Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Sukunai Hane ❯ Chapter 1

This is our new story called Sukunai Hane. It's a depressing angsty story centered around a small girl named Akurei. We really hope you like it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Neither my sister nor I own Fruits Basket. Natsuki Takaya is the genius that created it. We wish we were her.....

Warnings: This fic contains a lot of abuse and some other things which are not suitable for young children. But, eh *shrugs*, we can't make you not read it. Your choice...

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Sohma Shigure gasped as he looked into a dark unknown room. His brown eyes widened as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings. When his eyes finally adjusted to the pitch black, a bone-wracking chill went down his spine. `These are living quarters,' he thought to himself in shock. He scanned the room quickly for the occupant, and found her curled into the fetal position, sleeping soundly, if not peacefully. He walked over to her and crouched down, studying her closely. She had dark hair, black by the looks of it, and very very pale skin. As if sensing his eyes on her, the girl's eyes flew open. Her eyes showed fear, and then faded to astonishment and wonder. She sat up, careful not to touch the man before her, and she bowed her head down. The confused man looked at her, taking note of the way she was dressed. She wore dark pants that covered all of her legs, black long socks, a black long sleeved shirt that covered all of her upper body and her arms, and a choker with the kanji for `fear' on a pendent dangling from it. `She looks to be in her teens, but she is way too small and skinny to be!' he thought to himself again. `Who is she, and what is she doing here?' he asked himself. He stood up and bowed down to the startled girl and headed towards the door. He heard a soft sort of whimpering coming from behind him, and he turned around.

"Don't worry," he started. "I'll be back real soon. But first, I have to see to some things," he said to the girl. He smiled at her and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him, unaware of the whimpering that had grown louder. He walked down the hallway reflecting on how he had found the strange girl. He had been heading towards Akito's quarters to discuss some important matters, when he stumbled on the room containing the girl. He had no idea that she was here, and he was going to go see Hatori and ask the doctor if he knew about her. On his way over to the doctor's clinic, he bumped into a white haired, golden eyed man. He laughed and helped the man back up again. He then gave him a big hug. "Aya! How are you? I'm off to go see Tori for a very important reason. Would you like to come with me?" he asked the silver haired man affectionately. Ayame smiled really big and nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course Gure! I would love to come and visit Tori with you!" he shouted happily. The two skipped the rest of the way to the clinic, linked arm and arm. When they reached Hatori's clinic Shigure got very quiet and serious, and un-linked his arm from Ayame's. Ayame looked at his best friend strangely but he followed him in anyways. As soon as the two stepped into the room, Hatori sighed deeply and gave the two a cold hard glare.

"Why are you two here?" he asked with another sigh. "I have a lot of work to be done, and I'm very busy today. If this is another one of your stupid stunts again," he started, but Shigure cut him off.

"No, no Tori! We, or more precisely, I am here to talk to you for real!" He said hurriedly. Hatori raised an eyebrow skeptically and patiently waited for Shigure to continue. "You know every single Sohma here on the compound and in the Main house, right?" he asked. The doctor nodded, suddenly interested. Ayame was looking at Shigure oddly again. "Well, did you know that there is a girl that lives in a room a little ways away from here?" he asked innocently. Both Hatori's and Ayame's eyes went wide and they were silent for a moment or so. Then Hatori broke the silence.

"W-what?!?" he shouted at Shigure. Shigure just nodded and gave a big smile. Obviously he hadn't. "You must take me to this girl immediately!" he snapped quickly.

"Ok Tori! Can Aya come too?" he asked. Hatori nodded absently and picked up his little black medical bag. "Umm...you might want to bring some flashlights because it's really really dark in there." he said. Hatori walked over to his black cabinet and got out a flashlight for himself and threw one to both Shigure and Ayame. Shigure smiled again and led the two to where he had found the strange girl. When he filially found the door again he opened it and beckoned the two inside. "I'm back! Just like I promised!" he shouted. All three of them turned their flashlights on and shined them on the place Shigure was yelling to. Hatori and Ayame were surprised to see a girl with black hair and dark blue, almost black, eyes staring at them. Shigure laughed and squatted down to the girl's side again. "It's ok! They're friends. I would like you to meet Sohma Hatori and Sohma Ayame. Oh and by the way, my name is Sohma Shigure," he told the girl beside him. Hatori and Ayame both bowed politely, the later giving a kind of curtsey, and waited for her to reply.

"Ha-hatori-sama...A-ayame-sama...Sh-shigure-sama..." she said in a voice that sounded so un-used that the three men had to strain to hear it. Shigure and Ayame both laughed and Hatori frowned.

"No, no, no!" Ayame said laughing. "There's no need for you to say `-Sama' to us! Just call us `Gure', `Aya', and `Tori'. That's what everyone else calls us, so you might as well also," he said to her. She shook her head no and bowed her head.

"S-sama," she repeated firmly. The three men looked at each other and all had the same thought, `Maybe something's wrong with her?' But nevertheless Hatori knelt down to her right side and decided to give her a small check over. She looked over at him and smiled. "Hatori-sama," she said quietly. A faint shadow of a smile crossed Hatori's features, and then he opened his black medical bag.

"Hello. I am the family doctor. I am just going to see if you are in good health, o.k.? But first I need you to tell me your name and age," he said in his monotone voice. She nodded and opened her mouth. But before she said a word she clamped her mouth shut and looked fearfully behind Hatori to the doorway. A look of pain and fear flashed across her face as she started to back into the corner, small whimpering noises issuing from her throat. The three men looked stunned and quickly turned around to look at the doorway. Standing there was none other than the Sohma clan head himself, Sohma Akito. The clan head frowned and crossed his arms in front of his slightly exposed chest. He stepped inside of the small room and walked over to where Hatori and the girl sat. She quickly bowed her whole body down best that she could while sitting and the men could see her start to tremble.

"A-a-akito-s-sama," she said quietly, stuttering from fear rather than the *unuse of her voice. He smirked at her and she visibly winced and recoiled from him even more.

"I got worried when Shigure-san didn't show up for little meeting," he started, feigning a hurt voice. "I saw that her door was open, and I just had to check up on my little Rei-chan," he said malisk dripping from each word he spoke.

"So her name is Rei?" asked Ayame cautiously. Akito gave a quick bark-like cruel laugh.

"Oh heavens no! Her real name, to answer Hatori-san's question, is Akurei. Sohma Akurei," he said laughing. The girl, Akurei, winced again at the mention of her name and hugged her small frame. The other three occupants of the room looked from their clan head to the whimpering girl on the floor.

"You mean to tell me that her parents named her Akurei? What kind of people could name their daughter `demon'?!" Shigure asked in a shocked voice.

"Her parents. Although they themselves do not remember her at all. A few hours after she was born they both had their memories erased**. I think they are somewhere in the south of France, and they have three more children. An old woman named Sohma Ari cared for her until she was four, and the old woman died. Then dear Rei-chan came into my care, and there she has remained for the past ten years," he said while playing with a strand of the shaking girl's black hair.

"But that would make her fourteen!" shouted Hatori, very unlike his usual calm demeanor.

"So it does," Akito replied evenly.

"But she can't possibly be that old can she?" Ayame asked. Akito just gave a little nod and Ayame felt his mouth fall open.

"Then she must come too the clinic with me" said Hatori, voice filled with an unusual hurriedness. "I need to give her a full check-up. She can come can't she?" he asked, desperation in his voice. The clan head nodded again.

"But you have to get her there yourself. I would advise you not hug her though. Or else you will find out why her mother named her `demon', he said while looking Akurei up and down. She shivered and tried to cover herself up as best she could.

"But why should we need to worry? The thirteen Juunishi have already been chosen. So why do we need to take these precautions?" asked Ayame. Akito just chuckled cruelly.

"You are correct. She is not of the Juunishi. But she is cursed nonetheless. If you do not believe me, do as you please, but I am just warning you, that's all. You may have her for a week. It's been a long time since she saw the outside world. Oh, but please do warn whoever is near her to be very careful around her," he said calmly. "We wouldn't want to upset Rei-chan now would we?" he whispered to her. Akurei closed her eyes and nodded quickly. Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame looked shocked but they walked over to the girl. Shigure took her hand cautiously, and marveled at how soft and delicate it was. She looked up at him, searching his eyes for something. Akito stood up, his hand brushing over her pale cheek and lips, and walked out over to the door. He stopped and turned around to stare at Akurei. "Goodbye my little Rei-chan. I will see you in a week..." and with that, he left. Shigure let out a breath that he didn't know he had held, and all three men could see the relief in her eyes when Akito left.

"Don't worry. He's gone. But for now, `Tori needs you to come to his office/clinic so that he can give you a full check-up. Then you can go outside and meet all of the other Inner Sohmas. I'm going to pick you up and carry you to his clinic. Is that o.k. Akurei?" he asked. He mentally slapped himself when he saw her wince at her name again. He then lifted her into his arms, careful not to embrace her. He quickly looked over at Hatori, worry evident in his eyes. `She's light as a feather,' he thought to himself as he quickly strode out of the girls `room', Hatori and Ayame walking after him. The reached Hatori's clinic in a matter of minutes, and Hatori un-locked the door quickly for Shigure. He gently sat her down on the chair near the door.

"Ok Shigure, I need you to stand her up on that scale over there," he said pointing at the scale/height measurer. Gure obliged and put her on the scale, helping her to stand. "First let's do your height," Hatori said pulling out the long metal thing that you use to measure height ((obviously we have no idea what it's called, and quite frankly we don't care.)). "Exactly five feet five inches. Now for your weight," he said while putting away the metal thing. After a few seconds of moving around the scale things ((again, no idea, don't really care.)) his hand fell back to his side and he narrowed his eyes. "Eighty pounds..." he said finally. Shigure and Ayame both gasped and looked at Akurei stunned. Thinking she had done something wrong she bowed her head and stared at the tiled floor. Hatori put his hand under her chin and lifted up her head to face him. "He starved you, didn't he?" he asked quietly, unknown emotions flickering across his face. Two of which were hate and compassion. He hated Akito for doing that, and probably worse, to the poor girl. Compassion for her having to bear it for ten years. She looked at him in confusion then looked at Shigure, who was unsure of what to do. Ayame put his hand on the confused girl's shoulder, pity clear in his eyes. She looked up at him and smiled softly. The three exchanged a look which said, `We have to get her away from that maniac.' Ayame finally broke the silence.

"Someone has to take her you know. I would really love to, but Mine-chan and I are already a bit camped in my dress shop. I'm terribly sorry," he added to Akurei. She just smiled again.

"I can't either. Momiji is *sixteen, though he doesn't act it, and a big handful. Besides he would bee all over her, and even though I don't know why, we can't have that." Both men looked at Shigure who was smiling broadly.

"I can take her! Yuki and Kyo can help her cope, Yuki especially, and Tohru can feed her lots. Plus, basically all of the Inner Sohmas come by my house at some point or another. So after everyone meets her anyone can come over and visit. Well...minus Rin-san and Kureno of coarse," he said with a little frown. Rin had run away from the compound again, and the only people that had seen Kureno in the past two months were Akito and Uotani Arisa, Uotani being the only one to know about their encounter. "So she can meet us all tonight!" he said smiling. Then Ayame did the un-manliest thing he could have done ever: He squealed.

"Oh that means I get to design and create outfits for her!" he said clapping his hands and jumping up and down earnestly. Shigure just smiled and sweat dropped while Hatori scowled. All three men jumped from a squeak/hiccup and looked at the girl whose fate they were deciding. Both Shigure and Ayame burst out laughing and clutched their sides, and even Hatori cracked a grin. Akurei looked between the men and tilted her head to the side in confusion. Then Hatori told the two to shut up.

"Ok," he started. "Shigure can you take her now? Everyone's school should have already let out by now, and she needs to meet her new housemates. Ritsu is visiting Kagura's mother so he won't be hard to find. I'll tell Momiji to get everyone else up there, ok? Ok. And as for you," he said turning to Akurei again, "Can you walk on your own?" he asked kindly. After a quick nod from her he continued. "Take her to my car and drive her to your house. But don't tell Yuki, Kyo, or Tohru about her yet. We also need to find something else to call you. I don't like your real name at all, and I will not have you called that ever again," he said anger building towards her parents. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she stumbled over to Hatori's desk. There she took a piece of paper and a pen and wrote something. A few moments she went back to Hatori's side and proudly showed him what she had wrote. On the paper in very shaky penmanship was written one word: `Hane'. Hatori took it and showed it to a very stunned Ayame and Shigure.

"Mama called m-me th-that," she said in a very shaky voice. And if possible, they were even more stunned.

"You're mama?" Ayame said in confusion. "How could your mother call you that? You've never met her have you?" Akurei smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Not her. My mama. Ari-san." she said smiling again. All three men nodded in understanding.

"So you can talk normally?" asked Shigure unsure. Akurei nodded enthusiastically but then frowned.

"A-Akito-sama t-told me once n-never to ta-talk in f-front of him, so I talk w-when he go-gone." She then smiled at all of them. "B-but I can talk n-now c-can't I?" she asked. All three men nodded. They then smiled at her and in turn each one patted her on the head. "My name Hane?" she asked.

"Hane it is!" shouted Shigure and Ayame at the same time. Even Hatori nodded and smiled a bit in agreement.

"Well Hane-chan, it's time to go! Welcome to your new life!" said Shigure. Then he and Ayame walked out of the clinic each one holding one of Hane's hands. And for the first time in ten years she smiled with her heart. A real true smile..........

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Akari: Sooooooo...how'd you like it?! Huh? Huh? Huh? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Well if you do hate it, we don't care!!!!!! Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Please drop a review though. Weather you like or no like we don't care we just like reviews!!!!

Kurai: Please ignore her mindless rambling. We accept tasteful criticism. Not just `Your fic sucks. I hate it!' Because quite frankly if you do say that, we won't care. We'll just delete your review. *smiles evilly*

Akari: Well I hope you liked it. To her *jabs a finger at Kurai* she probably couldn't care less. She said that we'll keep posting and stuff even if no one reviews!! But I hope you do!!! Goodbye everybody!!! JA NE!!!!!

~Ja Ne from Akari and Kurai

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* We're not too sure if this is a real word. If not...well you know what it means.

** Please don't ask how this was done. So far that we know only the dragons can erase people's memories. We don't know how this happened without Hatori remembering, but it did. Maybe he did it but was too young to remember *shrugs*. So get over it. It happened. *sticks out tongue*

***We changed the ages of some of the characters to suit the story line.