Tohru Honda had not been living in the Sohma house for long now, but she knew quite a few people already. Her best friends had visited the house and given it their ok. Her grandfather had agreed, and they were living rather happily now.
The Sohma's had a dark secret though. The animals of the zodiac possessed thirteen members of their family. Akito Sohma, the head of the family, had almost complete control over them.
Tohru tried not to think about this. She had met a few now, like Momiji Sohma (the rabbit), Hatori Sohma (the dragon), and the three she lived with, the cat, the dog and the rat. She had also met Hatsuharu Sohma, the ox.
She had been down making breakfast one day, when someone knocked on the door. Tohru ran to the door almost instantly, and opened it to see an attractive young woman, with shoulder length blonde hair and some of the strangest clothing she had ever seen.
"Hello! Can I help you?" Tohru said, eyeing the girl slightly.
"You must be Tohru Honda. Akito-san told me about you. I am Anastasia Sohma. I am Akito Sohma's puppet, and I have come to see the Sohma's that reside in this house." She said in a soft, yet threatening voice.
"Of course. I'm afraid they aren't up yet though. Would you like to come in?" Tohru asked her, and Anastasia accepted.
Not long after, Shigure came walking down the stairs. He sat down, looked around the table, and suddenly looked shocked.
"Anastasia! What are you doing back in Japan? I thought Akito banished you for almost killing Haru…" He said, edging away from her slightly.
"Akito allowed me back, and I am now working for him, sadly. Shigure, how are you? I haven't seen you or anyone else in what seemed like an eternity." She said, smiling at him slightly.
"I've been fine! Just working on my books, like usual. You know, Kyo is not going to be eager to see you." Shigure said to her, and it made her smile.
"Is Kyo living here now too? He's still mad that I get to sit in on the festivities and he isn't? It's not my fault that Akito chose me as his successor, and that I have been blessed." Anastasia said, sounding slightly grouchy about this.
"What do you mean, Anastasia?" Tohru asked her, as she walked back in with tea.
"That means that if anything should ever happen to Akito, then I shall take over as head of the family. I don't cause the members of the Zodiac to change." She explained.
"And that's good how? I hate having the heads of the family hanging around here, Shigure. Kick her out, for my sake." A voice said from the stairs, making Anastasia look up.
"Kyo. I know you are not happy to see me, but I sure as hell missed you and Yuki both. America was lonely without everyone next to me." She said, standing up and walking over to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and Tohru was amazed to see Kyo stay human.
"You were in America for how long, Anastasia?" Tohru asked her, watching her sit back down.
"I was there for ten years, or since I was six." She said, looking up at Tohru. "I hope you won't judge me for what happened in the past."
"What happened in the past?" Tohru asked, and Yuki answered her.
"Honda-san, she tried to kill Haru. She told me right before she left, that if she killed him, then the spirit would inhabit her, and she wouldn't become head of the family." He said, sitting down next to Tohru.
"What is Haru going to do if he sees you, Anastasia?" Tohru said, looking up at her slightly shocked. "And what's so bad about being the head of the family?"
"The head of the family is cursed to bad health and early death. None have lasted too much longer that 20 years." Kyo explained, slowly eating some onigiri.
"I was happy when he banished me, but sad also. That meant I could live a long life, but it also meant never seeing my family again." Anastasia said, looking as if she were about to cry.
"How awful!" Tohru said, looking across the table at her, and she almost started to cry herself.
"But I get to enjoy life here for as long as possible! As a matter of fact, I've already been transferred into your class!" Anastasia said, wiping at her eyes and just smiling.
"Is anyone here? You do realize that we need to head out now, or we'll be caught in the rain." A voice said from the door, and Hatsuharu Sohma popped his head in. He looked around quickly, and noticed her long blonde hair.
Anastasia stood up, and walked towards the door. She opened her bright blue eyes, and Haru ran right into Momiji, knocking them both into a pile of mud.
"You stay away from me, do you understand? I don't want a little repeat of what happened ten years ago!" He shouted, actually getting worked up about it.
"Hatsuharu, I wanted to apologize. What I did was awful, wrong, and I have no right to live after it. I know my apology probably means nothing, but I hope you accept it." She said, walking towards him into the rain. She got on her hands and knees, and bowed so deeply that her forehead touched the mud. Everyone that was at the table now watched the next head of the family humble herself over something that happened ten years ago.
Haru claimed that he accepted, and helped her out of the mud. She walked inside, changed into one of Tohru's uniforms and cleaned herself off. She put on her black tennis shoes with the three-inch heels, and followed everyone else to the school.
Walking into the class, she stopped to talk to the teacher. The teacher stood up and ordered everyone to settle down.
"Ok, I know we already have two Sohma's in our class, but here's another." She said, in her loud voice." Her name is Anastasia Sohma, and she just recently came back from America after living there for ten years. Her Japanese is slightly rusty, so don't be too hard on her." She said, and pointed her towards a seat next to Kyo.
Halfway through the class, she felt the effects of jet lag catching up to her. Slowly drifting off to sleep, she was awoken by Tohru for break.
"Anastasia, I want you to meet my friends, Hanajima-chan and Uotani-chan." Tohru said, as she indicated the two people following her.
"It is nice to meet you both." Anastasia said shortly, and she turned around and walked over to where Kyo was.
"Not at all like the Prince, is she?" Uo-chan said, watching her walk away.
"Kyo-kun, how do you deal with the idiots in the class?" Anastasia said, sitting on his desk.
"Just like how I deal with the family, I ignore them." Kyo said, looking out one of the windows.
"I know that was a direct attack at me, but everyone else in here seems so drab that there is no way I could tolerate them. Who are those girls swarming around Yuki-kun?" She said, making Kyo look.
"That's his fan club. They seem to think that he's like prince of the school, the bastard." Kyo said. "They get really mad if another girl touches him."
"They do, do they? I'll be back, Kyo-kun." She said, hopping off his desk.
She walked right over to Yuki, and wrapped her arms around his thin body. He looked at her slightly shocked, and the girls looked appalled, and that went worse when he returned the hug.
"What do you think you're doing? No one is allowed to touch Prince Yuki. No one!" The one with short blonde hair said.
"I haven't seen him in almost 11 years, so now I can't hug him? I can if I want, he's all mine." She said, watching the girls actually get mad enough to walk away before releasing him.
Anastasia started to laugh after the girls left the room, and so did Yuki, Kyo, Uo-chan, and just about everyone else.
"Thanks Ana. They tend to get on the annoying side of things sometimes." He said, sitting back down.
"No problem. You didn't seem all that thrilled to be in that position, so I helped." She replied, sitting on his desk now. "Plus, I missed being able to hug Sohma's."
"You definitely have a bold streak, Ana-chan." Uotani said, walking over by her.
"Yes. You almost remind me of a younger version of Uo-chan, just without the gang." Hanajima said, walking over also.
"But you were the first girl to ever touch the prince like that. Why is that, Yuki?" Uotani said, looking between the two.
"Well, It's-" Yuki started, but got cut off.
"It is because Yuki always got sick when he was younger. I was the only one besides Akito and Hatori that was allowed near him, and I still hold that true." She said, smiling brightly.
"That is logical." Hanajima said, making Anastasia smile. Tohru looked between Kyo and Yuki, and Yuki almost let out a sigh of relief.
The rest of the day went without problems. Anastasia was walking back to the Main house with Momiji and Hatsuharu, and was going to check on them tomorrow, possibly.
"Haru, are you sure that you are alright with having me back? I don't want anyone to have any problems." She said, walking up by him.
"I'm fine now. I thought at first you had come back to try again, but you seem to have come to terms with becoming head of the family." Haru replied, as Momiji skipped along.
"Ok. I just wanted to make sure that it meant nothing. You've grown into quite the young man, Haru. You all have. I was amazed to see how old Akito even looked. I'll see you guys later, ok? I have to go speak with Akito." She said, parting ways with the two.
She walked up to the door, and waited patiently. She heard him call her in, so she followed the voice, and got onto her knees right when she saw him.
"Hello, Anastasia. So how excited was everyone to see you?" He asked her, sitting down in a chair.
She walked over to him, and sat on her knees.
"They were slightly shocked, it seems. Especially Hatsuharu. He was almost afraid when I was seen." She said, looking up at him.
"You really can't blame him, can you? You did try to kill him." Akito replied.
"I know I did, but it was almost eleven years ago. Most people let go of the past." She said, in almost an arguing type of voice.
"I make sure that they don't forget the past though, Anastasia. It is my job, and it will be yours. How did you like meeting Tohru Honda?' He asked her, and she almost smiled.
"Tohru seems extremely nice. She was definitely a person that I could get along with, even start to like." Anastasia said, bringing a little excitement back into her voice. Akito noticed this, and frowned.
Grabbing a large chunk of her hair, he threw her. She hit the other wall with a powerful crack. Looking up at him, as blood dripped down her face, she almost started to cry.
"What's the matter, Anastasia? You used to take a beating like that, and then give the person back double. Has America made you soft?" He said, kneeling down beside her.
"How the hell am I supposed to hit you? I can't, you bastard!" She screamed at him, clutching her nose.
"You could hit me if you want, but you can't. You don't remember when you were just a child, do you? I do. That day you almost killed Hatsuharu was marvelous." He said, as she started to scream.
"I don't want to remember! I don't want to revert back! Don't do it, you bastard!" She screamed at him.
"You just walked up to him, and hit him once in the face. He looked up at you, his eyes starting to fill with a few tears. Why did he cry? You loved each other, but I told you to kill him. Tears flooding your eyes, you just started to beat on him. Blood everywhere, it was so glorious. If you had just a few more minutes, then you would have succeeded." Akito said, touching her face lightly.
"No! You can't make me go back! Why would you want me to?" She yelled into the night, causing a little commotion outside. Hatsuharu was actually listening through the door, along with Shigure, Momiji and Hatori.
"I will tell you tomorrow. Tonight, you sleep in your deluded little world. You will revert back to your old self. Good night, Anastasia." Akito said, as she stumbled out the door, landing on Hatsuharu.
She woke the next morning, to see Hatori lurking around. Sitting up, he took notice of her.
"Good morning, Anastasia. Or should I say good afternoon. You gave us quite a scare, you know." He said, a small amount of laughter in his voice.
"Us? "She answered him, feeling her tender nose and wincing slightly.
"Well of course. Momiji, Hatsuharu, Shigure, and myself heard your little argument. So, of course, Kyo, Yuki and little Tohru know as well." He said, as she stood up.
" Well I feel like shit. You know that, smartass?" she told him, and he chuckled.
"I figured you might, but maybe you would like to greet everyone? They should be arriving at the gate soon." Hatori said, glad she was moving again.
"I think I'll do that." She said, walking towards the door. She changed quickly, and walked out to the front gate. Sure enough, right as she opened the large doors all of them came into view.
Tohru saw her first, and ran straight to her, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Little softer, please." She said, and Tohru smiled. Hatsuharu smiled and gave her a hug too, and Momiji jumped in afterwards.
"Are you better now, Ana? "Yuki said, looking at her closely. "You still seem a little pale."
"I should be fine. Akito-san and I just got into a little argument. It was nothing." She said, inviting them all into her own house, from when her parents died.
"It didn't sound like nothing from Shigure-sans point of view." Tohru said, contradicting her.
"Well, Shigure tends to stretch the truth a little, doesn't he? Nope, it was something small, that we agreed needed to be discussed at a later time." She said, handing out tea to everyone.
After a while, Tohru, Kyo and Yuki left, claiming that they needed time to do menial tasks. Momiji had wandered off sometime before, so it was just Haru and herself. She had been looking at the table for some time before, and out of nowhere, he touched her shoulder gently.
"I heard most of what Akito was saying to you." He said in a gentle voice, making a few tears drop down her face. "I don't believe that you are any weaker than before, you've just learned to finally control your anger."
"Akito doesn't seem to understand that. I have a feeling I know what he's going to say to me. I think he might want me to kill Tohru Honda. Right after I mentioned that I was starting to like her as a friend, he went ballistic." She said, wiping at her eyes.
"Akito-san doesn't want her here anymore, he's lost his control over her, and is slowly losing the control of everyone." Haru said.
She took a look at the clock, and stood up.
"If you want, you should listen by the door, just so you know what happened. You can tell everyone the news of what really happened." She told him, walking swiftly from the house over to Akito.
She didn't bother to wait, but instead just walked in, bowing when he came into view. He actually got up and sat next to her this time.
"Hello Anastasia. Did you enjoy your little break? Is it still tender?" He said, touching her nose ever so gently.
"Get to the point, I don't have all day." She growled at him, looking up after wincing slightly.
"Yes, yes. Of course, my dear. Where did we leave off? Right, we were talking about how you tried to kill Hatsuharu. I banished you immediately, not wanting it traced back to me. I care about my image as head of the family, you know." He told her, smirking.
"Yeah, you always did place yourself above the normal person, didn't you?" she snarled back.
"Well of course! I play the role of god, how could I not place myself above the humans, and worse, the animals. Those ten long years in America, though. I remember you buying your own house, getting a successful business by the age of 14. You were always smarter than the average human. But then again, you did treat your workers humanely, which was never a good trait." He told her.
"Yeah, so I treat people what they're actually supposed to be treated like, so what?" She said.
"I was hoping I wasn't going to
have to beat the anger out of you, but apparently, I was wrong.
Anastasia, this is for your own good…" Akito said, punching her
squarely in the face, rebreaking her nose.
She stood up and kicked
him swiftly in the back. Then when he was down, she kicked him twice
in the ribs, and walked out, clutching her nose the whole time.
Hatsuharu was sitting there, stunned. He had been watching the last part, he back out of her way quickly. He watched her walk all the way back to her house, and ran in to check on Akito. He had already sitting up, and he had a smirk on his face.
"I love bringing out her bad side." Akito said to him, and he told Hatsuharu to take her a message.