Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Honda constellations ❯ gemini ( Chapter 4 )

There was once a pair of twins that were born from a swan's egg. The two were named Pollux and Caster. Their mother was seduced by one of Zeus's many disguises: the swan. Pollex was his immortal son, but Caster was sired by a human father (Tyndareus). They were inseparable, even in Caster's death, Pollux followed his brother into the afterworld. They were raised to be hunters by the centaur Chiron, the great teacher, and later joined Jason and his Argonauts for the Golden Fleece.

 

After a while with the Argonauts, the twins decided to settle down and get married. They set their eyes on the two, unfortunately, married daughters of Sparta's king. The girls were married to two of the twin's cousins, but that didn't stop them from stealing them away. The men seemed not to mind the `wife switch' because several years later the two pairs decided to do a joint cattle raid. The tension between the family members was finally released when they tried to divide the cattle among themselves.

 

One of the cousins, Idas, had an idea. He cut one of the cows into four pieces and said that the pair that finished their pieces first would get the cattle. The twins were caught off guard, having a big breakfast and all, and watched their cousins eat their way into all of the stolen profits. Idas and the other cousin, Lynceus, won the entire herd and left the twins with nothing but their wounded pride.

 

Caster and Pollux quickly swore to get back at their devious cousins and get back their share of the cattle. During the fight to regain their share, Idas killed Caster (the mortal son) with a spear. Enraged over the loss of his other half, Pollux pursued and killed Lynceus with a single blow. Just as Idas was trying to take revenge for his cousin's life, Zeus came to his son's aid and killed Idas with a thunderbolt. The immortal son, Pollux, begged to die by his father's hand so his could be with his brother again. Zeus had a weak spot for his children's lives and couldn't kill him. So, instead, he brought Caster's soul back and placed both of them in the sky as the constellation Gemini as well as making them both gods, patrons of athletes and protectors of sailors. The brothers shared power over the wind and waves, but each also had their individual interests on earth. Caster watched over horse riders, and Pollux over boxing and battles.

 

()

 

The ground began to rumble, like with an earthquake, as Tohru closed her eyes to her surroundings. Kyo tried to jump out of the bushes to save Tohru from the second landslide, but was held back by Shigure holding onto the straps of his cargo pants. “no, watch,” was all he said as he briefly peeled his eyes off of the mysterious Tohru, “I have a feeling we may learn something about her tonight yet.” After a second, Kyo stole another look at the girl before settling back down the bush opposite Yuki.

 

Raising her hands in a swaying motion, Tohru gestured to the ground and the dirt rose up in the air like it was possessed. It looked like a brown wave as it swept up and partially surrounded the girl. She stepped forward and in a pushing motion, the dirt created a wave that swept the entire clearing in a cover of brown/gray. After the dust settled, Tohru opened her eyes and looked around, admiring that the ground was now flat and footprint-free. Taking a partial step forward, Tohru collapsed to the ground in a delirious giggle.

 

“one more thing,” she said, holding up one finger as if she was talking to someone. She then touched the ground with her stretched out finger and up sprung a carpet of green, covering the previously brown clearing. “pretty,” she mumbled, slumping forward slightly for a few seconds while the previously floating rock fell to the ground directly in front of the passed out Tohru.

 

This time both boys tried to jump out of the bushes, but Shigure held them both back with a surprising amount of strength and mouthed `watch' before setting them both down. Kyo's eyes flashed dangerously, but he didn't move. After a few seconds, Tohru groaned and put her hand up to her face, “must've overdone it that time. The boys must be back home by now,” she groaned again and stood up shakily. The `boys' looked at each other like `oh, crap' and took off running for the house as silently as they could.

 

Tohru looked at the brushes as she heard a rustle, but shrugged it off as nothing as her body tried to convince her to sit down again. Realizing that she had blacked out and didn't know how long, she ran to the house, not even bothering to take the path and cut straight through to hopefully not be too far behind the boys.

 

She got to the house and saw… no one. The property was empty of any human population whatsoever. Weird. Catching her breath, she went inside, maybe they were in there waiting for her in there? A rustling in the bushes told her different as she turned around on the porch to greet Shigure as he fought his way out of the bushes. `what the…' Shigure thought as he caught sight of Tohru, “my little flower! How did you beat us to the house, we weren't that slow, were we?” he asked playfully as Kyo and yuki stepped out from the bush also.

 

“I, uh, I took a shortcut!” Tohru exclaimed, inside slapping herself for even telling a partial lie. In her pocket, the rust-colored focus stone pulsed slightly, as if chastising Tohru for telling a lie.

 

They all sensed her hesitancy and yuki took it upon himself to ask what they were all thinking, “Honda-kun, why did you tell us to go ahead without you?”

 

“I saw something in the dirt,” she said, putting on her cheerful façade, “it turned out to be nothing except some burned wood, so I ran to catch up to you, and here I am,” she exclaimed, holding her hands wide.

 

The boys didn't believe it for an instant, leaving an uncomfortable silence in her wake. “well, I'm going to bed. You all should also, you have school tomorrow and you don't want to be late!” Shigure sang the last part, leaving the three teenagers to their own. After a few seconds, they slowly followed their guardian's advice and left for their individual rooms, Tohru following last.

 

A blinking caught her eye from the hallway phone. It was the answering machine with a message. They were only gone about fifteen minutes, so who could have called? Curiosity got the better of her and Tohru pushed the `play' button. “Toh-chan? if you're there, pick up. If not, call `Ni when you get in. its important.”

 

Tohru looked at the clock, 9:16, early enough in the night to call back. “who was that Tohru-kun?” Shigure asked, poking his head into the hallway curiously with a writing brush in his mouth, “and did you understand a word they said?”

 

Tohru nodded her head, the message was in English but she understood it perfectly fine. “one of my cousins got this number and called while we were gone. He speaks Japanese perfectly fine, but likes English a bit better between family members. Can I use your phone, Shigure?” she asked, looking at him from staring down at the phone, daring it to ring.

 

“my phone is your phone.”

 

Tohru nodded in response and quickly dialed a number, waiting for it to pick up. The person on the other end picked it up after the first ring, surprising Tohru.

 

“moshi moshi, Yoshida speaking.” The person on the other side answered in Japanese.

 

(Japanese, English) “Yoshida, am I glad you answered! Did you call me?” Tohru leaned her back against the wall.

 

“Toh, Toh-chan? My little baby cousin responded to my call!” came the exuberant male voice from the other end, reminding Tohru of a certain albino snake.

 

“I'm only a year younger than you!” Tohru slumped down the wall, careful to take the base of the phone with her so the entire thing wouldn't crash onto the floor, “now, what did you need to call me for?”

 

“can't I just call my baby…”

 

“no!” Shigure looked up from his work, he definitely knew that English word. Tohru must be having an argument or something.

 

“I mean, no, people are trying to sleep and I should be getting to bed soon anyway,” Tohru whispered into the phone, hoping that she hadn't woken anyone up.

 

“fine,” you could hear the pout in his voice, “Cygnus didn't show up to lessons today, she may be hunting for you.”

 

“I knew that. She's the `new girl' at my school now. And I think she's getting her own fan club, too,” Tohru couldn't help but grin at remembering how much trouble the `yuki fan club' could be for the mouse sometimes.

 

“goody,” there was no enthusiasm in his voice whatsoever, “tomorrow, Yohiko and I will offer to drive birdie-girl to school to check things out, okay?”

 

Tohru nodded, but quickly realized that she was on the phone, “ok, but what about Joe?”

 

“Joe's still at university and won't be able to visit until your time, but we can still be the three amigos until then!” some of the energy was coming back into his voice.

 

“oh, how's Joe doing anyway?” Tohru asked, in complete gossip mode.

 

“he's studying as hard as ever and still freaks at the smallest thing.”

 

Tohru giggled a little before remembering what time it was, “I'll talk to you tomorrow, Yoshida! Come early so we can talk before I have to go to class, okay?”

 

“yeah, cool, bye.”

 

“bye.” Tohru hung up the phone and shook her head, it was good to know that some things didn't change after nearly two years.

 

“does our little flower have a boyfriend, hmm?” Shigure asked, leaning out of his study, this time without a brush.

 

“no!” Tohru could feel her face get red, “we're cousins, that's all!” Shigure gained a gleam in his eye, just telling her that he didn't believe her.

 

“well, goodnight then.”

 

“…goodnight.”

 

()

 

Tohru came to school the next morning with… minimal trouble. She had used the excuse that she had to check something out with another classmate on a subject she didn't understand and couldn't ask the boys about. Luckily, Yuki had a student counsel meeting that morning and walked Tohru to school so she wouldn't be by herself.

 

“thanks for walking me to school Yuki-kun, I'll see you later. I have to wait for them out here, okay?” Tohru motioned at the front gate after she finished pinning her hair up into a bun. Yuki looked at her strangely for a moment before shaking his head to clear the mental image.

 

“you look like someone I saw once on the television… I think her name was Taurus Celeste.”

 

“I knew her… at one time. We were very close.” Tohru looked away, down the street, giving a silent signal that she didn't want to talk about it. With a bye, Yuki left Tohru by the front gate to meet the mysterious classmate.

 

Tohru heard them before she saw them. The green/brown jeep raced down the street and came to a sudden stop in front of the school, knocking off some of the dust to show the outline of a bull's head on the tire cover on the back. “I will never…!” came a female voice from the vehicle before the canvas-covered door banged open to reveal a white figure step out in a snowy fury and slap the driver. She walked past Tohru in a huff and two peals of laughter came from the confines of the jeep.

 

“don't torture the poor bird, she can't fly away from a roofed car!” Tohru play mocked, shaking her finger in a mother-type way. The engine shut off and a man stepped out the driver's door to undo the canvas off of the top to reveal his laughing twin in the back seat.

 

“that was good!” the one in the back seat said, vaulting over the side of the jeep as the other was putting the canvas away in the trunk before standing by his brother.

“Toh-chan, its good to see you…”

 

“you're a skirt!” Yoshida cut in, grabbing his cousin in a bear hug, hiding the slight flip of the mini that he did to emphasize his point.

 

Tohru pushed him away to arms length and looked him up and down, “your taller than me now, when did this happen?” she looked over at Yohiko, “and you too!”

 

Yohiko walked over and gave a side hug, discreetly brushing down the back of the skirt to prevent embarrassment in school. She felt this touch to her rump and Kyo came just in time to see her backhand the both of them. “what do you two think you were doing!” Tohru mocked, spinning out of both their embraces to stand out of arm range. “sorry Yo-Yo, but its almost time for school,” she spotted a fuming Kyo, “and one of my friends is standing right behind you and looks about to bash your heads in.”

 

“Oh, hi Uo, Han…” Yoshida turned around so see not the girls, but a fuming red-head, “…a…”

 

“Don't call her chan,” Kyo gritted out through his teeth before grabbing Tohru's upper arm and dragging her to the gate.

 

“Como un Toro! Bye!” Tohru waved her hand and Kyo gave her a strange look.

 

“Como un Toro?” Kyo asked loosening his grip a little.

 

“Nothing!” Tohru blushed, turning away to try to hide her embarrassment. After a few moments of Kyo's eyes on her back, Tohru sighed, “they're my cousins. They wanted to bring Cyg-Sylvia to school today to make sure I was alright. They're both really nice when you get to know them, if only a little like a mix between Ayame and Shigure.” Kyo shuddered at that thought, Shigure was enough, but get both of them in the same room and all hell would break loose.

 

“Toh-chan has the strangest taste in friends,” Yohiko said, jumping into the passenger seat.

 

“yeah,” Yoshida agreed, turning the engine and driving off.

 

()

 

“what, you mean Yo-Yo was here this morning and you didn't tell me! But I had something to give them!” Uo said, making a fist and punching the air in front of Tohru.

 

“they drove Cygnus to school this morning, I didn't find out until right before I was going to bed last night.”

 

“they kidnapped me is more like it!” Cygnus put in her two cents, sitting down behind yuki. Yep, new fan club member.

 

“then next time why don't you fly to school, birdie?” Uo bit back, standing in front of Tohru protectively.

 

The bell rang and the students ran to their seats, “we'll finish this at lunch, Apis wannabe,” Cygnus hissed before turning to the front.

 

()

 

“okay, what's an Apis or whatever she called you?” Kyo asked, not liking the feeling of being left out of something twice in the same day. Tohru gave a glance over to Hana and grabbed an onigirii that she had packed for her lunch, silently giving her permission to answer the question.

 

“in plain words, the swan called Tohru a bull shit.” Uo explained simply, leaning back against one of the trees in the schoolyard.

 

“the Apis bull was a sacred cow in ancient Egypt that had unique markings in specific colors. Tohru, Taurus…” hana stopped, sensing unwelcome denpa waves nearby, “hello Cygnus.”

 

She came into the area and sat down across from Tohru, but not before stealing the rest of her lunch. “fate” she nodded to hana in greeting.

 

“sure you don't want anything tainted, birdie?” Tohru asked, hurt that she didn't hide her lunch.

 

“you're right, they are dirty. I should throw them away,” Cygnus commented in clear Japanese, chucking them straight back to the dirt in front of Tohru. Taking a deep breath, Tohru gathered up the rice and placed it back onto her napkin to throw away later. It was no good to eat now. Kyo and Yuki clenched their fists, wishing that Cygnus was a boy so they could beat her up with how she was treating their Tohru.

 

Uo started getting up to pound on the bird, but with a simple blink Tohru told her to sit back down. She obeyed grudgingly. “so, how are you doing with your dancing? I heard that you are going to play the swan, how exciting,” Tohru asked, shifting to a more comfortable position against the chain-link fence.

 

“fine, your art?” Cygnus hissed, staring Tohru down, trying to intimidate her.

 

“good, but I haven't done any lately.” Tohru smoothed out her skirt, “you know, that doesn't work against me. I can be very mule-headed sometimes,” all the light in her eyes had gone out as she stared right back.

 

“uh-oh,” Uo whispered, even though she didn't have to, “they're already at it.”

 

“Yes, they are,” Hana saw the confused look in the boy's eyes and decided to explain, “ever since they were three, they have fought each other. It started after their father died and over little things like their favorite doll, but now its over who should inherit his money, and who has to get married to the man that he picked for them. So far, Cygnus has the money and is spending it foolishly.”

 

“as much as you two fight with your fists, they fight with their minds… or something like that,” Uo tried to explain, looking between the two statuesque girls. Suddenly, a wind came up and whipped everything around, centering around the pale girl. Tohru winced a little as a sharp twig glanced her cheek and held down her skirt. Cygnus' icy eyes burned with anger and the wind increased in speed, starting to snap off branches from the surrounding trees.

 

Tohru didn't move much as she studied the wind pattern, watching for the perfect moment. A large branch came whizzing to her head and Tohru held up her arms, creating a dirt/grass shield from the projectile. It bounced out and Hana easily ducked as it flew by her head to land in a bush. Tohru saw her moment and flicked her hand, sending the dirt into the cyclone along with a few large rocks.

 

The rocks were only a few feet away when… the bell rang. The wind immediately stopped and the dirt fell lifelessly to the ground. Tohru stood up, brushing off her skirt, before offering Cygnus a hand. “are the boys picking you up this afternoon?” Tohru asked civilly, walking back to the school.

 

“yes, unless I want to fly home,” Sylvia answered just as politely.

 

“good, I would like to talk to them again, I was cut short this morning,” the girls nodded to each other and walked side-by-side back to the classroom.

 

“ha-ha-ha! You should see the looks on your faces!” Uo laughed, pointing at the two dumbstruck zodiacs.

 

“it seems that this battle was lost,” Hana observed, watching the two walk off.

 

“but not the war,” Uo finished, sobering up a little and throwing away Tohru's ruined lunch in a trash can.

 

()

 

“woo-ho-ho! Toro!” came the call of a certain guy standing up on the back seat of a moving jeep, holding onto the roll-bar like a life-line.

 

“oh, no…”

 

“hey guys!” Tohru waved as the jeep came to a stop and the standing boy jumped down and swung Tohru around in a circle.

 

“…I think I'm gonna be sick,” Cygnus held her head and groaned at the prospect of another ride with the twins. The zodiacs looked on, all thinking along the lines of `who are they?' with the two mystery boys that Tohru obviously knew.

 

“how long has it been since I have seen this little wild child?” the boy asked, setting Tohru down from her spin-cycle.

 

“this morning, but before that, two years,” Tohru replied, recovering from the spin.

 

“hear that, Yohiko, two long, antagonizing, painful years since she's been tamed by the outside world of town life!” Yoshida exclaimed, backing against the jeep in a pretend faint.

 

“how's your back doing?” the driver asked, rolling his eyes at his brother.

 

“I'm doing better, Yohiko, just a little mark now, but there's a scar though,” Tohru walked over and jumped onto the back corner of the jeep.

 

“ahem!” someone coughed to get Tohru's attention, “who are these boys, Tohru?” yuki asked, eyeing the one that acted like Shigure.

 

“oh, introductions!” Tohru stuck her tongue out to herself in embarrassment, “Yuki, Kyo, Momiji, and Haru, meet Yohiko -driving- and Yoshida- the loudmouth to my left… and you've met Sylvia.” Tohru jumped down and went to the zodiacs, “Momiji is the blonde, Haru is in the same grade as Momiji, Yuki is the resident royalty, and you met Kyo this morning when he dragged me off.”

 

Looking at Yuki, Yohiko raised an eyebrow and Yoshida took a grand bow, grabbing Yuki's hand and kissed it, “it is an honor to be in your presence, Yuki-hime.”

 

“I'm a guy,” yuki clarified, taking his hand back and wiping it off on a handkerchief. It took a matter of seconds before Momiji and Haru fell to the ground, laughing hysterically.

 

“don't worry, that happens a lot!” Kyo explained through peals of laughter for the mouse, slapping Yohiko on the back.

 

Cygnus rolled her eyes, “I may just fly home instead of ride with these idiots,” she mumbled, wrenching open the passenger door and slamming it closed.

 

“welcome to the Ranchway express, please fashion all possessions to… somewhere… and we'll be off!” Yohiko said, turning the engine back on for the ride home and pulling out, unfortunately, Yoshida was still leaning on the back of the jeep when this happened and resulted in falling into the mud that was under the jeep.

 

“hey! What about my ride!?” Yoshida yelled at his brother, waving a fist in the air.

 

“hitch one from Taurus! Ciao!” Yohiko called back, waving without looking. Cygnus just sunk down in her seat with a groan.

 

Turning to Tohru, Yoshida sighed, “I guess I'm stuck with you, do you still have that ride?”

 

“yeah, but I don't know if it runs or not though. Sorry for inconveniencing you,” she gave a small smile and turned to the rest of the group, “when we get home I'll make snacks, okay?” that earned a smile and `race ya' from Momiji while the others just walked.

 

About a block down, Momiji noticed something was missing and turned around, “come on guys, your not running!” true, no one was. They were walking instead with Kyo leading and Tohru holding hands with Yoshida in back. “ooh! Tohru's got a boyfriend!” Momiji pointed out, running back to the group. Yuki and Kyo both looked back at the two and it really looked that way with Tohru talking and Yoshida laughing in response.

 

The two stopped when they noticed everyone's stares and separated to opposite sides of the sidewalk hesitantly. “what's your relation to Tohru-kun?” Kyo hissed, cornering the `stranger' along with Yuki.

 

“look, man, I don't know your problem, but we're cousins, that's all. case closed, book shut, end of story dude,” Yoshida explained, holding up his hands in defense.

 

“Hn,” was all Kyo said as he and yuki grabbed Tohru's hands and practically dragged her down the street to their home.

 

“so…” Yoshida started, looking down at the blonde boy in the girl's school top, “ I heard that Taurus was living with three boys, from one blonde to another (the twins had very dirty blonde hair), which one of you guys is it?”

 

“Taurus?… you mean Tohru, right?”

 

“Tohru, that's what she's goin' by these days?” Yoshida shook his head slightly, “yeah, Tohru, whatever.”

 

“she lives with yuki and Kyo…”

 

“that could be trouble…”

 

“and a writer named Shigure. He's cool, but a little hentai.” Momiji concluded with a nod from Haru.

 

“hentai? Taurus, you live with a pervert!?” Yoshida yelled, running to catch up with the three, “you're not going to live in conditions like that! Your too young to lose your innocence!” Tohru flinched at the yelling, letting go of her `guard's' hands.

 

“hey guys, I'm going to run ahead to get the snacks started, okay?” she asked, not even waiting for an answer before taking off in a life-or-death run. “I like the conditions I live in!” she yelled back before cutting into the woods.

 

Yoshida shook his head in disbelief before taking off after his cousin with renewed speed, but unfortunately not fast enough to get past the two boys. “what's your hurry, Yoshida, you don't like us?” Kyo asked, pinning the boy to the ground, “you want to take her back to your sick home so you can use her for your own wants, huh?” he continued, wrenching Yoshida's arm harder.

 

“it- its nothing like that! I haven't seen her in two years and I missed her! She's not who you think she is and I need to protect her from the rest of the family!” he grunted and tried to get out of the lock, “look, Tohru's family is whack, I know. The problem is, they found her and I'm here to make sure that they haven't done anything to her… yet,” Yoshida mumbled, remembering what happened Tohru last time.

 

Yuki waved for Kyo to get off so he could take a turn, “what do you mean `yet'?”

 

“just what I said, last time she went `home' she got hurt, badly, and today she said that its still not healed completely. She's lucky that she can still walk with that injury.” Yoshida brushed off the dirt that was on the front of his jean shirt and started down the path that Tohru took, “look, I can see that Tohru means a lot to you. Just take me to where you guys live so I can see if she's happy or not, okay?”

 

looking the boy up and down again, yuki nodded in consent and started down the path in front of everyone so they wouldn't get lost. Speaking of lost…

 

“umm… guys, Haru's gone.”

 

()

 

Sorry for not updating for a while, but I had finals and writers block. Now, onto Birth Marks! Disclaimer: If you haven't heard of it before, it's mine, if you have, it isn't mine. Easy enough? Good.

 

Horoscope profile: Gemini

Name: Yohiko/Yoshida Hidama-Celeste

Alias: yo-yo, Gem, Ni (like Bill Nye the science guy), Caster, Pollex

Age: 17, 11 months older than Tohru.

Relation: twins, second cousins to Tohru.

Elements: water/air

A pair of jokesters, they hang out with Tohru and Joe (you'll meet him later). They are ranch hands and very able with a horse and lasso. Yoshida is the vocal one that plays the guitar and Yohiko plays the drums.