Fruits Basket: The New Zodiacs

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The first day of school at Rengoku Academy; a very nice private high school in Japan. It was a nice morning; the sun was out and white, puffy clouds decorated the sky above.

It was around twenty-five minutes before the first warning bell was set to ring when Hikari Sohma jogged up to the front gate of the school. Despite not really being that involved in sports or other athletic activities, Hikari was a rather athletic person. Running to school had always been a breeze for her; she could even out-run the track team. She leaned up against the outer wall of the school and waited for her little brother, Nobunaga Sohma, to catch up.

The Sohma Family was fairly notorious for being very distant, very secretive, and very VERY large; a good number of them living on one single estate. While many people don't understand this, there was a reason for it. The Sohma family had an odd curse upon them where thirteen of the very numerous family members were possessed by a vengeful spirit of the Chinese Zodiac. Hikari and Nobunaga just happened to be two of those Zodiacs; Nobunaga representing the Dragon and Hikari representing the Rat.

Hikari continued to stand around outside the front of the school; keeping a casual lookout for Naga.

Black Hikari mouse's ears twitched at the bang noise and the clap of thunder; which gave her a jolt that sent her back into being her normal self. Her nose twitched, she could smell heat upstairs. "Uh-oh... That's trouble." she whispered. She looked at the mice; she knew they were expecting a command... But she just wasn't all that assertive when she wasn't Black Hikari. It sucked.

"Umm... Better drag him outside." Hikari attempted, and the mice responded and did just that (to Hikari's relief). "I better go check on Tenshi..." Hikari mused, starting towards the stairs. She nodded towards Soul and Espada on her way up the stairs and then gestured to the mouse army, as if to tell the two cats that they were the ones who needed help, not her.

Tenshi's father stood in front of her, he had taken the bullet for her. "D-dad?" she whispered. Smelling the smoke from behind her, Tenshi turned around and saw a now blazing fire in her parents room. "Tenshi get that man and your mother. I'll hold this guy off!" he father shouted as he began to struggle with the leader. The man was shouting crazy thing like "Monster" and other things. Tenshi picked up the knocked out man and her dead mother, looking at her father she spoke. "Dad, come on we need to get out of here!" she shouted above the raging flames. "Tenshi, Go! Find Hikari!" he father shouted punching the man. It soon became a brawl between the two men. Tenshi made it midway down the stares. "Hikari!" she shouted.

"Tenshi!!!" Hikari cried in relief. "Where are Aunt and Uncle?" she asked with her head cocked. "And are you alright? There's blood on you!!!"

Before Tenshi could reply she felt something bump into her from behind. Sending her down the stairs, once at the end of the stairs Tenshi saw that it was her father. "Dad?" she squeaked out. She placed the two people she was carrying down gently on the floor, and held her father in her arms "Tenshi, it's ok. It's ok." he struggled to say. Slowly and trying as hard as he could, he placed his hand on her cheek. "Dad, it's going to be ok. You'll be ok." Tenshi said. Feeling tears coming, she shook them away trying to be strong.

"Hikari, get Tenshi away from here. Keep her safe." the man said to the mouse. Just then pieces of the top floor started to fall causing the fire to spread out. "Dad, I'm not going to leave you here!" Tenshi cried out. She didn't want to leave him, or her mother. Tenshi's father let out slow breaths, "Ten...shi....I love...you." her father said for the last time. He closed his eyes and sighed his last breath. The tears were seeping out of Tenshi's closed eyes as she let out an animistic roar.

Hikari couldn't help but shed tears at the father and daughter's final exchange. Aunt and Uncle had always been kind to her the few times she was able to see them; they didn't deserve a death like this. She was shocked, mortified, and sobbing all at the same time, but... her Uncle's final wish rang out inside her head. It was time to get out of there; they didn't have much time left.

Hikari flinched at Tenshi's roar of pain, but still dared to scramble up to Tenshi's shoulder. If she couldn't drag Tenshi out of there, surely she could be Tenshi's conscience for a few moments. "C'mon, Tenshi..... Neither of us should die here... Uncle knew that; he helped you so that you could keep living!" she squeaked as loudly as she could; trying desperately to get her tiny voice to rise above the din of the growing flames. "It's hard, but... How are they gonna keep living if nobody's alive to remember them?"

Tenshi kissed her father's head and picked him up, along with her mother. The robber from upstairs must of run away while they weren't looking. The one that was knocked out was slowly waking. "Get away from here, if I find you in the forest or in this home. I will not hesitate to kill you." Tenshi vowed. Getting to her feet she left her home for the last time.

~A few weeks later~

With a sigh, Tenshi pushed her meal away from her. She couldn't sleep, she hardly ever ate. She went to school, did her homework, and fiddled with her Guitar. It was like Tenshi was in a dark void, she showed no emotion. When she did show emotion it was mostly anger or she would run away for a few hours to be alone. Her heart was aching with hurt.

Tenshi sighed again listening to the band play at Sakura Point. The song was one that seemed to repeat what was in her heart.

Ooc: Song: Jason Walker- Echo I was listening to this song and it seemed to fit the moment.

"Aww, c'mon Tenshi... You gotta eat!" Hikari urged sadly from her seat. She looked at Tenshi with pleading eyes, not even noticing as an odd young man passed behind her and entered the building (I assume they're eating outside.... |'D). "If you don't eat, you won't get strong and feel better..." she muttered quietly, tweaking a small device she had laid on on the table; presumably a new kind of tripwire device she had been working on.

Tenshi looked up at the Cherry Trees. "I'm just not hungry, Hikari. No offence I'm happy that you invited me to live at the Estate, but The other's still treat me like I'm the monster. The least I can do is stay out of their way. I should be happy that Aunt Sohma didn't put me in that stupid cage." she said. Picking up a French fry she nibbled on it.

Hikari swung her feet sadly. "Auntie just upholds traditions too much..." she commented barely above a whisper. She looked around cautiously, as if to see if anyone was around observing them. The girl was obviously scared out of her wits of the "Aunt Sohma" character. Behind them, the boy from earlier and the manager of the place looked to be having a fairly lively convorsation, as if they were just two friends meeting up for lunch. Hikari looked up and smiled just a little as her cousin nibbled. "I know you're not hungry, but... you should still force yourself to eat a little. It's not healthy to starve!"

With a small sigh, Tenshi stood up with her hands on the table. "Please excuse me, Hikari. I need to use the Restroom." she said. With has hair covering her eyes she headed towards her destination. How she didn't bump into anyone was beyond her. Once inside, she was grateful that the stalls were empty. Running the water for the sink, she felt the tears coming again. Sobbing softly over the loss, she thought she was done crying. Her heart felt like it was being crushed. Aunt Sohma wasn't making it any better either, calling her a monster or saying that she was worthless and unwanted by the family. It wasn't fully true because of Hikari. She was the only one that wanted Tenshi to stay.

Slowly coming to a stop, she put her hands under the water and tried to make it seem like she hadn't been crying. "Come on, get a grip." she muttered. She headed back outside, sat down at her table and forced herself to eat even though she wasn't hungry.

Hikari had just gotten up to go check on her cousin in a fairly worried state, and in her distracted state of mind she just barely avoided bumping into the strange young man from earlier. "EEP!!" she exclaimed, dodging and running back the way she came in a panic.

"Uhhh... Pardon me?..." the young man muttered. He threw her an oddly prolonged curious glance, then shook his head and proceeded to make his way down the street.

"Oh jeez, Tenshi... I almost turned.... In public......" Hikari told her cousin barely above a whisper. She was shaking like a little leaf.

Tenshi looked up to see a shaken Hikari. "At least you didn't turn. Let's head back to the house." she said. Picking up her drink she went to get the money out and felt nothing in her purse. "Dang. I left my wallet at home." she hissed. Placing her hand on her head, she sighed. "I'm sorry Hikari. I normally don't forget anything like that." she said feeling flustered.

"Please, I wasn't going to let you pay!" Hikari exclaimed with her trademark grin. She grabbed her pocketbook and laid the money (plus a very generous tip) out on the table, then gathered her things. "I don't have to leave a tip that large but... It'll just put a dent in my invention money, no biggie!" she giggled.

---A FEW DAYS LATER---

Hikari was lounging in one of her favorite trees near the front of the main Sohma Estate. Suprisingly, ALL of the other inhabitants of said estate were out on a little "field trip" to China together, leaving Hikari and Tenshi as the only two Sohmas on the Estate. Hikari had only been on a few of these "field trips", mostly thanks to illness, and she had NEVER been on one to China, but she didn't care. Currently, she was just enjoying the breeze and the peaceful quiet of that sunny Saturday....

Tenshi mean while was in her room on a mission. "SCRAP!!!!! I can't find it!!" she yelled. Tossing things behind her as she was digging under her bed. "Hikari have you seen my I-pod touch 4?!" she asked. Tenshi was feeling better now that the other's were out of the house. Tenshi had always wanted to go to China but not with the Sohma's, except for Hikari.

Outside, Tobi was enjoying the nice day.The sun was shining and he felt something under his foot. "What's this?" he asked himself. Bending down he picked up an I-pod 4 with a skull panda keychain and a sticker with the letter's "B.B", "Who's is this?" he asked, looking around.

"Nope, I haven't seen it lying around... Did you check the kitchen and the living room? What about the porch where we ate breakfast?" Hikari called back, swinging her leg around so that she was facing the house. She waited to see if Tenshi found it on her own before hopping out of the tree; she was rather high up.