Zodiac Bounce

By: Badger Nin

Ok, like millions of other girls and some boys out there, when Furuba or Fruits Basket came out we all went ecstatic and had crushes and emotional times and thought that the reason we existed was to read and watch it. Ok I won't go THAT far but you get the picture. You all know about the Sohma family and its unique little curse, you know about prince Yuki Sohma and the others…but just how long has this particular family had this curse? How many generations went by before the curse was finally broken? I'm here to answer that, with my second fan fiction Zodiac Bounce; bouncing back a few generations to show you the heart of a young Sohma and the things she had to face in the family then.

Please laugh, feel sad and share my story with me.

Enjoy.

Ch.1: Wanting Out

"Ame….Ame Chan?" a teenage boy of around fifteen skipped upon the rocks in the front garden of the main house, his long black hair was coming undone from its pony tail and his bright green eyes searched the brush. He was looking for her again. Ame huddled in the upper branches of a cherry tree, wiping the naughty tears away from her pale cheeks that dare show themselves…she was too strong to cry.

She looked up from her arms when she didn't hear the boy's footsteps or his calling anymore and she sighed softly and began climbing down from the tree; shielding her blue grey eyes from the harsh summer sun.

"Oh, that Hitomi…always following me around…I hate it" she mumbled and then brushing off her jeans, yup, the ones with way too many holes in them and getting the leaves out of her short brown hair she made sure no one was around and tiptoed across the rocks that made a secret path across the stream that winded around the house…How she hated this time of year…the time when the Zodiac banquet took place and what's worse… they wanted Her to dance….Heeeeell no.

She sighed and managed to slip inside the storage shed without anyone seeing her… "Eh" she sighed and flopped down upon a big bag of rice which served her as a bed to sulk upon when she was forced to come to this loathsome place. A place no one in on the 'outside' knew about, a family who had long had a curse that they did not know about…the Zodiac curse that transformed twelve unlucky people into animals when hugged or very ill…and then came the sad fact…Ame Sohma was one of them.

Her mother didn't care where she went but just as long as her unlucky self was inside this wretched place she was content; for as Ame knew, she was barely a daughter to that woman, just a bother. Ame sighed and looked up at the sun dripping down through the cracks in the wooden ceiling, "damn" she grouched as she looked at the door she had barred shut for there were people running too and fro outside…probably trying to find her.

" hmnf" they can look as haaard as they like they are NOT going to make me wear that stupid costume and dance that stupid dance…and especially not in front of HIM!"

She crossed her arms, getting into another of her moods.

" In front of whom may I ask little Ame-Chan?" a silky voice whispered into her ear followed by a hand on her shoulder, in both cases making her jump at least two feet before skittering up and turning around, both her hands up in a defensive position.

" what the-" she stopped speaking and dropped her arms for sitting on a box a couple inches from where she had been laying was Kusanagi Sohma, the horse.

Ame flushed red with shame and shoved her hands in her pockets, if she had as much thrown a punch at him he would be sitting on her right now. "H-how did you-?" She cursed her voice for its betrayal. Kusanagi stood up still in his black work suit and stretched then looking down at the little sixteen year old in front of him he spoke "get in you mean?" he smiled, he always smiled…everything but his dark brown eyes…they did not smile. He pointed way in the back where behind a few boxes a back door showed. "Oh…I didn't know that was there" she mumbled. "Yes" he chuckled "so this is your famous hideout hmm? Nice place but you need to get some more furniture." He looked back at her over the rims of his glasses. "But enough with the jokes…." He held out his hand "there is a dance to perform…"

She took his hand, quite hesitantly of course and scuffed her shoes into the dirt ground as much as possible as she walked behind him, his hand slowly tightening its grip on her own… "Good" she thought and smirked at the back of his red haired head "I'm getting on his nerves." Kusanagi stopped after dragging her around the place and then ordered her to remain there only getting a grouchy face in return from her. He took off his shoes and sat quietly at the door in front of him until a faint voice beckoned him inside and he vanished through the slider. Even though she was one who would just run off at anytime she pleased a familiar aura from the other side of that door sent unpleasant shivers down her spine and forced her body to sit and wait until Kusanagi returned for she would rather see him than who she knew was lurking behind that thin paper door.

The head of the Sohma house…Mizuki Sohma.

Ame had started to doze off even with the sensation of 'evil lurks nearby' crawling all over her skin. "That's quite a feat Ame…you should be proud to be able to simply NAP in front of Mizuki-kun." Kusanagi's voice rang in her ears and she snapped instantly awake to his laughing and the mysterious golden eyes of Mizuki Sohma.

She blanched at the pale man sitting some feet behind Kusanagi, Handsome, yes…scary…defiantly yes.

" Ame Sohma" his voice shook " you make me stress myself over such matters as the Zodiac banquet…one of the most… no, the most important thing in the Sohma family" he stopped and encompassed her fear in his dark golden eyes and then he seemed to think for a moment, then he did something even creepier…he smiled.

The next thing Ame knew she woke up and a shot of pain rushed to her head and she opened her mouth "Oww!" she howled and put her hands up immediately and found half her face wrapped in gauze and blood on her shirt "Oook" she shook her head and only caused more pain so she laid her head back on the bed she had found herself in.

"Did I dream that up or what? Yeah but what about" she was halted mid thought as the door to the room opened and a handsome man (they all seem to be handsome men ) in a long white lab coat with cherry blossoms embroidered on it swept in to the room and looked at her. Ok, NOW she was spooked…Mizuki-kun must have done something to her for this…what time was it…what day? She looked up at the Sohma doctor and smiled her cheeks turning pink, but it wasn't that bad. Amou Sohma sat in the little black seat next to her bed…you know, the kind that only doctors can sit in that goes where ever you want it too? Yeah…Amou looked at her, his purple eyes smiling through his worried face; he ran one hand through his long, pre maturely white hair, his nervous habit.

She smiled and then turned her head to the side " so" she murmured, finding it kind of hard to talk legibly with a piece of cotton in her mouth…she spit it out.

"Who danced?"

Amou looked sad and made as if some of the bandages on her face needed cleaning…

"Sala did it…its ok though…" she said she would…he didn't force her to" she smiled through her bandages… "Oh…sweet Sala…that's good" Amou gingerly replaced the many bandages she had had upon her face with a simple clean bandage…super size, she sighed and he noticed it "uh…I'm sorry I didn't get to you in time…I didn't know what he was going to do" She turned one eye on him, the strange slit eyes that were almost as strange as Mizuki Sohma's own. "What do you mean Amou-kun? You couldn't have done anything if Mizuki did something to me, plus…" she turned her head again "at least I didn't obey him or anything."

He looked at her for a minute and then sighed deeply and got up "you would have lost that eye of yours if Kusanagi hadn't brought you as soon as he did. THAT got her attention and the eye that could see correctly nearly blazed with loathing "why would HE do anything for me?" Amou Sohma sighed and again sat down and ran a hand through his hair nervously "he's not such a bad person you know Ame…just misunderstood"

She snorted, yes she absolutely adored Amou and she talked to him every chance she could and also hated to hurt his feelings… but she just couldn't stand him when he stook up for that man.

She stayed silent through a huge amount of self control and he looked at her again "I'm sorry" she looked up at him again "what do you mean? Sorry?" she frowned and looked down at her hands "don't be stupid, you probably got yelled at just because I didn't want to dance." Amou smiled and then grabbing some colorful balls that he kept on a shelf nearby the jar of cotton and a little away from the hand lotion and the bottle of evil stingy stuff of which's name she couldn't begin to pronounce and then propping her up on two more pillows began to toss them in the air and juggle them all around in the air.

She laughed. When she had been little Amou had made her smile with this trick, it worked every time when she was sad or angry. That's what she loved about him…and now he had grown up from a school boy with a bag of tricks to a doctor with a bag of tricks and another of pricks. He amazed her with some of his old tricks and then made her take some medicine which immediately set her to sleep… "good" he thought, wiping his hands on a towel and going to make some miso soup for when she awoke, he had always taken it hard when she had gotten hurt, she was a wonderful if very testy girl and he loved her very much…but he knew he couldn't do anything but heal her injuries and hope she mended her ways in front of the head of the house…for, this was not her first visit like this.

She woke up and blinked a bit taking in her surroundings…a poser covered wall, a messy desk…home? She was again starting to think that it had all been another bad dream when she turned her head and simultaneously had a headache the size of Okinawa and saw a bowl of soup sitting on her bedside dresser with a note set on top of the plastic covering to keep it warm.

"Damn" she sighed and then getting up and changing her shirt she took the note and left the soup where it was.

She read the note in silence while she lounged in a bean bag near the living room window…her personal place. "Dear Hot head," it started…her lips curved into a smile "I hope you had a good sleep, I brought you home when you slept longer than I expected you to, I hope you don't mind. I stitched you up as best I could this time but need I ask again that you at least try not to piss Mizuki off please…For your health and my own?

Come and see me when your up and we can go together to see him and figure out this whole mess. Your mother called me and said she won't be able to come and see you today, she's very busy…I will pick you up from school ok?

Oh and by the way…Eat your soup!"

Amou

By the end of the letter she had been angry, sad and laughing her head off all at once.

She walked back in to her room and set the slip of paper back on her dresser and then as she was about to walk away she took a double take and snatched the soup, tore of the plastic, finding herself suddenly quite ravenous and downing the entire bowl in a matter of minutes. She paid Amou back this way, usually she didn't eat soup but for him she would…then remembering his circus tricks she laughed " that silly monkey"…yes Amou Sohma, another possessed by a vengeful spirit…the monkey san.

She would normally do a lot of things she didn't like to do if he performed tricks and smiled at her, but there was one thing she could never give to him…her resignation.

She looked up and then combing her fingers through her short hair something blazed in her blue grey eyes…heart, the heart that she had vowed no one would break.

Not even Mizuki Sohma.

She took the day off from scrounging around and hiding like a rat…well she wouldn't use 'rat' like that she thought as she remembered who it was who danced in her place at the Zodiac Banquet, Sala Sohma, rat Chan.

She pulled on a white tee and some overalls and did all the necessaries before going outside and shutting the door behind her. She locked her door and started down to the river where she could cross and go to town without being hassled as to where she was going, wouldn't want someone to accidentally bump into you or something! She rolled her eyes "as if" she sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets and began skipping over the stones.

"AME CHAAAAAN!" she froze and nearly fell into the creek as she spotted the grinning face of Hitomi Sohma up in a tree, no HER tree " damn" she spit as she regained her careful balance after some doing " what are you DOING here Hitomi?" she snarled, having absolutely no patience for he over obsessive and aggressive boy.

He just grinned wider " aw don't be like that!" he grinned and hung upside down from a branch " you know it's the weekend and I don't have any homework…so of course I would come and see how you've fared! I always have to worry about my little Ame"

That did it "she stomped over and kicked the tree until the leaves up top shook "Get down here right now, I'm gonna squish your kitty face into the ground!" she howled up at his surprised face and then was suddenly taken aback when he flushed and began wiping at his eyes, dropping down to the ground and then huddling by the tree's roots as if he would cry. She blinked " um…I…err" she sighed, he always got her this way, even if he was around her age he was still an obnoxious and still sensitive boy…who was just obsessed with her. She sighed "fine, fine," she sighed looking at someone near her age crying was just a little too harsh, even if it WAS him.

He immediately looked up with his bright green eyes sparkling "yes!" he grinned and hugged her tightly, she grimaced "no touchy please" He laughed and leaned against the tree "so, have you seen my brother lately?" he asked, pointing to the large bandage still on her right cheek, she winced, "yeah, unfortunately."

He looked up at the sky while she looked secretly at his face, his big brother was Mizuki and he shared a disturbing resemblance that made it creepy to be around him…but even if they were blood brothers they couldn't have been farther apart…Mizuki was born years before his little brother was, but when Hitomi was born and found to be possessed by the tiger, he was simply, forgotten…another pawn for him to play with.

She narrowed her eyes and took his silence as him giving her thinking time…they were all seemingly pawns to that man…she loved her family but she hated it…everything about it was just wrong, wrong, wrong…but no one could apparently see what she could…the bars of the cage that held them in to this place.

She knew she wanted out, she didn't want to live here anymore, wanted her own life, not one predestined to her. She looked at the sky and sighed clenching her fists, and if she did she wouldn't go alone…she promised herself…to break the zodiac curse.