Just for clarification, this fanfiction occurs in a world where Tohru never met any of the Sohmas. So any positive reactions that she'd caused in them have been reversed. For example, Kisa still doesn't talk.

Also, all Japanese that is mentioned is usually a sibling. This chapter: "onee-san" Big sister.


Ayame had been completely and utterly stunned at Akito's announcement. So much so, that, for once, in all his twenty-seven years of existence, he was at a loss for words. Could the Gods actually be serious? Would they try to control the futures of all of the Cursed? More importantly, what was supposed to happen to Mi-ne...?

Just moments before, everyone had been so happy... And now everyone was angry, sad, or bitter. He felt a bit bad for the younger ones. They wouldn't even try to stand up to Akito... Not when she could easily do them harm.

His fiancée looked just as shocked as he did. Her long, dark green hair hid her eyes as she stared down at the table. She looked as though she was trying to keep tears from spilling down her face.

The Sohma snake watched her get up and go after one of her relatives, who had just walked from the room in anger. He was very surprised that she hadn't done a similar thing, being so rudely shoved into a marriage with someone she didn't know. Perhaps when she knew him better, she'd see how wonderful he was?

He was a bit off still, gazing around in stunned silence at the ruckus around him. Everyone was so very loud. It took him a moment, but he eventually realized that the girl, Haneru, was back from wherever she had gone.

"I should… talk to her." He stood up and started over.


Haneru stared at the table top, dark green locks hiding her eyes. Was this… her fate? To be stuck marrying this man?

Oh, and now her cousin, the Ox, was storming out. She went after her and came back after calming the girl down a bit. The girl was as bi-polar as ever.

She was left to her own thoughts again. Her eyes met the floor, gazing down in a gesture of sadness. This was almost too much. Her amber-colored eyes were off in the distance, not a part of her at this precise moment. This had definitely put a damper on her normally cheery demeanor.

Suddenly, she saw Ayame, her new fiancée, get up out of his chair. Happy! That's what she had to be. She was one of the oldest. If she pretended it was all okay, then it would be. Or, at least the younger children wouldn't be so upset. If they saw she was happy, they might feel better.


"Haneru-san, if you wouldn't mind terribly, I'd like to talk with you a while."

Haneru blinked and nodded. "He's taking this rather well…"

Ayame led the way to an empty hallway, briefly stopping after they'd gone a small distance. "Ah, finally out of the noise."He tossed a few stray locks of ivory hair over his shoulder."I wanted to speak with you Haneru-san... What do you think of this whole marriage arrangement? Not simply us, I mean everyone..."

He really was being very sensible about this. "I feel so bad for the young ones. Fine, go ahead and do it to me, but the kids don't deserve it. It's not fair to any of us, really, but especially not to them," she replied. If the arrangements for them were canceled at the expense of hers still being valid, she didn't care. She wanted what was best for them. Of course she was upset that her future wasn't entirely in her control, but she had to make the best of it.

"I completely agree with you. The younger ones don't deserve it." Ayame replied, his smooth voice quieter than usual.

"I have to keep smiling for them. Maybe then they can think 'Onee-chan is strong, maybe I'll be ok too...' I'm not very happy about this, but I'll do what I have to do and I hope that I'm not too much of a bother to you," she said at last, trying her very hardest not to get too emotional and finishing off with a smile at the end as if to try to prove her point. Sure, she kind of wanted to cry, but she wouldn't.

Ayame was about to reply, then stopped. He looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Do they… all look up to you like that?" If so, she was lucky. His own brother wouldn't even look up to him.

"All of them...? I don't know about that. I like to think that a lot of them do, though," she replied. Ever since she'd freed herself from her home with her parents when she was 18, she had spent all of her free time trying to get close to her cousins and looking back on it now it seemed that she had had good enough success. "It took a lot of work, but I think I understand them all pretty well."

"I see..."She really was lucky. Yuki wouldn't even look up to Ayame... But the snake knew that was really his fault. It was his fault his brother was so distant: because he himself had been distant before. And the gap between them seemed to grow wider and wider with each passing day... He just wished there was something he could do about it. Sometimes, he was afraid that it was already too late... That Yuki would hate him forever...

He really hoped not. But he couldn't really see why Yuki disliked him so much. He was trying to get close to his brother, but the Rat kept pushing him farther and farther away... He didn't understand it at all. He knew he had been... less than a desirable brother in the past, but the past was the past...

"Regret..." Ayame really hated that word. Even though that's really what he felt toward his brother. It couldn't really be anything else. But he certainly couldn't just... apologize. Could he? It went much deeper than that... Much deeper...

In reality... He realized that he was ten years older than his brother. And he also realized that there would be a time when he would no longer be around, but Yuki would. And... He wanted his brother to remember him in a positive light, even if that light took a very long time to shine.

"That must be nice..." He trailed off, deep in his thoughts about Yuki. After a moment or two, he realized that he'd spaced off. Such an act was rare for him. He quickly changed the subject.

"I believe that, eventually, the Gods will change their minds... In the meanwhile, I suggest that everyone humors them for now." He gave the girl a charming smile, finally starting to return to his normal self. "Which means that you and I should get to know each other."

"We should!" Haneru replied cheerfully. "You first!"