Disclaimer: Fruits Basket in no way belongs to me. It belongs to Natsuki Takaya

a/n: my last chapter was surprisingly long. i really didn't expect it to be that long. don't expect long chapters. i'm a short chapter writer. like this chapter is pretty short and this is usually how it's going to be.

a/n: this story mainly focuses on Tohru. don't expect too many scenes that focus on the Sohmas. Sometimes I'll focus on Karasu too, but not too often.

a/n: i'm only able to write this chapter today because of it being a snow day.so give thanks to snow. yay! no school! good. since i didn't do my homework.

Now let's begin…

Chapter 3

It was a wonderful morning! The skies were clear, not a trace of any cloud, not even those pretty fluffy cotton clouds. The birds sang merrily. There was a trace of a breeze in the air. The air was somewhere between warm and cool, that perfect temperature where you just could not decide if you should take a light jacket with you or not.

It was as if a huge, unforeseen storm didn't occur the day before. The only evidence of it down pouring the day before was the damp ground of the woods….and Tohru's drying school books and borrowed umbrella.

Honda Tohru was at her shoe locker switching her shoes for school. She looked in high spirits, despite her being caught in the rain the day before and having her books still slightly damp.

Kyo and Yuki stood by her, patiently waiting for her to go to class. Well, one was patient, but the other kept his mouth shut.

Yuki watched her slip on and tie her shoes. He saw Tohru reach inside her new backpack and take out a black umbrella.

Yuki questioned, "Why do you have an umbrella today Honda-san?"

Kyo looked at her, "Oh no! That psychic girl didn't predict a squall today did she? I'm going home!" He quickly moved towards the door.

Before Kyo made it to the door, Tohru replied, "Oh no! I just borrowed this umbrella from someone yesterday, and I must return it."

Kyo stopped. "Oh. Who'd you borrow it from?"

Yuki said before Tohru could reply, "Since when did you use words like 'squall' baka neko. Is your brain finally working, or are you trying to sound smart?"

Kyo was going to lunge at Yuki when Tohru spotted Karasu walking pass.

Tohru moved towards the new student.

"Ohaiyo gozaimasu Ookami-san!" Tohru stood next to Karasu.

Karasu stopped. He looked at the girl that just stopped him. He recognized her as the girl who he crashed into yesterday. Why was she so cheerful. She was almost always cheerful or nervous. He didn't know whether to be annoyed, surprised, or amused. He glanced behind her and saw the two guys that were staring at him the day before. The one with orange hair seemed angry. The other had a cool demeanor, somewhat like Karasu himself. Karasu could tell they were trying to evaluate him.

Kyo and Yuki stopped their impending fight to stare at their lovely Tohru and the new kid. They didn't know what to think. They weren't sure if they could trust the new kid yet. Yuki slowly approached Karasu with his mask up. He studied him for a moment.

"Ookami-san, ohaiyo…" Yuki held out his hand.

Karasu stared at the hand. He wasn't much of the hand shake person. He stuck his hands in his pockets and took a pose similar to Hatsuharu's.

"Ohaiyo."

Tohru looked between the two boys. "Oh! Here's your umbrella Ookami-san. Arigatou for letting me borrow it yesterday." She smiled and handed the said boy his umbrella. She bowed to show her appreciation.

"Sure," Karasu replied. He took the umbrella and stuffed it in his backpack.

Kyo approached, "So this is who you borrowed that umbrella from."

"Obviously baka neko…"

Kyo glared daggers at Yuki and muttered, "Kuso nezumi…"

The warning bell rang and Karasu was the first to start moving towards class. Tohru followed a little ways behind. Kyo and Yuki bickered in low voices a few feet behind Tohru.

Class was pretty uneventful unless you count the sensei throwing coughing fits every hour. It made it hard to teach, and learn so most of the students didn't pay any attention.

Even Tohru, the girl who wanted to do well in school to please her late mother, gave up trying to pay attention and take notes. She lazily traced the animal shapes on her new backpack. She thought it was sort of ironic. The Sohmas who were cursed with the Juunishi animals wanted to be normal and free of the curse, but each one got her a gift with their Juunishi animal on it. Tohru guessed they did that because they knew the curse was a part of them. Tohru admitted, as much as she wanted the curse to be broken, she had a hard time imagining the Sohma's without their respectable Juunishi animals. Would their personalities still be the same if they had never been cursed in the first place? Would Kyo be accepted into the Sohma family? Would Kyo and Yuki still be enemies? Would they have brought her into their family the day they found her in a tent in the woods. Would Akito be the way he is?

The school day came to an end.

Yuki said his farewells and left for student council. Kyo, Tohru, Uotani, and Saki were walking out of the school.

"Did you open our gifts Tohru?" asked Uo.

"Iei. I wanted to wait for Uo-chan and Hana-chan to be there." Tohru answered back.

"Tohru-chan is so sweet." Saki said.

Uo put in, "Let's go now so you can open your gifts!"

Tohru asked confused, "Don't you have to work Uo-chan?"

"Oh yeah. Damn…," Uo's happy mood deflated.

"I can get Megumi to curse your boss if you really want to."

Kyo exclaimed, "You can't do that!"

Uo, just to argue with Kyo, yelled back, "What if I want to! What are you going to do about it!

Tohru quickly interjected, "No need for that! I can't go back to Shigure-san's house now anyway. I promised Ojii-san I'd visit him after school today."

Kyo stopped yelling and looked at Tohru, "You didn't tell me that."

"Oh! Gomenasai Kyo-kun! I forgot to tell you! Ojii-san called late last night and asked me to come over. Gomen." Tohru felt guilty for forgetting to inform Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure.

Uo said, "Don't you have to work?"

Tohru responded, "Yeah. Unfortunately, I'm not staying at Ojii-san's house for too long, because I have to work.

"Want me to walk you there Tohru?" Kyo offered.

"Aww…look. Carrot Top is trying to be a gentlemen." Uo said.

The group said their good-byes and separated.

Ookami Karasu waited patiently for the main doors to open at the Ookami's main house. He was wearing his black jacket. He walked to the main garden and sat down under a blossom tree near a pond. He sat there and watched the koi fish swim for about five minutes.

"Would you like some tea Karasu-sama?" A middle-aged maid asked. She was wearing an old yukata with a cross hatch pattern in earthly brown colors. Her hair was black and put up, and she had sparkling brown eyes.

"No thank you Chiaki-san."

The woman nodded, "Your father will be out soon. He is eager to know how your first day school went."

Karasu nodded and the maid left. A few minutes later, a middle-aged man appeared. He had waist length raven hair tied back. His eyes were a soft brown color, but they looked alert. He was also wearing a yukata.

"How was your first and second day of school?"

"Okay. Where were you yesterday, father?"

"Out gathering information."

Karasu nodded.

"Meet any new people, Karasu?"

"It's a new school. Of course, I'm going to meet new people."

Silence for a few seconds.

"So far, I think people are intimidated by me or something. Except that Honda girl sometimes. I've gathered that she's shy, clumsy, but overall kind. She has a few friends, but not many. One ex-gang member from what I've gathered. Another is a girl who claims to be psychic. I'm not sure. All her other friends are people with the last name Sohma. I only know two of them. Both male, very protective of her. Odd hair colors. Bright orange and a sort of violet gray. Violet haired guy has a sort of fan club and is nicknamed "Price Yuki". I heard a rumor that the orange haired boy jumped out a second story window once. There is an animosity between the two boys. They often call each other 'nezumi' and 'neko'. A very odd group of friends."

His father listened carefully. "You've gathered all of this in two days? Don't judge people too quickly Karasu."

"I know."

"I heard you came back late last night. Got caught in the rain?"

"Yeah. But that's not what took up my time. That Honda girl accidentally bumped into me."

His father looked puzzled, "She bumped into you?"

"I didn't hear her coming."

"You should know better. Was she alone?"

"Yeah. Said she was walking home from work."

After a few seconds, Karasu's father said, "An ex-gang member eh?"

Karasu nodded. Now it was his turn to ask a question.

"What kind of 'info' did you gather?"

"Nothing you should worry about."

Karasu didn't press. He knew he'd find out eventually. Nothing went on around here that he didn't know. He had a knack for figuring things out.

Karasu stared out across the garden where two children were rough housing.

He heard his father say sadly, "The moon will be smaller tonight."

Karasu sighed.

His father said, "Sighing makes your happiness go away." Then he disappeared to wherever he may be.

It took about a half hour for Tohru to speed walk to her grandfather's house. She was currently sitting in the living room serving her grandfather tea. Her aunt and cousins weren't home yet.

Tohru said happily, "It's been so long since I've seen you Ojii-san."

Her grandfather smiled wearily. Then it turned into a thoughtful frown.

Tohru saw this and looked worried. It was not often her grandfather frowned. "Is something wrong Ojii-san?"

The old man changed the subject, "Yes. It certainly has been a while since I've seen you." He reached beside the sofa and lifted up a gift bag. "Happy belated birthday Tohru-chan."

Tohru accepted the gift but didn't forget that her grandfather left her question unanswered. She removed the tissue from the gift bag and pulled out a painting. She gasped at its beauty. It was a small painting of Tohru as a little girl(around 8 or 9), sitting on a hill in a field of purple and white flowers.

She hugged her grandfather, then asked, "How did you get it done Ojii-san?"

The elderly man smiled warmly, "I took the old photo of you sitting like that and gave it to an artist. The artist enlarged and painted it with a different background."

"It's beautiful." Tohru was staring at the painting with starry eyes.

"It is, isn't it. The artist was actually an old friend of your mother's. He dropped it off yesterday. That's why I didn't give it to you sooner."

Tohru asked curiously, "An old friend of Okaa-san? Do I know him?"

"I'm not sure. You might have met him when you were younger, but I really don't know."

"Oh."

The old man looked uncomfortable. "Tohru-chan, the gift isn't the only reason I wanted to see you today."

"What's wrong Ojii-san?"

"You see, the artist was a friend of Kyoko, because he was in a gang also."

"The artist was in Okaa-san's gang?" Tohru asked.

"He came to warn me about something." He paused, not sure how to explain it. Tohru was silent. "He…he said that there is a sort of disturbance in the gang world. Some really bad people are out there, and they're trying to assassinate all of Kyoko's gang members and associates."

Tohru gasped. "…O-Ojii-san…".

Her grandfather continued, "He came to warn me. He said to warn you, that you might very well be a target."

Tohru was scared, really scared now, "…why…why would they want to kill me?"

Her grandfather didn't know if he should tell her. Would she be able to handle it? "Kyoko was the Red Butterfly, you're her daughter. This killing has been going on for a while now. And…and Kyoko's friend believes that Kyoko's death in the car accident was no accident. He believes that she was murdered."

Tohru took this all in. She was shocked, to say the least. She took it hard the day when she found out her mom, Honda Kyoko, the Red Butterfly, died in a car accident. Now, well now, this news was even worse. Her mother had been murdered! Ruthlessly murdered! And now, she finds out that she may be a target too! This was too much. But she didn't cry. Maybe Tohru was too shocked to cry.

"Tohru-chan…" Her grandfather said sympathetically.