The Ties That Bind

by Harakiri

There was never really a question of why the Sohma family was cursed, they just were. But what happens when people seeking the curse come for them? Can the youngest members of the Sohma family uncover the secrets before it is too late?

4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of it's characters, but I DO own any of the characters you haven't heard about so BUGGER OFF! *hisses and glomps her charries*

Warnings: Expect some shounen-ai and (possibly) some mild Yaoi. (If this isn't your thing, then don't read it. If you flame me it will prove just how juvenile you are and, your inability to read.) Also, there will be some angst, romance, and (probably) some tragedy (but not 'til WAY later).

Pairings: Kyou/Tohru, Yuki/OC (Who's only mentioned in name, I might add), and Hiro+Kisa (one-sided). Kano/Sayuri, Reizo/Amaya(?), and Eikou/Tomeo(?)

Summary: There was never really a question of why the Sohma family was cursed, they just were. But what happens when people seeking the curse come for them? Can the youngest members of the Sohma family uncover the secrets before it is too late? And could it possible for them to finally break the curse? (Crappy isn't it? Also, there's a slight revision)

Harakiri: Chapter two = mega crap. -.-

Yuki: Serves you right for trying to write so late in the evening, er…early in the morning.

Harakiri: Quiet you! Anyways, I really just wanted to introduce the other two "new" members of the junishi. Be happy that you got to meet the infamous Eikou and Tomeo that Amaya and Rinji apparently like to pester. ^^ Anyways, here's chapter three.

Yuki: You DO have a plot, don't you?

Harakiri: Yes, I do, but it probably won't come into play for a few more chapters, so hush! *looks at the readers* o.O() Eh heh…right, well now YOU know, too. *glares at Yuki* Anyways, read on! And don't forget to click that little review button at the bottom of the screen. ^^

Glossary:

Koneko- kitten (koneko-chan is Black Haru's nickname for Kyou and now Rinji is using it)

*PYON!*- Not really a word. It's what Uo uses to describe the sound of the Sohma's transforming to and from their Zodiac forms

Oi- 'Yo' or 'Hey'

Koinu- puppy

Nani- 'What?'

Kuso gaki- stupid brat (kinda roughly translated ^^;)

Watashi wa Shinrai…kuso gaki ja nai- My name is Shinrai…not stupid brat (I'm not sure if that's correct, though,. You see, I was watching this movie 'The Returner' and it's originally a Japanese film and that's one of the phrases I picked up from it. Go Milly! XD)

Ano- 'Um…'

Uta- song

Utau- sing

Note: Song lyrics = "blah blah"

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The Ties That Bind ~ *Chapter 3-Music Soothes the Soul*

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"Listen up, minna-san! As you all know, today was the day that we were supposed to get our music for the concert…" The teacher frowned as most of the class groaned. "Oh stop that! It's not as bad as you think. Anyway, we were supposed to get our music today, but, as luck would have it, it got lost in the mail!" The class started cheering at the news causing their already upset teacher to collapse into his chair and groan as they had previously done. "Well, since there's really nothing for us to do, you get a free period. But…!" He held up a hand, silencing the excited murmurs. "You must be quiet. If the principal or his student council lackeys come in here and see nothing productive going on, I could be fired. So, please, try to at least look like you're doing what you're supposed to?" In a strange show of sympathy, the students nodded and made it seem as if they weren't actually goofing off.

Rinji shook his head and proceeded to play a small tune on his guitar. He had actually been looking forward to the new song, but stupid postal workers had managed to see to it that there would be no new song today. 'Oh well…a free period isn't all that bad.' As he continued playing the tune that popped into his head he also began to hum along with it. There really no words coming into his head, just some random images; things he would rather be doing.

Suddenly he stopped humming and strummed the last chord of his little song before he put the guitar back in its case. He noticed his teacher looking over at him, a little surprised by the sudden stop, and raised his hand.

"Hai, Sohma-kun?"

"May I got to the bathroom?" The teacher stared at him oddly for a moment, but nodded.

"Er, hai, you may…" He watched as the dual hair colored boy left his class and sighed once he went out the door. He should have been used to Rinji's somewhat strange behavior by now, but something told him that he never really would get used to it.

As he walked down the hall the ushi started thinking about what would happen after school. 'I'll go home and have no one but Mitsumi there and she's such a wonderful conversationalist…' He snorted and ran his hand through his hair. 'Praise the man who invented sarcasm.' He chuckled, but his thoughts were soon interrupted as a tiny orange blur sped past him carrying…clothes? 'What the…?' Suddenly the blur turned and headed through a door and a light bulb went off inside the ushi's head.

Rinji sighed as he made his way to the door that the blur had gone into. Quietly he pushed open the door to the boy's bathroom and entered. When he did he was greeted by the sight of a small orange cat sprawled out on the bathroom floor, panting. "Baka, let me guess. One of your students ran into you…again." Suddenly, the cat was on its feet with it's fur standing on end.

"Baka ushi! Don't you dare patronize me!" Rinji smirked and squatted down so he was, somewhat, closer to the cat's level.

"Whatever you say, koneko-chan." He reached out and scratched the cat behind the ears and was rewarded with claws digging into his hands. "Hn. Don't you think you should let go before…" *PYON!* "Nevermind." Standing in place of the cat, surrounded by orange smoke, was a very pissed, and very naked, Kyou.

"You cannot even BEGIN to imagine how pissed off I am." The ushi stood up and placed his hands in his pockets, watching his older cousin get dressed and listening to him rant. "I swear, that girl is more directionally challenged than Haru EVER was! You tell her to start running, and it's a perfectly straight line, and she takes off to the right! What, has her motherboard short circuited? Are her directional controls out of whack?!" Rinji chuckled at the image his mind produced from listening to the angry neko's words, but soon he became serious.

"You should probably get back to your class. They're probably worried about you." Kyou snorted in disbelief then ran his hand through his hair.

"Whatever you say, baka ushi. I just hope no one saw…" Gray eyes softened is sympathy. It was hard, being one of the junishi. Especially if you happened to be the unlucky thirteenth junishi.

"I'm sure no one did." The orange haired man turned to his younger companion and gave him a half smile that could be translated as 'Thanks' then headed for the door. Before he exited, though, he turned back and said,

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Kyou grinned as he received a half-hearted glare from the ushi then walked out. Suddenly the bell sounded, signaling the end of the school day. Rinji smirked as he thought of his older cousin, sprouting neko ears at the sound of the bell and stalking back to the field, thoroughly miffed. He shook his head and exited the bathroom wanting to make it back to class to gather his things before the halls became too crowded.

As he entered the room he glanced at the teacher who seemed to have fallen asleep during his brief journey to the restroom. He went to his seat and picked up his bag and guitar case, which he slung over his shoulder after making sure it was tightly shut, and walked over to the teacher's desk. He knocked softly on the desktop and stared passively as his teacher lifted his head, revealing a small puddle of drool, and stared blankly at the ushi.

"Eh…?" came the sleepy reply.

"The bell just rang," the boy said listlessly. He smirked and exited the room as his teacher became flustered then jumped up and began packing his things in a hurry. Rinji made his way down the halls to the stairs, which he descended, then out the front door where Eikou should have been waiting. He looked around, trying to find out which car belonged to his cousin and sweat dropped when he heard a small dinging sound. "Oh great…"

"Oi, Rinji-kun!" The uma grinned when the young man stopped in front of him and the bicycle. "Konnichiwa. Well, ready to go?"

"Eikou, why exactly are you riding a bike?" The elder of the two blinked and tilted his head to one side, moderately confused by the question.

"Um…because it's good exercise?" He sighed as he received a blank stare. "Alright, alright. I didn't want to go through the trouble of renting a car and getting stuck in traffic. 'Sides, you know I can't stand driving…"

Rinji just shook his head. "Sometimes I really worry about you." Carefully, he adjusted the strap on his guitar case so the actual case was going diagonally across his chest and he seated himself in the basket on the front of the bicycle while holding onto the handlebars to support most of his weight. "Let's get going. I want to get home as soon as possible so my arms won't go numb." He felt the air stir as Eikou nodded and held on tight as the bike began to move. He could imagine what a sight they made as they went down the street.

"So, where're you headed to?" The uma asked.

"…Yuki's house. Turn right." Eikou did as he was instructed and turned. He then gazed up sadly at his navigator. 'Yuki's house'…not 'Home'. He felt sorry for the boy, knowing how lonely it must be not to really have a place to truly call home.

'Such is how most of us Sohma's are…' He made another turn, this time to the left, then had to stop at a crosswalk. "Grr…you know, if this was the mountains, you wouldn't have to wait for other cars to go by."

The ushi just chuckled. "If you hate the city so much, why do you even come at all?"

"Because I have family and friends who live here that would like to see me more than once a year. Besides, if I didn't come down here every now and again I'd start to get bored and take my peaceful surroundings, and its beauty, for granted." Rinji could see the logic in that. It was so easy to take things for granted that, sometimes, you needed to be reminded of just how valuable something is. Suddenly a grin crept its way onto his face. Something had just dawned on him.

"Speaking of friends-left-did you go see Tomeo by any chance?"

The uma turned left then glared at the boy's back. "You know, I think I should run into a light post…"

"Why not just ride into traffic?" Eikou snorted at the idea.

"Because, ahou, that would kill both of us whereas ramming into a light post, or something of a similar nature, would only injure, or kill, you," he said.

Rinji merely smirked and, once again, gripped the handlebars as they began to move again. It was so much fun to pester Eikou, and even more fun to pester Tomeo, about the feelings they so obviously had for one another. While most people would frown upon such a relationship, it wasn't all that uncommon for those of the Sohma family. Considering their predicament with the curse it was sometimes preferred over having to explain turning into a cute and fuzzy, or scaly, animal whenever shoulders touched with members of the opposite sex. That and there was a lot less pain involved…

'I don't want to go to Yuki's just yet,' the ushi thought, switching topics quite suddenly within his mind. 'But where could I…' His eyes widened as he remembered a conversation he had the previous week.

'Rin-chan!' Rinji smiled as he was tackled by the hyperactive koinu. 'Are you leaving already?' The ushi smiled and patted the young boy on the head.

'Hai, Shin-chan, but I'll be back soon.' He watched as Shinrai stared up at him with his wide, light gray eyes, begging him to stay. It was hard to resist, but he had to go. 'Shin-chan…' The boy relented, but he wasn't entirely through.

'Will you come back next week?'

The older boy nodded. 'Of course.'

'You promise?'

He smiled softly. 'Hai. I promise.' How could he say no?

Rinji smiled and looked over his shoulder. "Oi, uma-kun."

"Nani?"

"Can you take me to the main house instead?"

"Eh?!" Eikou almost stopped right there, which would have sent the ushi flying ((Harakiri: Heh, heh. Flying cows…XD)), but he kept going, not really in the mood to be chewed out by the nezumi for maiming his charge. "Couldn't you have made your request a bit sooner?" He growled as the boy shrugged. "Fine, I'll take you. You're gonna explain it to Yuki, though."

"Sure, but what's there to explain?" He had a point, but Eikou didn't really care anymore. "Just get over it. Take a right up here. It's not that far away, you know."

"Yeah, I know." The uma grinned. "I just like complaining." Rinji rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Obviously…"

*******

"It's not fair…" Shinrai pouted and nudged a pebble with the twig he was holding in his hand. His knees were drawn up to his chest with his arm wrapped around his legs and he had his chin resting on his knees. On his face was an adorable pout, but he probably would have bitten anyone who mentioned how non-menacing he looked. He wasn't a happy koinu. "Why does Kizoku-chan have to be sick?" He nudged the pebble again before throwing the twig away in a fit of childish anger. "It's not fair!"

He wrapped his other arm around his legs and let out a small whine. Everything had been fine that day until Kizoku slipped and fell while chasing after Shinrai.

'We was just playin' tag, Nariko-san…' Shinrai yelped as he was slapped across the face.

'Stupid mutt! You should know Kizoku-san can't play games like that in his condition!' The boy's eyes watered, but he refused to cry. He WOULDN'T cry…not in front of HER. 'You're nothing but trouble. Day in, day out, pulling pranks and making Kizoku-san even more ill. If he dies it will be your fault!' His eyes widened as he took in her words.

'Kizoku-chan isn't going to die! And I'm not making him sick!' He yelped again as Nariko-san slapped him once more.

'Kuso gaki! You may think you're helping him, but you're only making it worse. And you will address him as Kizoku-SAN. He is the head of our family and should be shown respect! Now, get out of my sight! I'm going to call Kano…' With that, the angry woman stormed off, but before she left entirely she was stopped by a quiet voice.

'Nariko-san…' She turned and stared at the boy with hateful eyes. Gray eyes stared back defiantly. 'Watashi wa Shinrai…kuso gaki ja nai!' After that he stormed out of the room leaving behind a fuming Nariko-san.

'Why does she have to be the one to take care of Kizoku-chan? She doesn't care!' It had been an hour since the confrontation with Nariko-san and Kano had only arrived a few minutes ago. 'She probably waited to call…' Wide eyes narrowed into a glare. If looks could kill, Nariko-san would have been dead upon first glance. 'I…I hate her…' A single angry tear made its way down his reddened cheek and he sniffed.

Suddenly a pair of black shoes entered his line of vision. He stopped sniffling and slowly lifted his gaze and met the calm stare of the ushi. "R-Rinji…?"

"Konnichiwa, Shin-chan." He squatted down so he was almost eye level with the young boy. His eyes narrowed as he reached out and touched the boy's cheek lightly. "What happened?" Shinrai swallowed and fought back the tears that were threatening to come forth.

"K-Kizoku-chan fell down today, when we were playing tag, and Nariko-san…" Rinji's eyes narrowed even more as he saw two tears roll down the side of the inu child's face. Finally, the boy could no longer contain his tears and he began to cry. "Kizoku-chan isn't going to die, is he? He-he can't!"

"Oh Shinrai…" A pair of black clad arms wrapped around the small boy and drew him into an embrace. Rinji held the child close and rocked him back and forth, trying to calm him and stop the sobs which shook the boy's entire frame. Finally the little one calmed down and his sobs were reduced to sniffles. After a few more minutes of rocking the boy the ushi finally set him back down in his original spot. "Better?"

Shinrai nodded and wiped his tears away on the sleeve of his yukata. "H-hai." He looked up at the older boy, sadness still present in his eyes, but he was also curious. "Rinji…" The elder arched one eyebrow and gave the younger a questioning look. "Ano…why did you come today?"

"You don't remember?" The young inu shook his head. "Last week, when I came by with Yuki, you made me promise that I'd come back and see you this week." He watched as the boy's eyes widened ever so slightly and laughed when he got tackled. "I take it that you remember then?"

Shinrai nodded rapidly then pasted a happy grin on his face. "Uh-huh!" He then noticed the guitar case that was on Rinji's back and his eyes, and smile, got wider. "Is Rin-chan gonna play a song?!"

"If you want me to, I guess I could." He chuckled as the inu bounced around him chanting 'Uta, uta, utau!'. "Alright, alright. Calm down and go sit." The little koinu did as he was told and watched as the other boy set down the guitar case then opened it. He started shaking with excitement when he saw his cousin pick up the guitar then he started bouncing in his seat when Rinji took a seat next to him. "Calm down, Shin-chan!", the ushi chuckled. "You're gonna cause an earthquake." Immediately the bouncing stopped.

"Gomen nasai," the boy said and Rinji couldn't help but smile at the slight pout on the boy's face.

"So, what do you want to hear?" The inu thought for a moment and ended up with nothing. He didn't really know that many songs.

"Play something you like."

"Are you sure?" Shinrai nodded. "But what if you don't like it?" The boy just smiled, a genuine smile, and said,

"If Rin-chan likes it then I'm sure Shin-chan will, too." Rinji nodded and thought about what song he should play. Finally his mind settled on a song he'd heard from someone in his music class.

'It fits with us rather well, I'd say…' He sat his guitar in his lap and tuned it then he turned to his little cousin. "You ready?" When the boy nodded he began to play the first few notes and then he closed his eyes and began to sing.

"Can you hear the calling of the raving wind and water?

We just keep dreaming, of the land, 'cross the river.

We are always on the way, to find the place we belong.

Wandering to nowhere, we're paddling, down the raging sea…"

He sang the melancholy song with the accompaniment of his guitar and, as he did so, the whole world seemed to stand still. He didn't seem to notice, though. He was drawn into the world created by the song. When he finished he opened his eyes and looked down. He smiled softly at the inu who was leaning against his shoulder, put to sleep by the song. Using his free arm, he put the guitar away then, carefully, he picked the boy up and set him in his lap.

The young boy chirped happily in his sleep and snuggled closer to the ushi; just like a puppy. Rinji laughed softly and bent his head down to kiss the boy softly on the forehead. "Sleep well, little koinu." Slowly he stood up, careful not to wake the sleeping child, then he began to make his way towards the tora's house where he knew the boy would be safe…

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AWWWW!!!! Shinrai is so cute!!! *squeals like a little school girl and cuddles Shinrai who promptly turns into a doggie* ^^() And that bitch will die! *kills Nariko-san* Hehehehehe…..D Anyways, how did you like this chapter? Oh and, if you couldn't tell, Shinrai and Rinji are my favorites. ^^() How can we not love the inu and the ushi? Especially the inu. X3 Well, let me know what you think. Clicky the lil' review button and leave me nice comments. Please and thank you. ^^ (Oh and those lyrics are from "To Nowhere" from .hack//SIGN. It's a really pretty song and I thought it fit.)