Crimson Threads


Woohoo! I'm back! I'm kinda sad, cuz I might have to leave for church in the middle of writing this... I will be mentally writing more to the fanfic while I'm gone. That way, you all get more! hehe!

:DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Fruits Basket, but I do own Mike, Ari, and Mayra.


The Big Brother I Never Had
Ari woke to a sunny morning. I guess the sun's as bright as it is back in D.C. It had been a month since the day they met Akito. Since Ari saw Mike kissing Akito. Ari totally forgot about it. Well that's what she told herself, but she didn't ever think of it.

She slipped into her new school uniform. Ari felt like today was going to be great. Shigure had gotten them enrolled at Tohru's school. She ran around, banging on everyone's door, waking up people who wasn't up yet. She skipped into the kitchen, where Tohru and Shigure were. She ran and hid behind Shigure.

"Ari, what did you do this time?" Shigure asked.

"Umm... run around, banging on everyone's door, waking them up?" Ari said.

"Ari! Where are you!" Kyo screamed. "I'm gonna get you!" Kyo skidded into the kitchen, and saw Ari hiding. "There you are!"

Kyo lunged for the girl, but Ari got out of the way. In other words, Kyo basically dived into the paper door, breaking it once again.

"Kyo," Shigure sighed, "I should start charging you if you keep tearing my house apart."

Kyo growled as he sat down at the table. Ari stuck her tongue out at him. Mike and Mayra came down, still half asleep. "Morning guys!" Ari said.

"How can you be so hyper so early?" Mayra asked.

"Because I'm me!" Ari chirped.

Mike, Mayra, Tohru, and Shigure laughed. Mayra took the seat by Kyo and kissed him good morning. Ever since the day Ari caught them kissing, they had been going out.

The six ate breakfast. Ari ate as fast as she could. She put her plate into the sink, and started poking random people. "Hurry up, you guys! I don't wanna be late for school!"

"Ari," Mike said, "I thought you hated school."

"But I'm always hyper on my first day!" She started bouncing up and down. "Hurry up!"

Kyo started getting fed up. "Shut up, you damn rat. You're almost as annoying as the stupid rabbit."

"Shut up, stupid cat." Ari said. he had gotten used to calling people by their animal. "Otherwise, I'll start singing."

Kyo's eyes widened in fear. One time, during a road trip, Ari was singing the most annoying song ever (a/n: you know, the one that goes, "I know a song that gets on everyone's nerves..."). He quickly finished his breakfast.


Ari, Mayra, and Mike stared in awe. They had never seen a high school so big. Tohru led them into the office, so they could get their schedules.

"Hey, Ari? You already broke your resolution for school." Mayra said.

Ari had no idea what Mayra was talking about.

"Remember? You said you would try to not get sent to the principal's office. School hasn't even started yet, and you're in here!" Mayra joked.

Ari laughed and grabbed her schedule from the hand that held it out to her. The three compared their schedules. They had the same schedules! Ari pulled Mike and Mayra into a group hug. The three walked together to their classes. On the way, people whispered about them. Ari became nervous, and subconsciously grabbed Mike's hand. Mike was startled by the action, but just shrugged it off.

They came into their class, and the teacher asked them to introduce themselves. When Mike went to introduce himself, all the girls started whispering. Ari just said her name, and sat in her assigned seat, which was between Mike and Haru. Mayra sat behind Ari, and Momiji was in front of Haru. Class started, and Haru slipped a note to her.

Meet me on the roof during break.

Ari looked at him, and nodded. Ari payed attention in class, answering everything correctly. All the students glared at her every time she answered. Finally, the bell had rung, and Ari tried to go up to the roof. Ari went outside into the hall, but was held back by three girls.

"Hey, Ari, right? Look, we saw you holding hands with Mike. Well, we are the Prince Michael Fan Club, and we have first dibs on him! You can't be his girlfriend!"

Ari scoffed. "Well, are you sure you have first dibs on him?"

The girl who seemed to be the leader was turning red with annoyance. "Now you listen bitch! Mike is ours, and you-"

"Ari, are they bothering you?"

The four turned around to see Mike coming over to them.

"Oh no," Ari laughed. "Hey Mike, you know that these girls are your 'number one fans,' right?"

Mike laughed. "Oh sure, and you're the perfect little girl who never does anything wrong." The two laughed, leaving the three fangirls behind.

"Oh shoot!" Ari yelled, "I gotta meet Haru up on the roof! Be right back, 'kay?"

Mike nodded, and Ari dashed up the stairs. She saw Haru waiting for her. "Sorry I took so long!" she panted, "Some stupid fangirls held me up."

"That's okay. Better late than never." Haru said.

"Yep! So why did you want to talk about?" Ari asked.

"Why don't we cut the talk and get right down to the action?"

"Huh?" Ari looked at Haru. Oh no. I think he might have gone 'Black' on me.

"I don't care if you like Mike or anything, but I can't stop thinking what your lips taste like." Haru whispered.

Yep. He's gone black. Haru had Ari against the wall. "Look Haru, I don't like Mike, but-"

"Great. Then I can have you all to myself." Haru leaned in to kiss her.

Dammit, why is it always me who gets cornered? Ari thought. Quickly, before Haru kissed her, she got her leg in between his, and brought up her knee as hard as she could. Haru stumbled over from the pain. Before he could recover, Ari dashed back downstairs. man, that was close. Next time, I'm bringing someone with me. Ari calmly walked to lunch, where Mike and Mayra were sitting with Tohru, Kyo, Momiji, and two other girls. Ari recognized them as Uo and Hana.

"Oh, there you are, Ari!" Tohru said. "I have your lunch!"

"Thank you, Tohru!" Ari said. Ari ate the riceball. She looked at what else was in her lunch. Strawberry milk, strawberry Pocky, and best of all, strawberries! "Tohru! How did you know I love strawberries?"

"Oh, I just asked Mike and Mayra. They sure know a lot about you." Tohru smiled.

Ari smiled, and continued to eat her lunch. Haru came up to them later, and glared at Ari. Ari just ignored them, and went back to annoying Mayra and Kyo.

The rest of the day went by with nothing happening. Ari just stared at the board. School was easy for her. All she had to was look at the board and let it soak it in. After school ended, Ari went to her locker. She said she would meet up with Mike, Mayra, Tohru, and Kyo at the front of the school. Ari put everything in her bag, and started to leave, when the three girls from earlier cornered her again.

"Heh, no Mike to protect you this time, bitch," one said.

The girls began throwing rocks at her. Ari held up her bag to block the rock from hitting her face, but in the end, the girls left Ari crouched against the wall, beaten up. It's never a day without me getting beat up, isn't it? Ari got up, and tried to walk, but her legs failed her and she collapsed onto the floor. Dammit. My legs can't fall asleep now!

"Ari! What happened to you?"

Mayra ran over to her. "Stupid fangirls keep thinking I'm Mike's girlfriend. So they keep beating me up."

"Are you okay?" Mayra asked, with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, but my legs are off in 'Lala Land.' Mind helping me up?" Ari asked, with a weak smile.

Mayra helped Ari up to her feet. Ari tried walking, while leaning on Mayra. Eventually, Ari could walk on her own again, and they ran outside, hoping not to worry the others. Tohru was still there, but Mike and Kyo had already left. Ari explained to Tohru what had happened. Ari asked the other two not to tell Mike about this. She knew Mike would flip if he saw her like this. The two were hesitant, but agreed.

As soon as the three got home, Ari dashed upstairs to clean up, and changed into a white tank top and sweats. Ari came back down, in the mood to play some DDR. Ari figured out how to load her own songs into the game. Ari uploaded "Hold You Down" by J. Lo, when Mike came over to her. "Can I play?"

"Of course! You're going down!" Ari laughed. The two went all out, and danced like no one was watching. Mike would often watch Ari as it was her turn to dance. Then he would end up missing his moves. Ari would laugh at him, and in the end, they tied. Ari sighed, and put away the game.

"Well, I'm going to start on my homework." Ari said.

"Oh, okay," Mike said. Mike plopped himself down on the couch. He thought about the choice of song she chose for their game. Was that how she thought about him? Mike took his mind off that and went to his room to start his homework.


After half an hour, Ari closed her notebook. Ari gazed out the window. Should I execute my plan yet? I mean, if Mayra was right about Mike, I'd be doing the wrong thing. Mike's my big brother I never had. Ari sighed and went downstairs. She put on her jacket. Ari left the house, heading for the Main house.
Ahhh! I'm being flooded with reviews! I think I went a bit too fast, and so, just five minutes ago, I was getting a ton of reviews for Chapter 4! So, I'll answer them here!
Review Responses

Galasriniel: mwa ha ha ha! I think I might reveal the plan next chapter...

Mayan Devil: I really didn't want to have to kill them off! but the story's still good!

anime-lover-4-ever: thanks! Stay away from Mike! He's MINE!

NikaPhoenix: Yes! torture "it" as much as you can! "it' doesn't deserve to live!

Well, see ya next time!

Sarah-chan