Hey, guys! This is my first Fruits Basket fanfiction! I created a character for this one, just like I do for almost all my fanfics xD I hope you enjoy this one. And I hope she isn't a mary-sue... I tried not to make her one. Enjoy!
Tikari sighed as she walked, her hands in her pants pockets. She didn't know exactly where she was going. She just knew that she was walking through a forest. She thought it was better than walking through the city streets at least. Even though her neighborhood was particularly quiet, she still enjoyed forest walks better. It soothed and calmed her somehow, giving her something to take her mind off of things. She stared at her feet as she walked, kicking some rocks here and there. She absentmindedly used the toe of her shoe to pick a stick up and flung it into the forest out of sight. She heard it make contact with some other hard surface, but she didn't care to see what she had hit.
Earlier that morning, she had told Hatori that she was just going out for a walk. He knew that she would go out on occasion to get away from things once in a while, so he didn't object. He just simply told her to not get lost or something of the sort and to come back before dark. She had given him a thankful smile and waved in farewell before leaving his house. She had walked through the town until she had finally come to the forest. It was her favorite thing to do now, walk through the nearby forest that seemed to stretch for miles on end until it reached the ends of the Earth, but she knew that was impossible. No forest was that large, was there? She didn't think so.
Tikari felt a little adventurous that day and decided to explore. So she ventured off the path she was taking and pushed passed the bushes. She frowned a bit when a stubborn branch tugged slightly at her black and white beaded bracelet. She knew being cursed by the zodiac as the cat was a bad thing amongst the Sohmas, but she never let it bother her. She didn't care if she was cursed as a cat, she didn't care if people feared her for what she could become. She just wanted to live her life as it was and just ignore the "possibilities" in life that could happen with a wrong turn. She untangled the branch from her bracelet and kept walking. She kept walking until she came upon another path that snaked away through the trees. She mentally shrugged and decided to follow it, curious as to where it could possibly lead to.
Tikari sighed once more and looked down at herself. She had on a black t-shirt with red that faded into the black at the bottom, as well as on the sleeves. She wore red pants that also had black faded into the red at the bottom and black shoes with red soles and shoelaces. It was just her normal attire. Her long, black-tipped orange hair blew in the slight breeze, gently brushing her bare neck and cheeks. She didn't know why her orange hair had black tips, but she also knew that when she did transform into a cat, she had orange fur with black ears, paws, nose, and tail-tip. She then blinked as she pulled out her red earphones from her pocket and started playing a song from her device in her pocket. (A/N - idk if they have mp3 players or iPods or anything of the sort, but just pretend they do because she likes listening to music ^.^) She turned the volume up to just the right amount, to where it wouldn't blast her ears off and wasn't too soft either, and smiled when her favorite song came on. She hummed softly to the music as she continued along the path. She didn't know how long she had been walking, maybe an hour or two, until she suddenly stopped. She looked down the slope below her to see a nice looking house in a clearing.
"Hmm…" Tikari hummed to herself absentmindedly as she stared at the house. "I venture off the normal path to find a house in the woods… I wonder who lives there." She blinked and shrugged and continued along the path to find a way to get to the house without having to resort to going down the slope.
Something slightly dawned on her as she did and advanced slowly towards the house. She remembered hearing a conversation between Hatori and a friend of his - Shigure was it? She had asked about him and Hatori had told her about how Shigure lived in a house in the woods somewhere with some others named Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru. She slightly smiled brighter at the thought of Kyo. She remembered hearing about him and seeing him occasionally at the main house, but she never really talked to him. How could she when he avoided everyone to begin with? She didn't blame him though, not with hearing about how his life had been and what he had to go through. She hadn't seen him at the main house for quite some time though. She had heard that he went away in the mountains for some special training or something and never came back. Well, until recent events a few months ago, possibly even a year ago. She didn't know how long it had been.
Now, Tikari stood at the door, ready to knock. She pressed the pause button on her device and brought her fist up to knock, but hesitated. What if this was the wrong house? She had just come up to some random person's house and expected herself to knock and get along with the people inside. But would they? She was always a bit shy at first, and she never really was the outgoing type to just go up to people she didn't know and just spark up a conversation on the spot. No, she wasn't like that at all. Her hand was still hovering by the door when she finally sighed softly and was about to turn around when there was a crashing sound in the house. She blinked and listened as yelling and more crashes followed. What was going on in there?
She was about to knock again when the house grew silent before an outburst came and stomping was heard, advancing towards the door. Before she could react, the door swung open, startling her. There, in front of her, an angered looking orange-haired teen stood at the door. He hesitated, seeing Tikari, but then continued and stormed passed her. She just stood, staring at the space in front of her. Could that have been…? She turned around, only to find the yard empty. Could that have really been him?
"Oh, hello! Were you looking for someone?"
Tikari turned back around to find a teenage girl with long brown hair at the door, staring expectantly at her. Her expression was cheerful and greeted her warmly. "Oh, uh…" She stumbled for words, looking away, but then looking back at the girl. "Yeah… Is-is this Shigure's house?"
"Uh-huh!~" The girl smiled brightly at her and then looked over her shoulder as an older man came up behind her.
"Who's this young lady?" He asked, a sly smile slightly playing on his face.
"Err… It's Tikari." She felt a bit uncomfortable standing there, but she managed to tuck her earphones back in her pocket.
The man seemed to have realized something. "You mean Tikari Sohma?"
Tikari nodded slightly.
The man's eyes seem to sparkle a bit. "Well, welcome to my house! Would you like to come in?"
Tikari took a step back and shook her hands in front of her dismissively. "N-No no, I should probably be getting back to Hatori…" Her voice was low, almost a whisper.
"Ohh~ Come on, Ha'ri won't mind! I'm sure he'll understand if you stayed for a little while at least."
Tikari sighed in defeat. "Oh, I suppose…"
The man brightened up and he and the girl led her into the house. "My name's Shigure, if you didn't know. And this is Tohru." The man explained.
"Hi, nice to meet you." Tohru greeted with a warm smile. "So you're a Sohma?"
Tikari nodded in greeting as they sat down in the living room. "Yes, I am."
"Oh, does that mean you're part of the Zodiac," Tohru asked, a little excitedly.
"Er, yeah, I am." Tikari answered. She looked up as soft footsteps could be heard and someone opened the door that led into the hallway.
A teenage boy with purple-gray hair stood in the doorway. He blinked down at Tikari as he entered. "Oh, hello. I didn't know we had any visitors today."
"W-Well, I wasn't actually planning on staying long." Tikari glanced at Shigure who sat at the other end of the table.
Once again, Shigure answered, "I'm sure Ha'ri won't mind!"
"Hatori, huh? So you must Tikari?" The boy came and sat down next to her.
Tohru had left without anyone noticing and came back with some tea. She handed it to Tikari and she thanked her before sipping it. "Yes, I am. And you must be Yuki, correct?" She glanced at him from the corner of her green eye, taking another sip.
"Yes," Yuki answered, giving a smile.
"And the person who stormed out was…" Tikari trailed off a bit. "Kyo?"
"Yes, unfortunately just before you came, Yuki and Kyo got into another fight. At least you two managed not to break any doors this time," Shigure said, sounding just a bit pleased.
"Yes, well, that stupid cat never learns." Yuki answered. He took a sip of his own tea.
Tikari just listened to their conversation, sipping at her cup of tea every now and then. Stupid cat, huh? Was Kyo really that bad?
"So, Tikari," Tohru said, breaking her out of her thoughts, "which animal of the Zodiac are you?" She seemed rather curious to know.
Not really caring if she knew or not or if she'd even be scared, Tikari shrugged and raised the arm with the beaded bracelet. "I'm a cat."
"Oh, so you're just like Kyo," Tohru said. She seemed a bit happy to know what animal Tikari was.
Tikari blinked. "I suppose." She glanced at Yuki as he began to speak.
"So, I heard you had been staying with Hatori for a while?"
"Mm, yeah." Tikari sipped at her tea. "I didn't really want to go back to my parents so when Hatori found me I persuaded him to not take me back. So, I guess he's like my big brother now." She shrugged slightly.
"So you basically ran away from home until Ha'ri found you," Shigure said.
Tikari shrugged and then nodded, not really caring.
After a moment of silence, Tohru finally spoke up. "I wonder if Kyo will come down soon."
"Who knows? He seems to love sulking on the roof," Shigure said.
And with that, more and more conversations sparked up. They talked about random things. Tikari got to know Tohru better and even started to become friends with her. She even got to know Shigure and Yuki better as well. Kyo never did come down during that time; he was still out on the roof. Soon, it became time that Tikari would have to leave.
Tikari stood up, "Well, I probably should get going. Hatori might lecture me if I'm late."
"Maybe you could visit another time?" Shigure asked.
Tikari thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Sure, maybe again tomorrow?"
"That sounds great!" Tohru said, smiling.
Tikari smiled as well. "Well, I'll see you later then!" She then walked out of the house with a wave of her hand, hearing Shigure shout a "Take care" as she did. Once she had moved a few feet away from the house, she stopped and looked up to the sky. It was just starting to change colors with the setting sun. She would have to start soon if she wanted to get back on time. She glanced back to the house and looked to the roof. Sure enough, the orange-haired Kyo was lying on his back, staring at the sky. She watched him for a few moments before turning and beginning to walk through the forest, following the path she had previously taken. She took her earphones back out of her pocket and began to listen to more music. The next time she visited, would Kyo be down from the roof?
Yay! We meet the whole family in one chapter! :D Well... sort of. Kyo never did come down.. . I'll post up two more chapters to start you guys off. I have 6 chapters complete (including this one) so I'll post one every day. Hopefully.