Title: Living in a Romance Novel
Chapter 5: The Heroine Falls
Authors Note: Hey everyone, chapter five is here! This will probably be around 15-25 chapters, if you're curious. I don't have the fan fiction story outline really complete yet…I know, bad Lady M. Fun fact – Mii is the only character who remains a mystery on her family name. Thus I decided to use the last name of the Japanese voice artist for her – Okamura. It sounded okay to me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the characters. Evalena White is my own creation however, and belongs solely to me.
Well behaved women rarely make history. ~ Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
The petunias needed a good prune; the overgrowth of the plant had begun to descend onto the few pictures that Lena had bothered to set out. Wistfully, she starred down at what seemed to be a younger version of her-self, the same soft honey brown eyes with the gold flakes, and the pale creamy complexion. The bushy mane was too fierce for the face, the red lipstick too daring and the spark in her eyes too willful.
Compared to her mother, Lena was a house cat. She hadn't inherited her mother's impulsiveness, her foolishness, or her stupidity as the family put it. What Lena saw, was a fighter. Her eyes held onto bravery and tenacity to overcome any adversity. She'd move mountains if they dared to stand in her way.
She was magnificent.
Lena was…simply Lena; forced to carry on the sins of her mother. Everyone had loved Sora, with her vibrant personality and the German descent from her mother's side. She had spark, flair, and edge.
Lena had an IQ of a hundred and thirty eight.
Forcefully, she slammed the picture down on the hard mahogany table and took a long drag of air. There were parts of history, better left buried and in the past. In the eyes of Japan, Evelena White did not exist.
And that was a very interesting shred of truth that could never come out of the dark.
It only seemed fit that on the eve of her mother's departure of Japan, that twenty and them some years later a man would be squirming about on her porch. By the way he fidgeted and sweated, he didn't want to be here. By the look of Lena's face when she opened the door, how she drained of color, she didn't want him here either.
"We have matters to discuses," he whispered in a hushed tone and looked around frantically.
"For heaven sakes Gorou, they don't have spies all around the house. They don't know I exist," Lena pointed out in a deadly hiss.
"Do not use such poor manners towards me child, I'm still your elder," he shook an angry little fist at her in intimidation, although his height only came up to her mid-waist.
"I believe your due respect flew out the window when I was disinherited and stripped from the family records before my first birthday, I owe you nothing," Lena replied coolly. She crossed her arms and stood tall; no estranged great uncle was going to intimidate her.
"We have matters to talk about inside, or I'll…"
"What? Have the police write out a restraining order, and put what name on it?" she snorted, "if you're going to threaten me, then work on something more creditable." Her eyes narrowed on the streets and she pushed the door open, "Five minutes."
"I won't need more than three. Fujiko learned you were in town and got nervous. What are you and Miichan planning?"
"We're not planning anything. Mii simply became stressed with her job and needed a break – I get to be the lucky temp," she voiced out her dry humor, and showed obvious disdain for the subject. "I'll be on the first plane back to New York in three months time, so tell Great Aunt Fujiko to relax before she loses her last grey hair."
"Just remember the terms," he snapped in his grumpy expression.
"I'm not likely to forget, old man," Lena snapped, "You might have bossed my mother around like the high emperor, but I'm not Sora Okamura in case you've forgotten. I might have been born Kanae Okamura, but I was raised as Evalena White."
"Keep to yourself and don't leave any impressions than Evalena White," he suggested heavily. "We won't be happy if you cause any sort of trouble for the Okamura family."
"I am no longer of the Okamura business, so you don't have to worry," Lena promised, "Just keep living with your pretty little lies, Uncle. One day they're going to catch up to you and swallow you up. Without the truth to set you free, you'll drown in your deceit," she hoped she was there to watch.
Gorou Okamura turned red, and then his face washed of all color as her last words hit him hard. He swallowed what he had been about to stay and stuttered an excuse before he swung the front door open.
Of course, there stood Shgiure with a handful of red roses in his hands.
Lena was shaking in fury, "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" she seethed.
"Flowers, is this a bad time?" he pointed to the roses as if it were obvious and cocked his head at the man.
"Sh…Shigure Sohma?" he spat out the last word, "Well! This changes things, yes indeed it does. I hadn't expected you to completely take over Miichan's work…expect a call Evalena," he bumped into Shigure on his way out, and didn't bother to offer an apology.
Lena collapsed in the faded blue comfy chair, her delicate fingers pressed against her template, "Roses, table," she muttered, "God what I'd do for some tea," anything to calm her nerves. Her hands were embarrassingly shaking.
"I think I can remember how to do a pot of tea," Shigure insisted as he shut the front door closed and began rummaging around in the kitchen.
Five minutes passed, and suddenly Lena heard an inhumane scream that screeched across the hallway and into the living room. From across the lawn, she could see the neighbor's cat make a similar sound and jump up with his hair on ends.
"What did you do?" she bolted from the chair and rushed into the room, "SHIGURE THAT'S PLASTIC ON THE STOVE," she shoved the oven temperature to off, and burned the tips of all five fingers in the process.
"But it's black…" he began, almost in a whimper.
"Yes Shigure, plastic comes in more colors than just clear. It's amazing what science can do today," she threw a small temper tantrum when she saw the plastic residue left on the stove. It would take her hours to scrub off with one mangled hand. "Why did you stop over?" she finally asked, because it was the only question she could deal with at the moment.
"Hmm, good question…"
"…you don't remember?"
"Well…I seem to recall…no that wasn't it. Now what was it, ah, yes," he held out a half chewed away manuscript that was due in two days, "I'll need an extension." Shigure half peered over the paper, and was shocked to discover a color on Lena's face, not created by Creyola.
"Get out."
"Why?"
"Kitchen knives are a few short leaps away from me, get out before I'm tempted," she suggested in a morbid tone.
"Ah…you know, now that I think about it, there's a second copy at home. Yes, I'm almost sure of it," he amended.
It was too late; Lena was off the deep end.
"Just, get out," her fingers twitched for the cool metal. She wouldn't really hurt him, nothing but a flesh wound, mess up that pretty face of his.
"I brought you roses, every woman loves roses."
"Funny, the same color as the blood that will be pouring out of the slices of ligaments you'll have left," because of him, she successfully had her estranged family on her heels and wanting her dead, a useless melted bottomed tea pot, five burned finger tips, and six hours worth of scrubbing on the stove. Her only question was why he was still breathing.
"Hmm, let me see those fingers," he caught her hand softly in his and began to examine, "I'm no Hatori, but I think I can handle minor burns, do you have a first aid kit?"
"Are you going to burn it on the stove?" Lena quipped with an arrogant look that said 'Yes, I am going to be a smart ass'.
"That's just rude, it was an honest mistake," Shigure insisted as he continued to look over her fingers.
Lena was about to come back with a 'it was a stupid mistake' but the words were lost in her throat when he made the incredibly sweet gesture of kissing the individual tip of each burned finger on her right hand.
"I'm still angry," she managed after a second of calming her furiously beating heart.
"Oh," Shigure smirked, "I know."
Lena didn't realize it, but like her mother, she could look fierce, when furiously angry there wasn't a house cat alive that could look as magnificent as she did.