AN: Nyo…I'm Heron the Dazed. This is my first Fruits Basket story, so please don't kill me for any atrocities.
Inspiration: Oddly enough, came from the following lyrics, an excerpt from a song by Good Charlotte called "Riot Girl."
"Emergency, call 911.
She's pissed off at everyone…"
Also from someone on the Zen called "Kamikaze cow." I saw their name, and BOOM! The story hit me. Thank you, whoever you are! (waves) Inspiration for the title came from the song "Rain" from Cowboy Bebop.
Story Details and Warnings: Oh ho, nasty stuff in here, I can guarantee it. Prolly a little fluff, seeing my current mood as of late. Lotsa blood. Lotsa angst. *Heron tries to look innocent but fails miserably* There might even be some yaoi later on. Just warning you squeamish peeps. This is prolly a sorta AU, although it is still set in the Fruits Basket world. The Zodiac curse still applies here. And…if you guys ever think that the rating is too low, please tell me, and I'll fix it.
Dedication: To…my fishie. I think he's dying. T_T The weather's been too cold, I think. That, or his tank is dirty.
~*~
Quiet Screams
Chapter One
~*~
On the surface, Hatsuharu Sohma is a calm, detached looking teenager. With his white hair and gothic appearance, he looks as though he should belong to some sort of rock band, but this is not the case. In all reality, Haru is the calm, detached teenager he seems. Of course, there is the fact that his personality is decidedly split down the middle, and his "black" side has the habit to rise up at all the wrong times and cause trouble, but it is nothing compared to what is going on inside Haru's thin body.
Inside the pale boy is a raging storm. He is constantly fighting with his two personalities. White Haru is the peacekeeper, Black Haru is the trouble causer, and Gray Haru tries his best to keep the two in check. Of course, poor Gray's attempts usually fail, but no matter…
~*~
One foggy morning in late May, Hatsuharu woke up and groaned softly to himself. Damn…today was his eighteenth birthday. His cousin Momiji had arranged some sort of party for him, but as he had tried to tell Momiji; he hated social engagements. Dwelling on these unpleasant thoughts, he was interrupted by a knock on his door.
"What?" he called out irritably, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He didn't like being so grumpy in the morning, but today his dark side was pushing for control and was beginning to win.
The door slid open with a slight whish of air, and Haru stared with sleepy gray eyes at the short figure standing in the doorway. It was Momiji, blonde, cheerful, and energetic.
"Haru!" He called cheerfully. Haru winced; the boy's high voice grated on his ears today. "Aren't you going to get up?"
"Momiji, go away. Why do you keep coming into my house?"
The brown-eyed boy pouted. "Aww, com'on, Haru! It'll be fun, I swear!"
"I told you," growled Haru, his black side fighting for control, "I don't want a party."
"Well, it's too late for that," beamed Momiji, "It's all already been done."
"Just go away," came the doleful reply. "I don't even have any clothes on."
"Alright!" said the agreeable Momiji, and, closing the door behind him, hopped away down the hall and out of the house, a true rabbit of the Zodiac.
Haru glared at the door for a few more seconds before pushing back his sheets. Pulling on a black bathrobe, he made his way out of his room and to where he thought the bathroom was. Curiously enough, he found himself in the kitchen. He shrugged. Good enough. This was were he was going to go after the bathroom, so he might as well come here first.
He made his way around the kitchen slowly, waking up as he went. After eating breakfast—cold cereal and toast—he put the dishes into the sink and left the room, determined to find the bathroom.
It took him almost five minutes, although for Haru, it was a personal record. People always thought that he got lost because he had a lousy sense of direction, but it was really because the three people inside of him were always arguing him, especially when he traveled. White Haru was the motivator and Gray Haru usually wanted to go somewhere completely different than White. Black Haru never wanted to do anything, and in the rare case that he did, it always had to be completely the opposite of what Gray and White wanted. Haru was always so busy listening to them argue that he never watched where he was going, resulting in the fact that he never knew where anything was. It really was annoying.
Haru stared at himself in the mirror, a sour look on his face. There were bags under his eyes; lately, he hadn't been able to sleep because of the voices in his head. It seemed that they were getting louder everyday, and it was driving him crazy. It was hard to concentrate in class, because Black Haru always wanted to skip, and White Haru would always try to persuade him not to, while Gray Haru was off being unhelpful in a corner of his brain. As a result, his grades were starting to slip.
With a resigned sort of sigh, Haru turned on the shower. When it was warm enough, he dropped his bathrobe and stepped into the sheet of water. He closed his tired gray eyes, soaking in the warmth from the water, relaxing in the heat. Then, he opened his eyes…
…And froze. The water swirling around his ankles was not clear, clean water, but a rusty red. His gaze moved upward, and found the water running down his slim body to be the same rusty color. He touched a finger to his face. In the brief second before it was wiped clean by the water that still fell around his shoulder, it was bright red. Blood…
He burst out of the shower, tearing the light blue shower curtain aside. He dashed the short distance to the shower, dripping pale red water on the wooden floor behind him. He stared wildly into the mirror, gray eyes roving madly. There, red blood running from under his light hair, down the sides of his face. His thin fingers probed at his skull, searching for a source, but he found none. Still the red fell.
He grabbed a towel, pressing it to his head. After a few seconds, he pulled it away, to find that it was clean. Haru stared with confusion at the clean towel. What? Where had the blood gone? He looked back into the mirror. There was no blood on his face. What the hell was going on?
~*~
Haru awoke with a start, his heart beating madly. Slowly, he calmed down, realizing that it had just been a dream. From his place in his bed, he could see out his window. It was a bright day in April, not the least bit of fog in sight. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his shaking hands. What a weird dream…His eighteenth birthday…That didn't even make sense. He was turning seventeen this year. Oh yeah…there was that other stuff in the dream, as well…
There was a knock on the door, followed by a deep voice calling "Haru? Are you awake yet?"
Haru recognized his cousin Hatori's voice and nodded his head. Realizing that Hatori couldn't see him through the closed door, he called out, "Yeah. Why?"
"We're heading to Shigure's house. Momiji wanted to know if you wanted to come."
Haru thought for a moment, still waking up. "Um…sure."
"Right. We're leaving in ten minutes. Can you be ready?" came the reply through the door.
"Yeah," Haru replied, and he could hear Hatori's footsteps receding down the hall. Blinking, Haru stretched, then got out of his bed, then proceeded to put on his normal black attire. Ten minutes later, he was standing outside the house with Momiji, waiting for Hatori to bring the car around. He noticed that his hands were still shaking and frowned.
On the way to Shigure's house, Momiji piped up.
"Hey, Haru?"
"Hm?" Came the reply. Haru was staring out the window, watching as houses flashed by.
"What do you want to do for your birthday?"
Haru turned to look at him. "You don't need to do anything. I don't want a big fuss."
Momiji looked at him pleadingly, his honey-colored eyes large. "Please?"
"Why do you want this? If anything, I should be the one begging you." As Momiji's mouth opened, Haru quickly added "Not like that's going to happen."
"Alright," replied the usagi quietly, but Haru could tell by his tone that he wasn't going to let this lay. Whatever…Haru turned back to the window, and let his mind wander.
~*~
While they were at Shigure's house, Momiji kept leaning over to whisper at Tohru, the girl who lived with his cousins Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo. She would lean back, turquoise eyes twinkling as she whispered back. Haru had the uneasy feeling that they were talking about him, and Yuki and Kyo kept taking turns to glare at Momiji. Like usual, though, the rabbit was oblivious to the annoyed glances of his cousins. Shigure and Hatori ignored the rest of them, continuing to talk about whatever it was that a novelist and a doctor would talk about.
Later that night, Haru found himself alone in their section of the main house. Momiji had disappeared off somewhere, and Hatori had been called to Akito, the head of their house. Apparently, Akito had collapsed during the afternoon or something like that…Haru gave an internal shrug. It wasn't like it mattered to him. He was one of the lesser Zodiac, the dull cow.
It didn't bother him, like it had when he was younger. No, it did matter, just not to White Haru. To Black Haru, it was still an issue. As he made himself some ramen, he listened to his thoughts argue.
What the hell are you talking about? Black Haru was currently shouting. You keep on brushing it off like it's nothing!
Because it is, replied White Haru cynically. Why do you insist on arguing about it?
Because he's an idiot, cut in Gray Haru.
Shut up, both of you! We have to do something, or we'll be called dumb and stupid all of our life!
They're just words… came Gray's reply.
It doesn't matter to me, said White. Can't we talk about something else?
What about that dream? Asked Gray.
Yeah, that was pretty weird, said Black, agreeing for once.
Oh please, moaned White. Dreams are just figments of our imagination, usually something that we've thought about during the day.
I don't remember thinking anything like that, argued Black Haru. Haru found himself nodding as he spooned hot soup into his mouth.
It was pretty life-like, though, said Grey, after a moment's thought. Except for that last part…
Come off it, said White, clearly displeased with the subject. Dreams are weird! Remember that one about being chased by rabid fish?
Now that was a weird dream, said Black, sounding reasonable for the first time in days. After that, the conversation trailed off, and Haru was left in silence for the remainder of his supper.
~*~
The next morning, he woke up cranky, almost completely controlled by Black Haru. He'd had another odd dream the night before, something about killing people. Whatever had happened, it had put him in a bad mood. As a result, Black Haru had taken over. No wonder he had sounded so pleased and agreeable last night…
As he stalked down the hallways of the main house, he could hear an odd pattering sound in his ears. He shook his head, trying to get the sound out, but it continued, and made him even more irritated than before. When it turned out to be Momiji, who hugged him from behind, he could have torn off the short rabbit's head, but managed to restrain himself.
"Momiji," he said through gritted teeth, "Why must you torment me like this?"
Momiji regarded him solemnly for a moment, realizing that he had turned Black. Then he smiled cautiously. "Sorry…Haru. Is something up?"
"What do you think?" snarled Haru, then stomped away down the hall, leaving Momiji to stare after him with confusion. There really was nothing up, just Haru being Black Haru.
Where are you going? White Haru asked him quietly. The school's the other way.
Shut up! Raged Black Haru. I'm not going to school today.
Um…do I get a say in this? Asked Gray Haru.
You shut up, too!
Tsk tsk, temper temper! Taunted White.
If anything, this made Black Haru even more angry. If it had been possible, he would have punched White Haru. As it was, he punched an innocent tree hard, swearing as he heard something crack and pain washed through his hand.
Great! Look what you've done now! Snapped Gray, sounding disgusting as Black Haru examined his bleeding knuckles.
Oh great, said White dryly. That was our writing hand, idiot.
Shut up already, will you?! Cursing out loud, Black Haru wandered deeper into the forest.
Don't go this way! Cried Gray Haru desperately. What are you trying to do, get us lost on purpose?
Maybe, growled Black Haru, holding his bleeding hand to his chest as he stomped through bushes. But maybe if you would just shut up, I'll be able to actually get us somewhere.
Oh, really? Laughed White. Where would this be?
Shigure's, snapped Black. He can call Hatori.
Wow, he's actually thinking clearly, said Gray, in mock amazement.
What are you talking about? White said to Gray. The main house is closer. He's just being stupid…again.
Shut up! Said Black Haru, for the fifth time. For once, they listened, and everything was quiet as he made his way through the trees to Shigure's house.
~*~
AN: So…how'd I do? The conversation between Haru's personalities wasn't too
confusing, was it? *looks worried* If you guys think that anything should be
fixed, leave a review, so that I can fix it in the next chapter or whatever.
Thanks for reading this! *waves and skips away*
