Full Summary: "You're a freak," Ashi whispered. The rat squeaked. "You're a disgusting freak!"/Ashi Kizue is normal. Completely normal. She has a crush on Yuki Sohma and adores her best friend. She's never had anything weird or strange happen to her before. At least, nothing like her crush turning into a rat before her very eyes. Ashi hates freaks. And this boy-rat thing is the biggest freak of them all. She just wanted time with her crush and what she gets is worse.
Prompt: I just wanted to write a story about an OC who reacted badly to the Sohma curse because I've basically only found OC stories with the main character completely accepting their curse and it ticked me off to the nth degree. And thus Ashi Kizue was made.
Warnings: OCs, Sohmas chilling with said OCs, OCxOC Yuri
Disclaimer: Hahaha, I wish I owned Furuba. But alas, I do not. And I'm making no profit off of this. That would be weird if I was.
Remembering Friday
Ashi prided herself on being a normal teenager. She was seventeen, had a nine pm sharp curfew on school nights, had a group of close girlfriends, had a crush on the student council president like most girls at Kaibara High School did, had two loving parents who could be strict, and the only traumatic event in her life was when she was seven and her grandmother died in her sleep while visiting Ashi and her parents. It was safe to say she was normal.
That wasn't all Ashi prided herself on. She did take pride in her writing skills. She thought she was a good writer and her literature teacher thought so too. But that was really all Ashi was good at. She couldn't draw for anything (her friends often remarked that her drawings looked like a two year old drew them), her voice cracked when she sung, she tripped over her own feet when dancing (but that's not to say she didn't have fun dancing), and she didn't have the patience to learn any instruments. She wasn't a leader, either. Not like that Yuki Sohma. Yuki Sohma was Ashi's dream boy. He was smart, polite (Ashi heard that when he became student council president, he helped some students find their schedules), kind, and he was a real leader. Ashi admired Yuki from afar. Always from afar.
It was a Friday. A completely normal Friday where Ashi and her best friend, Nami, were walking to their homeroom class together. Their arms were linked and Ashi had her head resting on her taller friend's shoulder with Nami's head on her head. It was an awkward way to walk for a lot of people but Ashi and Nami had been friends since they could talk and they had perfected their way of walking years ago. That was how Ashi started out the day. She would walk to Nami's house and they would walk to school like this and walk to their homeroom like this.
Their homeroom teacher, Mayuko Shiraki, had long since learned to ignore how the girls walked and, when they entered the classroom, ignored their linked walking, greeting them back like she would any other student. Ashi and Nami walked to their seats that were one after the other. Ashi plopped down into her seat while Nami slid gracefully into it.
"So I was thinking," Nami said before turning around to lean over Ashi's desk, "we could skip out on gym and go get coffee." This last bit was said as a whisper. Ashi cast a glance around the classroom, pleased that no one was really paying attention to them.
"Sure," Ashi replied quietly with a smile. Nami clapped her hands together happily and quickly gave Ashi a hug, pulling away before anyone questioned why they were hugging. "You're unusually happy today, Nami-Chan."
Nami shook her head, her hair hitting her in the face with the force of her motions. "Not me, Ashi-Chan. You're imagining things. I'm always happy to be with Ashi-Chan, why should today be any different?" She smiled prettily at her best friend and Ashi laughed, shaking her head this time.
"You're right," Ashi admitted. "I'm just being weird today." Nami consolingly patted her hand.
"It's okay, Ashi-Chan. It's normal when Sohma-Kun isn't present." Nami had said this last bit so quietly that Ashi had almost missed it. Almost being the key word. She'd heard it well enough and a blush spread over her nose and cheeks, her gaze dropping to her desk. Ashi didn't like it when her brunette friend made a remark about Sohma-Kun because it was always obvious by her tone and the slight hardening of her eyes that Nami Tsuchikiko didn't like Yuki Sohma, not even as a person. Nami scoffed at the blush on Ashi's face and squeezed her hand. "It's okay, Ashi-Chan. You can like him." Nami gave the other brunette a smile.
Swallowing, Ashi looked up, smiling back when she saw Nami's smile. They hugged again, both smiling. Ashi gave Nami a quick squeeze to show her thanks and they slipped out of their hug. Nami twisted around in her seat so she was facing forward and Ashi smiled at the brunette's back. She was lucky to have such an understanding friend like Nami. After all, even though Nami didn't like Sohma-Kun, she was still supportive of Ashi when it came to the student council president. Ashi cast her gaze around the classroom, frowning to herself when she noted that Sohma-Kun still wasn't there. She noticed, as she waited for the bell to ring, that Kyo Sohma and Tohru Honda weren't there yet either. Maybe they would be coming a little bit later. Her thoughts seemed to bring the opposite at that moment, though, because moments after she thought that, the trio walked in the classroom.
They greeted the teacher who greeted them back and then Sohma-Kun turned, looking around for his seat. Ashi blushed and ducked her head, her pixie cut not doing the job of hiding her face from the Sohmas and Honda-San. Ashi closed her eyes and held her breath when she heard footsteps coming toward them.
"Good morning, Tsuchikiko-San, Kizue-San."
"Hn," came Nami's reply. Ashi looked up, staring with wide eyes at the teen standing between her and Nami's desks. He was smiling at her, his grey eyes sparkling.
"Good morning, Sohma-Kun," Ashi greeted, nodding politely at Kyo-San and Honda-San. Sohma-Kun smiled at her again and stepped past her desk, walking to his own. Kyo-San roughly bumped her shoulder and Honda-San smiled nervously at Ashi while the pixie haired girl rubbed her shoulder, frowning slightly at the rude treatment from the orange haired teen. Homeroom seemed to pass rather quickly and the bell rung, symbolizing the end of that class. Their class fell into quiet chatter when Mayuko-Sensei left the room to get their literature teacher.
Literature passed by easily for Ashi because writing was what she loved to do. She had to help a couple of students who weren't exactly grasping the concept of what they'd gone over but overall, it was a simple class. Science was next and Ashi struggled a bit as did Nami. The teacher had to have two other students who finished their work early help both girls. Following Science was English class which Ashi had a very hard time with. Luckily, Nami did well in English since her great grandma lived in Great Britain and didn't speak Japanese very well. There was a ten minute break for their homeroom after English. Math followed their English class and then there was lunch, followed by gym then their elective classes and then an hour study hall for those who needed it and school activities for those who didn't need study hall.
Math was Ashi's worst subject and Nami couldn't help because she wasn't in any shape to help Ashi with math. The teacher had pretty much given up on helping Ashi during class, making sure that the brunette went to the study hall class where she could properly tutor Ashi. During class, though, there wasn't much the teacher could do to help her.
"Nami-Chan!" Ashi exclaimed, shoving her worksheet at Nami. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Nami took Ashi's worksheet and scanned over it.
Laughing, she handed her friend the worksheet back, "Ashi-Chan, how did you get twelve for problem six?" Both brunettes peered at Ashi's paper, Nami laughing, Ashi staring in confusion. "Seriously, Ashi-Chan, I suck at math and I got thirty-two."
"What?" Ashi shouted, staring closely at her worksheet. Her arm shot up in the air as she stared at her paper. "Sensei!" she called, not bothering to look up to see what her sensei was doing.
"Kizue," Yumiki-Sensei said quickly, marching over to her student's desk. Ashi looked up at Yumiki-Sensei and pointed at problem six.
"It's twelve, isn't it?" she demanded. Yumiki-Sensei frowned, shaking her head.
"No," the sensei said easily. "It's not. It's not thirty-two either. Kizue, you show no skill in math and I have twenty-eight other students who need me. Can I pair you with another student to help you out for the day?"
The look in Ashi's dark brown eyes was like a kicked puppy staring at its owner in confusion. "But Sensei…"
"Kizue. It's just for today, alright? Unless you show to be this bad Monday. I'll help you in study hall but now, I just need you to work with someone, okay?"
Despite the pout on her face, Ashi nodded slowly. "F-Fine," she stuttered out, glaring down at her paper. Yumiki-Sensei sighed in relief and turned her back on Ashi momentarily.
"Sohma!" she shouted. "No, not you, the other one. Yeah, you. Are you done with your work? Would you mind helping Kizue here with hers? Grab a chair and sit then." Sensei turned back to Ashi and patted her head. "Sohma is great in math; he can help you."
Ashi blinked and looked up, startled when Yumiki-Sensei was replaced by Sohma-Kun. He smiled down at her and set his chair beside her desk. He dropped down gracefully and set his paper and pencil down on her table. They stared at each other for a moment, both looking very confused. When the purple haired teen cleared his throat, Ashi blushed and looked down at her paper that was lying dejectedly on her desk. She hastily picked it up and squinted at the problem she was stuck on before shoving her paper at the teen.
"It's twelve, right?" she said. "Nami-Chan and Yumiki-Sensei said it isn't but if it isn't, I'm not sure how to go about getting a different answer." She stared at Sohma-Kun intently, waiting for his answer. He read over the problem and her work before sighing.
"Kizue-San," he said, looking at her. "What method did you use to get this answer?" Ashi sighed and got her math notebook out. She flipped to the page labeled with that day's date and showed the teen her work. He looked over it. "Well," he began, frowning, "we have a lot to do." He motioned her closer to him and they leaned over her worksheet. "Okay, we have to start with numbers in parenthesis first. It's a rule. There's an English rule for how to remember this but I noticed you were struggling in English class as well." Ashi smiled sheepishly.
"I'm not good at a lot of classes, Sohma-Kun," the brunette informed the other teen.
"I see," Sohma-Kun responded. "Well for now, let us just focus on math, alright?" Ashi merely nodded. "Alright. So, we have to take the numbers that are in parenthesis first. That would be this, here…"
Lunch came quickly and bore a happy Ashi. She'd gotten her whole worksheet done in class, thanks to Sohma-Kun's help. It was the first time she wasn't required to take it home and finish it. Of course, she was still taking it home to review it and then turn it in the following day. For lunch, Ashi and Nami left campus, mainly so they wouldn't have to leave campus after lunch to get some coffee and get out of gym. It was the easiest choice.
The girls decided on a sushi shop not far from Kaibara but far enough that they could leave and get coffee without one of the security guards catching them. Ashi treated them to lunch and they found a booth to sit in. Nami ordered some tea while Ashi ordered water. Their lunch hour seemed to breeze by quickly, especially considering the fact that Nami seemed to be a bit peeved with Ashi, causing them to not talk much over lunch. It wasn't until they had their coffee (which Nami paid for) that they spoke.
"I bet you liked working with Sohma-Kun, didn't you?" Nami asked. There was nothing in her tone to suggest she was being mean but Ashi got the feel that Nami was trying to be mean to her.
With a shrug, Ashi said, "He helped me get my worksheet done. I'm really happy about that. Sohma-Kun was really nice about it. He went over things as many times as I needed. I really am stupid, I guess." Nami stared at Ashi in shock, her jaw on the floor. Ashi glanced at her friend. "What? Is there something on my face?" Ashi rubbed at her face.
At Ashi's question, Nami shook her head. "Ashi-Chan isn't stupid!" Nami stated in a louder than normal tone. She linked her arm through Ashi's. "Ashi-Chan is very smart. She's the best writer in class and she's the best speaker too." Ashi peered up at her friend innocently, taking a drink of her coffee.
"You think so, Nami-Chan?" Ashi asked uncertainly. Nami nodded her head rapidly and Ashi laughed. "Well, if Nami-Chan says so, then it's got to be true. You're my best friend and you wouldn't lie to me." Nami only smiled.
The next hour was spent with Nami and Ashi just talking about everything except Yuki Sohma. Something about Nami's demeanor told Ashi to just not bring up her crush. It would probably ruin the mood between the two girls. The hour seemed to fly by and before it seemed logical, the girls were walking back to the school. They waited until the bell rang before slipping onto the campus. They easily blended in with the students leaving their classes.
"Meet me in study hall, okay Nami-Chan?" Ashi asked as they got closer to her elective, writing. Nami took art as her elective and that was down the hall, closer to the front of the school.
"Sounds good," Nami agreed. They hugged briefly and Nami waited until Ashi was in her classroom before going off to her own.
Elective classes were mixed. Ashi counted three first years and two second years in her class, thirteen third years making up the rest of their class. There were already three other students in the classroom when the third year entered. She greeted the class sensei, Ichisuke Naziko. He smiled up at her and greeted her back before returning his attention to the binder in his hands. Ashi smiled at Naziko-Sensei and bounded off to her seat, sitting next to the blond boy she'd been assigned next to at the beginning of the year.
"Hi Ashi-Chan!" the blond said cheerfully. Ashi set her bag on the desk and smiled to him.
"Good afternoon, Momiji-Kun," she greeted, turning her attention to her bag. She dug through it until she found her writing journal and her pencil. She set both of them in front of her and set her bag under the table. She flipped through the journal until she found the spot she left open for that day. She dated the page and set her pencil as a page marker, snapping the journal closed. Class started shortly after. They were covering memoirs and their homework was to write a memoir and turn it in on Tuesday. Their classwork was to draft ideas for a memoir.
"What are you going to write yours on, Ashi-Chan?" a voice whispered next to her. The brunette looked over to her left at Momiji-Kun.
"I think I'm going to try and write it about my grandmother's death," Ashi replied in a whisper. "What about you, Momiji-Kun?" she looked away from him and circled the idea that was of her grandmother's death.
"I was thinking about writing it about the first time I met my baby sister," Momiji-Kun said softly. Ashi glanced at him in surprise –she hadn't known Momiji-Kun had a sister.
"Your sister?" she murmured back. "Well, I say go for it! It will be good, Momiji-Kun, I'm sure!" They exchanged smiles and both teens went back to writing. Class ended slowly but Ashi didn't really notice the time ticking away. She was lost in her writing, her hand almost flying up and down the page. When the bell rang, it startled the brunette into jumping. Beside her, Momiji-Kun giggled. Ashi blushed and gave him a smile as she packed up her work.
She stood up and pushed her chair in, glancing at the clock. She knew what time it was, like always, but she also always checked the clock. She waved to Momiji-Kun and Naziko-Sensei before slipping out, taking quick steps to her homeroom where she went for study hall. She slipped into the classroom and greeted Mayuko-Sensei before looking around for Nami-Chan. She didn't see her friend but she did see the two Sohmas and Honda-San. Just as Ashi went to ask if Mayuko knew where her friend was, her eyes were covered.
"Guess who!" a voice said. Ashi put her hands over the things covering her eyes, not surprised to find hands.
"Is it… Naziko-Sensei?" she asked teasingly.
The person covering her eyes sighed. "Try again, Ashi-Chan."
"NAMI-CHAN!" Ashi shouted, laughing as she did. Her eyes were uncovered and she was spun around and pulled into a hug.
"How ever did Ashi-Chan know it was me?" Nami teased, letting her shorter friend go. They smiled at each other.
"Eh-hem," Mayuko said. "I appreciate a good yuri comedy as much as the next person but you're standing in the door way, Kizue, Tsuchikiko." Nami laughed and Ashi blushed and looked away from Nami. "Oh, please, the denials are killing me," Mayuko said dryly.
"Yeah Ashi-Chan," Nami teased, poking Ashi in the chest. The pixie haired girl looked up, looking between the leering teacher and her leering friend helplessly.
"B-B-But I-I don't, I don't e-even-"
"Listen to her stutter, Mayu-Chan-Sensei," Nami stage whispered to their teacher. The two leering females laughed and Nami twirled Ashi around and pushed the stuttering and blushing brunette to their seats so they could begin their study hall period. Nami ruffled her friend's hair and leaned forward. "Ashi-Chan didn't deny it," Nami stated, her tone obviously confused. Ashi stared at her friend with wide eyes. "Does Ashi-Chan like Nami-Chan?" Nami teased. Ashi covered her mouth, her face burning red as well as some of her neck. "Ne, Ashi-Chan?"
Ashi stuttered out from behind her hand, her words not coherent. Sighing, Nami pulled Ashi's hands away from her face and held them in her own. "N-N-Nami-Chan, wh-where is all of this c-coming f-f-f-f-from?" Ashi exclaimed.
"From your head, probably," Nami remarked. "Now answer the question."
"NO!" Ashi shouted, pulling her hands away from Nami. "I-I like Nami-Chan. B-but not… not like that." Nami smiled and clapped Ashi on the shoulder.
"Liar."
Face flaming with embarrassment, Ashi sat in her seat, looking around. They were being stared at. Some of the boys in the study hall were smirking at her while others looked on sympathetically. Sohma-Kun was one looking on sympathetically. He said something to his friends and came over to where Ashi was sitting. He crouched down and rested his chin on her desk.
"Kizue-San," he began, "are you okay?"
Ashi closed her eyes and, when she reopened them, looked toward Nami who was watching them carefully. The brunette looked back to Sohma-Kun. "J-Just a little confused, Sohma-Kun," she admitted. "Thank you for asking."
When Sohma-Kun rolled his eyes, Ashi blinking, wondering if she was seeing things. He spoke and his tone confirmed that no, she hadn't imagined him rolling his eyes. "You seem to be worse for the wear, Kizue-San," he informed her. "Would you like to join Honda-San, my cousin, and I for tea later to calm down? Don't deny that you need to calm down, Kizue-San, you look like you have a fever. And no, Tsuchikiko-San is not invited, I apologize."
Ashi looked back to Nami who huffed and turned around. "B-But she's Nami-Chan," Ashi protested weakly, looking over at Sohma-Kun. "Nami-Chan and I go everywhere together…"
"Go with them," Nami's voice said. Ashi looked toward her friend, startled by her words. Nami wasn't facing them but Ashi could guess that she was scowling.
"O-Okay…" Turning back to Sohma-Kun, Ashi said, "I'll go with you then, Sohma-Kun." He nodded, stood, and walked back over to Honda-San and Kyo-San.
To say that Ashi was nervous to be walking with Sohma-Kun, Kyo-San, and Honda-San would be an understatement. She was downright panicky. However, looking at her, it would be hard to tell how nervous she was. Her face was broken out into a smile as she told Honda-San about her writing while Kyo-San and Sohma-Kun listened as well.
"Do you have any finished novels, Kizue-San?" Honda-San asked gently.
Ashi laughed shyly. "Yep, I do," she answered. "It's called Laugh With Me. It's about a girl who has Autism and has trouble fitting in but a teacher decides to try and befriend her. I asked my Nami-Chan to read it."
Honda-San nodded, seeming interested. "What did she have to say about it, Kizue-San?"
"She said 'Ashi-Chan is a great writer. I loved this book, Ashi-Chan! Ashi-Chan should get it published. She would be rich!'" Ashi smiled faintly at the memory.
"Oh!" Honda-San exclaimed. "Do you think I can read it?"
Nodding, Ashi said, "Well of course. I don't know how well you would like it. I would have to stop at my house to get it. We can stop on our way back, if you want?" Honda-San nodded.
"So," a new voice chimed in. Ashi looked back to the boys, smiling to show she heard. It was Kyo-San who spoke. "Who, exactly, is Nami? I saw the chick, she seemed really up in your space, Ashi."
"Kyo-Kun!" Honda-San admonished. "Be polite!" Kyo rolled his eyes and looked at Ashi expectantly.
"Nami-Chan is Nami-Chan," Ashi explained. "She's my best friend. I've known her since I was about two, my mom said. All I remember is that it's always been Ashi and Nami." She smiled a bit. "I can't imagine life without her."
"So do you like her?" he asked. Ashi spun around and stared at Kyo-San for a moment. "Well?" he snapped.
"Why the hell do you care, Kyo?" she asked, showing him the same courtesy he showed her. "It's not any of your business who I do or do not like. Maybe I like Nami-Chan, maybe I don't! I don't see why it's your business."
"It was just a fucking question!" Kyo shouted.
"Kyo-Kun-"
"It was a rude question," Ashi shot back. "You have no reason being nosy and no reason being in my business."
"Fine!" Kyo snapped. "I will not try to be friends with you, bitch."
"You have got to be kidding!" Ashi scoffed.
"Kyo, Kizue-San." Both mentioned parties looked toward the speaker. Sohma-Kun wore an exhausted and slightly annoyed look on his face. "Please, let's not fight. Perhaps we should have tea another day." Kyo scoffed and Ashi snorted, both looking away from each other. "I will take that as agreement. Honda-San, do you still want to borrow Kizue-San's book?"
Ashi looked over at Honda-San curiously, smiling when the other brunette clapped her hands together. "Oh, yes I would love to!" Ashi smiled a bit at the other girl and looked around, trying to gauge which way was best to take to get to her house. She hummed for a moment and nodded, motioning the other three teens off toward her house. No one spoke the whole way there but Kyo and Ashi put both Sohma-Kun and Honda-San between them to be farther away from each other. Honda-San nervously glanced between the brunette and orangette as they walked at a rather quick pace.
The walk was about twenty minutes but with the awkward atmosphere, it seemed to drone on ridiculously. When they reached the block that Ashi lived on, her face broke out into a grin and she walked quickly to her house. She flung open the door and stepped in, kicking off her shoes.
"MOM!" she shouted as she set her shoes properly against the wall. "ANI!"
"You didn't mention a sibling, Kizue-San," Honda-San spoke up. Ashi looked over her shoulder with a grin on her face.
"Take your shoes off. You might be here a while if I know my mother," she said before turning and stepping into the house. "Ani! Where are you? Mom? Where's Ani?"
"He's in here, sweetie. We're just making treatsies for you and for your daddy," Ashi heard her mother say.
"Can you make a little extras? I've brought friends," Ashi called. She looked back toward Kyo, Sohma-Kun, and Honda-San and motioned them after her before trekking off toward the kitchen. Once in the doorway she dropped to her knees and clapped her hands together. "Ani, come here boy, come here!" There was a bark and then Ashi was tackled backward by a very large dog that then proceeded to lick her face. "H-Hi Ani!" she gasped, pushing the St. Bernard off of her. She took Sohma-Kun's offered hand and pulled herself up before wiping her face. "I don't have siblings," Ashi explained as she wiped her cheek. "I have a dog. His name is Ani."
"Annie?" Kyo snapped. "That's not a normal name. It sounds girly." Ashi sighed.
"Ani, A-N-I. Short for Anakin. Daddy is a geek and he travels around the world on vacations so I can go." Ashi laughed and leaned down to pet the dog. "Isn't he the cutest? I love dogs. They're my favourite animal." She ruffled Ani's ears. "Isn't that right, Mr. Floppy Dog?" Ani barked, casuing Ashi to laugh. The brunette stood up straight and motioned toward the table in the kitchen. "Wait here, okay? I'm going to go get my book."
Ashi turned and left out one of the doors of the kitchen, hearing her mother introduce herself before Ashi left the floor, going up the stairs to her room. She left the door open in case her mom or one of the others needed her. The brunette looked around her room, her eyes flickering everywhere as she wondered where her book was. After a moment's thought, Ashi began looking through her drawers, emptying them out then refilling them haphazardly. She checked her closet next, not finding it. The last place she figured it would be was her desk. Ashi checked over that and grinned triumphantly when she found it. She hugged the book and turned, walking to her door. She shut it firmly behind her and made her way to the stairs. As she was about to descend, she noticed that she wasn't alone on the stairs.
Brows arched in confusion, Ashi breathed, "Sohma-Kun?" From the bottom of the stairs, the purple haired teen smiled up at her.
"Kizue-San," he replied. "I merely wanted to catch you alone to apologize for my cousin. He's socially awkward-"
"Tell me about it," Ashi muttered.
"-and he gets nosy when he thinks he needs to make friends," Sohma-Kun continued as if she hadn't said anything. "He assumed since I invited you out to tea that he had to become your friend to make Honda-San happy."
Ashi frowned. "Make Honda-San happy?" she repeated. "That doesn't make any sense," she admitted. "But, I suppose it is none of my business, so don't you worry with the details. Thank you for apologizing, Sohma-Kun. I'll be sure to forgive him." He laughed and nodded and stepped aside. Ashi took that as her cue to join him down there and took the stairs two at a time down. It was at the last step that Ashi tripped up, her legs not entirely ready to stop jumping. She took a step too far and collided with the purple haired teen, their chests pressing against each other. It didn't help that her arms had instinctively wrapped around him to stop the fall.
Her fall was stopped but, as purple smoke erupted around the two of them, Ashi was beginning to think that the fall would have been the lesser of two evils. The brunette stumbled back, her dark green eyes wide in confusion and shock. The smoke seemed to take a while to clear but when it did, Sohma-Kun's clothes were cast on the floor as if he'd suddenly stripped down and run off. He might have. Ashi looked around, wondering where the teen could have gone.
"Kizue-San," someone called. That was Sohma-Kun's voice! Ashi looked around, still having no clue where he was or where the voice was coming from. "Kizue-San, in the clothes." Wait… What? Ashi looked down and almost shrieked. The only reason she didn't was… Well… She didn't exactly know why she didn't scream but she knew she should have. The girl stared down at the rat who had shoved aside the shirt he seemed to have been under. Wait, he? Why did she instantly give it a pronoun that wasn't 'it'? Geez, what was wrong with her?
"A-a rat," Ashi whispered before waving her book at it. "Shoo, shoo you foul creature! Shoo, and return Sohma-Kun, you hear?" She glowered at the rat. "Shoo, I said!"
The rat seemed to be shaking it's head at her. "Kizue-San," he said, "it's me. Yuki."
"What?" Ashi exclaimed, staring at the rat. "No! I'm going crazy. No, no, this is a dream, right? This has to be a dream. I bumped my head on the stairs when I fell and now I'm having this crazy dream."
"No, Kizue-San, you are not dreaming," the rat snapped. "It's me, Yuki Sohma, student council president at Kaibara High School. Okay?"
"Wh-what happened to you?" Ashi asked, dropping to her knees to stare at Sohma-Kun in rat form.
He sighed and muttered something to himself before looking at the girl in front of him. "The Sohma family is curse, Kizue-San. There are thirteen cursed animals. It has never happened before this generation, but there have been children born to the Sohma family, cursed by the Zodiac. Do you know the tale?" Ashi nodded slowly. "Good. Well, this generation, there are thirteen cursed people. As you can see, I am the rat. The way the curse works is that a cursed person transformed either when hugged by someone of the opposite gender or when they are ill and physically weak. Kyo is also cursed. He is the cat."
Ashi stood up and shook her head rapidly. "No," she whispered. "That's a lie! None of this is real! Stuff like this doesn't happen to normal people like me! This isn't happening. I hit my head, that's all." She looked down at the rat.
"I'm afraid it's all true, Kizue-San," he told her solemnly.
Ashi's hands tightly clutched the book she was carrying and she shook, staring at the vermin on the floor. It was true? How could it be true? How come she had never heard a thing of this before? Her knees gave out and she fell against the plus of the carpet. She continued to shake and stare at Soh- no, not Sohma-Kun, just Sohma. He didn't deserve her respect or kindness. He was a freak. A freak who shouldn't exists.
"You're a freak," Ashi whispered. The rat squeaked. "You're a disgusting freak!" she said, her voice rising. "What did I ever see in you? How could I not sense your freakishness?"
"K-Kizue-San!" Sohma exclaimed.
"You… All of you! Your whole family! What, is Honda-San God? Is that why you're always with her? You sick freaks! You should be-be, I don't know! Freaks like you should be locked up in cages!" Ashi didn't care at this point about keeping her voice down. "A cage would be perfect for you!" she shouted, covering her face. "You disgust me. I am sorry, Sohma, but you should leave. You need to leave now."
Silence fell in the hallway for what seemed like hours. Finally, Sohma spoke. "I am sorry you feel this way, Kizue-San. The transformation should wear off in a minute or two and then I will get Kyo and leave. Please do not say anything to Honda-San. She is not God. She is just a girl. Don't upset her."
Ashi shook her head and got up, going back upstairs. She dropped her novel onto her bed and dropped down next to it, holding her head in her hands. How could this have never gotten out? Maybe… Maybe they had a hitman to take out people who found out. Oh no. More people had to know about them being freaks. Ashi dug in one of her drawers on her bedside table and pulled out a notebook and a pen. Hastily, the brunette scrawled out all of the events that had happened. When she was done, she folded the pages up and wrote on a blank side Just In Case and set it under her alarm clock. She stood on shaky legs and walked back downstairs. Sohma was gone.
Quickly, the brunette walked to the kitchen and stepped inside quietly. She noticed the livid look on Kyo's face and the confused look on Honda-San's. Her mother smiled at her questioningly and Ashi mouthed 'later' at her. Her mom shrugged and went back to preparing snacks.
"Pardon us," Sohma's voice sounded. "But we must leave. Kizue-San, thank you for your hospitality. Thank you for inviting us over, Kizue." Ashi nodded tightly. "Come along Kyo, Honda-San." Ashi waited for the front door to shut before speaking.
"They're freaks, Mother," she whispered. "I saw it. I fell down the stairs and grabbed onto Sohma for support and he… He…" The tears fell and she shook her head. "He turned into a rat!"
"Ashi, that's impossible," her mother chided.
"I SAW IT!" Ashi screamed at her mother. The taller brunette woman looked over in confusion and mild alarm and nodded.
"Alright, sweetie," she said soothingly. "I… I can't say I believe you but I know you wouldn't lie. Just… Don't tell people or they'll think you're crazy."
Ashi stared at her mother, her jaw slack. Dano Kizue looked over at her daughter and smiled reassuringly but the teen only shook her head and stomped out of the room up to her bedroom.
The next day, there were visitors. Three of them there to see Ashi. Dano and her husband, Eijio, were dismissed curtly from the room, leaving Ashi with two strangers and Yuki Sohma.
"I take it you are Ashi Kizue?" the thinner boy with Sohma and his big friend said with a smile.
"Depends on who is asking," Ashi replied sweetly. The man's eyes narrowed and Ashi only continued to smile innocently at him.
"I am Akito Sohma, head of the Sohma clan," he said.
"I am Ashi Kizue. I don't have a fancy title." The brunette looked to the bigger man between Sohma and Akito.
"Hatori Sohma," he grunted. Ashi gave him a nod and looked toward the purple haired teen.
"What are you doing here?" she snapped at him. Sohma gave her a sad smile.
"Akito-Sama and I are here to make sure Hatori does his job right," he explained. Ashi raised a brow. "His job is to wipe your memory."
"Wipe… Wipe my memory?" Ashi repeated, her eyes going wide.
"Just of yesterday," Hatori informed her, moving over to sit in front of her on his knees. "I am terribly sorry, Kizue-San." He hesitated before bringing his hand to cover her eyes. "You have beautiful eyes, Kizue-San," he said in a gentle, kind tone and then Ashi's mind went blank.
Apparently, she had hit her head on Friday and had been feeling terrible afterwards and Saturday, Sohma and his family doctor came to visit her to make sure she was alright. A free checkup. During the checkup, her mother said she'd fallen asleep and Sohma-Sensei had deemed her well but in need of rest. On Sunday, she woke up and knew that everything that had been going on around her was a lie, whether her parents knew it or not. Under her alarm clock was a letter to everyone (it literally said 'dear everyone'). She'd read over it a few times and then thought about the innocent purple haired teen, a feeling of hatred washing over her at the mere thought of him. Someone, probably Sohma-Sensei, had tampered with her mind somehow. She wouldn't be surprised since her parents said he was a doctor. So they'd wiped her memories of the incident but didn't expect her to be smart about it. The question was, what should she do with the information? Nothing? Probably. After much deliberation, Ashi decided to just keep her distance from the Sohmas and Honda-San unless they approached her. Geez, why did she read this letter? Ashi sighed and walked quickly into the school, looking around for Nami. Nami hadn't been home when she went to meet up with her brunette friend.
Not seeing her in the halls, Ashi went to their homeroom class. She was glad, but a bit surprised, to see Nami sitting there alone, head on her desk. Ashi took a deep breath and greeted Mayuko-Sensei before walking over to Nami. Gently, Ashi got on her knees, her skirt fanning out around them on the ground. Ever so softly, Ashi touched her friend's shoulder.
"Nami-Chan," she murmured. Her friend didn't answer. "Nami-Chan," Ashi tried again, her tone firm. Nami grunted. Ashi closed her eyes and thought about what she was about to do. When she realized how much she was disgusted with the Sohmas, how much she hated them, she also realized that there had been feelings suppressed in her heart. Her infatuation with Yuki Sohma had eclipsed all other emotions, one emotion being what she needed to address now. "Ashi-Chan loves Nami-Chan," Ashi murmured in Nami's ear before standing up. She dusted herself off and looked around the classroom before looking down at Nami who had finally looked up.
"W-what?" Nami whispered.
"I love you, Nami-Chan," Ashi said simply.
"B-But I thought you… A-and Sohma…" Nami trailed off, staring at Ashi helplessly.
Ashi scoffed. "Ashi-Chan with that tool?" She rolled her eyes. "As if. I only want to be with Nami-Chan."
Nami's face lit up and she flung herself out of her seat, wrapping her arms around Ashi. "Ashi-Chan! Do you mean it?"
"Well, of course. Sohma is a tool."
"Not that!" Nami snapped. "How come you don't like Sohma anymore?"
Ashi looked up at Nami and laughed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Nami-Chan." Nami stared at her. "I… Can tell you if you come over. But I can bet you won't believe me."
"I'll try my best, Ashi-Chan," Nami stated before burying her face against Ashi's neck. Ashi laughed and hugged the taller girl close, casting her gaze around. She spotted Sohma giving her a sad look. However, when he saw her looking, he smiled a little at her. Quickly, Ashi looked away from his false smile and his sad gaze, instead looking back to Nami. "My Ashi-Chan," the brunette murmured, and Ashi smiled.