God's Golden Angel/Duck
She was found as a baby, discarded and unwanted as trash. A Sohma maid found her and was allowed to keep her by Akira Sohma. After meeting her, Akira thought of her as an angel sent to be with Akito... after he was gone.
That Night
It was a dark night as the rain came pouring down. Lightning clasped in the sky and thunder roared. It was cold, as if snow or hail would fall from the sky at any second.
A woman in her late 20's walked under her umbrella with a small brown bag in her other arm. She wore a dark blue kimono with a yellow obi around her waist, her wooden shoes and white socks were soaked by the rain.
She continued to walk until she reached her destination, the Sohma main house. She'd been a maid there for a few years already. Although, working for the Sohmas, especially the ones inside, required a tight lip.
The Sohmas had a dark secret, 13 members of their family were cursed to transform into the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac plus a cat that had become a hideous monster. As well as their 'God' who bared the whole weight of the curse.
They would never let anyone outside the family or the estate know of the curse.
As she walked to the front gate of the Sohma estate she heard a faint cry.
"Huh, what was that?"
Stopping, she tried to hear it again, or see if it was her imagination.
Lightning and thunder roared in the sky, the woman faintly heard the cry of a baby. That would probably be impossible, as the only baby presently in the estate was the heir to the Sohma family and God of the Zodiac, Akito Sohma, born only a few weeks ago.
"Where is that coming from?"
The walls were 3 feet thick concrete and she wasn't even close to the main house.
Another flash of lightning showed her that there was a bundle of rags on the side of the street, where full garbage bags were piled where the crying seemed to be coming from.
"It couldn't be. Out here?"
Shocked, the woman ran out to investigate, if the bundle was what she thought it was she'd take it to Dr. Sohma to check it's health.
As she reached the bundle her suspicions were correct, much to her horror.
"It is! It's a baby!"
The dirty and torn rags were wrapped around a baby, no older than a few weeks or even a few days old. It was crying as the rain soaked it's only form of warmth and protection.
She shifted the bag to hold it under the arm holding the umbrella, holding that out to protect the baby from the needle feel of the rain.
Examining it herself, she could tell that the baby was not at all loved. If it was not obvious from it's being alone, crying, and out in the cold hard rain. The dirty ripped rags around it looked as if they were meant to suffocate the poor thing.
They did not do their job as the baby only sniffed after having no rain fall on it anymore.
The woman carefully picked up the baby, trying not to drop her umbrella and the paper bag. She felt the cold wet rags as they soaked the front of her kimono.
"Let's get you to Sohma-sensei."
Looking down on it sadly, the woman noticed that the baby seemed to be running a fever. Panicking with worry for the baby she rushed to Dr. Sohma's office, hoping he would be there.
Dr. Sohma's Office
Dr. Sohma was just putting away his equipment as he finished his check up on the sickly head of the family, Akira Sohma. His health was very bad and he worried for the newborn heir, the new God of the Sohma Zodiac, Akito.
Since Akito's mother refused to care for her own child, the heir was left in his care.
A hurried knock came from the door of his office. He wondered who it could be at this time, and in this rain. As he opened the door he saw a maid from the main house, she held a brown bag and some dirty rags.
He looked at her questionably, as she had a panicked look on her face.
"It's a baby."
She lifted the baby in the rags, to catch the doctor's eye.
His eyes widened as he looked at the red-faced baby in the dirty rags. Taking in a quick diagnostic, he saw that the baby's life was almost up.
"This way." he told her and led her to another room for the staff of the Sohma family. Away from a peacefully sleeping Akira and Akito.
He opened a door to a room that had equipment equal the finest hospital. He motioned for the maid to place the baby in a medical cradle in the middle of the room.
He came forth with a few pieces of equipment to check the baby. Grabbing a small pair of scissors he cut away the rags that were tied to suffocate the baby.
Gasping as the doctor finished, the maid looked down at the baby in horror. Dr. Sohma held a deep frown; he could tell the baby was female because the rags had been the only thing the baby was wearing. So the baby was bare under the scratchy material, irritating her small, skinny body. All babies were chubby but this little girl seemed to weight only 3 pounds or so, dangerously underweight.
"Who would do this to a baby?" the maid asked horrified. She had not seen anything like this. Dr. Sohma did not speak as he treated the girl, hoping to save what little life she had.
A Few Years Later
"Ahiru!"
A maid called out into the Sohma gardens, looking for a sign of her adopted daughter.
It had been 4 years since she'd found the baby girl in the cold rain. She had survived with proper care and medication. DNA tests had been done to find her parents, but no matches were found in Japan. Maybe it was because her parents were foreigners, but who would go to another country to leave their baby to die?
They didn't bother after that and she was adopted by the maid who'd found her. Over the first few months, the baby was on a special diet, to help her gain some weight. The baby recovered and everything seemed to be in order with her development.
A rustle in the bushes came from her left side.
"Ahiru-chan?" she asked, turning to her left as the bushes rustled again. A patch of golden blond hair popped out of the bushes along with the soft round peach colored face of a 4 year old girl. Her round, sky blue eyes blinked, adjusting to the sunlight before smiling.
"Yes, mama?" the little girl asked as she wriggled out of the bushes, running toward her adopted mother.
The little girl wore a pink Sakura blossom kimono with a red sash tied at her waist and sandals on her feet. Her golden blond hair fell in waves around her waist. A pink hair tie kept some of her hair out of her face.
"Where were you?" the woman asked Ahiru as the little girl hugged her legs, looking up at her with sparkling blue eyes so full of life and energy. Her smile was contagious as the maid couldn't help but smile.
"I was just welcoming Tori-kun, Gure-kun, and Aya-kun home." Ahiru said happily as she looked up at her mother.
She looked at the girl surprised; it took 7 minutes to get from the gate to the main house, not 2.
"How did you- never mind." She was about to ask but she just shook her head. It was to be expected, what with the lack of children her age to play with; she had taken to exploring the compound and playing with some of the older children when they weren't in school. Now she knew her way around better than anyone, she knew how to get to places much quicker than any Sohma or maid. It was amazing display of brilliance for such a young child. That and how much energy she had.
"So what am I gonna learn today? Huh? Huh?" Ahiru asked as she bounced to keep up with the woman's pace with her shorter legs.
"I'm going to introduce you to Sohma-sama and Akito-san today." She looked down at the little gold and pink ball of energy. "But be respectful, like I taught you. Sohma-sama is the one who agreed to let you stay with me in his family's compound."
The little girl nodded. As they came to a paper sliding door, the girl's hyperness vanished and seemed to be replaced with that of a calm servant. Her face showed no expression.
The maid knocked before entering, also setting an example for the child.
"Come in." came a faint reply.
Slowly, she opened the door to reveal a Japanese style room. It was very large and the floor was composed of tatami mats, there were white walls that seemed gray with the lack of light. The only light was coming from the open door, which was open to the beautiful garden.
Inside the room were two people. One was a full grown man, barely in his 20's but sick enough to be 80. He had long brown hair and wore a black kimono under a white one, he had dark purple eyes making his skin shine like the moon. He was sitting on a bed, his hands in front of him, and white blankets over his legs.
Next to him was a small child, presumably male, and he looked to be around Ahiru's age. He had short dark hair and dark purple eyes. He wore a purple kimono that made him look just as pale as the man in front of them.
The maid bowed at the waist and the girl followed a little after, snapping out of her thoughts as she'd been studying the boy. She had never seen him before, and she knew a lot of Sohmas in the compound, even Akito's mother, Ren. It amazed her that she had never seen this boy, not even once in her life.
They straightened up as the maid push her daughter in front of her. Introducing her to the two Sohmas. "Sohma-sama. Akito-sama. This is my daughter, Ahiru Arima."
Ahiru stiffened as two sets of dark purple eyes landed on her small form. She bowed respectfully to them both, flawlessly, like she was taught.
"It is an honor to finally meet you Sohma-sama. Akito-sama." She said softly as she straitened up. She quickly looked at Akira in the eyes before they darted down to the floor.
Akira smiled fondly down at the little girl, looking sheepish from looking him in the eye. From that short instant Akira could see the liveliness and energy she had. He looked down at his son, who watched her with curiosity and amazement. Akito hadn't seen another child his age before, either, always with his sickly father or alone. He didn't want that for Akito.
"Like wise, Ahiru-chan. You're such an adorable little girl, isn't she Akito?" Akira asked his son as he tilted his head to look at her from a different angle. His father didn't wait for his replay as he ruffled his hair.
"Ahiru-chan, why don't you take Akito go off and play somewhere."
Akito looked at his father with worry and surprise as Ahiru's face lit up.
"Ok!" Ahiru chirped out as she quickly came up to Akito and tugged gently on his arm to get up.
"Come on Aki-kun! Let's go play!" She asked Akito, as he stood up and stumbled as she pulled him out of the room. The confused face on his son made Akira smile as he let out a soft chuckle.
"I hope he'll be all right. Ahiru has so much energy she that she might hurt him." The maid said after the two children left, worry ached into her features as she bowed low to the Sohma head.
"Please forgive her for anything she might do Sohma-sama." She asked fearfully. She had gotten to attached to the little blond bundle that called her mama.
Akira just shook his head dismissively, with a smile still on his face.
"She is an angel, sent to look after Akito..."
His smile faded into a deep frown as he looked down at his frail body.
"Once I am gone."
Repost of one of my stories, next chapter will come next year. ^.^
Inspiration's for the story/Chapter:
Fruits Basket (Of course)
The story of The Ugly Duckling(Spoiler: Mostly because of the ugly duckling actually being a Sawn.)
Recycling (Weird right? But it makes sense once you read the last one.)
The phrase "One man's trash, is and other man's treasure." (Get it? Because Ahiru was found in the trash, and then Akira called her Akito's angel.)