Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 2 of Sparkle. I want to thank those who have left a review. It truly does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this. I can't wait to show you guys what happens in this chapter. I hope that you enjoy this next part. Without further ado Chapter 2. ENJOY!

Chapter 2

Izumi walked with Tohru back towards their lockers to get their items out of it so they could be well on their way to work. Izumi looked over at her sister seeing the flushed appearance on her face. "Tohru are you sure that you're not coming down with something?" She questioned becoming concerned of the coloring of her sister's face.

Tohru offered her sister a smile. "I promise I'm fine." She said softly knowing that Izumi would go into mother hen mode if she ever found out that she was sick. It was one of the one things that Izumi always did when their mother wasn't around when she was at work when Tohru was ill. Tohru slowed when she saw Yuki. "Sohma-kun thank you for walking with us this morning."

Yuki smiled at both girls. "Not at all. I apologize for Shigure's behavior."

Izumi looked over at her sister before gathering her things from her locker.

"Oh, that's alright. He was a complete gentleman. He even showed me his Chinese zodiac paperweights."

"Oh, yes, you were saying something about wanting to be the year of the cat."

Izumi let out a soft chuckle as Tohru's face flushed a deep red.

"I was an eccentric child." Tohru said as she rubbed her forehead a little bit.

"I'll say. Cats are stupid. Not to mention nasty."

"Huh?"

"Take it you're not a cat person." Izumi said as she changed into her shoes to walk around outside in.

"Honda-san, did you know the twelve signs of the chinese zodiac are really part of the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches?" He questioned as the three of them walked out of the school. "Originally they were used as a numeric system or to tell time. Later on, the cosmic dual forces and the five elements of Chinese cosmology were incorporated and it turned into a fortune telling thing."

"Then animals had nothing to do with it?" Tohru questioned curiously as she followed her sister and Yuki.

"Nope. The question is when were animals adopted into the system and what grounds? Apparently nobody knows. But cats never made it into the zodiac and I'm glad they didn't. I mean should they get in just because they're friends with the other twelve? Who cares? Cats are so dumb."

"So in other words you hate cats, Sohma-kun?"

"Tohru…" Izumi said as she looked at her watch, her brow twitching in concern.

Tohru looked at her watch. "Oh no!"

"That's what I was trying to tell you. We're both going to be late." Izumi said, letting out a soft breath.

"I'm sorry Sohma-kun we both have to get to work." Tohru said, bowing her head.

"Honda-san…" Yuki said as he pulled a leaf from Tohru's hair. "I thought so this morning too, but you look a little peaked. It's still so hot. So be sure to take good care of yourself. Well I'll see you both tomorrow."

Izumi moved closer to her sister and touched her forehead. "You're a little warm, Tohru…" She said concerned about resting the back of her hand against Tohru's head.

Tohru waved her hands backing away from her sister. "I promise I'm alright."

Izumi let out a soft breath. "Alright if you say so." She said softly looking at her sister with a worried gaze. "Will you be alright walking to work by yourself?"

Tohru gave her sister a smile. "I promise I'll be alright."

Izumi gave her sister a small smile. "Alright." She said softly knowing that Tohru would be alright even though she was worried about the fever that Tohru had. "I should get to the cafe before they dock me."

"I'll see you tonight." Tohru said, waving her hand to her sister.

Izumi took a soft breath hoping that Tohru would be alright.

FRUITS BASKET

Izumi fixed the work uniform that she wore which was a white button down top with a black bow and a black skirt that matched the black vest she wore over top of it. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she made another coffee for a customer before putting it in front of the person. "Here you go. Enjoy." She said with a smile.

"Thank you Izumi." The customer said, offering her a smile before walking away with their coffee.

Izumi's eyes wandered over towards the clock that was on the wall. It was getting close to closing time which she was rather thankful for. Her mind was always going back to Tohru who she was rather concerned about since she could feel the warmth coming from her sister's head and her sister playing it off as if she was alright. She could only hope that she wasn't a fool in thinking that Tohru would be alright for a few hours at her own job cleaning up a business. She bit her lip softly in concern hoping that her sister would be alright.

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Izumi heard the footsteps outside of the tent and poked her head out seeing her sister coming. "Hey Tohru…"

Tohru sleepily waved her hand at her older sister. "I'm home mom, Zumi." She said letting out a yawn coming into the tent. "I'm sleepy, but I still have homework that's due tomorrow. I feel dizzy…" She grabbed a towel. "I'll wash my face to help me get my second wind."

Izumi pursed her lips in thought as she watched Tohru exit the tent slowly only to stop in her tracks. She moved when she heard laughing outside of the tent. She poked her head outside of the tent seeing Yuki and Shigure.

"Shigure, you're laughing too much." Yuki said, looking back at his cousin before looking at the two girls before them. He couldn't help but wonder why they were out this far in the woods. They couldn't possibly be staying in a tent this entire time on their lands.

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It didn't take long for the two girls to explain what was going on to the two Sohmas.

"I see, so how long have you both been living in that tent?" Yuki said softly knowing that this wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"For about a week." Izumi said softly, bringing her knees up to her chest, her boy school uniform crinkling as she moved. She wasn't sure what they were going to do now that they had been found out. It was something that worried her, they needed a place to stay till everything was settled at their grandfather's place so they could go back to living with him again.

"I thought it was strange since the Sohma family owns this ridge. And we haven't sold or leased any of it." Shigure said as he looked at the two girls.

"Um… please let us stay for the time being." Tohru said softly, looking up at them. "We'll leave as soon as the house is finished. We don't have much money, but we'll pay what we can. Please."

"That's a dangerous area. The ground on the cliff is loose and there are occasionally wandering perverts. I just think it's impossible for a girl and young man to live in a tent for a matter of months."

Izumi let out a breath running her hand through her hair knowing that this was very true.

Yuki looked over at his cousin. "Are you finally done laughing."

Izumi's eyes shot over to her sister when she shot up to her feet.

"It's okay. I've gotten used to the slugs. Plus we have the physical and mental strength in spades."

"Oh Tohru." Izumi thought fondly as she let out a soft chuckle.

"So please, let us…" Suddenly Tohru fell backwards.

Yuki moved forward quickly, kneeling in front of her. "Honda-san." He carefully touched her forehead. "You have a fever and you don't look well."

Izumi moved quickly, putting the back of her hand against Tohru's head. "Oh Tohru… I thought you said that you were alright."

Shigure got up to his feet. "How about some ice…" He opened the door leading to the kitchen which revealed a large mess. "Um… where is the ice again?"

Izumi looked at the mess with wide eyes.

"It's like a sea of corruption…" Tohru said leaning against Izumi who held her close to her.

Izumi blanked a few times seeing Shigure go silent. She couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.

"You hear that? There's been a landslide somewhere."

"Huh?" Tohru said softly in confusion.

"That typhoon loosened the ground up even more."

Izumi looked at Shigure in confusion. "How do you know that?"

"Hm?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it's my animal instincts."

Yuki let out a soft huff. "Stop screwing around. Can you tell if there's been any damage?"

"Maybe… It happened near our tent." Tohru said softly wondering if she was wrong.

"So where did it happen?" Yuki questioned his cousin curiously.

Izumi got up to her feet and dusted her pants off. "Only one way to find out." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Shall we check it out?"

FRUITS BASKET

They made their way to where the tent was located only to find that it was buried in rubble from the landslide.

Tohru rushed forward. "Oh no! Mom's photo is in the tent. Mom!" She said trying to dig to get to the tent.

"Tohru." Izumi said, moving forward pulling her sister back from the dirt.

"Honda-san, calm down… you have a fever."

Tohru jerked against Izumi trying to dig again. "But mom. What should I do? I have to get her out of there before she suffers."

Izumi took a soft breath as Shigure moved forward.

"Let's come back when the sun is out. If there's another landslide and you and your brother get hurt your mother will suffer even more. Right?"

Izumi held Tohru back, taking a soft breath. "Shigure-san has a point Tohru." She said, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Tohru's head. "We can come back in the morning to search for mom and get her out of there."

Tohru sniffled softly, sagging against her sister's body.

"Tomorrow?"

Izumi nodded her head. "Yes, tomorrow. Is it alright if we stay with you till we unbury the tent?" Izumi asked softly, unsure of the idea of if they could even still live in their tent after what had happened to it.

FRUITS BASKET

Izumi sat next to her sister brushing some of her hair from her face as she laid under a blanket. She looked up at Shigure who came into the room.

"Yuki is looking for ice. I think it's just exhaustion. You've been pushing yourself too hard."

"I'm sorry." Tohru said weakly under the blankets.

Izumi looked at her sister with a worried gaze.

"I lost our home again…"

Shigure looked at the Honda twins unsure of the whole thing. "Is it rough?"

"No. We've been through a lot worse." Tohru said softly.

Izumi brushed more of Tohru's hair back.

"Like what? Tell me?"

Izumi took a shaky breath as tears began to form in her eyes, knowing that Tohru would tell Shigure everything including what had happened to their mother not that long ago.

"We couldn't say come back soon to our mother the morning she died in a car accident. We had a test that day so Izumi and I stayed up until morning studying for it and couldn't wake up. The only morning we didn't get the chance to say goodbye. We always said it, but one morning I'd been thinking of quitting school and getting a job. But my mother said to continue school. And yet we couldn't say come back soon. We didn't even see her back as she left for work. We were both idiots. Even if we had a bad grade or lost our house. What I should have cherished most was our mother. So I want to at least graduate from high school. Izumi too as mom hoped for the both of us." Tohru let out a soft hum. "This is no time for me to give into a fever…"

Izumi took a soft breath brushing her sister's hair back. She looked up seeing Yuki coming into the room with ice in his hands.

"Is she asleep?" Yuki asked softly.

"Were you listening?" Shigure questioned looking over at his younger cousin.

"I'm surprised." Yuki admitted softly as he handed the ice pack to Izumi who carefully put it onto Tohru's warm brow. "You two were always so cheerful in school. I never would have thought that you two suffered so much. It's incredible."

"Incredible how?"

"I intended to run away from the Sohma's, but in the end here I am in just another Sohma property. If I really couldn't stand it, I should have been like the Honda twins grabbing a tent and going off to some unexplored region or the backwoods."

Izumi slowly began to close her eyes, laying down next to her sister slowly not hearing what was being said. It was nice to actually sleep in a place where they didn't have to worry about being wiped out by strong winds.

FRUITS BASKET

The next morning Tohru jerked awake, waking her sister up.

"Tohru." She said as she sat up her sister quickly got out of the bed that she was laying on. She shakily got up to her feet tiredly. She came out with her sister to see Yuki standing there.

"Good morning. How do you feel?"

"Soh…ah good…"

Izumi brushed her bangs from her eyes seeing Yuki holding something familiar to them both.

"Here's your photo. I think this is the rest of your things, but will you check to make sure that nothing is missing?" He said putting the bags down onto the floor.

"Sohma-kun you dug through all that dirt and sand by yourself?"

Yuki let out a chuckle. "As if."

"But how did you do it then?" Izumi questioned her brows furrowing together.

"It's a secret." Yuki said with a wink.

Izumi looked down as her cheeks flushed.

"Thank you." Tohru said softly.

"Sure. Well, I'm gonna take your things upstairs."

"Huh?" The two twins looked at Yuki in confusion.

"This place is filthy, and only men live here, but we've got an empty room upstairs. You both can stay until the construction is done on your grandfather's house.

"I can't! I'm against that kind of thing." Tohru snapped in shock.

"You're against it? Uh the door does have a lock on it."

"It's not that. How do I explain it?"

"Tohru we really should think this over." Izumi said softly, grasping her sister's shoulder.

"Do you like household chores? For example cooking and cleaning." Shigure questioned rubbing the back of his neck looking at the two twins.

"Um… yeah we do." Izumi said, looking over at Shigure.

Shigure smiled. "Welcome to the Sohma home. The room may be musty, so open a window. Ah we'll have to make you both a spare key. Yuki let them borrow a change of clothes."

"But… we can't do this. You helped look after me and now you're giving us a room? We're causing too much trouble."

Izumi let out a breath. "Tohru…"

"We're doing this because we want to. So don't think of it as inconveniencing us. Just go with it…"

"But."

"Besides you two don't have anywhere else to stay, do you?"

"No, we don't." Izumi said, rubbing her arm softly. "But teach us the rules so we don't break them."

Yuki offered them both a smile looking at the two of them. "Be yourselves. Slow and steady finding your places in this house. Do things your own way."

FRUITS BASKET

Izumi took a breath as she came out of the bathroom changed into the clothes that Yuki had lent her. She ran her hand through her hair before going downstairs to thank Shigure again for having allowed them to stay. "Shigure-san."

Shigure waved his hand looking at the young woman before him. "Yes Izumi-san?"

Izumi put her hands behind her back, biting her lower lip softly. "I want to thank you for allowing us to stay. Hopefully we won't be in too much trouble…"

A loud crash was heard from upstairs.

Izumi quickly turned on her feet and rushed back upstairs to where Tohru was talking with Yuki about the bedroom.

Shigure followed her to the room looking around. "Yuki. I just heard something crash in here. Did Kyo drop by?"

Izumi blinked a few times when he saw Tohru holding a cat.

"Oh boy…"

Yuki leaned up against his cousin. "Do something about that stupid cat."

"What is with the orange fluff?" Izumi questioned in confusion. She had to admit it was rather weird that there was a hole in the ceiling and now Tohru held onto an orange cat. "What the hell is going on here?"

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This is the end of Chapter 2. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I promise that this will stray from the manga a bit and there will be manga stuff in this story. Just getting fully started on this is taking a bit longer than what I wanted it to. I'm hoping to update this weekly as long as I have the chapters to post. Hopefully I'll have this whole thing finished so we can have a nice long update of chapters and what not. Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. I hope to update next week with a brand new chapter. Until next time.