Fruits Basket One Shots

Hiro Sohma - Childish

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Baskets or the song listed below.

"I Won't Give Up" - Jason Mraz

(A/N:) Since Hiro-kun is 12, you will have to return to the wretches of puberty. Oh, and that means you have to be twelve, too!

It is a cold winter's day. School has ended for the younger children of the Sohma family, and it is time for them to return home. They run and laugh in the snow, so careless and free.

You bite your lip and wrap your arms around yourself. Your pink scarf isn't keeping you warm. Nor are your black boots or winter coat. The temperature outside is chilling you to the bone. You sigh, watching some of your peers hurl snowballs at one another as if their lives depend on the defeat of their enemies. You notice your brown haired friend sitting on a bench, holding a smaller girl next to him. You squint your eyes, trying to see his features past the snowfall.

You suck in a breath at the sight. Hiro Sohma is showing affection to a smaller girl who is a grade below Hiro and you. Kisa Sohma. Your stomach seems to sink to the soles of your feet. You shudder in the cold and decide to confront him. As you're approaching, the younger girl stands from the bench and smiles at Hiro before bowing to him and skipping away. He has a smile on his face, and it takes your breath away. Hiro-kun rarely smiles, and it irritates you to find that another girl has made him happy. The frigid temperatures seem to rise inside of you as you stomp, the distance between the two of you dissipating.

"What is it? Why did you have to stomp all of the way up here like that? Are you trying to prove a point or somethin'? It didn't do anything but get snow on my jacket. That's very inconsiderate of you, making me even colder then I already am. Is that what you planned to do in the first place? It probably was. Well, thanks a lot for wasting my time," Hiro puffs, each of his blunt statements shooting you down with each sentence, in a wave of his breath. What makes everything worse is that you can see the steam of words escape his lips. He appears to be an angry dragon blowing fire from its mouth, resting in the open winter.

You smile inside, knowing your friend might have the attitude of a strong and fierce dragon. Inside, though, he is a lamb; a gentle and loving sheep. Your heart leaps in your chest as you think about the day he had told you of his power. He told you it was a problem to him. Hiro-kun explained that it could never be a power that could benefit him, and that it will always be a curse, no matter what perspective you have of it.

---

It was just this past summer. School would start back up again in a week or two, but for now, the children of your neighborhood would play their final summer days away with their friends.

"Hiro-kun, why didn't you show up at the ice cream stand this afternoon?" You asked your best friend, anxiously. He just gazed off into the distance, his eyes watering slightly. The two of you were sitting alone on a bench in the park. Hiro-kun has always taken you to the park in the evenings.

"H-Hiro-kun? What's wrong?" You asked, frightened by his silence. He usually would respond with some sort of stuck-up response, but today, something seemed to be bothering him.

"Huh?" He turned his head to you and blinked a few times, as if he did not know you were by his side. Hiro-kun grabbed your hand as if someone had just tried to frighten him and he needed your comfort. You could see the fear in his eyes as his cold hand wrapped around your warm one. You looked down at the two of your hands, intertwined as if something was trying to separate your hands from his and he wasn't going to let it succeed. Just as you thought this, he pulled his hand away.

"Listen," He whispered. You looked back up into his eyes, confused.

"You've always have been my friend. You have always been there for me. I need you right now. I need you to listen, and not run away when I tell you this, I mean, I haven't been close with a girl, except Kisa, but she already knows, so I need someone else, and you can't tell anyone else, or you'll get hurt, just listen, I-" Hiro-kun rambled on, his body quivering like a does'. You interrupted his speech.