Aka-Ito

A joint collaboration by:

{ Shigemoto Namiko & Matsuki Risako } © 2008

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Disclaimer: The creation of this story plot and the original characters, Akayuri Akari and Himawari Hikari belongs to their respective authors (Shigemoto Namiko, Matsuki Risako). The general plot of interest was born from a long process of brainstorming and two of our creative input/output, and it is our appreciation to see that none of our work is to be plagiarized or copied in any way, shape, or form. The original Fruits Basket (Furuba) subplot of the Zodiac Animals its canon characters belongs to manga artist Natsuki Takaya.

Summary: Akayuri Akari, finds herself living her life one day after another. Lost, she is unsure of what to do with her life as she struggles to discover what her purpose in life is. Himawari Hikari feels that she has been nothing but an indecisive person. Afraid to open accept feelings of others and afraid to make decisions, she runs away. Both of them want to change – but how? The story begins by a simple wish – but soon they find themselves tangled in the complex threads of fate.

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Chapter 01: Akari

The roar of a jet plane resonated overhead, its massive wings cutting through the blue air in a streaked line. A plume of white smoke scattered themselves across the canvas of blue, merging and blending in along with the cirrus clouds that resembled like snow powder more than anything else. Below, far from heaven, was a grey and bleak sight. People dressed snugly in their coats, red-tipped noses, puffs of hot breaths and the wet shuffling of feet plodding through half-melted snow filled every single pore of her body, every tingling sense, every brush of air. Inhaling the sharp cold air into her lungs, she tore her gaze away from the only colour she could see; the sky, and she glanced ahead, forwards, towards another monochromatic day.

It was especially chilly this year. It was early February, which wasn't surprising. Clutching at the folds of her coat pockets for more warmth, she could feel her cold fingers clutching at mere cloth, receiving neither warmth nor chill. It wasn't a reassuring feeling, and she hated it. Turning around a corner, she reluctantly took her hand out from her pockets, taking out her subway pass. Slipping the card over the glass surface of the sensor bar, the bar that was previously obstructing her pathway opened and granted her access briefly. She quickly strode through chains of people, expertly slipping past other commuters rushing to get to work.

Her train arrived. Stepping right into the compartment just as the doors slid open, she brushed past several other people, not even bothering to glance back to acknowledge the fact that she was sorry for her rude movement. Sitting down immediately on an empty seat, she crossed her legs together, feeling her cold skin on top one another as they started to warm up, her blue tartan-plaid pleated skirt folding neatly just over mid-thigh. Dark navy knee socks provided little cover from the winter fury, but it was better than nothing at all. A long grey coat covered her entire upper torso, whilst a crimson plaid-printed scarf was tucked tightly around her neck, covering the bottom half of her face, her cheeks rosy.

Strands of chestnut-black hair framed the sides of her face, while longer side bangs came down past her shoulders, resting on the fabric of her coat. Sharp roan-red eyes glanced downwards on the top of her schoolbag, her name tag encased in a glossed plastic surface, giving additional details of her home address in the emergency if it were to be lost. As the train rattled its way, it stopped various times, and various people came and went. As if there was no end.

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The clamour of books being stacked back into a neat pile filled the classroom air. As chairs are pushed back and students standing up, she turned briefly in her seat, to glance at them, before shifting her eye gaze back to the white scenery of beyond the glass prison of a window. It wasn't long until the classroom was empty except for her, the silence being something like a gift to her that was only granted at the end of a painfully long day.

"Akayuri Akari." A voice came, and she recognized it instantly. Her teacher strolled in the classroom, a whole stack of papers loaded in her arms. Placing it down heavily upon the desk, her homeform teacher glanced at Akari for a moment, a troubled look clouding her face. "Akayuri, you still haven't handed in your career and college application forms yet. I need it soon."

Akari remained silent for a moment, turning away slightly. "Why?"

"Well…" Her teacher bit her lip, wondering on how to phrase her explanation. "…it's important for you to decide what career you want to head into, and you'll need to know which university or college to start applying for. I need to hand this in to the school board by the end of this week."

Akari stared back at her teacher. "And what if I don't want to?"

Her teacher gave her a hardened look. "It's not a matter of what you want; it's what you need to do."

The long-haired girl condescendingly turned her face away, her tresses spilling across her back. "It doesn't matter to me." Standing up, she quickly grabbed her bag, and ran out of the classroom before her teacher could say another word. Quickly opening a stairwell door open, she jumped down the flights of stairs, her throat burning, her eyes blurring.

She reached her shoe locker. Quickly grabbing her coat and scarf, she changed into her pair of outdoor shoes, slamming the locket shut angrily. In one hand clutched her schoolbag; the other, was the career options form. Storming out of the building, she soon grew tired of being angry, and felt the hurt settling in inside, walking down along the side path that led out to the neighbourhood. The anger had faded – but nothing could really be forgotten, as it was imprinted freshly in her memory.

Akari found herself wandering along a road unknown. The gaps between bordering streets were long, and not many houses were close by. She glanced around, nervous anxiety settling in the pit of her stomach as the fear of becoming lost was more evident in her mind than anything else. Her tired legs continued to walk though, her desperate need of warm shelter and the sense of belonging overcoming her fatigue.

A jingle of bells echoed in the distance. Her ears perked up, and she looked around curiously. Close ahead, was a small and highly unnoticeable turn, clouded by masses of entwined ivy and tree branches that have overgrew the original red torii marker. The classical red pillar that signified the entrance of a holy place in Shintoism, as large as it is, sadly was covered in the dead colours of winter. There was an urge of excitement and adventure, but it was mixed with fear – fear of the unknown that lay ahead.

Tearing down an obstructing branch of dead foliage, Akari made her way past, finding herself constricted to a small pathway that led her upwards to the top of the hill. On both her right and left, she was surrounded by impassable hedges of tree growth and bushes, their branches so fine and so thin, that they weaved a net around and above, almost like a caged tunnel. However, it wasn't dark, for the tops shed shafts of light that brightened her pathway upwards. It wasn't a feeling of fear that overwhelmed her; for a moment, she stood here, adoring the beauty of the old wooden steps upon the wet earth, millions of decaying and old leaves scattered about.

Finally gathering her wits, Akari climbed up the hill, panting a little as the footing was rough and the space was small. However, it gradually widened to an exit. She climbed her way out, looking around, savouring the view.

It wasn't terribly a large open piece of land, but it was wide enough to run through and feel a breeze. Adjacent to each sides, was a row of identical torii pillars, the floors being made up of old white brick and cobblestone. She continued towards, towards the small shrine in the centre at the end, the long braid of a bell standing out. The white and purple threads were a little faded and dirty, the golden bells having lost their luster and their shine a long while back. But the entirety of it all was calming, and it was quaint. Stepping close to the wishing bell, Akari looked up, emotion flooding her body, drowning her senses.

Taking the piece of rope into her hands, she closed her eyes feeling the breeze play with her hair wildly. A sigh escaped her lips before she squeezed her eyes shut once more and in her mind she screamed with a mix of anger and pain,

I wish I could live in a world where I could start all over again!

The bell clanged loudly throughout the wide open area, and the sound of the bell sounded throughout the shrine. Akari dropped the piece of rope as if it was the heaviest thing in the world, her arms hung loosely against her body. A tear escaped from the hidden eye that was blocked by her bangs. Falling to her knees, she cried hard but softly. The only thing that could be heard was the soft sounds of weeping and moans. It was a while later that Akari got back up, swaying slightly her eyes were glazed over. Unfortunately if a by passer were to see her, they would know that she had been crying because of her red swollen like eyes. She wiped her eyes against the rough wool of her scarf. She gripped her crimson red scarp angrily before wrapping it around her neck once more. Her bangs obscured her eyes as she walked out of the shrine as quickly as possible, her heart was deep with worry.

It wasn't until she got home to find that it was empty again with a note on the small fridge. It said, "Please make dinner for yourself. I'll be late coming home because of work. Love, Auntie Linda." Akari stared at the note with an expressionless face before threw her backpack on the floor of the living room. Looking at the answering machine, she pressed the button 'Play' to listen to the messages that had come in during the day. Her eyes dulled even more to hear the voice that she thought that she would never wanted to hear again. A voice that she wanted to erase from all existence.

"Hey Akari honey~! It's usss~ Mommy and Daddy! We're not going to be home for a little while, alright? Take care of yourself, alright? We love you very much! Work hard at school, okay?" Beep.

Akari slumped into the couch, her eyes were glum from the thought about her mother and her father. Those two always seemed to run away from her. They were her irresponsible parents that left her with her aunt to just rot and die. She hated them both. Those sum bags didn't love her at all. Hell, they didn't even visit her when they had the chance to. Yes, Akari hated them so much that she wanted to kill them.

"Dammit, Dammit! What they hell is wrong with them? I want them to disappear! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! If it's not them, I need to get out of here! I need to…get away from this crap!" She screamed, her eyes started to water, and she punched the wall once again, crying out angrily. She deleted the message after that, and a sudden urge was to throw the machine against the wall. But then again, it wasn't the machine's fault. Akari swore angrily under her breath as blood ran across her knuckles. Glancing at her minor wounds, she licked them off before walking over towards the sink to wash off the blood. Thankfully the blood didn't stain the wall for she would have gotten in so much trouble, since her aunt didn't have that much money to repair such things. The thought of money triggered the anger that she always held when she thought about the 'vacations' that her parents always seemed to be having. She shook her head before she walked back over towards living room to pick up her bag and walked upstairs towards her room.

What' s wrong with them? What's wrong with me?

It was a plain and rather simple room with a futon in the middle that she hadn't put away the morning that she had left. Plopping her things on the side of her room, she dropped to the floor, crawling her way towards the futon. Pulling the covers over her head, she squeezed her eyes and in a few mere second, she fell into a dark deep sleep. In the back of her mind, she could feel that something awful, yet wonderful was going to happen the next time she opened her eyes.

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End of Ch.1

Akari/Nami: Well, this is the first chapter of the story. So it's kind short. The next chapter should be longer, and it should make more sense after this. I know there are no Fruits Basket Charries in this one, but I promise that there will be featuring a few of them in the next chapter. Please, Review!

Hikari/Risako: Yes, please.