Fruits Basket: Legend of the Zodiac
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. Slight TB/Fruba X-over.
Story Summary: Tohru is called to the Honda Main Estate in Kyoto for the weekend. On Monday morning when she returns, she is changed, and it seems that the Sohma curse is not what it seems.
Chapter 1: Enigma
Yuki watched Tohru stare off into space worriedly. She had always been a bit spacey, but never this much. She had been acting strange since she'd gotten back from her family's main estate in Kyoto nearly a week ago…
Flashback
Tohru was in the kitchen making dinner, Hatori was giving Yuki his monthly check-up in the living room while ignoring Momiji and Ayame's antics, Shigure was playing games with his editor Mii-chan again, and Kyo was being pounded by Kagura in the yard while Haru watched amusedly.
The phone rang, and Momiji was the one to pick it up. "Hello, Sohma residence."
He listened to the person on the other side of the line, then covering the mouthpiece with a hand, he yelled, "Tohru! You have a phone call! He says his name is Subaru Sumer-"
To everyone's surprise, Tohru blasted out of the kitchen at breakneck speed and grabbed the phone from Momiji before he finished.
Her face was pale and her voice shaky as she said, "Subaru-sama? This is Tohru. What did you want to talk to me about?" Her face paled further and she said, "The Kyoto estate? This weekend? That's very short notice, Subaru-sama… Aa… Iie, no trouble… Iie, I don't have any plans for the weekend… Aa, I'll be down there as soon as possible… Aa… It was nice to hear from you again too. Ja ne, Subaru-sama."
"Is something wrong, Honda-san?" Yuki asked worriedly as Tohru dropped the phone back onto the cradle with a sigh of relief.
She looked up and smiled wanly, "The head of the family wants me to go to the main estate in Kyoto this weekend. Urgent business, he said."
"But why do you look so upset?" Kagura asked, sticking her head into the living room. "It's nothing big, right?"
Tohru waved her hand languidly. "You're neither a Honda nor a Sumeragi, so you wouldn't know what being called to either of the main houses means, especially if it's the Kyoto estate."
"Then explain it to us," Kyo growled.
Tohru shook her head, "Family secret. More than one person who found out has simply disappeared without a trace. No way am I going to put any of you at risk."
That Friday, Tohru bought a ticket to Kyoto and packed a bag for about three days and nights and left.
End flashback
She had come back yesterday night and had refused to talk since. Yuki pushed aside his worries and said, "We've finally got the OK for our rice ball stand. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to volunteer them."
Tohru sat there, staring off into space, and after a while, she shook herself out of her thoughts and said, "How about if we made three flavor rice balls? We can use different ingredients, and it'll be like having three rice balls in one!"
Yuki smiled and said, "That is a good idea, Honda-san."
As more students began volunteering ideas, Tohru drifted back into her thoughts. Yuki, who was being swamped with questions from confused students; glanced at her worriedly before answering as many questions as he possibly could before leaving for his student council meeting.
XoXoXoXoXoX
The next day found Tohru working at the rice ball stand, while Yuki, who had been coerced into wearing a dress by two senior girls, again, stood off to one side, admirers swarming around him. Tohru's face was blank and she worked mechanically, lost in her thoughts, at least until a blonde girl with blue eyes dressed in a lacey pink blouse and black jeans under a pink miniskirt came barreling toward her.
"Tohru!" the girl called, flinging her arms around Tohru's waist, sending the two crashing to the floor.
"Megumi-kun," Tohru gasped, "What are you doing here!"
"Sumeragi-sama was going to come himself, but he had an assignment, so I came!" Megumi laughed, as she and Tohru got back up. "But don't yell at me, because I didn't come here alone!"
"Megumi, you shouldn't run off on your own," a cool voice from the doorway said. Everyone turned to see a woman with waist length blue black hair pulled back into a high ponytail and green eyes, one of which was hidden beneath her bangs. She was dressed primly in a white blouse and a navy blue skirt, with a navy blue business jacket slung over one arm and a blue Armani purse on her shoulder.
Tohru's eyes widened. "Kotori!"
Yuki and Kyo approached the three and Yuki said, "Honda-san, who are these people?"
"I'm Megumi!" Megumi gushed, and pointed at Kotori who was guiding Tohru to a chair, and said, "That's Kotori. She and I are Tohru's cousins!"
Just then, Momiji, who was dressed in a pink shirt and brown shorts bounced onto Yuki's shoulders and said, "Yuki! You look like a girl."
Haru came into the room and said, "You got talked into wearing a dress again? You're too soft, Yuki."
Tohru and Kotori ignored what was happening, and instead, Tohru said in a slightly irritated voice, "Couldn't you find a better time for this?"
Kotori, who was measuring Tohru's heartbeat simply said, "We did. Take a deep breath. You know you can't get out of your monthly checkups."
Yuki looked away from the conversation he was having with Hatori, who was wearing a brownish-grey suit and at Tohru. "Monthly check up? Are you sick, Honda-san?"
"Aa," Kotori said calmly, "Tohru has a weak heart and her bronchial tubes are very sensitive. As a child, she would have violent asthma attacks that often ended with cardiac arrest." Kotori stood and put away her stethoscope and continued, "It's a condition that she's been gradually growing out of, but ever since she moved out of the main estate, there has always been a chance of a relapse, so we like to make sure, just in case." She studied Yuki and said, "Are you one of those Sohmas, Tohru's staying with?"
Yuki nodded and Kotori said, "Don't let her work to hard. If she overexerts herself, she'll have another attack, possibly more violent then the one that took place on the way to the train station Sunday."
"Please refrain from giving them heart attacks," Tohru murmured as she stood up, noticing the pale faces of the Sohmas around her.
"Aa," Kotori said, and turned away then paused and said, "Oh, by the way, Tohru?" Tohru glanced at her and Kotori said, "Stand over there please, and I'd like for you to answer a simple question." Tohru walked over to the window and Kotori said slowly and coolly, "What is the third letter of the alphabet?"
Tohru blinked. "C," she said as a flash of light went off. She blinked and stared at Kotori who lowered a camera.
She smiled dryly and placed a hand on Megumi's shoulder. "Like Megumi told you, Sumeragi-sama was going to come himself but couldn't, so he sent me. He also wanted me to take a picture of you while I was here." She steered Megumi out of the room and continued, "I'm sure that will be a very nice shot."
Tohru blinked and said, "Suddenly I feel like I've been through this before." She froze for a moment, head cocked to one side, and suddenly ran after Kotori yelling, "What do you mean, Subaru-sama wanted you to take a picture of me while you were here? Get back here Kotori! KKOOOOTTTTOOOOORRRRRIIIIIII!"
Yuki blinked. "That scene was familiar, only instead of it being us, it was Tohru." He glanced at Hatori and said, "How much are you willing to bet that we'll be meeting more Hondas from this point on?"
Hatori shook his head and said, "I don't even want to know."
As the onigiri booth from class 1-D was being taken apart and every thing was being cleaned up, the PA system beeped and a woman's voice said, "Yuki, Kyo, Haru, and Momiji Sohma please report to the conference room. Yuki, Kyo, Haru, and Momiji Sohma please report to the conference room."
The Sohmas exchanged surprised looks and left.
They opened the door to find Kotori standing at the window, facing out. She turns, taking the cigarette out of her mouth and expelled a stream of smoke and studied the boys for a while. Finally she reached into her pocket and extracted a folded piece of paper and tossed it toward the boys and said, "This is the directions to the Honda Estate. I would like to speak to you and any other Sohmas who have had contact with Tohru. You will come tomorrow at noon. Tohru is not to know of this, and you are not allowed to refuse my request. Do I make myself clear?"
Each of the boys nodded and Megumi popped up behind them. "Don't worry! I'll be there too, and I'll make sure Kotori doesn't bite your heads off!"
"Megumi," Kotori said warningly.
"Aww. Kotori!" Megumi cried, "I'd be scared to be around you too, if I were them. You're just plain terrifying and colder then ice."
"How…lovely," Kotori said, as she gripped Megumi's arm lightly and said, "Remember, tomorrow at noon, Honda Estate," and left.
The next day, Yuki, Shigure, Kyo, Momiji, Hatori, Haru, Ayame, Hiro, Kisa, Ritsu, and Akito stood in front of the ornately carved oaken double doors of the Honda Estate. The doors slowly swung open and Megumi dressed in her shikifuku trimmed with pink came out and bowed.
"Welcome to the Honda Estate. I am Honda Megumi, Honda Publicity Chairperson. I will be your guide today. Kotori-dono is expecting you, so please, follow me," she said, bowing once more before walking through the gates.
The Sohmas glanced nervously at each other and followed Megumi into the Estate. Slowly, the ornately carved doors swung shut behind them with a dull boom.
A/N: Ha! I'm done with the first chapter! Please, review! But don't flame me, this is my first Fruits Basket fic. Go press that little button at the bottom, go on, you can do it!