Two questions for you guys: am I getting the characters right? And is Olivier a Mary-Sue? I asked last chapter, but none of you really answered.
Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, added to their alerts, and I'm not sure if anyone's faved? Oh, and of course thank you just for reading, but I'd really appreciate reviews, seeing as this is my first Fruits Basket story (and my second story ever!). Anyway, enough rambling! On with the story!
She didn't know why she was walking around in the middle of a forest at – she stopped to check the time on her cell phone – 5:30am, but she did know that her parents needed to stop nagging her and let her do something.
"I'm not going to get raped, dad," she groaned quietly, glancing at the mixed green and purple color beside her with an annoyed expression. "What tone?" she asked, about to snap at her father for refusing to stay at home. "I'm not being a brat!" she snapped "I just want five damn minutes to myself! Is that too fucking much to ask? Five minutes without you or mom hovering over me?" she paused for a second before shouting "I'M NOT BITCHING! JUST GIVE ME SOME PRIVACY, WILL YOU?" startling a nest of birds, which flew off in a fright. On her other side, Mocha meowed, thinking 'you sound like Kyo'. "FINE, I'LL GO HOME! JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" she whirled around to go home, ignoring her animal friend's comment, and upon scanning the area, realized she didn't recognize anything. So she whirled around again and kept on walking forward, ignoring her dad as he read her the riot act, thought she was simmering with anger and ready to blow up again at any minute.
She knew she was being immature and bratty, but she thought she deserved one moment of privacy. After all, since they'd died, her parents had been with her almost 24/7, only leaving her alone during tests at school and when she truly needed her privacy, like getting dressed and going to the bathroom. Somewhere in the back of her mind, her conscience was telling her that she should be grateful to be able to talk to her parents after they'd passed away, even if her brother and grandparents couldn't, but she was too ticked off to listen to reason.
While walking through the forest, she came across a garden and nearby that a path, which she gratefully walked down. At the end of said path, she was met by a traditional Japanese-style house. "I'm crashing here," she decided, shrugging off her hoodie and using it as a small blanket as she curled up on the porch, Mocha snuggling in beside her. "Dad, please just go away. Go hang out with mom at the house or something, I'll find my way home later. I can take care of myself, now let me sleep!" she half-glared at her father's aura, but murmured a "thanks" when he started backing off. She folded her arms under her head and thanked whatever higher power controlled the universe as sleep finally clouded her consciousness, after trying all night to fall into a slumber.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" the orange-haired Sohma demanded, having gone out for his morning run only to trip over the psych. His shout woke the rest of the house – besides Tohru, who'd woken up even earlier than he – and resulted in Shigure whining his way to the door and Yuki shuffling and stumbling his zombie-like form to the center of the commotion.
"What are you freaking out about, stupid cat?" he asked.
"And, more importantly, why is this pretty high school girl sleeping on our porch when I'd be more than happy to share my bed with her?" Shigure questioned.
"SHUT UP, PERVERT! AND I DON'T NEED TO HEAR ANYTHING FROM YOU EITHER, YA DAMN RAT!" Kyo cussed, picking himself up from the ground.
"Ta geule!" Olivier groaned, rolling over and onto her other side so she faced the house.
"…what?" the 'princely' Sohma asked, clearly confused.
"I think she just told us to shut up?" Shigure translated unsurely, knowing he'd heard the phrase from a foreign novelist before at one of the publishing company's many parties.
"Exactement, maintenant laisse-moi dormir!" the French girl ordered, crossing her arms over her chest and curling up once again. She gave Mocha a soft scratch behind the ears, making the cat purr and stretch, waking from her deep slumber.
The cat looked around, meowing a greeting to Kyo and nuzzling him affectionately, not paying attention to the others surrounding them until Yuki asked "Why is there another stupid cat here?", still in his zombie-like state.
Mocha noticed the other teen and pounced, latching onto the rat's leg, claws hooking into his pajama bottoms. "Food!" the kitty meowed, trying to bite the teen. Kyo tried to stifle a snort, but Olivier gave away Mocha's thought when she burst out laughing. "Yuki's not food!" she chocked out between laughs.
"Then why does he smell like a rat?" Mocha demanded, still gnawing on the prince's leg. Yuki, meanwhile, was trying to shake and/or pry the cat off of him, but to no avail. Her claws were hooked well enough into his pants that Mocha could climb him like a tree with ease if she wanted to.
"You got any… uh… poisson?" Olivier asked, giving up on sleep and sitting up.
"What a silly question! Of course we have poison! But why would you want to do that to your poor cat?" Shigure replied.
"No, um," she hit the side of her head as if to call herself stupid "Japanese don't come easy to me in morning. Uh, fish?" she guessed the word.
"Ask Tohru," Kyo told her simply, still watching in amusement as Mocha continued trying to eat his cousin.
Olivier nodded in thanks, casting a warning glance and threatening "Anyone hurt Mocha, they die," as she entered the house. She glanced to her right and sighed, seeing a white-violet aura beside her and recognizing it as her mother's. "Rentre chez grand-mère et grand-père. S'ilvous plait?" she begged exasperatedly "Est-cequ'un jour juste pour moiest trop de demander?" she winced as her mom chewed her out, hearing about how her father had questioned his parental abilities and if it was time to move on.
"Olivier-san! What are you doing here?" Tohru asked curiously, smiling as she looked over her shoulder from where she was making breakfast.
"Getting chew out by mother. You have any fish?" the blonde replied, internally scolding herself for her bad Japanese, even if it was only before she'd had her usually super-strong coffee. After a year and a half in the country, shouldn't she be able to speak the language, no matter her mental state or the time of day?
"Mother? But we're the only ones in the room?" the brunette wondered.
"Nope. Mom's ghost," came Olivier's tired response "So you have any fish?"
"Oh, yes! It's in the fridge," Tohru nodded.
"Thanks. I'll pay you back," the foreign girl smiled, pulling the salmon out and searching for a pan to cook it in, congratulating herself on forming a comprehendible sentence. "Any coffee?" she wondered. She knew she was being a bad house guest, but she intended to replace everything she used.
"Ah, I'm sorry! I should have bought some when I went shopping, but no one drinks coffee in this house! Gomen, I'm a bad host!"
"'s fine. I'll make us all tea?"
"Oh, but you're a guest! Please, let me make it!" Tohru insisted.
"I'm European, remember? The guest does the work to thank the host?" to be honest, Olivier wasn't sure if that was a culture thing or just something her family did.
"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to insult your culture, Olivier-san!" the onigiri bowed in apology, nearly forgetting about the food on the stove, almost knocking the pan off of the element.
"You don't have to add '-san'," the psychic replied, finally finding a pan and spatula "It sounds weird with my name. Just plain Olivier's fine with me."
"Alright, Olivier," Tohru smiled, testing the honorific-free name on her tongue "Oh! The riceballs!" she remembered, rushing over to the machine.
"Yummy!" Olivier smiled. Japanese food was a bit of a treat for her, despite living in Japan, because her grandparents preferred Italian and Mexican dishes. She flipped the fish over, jealous that half of it would go to her piggish cat. "Oh, my mom says it's nice to meet you," she added, glad that her mother had given up on scolding her, even if she did feel guilty now.
"Where is she?" Tohru asked, looking around the room, as if expecting to see a ghost in the room.
"Two feet to your right."
"It's nice to meet you too, Fontaine-san!" the brunette bowed.
"Stop being a space cadet, there's no one there!" Kyo chose that moment to enter.
"My momma's there. You better apologize before she kicks your ass," Olivier told him over her shoulder, thinking 'typical cat' as he took a swig of milk from the carton.
"Like she could."
"You do realize she's a ghost or spirit or something, I'm not really sure, and can therefore kill you in a millisecond, right?"
"Fine. Sorry. That better?" he asked.
"Much," she smirked, finding getting on his nerves entertaining "Mocha still trying to eat Yuki?" she asked.
"No, now she's trying to cut all his hair off. She doesn't wanna get hair in her mouth when she kills him."
"E-eh? Kill?" Tohru worried.
"Not literally!" Olivier insisted, though she herself wasn't completely sure.
"I only…" Kyo muttered under his breath.
"Momma says be nice to family, you don't know how long they'll be around," the blonde scolded, repeating what her mother was thinking. "After all, who would you have to fight with, then?" she added.
And so, Olivier was happily accepted as a random drop-in house guest, and proceeded to tick Kyo off as much as she wanted.
And so, boys and girls, next chapter the real story begins! Sorry 'bout the boring filler chapter, heh… (le sweatdrops)
BUT NEVER FEAR, THE NEXT CHAPTER SHALL BE THE DEFINITION OF EPIC!
… I just had a little Ayame and/or Tamaki Suoh moment, didn't I?
Sorry for cluttering up the author's notes with randomness!
-Lots of love, CrazySauce202 :3