Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Embrace of God ❯ Just a Bad Dream? ( Chapter 1 )

The Embrace of God

Summary: Waking up in the middle of the night, Tohru went downstairs for a drink of water when she heard the Rat, the Cat and the Dog in a deep conversation about a familiar girl who sounded troublesome, like a burden to them...coming to the horrifying realization that they're talking about her, she tearfully runs off into the rain without a second thought, away from the home she was so used to and into the waiting arms of none other than...God?

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. They belong to Natsuki Takaya.

Chapter One: A Bad Dream?

That house seemed so peaceful...so quiet...and so dark...

Thunder roared above in the sky as gray rain clouds slowly drifted together, the promise of a heavy downpour evident. A light shower has already started sprinkling on the trees and rooftops of many houses as the wind blustered against the brown branches of trees. The neighborhood was silent as nothing stirred in the middle of the night but a girl...

A pair of bluish-green eyes fluttered open as a rumble from outside woke her up. Checking the digital clock beside her bed, Tohru rubbed her eyes tiredly and read 12:25. She had fallen asleep after taking a bath and now as she glanced around her darkened room Tohru's eyes drifted towards the half-open window. Did I leave it open? She wondered before flipping her bed sheets apart and stepping into the softness of her fluffy light-blue slippers.

Tohru walked towards her window and gently slid it closed. Watching the rain pelt against the smooth cold glass brought a numbing calmness over her. The sky was at its darkest hour, which made it impossible to see the details of the trees around the house save for their branches that stretched ominously outwards toward the skies. Feeling the dryness of her throat Tohru thirsted for a glass of cool refreshing water.

Unfortunately she forgot to refill her cup the night before so she had to go downstairs to refill her cup. Talking the plastic cup that sat next to her digital clock Tohru silently tiptoed out of her room and slowly made her way over to the top of the stairs. She was cautious as not to disturb any of her housemates at she started down. She blinked in surprise when her eyes saw that the closed kitchen entry had shimmering light escape through the narrow bottom of the shoji door. I wonder who could be up at this hour? Tohru wondered as she walked closer. As Tohru reached to slide the door open her ears caught traces of sentences that were being spoken. And by the sound of it, the speaker was talking to someone else...

“...and she's always got that one hell of an annoying smile on her face whenever she sees me...”

“She is such a burden to us...ever since we met her...”

“...whatever, I don't know how much more I can stand with this...she thinks that I need her or something...just cause I'm the cat!”

“...but you know, you would think that they're so much alike...but she is truly an annoyance...”

“...now, now, let's not speak about Tohru-chan like this...”

“...but don't you think she's a nuisance, Shigure?”

“...well, somewhat, but we must never tell her about what our true opinions are. Under all that make believe happiness her heart would break for sure...and she has nowhere else to go...”

Tohru had to stifle a shuddering gasp that came from her mouth as her other hand clutched the shoji door handle tightly. Never before has she been spoken about like this. But all coherent thoughts from the mind have vanished leaving a tearful, shivering girl in its wake. Shigure-san. Sohma-kun. Kyo-kun. They all thought she was annoying and was tired of her. B-but I never knew... her head throbbed painfully. Tohru didn't if it was from standing in her pajamas out in the cold hall or from what she just heard, but all she wanted to do right now was cry all these frustrating emotions of reject, lose and disbelief from her heart.

They all hated her.

They thought she was a burden...

Ever since she met them...

She never felt this kind of deep overwhelming sadness and anxiety before. Except maybe from that time when Kyo-kun transformed into the real cat spirit two years and a half ago. And when her mother died in that tragic and unexpected car crash...

As the thunder rumbled on, Tohru slowly let go of her firm grip on the shoji-door and cried as her back softly hit the wall with a faint thud. Sobbing into her hands, her back slid down against the wall as her weak knees finally couldn't hold her dead weight anymore. This was just too much to take in at once...she needed to go somewhere else. She needed to escape this suffocating emotion that gripped at her heart and made crystal tears slide down her porcelain cheeks in an endless waterfall.

Letting out one last lose intake of breath Tohru dropped her cup on the floor as she fought to hold back the bile that's threatened to spill. Swallowing the lump in her throat Tohru stood up using the wall for support as her knees couldn't carry her anymore. She was frozen in dread and fear. What would they do to her now?

Tohru wanted to run from this dark house. Gathering up all the strength she had left from her unvoiced bawl Tohru staggered towards the back door and thrust it open, nearly getting blown down by the harsh gust. Biting her lip, she wiped the tears that had fallen from her eyes and bravely walked outside, shutting the door behind her. She was leaving behind all her sadness, astonishment and heartache back at that house.

She never looked back...

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Shrub branches whipped at her legs and arms, creating angry streaks of red here and there. But she couldn't feel anything. Not anymore; she left all of her emotions back in that dark house. Now, all that took the place of her feelings is a sensation of numbness. There were long cuts all over her where skin was exposed; her pajama was ripped and torn, and parts of it had clung stubbornly to the wide branches that lashed at her.

Her hair was a mess as well. Sometime during her mindless dash away from that house, her brown hair had fell from its clip so now it clung to her soaked skin. Every part of Tohru ached in pain from that entire running as her muscles became unbearably sore. She hadn't known where to run to; her actions were based entirely upon impulse and the need to get away.

Tohru's eyes felt heavy as she finally saw a house...no, it was a cluster of houses. Their rooftops and the windows looked oddly familiar, yet Tohru was too exhausted to rummage around through her memory. Now was not the time. Staggering to the house that was the closest, Tohru weakly knocked against the shoji door.

The last thing she felt before collapsing into the silhouette of the figure that stood in front of her were two slender arms holding her by the shoulders as her head rested on the figure's chest. Her conscience became no more as her vision slowly blurred and faded into oblivion.

“I warned you that this day would come, Honda-san...and now look at yourself...I was right the whole time...wasn't I?”

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A/N: Review and tell me what you think, please!

-AmEva