Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Girl ❯ Listen to your Heart Part II ( Chapter 11 )

! Flashback End !

 

Currently:

 

 

Anika stared at Akina in a confused shock. “That, really happened?” Akina nodded. “That was sad, but what does that have to do with the current situation?”

 

 

Akina sighed. “I gather that you already know the person in the story was your ancestor.” Anika nodded and Akina went on. “I choose to tell you this because of an ironic twist that happens every time a carrier is summoned. This has only happened five times since Tsuki.”

 

 

Anika looked at her expectantly, silently urging her on. Akina sighed.

 

 

“The carrier has only been summoned five times since Tsuki, and two things happen every time that are always the same.”

 

 

Anika was impatient by now. “Well? What is it?”

 

 

“Every time, the carrier falls in love with one of the cursed Sohma, and every time, that Sohma is the one cursed by the ram. Two, every time the carrier is summoned, she dies.”

 

 

Anika stared at her in shock. Not because of the dieing comment, she knew every time the carrier dies, but she never knew that they always fell in love. Then she caught on to what Akina was saying.

 

 

“Wait a second! Are you telling me that I'm going to fall in love with Hiro?!”

 

 

Akina chuckled and Anika looked indignant. “I fail to see what is so funny.” Akina stopped laughing and stared at Anika with a soft and mysterious smile. “I am sorry little one. But I was not saying you were going to fall in love with Hiro…” Anika looked relieved, “…I am saying that you already ARE.”

 

 

Anika looked at Akina in shock, a heavy blush on her cheeks. “I-I'm not!” Akina gave her one of those looks. “I'm not! But even if, IF, I was, your saying that I'm still going to die?”

 

 

Akina gave her one of those mysterious looks again, like she knew something that Anika didn't, and she hated that look. “I'm not saying that either little one. For you have something strong enough to keep you alive, that the others did not. Now I think it's time you leave, you'll need to be waking up soon.”

 

 

Anika opened her mouth to protest but Akina was already fading.

 

!) Dream End (!

 

 

Before Anika knew it she was wide awake. She silently cursed Akina in every way possible before getting dressed and heading down stairs to eat. She grabbed a piece of toast, barley stopping to acknowledge Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki before heading out the door to see Kisa and Shane waiting for her.

 

 

She looked around for Hiro, noticing (to her dismay), that he was not present. She tried to hide her disappointment quickly before smiling at Kisa and Shane. “Hey! Where is Hiro?” She tried to sound like she didn't care but could tell by the looks Kisa and Shane were giving her that she hadn't fooled them.

 

“He's with Haruka.”

 

“Oh.”

 

 

She tried not to sound too disappointed. Kisa smiled reassuringly to her before grabbing her hand and Shane's and heading in the general direction of the exit. “Come on! If we don't hurry we could be late!”

 

 

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Over the net few days Anika watched Haruka take up all of Hiro's time with growing resentment and jealousy. If Hiro tried to talk to her, she would interrupt with a “question of great importance” before dragging him off to who knows were. If Hiro tried talking to her in secret, she would “accidentally” stumble upon them before once again dragging Hiro off.

 

 

Anika growled low in her throat as Hiro was once again dragged off by Haruka. Why did she always DO that? She stalked angrily off the school grounds and down the street to Tohru's school. When she got there they were not yet out so she waited for a few minutes until the kids finally started pouring out of the school doors.

 

 

She saw Tohru come out holding Kyo's hand and she smiled faintly. `About time.' Behind them she saw Yuki and he, surprisingly, didn't look upset and didn't seem to notice the two holding hands. `Hmmm, must've found himself a girl. About damn time!'

 

 

But seeing Tohru and Kyo so happy together just reminded her more and more of her current problem. When the trio spotted her they rushed over, wondering why she was alone. Everyone had been informed that Erik was not behind bars and that his friends were no longer a threat, but everyone still worried about her being by herself.

 

 

When Tohru made it over she immediately started asking questions. Such as, “Are you okay?”, “Did something happen?”, “What's wrong?” ect.

 

 

Anika stared up at her with tear filled eyes. Tohru's eyes widened and she sunk down to Anika's level and pulled her into a hug just as Anika started crying. She clung onto Tohru desperately and buried her face in her shoulder while Tohru tried to calm her down by whispering soothing things into her ear and rubbing circles on her back. That's when Anika started ranting.

 

 

“S-she's ruining e-everything! I never sp-spend time with him anymore! W-why does it h-hurt s-s-so much?” Tohru guessed what Anika was crying about when she mentioned “him” and her eyes softened more. `I guess the saying is true then.' Tohru thought sadly, knowing she wouldn't be able to do much to help her cousin, whom she looked at as a younger sister. `Love does hurt.'

 

 

Tohru slowly pulled back from the hug, Anika's sobs finally having quieted down and her tears stopping. She smiled and wiped some of the dried tears from her cheeks. “It will get better. But I cant help you with the hurt. You'll have to fix that on your own, okay?”

 

 

Anika nodded, looking much like a lost little child than a thirteen year old teenager. Tohru stood back up and handed Anika her bag. “Come on, lets go home.”

 

 

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That night Anika waited impatiently for sleep to claim her. She had been waiting for the past few hours, impatient to talk to Akina. For the rest of the day after she, Tohru, Kyo and Yuki had gotten home she had spent that time thinking about Akina's and Tohrus' words. After all of her thinking, she had (albeit reluctantly), come to a conclusion.

 

 

`I can't believe I never saw what was in front of me this entire time.' And with that thought, Sleep finally claimed her.

 

!) Dream (!

 

 

Anika floated downward in the now familiar darkness. Soon she saw the approaching fire and light that signaled Akina's arrival and she smiled. When Akina formed in front of her, Anika barley gave to dragoness time to react before jumping at her and hugging her tightly.

 

 

Akina looked down at the top of Anika's head with wide and confused eyes before also smiling and hugging her back. “Why such an enthusiastic greeting little one?” she inquired. Anika pulled her head back from Akina's neck were it had been buried and smiled brightly at her guardian.

 

 

“I finally figured it out! I finally figured out why I'm always thinking of Hiro and why I always hurt and want to rip off Haruka's arms when I see them together!”

 

 

Akina smiled down to Anika, glad that she had finally sorted her feeling out. “I am glad.” They talked for the rest of the night about nonsense things until it was time for Anika to go once more. Before she could leave though Akina stopped her to give her one last piece of advice.

 

 

“Whatever you do little one, believe in Hiro, and listen to your heart.” Anika nodded.

 

 

“Don't worry, I will.”

 

 

!) Dream End (!

 

 

When Anika woke up she smiled brightly before getting dressed in a hurry and skipping downstairs, humming the tune to one of her favorite songs. She greeted everyone downstairs with a cheery wave and a “hello!” She quickly went through breakfast, ignoring the stares. When she was done she quickly gave everyone a hug and a kiss one the cheek before leaving.

 

 

They stared after her happily skipping form that was now dragging an oblivious Kisa behind her with wide mouths. “What the hell happened to her? Yesterday she was all depressed and sad and now she's all bouncy and cheery! What is she, bipolar or something?” Kyo stated.

 

 

Everyone just shook their heads and went back to what they had been doing.

 

 

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Anika's cheery mood didn't last long though. After school let out she waited near the front gates with a big smile on her face waiting for Hiro and Haruka to appear. Just like every other day, she saw Haruka exiting the school doors five minutes late, always dragging a resisting Hiro behind.

 

 

Today though she saw something that made her smile falter slightly. Haruka was indeed dragging Hiro along like usual, but he wasn't resisting like always. She just brushed it off though and waited for the duo to approach. “Hey Haruka! Hiro!”

 

 

Haruka smiled back while Hiro just grunted. “I was wondering if I could talk to Hiro.” Haruka nodded. “Of course!” But she made no movement to let go of Hiro's hand or to leave. “Um, alone please?”

 

 

“Oh, of course!” Then Haruka did something that broke Anika's heart. She kissed him right on the lips! And Hiro wasn't resisting! Anika couldn't see his face so she had no idea of knowing that Hiro was just as shocked as she. He hadn't expected it to happen and had just frozen up.

 

 

Anika could feel tears welling up in her eyes and she could feel a horrible pain in her chest. Haruka pulled back and smiled again at Anika, seemingly oblivious to her heartbroken expression and the tears in her eyes. Hiro was staring wide eyed at Haruka but when he heard a barley audible strangled sob his eyes darted to Anika. He saw her absolutely heartbroken expression and the despair in her eyes as they welled up with tears.

 

 

He hated to see her like this. “O-oh, I-I see. N-never mind then.” Anika's voice came out in a shaky whisper. Hiro took one step towards her, his hand coming up from its previously prone position near his side, shaking slightly. “Anik-” but before he could finish Anika had dropped her bag, turned sharply on her feet and bolted down the street.

 

 

Hiro's eyes widened and he took off after her. “Anika! Wait!” Haruka watched all of this happen, doing nothing to try to stop them. She smiled softly to herself. `This better work Akina or you'll have hell to pay when I see you next.'

 

 

With that she walked forward, picked up Anika's bag, and slowly walked after the duo.

 

 

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Anika ran blindly through the streets of Kaibara. Her tears obscured her vision and left tear stains on her cheeks. She could hear the pounding of footsteps behind her, signaling that Hiro had followed and was still following.

 

 

“Anika, wait!” Anika ignored him. Why should she listen to him now? He had gone to Haruka and ignored her, breaking her heart and handing it back to her in a bloody mess in the process. If he thought she would still listen to him now, he was sadly mistaken.

 

 

She could feel the air get colder, and the scent or rainwater overwhelmed her. It was going to start raining. Not long after that thought, the rain started falling. Slowly at first, then it steadily got faster and harder, turning into a vicious downpour. She could hear the clap of lightning in the distance and the loud boom of the thunder.

 

 

The people still outside were all now ducking and running for cover, some yelling at her and Hiro to get inside. The street she was running on was rapidly becoming wet and slippery. It would be dangerous to continue running in these conditions. She needed to find shelter before she got seriously hurt.

 

 

That idea was sounding more and more appealing. If she found some type of shelter then she could lock herself in and avoid Hiro that way. She started looking left and right for a place to get out of the rain, but all of the shops displayed closed signs and she knew better than to try and ask if they would let her in.

 

 

Soon she found herself near the park she would always go too, and the one Kisa had run off to when they had that misunderstanding. She grimaced slightly. Why was it that she always found herself here?

 

 

She swerved into the park, barley missing the poles that lined either side of the entrance. Soon she found herself running on grass as she looked for a shelter. Up ahead she could see a big slide with a good sized space under it that was dry and had walls on three sides, enough to protect from any wind.

 

 

She made up her mind and started running in the direction of that slide. She could still hear Hiro behind her; he had stopped trying to get her to slow down by yelling. But the dull slap of his shoes hitting the grass showed that he had not given up completely though. When she was less than five feet away when she slipped in the grass.

 

 

Gravity took its course and she could see the ground rushing up to meet her. She put her hands in front of her face, trying to block it from the inevitable impact. But, the ground stopped moving toward her abruptly. That's when she realized that Hiro had caught up and caught her before she hit the ground.

 

 

He helped her up before keeping a firm hold on her hand and running the last couple feet with her to the shelter. Once they were not getting pelted by rain, Anika realized her previous assumption of the space being big was way of course.

 

 

It was actually rather small. It was tall enough for then to stand up, but the actual area under it was JUST enough for Anika and Hiro to sit down cross legged and have less than two inches of space between them.

 

 

Anika was currently on her hands and knees panting, while Hiro stood up but hunched over trying to catch his breath. He stood up fully and looked down at Anika who was glaring back up at him. But he could see that the glare wasn't as cold as it seemed. Behind it he could see all of her barley concealed pain and hurt.

 

 

Anika shivered suddenly, realizing how cold she was. Hiro reached down a hand to help her up but she swatted it away and stood up, shakily, by herself. Hiro had been wearing a coat seeing as it had been getting a bit cold lately, but Anika had forgotten hers, so was much colder than Hiro.

 

 

Hiro took a step toward her, but she took one back. He sighed. “Anika-” but she cut him off angrily. “No! I don't want to hear it! You hung out with Haruka and barley spoke or even glance at me! You barley tried to get away, and then you go and get in a relationship with her, and don't tell me! I thought we were best friends!...I thought I meant more to you than that…” She said the last part so quietly that Hiro just barley heard it.

 

 

He was shocked. What did she mean? Could she? No, she couldn't possibly….could she? Hiro didn't want to get his hopes up. While Haruka had been dragging him everywhere, he had been thinking a lot about Anika. When ever he wasn't with her, he couldn't stop thinking of her. When Haruka would pull him away from him, he wanted nothing more than to rip her arm off him and run right back to her.

 

 

In the last week or two he had come to terms with his feeling, much like Anika, and had come to the same conclusion she had, not that the other knew it.

 

 

He snapped and started walking forward. Anika saw this and kept backing up until her back hit solid resistance. Hiro was now right in front of her. He put an arm on either side of her body, caging her in. “Don't you dare say that! I did try to get away from Haruka! But do you know how strong a grip she has? Don't say that you mean nothing to me! Cause that's not true!”

 

 

Anika started at him in shock. But she kept denying it. He couldn't like her back, he liked Haruka, right? He was just playing with her, right? She glared weakly back. “She's no older than us! How could she be that strong! You're lying!”

 

 

Hiro's glare got colder and Anika shrunk back some. “How would you know?” Anika shivered at his voice. It was cold, almost like when they first met. He saw her reaction and softened his voice and glare a little. “I don't know how she could have been so strong, but she was. And I wasn't lying about caring about you. How could I not?”

 

 

Anika gulped, suddenly noticing how close they were. His face and body were less than two inches from her. His voice had dropped the coldness and now sounded, strained? That's also when she noticed his body heat. She had been so cold, and his body was so warm. She didn't want him to pull away.

 

 

He raised one of his hands from beside her and used it to cup her chin and force her to not look away, so that all she could see was him. His face was now less than an inch away and the space between their bodies was next to non-existent. She shouldn't be feeling like this. They were only thirteen. But her body was overruling her mind.

 

 

She stared into his hazel eyes, they were mixed with emotions. Fear, anxiousness, apprehension, and…could that be…love? Her breath started getting heavy and she could tell that he was also seeing all her emotions shown through her eyes.

 

 

He started lowering his face towards hers. Anika knew what he was doing, but didn't try to stop him. In fact, she too was leaning in. The space grew smaller…

 

 

And smaller

 

 

There was less than a centimeter separating their lips, they continued to stare at each others eyes. If either of them moved, their lips would touch. Anika started to close her eyes, and Hiro, seeing this, also closed his eyes. Anika moved her head forward, and their lips connected.

 

 

Anika was in heaven. Hiro tasted like chocolate and mint. The kiss was slow and hesitant at first. They pulled away a minute later to look into each others eyes. Anika opened her mouth to speak, but Hiro prevented her from doing so by kissing her again.

 

 

This time it was more passionate. They both let out all their emotion into the kiss, all the built up frustration and their feelings. The other knew, could tell, that the other loved them, even if they didn't say it out loud. Corny I know, but it just felt so right.

 

 

When they pulled back minutes later, they were panting heavily and Anika's lips were slightly bruised. She stared at Hiro with eyes full of love. She finally regained sense of her scrambled brain and uttered only one thing.

 

 

“Wow.”

 

 

Hiro laughed and Anika seemed indignant at first before also laughing. When they finally calmed down, Anika pushed her forehead against Hiro's, staring once again into his eyes. “Don't you EVER do something like that again, okay?” He nodded.

 

 

“Only if you promise me that you won't run from me again and you'll never leave me.” Anika smiled and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Deal.”

 

 

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They had noticed that sometime during their little make-out session, it had stopped raining and they were now walking back to Anika's house hand-in-hand. The sun was out and people were once again walking the street. Hiro had given Anika his coat, witch she had gratefully pulled tightly around her, considering that she was still wet as hell, not to mention cold.

 

 

When they had finally gotten back they had walked into the living room to see everyone looking worried, even Haruka was there! The moment they stepped in Tohru had run up to Anika and started fawning over her asking her all these questions. She took that time to notice that Shigure, Kyo, Yuki, Kisa, Haruka, Momiji, Haru, and Hatori were all there.

 

 

She sweatdroped slightly. How long had she been gone? While Tohru was fawning over her, she could tell everyone else had noticed her and Hiro's interlocked hands seeing as everyone was now smirking at them. Anika sighed. Sometimes Tohru could be annoying as hell. “Tohru! I'm fine!”

 

 

Tohru shut-up and stepped back looking her over to be sure, when she saw the interlocked hands. She squealed and hugged Anika. “I'm so happy for you!” Anika looked over Tohru's shoulder desperately for help but everyone seemed to be enjoying it too much. She gave them a glare that promised future pain.

 

 

She then looked to Hiro with puppy-dog eyes. He rolled his eyes and nodded. Anika smiled at him. Hiro tapped Tohru on the shoulder. She stopped squeezing the life out of Anika and glanced over at Hiro, her arms still around her though. “Yes Hiro?”

 

 

Hiro smirked. “If you don't mind, could you please release my girlfriend?” Everyone smirked when he said girlfriend. Tohru blinked then let go of Anika. “Sorry about that.” Hiro just shook his head before pulling Anika away from Tohru and moving to the only available seat and sitting down.

 

 

There was no more room for Anika anywhere unless she wanted to sit on the floor. Hiro, seeing this, smirked then pulled her onto his lap. Anika squealed then blushed heavily, causing everyone to laugh. Haru stopped laughing first before addressing Hiro. “Enjoying yourself there Hiro?” Hiro just smirked and nodded. Everyone went into another bought of laughter.

 

 

That's when he finally took notice of Haruka's presence. He growled dangerously and everyone stopped laughing. “What are you doing here?” they turned to Haruka, confused, then back to Hiro. “Hiro, what's wrong?”

 

 

He growled again. “What's wrong? What's wrong is what she's doing here when she's the one who almost caused Anika and I to almost stop being friends!” Everyone turned and gaped at Haruka who just stood there calmly. “Is that true Haruka?” Tohru asked.

 

 

Haruka sighed. It was time she told everyone the truth. “You could say that.” Some people gasped and Hiro opened his mouth to retort when Haruka raised her hand, silencing him. “I had a reason. If I hadn't interfered you and Anika would have kept your feelings bottled inside, constantly denying them and not acting on them. Akina and I couldn't let that happen.”

 

 

Everyone looked confused, wondering who this Akina could be, but Anika gaped at her. “You and Akina planned this?!” Everyone looked to her in slight surprise. She knew this Akina? Haruka nodded, smiling slightly. “Yes, yes we did.”

 

 

Anika looked incredulous. “But how the hell could you even know Akina?” Everyone wanted to know who Akina was now. Hiro put his arms around Anika's waist, keeping her on his lap. He could feel her tensed and could feel the rage course through her body. He knew about the curse and she had told him about Akina, so he was wondering why she would do something like that. Tohru knew about the curse seeing as how it WAS in her family, but she never knew the name of the dragon residing inside Anika.

 

 

Haruka nodded again. “Yes, we planned this, and as for the answer to your question, I think you should explain some thing's to the more,” she glanced at Hiro, her eyes twinkling mischievously, “confused people residing in this room.”

 

 

Everyone glanced at Anika, waiting for her to explain. Anika started fidgeting nervously; she didn't like all the attention. She shifted in Hiro's lap and she started fiddling with the bracelet on her right wrist. Tohru saw the action and immediately guessed that what Haruka was talking about pertained to the curse, but how could she know about that?

 

 

Hiro tightened his hold on Anika and pulled her firmly against him, stopping her left hand from fiddling with her bracelet, and kissing her on the cheek. He whispered something to her and she nodded.

 

 

Everyone watched this interaction with interest. What just happened? They noticed now that Anika didn't seem as nervous, looking more confident. She was sitting straighter with her back straight and she was holding Hiro's hand in what seemed like a death grip.

 

 

“Anika, what's Haruka talking about?” Haru asked slowly. Anika sighed, looking at Tohru who nodded and smiled. She smiled back before looking back out at the occupants of the room.

 

 

“What Haruka is talking about is my curse. The Honda family, me and Tohrus' family, have a curse. This curse is directly related to the Sohma family curse. Our family has the knowledge to abolish the Sohma family curse. Every couple hundred of years or so the head of the family figures out where we are and summons one of us, the one holding the curse to come break the Sohma family curse. You see, we really hold he core of the curse.

 

 

“That's why Akito doesn't like Tohru that much; he knows she's from the family that holds the key. But she didn't posses the knowledge to free you guys, only the carrier does, me. It skips one generation, therefore when my grandmother died the next child born would be passed the responsibility.

 

 

“The reason it was never broken before this was that every time it was attempted, the carrier of the curse dies. It has only been attempted six times. I was also told that, the carrier had a…soul mate of sorts.” At this point Hiro tightened his arms around her even further, squeezing her hand. She glanced reassuringly at him. Everyone saw this but chose not to comment, waiting for Anika to finish.

 

 

“Every time the carrier came, she would fall in love with that…soul mate. The person was always the Sohma cursed by the Ram, like I said soul mates.” She could feel Hiro visibly relax at that. “But every time she would die not long after they got together, when she attempted to free them. Akito knows it's me that can free you guys, but he doesn't know how it will happen; only I and Akina know. You guys all want to know about Akina now, don't you?” they nodded.

 

 

“Before I tell you who she is, I have to tell you the story of how our family and your family got the curse, the un-edited version.” She explained to them exactly what her parents said to her when she was first told about the curse. When she finished, everyone looked like they understood a little better.

 

 

“Akina is the dragon that resides in me. That's why I was wondering how Haruka knew about her, and even knew her at all.”

 

 

Everyone now looked to Haruka. She looked calmly back before smirking. “You guys all want to know who I am.” They nodded, and her smirk widened. “Alright, I'll tell you, though you won't believe me at first.”

 

 

Anika snorted. “After all I've been through? Try me.” Haruka nodded, she liked Anika.

 

 

First thing she did was drop the glamour around her, the glamour making her look like she was thirteen when she was really around eighteen. Everyone looked at her in shock.

 

 

“I should tell you first my real name. It's not Haruka Ishida. It's Haruka Honda, a previous carrier of the dragon Akina.”

 

 

 

M.G. Haha! Cliffy! I am evil! Were you expecting that? I bet you weren't! Anywayz, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

 

 

Plz R and R

 

Ja ne!

 

Morte!