Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Warning: If you do not like Fan Fictions that are based around an OC and her romantic interest, please leave now or forever hold your peace.

Chapter 1

They told me I was a living cure for the family who could never be cured. In the beginning, I didn't belong, an abnormality that technically didn't exist.

"Ahh!" Rachel squealed, the blinding lightning and crashing sound filling her eyes and ears. She clamped her hands over her ears and closed her eyes tightly, even with her eyes closed, her eyes still burned from the intensity of the light that once surrounded her. Slowly, she opened one glassy green eye, it adjusting to the darkness of the room. She then opened the other and unclamped her ears, listening to the rain thrashing down on her roof. 'This is sure one heck of a storm.' She looked down at her computer that was on her lap at the time, and saw the screen flickering slightly and the symbol of battery flashing onto the screen. Smiling at the luck of her computer having battery she waited for her computer to stop flickering before reaching to her mouse and clicking the play button on her video. She felt a sudden jolt of electricity flash through her body and her vision warp and twist in front of her, before she knew it she was sitting on a dirt path and surrounded by woods.

She scrambled to her bare feet, cursing at the rocks on the ground that pressed into the souls. She held herself in her arms and took in the surroundings better, 'There's nothing but trees,' Rachel spun around on the spot when she heard some voices and footsteps coming towards her. She felt fear pierce her heart and mind, she searched the trees for a bush to hide in or behind; but couldn't find one big enough. The trees were thin and lanky, she was too big to hide behind them, so after a quick decision to either stay or go, she hesitantly ran off in the opposite direction of the voices.

"Do you see that?" Yuki murmured, looking at the house they were a few metres from.

"What is it Yuki? Scared of the dark?" Kyo mused, a smirk on his face.

Yuki glared back at Kyo before simply pointing towards the figure which was attempting to climb up the side of the wall of the house, but seemed to keep slipping down. They walked a bit closer to see the red-headed girl in some sort of baggy black shirt and shorts groaning in frustration and then finally lift herself up onto the roof. Kyo, Yuki and Tohru all watched the girl as she balanced in the roof and finally look down over to them; she had a look of shock on her face and began once more to wobble on the roof.

Tohru began to freak out and flail her arms around; "Oh my goodness, that's really dangerous! What happens if he falls! We have to get him down! Oh no, Oh no, Oh no…" She began to pace around on the ground and mumble words of worry. She stopped for a moment before shouting at the frozen girl on the roof, "Please come down before you hurt yourself!"

Shigure came out of the house with his hands in his sleeves; "What's wrong Tohru? Kyo stuck on the roof again?"

"Shut up!"

The girl on the roof snapped out of her shock and began to wobble once more on the roof; she slipped and slid down to the ground, landing in front of the three people with a thud. She felt tears began to swell up in her eyes and drip down her cheeks. 'Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow! That hurt!' The tears, as quickly as they came, disappeared. The red head lifted her head to see the three people she landed in front of.

Tohru ran over to the girl quickly, hovering over her for a moment before kneeling down close to her and looking her over for any injury; "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? Your not hurt are you?"

Rachel looked up at the girl with wide milky green eyes; "W-Who are you?"

Tohru freaked out once again, "Oh I'm so sorry! I'm Tohru Honda!" - She jolted into a bow. - "It's a pleasure to meet you!" She looked back up to Rachel, who was blinking uncontrollably.

Rachel closed her eyes and held her head; "I must have hit my head or something." She mumbled to herself and looked back up to the others; 'They all look so real…'

Shigure kneeled down next to Rachel and Tohru; "My, my, my; It seems we've found another lost soul in the midst of our woods." He picked up her hand, turned it over and looked at it carefully, "You're hurt;" - He turned to Yuki. - "Fetch us a bandage will you Yuki? He has a cut on his hand."

Rachel watched Shigure for a moment before looking down at her hand; it had a small cut across the inside, blood oozing out and onto the ground. "B-Blood… I hate… Blood…" She felt herself fall backwards for a moment and everything got cold. She started to giggle as Tohru quickly caught her, "Blood makes me dizzy… Dizzy…"

Tohru gasped and held onto Rachel; "W-we have to get him inside! If we stay out here he might get a cold and-"

Shigure stopped Tohru; "It's okay Tohru, let's get him inside."

Tohru helped Rachel onto her feet, and put Rachel's arm around her shoulders and led her into the house with the guide of Shigure. "Stay awake…" She said warily, and sat her down at the table. She gasped in shock as Rachel's head banged onto the table. "Oh no!" She shrieked.

Rachel groaned and picked up her head from the table; "Where am I again?"

Yuki finally came back in time to hear the question, "You're in our house, I'm Yuki Sohma." He kneeled down next to Rachel, and gave Tohru the bandage. "May I ask as to why you were on the roof?"

Rachel laughed nervously as she felt Tohru clean her cut carefully, "Uh, it was sort of a reaction. I didn't mean to look like a thief or anything…" She mumbled and looked down at her now bandaged cut.

"What's your name?" Yuki asked her.

"Rachel… Bayley…" She said hesitantly, "I don't know how I got here…" She frowned mumbling her response to herself again, "I don't know how I got here…"

Kyo looked at Rachel weirdly, "Rachel? Isn't that some kind of American name or somethin'?"

Rachel nodded, "But… I come from Australia… Not America… Where am I now? What country is this?"

"Japan you idiot, where else do people speak Japanese?" Kyo said rather loudly, with his arms behind his head.

Yuki sighed, "Don't worry about him; he's got a bit of a temper. His name is Kyo Sohma, my cousin." He received a glare and a curse from Kyo.

Rachel smiled lightly and looked over at Kyo, "Oh I see…"

Tohru smiled with Rachel, "So Rachel, are you on an exchange program? There must be some reason you're in Japan."

Rachel's smile disappeared, "No, I don't know how I'm here…"

Tohru's smile disappeared also, "Oh. You don't know..?" Rachel shook her head in response. Tohru looked over at Shigure who was rubbing his chin in thought.

"So you have nowhere to go, eh?" Shigure's smile brightened, "Well it seems we'll just have to adopt you until you find your way home." He chirped happily. He stood Rachel up and started to lead her to the staircase, "Here, let me lead you to our room," - He paused for a moment. - "I mean your room." He soon was knocked down to the ground by two fists.

"You damn pervert! Why can't you act like an adult for once in your bloody life!" Kyo shouted down at the beaten down Shigure on the floor.

Yuki sighed, "And be reasonable, we don't have an extra room in this house. And all the rooms are too small to hold another long-term guest."

Shigure sat himself up from the floor and laughed slightly, "Well then Yuki, are you offering your room to this young man?"

"Young man?" Rachel questioned, a sweat drop fell down the back of her head.

Shigure smiled down at Rachel, "Yes, you look like a handsome young fellow." He winked down at Rachel. "You know, I find both Males and Females attractive."

"Dammit Shigure! You're disgusting!"

"Really Shigure, at least try to behave in front of our guest."

Rachel sighed and lowered her head, "You know it's okay. I'm not helpless; I can find somewhere else to stay… Or maybe find out how I got here in the first place." She lifted her head up to look at everyone that was staring at her.

Tohru ran up to her instantly; "No, no, no! It's okay! I can make some space in my room. Please, it's okay." Rachel opened her mouth to say something but Tohru cut her off. "It's okay… Really. I don't mind." She smiled a genuine bright smile. Tohru held her hand and began to lead her upstairs, "I'll show you to our room."

Yuki stopped her, "Wait, maybe it would be more appropriate if he stayed in one of our-" - He looked over at Kyo who glared at Yuki. - "My room…"

"But-" Rachel was cut off with a blush as Yuki placed a hand on her back and continued her up the stairs. Yuki showed her his room, which was quite neat and tidy, and went to the closet.

"Let's get you some clothes…" Yuki murmured as he pulled out some clothes out of his closet and handed them to Rachel. He stared at her for a moment with a frown on his face, "I hope you're not offended by this but, you look very much like a girl."

Rachel blushed lightly and frowned as well, "That's because I-"

"Yuki! I need your help for a moment, can you please come here?" Shigure's voice came from downstairs, Yuki sighed and nodded towards Rachel before leaving the room.

Rachel stood there for a moment before completing her sentence to no one; "am a girl…"

Yuki entered the room to see Shigure, Kyo and Tohru sitting around the table. "What is it?" He asked.

Shigure rubbed his chin, "Well, it is the matter of the secret that worries me here…"

Kyo scoffed, "What we worried about? It's a guy, and it isn't like he's gonna go hugging us anyway." Shigure turned towards Kyo smiling. "What?"

"Nothing. But what if Tohru accidently fell on us, causing us to transform?" Shigure pointed out, Kyo opened his mouth for a moment, but closed it with a frown. "Exactly, so we should all be at least on our guard a little bit, alright? Now, since we have a new guest in our house. Yuki, did you offer him some clothes? The ones he had on must have been dirty."

Yuki nodded, "He's getting changed right now." He thought for a moment, "Perhaps we should enrol him in Kabira high?" Yuki suggested, "He seems to speak Japanese fluently… And I don't trust Shigure to look after him while Miss Honda, that stupid cat and I am gone." He glared at Shigure from the corner of his eye.

Shigure cried for a moment, "Oh Yuki, you don't trust me anymore, it breaks my heart."

"I never trusted you to begin with."

Rachel stepped into the room and felt all eyes go on her; she tugged at the clothes on her. "It's a bit big…" She mumbled, looking down.

Tohru smiled widely, "Wow Rachel! You look as cute as a girl in Yuki's clothes!" Rachel blushed lightly at her comment, mumbling thanks along the way. Tohru got up and led Rachel down to the table, "Rachel; Shigure, Yuki, Kyo and I have been talking… And well…"

"We think it might be best if you enrolled in our school, for the time being." Yuki finished her sentence, sitting down next to Rachel, causing her to slide closer to Tohru at how close he was.

"Um… Right. You all are so welcoming… Thank you…" Rachel said kind of shocked on how fast they welcomed her into the family, she looked over at Kyo who didn't seem to care. "But, I have no money… And I can't afford the uniform."

"That's okay, you can borrow one of Kyo's uniforms." Shigure said, waving it off.

"Hey! Why does he have to borrow one of mine! Why not make him borrow one of that damn rat's!" Kyo said, slamming his fist down on the table.

Shigure turned to Kyo, "Don't worry Kyo; he can just wear the one we got that was too small. And why not? You never wear your tie either so he can have that also." Kyo simply huffed and frowned, looking away. "Anyway, I'll take you to the school tomorrow and we'll get you enrolled." Shigure heard Kyo's stomach rumble for a moment before smiling a knowing smile, "And now that that's taken care of. Tohru, what are you making for dinner this evening?"

Tohru began to freak out, "Dinner! Oh-my-gosh! I-completely-forgot-about-dinner! Hold-on-I'll-go-get-it-started, sorry-for-forgetting-I'll-" Tohru ran into the kitchen, and her mumbles soon disappeared through the walls.

Rachel sighed and looked down at the clothes she was wearing, thinking over everything that's happened. 'This is so weird… I don't understand what the hell is going on but…' - She looked up at everyone in the room, Shigure had put on his glasses and was now reading a book, Kyo was walking in the direction of the outside and Yuki looked back at her, seeming to analyse her in some way. She didn't mind, however it didn't stop the blush reaching her cheeks again, which Yuki seemed to notice because of his startled expression. Rachel looked back down to her lap. 'I wonder how long it's going to last…'

End of Chapter 1