Memories
By: HeavenlydemonxXxo

Fruits Basket is like Mars to me. Never touched, never owned but curiosity about it grows.

"Kyo, you're so mean! Showing such disrespect." pouted Shigure.

"Shut up." He turned, so that he sat with his back to him. In his mind, he was being tortured over the fact that what if Kumiko was angry with him.

Smirking, Shigure went in closer. "Are you afraid to meet her again? Just in case that she might start yelling at you?" Eyes wide open, Kyou wondered if it was that obvious.

"Who's 'she'?" chimed Momiji as he popped up.

"Oohh.. It's Momiji-kun."

"Ja ja! I heard that Kyou was back!" He pounced on him. "So who's this girl you're talking about? Is she a friend?"

"None of your business." hissed Kyou as he picked on Momiji.

"WAAHH! YUKI! KYOU'S HURTING ME!"

"Baka neko. Have you gone so low as to attack younger children? Hmph. Seems that you've given up on defeating me."

Bouncing up, Kyou yelled, "ALRIGHT! IT'S A CHALLENGE THEN! YOU, ME, RIGHT NOW!"

Ding dong

They all looked up, wondering who it might be to come at this late hour. Momiji's yellow head bobbed away while he skipped to the door. Kyou's ears perked up. "Oooohhh! Are you the girl that they keep talking about?! Come in!" Dancing along her, he led Kumiko to the sitting room. Her face appeared oddly cold.

"I wanted to have a talk with Kyou..." she mumbled. Twiddling fingers, she stared at the ground. The others were stunned by this sudden shyness of her. What happened to her outgoing and careless streak? "Actually, I wanted to go out with him somewhere!" she cried out, blushing. She misunderstood the silence from them and freaked out. "No, I don't mean like dating, I mean like just going somewhere." She said, frantically. Helplessly she finally looked up. Shigure slyly cast a look at Kyou and booted him out the room. Kumiko was startled by this action and stood up. He pushed them to the door and forced them out.

"She said she wanted to take you out. Have fun. Don't do anything you shouldn't be doing." Waving them off, he shut the door. "Hu hu... I wonder how Akito will react to this..."

No words were passed between them as they walked down the trail. Finally Kyou took the courage to say something. "Where are we going?"

"That's a secret."

Puzzled, Kyou thought of many places that they could be going to.

"Get in the car, Kyou." They were at an empty street with a lone car parked at the curb. The headlights blinked twice, indicating that the doors were unlocked. Moving to the driver's side, Kumiko opened the door and started the engine. Rolling down the passenger's window, she said again, "Get in the car."

Unsure of himself, he opened the door and stepped in. "You can drive?" he asked.

"Only a temp.." She grinned mischieviously. "But if the police catch us, we'll have to make a run for it." Revving up the car, they shot down and took the road leading to the highway. Fumbling with the seat belt, he finally clicked it in and dug his fingernails into the seat leather.

"Aren't we going too fast?!" he exclaimed.

"Don't be a scaredy-cat. It's not that far." she teased. True to her word, they turned to a dirt road and stopped at a clearing. In the center of this clearing was a grave with incense around it.

Kumiko hopped out of the car and opened Kyou's door. Dragging him out, she breathed in the night air. "Isn't this beautiful?"

"Isn't this a grave?" he answered, bluntly.

"Party-pooper." she went to the grave and watched the sky. "This is my parent's grave. Their bodies were cremated and I let the wind steal their ashes here."

"Why'd you bring me here?"

She sighed. "Because I wanted to tell you something. I wanted to show you that life is worth living for. To show you that you're not the only one in misery, and that it's not only the Sohma clan that's cursed." Sitting down, she played with the grass. "And I wanted to show you that for whatever reason you feel like no one can understand you, there are people that will love you."

"You don't know anything." he replied scathingly.

She pulled him down to sit next to her. "I know that I know nothing about you or your history. But you don't know anything about me either. You don't know what I've been going through lately. Not everyone welcomes someone who's rumored to have killed her best friend. And families don't accept the daughter of shameful parents. Do you want to know the truth of my parents? They were always drunk. They were ill-mannered. They borrowed money from their siblings constantly and wasted it away. But I love them anyway. Because they're my parents and they loved me back. That car was something that they took the time to save money for. That's something that they would never be expected to be able to do. They died in an accident that they caused and that saddens me, but I'll accept it. My closest friend forgave me before she died and I'll be thankful for that as long as I live. What I'm trying to say is, the closest people to me died while society looks at me with hate. But I'm still happy. Because I found you, and Yuki. I'm happy because I found people that will be my friend. I want to thank you. And hope that you'll come to understand that sometimes life will be unfair, but that's not the time to be crying inside. Stand up to it and show that you're not one to be played with. Never run away from it. Never hold guilt inside yourself for things that you have done, but don't blame it on others..." Yawning, she laid down. "Never... forget the beautiful things in life... ... Be happy .. to be alive."

She fell asleep. Kyou watched her breathe in and out in slumber. Half of him wanted to shake her for saying such stupid things. The other half wanted to spill out everything that has been torturing him for years. How he is an outcast and wanted to desperately to fit in with the family. How his father abandoned him and calls him a monster. The guilt he feels since he's the blame for his mother's death. The jealousy he has for Yuki. It dawned on him slowly, what those beautiful things in his life were. His shishou took him in when everyone cast him out. To meet someone like Kumiko, who accepts him even if he is a monster. Even Kagura, who he's afraid of, shows excessive love for him. Smiling slightly, he put his lips on her forehead. He withdrew hastily and couldn't believe what he did. Not wanting to wake her up, he laid down too and stared at the stars. Was fighting Yuki the only way to be accepted into the Sohma clan? Why is it so important to be in the zodiac... Gradually, he fell asleep, unaware that he had put Kumiko's head onto his lap.

Shigure entered the Sohma's main house grounds. He let himself into Akito's room.

"What are you doing here?" Akito asked coldly.

"No reason... I haven't visited in a while." he smiled. "Remember the girl I told you about...?"

Akito ignored him.

Stretching out, he laid down. "Well, she took Kyou somewhere... and they've been gone for 3 days now..."

There was a huge crash and the house servants rushed to the room, to find the shattered remains of a china vase. "GET HIM OUT! GET HIM OUT! I DON'T WANT TO SEE HIS FACE EVER AGAIN!" Akito screeched at them.

Laughing, Shigure showed himself out.