Hooray, new chapter! I had most of this done before I even really got to this part of the story, because this is a big event. Things are really going to get into motion soon (I guarantee it)

Thanks guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Baskets. I only own Akemi. Amaya is Rosebane's. Ok.


Chapter 15 – Split Personality


"Akemi, come out of the bathroom, I want to see you!" Tohru urged.

"No! I can't!"

It was a mere hour before the dance and Tohru sat patiently outside the bathroom door for Akemi to come out. The boys weren't talking to each other – it was clear that Kyo was incredibly jealous of Yuki.

"Alright…I'm coming out," Akemi said from the other side of the door.

She opened it and stepped outside. Tohru gasped.

"Akemi, you look beautiful!"

The dress Akemi wore was one of simple elegance. It was a powder blue that went down to her knees. It had thin straps and a modest cut – and it fit Akemi perfectly. A white ribbon ran across the waist of the dress. A similar white ribbon ran through her hair. She had small touches of makeup on – enough to make her look angelic. Her shoes were healed sandals that had once belonged to Amaya (before she promptly grew out of them).

"Speak for yourself!" Akemi said, staring at Tohru, "you look gorgeous!"

Tohru was a vision of heavenly beauty. Her light brown hair had been partially pulled back with a long ribbon. Her dress was long and pink – the sleeves went down to elbow's length. Unlike Akemi's, it went down to her ankles, which met a pair of light pink slippers to match. She too was wearing a touch of make up (and seemed embarrassed about it).

"Ayame certainly did a good job with that dress," Akemi said, observing it, "it fits you perfectly."

"I know," Tohru said, "I still sort of feel bad about it." She turned to Akemi. "So how was Amaya's visit?"

Akemi smiled. "Good. It's always nice when she stops by."

Flashback

"Ok, that's it, stop moping," Amaya said with an annoyed sigh.

Akemi looked up from her magazine. "I'm not moping," she frowned.

"Whatever. Don't deny to yourself that you're depressed. You need to get it out," She said. Amaya spotted a teddy bear at the corner of her sister's bed and an idea came to her.

"Here," she said, flinging it at Akemi. "Pretend it's whoever you're upset with. This is getting ridiculous."

Akemi blinked. "You want me to pretend that my teddy bear is Haru?"

"Aha! I knew you were mad at him! I knew it! I knew it!" Amaya said, pointing to her sister defiantly. Akemi narrowed her eyes.

"I thought you were trying to help me."

"I am helping you. Now, seriously, try talking to it like you were talking to Hatsuharu. We did it in psychology class."

Akemi blinked. "Wait a minute, I thought you were going into a science field!"

"It is a science field," Amaya said simply.

"I can't believe they're letting you in a psychology class-"

"Oh come on, just try it," Amaya pleaded.

"No, it won't-"

"TRY IT!"

"Okay, okay!" Akemi said, not wanting to deal with her sister in a volatile mood. She turned to the teddy bear quite awkwardly. "Haru," she began quite lamely, "listen…I consider you my friend. And lately, you haven't been acting like it. That stunt you pulled on Sunday was total crap. You seem to be so hung up on his Rin girl that you've completely forgotten about everyone else." She was getting emotional now. "What is it about her, that she matters more than your friends do? What about us? Are you going to leave us out to dry? You stupid-" At this point, she was strangling the poor helpless teddy bear.

"Akemi, um…I think you've let it all out…you can give me the bear now."

End Flashback

"Are you girls almost ready?" Kyo's annoyed voice came from downstairs. The girls giggled.

"Coming!"

The two bounded down the stairs and were met by both Kyo and Yuki, dressed very nicely. Akemi didn't help but notice the way both their faces softened as they saw Tohru come down the stairs after her. Akemi giggled to herself.

"Miss Honda, you look absolutely beautiful," Yuki said, kissing her hand as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Kyo rolled his eyes and turned to Akemi with a frown. He didn't fool her in the slightest. She nudged him playfully.

"Come on," she said, "ready to go?"

"Oh you all look so marvelous!" Shigure said, wiping a faux tear from his eye. "I'm so proud of all my little ones!"

"Ok, we're leaving now," Yuki said quickly, ushering them out the door before Shigure could get another word in. "We'll be back later!"


The four arrived at the dance a little early to help with final preparations (since Yuki was class president). When the clock finally struck 7:00, people began to stream in and the dance began.

For once, Akemi decided to let loose, and she surprised herself by having lots of fun. She even forgot, momentarily about Haru. Well, that is until she saw him.

"Akemi!" Haru called as she walked away, pretending not to see him. "Akemi!" He called again. Still, she ignored him and continued to make her way through the crowd. She tried to weave and duck between people as best she could, in order to make her way outside. Finally, he decided to follow her, pushing his way through the various people.

He caught her as soon as she got outside. "Akemi, why are you ignoring me!" He grabbed her shoulder to get her to stop. She wrenched his hand of her shoulder and whirled around to face him.

"I have good reason, after all, YOU ignored me," She spat angrily.

"What do you mean?" He asked uncertainly.

"Sunday! You don't remember your promise? You were supposed to meet us all downtown! I thought you got lost or hurt or something! But I found you with HER." The words slid off her tongue reluctantly, as a bitter taste filled her mouth. Haru's eyes widened.

"You…saw us?" He asked.

"Yes. And it wouldn't be all that big a deal if you hadn't just decided to ditch us. God, you should have seen Tohru. She was worried too. Of course, Yuki and Kyo wouldn't say anything. They probably knew all along. Even Momiji didn't know where you were. Who is she that she's so much more important?" She asked heatedly.

"Look, Rin is different. You've got to understand-"

"She's important to you, you've loved her since you met her, she's made you who you are today, I DON'T CARE. You're love life…has nothing to do with me. And I'm not going to sit around…I WON'T sit around and wait for you to have time for us anymore. And I WILL NOT be your third wheel. So you can go find her and do whatever the hell you want, but leave me OUT of it." With that she walked away, leaving Haru standing there.

'Akemi, please…don't do this to me,' he thought anger rising. But it was to no avail. His vision started to blur as his hands shook with fury. He could feel himself fall, into the darkness within him.


Akemi had walked away in such a fury that when she finally realized just how far she had walked, she had no idea where she was. Somewhere on the lower side of town, and quite a bit away from the school.

She walked down the small street lined with little shops, hoping to find someone to ask for directions.

She suddenly heard a loud cough behind her. A woman stood outside a building, coughing relentlessly. Her long black hair streamed down her back, little pieces in her face. Akemi recognized her at once.

"Are you…Rin?" She asked. The girl looked at her with an emotionless expression.

"It's Isuzu. Only the people I care about can call me Rin." Her voice, like hollow wood, was still an ugly tone as Akemi had remembered. It was filled with an empty expression that stung at her ears.

Surprised at her reply, Akemi stuttered, "O-okay." There was an awkward silence between them, an unspoken, unrealized tension. Then-

"Look, I know about you and Hatsuharu," Akemi started, surprised she had used his full name. Isuzu looked at her with intense eyes. "And he's my friend. And I know that you're very important to him and stuff," She stumbled with her words, beginning to ramble. She finally broke off and took a deep breath, beginning again.

"The point is…I want you to take care of him, ok? Be good to him. I care about him…a lot."

In her same cold voice, Isuzu answered, "I'm not dating him, if that's what you think. We did. But that was a long time ago. Although he still has feeling for me…they aren't returned."

Akemi almost gasped. She was appalled at her own behavior. She had never meant to get mad at Haru, but her emotions toyed with her. 'After I said such cruel things,' She thought. "Thank you Isuzu-san. Thank you very much. I…I have to find him." With that, she took off running as fast as she could, leaving Isuzu in the distance of her mind.


Still breathing heavily, Akemi walked with a quickened pace. She had given up on running, after discovering it was nearly impossible for her to run in a skirt. 'Damn school dance,' She thought angrily as she looked wildly around. She was close enough to see the school in the distance. 'He has to be around somewhere,' she thought desperately.

"Hatsuharu!" She called out, feeling futile as her voice echoed.

"What the hell do you want?"

"…Haru?" She turned to see a figure standing behind her. But the figure wasn't Haru…or was it?

"Yea, what do you want? Huh?" His once kind eyes now looked cold and dangerous. He scowled darkly at her as she quivered in fear.

'This isn't like him…what do I do?' She thought.

"Well, say something! You gonna stand there and stare at me all night?" He yelled. She still kept silent, unable to move any part of her. "SAY SOMETHING!" He yelled again, slapping her with across the face with the back of his hand. She slowly crept her shaking hand up to her cheek.

Her eyes stung at her as she meekly said, "Haru, this isn't your normal behavior, what's wrong? This isn't like you…"

"And how the hell would you know!" He said harshly, raising his hand again.

"You know it's not nice to hit girls, Haru." A voice said in a warning tone. Akemi turned to see a relieving sight. Haru, however wasn't as pleased.

"Oh, is Kyo-kun jealous? After all, you don't really know how to get girls anywhere NEAR you, now do you? Why don't you run along and mind your own business. I'm sure you'd love to lose to Yuki again," Haru said in a sneering tone, not loosening his grip on Akemi's arm.

"Stay away from her Haru. Let go now."

"Oh shut up you stupid cat. This is none of your business."

"I SAID STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" Kyo yelled, grabbing Akemi's arm and pulling her away from Haru.

Gripping his jacket sleeve, she cried, "Kyo, what's wrong with him? We have to calm him down, we need to find out what's wrong!"

He shook his head. "No Akemi, there's nothing we can do. He's Black Haru now."

Before she could ask as to what that meant, Haru charged at Kyo, who caught his arm just in time. "Run." Akemi bit her lip and stayed put.

"What the hell are you still standing there for? Run, dammit!" He yelled. She needed no more persuasion. She turned her heel and ran as fast as she could.

Kyo turned back to Haru. "Good, she's gone. Now I won't feel so bad about beating you into the ground." He threw his jacket to the ground and rolled up his sleeves in anticipation. Haru moved closer to him, but Kyo pushed him backwards with full strength, catching him slightly off guard. He recovered quickly, retaliating by punching Kyo in the face.

With no time to react, Kyo jabbed Haru in the stomach with his left elbow. Haru clutched his stomach, leaning over slightly. Kyo took his right forearm and slammed it into Haru's back. Gritting his teeth in pain, he hooked his arms around Kyo's stomach and flipped him onto the ground, pushing his hands against Kyo's.

Kyo promptly kicked Haru in the jaw, forcing him onto his back. Forcing Haru's hands down, Kyo yelled, "Haru, listen to me! Stop this now! What's wrong with you? How can you hurt Akemi like that? She care's about you…She's practically love with you!"

Haru immediately stopped struggling and looked up at his foe in disbelief. "She's…what?" Slowly, the darkness ebbed away and retreated as he began to weaken.

"Of course! You don't really see the way she looks at you, do you? She worships the ground you walk on, Haru! You're too busy worrying about that damn Rin to even notice what you have in front of you!" Kyo said, letting him up.

Haru sat up and looked at Kyo with sad eyes. "I didn't know," He whispered. He sat in the same position for a few minutes, then suddenly stood up. "I should go, before I cause more trouble." With that, he left.

Kyo stood motionless before a single thought put him back into motion. 'Akemi'


Akemi wandered in the darkness, unaware of her surroundings. Her thoughts kept wandering back to Haru and Kyo, and their violent notions of the moment. 'Please, let them be alright,' she thought anxiously. She suddenly collapsed to the ground, weak from running. Her breathing was heavy as she sat and cried silently.

"Need help up?" A voice asked kindly.

Kyo stood over her, his hand reaching out gently. She immediately took it and gave him a small smile. " Kyo! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where's Haru? Is he okay?" She asked nervously.

" I'm fine. Haru's okay too. With a little persuasion he went back to normal. Neither of us got more than a scratch," Kyo assured her. She gave a breath of relief.

"Thank you Kyo. You saved me. You're a great friend," she said earnestly, leaning forward and hugging him tightly. He gave a small inward gasp as this happened, but to his shock, he did not transform.

"Whoa, whoa whoa!" He pushed her away from him, staggering slightly. "What the hell is going on here? Akemi…are you not telling me something?" He asked in disbelief.

"What? What's wrong?" She looked up at him in alarm.

"Are you…a guy or something?" He asked tentatively.

"KYO!" She pushed him away slightly. "How can you be so mean! I'm trying to thank you! Of course I'm not a guy, why would you say that!"

"I'm sorry," he said confused, patting her shoulder awkwardly. 'What's going on? I didn't transform! She's…She can't be…'

"Come on, let's go." He grabbed her hand and led her off to the school.

"Why are we going back to school?" She asked.

"Because," He explained, "you're sister is waiting to pick you up by now. That psycho is probably destroying everything in sight when she couldn't find you."


So yeah, like I said, next chapter will be good.

Akemi is going to find out some very important information about her good friends in the Sohma family ; )

Lots of love!

Don't forget to review and tell me how you liked the chapter!

Lola