Hidden From the World
By: .Cami.B.
Chapter 1:How it All Began...AN: I always wondered how the Fruits Basket story would go if Tohru hadn't met Shigure, Kyo, and Yuki first, but another Sohma instead. And then I thought what if she met Akito first, before any of the other Sohmas? Would her life be different? This gave me an idea for yet another story and here it is! "Hidden From the World" is my second story so far and my second Fruits Basket fanfic as well. So I apologize ahead of time if you find errors. Anyways, I hope you'll find this story enjoyable and if you have the time, please review! Thank you! Oh yeah, this is NOT the sequel to my first story, "Bind by Destiny, Tortured by Fate". Sorry. SPOILER By the way, I know that Akito is a girl, but in this story, I decided to make Akito a guy. (Just to let you know.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its lovable characters.
Since before I can remember, no one from either side of my parents' families really liked me. They say that I was an "unlucky child". My grandparents, who refuse to claim me as their grandchild, wanted my mother to abort me, but she refused to. As a result, my family only consisted of my father, my mother, and me. However, it didn't bother me at all. I had everything that I've ever wanted and more. I had a great home, a loving father that loved to spoil me, and a mother who dedicated her life to caring for me. So you can say that I was more than satisfied with my life. I was really happy and being a so-called "unlucky child" never bothered me much. At least, until that incident happened.
Flashback.
"Mommy, Daddy, look!" I yelled excitedly.
My parents looked over at the ice-cream shop that I was pointing to. They both smiled at me.
"Does my little girl want some ice-cream?" my father asked cheerfully.
I nodded. He smiled and picked me up.
"Ok then, lets go get you some ice-cream," he said.
I wrapped my little arms around his neck and smiled. "Yeah!" I yelled happily.
My mother smiled at me. "Lets all go then," she suggested.
I smiled. Soon, we were all at the corner of the block waiting for the light to change. The ice-cream shop was just across the street so we decided to walk there. Anyways, when the signal to walk came up, we started across the street. The streets were quiet and calm. Not a signal car was in sight. I looked up and smiled at my father who was humming my favorite song. I hummed along with him.
"Kyoko, I think our daughter is going to be a star one day," my father joked to my mother.
My mother chuckled lightly as my father placed me on his shoulders. My mother looked up at me and smiled. I returned a smile of my own. We were now in the middle of the quiet street and we were all walking along humming my favorite song when a loud honking noise sounded the air. We looked to our right to find a red car speeding toward us. My parents tried to run out of the way, but the car had reached us before we were able to react to it. The car only hit my parents because my father had thrown me out of the way just in time to save my life. Before I knew it, I was sitting in the middle of the street beside the two lifeless corpses of my beloved parents, drenched in their blood. I cried and tugged on their shirts, but neither of them woke up.
"Mommy? Daddy?" I called sadly tugging at their shirts.
They didn't answer me.
"Mommy, Daddy, wake up," I said, "You promised to get me ice-cream. Remember?"
Once again, they didn't answer me. Streams of tears flowed down my rosy pink cheeks.
"Daddy?" I looked over at my father's bloody corpse, "We didn't finish my favorite song yet. Lets finish it."
I started to hum again as I waited for my father to start humming again. He didn't. I was scared now because I didn't understand what was going on. Why weren't they answering me? I held one of each of my parents' hands between my two little hands and cried.
"Mommy, Daddy please wake up. I'm scared," I sobbed, "Please…"
Once again, neither of them answered me. As I sobbed a crowd gathered around me. They were all pointing and chattering. I looked up at them with my teary eyes. They ignored me. No one came to assist me. I sat still until I heard sirens. My parents' corpses and I were taken to a near by hospital shortly afterward.
End
of Flashback.
I didn't know what exactly happened that day until later…much later. I was orphaned after my parents' tragic deaths. And as expected, everyone refused to take in the "unlucky child".
Flashback.
I sat in my grandparents' living room as everyone from my grandparents to my cousins stared at me evilly. They scared me…these so-called relatives of mine scared me.
"Father, I will not take that…that unlucky child in," said one of my uncles on my father's side.
"Neither will I," added my aunt.
"Well, don't expect me to then. I can't take her in, I have school," said my other uncle.
My grandmother examined everyone in the room and shook her head once she saw me. I too examined the room but only to find my relatives glares. I was afraid so I looked downward. My grandmother got up and walked to the other side of the room and everyone's eyes followed her.
"I don't want the child that murdered my son living in my house," my grandmother said coldly.
My grandfather came to my side and lightly patted my head. I looked at him surprised.
"Its ok," he tried to comfort me.
I started to become teary eyed. He wiped my tears away with his two thumbs.
"Don't cry sweetheart," he said sadly.
"What are you doing?" yelled my grandmother angrily.
"She is just a child and you are all scaring her," my grandfather said.
"I don't care. Have you forgotten Katsuya died because of that…that unlucky little pest?" she asked angrily.
"Katsuya and Kyoko's deaths were not her fault," my grandfather argued.
"Katsuya died because he traded his life for hers," my grandmother argued backed.
"You can't blame her for what is obviously an accident!" my grandfather yelled.
"It's because she's unlucky that the police are still not able to find the car that hit Katsuya," my grandmother said.
My grandfather ignored her. He focused his attention on me. He patted my head again and smiled at me. I forced a smile.
"Its ok, you can live with me," he said.
"NO SHE CAN'T LIVE IN THIS HOUSE WITH ME!" yelled my grandmother.
"Then you move," my grandfather said coldly as he glared at my grandmother.
Angry, my grandmother stormed out of the room. Everyone blamed me for this and too left. Eventually, only my grandfather and I were left in the room.
End
of Flashback.
I ended up living with my grandfather in his house. I never knew why he allowed me to live with him, because I never dared to ask. My grandmother never returned to the house that day. Shortly afterward, she returned to retrieve her belongings. Then…she left. My grandmother continued to refuse to live in the same house as me so I ended up causing relationship problems between my grandparents. I felt really bad about it, but at the age of five, I couldn't do anything about it. Anyways, I lived with my grandfather for the next week or so. As days pasted by, my grandfather grew more and more ill. I didn't know how and I didn't have the ability to care for him so, as predicted, it got worse.
Flashback.
My grandfather's ill and weak body laid weakly on his bed. I sat at his bedside to keep him company.
"Grandfather," I said, "Are you sick because of me?"
"No, of course not," he assured me.
"But grandmother said that I was unlucky," I explained.
He smiled and patted me on my head. "No, you're not," he told me firmly.
I forced a smile to comfort him.
"I regret very much about ruining the relationship between Katsuya and I before. And now, I will never be able to apologize to him. Your parents loved you very much and now, all I can do for them is to make sure that you are cared for," he explained.
"Grandfather, I'm sorry," I apologized.
"For what dear?" he asked confusedly.
"For making grandmother leave. I know it's my fault," I told him.
"No, it's not. Don't you worry, she'll be back soon," he assured me.
Grandfather began to cough violently. I decided to not add to his worries. I gave him a smile.
"Ok grandfather," I said as I got up, "I'll go get you some water."
He nodded. I exited the room and headed to the kitchen. On the way, I passed by the entrance way and to my surprise, I found grandmother there. She was removing her coat.
"Good afternoon, Grandmother," I greeted her.
"Just because my idiotic husband accepted you, doesn't mean I'll accept you. Where is he?" she replied coldly.
"Grandfather is inside," I told her pointing toward his room.
She gave me an annoyed stare and headed to his room. I went to the kitchen and retrieved a cup and a pitcher of water. Afterward, I returned to the room to find grandfather asleep and grandmother at his bedside.
"Grandmother how is grandfather?" I asked nervously as I set the pitcher and cup on a near by table.
She glared at me and grabbed my arm. She pulled me out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. "This is all your fault!" she said suddenly.
I was frightened by her sudden outbursts. "I'm sorry," I apologize.
"You don't belong here. If I were you, I'll do everyone a favor and leave!" she suggested coldly and disappeared into the room.
End
of Flashback.
My grandmother's words were harsh, but they were definitely true. Grandfather was very healthy before I started living with him. I was in fact an unlucky child. His sudden illness was probably caused by my unluckiness. My grandmother's words helped me realize this and by realizing this, I did something that changed my life forever…
Flashback.
Grandmother stayed that day to care for Grandfather. The next afternoon, while Grandmother fed Grandfather I sat outside on the steps. Grandmother's words continuously replayed themselves in my head. I couldn't stop thinking about it.
"Maybe Grandmother is right. If I leave, Grandfather might feel better," I thought to myself.
Finally, after thinking for a long time, I decided to run away. I walked out of the front gates and onto the sidewalk. I then walked along the busy street. Eventually, I became lost. I came to a park where there were a lot of kids. I smiled and went over to play with them. As the day went by, one by one they left. Then, finally, I was alone again. There was a tube and I hid in there. Soon the sky was dark and it started to rain. I sat in that tube with my legs bent in front of me and my arm tucked under them as I shivered. I only had a short-sleeved, knee length white dress on and some white sandals. The rain water got into the tube and soon my dress and sandals were stained brown.
"I wonder is grandfather looking for me," I thought to myself.
Eventually, somehow, someway, I fell asleep.
End of Flashback.
No one found me that day. I ended up having to care for myself for the next several days. I lived on food that was given to me by the kids that visited the park daily. At night, I slept in the tube. I really thought that I wasn't going to make it then, but I guess fate decided to spare me.
Flashback.
The bright sun woke me up. I squinted at the bright light coming into the tube. The rain had stopped. I exited the tube and examined the park. It was very cold, like always. The park was deserted and quiet. I straightened my dirty dress and walked around the park. Then, I saw an old man that looked like my grandfather.
"Grandfather!" I called after the old man.
The old man didn't hear me. I decided to run after him. Eventually, I chased him all the way out of the park and into the streets. The sidewalks were filled with people and the old man disappeared into the crowd. I continued to run aimlessly in between people. Then, I met him.
"OW!" someone yelled loudly.
I had bumped into someone and fell to the ground. I focused my eyes and saw the boy that I had bumped into. He was young, just like I was, but he seemed a few years older. He had a black turtle neck shirt with black shorts and white tennis shoes on. He had black hair with black/violet eyes. He glared at me. Frightened, I stood up and walked over to him. I bowed. (Father always said that you should be polite to people.)
"I…I'm sorry," I apologized.
He examined me with an awkward expression on his face and suddenly, he pushed me away. I fell to the ground again. "Get away from me you filthy girl," he said disgusted by me.
Tears came to my eyes. I looked up at him, "I'm…I'm sorry."
"Shut up, don't talk to me. You're not worthy," he said coldly.
I looked down as small streams of tears ran down my pink cheeks. Suddenly, a woman in a kimono appeared in front of me. She wiped my tears away and smiled at me.
"Sorry, please excuse my young master. He tends to have mood swings," she explained as she helped me up.
"No, its my fault…everything is my fault," I said sadly.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"My mommy and daddy went away to a far away place because of me and grandfather said that they'll never come back," I began as tears came to my eyes again, "And now, grandfather is very sick. Grandmother said that the only way he'll feel better is if I left so I ran away."
"Oh, I see. How long has it been since you ran away?" she asked concernedly.
"A long time ago," I answered.
"Where does you grandparents live?" she asked.
"I don't know," I answered.
The woman thought for a moment. She must be trying to figure out how she was going to help me. Before she was able to figure it out, the boy stepped forward. He examined me.
"You're a really ugly girl," he said.
I looked downward embarrassed.
"I guess it doesn't matter," he added and turned to the lady, "Take her back to the mansion with us. She'll live with me from now on."
I looked up surprised. "But I…I can't," I said.
The boy looked at me uninterested in why I shouldn't. He smirked. "You should be grateful that I'm allowing a filthy girl like you to live with me," he said.
"Thank you, but Daddy always said that I shouldn't talk to strangers and now you're telling me to live---" I said before I was interrupted.
The boy grabbed my arm and dragged me along with him. "I said you'll live with me, don't make me repeat myself again," he said annoyed.
Shocked, I followed him helplessly. "Um, I'm…Tohru Honda," I decided to introduce myself as I struggled to keep up with him.
He didn't look at me. "That's a stupid name," he paused and hesitated, "I'm Akito Sohma."
"Nice to meet you, Akito-san," I said cheerfully.
He didn't reply. Instead, he pulled me into a car.
End of Flashback.
Since that afternoon, I've been living with Akito-san. He took care of me and provided for me. In return, I served him. I was only five then and now I'm seventeen. I've been living with Akito-san at his estate for the past ten years or so. Over the years, I learned a lot about Akito-san, but the one thing that surprised me the most was his family's secret. Akito-san suddenly told me one day, after my seventh birthday, about his family's curse and since then he has kept me close to him. He moved me to the room right across from his and he forbid me to see any of the juunishis. And this is where it all began…when I was chosen to serve God…