Fruits Basket Kyo x Reader 2

Chapter 14

A very long time ago...

There was no Sohma family. Back then, they were called the Kinoshita family. They had a small amount of royal blood, actually. Not too much, but enough to make it on some of the royal family trees, if the trees went back far enough. Nowadays, you would never know because the surname is different.

Anyway, the family was quite large. The family was infamous for being so immense in their numbers. They were what most people called 'old money', meaning they inherited the money from their older relatives.

Most of them lived in splendor, enjoying luxurious food, expensive clothes, and never had to do a lick of work in all their lives. It was a nice, easy life.

One of them was named Kinoshita Katsuo. Now, Katsuo was odd, to say the least. Nobody could coax more than three words out of him, no matter how hard they tried. He never grew very tall. This was strange, because the Kinoshita men always grew tall and strong. Many would say he was 'born in the wrong family'.

Nevertheless, he was handsome. He lived in one of the biggest mansions, along with his older sister and mother. His father never stuck around, to put it shortly. This was his mother's reason for his personality and stature.

But there was a reason for his difference.

"I'm going out." I plucked my cloak off the sofa, wrapping it around my shoulders.

"The forest?" One of the maids asked, stopping from her dusting session.

"Yeah." I affirmed, pushing the door open and leaving. The wind was ferocious, blowing my hair and cloak away from me. I turned and followed the stepping stone path into the forest.

Untouched by humans and abundant in coniferous trees, the forest was by far my favorite place. No one else ever came here but me. I never knew why, and never asked. It seemed that they had better things to do. I followed the dirt path to the heart of the forest. My favorite tree stood tall, just like always.

It was a pine tree, great for climbing.

It had been here for as long as anyone remembered, a quarter hour's walk from the mansion. I knew it wouldn't fall or die anytime soon.

That was good. I knew the spirit that lived in it.

In folklore, it speaks of wood nymphs. I had learned from a young age that this was not just folklore. They were as real as the trees they resided in.

This one happens to be my friend.

"I thought you'd never come back, Katsuo." A tiny voice rang out. I learned to hear it well, as the voice is not very distinguishable from a cricket or breeze of wind.

"I'm here now." I said, sitting down next to the pine. "You should come out of there. I want to talk with you." I asked.

"Well, you're talking with me now, aren't you?" It challenged.

"Do you understand how hard it is to hear you?" I said, frowning at the tree.

"When you were younger, you said you couldn't hear anything else."

"It's different now." I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

"Well, you asked nicely." A vibration of sound echoes through the tree, running up and down its needles and down to its roots. It shook, then a slight form stepped out, unfazed.

"What was it you wanted to ask?"

"No. Talk."

"... What was it you wanted to talk?"

"I'm growing older and older everyday, Pine. Soon, I will be asked to move into another house."

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

"It means I'll be too far away to visit. I'm almost eighteen, Pine. That means I'm a man. I'm going to be expected to care for myself."

"That's... not.." She sounded upset.

"I can't help it. It's just the way things are." I explained.

"That's horrible! You can't!" She was angry.

"I'm sorry."

"No, this can't be the end! Run away, live with me, we can-"

"It's not that easy, Pine."

"Why can't it just be the way it was when you were younger?" I saw misty tears in her eyes.

"Everything's got an end. Some ends are closer than others."

"Are you even upset? I bet you were just waiting to say this!"

"I was. Because I don't want to leave."

"Then stay! Stay here with me. Be immortalized forever."

"That's just not how... What? What do you mean, 'immortalized'?"

"Your soul, with mine forever, tied to the physical world by this tree."

"I've never heard of that before." I brushed the idea off.

"Katsuo... Katsuo... How did you think I got here?"

My eyes widened. I suddenly felt unable to swallow.

"I... You..." I was at a loss for words. I always believed that she was just a tree spirit. I had no idea Pine was once a girl.

"Stay here with me. Forever." She begged, one last time.

I closed my eyes.

...

...

"Okay."

"Wow." Y/N leaned back. "I can't believe it."

"That," Hatori ended with. "Is the origin of the Sohma curse."

"How does that have to do with the curse?" Y/N asked.

"Well..."