeatly Haru whipped around to see Kisa staring up at him, tears forming in her eyes. "Why?" she asked, on the verge of crying.

It hurt Haru to see Kisa so sad…especially since it was his fault… "I…", he started, but closed his mouth. Black Haru vanished at the pitiful sight of Kisa, and his hair lightened back into it's bright white. Letting go of Megumi, Haru apoligized.

Momiji sniffed to himself as he inspected Kisa's injuries. How can anyone do this, cause so much pain like this? Watching Kisa whimper as he tried to attend to her wound, he suddenly flung his arms around her, crying.

The school nurse appeared out of nowhere. Settling herself next to Kisa, she attempted to start bandaging Kisa's side, but Haru brushed her off. "Don't bother", he said to her. Turning to Kisa, he whispered into the tiger's ear. "Don't worry, we'll have Hatori look at it at home".

Megumi, deciding Kisa needed some alone time with her family, turned to leave. Stopping for a moment, he looked back one last time.

Kisa stared at him, her eyes watering again. She could have sworn she saw a slight smile come to his lips, and he was gone. Momiji held Kisa's hand as the nurse applied an ointment on the wound. The sting of it caused Kisa to squirm. However, she continued to stare at the corner Megumi had disappeared around. Momiji broke into her thoughts.

"Who was that?" he asked, staring in the direction Kisa faced.

Still in a slight trance, Kisa's lips curled into a small, but warm smile.

Momiji was surprised that, even after this morning's events, she was still able to smile.

Turning to the rabbit, she answered his question. "My hero…".

Lucinda the Maid- Thanks for reviewing! I hope you liked this chapter:)

ahirudesu- Yay! Megumi made his grand debute in this chapter! He's one of my favs to...definetly my fav non-zodiac member. I hope, if Fruits Basket ever comes out with a second season, that we see more of Megumi in the future (I'm not far enough into the manga to know if he does show up multiple times...I only know he show's up once...Poor Megumi :( But that's what Megumi fics are for:D