I'm shocked at the feedback this story is getting. Especially for only having posted one chapter. I'll write it off as there not being a lot of stories in this category and you all just needing something new.
So yeah. Second chapter done. Shocker huh? I actually had most of this written out a couple of days ago, I guess I just thought I needed to look over it and add/take out things before I put it up. It'd up now and I think I have ideas for next chapter.
Oh my cheese people I planned to write this in a mostly-similar timeline as the Fruits Basket manga and went to see where I'm at now, but I'm only at chapter 10 next chapter! It sucks! This is going to take forever! Well I do plan on skimming through some things so I can pass the time better that way but still.
So, finally get the start of some IchiKyo this chapter! Huzzah! More an initial of Ichigo in Kyo, and Kyo reacting. In my opinion I think Ichigo is Bi at the least and possibly even solely gay(have you SEEN what he wears? His pants are WAY too tight for a straight guy) and I think Kyo is Bi at most. For those of you who are against my 'tearing apart' Kyo and Tohru, I'm making the romance happen BEFORE Kyo or Tohru even THINK about the other that way. So meh. I do what I want.
So yeah. Some start of romance in this chapter and Ichigo meets(sees) some more 'victims' of the Zodiac curse. He'll meet more later.
I don't care if I got the events mixed up! I haven't read Fruits Basket in over 4 years and am only going back to look over for things I can use or need to put in. Help me out if you wish, or not.
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. If I owned Bleach there would be gay sex and if I owned Fruits Basket? I'd be rich? And Akito would probably die, I hated her so much.
Ichigo had been taking a walk after dinner in the more populated area of the town when he caught sight of dark grey and long brown hair, he stepped aside as two drunk older men tottered into the familiar long brown haired girl, shoving her into the pretty boy with unnatural grey hair. He backed up and stepped into an alley as the boy disappeared in a cloud of smoke, a rat left in his place surrounded by his clothing.
Ichigo had known he was one of the humans with strange reiatsu and so wasn't surpised by the change, though he was curious as to why the girl wasn't shocked. She just apologized and scooped up the discarded clothing and started walking besides the rat down the street, talking softly.
Ichigo made sure there was sufficient space between them and started following, listening with his sharpened senses as the pair talked.
He followed them for a while, up until the boy changed back and the girl whipped away from the naked boy. He turned the opposite direction they were headed and quickened his pace to write down what he had heard for his report, ignoring the rain even when he was soaked to the skin. So they're the victims of some sort of curse, one that affects his family. He isn't normal and was kept separate for a period of time, because he turns into an animal? Those affected are called the Zodiac, maybe the members all turn into an animal of the Zodiac, but then why was the orange haired boy a cat… unless the curse is based on that legend… the Cat is not part of the Zodiac but related to them. He hurried his steps to write down all he had learned and guessed before he forgot it all.
I should try and make contact, to get more information before I send my report… With that decided he headed home for a hot shower and a writing session with a notebook.
Ichigo was rather enjoying his new post, which was infinitely less inhabited with Hollows than Karakura. Dealing with his new classmates was annoying but he dealt with them as he did everyone else, with a scowl and silence. It was working pretty well for him so far.
He hadn't seen much of the boys with unusual presences, mainly because they were in another class, but he had run into the girl who had been with them. Honda Tohru was her name; she was a sweet girl, almost too sweet. She reminded him of Yuzu, which was ironic because it was because of Yuzu he first spoke to her.
He had been sent to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner when he had literally run into her. Well, more like she ran into him. She had been moving rather quickly around a corner and they collided, he didn't even tilt back from the force, but she had been sent to the floor, practically bouncing off him. "Are you alright?" He leant down a bit to help her to her feet while she stuttered apologies.
"I-i-i-i-I'm so sorry! It was all my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going!" She burst out finally, only to be waved down.
"No harm done. Are you alright though? You fell down pretty hard." He gave her a small smile, which made her flush a bit; she clearly wasn't used to getting attention from boys.
"I'm fine! I'm very sturdy!" Ichigo sweat-dropped, that was an odd way to describe yourself.
"Alright then…" they got to discussing dinner plans, Ichigo learned Tohru was apparently a housekeeper of sorts, even though she was only a high school student.
When they parted ways Ichigo gave her a little wave, telling her he'd see her at school, they had a marathon where all the classes of the same year ran together, there was also the school festival coming up soon so he figured he's see her there.
Yuzu beamed at him once he gave her the ingredients she asked for, mildly scolding him for taking so long. She forgave him when he told her he ran into someone from his school, asking instead about "his new friend" he told her what he could, then went to the backyard to play soccer with Karin. She told him about how none of the kids at her new school could play soccer as well as her, and griped about "having to teach them everything". Ichigo chuckled at her, knowing full well Karin liked to teach others about the sport she loved. Dinner was a quiet thing, minus the usual outbursts from Isshin, which everyone ignored as usual.
The next morning at school was a flurry of activity, students rushing around last minute to prepare for the festival, Ichigo was just glad he got away with not having to do anything other than build the booth where his class was going to be selling sugar candy and doing a portion of the heavy lifting.
He wandered among the stalls, not looking for anything in particular but then felt something, two more strange reiatsu readings. He made his way towards them, just to see the grey haired boy, the Rat, get jumped on by a little blond boy. A foreigner? And was that a dress?
The orange haired boy with the brown haired girl seemed to recognize him and turned to greet a tall black haired man who seemed to be with the little boy. The feeling was coming from them; they must be members of the Zodiac as well.
Ichigo continued to watch, smothering a snicker when the orange haired boy gave the blonde boy a noogie for bothering him. The half German boy seemed to have the attention span of a squirrel, immediately turning to the girl and leaping into her arms to disappear into smoke. Are these people nuts? Changing in front of people?
The orange haired boy seemed to agree with him, gaping at the pale yellow and brown rabbit sitting on the girl's lap while she just looked shell shocked.
Ichigo turned to the sound of squealing, seeing the grey haired boy making a fake dramatic pose before shooting a look at the orange haired boy, telling them to escape while they had a chance. Once the pair was out of the auditorium with the rabbit in hand, the grey boy looked resigned with the girls now swarming him. The black haired man following them silently. Ichigo stayed put long enough to see the grey haired boy make his escape and followed him.
He could hear the bickering through the wall, vacating his post at the door when the black haired man left, camera in hand and a fuming orangette racing after him yelling. He was still in ear shot and so heard the warning for the girl to not be alone with Hatori, the black haired man Ichigo guessed since the boy looked truly harmless. Ichigo left silently, wondering just why the grey haired boy deemed the black haired man a possible danger, none of the Zodiac seemed to have very strong reiatsu as far as he could tell, something was probably different about this Hatori man, Ichigo would have to investigate it later.
School was noisy, students either excited or despairing about the marathon. Ichigo didn't care one way or another; he was confident in his stamina and would most likely finish first. He had always been athletic, becoming a shinigami only made him more so. He figured he'd join a sports team or two, since he wasn't going to be nearly as busy with his shinigami duties as he had before.
Ichigo stood with the rest of his class as he waited for the girls to start first, the boys set to start five minutes or so after them. He glanced over to see the orange haired boy yelling something at the grey haired boy while Tohru stood a bit away from them, looking worried.
He walked over, ignoring the stares of a fair number of the students around him, greeting the girl warmly, "hey Tohru. Long time no see eh?"
She spun around to face him, a bright smile on her face, not noticing that her two male friends had turned as well and were sizing up the newcomer, "Ah Kurosaki-kun! Nice to see you again!"
Ichigo chuckled a bit at the girl's enthusiasm, immediately responding, "Enough with the formality! Call me Ichigo, you know I dislike titles. How many times do I have to say it? I don't like being formal."
She giggled, making the boys behind her even more focused on the taller boy, "Okay, okay. Ichigo-kun then?" He nodded with a smirk, "How are you?"
"About to get this dumb marathon over with. We can leave when we finish so I'm gonna run through it so I can go home." He ignored the boys still eying him, knowing full well what they were watching him for. The grey haired boy was obviously protective of Tohru, not like that of a boyfriend though… The orange haired one looked put out from being ignored, and was staring at Ichigo with a challenge in his eyes.
Ichigo knew what they were seeing, six something feet tall of solid muscle, pale orange hair sticking up in spikes, chocolate brown eyes under thin brows and a sharp boned, yet undeniably handsome, face. He was wearing a black long sleeved shirt with a red fifteen on the left breast and red shorts. His shirt clung to his muscular torso, almost skin tight, and outlined all his built muscles. He had worn the long sleeve to try and hide some of the scars from his 'other job' but there were still some that could be seen from under his knee-length shorts. They were pale and faded, nothing too new to notice unless they were specifically searched for, but were still there. He hadn't gotten Inoue to heal his old scars before he left because he hadn't thought of it, but now he was regretting it a bit, not that he was ashamed of his scars, he just didn't want to deal with people's reactions to seeing them.
"Who the heck are you?" The other orange haired boy finally burst out, sick of being ignored.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him, not impressed with his attempt at bravado, "Kurosaki Ichigo. Transfer student. Judging from your hair I'm guessing you're Sohma Kyo, the other transfer. Nice to meet you." Ichigo already knew far more than most about his fellow ginger but he wasn't about to let him know that.
Kyo's eyes widened, apparently not expecting the taller ginger to know who he was, though the taller didn't actually seem to care but bristled when the newly introduced boy's eyes roamed over him just to settle in a small smirk, "What?"
Ichigo chuckled once, his voice a deep baritone, he definitely lived up to the stereotype of redheads being feisty, "You're pretty fiery aren't you?" His smirk widened when the darker ginger immediately flushed and his fists clenched. He turned back to Tohru, once again ignoring the boy, "Well I need to go, the run is starting soon, I need to stretch."
He walked over to an open place and began limbering up, knowing he wouldn't strain anything just from a little run but figuring it was a good way to be nearby to listen in without being obvious. He watched from the corner of his eyes as a girl with long braided black hair and matching fingernails talked to Tohru, they looked like friends. Ichigo knew the girl was one of Tohru's best friends and the rumored 'witch', able to send out what the gossipers in his class called 'waves'. The girls disliked her for protecting Tohru when they thought the sweet girl was trying to 'steal' the grey haired boy from them, which seemed odd to Ichigo since the boy showed no interest in dating.
Ichigo was curious about Hanajima and her so called abilities, she had slightly more reiatsu than most humans and might even be able to sense a bit of reiatsu which is what she most likely classified 'waves' and Ichigo was wondering if she would be able to pick up on his.
The girls took off and Ichigo was left with the boys, waiting for their turn. He watched Kyo and the grey haired boy bicker, one sided mainly on Kyo's side while the grey haired boy coughed lightly.
Finally it was the boys' turn and they all lined up at the starting point. Ichigo stood easily, limbs loose and ready for instant action, it was one of his fighting stances but he managed to smother the instincts that came with the posture, he didn't need to attack anyone who got too close or moved too suddenly.
A whistle was blown and Ichigo was off like a shot, sprinting away from the group of boys who stared slack-jawed as the tall boy gained a massive lead in seconds. Then Kyo and Yuki sprinted after him once they shook off their shock, running full speed after the boy quickly disappearing from view.
Kyo felt conflicted as to who he should be challenging, the tall ginger who was already gone or Yuki, who was keeping pace with him. He finally discarded the other transfer and focused on beating his rival, the new kid wasn't that great, he'd probably run out of steam soon and then he would overtake him.
Ichgio was perfectly relaxed as he ran, his long legs devouring the ground he passed over, not using any of his reiatsu amplified strength but still far faster than most humans. He knew Kyo and the Rat were racing each other and that they had no chance in beating him. Even if they did get a head start on him, which they didn't, Ichigo was far faster than any high school student and could keep this pace for hours if not days. Fighting in a war left him with monumental stamina, even without tapping into his reiatsu.
He sent out his senses to see how far behind the Zodiac boys were and was startled when he noticed another reading like the Cat and the Rat. He looked ahead and spotted Tohru talking to someone with white and black hair. Ichigo's initial thought was an old man, but then his keen eyes realized the person was a boy, maybe a few years younger than he was. He looked in Ichigo's direction and stood, crossing the path and tying something to a telephone pole before moving back to his previous spot. He pulled what Ichigo realized was a string tight as Ichigo was within yards, attempting to trip him, realizing too late that Ichigo wasn't who he thought he was.
Ichigo solved the boy's problem by leaping the trip-wire easily and continuing on, figuring he'd find out who the boy was later, he had a marathon to win.
As he was nearing the end of the run he could sense Kyo and the grey haired boy stop where the white and black haired boy and Tohru were. Ichigo snickered to himself at how sudden Kyo stopped just after he had gotten ahead of the Rat, the tripwire must have done its job. Kyo's and the stranger's reiatsu flared for a few minutes before it settled a bit before it turned away from the race path and left the area, heading for town.
Ichigo was mildly puzzled at this but put it out of his mind and focused on the run, racing past a fair number of the girls despite their five minute lead on the boys. They gaped at him as he surged past them and over the finish line, seeing a shell-shocked look on the gym teacher's face as the man looked down at his stopwatch before looking back at Ichigo.
Ichigo admitted to himself that he was curious about his time, it had been a while since he'd done a timed run and he wondered how much faster he was. Instead of approaching the teacher he walked to the locker rooms to get changed and head home, he had some people to investigate.
There done. I don't really have anything to say right now.
Oh wait! Next chapter is Tohru's visit to the main Sohma house. Which I plan on having Ichigo 'notice' and follow her. I may or may not have Ichigo see Akito, or vice versa. I'm thinking about it. Do you think Akito should notice him, and if so, notice anything odd/off about him(other than he's intruding)? Ichigo will most likely only notice she's female for one, and has a similar but different reiatsu than the Zodiac. Do you think Akito should be curious about him? Or even notice him at all? Or if Kureno should see Ichigo and react? How would you think Kureno would react? Should I have Ichigo run into Kureno on his way to watch Tohru? Should they talk? Should Ichigo let it slip that he knows Akito is female? And should Kureno tell Akito about Ichigo?
Tell me what you think. I enjoy having other people's opinions on things. Though writing out all those questions gives me more ideas and thoughts for the story. But I will take other people's thoughts and suggestions into mind even if I have something already written.
Reviews and suggestions please! They really are the main thing that get me to update faster. Chiao.
