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The Fox and The Rabbit	By : naturechild02 Category: Manga Misc > General Views: 4788 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fruits Basket, nor do I make any monies from this fanfic. For entertainment purposes only.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
Aimi was bombarded with questions after school. She expected it from her friends but was surprised when others from her class approached her. They gathered around her quickly, throwing out questions almost all at the same time, causing her head to whip around as she tried to face them all in turn.
“Have you always been a witch?”
“What do your parents think?”
“Is it because you are part American?”
“What else can you do?”
“All right! Break it up!” Uo chan pushed through the crowd, throwing elbows at people a bit harder than necessary. “Give the chick some space! Come on, Aimi, let’s get you out of here.” She took her by the elbow, Hana chan suddenly appearing at her other arm, and pushed through the crowd toward the front of the school.
Aimi could hardly get a word out as Uo practically dragged her along. She kept her focus forward, afraid to face Hana. What does she think of me now? Are they angry that I never told them?
“Hey,” Uo said quietly near Aimi’s ear. “It’s okay. We’ve got your back.”
Aimi felt the sting of tears. “R-really? You don’t think I’m a freak?”
“Why would we think that?” Hana chan answered, making Aimi face her. For the first time, Hana was smiling at her. Really smiling. The sight had the corners of her own lips tugging upwards.
“Thanks. I know I probably should have told you…”
“We get it. People can be jerks so sometimes it’s easier to keep things like this on the down low. Hana and I have gone through similar stuff. I mean, not exactly the same but, you know, with being outcasts.”
Hana made an affirmative sound in her throat and Aimi had to squash the urge to hug them. She clutched their arms instead, squeezing gently as a sign of her thanks.
Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki were waiting for them at the front gate. Tohru waved at them while Yuki argued with a tall man with silver-white hair. As they drew closer, Aimi noticed that the man looked almost exactly like Yuki in the face. Are they related? Once she was a few feet away, she knew for sure. His brother and another with the curse! The snake. How exciting to meet another Souma with the Juunishi curse! But before she had a chance to approach him, he was walking away, enthusiastically waving goodbye to Yuki with the biggest smile on his lovely face. Yuki, appearing more irritated than Aimi had ever seen him, ignored the farewells.
As Uo chan and Hana chan released her arms, Aimi grinned at them and pretended to punch Yuki in the gut. His look of surprise was comical.
“Hey! Why didn’t you tell me you had an older brother?” she asked.
“Oh, he’s hardly worth mentioning. He’s, well, over the top and crazy.” Yuki appeared embarrassed but the others were laughing.
“He’s almost like the opposite of you!” Uo chan said.
“Though you do look so similar.” Aimi could tell Yuki wasn’t keen on this subject so she tried to think of a way to change it without bringing it back around to her gift. That was the last thing she wanted to talk about right now. But Hana chan beat her to it.
“We should go.” She tugged on Uo’s sleeve and locked eyes with her. The tall blonde narrowed her eyes for a moment before Hana’s unspoken message got through.
“Oh, yeah. I have work. Later, guys!”
The two waved and walked away, leaving the Souma boys, Tohru, and Aimi. Suddenly uncomfortable among her friends, Aimi eyed her feet and adjusted her bookbag on her shoulders. They may have come to my aid in class, but I have to wonder what they will say now. I don’t care what anyone else thinks of me, but these people actually mean something to me.
“Come on, we’ll walk you home,” Kyo said. Aimi whipped her head up and stared at him. He merely stared back for a minute, his face unreadable, before turning and waving at them to follow. Aimi beamed.
Tohru chatted with Aimi about class assignments as they made their way to her house. It all felt perfectly normal and she was relieved. The sight that greeted them on her doorstep, however, had her heart dropping down into her feet. Shigure was speaking to her father.
As the four students approached, Aimi slowed up, holding back as she studied Shigure’s face. He was smiling, appearing to charm her father as she knew him capable of. But what was his motive here? Feeling a tug at her elbow, Aimi turned her head to find Yuki standing beside her.
“I had to tell him. I’m sorry.”
He seemed distressed and Aimi was quick to comfort him. “Hey, it’s fine. I get it. This is a big family secret. An outsider knowing about it is a big deal.” She smiled at him but her words had no effect. The lovely boy still stood there with a wrinkled brow, his mouth a small hard line on his face. Does he know something I don’t? Is there something else they could do to me besides memory suppression?
“Ah, here they are now!” Shigure was calling them over and Aimi’s feet moved on their own.
Kyo and Tohru were already speaking with her father, Tohru her usual cheerful self. Kyo’s face still held an expression that Aimi couldn’t read, his body stiffer than it should be. She was tempted to dive into his head and try to read his emotional state but she didn’t dare. She and Kyo were on friendly terms, but not exactly close friends. When they spoke to each other, it was merely the kind pleasantries fair-weather friends exchanged. Or quick-witted insults meant as a joke. Same thing with their relationship. Still, she wondered if he was bothered by her gift. Something just felt… off.
“I thought it was time I properly introduced myself to your father, Aimi-chan. You’ve been to our house enough times that I wanted to reassure him that you are perfectly safe in a house full of males,” Shigure said.
“Almost full of males. Let’s not forget Honda-san,” Yuki said. He was smiling but it was strained. He was obviously worried.
“Of course. I was also inviting you over for a sleepover tonight. I wanted to run it by your father, since it is the weekend and you may have plans. I assured him that all homework would be completed before any shenanigans ensued.” Shigure gave them his biggest smile and Aimi was suddenly nervous.
“We have no plans, so I agree that it would be a nice idea. I’m sure Aimi would love more time with her friends. She spent the entire break with this old man, so being with people her age will certainly be more enjoyable.” Daisuke smiled at them all in turn before excusing himself and stepping inside.
Aimi was left speechless. What was going on? What did Shigure have planned? Was she in serious trouble? Were they going to send her to the Souma compound?
As questions swirled through her head, her legs feeling weak, she barely registered Shigure saying a cheerful farewell and walking off with Tohru and Yuki. Frozen in shock, Aimi heard nothing until Kyo snapped his fingers an inch from her nose.
“Hey, snap out of it. Time to pack.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Tohru has to work, Yuki’s taking her, so I’m going to walk you to our house after you pack some clothes and stuff. Got it?”
Blinking her confusion and fear away, Aimi nodded, slipped out of her shoes on her front stoop, and invited Kyo in. She tried not to feel self-conscious as Kyo’s eyes swept over her modest home. Kyo, like Yuki, had never been one to judge others. She had to wonder why he had offered to stay with her, though. Was he upset about her abilities or was she reading too much into it? He answered her question soon enough.
“Hey, uh, I just wanted to say that I, I get why you didn’t tell us about your powers and stuff.” He rubbed his neck nervously, his eyes everywhere but on her.
“Oh,” was all she could manage.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s kind of scary, you know.”
“It is scary. Really scary sometimes.” Her words had him facing her, finally looking her in the eye. His orange eyes seemed sad.
“I get it. Being different. It can be really frustrating. Especially when there isn’t anyone who understands what you’re going through. No one alive anyway…”
That was when Aimi realized he was talking about his curse, but not the cat part, the other part. The dark monster-like aura that she sensed inside of him. Did it have its own form, too? When did it come out? She found herself staring at the beads on his wrist. The ones he was never without. It had never occurred to her before to ask about them. Were they a reminder of something? A talisman? Was that dark red coating really paint or something else?
“You can talk about stuff with me, you know,” she blurted out.
Her words caught him off-guard. “Oh, um, okay. I mean…”
“No, really. I know you have your own issues and things that are bothering you. I’m a good listener. Pretty good at keeping secrets, too.” She gave a nervous chuckle and watched his expression become more relaxed.
“Here I was trying to think of something comforting to say to you.” He gave his own small laugh. Aimi was touched by his concern. Kyo, who was often distant and taciturn, cared after all. Her heart warmed to him.
“Well, seriously though, misery loves company. I’m here if you need me. Whatever you wanna talk about. School or girls or other stuff.”
“G-Girls! No way! Like I would have anything to say about that!”
“Mmm hmm. Sure.” Aimi felt herself giving him a real smile before turning and flitting up the stairs. “Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be back in a flash.”

“Ugh, I thought I understood this in class but now it’s reading like Sanskrit!” Aimi rubbed her cheeks in frustration.
Yuki sat beside her on the floor, their homework scattered across the table. Even Kyo had joined them to work on their homework together when he usually hid in his room and finished his alone. He sat across from them with one knee pulled up, his brow furrowed in concentration, his pencil hanging from his mouth. He glanced up at her outburst and scowled.
“You don’t have to disturb the rest of us, you know.”
“Shut up, baka neko,” Yuki growled, though his tone was less threatening than usual. The purple-eyed beauty leaned over Aimi’s page. “Hmm, try working it out this way.” He scribbled some equations on her extra work page, Aimi watching intently.
“Oh, that’s so much easier! Man, I was doing it the hard way.”
The door slid open to reveal Shigure and Tohru. “Oh, is it that late already? I thought you usually walked her home?” Aimi gave Yuki a puzzled look. Yuki and Shigure exchanged a look before Shigure settled down at his usual spot. Kyo gathered his homework and stood to leave but Shigure stopped him with a word.
“Wait.” He looked at them each in turn, sure to catch everyone’s eye before motioning Tohru over to the table. “I know you have to start on your homework, too, but there is something important we need to discuss first. We need to have a little chat.
“All of us?” Kyo asked, his tone irritated.
“Yes, all of us.”
Aimi felt her insides tighten. This was it. Her hands began to sweat so she dropped her pencil to the table. Okay, then. Best to just get it all out in the open. I’m prepared to take whatever punishment they throw at me. She hoped she was. She hoped the Souma clan were reasonable people, especially the head of the family. What’s the worst that can happen?
- 19
- 20
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The Fox and The Rabbit