Disclaimer: I, Tori the Fanfic Fan, hereby testify that I do not under any circumstances own the story or characters of the anime or manga known as Fruits Basket. All of those rights belong to the author Natsuki Takaya. I do however claim ownership over the character known as Kaoru.

Chapter One

Deja Blue

'It's a dream. Just remember that it's a dream…'

A dream it may have been, but, for someone like Hatori, something like this could have easily been mistaken for reality. For even here, he was still alone and the gash deeply embedded within his heart still burned with both the guilt and the loneliness left behind from a love long gone yet unwilling to be forgotten. Here he sat alone, lost within his memories of long ago, while the rest of the world continued to pass him by. No one bothered to look at him. No one dared to comfort him. They moved on with their lives as they always did; only concerned about themselves, never Hatori.

"Why is it?" Hatori asked himself quietly. "Why is it that the whole world can continue to move on… and I can't? Am I that broken inside?" Silence was his only reply. Slowly, he lifted his right arm and placed it gently over the left side of his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Its beat came softly, almost painfully. Quietly, he let his arm fall back into his lap and his head fall lower to the ground. Lying there silently at his feet was a small white butterfly fluttering with all its might to left itself up off the ground. After several failed attempts, the tiny butterfly gave up and laid there motionlessly on the ground. Hatori smiled sadly at the beautiful insect and softly brushed a finger over one of its delicate and motionless wings.

"You and I are a lot alike little one. No matter how hard we both try, our attempts are always in vain. Of course, broken wings like yours can always be mended, but…broken hearts like mine can never be healed." Tears began falling silently from his eyes.

"You so sure?"

Hatori started at the unexpected sound coming from above. Looking up, his dark olive eyes collided with the bright baby blue ones of the young girl standing in front of him. Through their endless depths, Hatori could make out feelings of hope, pity, wonder, joy, sadness, but the one that stood out the most were the deep traces of love that he found swirling in her eyes. Her smile was sad, almost as if- no, she did understand. Something in both her smile and her eyes had made it quite clear that the girl standing before him did indeed understand the sorrow that was deeply tormenting his soul.

Suddenly, she broke eye contact and looked down at the butterfly lying limp at his feet. Slowly, she knelt down on her knees and scooped the tiny creature up into her hands. Long, cascading strands of light brown hair fell down over her eyes and shoulders as she bent her head down closer and closer to butterfly in her hands. Hatori watched in silent awe as the girl whispered something softly to the butterfly before she bent down just close enough to gingerly brush her soft pink lips against its broken wing. Slowly, the small, beautiful insect began to move its wings and a bright light radiated from its body. The young girl looked up from her hands and stared deep into Hatori's eyes. At first she just stared, then her lips began to move. Slowly, they began to form beautiful but yet haunting words, words that would forever rest deep within the bowels of the dragon's mind.

"Please…don't give up on me yet…Hatori…"

With those parting words, the dream quickly faded into the darkness to where the real nightmare began.

BEEP…BEEP…BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP!

Hatori started as the annoying sound of his beeper went broke through the silence of his car. Suddenly realizing where he was, Hatori quickly shook off the memories of dream and grabbed his pager off of his belt. His eyes rolled in exasperation as he read the flashing message: AKITO SICK! COME ASAP!

Replacing the pager at his side, Hatori pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed in deeply.

"That boy is going to be the death of me," he muttered silently to himself as his hand guided itself back toward the steering wheel and his eyes back to the traffic light. It still was flashing red. Hatori let out a sigh of relief, thanking God that his unexpected daydreaming hadn't caused him to have a traffic accident. 'But,' he couldn't help but wonder, 'who was that girl…?'

Hatori was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't feel his foot slide off of the brake pedal just enough that the car began to slowly move toward the crosswalk and the center lane. He quickly slammed back on it as he felt the wheels silently creep forward a couple of inches and saw a bright blue blur passed slowly in front of his windshield. Trying hard to regain his composure, he felt his gaze move up and come face to face with a pair of familiar baby blue eyes. A few wispy stands of light brown hair fell across her pale face, the rest tied in low bun at the nap of her neck or hidden under a bright blue cap that rested on top her head.

The girl stopped briefly in the middle of the crosswalk as she saw Hatori's car slightly move forward across the lines. Both her face and her eyes held emotions of fear, shock, and confusion as the car came in mere inches of hitting her. Getting over her shock, the girl threw her backpack back over her shoulder and continued walking at a normal pace, glancing back only briefly to catch a glimpse of the driver before moving on down the street.

Hatori watched as the girl continued walking down the sidewalk, stopping briefly at a bus stop and make a call on the payphone. 'Those eyes,' he thought, 'could that be the same girl…'

The sound of a car horn going off in his ear jolted Hatori out of his thoughts and turned his attention back to the traffic light, which now was flashing the color green. Placing his foot gently on the accelerator, Hatori drove smoothly down the street back towards the Main House. The whole way home, he struggled in vain to shake the memories of the young girl in his dreams and the teenager on the street out of his head. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape them. The girl with the bright baby blue eyes had completely captured Hatori within their deep, endless pools, and had no intention of letting him go.

Far across town, in a house buried deep within a forest glade, the acclaimed novelist Shigure Sohma sat comfortably at the dining room table reading his newspaper. His two younger cousins, Yuki and Kyo, where both out at the moment, one possibly training and the other at his secret base, while his little housekeeper was busy in the kitchen washing and putting away the lunch dishes. Yes, it was indeed yet another peaceful, more like uneventful, afternoon within the Sohma household. That is, until…

BRIIIIIIIIIIIING!

Shigure looked up startled as the sound of the telephone rang throughout the room.

BRIIIIIIIIIIIING!

Slowly, he eased himself up off his cushion and walked curiously towards the phone. Looking up at a clock hanging on one of the walls, he read the time: 1:15. 'Who in the world would be calling at this time of day?' Shigure pondered this question as he began to reach for the reciever. 'Oh, I hope it's my editor!'

BRIIIIIIIIIIIING!

A sense of giddiness filled Shigure as he quickly picked up the receiver and placed it gently to his ear.

"Sohma residence, Shigure speaking!"

"Um, hello. I'm sorry, I'm actually looking for a Miss Tohru Honda… but I guess I have the wrong number. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

'Tohru? It's a call for Tohru?' This was a rare thing indeed. Especially since it was a female's voice that was on the other line, and an unfamiliar one at that. Quickly, Shigure got back onto the phone and began to speak just as the other person was about to hang up.

"No, wait! Don't hang up. Actually, you have the right house. Hold on just a second. TOHRU!"

CRASH! The sound of dishes breaking on the kitchen floor echoed throughout the once peaceful halls as the annoying sound of Shigure's voice broke through the bubble of young Tohru Honda's thoughts, catching her completely off guard. Momentarily forgetting about the broken dishes, Tohru quickly ran out of the kitchen and into the study where she came face to face with the grinning dog. His hand outstretched, offering her the phone.

"It's for you my little flower!"

Tohru blushed a bright red as she gingerly took the phone from Shigure's outstretched hand.

"Hello, this is Tohru."

Shigure once again sat down at the table and began watching his little flower's phone conversation with interest. It was exceedingly rare that she ever received any calls, especially one made by someone outside of the Sohma family. He also couldn't help but notice the young girl's sudden change in expression as she continued to talk to girl on the other end of the line. He watched as Tohru's features went from timid and unsure to amazed and uncontrollable delight. 'That must be one heck of a phone call,' thought Shigure as he sat there at the table staring now intently over his newspaper.

After a few more minutes of talking, Tohru practically threw the phone back down upon its cradle and ran out the side door, coming back only briefly to grab her shoes and yell a joyous goodbye. "Bye Shigure! I'll be back in time to make dinner!" With that, she quickly closed the door and once again began sprinting her way across the lawn, leaving a dazed Shigure in her wake.

Shigure sat there in amazement, a look of shock plastered on his face. 'Whoa, I had no idea she could even run that fast!'

"Um…be safe Tohru."

Turning around slowly, Shigure found himself staring intently at the spot where only moments ago Tohru had been standing in amazement as she talked on the phone. The phone! His gaze once more shifted over towards the black contraption as a question popped into his head: Who on earth was that?

Tohru ran like grease-lighting across the forest path and through the streets of town, stopping only to briefly apologize to whomever she had run into while on her way. Faster and faster she flew down the sidewalk, quickly gaining speed with every turn.

Inside her head, Tohru went over the exciting phone call she had received only moments before. 'Oh my gosh mom, I can't believe that she's here! I can't believe it, after three years, she's finally come home!' Within her chest, Tohru could feel her heart begin to skip a few beats as her legs began running even faster. 'I'm almost there,' she said within her mind, 'Just one more corner…' The end of the curb came up quickly and Tohru dodged it in just enough time to miss an approaching car. Bended over and clasping her knees, she tried to regain control over her heavy breathing and now jelly constructed legs. 'Wow!' she thought, 'I never knew I could run that fast!'

"Tohru?"

Tohru looked up at the sound of her name, gasping when she saw the face of the one who spoke to her.

"It's you…!"

Both her face and her voice at the moment showed signs of disbelief. But those features quickly vanished as a joyous smile began to spread across the young girl's face. Both of them stood there smiling at each other for a while, both trying desperately to find a word or an action to express to one another. However, it was Tohru who made the first move. Unable to control her happiness any longer, Tohru leapt at the other girl with lightening speed, her arms reaching out and waiting to embrace her companion. Grabbing a hold of the girl at last, Tohru laughed and smiled as she cheerfully welcomed the girl she was joyously hugging.

"It's you! It's really you!" Tears began forming in her eyes, but Tohru didn't notice. And even if she did, there was no way that she would ever dare to break the hug just to wipe them away. This happiness meant everything to her right now.

"Welcome home!"

"Damn it, I'm hungry!" grumbled the hungry and tired Kyo as the roaring sound of his stomach began to grow even louder. "Where the hell did you say Tohru ran off to again?"

"Yes, Shigure. Where exactly did Miss Honda run off to? It seems that you have neglected to mention such a detail in your previous explanation," his cousin Yuki asked as he finished sweeping up the last of the broken lunch dishes off the wood floor of the kitchen.

"If I knew," grumbled Shigure as he snuffed out his cigarette, "wouldn't you think that I would have told you already? In any case, stop your complaining. I'm sure our little flower will be returning home any minute now and we'll be having dinner shortly. You two seriously need to work on your patience levels."

"Yes, maybe you're right," agreed the rat as he lifted the lid off the trashcan and slid the last broken pieces of china in with all the others leftover from earlier that day. Kyo, however, was less reasonable on the subject.

"Man, to hell with that!" he scowled, "I'll just make something myself."

"Hold on Kyo, I have a better idea." Shigure, now sensing a perfect moment to annoy his younger cousin, pulled out from behind his back a bowl of miso and waved it in front of Kyo's face. "We can snack on these to tie us over until Tohru gets home!"

Kyo, upon seeing the miso, flushed in anger and violently lashed out at both the food and its bearer, smacking the bowl to the floor.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU KNOW DAMN WELL I HATE MISO!"

Shigure, putting on a mask of mock anguish, replied dramatically, "You know, you shouldn't waste food like that. Terrible!"

"ARRRRGGGGHHH!"

In the kitchen, the young rat only shook his head at the embarrassing behavior of his cousin. "Stupid cat," he mumbled.

"Huh? What was that you damn rat?"

Suddenly the sound of the sliding door echoed throughout the room, causing everyone to freeze in place. The distant sound of shoes could be heard slipping off a pair of feet and landing on the floor. The first one to say anything was Shigure.

"There, you see! Here she is now!"

The soft padding of socked feet could be heard moving across the floor and then the sweet sound of Tohru's voice begin to ring throughout the hallway as door to the dining room was slowly pulled open.

"Hi everyone, I'm home!"

"Ah, Miss Honda! Welcome h-" Yuki stuck his head out of the kitchen but quickly fell silent, as well did everyone else, as his eyes took notice of the other person also standing within the doorframe next to Tohru.

She was a tall girl, about as tall as Tohru's friend, Uo, with bright baby blue eyes and light brown hair that was tied neatly in a low bun near the nape of her neck. She had a mature looking face that, if Yuki had to guess, made her appear to be no more than eighteen years old. The very sight of this unfamiliar girl caused everyone to fall deadly silent and freeze like a group of deer in front of a pair of flashing headlights. Sensing the tension in the room, Tohru gave a small, nervous laugh as she quickly turned her attention toward the panicking group of Sohmas and began the introductions.

"Um…everyone, I would like you to meet my cousin, Kaoru."

Author's Note: Wow! My first fanfic! I feel like celebrating! PARTY! PARTY! Anyway, please don't forget to review. Feedback, as we all now, is essential to writing a story. However, I must ask you to be gentle. This is my first one after all! But please, I strongly encourage any tips you guys may have that might help me later in the future. Thank you. Your time and words are very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tori the Fanfic Fan