Falling Into You

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. If I did, do you think I would be writing fanfics like this? I apologise to Takaya-san for using her characters in a way that she might not like. Also - I have just rudimentary Japanese. If my spelling and/or usage offends you, please correct me. I will gladly accept all corrections - as long as they are phrased kindly. We all have to start somewhere!

I switched off my computer with a deep sigh of satisfaction. After hearing about the update from my friend at school, I had waited impatiently until the final bell when I could rush home and read the most recent chapter of Fruits Basket on the internet. Having finished it, I leaned back in my chair, eyes closed, as I mentally placed the new information in my mental synopsis of the story. Then I just relaxed and thought of Fruits Basket.

I considered myself a normal "Furuba": fanatic. Posters of Yuki, Kyo and the Mabudachi Trio covered my walls. Every published volume of the series sat on a shelf apart above my bed. I had also downloaded all of the rest of the chapters onto my computer. I owned all of the anime DVDs and watched them at through at least once a day. Haru adorned my desktop – last month it had been Kisa. I had learned rudimentary Japanese from watching dubs, and I had decided that my name in Japanese was Kokoro (heart).

"Go to bed, NOW!" My father's voice filtered up the stairs. "Your light should have been off an hour ago! Don't make me come up there!"

I sighed, sadly. Dad just didn't understand my need for Fruits Basket. No adult did. But he had threatened to confiscate all of my Fruits Basket-related material if I kept staying up past curfew, so I went to bed. I shut my eyes, tired in spite of myself, and dreamed, as usual, of Fruits Basket.

In the middle of the night, I woke up suddenly, sweating profusely. I had suddenly dreamed of Kyo and Yuki making out! With a cry, I sat up quickly, and knocked myself out – thankfully – on my shelf of Fruits Basket books.

I opened my eyes, then closed them again. The world was too bright! Then I heard an unfamiliar voice speaking from somewhere above me.

"Nemuri kara sameshita!"

The strange words entered my spinning head with the force of a jackhammer. I frowned. I had learned enough Japanese to know what the words meant: "You're awake," but why was someone speaking to me in Japanese?

"O-genki desu ka?" (How are you feeling?) The voice was full of concern. I opened one eye a crack.

The room I looked upon was as unfamiliar as it was strange. The walls were mostly bare except for a few long posters covered with graceful Kanji. The furniture was utilitarian – sparse, simple, and low to the ground. The bed I was lying was only a mattress, no boards at either end, and nothing holding it above the floor – a far cry from my bunk bed. This was certainly not my room!

I looked around and saw the person who had spoken. She had waist-length brown hair, brown eyes that were large enough to be noticeable, and a concerned face ending in a sharp chin. I stared, my eyes feeling as though they were going to pop out of my head. Tohru!

"Ohayo gozaimasu," the person who looked like Tohru said. I tried a little smile. Tohru was always so polite, even when she said good morning. I knew that I should reply just as politely, or even just say "hai" (yes), but I was too confused to say anything.

She kept looking at me with her large eyes, until it felt so awkward that I had to say something. Japanese culture was so formal and polite -I might have offended her.

"Gomen nasai!" I blurted quickly, feeling very contrite. If this really was Tohru, I didn't want to make her upset at me. Also, if I was in her house, they were being very kind. I didn't want to seem ungrateful.

The room shifted. A sudden buzzing filled my ears and then cleared.

"For what?" Tohru asked. I sat up in shock. Either Tohru was speaking English, or I had suddenly learned Japanese. At the moment, I wasn't sure which was more likely.

"For… for putting you through all this trouble and then being so impolite," I said.

Tohru shook her head.

"Oh, no, no!" she cried. I stared. She understood me?

"It's no trouble at all!" Tohru continued. "We found you on our doorstep – unconscious. Shigure-san decided to take you in."

I started. Had he spoken to Akito already? Did the head of the family know I was here?

"Is… is that all right?" I asked. I didn't want to display too much knowledge of Sohma family inner workings, in case people wondered where I had gotten it. It would be too difficult to explain – especially since I didn't know myself how I had arrived here.

Tohru blinked. Had I said too much? I hastened to cover up.

"I mean, I'm not disrupting anything or causing you any inconvenience, am I?"

Tohru smiled.

"Not at all. Shigure-san, the danna (master) of this house, is out to speak to the head of the household of Sohma right now."

But I hadn't found out the secret! Surely Shigure didn't have to check with Akito every time he allowed someone in his house for a few hours?

Tohru must have noticed my hesitation, for she added: "Don't worry! It's nothing serious. Shigure-san said something about recognising your face from somewhere, and went out."

I frowned again. How could Shigure have recognized me?

"I know. It's a mystery to me, too… Oh!" she gasped. "How rude of me! I haven't introduced myself yet. Pleased to meet you! I'm Honda Tohru." She bowed from her position on the floor.

"The pleasure is mine, I assure you," I said with a straight face. "My name is Tsukiakari Kokoro." I bowed as well as I could from my seated position.

Tohru gasped with wonder.

"Such a beautiful, poetic name!" she cried. "May… may I call you Kari-kun? I apologise if it seems forward of me, but I feel like I know you so well already."

"Of course!" I said. "May I also call you Honda-kun?"

Tohru seemed to accept that. "Certainly!" she cried. I relaxed. I had made the right decision. Tohru was correct – we did seem to know each other extraordinarily well.