Summary: Alternate Universe, partly inspired by Nicholas Sparks' A Walk to Remember. Kyou Souma, the popular troublemaking teen at school, is caught one too many times by members of the school faculty doing things he shouldn't be. As a final warning and punishment, he is required to participate in certain extra-curricular functions, or be expelled from the district. What happens when his chances of staying in the school relies entirely on a certain innocent Tohru Honda? KYOU/TOHRU

A/N: Hey guys! This is my first attempt at writing a fic since April 2003, so, I hope this intro chapter turned out okay. PLUS, it's also my first shot at writing a Fruits Basket story. And yeah… that fic I wrote back then seriously sucked, but it's been a little more than a year and a half since, so I'm hoping my writing's improved.

Most importantly: I CHANGED A FEW OF THE SOUMAS' LAST NAMES. As you'll notice soon enough, I had to change a few of the characters' last names. Mostly because it'd be sorta weird if Kyou were related to the principal, drama club instructor, etc…

Oh, for Yuki/Tohru fans that are strongly anti-Kyou/Tohru, you probably shouldn't read this. I got nothing against Yuki or anything, I'm just not sure whether or not he'll be in the fic or not, yet…

Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read!

(Italics) Author's Notes

'Italics' Thoughts

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The 17-year-old brunette let out a tired sigh. It had certainly been a long day at work; she'd almost gotten herself fired for her clumsiness again.

'I just have to be more careful. I can't lose my job, not when I promised Mom and Grandpa that I'd pay for my tuition...' She felt a tear roll down her cheek at the thought of her mom. (A/N: Tohru's mom isn't dead, but I can't tell you the reason why Tohru is sad yet!)

She quickly wiped the tear away with the sleeve of her sweater, refusing to cry. 'I don't want to worry anyone...'

The young girl's name is Tohru Honda. An innocent girl, she is - in fact, most of the school know her as the goody-always-do-what's-right two shoes. She certainly lives up to her nickname - she even keeps her hair tied back all the time with ribbons each day. Because of her strong morals, most people tend to stray away from her, dubbing her as one of the outcasts of the school. The only two people that really talk to her are her two best friends, Arisa Uotani Uo, and Saki Hanajima Hana. Those two are the only ones that know how much of a weight Tohru carries on her shoulders each day, but poor Tohru has gotten so good at masking any negative feelings, often times Uo and Hana don't know something's going on unless she outright tells them herself.

Meanwhile, as Tohru continued on her journey home, a certain orange-haired boy the same age as her was running from something himself - he'd been caught. Again.

Just as he felt as if his lungs would explode, he thought he'd finally gotten rid of his pursuer; until, of course, someone gripped his upper arm roughly and flashed a bright light on the boy's face.

"Kyou Souma. I should've known." The pursuer said in monotone.

Kyou squinted his crimson eyes through the light and recognized the face of the janitor - he couldn't remember the name of the man, though. And standing next to the janitor, was his gym teacher, the old, fat, and forgetful Mr. Watanabe. Kyou glared down at the ground and clenched his fist.

"You kids are crazy, I swear... I mean, first you were vandalizing school property under the influence; OH! And there was that time where you got in a fight with that Haru fellow, and... uh.. what was after that?" Mr. Watanabe scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully.

"We put firecrackers in the toilet, making it explode, and the lid flew out the door and gave some girl a cut." Kyou offered in a bored tone. 'I wasn't "under the influence" that one time... I never drink alcohol.'

"Oh yeah! That was it... and now, you're getting some kid to jump off a school roof into the pool." The elderly man sighed and shook his head. "Kids these days are so crazy..."

'There's been worse.' Kyou thought as he rolled his eyes and glanced at the young janitor, who seemed much more suited to be a PE teacher, considering his lean frame. Kyou wasn't exactly sure what would happen in the remainder of the night, but he was sure that tomorrow morning would be hell. He didn't exactly want to think of it, though. That night, he went to sleep hoping that tomorrow would never come.

Sadly, it did.

And so, the next morning, Kyou trudged to school tiredly, although the walk itself was only about fifteen to twenty minutes long. It was funny, because considering the rich family he came from, you'd think they'd get him a car. No such luck.

He shoved the glass entrance door open wearily and dragged his feet down the long halls, eventually stopping at his homeroom door. He twisted the knob and pulled the door open, entered the room and slid into his seat as noiselessly as possible.

His homeroom teacher, the elderly Mrs. Hiroshima, glanced up through her thick wire-rimmed glasses. "Oh, Kyou Sohma, I was told by the principal to send you to his office once you showed up. You'd better get moving."

Kyou groaned, having just settled into his seat, and now he had to get up again. He shoved the door open, and as he sped down the hall, he heard the door slam into the wall, and then shut just as quickly. Smirking, he thought, 'They'll probably have to fill up another hole in that wall.'

The tardy bell sounded, signalling for all doors leading outside to be locked from the inside. Kyou continued on his 'journey' to the principal's office when he stopped and saw Tohru Honda trying desperately to pull the door open.

"She obviously woke up late," Kyou commented, noting her usually long, flowing hair held up by ribbons now looking messy and with the ribbons out of place. Her uniform had several wrinkles. 'Looks like she didn't get to iron either.'

He scoffed and approached the door, looking at her through the transparent glass. Tohru caught sight of Kyou and pointed desperately at the door handle, and made a gesture with her hands imitating a person unlocking a door.

Kyou smirked and stopped right in front of the door.

"Oh, Kyou, please open the door!" Tohru yelled from the other side of the glass, hoping he would hear her and pointed frantically at the lock.

He touched the lock with his fingertip, pretending he didn't know what she wanted him to do, and shrugged.

Tohru looked at him desperately and made imitated the 'unlocking' action with her hands and pointed back at the lock.

Kyou widened his eyes as if it suddenly registered in his brain, and he mimicked the action of turning a doorknob with his hand.

The gullible Tohru nodded her head furiously. "Please..."

Kyou shrugged again and turned the lock on the door and pulled it open, holding it open for her with one hand, and a bored expression playing his features. Once she was safely inside, she turned towards Kyou with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Kyou!" She bowed her head slightly before waving and speeding down the hallway.

Kyou watched her leave, mostly in disbelief that it was possible, in these times, for someone to be that naive. He threw a hand lazily in the air as he turned towards the transparent doors leading to the principal's office, sighed, and dragged his feet inside.

It was a quaint little office, with red carpet, a dark mahogany desk in the center of the room with a crimson lamp resting atop it along with all typical objects found on principal's desks. Behind the desk was a matching mahogany rolling chair with crimson red cushions. A few feet behind the chair, was a wooden wall lined with - you guessed it - mahogany bookshelves, filled with books that Kyou got bored from by just reading the titles. To the left of the wall was an archway leading to the registrar/nurse's office/student records. Against the wall on the left hung several of the principal's awards and diplomas, and in the center of it all was a portrait of the principal. The man had long black bangs which hung in front of his left eye, and he always wore a long-sleeved button up white shirt, a black tie, and matching black slacks and shoes.

The man's name was Hatori Sakai.

Speaking of who, the man walked in through the archway and looked unsurprised to see Kyou standing in his office. "Ah, Mr. Kyou Souma. So nice to see you again," He said in a professional manner.

Kyou attempted not to scoff at this.

"Please, have a seat." Hatori continued as he indicated towards the simple fold-up chair in front of his desk, taking a seat himself in his comfortable chair.

Kyou complied and sat uncomfortably as Hatori searched through some files in one of the drawers in his desk, until finally, Hatori sat up with Kyou's record in hand.

"Now, it's only November, and already you've..." Hatori went down the long list of 'felonies' Kyou commmited, and Kyou was only half listening, if that. "...and finally, you and a few others attempted to get a student to jump from the school roof and into the swimming pool?"

Kyou glared. "Hey, that one wasn't my idea! The guys just told me to-"

Hatori held up a hand, silencing him. "No more excuses, Mr. Souma. It doesn't matter if it was your idea or not - did you do anything to stop it?"

Kyou folded his arms and sunk in his chair, as he looked to his right with half-lidded eyes.

"That's what I thought."

Kyou stared at the floor as Hatori continued on his lecture of how 'acts of this kind are a disgrace to Kawaia High School...' wondering why there were no windows in the room.

His head shot up as Hatori said, "Now, as for your punishment..."

"Yeah?" Kyou asked.

"For the rest of the school year, you will tutor 6th and 7th graders on Saturday mornings at the nearby middle school."

Kyo breathed out a sigh of relief. 'That's it?' Of course, it was only wishful thinking.

"Also," Hatori said as he straightened a stack of papers on his desks.

'Oh, no.. he said "also"..' Kyou muttered in his mind.

"You will join the drama club, and whether you get a part in the plays or not is up to the drama teacher, Mr. Ayame Hamasaki."

"And if I decide not to show up on Saturdays or after school?" Kyou asked boredly.

"You'll be expelled from the district." Said Hatori nonchalantly.

Kyou's eyes widened and his jaw dropped to the ground.

"I thought you'd see it our way," Hatori nodded and then stood to open the exit door. "Good day, Mr. Souma."

Kyou stood to leave.

"Oh, and don't bother lying about showing up to the drama club meetings and tutoring sessions. I've already selected a trustworthy student to sign this sheet of paper," Hatori said, handing the said sheet of paper to Kyou. "for each time you show up."

"And just who the he- I-I mean, who is this student?" Kyou asked.

"Miss Tohru Honda."

Snatching the paper from the administrator, Kyou grumbled something about 'stupid administrative chumps' and trudged down the hall, over to wherever second period was.

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A/N: So… whatcha think? Let me know in a review, and I might update soon if you're interested! And I promise, unlike my last fic, I'll actually respond to reviews. Heh XD