Neither Fruits Basket nor any of its characters belong to me. They are the property of Natsuki Takaya.
I was working on "The Legacy of the Red Butterfly" and discovered it's really hard to write a character into the story if you don't understand him. This is my attempt to understand the man that is Akito Sohma. Please understand that I have only seen the anime and read the first four mangas. In order to understand Akito, I felt it necessary to decide how the Sohma Head of the Family is determined. This is perhaps the harshest part of the whole Zodiac Curse. Sonomi Sohma is my character and her theory is my theory. I have tried not to be inconsistent with what I currently know of Fruits Basket. When I read the rest of the manga, I will probably find I was way off base. But for now, this is the premise I am working from. Please R&R.
Akito – Three Points of View
POV # 1
My name is Sonomi Sohma. I have looked after Master Akito's physical needs since the day he was born. I serve his meals, do his laundry, and keep his quarters clean. I have been here from the beginning, but I'm not allowed to touch him, to comfort him, to give him hope. This is his story from the beginning.
In each generation of Sohmas, there are born 13 juunishi and there is one born with the mark of the Zodiac. This is the one fated to bear the core of the curse, the one born to die so that the rest of the juunishi may live. This was the fate of Akito Sohma. The coming of this child was the signal that the current head of the family would be dead within five years. The curse of the Zodiac is random. The only consistency is that the child is always the son of one of the juunishi.
On the day that Master Akito was born, his mother committed suicide. Her grief at bearing a child and finding out that he was fated to die young was so great that she felt she had to leave this life. His father turned his back on him and Akito was turned over to the head of the Sohma family to be raised. The head of the Sohmas was a very vile, embittered man. The birth of Akito was the beginning of the end for his life. The curse forbids the murder of the one bearing the zodiac mark, but there is no stricture stating the bearer of the mark cannot be abused. Akito suffered daily abuse, both physical and mental. He was taught how to hate, how to fear, and how to force others to fear him from the earliest days of his life. By the time Master Akito was five these habits were ingrained so deeply that whatever good, whatever kindness lay buried within his heart never had a chance to bloom. It withers in the darkness of his life. Many times I have shed tears in the privacy of my room for the small boy now grown to manhood who has never experienced the softer side of life. It is only recently that I have begun to hope that he might learn to live before he dies. My hope is in this girl, Tohru Honda. She visits him on a weekly basis at his request. When she walks into the room she brings with her such happiness, such joy in life that the air becomes lighter. She believes there is good in everyone. If only she can help Master Akito find that good within himself, help him realize that there is good in life then maybe...maybe he won't die as his predecessor did, with no light and no love in his life.
POV #2
I am Akito Sohma. I bear the mark of the zodiac and am fated to die so that my juunishi may live. This is my history as told to me by my predecessor. I was born on a stormy night in the middle of winter. My mother committed suicide on the night I was born because she couldn't stand the idea that she had given birth to a child cursed by the Zodiac. My father turned his back on me and left me to the tender mercies of my predecessor; tender mercies that still wake me up at night screaming in pain. I am grateful to him though. He taught me to be strong. He taught me that fear is a weapon that keeps people loyal. He taught me that people who claim to love you are liars and hypocrites. They only love you because they desire your power, your money, or because they are afraid of you. He taught me that the juunishi cannot be permitted the happiness of love for that will surely bring me to the end of my life. He taught me that we who are cursed are only allowed pain and suffering in life and to expect an early death. Happiness is a myth that never existed and love is a dream that will never come true. I must demand the utmost respect from my juunishi and they must obey my every command. These are the things that he taught me and this is the way I exist in this world of mortals.
Sometimes at night though, I am afraid. I am frightened to be left alone, to die by myself. I am so very frightened that one day the curse will be broken and I will no longer be needed. I will be forgotten and left to die alone.
For now, I am content that my juunishi are grateful to me for the life that I give them. They respect me and obey me. Sometimes though, when they become rebellious then it is my duty to punish them. I must remind them that we are cursed and our lives are those of pain and sorrow. If I cannot be happy then why should happiness be allowed to them? They live only because I was born. This is a cold miserable life but I live it because I don't want to die.
There is one among us though that threatens my family. A girl, Honda Tohru-san. She makes my juunishi believe that they can actually be accepted, that they can live in a world beyond the Sohma compound and actually find happiness and love. I must put a stop to this before all of my family is stolen and I am left alone, unneeded, in pain with no one to care. Before I am left to die alone...
POV # 3
Hello, my name is Tohru Honda. I have been living with the Sohma family for three years now. It's September and it seems to be an important month for beginnings. In September of my first year of high school I was invited to stay at Shigure Sohma's home along with Yuki and Kyo Sohma. In September of my second year of high school I discovered a long hidden secret about Kyo, and I began visiting Akito Sohma-san at his request. Now I am into my third September with the Sohmas and I will be graduating in March from High School. It's been a year and I am still visiting Akito-san once a week on my day off. I find my visits to be very confusing.
There are some days when I visit him and I feel that he truly hates me. There is such anger and bitterness in his eyes that I am sometimes very frightened. He can fly into such rages and say such cruel things. I really believe that he means them at the time.
Then there are other days when the anger and the bitterness are subdued and I can see beyond their barrier to a man that is lonely, frightened, and in pain. It is then, sometimes, that he will open up and talk to me about his past. I think sometimes he forgets who it is in the room with him, that's when I learn the most about Akito Sohma-san.
All of the Sohmas cursed by the Zodiac seem to have sad, unhappy, and hurtful memories. It's true that Akito-san has been the source of these memories for many of the Sohmas. I think though that his memories are the most painful of all. Imagine being told on the day you are born that you will die young because of a curse upon you and your family. Imagine being told you have to die so that the others can live. That would be truly horrible and I can see how it could make a person very bitter. One thing I have learned is that the Zodiac curse is not fair. Akito-san didn't have a choice in this matter, but he does have a choice in how he lives his life now. I don't think he really realizes that he can choose to be miserable or he can choose to be happy. I believe that the man who raised him was such a bitter, angry person that Akito-san never realized he could choose a different path for his life.
I've tried to help him see that he is alive and being alive should be a source of happiness. No one wants to die, but if you live life and are thankful for all the good things in life while you have them then dying isn't such a fearful thing. However, if you are afraid of living and afraid of dying, then death is a very fearful thing. I admit that life can be sad, painful, and hurtful, but it can also be happy, joyful, and fun. The good and the bad usually balance each other out. I haven't been able to get through to him yet and each time I try I usually end up making him angry. I keep trying though because I believe each person can find a way to be happy, even Akito-san.