The Sohma Institute
By Lady of the Ink
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but you knew that . . .I hope. I do own this story, and all the plot twists it contains.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Friends or FoesArisa Uotani flipped through the numerous keys on her key ring, trying to pick out the one she needed. While there were a lot of pluses to living in the same building as her friends, there were a few small downsides as well. It always took her forever to separate the key to Tohru's front door from her own, since they were almost identical. She kept meaning to mark them in some way, but the thought never came to her when she had the time to do anything about it. It only occurred to her when she was in a hurry, or running late, or just too frustrated to take the time.
She was in the middle of one of those moments. Already running late for work, Arisa had rushed through getting ready. As she was gulping down a quick cup of coffee on her way out, she managed to spill it down the front of her white shirt. Her only available white shirt. Since it was Saturday, and laundry day, all her others were dirty. She had a major problem and no time to waste in solving it.
Borrowing one from Saki was out of the question, since it was more than a slight possibility that the other girl didn't even own a single garment in that shade. She had certainly never seen her wear anything other than her preferred shades of black and deepest purple. That left Tohru, who she knew to be out at the moment. Knowing that her friend wouldn't mind, Arisa had slipped down to Tohru's floor to scrounge a white shirt from her apartment . . .and gotten stuck in the search through her keys.
"Aha!" Finally locating the right one, she slid it into the lock and made her way inside. It only took a moment for her to find the top she needed and change into it. Leaving her stained one to soak in her friend's sink, she scribbled a note of explanation. Arisa propped it up on the table where it was sure to be noticed and retraced her steps back to the door. Her eyes were focused on her purse and the pen she was returning to it as she stepped over the threshold. That turned out to be a mistake as she slammed into someone.
Taking a couple of quick steps backward in order to avoid falling, she looked up to find a man standing in front of her. He was a stranger to her, with reddish brown hair that fell over his forehead. His eyes, wide and velvety brown, stared down at her with a vaguely startled air. He had obviously been as caught off guard as she had; he stood unmoving with one hand still raised as though he were about to knock.
The anger that had flared upon their collision faded away quickly. In its place rose her usual sense of humor. Beginning as a slight quirk at the side of her mouth, a wide smile soon appeared across her face as she watched his hand fall slowly back to his side.
"I guess I should have been watching where I was going, huh? Are you okay?"
His reply was a long time in coming, his words halting and unsure as though he were unused to such conversations. "Sorry. I'm . . .fine." He didn't say anything else, just continued staring down at her.
"So . . .anything I can help you with?" Arisa prompted. Being late for work no longer mattered; this was much more interesting. It wasn't often she literally ran into one of the most handsome men she'd ever seen. She was determined to make the most of the moment.
"I was looking for Tohru Honda. This is her apartment, right?"
Arisa wagged a finger in his face. "Sorry, boy-o. Can't answer that question for a stranger. How do I know you're not some kind of lovesick stalker, bent of kidnapping her and forcing her to elope?"
His face took on a startled and distressed expression. "I would never do that!" He seemed so serious that she couldn't help but laugh.
"I was only kidding! About the eloping part, anyway. The first part still stands." Fiddling with her purse, she waited as he dug something from his jacket pocket.
"I work at the Sohma Institute." He held up a small identification card, identical to the one she knew Tohru possessed. At her nod of recognition, he returned it to his coat. "My name is Kureno. I wanted to speak with Ms. Honda about something."
"Ah, okay. Well, you've got the right place, but she's not in right now. I'm not sure when she'll be back, so it probably wouldn't do you any good to wait."
"Oh."
Was it her imagination, or did he not look the slightest bit disappointed? Even more intrigued than before, she offered an apologetic smile anyway. Reaching with one hand behind her, she grabbed the doorknob and began to pull it closed. This forced her to take a step forward, right into Kureno's chest. He took a quick stride backward, but not before she saw the red flush working its way up his neck. Her smile turned flirty as she looped her arm through his.
"Come on, I'll walk with you out of the building."
After a moment's pause, a small smile lifted the corners of his lips and he nodded. As they headed for the elevators, she could help but be grateful for the spilled coffee she'd been cursing only moments before. It was amazing what a few minutes could do to change someone's perception.
Kagura sighed as she watched Tohru walk slowly away from the house. The younger girl had adopted a slightly dazed expression about midway through her explanation and it hadn't faded before she left. Kagura understood; she had thrown a lot of information at her all at once. It would take some time for everything to sink in sufficiently for her to be able to make sense of it.
Unfortunately, time was something none of them had enough of lately.
Closing the door, Kagura let her head thump down gently onto the wood. Now that her talk with Tohru was over she felt drained. She had focused all her energy into trying to make her understand the situation, and now she was burned out. There was nothing more she could do except wait.
"How do you think she took it?"
Turning so that her back was pressed against the door, Kagura looked at the girl emerging from the hallway. Her straight hair hung past her waist, its dark color making her pale face seem even more devoid of color. She was dressed in a short black skirt and a matching lace-up top, both of which caused her to blend into the shadows. Anyone who knew her would agree that the mysterious air her current settings gave her was quite fitting of her personality.
"Isuzu," Kagura acknowledged, watching as her cousin took a few steps into the room. She then paused, obviously waiting for the answer to her question. Kagura didn't make her wait for long, glad there was someone she could confide in. It had been stressful, to say the least, when she had been the only one holding everything inside. Now she had Rin, someone with the same goal in mind.
"Well, she heard me out and listened to everything that I had to say. That was pretty much the best scenario that I was hoping for. I didn't expect her to jump up and say yes right away, although I was a little afraid she'd say no right off the bat. She took it well, though."
"But will she help us?"
Kagura indulged in another sigh. "I honestly don't know. It could easily go either way. She wants to help them, but I'm just not sure if that will be enough for her to take the risk." She stepped away from the wall. "She'd be taking just as big of a chance as we will. Maybe even bigger, since she's an outsider. I don't think I could blame her for saying no."
Dark eyes flashed fire. "Will she go to him?"
Kagura shook her head. "No. She's had a run-in with him already. She didn't come right out and say it, but I could tell she didn't like him."
"Maybe she's smarter than I thought."
The room fell quiet as they both concentrated on their own thoughts. Kagura crossed the soft carpeting, reclaiming her chair from before. Rin followed suit, settling into the spot recently vacated by Tohru. Kagura stared at the now cold mugs sitting on the coffee table. Her mind mulled over the first moment she had seen Tohru, sitting in the office and muttering to herself. She had sounded so worried as she debated with herself over talking to Momiji. Her thoughts had been totally focused on what would be best for him.
That one glimpse into Tohru's personality was all it took for Kagura to know that she was very different from the people who had held her position before her arrival. They had been of the same breed as Ms. Almont, willing to follow orders without the thought of consequences. They accepted that what they were told was best actually was best without bothering to analyze the results themselves.
Tohru was much more caring, compassionate to the point of feeling their pain like it was her own. She would willingly put her own troubles and well being aside in order to focus on helping others. There was as much of a chance of a snowball withstanding the heat of Hades as there was her turning away from a body in need. Which was exactly why Akito wouldn't want her anywhere near the twelfth floor.
So how had she managed to land the job? Was it an oversight? A fluke? Or was there some purpose behind it that she just wasn't seeing?
Kagura's biggest fear had been that it was some sort of trap. After all, it was almost too perfect of a setup. A person on the inside would be necessary if there was to be any hope of breaking the boys out. A bleeding heart like Tohru wouldn't take much convincing to play along. It had seemed incredibly likely to Kagura that Tohru was a plant put there to root out any clandestine plots.
Until she met her.
"What are you thinking about?" Rin asked, her question pulling Kagura from her thoughts.
"Tohru. How she got the job. Why she was allowed to keep the job. Where she'll fit in our plans."
"So what all do you know about her? I mean, she's like the biggest factor in all of this, and I don't even know her last name."
"It's Honda, and I haven't been able to find out as much as you might think. She's an orphan; her father died when she was really young, and her mother was killed in an accident a few years ago. She lives alone and attends classes fulltime. Her best friends live in the same building as her, and they're all as close as sisters. She gets good grades, everyone seems to like her, and she's not dating anyone. And that's all I know."
"She sounds normal enough."
"She is. There's nothing in her past that comes close to linking her to our family, which is why I think it would be safe to trust her." Kagura came to a split second decision. "I also think she'll help us."
Rin stared at her for a moment. Her dark eyes swept over her face, gauging her. "How can you be so sure?"
"If you could be around her when she's with them, you'd realize in an instant that she really cares. There's no way someone could fake all the little things she does without thinking. Ruffling Momiji's hair, playing video games with Haru . . . Seeing them all together, you just know."
At the mention of Haru, Rin's already dark eyes seemed to gather more shadows. It also set off her temper. "I wouldn't be able to see them together, in case you've forgotten. You're the only one that's allowed to visit, aside from Ayame and Momiji's father. The rest of us aren't even supposed to know."
Kagura sighed. This was an argument she'd been forced to make more than once and it was getting a bit old. "Ayame gets to visit because he would have kept asking if Akito said no. And if there is one person Akito doesn't know what to do with, it's Ayame. Momiji's dad can go because he's somehow involved in it all. I'm not exactly sure how, but I think it has something to do with paperwork. I mean, everyone else thinks it's still a research lab on the twelfth floor, and they would have noticed if the reports and stuff stopped coming in. Since he was in charge of the entire floor, he has to know what's going on now. It just wouldn't make sense if he didn't."
Kagura paused, furrowing her brow. "I think that I fall somewhere in between the two of them. I was digging around, trying to find out where Kyou had been sent, and there was nothing short of getting answers that was going to stop me. I found out enough to start asking the right questions, and I think Akito knew I'd only be satisfied when I knew it all. He offered the visits as some sort of bribe; incentive to stop looking."
"Did he tell you anything about why they're there?"
"Just the same story he's been telling everyone else. I'm not buying it though. More often than not, those guys are fine. I mean, there are some occasions where they've all been ill, but . . .none of them seem sick in the same way as Akito. If they all have the same disease, there'd be some symptoms in common, right?" She shook her head. "It doesn't make sense. Too many things don't add up. That's why we have to get them out of there."
"Do . . .do you think they're in danger?"
Studying her cousin closely, Kagura made out the worry in her eyes. Although she always tried to hide her feelings, she knew Rin cared deeply for Haru. In respect of that, she chose her next words carefully. "I think the potential for danger is there. If everything was what they say it is, there would be no need for secrecy. They have something to hide, and that makes them a threat."
