DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Chapter 1

Tohru blinked vaguely in the bright sunlight. It was a new morning. The food tray that had lain across her lap the previous day was now gone. Although she was incredibly sore, she sat up and placed a hand against her stiff back.

After a few minutes of stretching and bone cracking, Tohru slid out of bed. When her feet pressed against the wooden floor, she gave a yelp of pain. Looking down at them, Tohru found that they were heavily bandaged, except for her toes, which were just a bit dirty. Her whole body felt stiff.

A full length mirror stood at the foot of the bed. Hobbling towards it, Tohru looked at her reflection with interest and slight horror.

There were bandages everywhere on her body and face. A square bandage was taped against the long bloody scratch Akito had given her as a sending away 'gift.' A long thin bandage had been wrapped around her wrists, all the way to her elbows like a white ribbon. As Tohru lifted the hem of the nightgown she was wearing, she noticed that the same went for her legs. Apparently, the ropes had done more damage than merely limiting her to snake-like movements.

Her hair was mangled, as if it had drowned in the water and resurfaced, tangled. Kawazoe had changed Tohru's attire from her school uniform, to a long white sleeping gown that reached her ankles.

As she stood there, merely gazing back at her own reflection, she felt like fainting from the rage of emotion that had just entered her. Pain, confusion, sorrow, ire, and a multitude of many other mixed feelings.

She was tired of feeling this way, she was tired of thinking about the 'incident' at all. She dropped to her knees and gripped her mangled hair tightly, she wished none of this had ever happened. Her greatest desire, her utmost wish at that one moment was to have her life with the Sohmas back.

"I guess this isn't the best time to talk about what happened." Tohru didn't need to turn to know that it was Kamazoe speaking. Kamazoe walked towards her bed and sat down on the edge,"I have my own suspicions anyway."

Tohru looked up, slightly afraid,"You...you do?"

"Well," explained Kawazoe,"You were drenched and scratched up, so obviously, you must have fallen into the river."

"Wow, that's amazing!" exclaimed Tohru, leaping up from her crouching position,"You have amazing deductive skills, Kawa-kun-"

"But," Kawazoe interrupted, eyeing Tohru slightly suspiciously,"You had rope marks around your ankles and feet."

Tohru stopped abruptly in her rambling and sank to her knees,"Uh... that..."

"It's not very smart to keep things such as attempted murder to yourself," said Kawazoe quietly,"If you really want to talk about what happened, you should know that I'm always open to discussion. Naturally, you probably wouldn't tell me anyway. Afterall, I'm a stranger to you and you seem slightly traumatized about your experience."

Tohru didn't say anything. Then she whispered,"You wouldn't understand Kawa-kun, it really is best if I don't tell you about it."

Kawazoe sighed, as if she had been expecting Tohru to say this.

"Hmmm..." Kawazoe stood up,"You can stay here for as long as you want. You really don't need to pay, my family's pretty formidable."

Tohru shot up immediately,"NO!" It was the Sohma house all over again,"No... I mean... Kawa-kun, that would be too unfair to both you and me. I should do something to at least to repay my debt to you. Afterall, Kawa-kun, you did save my life."

Kawazoe flushed,"Hmm... let's see... I'm not very good at cooking or cleaning. I used to have a maid around to clean up things while I was out with my boyfriend, but she wasn't very trustworthy. Are you good at any of those things?"

Tohru felt a surge of energy through her,"Yes! I love cooking and cleaning!" She almost faltered. This really was the Sohma house all over again, but, she wasn't tending on staying at Kawazoe's for long. She wanted answers. And she was going to get them.

The next week was a week of recovery and settling in. Tohru's physical wounds eventually healed, although a long scar marred her features, the long line Akito had scratched onto her cheek. She also got to know Kawazoe.

Kawazoe was basically a nice, outgoing person who was a bit lazy and was terrible at culinary skills. Her boyfriend Akimoto Kazuma, was equally nice and outgoing. He was very enthusiastic and liked to scheme playful jokes to scare Kawazoe with.

But... Tohru's mental wounds wouldn't heal. Every morning, Tohru would sit outside in the garden, watching the sunrise and sunset. Sometimes she would accidently fall asleep out there, lulled by the security of everything. But, the dreams kept coming back to her. That terrible, biting fear of being trapped underwater, struggling to escape and just take one breath.

Many times, Tohru thought of visiting the Sohmas. Just to see how they were doing. If they caught her, would they try to kill her again?

And Tohru would continuously sink into a delirium.

She was confused. Did the Sohmas hate her? Had Kyou, Shigure, and Yuki somehow held a special hatred for her? She simply couldn't understand.