Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Coming Back ❯ Some Bad News ( Chapter 1 )

Coming Back

Chapter 1

 

Sakura sat in front of their small shrine, her eternally black hair falling into her eyes again. She brushed it away irritably. She had been sitting here for twenty minutes, waiting for her cousin to show up. She looked in the reflection of a large puddle that sat right by her feet. The girl that looked back was thin, but not in an unhealthy way. Her eyes hazel, but also mixed with swirls of blue-green and flecks of gold around her irises. Somehow, something about them was…inhuman. Her skin was tanned and her black hair was cut a centimeter or two off her shoulders. Her loose, white T-shirt had a heart on it with the Puerto Rican flag and around it, in fancy script was the words `My heart belongs to Puerto Rico'. She also wore short, loose beach shorts. Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw her cousin, Chiyo.

Chiyo was a tall girl for her age of sixteen with copper-colored hair that fell to her waist and was held back in a loose ponytail. Her skin was pale and her eyes were a stony gray. She wore a plain red skirt that fell to just past her knees and a white shirt with loose, long sleeves. Her traditional sandals clacked against the sidewalk as she ran to Sakura.

“Hey, I finally got the news.” Chiyo said upon reaching Sakura and held out a small note.

Sakura took it and read through it, a little more slowly then usual on account that she wasn't used to reading Japanese yet, despite having spent seven years here. The note read:

 

To the parents/guardians of Sakura Tomoe and Chiyo Sohma,

I am please to inform you that they have been accepted in Kaibara High School. We hope to see them in August.

Signed,

Assistant Principal Nanashi Takahashi

Assistant Principal Nanashi Takahashi.

 

Sakura groaned aloud as she finished reading it. “Are you crazy? With all those boys there we're sure to transform. Besides, I heard a rumor from Setsuna that Akito visited that place once. Honestly, I don't wanna go through that again.” Sakura told her cousin.

“Relax! I thought it all out and I went to go talk to Hatori. He said that Akito only visited once and that he's never going there again.” Chiyo informed her, with an encouraging smile on her face.

As usual, Sakura flinched when she heard Hatori's name. It was perfectly natural for her.

And I don't blame her, Chiyo thought, After all that happened, I wouldn't trust him either.

“Forget it! I'm not gonna go! It'd be like I have a death wish or something.” Sakura said stubbornly.

“You're going.” Said a new voice.

The two turned and saw their older cousin, Setsuna walking down the stairs. She was around nineteen, her dark hair streaked with off white and dark brown streaks held up in a very messy bun. Her eyes were a medium brown with a few flecks of gray. She wore a black shirt with a green crocodile on it with green words underneath that read `I bite' with tight dark blue jeans and white flip flops.

“Why should I?” Sakura asked her eyes boring into Setsuna's.

“Because I said so. Now come on. We have to go meet Hatori.” Setsuna replied in a voice of infuriating calm.

I know I'm cursed now, Sakura thought with a sour taste in her mouth.

But, sensing defeat, she sighed and got up to change out of her shorts, as they wouldn't be “presentable”. Her room was small, but Sakura had always been fine with that. She had a bed up against the wall next to the window with the blinds shut. There was a nightstand next to it with an alarm clock that read in big red numbers 2:30P.M. Opposite her bed were two bookshelves, each full to the brim with various books, most fantasy. She had a set of drawers by one of the bookshelves and a large Puerto Rican flag took up one wall. A guitar leaned against the wall underneath it. Sakura rummaged through her drawers, trying to find a pair of jeans that weren't ripped at the knees.

“Eureka!” Sakura exclaimed as she straightened, finding a pair that were a bit worn but at least they weren't ripped, like most of her jeans. She changed into them and grabbed a black hair tie and quickly put her short hair up. She then got on a pair of light orange flops with butterflies on them and headed outside, hands in her pockets.

“Ready?” Setsuna asked, looking at her.

Sakura scowled and didn't answer. The three walked down the streets of Tokyo, avoiding large crowds. No one said anything, although Setsuna tried a couple of attempts at conversation. They knew they were getting closer when most of the noise from Tokyo's main streets died a bit. Before they knew it, they were standing in front of the gate to the main house. Just as Setsuna was about to open the gates, a loud voice came from the wall to the right.

“Hey guys! Come on in! Ha'ri's inside!” came the voice of a blond child with a huge smile plastered on his face.
Setsuna smiled and opened the gates. The blond kid had come down and now stood in front of them.

“Hey, Momiji. It's good to see you.” Setsuna said with a smile.

“Come on! Ha'ri's waiting for you!” Momiji told them and began running to where they knew Hatori's house/office was.

“We have to go after him.” Chiyo sighed then broke into a run after him. The other two looked at each other then ran after them.

Guided entirely by memory (they had lost Momiji and Chiyo a while ago) they soon found Hatori's house with Hatori himself standing there. As if waiting for them. The two of them stopped and caught their breath.

“Amazing. You actually ran all the way from the gate to here?” Hatori said dryly.

“You can blame Mr. Happy Go Lucky Rabbit over there for starting it.” Sakura said with a glare at said rabbit.

“Well well. So Sakura-chan's here too? I thought it was just going to be Setsuna and Chiyo-chan.” Came an all too familiar voice from inside.

There was Shigure sitting there with a mug of tea, same as the other two. Sakura groaned and put a hand to her forehead.

“I have seriously bad luck.” She complained, “You didn't say anything about him being here too.”

“Must have slipped my mind,” Setsuna said vaguely.

“You're lucky Ayame's not here.” Hatori told her, motioning the two inside.

“Oh yeah, how's his shop doing?” Chiyo asked looking at Shigure.

“Pretty well from what I hear. I haven't visited his shop lately, so I can't tell you. Although I could just ask Yuki-kun. He was there about a week or so ago.”

As the conversation continued, Sakura grew bored. She accepted her mug of tea and sat outside staring at the mid-autumn sky. As the crowds rolled by, her sharp ears caught a new name, Tohru Honda. Honda…Honda…Where had she heard the name before? Sakura began paying attention to their conversation.

“That's right. She knows about the curse and she actually accepted Kyou-kun's other form.” Shigure was saying.

That's certainly different, Sakura thought.

“Greetings, my dear friends!” came a familiar voice.

Sakura lowered her eyes to look at the source. Of course, there was Ayame Sohma, coming towards them. Sakura moaned and her head drooped. Setsuna and Chiyo just stared, unbelieving. Then Setsuna turned to Hatori and said, “I thought you said he wasn't coming.”

“Well, he wasn't supposed to come.” Hatori said, apparently surprised as well.

“Why, if it isn't Sakura-chan! I thought I'd never see you again!” Ayame said with a big grin.

Sakura swore she just felt about ten veins pop in her head and then she slammed the back of her left fist into his head as he walked past.

“Hello, Aaya.” Shigure said from his spot at the table as the others all visibly winced at the large lump on Ayame's head.

The snake rubbed at the lump on his head and looked at Sakura. “There was no need to hit me that hard, you know.” He said to her.

Sakura snorted. “Yeah there was. You should learn to keep your mouth shut if you don't wanna get hit.”

Hatori and Shigure raised their eyebrows at this. Setsuna and Chiyo, however, were used to this kind of stuff from Sakura, simply buried their faces in their hands and groaned a little.

“Come now, you didn't really mean that!” Ayame said with a smile.

Sakura stood up and whapped the back of his head none too lightly before walking out and leaping straight over the wall before landing lightly on her feet and turned on the way back to their shrine.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“Is she always like that?” Shigure asked Setsuna.

The nineteen-year-old shook her head. “No, she's normally the opposite. I think it's just the fact that she had to come back here.” She answered, waving her hand to show that she meant the whole compound.

“Well, do you have any idea where she's going then?” Hatori questioned.

“She's probably gonna head back to the shrine. After all, she…she doesn't really have anywhere else to go, does she?” Chiyo said, looking into the depths of her murky tea.

Just as Ayame was about to say something, Hatori interrupted him.

“Ayame, just go home, okay?”

Ayame, who rarely really listened to anyone, sighed and went out the door. Setsuna sighed in relief. She already had a headache.

“We don't have to worry about Sakura. She's a big girl. She can take care of herself.” Setsuna said.

“That's not what I'm worried about.” Hatori told her.

A half-smile played on Setsuna's lips. “Don't worry. Sakura's not stupid. She won't let the curse activate.” She assured him.