Hello, everyone! This story will follow the manga and begins around chapter 60 (the summer villa part). This first chapter's pretty boring, but it gets better (at least I think it does). Please leave a Review to let me know how it is or if you have any questions or concerns.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but the OC in this is totally mine~
Summer always seemed to make her sleepy. Well, now that she thought about it in her half-unconscious state she realized that she was always pretty sleepy. She could probably blame that on the curse and the fact that she was dying.
Rubbing her face against her pillow with a groan, she wondered what time of day it was. None of the servants woke her up, figuring the more she slept the healthier she would be. Of course, sleeping more meant less boredom and pain, but it hardly cured the incurable. She twisted onto her side and blearily opened her amber eyes in an attempt to read the clock. After a couple moments, her vision cleared enough to see it was past noon.
She let out another groan knowing she had to get up and eat something, and if not for that reason, there were guests currently staying with her or, at least, occupying the same Sohma building as her.
Honda Tohru, her mind supplied as she pushed herself into a sitting position, was staying with her. She hadn't greeted any of them yet, even when Momiji had called to tell the servants they were coming he didn't talk to her. That made sense though, considering the zodiac members hated her, and Haru could deny it all he wanted, sometimes you just couldn't go against the curse.
Sliding her feet over the edge of her bed and into a pair of slippers, she wondered what Honda Tohru was like. She knew the girl was an outsider, which meant Akito probably hated her, and if Akito hated something she made sure to love it.
Once up, she stretched, groaning in slight pain, but quickly getting used to it as well. At least the summer was easy on her bones. She ran a hand through her shoulder length hair that was black at the roots and flowed into a shimmering silver, and then began to make her way to the door. She opened it slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the light before she stepped out of her room.
It wasn't until she had made her way downstairs that the servants noticed she was up. She sat at the small table and a meal was placed in front of her. It was silent as she ate, and it wasn't until she was almost done that one of the younger servants spoke.
"The young masters and Honda Tohru have gone to the beach, Suzu-sama."
Suzu just hummed; she didn't really care. She just hoped none of the more exhausting zodiac members would come by. Sighing tiredly, she continued to eat. When she was finally done, the same servant took her dishes and began to clean them, leaving Suzu to get up and waste another day of her short existence.
Hatori had told her multiply times to get a hobby, but Suzu figured there was no point if she was just going to die anyway. There was no point in gaining things that made her happy if she was just going to lose them; that's also the reason she was so adamant about not getting close to her servants or the other zodiac members.
It wasn't until hours later that the others returned from their fun, but Suzu had already relocated to her room upstairs that was in the same hallway as Honda Tohru's room. Suzu left her door open in case the girl walked by, but hours passed and the girl hadn't shown.
Eventually, Suzu decided it was time for a bath and walked to the hall's single bathroom. Usually the servants tried to do these things for her, but they were busy with the other Sohma's. Besides Suzu liked doing simply tasks; they made her feel useful and independent.
Once the bath was ready, Suzu was quick to wash up and then enter it and relax with a sigh. She loved baths; they were so warm and soothing. Often times she found herself dozing off, but this time she found her mind curious about the outsider. Hatori had told her a bit about the girl; he seemed to like her, which made Suzu even more curious.
Part of her had wanted to run down to the beach this afternoon and introduce herself but Suzu couldn't run, for one thing. Also, she didn't want to interact with the other zodiac members too much. She tried to stay away from them as much as possible, for their benefit of course.
She wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually she did lift herself out of the tub and prepare herself for bed. It was still quite early, but already she was ready to sleep, as per her usual.
Leaving the room, she bumped into the outsider herself, causing Honda Tohru to startle and quickly fall into a bow. "I'm so sorry."
Suzu raised a brow at the girl; Honda Tohru hadn't even looked at Suzu before apologizing. Suzu wondered if this was a usual occurrence with the girl. "No problem," Suzu said slowly because it wasn't; the whole thing was just a dumb accident.
Tohru rose quickly, and Suzu almost winced at the girl's movement speed. "Ah, I'm Honda Tohru. I don't believe we've met." she said with a perplexed expression.
Suzu blinked in surprise. Had no one told Honda Tohru about Suzu at all? "Sohma Suzu, I live here."
Honda Tohru's nervousness was present on her face. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea." Suzu sighed internally at the apology; it hadn't even been five minutes and Tohru had apologized twice for stupid things. Then the girl seemed to startle herself and lowered into yet another bow. "Thank you for allowing me to stay with you."
Suzu sighed, externally this time, just watching this girl was making her tired. She didn't reply until Honda Tohru was standing once again, "Just because I live here doesn't mean I own the place, no point in thanking me."
"But still-"
Suzu groaned and walked across the hall towards her room. "But nothing, and don't apologize either, for anything."
Tohru followed Suzu, keeping the space between them small. "Why didn't they tell me?"
"Don't go thinking it has to do with you." Suzu paused, taking in the girl's unease. "They were probably hoping I'd sleep the entire time you were here."
Her words only seemed to confuse Tohru more. "Why would they want that?"
Suzu let out a yawn, already tired even though she hadn't been awake that long. "Because they hate me," she said as she grabbed onto her doorknob.
Tohru seemed shocked by the words. "I'm sure they don't hate you!"
"Well, the curse doesn't give them much of a choice," Suzu replied and opened her door, moving so she was halfway in the room. "I've prepared a bath, Honda Tohru," and then Suzu was in her room, door closed behind her.
"Ah, wait," Tohru called, but Suzu simply ignored the girl's pleas; she'd let the zodiacs answer the girl's questions tomorrow.
Suzu found herself being startled awake the next morning by yelling. At first, she thought something terrible had happened but as she was ripped further out of unconsciousness she realized it was excitement.
Her morning routine much went the same as yesterday, standing and groaning and stretching. However, instead of just leaving in her pajamas she turned on her room's lights and moved towards her closet. She hummed as she looked through her minimal clothing options.
She didn't care much about appearances, but her family was here so she figured she should at least make some effort. Suzu hadn't seen some of these members in years; she didn't want to worry or off put them by looking like an absolute wreck.
Suzu decided to just dress in a pair of black capris and a dark grey long sleeved shirt that she pulled up to her elbows. It wasn't her most formal wear, but it wasn't sweatpants either.
After getting dressed she quickly brushed her hair before leaving her room.
However, Suzu didn't get very far before coming face to face with Honda Tohru, and upon further inspection, Suzu could see Kisa by the girl's side. Suzu had never actually met the tiger cub, but Hatori had shown her pictures of all the zodiac members.
"Ah, Suzu-san. Good morning," Tohru greeted.
"Good morning, Honda-san," Suzu returned and then she looked towards the small girl, "Kisa."
Kisa seemed a bit surprised, but Suzu wasn't sure if that was because Suzu was there or if she was surprised Suzu knew who she was. However, Kisa quickly overcame her surprise and lowered into a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Suzu-san."
Suzu hummed in reply and looked from the cub to a surprised Tohru. "You've never met?" Tohru innocently asked, looking between Suzu and Kisa.
"There are a lot of Sohmas I've never met."
Tohru's brows furrowed in confusion as she wondered, "But I thought you were a member of the zodiac."
Suzu took a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I am cursed, yes," and then she continued on with a vague explanation, "However, I've been living here alone for a few years now."
Tohru seemed to absorb the information, but before she could ask anything else Suzu cut her off. "Shouldn't you be getting Kisa settled in, Honda-san."
"Ah, right," and then the two were off towards Tohru's room again, but Suzu could tell Tohru would have more questions later on. With a quiet sigh Suzu made her way back into her room, already tired after meeting just one member of the zodiac. She'd have breakfast once they had all left for the day.
She ended up sleeping after lunch; it wasn't that she was tired but due to boredom that she decided to take a nap. Suzu was awoken by a knock on her door; she only groaned and looked to find a servant peeking in.
"Hatsuharu-sama requested you join him for dinner."
Suzu rolled onto her side and then into a sitting position. "Ugh, what a pain," she muttered under her breath. She could just feign illness, but if she did that, she knew Haru would make his way here to check on her which meant the others would follow after him. It was safer for her to just sit through a single dinner. "Fine, I'll go over and indulge him," she supplied, earning a nod from the servant.
"Dinner will be ready in half an hour," the servant told before leaving for good.
As soon as the woman was gone, Suzu fell back onto her bed.
She just passed the time with empty thoughts. One thing she'd become able to do is pass the time. Before she knew it, thirty minutes had passed so she stood and made her way to the dining room.
It would be an understatement to say Suzu was nervous. As she turned the corner, she could see familiar heads that gave her some ease like Haru and Kyo. The only empty spot was at one head of the table, Kyo on the opposite. To her right was Haru, Yuki, and then a boy she recognized as Hiro, and on her other side sat Momiji, Tohru, and Kisa.
Suzu kept her eyes downwards as she sat; she could feel everyone watching her.
"I'm so happy you could join us, Suzu-san," Tohru said excitedly, but when Suzu met her gaze she could see the outsider was feeling off.
Suzu was silent for a moment as she collected herself, and then responded with nothing but a vague hum.
"Suzu," Haru said in his usual monotonous tone, but she knew it was a warning. He didn't like what she was doing, and judging by Kyo's tensed expression, neither did he.
However, Suzu couldn't engage with them; she wouldn't allow herself to. It would save them trouble in the long run, and so she forced herself to keep up an image of disinterest. No one had begun eating yet, most looking unsure, probably because of her. So, Suzu took it upon herself to start the awkward dinner. After taking a bite everyone seemed to settle and began eating as well.
Suzu observed them carefully. She noticed the two youngest ones were being completely silent and weren't being baited into any conversations one of the others created. She next moved her eyes to Yuki and then Kyo and found both to be looking at Tohru. After watching those three for a bit she moved on to Haru, the last person she would let herself look upon. Haru was looking right at her and he did not look pleased. Suzu returned his gaze with a blank expression. It wasn't until she raised an impatient brow that he looked away towards Yuki.
She could hear Momiji maintaining most of the conversation of the table, but she didn't look toward him. Suzu didn't want to see him, even hearing his voice made her want to scream.
"Ne, Su-chan, do you want to collect stag beetles with us tomorrow?" Momiji asked with a grin on his face, but Suzu could see how forced it was. Momiji was always trying to make everyone happy; she was the same, but she couldn't do it in the same way.
Suzu wanted to say yes, she always wanted to say yes to Momiji. She just wanted him to be happy, but sadly to make sure he was happy in the future she needed to make him just a bit sad now. "No, that sounds like the last thing I'd ever want to do," she retorted in a monotonous tone, just not having it in her to add any bite to her words.
Momiji instantly deflated, and Suzu regarded him for a moment more before setting her silverware down and standing. "I've lost my appetite." The words were true, but they wouldn't know she had because of what she'd done, because of how cold and hollow she felt.
Suzu felt sick and she just wished that dumb curse would kill her already.