Fade to Black©
Past
Loud coughs were coming from Akira's room. Ren, one of Akira's servents, came to Akira's aid. "Would you like some more cough drops?" She asked gently. He looked up at her with longing eyes and said, "Whatever you do will not keep me from dying." She looked into his eyes and saw a loneliness, like he was afraid to die alone. She sat on his bed and caressed his cheek.
Understanding Akira's loneliness, Ren slept beside of Akira during the night and they talked of things they couldn't talk about with other people. They touched each other gently and shared a great understanding over the weeks. Ren came more frequently during the day to tend to Akira's needs and a strong bond grew between them. Soon, they could not be seperated.
They fell in love.
Other servents of Akira along with the juunishi soon found out about the romances the two had been having. Ren was threatened to be kicked out of the Sohma Estate for eternity. Despite Akira being bed-sick, Akira fought for Ren's right to stay, and since he was the head of the family, naturally, he won the argument.
Two months later, Akira and Ren were happily married. They talked of having an heir for the Sohma God but the more Ren thought about it, it had suddenly struck her that the heir could be a girl. Akira would surely not live long enough to have a second heir.
"Akira? We need to talk," Ren's voice drifted through the hall and into Akira's room. "Yes dear?" He called back. Ren walked into his room, bowed, and then began to speak, "I'm not going to have a child unless you agree that the heir to you should be male. I don't think it proper that the Sohma God should be female. So if we end up having a female, we can raise it as a male." The thought of raising a female as a male was shocking to Akira but he needed an heir and he knew that Ren was stubborn. "Fine..." He replied.
In the next month, they were already sleeping together in the hope of having an heir before he died. They had a passionate love and it was not long before their daughter was born. Having a daughter greatly upset Ren but she knew they did not have enough time to try again. Besides, she was over thirty and didn't want to have a greater risk of the heir having down syndrome and she knew it wasn't too long before she started menopause.
The only solution was to raise their daughter as a boy. They were to name him Akito.
As the days went by, Ren was getting jealous of her child and soon began to dislike him. Akira was just paying attention to him and not to Ren. She still loved Akira passionately but she was jealous of Akito.
Two months passed and Akira was on his death bed. Ren sat beside him the whole time, watching him lightly carress the baby. "I give all my powers to Akito," And with that, he died peacefully from his illness with Ren by his side, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Present
"Shut up! You're not my boss, I'm the head of this family, not you!" Akito shouted at his mother. "Whether you're the head of this family or not, I still don't think you should act so unkindly towards the juunishi! And stop forcing the juunishi bond on others! I'm still your mother and you should respect my thoughts!" Ren yelled back. "I'm not Akira! I don't have to act like he did! Being kind and loving towards the juunishi is damn stupid! And I don't care what you think!" At that, Akito raised his hand and slapped Ren as hard as he could. Ren's cheek had a red handprint on it and more anger rose in her body. "You're horrible! I'd rather be in Heaven with Akira then down here with you! You stole Akira from me!" Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"You never liked me anyway!" Akito started again, "And if you're still my mother, how come you slept with Shigure even though you knew I was sleeping with him?" "It was Shigure's idea to sleep with me, not mine! He was mad at you for sleeping with Kureno!" Ren couldn't stand it any more and broke down into tears. Akito looked at her like she was a piece of trash and stepped over her.
Akito then kept to himself and led a life of hatrid and grief, with only his pet bird to keep him true company. A single white feather drifted out the window, symbolizing his grief and departure of the world outside.
Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is the creation of Natsuki Takaya, and is licensed in North America by FUNimation (anime) and Tokyopop (manga). This Fan Fiction is used without permission or the intention of making a profit.
"Fade to Black" © 2005