This has nothing to do with anything, but today I finally watched Fruits Basket! I always read the books, and the anime was so cute! Just a note…
The next day was Saturday. Haru awoke early and watched the rain fall. Silver drops fell from the sky, and seemed to hit the ground with incredible impact. He loved the rain.
Several hours later it occurred to him he should wake up Reina. So he knocked on her door.
"Hey, Reina, are you awake yet?" he called softly.
"Mmm…" was her response. Then she opened the door.
"Whoa! You look terrible! Did you get any sleep last night?" Haru asked, concerned. Ahh! You aren't supposed to tell a girl she looks terrible! Where are my manners?
Reina rubbed her eyes. Her eyes are almost just like Kyou's… "It's…the…rain…it…makes…me….tired." she managed to get out.
It makes Kyou tired too! What else do they have in common? Haru inadvertently looked at her wrist. THE BEADS! Why didn't I think of that before? "If you're tired, just lounge around the house. I-ah-have some stuff to do. I'll be back by afternoon."
She nodded. "Get dressed…right…" she stumbled back into her room. Once she shut the door, Haru practically ran to Hatori's.
"Ha'ri!" he yelled. "You busy? We need to talk."
Hatori looked up from the newspaper he was reading. "Haru, what is it?"
"Reina's the cat, right? Well…does…is…is she cursed with the…other form?"
Hatori closed his eyes and looked pained. "How did you guess so quickly?"
"The beads." Haru replied sadly. "So, she's more like Kyou than ever occurred to me…"
"There's more…" Hatori admitted reluctantly. "There's more…but I don't think it's my place to tell you."
Haru stared at him. "What do you mean?"
Hatori looked sad. "She holds more secrets then I care to discuss. If you should know, you'll find out. Go home now, okay?"
Haru nodded. "Okay…"
The weekend passed quickly. Haru learned that Reina had a terrible temper, just like Kyou. She was better about controlling it though. She directed anger towards shouting rather than breaking things.
She also hated leeks. And she loved the roof. In fact, if Haru didn't know better, he'd assume they were twins. But Reina seemed more agreeable. She wasn't as afraid of showing weakness. What Hatori said lay on Haru's mind, however. He wanted to know what was meant by 'other secrets'. There was something odd about Reina, so odd she had been isolated as the others grew up together.
On Monday they walked to school with Momiji. Cheery as ever, he kept asking Reina questions about herself. Simple questions, like
"What's your favorite color?" (Orange) A/N: that's mine…heh heh…
or "What's your favorite food?" (Beef stew)
Haru watched the two of them smiling. Reina had more patience than Kyou ever did. She answered ever question with a small smile on her face. When they got to school, Tohru, Yuki and Kyou were waiting.
"Hello Hatsuharu-san! Reina-chan! Momiji-kun!" Tohru called happily. "How was your weekend?"
Haru and Reina grinned. "Very…eventful…" Haru said. "We spent it all together."
"Is that so Haru?" Yuki said, smiling. "You sounds happy about that."
Well, I am. But that's disloyal to Yuki. How can I show such affection for another and not forget his kindness? "Well…it was fun."
Kyou, brooding as usual, turned to Reina. "You're a bitch, you know that? How can you be that cat too?"
"Hatori told Kyou is was the truth." Yuki explained. "He wasn't happy."
Just then a teacher walked up. "Sohma Reina. I cannot believe you think we'll tolerate dyed hair."
"What about Haru?" Reina said, looking bored.
"We have our reasons for allowing Sohma Hatsuharu's hair color." The teacher turned to Momiji. "And you, you stupid child. Still wearing the girl's uniform. Take that off."
The teacher then grabbed Momiji. "TAKE IT OFF!"
"Hey, stop it!" Tohru cried. "Leave him alone!"
Smack. Haru's hand across the teacher's face. "Don't touch him, or I'll report child abuse, you bastard."
The teacher was stunned. "A student hitting a teacher? Unacceptable!"
"What you did to Momiji is unacceptable." Yuki said, trying to stall Haru. "I cannot believe that you were using your power as our educator in such a way."
"Cut all the crap, Yuki." Haru said. "This guy doesn't deserve it." With that, Haru began to beat on the teacher. "How do you like it? Hahaha! Is it fun? Well, answer you ass!"
Reina stood, mesmerized. Black…Black Haru. This is what Hatori warned me about…
"Stop it Haru!" Yuki commanded. "Leave him alone!"
"Why should I? He deserves it!"
Kyou, now thoroughly annoyed, wasted no time. He simply whacked Haru over the head. Haru fell to the floor like a box of lead.
The teacher was too stupid to stop, though. "Sohma Reina, I simply will not allow the hair. Let me see those roots." He grabbed her head before she had time to react. "See, orange root! Wait…orange? What are you trying to pull?"
Reina couldn't stand it anymore. One hit send the teacher flying. "I'll be sure to see you're fired." She said, eyes glowing. "Get out of my sight before I do something I'll regret, you bastard."
The teacher scurried off. Tohru was kneeling before Haru, and Reina couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy that she wasn't first to help.
"Kyou-kun, you didn't need to hit him that hard. He's going to have a bump."
Reina smacked him. "Dumbass! I can't believe you! What kind of person are you? I can't believe that we're related!"
"Don't yell at me, bitch. I did what needed to be done." Kyou shouted.
"Sadly, he's right. It's very difficult to knock Haru back to normal without knocking him out. Kyou didn't need to leave a bump though." Yuki said.
Haru woke. "Oww…what was I doing?"
"God!" muttered Kyou.
"Say, Reina, why are your roots orange anyway?" asked Momiji.
Her roots are orange? Thought Haru. Just like Kyou's…are all cats this similar?
"I don't want to talk about it. Let's get to class. We're late."
Yuki and Tohru agreed, and started walking to class. But Kyou watched Haru, Reina, and Momiji walk off.
Something about that bitch is really familiar. I could almost swear I met her. Oh well. He turned and followed Yuki and Tohru to class.
School was a bore. Momiji, Haru and Reina decided to head back to Shigure's with the others.
When they got there, Shigure was amazed to see Reina.
"Last time I saw you, you were still learning to walk! Look how you've grown!" he exclaimed.
Reina grinned at him. "I knew I'd met you before! The dog!"
"Ah…Shigure…" Started Kyou, obviously pissed. "How come you never mentioned this…other cat…to me before if you knew her!"
Shigure looked at him blankly. "I never told you? Oh well, must have slipped my mind." He chuckled. "So you're living with Haru now, Reina? Good. I'm glad you're with the family again. Those foster families make me nervous."
"Nobody found out…don't worry."
"Oh, that's not what I meant. I was worried about our poor, sweet Reina all alone with those people? Who knows what they might have done?"
Yuki and Kyou hit him, almost like a reflex. "Nothing worse than what you yourself are capable of."
"Oww…now that hurt. I can't help it if I worry about such a delicate flower in a sea of dangerous weeds."
"I'd hardly call her delicate." Sneered Kyou.
That was the wrong thing to say. In one motion, Reina grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up to her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Shigure found this side-splittingly funny. "It appears Kyou is being beaten up by the flower. What does that make him? Dirt?"
"Why you…" Kyou couldn't even hit Shigure, because Reina held tight.
"Careful who you insult, Kyou. They may know your weaknesses better than you expect." Reina gave him a wicked grin. "Haru, Momiji, we better go. We have so much homework! I'll see you later Tohru! Shigure!"