Never What It Seems
By: KadenCegali
Summary: Hatori lets go of his only love to save her from herself. After hearing of Kana's wedding, his hopes of ever having love are completely destroyed. Until he meets 'her.' But is this girl who she says she is? HatorixOC
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, nor do I own any kind of rights to any of the characters besides my OCs.
A/N: Please R&R. I want to know how it is and if I need to think about changing some things. Flames and accusations of a Mary Sue or any other such things will be laughed at and otherwise ignored.
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Chapter 1
"I hate it that she can move on and find love while you're stuck with all the memories and pain," Ayame exclaimed in his normal fashion. The three friends were at the Sohma lake house. Tohru, Yuki, and Kyou were all at the lakeside.
'No, you don't understand, Aya,' he thought morosely. 'I deserve what happened. Akito was right. Even I knew that Kana couldn't break the curse. But I dared to try and this is the price I pay. I wasn't worthy of Kana. I couldn't protect her. The only way I could save her was to make her forget what we once had, so that she may recover and live.'
"Harii, you know how much it hurts me to see like this. You must find someone who can make you as happy as I want you to be."
"We all want you happy, you know that, right, Harii?" Shigure said, his eyes scanning his friend's face.
Hatori nodded. "Yes, I know. And thank you. Here, Ayame. Take these back," He pushed the pictures of Kana's wedding to the silver-haired man. Ayame's eyes widened for a moment, then he closed them, taking the pictures and putting them away.
"You are far too kind, Harii."
Hatori didn't reply, and for once, Shigure had no lewd comment to make.
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"So how am I supposed to get near enough to Akito to see what his secret really is? What the secret behind the Sohma's is? He's pretty closed up, you know?" a young woman's voice said.
"Don't worry about it, Sita," a man's voice replied. "I've got it all under control."
"Oh? Somehow that doesn't make me feel any less apprehensive."
"Yes. Again, don't worry. You're going to become a Sohma for a few months."
"What? Are you serious, Devon?"
The man nodded, his unruly light brown hair falling over his eyes. "Yes. All you have to do is watch Akito. I'll have you working for the main house and a man by the name of Shigure Sohma. You'll just be doing odd jobs for them. Errands, cleaning…"
"So basically, I'm going to be some kind of servant for them? Don't they have enough of those?"
"You'd be surprised to hear that they don't have a single servant. It's just that their family is that large that they don't need very many people out of the family working for them. And their family members aren't servants. Just do this, please?"
The young woman sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Fine, fine. But you're paying me big time for this, Devon. Just get my paperwork done and give me everything that I'll need."
"All you need done is finished already." He dropped a small pile of papers in front of her. "You are now Sitara Sohma."
Sitara looked at him in surprise. Then, nodding once more, she stood and took the papers with her as she walked away. "Eight months, Devon. That's all you get. If you don't get all the information you want by then, you have to pay more. This family has a few secrets that I would rather not find out." With that, she walked out of the door of the small office.
---Two Days Later---
Hatori glanced up briefly from his paperwork as he heard someone clearing their throat. In the doorway of his office stood a young woman that seemed rather new. Chestnut hair seemed slightly wild from the obvious run she had just performed. As he looked up, she bent over and started panting, her hands on her thighs.
"Can I help you, miss?" he asked in his usual calm manner.
She straightened immediately and gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry, but I was told to give you this from Shigure-san. He said something about his editor and a will." She held out an envelope.
Hatori sighed. Shigure had obviously did something else to his editor again. The poor woman. He shook his head. Unfortunately, the woman at his door took it the wrong way.
"I…I'm sorry. I guess I brought it to the wrong place. I'm sorry for wasting your time," she said, hastily bowing and running out of the office.
He could only blink as he tried to figure out what had just happened. It was a moment before it struck him that she had misunderstood his motion. He stood up and hurried to the door leading to the outside. He saw her running, her loose hair flying.
"Wait!" he called out. He didn't think she'd heard him until she turned around. He motioned for her to come back and waited until she obeyed. She bowed to him once more, deeply this time, when she reached him.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Please don't get me fired. I need this job. Co…could you just tell me where I can find Hatori-san, please?" She still kept her head down.
Hatori nodded sagely. "Don't panic, girl. I am Hatori-san." When she looked at him in surprise, he continued. "You misunderstood my actions. I wasn't shaking my head because of you. It's just that I was a bit frustrated with Shigure and his little antics."
Her mouth formed and "O" as she began to understand. "So this is supposed to be for you." She held out the papers once more.
This time, Hatori took it. He opened the envelope and took out some papers. His eyes scanned over the parchment, reading it and trying to understand what his long time friend had sent him and why.
'Harii,
Oh the horrible fate I must endure! To have to die at such a young age, and all for a small white lie, telling my editor that I had lost my manuscript! Now she seems intent on getting rid of the problems I cause by getting rid of me! How horrible a person! Doesn't she know that I am just playing a little prank on her? Now she's keeping me hostage until I give her at least one more manuscript, with only a break for food and drink. If only she knew that I have gotten out and am now hiding in Kyou's room. But as soon as Kyou comes home, I'll be forced o reveal myself. Only you can help me, Harii! I need you to come and convince my editor that I was merely joking and that she shouldn't take it very far. I cannot get a hold of Aya and this new girl seemed the easiest way to get to you. Please don't abandon me, my very good childhood friend!
Shigure'
Hatori sighed. Same old Shigure. The girl watched him with wide eyes.
"Is something wrong, Hatori-san? Is Shigure-san in trouble?" she asked worriedly.
Hatori shook his head and looked at her. For the first time, he noticed her dark midnight eyes. He pulled himself away from them and answered her. "No, Shigure is fine. He's just being overly dramatic. Come back to my office and I'll give you a reply."
She looked at him and nodded, following him as he walked back inside and into his office. She stopped at the door and watched him as he pulled out a sheet of paper and pen. He began writing and after a while, he stood and walked back over to her. She jumped as he handed the folded paper to her.
"Take this to Shigure wherever it was that he found you. Tell him that I said not to bother me anymore unless he's dead. Then I might consider bringing him back to life."
The woman blinked. "Am I really supposed to tell him that?" she asked.
Hatori nodded. "Yes. Tell him that and he'll stop acting like it's the end of the world. What's your name, girl?"
"I am Sitara Sohma. I just recently got assigned to the main house. A pleasure to meet you, Hatori-san."
He raised an eyebrow slightly. "How old are you, Sitara-san? You don't seem to be that much younger than me, yet you treat me as if I am an old man."
Sitara blushed and lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. I just assumed that I was meant to speak to you in that way. I am actually almost 25."
He nodded. "Then treat me more as an equal. I'm only two years older than you, after all. Now, go give that to Shigure. I'm sure he'll come to his senses after he reads that letter and you give him my message."
She bowed to him and turned, walking out. As she walked to the main house gate, her head turned and she looked back at the building. Hatori seemed like he was going to be hard to by-pass. He was too serious. She'd have to find a way to get passed him and closer to Akito. There was no way around it. Even if Hatori was handsome, she would have to get him out of the way.
She continued walking to the place where she had been caught by Shigure Sohma.