Just in Time for Sunrise
New Years was finally over, now under normal circumstances that would have made any Souma involved in preparations for it ecstatically happy, but for Hatori all it meant was lots of winter illnesses. And that was just more work for him. It was now well after dusk, nearing midnight actually, and his work for the day was finally done. So in an almost futile attempt to relax, Hatori strolled through the vast family library at the Souma Main House. His finger tips trailed along book spines but his mind was elsewhere, never a moments peace, he thought to himself.
Hatori was so lost in thought that he never noticed the stool on the floor in front of him, at least not until he tripped over it and ended up face first on the ground. He was truly thankful that no one was around to see it. He sighed before moving, yes, Aya would have never let him live it down. Pressing his hands against the ground Hatori went to push himself up when a flash of brown caught his attention. Pausing in mid push up, he lay back down and looked under the shelf. There's something under there. He stretched his arm out under the shelf until his hand rested on something; he pulled out the brown leather file folder and looked at it. A spider slipped out of the side and skittered back under the shelf, he frowned, and brushed away some of the dust. Getting to his knees Hatori examined his find, it had no label or date but judging by the considerable amount of dust it had collected the folder had to be very old.
Hatori unwound the small leather thong that held the folder closed and flipped open the top. Inside was a bunch of paperwork varying in sizes and types. He pulled out the first piece of paper and looked it over carefully. It was a document of some kind, formal to say the least. Giving in to a rare spark of curiosity, Hatori read…
April 9, 1698
By my order as Head of the Souma Family. I, Yasuo Souma, do hear by declare Taro Souma disowned from this family for his disregard of responsibility and duty to those which gave him life. His name is never to be spoken again and it shall be as he never existed. So it is written and so shall it be.
Souma Yasuo
Hatori read the document again; it was signed and sealed with the Souma family emblem. So he was right, it was formal. He replaced it paper and pulled out another, this one was a birth record for Taro Souma. For a moment Hatori thought to put the folder back where he found it, but instead he placed the second document back in and stood. He would take the folder to his office where he could make a cup of tea and look through it more easily.
As the hours passed by the Dragon never noticed the time. He carefully read each document and was utterly shocked by their contents. There where nearly a half dozen letters from a man named Shido Souma, the apparent son of Taro. Hatori read the first one over again.
6, June 1768
To the current Head of the Family,
I know that my grandfather Souma Taro displeased you or your predecessor greatly, earning him the punishment of exile. But I am writing you out of the greatest of earnest. I think that this is not only something that you deserve to know, but also that you may be willing to help with. Two days ago my first son was born. It was when my wife first held him that he changed into the Rat from the Zodiac. I do not understand this at all. Are you missing the Rat at the Main House or has something far worse happened? Have we truly become two separate families with two separate curses? I humbly await a reply from you, I think that it is imperative that this problem be solved. Not for my sake or yours, but for the sake of our children. I beg you to please let us come home. I will be forever in your service.
Souma Shido
Hatori sighed as he put the paper down and picked up another one, the last of the letters from Shido. There was a new letter every year after the first one for 5 years. Apparently, in those 5 years all of the other members of the Zodiac had appeared in the family, and finally someone was born with the curse of the Head of the Family; the same curse that would end Akito's life. Each letter was more and more desperate, begging and pleading, even offering gold. Then suddenly the next and last letter was dated twenty years later. It was short and to the point.
To whom it may concern,
When we begged for help, you gave us none. When we offered penance and gold, you ignored us. I see now that it is clear that you will never accept us back into the family. And for that, you have my pity. We will start our own family out here in the free territories. And though I will not live to see the day, you will regret not helping us. For now and forever, we will hold the key to something very important, and with out us, you will never be able to open the chest.
Shido Sohma
Hatori noticed the odd change in the signature. Not only had the order of names been changed, but also the spelling of the name Souma was different. After reading everything, he could not help but wonder what had happened to their American brethren. Were there still some out there? Was it possible that there was another family who shared the Zodiac curse? Hatori switched on the computer in his office and turned on the internet; determined to at the very least see if perhaps something would come up.
Pulling up a search engine, he typed.
People Search
Then with quick thought typed the name
Souma Taro
When no search results came up he instead typed
Souma
Still nothing. Then again, if the family had died out a long time ago, that would explain why there was no records of them. The letters never even said were they had gone off to. Something about the "free territories" but that did not help much. Frustrated he looked over the last letter again, and with a spark of ingenious typed.
Shido Sohma
Sure enough, there was one direct hit. Opening the webpage, he looked it over. Apparently, it was some kind of family tree and at the top of the page was the name Shido Sohma. Scanning through the names there was nothing familiar about any of them. Though he did notice that as the generations grew, the names did in fact get more and more… European. Things like Charles, Matthew, and Elizabeth. He was delighted to find, at the bottom of the tree, a key or sorts. He noticed that if the name was in blue the family member was deceased (most of the tree was in blue), a strait line meant "gave birth to", a dotted line was marriage, and a black box around the name signified that person as a Head of the Family. The writer of the page indicated that their name was in Green to separate it out from the rest. With all that in mind, Hatori went back and looked over the family tree again. Shido was the first noted as a head of the family, then it went onto a man named TaiShi, followed by Ryou, and the names were scattered on and on thorough out the list. It was a rather expansive list. Then suddenly the Dragon had an epiphany, if someone had put this up online that meant that the line was still going, after all the internet was a new thing. He immediately scanned down to the bottom of the page. The last two Family Heads were Marcus Sohma followed by Alexander Sohma. He was the most recent one to take on the responsibility, and from all Hatori could tell he was still in charge. Under his name were four more, Caitlin and Daniel, and Regene and Maryanne; with notes next to each pairing saying "twins." Also at the bottom was the name in green, one, Lora Sohma. With this new information in mind, Hatori printed the family tree out and filed it away with the rest of the papers, then went back to the search engine. He thought for a moment and typed,
Alexander Sohma
Sure enough, he got a lot more hits with this one. One of which was a public web page that listed him as the Manager of some rock band, the page itself had been created by Lora Sohma again. Hatori jotted down the phone number and finally noted a location on the family. The town was called Sanctuary, and it was about 40 miles west of Santa Rosa California. Printing out that info as well, he stared at the phone. It may be early here, but it is actually late night over in the US. He continued staring at the phone and the number he'd written down while he listened to the pages print. After what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes he picked up the phone and dialed.
The Dragon had expected some formal secretary to pick up the phone, but he was instead greeted by a young and female voice who merely said, "Sohma residence." In a rather board and annoyed sounding tone.
"Hello, is this the home of Alexander Sohma?" Hatori replied in his most professional voice.
"That depends on who is asking." The girl shot back.
"My name is Dr. Hatori Souma, and I have something rather important to discuss with Mr. Alexander Sohma." He was not sure if he had said the right thing when he heard no reply from the girl. Of course, they probably did not know about the Japanese line any more than he had known of the American. But he was stunned in his seat when he heard the girl burst into laughter. "Excuse me Miss. are you alright?" He said as he got his voice back under him. Her voice suddenly became much more serious.
"Look Mr. I don't know what you want, money, land, favors, but you won't get it."
"I don't understand your meaning Miss." Hatori was now very confused.
"I know every member of my family and you're not in it. So sorry guy, but you'll have to try someone else to dupe. We aint' gonna buy it." There was an audible click.
"Hello?" Hatori sighed; the girl had actually hung up on him. He held the phone in his hands for a moment more before hitting redial.
"Look, I told you." The girl's voice was back over the phone. "Stop calling here or I'll-" She was suddenly cut off and Hatori heard another young voice in the background, this one male.
"What the hell are you doing Katie? Give me the phone." After a short pause, the male voice came over the line.
"Hello this is Daniel Sohma speaking, please allow me to apologize for my sisters rudeness. How may I help you?" In the background Hatori heard the girl shoot back.
"I don't need anyone to apologize for me damnit."
"Well before I get hung up on again please allow me to explain. My name is Dr. Hatori Souma and I live at the Souma Main House in Japan." There was another pause, Hatori waited for the laughter again.
"I see, one moment please and I will get my father." Hatori smiled, happy to hear at least one member of the family had sense. Though he could still hear the children over the phone,
"What are you doing Dani?!? I can't believe you fell for that you moron. I'm hanging up before you bother Papa." Yelled the girl,
"Knock it off Katie." The boy replied. There were the sounds of a scuffle and then, "Father… Phone." Was yelled really loud, followed by "hah… too late" in a quieter tone.
"Bastard." Yelled the girl.
"Not by definition, no." He replied smugly.
Hatori shook his head and was about to reflexively tell the kids to stop fighting when another voice came over the phone, this one was mature, eloquent, and older.
"Hello, this is Alexander Sohma, how may I help you?"
"Good evening to you Mr. Sohma. My name is Dr. Hatori Souma, and I live at the Souma main house in Japan."
"Ah… well it's about time we heard back from you." Alexander sounded pleased. Hatori was confused, what? Head back from us… What is he talking about? "I was beginning to wonder if my letters had even reached the Head of the Family, or if they had just been ignored like so many in the past. It is good to finally speak to you."
What, he thinks I am the head of the family? "No Sir, I'm sorry but I am not the head of this family. That would be Akito." Hatori's voice still managed to be professional, though he had not been caught this off guard in a long time.
"Ah, so you have been asked to reply then… I see. I had hoped that perhaps the bad blood between our lines had subsided enough by now. Oh well, never the less, I still plan to-" This time it was Alexander who was cut off as they both realized the children had not hung up the phone.
"I'm gonna kick your ass." The girl yelled.
"In your dreams." The boy shot back.
"I'm sorry Dr. Hatori, my I call you that since we are technically family." Alexander sounded a little tired.
"Yes of course." The Dragon replied.
"Good, and you may just call me Alexander. Now if you don't mind this will only take a second." Hatori heard Alexander hit the hold button on the phone, but his voice was heard from the other line that was still off its hook.
"Children behave! And hang up the phone!" It sounded far away, but still there was a uniformed reply from both children.
"Yes father!" There was another click followed by Alexander's voice again.
"My apologies Dr."
"Not a problem. Now what were you saying, something about letters to Akito?"
"Well I had not known his name was Akito, but yes I did send letters to the head of your family."
"May I inquire why?" Hatori asked, hoping not to sound rude. There was a pause.
"Then you aren't calling me back in response to those letters?"
"No… actually I stumbled across some old paper work from the time of your predecessor Shido Sohma. I became curious and tracked you down."
"Oh I see. Do you have any idea if Akito has even received my letters?"
"I'm sorry Alexander, but up until today I had no idea your line even existed. So if Akito has received them, I believe he has chosen to ignore them much like the past Heads of this family."
"I see, well there is no point in canceling plans now."
"Canceling plans?" Hatori was getting more and more interested by the minute.
"Yes, myself and a few members of my family were planning on visiting Japan next winter. I am hoping to rekindle ties between our two branches. We have spent far too long apart."
"I see." Hatori stopped, what was Akito going to say to this? If the letters had actually gotten here then he already knew of Alexander's plans. If not… Hatori could not help but think that maybe it would be good for his relatives to meet a completely different side of their family. Others who shared their curse. It was then that Hatori realized that Alexander had not mentioned the Zodiac Curse. "If I may be so bold Alexander… I do have one question."
"Ask away." The head of the American line seemed like a generally good person, nothing like Akito who was harsh and cruel.
"Does the curse still run in your line?" Hatori phrased the question as bluntly as possible.
"Yes, it does, I had not known if you were aware of the curse… so I was careful not to mention it." Hatori nodded, though the other man couldn't see it. It may do a world of good to have these people from America come over. But Akito would not be pleased.
"I can tell you that it is my honest opinion that Akito does not want you here. However, if you still wish to come, Japan is a free country. And I think the other members of the family may be pleased indeed to meet you."
"Yes, as you pointed out, Japan is a free country. So we will arrive as planned in the second week of December."
"I personally am glad to hear that. If I may, I would like to keep in touch, help you with any preparations that you may need."
"I am glad to hear that and happy to accept. You have my number, call anytime. I will leave it up to you whether you wish to tell the other members of your family, or Akito of our arrival."
"I will think it over." Hatori replied.
"Fair enough. Now then-" there was a loud crash from Alexander's side of the phone, followed by a deep sigh. "If you don't mind Dr. I would love to continue this conversation, but I am afraid I am needed downstairs before my children destroy my house."
"I understand, of course. Take care of yourself Alexander Sohma."
Another crash.
"And you as well Dr. Hatori Souma. I look forward to meeting you next year."
"As do I Alexander, as do I." Hatori finished too an empty line. The Head of the American Line of the Sohma family had already left to take care of his feuding children. Hanging up the phone Hatori strolled out of his office and walked towards Akito's room. He had not gotten any sleep that night, and it was now morning, but it had been worth it. To think… another branch of the family. Twin stars to each of our Zodiac animals. I wonder what their Dragon is like? Alexander is so different from Akito, are they all like that? Polar opposites to what we are here. Eleven months, in eleven months I'll know, we all will know. As the doctor reached the gardens outside Akito's room he saw that the Head of his family was sitting outside, already awake, with a small white bird on his finger.
"Good morning Hatori. Did you sleep well?" Akito did not look at him; instead, he watched the night sky lighten into day.
"In truth, I did not get much sleep." Hatori replied. Should I tell him? Does he already know? What would he say? Would he try to mess things up? No, I think they need to come here. I think it will be best for the whole family. I have never once stood up against Akito, but if I am going too, it will be for the good of the whole family… including, I think, Akito himself.
At this Akito turned his head slightly to look at the older man. "Well no matter then, see look." He gestured up to the sky with the hand that held the bird. "You're just in time for sunrise."
A/N:
Hello people… I just wanted to make a few comments before I actually start with the rest of the fic. First of all… yes I know that I am using two different spellings for the names. Incase you hadn't realized Souma is representing the Japanese line, where as Sohma is the American.
Secondly, and I don't know why I am even mentioning this… but for some reason I feel it is nessisary. This is a Yukiru fic as well as being many other things. I am a big fan of Yuki and Tohru as a couple… Though in all honesty Kyou is my favorite character. However I do not think that Kyou and Tohru make a good couple, and for the record I also do not think Kyou and Kagura would make a good couple, sorry, but Kagura drives me up a wall and back down the other side. So you will see Kyou with someone eventually but who will it bw? *grins* Keep reading and find out… eventually. Also there will be lots more couples introduced. After all, I got a whole list of new characters to work with when it comes to potential relationships. *winks* This will be fun.
Feel free to R/R I'm all for it. Though if you are going to criticize me, at least please make it constructive. If you don't like the fic, don't read it. Simple as that. I'm not writing it for those of you that don't like it.
Well I think that is all now… I will keep adding stuff in later as I see fit. Or rather when I think things need an explanation. Thanks for reading.