Disclaimer: Don't own Fruit Basket
AN: ...This is SO the last oneshot for tonight. I am tired. And not used to writing this much. So anyway. Ash gave me the idea for this fic, telling me to write about Shigure looseing his lucky five-yen coin. ...The fic evolved. But anyway. She also helped me think of unlucky things and worked out Yuki's 'calculations'. Thanks to her! Woo! ...I need sleep.
Summery: It is Friday the 13th, and shivers are sent down the Sohma's spines as each zodiac member either sees a black cat, walks under a ladder, etc. But what is all this superstitious tension leading up to?
Luck?
It was three o'clock am when a jolt went though Shigure and he jerked upright from where he had been slouching in front of the computer screen. Inspiration would not wait until morning after all. But inspiration was not what had his fingers suddenly darted to his neck, from which his lucky five-yen coin usually hung. Usually. But this time, his fingers found nothing.
Call him superstitious, but a shiver went though Shigure as he realized that it was no longer there.
In a slight panic, Shigure reached over to the phone and dialed Ayame's number. The phone was picked up on the first ring.
"Aya? Aya this can't be happening!" Shigure spoke quietly into the receiver, hushed tones reflecting the depth of his horror.
"What is wrong Shigure?" Aya's voice sounded the same as Shigure's.
"I… I lost my lucky five-yen coin. My luck is gone Aya!" On the last word, Shigure's voice reached a higher pitch in his panic.
A stifled gasp was heard though the phone connection. "Shigure… I… I can't sleep because I'm scared. I… broke a mirror today Shigure. Only an hour ago."
"Why didn't you call me?" Shigure's voice quavered. "Aya… I'm scared."
A shiver went though them both. Unlucky.
Suddenly Shigure's phone made a beeping noise, indicating another person was trying to call. Glancing at the number, Shigure added Hatori to the conversation. "Hatori? You aren't usually up this late," Shigure greeted him in the same hushed way as he had been talking to Ayame.
"Is that Ayame there too? I'm sorry to call so late, but I figured you would be up anyway." Unusually for Hatori, he was also speaking quietly.
"What's wrong, 'Tori?" Ayame asked concernedly.
There was just static on the line for a while until Hatori finally choked the words out. "There was a black cat. It climbed though one of the windows I left open and when I was walking down the hallway it crossed my path."
"A black cat? Ha'ri… I lost my lucky five-yen coin just now, and Ayame smashed a mirror. Something bad. Something bad is coming."
Nobody in the call said anything to deny this statement. One superstitious occurrence isn't worth commenting on. Two raised eyebrows. Three at the same time… This was a sign.
…
Breakfast the next day was subdued. It seemed Kyo and Yuki had got as much sleep as Shigure had, though Tohru was her usual self.
Kyo's muttered reason for looking like a puffed up cat was 'walked under a ladder whilst up on the roof last night.'
When Yuki had finally shaken off his morning drowsiness he pulled out a calculator and started feverishly stabbing numbers into it, to the curiosity of Shigure, Kyo and Tohru also sitting at the table. "I got… 2.1866666666666666666666666 hours of sleep last night…" Yuki said faintly. Realizing that the family were looking at him as if he was mad he snapped, "Oh come on. Even you, Kyo, should be able to work that out. If you multiply 13 minutes by 13, you get 169 minutes. That becomes 2.18666666666666666666666 hours."
Even though Shigure was feeling that tingle down his spine again, he could not resist asking Yuki what the hell he was talking about. The purple haired boy looked steadily into the older man's face. "It is Friday the 13th. Call me superstitious… but… 13 is an unlucky number."
…
Hatori knew as soon as he walked into Akito's room when the sun rose. Knew that Akito was not sleeping, lying there so still. Eyes gritty from lack of sleep, Hatori did not even bother to check the God's pulse before walking out of that door. Kureno was leaning on the wall opposite, cheeks streaked with tears.
"When?"
"Middnight."
Zodiac members did not hug. Hatori would not hug the rooster just because their God died. He did bow his head in respect for his grief.
The funeral was held, and zodiac members were assigned the task of finding the new God. However there was one question left unanswered, that perhaps only Hatori realized. Everyone else who might have made the connection was too caught up in grief to see it.
Why was it so unlucky that Akito had died?
