I do not own Fruits Basket or any other series referenced in this fanfiction.
Okami, the Vector Wolf, was in town buying groceries. Ever since she had become Akito's personal servant, she had been entitled to run countless errands to please her picky master. A few months have passed since the little wolf mysteriously appeared at Sohma house, but over that time, she had changed something deep within the family. Frankly, Akito wasn't so picky anymore. She was looking at the herb selection and selected the infamous ingredient in all of her meals—catnip.
Once she checked out, she walked out of the store and down the street. She remembered the very first time she walked down these streets. She had lived with Shigure; Yuki had forgotten his lunch and Okami wandered about the town looking for his school. Those days were mentally years ago; after a few incidents, Hanyuu, the Vector Goddess, had to create a time lapse to restart the world from a certain point in time—in context, it was three years before Okami had met the Sohmas. Okami still found them, like she always does, and became Akito's personal servant.
Whilst being served by someone who relentlessly cared about him, Akito reminisced about his past mistakes. With a final mental breakdown—a showdown against Fate itself—Akito and the Zodiac were able to sort out their differences. They were all happy, thanks to the wolf. Okami felt as if she was too close to paradise, yet one problem remained. When Okami got to the main estate, she made her way to Akito's quarters. She slid open the door to see Hatori talking with Akito. Judging by Akito's face, she figured it wasn't good news.
Akito was still sick, and dying. When he died, Okami died to. It was part of the awful curse that bound them together.
"I'm sorry," she apologized at once; she knew how disrespectful it was to walk in uninvited during one of Akito's many appointments. "I didn't know that you would be here today."
"It's alright; we were just finishing," Hatori said, rising to his feet. "We were just talking, but I'll be leaving now."
Okami moved so Hatori could walk out of the room, and looked back as Akito rose from his bed and sat by the patio door. Okami walked over to him and handed him a small carton of vanilla ice cream and a plastic spoon. He smirked at her as he took it. She grinned back and sat a few feet away from him, opening her own carton of vanilla ice cream.
"Thanks," Akito said. He took a bite of the frozen cream.
"Of course, Master," Okami replied. She took a much bigger, quicker bit of ice cream; since she literally had the appetite of a wolf, she tended to eat bigger portions in a shorter time than normal humans her size.
"I'm glad you remembered this," Akito said. Okami could tell by his tone that he was going to openly complain about something that she couldn't do anything about. "It's too hot today; it makes me sick."
"I understand," Okami said. "But the students at Kaibara High school are out for the weekend now. So I've decided to host a slumber party."
"In your small quarters?" Akito inquired, raising an eyebrow. He thought about the tiny room he had given her when she had begun her stay at Sohma House.
"No, actually, in here," Okami said nonchalantly, eating more of her ice cream. Akito was appalled once more at her nerve, but remembered how much he wanted to see some of his Zodiac again. He tried to tell himself that she often knew good decisions before she makes them, but his anger got the better of him.
"How dare you invite guests to my room," he muttered, resentfully licking the melting cream off the plastic spoon.
"Master Akito," she said, her ears turning backwards languidly as she lifted her head. "You said you wanted to see the Zodiac again, they haven't been over in a long time, I thought you'd like it if invited them." As she said this, her ears fell forward and she made an unhappy face towards her ice cream.
"I guess I did say that," Akito said. "And Hatori advised I start doing more normal things with them… You know, wolf, I give you too much freedom. I liked it better when you'd obey my every command and command only."
"But you like me a lot better now," Okami said, one of her amber eyes closing in a wolfish wink. Akito sighed.
"Who all is coming?" He wasn't upset anymore.
"I invited Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, Hatsuharu, Momiji, Kisa, Hiro, and Kagura," Okami said. Akito turned to stare at her with his mouth hanging open.
"Why did you invite so many people without telling me?" he interrogated, annoyed.
"I'm not even sure if everyone can come," Okami said. "So invited everyone I could."
"What do people do at… sleepovers?"
"Apparently, despite the name, they don't sleep," Okami said. "They stay up late, watch movies, eat fattening food that makes me sick, and talk to each other."
"Sounds… fun," Akito said, grinning to himself as he thought of the word. He turned back to his ice cream. They ate in silence until Okami set her empty carton down with a bang and gripped her head roughly. Akito looked up, startled by her sudden outburst, to see her curling up, whimpering in obvious pain. He set his ice cream down and rushed to her, putting his hands on either of her arms.
"Okami, what's wrong?" he asked.
"It's cold!" she squeaked.
"You idiot," Akito said. "You're not supposed to eat it that fast."
FB
Okami had figured few of the invited people would be able to come, but she was very wrong. The sun was setting when Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, Momiji, Haru, and Kagura showed up at once. When they got to Akito's room, they just awkwardly stood, with their pillows in hand, staring from one person to the next. Akito glared at Okami, to which she blushed bashfully and grinned in apology. Akito huffed irately and shoved her off the bed roughly.
"My dearest Kyo, I never knew that you'd be here!" Kagura cried to her "boyfriend."
"Ah—Kagura!" Kyo growled, his cat features showing as he tried to back as far away as possible.
"Tohru, I didn't know you were going to be here," Momiji said. "I knew that Okami invited you, but I never thought that Akito would let you come."
"I don't know why I even came," Hiro said. The sheep glanced around at their pathetic crew. "You said this was going to be exciting."
"Hiro... I think this is going to be fun," Kisa said in her quiet manner. The sheep looked away; he could never go against his sister's wishes.
"Why is she here?!" Kyo demanded, glaring at Kagura. It was clear that he did not want to be her boyfriend, let alone husband, but the boar was trying to hug him resiliently. "It's bad enough that Yuki has to be here, why does Kagura have to be here? I won't get any sleep at all!"
"I'm glad, it seems that we're all here," Tohru said, looking around at the others.
"I'm going to sleep next to you," Haru said to Yuki, holding a handful of his sleeve possessively.
"I missed you too, Haru," Yuki muttered sarcastically.
"It seems," Akito said, demanding all attention as he rose from his bed, "That there were more guests than I had originally anticipated." He gave a gentle smile. "Why don't we move our little party to the other room?"
The others nodded in their own expressions of eagerness and followed Akito down a few hallways. The three-walled room that they came to was Akito's other, less private room, where he spent a lot of time. It was a few feet bigger, thus it would fit all of the guests. They all stood in the center of the room for a moment.
"Now what?" Hiro asked dryly.
"In truth, I don't know," Akito admitted. "I've never hosted a sleep-over before. I guess we can discuss sleeping arrangements?"
Haru wordlessly wrapped his entire arm around Yuki possessively.
"Very subtle, Haru," Yuki said, glaring blankly at the cow.
"As long as it's away from her," Kyo barked as Kagura hugged him.
"Tohru, do you want to sleep by me?" Momiji asked.
"Uh, sure," Tohru said, smiling at the bunny.
"What?! No!" Kyo barked, punching the rabbit to the ground as Kagura clung to his back. "Stop being stupid!"
"Sissy, can I sleep beside you tonight?" Kisa asked. The tiger looked at Momiji. "You can sleep on her other side."
"Yay!" Momiji said, wrapping his arms around Kisa.
"This doesn't seem like a very special party," Hiro muttered to himself. "Maybe I'll see if they serve any snacks, then I'll leave."
"This might be a little harder than I thought," Okami said. The room was silent as Akito casually slapped the wolf across the face.
"It's your fault that they all came at once," he muttered. "You settle it."
"Okay," Okami said. She sat down on the ground and stared at her shocked company as Akito walked to the edge of the tatami floored room. "Akito will sleep here, I'll be on his left, and Yuki will be on his right, then Haru, then Momiji, then Tohru, then Kisa, Hiro, Kagura, and Kyo. Is that fair for everyone?"
"Yay!" Momiji cheered again, beginning to unroll his sleeping bag on the floor. Yuki and Tohru smiled cooperatively. Haru nodded as well, but kept a mysterious straight face as he began to get his things spread out. He didn't once let go of Yuki's sleeve. After a desperate look from Kisa, Hiro knelt on the ground with the others to get his things set up as well. Kyo was grateful when Kagura released him to put her sleeping bag and pillow in their loose circle. However, he realized that he'd be sleeping next to Okami. He didn't personally mind, but he didn't know the she-wolf very well. He felt as if the occasionally incompetent wolf could have chosen more comfortable grounds with Tohru, or Yuki, whom she saw as her "Nii-nii" or older brother. He didn't give much thought to it, though; in the end, everyone seemed pretty satisfied.
After setting up her own sleeping bag, Okami got to her feet and walked to where Akito was sitting with his feet over the edge of the ledge. She sat beside him awkwardly. She knew that he probably felt misplaced or a little uncomfortable in this situation; he hadn't had any friends within his Zodiac before the last New Year's Banquet.
"Why did you invite them?" Akito asked. "Why do you continue to do these things for me?"
"I want you and your Zodiac to be strong in each other," Okami said. Akito glanced at her.
"Why did you suddenly start talking so mature?" he asked.
"I just wanted to, I guess," Okami said. Akito could almost see her in wolf form as she gazed up at the darkening sky with a forlorn look in her eyes. "You have to count every happy day that you have; then you can look back on your life and smile. Even when it feels as if all hope is lost, I can still smile. I don't like pain, but whenever I feel pain, I go back and count every happy day I've had with you and the Sohmas. The number is so overwhelming, it just makes me smile. Do this for me?" Okami asked, smiling softly at him, cocking her head in his direction. Akito was surprised; she hadn't asked for anything in such an outright manner. "For your happy days, too?"
Akito nodded and got to his feet. They turned when they heard the riotous shouts of their guests. They both went inside and sat down in the loose circle of sleeping bags and pillows.
"So what are we going to do, anyway?" Kyo asked sullenly.
"I don't know," Okami admitted. "I thought that humans just talk at sleep overs. From what I hear, we're not supposed to sleep."
"Where did you hear that?" Tohru asked. "You sound like you weren't sure."
"You know those dopey girls at your school?"
"The Prince Yuki Fan Club?" Kyo asked.
"Well," Okami began, leaning back and staring off in the middle distance as a cheap animation reenacting the scene played over her head. "I talked to them about how to have social fun and they told me to throw a slumber party. They told me most humans would play dumb games and talk all night. Since humans don't necessarily have to run from danger like animals, I guess it makes sense, but I still don't get it. What's the point in 'Truth of Dare' or 'Spin the Bottle'?"
The others exchanged glances as Okami resumed her natural, wolf-like position. It was clear they didn't know what they were doing or what this wolf would allow them to do.
FB
It was past three o'clock in the morning, and everyone was asleep. They were all lying down in their own sleeping bags, gently illuminated by the dying lantern in the center of their circle. Akito stirred, reaching out unconsciously, and took a hold of Okami's collar, pulling her closer to him. She opened her eyes, startled awake by the sudden movement, to see Akito with one arm wrapping around her shoulders. She probably would have woken him up, but instead gazed once at his peaceful face before lying down again. It wasn't long after she fell asleep that Akito reached out again, this time grasping Yuki's waist and pulling him close. Yuki stirred, but complied; he was tired from what little had happened that week and didn't mind comforting his god in the first place. Haru, who had wrapped his arms around Yuki earlier that night, inched to the side with him.
Momiji was aroused by the sudden emptiness by his side and looked over at the cuddling bunch. Momiji smiled and wanted to cuddle with them too, so he grabbed Tohru's shoulders and dragged her a few feet over so that she could lie next to him as he snuggled up against Haru's side. Tohru murmured in her sleep and reached both arms out towards Kisa. She brought the little tiger against her chest possessively. Hiro subconsciously noticed this, and crawled to curl up next to his sister.
By now, the eight had formed a tight line to one side of their previous formation. Most blankets and pillows were being used by people that didn't originally own them. Kagura's eyes twitched and she opened her eyes. She raised her head enviously when she saw all of her friends nestling together and nudged Kyo awake.
"What do you want?" he whispered fiercely. Kagura pointed to the others.
"Let's cuddle with them," she suggested, smiling softly. Kyo frankly didn't want to be seen cuddling with his 'friends' and shook his head furiously. Kagura got a dark glint in her eye and elbowed him painfully in the ribs. "Cuddle with them," she growled. Kyo wordlessly nodded and scurried over to lie down next to Okami. Kagura followed him and they fell asleep once more.
FB
"Why are you visiting again?" Hatori asked Shigure as they walked down the hallway.
"Just checking on the kids, Ha'ri," Shigure chirped, smiling. Hatori glanced at him.
"Please, you wouldn't do anything nearly that responsible. But why did he have to come?" he looked past Shigure to Ayame. The snake was skipping after them merrily, possibly in his own world.
"It's been so long since I got to see Aya," Shigure said. "And since I was all alone last night, I decided to invite him over."
"Did he have to follow you here?" Hatori asked as he continued walking.
"Of course," Ayame said. "I was concerned for my baby brother just as much as Shigure was."
Hatori rolled his eyes. He paused at the open door at the end of the hallway. Looking through the six-inch wide crack, he saw Kagura, Kyo, Okami, Akito, Yuki, Haru, Momiji, Tohru, Kisa, and Hiro all curled up together in a tight, slightly bent line. Pillows and blankets were slightly scattered about the room, but a few managed to stay within the group. Hatori smiled, looking at the bunch fondly. Shigure and Ayame were too curious, and pushed to see through the door as well.
"Isn't that adorable?" Shigure asked, smiling as well. Ayame chuckled quietly.
"It seems like Okami has done it again," Hatori said. "I knew she could make them get along, but to do this…"
"I never thought that Yuki could say Akito's name without shuddering from fear," Shigure agreed, grinning to himself. "Our little wolf seems to have outdone Fate by proving me wrong. Imagine if this keeps up."
"Come on, you two," Hatori said, turning to walk down the hallway again. "They need their rest." The dog and the snake nodded to each other and began following Hatori quietly.
Heck, yeah! 'Nother chapter! I know I may seem annoying for writing so many stories, I'm sorry. I know this chapter is very simple, but… isn't that how all of my stories begin? I'm going to have at least one more "Kira" chapter before introducing the plot. But, if you've been thinking about it, you should already know what I'm going to do. Please continue reading. I hope you enjoy this story as much as the others. :D
So yeah, I'm back from my grandma's house. Actually, that fortnight break was what I desperately needed. When I finished "Vector Wolf II" I knew I had to make another book in the series, but I didn't know where to go. I tried many different themes, but none of them felt like they were in place with the question at hand: what happens when Akito dies this time? So, I've decided to write this. Despite the boring Higurashi Kira snuggle-party theme of the first chapter, I promise you that it will get very extreme over this book, but I won't reveal much.
If you're curious about some of my other, unexploited ideas, I've made another 'story' titled "Vector Wolf: Sketches and Outtakes." This will basically be a series of one-shots of scenes that I thought about putting in and never did. I would appreciate it if you would look into this story as well, but only if you want to, because otherwise that would be morally wrong and you shouldn't.
