Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Orange ❯ So, that's your story.. ( Chapter 2 )

Having run a safe distance away from the crazed lunatic that thought a rice ball was a rare and special thing, Tohru stopped to catch her breath and talk to the little piglet. Letting her arms loosen around the piglet she saw that it was wide eyed and seemed extremely relieved. Feeling bad that she had run all the way there with it squeezed tightly in her arms she gently put it on the ground and wander around for a bit. Having been put down, it gazed warily about. Then it started to jump around excitedly. Not understanding what the piglet was so excited about, Tohru looked around and tried to see if there was anything special about the place they were at. Not noticing anything particularly special, she decided to ask the pig.

"Ok then Mr. Piglet, why are you so excited about this place and what does it mean?"

Having asked the question, Tohru waited for an answer, and she got one. The piglet was squealing in delight and looking around again, but she saw that it was starting to wander off towards the street. So having never followed a pig before, she decided to follow to if it knew where it was going. When the pig reached the street it looked slightly confused, as if it didn't know which way to go. Tohru started to look in the direction the pig was, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. In the walkway between two of the houses, she saw a pile of clothes with a backpack, a large jug, and a puddle of water. Looking back at the pig, she decided to see if those were the pig's things.

"Um, Mr.Piglet, do you by chance happen to have a backpack and a jug of some sort?"

Looking down to see the little pigs reaction, she was unprepared for the little thing as it launched itself into her arms snuggled her, then started snorting and shaking its head in the affirmative. Deciding that that was the pig's things, she made her way over to the pile of belongings. Upon reaching it, she set the pig down to get a closer look at the jug. It was oddly shaped, like a giant gourd or something, and had pictures of cats all over it. Looking over to the piglet she saw it almost completely inside the pack and could tell that it was rummaging around for something. Having made that deduction she set down her bags and waited. She didn't have long to wait. The piglet emerged almost immediately after she sat down, but it had a kettle in its jaw, and looked to be holding hot water. *Now how in the world do you keep a kettle of water hot inside a backpack?* Not sure she wanted to know, Tohru just sat and waited. Looking extremely pleased with itself the piglet launched it self into the pile of clothes, threw the kettle of water in the air, got showered in hot water, and emerged a full grown teenage boy, complete with yellow bandana and black spots.

"Oh my! I've never met you before. Your not part of the Jyunnishi are you?" Looking completely stunned, the pig now turned guy was astounded that she didn't run away screaming. Curious about the Jyunnishi she mentioned he decided to ask, but first he needed to know who she was.

"Um, I don't what this Jyunnishi is your talking about but I wanted to thank you for helping and everything, especially getting me away from that crazed girl. Oh, my name is Ryouga Hibiki by the way, and you are…"

"Oh I'm so sorry! I forgot to introduce my self, I'm Honda Tohru, but everyone just calls me Tohru. I'm very curious as to why you turned into a pig and how you did it. Your not part of the Jyunnishi, I know that now, but then how can you turn into a pig?"

Looking quite sheepish, Ryouga started to rub the back of his head and nod a little in time with the rubbing. "Well you see it started like this. I originally grew up in Japan, but my family and I have a tendency to get lost, very easily. So almost my whole life I've wondered around, which makes it pretty hard to keep a home. So one of the few times I was home and going to school there was a guy who would everyday, without fail, jump on my head, get the last piece of bread, and leave me hungry at lunch. I finally got fed up with it, challenged him to a martial arts duel, and promptly got lost on my way there. I was only three days late so I figured I made good time, but when I finally got there he was gone. There was note that said, "…Went to China to train, later Ranma…" so I followed him to China. In china there's a place called Jusenkyo, or the Cursed Springs." Looking slightly bewildered by what he'd said so far, Tohru just kept nodding her head in understanding, not willing to interrupt lest he might stop his explanation, it was fascinating.

Continuing on with his explanation, "Anyway I went to the springs, and there was a giant panda and a red headed girl there fighting, they didn't know I was standing on the top of a cliff. They jumped on my head, I fell down the cliff into a spring, and now I turn into a black piglet whenever I'm doused with cold water, and I change back to human when doused with hot water."

Utterly curious as to why he turned into the pig and how she had one question, "But that doesn't explain why you turn into a pig though, what is so special about those springs?"

Looking resigned he said, " In the springs you fall into, things or people have drowned in them, so when you fall into the spring you take on the form of whatever drowned in that spring. That red headed girl was Ranma and the panda was his father, so Ranma is the bane of my existence and I'll fight until I've finally defeated him. So that's why I turn into a pig, and what I was wondering was how did you know I was human? Have you ever met anyone else who's been to Jusenkyo?"

Being stunned by his explanation, she could only sit there and shake her head in the negative, while still trying to come to terms that there were springs that could curse people.

"Actually, I've never met anyone with your type of curse, but I do know people with a curse similar to yours, only they turn into animals of the Jyunnishi when hugged by members of the opposite sex. They are really nice people and I think you would get along great with them. Would like to meet them?"

Completely astounded by what he was just told, Ryouga now had to digest that information. Having made a decision he accepted her offer.

Smiling happily Tohru said, "Great we'll just grab our stuff and be on our way."

Bending over to grab her bags and the jug she sat next to she attempted to life them, only to wobble precariously on her toes because of the weight of the jug. Ryouga only just now noticing what she was about to do attempted to stop her, but only added to the problem by nudging the jug upwards, thus making it to heavy and unbalanced for her to hold. Falling backwards while holding the jug, she heard a small popping sound and the last thing she saw was the flood of water heading straight towards her head.

Humming happily to himself Momiji was taking a walk down to the market for a snack. Hatori had give him some money to go get it, but he probably just did it to get him out of his hair. * Hatori works so hard, he should have fun once in awhile. * Upon reaching the store he saw Tohru running away from a crazed girl screaming about her beautiful rice ball. Thinking it was a good idea to follow and see if she needed help. He saw her run until she was out of breath, but just as he was about to approach her he saw her put down a cute little black piglet and watch it as it looked around and became excited. She picked up the pig and ran towards a walkway between houses, he followed and watched as she again set the pig down, though this time it was right next to a pack and a large jug, and there was a pile of clothes. Utterly stunned he continued to watch as the pig dug around in the pack, as if looking for something inside. Completely taken aback by the pig pulling out a kettle of water and throwing it up in the air as it headed for the pile of clothes, he was even more surprised when the pig got covered in the water and became a teenage boy. Now just giving up all pretenses, he moved in close enough to hear their conversation, and the more he heard, the more he felt a connection to this stranger who had a similar curse as his. Smiling again, he watched as the conversation drew to an end and then he heard that Tohru had invited the boy to come visit them at home. * Oh I hope that Hatori won't get mad when he hears this, or that Akito ever finds out. * Now hesitant about the whole situation, he was just about to show himself when he saw Tohru try and pick up the jug. But what really surprised him was when Ryouga tried to stop or help her but the she ended up falling backwards and getting the water spilled all over her. But she really wasn't her anymore, she was a beautiful cat with brown fur and sparkling blue eyes. Jumping out of hiding, Momiji ran straight for the cat known as Tohru and scooped her up.

"Oh Tohru, your beautiful kitty now. Just wait until Kyuo and Yuki find out, they'll be so surprised. Now your kinda like part of the family, you have a curse to. Though I doubt you want the curse, but they aren't so bad once you get used to them."

Having rambled on Momiji just now turned to look at the stunned Ryouga, introducing himself as, "Hi I'm Momiji Souma, and I turn into a rabbit. Oh and I know who you are because I saw the whole thing, from the crazy girl with the rice ball to the jug falling on Tohru. I never thought I'd meet someone who wasn't in our family that could turn into an animal." Ryouga just nodded numbly and shook his head in acceptance, completely out the loop now.

Momiji being Momiji, he thought that it was now a good time to head on home.

"Since Tohru is a cat now and we need hot water to turn back into a human, we should head home. Come on, I'll show how to get there, and watch very carefully so you don't get lost. Better yet, I'll tie a piece of string around your wrist and lead you to the house. I don't mean to be rude, but you did say you get lost very easily, and if your anything like Haru, you need the string."

Tying the string around Ryouga's wrist he proceeded to pick up the bags and carry them home, with a non-argumentative Ryouga following behind, all the while carrying Tohru. Having reached the house with no more incidents, Momiji let himself inside, with a reluctant Ryouga following. After dropping off the bags in the kitchen he went in search of everyone. He found them in around the table watching T.V. K you being the first one to see Momiji leading a strange person around the house on a string and carrying a cat, he was the first one to talk.

"Momiji, who the hell is that?"

Happy with the attention he answered, "that's Ryouga," and holding up the cat, he announced, "and this is Tohru!"