For future reference, I'm never doing ANY stories with Ren in them. Akito maybe, but she's not going to be good. But thanks to some reviews, I have found inspiration. This one's for Tuliharja. This actually seems like a cute couple to me.

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket, not mine, never will be, etc.

Chapter 4: Strength

Pairing: Arisa x Hatsuharu

She remembered the first time they met.

Tohru had decided they were all going to do something fun, so they could all meet.

Ariso thought it may have had something to do with the Prince, but she was way past caring when she saw Hatsuharu.

"Hey," she had said softly, so only Tohru could hear her, "that guy's only fifteen?"

Tohru smiled at her. "I thought the same thing when I met him!" she exclaimed, but then blushed. "Well, I thought he was a bit... older."

Not getting why that was making Tohru blush, she'd decided to turn her head back to HIM.

Not alot of guys registered on her "wow" scale. But this was the first time anyone had ever gone over the limit.

Now they had known each other for a while and though they weren't particularly close, she identified with him easily. Their conversations were never forced, they had so much in common, and weren't bugged by silence as much as other people.

They were both strong in opinion and short in temper. Although when Haru snapped, he SNAPPED. She still remembered when he had completely obliterated that classroom.

Which was because of his ex-girlfriend, Rin. Who, as far as she knew, had returned to girlfriend status.

They were all walking to Shigure's house, Tohru, orange-top, the Prince, her, and Haru. The three mentioned first were way ahead of them. This was the first time Arisa'd ever been relatively alone with him.

"So," he drawled, looking over at her, "who do you figure will end up with her?" She looked confused until he nodded his head in the direction of the three.

She frowned. "I don't know, really," she replied, "although I don't think I'm going to take kindly to anyone who tries to get with Tohru."

He raised his eyebrows. "So would you rather she'd be alone for the rest of her life?"

"Good question," she answered, frowning deeper. He chuckled.

"Well no," she said, lost in thought, "I can't see her not being a wife, even a mother. It's like she was born for the job. I'm just saying whoever ends up with her better take care of her, or they're gonna face some pretty nasty consequences."

Haru stopped and she turned around, looking at him inquisitively.

A slow smile spread across his face, and she blushed self-consciously. "What is it?"

"I admire your strength," he said simply, and continued walking while she stared after him.

Blah, long day at school. I'm not sure if I'm happy with how this turned out, so some feedback would be nice. I'll probably be doing Ayame x Tohru for Vampire Lilith next. R & R. Yeah, I didn't say please that time. What you gonna do about it, punk?