TITLE: Somewhere, The Fates Are Laughing At Me
SUMMARY:For Rika Haruko, eating a blessed fruit which leads to being cursed like the one on the Sohma family and impersonate her twin brother are the least of her worries when she has to deal with love! Oh, and did I mention she has an active conscience?
DISCLAIMER: No, I do not own anime/manga/products of Fruits Basket, so don't attempt to sue me. Thank-you.
IMPORTANT: "..." speech )...( annoying A/N interruptions ------ Rika might have an annoying conscience that talks to her throughout the story, I haven't decided yet.
Make them 16 (Hatsuharu and Momiji) or 17 (Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, etc.), the rest, I don't remember -.-
-.-
RECAP:
"What do yo-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HOLY CRAP! RIKUUUUUU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOUUUUUUUUU!" Hatsuharu yelled as Rika jumped out of the window after him.
Chapter 4: Jobs, Flashbacks, Conversations, and Anniversaries !
The Next Day, Restaurant Called 'Lox Delux'
"So, Haruka-san, you wish to apply here, at Lox Delux?" A thin manager asked.
"Yes, I have many qualities that I believe will help this restaurant. I can uhh...balance foods, an-"
"Can you cook?" She interrupted Rika.
"Sure, I can cook almost anything." She said with some pride.
"Rice?"
"Of course!"
"Fish?"
"Any kind, ma'am."
"So, you know how to cook lox?"
"Ehhhh...yes, I haven't done so in a long time, but I believe I could cook it."
"Good, you can start next week, Haruka-san."
"Ahh, thank-you so much!" Rika said with a bow and hurried out. Finally! A job I could do! She thought with a silent cheer. Working as a cleaning boy and being a cook would be time consuming, but she thought she could live.
There was one problem, though.
"What the hell is 'lox'?" She said with confusion.
Next Day
"It's him, it's him! The new transfer student! Riku Haruka, isn't he just...cute?" a junior whispered to her friend.
"Yea, yea! I wanna join that new Riku-club, now!" she giggled back.
"Eh? But what about the Yuki Fan club!" the first one exclaimed.
"I give up on him, no one can get near him besides Tohru, look, I bet Riku doesn't mind it I touch him or anything!"
Rika was still searching for what the hell a 'lox' was in the library, when she heard this. It, no likely, creeped her out that other girls would have CRUSHES on her, it was disturbing.
'It's your fault.' it said to her, teasingly.
Unless you know what the heck a lox is, don't bother me! and with that, shut it out. Soon, more giggles erupted, and finding nothing, she slipped out and searched for the Home Ec. class, praying for a clue, or something.
"ARG!" Rika moaned and slammed her head repeatedly on the counter. After much paper cuts and three hours of nothing, she gave up and decided to lay there in defeat. Her lunch time was coming near to the end, thirty minutes left, and she didn't feel like skipping math. She was only an average math student.
"Riku-kun?" a voice questioned timidly. She looked up and saw Tohru with a concerned expression. Now that she thought about it, Rika realized that she had been wearing that expression since the day she pushed Haru-san out of the window.
"Yes?" Rika said, ignoring her last thought.
"What's wrong? I didn't see you for morning classes...did Hatsuharu-san do something to you?"
"Oh! That, nah, heck no, even if he did-which he didn't-I'd beat him up" Seeing the expression that brought up from her face, Rika added quickly, "Not that he did, Tohru-chan! I hadn't seen him in a looong time, remember?"
oO...Flashback...Oo
BUNK!
"Ow!" Haru said, landing on his stomach. Suddenly, a heavy impact fell onto his back, causing another 'OW!'
"Holy Crap, that hurt!" Rika exclaimed, rubbing her back. Looking around, she asked, "Where's Hatsuharu-san?"
Hana-san pointed under her, and quickly scrambled off of him. "I am sooo sorry, really sorry." Rika said, blushing a little.
"I'll give you twenty seconds." Haru said, getting up as well.
"What?" Rika asked in confusion. She started edging away, feeling a 'black Haru' coming out.
"You heard me. Twenty seconds before I kill you."
"Now Haru..." Yuki warned, taking a step toward him.
"No, Yuki, look, I love you and all, and I think I'll defeat this...Riku to win you today."
"One, don't say that, you don't mean it and it's weird. Two, even if you beat Riku, how would that win me over? Three, try to kill him and I'll never forgive you." Yuki said, arms crossed.
Before anyone could answer, Rika ran off, screaming over her back, "Remember! TWENTY SECONDS!"
oO...End Of Flashback..Oo
"So, yea. Don't worry. I'm just banging my head because I have no idea what 'lox' is." Rika said, finishing off. At this, Tohru's face brightened up.
"Oh, I know what lox is! Lox is a way to cook Salmon. It's very delicious." It seemed like Rika's prayers were answered.
"Demo..." Tohru continued.
"Yes?" Rika said, drifting away from her victory of finding an answer.
"Why would it matter?" she continued. Guess I should tell her THAT much...
"I got a job at Lox Delux, and I have no idea how to cook it." the girl pretending to be a boy admitted.
"Oh! I used to work there!" Tohru said happily.
"Do you...know how to cook it?"
"Of course! Would you like me to teach you?"
"Yes, please!" was the happy reply. My new jobs are going to be easy! Rika thought happily.
In Shigure's House, At Dinner
"Ahhhh! My little flower has made yet another delicious dinner for us!" Shigure exclaimed hands to his face with adoration. Kyo faked throwing up at his statement while Yuki chose to ignore it. While eating Tohru's home-made meal, their conversation led to who other than...Riku and Hatsuharu!
"I wonder where Riku-kun has been all week?" Tohru asked to almost no one. She had been asking this everyday since he was absent from class.
"It's been about a week since anyone seen him, right? Maybe he died." Kyo said, jamming rice in his mouth. Yuki smacked him in the head for that.
"'Riku-kun', my flower? Why do you worry so much for this Haruka-san?"
"Since two days after they jumped out the window, Riku has been missing for a week. I hope Haru-kun didn't do anything to him! No one would take care of him since he lives alone..."
"Don't worry, Honda-san. I'm sure Hatsuharu didn't do anything to him."
"Of course not! His beloved rat threatened him not to!" Kyo mocked.
THUNK!
"OW! FRICKIN' RAT!" Kyo yelled, waving his chopsticks threatenly.
"It's your fault, Baka Neko." Yuki said with a calm tone.
"Well, at least Haru's been more like himself." Shigure said. The other two cursed males nodded in agreement.
"Now that Riku-san's been gone, Haru has gone back to getting lost more often and forgets many things as always. He stopped being 'Black Haru' as much, too." Yuki noted, picking some fish to his bowl.
"That Haruka is a bad influence on him. Not that I like the old Haru, either..." Kyo muttered.
"You know what?" the dog suddenly asked out loud.
"What?" The three asked.
"It seems so deary now, I know! Let's get some life in here! I'll call Ayame-kun!" he said cheerfully, picking up the phone.
"I'LL KILL YOU WITH A SLOW AND HORRIBLE DEATH IF YOU DO THAT, PERVERT!" Kyo shouted.
"I'LL SKIN HIM and YOU IF YOU DO THAT." Yuki threatened in his creepy clam voice.
"Hehehe...never mind." He said quietly. It was pretty much quiet after that until Tohru started getting ice-cream from the freezer. When she came back, everyone could see that her mind was somewhere else.
"Honda-san? What's the matter?" Yuki asked, concerned.
"Uhh! Ooh! Nothing, don't want to be trouble, nothing at all!" Tohru said, snapping back in attention.
"My flower! What is wrong? Where does it hurt! I'll rub it for you..." Shigure offered, inching nearer to her. Kyo gave him a black eye.
"Pervert." he muttered.
"No, don't worry. I just remembered what tomorrow is..." she said trailing off.
"Oh yes! It's been about a year since you've been with us, right? Let's go out tomorrow, to celebrate!" Shigure said, fist in the air.
"Like a dinner party?" Yuki questioned. When the dog nodded, Kyo spoke up,
"So where do you wanna go? No leeks or miso!" Kyo warned.
"Weeeellll..." Torhu thought for a moment before a great idea struck her, "Lox Delux!"
"'Lox Delux'?" All three repeated with raised eyebrows.
"Yep!" she replied, with a happy sunshine smile. Behind her, the door burst open.
"Y-Y-YOU'RE GOING TO A DINNER WHEN YOUR DEADLINE WAS A WEEK AGO!" Shigure's editor boomed.
"Ehh, don't worry, I'll start on it now." He answered, waving her away.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGG! SSSEEEENNNNNSSSSSEEEIIIIIII!" she screamed in frustration.
Next Day
"Are you sure here?" Kyo asked, eyeing the structure with suspicion.
"Yep!" Tohru said happily. So in they went, all twelve of them, Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, Shigure, Hatori, Momiji, Hiro, Kisa, Hatsuharu, Ayame, Uotani, and Hanajima. At the door, a rather long-nosed person greeted them.
"Hello! Welcome to...LOX DELUX! How many in your part-Honda-chan!" the woman said with surprise.
"Hai, Momo-san! Long time no see!" Torhu greeted in return. "Twelve people." She continued.
"Hai, hai! Right away, no need to wait, our best worker is in your mist, people! I hope your treating her well?" Momo-chan said, eyeing each one.
"Hey! What do you take us for!" Kyo said, temper rising.
When they were all seated, Kisa asked, "Onee-chan, you worked here before?"
"Hai!" Tohru replied.
"Hai? Hai?" Hiro questioned, sneer on his face. He took a glance around the restaurant and his sneer turned to disgust. "In this dump? Well, I guess you're stupid and desperate enough to work anywhere."
"Hiro...SHUT-UP." Kyo warned. Actually, it wasn't to bad. Everything was neat and clean, just, not as fancy as a restaurant in the part of town would be.
"Tohru-chan! I thought Momo was joking! How are you? Haven't seen you in a year or two! Hope you were studying and not playing all this time!" A motherly waitress teased.
"Of course not, woman. Tohru-chan has been working her butt off." Uo-chan said.
"Can we order now?" Hatori asked.
"I, the great Ayame-kun agree! As a treat, let Tohru order for us!"
"How is THAT a treat!" Yuki said, glaring at his older brother.
"Make sure to order ice-cream!" Momiji cried happily.
"Okay! Three orders of Lox, rice, Keiko's stew, red-bean ice cream and umm...two orders of fried dumplings, please." Tohru said.
"Okay, Roo-chan!" The female waitress teased again.
"'Roo-chan'? I thought only Haruka-san called her that..." Yuki said out loud.
"Hehehe...your orders will be out in a sec. The Lox will be after the rice and stew." The waitress said, winking at Tohru. She leaned to her and whispered low enough for her to hear, "Know a lot of people, eh? Good luck in school. I'll give ya a surprise!"
"Ehh?" Tohru said as a response, but she already walked away.
Kitchen
It was very much like hot chaos in here. Steam everywhere, and only ten cooks. Not fun in rush hour. The waitress before walked in and stopped in front of a sandy eyed boy. His hair was covered in a bandana, but besides that, he was dressed very professionally.
"Hey, Riku-kun." she said. She grunted in response. She got some pans out, ready for the order.
"Rice, Keiko's stew style, fried dumplings and they want the three orders of Lox, after the rice and stew...Brought out to them...red-bean ice cream at the end." The waitress finished off.
"Suki, are you joking? THREE orders of lox!" Rika yelled, banging pots. "How the hell do I carry three? I can carry two, but three!"
"There's like a dozen of them, that's why. I'll help." Suki said, winking. At the winking part, Rika's eyes narrowed.
"Why'd you wink?" she inquired.
"Nothing. Just...start cooking!" she said, walking away.
"Thanks for leaving me in the weeds, Soup!" Rika yelled after her. )A/N: 'In the weeds' is a restaurant term for doing a lot, rush hour, if you may.(
"It's Suki, jerk!" She yelled back. After a dozen bowls of rice, Keiko's stew, and fried dumplings, Rika and with some help from Suki, they both got out of the kitchen, Rika carrying two large covered plates of Lox while Suki just one. As they reached the northern most placed table, Rika started to wish the kitchen was much nearer to the tables.
"Here you go! Three lovely orders of Lox, all made by our new and very good chef! This chef also cooked everything else now in your stomach!" Suki sung out loud. It didn't matter, since only two other tables were filled. The rest would be taken later in the night. The order of salmon was placed in the middle, forming a triangle. Rika stepped forward, not noticing who she was serving and lifted the coverings.
"Tah-dah! Lox Delux's special, Lox!" she said happily. Only those who didn't know who she was and Tohru clapped.
"Riku!" Kyo said in some state of shock, but was wavering because of the aroma of the fish.
"Haruka. I didn't know you worked here." Haru said, in a dangerous quiet voice. Like he was trying to control himself and not attack. He still didn't forgive Rika for pushing him out the window.
"Why weren't you at school, Riku-kun?" Tohru asked worried.
"Yes, you worried Honda-san very much." Yuki added.
"EEEHHH! You're here!" Rika said after some shock and after she registered this. Eehh...what happens if they tell the school! If they do, will I get kicked out? Wait...I worried Tohru? She cares? Uhhh...Do something!
-.-
Hitaru: '.';
Mini-Waffle: Pointless.
Hitaru: Sob. sorry. wanted to show you what normal life was gonna be for..
Mini-Waffle: huh?
Hitaru: Well, it'll all make sense later on!
Mini-Waffle: Review; don't you feel sorry for her!
Hitaru: Let me just say to the guy/girl Ashe Nightingale: I'm thanking you for the critism. I'll accept it, and try and follow your suggestion.
Mini-Waffle: Was there point in that? Oh, and will you follow MY critism?
Hitaru: No.
Mini-Waffle: ...Run...now...
Hitaru: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!0...4 reviews desired until chapter 5!
...And they all walked away