Cherry Blossoms
Author Notes: I do not own Fruits Basket. I do own the made up characters that reside in this story. The character hair colors are based upon the last Zodiac hair color because I believe they all have the same hair color. (My reasoning on this is that Kazume's grandfather had orange hair and Kyo also had orange hair.) Also, I came upon this idea once I finished the Anime and before I started the Manga so it doesn't completely go with the storyline of the Manga so I'm sorry for that. Thank you :)
Chapter One: The Curse
Since the beginning of the zodiac animals, there has been a curse. This curse was attached to one of the wealthiest families at the time, the Sohmas. With this curse, twelve people within the family holds the spirit of one of the zodiac animals. These animals are the rat, cow, tiger, hare, rooster, horse, dragon, dog, boar, snake, sheep, and the monkey. One person is cursed with the evil spirit of the Cat, which in the old folk tail was tricked by the rat and missed the dinner. The cat is usually left out of everything to deal with the other twelve zodiac, but also carries a monster inside of him which is released when his beaded bracelet is taken off his wrist. Last with the curse, is the God. The God is doomed to die young and is given a weak body. The God is the one who runs the Sohma family, no matter the thirteen cursed souls age. No matter how much one of the thirteen try to defy him, they all return to him in the end... for so the curse says.
Our story begins at a birth. There is no Tohru, no Kyo nor Yuki in this tale, for they all have passed away. Tohru is long forgotten to the Sohmas, Yuki and Kyo still in their minds, Yuki more than Kyo due to Kyo being the past Cat. So let this tale begin...
The air was cold and chilling, the moon bright and blinding. Outside was quiet and calm, yet inside the Sohma house it held the breathing and shouts of Ai Sohma. Her blonde hair was a mess, her forehead sweaty and hot. The bed sheets were in a muddle, her hand gripping Jiro Sohma's hand. Her breathing was staggering as she pushed. Three sixteen year old boys sat at the side, their eyes watching. In the arms of one, a four year old was held. The deep eyes of the four year old watched the birth. Was the child to be one? One of them?
"Push Ai, push sweetheart," pleaded Jiro, holding his wife's hand. A doctor was positioned at the end of the bed, his hands under the covers.
"I see a head," he said. Ai pushed, screams admitting from her mouth. Her hand gripped Jiro's hand hard, squeezing it hard. Soon there was a high pitched scream of an infant. The doctor smiled and examined the baby. He wiped the little thing off and handed it to the exhausted mother. Ai held the baby close to her. Nothing. The four year old growled. Another one... another one not one of them! The last one to be born with the curse... was the cat... born a month ago. He was ugly, and not human. He slowly changed to a cat then into a small baby. His mother was terrified and almost threw the thing across the room...
Ai handed the little child over to her husband. Jiro handled the baby with care and brought her close to him. Poof. The four year old, along with the three sixteen year olds, watched. She was part of them... but which animal? The four year old ran towards Jiro and pulled on his pants leg. Jiro's eyes were wide, surprised. Ai's face held horror as she looked at her daughter. The teenagers made their way over to the new father, tailing the little child as he walked toward Jiro. In Jiro's arms was... a little baby rat. The four year old boy looked on in bewilderment, along with the teenagers. The rat... the rat was a girl! Since the beginning of the curse, it was rare to have females as a zodiac animal. They say their souls were to emotional to be an animal, to bear the curse. The most girls ever in the zodiac were three, which was the last generation. Yet this... this girl was the rat... The rat has never been female in all its life. How could a girl trick a male? It just wasn't possible! Poof. The little boy looked up at the baby now in Jiro's arms. He tugged on his pants leg one more time. Jiro looked down at him.
"Would you like to see her Haruko?" asked Jiro to the small child. Haruko nodded. Jiro knelt down and Haruko looked at the small child. There slept a beautiful baby girl with light gray hair. He stared at the little girl. "Haruko... meet the rat... Miki," whispered Jiro, smiling at the little boy. Miki... Miki was a beautiful name for a rat...
One of the teenagers slowly slipped out of the room. Sitting outside the door, a nine year old boy looked up. His black hair was pulled back into a small ponytail that rested on the back of his neck. He eyed the sixteen year old.
"Well?" he asked.
"It was a girl... Ai gave birth to a girl." replied the teenager, leaning against the wall next to the door. The boy got up and grabbed the teenager by the bottom of his shirt.
"Tell me! Is she... is she one of us?" he asked, his deep brown eyes looking up at the elder boy.
"Yes Seiko... she is one of us." whispered the teenager running a hand through his messy black hair.
"Which one is she Masa? Which one?" hissed Seiko, his young voice squeaking.
"The rat..."
Jiro smiled down at Haruko as he looked at the other two teenagers.
"Would you like to see Miki?" he asked. The silver head shook his head, smiling a bit.
"We see her... She's beautiful, congrats Ai, Jiro." he said, smiling.
"Thank you Kisho. Ryu, would you like to hold her?" Jiro asked. Ryu nodded, his arms held out for the little baby. Jiro handed her over and Ryu looked down at the small bundle. She was so tiny. Her eyes opened slowly, and two innocent purple orbs looked into his deep sea green eyes. Those eyes... those purple eyes beamed into his soul. Deep down inside... he felt that this girl was special. Of course, all the rat children were special... but this one... this one was extremely special. He had a funny feeling... he felt something that he couldn't explain and handed her back over to Jiro.
"She's beautiful..." Ryu whispered softly. Jiro took his daughter back into his arms. Poof. Jiro blinked, surprised to be holding a small rat but then remembered that she was a member of the zodiac now... A small hand gripped Ryu's and Kisho's hands. Haruko stood between the two.
"We must go... leave the two parents alone with their newborn child..." said Haruko softly. The three turned around and headed towards the door to exit the small room.
Seiko looked at Masa, his eyes wide in shock.
"The... rat... This can't be... The rat... can't... can't be a girl! No.. are you sure?" he stuttered, his head resting on the stomach of Masa. Masa nodded.
"I'm sure... Miki transformed in her father's arms. There is nothing to be done about it... its finally happened... the rat has finally become a girl." said Masa quietly. Before Seiko could open his mouth, the door opened and three figures slowly stepped through with the door closing gently. Haruko looked at Masa and Seiko and smiled a small smile.
"Did you tell him Masa?" asked Haruko softly. Masa gave a small nod. "Good..." he spoke softly. Ryu looked down at Haruko and picked him up.
"It's time for bed Haruko... your body isn't used to staying up this late. I'm surprised that you are still awake," Ryu said to the four year old. The deep eyes of the young child came to the conclusion that it was time to turn him. They became heavy and so did his head. Haruko laid his head gently on Ryu's shoulder, his arms wrapped around the teenager's neck. Ryu patted the young child's back and looked at the others.
"Seiko, you need to go to bed as well you have school tomorrow. Masa, Kisho if you want you can go inform the others of the birth," he said. Before they were able to move, he quickly added, "But don't tell Natsu's mother... I don't think she can handle anything right now..." He turned and headed out of the house, going to one of the other houses where the young Haruko stayed in.
Seiko's eyes became full of sorrow as he thought on what was just said.
"I don't think Natsu's mother can handle anything anymore..." he whispered softly. His eyes grew tearful. "It's the stupid curse... She is such a nice person... and yet... the curse... she got it bad..." he said. Natsu's mother was Seiko's eldest sister, 15 years difference between them. Of course, Sakura didn't know that she was Seiko's eldest sister, her memory being erased once she hugged him one day. She couldn't understand why her brother was like that and just shoved him away, refusing to look at him. Now... "Why did she have to give birth to that damn cat!!!" he shouted, his grip on Masa's shirt tightened as he cried into his shirt. "She had to give birth to that damn cat..." he whimpered. "She already thinks she's an only child... and now... she'll have her only child taken away... Why... why must she go through this..." he whispered softly, rubbing his head against Masa's shirt. Kisho looked away, his eyes cast down. Masa rubbed the top of Seiko's head gently. Being a member of the curse was very hard...
Jiro looked over at his worn out wife and smiled down at her. He handed the baby to her. Her eyes just stared at him.
"What... is that... thing..." she whispered softly. Jiro looked at his wife confused.
"What do you mean? Its our daughter... its Miki..." he said, handing the baby girl down to her.
"She... she turned into... into a rat when you hugged her! Why.... why..." she whispered, fear in her eyes. Jiro sighed softly and sat down next to his wife, Miki in his arms sleeping peacefully as a rat.
The room was pitch black until the door was opened. Light spilled into the room gently. A figure laid in the bed, the covers pulled tightly around them. Another one approached the bundled figure. The hand gently shook the body. A soft moan escaped and eyes slowly opened.
"Its time to change the baby..." whispered the voice. The body on the bed shivered with fright.
"That thing... that thing will not touch my body Mamoru... never... I refuse... That is not my child..." Sakura whispered softly. Mamoru sighed softly and sat on the edge of the bed.
"I know... but... try to love that thing... you might grow to love him..." he whispered softly. He knew the baby was ugly when it was born... it smelt horrible and was god awful. How could such a thing ever be born? He tried to cope with it... knowing it was just the damn curse... yet Sakura... Sakura couldn't handle it but who would? What mother would possibly be able to care for a child who came out of her not even human? A child that was hideous? No one would... no one would want to care for that child.
"I will never love him... he's not my son..." she whispered into her husband's leg. "I have no son..."
Seventeen year old Isamu made his way down one of the hallways of one of the Sohma houses. It was near midnight yet he care not to sleep. People were still up and he just couldn't rest while he knew that. A soft cry rang to his ears and he stopped. He looked around while the crying kept on. This was near the quarters of Mamoru and Sakura... It must be Natsu... A minute passed and still the crying continued. He figured that they were asleep so he headed towards the crying of the dear little child.
He entered the room to ear piercing screams of an unhappy child. He was surprised to see an actual baby than an evil spirit that engulfed the cat. The juzu beads were wrapped around his wrist twice. His eyes soften as he saw the messy orange colored hair and fearful red eyes. He was just a baby... a baby who needed love at that moment. Isamu made his way over to Natsu and stopped.
"Stop your crying," he hissed at the baby, but the wails continued. "Whats wrong cat? Come on, speak you stupid animal..." he said but he knew that wouldn't work. The only reason why he was being mean to him was because he was the cat... plain and simple. He changed diapers before... he was around when Seiko was born so he knew that commanding him did nothing... His nose soon told him the reason the young cat was crying. Isamu sighed softly as he grabbed a diaper and wipes from nearby. As he began to change the young one's diaper, he began to think about when he was little. When the last cat was caged up. He was so lonely... he tried to stay out of the cage but he couldn't go against the God's orders... no one could... Yet he was so close to getting out... but.. fell short. Isamu remembered walking by his cage, looking at him with a sorrowful look. He shook the memory out of his head and the cries began to die down. Natsu was back in a peaceful slumber now that his pants were less full. He threw the diaper into the waste can and slowly exited the room. He looked inside the couple's room to faintly hear Sakura say, I have no son... Isamu walked away from the door and out of the house. If anyone was going to be by Natsu's side to make it through life... he would be there to help him along the way.
