I'm back! For now. I randomly got really pissed at not having anything new to read and that turned into a desire to write more of a story so I chose this one, since I felt like doing Bleach and wasn't in the mood for working on one of my other crossovers. Plus I haven't updated this in a while so I thought I should give all you loyal readers some new material.
Not sure when I'll have the next chapter done, sooner than the time it took me to update this chapter. I really had no ideas for this story, I wasn't not updating just to torment you all, I'm genuinely sorry.
Anyway! Chapter time! Hope you like it. It's my first time writing Uotani and Hanajima so I hope I did okay. And hopefully after next chapter it'll be mostly in chronological order Fruits Basket wise. I own nothing other than my unreliable weird ass soul.
Ichigo was taking a nice walk outside on his way to pick up groceries once again for Yuzu when he noticed the familiar figure of Tohru Honda. He wondered why she was in this part of town, since it was a ways from the supermarket and, he assumed, where she lived. Ichigo himself had not explored this area since it held the more condensed strange reiatsus than those of Kyo and the Rat. He had been meaning to check it out and decided now was as good a time as any.
He could read the 'Sohma' nameplate from where he was standing across the street in the shadow of a tree and watched perfectly still as Tohru seemed to waver in front of the gates. What is she doing here? And wouldn't this be where Kyo and the Rat live? Since they must be from the Sohma family? Why does she look so worried in the first place?
He cut his musings short as the blond Rabbit boy (Momiji according to Tohru) popped up from atop the gates, inviting Tohru to come with and disappearing into the compound.
Ichigo waited a few moments until Tohru entered through the doors before he followed, leaving the groceries in the branches of the tree he had hidden beneath and using a small amount of reiatsu in a miniscule flash step to land on the gate and another to move into some trees with barely a rustle of leaves to give him away.
He watched from the tree as the boy led Tohru deeper into the grounds, flash stepping into trees to keep them in sight while staying hidden.
He Stepped onto the roof of the building when Tohru followed the Rabbit inside. He could sense the reiatsu of the black haired man who had been at the school festival and strained his senses to catch what was being said.
Ichigo startled at the comment about erasing Tohru's memory, such a thing sounding impossible, but then, so was turning into an animal with physical contact. He listened aptly as the man, Hatori, spoke of the family being cursed and dark and to stay away from them. Ichigo scoffed at the idea of simply turning into animals being dark, compared to himself it was nothing, but felt a twinge of sympathy for the man after hearing what had become of his fiancé.
He did not know who this Akito person was, but he knew he already disliked them immensely; whatever kind of person would injure one of their own over such a menial thing did not deserve such loyalty. Ichigo assumed that Akito was someone important in the family, possibly even the head, not that Ichigo cared in particular how important he was.
He stilled as he felt yet another strange reiatsu close in, this one Tohru seemed to recognize as Shigure, but how did Tohru know all these people? What did Shigure mean if Tohru left? Left where? It almost sounded as if she was living with him, but they aren't related… he'd have to look more into it at a later date.
He Stepped away as Tohru was leaving with this Shigure man, getting a closer look at him once he settled into a dense tree. Shigure was tall, around his own height, black haired, and with an easy going face that hid a more serious nature. He reminded Ichigo a bit of Kyoraku, but nowhere near as powerful or knowledgeable.
Just as he was about to leave ahead of Tohru and her escort a new reiatsu caught his attention. It was different than those of the Zodiac, more powerful with a commanding feel to it. He swung his head around as he landed on a roof opposite the source, sunk close to the tiles as a tall tree shaded him.
The source was a black haired man, likely no older than mid twenties but Ichigo wouldn't even guess he was that old. Most likely twenty two or so. He reached out with his reiatsu again and corrected himself; the person was a woman but was rather well disguised. Why would she pose as a man? Are women looked down on in this family? Is she one of the Zodiac? No, her reiatsu's similar but different…. Who is she?
He straightened slightly and the woman's black eyes caught his for a moment, eyes widening in slight surprise just before Ichigo shot away in a flash step, appearing to have teleported in an instant. He had work to do, and the groceries wouldn't make their way to Yuzu themselves.
He had finally gotten the chance to explore the woods nearby and he was pretty pleased, there were a couple of clearings big enough for him to do minor work outs, of course he wouldn't be able to do anything more than basic motions unless he wanted to seriously damage his surroundings so he was laying off using Zangetsu unless he could help it, but he could at least practice his rusty skills in Karate and sword motions.
He paused as he entered a clearing somewhat deeper in the woods, seeing semi-recent signs of residency; a smooth square space for a tent and a hole for a fire pit. He reached out with his reiatsu senses to see if anyone was still nearby that he might have to avoid and paused, he felt several of those Zodiac's reiatsu nearby. He sensed three familiar ones, the Rat, Kyo, and that Shigure man from the Sohma compound, but also sensed another female Zodiac presence.
He slipped into the trees using Shunpo to make cause as little notice as possible just in case and made his way closer to the reiatsus. He stopped a ways away from the medium sized house set in the middle of the woods and strained his hearing to find out who was inside.
He was surprised to hear Tohru's voice, not expecting to hear her along with the three other confirmed Zodiacs, and clearly another girl. It was hard to miss the other girl with the volume she was arguing with Kyo at, she seemed to think she was in a relationship with him and he was denying it with all his might, something that irritated Ichigo. He disliked it when people forced their feelings on others and wouldn't let them deny anything even when their feelings were not reciprocated.
He managed to get her name, Kagura, and the information that she was older than Kyo and the Rat, and that apparently Zodiacs could hug other Zodiacs without turning into animals, which interested Ichigo. Seems like this curse is either a way to directly or indirectly force inbreeding in the family. That's got to be fun. Ichigo had decided that he didn't much like this Kagura girl, despite never having met her or seen her even, when said girl crashed through the wall and straight into the delivery boy on the other side.
Ichigo couldn't restrain a wince for the strength of the collision even as the dark brown haired girl disappeared in a poof of smoke, only to reappear as a small boar. So I've seen the Cat, Rat, Rabbit, Boar, and two others. Three others, he corrected himself after remembering about the white haired boy from the marathon, though with that coloring the options for his animal were pretty limited.
He stuck around as the Rat apprehended the boy, most likely to get his memories erased, and the small boar managed to beat up on Kyo before turning back and finally leaving. Ichigo could tell the girl got on Kyo's nerves and sympathized with the shorter boy, figuring it was no wonder he had a temper, he certainly had enough things to cause it. He shot one last lingering look at his fellow ginger and shot away in a near-soundless Shunpo, headed for home.
Meeting Uotani Arisa and Hanajima Saki was interesting to say the least. He had been walking around outside during his lunch break when he had heard Tohru's voice and followed to investigate. He emerged just as Tohru was finished filling her friends in on her living conditions. So those marks in that clearing were from her, that must have been tough.
"Ah! Ichigo-kun!" Tohru was the first to notice him approaching and her two friends immediately turned to see who it was.
Arisa was certainly curious, Tohru had talked about the newest transfer several times since she had apparently met him and it painted a glowing picture of him. Looking at the source of her review she wondered just where Tohru had gotten those ideas of a kind, honest boy from. The guy she was looking at was more like one of the delinquents she used to face when she was in the gang; he was tall and certainly good looking with an angular face. But he had obnoxiously bright orange spiky hair and a fearsome scowl. Every part of him looked like a reputable punk with his wide shoulders and strongly built frame except for his eyes. His chocolate brown eyes were soft as they looked at Tohru and gave a curious glance at Arisa and Hanajima with a clear undercurrent of brotherly protection. She remembered Tohru talking about how he apparently had twin younger sisters that he constantly worried over so he wasn't a complete bad guy but she wasn't going to decide so fast.
Saki was also feeling conflicted about the new transfer but for different reasons than her friend. She saw the obvious of course, the very strong body and scowling expression on his face showed he was strong, straight forward person, but it was what couldn't be seen that was confusing her. He had very strange waves coming from him, so much stronger than any she had ever felt before. They were very unique as well, different than a normal person and even more so than those from the Sohma boys. She could sort of get a feeling for him in his waves, strong first and foremost, but passionate and protective as well. She got a very odd sense from him, like he could take anything head on and come out on top, and that he was not one to anger. She decided she liked his vibes but she would hold her opinion until after further inspection.
Ichigo himself was feeling the pressure of their stares but wasn't feeling too worried, he figured with how protective they were of Tohru, they'd get along with him and his protective streak of all his friends. He turned away from their investigation and back to what Tohru had apparently been talking about, "So you used to get by camping alone? That must have been hard on you, I think I found the spot you had been standing, there really wasn't much around, I'm glad you live in better conditions now."
That certainly got their attention and Tohru looked to be sweating a bit, "Y-you found it? Did-did you look around very far?"
Ichigo could tell she was worried, most likely about him finding out about the Sohma's living nearby, and decided to play dumb, "Nah, it had been getting late and I had to head home. I was just exploring to look for some place to train away from home."
Uotani glanced at him curiously, "train? Train in what?" She really did hope this guy wasn't a gangster, she'd had her fill of that type already, and Tohru seemed to genuinely get along with him.
"Hm? Oh, just Karate. I used to practice it when I was younger but stopped. It helped a bit when the street gangs used to pick fights with me in Karakura because of my hair color. Assholes thought I was being presumptuous by dying it even though this is my natural hair color. The skill did help when I first started fighting but then I lost some of it when I developed more of a street brawler fighting style. I figured I'd find a spot and start practicing it again." He had a feeling Uotani was sizing him up because of his hair color and physical state and wanted to make it clear that he was no punk.
"So you're another ginger huh? Just what we need, more hot tempered punks," Uotani muttered but it was somewhat appreciative.
Instead of getting angry at the jab as she was clearly expecting, Ichigo smirked, "Someone needs to lighten up everyone else, don't they? Besides calm people are so boring, everyone needs a little fire in their life."
She burst out laughing at that, "And you and that brat Sohma are sure to be enough for every person in the school. I'll be surprised if we all live through it!" She grinned at him for that and relaxed a bit.
Saki was still undecided, the way he acted was like he could sense the stiff and hesitant waves that had been radiating off Uotani and reacted based on them, "You have strange waves, much stronger than anyone I have ever met. Can you sense them as well?"
Uotani and Tohru looked at her in surprise but Ichigo smiled at her, "It's not quite the same as you but yes, I can. I had a feeling your so called powers were real, nice to get some confirmation. I had been curious about you but hadn't had a chance to meet you so far."
Saki felt her eyes widen in surprise, she had not expected him to actually be able to, despite her question, "Truly? You can?" She knew Uotani and Tohru were even more surprised than she was, they had never thought anyone else but she had these abilities and suddenly there was another.
He nodded, grinning at the looks on their faces, "yeah I can. I'm not sure what you are sensing as 'waves' but what I feel is more of a pressure, I call it Reiatsu, 'Spirit Pressure' and I can also see things normal humans can't, like ghosts. Have you ever seen any?"
The three girls' eyes widened even more at his confession, before Uotani burst out, "Ghosts!? You're kidding me!"
"No joke, I've seen them all my life, apparently I was born with high spiritual awareness. I can also tell how strong a person is by their reiatsu and sometimes bits of what they're feeling if it's strong enough. Like just earlier when I talked about Karate I could tell that you were cautious Uotani and you were undecided Hanajima. And Tohru has been worried the whole time since I came by, I can tell I'm disturbing you so I'll just go."
He had just turned around to leave when he heard, "Hold on!" and turned to see that it had been Uotani to his surprise; he had expected it to be Tohru. "You don't have to leave, stay and eat with us. You're obviously a good friend of Tohru's and that's good enough for me, and Hanajima could use someone else who has weird powers."
He glanced at the two other girls to see them nodding encouragingly and returned to join them, sitting between Hanajima and Tohru, listening as Tohru finished her talk and her friends wanted to check it out.
"You want me to come with? Are you sure? Aren't you all going to do a sleep over? It's not exactly right for a guy to do a sleepover with girls is it? And are you even sure it's okay with the home owner?" He was just asking to make sure, no matter how much he could use the information he wasn't going to force an innocent girl into anything she felt uncomfortable with.
But Tohru was just nodding happily, "It'll be fine! I have a nice bed for the three of us and I'm sure we could get a futon for you on the floor. It'll be fun! And Shigure-san didn't say I couldn't bring more than Hana-chan and Uo-chan with me, plus you already know Kyo-kun and Sohma-kun from school!"
Ichigo couldn't help getting pepped up from the girl's enthusiasm and readily agreed, making plans with the girls for meeting times and addresses before lunch was over and he was left to his own devices, planning on what to look for in the Sohma residence. This would certainly be interesting.
He enjoyed the looks on Kyo and the Rat's face when they saw him arrive with the two girls as Tohru introduced them, Shigure looked especially interested in the one male friend of Tohru's.
Having Hanajima notice a dog in the doorway was a pretty effective way to distract the three Sohma's as well as making them panic. That was too suspicious to be coincidence, maybe Shigure is the Dog of the Zodiac, I already know the identities of Kyo and the Rat so it has to be him. Ichigo motioned the dog over as he walked away from the group, petting the dog as the others apparently talked about Shigure's being a novelist. Ichigo wasn't particularly interested so he just patted the dog while Shigure and then Tohru left, listening to Hanajima and Uotani's reasons for their loyalty to Tohru and Kyo and the Rat's defensive argument. Ichigo had to agree with both of them, to him Tohru seemed like she had been through some serious pain but pushed past it, but also didn't feel the need for material things; she was a very genuine person.
He sent the dog off with a chuckle as Tohru returned with a set of cards, apparently there was some unfinished business between Uotani and Kyo. He was quiet apart from his continued snickers at the constant yelling between Uotani and Kyo throughout the game, he wasn't that good at cards but he was much better than those two, they were apparently in competition for last place which he thought was hilarious to no end and he could even sense some amusement in Hanajima's reiatsu despite her poker face. This was fun, it was nice having some new friends who didn't know so much about him, it was like a fresh start.
He snickered at Hanajima's spot on view of Kyo and Yuki even though she didn't even know about the Zodiac. She must be getting more from those waves of hers than he gave her credit for. And of course everything bottled down to Tohru having a good living environment, with her purposely vague description of what would happen if it didn't happen; she had those boys good and scared of her.
"They have good electric waves don't they?" She turned back to him, seeking his opinion on the two for himself.
He grinned, liking that she had some trust in him if she was looking for his opinion, "Yeah, they feel good to me too. I don't think there's anything to worry about here. And if there was I have a few tricks up my sleeve that would give them something to think about for a few years….." He trailed off purposely, just as vague as Hanajima and a touch more threatening because he wasn't against using his strength in defense of others.
Hanajima nodded, content with his answer and they both turned to stare unnervingly at the boys who sweated a bit at the scrutiny.
"Don't tell me you can sense waves too!"
Ichigo snorted a chuckle at the almost desperate tone to Kyo's voice, it was gonna be fun to mess with him a bit, "No I can't," he waited just until the other ginger's shoulders had relaxed before he continued, "I just see ghosts. And sense spiritual energy." He took in their shell-shocked looks with a straight face, "Speaking of, you guys have some whacked up energy coming from you, I've noticed several people from your family are like that, is it a genetic thing? In any case, keep taking care of Tohru, or these two won't be the only ones you'll hear from, and I'm told I leave more permanent reminders of mistakes, so watch your step." He smirked once more at them, said his goodbyes to Tohru and his new friends, and left. He had a report to submit.
And done. That's a relief. I hate leaving partially finished chapters be. Unfortunately I seem to have a tendency to run out of motivation for chapters while in the middle of a chapter. It irritates me just as much as it does you.
I think I did okay writing Uotani and Hanajima, I really do think Ichigo would get along well with both of them, his being able to see ghosts and sense reiatsu striking a similar cord with Hanajima and his fighting past with Uotani, and his protective nature fitting well with both of them.
Hopefully I'll be able to update soon but I really have no ideas other than reading through FB again and writing Ichigo's POV for every chapter that strikes my fancy. So I need ideas! Yes! They're like treats for me! Give me ideas and suggestions and I will be able to update sooner! You help me I give you chapters!
Hope you liked it. Maverick out!
