Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Rift of White Roses ❯ A Mother's Memories ( Prologue )

Hello readers. If you are here, you must be interested in the tale of my son, Asato Sohma. I'll tell you now, this is an average tale. Asato is not cursed, he doesn't go to school with Kyo and Yuki, not best friends with Tohru, and he's not from America. In fact, Asato is only 8, and has never heard of his relatives or the curse.To start with, my name is Kasumi Sohma and my story starts when I was just 16 and in high school. I hadn't even made it to my first class when I tumbled down the stairs (while going up, mind you). My book bag flew up, sending my books in various directions. At that instant, I prayed it was a dream that I wasn't really laying upside down on the stairs, with my bag covering my beet red face and my skirt fluttering up over my waist. I felt so miserable. But then..."Are you alright?" Words that spoke my end. I met Ayame for the first time in high school. It was our freshman year and I had never been in public schooling before. It wasn't because I was cursed or anything, my parents just wanted to home school me, but after debating with them, I was allowed to spend my high school years at Kaibara High."No." I murmured at the voice. Moving my bag I was met by three concerned and beautiful faces. The one right above me had pale skin, gold eyes, and silver haired tied back in a braid. To either side of him were two young men, both with dark hair and brown eyes. The one in the middle helped me up. Ayame was his name, Ayame Sohma, one of my own relatives, and his friends were Hatori Sohma and Shigure Sohma.I had never seen them before, in my sixteen years in the main house, but I soon understood why. Ayame, Hatori, and Shigure, who made up what they liked to call the 'Mabudachi Trio', were very affluent and eccentric, causing them to leave the house for various events. Hatori was training to become the family doctor, Shigure was the head of the Writer's Society at Kaibara (what an achievement for a freshman!), and Ayame was well known around school for many achievements and misdeeds.
*~*~*~*"Kasumi-chan!" In our sophomore year, I grew closer to the Mabudachi Trio. Ayame used me as a model for his newest outfits, Hatori personally took care of my injuries, and I was forced to keep track of Shigure and his writing projects.Our first school dance was homecoming for sports. Akito, the young but powerful head of our family, demanded that we not go. Of course, out of fear and respect, we stayed. Ayame, however, decorated the den and put together music. The four of us and a few other 'inside' Sohmas got together and had our own dance. This was the first night I ever really noticed Ayame. He had his hair down, dangling at his lower back. He was dressed in a red long coat, black pants, and a white shirt that was unbuttoned."Let us dance, Gure-san!" Hatori and I watched from a table as Ayame and Shigure twirled around together. I laughed into my hand. Hatori was visible annoyed... or disturbed, one or the other. I had never seen Ayame move so fluidly, like a snake through grass. He was beautiful. And I was in love.*~*~*~*"I would watch how close you get to us, Kasumi." Our junior year was a devastating one, to say the least. A clumsy slip on my way to the bath revealed the secret that kept me an 'inside' Sohma. The tale of the Zodiac spirits that inhabit the bodies of twelve (plus one) Sohmas, a story I had grown up with, was real. And here I was, staring the dog in the face. Shigure, the dog; Hatori, the dragon; Ayame, the snake."Well, apparently your parents know." I didn't care that my parents knew. I only cared about Ayame at that moment. How could I confess how I felt for him? We would never work out, so many moments that could not be shared between us. Differences that couldn't be shrugged off or looked over with a simple, 'ah well'.At the end of the year, I decided to go back to being home schooled and with this decision I went to confess to him. Being friends who always joked around with our feelings, of course I didn't think it would sink in the first time."I love you, Ayame.""I love you too, Kasumi-chan!" I couldn't keep the tears from rolling down my cheeks as we stood outside the school. I felt he wasn't taking me seriously and it hurt like hell."I'm not kidding around with you!" When I opened my eyes, I saw him. So sincere, with a small smile. The wind kicked up and his hair created an elegant curtain around his soft, pale face. His gold eyes were half-closed; they seemed sleepy but then again thoughtful. He slowly walked up to me and kissed my forehead."I'm not kidding either." It took all my strength to not throw my arms around him and lose control.*~*~*~*It was about 3 AM when I heard my window open. Senior year was tough for me, but I had a guardian angel watching over me. Or more over, a guardian snake.I had never seen a more beautiful person. Ayame... Ayame... He knew he'd transform from exhaustion and in retrospect, it was a little creepy to look over after having sex and see a panting snake lying next to you. Do snakes pant? At the time, I didn't care. I reached over and softly stroked the white lizard. He smiled at me, or at least, that's what my tired mind believed.Several weeks later, during a routine check-up with Hatori, he informed me that what I had so believed to be the end of the year jitters was actually... pregnancy."What?!" Well, that was just the start of my problems. I tried to cover it up by going outside and playing with the younger Sohmas as I had always done between lessons, but Akito’s hawk eyes spied out my constant fatigue and mood swings. He called me into his room and demanded the father's name. I refused to tell him, and was thusly beaten. Sometime after I had blacked out, Akito demanded that the baby be brought to him the moment it was born."I'll watch over him." Hatori promised when I woke up. Luckily, I had not lost my child in Akito's rage. Again, I had to hold myself together to keep from falling from my bed. The months passed and I was kept under Hatori's watchful eye. When I finally gave birth, Hatori so kindly let me at least see him and name him before taking him to Akito.In the weeks that followed, I felt more and more sick. Postnatal depression, Hatori said was the medical term for it. Yes, I was depressed, and I wanted to see my little boy so bad. Hatori told me Asato was being well taken care of. Asato's hair was soft and white like Ayame's and his eyes were the deepest shade of brown. That information alone couldn't keep me going. My heart ached at night and in the morning, I couldn't keep food down or even keep myself together long enough to say good morning to anyone. Akito decided that I would have my memories erased, but Hatori suggested that I leave the main house for a while. I took his advice without hesitation, though I longed to see what beautiful child Ayame and I had made.On my way out, I was confronted by a concerned Ayame. We had not seen each other since that fateful night, and at this point, I was not in the mood to see him. I threw him aside and shouted angrily, the words do not come so clearly to my mind at this point. Then I stormed away from him, away from my home, away from my baby, away from the pain.I hope that someday I will return to Japan, but for now, I will travel the world and let Hatori keep me updated on how Asato is doing. It's been eight years now and I have seen well over half the world. As I pack up to head home, a letter from my dear friend and doctor surprises me. He asks that I stay were I am. I wonder what could have happened to Asato.