The Red Butterfly
Disclaimer: Well you probably know the rigmarole (story), but I'll say it anyway… most of the places, people, or things in this story come from Fruits Basket. They are not mine.
Background: This is a little insert ficlet that has to do with Uo, Haru, Kyoko - the Red Butterfly, and gangs. It is after Kyoko's 1st year anniversary of her death. I wrote this before the manga vol 7 came out in the US, so it doesn't' totally fit in with the story – namely A LOT. Like Kyoko not being a leader, or Ryoko, or Uo. Or everything that happened between the three before Kyoko and then Uo left. Or for that fact Ryoko herself is not real! Agh, none of you probably know what I am talking about, but if you read, you'll understand.
Note: I may have gotten some facts wrong, and if I did, and you notice, please tell me and I will try to change it asap. ' and ' are for thoughts, " and " are for speaking. I tried looking up gangs in Japan and hopefully got the facts right, if not, please feel free to correct me, but I also changed some stuff so I could have their gang and the people in it be different. Why? Nobody knows…
Warning: Contains swearing, mild bloodshed, and some sexual innuendos.
Chapter 1: The Red Butterfly – again
Hatsuharu Sohma, or Haru, waited patiently at the corner of the street. His gloved hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his loose pants and his face was, as usual, stony. His fur topped white slited coat was open and whipped against his shiny black pants and boots. The open coat revealed his black button-down shirt that was only held closed by three or four buttons near the bottom. The top was open revealing his pale chest and his many necklaces and his black choker collar.
He was lost – again - surprise.
He stood with feet spread apart and shoulders level, staring blankly across the street at the red walk sign. The traffic light turned from green to yellow and Haru saw a motorcycle speed up to get through the light and turn the corner away from him. The taillights flashed by in a blur of red and the wind hit Haru like a wall, but he was staring at the taillights and the back of the rider on the bike. The black coat worn by the cyclist flapped in the wind the bike stirred, but on the back, clearly visible to Haru, was the picture of a red butterfly.
Flashback Memory:
"Kid hop on!" a young Haru raced for the black clad rider on the motorcycle. The bad guys raced after him. The rider held out a gloved hand to Haru. The child strained his legs. His lungs felt about to burst. One guy took a swipe at him. Haru stumbled but was up in a second – facing the other direction – with a mean smirk on his face.
Black Haru had finally emerged, despite all of the efforts of the White Haru. Haru ducked beneath his large attacker and hit him behind the knees. The man went down but the rest circled and surrounded him.
Haru vaguely heard someone swear in the background, and he wondered briefly why his attackers would swear. Then he heard an engine rev and the rider drove into the circle. The bike stopped in front of him and the gloved hand shot back out. But this time the rider did not wait for Haru to grab hold, but snaked their arm around his waist and swung him onto the back of the bike behind them.
"Hold on to me tightly! I don't want you to fall off!" the rider warned him. He had just enough time to see the design of a red butterfly on a black background on the back of the coat before he clutched it and they were off. Haru clutched the coat with all his child strength. Even as a child he knew not to hold onto the rider, but instead held onto the coat for dear life. His face was pressed into the design and he wondered what it was for.
"Red Butterfly! Hey! Wait! Stop!" Haru leaped off the curb and into the street. Dashing across the slowing traffic – he kept shouting at the cyclist, "Hey! Stop! Red Butterfly, Wait! Stop Dammit!" He dodged in front of the cars that stopped by the white line waiting for the light to turn. He slapped the hood of a white van that stopped mere inches from his stomach.
Haru could feel the anger and annoyance rising within him. He glared angrily at the driver of the van and felt his upper lip curl into a growl. He was losing the Red Butterfly! He shouted some obscenity at the van and turned to go when he heard a bang.
The doors of the van flew open – the light was red and the cars were stopped. Gang members flowed out and around the cars stopped near it to swarm around him. They all had their upper left arm bared to reveal barbed wire tattoos. 'Damn! A gang!' Haru swore violently and spun – he was yearning for fight, but he wanted to catch the Red Butterfly!
He needed an outlet for his anger though! The sudden urge to hit someone, to feel his fist connect with flesh, to feel the flesh give, break, and snap… he mentally shook himself. Black Haru was not coming out yet! 'Stop it Haru!' he yelled at himself, 'You may still be able to catch her!' He scanned traffic but could not see her anywhere.
"Damn! Curse all the fucking luck!" he swore some more but then he saw a fist flying towards the back of his head out of the corner of his eye and quickly ducked, and rolled. He came up with a smirk on his face and his eyebrows tilted at dangerous angles. Black Haru had finally surfaced. He waded into the closing group and into the thick of it with fists and feet flying.
"Dirty, blood-sucking bastards!" he spat. The gang murmured angrily at that. The light turned green. More horns began to honk and blow. The group converged on Haru in front of the van and traffic flowed past them angrily. The majority of the gang had bruises by this time, but some were bleeding and a few were gingerly holding broken bones and joints.
Haru was doing quite well on the other hand. He was not as good at Kyo and definitely not Yuki, but he was better than them and he only had a few bruises and a cut lip. He swallowed the blood that started to leak from it and tasted the iron in his mouth. He smirked at them and swiped at the blood on his lip that he had not swallowed with the back of his hand. "That all you can do? Guess I shouldn't expect much from bitches." He shrugged and stood upright.
If there was one thing Black Haru knew how to do well, it was how to say the exact thing at the exact moment to get people riled up. And his gift did not fail him this time either.
The gang roared and leapt on him again. Haru gave a nasty smile that did not bode well and began to dish out punches, kicks, and all around dirty fighting. "Fuck all you bitches! That's what you are, aren't you? Little girl doggies!" Traffic was honking and surging around the writhing mass of bodies. A few people had their windows rolled down and quickly rolled them up once they heard the language spewing from Haru's mouth. But one motorcycle did not go around - it went through the fray.
Black coat flapping and head lowered, the rider charged into the fray. Haru stared dumbfounded at the black face mask that was now face to face with him for a second before coming to in just enough time to hear the rider say, "Well, what the hell are you waiting for? And engraved invitation! Get on!" Haru did not need a second invitation - however rough the first was.
He swung his leg over the back of the bike and grabbed onto the person's shoulders ahead of him tightly as they sped off. The gang roared in anger at losing their antagonist and piled back into the van and sped off after the escaping pair. The traffic was happy to continue on it daily routine even if the gang was not.
Haru ducked his head behind the rider's back and closed his eyes. The wind tore his white coat open and the cold wind rushed in. But the body ahead of him was warm, very warm – a smirk grew on Haru's face. Black Haru may have been in shock over seeing his childhood savior again, but Black Haru had not been beaten into submission and quickly resurfaced.
They turned out of traffic and down a side street. The bike halted and the rider turned around to face him, the helmet still on. "You ok?" The voice was muffled, but Haru thought he recognized it. "Yeah, yeah Red Butterfly, I'm ok."
"Good. But one thing-" The helmet came off the rider and long straight blonde hair fell out and flowed across the black trench coat. "I'm not the Red Butterfly."
Haru stared dumbfounded into the face of Ansa Uotani, Tohru's friend and a girl a year above him at school. "Uo?" To say that he was shocked would be putting in mildly - he was flabbergasted.
Suddenly Uo's eyes widened as she looked over Haru's shoulder. "Shit! Hold on!" She slammed her helmet back on and with a flick of her wrist, a kick, and a push; they were off. The van had just turned down their street.
They spun down the streets in a blur of colors. Haru could not believe it. In less than 10 minutes he had found Uo in his heroine's coat, discovered Uo could ride a bike like no one he had ever seen before, and had a gang after him. Not to mention that Black Haru was straddling a bike behind a girl. Things were definitely heating up.
Black Haru smirked at the world.
Hey! So what do you think? I have gone through this chapter like 4 times now and re-posted it each time and its amazing how many mistakes I STILL keep on finding… Thanks for reading! PLEASE review, it lets me know that people actually read this and want to continue reading further chapters.
Preview of chap 2: Uo's past comes into light when the duo have to fight and gain sanctuary with an old friend of Uo's.
Kit ;)