(Mwahaha! Just as I promised, another chapter before the end of the month! But man, I can't find the freaking time and energy and motivation and PLOT! So if the plot seems to be slowly dying, that's why.

I don't own Fruits Basket, any of its characters, blah blah blah, but the OCs are mine.

I don't own Anita. She is Werecat13's.

Maybe in this world everyone seems kind of...prone to death. Sorry about that. But if they weren't, the plot would have died before it was born.

Please enjoy. I'm not in a tolerant enough mood for flames, so nobody even think of them.)









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Chapter 5



Katsuo looked quite fearsome as she repeated her question: “Did anyone say something stupid?” She looked around the group until her gaze fell on Haruka and burned like a drop of water on a stove.

“Um,” Akemi stalled, “I don’t know…”

Katsuo turned to Akemi with the same burning glare, lessened so slightly that Haruka barely saw the difference. “I’m not surprised. You never know anything. Although I suppose that you usually know when someone says something more idiotic than what you say,” she added relentlessly.

Akemi looked like she was about to cry.

Anita jumped to her defense. “Katsuo! Stop blaming Akemi!”

“Well, she is stupid,” Katsuo argued back, glaring now at Anita. “I thought that you’d know that fairly well by now.”

Saburo cleared his throat. “Katsuo, calm down and let us explain.”

Katsuo snapped her face toward Saburo now and glared at him twice as maliciously. “Saburo,” she growled with a voice of pure fury. “What do you mean? There shouldn’t be any explaining. Either someone did something stupid and we need to correct it, or nobody did anything to change anything and there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Katsuo, you shouldn’t decide that it’s always the same,” Saburo lectured. “Just let me explain.” He glanced at Haruka with something like uncertainty. “But maybe we should discuss this somewhere else.”

Katsuo raised her eyebrows and asked in the same tone, “Oh, really…?”

Saburo nodded. “It seems quite complicated, and I would rather that we all have some say in this decision before we do anything rash. You should be the first to know about this, being as great an advisor and leader that you are,” he added, almost testing something.

Katsuo only frowned. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Saburo. I thought you knew that and what I think about people who try it for no reason.”

Saburo grinned mischievously. “Only too well, my dear friend.”

Katsuo grinned similarly. “Of course, sweetie.”

Saburo’s smile lost its tang and almost seemed happy. “Do you really mean that?”

Akemi glared at Katsuo and Saburo alternately through puffy eyes.

Katsuo’s smile didn’t even fade—it just ended. “No. You should know that better than anyone.” She turned to Haruka. “You are dismissed. Please proceed now.”

Having nothing better to do, Haruka shrugged, turned around, and walked onto the school grounds. She had spent so much time outside that if she delayed at all, she might be late for class.

Nobody followed her to class. When she reached her homeroom, she sat quietly by the window and stared out of it, thinking about the discussions that needed to be held. The ghosts needed to decide whether or not to tell her about this curse thing, and the living Sohmas were deciding if they should tell her what the story is behind the importance of siblings.

The sibling thing is probably somehow related to the curse, Haruka figured, so if either of them decides to tell me that, then I know what’s going on. But it really would be better if I heard if from the living Sohmas…

The bell rang to mark the beginning of the class, and Haruka heard an alarmed yelp from outside, followed by rushed footsteps. A second later, Nanami appeared in the doorway, panting and apologizing, “Oh no, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to be late, there was something really important that I needed to do, I’m so sorry that I’m late…”

The teacher looked up from her notes and frowned. “Nanami, what could possibly be more important than your school education?” She shrugged, not waiting for an answer, and added, “No, there’s a lot of things that are more important, but I usually do not tolerate them. However,” she added, “it is the first full day of school, and you really do seem to regret it, so I’ll let it pass this time.”

Nanami sighed, smiled in relief, and walked over to her desk, where she flopped down in exhaustion. She looked over in Haruka’s direction, caught her eye, and smiled weakly.

The rest of the day was a blur. As she gathered her things to leave her last classroom, Haruka wondered vaguely how low her grades would drop this year if she kept staring into space for all of her classes. She was amazed that none of her teachers had yet even mentioned anything about her uniform—actually, nobody had even seemed to notice.

“Haruka,” the teacher’s voice called quietly.

Of course, Haruka thought, and she walked up to the teacher’s desk with the very few things that her parents allowed her.

“Haruka, is there something wrong in your family?” the teacher asked softly.

“Uh, no, not really…” Other than the insane parents, no…

The teacher frowned. “Well, then, is there any particular reason as to why you’re wearing the boys’ uniform?”

I hate it when I'm right. “Um, well, my normal uniform got torn up in the dryer, and my mom wouldn’t pay for a new one or for repairs, so…”

The teacher carefully raised a single eyebrow. “So you borrowed your older brother’s shirt?”

“No, I don’t have any br—” Haruka suddenly remembered her younger brother, and thus her dishonesty to the other Sohmas when they asked about siblings. “Well, yes, I have a brother, but he’s about two years old,” she amended.

“Then why are you wearing the wrong uniform?”

Haruka sighed. “My mother wouldn’t pay for my other shirts to be fixed or replaced because she wasn’t going to buy the same thing twice, but she would pay for something different like this.”

The teacher now had both eyebrows raised. “Really? Doesn’t your mother know that cross-dressing is the beginning of failure?”

“Probably not,” Haruka admitted. “Or she’s just putting too much faith in me…”

“Haruka, don’t say that like you’re a horrible person,” the teacher scolded. “I’ve seen your record, and your only problems have nothing to do with intelligence—all of them seem to be related to how prepared you are. I’d like to help you with that problem, but you don’t look very hopeful in being so unprepared that you had to wear the wrong gender’s uniform!”

“It’s not quite like that,” Haruka denied quietly. The teacher was about to say something back, but Haruka shook her head and told her, “No, I don’t really want to talk about it right now. I should probably be heading home soon.” She turned and left before the teacher could stop her.

Haruka stopped just outside the classroom door, where she sighed heavily and leaned on the wall, suddenly exhausted.

Day two, she began in a mental diary. I’ve finally been asked about the uniform. And I’ve hinted at my mother’s insanity. This whole high school thing seems so tiring already…

“We’ve decided,” Yuki’s voice told her from very close—far too close for comfort—and interrupted her thoughts so violently that she cried out with alarm.

The teacher, still within earshot (although the whole school was probably within earshot of Haruka’s scream), poked her head around the door and asked, “Is something wrong Haruka?”

“N-n-no,” Haruka answered shakily. “I-I, uh, just forgot th-that I have, uh, uh, uh—a dentist appointment! A-and if I don’t hurry up, th-then I’ll be late for it! Uh, yeah, that’s it…”

She turned and started trotting down the hallway. Yuki, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you nearly gave me a heart attack!

“Oh, I’m really sorry about that,” Yuki apologized sincerely. “I was talking about this morning, when we tried to figure out whether or not to tell you the curse.”

Really? Haruka asked, now less terrified and more interested and excited. What did you decide?

Yuki was about to answer before they were entirely surrounded by the other ghosts, Shigure and Kyo and Momiji, all asking what was wrong.

Uh, nothing really, Haruka responded awkwardly. Yuki just kind of…jerked me out of my thoughts, and…yeah…

Shigure turned to Yuki. “And just how did you tear her from her thoughts?”

Yuki glared somewhat as he retorted, “I just talked to her when she wasn’t really expecting it.”

“Really?” Shigure asked, suspecting something.

“Yes, all I did was talk to her.”

Shigure pouted. “You really need to learn how to be more romantic.”

“Oh, yeah, like that damn Yuki needs to learn something else to get the girls going,” Kyo spat. “He had a fan club in life, and look at it now! Sure, he’s kind of dead, and yeah, there are only about five girls left, but they’re still in the same little cult.”

That was true. Haruka had reason to believe that the girl sitting next to her had been pushing a broche at her and telling her how wonderful the great Prince Yuki Sohma was and what great benefits she’d get from joining his fan club.

Shigure laughed heartily. “Yes, they most certainly are persistent! Why, I do believe that just the other day, they practically had Saburo drawn in, hook line and sinker! I don’t know if they’ve had any male members before, but I’m incredibly surprised that they don’t yet!”

Momiji laughed childishly. “Yup! Akemi fell for the offer today—now she’s decided that she’s going to be their representative at the culture festival and everywhere else.”

“Damn it! Why are we talking about this?” Kyo demanded.

“Kyo, you started it,” Momiji pointed out.

“Yes, you did,” Shigure agreed. “And let’s be honest, Yuki most certainly is a great person worthy of respect even in death!”

“I’m right here,” Yuki reminded coldly.

“Yes, I know that, Yuki,” Shigure continued boldly. “For I know the beautiful air that radiates from you, and it is only so strong today that I don’t think I could not notice it!”

“Shut up!” Kyo snapped. “Why is everyone going on and on and on, ‘Yuki is so great, Yuki is so handsome, Yuki is so wonderful’—well I’ve had it! I’m going to prove how pathetic he is right here and right now, in a fight to the death!”

“Kyo, you’re already dead,” Momiji pointed out, cheerful despite his comment being about death.

“Then I’ll—um—you know what I mean!!” Kyo retorted hotly. “I’m going to fight him until he gives up! And then I’ll have finally beaten him!”

Yuki sighed. “What makes you think that another battle would end any differently than it always does? And besides, you interrupted what I was telling Haruka.”

Haruka suddenly remembered that he hadn’t even told her what they had decided. She wondered vaguely how the topic changed so much.

“Oh, yes, you said you were saying something about the curse, right?” Shigure reviewed. “Well then, go on, Yuki. It’s impolite to keep a lady waiting!”

“Hey!” Kyo interrupted. “What about—”

“Kyo, don’t you think we should leave Yuki alone for this one?” Shigure asked, smiling mischievously.

“No, I think he should—”

“Kyo, you really are nosy,” Momiji commented. “You already know what Yuki’s going to say, but you still want to stick around and hear what he’ll say to Haruka.”

“Hmm, is Kyo studying this ideal pair of lovers to learn something useful?” Shigure asked impishly.

“What? NO!” Kyo denied.

“Maybe he’s thinking of Anita,” Momiji wondered aloud.

“NO!” Kyo repeated. “Who the hell would fall in love with a crazy Yankee like her? And I’m DEAD! She’s ALIVE! It doesn’t work that way!”

“Forbidden loves are the greatest loves,” Shigure taunted.

“Do I look like that kind of—?!” Kyo’s demand was interrupted.

“Maybe we should just go now,” Yuki said to Haruka.

Uh, sure, Haruka agreed.

“Hey!” Kyo protested. “You’re not going anywhere until you fight—”

Shigure reached over to hold Kyo back. “Oh, go on,” he insisted. “Ignore the idiot rambling on of naught but war and hate, my dear lovers of true passion!”

“What are you babbling on about now?” Yuki asked coolly.

Shigure’s eyes glistened with distant thoughts as he replied poetically distantly, “Can you honestly deny the wonderful feeling spinning round and round, swirling the snow in the great snow-capped mountains of your unforgiving heart?”

Yuki frowned. “Shigure, please stop trying to be a novelist.”

“But I am a novelist!” Shigure protested.

“Not anymore,” Yuki retorted. “And besides, it’s more unfortunate that your novels aren’t banned than that you died young.”

Weren’t we doing something? Haruka asked, feeling left out.

“Yes, we were,” Yuki answered, turning around and walking down the stairs as Kyo yelled insults after him. Haruka paused for a second before turning and following.

“I’m sorry, we seem to have been distracted,” Yuki began, walking slowly toward the school gates with Haruka at his side. “We’ve decided about telling you the curse.”

What did you decide? Haruka asked, too interested to wait for him to tell her.

Yuki smiled kindly. “We’ve decided that it would be best if we tell you our curse if you don’t tell anyone else.”

Haruka sighed with relief. Thank you very much! I owe you so much for this.

Yuki’s smile faded for a second and fell entirely to some distant expression that Haruka didn’t think she could read—maybe loss or something similar to it.

What’s wrong? Haruka asked, alarmed at his dismay. Did I say something stupid? Oh, I did, didn’t I? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…

Yuki smiled again and almost seemed to laugh lightly. “No, it’s not that, it’s just…you really remind me of someone,” he confessed. He shook his head and his face changed entirely and he added, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you some other time. Right now I still have to tell you about the curse.”

Haruka shrugged and prompted, Yes, do tell.

Yuki sighed and began, “So, there’s the curse. It’s been in the Sohma family for many generations. In exact terms, the curse means that thirteen members of the family are possessed by the vengeful spirit one of the twelve animals of the zodiac or the cat from zodiac legend.”

Okay, Haruka stated. So then, what exactly makes this a curse?

“Directly,” Yuki answered, “it means that if someone with the curse is hugged by a member of the opposite sex, or if their bodies come under a great deal of stress or fatigue, then they’ll transform into the animal that possesses them. The only exception is that, for whatever reason, if a cursed Sohma hugs a cursed member of the opposite sex, then neither of them will transform.

“And there are a lot more problems with being cursed,” Yuki went on. “Aside from a limited love-life, not a lot of cursed Sohmas have very favorable family relations. A lot of problems come with the curse, so we try our best to keep it a secret. Actually,” he added, “probably the only reason Shigure agreed to let me tell you is because, well, he’s a little psychotic,” he admitted, “but more so because it won’t affect us in any negative way now that we’re dead. Just don’t mention it to any of the living Sohmas, because they’ll want to know why you know about it.”

That was the plan, Haruka pointed out.

“Damn rat!” Kyo’s rather distinct and enraged voice echoed from the school entrance and crescendoed as he charged forward.

Haruka turned around to look at him just in time to see a brief flash of him before he bowled her over.

Unfortunately, Haruka’s instincts took over, and she screamed out loud as she fell to the ground under the oddly heavy weight of the ghost.

Kyo yelled angrily and shouted at Yuki, “This is your fault! I don’t know why, but something must have happened that you did that made me crash into her!”

“Even you couldn’t have messed it up if you hadn’t gone crashing around like the stupid cat that you are,” Yuki retorted coolly.

“Why you—”

Haruka gasped for breath, rather loudly, trapped under Kyo’s mysterious weight.

Yuki kicked Kyo over so that he fell off of Haruka’s stomach. Kyo protested loudly. “What was that for?”

Haruka inhaled deeply, sat up, and panted for a few moments as Yuki explained, “If I hadn’t, then Haruka would probably end up like we did.”

Kyo spat. “More like how you did, Mr. Asthma Attack.”

“Have you forgotten that the autopsy showed that you died from suffocation in the smoke instead of being burned alive? You should have remembered that.”

“Hey, at least I died in a blaze of glory! You just walked through one of your sissy gardens and the pollen killed you because you have that sissy little lung problem!”

“Oh, yes, and sitting around moping on the roof until you hear someone scream and end up trapped in a burning building is so much manlier…”

Haruka coughed, half needing to and half to remind them how uncomfortable it was to be listening to them throwing insults at each other based on how they died. Any living person would probably feel the same.

At that moment, Anita ran around one of the building’s corners and called, “Haruka! Are you okay over there? I thought I heard you scream.”

Haruka, still out of breath and coughing, choked on her cough and found herself quite incapable of breathing.






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(I seem to really hate my original characters. I think I know someone who can agree with that. Wait, no, she can't, because I never finished that story. Maybe I should some day...but I don't really like that one so much...really, it seems so silly now...)