Lucinda Mope-Starlight 1

Star Light

Life and Fruits Basket:
Why can't they be the same?



The sun rose early this morning, warming the streets with its bright yellow light. It was odd for this time of year to be warm; winter mornings in Australia can be quite chilly given the right conditions; and it was well into winter now; almost July.

June, the month dominated by the star signs Gemini and Cancer. Neither of which held any significance to Libby Player yet. She was a small town girl, went to a relatively small high school, had two brothers, one older and one younger, and loved the manga Fruits Basket. And her favourite character from the manga was, why the year of the cat, Kyo, of course.

Walking to school was sometimes a chore; her bag was weighed down with books from subjects like Japanese and History as well as her Maths text book and laptop. She had her black hair swung up in a messy pony tail with two bits left out; hanging at either side of her face. Soft foundation caressed her tanned skin whilst a little bit of glittery white eye shadow emphasized her dark brown eyes. Her lips were a cherry red colour and were always smiling.

The houses along this street were quite extravagant, but one that stood out was the Cosmo's. Their lot was huge, housing the large family behind large walls. Libby often thought of the Cosmo's as the Sohma's; they were very secretive. She was in the same classes for everything as William Cosmo; an eccentric red head that was always in an angry mood it seems. She felt sorry for him; his parents had died one day during school hours and he was rushed out of the classroom by his grandfather, Albert Cosmo. William hadn't been the same since; his mood swings had increased.

Another odd thing about William was the lack of interaction he had with girls. A girl could just say hi to him and William would walk in the opposite direction quicker than you could spell ferrous. Where this disliking of girls came from is unknown; William moved here only when he had started high school; but there had always been a Cosmo House down that street. It had always looked the same too; and Libby's favourite feature of the house was the pink cherry blossom tree that hung over the high fence and sprayed the street below with its beautiful pink flowers.

Libby planned to dance down the street again in spring like she always did; wearing her knee high floral dress and kind flats that flattered her figure. Her hair would dance with her as she twisted and turned down the street; singing her song of spring to the neighbours and their pets. How she loved spring! The thought of it was enough to make her happy... and to lose her concentration.

Face planting the pavement, Libby fell fast; dropping the books she was carrying everywhere. The cool cement collided with her face as she tried to stop herself with her hands. Her bag rammed into her back and she could feel her purple school skirt being blown by the wind and… uh oh… she could hear someone laughing behind her.

"Nice undies!" called a high pitched voice as footsteps quickly approached her.

Libby quickly pulled her hands from underneath her and slapped her skirt down fast. She felt someone pulling on her back and using her other hand, pushed herself up. Finally standing, though, a little disoriented, she dropped her bag from her shoulders and knelt down; starting to pick up her books that had fallen from her hands.

"What do you carry in this thing?" the voice asked again, dropping Libby's bag.

"My text books and laptop," Libby continued, standing back up after picking up all her books, "Thanks for helping me up Oly."

Oly, otherwise known as Olivah Taylor, was one of Libby's classmates and closest friends. He was kind, smart, but with that being said, a smart arse. Oly was a good looking kid with black hair, blue eyes and more freckles than you poke a stick at. He was a month younger than Libby, ten centimetres shorter than her but a fair bit wiser than she was. He generally was a good friend, but with all smart arses, had his moments.

However, Libby wasn't one who was easily annoyed so she and Oly went together like Vegemite on toast, unfortunately, Oly didn't like Vegemite… or toast.

Pulling her bag up for her, Oly helped her pull it on and the two of them set off towards school, though, Libby shot another look back at the Cosmo's house and something shot through her; something was going to happen that would change her life forever; and it was going to happen soon.


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"Negative 3," answered the girl at the back of the class. She was always the first in with the answers.

Chewing on a pencil, William rocked carefully on his chair. The desk beside him was empty, the only empty desk in this whole class, but he knew it wouldn't stay that way. He had noticed him this morning; he was being shown around the school by that Lachlan fellow. He posed a threat to William's everyday life and William was sure he knew it. William just hoped that he hadn't been put in the same class as him.

Too bad hopes can be shattered with one knock on the door.

Libby watched from her seat in the front as the teacher opened the door and let in a new student.

"O.M.G. He's gorgeous!" Sarah Longmire, the girl sitting next to her, exclaimed.

Though, Libby didn't see that he was gorgeous, she could see that there was something special about him. His chin length brown hair was straight and framed his face; his large blue eyes were kind and his pale skin was unmatched by everyone else in the class except William.

He has to be a Cosmo, she thought to herself as their maths teacher, Mr Killian, directed the student to his seat next to William.

"It's a pleasure to have you Castor," Mr Killian said as the new kid took a seat.

Libby twisted in her seat, as did everyone else in her class, to see the new kid. She wasn't sure if she was imagining things, but Libby thought she saw some lightning flash between the boys. She also noticed that they looked exactly the same with the exception of the hair!

This was something she'd have to look into.


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Recess followed a lengthy assembly, which had cut the short break even shorter than normal. Groaning with annoyance, many of the kids had just gone straight to the next class; there wasn't enough time left in the break to eat or get a drink, or even go to the toilet. It wasn't like you could get into the toilets anyway; they were locked until lunch.

Determined to eat her recess, Libby sat by herself as some chairs and tables while everyone else walked to class. She didn't mind being late, it was a rare occurrence for her, and she was sure her teachers wouldn't mind either. The noise slowly died down as Libby took a bite of her LCM bar.

All was quiet, until the bell started ringing. Picking up her bag and throwing her rubbish in the bin, Libby got up and started her short trek to the other side of the school. She now had English.

The solitude was nice; it gave her a sense of serenity and peace. She was going to take a short cut behind the school until she was cut off by the local bullies.

Flicking a smoke off into the grass, Marshall Hillwart, a senior with a colourful reputation, walked towards Libby.

"My, my boys, what do we have here?" he said as he caressed her cheek with his hand.

Libby gently swiped his hand away from her face with hers. "Excuse me, I need to get to English," she said as she tried to walk past him, only for Marshall to pull on her bag.

"Why don't you stay here with me and the boys?" Marshall continued, yanking Libby's bag off her back and dropping it to the cold cement, "We can show you the way after we're done."

"No, it's fine. I know the way thanks…" She said as she knelt down the pull her bag back on.

Marshall swung his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him. "No can do girly. Have some fun with us for a bit."

Libby tried to get out of his grasp but he was too strong. She kicked and even bit him, but such attacks only made him tighten his grip on her. Marshall's goons joined him and held her legs. Her struggled continued until the atmosphere was interrupted by a foreign voice.

"Let her go," a rich male voice demanded.

Marshall and his goons smiled and did just that. They dropped Libby who fell to the cement. She couldn't see who'd made the order, Marshall stood in her way.

"You don't look so tough," continued one of Marshall's goons, "anyway why aren't you in class?"

"I could ask you the same thing but I know the answer," continued the rich voice, "Come on if you don't think I'm tough."

Marshall's goons ran off towards the voice, making room for Libby to look around Marshall's legs and towards the voice.

It was William.

The goons jumped at him and Libby looked away in fear. William was a scrawny boy, all of the Cosmo's were, and Marshall and his goons looked like they could snap him in two. However, Libby was surprised when she heard Marshall screech in dismay.

"Ah, um… I'm sorry…" Marshall said before Libby heard his footsteps running away.

She kept her face in her hands, tears falling. She was shaking, afraid to look at what might befall her, until she heard someone kneeling beside her ask, "Are you ok?"

She nodded into her hands and realised it wasn't William's rich voice asking her the question. Curious, she looked up to find the new kid, Castor, looking at her with a sympathetic look. He held a tissue to her and Libby gratefully took it. Wiping her eyes, she said, "Is William ok?"

Castor smiled and nodded, "William's stupid but he knows how to fight."

"I'm not stupid!" Called William's voice from behind her, "You're the stupid one."

"Just ignore him," Castor continued, shaking his head and ignoring the other words William was shouting his way, "Would you like me to escort you to class?"

Libby shook her head, "I can't go like this."

Castor nodded, "Well, is there somewhere else you'd like us to take you?"

Libby nodded. When she was upset, there was one spot she'd like to collect herself at.

Meanwhile…

Oly looked around the classroom, Libby was no-where to be seen. Sarah was sitting next to Jenny Craig, (and yes, that was her real name), her other close friend Queenie MacDuff was absent today and Oly, himself, was sitting next to Ethan Nathaniel.

The class was quiet except for the reader. They were reading Romeo and Juliet, and the teacher had advised them that they'd be putting on their own play of it for the Christmas Pageant, which was to take place the night after their year 10 formal, so half the kids regretted the fact that they wouldn't be able to get drunk the night before. Oly, however, was excited at the fact. He was a good actor, he knew it, his class knew it, and the whole school knew it. He was looking to get the lead male role, and he just hoped Libby would get the female lead role. The two roles got to share a kiss.

However, at the current moment, Oly was just curious as to where Libby was. His curiosity thickened, however, when Marshall Hillwart came running past his classroom screaming like a girl, the words, BLOODY MURDER!

The class erupted into laughter after the event, but Oly was starting to think that Marshall had something to do with Libby's absence.


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Arch 1-Chapter 1

Lucinda Imogen Mope

I do not own Fruits Basket. This story is going to be similar to the comic, almost a fanfiction but with too many differences to be one.

I do own the characters and events in this story. You may not use my work without my permission; you may, however, ask for permission.

I welcome reviews and critique, as long as you give some helpful hints that may help me write this or another of my stories.

Thank you for reading. Don't forget to leave a comment!