I do not own Fruits Basket. I do, however, own Reina Sohma. She is a figment of my imagination alone, so please do not use her (why would you?) without my permission!

Thanks for all the reviews. Here's chapter 3!

Haru felt great. Reina was going to live with him. A girl, living with him. One that shared the pain and suffering of the zodiac curse.

Reina watched Haru's face. He's so sweet. Offering me a place to live. I've never met someone so compassionate. But he's also in pain, I can feel it. I want to help him, and maybe he can help me as well.

The two of them arrived, and went promptly to Hatori.

"Reina-chan," Hatori greeted her. "It has been a few years. You have certainly grown."

She smiled shyly. "Are you going to give me a check-up before I move in?"

"Well, yes, but first you should get all your belongings. I already called your foster family and explained your abrupt move."

"I have all my stuff in my backpack. All I get is clothing anyway."

Hatori looked her over. "Were you planning on running away, again?"

"What's wrong with that?" she whined. "Those families are terrible! No one actually cares."

"Well, I never could stop you. Be good to Haru now."

"Of course I'll be good," she said. But Haru caught the playful glimmer in her eyes.

"I'll show you were you'll be. I'll just fix up the guest bedroom…" When they entered the house, Haru realized what a mess it was. Clothes and trash were everywhere.

I never remember to clean! Damn…

Reina looked over his shoulder. "It's pretty big…who else lives here?"

Haru shrugged. "I'm the only one ever around."

"You're all alone in this big house!" she exclaimed. "How lonely!"

He shrugged again. "Sometimes Kisa or Momiji stop by. Momiji quite often. I spend a lot of time training."

Suddenly, thunder crashed outside. "Ahh!" Reina jumped up. Then she shivered. "Ooh, I hate thunder!" She hugged Haru tightly. "Make it stop!"

Haru was momentarily paralyzed. With the exception of Kisa, he had never had a girl in his arms. Sure, Tohru hugged him once in a blue moon, but then he turned into a cow. Reina was hugging him, and it was an incredible feeling.

Boom! Thunder crashed again, and Reina held tighter. "Eeek!" She buried her face in his chest. Then Haru remembered something. Kyou hated thunder. She really is a cat…He thought. Well, that proves Kyou wrong.

Haru held on to her tightly, almost afraid that when they let go the feeling would never return. But I should show her her room…

"Reina, it's okay. Let me show you your new room."

He felt her nod her head, but she still didn't move. Wow, I've known this girl half a day and I've seen so many different sides of her. He stroked her back. "Come on," he said gently. "It's okay. It's just thunder."

She nodded again and looked into his eyes. She was blushing. "Okay, sorry…"

She's almost like a little girl when she's scared. I wonder why she was holding on so tight…it was almost as if she was fearful to let go. Haru led her down the hall to the guestroom. He opened the door. "It hasn't been used for years, so it's almost empty." He said. "We'll have to go buy you some furniture. Luckily, we do have a bed."

Reina nodded, but she looked distracted. "Okay." She said. "Thanks for this, Haru. You're really incredible. Now, I have to go see Ha'ri."

"Okay." He said. "I'll make something to eat."

Reina left for Hatori's. When she arrived, he was waiting.

"Good, Reina. I have to speak with you about living with Haru."

She looked at him suspiciously. "What?"

"Well, obviously, you're close to Akito again so I want you to be cautious. I also must tell you about Haru's black side."

"Black side?"

"Yes. You see, when Haru is particularly annoyed or angered, he turns black. His whole personality changes. It can even get dangerous sometimes, so I wanted to warn you."

"It's not like I don't have…conditions…of my own. I can handle this."

Hatori just shook his head. "Cats are so stubborn." He muttered. "If you do find yourself in a dangerous situation, tell me."

"Okay, okay. Geez, don't worry so much."

"But I do worry, Reina. You give me reason to. Now, let's have that checkup, and then you can leave."

"Fine."

Meanwhile, back at the house, Haru was cleaning. Yes, cleaning. He picked up all the trash and started folding clothes. When he heard Reina outside, he stopped quickly and met her at the door.

"Dinner's ready." He said.

She smiled. "You do this all on your own every night?" she asked.

"Yeah…you get used to it."

"Hmm…" she said in response. "Now I feel useless." She teased. "You're such a good housekeeper."

He grinned. "Why thank you. Let's eat."

They both stuffed down dinner. "We should so our homework…" Haru muttered. "Man, I hate homework."

Reina looked up. "I'm all done. Give yours to me."

"That's cheating." He said. But he handed it over anyway.

It took her about five minutes. "Done." She said. "Let's do something fun."

"Like what?"

"Ohh, I don't know. Maybe I should show you my training includes more than rope climbing."

That interesting Haru. "How would you like to proceed?"

"I say the easiest and fastest way to judge an opponent is to fight. Let's fight!"

"I don't know…" I wouldn't want to hurt her.

"Come on, give me one shot." She begged. "Please?"

Before he even looked at her, he knew he wouldn't say no. "Okay, let's do it."

They went out to the backyard. "Don't go easy." Reina called to him. "I want a real fight."

And so it began. Reina jumped right in with kicks and punches. One hit Haru, and he was surprised at its strength. It would have sent him flying if he hadn't been on guard. She's really good. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about hurting her. Haru started fighting back. The punches parried back and forth. After a few minutes, they both stopped.

"Adrenaline rush." Reina grinned. "That was awesome."

Haru was smiling too. "Who trained you so well?"

"Hatori." She said bluntly. "You wouldn't think it, but he's an incredible teacher." It's just a white lie. She thought.

"Wow. You're amazing."

"Thanks." Smiling, the two of them walked back inside.

Later that night, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Haru answered.

"Is Sohma Reina there?" a voice asked. "I desperately need to talk to her."

"Hey Reina, someone's on the phone for you…" How'd they get the number this quickly?

Reina looked confused as well. "Who is it?"

Haru shrugged. "They say they 'desperately' need to talk to you."

Reina paled and backed away. "I don't want to talk to anyone." She said.

"Reina, they just want to-"

"I don't want to talk!" she backed away farther. "Hang up, Haru. Please hang up."

"Okay….?" Haru hung up the phone. "Are you okay?"

Reina was sitting, back against the wall. "Yeah…I just didn't want to talk. I didn't want to."

"Are you sure that's it?" Haru was concerned. Shouldn't I find this weird? Why am I only worried about her, not freaked out?

"That's it. I'm tired, I think I'll go to bed. Haru, thank you again. I'll never be able to repay you. Good night."

She smiled and headed to bed.