a/n: sooooooo I'm sick in bed at the moment and decided to write chapter 4 while 3 was still fresh in my head…other than that the only thing I have to say is: enjoy ;P
Disclaimer: I don't own fruits basket…unless you count all 16 volumes that are currently out and the anime ;P.
Two heads poked out from the kitchen doorway, one covered in long chocolate colored hair worn in a braid and the other in messy looking silver. Both faces wore a look of confusion and despair but only one stepped out of the doorway and into the hall. He began to wave away the smoke while silently cursing, at who knows what. A third person joined the 'audience' from the top of the stairs and watched with a curious smile on his face as the smoke cleared.
The girl and the silver-haired boy silently prayed that the cat form of Kyo had gotten out from sight quickly enough, but both gasped at what they saw. Rather than just the one small heap of Kyo's clothes that they had expected two small heaps laid crumbled on the floor. And rather than just one small orange cat, two cats were present, one a familiar orange and the other a copper brown color.
It took Len a full minute to grasp what had happened and when she did she let out a gasp that sounded more like a hiss. "Oh, no" she said as she realized just how many witnesses there were around her. She began to snatch up her clothes in her mouth and tried to drag them back into the room she emerged from, only hoping that the people staring at her would find this normal enough.
She stopped in her tracks when she noticed the boy who had collided her, and had already earned her fury, was no where to be seen. The clothes fell from her mouth as she noticed another cat glaring at her. "What the hell!" the orange cat protested, almost instantly he began to gather up his own clothes, just as Len had been doing. Len's Cat eyes grew wide as she recognized the voice from earlier that day.
"It's you!" she gasped taking a confused step backwards. The other cat finally noticed her and dropped the clothes, just as she had done, "Wha-" he was cut off by another explosion of orange smoke, and suddenly a naked and very confused boy took the cat's place. He quickly grabbed for his clothes but Len was quicker.
Totally ignoring the fact that he was naked she ran towards him and propped her front paws on his knee to help prop her small body up to get a better look at him. Something crossed her face that could only be described as a cat smile. "It's you!" she exclaimed once more, this time more excited than panicked. "I really found you!" The boy stared down at her oddly before reaching to push her away.
Before his hand could meet with the cat's body another burst of copper colored smoke filled the air, and where cat paws had once rested on Kyo's knee now rested a small set of hands. "You're Kyo Sohma aren't you!" she asked through the smoke not taking any notice to her state of undress. The boy only watched as her brown red eyes grew bright with excitement and nodded his head slowly.
A wide grin spread across her face and she took no heed of the other three surrounding them until she heard a startled gasp from behind her. She turned around quickly to see what the problem was and noticed the silver-haired boy looking at a point on the wall with a small touch of red of embarrassment covering his cheeks and the girl becoming very hectic and at a loss for what to do.
Len looked at them both figuring the two to be quite strange before remembering what happened when a curse person changed back. She screamed from embarrassment as she looked down at herself, gathering her clothes quicker than anyone thought possible she bolted into the room she had occupied the whole day and slammed the door shut.
In the safety of the room she pressed a hand over her heart, in a poor attempt to calm it down. It had been much easier to find the family than she had though possible, even if she had found them out of sheer coincidence. The sigh she released next was filled with a mixture of embarrassment, relief, and, somewhat, happiness. She just took a giant leap closer to her goal.
Maybe this won't be as tough as I thought she smiled at the comforting thought, but tried not to let it make her 'mission' easier.
She jumped at a light tap on the door and her calmed heart rate jumped with her. She opened the door slowly and was greeted by the only other girl in the house. "Dinner time" she announced with a smile as if nothing had just occurred. Already Len was curious to know which zodiac animal she was, after all no one outside of the family (with the small exception of her) knew of the cursed ones.
She was led down the hallway and into what she assumed to be a dining room, instantly she saw just how different Japanese dining would be from what she was used to. Cushions replaced the chairs she was used to, a low table replacing the normal dining table she recalled, and instead of being set with forks, spoons, and knives, five pairs of chopsticks made up the silverware.
Her good mood was instantly replaced by the horrible realization that she would end up making a fool out of herself just trying to eat. Despite the fact that it was nearly four days since she had last eaten she was unsure, now, if she was even still hungry.
Len was too busy with her horror movie thoughts to realize that all eyes were focused on her almost as if waiting for her to say something. She hastily took one of the two remaining seats and focused on the surface of the smooth table, taking in each and every one of the small wood grains that covered it.
"Uhhh" the hesitant voice broke her concentration. She looked up to stare at the girl. "Well" she said, gaining a bit of confidence. "I'm Tohru Honda!" she almost shouted as she bowed at the same time. Len only stared at her for a moment before realizing that Tohru was her name. "I'm Len" she said quietly, not wanting to drag anymore attention to herself than was needed. Tohru smiled down at her before taking her own seat next to Len and Len returned the warm greeting.
Len sighed happily as most of the tension of being around strangers disappeared. Tohru seemed to come off as a complete ditz to her, but not in a bad way. She had almost forgotten the other two boys when a seemingly shy voice spoke up. "I'm Yuki Sohma" the silver-haired boy murmured before giving her a small smile. Which Len instantly returned.
She turned to look at the only remaining person to be introduced only to find that it was the orange haired boy and he looked very pissed off. "Just ignore him" Yuki said, earning a hate filled glare from the said person.
She smiled anyway "that's alright" she said "I already know who he is, Kyo right?" she asked. Kyo didn't turn to look at her he just gave an angry snort. "Guess I'm right" Len murmured. Just then a bowl filled with rice covered in an odd looking brown sauce was placed in front of her and her stomach gave her away instantly with the loudest growl yet. A small blush covered her face but she acted as if it had never occurred.
"Soooooo" she heard an easily recognizable voice and looked up to meet Shigure's gaze. "Aren't you going to explain?" he asked. Len stared at him oddly not understanding his meaning "explain?" she asked. "yes, after all it's not every day you have a girl show up, half-dead I might add, on your doorstep and then she wakes up only for you to find that she knows all about your deepest secret and reveals one of her own y'know" he ended with a wave of his hand.
"Oh, that!" she said suddenly coming back to reality. "Where do I start?" she asked herself out loud. "The beginning would be helpful" Shigure answered for her. Len picked up her chopsticks and eyed them warily before finally giving up. "First off" she asked "Do you think I could get a spoon?" Tohru stood up instantly "Yes, of course right away!" she said before bustling off to the kitchen and returning a few moments later with a recognizable spoon in her hands.
Len smiled at the familiarity she felt from the spoon and took a hesitant bit from her meal. She smiled as she realized it wasn't the poison she suspected it to be but in fact rather good. "Well" she thought of what could be considered as the beginning. "It all began" she took another bite and chewed slowly. "When I was about 4, I think" she continued on with her story "I don't remember much of what happened though" she excused herself.
Shigure only nodded and urged her to tell her story. She agreed easily enough and began with the words "once upon a time…"
a/n: well there's chapter 4 for ya' now I think I'll work on chapter 5 because it's been so long since I've last worked on this and it' would appear that I'm on a roll currently so why not use it to my advantage right?