A/N: Hey everyone. These are just tiny little character sketches that, by and large, I wrote to use as applications for Fruits Basket RPGs. Hope you enjoy--Yuki's first up. This is set a few days after his parent-teacher conference in Volume 13.

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You've grown taller, Yuki...

The morning sunlight slid through the trees and came to rest on Yuki's back as he knelt in the soft, damp earth of his garden. The plants in their neat rows glistened under the weight of last night's rain, and the heavy scent of wet leaves seeped into his clothes and skin as he ran his fingers carefully over each of his seedlings, checking for storm damage.

They're bigger than they were last week, he thought, pleased. I guess the rain's been helping.

He hoped the strawberries came up without any problems. It had been a pleasant evening last year, when Tohru had arranged the fresh berries into a neat mound in the middle of the table and given them each a dish of cold cream to dip them in. Honda-san and Shigure both smiled so much, he thought, letting the memory wash over him, and even that foolish cat seemed calmer than usual.

He smiled suddenly and shook his head. The idea that he could be responsible for such happiness was still a little foreign to him, and he wondered if he wasn't a little conceited to think he might pull such a thing off a second time. There had been a time not too long ago, he reflected as he measured a plant with his hands, when he wouldn't have even considered the possibility. Have I really changed that much since then?

He still vividly remembered his mother's expression as he had finally let his words out in the hallway at the parent-teacher conference--an expression that suggested that she didn't recognize him, that she was talking with a complete stranger rather than with her own son. Have I really...grown?

This woman...was she always so small?

He clenched his fist slowly and felt warm, damp soil gather underneath his fingernails. It wouldn't be long now until some of the plants began to bear fruit, the changes happening inside them finally visible to those looking from the outside. Until then, he would simply have to be patient, and continue to nurture them as best he could. He stroked one of the strawberry plant's tiny new leaves, and, inexplicably, felt the brush of a familiar, gentle hand, Tohru's hand, on the top of his head, fingers resting lightly on his hair.

The sensation left him as quickly as it had come, and he stood slowly, brushing clumps of dirt off the knees of his pants. It was time for breakfast: the sun had begun to dry the rain off the grass around him and it was getting gradually warmer in the little clearing. He set off at a leisurely pace in the direction of the house and wondered very suddenly whether Manabe and the others liked strawberries.

Yes, I'm sure of it, Yuki-kun! You've definitely gotten taller!

It was at least worth looking into.

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A/N: Next is Mayu. Thanks for reading.