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
Make them 16 (Hatsuharu and Momiji) or 17 (Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, etc.), the rest, I don't remember -.-
-.-
RECAP:
"Holy sh-RUUUUUUUUUUUNNN!" Rika yelled at the top of her lungs, screaming in terror. She dragged the tiger behind her, in fear of that they'd do to the poor little girl.
Chapter 14: Dragons, Meetings, Receipts, and Snakes !
"Ugh…" The exhausted figure under her covers groaned; she numbly lifted the covers to her chin, hoping it would shield her from the cold she was feeling. It didn't, of course. Her headache increased threefold when a timid knock on her door was heard.
"Riku?" Tohru voiced out through the door. 'Sounds worried…' Rika thought in a daze, her mind was on the border between reality and dream; she tried sluggishly to distinguish the voice. In her mind, it belonged to a silhouette of two figures, a man and woman. The worried voice turned harsh to her. When the door opened, light from the hallway flooded in. Making another groan of agony, Rika pulled the covers over her head and curled in a ball.
She saw some spots, which disappeared to reveal a man approaching her. She shivered as the figure appeared. 'Not him…not again…' she yelled in her mind. Imaginary alarm bells sounded in her head as she felt shaking.
"Riku…? School's going to start soon, please wake-up! W-wait! A-are you okay! R-Riku!" Tohru questioned, a bit frantic; shaking the lump on the bed. Kyo, who just happened to pass by in defeat (once again tried to beat Yuki when he was half asleep) looked in and walked next to the worried girl.
"What's the matter?" Kyo grumbled, glaring at the lump that caused Tohru to behave the way she was. When no response came save for a sound of protest, Kyo fumed and tossed the sheets, to reveal a…cat shaped punching bag?
'I'll…kill…him!' the declaration rung in Rika's head, feeling speed in her, she pounced.
"Why you!" Kyo shouted, at the sound of a slight rustle to his right, he had just enough time to block a round-house kick.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Kyo exploded, blocking yet another punch aimed for his face. Tohru stood in the back, trying to calm them both down.
"R-Riku! Kyo!" Tohru tried in vain. Soon, the commotion baited in Shigure, who was dragging a still half asleep Yuki. Butter was sliding down the prince's cheek (he obviously fell asleep on top of his toast-again).
"Eh? What did Kyo do to Riku, Tohru?" Shigure asked in surprise, he even forgot to flirt wit her!
"Ano…ano…I don't know…" Tohru said, her expression showed just how worried she was. A cry of triumph caught the two conscious residents. Looking to the right, they saw that Kyo had his foot on Rika's back, both of her struggling arms gripped in both of his hands. Shigure knelt near Rika's dazed, hot face. Peering to her face, Shigure was surprised at the heat that was radiating from her, and what she was mumbling.
"No…n-not again…" Rika whispered in her real voice, and then was dead to the world. Her limbs went limp, causing Kyo to drop them with some surprise. Seeing that she was no longer a threat, the cat removed his foot from her slim back.
"S-Shigure, if Riku alright?" Tohru asked, kneeing down at the other side of the girl on the floor. Seeing her distress, the dog gave a grin and wink.
"Don't worry my precious flower! Riku's not dead, just sick!" Sadly, this didn't go too well for him. One, Tohru seemed to go to panic mode, stage three and her boyfriend, Yuki just fully woke-up to catch his older cousin flirting with Tohru.
Nursing the new wound on his head, Shigure knelt by Rika again and gingerly put his hand on her cheek. His hand quickly retreated at the heat. Looking up at the three, he pasted yet another smile for them.
"Why not you go to school, neh? I'm sure Kyo doesn't want to miss the pretty girls!" At this, Kyo tried to lunge at the older Sohma, but was held back by Yuki, who was dragging him out the door.
"We need to go to school, Baka-neko." Turning his head, he offered a smile, "Don't worry, Tohru-san, Riku will be alright." Tohru looked unsure.
"Demo…I've never seen Riku sick!" She looked down at Rika's sleeping form.
"And I hope it's his last time! This moron…fights when he's sick…" Kyo said, glaring.
"Why, afraid he'll beat you, too?" Yuki inquired. This of course, caused Kyo to go off in his usual speech of him beating the 'dumb ass rat'. Yuki, of course, ignored Kyo and proceeded to head out the door, with Kyo trailing him, yelling curses. With a promise to look after the bedridden teen, Shigure sent a still worried Tohru off.
As the dog waved the trio good-bye, a glint entered his eye. Closing the door, he bounded up the stairs and to Rika's room. He turned the knob and stepped in. Slowly closing the door behind him, he looked over to the figure on the bed. As he heard a click, he strolled over to the chair and propped it next to the sick girl's bed. Sitting on it, he propped his head with one hand and started to play with Rika's hair wit his other absentmindedly.
"You know, Riku-kun…" Shigure drawled out, ignoring the fact that she couldn't hear him.
"I'm rather curious of you. What exactly are you? You can hug Kagura without her transforming-but that would mean that you would be a girl; a girl that dresses and acts like a boy." Here, fingers started to twirl sandy locks playfully.
"But you hug Haru, and he doesn't change as well! On top of that, you're hair color if far from normal…as well as your eyes…" Here, the fingers stopped. Shigure lowered his head down onto the mattress, eyes gazing intently at the still slumbering person in front of him.
"You could be a Sohma, but I couldn't find any trace of 'Haruka Riku' anywhere…and even if you were one, it wouldn't matter, unless you were cursed like us. And there are only thirteen people that are inhabited by zodiac animals-there's no more left to be..." Seeing that there was no response, the cunning dog sat straight up, his black eyes still on the girl.
"So, what exactly are you? Is it a fluke? Is the curse breaking? Maybe, you're cursed? What exactly are you hiding, Haruka Riku?" Shigure inquired, eyes narrowed, silently willing her to answer. His expression, though, changed when the door burst open to reveal-his editor, with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"YOU'RE DEADLINE WAS LAST MONTH, SENSEI!" Miichan screamed in anguish, waving a dagger around threat fully. Shigure waved his hand at her dismissively with an aloof look.
"I'll start on it tomorrow…", and turned his back to her, pretending to treat Rika.
"SENSEI!" She screamed in agony and lunged forward. Not expecting this, Shigure was caught by his sleeve and dragged out of the house (somehow).
"NO! YOU'LL WORK ON IT RIGHT NOW, WHERE I CAN SEE YOU!" And the poor editor proceeded to drag the extremely reluctant author to a remote area surrounded by trees and the ground with only a computer waiting for him.
School
"Hmm? Tohru, what's wrong?" Uo-chan asked, blinking in confusion. "You barely touched your lunch!"
"Yes, I agree, your waves are unusually hectic today, Tohru." Hanna-chan agreed, settling down next to her on the bench.
"Uh? Oh! I-I'm so sorry to worry you! Please, don't mind me! A-ano…it-it's nothing, really!" Tohru insisted, waving her arms in the air to emphasize.
"Tohru…are you sure?" Momiji asked, pouting. Kyo rolled eyes and informed them of how Rika was ill. As everyone was digesting this information, Haru snorted.
"Are you sure he's not just watching any dramas, or whatever?" When even Yuki confirmed it, Momiji fell into a stage of depression/worry that his cupid partner wasn't well, but then perked up a second later. Giving a pose of victory, he took out his cell phone punched out the only person for the job-a doctor! When the deed was done, Momiji did twirl.
"Yea! I'm soooo smart! I just called Ha-to-ri to help out!" He grinned cheerfully at his friends.
"EH! Mo-Momiji! What about Riku…" Tohru trailed off as soon as she saw that everyone's eyes were on hers. Laughing nervously, she proceeded to ask Uo-chan what she thought about the test last period. 'What if Rika's secret gets discovered…?' Tohru thought with a mental frown, hoping everything would end alright.
Hatori's Car
It was silent in the car, since, well, the seahorse never really talked. But he did think. A lot. He was silently debating whether or not to just ignore the request made by the rabbit, but, that would undoubtedly keep Tohru worried, possibly thinking he was mad at her.
And that would make Tohru even more stressed.
And stressed people tend to get sick.
Which would of course lead to a pissed-off boyfriend and cat, which would result in him coming over anyway.
Hatori mentally sighed, he really hated house calls.
Even if they were made from a school.
'I really should stop wishing for a quiet day' he thoughtfully reflected as he pulled in front of Shigure's house. Hell, even dates with Mayu-chan aren't as stress-free as he initially thought. )A/N: But we all know he loves her anyway XD(
Pulling up, he parked and stepped out of the car. He was surprised enough to see that the front door was ruined, but figured that it was from a fight from Kyo and Yuki (even if it was from Miichan). Walking in the house, his surprise doubled when he noticed that he was the only one in the house. 'Where is Shigure? Damn it, this better not be some sort of joke…' He inwardly grumbled, but stopped when he head a slight cough.
With a sigh, he went toward it, up the stairs, door to the right. As he opened the door, his nose scrunched in protest, it was hot and stuffy in here, which wasn't good for anybody, but the room was also filled with of the smell only someone sick could give.
Flicking the light on, his eyes automatically landed on the bed, and saw a mess of tanned sandy hair, layered with rusty streaks.
His hand fell limply back to his side, his eyes widened to the point of watering, and for once in his life, he let his jaw hang open, slack with disbelief.
"H-Haruko-san?" He finally managed to gasp out. If his hand wasn't clutching the doorknob, he was pretty sure he would of fell onto his knees with pure shock. As the ill girl lifted her head up a bit, she called out a bit in disbelief,
"Sohma…san?", and her head slumped back onto the pillow.
oO…Flashback...Oo
A middle aged man, obviously well fed due to the size of his girth, was pacing to and fro in front of something veiled, waiting impatiently for the crowd to settle down. His beady eyes swept over the people, familiar ones from the town, small children, and on the occasion when word traveled and landed to curious travelers.
He stopped for a moment when he saw a calm figure; an eye covered over by ebony colored hair, seeming, almost, the ringleader thought, bored
'Well,' his inner voice cooed out, 'that'll change, oh, that'll change…'
When every finally settled down, not even a quiet whispered was heard, the man began his tale of the Zodiac animal, and how the cat was shunned.
"…But," he said, finishing off, "No one knew that there was yet another, yes, my dear friends, and another vengeful spirit that has taken lounged in this little girl before you…"
And with a flourish, he lifted the covers to reveal…a small girl, no older then thirteen, huddled in a corner of a crudely made and rusting metal cage. Her cloths, torn at the hem and ripped in several pieces could not hide the fact that she was undernourished. Her elbow length hair was in disarray, and on the skin that was shown off were bruises of various colors, blue, sickly yellow and even purple. Her body shook with cold, her body tensed, as if waiting for an attack.
Her will was gone, broken and flung out to the cold world for it to wither and shrivel away.
In the cage before the crowd was a huddled girl, her spirit broken and left in the cold, for everyone to see.
The seemingly bored traveler, the man noted smugly, leaned forward in interest while the regulars started hooting and calling out insults to the figure.
"Witch! Witch, witch! You're nothin' 'ut a DEMON-CHILD!" an old croon shouted out, throwing a can that bounced off the cold, metal bars. The child drew herself into the corner more, her arms trying in vain to cover her clearly differently colored hair, she shut her eyes, to block the looks that was flung to her, and to hide her sandy eyes; she lifter her legs closer to her chest.
"No more…please…" she begged, but it fell on death ears, the message was trampled by the increasing jeers. Letting the torment hit his daughter for a few more minutes, he swung his arms open to the crowd, which fell silent at the gesture. The man then pointed at the traveler, and his voice boomed out,
"Well, kind sir! Do you not see, do you not believe?" There was a shrug, followed by the villagers yelled out for him to prove it true, that there was a demon-child among them.
The father let out a sly smirk appear, he approached the cell, and swung open the door, which grinded out a groan of protest, as if screaming for the hinges to be oiled. He entered the caged and closed it behind him, 'I won't let the money try and run like last time!' he thought greedily. At the sound of the cage door closed, the girl swiftly turned her back to the man, and started to frantically claw at the bars, ignoring the pain it gave her, ignoring the blood that started to drip from her already damaged nails, she clawed at them.
The ringleader sneered with a bit of disgust.
The crowd hooted with glee at the sight of pain the girl felt.
The silent man brought his clasped hands under his nose in a thinking position, he leaned in, waiting.
Soon, the disgruntled child stopped and turned her head, to see her father approach her. She opened her mouth, screaming in silence, whipping her head back, she let her thin, bruised, almost frail arms pass through the bar, and ignoring the streaks it was leaving on her limbs. Her hands were no longer clenched, her fingers no longer hooked like claws; they were open, as if trying to grab something in front of her, that only she could see.
But there was only a curtain in front of her.
'Nii-chan!' she mouth in horror as she felt strong hands grip her shoulders. Unable to stop it due to her fatigue, she could only struggle a bit, only to be stopped by a harsh slap on the back of his head.
The greedy man's hand encircled the poor child's middle.
'A hug' the silent man thought. His aloof expression didn't change save for his eyes widening and eyebrows shot up when there was an audible 'Poof!' When the oddly colored smoke cleared, he fought to keep his mouth from hanging.
Where the girl once stood, what the man was now embracing, was definitely not a little girl.
The animal howled in shame, as if calling for someone.
That was all he needed. As the audience was jeering at the animal, he silently rose and left.
---
"So, my boy, were you impressed, or what? Were you thinking, 'a miracle' or 'a monster'?" The middle age man asked a man that walked next to him. He didn't answer, so the villager continued to boast of how rich he was thanks to the 'freak'.
"I would like to see her" he stated in indifference. A gleam in the old man's eye appeared when he heard this.
"You do, do ya? Well, most of the first-timers do, but, I generally don't…" When a clump of bills surfaced form the foreigner's pocket, his greedy smile did not lessen.
"…but I think you're a fine young man, so I guess ten minutes would be fine. Riku! Come here, boy!" Glancing at him, he answered the silently given question. "My pride and joy, sir, my son, Riku'll be showing you the way." He then left, counting the bills.
A few minutes later, a boy that looked uncannily similar to the girl that was in the cage before appeared. He was holding a plow in his right hand.
"Here to see her, I bet?" Without waiting for answer, he whirled around on one foot and started walking to a shed which was standing in back of the house.
"You know the girl's name? It's Haruko Rika." He informed, not caring if the man was listening or not.
"Our real mother named her that, since when she was born; she was looking out the window, at the land, so she named my 'nee-chan after it, the land." The man digested this information with mild interest.
"We're twins, did you know? So 'kaa-san thought it'd be funny to name me Riku. No one knows who's older, though, so we both just started each other the older one, our mother thought it was cute." He chuckled a bit at his memory that he could only see; Riku stopped in front on the shed, which the older man followed suit.
"I love her dearly, if it wasn't for her begging not to, I'd have stood up for her long time ago. But, she said that she didn't want me to get hurt." His hand clenched the plow tightly, his eyes shimmering a bit. His expression, though hardened when he face the man.
"If you even say something that'll hurt her…I will not hesitate to kill you, mister." The man with the charcoal hair nodded. A bit satisfied, the twin opened the door, and told him in a harsh hushed tone that he would be listening.
Entering the shack, the traveler noticed that it wasn't too dark, his eye landed immediately to a lump that was cover in a frayed blanket.
"'Nii-san, is that you? You shouldn't be here…" Sand colored orbs peeked out and she squeaked in fear.
"Haruko-san?" the man voiced out calmly. At the tone, sandy eyes once again peered out.
"Y-yes?" the timid reply went out, as if begging for whatever torture she predicted to come to be over with quickly.
"Are you hungry?" The eyes widened at the sudden question. Not knowing what to do, she silently nodded, wondering what was going on. Slowly reaching into his white jacket, gloved hands produced a packet of crackers.
"Sorry, but this is all I have" The new comer offered it to her, crouching down. He waited for timid hands to come out from under the covers to take the food.
When they did, he quickly reached out and encircled her petite form into his arms.
The girl's eyes squeezed shut for the predicted transformation, followed by the routine howl of hurt.
It never came. Timidly, she opened her eyes to see white. Looking up from his jacket, she looked at him curiously.
"You're not alone, remember that" the man reassured softly, and loosened his hold on the befuddled girl. Patting away the dust from his coat, he handed the girl the meager helping of food and turned to the door. He was about to open it when he felt a slight tug on his sleeve.
"Thank…you…" she trailed off, waiting for a name. Without thinking of the consequences, he told her.
"Sohma Hatori." And left the shack; ignoring the questioning look Riku was giving him, Hatori briskly walked off, with one thing in mind,
'We are not alone, there…is yet another.'
oO...End Of Flashback..Oo
"I'm happy to see you again, Sohma-san" Rika said, her face less flushed thanks to the medicine the cursed doctor gave her. He just nodded his head.
"Haruko-san, ho-" but was cut off by his patient.
"Please, call me Haruka Riku, ok?" Repeating the name mentally, he almost slapped his forehead. 'Haruka Riku! Haruko Rika! How in the world did I miss it!' he mentally chided himself, almost forgetting his question. Once his mental rant of how Shigure was affecting him, he vocalized his thought.
"How did you find me?" Rika looked at him for a minute or two and thought a bit.
"Well…do you remember when you gave me those crackers?" When he nodded in reply, she continued on.
"You accidentally gave me a receipt, as well." Seeing his clear befuddlement, she tried a different approach.
"Did you know that receipts have what store it's from? It took some time, but I found it! Sadly, no one remembered you…Hehehe…so, I kind of just wondered around, but got lost in some forest, or something. After awhile, I came across a Sohma, Kasuma. He was…nice, in a sense. He pointed me to this direction. A few more months later, I met another Sohma Ritsu. After, umm…much screaming, I was led…here." As Hatori absorbed the hastily made explanation, Rika was fidgeting with her fingers.
"Sohma-san…I need to tell you something…" The seahorse glanced up, curious.
"What?"
Out Side Rika's Room
"My, my, my…" A Silver haired man said with a dramatic flourished. Wisely, he kept his volume down, knowing very well that if he was to be discovered; Ha'ri-kun wouldn't be too pleased.
'Ah! What drama! What suspense! I must know how this Haruko Rika looks like!' Not being able to resist, the man with the braided hair peeked into the room, and felt his eyes widen, just a bit. He felt waves of glee throughout his body.
Here, besides Tohru, that is, sat a girl (even if she WAS pretending to be a boy, HE didn't care, mind you) with a great, healthy figure! If her skin was just a bit less rough, he was sure that Mine-chan would LOVE to dress her up…
The designs were coming in fast. It stopped, when Ayame heard the next sentence that was uttered from Rika's mouth.
"Only you know that I'm cursed, but Tohru, you and Momiji know that I'm really a girl."
-.-
POLLS ARE NOW CLOSED
Hitaru: Yea, I decided to vote, too, and we all know when the author votes…
Mini-Waffle: It's over?
Hitaru: Yea…cough, now, on to 2 extremely important things…
Mini-Waffle: Yea, Hitaru was ecstatic that she got 108 reviews…whoopee...
Hitaru: So, (aside from saying a VERY late Birthday to Lunar Wolf Demon, yea to you!)
Mini-Waffle: Cough, now, moving on…
Hitaru: This insane chapter (10 pages, dudes!) is dedicated to late Victor's mom (RIP, we'll miss you!) And, our 100th reviewer….
Mini-Waffle: Drum roll please…
Hitaru & Mini-Waffle: TeenAnimeLover!
Mini-Waffle: Um…yea, so, there you go.
Hitaru: I'm thinking of ANOTHER FRUBA fic, so…do you want me to post a first chapter now, or after this story?
Mini-Waffle: Hey, I want the last say in this conversation!
Hitaru: You just DID.
Mini-Waffle: No, YOU did, just NOW.
Hitaru: (attempts to speak, but Mini-Waffle clamps her mouth shut with duck tape) ToT
...And they all walked away