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:
Mouth opened in equal shock, the young man-Haruko Riku-nodded.
"Rika-nee-chan…"
Chapter 18: Revelations, Reintroductions, Prices, and Arguments !
On The Road To Sohma Estate
A silent figure strolled down an empty street, ignoring his fellow late-night walkers that shot glances at him. Huffing a bit, he clenched the long trench coat like coat around himself.
He was pretty glad his cousin left him near his house, even if he was left in an alley in a slight coma, but hey, his accessories were still on him and clothes looked okay-what was there to be mad about?
I mean, come on, this was his beloved cousin, after all!
But…
Did Yuki really need to hit that hard?
Shigure's House
One second.
Two minutes.
Three hours.
Four days.
Silence descended down on the group. How long it lasted, no one was sure. Seconds, minutes, hours even, could have flown by without anyone noticing.
"Rika…I-I…" The man who looked so much like Rika, yet not at the same time, faltered; unsure of what to say.
"…you found me" Rika said dully. Her mind felt numb, it pounded a bit. The room seemed to shrink, the lights dimming. Her whole world seemed to collapse.
There was so much to say to him…and so little at the same time.
The young man just nodded, eyes glazed with unshed tears of relief.
One step, another step.
Only a few inches separated, dimly, Rika noted that he had gotten taller…
Agonizingly slowly, his hands reached up to grip her shoulders, holding her down.
"I found you, nee-chan" he firmly stated, letting the proclamation sink in. The silence that followed was quickly shattered.
"Nii-chan…why does he call you his sister…?" All heads snapped at the innocent girl. Feeling the stares, she ducked her head in embarrassment.
"Rika…what…does she mean?" for once, looking around at the interior of the house, he added, "And…where is this?"
"This, sir, it's my home, Sohma Shigure…and, who are you?"
"Shigure, I found um…Riku's sibling!" Tohru's nervous voice sounded out; the dog's ebony colored eyes narrowed.
"Tohru-chan, that's nice and all, but I just want to know who this young man is!" his smile did not reach his eyes.
"I am Haruko Riku…wait, you live here, nee-chan!" His head snapped to the door as it opened to reveal a two boys-one with orange hair, the other with silver. Behind them, another girl, holding the orange headed boy's hand followed.
"We're home" the silver headed teenager greeted, slipping off his shoes. He stopped when his violet eyes landed on the Haruko twins.
"Riku-san, who's he?"
"Rika! You-you're living with guys!"
"W-wait, I can explain-!" she was cut off when her brother whooped with joy.
"Then-then, it's gone, right? Right? I mean, you're living with males, so-so, we can go back! A-and, they can't hurt you anymore! You-you and I…can-can-!" he cut himself off by swinging his arms around his twin sister with bliss.
Sandy-colored eyes constricted with shock and her eyes widened.
'No-no! not yet!' she mentally screamed out when she felt the familiar hug.
Poof!
"Rika!"
"What the-!"
"NOO!"
In the confusion, a furry thing with four legs gently bit onto her brother's arms. Surprised at the sudden contact with many sharp teeth, the hold was loosened. Making a break for it, the animal crashed through the screen door and out into the night.
"Shit-Rika-nee-chan, wait!" But, before he could follow her, a hand settled down onto his shoulder. Looking up, Riku met the eyes of not only Sohma Shigure, but the rest of the household, as well.
"Riku-kun, was it? Well, I think you need to tell us a few things, first…"
Streets Near Sohma Estate
'No, no, no! This-this is happening too soon!' a canine like creature screamed in her head. The domesticated dogs kept a bit away from her, but the more wild ones attempted to follow-which were quickly fended off by a snarl and snap of jaws.
'Shit, shit, shit, shit! I can't transform back yet-I don't have any clothes!' Rika moaned in distaste.
Be quiet! It's hard maintaining this form with you yapping like that! AND, I have to lead you to that stupid shrine, for crying out loud!
'What! YOU be quiet then! It's nice that you're helping me keep this form, but you know what?'
…What?
"I NEED TO FIND SOME CLOTHES FIRST!' Rika yelled back, hoping that someone that lived on this street left their laundry out to dry-even if it's night, you might never know. Panting with her tongue rolling out a bit, she glanced forward and nearly stopped with dread.
In front of her was a wandering man…
…By the name of Sohma Hatsuharu.
'Damn it, damn it! Why NOW, of all time!' Rika screamed in frustration, which came out as a growl. She bristled when her now brownish eyes saw the dumb cow turn to her direction.
Slightly dazed, gray eyes looked down into those light-brownish eyes, light enough to be sand…
One second passed to three.
Three seconds turned into a minute…
Sighing, the cow turned and walked down the path. He did NOT need to deal with a wild looking stray animal right now.
Rika stared at his retreating back, dumb folded. 'Okay…what just happened there?'
More importantly, why didn't you jump him! Her inner demon replied, equally confused. Yet, unlike her, the spirit was pissed off.
'…Huh?'
MORON! Jump him for his clothes, keeping you in this form is draining! Without another word, Rika bounded towards the boy and pounced. With a grunt and yelp of surprise, they both fell down. Taking the coat by the back collar, she tugged viciously, pulling her head back.
Hatsuharu yelled in surprise as the sound of clothing ripping filled the night air. Too shocked, he let his arms lift as he felt the cold night air meet his shoulders-the coat was…slipped off of him? He was about to turn over when, to his surprise, sandy colored smoke filled the street.
'What the hell?' he questioned, trying to look through the fog. Trying to wave it away, he was stopped by a punch.
"Don't DO that until I'm done, Hatsuharu no hentai!" Gray eyes widened.
"…Riku…?"
"No shit!" but, this was a difference tone of voice the cow normally heard from her. It sounded more…feminine? His eyes narrowed in suspicion, was it just him, or did he see an outline of a figure with CURVES through this-this sandy colored smoke?
Wait…sandy colored?
After a few minutes, the smoke completely faded into air, revealing a ruffled Haru and a red Rika with her arms crossed over her chest protectively.
"What?" she snapped viscously. Haru was suddenly reminded of a wild dog, or something close to it.
"…What just happened?" he asked dully, noting that she was wearing his nice trench coat. He scowled. Was it just him, or did his coat look…a bit torn? And where didthe sleeves go?
And why was the older student covering the chest area so protectively?
He glanced down at the ground and noted that the girl in front of him had no shoes.
Or pants, for the matter, since the coat couldn't hide those nice long creamy looking legs…
"Damn it, Haru! Stop ogling me, you-you pervert!" He raised an eyebrow; again with the girly voice?
"What are you, a girl?" He taunted without thinking really. He was surprised when she didn't suddenly snap at his 'stupidity', like she normally did.
"…And if I said yes?" He raised an eyebrow; surely this was another joke?
"Than…than I'd be relieved to say that I'm not gay" he said, not really knowing what else to say. I mean, really, can any one blame the poor, clearly confused cow?
"Dumb ass!" she hissed, slapping his head. "This is NOT the time to be thinking of which team you play for! And besides, with all that jewelry, I bet you are a bit queer, regardless of whether or not I'm a girl!"
"…A girl? You're telling me that you, Haruko Riku, are a girl?" He saw the person in front of him cringe.
"Actually, it's Haruko Rika. And yes, I am a girl." 'That's it,' Haru thought, feeling extremely confused. 'I'm going crazy. Yuki must have hit me too hard.'
"…Haru, you're not going to faint on me, right?"
THUD
Rika looked at the still boy in front of her.
"Damn it. First clothes, now this!"
Shigure's House
"…And that's it" Riku finished with a defeated sigh. After years of searching for her, his sister, he goes and finds her, ruining the only chance on breaking the curse!
"Ano…so Riku-I mean, Rika-san is really your sister?" Kagura spoke up, chasing away the silence that swept the room after the lengthy tale. She stopped swinging Kyo's arm after a solemn nod; Shigure straightened up from leaning against the wall.
"And she's cursed, like us." With another nod from the twin, the silence crept back into the room.
"What…what animal was she, then? Not another Baka-neko, I hope…" Yuki trailed off, ignoring the yell of protests from said cat.
"No, she's a…coyote" he said quietly. "She told me that…Yamu-sama gave it to her because she was hated and misunderstood like one and because of how sly she acted towards a god."
"To think that there was another one…" Shigure chuckled a bit and reached for a cigarette. "Heh, I knew that Riku-Rika-chan was really a girl. Her figure was too feminine."
"Shut-up, dog; you didn't know either!" Kyo snapped, scowling. At this, the dog did sigh in defeat.
"It's too bad, though…" he started with everyone's attention on him, he gave a sly grin and shrugged. "I had two beautiful flowers under this roof and I didn't take advantage of it!"
"PREVERT!" all men in the room shouted out before lunging at the author.
Hatsuharu's House
"Ngg…" a grumble was heard and the light was flicked on.
"Waah…?" the disheveled boy mumbled, looking around the room-his room.
'So all that…was a dream?' Haru thought with a slight pout. It was weird, yes, but it was still good; he found out that Riku, the boy that was attracting him was actually a girl!
'But…I guess that only happens in dreams…' he sighed and suddenly bolted from the bed. 'W-wait a second…how did the light turn on!'
"You're not going to faint on me again, right? It you do, tell me and I'll drag you over to Momiji's house next" a dry voice announced itself; swerving his head to the right, his mouth hung open at the figure standing in front of him.
"You-you…" he tried to find his voice. All the girl did was raise one sandy colored eyebrow.
"YOU'RE WEARING MY CLOTHES!" At this, the poor girl face faulted.
"BAKA! Quiet down!" she hissed out, bonking him on the head.
"Take them off! They're mine!" he hissed with equal intensity. He lost his stiff, defensive posture when she blushed madly.
"I-I can't! I need to borrow you're clothes, can you live with that! Just for a night! Geez and you got plenty of them, you-you queer boy!"
"Damn it, if I'M queer, than why are you wearing those! Riku, you-!" He was cut off by the equally ruffled girl.
"Rika."
"What?"
"Rika-my name's Haruko Rika; remember I told you that about an hour ago, before you fainted like a wuss?"
"You-you mean th-that it wasn't a dream!" she narrowed her eyes a bit at the cow.
"No duh, you dumb cow." Slowly, Haru rose from the bed and approached her. In response, she backed away until she hit the wall. Not listening to the protests, he lifted his lean arms and grabbed onto her and lowered his head.
"H-Haru, d-don't do something weird!" Rika voiced out with panic.
"Rika…" Haru breathed out, trying out the name.
"W-what!" she asked, refusing to shiver as his breath slid across her cheeks.
"Rika…" he repeated again, closing the space between them. "You…got some explaining to do after this."
And that was when he dove to her lips.
All hell breaking loose couldn't describe it.
Kureno's Room
"EH! You know Uo-chan!"
He sighed and got up, reaching the desk, he was once assaulted with another memory.
"Wait, wait, you the Kureno! That's great; Uo-chan's been talking about you a lot! She's been wondering where you were! If you want, I can show you what school she goes to, I bet she'd be glad to see you again!"
"Uo-chan…" he whispered, opening the drawer and feeling for the scrap of paper that held the key to meeting with the girl again.
Peering at it, he sighed wistfully. He closed his eyes to recall how happy she looked, how beautiful she sounded, laughing-and it was all because of him.
"Uo-chan…" he breathed out into the night. Looking out the window, he was silently content with knowing that if she was awake now, and looking out the window, they'd at least be able to share the view of the same stars, the same moon.
Suddenly, a rustle brought him out of his thoughts, and on further inspections, saw an outline of two figures heading towards the shrine.
With Rika And Hatsuharu
"I can't believe you never told me" Haru grumbled for what seemed the hundredth time.
"Stop, we've been over this before! Now be quiet, or I'll transform and-and eat you or something! Coyotes eat cows, you know!"
"Heh, didn't know you were that desperate to take a taste of me, uh, Rika-chan?" he noted slyly, dodging the oncoming kick.
"Shut it! And if you bother me one more time, I-I'm gonna see to it that you can't make babies in the future! And, and I'll make SURE of it this time!"
Haru winced at the thought; the feeling of a girl kicking you in the groin to break a kiss was not fun.
"Well…I think I deserved the kiss at least! It's the least you could've given me after al that sexual confusion you put me through!" he reasoned with a scowl.
"Sexual confusion, Hatsuharu-kun?" they both whipped around to face the confused expression of Sohma Kureno.
"S-Sohma-san! W-what are you doing here!" Rika blurted out.
"Well, I'm not sneaking towards the shrine, like you two are, Rika-san."
"Wait, how did you…?"
"I heard from Hatsuharu-kun" he said simply, not at all bothered by the fact that he just found out that Riku was really a she. I guess stranger things happened to him in the past!
"I-we, we were walking, yea! Taking a stroll in the Sohma estate is very…nice? And, we were not going to that shrine with the sword!"
"Rika-san…this path only goes to the shrine." Kureno said, destroying Rika's excuse.
"Rika-san, I suggest you go now, or-" but he was cut off by her bowing low to him.
"Please! I need to go there, please let me-and Haru-go! Just pretend that this never happened!"
"But…why? What are you going to do?" Kureno asked. Even though his curse was lifted, that didn't meant he couldn't still feel a slight throb from being only a few feet away from the sword.
"I…I'm going to cut those strings of yours" she retorted, calmly, quietly.
"But what if…what if the puppet had strings?"
"Simple, you cut those stings."
"I-I…" He was at a lost. 'Cut the strings? Rika-san, can you really…?' taking one last look at the duo, he turned around.
"Sohma-san…?" he heard the girl question. It sounded innocent, almost.
'Uo-chan…' he thought silently as he took a step back towards his room.
On step, then two.
"I hope…" he said after a while, not knowing if they were still there to hear him speak his hopes.
"I hope that…you're scissors are sharp enough to cut those strings."
Akito's Room
A cry of agony was heard, sending servants and maids rushing in to see what pained their young master. Hurried hands cast the rice paper door to the side and many ran into the room. Yet, they couldn't approach their thrashing master, for fear of causing damage onto either themselves or Akito.
"A-Akito-sama! What's wrong!" an old maid asked, panic creeping into her usually strict tone.
"NO!" the master screamed out in response. "NO! SOMEONE-SOMEONE, STOP THEM!"
"S-stop who, Akito-sama?" another questioned.
"THEM! THEY TOOK IT, THEY TOOK IT! GET IT BACK, GET IT BACK!"
"W-what? Get what back, who took what?" In pain and fury, Akito lunged up from her futon and slammed open the rice door, running along a narrow path. None followed, too confused at what happened. All they could do was hear the screeching voice the came from the usually sickly person.
"THE SWORD, THE SWORD! GET AWAY FORM MY SWORD!"
With Rika And Hatsuharu
"Owwwwwww" Haru groaned in pain, getting up, he saw Rika rubbing her aching head.
"Why did I get sucked into…into this place too?" he asked, looking around at what appeared to be a misted over looking room.
"Because, you dumb cow, you touched the sword!"
"I only touched you! You were in pain when you grabbed it, and I ran over to check if you were ok and than we got here!"
"You-you were trying something perverted on me in my moment of pain!" Rika gasped, eyes widened for a second.
"What! Of course not!" he hotly defended in response. A slight cough distracted them from blows and in front of the two was…
…Buddha?
"B-Buddha!" Rika said in disbelief. When the chubby idol nodded with a slight welcoming smile, she ran up to him and gave him a hug.
"So it worked! This is GREAT!" taking a step back, she smiled goofily. After a while, she frowned.
"But…why are we here? Don't you just take the sword back and the curse is gone?" At this, Buddha frowned, and shook his head a bit.
"Not in the way you'd want it, Rika. Come, Yamu is in the hallway; he could explain to you." With a slight nod, Rika started to follow the peaceful little god.
"Wait, Rika!" Haru shouted out, feeling a foreboding ending. She turned, and for a second, he almost let it go. Note the key word: almost.
"Don't…don't do anything stupid, okay?" She gave him a confused look before answering.
"Well, of course I'm not. I'm not like you right?" she said with a smirk. He just gave a sly smile back, a bit reassured.
"That's good. Wouldn't want anything to happen to you; I'm going to marry you anyway!" he said in a joking manner. All she did was scowl and leave the room.
"Seriously…don't do anything you'll regret…" He whispered to the door. Hearing a voice and than Rika's, he couldn't help but edge closer to the door that separated the two.
In The Hallway
"So let me get this straight, if you get the sword back, the curse will be lifted for only a generation or two!" Rika thundered, unbelieving what the highest god said.
"Yes, only for a few generations!"
"But-but why!"
"Because it took you too long!" he snapped back, stroking the sword lovingly "This is the most precious thing to me, and you expect everything to be pardoned by just giving it back! And after waiting for all those centuries!" they both ignored Buddha, the only one trying to be peacemaker, both too engrossed with their argument.
"Well, then what'll take it to break the curse, permanently?" she stressed. She shrunk back a bit at the distorted grin Yamu had on.
"The thief" he said, casting his eyes onto Rika. "Any one will do, since the scum that took my sword is dead. So, I'll be merciful and ask for the sacrifice of any thief that ever stole from me!"
"A-any thief?" Rika mumbled, realizing the implications. "What…what'll happen to the offering?"
"It'll be cut by my beautiful sword, killing it forever. That'll be payment enough; let the blade taste the soul of a sinner that dared steal from a god."
"Forever?" she whispered, horror dawning.
"Forever" he retorted with a mocking voice.
'Too die for the Sohma's happiness…would that be worth it?' she wondered, thinking of all the cursed people she met.
Kyo and Kagura, Hiro and Kisa-one of them would never be able to hug their child…
Tohru would finally be able to embrace Yuki, but if they had kids?
And the rest went with Hatori, Kureno, and Ayame, everyone she knew and met, laughed with, cried with. They would be able to be ridden by the curse, but what about the future, when kids came along?
And Hatsuharu…
Rika blinked at the thought. Hatsuharu, for as much of a slow, perverted cow he was, he was still one the few people that wasn't disgusted with her, and to be able to know that the curse was gone forever, to know that that'd be one less thing he'd be unburdened off…
"Don't…don't do anything stupid, okay?"
"Well, Haruka Rika, what do you say?" Yamu asked, fingering the katana absentmindedly.
"I…I…" she mumbled the rest.
"What?" the great god mocked, tapping his ear.
The thought of a whole family, in future and present time, happy that their curse was gone forever flashed in her mind; everyone, happy because of her…
"I…I'll do it. I'll be the sacrifice."
-.-
Hitaru: THAT WAS THE HARDEST CHAPTER TO WRITE SO FAR!
Mini-Waffle: In other words, writers block!
Hitaru: ;;; forgive me…?
Mini-Waffle: Not with that cliffy! ANOTHER one, too! (smacks)
Hitaru: Ow, ow, ow! But-but I wrote EXTRA because of that! (pouts and ducks)
Mini-Waffle: Humph!
Hitaru: Well, I hope that this didn't confuse you guys too much…
Mini-Waffle: If so, than blame HER!
Hitaru: Bleh (sticks out tongue) THANK-YOU, YINYIN!
Mini-Waffle: And, umm….another 9 reviews! This ten-page chapter seemed worth that much…
Hitaru: (Sniff) Awww, thanks a bunchies!
Mini-Waffle: How many more chapters until I hit off?
Hitaru: Well…let's see…only WOW! If everything goes according to plan…ONLY 3 LEFT!
Mini-Waffle: I'm counting down until than!
Hitaru: Do you hate this that much?
Mini-Waffle: No, but I hate making sure you up-date!
Hitaru: …That's Yinyin's job, she gave it to herself just today…
Mini-Waffle: ……Oh, just shut-up! (Bonks poor Hitaru on the head me: ToT)
...And they all walked away