Fruits Basket

[jojo]

Watch out for my episode guide of Fruits Basket, coming soon!

[jojo]

All about Fruits Basket.

Introduction.

Fruits Basket is the story of a young high-school girl, Honda Tohru. Having lost her mother in a car accident, she has come to live alone in a tent in the forest near her school. Never a quitter, she strives to honor her mother's memory and work hard to do the best she can with her life.

One day, she happens across a house in the woods, not far from her makeshift abode. The residents, Sohma Yuki and his cousin Shigure, aren't total strangers. Sohma is the coolest guy at Tohru's school!

Will the chance encounter lead to new friendships, and perhaps, a new romance? Why all the talk of the Chinese Zodiac? Why is the title "Fruits Basket"?





Episode #1.

In Episode #1, Tohru tells us of her story, the fact that her mother tragically died in a car accident, the fact that she went to live with her grandfather, and she is now living in a little yellow tent in the woods because her grandfather’s having some remodeling done to make room for his daughter and family.

The story starts with Tohru looking up into the beautiful blue sky in her school uniform. The school uniform is blue and white; she wears blue knee-high socks and small black shoes. Her hair is tied up with ribbons and she carries her school bag with her.
Tohru has brown hair and bright blue eyes.

She returned to the tent for a moment, where we first see a picture of her mother giving a ‘peace’ sign.
She tells her mother that she’ll be back later, and starts on her journey to school, walking through the woods.
Tohru then tells us that her favourite motto is:
“Tohru Honda never gives up, no matter what life throws her way!”

Tohru soon comes across a house which she hadn’t seen before. It had two floors and a little pond in the garden.

Tohru goes up to the front of the house, and soon notices twelve little figurines. She knew straight away that they were the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac!

Suddenly, two feet appear in front of her, and as we make our way up, we notice that the person is wearing traditional Japanese clothes, known as a kimono.

She also notices that he was reading a newspaper.

As we see his face, we come to realize that he is quite handsome.

He asks her what she is doing there and she starts apologizing for intruding. She then asks him about the Chinese figurines and then comments on how he forgot the cat!

She then tells him of what her mother had told her and the fact that god had told all of the animals to come to a banquet, tomorrow night, however, the cat was nastily tricked by the mean rat, because he told the cat that the banquet was the day after tomorrow, even though the rat knew full well that the banquet was tomorrow evening.
So, all of the animals lined up ready to enter the banquet, the rat rode all the way there on the back of the cow and was first to enter the banquet.
Alas, the poor cat lay at home asleep, dreaming of a party that would never come!

Tohru then explains that she got really upset over the cat and told her mother that she didn’t want to be the year of the dog anymore, but the year of the cat!

The gentleman seemed amazed of how well informed Tohru had been.


The gentle man then says,
“I wonder what he’ll think when he hears he has a fan!’
He then tells her that he is also the year of the dog, so they might have something in common.

All of a sudden, the man gets whacked around the head by a bag, quite hard!
When Tohru looks up, she noticed that it was none other than Yuki Sohma, the most popular guy in her year! His eyes were a pale blue colour, and his face was almost angelic!
He was wearing the boy’s school uniform, which consists of a black shirt, black trousers and a white tie.

He told her to forgive his cousin, as he is slightly narrow-minded.

His cousin then says,
“That bag hurts, what have you got in there, a dictionary?”
And Yuki then replies,
“No, I have two of them!”

The gentleman then explains that his name is Shigure Sohma, and that he is Yuki’s cousin.
Tohru tells him who she is.
Yuki wonders what Tohru is doing out in the woods that early, and especially on her own.
She tells him that she lives…near by.

Yuki and Shigure look very confused by this.

Tohru exclaims that she must be rushing along, when Yuki stops her and asks her to walk with him.

Tohru walked the way to school in silence, and looking at the floor, as she was too shy to talk to him.
As they walk past, a group of girls, known as the Prince Yuki fan club, sang their song tribute to him, and then wondered why he walked past with Tohru Honda. This outraged them!

When they get to school, they confront Tohru about Yuki, and ask her why she was walking with their beloved prince!

Tohru explains that it was just a coincidence.

They say that if it was only a coincidence then they won’t need to call the police!

They then babble about how ‘perfect’ Yuki is, and that no one compares to him!

Then a loud ‘Oy!’ comes from the back of them, they turn around to find Tohru’s friends, they tell the girls to back off, as Tohru had told them that it was a coincidence.

The girls start to back-chat them, until Hana - Jima threatens to shock them all with her electric waves. Then they run away screaming.

Uo-Chan then gives Tohru a hug and tells Hana-Chan not to shock the girls this time.

During their next lesson, Tohru explains how shy she was when she was walking with Yuki, and the fact that he was so handsome she was really nervous.

A sudden “shing” of a knife came from Hana-Chan, and then she added
‘Strange electric waves come from that boy!”

Uo-Chan and Tohru both look t Hana and ask her why she says that.

She explains that she’s not sure exactly on what to think about him, but there’s a strange vibe coming from him that she can’t describe.
She then slips the knife into the protective cover.
Uo-Chan then adds that Yuki is very mysterious, and that once a girl told him she liked him, but he pushed her away, literally, in the hall and ran off!

They then change the subject to Tohru.
Uo-Chan asks Tohru if she still works part-time. Tohru nodded.
Uo-Chan then adds that it is not good to have to work considering she lives with her grandfather.

Tohru doesn’t quite know what to say, so just adds a “Yes”.

Uo-Chan continues that it was because Tohru said that she wanted to pay for her own tuition, however, the school that they’re at doesn’t cost much, so there must be another reason.

Uo-Chan looked at Tohru with an angry look, her blonde hair in her eyes, and said,
“You’re getting enough to eat aren’t you?
He’s not taking your part-time money from you is he?”

Tohru looked at Uo-Chan and said ‘Yes, I’m getting enough to eat, and no, he doesn’t take my money.”

Uo-Chan gives a look of relief and understands that she worries too much.
And then adds,
“However, if something does occur, tell me and I’ll sort it out! Understand?”

Tohru smiled and said “Yes”.
She thinks to herself that if Uo and Hana knew the truth, the fact that she’s living in a tent, they’d be really upset and angry with her grandfather, and so, she decided to keep quiet.

We then find out that after her father’s death, her mother worked doubly as hard to earn as much money as she could, and was delighted to have her pay-cheque.
Tohru wonders how anyone so brave and strong could be taken away in an accident.



Tohru bumps into Yuki on the way through the locker room, and thanks him for walking her to school. He then tells her as it should be him saying thanks since Shigure was such a bother.

Tohru tells Yuki that Shigure wasn’t a bother at all, and was very kind to her, because he had allowed her to look at the figurines.

Yuki then commented on the fact that she had said she wanted to be born in the year of the cat.

Tohru explains that she was a little eccentric as a child and sometimes said silly things.

Yuki then says that cats are stupid and can’t do anything. He goes on to explain that the Chinese zodiac was originally made as a calendar to mark the passage of time, and had nothing to do with animals, however, the cat was never included.

Tohru then exclaims “It sounds like you really don’t like cats!”

Yuki turns to Tohru, catches a leaf from falling and says,
“I noticed it this morning that you’re looking a little pale, you ought to take more care of yourself. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tohru stared in amazement as he walked away. But she decided to ignore the comment about her looking pale and went to work.
For work she wore a bandana to keep her hair back and overalls.

A man opened the door to a room and nearly fell over the garbage bags that had been left there, he asked Tohru to move it, and she ran down the hall to put the in the bins and cleaned fiercely until the building shined. One of the other cleaners added how much easier the work load had got with Tohru around!



Shigure and Yuki were walking through the forest, chatting about dinner. Shigure said that he was gaining weight, and Yuki told him that if he wanted to lose it, to cook himself instead of ordering take out every night.
Shigure then added that every time he cooks, he complains!
Yuki added, in a disgusted manner
“Pickled radish and curry is not food, it’s disgusting!’

Shigure agreed, and asked Yuki about getting a housekeeper.
Yuki objected.

They then notice Tohru walking over to a tent, looking rather…. Drunk!

She opens up the tent and went in.
She tells her mother’s picture that she feels a little dizzy, but she has other work to do, so she would go to the river to wash first.
As she came out of the tent, Yuki and Shigure stood there, looking at her astonished.
Shigure nearly wet himself with laughter, and made lots of jokes about it, such as,
“Where do you plug in your curling iron?”
And he would start laughing again.

Yuki told Shigure to stop acting so childish and to stop laughing, as it wasn’t funny in the slightest.
Shigure eventually managed to stop himself from laughing and apologized for being rude.

Tohru then explains that she has only been living in the tent for just over a week, and didn’t mean any harm.
Shigure then explains that the woods are Sohma property.
Tohru begs them to let her stay there; she’d even pay them for the spot.
Shigure explains that the woods are nowhere near safe, especially at night.
He says that there are allsorts of wild animals out there, not to mention the perverts!

Tohru stood up and cried,
“Don’t you worry about me, I’m already used to all the bugs, and if I can stand up to them, I can stand up to…”
Tohru collapsed!
Yuki discovered that she had a bad fever and wasn’t well.
Shigure went to look for some ice, but didn’t get any further than the kitchen door, as there was so much clutter!
Tohru looks up and said,
“Hmm, and you call the woods unsafe?”
Shigure went to answer, but was distracted by a loud wolf cry.
“Did you hear that? There’s just been another landslide!”
Tohru asked him how he knew that, and he called it ‘animal instinct’.
Yuki looked up in fear, and said,
“Where was it?”
Shigure looked at Yuki and said ‘Next to the tent…. I mean nowhere near the tent….”
Yuki, Shigure and Tohru went to check the tent. When they got there, their worst fears had come true; the whole tent was covered in rocks and dirt.
‘MOM!” Tohru cried.
“Mom, I’m coming…mom…” Tohru fell due to exhaustion, and Yuki told her to calm down, or else she’d do herself more harm than good.
“But mom…” Tohru mumbled.
“But mom, if we don’t get her out soon, she...she…she’ll be hurt…”
Tohru began to cry.
Yuki explained that if Tohru was to get hurt now that her mom would never forgive herself, and to come back in the morning when it was lighter.
Tohru reluctantly agreed, as she knew he was right, and went back to the Sohma House with Yuki and Shigure.

Shigure made Tohru a little bed on the floor, and got Tohru some clean clothes to wear.
“Yuki is still looking for some ice and medicine, if you want it.” Said Shigure.
“I’m sorry!” Said Tohru, with a quiet voice.
“Mmm…You must be tired?”
“I lost my home again!”
“It must hurt.”
“It’s sad, but, not as sad as other things…”
“Like what?”
”Like telling mom… be safe on the day she died. I said it every morning, bye, be safe, except that day. I had a quiz, and I stayed up most of the night studying, so when it came to mom leaving, I wasn’t up, I didn’t say it, not even to her back, and then she…never came home.
Often I considered leaving school, working. Mom told me she didn’t finish school, but always wished she had. My mom always wanted the best for me, so that’s why I can’t quit school, I can’t give up, I have to stay strong, I have to, for her… I can’t quit, just because of a fever, like this…”

Tohru fell asleep and Yuki was stood at the door with the ice and medicine.

“It’s amazing.” He said,
“She always seemed so cheerful at school; you’d never imagine she’d been suffering like this for so long.”
Shigure looked at Yuki, and said
“You can call it amazing, but I don’t think that word does it justice.”
Yuki looked at Tohru and added,
“No, no it doesn’t. Do you mind watching over her for a while, I’m going out.”
Shigure looked at Yuki and said,
“Where? You’re not going to that tent! You are, aren’t you? Do you want me to come with you? It won’t be easy to dig it up on your own.”
Yuki looked at Shigure with mysterious eyes, and exclaimed,
“Who said anything about digging it up on my own?”
Outside, lots of rats were moving around Yuki. His eyes glowed.
Shigure waved and said,
“Be safe Yuki.”
And with that, Yuki left.
Tohru dreamt about her mother that night.
She imagined her mother telling her that she shouldn’t push herself so hard, to take everything one step at a time, and to be herself.

“Mom…”
She heard her mother say,
“Just be yourself, you’ll be fine.”
She jolted up, and found that her mother’s picture was standing next to her bed.
“Mom… How did you?”
A voice came from the door,
“Good morning.”
It was Yuki.
“I’ve collected your things for you. I think this is all of them, if you’d like to check.”
He handed her a few bags with her things in.
Tohru couldn’t believe it.
She looked at him with amazement and asked him how he did it, on his own too. She thought it must have taken him all night.
Yuki smiled at her.
“Miss Honda, I know the house is dirty… and I know the idea of staying in a house with two strange men may seem a little awquard, but you’re welcome to stay here until your grandfather’s remodeling is finished.”
Tohru stared at him.
She shook her head frantically and yelled,
“NO NO NO, out of the question!”
He looked confused and said,
“We’re not that strange!”
Tohru thought she’d upset him and yelled,
“No, I didn’t mean it like that…”
A voice came from behind her.
“Of course it won’t be free…”
Tohru gave a look of shock, she turned to see Shigure standing there.
“We do intend to pay you for your services…” he added.
“F…for my s…services?” Tohru repeated, a little worriedly.
“AS our brand new HOUSEKEEPER! We’ll just take your things up to your room now; I presume your references will all check out?”
Tohru looked at the both in astonishment.
“No, I couldn’t possibly let you do that, you’ve done too much already, I don’t want to be a bourdon.”
Yuki looked at her reassuringly, and said,
“Miss Honda, if we didn’t want you here, we wouldn’t have asked you to stay.”
Tohru told them that she’d only work for her room, no money and she wanted to know every rule of the house.
Yuki just told her to be herself, as she could do what she wanted here.
Tohru thanked them, and Yuki borrowed her some of his clothes, which buried her, until she sorted out her own.
Yuki opened the window and explained that the room had been shut off for a while, so it was a little stuffy.
Suddenly, a huge “CRASH” came from the roof.
Down jumped a orange-haired boy wearing black and a white and black beaded bracelet.
He stood up and looked at Yuki; he didn’t realize that Tohru was there.
“Yo! It’s time to pay the piper rat-boy, I’m here to collect.”
Yuki smirked and said,
“Funny, I’d have thought he’d send somebody bigger!”
The orange-haired boy started to get angry, and yelled,
“That’s right, you’d better run scared, I’ve been practicing so now I’m going to beat you!”
He threw himself at Yuki.
Tohru stepped forward and cried,
“No, wait please don’t fight!”
Shigure walked in and wandered if Kyo was home.
She fell on a piece of wood and landed on Kyo.
“I’m so sorry, are you ok? I didn’t mean to, it was an acci… AHHH! He’s a cat! Oh no! I’ve done something! Call a doctor or a vet or anybody, don’t worry, I’m going to help you ok?”
Yuki and Shigure looked at each other and just stood there in disbelief.
Tohru fell again, this time because a loose piece of wood fell from the ceiling and hit her on the head!
Yuki and Shigure tried to stop her falling, but,
“POOF”
Yuki and Shigure transformed too!
Yuki changed into a rat and Shigure into a dog.
Tohru sat there and stared at them, in total shock.

[jojo]

Episode #2.

The doorbell rang, Tohru grabbed all three of the animals and dragged them downstairs, she pushed open the door with great force and yelled,
“Mr. Postman, it’s terrible, you see, they’re animals!”
The postman looked at her as though she was strange, stroked Shigure’s head and said,
“Yes they certainly are, well, have a good day.” And off he went.
Tohru knelt down in shock to try and take it all in, when Kyo started talking.
She turned and thought “You mean they talk too…”
Shigure explained everything and told her that there were others like them.
He said that there are twelve members of the Sohma family which turn into the members of the zodiac, and a thirteenth member to represent the unfortunate cat.
He went on to explain that whenever they get stressed or hugged by the opposite sex, they transform, eventually they change back, the only thing is………. They’re naked!
“POOF” They changed back, and surely enough, they were naked.
Tohru screamed and turned away from them before she saw anything!

They sat Tohru down in the sitting area, and they joined her, with their clothes on, and she told them that it wasn’t their fault if their family’s cursed, and thought that it explained a lot about Yuki being so ‘mysterious’.
Shigure then asked Tohru about her wanting to be a cat, and then he makes a joke about her seeing the real thing and him being clumsy.
She smiled and got all exited because, although Shigure was being mean, she had met the cat of the Chinese zodiac, just like she’d always wanted!

However, Shigure carries on tormenting Kyo and gets him so angry that he takes it out on Tohru, and breaks the table with his fist, hurting Tohru’s forehead in the process.
Yuki whacked Kyo around the face for hurting Tohru, and then tells Kyo that he’ll fight him if he makes it worth his time, and not hold back. Whilst the fighting gets underway, Shigure cleans Tohru’s head and puts a square plaster on it.
Shigure then explains to Tohru that the fighting goes back to when they first met, and it’s best to leave them to it.
As he says this, Yuki sends Kyo flying through the back door into the garden.
Tohru looks at Yuki in shock, and Shigure got upset because his door got broken!
Yuki explains that Kyo should’ve kept his guard up.
Yuki checks on Tohru to see if she’s ok, and she explains that she’s fine, but she’s more concerned about whether Kyo’s hurt.
Yuki reassures her by saying that the only thing Kyo’s hurt is his ego.

Kyo kneels up, obviously upset, and Shigure asks Tohru if her plans of being a cat are shattered. Tohru told Shigure that they weren’t, but Kyo got up and ran off in embarrassment.

Tohru looks at Yuki, and thinks how much of a ‘prince’ everyone thinks he is at school, and she never thought that he could be so vicious.
She then reminds herself that she’s late for school and rushes to get ready, however, Shigure tells her that it wouldn’t be very suitable to go to school in the muddy uniform, as everyone would definitely notice!
Tohru pleads with Shigure to let her go to school, so he said ok, but then reminds himself, out loud, that he has to go and see Akito and tell him about everything that’s happened.
Tohru gives Shigure a blank expression, and then asks him who Akito is.
Shigure explains to her that he is the head of the family, and is very important.
She agrees that he must tell Akito about what’s happened, and runs out of the house and off to school.

Yuki talks to Shigure about the punishment of finding out about the secret, and then leaves for school.

Tohru hugs her uniform and thanks Uotani-san for letting her use the washing machine.
All of a sudden, the fan-club girls show up and ask Tohru how she got that dirty, and if Prince Yuki had given her the ditch!
Hanajima threatened the fan-club girls with her electric shocks and chased them down the hall.

Tohru goes into the locker room to change, when she comes out, Yuki is standing there.
Yuki asks Tohru if she told Uo and Hana about the secret, and Tohru screamed that she hadn’t told a soul, and that she’d write it in blood or swallow a thousand needles if she had to, just to make him believe her!
He explains that it’s ok, but they still might have to erase her memories.
He goes on to explain that it’s just like hypnotism, and that she’ll simply forget what she saw.
Tohru listens to every word, and when he’s through, he apologizes and goes to leave. Tohru grabs him and he transforms, Tohru holds him and then assures Yuki that it’s ok, and that she’s not scared.
She did request one thing, and that was, that if her memories were erased, that Yuki would still be her friend!

Yuki changed back, and got himself dressed quickly.
He tried to do his tie, but it went all wonky, so Tohru did it for him.
Yuki thanks her, and she says that fixing ties is her specialty.



Shigure is sitting with Akito at the main house, and Akito then decides to allow Tohru to keep her memories, as it may be a good opportunity for Yuki, Kyo and perhaps, even himself, for an outsider to learn about them.


Yuki and Tohru return home from school, but Shigure is still at the main house.
As Tohru enters her room, she sees Kyo trying to fix the hole in the roof.
He explains that it’s only a temporary thing, and he’ll fix it better later.
Tohru thanks him, and then begins to get upset because she doesn’t think Kyo likes her.
Kyo starts to explain that sometimes his temper gets the better of him, and he lashes out.
As he goes to apologize, Shigure comes home, and yells,
“Tohru, Yuki I’m home, and Kyo, I hope you’re not doing anything stupid and tearing up the house again!”

Kyo gets angry and rushes downstairs, Tohru chases after him, but he leaves the house.
Shigure tells Tohru to go into the sitting area for a moment.
He explains that as long as she can keep the secret, she can stay there.
Tohru’s glad because she doesn’t have to lose her memories.

Yuki shows a concern for Tohru, but Shigure just tells him to go with it for now, as nothing bad is happening.

Tohru comes out of the sitting area and thanks them for letting her stay.
Yuki tells her to make herself at home.

Tohru talks to her mother’s spirit, and says,
“It looks like everything’s going to be ok mom, because in spite of everything, the Sohma’s have still invited me to stay in their house. I guess this will be our home for a while.”

The next morning comes, and Tohru is faced with the ‘jungle’ of a mess in the kitchen.
Yuki offers to help, but Shigure just tells Tohru that he’d just get in the way.
Tohru says it’s ok, and that she’ll do it on her own.
Yuki and Shigure both go out, and Tohru gets started on the mess.
When Yuki gets home, the house is immaculate, there’s no mess anywhere, and Tohru had even unearthed a rice cooker.
Tohru tells Yuki that he’d better have an appetite because lunch is ready.

The table of food looked delicious, and Yuki explained that it was the best lunch he’d ever had.
Tohru went all modest and told him not to be silly.
Yuki asked Tohru where Shigure and the ‘stupid cat’ went off to.
Tohru answered that she didn’t know, but they said they’d be back by lunch time.
Yuki says,
“Shame on them, it’s rude to let food this good get cold.”
Tohru asks Yuki where he’d went to, and he told her that he’d been out the back, in his ‘secret base’. Tohru got all excited and asked Yuki if she could see it. He promised her that the next time he goes he’ll take her with him.
As he says this, Kyo storms in. Tohru tells him that dinner’s ready, but he yells that he’s
not hungry and runs upstairs.
Shigure tells him not to take the entrance exam out on Tohru, and to take off his shoes.
Tohru said that Shigure looked good in a suit, and then asks him about the entrance exam.
Shigure explains that starting tomorrow, Kyo will be attending Yuki and Tohru’s school, and that he’s going to be living with them from now on too.
Yuki looks evil and tells Shigure to get out.
Shigure tells Yuki that he knew he’d be upset, but not to take it out on him as it’s Akito’s decision.
Kyo was sitting on the roof, whilst Shigure explains to Tohru that Kyo had disappeared for four months, and that today he’d finally told him that he was on a mountain top training.
Yuki pulls a disgusted face and adds,
“Let me guess, he’s been meditating under waterfalls and fighting bears!?”
Shigure gives a weird grin and says,
“Well, I’m not too sure about that part. The point is, Kyo really wants to beat Yuki.”
Shigure looks at Yuki, and Yuki looks down, muttering,
“Stupid cat.”

Tohru thinks hard about this, and tells herself,
“Kyo spent all of that time trying to beat Yuki, and that Yuki doesn’t seem to like Kyo at all either, and that it’s just like the story, after the rat tricked the cat, the cat must’ve been angry for a very long time.
Maybe that’s why Yuki and Kyo don’t get along, I don’t know, but I have a feeling that they wouldn’t want to talk about it with me.”

The next day, Kyo started at Yuki’s school.
All of the girls where surrounding him, which made him more nervous and more angry.
Tohru watched with baited breathe.
Yuki walked in, and everyone asked him if the new guy was really his cousin.
He got up and twisted a girls arm around, pinning her to the floor.
Kyo finally lost it, and yelled at the top of his voice,
“Leave me alone!”
When he realized what he’d done, he jumped out of the second floor window, and landed on his feet.
He just kept on running.
Everyone was amazed and were definite that he was related to Prince Yuki.
Uotani laughed and joked how Kyo looked like a cat trying to get out of a bath.
Yuki looked ashamed and left the room.
Tohru just looked outside in amazement, and said,
“Poor Kyo.”
She then thought,
“He really is like the old cat from the story mom, he must feel so alone right now, but who knows, maybe someday, we can be friends.”