Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Karing For Kisa ❯ Found: One Tiger ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimers: I do not own Fruits Basket, nor do I intend to make any money from this.

 

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Karing for Kisa

Chapter One: Found: One tiger

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Hatsuharu Sohma walked along the rainy street, concentrating on making it home without getting lost. He walked by the hedges planted in the wall surrounding someone's house, and heard a rustling sound. Thinking he had caught himself on one of the prickly branches, he turned around to free his sleeve. But, no, he hadn't been caught on the bush. He heard rustling again, and looked closer at the bushes. He saw a glimpse of soft orange, striped with black. What the…? Hatsuharu walked closer to the hedges, and reached into them. He felt something furry and wet from the rain that had been cascading down for the last few hours. Haru gently tugged it out into the open.

 

A tiger! What the heck is a tiger doing out here! The poor little beast gave him no resistance as he picked it up and hugged it to his chest. He shrugged out of his long coat and wrapped it carefully around the shivering animal. He resumed walking, not quite sure what he was going to do with it.

 

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Haru found himself walking in the direction of Shigure's house. Maybe one of them will know what to do.

 

Yuki and Tohru were standing on the front porch as he approached.

 

“Ah. Yuki. You're here.”

 

“Hatsuharu-san!”

 

“Haru…”

 

“You're drenched! You wouldn't happen to be lost again, would you?” Tohru asked, worried because he was actually getting better at finding his way from school to the main house by himself.

 

“No. I was going home, but I decided to come here.”

 

“Why? Is something wrong?” Yuki asked, hoping desperately that it wasn't anything to do with Akito.

 

“Nothing's wrong. I found something, but I don't know what to do with it. I thought one of you guys would know what to do.” Haru was able to explain without any more interruptions.

 

“How would I know what you should do -“ Yuki started to ask, before he was cut off by Tohru's curiosity.

 

“What did you find, Hatsuharu-san?” Tohru asked as she came closer to see what was hidden under Haru's coat. He pulled back a layer and exposed the young tiger.

 

“Oh… What a cute kitty!” Tohru squealed, reaching out to pet it.

 

CHOMP!

 

The kitten…er, tiger bit down on the girl's gentle hand, causing it to bleed.

 

“AHHH! IT BIT ME! AHH!” Tohru screamed, before fainting away on the wooden porch. Yuki picked her up off the ground, and half carried - half dragged her inside, the dead weight of her a little too much for him. Hatsuharu followed them, still wondering what to do with his new pet.

 

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Tohru woke up, and they sat at the table so Haru could bandage her hand. Shigure came in, followed by Kyo.

 

“Did I hear screaming? Is everything all right?” Shigure asked, disturbed from his writing. “Tohru-kun! What happened to your hand?”

 

“Just a small accident. A tiger bit her.” Yuki calmly explained to the newcomers.

 

“A tiger! Where did a tiger come from!” Kyo asked.

 

“I found it when I was walking home from school.” Hatsuharu told them. “I don't know how it got there.”

 

“Poor little thing! It must be half starved! I'll go get some fish for it.” Tohru said, and got up and went to search the refrigerator, her hand now protected from infection.

 

“Poor little thing! How can you say that after it viciously attacked you! You're so dumb!” Kyo shouted at her.

 

“Don't be silly, Kyo-kun. I just scared it. I'm sure it's perfectly docile under normal conditions.”

 

“You have lost your mind! It's a TIGER! It would eat you if it was big enough!”

 

But Tohru just ignored Kyo's mad ravings, and got a fish out of the fridge for the `poor little thing'.

 

“Tigers do not eat people, baka neko.” Yuki informed his hated enemy.

 

“I am not an idiot!”

 

“Coulda fooled me.”

 

“If you two are going to fight, take it outside. We have other problems to deal with than Kyo-kun's stupidity.” Shigure admonished the both of them.

 

Tohru came back with some tuna she had found and Haru carefully fed the cat, watchful of his fingers.

 

“I'm not sure what you can do with it, Haru.” Shigure told his younger cousin.

 

“Her. It's a her.” He corrected.

 

“How do you know?” Kyo asked

 

Haru stared at him as if he had just said the stupidest thing ever. “How else do you check the gender of a cat?”

 

Kyo blushed as red as his hair, and stammered an “Oh.”

 

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Tohru busied herself with making dinner while the others played with their new friend. Haru had his gloved hand stuck in her mouth, and she was shaking her head, trying to get through the tough leather. Giving up, she dropped the hand, and curled up in his lap, purring in happy contentment. Kyo, who could understand her as perfectly as if she were speaking a human tongue, sat down across from his cousin, and now they were speaking to each other in their own language of purrs and meows.

 

“What's she saying?” Haru finally asked after listening to their `conversation' for 10 minutes.

 

“Nothing really. She likes to chase butterflies in the park. She doesn't like the rain we've been having lately, because it makes her cold and wet, which is how you found her in the bushes.”

 

“Oh. Does she have a name?”

 

“No. She doesn't really know anything about herself.”

 

“She doesn't know anything about herself? That's a bit odd.” Yuki said.

 

“I think something really traumatized her when she was younger.” Kyo was interrupted by a mewl from the tiger. “She thinks that she's about four years old.”

 

“Don't get too attached, Haru.” Shigure warned, watching as he interacted with the little cub. “You can't take care of a tiger. We'll probably take her to a zoo tomorrow.”

 

“I know.' The ox murmured, bending his head closer to the striped one of the tiger and rubbing his hand behind her soft ears.

 

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Tohru re-entered, carrying a platter filled with their dinner, which, as usual, managed to contain some form of leeks. Kyo, like usual, burst into a fit of complaints.

 

“Why are we always having leeks! Doesn't that damn Yuki grow anything else in that stupid secret base of his?”

 

“No. I only plant leeks, just to bother you.”

 

Kyo huffed and started moving the disgusting vegetable to the side of his plate. It seemed that the tiger - who still lacked a name - liked leeks as much as Kyo hated them. She put her paws up on the table and ate them right off his plate while he sulked.

 

They were all discussing the various events of their day as they ate, when there was another disturbance at the front door. They all turned their heads to witness Ayame fighting with his umbrella, trying to shut it and walk in at the same time. Shigure sighed, and got up to help his koi. Really, sometimes he was such a ditz.

 

Haru shook his head, and went back to eating. He finished, turned to the tiger, ready to resume their play from earlier.

 

But a tiger cub no longer slept the deep sleep of exhaustion beside him. A little girl had replaced the tiger.

 

“Ack!”

 

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A.N. This is inspired by/based on vol. 5 of the manga. I used some dialogue from it and the setting, but I change it up to work for this. (The dialogue used is not word for word) I also changed who said what a bit. Ex. It's Yuki who actually comments on Haru being drenched, and wonders if he's lost; not Tohru.