Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Between the Sohmas or Life as Someone Else ❯ The Sohma Clan ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: (Insert All disclaimers here please. Thank you.)

A/N: In case your wondering, Akai means Red in Japanese.

Chapter Three:

The Sohma Clan

Akai could only stare at the mirror, Tohru laughed behind her.

"I look like a girl!" Akai said, as if it were a blasphemy.

Kana and Miine, who had been doing Tohru's hair, and altering her dress looked up at the twelve year old as she twirled in front of the mirror. Supple muscles, and lithe limbs moving gracefully beneath the pale lavender dress.

"Well love," Kana said sweetly. "You are a girl after all, are you not?"

Akai didn't answer but stared at the girl in the mirror. She had long wavy locks of vivid auburn, almost the color of fire that traveled to her knees. Her arms were bare, and sun kissed from playing in the sun. Her body was no longer reed then, but rippling like water beneath the silky lavender encasement that clung to her upper body, and flared at her hips, and was cut off at her knees. He little shoes were white, and tied with pretty bows.

"But I- I'm actually. . .girly. . ." Akai muttered.

Miine burst into laughter. "You're cute!"

Akai pinkened, and stepped away from the mirror to sit across from Tohru.

"Tohru-neesan." Akai whispered.

Tohru looked up.

"Kimi wa kawaii."

Tohru blushed. "S-soka?"

"Nn."

Tohru was dressed in a pale beige dress with a sleeves that hung off of her shoulders. The bodice was modest, and clung to her upper body, and flared out into a swishy skirt around mid-thigh. She wore matching shoes, and matching socks. Her hair was up in a ribbon that pulled back the top of her hair, and allowed the rest to flow freely down her back, to her waist.

"Very innocent look," Miine commented. "It works with her soft coloring. You-" Miine pointed at Akai, "-were very vivid and exotic in coloring. We didn't want to take that away from you, so I thought that the *beep* would be good with the *beep* but then I realized that Aya-san would have chastised me! He would argue that the *beep* did not go with the *beep* but instead went with the *beep* and that the *beep* would go rather nice with the *beep*,*beep*"

Akai stared at her. '0_o

"Don't you think?" Miine finished.

"Miine-chan!" Ayame's voice floated through the door. "I'm coming in!"

"Me too!" Shigure's sing song voice floated through.

"Hai!"

The two burst through the door in male gallantry. Both with flowers. Shigure, white carnations, and Ayame, red roses.

"My little flower!" Shigure began. "These, are for you!" he gave Tohru the carnations.

"My teddy bear I have brought these roses from afar!" Ayame gave Tohru the roses.

Hatori walked through the door. "It's not even midday and already they're causing trouble."

"No trouble, Ha-san." Kana assured him teasingly. "They're only a handful."

Hatori smiled at the woman, and bore a single red carnation. "This is for you."

Miine smiled secretly. Wedding bells, wedding bells.

She and Ayame locked eyes. He nodded, she glowed.

Akai snuck behind Tohru, and seemed to be in hiding, but her red hair was too hard to miss.

Ayame noticed her first. "Ah!" Ayame moved around Tohru, dragging Shigure with him. "Look at this little one! She is most lovely!

Shigure held his heart. "Ah! She is like a fire! A living flame to warm the coldest nights! Much like my little flower! You are my little candlelight!"

"My little teddy bear's sister you say?" Ayame asked, his hands covering his mouth. "Honto ni?!" He turned to Akai. "Then I shall call her my little firefly!"

Shigure smiled. "So, my little flower, my littler candlelight, what are you doing today?"

"Eto. . ." Tohru thought for a second.

"Nothing!" Ayame said, clapping his hands. "Good! Then let's meet the Sohma Clan!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Honda sisters had taken a break.

Their heads spun from all the names, Ayame and Shigure were the only two they actually remembered this time. Hatori, Kana, and Miine were in the house attending to things, while they were outside.

The outside was a small village with huts, cottages, and houses everywhere. A forest bordered them to the east, a field to the north, the house was south and a large lake was west. They rested under the shade of a tree. They had barely met half of the Sohmas, and they really didn't want to meet more.

Akai felt confusion from her sister, and placed a hand on hers.

Shigure and Ayame were laying down and staring at the clouds.

Tohru felt more than confusion, she felt hurt and worried. What's going to happen to our tavern?

Akai felt her thoughts, and answered her. We have to help someone. I can feel it. He's dying. . . I hear his screams, I feel his agony, neesan. She looked over at Tohru who's eyes were wide. We can start again. We're strong.

"Wakata," Tohru patted Akai's hand. "Demo, I wanted to do it for you and me."

"We can do it." Akai said smiling. "Gambatte."

Tohru nodded, and looked out, but Akai caught movement with her eyes, and leapt up. "Dare da!?"

Shigure and Ayame turned around, and looked over to the tree where Akai was looking. "Could it be the curious kitty and the ox?"

"Don't call me that!" A pebble hit Shigure square in the head. He rubbed the sore, and called Tohru over.

"My little flower," he said with a whine. "Kitty-san hit me on the head with a pebble. Why don't you kiss it all better!"

Akai rolled her eyes, Tohru smiled sweetly. She would heal it, she wouldn't kiss it. Tohru had caught sight of the little reed stain that marred her sisters forehead. She was feeling Shigure's hurt.

Kyo leapt down from the tree, and was face to face with lavender eyes and auburn hair in lavender silk.

"It's you!" They both cried out, pointing at each other.

Tohru's hand brushed Shigure's minor wound, closing it instantly before she turned back and saw her sister fighting with the orange haired boy. . .

Shigure stood up and dusted his clothes off. "Kyo-kun," he called out. "Please leave my little firefly."

"Firefly!?" Kyo demanded. "She's gotta be half your age!"

"Yes, and your point being?"

Kyo shook his head. "You are a dirty old man."

"And what are you doing spying on them, baka neko."

"Urusai, nezumi." Kyo snapped to the gray haired stranger.

"I am Yuki Sohma." He introduced. "It's nice to meet you. And this baka here is my brother Kyo."

"NANI!?" Kyo growled, his hair bristling.

Akai nodded in agreement, her eyes closed in deciding this piece of wisdom. "He is a baka, ne?" She grinned at Yuki who gave her thumbs up.

"Waho!" A new voice shouted with joy.

The small gathering turned around and met with the sight of one tall boy with black and white hair, a dark haired smaller boy with dark eyes, and two blonde children, the boy running to the gathering as the girl walked closer to the dark haired boy.

"YUKI!" the blonde boy called out.

"Wha! Kawaii!" Tohru said in awe as she watched the boy run towards them. He wore pale pink clothes, and a maroon hat. His eyes were wide with innocence, the color of marigold as his blonde hair shined in the sun.

The boy and the girl reminded Akai of the light and dark. The boy whose hair was a dark brown, a major contrast to the fair haired little girl who blushed when he gazed at her with his chocolate eyes. Her strawberry hair blew in the wind as she pushed down her white knee length dress, the boy turning to cover her with his black clothes, looking more like a looming shadow.

Tohru watched the last boy walk up the hill, but when he spotted Yuki, he seemed to appear at his side, pushing Kyo back and away. He had multicolored hair, and gray stormy eyes.

Yuki took a step away from the boy, and introduced them. "This is Hatsuharu, my youngest brother." The multicolored hair boy smiled shyly at her. "This Momiji," the boy smiled, and Tohru found herself smiling back. "Kisa, stop hiding behind Hiro, and say hello."

Kisa came out from behind the dark haired boy, Hiro. "Konnichiwa." She said shyly.

Tohru smiled at her. "Konnichiwa, Kisa-chan."

"Yo." Was all Akai said before she noticed Hiro's condescending gaze on her sister. Her eyes narrowed, and her body warmed. "Oi!"

Hiro looked up. "Nanda?" he asked arrogantly.

"If you keep looking at her like that, your face might get stuck. Kami knows your face wasn't that good looking to start with, but if it gets stuck-"

"Akai!" Tohru said in a warning tone.

Akai glared at the boy in silence.

Hiro egged her on. "What? Girl stop your tongue?"

"No, and she can't stop my fist either."

"Resorting to violence already? That would be child abuse." Hiro retorted.

"If the boy ain't gonna act like a child, the boy ain't gonna get treated like a child." Akai said with a smirk.

Hiro stared at her. "Who do you think you are?"

Akai bowed at her waist dramatically. "Honda Akai. Hajimemashite."

Hiro only looked at her, a look of bemusement on his face.

Tohru shook her head. There was no way she could ever keep a watch on her sister. Yuki was beside her, and murmured, "Siblings."

Momiji was there. "Tell me about it."

"You only have Kisa! And she's the best out of all of us in temperament." Kyo snapped.

"And I have to deal with that baka." Yuki whispered.

Momiji sighed. "True, with Kyo as your brother, you could-"

"Sohma-sama!" A servant appeared out of nowhere, scaring them witless. "Hatori-sama requests your presence!"

The family ran, and Tohru and Akai followed.

~~~~~~~~~

Akai stopped in the middle of the halls with red carpets, oak tables, and carvings, paintings and statues and watched as Shigure, Ayame, Momiji, Kisa, and Hiro walked ahead.

Tohru was behind her, and stopped, which nearly caused Kyo, Yuki, and Haru- who were in a heated argument- to walk into her!

"Oi!" Kyo glared at the red head, seeing only her long, knee length locks of fire. "What's the hold up."

"I can't go anymore, it'll kill me if I do." Akai whispered, Yuki walked to see her from the front, Haru followed and saw her pale face, and wide lavender eyes.

Tohru knew what was happening, "Gomen, Akai-chan. I can't protect you from whatever it is. I can't feel it."

She turned to Tohru. "I need to be unconcious."

Tohru's eyes widened. "No!"

Yuki, Kyo, and Haru just watched in confusion.

"You have to, or else I can't make it." Akai said, her breath was coming in short. "Please. Neesan, kiite! I know what I'm doing! Just do it!"

Tohru blinked her anger away, and placed a hand on her head. Reaching to her sister, she took her consciousness.

A blinding light of white flashed for a brief second, and Akai lay on the floor in a heap.

"What's going on?" Yuki asked calmly.

"What the hell did you do that to her for? What the hell did you do to her!?"

Haru watched silently. His darker side bubbling to be aggressive, his white half wanting to take it with patience.

Tohru bit her lip, and bent to pick up her sister. The Sohma's weren't trying to help her none, so she picked up Akai's frail body by herself, which wasn't really a hard task.

"There is someone sickly here."

"Hatori's brother, Akito."

Tohru sighed. "Ever since she was born, she has cried whenever she had the strength to, and was silent, yet weeping when she was too weak." The boys listened. "My sister felt the pain around her, all of it. Emotional, physical, mental. Whatever hurt someone else, she felt it as if it were her own, and as she grew, she began to echo those feelings into other people."

The boys looked disbelieving.

"My sister. . . Akai, she's an empathic."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N:

What's an empathic? You'll see! And what does Hatori want with Tohru, and only Tohru? Hmm. . . She's a healer, Akito's sick. . .Yada, yada, yada. . . You should know.