Here's the final chapter, thanks for reading!
Yuki the Rat: Sorry about the confusion, I've put some author's notes at the end to explain some things that may have not been clear. Thanks for all your reviews! I recall that you read my Inuyasha stories, too. I most likely am writing an IY story next that will take place after the shikon no tama has been completed and Naraku has been defeated. Please read if you'd like. :)
C.B.: Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, I don't think I was completely clear in the last chapter about the protagonist's name, like I said to YtR, please read my author's notes at the end if you'd like.
Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and its characters are the property of their respective owners. This piece is not for profitable purposes.
Chapter 9: The Kami of the Juunishi
"Of what is this fool speaking?"
Ignoring him, I lift myself to a seated position and look around more carefully.
"Master, it is too early to do such things, you may injure yourself."
I hardly hear his last comment as I finally discern my location - the bedroom of the Lord to whom I had been sold.
It has come true, what the legend has said, I -
A strange and uncontrollable coughing spasm comes over me.
"Ah, see what has happened, please rest more, my Lord."
I return to my supine position and ponder my new reality. At last, I have broken free of the bindings of my servitude, and have taken control of my own fate - I have achieved my greatest desire. Unable to suppress it, I smile slightly.
"The Lady has been greatly upset by the circumstances. So soon home from your travels, and to have fallen so ill with the fever."
Startled by his words, I lift myself once more and look towards the door.
"The Mistress will be in soon, she has been informed of your progress to recovery."
A wife, could it be -
"My esteemed husband!" a woman says in a raised voice as she enters the room. Before I can look closely at her, she kneels before me and rests her face against my right hand.
"Oh, I have waited for this day to come at last. Not to see you for so many risings and settings of the sun, and then to have you still away after your return."
Strangely moved by her outpouring, I answer in a kind tone, "I am much improved."
She quickly lifts her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. I am shocked when I see who it is, the daughter of a noble of a neighboring town - the one to whom the Young Master was to marry in an arranged ceremony. It is not - but, of course, it would not be she - someone of my stature would never, to such a person. Indeed, only a woman such as the one before me is worthy of one such as I.
I turn to the servants in the room and say, "Take your leave."
I am pleased when I see them bow and follow my command, leaving me alone with her.
Time passes, and I have more than accommodated to my new life. Surely, it seems that it has always been like this, that which I have always deserved. I live a life of authority and privilege, always seeking to expand my wealth and influence. Through it all, however, the cough which had shown itself on the first day continues persistently. Possibly it is my imagination, but my health does not seem to be at the level at which it once was. No matter, the most important is that I shall have an heir in the near future - my legacy shall continue.
As I am composing a decree, a servant asks for permission to enter.
My voice raised from the recent stress of my wife's pregnancy and other factors, I answer, "You may enter."
His head bowed forward, the servant says, "Master, the Mistress has begun the process."
The process? But, it is a month too early.
"Call for a doctor at once, and return when you have more information to report," I respond.
"Yes, sir," he answers before quickly exiting.
I return to my labors, but am distracted, there could be problems if this is indeed true. I receive periodic updates from the servants, and, many hours into the night, one enters and says, "Master's heir is born."
Walking ahead of the servant, I enter the room and see the midwife carry the child, her arms outstretched, to my wife. Exhausted but smiling, she takes the child in her arms and brings the boy close to her to cradle it. A puff of pink smoke explodes around the child. Alarmed, I step closer, is this an assassination attempt? The smoke clears, and my wife screams.
"A rat, a rat, there is a rat here!" she cries as she drops it onto the bed, where it lands on its back.
The rat begins - to cry - like a human.
An image crowds my mind, of the animals and the beast approaching me as the Kami pronounced my fate. Is this the price of wealth? In disbelief and fear, I exit the room, hearing shouts towards me but ignoring them. I run through the hallways, searching for something, or is it -
"On the path you have chosen, you may find what you seek, but what you need shall always allude you."
She, surely she can rescue me from all of this, she must hold the answer. I call out for her, saying her name over and over, but receiving no response no matter where I go. I stop one of the servants and ask of her.
"She, she passed on while you were on your journey. The pneumonia has been particularly harsh this year."
How is that possible, she can't have!
"Where is she interned?"
With a confused expression, the servant answers, "In the servants' field, Master, underneath the old sakura tree."
Having learned what I needed to know, I rush outside into the dark and run to the tree in the field. There is no marker, but I am sure of the place where she lays, as it is blanketed with fallen sakura blossoms.
"Mayuko." I begin, expecting her to respond.
Hearing nothing, I raise my voice, "Mayuko, Mayuko, Mayuko."
Despairing, I fall onto my knees in her place and hunch forward, my fingers clenching the earth.
"Tell me, Mayuko, you have always known. What is it that I need, how can I be free?"
I cough violently and a wave of nausea comes over me, this, too, must be part of my curse.
"Mayuko, now is not the time to be silent!"
Still hearing no response, I find myself looking up at the sky - and seeing the stars.
"So, this is your answer, Mayuko? It seems as though I was right all along. I shall continue on as the stars above me, lasting and unfeeling, the only way to have the strength to survive. I shall be the Kami of the Juunishi."
Author's Notes:
I may not have been clear, so I wanted to clarify a few pieces of information.
When does this story take place?
Because of the story's status as a "legend" I decided not to specify an exact date. However, the timeframe for my story is the Warring States Period, like IY. One clue that I gave for this was the fact that the protagonist was a servant to a lord. I've noted that, in IY, the characters often encounter towns ruled by nobility. Second, the protagonist does not encounter or experience Western influence (which I believe was minimal or non-existent during that time period).
Is the protagonist really a character from the current timeline in Fruits Basket (Akito or Yuki), and if not, why is his name changed to Akito?
The protagonist is not actually or a reincarnation of either Akito or Yuki. However, I have modeled the protagonist after Akito, with hints of Yuki. While there are important differences in the lives of the protagonist and FB's Akito (the most important being the protagonist's experience of family and romantic love) they have had many similar experiences, and I have patterned the protagonist's behaviors after how I think FB's Akito may have acted under the circumstances. However, there are some similarities between the protagonist and FB's Yuki, who has also been abandoned by his parents, as well as other ways.
In regards to the protagonist's change of name, my decision was based on two factors. First, from watching Rurouni Kenshin, I learned that the general populace did not have family names, only given names, before the end of the civil war in the 1800s. The protagonist comes from such a family. However, after his encounter with the Kami of the Juunishi, he enters the nobility class, necessitating two names. Second, I chose to have Akito as his first name because of his similarities to the FB Akito, and the possibility that the FB Akito, being the current god, could have been named in honor of the first god of the Sohma family.
