Here's the last chapter. Thanks so much to the people who reviewed and stuff! That really got me off my lazy streak to finish this up. Thank you! And I hope you guys enjoy!

I do not own anything about Fruits Basket.

Spoiler alert!!!! - This has a scene of the last episode of Fruits Basket so if you haven't seen the entire thing I highly suggest you don't read this.

Chapter SIX: You're Alive

Tohru, Shigure, and Yuki sat in what seemed like Akito's receiving room. It was so much like Kisarai's that Tohru couldn't help but remember the kind, always smiling woman.

Hatori sat behind them. Kyo was not there. It was comforting for them to be there, but she wished that Kyo was there too.

"What have you come here for?" Tohru sat quietly before finally answering. She barely even heard what he was talking about before that.

"I don't know." She heard the rustle of his robes as he stood up and walked over. She could see Shigure and Yuki out of the corner of her eye shaking at her answer. She could even feel the uneasiness and despair coming from Hatori behind her. She didn't look up as Akito stood over her.

That's when it happened in an instant.

Tohru felt a hand grip her hair and rip her up. It hurt like fire as she felt a few threads be pulled out of her head and a thousand others feeling as if they would soon follow after. Shigure and Yuki instantly went to her aid as they each grabbed one of Akito's arms to hold him from hurting her more. She could feel the tears brim her eyes. Akito yelled in rage.

"It's not that you don't know is it!" He pulled up more. She yelped. "You just can't say it, can you!? Well, let me say if for you, you're going to tell me you want to go on living with everyone in that house, but I won't allow it. I will make you REGRET you ever had anything to do with the Sohma's." Tohru said nothing. "You will suffer. You will suffer as we suffer. Did you think by coming here and kneeling before me you could change anything!" He pushed her down but kept his hold. Tohru grunted. "Well, let me tell you, you can't, none of you can, you can NEVER leave the Sohma's just like you can never go against me!"

Tohru began to cry.

But not because of the pain she was in, but because she began to remember what Kisarai told her the day she died.

She heard him snicker. "Now, I want you to beg me for forgiveness. Say you will never interfere with the Sohma's again!"

Kisarai looked out the window as she stroked Shirezu's unruly hair. Tohru watched her. "It hurts a lot. When, as soon as you're born, you're told that you're going to die. It's something that everyone must go through in life, but when you're little and they suddenly tell you this… It's very painful."

Tohru sniffed. "It must've been very painful Akito being told the day you were born, that you were going to die. It must've been so painful." Akito grit his teeth.

"We often wonder, when people begin to apologize for telling you you're going to die, what do they know about it? How do they know how it feels when you're just going to die like that? When the burden of the curse you know nothing about is laid entirely on your shoulders? When you carry the core?"

"What was!? What do you know about it!?" She could hear the shakiness in his voice. He was afraid too.

"They can't even imagine how horrible it is."

She sniffed once more. "You're right. I can't even imagine. How awful it would be to know something like that. Or how terrifying.

"Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo I'm sure they feel the same way. And Hattori too." The tears began to drop. She heard them pitter on the floor. "And when you pass away, we'll be sad. We'll be very sad to lose you." She sniffed once more. "And so…"

"Heh… Who's going to be sad? Everyone's able to live thanks to me. They'll all hope I'll be gone quickly."

"Akito and I were born in order to die. That's all there was to it."

Akito's voice dropped, but it was so slight that no one caught the change.

"I was born in order to die. That was what was decided."

"We were born in order to die…" Kisarai repeated in a whisper. She looked down at Shirezu. "Then why were we even born." She laughed at herself before looking back outside. "Perhaps, to try to right the wrong that caused our family to be this way?"

"But why? Who decided it had to be like that?" Tohru closed her eyes. The tears slipped through.

"No one decided it had to be this way. It just… is, I guess." Kisarai smiled. "Mm…I'm happy that I was able to live."

Tohru closed her eyes as the tears came a lot more freely. "Akito, right now you're alive aren't you!?"

"I was able to live my life to the fullest each moment. I had the best of friends, a wonderful child, and an awesome family. I was able to help others when they needed it, and I was able to experience a love that most search for and hope to gain. I lived my life and I don't regret a single moment." She looked at Tohru now. Her eyes were afraid but confident, strong but weak, sad but happy. "I don't know how Akito is. I only heard about him from stories, but he acts as if he died a long time ago."

"Alive!?" His grip on her hair tightened. "You call THIS being alive, do you?" His voice wavered.

"With the limited time that I have, many wonder how I could call it being alive. I could drop dead any second. Shorin, that stubborn girl, was always nagging at me to stay indoors more and to not go out so much, but how could I live when I can't see the world? How can I live when I can't experience the things in life that I might never get to in the future when I have the moments to do so?" She looked back down at Shirezu.

"It's been decided. It's been decided! And they never even asked me!"

"I-we- were never asked whether we wanted to die, but, who is?"

Flashes of seeing her mother in the hospital raided her mind. Seeing her there, not moving, not getting up, not smiling and telling her that everything was alright. It happened in a moment.

"Every second is precious."

"I-I didn't know my mom was going to die." Akito pushed her down even more with more force.

"Silence! Stop talking!" Akito looked up. "Hattori, I want you to erase this girl's memory. Do it! Now!" Hattori didn't move. "Hattori!" Akito huffed angrily.

"I want to live a long time, to watch the others grow, to see Shirezu grow."

"I wanted her to live a long time; I wanted her… to be here, to watch me." Akito finally broke.

"Stop crying, stop it, stop crying," he ordered with a faltering voice.

"The curse is a complicated one to understand, but it is the way it is. So, I can't- don't- regret any moment of how I lived."

"And I don't know what your family's curse is, but I'm happy. I'm happy that I know you, Akito. And I don't regret meeting you, or anyone, not at all." She felt his hold on her weaken; she was finally able to look up at him.

"Akito has probably kept all these thoughts to himself, of dying, of life, of wanting to live more then we're allowed." Kisarai laughed as she leaned back against the wall tiredly. "That's bad for you, you know."

"I wanna know you. Please, tell me how you feel even if you're angry or bitter or frustrated that's okay!" She could see the vulnerability now in his eyes, just like how she could see it in Kisarai's.

"He just needs to understand that he's alive." Kisarai closed her eyes as the hand that was once stroking Shirezu slowed to a stop.

"Because the important thing is, right now Akito, you're alive."

"He's still alive."

I'm sorry if this chapter really confused you guys or didn't make all that much sense. I really rushed it for some reason.

Pretty much the italics were flashbacks of when Tohru went to Kisarai the day she died.

Sorry too if some parts don't really make any sense and whatnot, but I still hoped you enjoyed it. I know there are some typos and mistakes but I hope you can read around it a little bit. I think I caught all of them in this chapter but I'm not too sure.

I might write a bit more on this later on as a different story, for example, I might go back into the past with Kisarai and Hattori, Shigure, and Ayame. Or I might go into the future with Shirezu and Shorin and the Sohma's. I'm still brainstorming and thinking over the ideas. Who knows? Maybe I will.

Thank you SO much for reading this, and especially thank you to the readers who were patiently waiting and encouraging me for an update. I'm really sorry that I didn't write sooner! It probably would've been longer if I had written it earlier.

But, thank you and I'll see you all again hopefully!