Legacy of the fox
Disclaimer- Every time I type it out, I feel so sad! I do not own Fruits Basket, as much as I would love to.
Note- this story will contain spoilers from the manga, so if you have not read the manga up to Volume17, I hope you practice discretion and still read this fanfiction. Thank you.
Chapter Three-The fox in the zodiac
Akito Sohma shivered as she slowly walked to the edge of her room that opened to the outside. It was snowing, but it was not the cold that was making her shiver. It was something else. Her face darkened as she realized what was it. It was fear. "Fear of what..?" she wondered out loud. Then it hit her. "Of course…its fear for that stupid fox… but I thought I had already…" she held out her finger as a bird landed on it. "I thought I had already ordered her memory to be erased.." She laughed softly.
Meanwhile,at Shigure's house…Everyone was shocked at Shigure's words. Tohru's brown eyes widened as she tried to absorb what he had just said. Yuki raised his eyebrows. "The fox in the other story of the zodiac? Is there such a thing?" Kyo tilted his head as he too, tried to make sense of it. "You mean the cat is not the only one chucked out from the zodiac!" he demanded. Shigure shook his head.
"Actually Kyo, the fox was not even considered to be part of the zodiac, unlike the cat, so I guess you're not that pathetic after all!" he declared matter-of-factly, a grin spreading across his face.Kyo looked up, shocked. "Huh? Whaddya mean…" Before he could continue his sentence, Yuki cut in. "Shigure.. I'm not sure I understand all of this, so do you mind if you hurry up and tell us the story behind the fox?" His eyes looked innocent, but there was no denying the demand in his eyes. Shigure looked at the confused Tohru to the equally confused Kyo to the coolly collected Yuki. Then he nodded., and sat down next to Tohru. "Fine..its quite the story, actually…
He cleared his throat. " I'm sure all of you know the story of 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. Well, this legend comes from it. A long time ago, the fox was a good friend of the God. The God liked it so much; he wanted the fox to be the first animal in the zodiac. But the fox declined, and in doing so angered the God so much, the fox was not given an invitation to the banquet. There were 13 invitations, but of course, the foolish cat did not come." And this, Kyo uttered a rude word from under his breath while shooting looks at Yuki, who was innocently staring at his thumbs.
Shigure flashed a look at Tohru,who still looked confused, before continuing. " So the cat did not come, but the God wanted 13 signs of the zodiac, so again, he offered the fox a place again. But the fox just said that it would think about it until tomorrow. That night, the fox played a trick on the God, which humiliated him in public. It turned out that the fox was also friends with the cat, and it wanted to pay back revenge for the cat. The God was so angry, it banished the fox and the cat from ever meeting the rest of the animals again." Shigure locked his hands together. "But somehow, just like the cat, a member of the Sohma family was also possessed by the spirit in the zodiac. Yup..so Mitsune was the..lucky one, and she, like Kyo, is ostracized by everyone in the main house. She lives in the 'inside' of the main house, but her parents are 'outside'. They do not know that their daughter is the fox."
Tohru cleared her throat. "Um..did they want to have their memories erased?" she asked timidly. Shigure looked rather taken aback, but answered her question. "Actually, yes. They found it a disgrace to have such a daughter. You can see she is kind of like Rin.."
He smiled ruefully. Tohru felt her eyes moisten. "That's so sad…" she said softly, staring at the sleeping fox on her lap. Shigure nodded slightly. "Oh well! Story time is over! Tohru, I think you should put Mitsune-chan in your room, she's going to transform sooner or later." Tohru jumped up. "Oh yes! I better go!" she ran up the stairs.
Shigure, Kyo and Yuki were left in the living room. Yuki was the first to speak. "Shigure, why do I have this feeling that that story was not complete?" he asked, innocently twiddling his thumbs. Shigure laughed nervously. "What are you talking about? I've got to go, I need to finish my manuscripts!" He quickly walked off. Yuki frowned,then he too walked off. Kyo was left alone. "No wonder I feel so thankful to that Mitsune.." he said out loud.
In Tohru's bedroom, she placed the little fox on her bed and covered her with blankets. Tohru looked at her quietly until a thought struck her. "Oh..I got to make dinner!" she cried out loud. She was one foot from the door, when suddenly, there was a loud "POOF" and she was covered with brown tinged smoke. Tohru coughed and tried to wave away the smoke. As it slowly thinned, she could make out her bed…. but Mitsune was gone.
Panicking, Tohru looked around frantically, but froze as someone from behind grabbed her by the arm.
Turning around, she saw a girl slightly taller than her wrapped upin a blanket. She had chestnut brown hair, which barely reached her shoulders and her deep brown eyes stared fiercely into Tohru. Her grip on Tohru was tight. Tohru's eyes widened as she saw Mitsune Sohma for the first time. Mitsune frowned.
"Are you Tohru Honda?"
SharinganRasengan's little speech: Fast chapter, hope you enjoy it, please review, arigatou!