50 Fruits in a Basket (A Fruits Basket Fan-Fic)

The Fairy Tale

I finally have a proper chapter for you all! After long last, I finally have a good, new jumping off point for this story, so hopefully, updates will be more frequent!

This is one of my favourite chapters, so I hope you all thoroughly enjoy this chapter!

The story Kasumi tells in this is called The Boy Who Drew Cats, if you want to read the original story! It's a Japanese folk tale. :)

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        It's late at night and I can't sleep, so I decide to head up to the roof.

        "What are you doing up so late?" I hear as I reach the edge of the roof. I look up to find Kyo near the apex, obviously surprised about having someone else up so late.

        "I could ask you the same thing," I reply, laying next to where he was sitting. "I couldn't sleep, if that answers your question." Kyo looks over at me suspiciously.

        "Just that?" he asks. I nod in response, looking up at the stars.

        "Yeah, just that. So, why are you up so late?"

        "It's not like I couldn't sleep like you, or anything—" Kyo starts, before stopping himself from snapping at me. He's silent for a few moments before starting again. "Just thinking."

        "Thinking?"

        "Yeah." He doesn't seem to be in the mood to elaborate, so I take to looking at the stars again. "Do you ever...?" Kyo starts to ask.

        "Do I ever... what?" I question, not sure what he's getting at.

        "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we weren't looked down upon by all the other Sohmas?" My eyes widen, and I can't help but stare at him with a slightly shocked expression. Kyo sees my reaction and sighs. "Nevermind." he mumbles, "I shouldn't have asked."

        "No," I insist, "No, it's a perfectly reasonable question." I think about his question for a little before answering. "A lot of the adults in the family look down on us, even though Momiji, Kagura, and the other Sohmas our age don't as much. I think you and I are in the same position as the boy in Ancient Japan who drew cats."

        "What?" Kyo asks, his confusion apparent.

        "It's an old story that I read a few years ago. You haven't read it?" Kyo shakes his head a little, "I'm shocked. You love to read. And it has cats."

        "Yeah, yeah..." he says, brushing off my words, "So what's the story?"

        "Well," I begin, "There was a boy with orange hair— just like yours— who lived in Miyama, and loved to draw. Well, more specifically, he loved to draw cats. Only cats. See, people appreciate cats. It's not a bad thing."

        "And why are you telling this story?" Kyo frowns a bit, not entirely happy with the story's relation to him.

        "Because there's a reason to." I reply coolly, "Let me know when you figure it out.

        "Anyways, this boy drew cats all of the time, and lived on a farm with his parents and his many siblings. His siblings deeply loved his talent; however, his parents did not. His father could not get the boy to be a farmer, for whenever the boy saw farm cats pass by, he would draw even more cats. The same thing happened when his father tried to get the boy to be a priest in their village temple. Finally, his father told the boy that he had shamed the family and the village with his drawings, and that he would send the boy away if he continued.