Fruits Basket Prompts

31. Move On

47. "Do I look like I can move on?"

Tohru opens her eyes in an unknown room. She feels strange. Like she has woken up from a very long dream. There's an ache in the back of her head. As if she hit it somewhere hard.

She sits upon the bed. She doesn't immediately recognize the room she is in, but she can tell this room belongs to her, at least that's what the photos on the bedside table say. There are photos of herself, her mom, and her friends. But something is missing in the photos—she can't tell what. Yet, the emptiness in her chest is all-consuming. It's as if she is forgetting something very, very important. Like a piece of her heart.

Tohru sets her foot down on the floor and heads out of the room to find a small kitchen and living room. It looks like she lives alone here. No signs of anyone else. It's unnerving, almost screams sadness.

Her eyes fall on the calendar, which is marked with several occasions and a timetable. Her work schedule, mostly. She can somehow spot what date it is today, and the calendar says she has a hangout with her two friends at two in the afternoon.

Tohru decides not to think much and just lets her muscle memory guide her. She freshens up, prepares breakfast like a programmed robot. Thinking of nothing during that whole time. But... it hurts.

She ignores the deep anguish within her, trying too hard to stay on track. When she is done, she announces, "Breakfast is ready!"

She freezes.

"Who...?"

What is wrong with her? She lives alone, doesn't she? Then, why is she announcing it for someone? Why is she waiting for someone to come and wish her good morning? Why is she feeling a phantom weight on her shoulder and a pair of arms around her waist?

Tohru clutches her forehead, an intense headache making its appearance. The ache increases by ten folds when she looks down at the counter to find two sets of breakfast. "Who did I prepare this for?" she asks herself, only to double over from the increasing headache.

Still, the pain in her chest feels much more severe than that of her head. Her chest is taut. It's stifling. As though there's not enough oxygen to breathe in.

She feels like she is slipping. Into an eternal void. Never hitting the ground. Darkness is everywhere. She is lost in the night, even when it's morning. Trapped in a never-ending cycle of grief.

She is mourning, but she doesn't know for what. Her eyes are yearning to see a specific smile, but the face is vague. Wants to feel someone's warmth, but the owner of the touch is distorted. A name is on the tip of her tongue, but it won't roll out.

What's going on with her? Is she going crazy?

She wants this to stop.

Tohru drags herself to her room and opens her closet, pulling out a random orange sundress. The sight of that bright color spooks her. Like a dagger in the heart. It's wailing at her.

She immediately throws away the dress. As if holding it any longer will let the color dye her in itself and scorch her. She doesn't want to see that bright color.

It... hurts. So much.

She decides to slip in a white dress that reaches up to her knees. Painful as it is, she hauls herself out of her studio apartment. She knows it's early to leave for her hang out with her friends but doesn't care. Staying a moment longer in that apartment might have made her strangle herself.

When Tohru steps out of her apartment building, she's almost blinded by the glaring sun. But a wave of certain anger towards the sun hits her for shining so bright when her life is shrouded with dark clouds. No, it's not just the clouds, it's raining hard, and it's soaking her to the bones to the point she is frozen. Everyone is moving forward and she is being left behind. All alone in a storm. No one to hold her hand.