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eurydicees · 3 years

Note

For the prompts, any fandom, any ship: decadence. Just the word decadence, let's see what you can do, go wild

ahhhh thank you for this prompt!! this was so much fun to write. i hope you don't mind that i chose kyohru. i've never written them before but i've been aching to, i just didn't have a good idea. hope you enjoy :)

i promise to remember every sunrise with you

summary: an introspective night under the stars, and a moment together under the sunrise. takes place some point after tohru finds out that kyo will be locked up after high school.

pairings: kyo sohma/tohru honda

words: 1536

warnings: none

The thing he will miss the most, Kyo thinks, when he is caged, is the sky at night. He’ll miss the stars, and the way that they blink in and out with the wind, as if they are wind chimes pushed from side to side with each passing cloud. He’ll miss the lights of the planes as they fly by, the red and green blinking in the moonlight like something alien. He’ll miss the moon, the crescent and the gibbous and the full moon, all hanging in the sky like a face looking down and loving him.

He lies on the roof, now, staring up at the stars. It’s four am, and the sun is beginning to peek over the horizon, rosy fingers beginning to drift out and over, lighting the sky with her sunrise-red and gold. He wants the night to last a little longer, wants the darkness to stay and hide him for just a few more hours. He needs the loneliness, sometimes.

Other times, he wants nothing more than to be with people. He wants nothing more than to hold hands with someone— his mind speaks a name and he does not let it sit on his tongue for long— or hug them, or find the sweetness of being held in a way he has never felt before. Other times, he wants nothing more than to be in the light, reaching out to find someone there to reach back. Other times, he wants nothing more than to laugh with a friend, to let happiness fill him up until he’s spilling over with it.

He knows, though, that he does not deserve it. He was cursed long before he ever knew he hungered for such a thing as happiness, and bearing his curse means starving.

Kyo shifts slightly, moving his hands behind his head to rest on his palms, crossing his ankles. He feels steady up here in a way that he doesn’t feel in the stifling heat of the house. Though the day is humid, these ghost hours of the night are cool. He sighs, closing his eyes.

He thinks of the little hut with the cage that he will be put in after graduation— because he knows, deep down in a place that he cannot accept, that he will lose his bet with Akito. He knows, in a way that sits and settles bone deep and that he ignores so carefully, that he will never win against Yuki. His punches always land slightly off, he always commits to his dive a little too strongly, his stance always slips a little too early.

Kyo isn’t giving up. Not yet. He can keep training. He’ll win, he tells himself, and be accepted, and then he can sit and stare at the stars for as many nights as he wants. He can sit on a roof and make wishes on airplanes and track the moon’s waxing and waning and be free. He can drink in the wind and let himself drift away on it, letting it relax him. There will be no confined spaces to fear, no cages to prepare himself for, no people to get ready to miss.

He will be able to indulge this one thing. He will drink in the stars and he will hold them on his tongue and he will let them burn. He will let himself live.

There are other things, too, that he will miss. He knows this in the same way that he knows he will be locked up: with certainty, and with a carefully executed ignorance. There are things that he knows he cannot let himself hope for.

“What are you doing up here?”

Kyo opens his eyes, turning towards the ladder at the side of the house. “Tohru?”

Tohru pokes her head above the edge of the roof, looking at him with wide eyes. “Can I… join you?”

“Sure,” he says, more earnest than he had meant to make it sound. He wants her to join him in this silence, he realizes. He wants her to find him in the secrecy of his thoughts. “What’re you doing up?”

She shrugs, crawling onto the roof. She’s hesitant with every step, as if she’s afraid that she’ll fall off. He sits up, reaching his hand out to steady her. She takes it with even more hesitance, but her grip is strong when he helps her sit down next to him.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” she says softly. “I don’t know why. But I thought I would come watch the sunrise. I didn’t know you would be awake.”

Kyo nods, turning away from her. From the roof, they can see the entire city, they can watch as the world wakes up below them. The sun hasn’t risen yet, not entirely, but the sky is turning a lighter blue than the nighttime had brought. The sun is spreading out over the horizon, spilling colors along the line of mountain and forest and city, rising up and painting the sky gold.

This, too, he will miss. This, too, will be something he aches for. Once he’s in that cage, he will never see the sunrise again. He’ll never sit with Tohru and watch the brilliance of the light.

“Why are you awake?” Tohru asks, glancing over at him.

He looks at her, and she turns away, cheeks flushed, as if she’s embarrassed to have been caught looking. He wonders why she does that— why she looks. Every time that she sees him, Kyo can’t help but feel like she’s seeing something more than his eyes, like she’s seeing straight into his thoughts rather than just letting her gaze wash over his face. It’s strange, though, because he doesn’t feel invaded so much as he feels cared for. Someone cares enough to truly see him, to try to understand him.

For so long, Kyo had thought that he was unknowable. But Tohru is trying to unravel all of his webs and nets and fears. Tohru is trying to know him, and Kyo aches to tell her every secret he has ever kept.

He won’t. He knows that would be the end of everything. One day, he’ll have the courage. Maybe right before he’s locked up, he thinks bitterly, so that she never has to look at him again.

“Couldn’t sleep either,” Kyo finally says, breaking himself out of his self-induced misery. “Bad dreams.”

“Do you want to talk about them?” Tohru asks. “Sometimes that helps.”

Kyo shrugs. He pulls one knee up to his chest, resting his elbow against it. Tohru, next to him, wraps both her arms around her legs, holding herself close.

“That’s okay,” Tohru says. “You don’t have to. I remember whenever Mom asked about my bad dreams, I never wanted to tell her, even if I knew it would help.”

“It’s just… weird to talk about,” Kyo confesses. He doesn’t look at her, just keeps his eyes on the horizon. “I just think too much, you know?”

Tohru nods, eyes unfocused. She’s drifting off into her head, he can tell. She’s going somewhere that he can’t follow.

Somehow, though, he finds that he doesn’t mind when she does that while he’s with her. He’s grateful for any amount of time with her, whether or not it’s spent in silence. If he’s going to be locked in a cage for the rest of his life, he wants as many sunrises with Tohru as he can count, no matter the amount of talking versus dreaming.

“It’s so beautiful,” Tohru murmurs, so soft that he almost doesn’t hear it.

She’s looking out at the horizon. The sun on her cheek glitters like drops of molten gold in her eyes, her entire face lit up by the sunrise. He studies the way she looks out at it, the soft frown of her lips that’s slowly turning into a gentle smile, so small that he wonders if he knows she’s smiling. The way that her hair falls in front of her face, the way that it curls at her forehead.

He reaches out and brushes her hair behind her ear. She turns to look at him, eyes still bright. “It is.”

He’s not talking about the sunrise, and he thinks that they both know it.

But neither says anything— he just turns away, looking out at the sky, indulging himself in this sunrise. In this moment with Tohru, this peace that he may never find again.

Tohru sighs, and she scoots closer, pressed to his side. She drops her head against his shoulder, and he tries not to tense up. He’s so unused to any kind of physical touch, but even as he thinks that, he can feel himself relaxing into the feeling. He can feel himself softening.

When he’s locked up, Kyo thinks, this is a memory that will keep him going. This is something that he will hold onto hungrily, when he’s starved of everything else. When Akito is the only person that he sees, when he can never find the stars again, he’ll think of this moment. He’ll think of Tohru.

For now, though, he’s just going to watch the sunrise with her, and count each star that fades.

#my writing #august prompt challenge #fruits basket #kyohru #kyo x tohru #kyo sohma #tohru honda #fruits basket fanfiction #furuba fanfiction

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i-just-wanna-be-called-sparkle · 3 years

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Okay. Killer Teddie AU time. Full spoiler warning ahead for P4 and even a bit of P5. Full timeline of all events in order up ahead. Smaller details and ideas at the very end of it. Some of this might not make sense or have an explanation because, at the time, I hadn’t finished base game Persona 4 and had no idea of stuff like Izanami, Sagiris, and so on and so forth. Even now, I haven’t yet finished P4G. The next time I work on this AU will be after I’ve finished P4G and have a good grasp on everything to change what doesn’t make sense and add stuff that does. For now take what I’ve worked on thus far. Sorry if some of my explanations are a little wonky. Extremely fucking long post ahead, I’m seriously not joking around this time.

And, before I start, I’m not the only one who worked on the AU! This is a team project between me and my gf! I know it’s not much to say, but I want to give half of the credit to her rather than taking all of it for myself, cuz while a lot of these ideas came from me, a lot came from her, too.

So, let me explain why Teddie’s a killer in the first place. It starts when he’s still just a mindless Shadow, and he comes face to face with a group of Persona users that existed long before the investigation team, consisting of Tohru Adachi, Mayumi Yamano, and a lot of miscellaneous unnamed characters who may or may not be made into proper characters in the futures. Why this first group existed and consists of those characters is one of those things that hasn’t been fully thought through yet. But, one thing’s for sure, they love going into the TV world and just beating up Shadows for fun every once in a while. At this point in the story, Shadows aren’t necessarily hostile yet, so basically, Teddie witnesses a bunch of his own kind get slaughtered for no reason and, probably because he’s starting to grow some kind of consciousness at this point, goes buck wild and kills the whole group save for Tohru Adachi, who manages to escape. This is how Mayumi Yamano meets her demise and also, how Teddie grows a proper body - it isn’t that bear suit of his though, it’s a human body, most likely the result of humans being the only thing he was exposed to aside from Shadows in that world. From that point forward, a fiery hatred for humans begins to develop within him.

Y’know how Teddie’s real crafty, making those glasses for the Investigation Team to use to see better in the TV world? Well, after a while, he decides he’s tired of walking around bear naked and makes himself some clothes to wear. Those fingers aren’t dexterous for nothing. Not too long after he makes these clothes, Saki ends up in the TV world - for another reason that wasn’t thought through well enough yet, but it’s something like she has a Persona too. This AU is very generous with who gets Personas, I know, please bear with it for now. She ends up bumping into Teddie, the two interact, and because Saki’s a little bitch she finds Teddie to be quite strange, what with the way he talks and how he apparently “comes from the TV world,” and is very verbal about it - very rude about it, too. This first impression with a new human + Teddie’s already intensifying hatred for humans = Saki’s gruesome demise. “Are all humans like this?” Is what Teddie thinks. “Are they all cruel? Are they all mean?” Teddie now has a stronger hate for Humanity that only grows stronger and stronger the more he’s forced to sit in that quiet TV world and think and think and think and think about it.

And along with that hate for humanity, comes a hate for his current human form. So he crafts himself that bear suit of his, and wears it all the time - I believe he also makes it so whatever he bumps into next doesn’t think he’s weird sounding or weird speaking or weird… looking, which, I’ll describe now rather than at the end of the post. Teddie doesn’t look all that different, but the main changes are that his eye colour is now a duller, greyer shade of blue, he is overall even paler, and he is also a lot skinnier. No real reason for these design choices aside from self indulgence without going too overboard. Moving on from that, not too long after he makes the suit is when Chie and Yu and Yosuke go in for the first time. Teddie keeps on a facade of innocence and happiness for a “good first impression,” and nothing changes from then up until the appearance of Yosuke’s Shadow. Since a Shadow is the side of oneself that they don’t want to acknowledge or see, it’s chock full of bad traits and negative emotions - further solidifying Teddie’s belief that all humans are just awful, sinful, nasty creatures.

One thing that Isn’t well thought out at all, and something that I have no clue where to put on the timeline, is this whole deal between Teddie and Namatame. Basically, Teddie communicates with Namatame through the TV (can’t remember if he just talks through it, or sticks his head through), and convinces Namatame to start pushing people in not to save them, but for something along the lines of how he “secretly wants them to die.” Maybe it was because Namatame shares Teddie’s beliefs of humanity being repulsing, but it’s too vague a memory to make heads or tails of it. Don’t know how things would work out without it, though, so it’s sticking around as is for now.

Also, as of right now in the AU, the IT is completely unaware of Teddie’s human form hiding right under his bear form/bear suit. Good lord, I am already tired of typing this all out, this post is so long. Still got a long way to go, kind of.

Here’s another loose idea that hasn’t been fully thought about, and it’s when Teddie encounters his Shadow in Rise’s dungeon. My memories are a bit foggy on this one, but I’ll try my best to remember. So, his encounter with his Shadow stays largely the same, with maybe a couple of his Shadow’s lines being changed to represent how not only is he hiding originally being a Shadow from his teammates, but also how he’s hiding the fact that he’s the killer they’re trying to find - all of it is too vague for the IT to piece together, though. But also a thing that’s changed is his reaction to his Shadow is a LOT more aggressive, a slip up to show a small glance of his true personality - but again, the IT doesn’t think anything of it because, Teddie’s facing his Shadow here, of COURSE he’s going to act different when he’s coming face to face with a part of himself he wants to ignore. Eventually, he manages to accept his Shadow, but for one way or another, a second Shadow starts to develop within him. Maybe it’s because he only partially accepted his Shadow, maybe it’s because of something else - like he didn’t accept his Shadow for the right reason, I can’t remember. But it starts to develop. I remember wanting to give him a second persona akin to what Akechi has in p5 - one for lies, and one for truths, but this is one of those things that will either need to be completely cut out or heavily modified in my opinion.

Teddie kills more frequently in this AU. In between when he’s helping the IT rescue people from the TV world, he’s throwing in people on the night that it fogs up so the IT doesn’t have time to see people appear on the TV/doesn’t have time to go in and save them, resulting in their deaths. Teddie so far has only thrown in people who have been assholes or scum in his eyes, and these are the only people that end up dying in the TV world even with the advent of the IT. Teddie gets away with this by sneaking out at night sometimes and either witnessing these people do disgusting things, or overhearing about it. Two candidates/victims are the two girls from Yosuke’s social link (hopefully you know who I mean) and the bully/bullies from Chie’s social link. Though, for the two girls, I like the idea of it being AFTER Teddie comes to the real world for real and shows off his human form, and starts working at Junes. He’s “working overtime,” late at night, calls up those two girls and asks them to come to Junes to “help him stock shelves” - “I’ll make sure you and your friend get payed extra for it. I’ll take it out of Yosuke’s paycheck.” Next thing you know, they’ve been knocked out and thrown into the TV because they’re heartless assholes in his eyes.

Only way Teddie would get away with a killing like that, though, is through having an outfit to disguise himself from Junes’ security cameras - so, at some point in the timeline, that’s what he does. Repurposes his old clothes from the TV world into an outfit to disguise his identity, to let him keep killing, and he keeps it tucked away either somewhere in the real world or in the TV world. He probably does this before he “becomes human,” so that his clothes are kept secret from the IT team, and that whole “I’m like a newborn in here” scene can happen.

Also, just for clarification, that hate Teddie felt for Yosuke’s Shadow? And how it solidified his hatred for humanity yet further, and his belief that they are all scummy beings? This keeps happening for every single Shadow he sees. Chie’s, Yukiko’s, Kanji’s, etc.

Mitsuo Kubo is the only one thrown in by Teddie who doesn’t die, so that the plot can progress normally, but also because it probably went something like this. Teddie sneaks out late at night to find more disgusting humans to kill, to “purge the earth of such horrendous beings,” and comes across Mitsuo killing Morooka. A human? Committing murder? A human being slaughtering another human being? How sinful. How disgusting. How treacherous. Teddie has to deal with this immediately. So he throws Mitsuo into the TV world without waiting for the fog to settle first (it’s too dire of a situation to ignore, after all). He’s kind of hypocritical, thinking Mitsuo is a terrible person for committing murder (he is, though) and then going right ahead and throwing him in the TV, aiming to kill. He’s just cleansing the world, though - that’s how he sees it.

Also, I believe for most nights when he decides to sneak out, he’s wearing his disguise outfit, so that he doesn’t get caught if he’s in a situation like that where he kills someone on a whim - or just to avoid being caught when he’s out so late snooping around for more victims. Random fun fact by the way: the idea for this whole AU started from the fact that Teddie could use his knowledge of the TV world and how it works to easily get away with using it to commit crimes. Moving on now.

Another thing that doesn’t yet have a place in the timeline is this small thing. I like to think Teddie has a tendency to stay up later into the night because of his occasional nightly outings, and he doesn’t really have enough time to fix his sleep schedule - or he actually just CAN’T. But anyways, he’s keeping himself busy at night while he can’t sleep, maybe playing on an old console in Yosuke’s room, when Yosuke wakes up and starts talking to him until he also gets tired enough to fall back asleep. He says to Teddie that he’s worried about him. “You’ve got bags under your eyes, and you’re basically made of flesh and bone.” He says. Maybe Teddie’s skinny enough his ribs show a little. “This isn’t the first time you’ve stayed up this late, either. Like you’re restless about something.” Sometimes Teddie just paces around the room until he gets tired enough to pass out. “And, what time is it, like, 2:00 AM? I’m really worried about you, Ted.” And that really gets to Teddie. He starts to cry. Here he is, devoting his time to hating humanity, to killing humans, to putting on a happy go lucky, innocent facade around his “friends” to hide his true nature and keep himself emotionally distant from them - and poor Yosuke over here is oblivious to it all, worrying for his dear friend and roommate like this is all unnatural when it’s what he truly is on the inside. And for just a moment, Teddie feels truly bad, and he just keeps crying and crying and crying, probably while Yosuke holds him and tries to comfort him, until he exhausts himself, goes to sleep, and pushes it all out of his head the next morning. But on that night, he had let his guard drop, and he had let himself be vulnerable, and he had allowed himself to get a little closer to Yosuke - a little more attached to him than before. It was only a little, but it was enough to be concerning… it was “just a little” too much for comfort. He can’t let himself get close to that thing.

Oh no, I’m starting to lose focus. We’re nearing the end now. So, you know how Teddie makes that promise to Nanako, right? That he’ll stay in their world to play with her and such? He probably makes the same promise in this AU.

I say probably, because depending on wether he did or not leads to two separate endings, and I can’t decide on which I like more.

So, if he DOES make the promise, HE’S the one who pushes Nanako in. The reason? He’s getting too attached. He’s letting his guard down around a human, and that scares him. He’s getting emotionally attached and invested, and that scares him. He’s starting to care about something that he hates with all of his heart, and that scares him. So he pushes her into the TV, because he’s not allowed to do that, because all humans are evil - no exceptions. This results in Teddie being outed because, when Nanako dies in the hospital (don’t know how that happens yet without Namatame, plothole), he can’t handle the guilt anymore. It’s overwhelming him, suffocating him, drowning him. He falls to the floor, completely breaking down, screaming and sobbing about how it’s all his fault. Then, he either runs out of the room and throws himself into a TV after realizing he’d outed himself, or Yosuke throws him into a TV in a fit of rage and because he feels like Teddie betrayed his trust by pretending to act all innocent when he was the killer.

If he DOESN’T make the promise, or at least, doesn’t get attached, Namatame throws her into the TV and things play out the exact same until they get to the top of Heaven, where Teddie completely loses his shit at Namatame. Maybe he goes to beat the fuck out of him, maybe he’s screaming and shouting at him, in any case, he’s showing his raw personality now. That isn’t what outs him, though - it’s Namatame. “I recognize you.” He says, either through his voice or his appearance. “Why are you so mad at me? I’m doing what you told me to. I’m doing what you want.” Something along those lines. “What?” The IT reacts. “Teddie, is this true? Have you been lying to us?” And the only thing Teddie can do is freeze up, and run away, out of the dungeon - probably not without beating up Namatame a little more for outing him. “Fuck you.” It’s like an endless stream of insults and vulgar language pour from his mouth. “You’ve gone ahead and exposed me, you bitch. You little shit. I hate you. It’s all your fault.”

Now on to Teddie’s dungeon. This part is, uh… Pretty dark. General content warning for death ahead.

So, to contrast Nanako’s dungeon Heaven, Teddie’s dungeon is Hell. There are two concepts for this dungeon though - one is that it’s just conventional catholic/christian Hell, and the other was that it’s based off of/is the frozen over Hel in norse mythology. Because, Teddie has ice attacks, you know? But they’re both largely the same, if not visually. In the earlier floors, there are some objects strewn around like burnt and torn up images of Teddie and the IT, Teddie and Nanako, his bear suit, and maybe one or two other objects of some importance to him. The voices that are heard at the beginning of all the early floors consist of Teddie sobbing and dealing with his inner turmoil of hating humans but getting attached to the likes of Yosuke, Nanako, the IT overall, and the like. “They’re humans.” He thinks. “They’re humans, and all humans are awful. I hate all of them. But I love them. They’re different… They’re nice to me. I don’t deserve it.” “Maybe humanity isn’t so bad after all…” “*sobbing* I’m sorry, Nana-Chan…”

You know how earlier dungeons like Yukiko’s and Kanji’s have that floor in the middle of the dungeon where you encounter the Shadows and that weird title card thing appears? That exists in Teddie’s dungeon, and on the floor right before it, the voice at the beginning of the floor is just Teddie screaming hysterically, maybe even crying. Why? Well, when you go to that next floor…

There’s Teddie. Standing in front of the hanging corpses of Nanako and Yosuke, hesitantly reaching out to them like he can’t process what he’s looking at. And when the IT calls out to him from behind him, the way he looks at them is estranging. He looks terrified, he has to do a double take because one second he was staring at Yosuke’s corpse, then the next moment, he was looking at him, perfectly alive, with the IT. They try and reach out to him, but he’s like a spooked wild animal, and he runs away to the next floor.

The later floors are now decorated with Nanako and Yosuke’s corpses, possibly even the rest of the IT, and the voices now are just Teddie arguing with himself and screaming hysterically, like he’s going insane being in such a horrible place, like he’s becoming more and more deranged with every passing moment. “This is how it should be! All those heartless monsters DESERVE to die! They deserve to hang lifelessly this! But they don’t! I don’t want them to die! I don’t think like that! But I do! But I don’t! These guys are horrendous- no, they’re my friends! THEY’RE SCUM OF THE EARTH! NO, I DON’T THINK LIKE THAT!” And so on and so forth.

When they finally reach the last floor, the deepest floor, the final circle of Hell, they find Teddie there, deranged to the point of practically being a different person. That second Shadow that was developing within him now is toying with him, messing with his head, whispering things to him that make him clutch his head and beg for it all to stop. The IT can’t get through to him now, and he either snaps, gets hostile at them for being “heartless, monstrous, evil humans,” and forces them into a fight, or that Shadow ends up possessing him (either fully, or to a certain extent), and they have no choice but to fight him and knock some sense into him. In either case, he gains his second Persona - something that will most likely be similar to Magatsu-Izanagi, not sure yet - and also, for the sake of self indulgence, it’s like he can control wether or not he is more or less like a Shadow. AKA, goopy black forearms fitted with deadly sharp claws instead of fingers.

I can’t actually remember what EXACTLY happens after the battle, aside from Teddie Goes To Prison, but here’s another battle outcome I almost forgot about that I am DETERMINED to add into the final product. Remember at the beginning, when I specified that Adachi was the only member of the first group of Persona users to survive Teddie’s slaughter? Well, at some point, he overhears the IT talking about Teddie being the killer and the TV world’s existence and decides to butt in. “Can I come along too?” He asks. “I’m a Persona user, just like all of you. You’re talking about catching the culprit here, right? The same culprit who killed Mayumi in the beginning? The same culprit who probably almost got me, then?” Something along those lines. So, he goes in with them, and would you look at that - Teddie still hasn’t forgotten his face. So, in the case of “Teddie snapping and going all hostile on them,” it’s most likely because he sees Adachi mixed in with the IT and alllll of those emotions from so long ago come flooding back… combine that with his hysteria, and boom, you’ve got a raging Teddie hell bound on taking his revenge and getting some closure before he either goes to prison or dies trying not to.

And… I think that’s it. Only thing left to mention is that at some point, right before my hyperfixation ended, me and my gf were trying to figure out a way to implement an accomplice ending and a Teddie Arcana Change, but the end of my obsession came too early in the development of both of those, so there’s not much to say. Also, in this AU, I’m thinking of making Shadows hostile because of the first group of Persona users, like how Teddie hates all of humanity almost purely because of that group. Also, small detail, he’s wearing that disguise of his during the fight - dunno how he got it, but I do wanna add it in somehow, though. This post is also already long enough, so I should stop myself here.

Speaking of that, holy fuck, thanks to anyone who’s read this entire long ass messy post. Like that is just so awesome, I commend you for it. Seriously this post took actual hours just to write down, it’s way too long for any NORMAL person to read all the way through, heavy emphasis on normal (affectionate). Asks about this AU are welcomed and appreciated, if there are any. If not, seriously literally just the fact that anyone might be reading this message at all is enough to sustain me.

#persona 4 #p4 teddie #how am i supposed to tag this as a persona alternate universe when arena ultimax exists ;-;#persona 4 au #let’s hope that tag works #p4 spoilers #yeesh almost forgot to add that

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darisu-chan · 4 years

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The more season 2 progresses, and the more backlash I see about certain things, the more scared I get about the future of Furuba in this fandom.

The 2001 anime made it seem as if the story was 100% wholesome for the most part, with a few dark themes thrown in the mix.

The first season in the new anime made way to introduce the darker side of the manga early on, but even then I don’t think a lot of people in this fandom have noticed it.

Us old-timey fans have said it many times. Things are not what they seem.

Yes, it’s still very wholesome, but there are very dark and terrible things that come to light. And I fear with how the environment is in Tumblr and Twitter that new fans are going to see these very complicated topics and take a black/white approach.

Yes, there are things which are otudated now, things that should be criticized and talked about, but also bare in mind that attacking pretty much anyone who disagrees or that likes certain characters that Tumblr has deemed awful, it’s not good, much less when there are fans in here who have loved Furuba for over a decade, perhaps even from the beginning of the manga serialization.

Nitpicking at everything just because it’s not as cute as you guys thought or as pure, it’s not the way to go.

I’m also going to mention specifically Tohru, who has been the paragon of moral virtue in this fandom since its conception.

Just because Tohru is pure of heart, does not mean she’s incapable of doing wrong things. Specially when it comes to herself. Just because she avoids hurting others, doesn’t mean she’s not capable. Tohru also has many flaws that sometimes are not as apparent to other characters’.

Then, there’s the fact that she’s 17.

Not an adult, and yet not a child.

And I find that this fandom likes to infantilize her when that’s not the case. Being pure doesn’t mean that she’s not mature in certain ways. And she certainly had to grow up faster than a normal kid. Most of the characters had to, in fact, due to their particular circumstances.

Furuba is a story about many things, but it’s majorly about trauma and about healing.

I feel that we cannot discuss these things while trying to keep it 100% wholesome and pure.

Furuba is as much light-hearted comedy and fluff as it is dark themes, uncomfortable topics, trama and how to keep moving forward.

It’s a coming-of-age story for a reason.

I don’t want to start avoiding the tag every week when a new episode comes out or when yet another person reaches a certain part of the manga that is darker, and read post after post about every problematic little thing.

I didn’t fall in love with Furuba because I thought it was pure and perfect. I fell in love with the story and the characters because, as a traumatized teen, I saw myself in several of the characters and, through seeing them heal, I realized I could heal too and live a better life.

As an adult, I’m reminded of the darkest moments of my life, and how I overcame each and every obstacle. Every time I feel lost or scared, I remember Tohru’s gentle reminders to do what I can because that is enough.

That despite the darkness, there’s light.

But I’m aware I cannot erase the darkness in my life without changing all the good parts of it. I cannot pretend it doesn’t exist or that it hasn’t affected me in some way. I cannot delude myself into thinking I’ve been a good person every second of my life, when that’s not the case.

Similarly, we cannot ignore the darkness in this story and how it affects it.

We cannot delude ourselves that characters having major flaws is a weakness in the story, when it’s why the characters seem so real to us in a way.

They’re allowed to be humans, just like us.

If this isn’t your cup of tea, I suggest you stop watching and come back only if you want to or feel ready.

If the story brings you down because it touches topics that make you uncomfortable, you should feel free to stop or take a break before moving forward.

Not liking something, thinking it could’ve been done different it’s not the problem.

Wanting everything to be pure and perfect is.

#fruits basket #furuba #I don't mean to offend anyone #but this manga means a lot to me #and it does upset me to see certain takes

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kyosohmastan · 4 years

Note

Can you by chance write a fic on where Tohru experiences jealousy when someone is flirting Kyo? I think it'd be interesting for tohru to feel that emotion 1st hand and not knowing how to deal with it and feeling guilty about it. I've seen so many fic where Kyo gets jealous, but very few where it's Tohru. You don't have to if you don't want to, I just thought I'd ask

I like that idea! I came up with this so I hope you enjoy!

———————

She was hit with a heaping sense of nostalgia when they got to Shigure’s house. She hadn’t seen the place in about a year, and along with it, so many memories came to her. She’d never seen it like this though, with all of their old classmates there.

It was a reunion party for her class, and she had been looking forward to it. Yuki had organized the event with Shigure on his property, even though he couldn’t be there because of college exams. She was just happy to have a chance to see the house again, although the party was deeper into the woods. She only saw it at a distance.

Additionally, she was happy to have an excuse to see Arisa and Saki. They lived so far from each other that it was difficult to meet up. She had missed them so much.

They greeted her with hugs when they saw her while Kyo stood beside her awkwardly, only nodding his head toward them as a form of greeting.

“It’s been too long. You gotta fill us in on everything!” Arisa said, holding both of Tohru’s hands in her own. Her thumb ran over the ring on Tohru’s finger. It was small but beautiful just like her. “I still can’t believe it.”

“Me neither, honestly,” Tohru said with a bashful smile. She wrapped her arms around Kyo’s lean bicep and leaned against him. The tension left him as soon as she did so. “I guess the next time I see you guys will be for the wedding.”

“No way! We’ll visit you sooner to help pick out the dress. There’s no way we’re missing that,” Arisa said sternly.

“That’s right. Her dress must meet our approval,” Saki added.

“Ah, if you guys can help me, then please!” Tohru replied, excited for that day to come.

Arisa nodded. “But in the meantime, Carrots has to help you with the rest of the wedding planning since we won’t be there to do it. Although, it’s hard to picture him contributing to such an event with a lack of masculinity.”

Kyo clenched his jaw. “It’s not like I’m going to let her go through all that work alone. Of course I’m going to help her, stupid Yankee.”

“Excuse me,” Arisa muttered, her almost non existent brows drawn together. “I can still whoop your ass if I wanted to.”

Tohru giggled nervously. It was great to think that nothing changed between all of them, even though she wasn’t all for such violent threats.

“Hold up!” said a boy that she recognized as Hiroshi. “Did I hear wedding?”

“Yes,” Tohru answered, a blush tainting her cheeks. “We’re engaged.” Her arms left Kyo’s arm and she held his hand. He looked down at her, blushing as well, but the softest smile was on his face.

“No way!” Yusuke said, now joining their circle. “I knew you guys were close so I should have expected this but...I guess it’s just hard to imagine Kyon-Kyon getting married.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Kyo growled, releasing her hand and clenching it in a fist.

“Just teasing...” Yusuke laughed. “You still get worked up so easily.”

“I do not!” Kyo snapped. But to Tohru, he was being contradictory. She didn’t mind. She found him adorable even when he would get irritated. Not that she wanted him to...

“Whatever,” Kyo mumbled. “I’m getting a drink. You want one?” He asked Tohru.

She nodded, giving his clenched fist a squeeze. “Iced tea, please.”

He smiled briefly, kissing the top of her head before he left to the food and drink table. His kiss was tense, and she knew it was because he was timid when it came to being affectionate in front of others, but she appreciated the effort of the gesture anyway. Overtime, the PDA had gotten easier for them.

“Let’s go mingle. You should join us, Tohru,” Saki suggested.

That sounded appealing to her. She was sure Kyo would catch up to them. She followed alongside the girls, stopping when they reunited with a group of their old classmates, and she greeted all of them.

She saw Kyo out of the corner of her eye getting their drinks, but he wasn’t alone. Three girls flocked to him, and she recognized them. They’d never taken fondly to her, particularly because Kyo always liked her and ended up choosing to be with her. She recalled the scrutiny she got from them soon after they started dating. She knew it was out of jealousy, and it’s not like she didn’t expect it to happen. Kyo was handsome...more than that, he was beautiful. And though most of the girls at their school had their eyes on Yuki, she couldn’t help but notice how a few of them also acknowledged Kyo.

She wasn’t surprised that was still the case. He’d gotten prettier in the past year, bulking up quite a bit due to all the martial arts classes he’d been teaching at Kazuma’s dojo. She wouldn’t have been concerned about girls taking notice of him. She would never want to control who he sees or talks to. It wasn’t like her. However, it was the way the girls acted around him that made her feel uneasy.

One of them put her hand on his forearm, the touch soft enough to not count as evasive. For a moment, Kyo just froze, paying attention to the girl who was chatting with him, until he slowly drew his arm away from her and seemed to pretend like it never happened.

Tohru sighed to herself. At least he didn’t seem to cave to her advances. Not that she would think he would. She knew he was loyal to her, he promised he would be since the day he proposed to her. She was grateful for that.

Still, the nausea she felt seeing such beautiful girls dote on him didn’t fade. It was similar to how she felt when she thought her dad was stealing her mom away from her. Maybe not as severe, but it wasn’t a good feeling nonetheless.

She felt the need to intervene, even though she wanted to give him space and room to talk to whoever he wanted to on his own. She didn’t want to be that type of girlfriend...or fiancé.

She sucked in a breath and went to him, instantly intertwining her fingers through his. “H-hi,” she said to the girls timidly.

They examined her, or rather leered at her. She felt completely vulnerable.

“Oh, hey, Tohru. How have you been?” One of them asked. Although, it didn’t sound like they cared.

“I’ve been well. Especially since I’ve had Kyo-kun beside me. It’s been nice.” She felt the need to mention that last part. But it really just slipped out.

“Yeah it’s been...really great,” Kyo added, looking down at Tohru and finally smiled.

Moments of silence followed, and she couldn’t ignore how awkward it had gotten. The girls clearly still had crushes on him, so Tohru was the bad guy. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

“Anyway...we’re going to walk around. It was nice seeing you again, Kyo-kun,” one of them cooed, leaving with the other girls.

Tohru felt the tension leave her. But her feelings still confused her. Was that really jealousy?

“You seemed really tense there,” Kyo mentioned.

She straightened, cringing. “Was I? I didn’t mean to.”

Kyo handed her the iced tea that had been sitting on the table scattered with all kinds of appetizers. “I felt you squeezing my hand. Are you okay?”

She slowly sipped her drink. “Yes. I’m fine. I’m just nervous to see everyone. It’s been a long time.”

“If you’re nervous, then I’m terrified,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

She giggled. She loved her shy kitty. She moved her toes up and kissed him, momentarily forgetting that they weren’t alone. But once she remembered, she didn’t mind that. In fact, she hoped the girls were noticing them, and she couldn’t figure out why.

It wasn’t until later, after they got off the subway and were walking the remainder of the trip home, that she still felt unsettled. No matter how hard she tried to conceal it, Kyo would look at her with perplexity.

“Something’s up. And don’t lie to me,” he stated.

She frowned. “I don’t want to bother you with this but...I can’t get it off my mind.”

“Spill it.” He walked closer to her, his elbow bumping hers. “You can tell me.”

And she did because she felt like she could tell him anything and it wouldn’t sway what he thought of her. He’d proven that so many times. “When I saw how those girls acted around you, it made me...uncomfortable.”

His walking slowed as they reached the door to their tiny home that resembled a cottage. He didn’t open the door, but just stood there without facing her. “So that’s what this is about,” he said just above a whisper. “Really? Do you not trust me when it comes to that?”

“No! Of course not,” she said quickly. “I didn’t think you’d give into them. It’s not about you actually.” She wrung her hands together, scrambling for words. “It’s just that...those girls are so pretty. Much more beautiful than I am. They seem like the type that would fit better for you...” She hadn’t realized how much she felt that way until she said it out loud. She found herself so plain. It stemmed from the amount of comments she got from her family about her being boring and dull physically. To a big extent, she thought it was true.

Kyo finally looked to her, his brows creasing together. “What the hell are you talking about? You are insane if you think I don’t find you attractive.”

Her heartbeat picked up. That actually meant a lot, especially coming from him. “I am?”

His expression softened. “You are. You’re beautiful. And yeah, those girls are hot, but I’ll never fall in love with them the way I fell for you.” He took a piece of her hair bound together by her ribbon and tucked it behind her ear.

She smiled as he held her cheek. “You make me feel beautiful, Kyo-kun. Thank you for telling me that everyday.” She held his wrist, as if she was afraid of him pulling away. She really didn’t want that. “I’ve never been that jealous before. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

“But it just means you love me, right?” He leaned down so his face was at her level. “Not that I deserve it.”

She shook her head while grinning and met him halfway in a kiss that she hadn’t intended to get so intense, but he took it there, holding her waist and pulling her close until her body was pressed firmly against his own.

When she broke away to breathe, she found him smiling so big that it took away her breath more than the kiss had. “You have my word that I won’t leave you for anyone else. You’re my first love, and you’ll be my last.”

“I’m holding you to that, but I don’t think I have reason to worry. I trust you completely, Kyo-kun.” She opened the front door, pulling him in behind her by his hand with her mind officially set at ease.

#fruits basket #furuba #kyo sohma #fruits basket 2019 #anime #manga #tohru honda #fruba #yuki sohma #kyoru #fanfiction #fruits basket fanfic #fruits basket fanfiction #kyo x tohru #fruits basket spoilers #fruits basket ask #kyo x tohru fanfic

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yespleasefandomtrash · 4 years

Text

of cats and curses

“I’ve only seen these cats get so excited about someone sitting outside a pet store with one other person in my entire life,” a warm and almost suffocatingly kind voice said, snapping Catra out of her thoughts. “And he had that same disgruntled expression that you do. Poor kitties try to make friends with the very people who don’t want to be made friends with.”

(Catradora meets Kyoru. As you might expect, chaos ensues.)

~*~

Catra had been more than willing to let Adora do most of the talking. She was normally more eager to learn about the new planets they were exploring, but that day… Ugh. She really wasn’t sure what was making her mood so foul. Or she couldn’t pinpoint a singular cause, anyways. It was probably some God-awful combination of the pittering drizzle of rain falling from the gray sky around her, the fact that the miserable planet ‘Earth’ she was on seemed to have no traces of magic whatsoever, and the immediate reality that Adora was no longer by her side. Which was the main downfall of Adora doing all of the talking - Catra was left behind. At her own request, of course, so she could only blame herself, but still. She wanted to stew in her misery for a bit.

This ‘Earth’ was their last stop before they’d be flying back to Bright Moon. Catra never thought she’d be relieved to be returning there, but times had changed, she supposed. During their numerous quests to restore magic to the universe, day-trips and monthly adventures alike, they’d come to learn that some planets had never had magic in the first place. Even rarer, select places did not want magic returned to their world. In other words, the Best Friend Squad - she still didn’t know how she felt about that name - had taken to asking around amongst the locals to first determine the magic status of planets before they actually began the restoration process.

So now Adora was schmoozing with the locals - probably badly, because her acting skills left much to be desired - in some place called a pet store, while Catra sat on an uncomfortable metal bench outside while silently wishing she had an umbrella. She could raise her bag above her head, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t do much. Also it had their communications pads in it, and she figured unduly exposing them to freezing rain was not a good thing.

Ugh. She should have sucked it up and gone inside with Adora.

Catra yelped as the bracelet projecting her holographic disguise suddenly shocked her, and she lifted her wrist to figure out why, exactly, it had done that. She couldn’t see anything wrong with it… Uh oh. Maybe it wasn’t waterproof. She probably should have asked Entrapta about that.

Oops. Too late?

Even more annoying than her bracelet that was now randomly spazzing out were the stupid cats in the pet store behind her that kept clamoring and scratching on the glass! Sure, she was grateful for that wall of glass because it stopped them from physically getting to her, but it was nowhere close to soundproof, meaning their yowls were barely dulled down. And most of the cats were just saying hello, but she didn’t want to turn around and acknowledge that, because she was pretty sure most people on Earth could not understand animals. She didn’t care that there was no else around - she wasn’t taking any chances. Which just meant the cats would think she was rude, but she’d rather live with that than become Earth’s resident crazy cat lady by striking up a conversation with the Siamese or the Persians in a pet store.

Huh. Could the cats see through Entrapta’s disguise? Surely not. Catra tapped her bracelet to make sure the hologram was still active, wincing as another jolt of electricity shot through her arm. Definitely still active. So maybe the cats could just… feel that she was like them. A gut instinct. Or something.

Really, there was no use thinking about it. Where the hell was Adora?

“I’ve only seen these cats get so excited about someone sitting outside a pet store with one other person, in my entire life,” a warm and almost suffocatingly kind voice said, snapping Catra out of her thoughts. “And he had that same disgruntled expression that you do. Poor kitties try to make friends with the very people who don’t want to be made friends with.”

Catra looked up to see a brown-haired girl standing in front of her, a bright smile on her face and a navy blue umbrella in her hand. She appeared way too cheerful for someone walking outside in a minor rainstorm. Catra also vaguely recognized that the language the girl was speaking was not one she understood, but Entrapta’s translator appeared to be doing the trick. Now hopefully it would continue to work in reverse.

“Ah… yeah,” she finally managed to say. “Cats… like me. Too much.”

The girl laughed. “You sound so much like Kyo!” She offered Catra her hand. “My name is Tohru. It’s lovely to meet you, Miss…?”

Catra scrambled to remember her cover name that they’d hastily made up when they learned ‘Catra’ was not a normal name on Earth. “I - uh, I’m Catrina,” she said, shaking the girl’s hand, though she remained on the bench. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“So what has you sitting outside in the rain?” the girl - Tohru - asked curiously, giving her a look of concern. “Are you okay? Do you need a place to stay for the night?”

Catra fought to ignore the cats still meowing behind her. Their chant had shifted to a collective FEED ME, which she obviously couldn’t do because she was not inside, but apparently they hadn’t figured that out yet. “No, I’m - I’m fine,” she stammered, wincing halfway through her sentence as Entrapta’s disguise-bracelet suddenly shocked her again. Ouch. “Just waiting for someone.”

Tohru frowned. “In the rain? Without any cover?” She immediately thrust her umbrella in Catra’s direction. “Take this, Miss Catrina. I only live about five minutes away up the road, and I feel you are in far more need of it than I.”

And now the light on Entrapta’s bracelet was flickering on and off. Ugh, that couldn’t be good. Catra did not want to accidentally give this random and kind of annoyingly nice girl a heart attack by suddenly looking… er, not like a human. “No, I’m really fine,” she insisted, jumping to her feet. “But I appreciate the offer.”

Tohru’s frown deepened. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to get hypothermia, miss.”

Catra instinctively covered her bracelet with her free hand when she noticed sparks flying off of it in her peripheral vision. “I’m sure,” she said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. “In fact, I should probably -” She cut herself off with a yelp as lightning flashed and a loud crack of thunder boomed through the air, sudden enough to make the fur on her tail stand on end as she violently reached up to cover her ears, shoulders hunching over in the process.

Apparently the sudden motion was too much for the barely-functioning bracelet to take, the bracelet that was admittedly already worse for the wear after she’d had an encounter with some kind of slime monster on a planet called Tamaran, as it snapped off her wrist before falling to the ground, now broken in half. And with that, her disguise vanished.

Catra had never bit her tongue so hard to avoid letting out a string of frustrated curses. She was pretty sure it was bleeding now.

The girl’s - no, Tohru’s, she had a name - eyes widened as she watched the series of unfortunate events unfold. “You’re… you have cat… ears? A tail?”

Dammit. Now she was going to have to hear an annoying lecture from Sparkles and probably Arrow Boy about jeopardizing the mission, though she really didn’t think this was her fault. “Uh…” Catra said, frantically trying to come up with an excuse, “would you believe me if I told you this was an elaborate costu-”

“Are you cursed, too?” Tohru interrupted, kneeling down to pick up the pieces of the bracelet from the ground. “I mean, your transformation is not quite like the Sohma’s, but I suppose it would be rash of me to presume the zodiac curse is the only one to exist in the world, wouldn’t it? Perhaps there is something else -”

Catra sneezed, accidentally cutting her off. Which she mildly regretted, because she had no freaking clue what the girl was going on about. A curse? So-ma? The hell was going on with this planet?

And most importantly, where on Earth was Adora?

“Oh my goodness, you’re freezing!” Tohru exclaimed, horrified, as she stood up. “I am so sorry, I was being incredibly inconsiderate! You poor thing, you’re not even dressed for rainy weather!”

Now that she mentioned it, Catra realized that she was shivering. Ugh. Stupid fur. It was so hard to warm up after it got wet.

“Let’s go to Shigure’s house,” Tohru said, taking Catra’s hand and pulling her away towards a dirt path, doing her best to hold her umbrella over the both of them. “We can warm you up, get you a towel and a change of clothes, and I’ll do my best to help you repair your bracelet, though it’s not similar to Kyo’s at all so I don’t know if I’ll be much use. While we do that you can explain the details of your curse to me! But only if you’re okay with talking about it, of course.” She shook her head, a mixture of shock and curiosity in her eyes. “I wonder if Kyo and Yuki were aware that other families could have a curse similar to the zodiac?”

Catra still had no idea what all this curse nonsense was, but she was both surprised and grateful that the girl hadn’t freaked out and run away upon seeing her… er, true form, as it were. However, the main problem was that she was currently being taken away from Adora, which was stressful because Catra needed Adora and also because Adora would undoubtedly freak out the moment she realized Catra was missing and cause havoc by turning into She-Ra or something. “Actually, I kind of have to stay here -”

“I promise, there’s no need to be nervous!” Tohru reassured her, and her voice was so gentle and sincere that Catra found herself struggling to not believe her. “If you stay here, someone might run into you who won’t understand what’s going on. They could even try to hurt you! I promise that I’m taking you to a safe place where there are people… where there are people struggling with a - a similar issue to what you have.”

Catra seriously doubted that. She was pretty sure that Earth had never had successful contact with other planets, meaning the chances of there being Etherians in this girl’s house were almost zero, much less Etherians like her. Still, the thought of going somewhere warm and dry with this pseudo-Perfuma who hadn’t lost her shit upon seeing that Catra was definitely not human was… well, rather appealing.

But Adora. Adora. She at least needed to let her know where she was going.

“When we… er, get to wherever you’re taking me, can I… send a message to the person I was waiting for?” Wow. She sounded so timid it was downright mortifying. “Just to let her know where I am.”

“Of course!” Tohru said as they turned a corner on the dirt pathway. “Your friend is absolutely welcome to join us. Is she cursed, too?”

Was She-Ra considered a curse? It sure felt that way sometimes. But Catra was still completely lost on what the whole ‘curse’ thing was, especially how it related to her being part cat. “Er, I don’t think so -” And she promptly cut herself off with another sneeze. Ugh. She was going to catch a cold.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there!” Tohru said, pulling her slightly faster. True to her word, Catra could see a warmly lit house at the end of the road. “I’m so sorry we have to walk through the rain like this. But I’m going to make you some hot tea and give you a fluffy blanket and turn up the heat and just whatever you need to warm up and get comfortable, okay?”

And the girl did exactly that. She gave Catra a towel to dry off with as well as a set of clean clothing to change into before she practically swaddled her with a blanket and placed a steaming mug of tea on the low table in front of her. Really, her personality was the absolute epitome of Scorpia and Perfuma combined. Catra had also made sure to send Adora a message about her location while Tohru had been preparing everything, or else she knew she’d forget to do it entirely.

“Is everything okay? Would you like something to eat? There’s not a lot in the fridge, but I’m sure I can whip something up pretty quickly -”

“No, no, everything is fine,” Catra interrupted, still feeling kind of awkward around Tohru but also still relieved that the girl hadn’t - hadn’t fainted or anything. “I’m almost back to normal, uh, body-warmth already.” Ugh, that was horrendously phrased. Oh well. C’est la vie, or whatever Sparkles had taken to saying after visiting Flance. Finance? She really didn’t know what the country was called. Regardless, the girl either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared.

Tohru nodded, kneeling down on the side of the table opposite Catra. She placed Entrapta’s bracelet - or the pieces of it - down in front of her. “I was hoping I could repair this for you, but it’s not the same… er, anti-curse material that I’ve seen before. It seems to be technologically-based, and unfortunately I’m terrible with tech. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be of more help!”

Right. The ‘curse’. “Don’t worry about it,” Catra said, waving her hand dismissively. “I have a friend who can fix it.”

Tohru didn’t appear satisfied by her reassurance. “Are you certain? I can ask the person I know who’s in - who’s kind of… like you, so to speak, if he’ll take a look at it and see if he -”

Catra held up a hand to silence the girl, ears twitching. She could have sworn she heard footsteps from above them. “Tohru…” Weird. She was pretty sure that was the first time she’d addressed the girl by name. “Are we the only ones here right now?”

Tohru frowned. “I - I believe so. Why?”

Catra’s ears craned to catch the sound. The footsteps - they’d moved. Moved towards… “Because someone is about to come down those stairs,” she growled, lowering her voice to a whisper as she untangled herself from the blanket and vaulted across the table to land in front of Tohru, claws bared. “Stay behind me.”

“Okay,” Tohru squeaked, and Catra wasn’t sure if she was more afraid of the thought of an intruder or of Catra herself. Hopefully not the latter.

A tall boy with carrot-orange hair arrived at the foot of the stairs. “Tohru, are you bac-”

Catra’s tail flicked, and she launched herself at the boy. Damn, she couldn’t believe only a few months at Bright Moon - and numerous sessions with Perfuma - had turned her into someone who’d defend a stranger at a moment’s notice. Though she supposed Tohru wasn’t quite a stranger at this point.

Catra easily tackled the guy to the floor, her forearm lying across his throat with hopefully just enough pressure to keep him pinned down without her having to get on top of him. Her other hand loomed in a threatening manner above his face, claws still out. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Miss Catrina, wait -” Tohru started to protest frantically, but she was soon cut off.

“What the hell?!” the guy snapped. “I could ask the same about you!” In the blink of an eye, he flipped Catra over his head with expertise she found begrudgingly impressive even as her back was slammed painfully onto the ground.

Shit. Now he had her in the same position she’d used on him. But damn, that was a good move on his part.

“So who the hell are you?” he growled, and Catra felt a chill run down her spine because she’d only heard that type of guttural noise twice before in her life - from Melog, and from… herself. “And why the fuck are you in our house?” She noticed the way his pupils had thinned in an… almost catlike manner. And - And it looked like he had fangs? Plus, now that her mind had set sail on that boat, she realized he smelled like a cat, too, in the way only another cat or, er, cat-person would know.

Oh, this was so weird. She never wanted to come back to this planet.

“Kyo, please stop!”

“Did she hurt you, Tohru?”

“No! She’s - She’s a friend! Sort of. She’s very nice, and she was just trying to protect me because I didn’t know you were home already, and - and I think she might be cursed, too!”

“What?” The boy - Kyo? - looked down at Catra, as if taking in her… well, unusual appearance - by this planet’s standards, at least - for the first time. The pressure against her neck lessened. “She’s… Wait.” He turned to look at Tohru, though he noticeably did not remove his arm from her neck entirely. “You’re telling me that the zodiacs aren’t the only -”

He was interrupted by the sliding door to the home being slammed open, with a familiar panicked voice filtering in. “Catra, are you -”

Crap. Adora, whom she loved with her entire being, always managed to have the worst timing.

Adora’s eyes widened as she took in the situation, then narrowed with a burning intensity Catra had only seen a few times before. Her girlfriend began to glow with a blue aura, her eyes shining with that same blinding light, though thankfully she stopped short of fully transforming into She-Ra. Glowing was easier to pass off as a trick of the light compared to suddenly growing three and a half feet taller, at least according to Glimmer. Catra was inclined to agree.

Adora’s protective nature was undeniably attractive, but Catra really didn’t want her girlfriend to have some poor guy’s murder on her conscience once everything got straightened out. “Adora, wait -”

“Get your hands off of her!” Adora snapped, grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt and slamming him against the wall.

The anxiety written all over Tohru’s face as she rushed over to the boy’s side indicated to Catra that there was clearly a massive misunderstanding going on. She pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Adora, stop -”

At the sound of Catra’s voice, Adora immediately dropped to her side, blue light fading as she pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, burying her face in her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Catra, don’t you dare run off on a strange planet ever again.”

The fear in Adora’s voice chillingly reminded her of their time on Horde Prime’s ship, and she had to blink back tears as she returned the hug. “Okay. I promise.”

Those words seemed to do the trick, as Adora relaxed before gently releasing her from the hug, pulling back to frantically look over her. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Do I need to -”

“I’m fine,” Catra interrupted, grabbing her girlfriend’s hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Honest.”

Her insistence didn’t stop Adora from standing up and turning around with a lethal look in her eyes, her gaze narrowing as she focused on the boy, who had just managed to sit up with the help of Tohru and was now grimacing as he rubbed the back of his head. “What the hell were you doing with your hands on my girlfriend?!”

The boy glared at her in response, similarly getting to his feet as he did so, though noticeably more unbalanced than Adora had been. “Your girlfriend attacked me! I was trying to defend myself and protect Tohru!”

“So your idea of self-defense is to have her in a position that could be fatal? Sorry, but I have my doubts.”

“I have self-restraint, you dumbass! What the hell would I have to gain from killing her?!”

“Oh, sure, you say that now -”

“Enough!” Tohru shouted, jumping in front of the boy with her arms out and startling Adora to the point where she actually took a step back. Catra noticed that the girl was trembling, but she stood her ground. “Please. Stop arguing. Don’t - Don’t hurt him.”

Oh.

The way her voice wavered. The way she’d immediately rushed to his side. The way she was clearly terrified but had still thrown herself in front of the boy to protect him. Hell, the way the boy had demanded to know if she had hurt Tohru before he’d even thought about himself.

There was something between them. Maybe they weren’t together, but Catra suspected it was only a matter of time.

Tohru took a deep breath, her body still visibly shaking. “I think there is a misunderstanding going on here, and that we all need to - to calm down for a moment. And talk.”

Catra nodded as she stood up, her hip slightly sore from the awkward angle that she’d been flipped onto the ground earlier. “Tohru’s right.” She slipped her hand back into Adora’s. “I did lash out first, because I thought Carrot Boy over there had broken into Tohru’s house, and even though we’d just met, Tohru had been really nice to me and I didn’t want her to get hurt. So I was just… trying to protect her.” Adora sent her a look that said I am so proud of you, which Catra pointedly ignored. “But that might have been a teeny bit of a hasty assumption for me.”

“Yeah, it was,” the guy snapped, though his expression softened slightly as Tohru placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a worried look. “Listen. I live here, too, okay?”

Catra winced. “Er… Sorry?”

The boy didn’t respond, simply crossing his arms over his chest. He still smelled like a cat to her. Were there pets in this house somewhere that Catra couldn’t see?

“And we of course accept your apology,” Tohru said kindly, clasping her hands together. “Now, why don’t we properly introduce ourselves before we try to figure out the nitty-gritty details of what’s going on? My name is - ahh!” As she was stepping forward to offer her hand to Adora, her foot caught in the blanket Catra had previously been bundled up in, and she seemed to fall towards the floor in slow motion. Both Catra and Adora instinctively jumped to catch her, but the guy beat them to it, looping an arm around Tohru’s waist and pulling her backwards into his chest.

He helped stabilize her, their faces noticeably both cherry red, before giving a resigned sigh. Seconds later, he disappeared in an orange cloud of smoke, leaving a pile of clothes on the floor in his wake as well as an annoyed-looking cat the same color as the cloud sitting on top of his t-shirt.

As much as that made no sense to Catra, at least she could now conclude that he smelled like a cat and looked like a cat and acted like a cat because he… was a cat? Kind of?

“You know,” Adora said after a long pause, moving her arm to wrap around her girlfriend’s waist, “I thought this planet didn’t have any magic, but now… I’m pretty sure I was wrong.”

Catra sighed. “Great observation, babe.”

Explanations were definitely needed. On all sides.

~*~

Tohru thought the strangest day of her life would always be the first time she accidentally transformed Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure into their zodiac forms.

That day had now quite possibly been bumped down to second place.

“So you’re… from another planet?” Tohru repeated, the thought almost dizzying. “And you came to Earth to see if we - if we needed magic brought back to our world?”

Catrina - no, Catra, she chastised herself - nodded. There was a certain sympathy to her eyes. “Yes. I’m sure this is pretty overwhelming for you.”

That was putting it lightly. But Tohru shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I think I’m understanding it all now.” Though it was definitely a lot to take in. A small frown creased her lips, and she tilted her head slightly in confusion. “So then… You aren’t cursed?”

Catra snickered. “Cursed to be with this idiot, maybe,” she said teasingly, giving the blonde girl beside her - Adora - a fond look, who lightly elbowed her in response. “But no, I’m not cursed. This is my… true form, I guess.”

Tohru could feel her face pale at the girl’s words, and she didn’t miss the way Kyo flinched, either. “I see.”

There was an awkward pause, and Tohru had no idea how to break it. Normally she’d offer food or something to drink, but the two girls had already refused. Or rather, Catra had refused, much to what had looked like Adora’s silent dismay. Oh, she felt like a terrible hostess.

“So… you can transform into a giant warrior princess?” Kyo asked slowly, gesturing to Adora. “Which is why you got all glowy earlier? Like some magical girl anime?”

“I have no clue what that means, but yes. I can transform into She-Ra.” Adora gave him an apologetic smile. “And again, I’m really sorry for throwing you into the wall. I just saw you on top of Catra and completely freaked out.” She pressed a kiss to Catra’s temple, who blushed furiously at the action but made no move to get away, instead not-very-subtly scooting even closer to her. They were very cute, in Tohru’s opinion.

She noticed Kyo’s face soften as he watched their interaction. She loved that rare, gentle expression on him. “No,” he said quietly, eyes flickering over to Tohru before immediately dropping to the table. “I understand.”

Tohru could feel her face reddening at his words, brief as his glance towards her had been. If Adora and Catra noticed, they didn’t comment, for which she was silently grateful.

“Anyways,” Adora continued, “after asking around and getting stared at like a crazy person many, many times, I’d come to the conclusion that this planet was magic-free and always had been.” She pointed at Kyo. “And then you turned into a cat. Which I’ve only seen happen, like, one other time.” She glanced at Catra. “But Melog’s technically a shapeshifter, right? So it’s not the same thing.” She shook her head when Catra shrugged. “Not my point. So how did you do that, sir?”

Kyo picked at his fingernail, still not making eye contact with them. “Trust me,” he said, his voice low. “There was nothing magical about that.”

Catra raised an eyebrow, and she locked her gaze with Tohru’s. “Right. You kept talking about a curse.”

Tohru flinched, and she glanced at Kyo. “Ah, am I allowed to…?” She felt bad for mentioning it so many times earlier, but Catra had looked like a normal human and then her bracelet fell off and she’d suddenly had a dozen catlike features… she’d gotten such a chilling sense of déjà vu that a curse had felt like the most logical conclusion at the time.

Kyo sighed. “I mean, they’re from another planet. It’s not like they’re going to run into Akito. So why not?”

Tohru nodded, smoothing her skirt as she returned her attention to their guests. “A long time ago, there was a banquet hosted by God.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. The ribbon that normally held it back had fallen out amidst all the earlier chaos. “God invited 13 animals to join them at this feast. 12 attended. Eventually, all 13 animals vowed to remain by God’s side. Forever. This… bond has been recreated every generation through - through the Sohma family. If they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex, they turn into their zodiac form.” She hoped she wasn’t leaving out too much. There were just some things she wasn’t sure she should reveal.

Adora nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I think I remember George and Lance talking about the zodiac when we were getting a crash course on Earth’s culture.” She frowned, seemingly puzzled. “But I don’t remember a family curse. Or a cat.”

“You wouldn’t.” Kyo’s gaze had hardened. “The curse is a secret. And the cat isn’t a part of the zodiac. Not in the same way.” He was fingering his bracelet, and Tohru desperately wished she could give him a comforting hug. Instead, she reached out and placed a hand on his knee. She could feel him relax at her touch - only slightly, but still a victory.

Tohru hadn’t missed the way Catra’s eyes had steadfastly remained on Kyo for much of the conversation. Maybe it was… a cat thing?

“So it seems like this zodiac curse might be an exception to Earth’s ‘no magic’ rule,” Catra finally said. “If it’s magic at all.”

“Is there a way to break this curse?” Adora asked. “I have - I have these sort of healing powers, as She-Ra, so maybe… I could help?”

Tohru couldn’t stop the hope bubbling in her chest at the thought. After learning that Kyo would be - would be… imprisoned after graduation, she was willing to do anything to prevent that from happening. “Kyo, do you think -”

“No.” His tone was flat, and Tohru flinched. He noticed her reaction, and grimaced apologetically. “Sorry. I just mean…” His fist clenched. “We’re… the Sohmas aren’t the kind of broken that your magic powers, or whatever, can heal. But thanks.” He managed a half-hearted smile. “I appreciate the offer.”

There was a pause. But for perhaps the first time since they’d all been in one room together, the silence had a certain tranquility to it, rather than an awkward tension. Which Tohru considered to be a sign of improvement.

“I guess we’ll need to get going soon,” Catra finally said. “Sparkles and Arrow Boy are going to wonder where we disappeared to.”

Adora chuckled. “You mean they’re going to smother us when we get back because they’ll have been stressed out of their minds.”

Wait, they had people waiting for them?! “I’m so sorry!” Tohru exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “Oh, your friends are going to be so worried about you!” She pushed her hair out of her face. “Would you like some - some food, or anything, for your trip back? I can pull something together in no time!”

Adora’s eyes lit up, but Catra beat her to it. “No, we’re fine,” she said with a small smile before shooting Adora a disapproving look. “You’ve already given us plenty of hospitality. We’ve overstayed our welcome.”

Adora appeared slightly disappointed but didn’t comment, instead standing up and pulling Catra to her feet beside her. Tohru noticed neither let go of the other’s hand. “Well, it was nice meeting you guys. And Kyo, again, I really am sorry I threw you into the wall. I hope we can move past that and be friends.”

A small smile formed on Kyo’s lips, and Tohru felt warmth blossom in her chest. “I’d say we’ve moved past it already. And for the record, your super-strength and glowy powers are pretty badass. Less so when I’m the one they’re directed at, but still cool.”

Adora laughed. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“I am also sorry for attacking you because I thought you were some creep,” Catra added. “I promise not to do it again. Cats are usually pretty solitary creatures, but that doesn’t mean we have to be enemies, right?”

Kyo laughed as he stood up, and Tohru felt her own smile widen further. “Agreed. But that’s not even the first time that’s happened to me, you know. Tohru also attacked me early on when we met because she thought I was a creep. Tried to knock me out with her school bag. So don’t feel too bad. I think I just have bad luck.”

Tohru buried her face in her hands, aware she was blushing up to her ears. “Kyo!” That was one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. She still felt terrible about it.

Catra snickered. “Oh, I wish I had time to stay and hear that story.”

“It’s a good one.” Kyo then shook his head. “I’m still not sure if this day has been real or if it’s just a weird dream from Yuki decking me and giving me a concussion, but if it is real, it was… interesting to meet you guys. Weird, but in a good way.”

Catra laughed, too. “Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”

“Is there any way we can stay in contact with you guys?” Tohru blurted out. She wasn’t entirely sure what compelled her to ask, but she knew a part of her would soon need proof that she hadn’t imagined their entire encounter. Also… They were her friends now. And she liked keeping in touch with her friends.

Adora frowned, turning to look at Catra. “We have a spare communications pad, don’t we? We could give it to her and just tell Bow we lost it.”

“You mean I will tell Bow we lost it,” Catra corrected as she swung her backpack around to her front and began fishing through it. “Because you’re a terrible liar and he wouldn’t believe you for a second.”

“Exactly. You know me so well.”

Catra rolled her eyes, but Tohru didn’t miss the soft smile that formed on her lips. It was the same smile her mother used to wear when she spoke about her father.

“Aha!” Catra then exclaimed triumphantly, pulling a weirdly-shaped tablet out of her bag and handing it to Tohru. “You can use this to contact us whenever you want. Although we’ll probably have to figure out what the time difference is between Etheria and Earth.”

Tohru accepted the tablet, holding it close to her chest. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. “I hope your quest to restore magic to the universe continues to be successful!”

They exchanged simple goodbyes - making sure to first give Tohru a rundown on how to use the communications pad, for which she was infinitely grateful - and then they left, hand in hand.

Tohru quickly ran to stash the tablet in her bedroom before returning downstairs, walking into the kitchen to see Kyo looking through the fridge. “Would you like me to cook something?” she offered, moving next to him to see what ingredients she’d have to work with.

Kyo lightly knocked her head. “I’ll cook. You can go rest. You’ve had a stressful day.”

“You have, too!” she protested, tucking her hair behind her ears. She was not backing down on this, and she tried to show her determination by squaring her shoulders and staring him down.

She had a feeling it came off as more silly than anything else, at least based on the amused - if fond - smile Kyo gave her.

“Okay, fine. How about we cook together?” he suggested. “Is that an acceptable compromise?”

Tohru beamed at him. “That sounds wonderful!” She clasped her hands together, eyes practically sparkling in excitement. “Oh, we can make something for Yuki and Shigure! They’ll be back soon.” Yuki had been dealing with Student Council business all afternoon, and Shigure had been at the main Sohma estate the entire day. She was certain they’d appreciate coming home to a warm dinner on the table.

Kyo rolled his eyes. “You’re way too considerate of those bastards.”

“And you are too harsh on them,” Tohru chastised, shaking her head. The movement caused her hair to fall in her face again, and she promptly pushed it right back behind her ears. Hmm. Maybe she needed to consider getting it cut?

Apparently Kyo had noticed her struggle, as he left the kitchen for a moment before returning with her ribbon. She started to thank him and reach for it, but he shook his head. “Turn around.”

Tohru blinked, then did as instructed. At first she was rather stiff, but she soon found herself relaxing as Kyo’s hands gently moved through her hair, pulling it up into a ponytail.

“There,” he said after he finished. “Now it should stop getting in your way.”

Tohru instinctively reached up to touch her hair, almost surprised by how secure it felt. “That’s amazing, Kyo! I didn’t know you knew how to do hair.”

Kyo flushed. “It’s nothing fancy. Kagura made me do her hair all the time when we were kids. I remember the basics.”

Tohru couldn’t help but smile softly at the thought of young Kyo brushing and braiding a young Kagura’s hair. “That’s so sweet.” She beamed at him. “And thank you. I love it.”

Kyo’s blush deepened, and he looked away. “Seriously. It’s no big deal.” He paused, as if something had occurred to him. “Oh. Also.” He pulled a small silver bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to her. “I found this on the table. I think one of the girls might have left it.”

Tohru’s eyes widened, recognizing the bracelet as the object that had generated Catra’s human disguise. “Oh, this is Catra’s!” she said frantically, accepting the bracelet from him. “We have to get it back to her! It’s not too late to catch up to them, is it?”

Kyo grabbed her wrist as she started to dash towards the door. “Slow down, dummy,” he said, pulling her back into the kitchen. “They’re long gone.”

He was right. She knew he was right, but - “I feel like we need to return it to her! Somehow.”

“Maybe. But surely she wouldn’t have left it if it was that important.”

Tohru hesitated, glancing down at the broken bracelet cradled in her palms. “Okay,” she finally agreed, relaxing slightly. “That does make sense.” She tucked the bracelet into the pocket of her skirt.

Maybe one day she’d be able to fix it. Maybe one day she could ask them how to fix it by contacting them through the tablet they’d given her. Maybe one day they’d even return in person to pick it up themselves.

No matter what… She would see them again. She was sure of it.

Tohru turned to Kyo, giving him a brilliant smile. “Let’s get cooking!”

~*~

“And you’re sure you’re not hurt -”

“Adora! I told you that I’m fine.” Catra rolled her eyes. “Seriously. You worry too much.”

“You’re my girlfriend. It’s my job to worry about you.” Adora sighed, her arms moving from being crossed over her chest to clutching her own shoulders as she hugged herself tightly. “That was terrifying, Catra. Walking in to see some random guy leaning angrily over you with his arm against your throat?” She shuddered. “Ugh. I’m going to have nightmares about that one.”

Catra could feel her expression softening, and she walked across their room on Mara’s ship to place her hands on Adora’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I scared you. But I promise that I’m okay. I honestly don’t think Kyo had any intention to hurt me, anyways.”

Adora’s arms fell to her sides, her hands coming to rest on Catra’s waist. “What makes you say that?”

“You mean besides the fact that he’s actually a nice person?” Catra shrugged. “I just had a feeling, I guess.” Something about the look in his eyes. Fear, panic, desperation. All overshadowed by concern. A willingness to do anything for that one person.

It had been like looking in a mirror.

She pulled Adora into a hug, burying her face into her girlfriend’s shoulder. “I love you.”

Adora didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around her in response. “I love you, too.”

They stayed like that for a while. Catra eventually lifted her head, turning to face a direction where she could see out the window, out into the infinite void of space. They’d long since flown away from Earth. But still…

Catra had a feeling they’d see them again. Tohru and Kyo.

She was sure of it.

(After all, they’d have to go pick up her bracelet one day.)

~*~

tagging the two people who said they’d be interested in reading lol: @akeera13 and @timefrozen-waterstreams

#catradora #kyoru #she ra #fruits basket #crossover #fanfiction #catra #adora #kyo sohma #tohru honda #furuba #spop #my writing #fanfic

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tohruhondaismydaughter · 4 years

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I've just discovered there's people who hate Kakeru. Not dislike or don't get the hype about him but genuinely seem to hate him. Now obviously personal preferences are a thing but I seriously don't get where this hate could be coming from because with

1. Akito- phyically assaults people (including kids), held a teenager hostage for daiting & trying to take a box of her's that Akito already knew was empty & also stabbed someone after they tried to help her & left them to potentially die

2. Shigure- regularly makes perverted "jokes" about people who are underage (including the 16 year old girl who lives with him & cleans/cooks for him + he's family) & admits to manipulating everyone around him for he's own selfish goal regardless of how it could hurt others & that he dosn't really care about being kind even to the people he supposedly loves + he likes messing with people he knows are already terribly anxious & he also won in the end while never having to actually sacrifice anything important to him or really learn anything of value

3. Ayame- abounded he's brother to abuse till he was almost 30 & says various inappropriate things in front of & towards High Schoolers

4. Kagura- pretended to love someone 3 years younger then her who she saw as beneath her in a violent (though it was obviously in out-dated slap stick) way until she was like 18 & then slaps Tohru so hard she becomes uncounsious

5. Kureno- enabler of Akito despite no longer being supernaturally bound to her & knowingly fell for a High Schooler

6. Hatori- enabler of Akito & erasers people's memories when told to regardless of how he knows it'll hurt others

7. Katsuya- knowingly married (& later impregnated) isolated & homeless 15 year old Kyoko when he was in he's 20's after meeting her as a teacher in her middle school

8. Ren- everything about her

9. Kyo's sperm donor- everything about him

10. Momiji's parents- how they handled the situation

11. Machi's mum- raised her daughter like a robot, replaced her, insulted her entire personality, acussed her of attempted murder with bassically zero evidence, kicked her out of her home, cut her off from her sibling & only ocasnially calls to insult her leading to her developing a rather unhealthy coping mechanism to deal with her damaged mental health

12. Machi & Kakeru's dad- cheated on his wife, made he's kids fight over thier inheritance before getting another child & then treating the first two like they no longer exsisted

13. Kakeru's mum- took years to realise that she shouldn't use her child to get money/power from an affair

14. Haru- got a little too insistent about phyical affection from someone who he knows is super emotinally scarred (I still love him though just don't think certain scenes with Rin were handeld as delicately as they probably should have been) & can get rather harsh to random people when he goes dark (the worse case of this being when he grabbed Tohru's arm)

15. Rin's parents- belong in hell

16. The Sohma maids (especially the old one)- are part of the reason Akito became as messed up as she did + just straight up seem to not view kids or the zodiac as human beings with thier own feelings or rights

17. Uo's mum- straight up abounded her young daughter after getting into a new relationship

18. Yuki & Ayame's mum- narsastic, dismissive, controlling, litrually sold one of her kids to thier abuser in exchange for wealth/status, never apologised or even acknowledged what she had done

19. Akira- pursued a relationship pretty much out of pure lonleyness, went along with the suppression of Akito's biological gender, didn't do enough to protect Akito from he's wife's abuse (though in he's defense he was incredible sickly), last few things he told he's child before dying was that he was glad he had her as proof of he's relationship with Ren (AKA the person that had made it clear to Akito that she hated her guts) & that she was special due to being god & her bond with the zodiac was her birth right & would always be there (leading Akito to obviously feeling possessive & intilted over the zodiac & base her entire identity on her position as their god)

20. Kyoko- neglected infant Tohru for months due to her depression after Katuya's death & was even planning on killing herself to be with him again before finally coming to her senses (I love her & I tottally get why she did what she did but if it weren't for gramps little Tohru would have been in one hell of bad situation)

21. The Yuki Fan Club- just thier entire attitude towards Yuki & any girl that interacts with him (I get that it's obviously a delibretly over the top anime gag but irl the way they behave would be seriously disturbing & I'm pretty sure might even be illegal now what with all the photos taken of Yuki without he's knowledge)

22. The former school president- he's creepy fravriotisim towards Yuki (& later he's son) & he's flat out harrasing of anyone wearing the school uniform in a none tradishinal way or anyone with an unusual hair colour (despite him bassically admitting that the school officials had already said that Momiji, Haru & Kyo's appearances were ok)

23. Kimi- I like her & she's obviously iconic but honestly the way she treats Machi kind of borders on bullying sometimes for me

24. Hiro- he's a child & I like him but when we first met him you can't deny he was being a grade A shit to Tohru, Kisa & everyone else (& he fucks up again with Tohru during the beach arc)

25. Rin- love her so much but the first time she met Tohru she did try to kick her in the head while in her horse form which you know isn't great & she was rather antagonistic towards Yuki for no real vaild reason

26. Kyo- using Yuki as a scape goat he's entire life even when he knew none of the terrible things that had happened to him were actually he's fault, hurting Tohru in he's true form (I get that he wasn't in he's right mind & was suffering greatly but it still wasn't good) & rejecting Tohru after everything they had been through in the way that he did (again he wasn't in he's right mind & was suffering greatly but it's still an incredibly low blow & I think he knew that as he tragically wanted to hurt her, similar to what he did in the true form scene, badly enough that she would finally choose to give up on him)

27. The entire zodiac (outside of Kagura & maybe Momiji)- it is revealed that the zodiac are supernaturally inclined to look down on the cat & that they know about Kyo's tragic fate yet do not plan on trying to stop it from happening as he's suffering is thier one true reprieve in the curse as no matter what happens to them they will never be as "low down" as the cat yet once the curse finally breaks for everybody almost nobody even thinks to apologises to Kyo for how he was made to be an outsider since birth

28. Naohito- decides to hate Yuki out of jelousy because he has feelings for Motoko (who clearly has feelings for Yuki) despite Yuki showing no romantic feelings for Motoko & barley sharing any kind of connection with her at all which is obviously not fair as just because you happen to be liked by someone who is liked by someone else dosn't mean you should have to except being seen as a bad person (especially as in Yuki's case he never tried to encourage Motoko's obsession with him & in fact barley notices her exsistance as they aren't in any of the same social circles & she follows the ridiculous club rule of not speaking to him without another fan club member present)

29. Yuki- rather judgmental over how others choose to present themselves in regards to gender norms

30. Momiji- I love him but he did try to take advange of Tohru not knowing how old he really was to bath with her & did actually mange to use this fact to sleep along side her one night before she found out how old he actually was (now obviously Momiji is a wonderfully kind person & clearly would never actually do anything to hurt Tohru but let's be real if someone did that to you irl you'd be pretty creeped out & understandably have a hard time trusting them again)

31. Yuki & Ayame's father- has always been complety missing from he's kids lives (& even seemingly he's wive's) despite being mentioned to be still alive & well enough to work

32. Uo's dad- getting dumped for someone else must suck especially when your left with a young child & I know he did eventually clean up he's act but there's no changing the fact that he's years as an alcholic messed up Uo really bad & could have led to her death if Kyoko hadn't stepped in

33. Kazuma- I know he had good intentions & I love him but there's no denying that he did ignore Kyo's right to free will when he removed he's bracelet & though the plan ended up making he's life better if it had gone wrong in any way then Kyo had pretty much admitted (at least to himself) in S2E9 that he would have probably killed himself that night which would have clearly destroyed Tohru

34. Kyo's mum - she was obviously treated terribly by her husband & I do feel sorry for her but her way of dealing with the situation really damaged Kyo

Your really telling me that the character you have the most issues with is a boy who said a few horrible things to the MC when he was 15 in service of someone he loved who was in pain, got told by said loved one that what he'd said was wrong, felt bad about it, befriended a lonley teen that was close to the MC, quickly grew to genuinely care about them & made them come out of thier shell, wanted to help he's half sister but knew he wasn't really the right person for the job, realised that he's new friend was, encouraged the friend & he's sister's growing connection, learned how good of a person the MC has been to he's new friend, admits to he's friend that he'd been horrible to the MC in the past but just dosn't know how to go about rectifying it (especially as she dosn't seem to remember him), introduces he's friend to he's GF (further expanding the friend's positive social circle), finally bumps into MC alone & is shocked to find out that she dose now in fact remember him & even appoliges to him + thanks him for bringing her friend out of thier shell before he comes to he's senses & assures her that she has nothing to apologise for & then visits her in the hospital when she gets injured & even goes shopping for a gift to give her beforehand (even if he dosn't end up getting her something that actually fits her personality because well duh he dosn't really know anything about her).

Out of every questionably moral thing in the series this is really the hill you wanna die on?

I just honestly can't understand it. Sure he's not perfect but then no one in the series is. That's kind of the entire point of the story, that anyone can do things that hurt people but that it's what you choose to do going forward (even if it takes you a long time) that's important & Kakeru, eventually, chose to try to do the right thing. He tried to understand Yuki even though the guy didn't seem to like him at all, he chose to check up on Machi even though she seemingly hadn't made any sign of wanting to deepen thier sibling bond, he chose to finally talk to Tohru instead of continuing the ruse that he'd never spoken to her before, he chose to come clean about what happened to Yuki despite the potential of ending their friendship (& you can't tell me once he'd realised how much Yuki cared for Tohru the very real possibility that Yuki might hate him if he found out what he'd said to her wouldn't worry him at all) & he chose to visit Tohru in the hospital instead of just wishing Yuki luck or hoping Kormaki would go so he could avoid feeling uncomfortable.

You don't have to love him or even like him but I really don't think he deserves this amount of hate (especially incomparsion to some of the other characters I've listed).

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higanbanawritings · 4 years

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Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter One: A long Dream

Ryoka stared directly into the middle pair of the man’s eyes. All six of them, narrowing in on her form sensing the aura of fear radiating off of her body. Ryoka felt a combination of fear and sleepiness. It was like she was in a nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from. One moment she was living with her parents and her younger brother, Momiji. And within a blink she was now sitting across from this man…. No this demon. She was only here because she agreed that he could feed on her blood in exchange for sparing her life and the lives of her family.

Even though she was scared out of her mind sleepiness was beginning to overtake her. All she wanted to do was sleep; Today was exhausting physically, emotionally and mentally. And the events leading up to this moment only made it feel like she was in a long dream. She allowed herself to be willingly given to this man… no this demon in order to save the lives of her parents and her younger brother. She wholly belonged to him now and it saddened her to know that her freedom was ripped from her in one snatch.

This whole situation still felt like a long and tiring dream.

⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘

Ryoka was walking home after a long day of sewing garments at the boutique. She was an apprentice for Madame Toshiko who was famous for sewing the most beautiful traditional and western clothing. Ryoka worked tirelessly under her to prove that she was worthy of learning the madame’s skills. It was hard work and she was pretty sure that her boss took advantage of the fact that Ririka was young, naive and passionate about fashion in order to make her work longer hours in the name of “perfecting her craft”. But Ririka didn’t mind. The job paid well and within a couple of years she would be able to open her own boutique and make a name for herself in the emerging Japanese fashion scene. She could finally be independent from her family and not have to depend on anyone. She had the freedom to travel Japan even the world. She just needed the opportunity to come to her and this was it.

“EEEeeeeee! PLEASE SPARE US!”

The scream tore Ryoka away from her thoughts. She froze. It was her mother. It sounded like her mother. Ryoka picked her legs. Her family was in trouble and she had to do something. Anything at all to protect them. Ryoka ignored the burning in her chest. She couldn’t stop when her family needed her most. That was until she saw him . She immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw her family huddled together and cowering. In front of them was a tall man. He had long dark hair with red tips and wore a traditional patterned kimono with black hakama pants. He was also holding a katana which was pointed towards her family.

“A burglar and he’s armed. ” Ryoka knew that whatever she did it had to be the right move or things could be much worse.

She remembered that she had gotten paid a healthy sum today from work. Even though she had planned to use this money to buy herself new clothes for the upcoming festival she knew it was better to part with money and earn more in the future than be cut down by a burglar. She immediately ran in front of her family, holding her arms out shielding them from the towering figure, making her purse visible to the burglar. When she was able to get a good look at his face her breath hitched in her throat. This man had three sets of eyes on his face with red sclera and yellow irises. His middle set of eyes seemed to be engraved with the mark of ‘Upper Moon One’, and red markings resembling flames were seen on his face and neck.

It was then that Ryoka realized that this was no man but that he was a demon. She always had thought that demons were simply myths used to scare children into behaving but this creature before her was the real deal. He had no intention of robbing her family. No he was capable of doing much worse.

‘He’s going to eat all of us! Momiji, he’s too young to die like this! I’ve got to do something! I need to do something!”

She closed her eyes, and her head was pounding. There was something she should be able to do. And then it comes to her.

⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘

Tennouji Ryoka was born a sickly child. Her parents Tohru and Katsumi had tried everything in their power to find a cure but could not. They even visited the most esteemed western doctors that money could buy, but it proved to be futile. In a moment of desperation, they went to a traditional healer named Chiyo who had been able to cure Ryoka.

“What do you mean?” Tohru asked.

“The blood of your daughter, Ryoka. It’s not normal.” Lady Chiyo answered. The old woman took one long inhale of her pipe before puffing out a cloud of smoke. Tohru and Katsumi covered their coughs so as not to offend Chiyo.

“But how could you tell?” Tohru asked, his eyes tearing up from the smoke around him.

“The scent she gives off. It’s one of those who carries abnormal blood inside them. It’s what is making her sick.”

“Did someone curse my daughter? Who would do this? We haven’t done anything to anyone to deserve such cruelty.” Katsumi broke down sobbing. She didn’t know why her daughter had to suffer from a blood disease.

“As far as I can tell she is not cursed. However, I fear that she will live a life of hardship.” Chiyo then got up and walked towards a chest sitting atop a high shelf. She took it down and opened it. She rummaged through the chest until she found exactly what she was looking for. It was a small sack.

“This will be a long process but you will need to bring your daughter here so that I can properly administer this medicine to her.” Chiyo stated.

“What is it?” Tohru asked hesitantly. He already had his doubts about visiting a traditional healer to help Ryoka and this wasn’t helping to ease his worries at all.

“Crushed blue spider lily. I came from a long line of medical healers and while I was young, I happened to stumble upon old documents from an ancestor of mine. He had written about how he was healing a young man who had been sick for his whole life and did not have much time to live. He beloved that this flower, the Blue spider lily was the key to healing that man. Unfortunately, my ancestor had mysteriously disappeared before he was able to write down the results of this medicine. Administering this medicine would be risky, but it’s a risk we cannot afford to take.”

Chiyo’s cure had worked. At least in the beginning. Ryoka seemed to make a full recovery. She was even able to run long distances without collapsing from exhaustion. However, side effects started showing up. Although Ryoka had been cured from her previous ailment it seemed as though she was not out of the woods yet. And it didn’t seem like she would ever be. Unfortunately, Lady Chiyo had died of a heart attack and with it was any possible cure to Ryoka's new "condition".

⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘

Ryoka immediately prostrated herself on the floor. Keeping her head low and trying her best not to look up even when she heard the demon’s katana being pointed at her. She wasn’t going to let her fear stop her from keeping her family alive.

“Please, sir. Please spare my parents and my younger brother.” Ririka was on the ground pleading for her family with her head bowed low in front of the demon. She dared to not look up at the katana that was pointed at her. She knew it would only add to her and she couldn’t mess up her only chance to save the lives of her family.

“Hoo? And why should I spare your family girl.” The demon asked ,mocking Ryoka’s pathetic position.

“Because you can have me instead. My body produces a lot of blood. More than my body needs. My blood is also rare according to our late village healer. So you can feed on it and it’ll nourish more than eating my whole family can.”

“Ryoka! No!” Her mother wailed.

“Please don’t take my daughter. Eat me but please spare my wife and children.” Her father, a usually stoic man cried out, choking on his own sobs. Her brother was quiet. Tears streaming down his face as he could only watch his sister giving herself away to a demon.

Kokushibou, the demon, couldn’t help but smirk a little. In front of him were four pathetic humans begging and wailing for their lives. It would be better to just kill them all, but the girl’s offer did intrigue him. Hunting for food did take time away from completing his other missions for Lord Muzan.

Ryoka tried her best to stay strong in front of the tall demon despite the pleading of her parents. She then hears the sheathing of a katana back into its scabbard.

“Very well. I’ll come back for you in two months time. I’ll need to prepare your new home. And I believe you’re well aware of what will happen if you try to go back on your promise?” Ryoka nodded, forcing back tears.

“Yes I understand.”

⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘

Two months came and went. And Ryoka stood on the veranda of her family’s home with some of her belongings on the night of a full moon. She was standing alone. It was much easier that way. The day had already been filled with tearful goodbyes and Ririka was sure that she had no tears left to cry.

“It is time.” The six eyed demon appeared suddenly before her. This was it. Ryoka had to leave her old life behind along with those she loved and cared for.

But before she could take her first step Ririka felt a tug on her kimono sleeve.

“Nee-san Please don’t leave us. I’m praying to the gods and buddha to not have this demon take you away. So please stay with us. I promise I’ll be good and listen to mom and dad… just don’t leave us.” Ryoka looked into the teary warm chocolate eyes of her little brother, Momoji. She knelt down pulling him into a hug and trying to put on her bravest face for him.

“ Momiji, be a good boy. And do your best to look after mom and dad. I’m praying for you to live a long and fruitful life. Just know that no matter what, nee-san will always love you. She held onto Momiji for a few more moments before pulling away, picking up her belongings and walking over to the demon.

It hurt Ryoka to hear her family pleading for her to come back while she followed the six-eyed demon into the night.

“My name is Kokushibou. I thought that it was important for you to know who I am.” The demon, Kokushibou, spoke as they walked towards their new ‘home’.

“Tennouji Ryoka.”

“Hmm. Well then, Ryoka let’s make this a painless experience for the both of us.”

⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘⁕⚘

“You seem forlorn!” A voice tore her away from her thoughts. It was Kokushibou he was still sitting across from her.

“I know it may seem cruel to take you away from your family. But rest assured I will take care of you.” Kokushibou spoke to her softly, setting a futon for her to sleep on.

Ryoka pursed her lips. She wanted to snap at him. Tell him to go to hell. Tell him that he was a monster for ripping her away from her family and holding their lives over her head. She opted to hold her tongue in fear of angering him. However, that didn’t mean that she was placated. She was still seeing red and she felt hot inside.

Actually, she really did feel hot inside. Like she was having a fever or something. It was becoming more difficult to breath and her head felt light and heavy at the same time. She was trying to keep her composure so as to not alert Kokushibou. His back was still turned to her, talking to her about their arrangement.

“ I have convinced his lordship to let me keep you. However, you must give him your blood as payment. Considering your ‘condition’ that should not be a problem?

As if on cue Ryoka’s nose started to bleed. It was a part of her ‘condition’ as a result of the ‘cure’ Lady Chiyo had given her.. Her body produced too much blood and if she did not drain her body of excess blood it would leak out of her nose, ears , eyes or even mouth.

Kokushibou smelt the blood and immediately came to her side. Grabbing her chin, he forced her to face him . Grabbing a cloth, Kokushibou wiped the blood from her nose. But he could tell by the reddening of her face that she needed to release more blood. He pulled down the shoulder of her kimono. Positioning his mouth over her neck, Kokushibou bites down and starts to drink Ririka’s blood. Ririka gasps from the pain, however soon enough, she begins to feel relief as Kokushibou sucking the excess blood from her body.

It went on like this for a while. Kokushibou released his mouth from Ririka’s neck obviously having his hunger satisfied. Ririka was still panting. Her body was still hot and she needed to cool down.

“Marechi.” Kokushibou stated

“What?” Ryoka asked, still in a daze.

“You have rare blood. Marechi. His lordship will be pleased to know that you can produce marechi blood without risking your life.” Ryoka was waning in and out of consciousness. but she could’ve sworn that he was talking about using her as a blood factory.

Ryoka didn’t have the energy to argue with him about giving her blood away to other demons. She was too tired and she wanted to sleep.

“Good, I am going to meet with his Lordship. My scent covers the area surrounding this estate so weaker demons will be deterred from attacking you. .I should not be gone for long.” And with that he left. But not before breaking off pieces of his sword and leaving them around so that he can keep an eye on her even when he is away.

A few moments passed before Ririka was sure that he was gone.She crawled over to her futon and lied. It didn’t take her long to fall asleep, lamenting her new life as the possession of a demon.

Thanks for reading. You can also find this story on my AO3 page under the username camelliasinspring.

#kokushibou headcanons #kokushibou #kokushibo #michikatsu tsugikuni #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny

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alphacrone · 4 years

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for it's better to burn out than to fade out of sight (2/?)

rating: T pairings: Yuki & Tohru (platonic), Tohru/Kyo, Yuki/Machi, other canon pairings & friendships summary: In the end, it wasn’t sadness Yuki felt, when Tohru Honda had her memories erased. No, it was anger. And anger he could work with.

<< read previous chapter || read next chapter >>

ii. well, i've got open eyes & an open door

***

Living with the Hanajima family was...stifling.

No—not stifling! Tohru was so grateful to them for taking her in and for treating her so kindly. Saki’s parents had always been so welcoming to Tohru, and she considered Megumi to be her own younger brother. Even Misa, Hana’s grandmother, to whom Torhu rarely spoke, had doted on her the first night she spent living there, serving her tea and odango. The love and generosity of the Hanajima family was overwhelming, but it soothed an ache in Tohru’s chest she hadn’t realized was there.

But...the guilt was suffocating her, especially at night, after Hana had fallen asleep and Tohru was left alone with her thoughts. Hirofumi, Hana’s father, already worked so hard to support his mother, wife, and children; surely Torhu was just an unneeded burden in an already full house. She offered to cook, but the kitchen was Misa’s domain. She tried to take over cleaning duties, but Yumi, Hana’s mother, would bat her away with a playful smile, telling her she already worked too hard at her job. Feeling desperate, Tohru even approached Hirofumi about paying rent or utilities, but he’d just given her a stern look and said, “This isn’t a boarding house; you’re our guest.”

Their kindness brought tears to Tohru’s eyes, but with every grain of rice in her bowl and every inch of space she took up in Hana’s bed, Tohru could only see the growing debt she’d never be able to repay. At least with Grandpa, she’d done the housework, and she’d likely continue to do the same when Aunt Mie and her cousins moved in. Her time living in the tent had been cold and dark and oftentimes scary, but the independence Tohru had come to know had kept her spirits lifted. It all seemed a blur now, weeks out in the woods on her own flowing into tangled memories, but the one constant she’d known was the sense of peace that came from the knowledge that no one was burdened by her existence. She took care of herself so no one else had to.

Was it lonely? Uo had asked, after she’d calmed down that day in the classroom.

No, Tohru had answered, and it was true. Perhaps the spirit of her mother had been all the company she’d needed, but her memories of the tent always came with a sense of companionship, a sense of safety that surely wasn’t warranted. It wasn’t lonely .

Still...something didn’t sit right with Tohru when she thought about it too hard. Those first nights had been clear in her mind, the wind threatening the walls of her tent, the howls of stray dogs nearby, the scuttling of bugs across her skin—it had been difficult, but she’d persevered. After that, though, her time camping felt like a dream, warm and hazy and golden. She remembered the shuffling of papers; the tinkling of windchimes; a cat’s hiss; a boy’s soft laugh. Happy dreams, Tohru supposed, that kept her going during that time.

She hadn’t been lonely alone in the woods...but she should have been.

***

“I heard you ate lunch with Prince Yuki yesterday, Tohru,” Uo said as they stretched before gym class. “Those fanclub girls are not happy about it.”

“Eh?!” Tohru was taken aback. “Yes, Sohma asked to eat lunch with me yesterday, but it’s just because he saw I was sitting by myself. He was being nice.”

“You think so?” Hana asked, picking at the chipping black paint on her nails. “That’s not something Sohma does often.”

Uo nodded, hands on her hips. “Come to think of it, the Prince always eats lunch by himself, no matter how many girls pester him. He doesn’t even sit with his cousin.”

“O-oh? Really? Well…” Tohru tugged on the end of one of her pigtails, face growing warm under the scrutiny of her friends. “Maybe he thought I was lonely. He was very nice, we talked about gardening! Did you know Sohma likes to garden?”

“What is he, an old lady?” Uo snorted. “Well, just...be careful, Tohru. The Prince might be nice, but his fangirls are rabid .”

“His waves are...unusual,” Hana commented, more to herself than to her friends. “I don’t know what to make of them.”

“Unusual?” Tohru tilted her head to the side. “Have you...said that before? About him?” Something about it rang familiar.

Hana raised an eyebrow. “I have. But I still do not know what it means.”

“Maybe he’s like you, Hana,” Uo teased, poking Hana’s cheek with her index finger. “Maybe he’s got some secret powers.”

“Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful!” Tohru exclaimed. “Hana, you’d have a friend like you!”

The corner of Hana’s twitched up into the ghost of a smile. “We’d have to be friends, first.”

“Then let’s make friends with him!” Tohru continued, clapping her hands together. “Maybe he can sense waves, too? Can you sense your own waves? Are his like Megumi’s? Or maybe it’s something totally different!”

“Alright, alright, calm down, Tohru,” Uo said, patting her on the head. “It doesn’t matter what’s wrong with his waves if he turns out to be a shitty friend. One step at a time.”

“Roger that!” Tohru drew herself up into a very serious salute. Hana laughed softly. “Friends first, waves second!”

“Maybe if we’re friends with him, he’ll give us produce from his garden…” Uo mused, stretching her arms over her head. In the distance, the gym teacher yelled at them to get into formation for a run around the track. “My old man needs more greens in his diet.”

“Tohru makes a delicious sukiyaki,” Hana commented casually. “I’m sure it would be even better with garden-grown vegetables.”

Uo snorted. “It’s not cold enough for nabe, Hana. You just want the meat.”

“Guilty as charged,” Hana said.

Tohru laughed with her friends as they began their run with the rest of the class, but a new spark had blossomed in her belly that she couldn’t ignore. If there was something about Sohma, then she had to get him and Hana to become friends. Hana had spent her whole life feeling like an outcast because of powers she’d had since birth. If there was someone out there like her...

Tohru had noticed it when they ate together, talking lightly about soil and sunlight, but Sohma had the saddest eyes she’d ever seen. They reminded her of the clouds before rain, dark gray and full to bursting. No matter how politely he smiled or how kindly he asked about her day, there was an intense sorrow in his gaze that broke Tohru’s heart.

If he had powers like Hana then maybe, like her, he’d be alone for a long time, too.

***

“Oi! Sohma!”

Tohru held back a meep of surprise when Uo shouted at Sohma from across the classroom the next day during lunch. She’d intended on approaching him herself, after he finished talking to Mayu-sensei, but Uo had beaten her to the punch. Mayu-sensei waved him off, giving Uo an amused smirk, and Sohma approached tentatively. Tohru couldn’t totally blame him; Uo and Hana looked scary when you didn’t know them.

“Is something wrong, Uotani?” He asked, head tilted.

“Nope,” she said, then patted the empty desk next to her. “Wanna eat with us?”

Sohma looked taken aback. “Only if you want to,” Tohru added hurriedly. “If you’re busy or already have plans with friends-”

“No,” Sohma said, still looking uncertain. “I would like to join you. Let me just...grab my lunch.”

Tohru beamed, relief flooding through her body. “Okay!”

“What are the waves saying?” Uo asked Hana, leaning back in her chair. Hana mused for a moment as Sohma ducked down to pull his lunch from his bag.

“I still can’t tell. There’s something...more. Something old.”

Uo’s eyes lit up in that terrible way that Tohru knew meant teasing was on its way. “You think he’s, like, a 30-year-old pretending to be a high schooler?”

“Older than that,” Hana said.

Uo gasped, awful grin widening. “50?”

“50 what?” Sohma sat down next to Uo, lunch in hand. Tohru could feel her face turning pink; if he’d overheard what Uo said-

“50 yen—Hana found a vending machine in the neighborhood that sells Calpis for 50 yen. It’s either a bargain or, like, cursed. Like an urban legend.”

“Oh.” Sohma didn’t seem to know how to react. “I’ve never had Calpis, but my cousin, Haru, really likes it.”

“Do you have a lot of cousins, Sohma?” Tohru asked. “We all know Kyo, and now Haru…”

“Yes,” Sohma said around a bite of katsu. “Our extended family is very large, so I don’t have any immediate cousins, but there are a lot of relatives my age who I’m close to.” He cast his eyes down, and Tohru wondered if he didn’t like to talk about his family.

“That’s so fun!” Tohru said, despite herself. “Growing up it was just me and Mom, so I never had any cousins to play with. I mean, I have cousins, but I’ve never been close with that side of the family…” She trailed off awkwardly, remembering that soon she'd be sharing a house with cousins she didn't know.

“Do you have any siblings?” Hana asked, and Tohru shot her a grateful smile.

Sohma nodded, mouth curling into a grimace. “An older brother.”

“Ooh, really?” Uo asked, that teasing glint back in her eyes. “Do you look alike?”

“Yes,” Sohma sighed, and Tohru thought she heard him mutter, “ Unfortunately .”

“Ha!” Uo rubbed her hands together. “Do you know how crazy the girls around here would get if they knew there was a second, older Prince out there?”

Sohma flushed. “We may look alike but we are...very different people.”

“Different how?” Tohru asked. It was hard to imagine someone out there with Sohma’s face but a completely different personality. Was he mean? Outgoing? Aggressive?

“ Kyon-Kyon !” Uo shouted, tossing her eraser at the other Sohma in the class. “Do you know the Prince’s brother?”

Kyo chucked the eraser back at Uo, a little too hard, but managed to miss. “Don’t throw things at me, woman!” His eyes moved from Uo, to Tohru, then over to Sohma, and a disgruntled frown settled over his features. “What do you want?”

Uo turned in her seat to better face him. “Do you know Sohma’s brother? He’s your cousin, too, right?”

“Ayame?” Kyo asked, spitting out the name with disgust. “He’s an annoying bastard, is what he is. He never shuts up .”

“Really?” Uo cackled, tilting back in her chair. “Tell us more.”

“What the hell? No!” Kyo growled. “Make that idiot next to you tell you about Ayame; it’s his brother.”

Yuki shrugged, bringing rice to his mouth. “He’s not wrong. My brother is loud and inconsiderate.”

Uo laughed again and slapped Sohma on the shoulder. “That’s rough, man!”

Tohru tittered, wondering if she should divert the conversation away from family, when she caught Hana’s gaze pierce over her shoulder. Tohru turned, and saw that Hana was staring at Kyo, who’d gone back to napping against the windowsill. The look in Hana’s eyes was uncertain...confusion, maybe? Intrigue?

“Hey, we got some time before class, right?” Uo asked, leaning over to rummage through her bag. “Who wants to play daihinmin?”

“Oh, that sounds fun!” Tohru said, grateful for the distraction. “Sohma, would you like to play with us?”

Sohma looked vaguely bewildered. “Oh...yes, I would like that. But I don’t know the rules.”

“Don’t worry, I always forget them!” Tohru assured him. “Hana’s good at explaining it.”

Sohma cracked a smile—a true, genuine smile—and nodded. “Sounds fun.”

By the time class started, Tohru was losing miserably, but Sohma was more relaxed than she’d ever seen him before, even as Uo teased him and Hana stared unnervingly. The site made her smile so hard, she thought her face would split in two.

***

Tohru didn’t mean to overhear the fight. She’d left her notebook in class and had run back to get it. But as she headed back to where Hana and Uo waited, she turned a corner and stumbled upon the two Sohma cousins locked in a heated argument. A part of her was curious, and another part worried, so she ducked back behind the corner and listened.

“-doing, talking to her? Are you trying to make Akito mad?”

“Akito can’t get mad if he doesn’t know. Are you going to tell him?”

“Fuck, no!” Kyo hit the wall next to Sohma’s head. “But he’ll find out, he always finds out. You think it’ll stop with him pulling us out of this school? You think he won’t hurt her, just to spite you?”

“I’m not stupid, cat ,” Sohma hissed, grabbing Kyo by the front of his shirt. “I know better than anyone what Akito can and will do. But I’m not going to let fear of him keep me from being happy. Not anymore.”

Kyo growled and aimed a punch towards Sohma’s face. Tohru gasped, but Sohma was quick, and dodged out of the way just in time. There was a loud clang as Kyo’s fist collided with the locker where Sohma’s head had just been.

“If she gets hurt,” he hissed, voice low and deadly calm. “I will kill you, damn rat.”

“If she gets hurt,” Sohma replied. “I’m not the one you should kill. Get your priorities straight.”

Before Kyo could reply, Sohma walked away, head held high. Tohru watched him disappear, then saw Kyo sink to the ground, cradling his hand. The locker he’d punched was dented, and Tohru could see specks of red forming on Kyo’s knuckles. Despite herself, Tohru hurried forward, sinking to her knees in front of Kyo.

“Are you okay?” She asked, reaching out to look at Kyo’s hand. He snatched it away, face growing pale.

“How much did you hear?” He demanded, eyes narrowing. “How much?!”

“A-ah, well,” Tohru pulled her hands back and settled them on her lap. “Something about a person named Akito? And you’re afraid Akito will hurt someone else? I didn’t really understand what was going on, but you two were really angry about it…”

Kyo’s shoulders sagged, and he seemed to deflate. “It doesn’t involve you, so don’t go poking your nose into places it doesn’t belong, okay?”

“Y-yes! Okay,” Tohru nodded.

“I’m serious,” Kyo said. “Akito...Akito is dangerous. Me n’ Yuki can handle him, so don’t try to get involved with this. You’ll just get hurt.”

Tohru couldn’t help but feel warmth towards Kyo. He was worried about her. She’d thought he had a softer side to him that he didn’t show to other people, and she was right. “Okay,” Tohru repeated. “But the person you’re worried about, will she be okay? Should we go to the police?”

Kyo almost smiled. “Nah, she’ll be okay. I’m watching out for her, so she’s got nothing to worry about.”

“That’s sweet,” Tohru said, beaming. “She’s lucky to have her own guard dog, huh?”

“Cat.”

“Huh?”

There was a light flush on Kyo’s face as he muttered, “I’m more of a cat than a dog.”

Tohru laughed. “I can see that! You’re skittish around people, until you warm up to them. And you nap in class a lot .”

Kyo huffed and gently bopped Tohru’s head with his good hand. “Yeah, yeah. You better get going, or wave girl and the yankee will tear apart the school looking for you.”

“Oh, you’re right! They’re probably worried I’ve been gone so long!” Tohru stood and brushed off her skirt. “I have bandaids in my bag, if you want to come with me. We could patch up your hand.”

Kyo waved her off. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I heal quick.”

“Okay. See you later, Sohma,” she said, waving as she began to turn.

“Kyo.”

“Hmm?” Tohru paused and looked back. “What?”

“Kyo,” he repeated, not meeting her eyes. “Call me Kyo.”

“Okay,” she said. “Okay. See you later... Kyo .”

Tohru ran off to meet her friends, heart feeling light. Maybe, just maybe, she’d befriended more than one Sohma boy today.

#fruits basket fanfiction #fruits basket #fruits basket spoilers #furuba manga spoilers #yuki & tohru #anna writes things #x-posting from ao3

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thenovelartist · 5 years

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Homecoming Queen (I’ll Steal You Away), chapter 1

A No-Curse, American High School AU Fruits Basket story. Because I can XD

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Today was one of those days when both Kyo and Yuki could drive her to school. Which meant a fight to see who would win the honor.

It was the way of the Sohma house hold, one she found herself part of the summer after her freshman year of high school when her mom suddenly passed in an accident. She could have lived with her grandfather on her father’s side, but her classmate and friend, Yuki, was the one to invite her to live with him and his cousin. It was a crazy idea, and the last thing she wanted to do was be a burden to anyone, nevertheless someone who wasn’t her blood family. Yet, they’d come to an agreement that she could cook and clean for them in exchange for room and board. Beyond the initial shock of seeing how messy the two men were and then the initial cleaning the house, it was really simple to keep on top of the chores and prepare meals.

The fact she worked at the grocery store down the street made it even simpler.

Two bachelors soon became three that summer when Kyo had arrived. Shigure had agreed to take him in after Kyo had been picked up by the police twice in a year and his guardian thought that Kyo needed a change of scenery. The deal was that Kyo could go back once his anger issues had gotten under control, which meant six months without a run in with the law or a fight.

Fighting with Yuki aside—because Tohru quickly learned those two got on like fire and water—Kyo passed that test after seven months. Yet, he remained. Apparently, his father figure thought the small town was good for him and suggested he stay, and Kyo, despite all his insisting he wasn’t going to stick around long, had easily agreed.

That’s just how life had been for the last two years. Tohru loved the odd family dynamic that had formed, even if Yuki and Kyo were still enemies of sorts and fought often. Like, for example, ever since the duo each learned to drive and bought cars, it became a thing to fight over who drove her to and from school as well as too and from work.

Rules had to be determined pretty early on after there were a couple times their bickering almost made them late to school. So, the first rule that was laid down was one took her to school while the other took her from it. On days that either boy could take her to and from school, they would spar—outside to save poor Shigure’s house from any more holes in the walls or broken furniture—to decide who got her in the morning. If Kyo had practice or Yuki had student counsel duties, then they would drive her the time they were available while the other would drive her the opposite time. If there was a draw and neither could drive her, Tohru’s friend, Saki, would swoop up Tohru and laugh in victory.

However, today, Yuki was the winner of the morning drive, much to Kyo’s frustration.

“Don’t look so upset. You get to take me home,” she assured Kyo.

“Yeah,” Yuki goaded. “If you want to take her in the mornings, then all you have to do is beat me.”

“You know what—!”

“No, what.” Yuki deadpanned.

“Guys,” Tohru whined. “Don’t fight. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a short car ride.” Honestly, Tohru didn’t understand how it was a thing at all. They could just take turns on those days, alternating between who took her in the morning or not. But Shigure said they’d take any reason they could to fight, and Tohru had learned he wasn’t lying.

“Yeah, it’s just a car ride,” Yuki said, his eyes narrowing at Kyo. “Not like you lost anything more than your pride.”

Kyo looked like he was about to snap when Tohru shoved herself in between the two boys. “Please don’t fight again,” she said. “We have to get to school.”

With a growl, Kyo backed up. “Fine,” he relented, marching to his rusted orange truck.

“Why anyone would buy a hunk of metal like that is beyond me,” Yuki commented.

“Because it’s still in good condition and could beat your little, dinky car.”

“In what?” Yuki challenged with a grin. “Mine has better gas mileage, safety features—”

“Um, we should really get to school,” Tohru said, interrupting their conversation.

“Fine,” the two boys said in unison.

“I’ll behave.”

“You were the one goading me on!”

“Have a good day, you three,” Shigure called, purposefully interrupting them, for which Tohru was grateful for. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“You wouldn’t do a lot of sane things,” Yuki retorted.

“And would do a lot of bad things,” Kyo added in.

Tohru just laughed, silently agreeing with them. She loved Shigure, but a role model he wasn’t.

She also had to laugh at how one of the few things that could bring Kyo and Yuki together was when they were fighting Shigure—or Ayame, but that was another story.

Yuki, ever the gentleman, held open the passenger side car door for her. “Thank you,” she said, slipping inside the gray car and putting her backpack by her legs.

“You’re welcome,” he returned with a grin before shutting her door. By the time he hopped into the driver’s seat, Kyo was already zipping off, his truck engine revving all the while.

“Typical,” Yuki commented. “He’d get better gas mileage if he wasn’t such a lead foot.”

“You better not tell him that,” Tohru commented with an amused grin. The two definitely had different driving styles, Yuki being the safer of the two. But Kyo was more comfortable behind the wheel, Tohru noticed, which made her feel equally comfortable with both boys. “But I don’t get what the big deal is. Isn’t it a hassle to drive me to and from school?”

“Never,” he assured, starting his car. “It’s truly an honor.”

Tohru smiled, hoping her blush wasn’t evident. Honestly, she’d always thought that it was a hassle and a burden. But they always assured her it wasn’t. It made her feel not as bad because honestly…

It was really nice being driven to and from school and work by her friends.

It didn’t take long to get to school. Yuki was always pleasant company in the mornings, and conversation flowed easily.

When they got to school, they caught sight of Kyo’s truck already there as well as Saki’s black car. Meaning that all her friends were there already. When they walked onto campus, they were immediately assaulted by the sheer number of posters on every conceivable surface.

Yuki sighed. “When I told them to make sure the posters were clearly visible, this was not what I meant.”

Tohru giggled. “To be fair, I don’t think anyone is going to miss the fact that homecoming is coming up.”

“Not even the most dim-witted person could miss it,” he said. “Are you planning to go?”

“It would be fun. But between the tickets and the dress, it’s just too expensive.”

Yuki hummed. “As practical as ever.”

“Saki and Arisa will probably want me to go, but I’ve actually been saving up for the big senior dance at the end of the year because those tickets have always been really expensive, but it’s the one big, fancy senior party, so I thought if I could only chose dance one to go to, it should be that one.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Yuki agreed. “It’s always the most extravagant one, so it seems like it would be worth it.”

“Yup. Besides, I’ll be at the homecoming game.”

“You’d better.”

Tohru turned to see Kyo standing there. He gently knocked her head in an affectionate way. “It’s my last year and first as team captain. You better show up.”

“I try not to miss any of your games,” she said, lightly punching his arm. “And you know it.”

He smirked. “Your right-handed jab still sucks.”

She just giggled as he tapped her head once again before turning to head off to class. “Come on. If we’re late for first period, the teacher will have our heads.”

“Coming. Bye, Yuki. See you third period.”

“See you then,” he said with a wave before marching off to his class.

Tohru then whipped around and scurried to Kyo’s side. They made it just before the bell rang.

…

“So…”

Tohru turned to face Arisa. “So what?”

“You chose one of them yet?”

Tohru blinked, feeling very lost. “W-what?”

“I think that’s a no,” Saki answered, filling the silence.

Currently, they were sitting together in second period, the only class period that Tohru didn’t have Kyo or Yuki in. Fortunately, she had her two best friends. She thought they liked it, too. They’d mentioned more than once how they liked having her all to themselves for a class.

“Come on, Tohru,” Arisa said, smirk on her face. “You know we’re talking about the Prince and Carrots.”

“We already told you they both like you.”

Tohru blushed hard, remembering that conversation. “I knew that,” she said in a quiet voice. Because she had known it. Deep inside her heart, she was aware that both Kyo and Yuki had gradually changed around her, their actions with her different from with anyone else. She’d known, yet had simultaneously been ignorant of it until Arisa and Saki brought it up.

And now that she knew, she couldn’t un-know it, and it turned her into a mess.

“You gotta pick one of them, or they’re just gonna keep up their pissing match of who gets you or not,” Arisa said.

“I know,” Tohru whined. “But I choosing one will hurt the other, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt, but I know I have to do something! I just don’t know what to do.”

“Come on,” Arisa goaded, playfully poking her. “You gotta like one more than the other.”

Tohru whimpered. Both boys had their special ways of tugging on her heart, and just when she thought she could choose one, the other would come along and do something that caused her to doubt that decision.

“You’re overthinking it,” Saki pointed out. “I think you have one picked out but really, you’re scared of hurting the other one.”

Tohru’s mind went blank. “Huh?”

“Really?” Arisa asked. “What makes you think that.”

“I can sense her waves with both men,” Saki said. “One set is more harmonious than the other. But beyond that, if you study her hard enough with both men, it becomes clear.”

“I watch as much as you,” Arisa snipped. “I don’t think it’s exactly crystal.”

“But don’t you have a guy you want her to end up with?”

Tohru’s blush somehow deepened. “Wait… what?”

Arisa grunted. “Yeah, I do.”

“You… wait.” Tohru’s eyes screwed shut in confusion. “Stop. What are you talking about?”

“It’s quite obvious.” Saki said. “After careful consideration, we decided who to ship you with.”

“How? What do you mean? I don’t think it’s obvious. How can I choose? Who do you think I should choose? I don’t understand.”

“Calm down,” Arisa said, resting a hand on Tohru’s shoulder. “I’m kinda beginning to agree with Saki’s saying you’re overthinking it.”

“I’m insulted you doubted me.”

“Then what do I do?” Tohru asked.

“Pick one and don’t feel guilty about not choosing the other,” Saki bluntly said.

“She’s right,” Arisa said. “Only one guy is going to get our precious Tohru, and the other will be a man and suck up the loss. It’s what guys do.”

Tohru whimpered. This was not going to be easy.

“On a different note,” Saki said. “Are you certain there is nothing we can do to convince you to come to homecoming with us?”

“Yeah,” Arisa chimed in. “Come on, Tohru. It would be really fun for you to be there.”

Tohru smiled. “I know it would, but I want to save up for the senior ball. Those tickets are expensive. And if I went to homecoming, I’d have to get a dress now instead of when I saved up for it. So my budget’s smaller.”

“Okay, we get the dress thing,” Arisa said. “But once you have the dress, you could wear it twice. And the homecoming tickets aren’t that expensive. They’re the cheapest of any of the dances.”

“Or better yet,” Saki said. “Save money both times by having the boys agree to take you as their date. They’d be obligated to buy you tickets, and you would only have to worry about the dress, which I’m sure you could find for less expensive somewhere.”

Arisa lit up. “Oh yeah! That’s a great idea.”

“But I couldn’t!” Tohru cried. “That would be so much money for them to have to spend!”

“The boys could afford it. And I seriously doubt they’d mind,” Arisa said.

“Yes,” Saki agreed. “And then, after all the obligatory dances with them, you can spend the rest of your time with us.”

“But they bought the tickets so we could be together,” Tohru argued. “I couldn’t abandon them after they spent money on me like that. That is, if that happened. But it’s not going to because I couldn’t let them do that.”

“Sure, you can,” Arisa encouraged. “Have one take you to homecoming and one take you to the Senior Ball.”

“I would assume you’d let Kyo take you to homecoming since he is the captain of the football team and the dance is partly to celebrate them,” Saki said. “Which would mean you let Yuki take you to the Senior Ball, which means you have the Prince of the school escorting you to the fanciest event of the year. That makes perfect sense to me.”

“You’d really score either way.”

Tohru whimpered at the thought. Using them like that felt wrong. But then again…

Going to the dances with either of them sounded really fun.

“I can’t exactly ask them.”

Saki hummed in thought. “Maybe they’ll ask you.”

“And if they don’t,” Arisa added. “We’ll drop hints.”

Tohru barely had time to blush before the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

“All right, students,” the teacher called, marching to the middle of the classroom and effectively bringing their conversation to an end. Which Tohru was grateful for because she wasn’t sure her stomach could be in any bigger of a knot.

#fanfiction #fruits basket #tohru honda #kyo sohma #yuki sohma #fluff #arisa uotani #saki hanajima

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murasaki-murasame · 5 years

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Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 22: “Because I Was Happy”

In spite of how last week’s episode was kinda meh, this episode ended up being one of the single best episodes of the show thus far. It at least goes to show that this adaptation is incredibly good at drama, even if it’s not so great at comedy.

Anyway the TL;DR of my feelings right now is just a whole pile of those pictures of crying cats. You know the ones.

Thoughts under the cut [and spoilers for the manga as a whole]

To get right to the chase, this episode adapted chapter 51, which is interesting because this makes it the first episode adapting material that straight up hadn’t even been written when the 2001 anime was made, since I think that came out when the manga was at around chapter 43 or so. Even Uo’s backstory arc had already been done in the manga by that point, and they just chose to cut it in the first adaptation. So I can’t exactly fault the 2001 anime for not having adapted this chapter, but man it really goes to show how much of the story the 2001 anime was missing, and how much good stuff we’re in for here.

I think it was a good choice to put the two Hana chapters back to back like this, even though in the manga they were like 20+ chapters apart from each other. It’s by far the most standalone chapter of the manga, and it’s specific placement has always kinda baffled me, since it happens right after we meet the student council characters and Kureno, and shortly before the summer vacation arc, and none of that had to do with Hana. I think it’s just one of those things where Takaya’s nerve disorder probably impacted how she approached the story, and lead to some odd detours into side stories and backstories until the ‘main story’ kicked back into high gear. It flows a lot more naturally here, and the fact that the whole episode is a flashback with no real present-day context or framing isn’t even noticeable when it comes right after the events of the last episode. It felt like a bit more of a harsh narrative shift in the manga.

But it’s still always been one of my favourite individual chapters in the series, in spite of it’s awkward timing. The material itself does everything it needs to make it stand out. And the shifted placement in this adaptation just helps elevate it’s strengths even more.

I’ve been wondering how anime-only people might react to this episode, for lots of reasons, and I’m glad that everyone seems to love it. It really does come as a huge curveball in terms of tone and focus after how self-contained and comedic the last episode was, but it works nicely.

And even more than that, it’s fun watching people react for the first time to the reveal that Hana’s powers are actually 100% real, and the story ends up being dead serious in depicting how they impacted her life. Basically Fruits Basket suddenly turns into Carrie But With A Support Network for an episode, and I doubt any new fans saw that one coming, lmao.

Though tbh I still think it’s [intentionally] ambiguous whether or not she actually had supernatural powers. It never really comes up again, and the handful of cases of her using her powers on people can technically be written off as a mix of coincidences and a sort of placebo effect from people who think she’s seriously gonna curse them. In terms of what Takaya thought when she wrote this, I think Hana probably does have straight up psychic powers, but there’s room for interpretation, and I think this episode is really interesting when viewed through the lens of Hana having some sort of severe mental illness.

I’ve been pretty occupied recently with thinking about the topic of disability in Fruits Basket when it comes to Kyo’s arc [and oh boy do I have stuff to say about that very soon], but I’d kinda forgotten that Hana’s backstory here is another good example of that.

I don’t exactly want to jump to conclusions and start armchair diagnosing her, but the ‘voices’ Hana heard could definitely be symptoms of something like social anxiety or even schizophrenia. Depending on how literally you want to take the idea of her ‘hearing voices’.

In general there’s a sort of blurry line in this series between supernatural stuff, and things that are realistic to the experiences of disabled [or otherwise oppressed/neglected in general] people. But I’ll talk more about that later.

On a somewhat related note, one surprising thing about this episode is that in spite of the overall tone and events of this episode, Hana’s family is completely supportive of her, and never doubt the existence of her powers, or hate her for it. Instead all they care about is her safety and well-being, and they’re willing to move towns if it means removing Hana from a toxic school environment. I think I’ve said it before, but I think it’s good that this series has a whole range of types of parents/families who have their own unique feelings about their childrens’ struggles. You can’t really accuse it of being one-dimensional.

The thing that really struck me about this episode most of all was just how good the artistic direction and overall execution were. In terms of the story it was a pretty 1:1 adaptation of the manga, with nothing changed/added/removed from what I can remember, but it was just executed incredibly well. Pretty much like how things went with the Uo arc.

Specifically I really loved the way that the entire episode had a consistent cool grey tone to it all, and was filled with deep shadows and harsh, artificial-looking lighting, right up until the point where Hana admits that she wants to stay with Tohru and Uo, and suddenly everything is bright and warm and filled with light. It’s not exactly the most complicated thing ever, but it really made the climax of this episode stand out.

But the way it handled the lighting and shading up until that point was genuinely really neat in and of itself, and lead to a really atmospheric and oppressive vibe to everything. Especially scenes like the one where Hana got her arm burned by those bullies, and the whole scene was incredibly dark and shadowy and eerie. I also really liked the cut of her running down the school hallway, and how the harsh bluish lighting from the windows contrasted with her silhouette and the darkness of the hallway itself.

The way they handled the scenes of her hearing voices by having the screen be slowly blotted out by cloudy blackness and overlapping voices was also really neat.

I think it’s really neat that some of the best material we’ve gotten thus far has come from some of the most unlikely characters. Normally with a series like this you’d think that Tohru’s best friends would be disposable comic relief characters [which they kinda were in the 2001 anime, tbh], but they both ended up getting incredibly good backstory arcs that flesh them out immensely and deliver some of the strongest emotions and messages in the series. It really goes to show that this is an ensemble cast type of story that cares about all of it’s characters instead of just the core few. In the manga it wasn’t really apparent until later because of how things were paced out, but this adaptation’s really making it clear already that this series is totally willing to basically ignore it’s main trio for episodes on end in order to focus on the supporting cast, lol.

And on THAT note, to balance out the fact that Kyo in particular has been kinda absent since, like, the lake house episode I think, the next episode is gonna dive straight into what will ultimately be a three-episode story arc focused on him, his backstory, and his relationship with Tohru. I hope it lives up to the expectations of all the new fans who’ve been anxious to see more of him, and I hope they know to keep their hands inside the rollercoaster at all times because we’re about to Go Places [tm] :)

I’d been expecting for a while that the next episode would adapt chapters 30 and 31 and end with Kazuma’s introduction, so that the last two episodes of the season can focus on the meat of the true form arc, and thankfully they just outright used Kazuma’s line from the end of chapter 31 as the title of the next episode so that spells itself out, lol.

I’ve seen some people worry that this means they might be skipping the soup chapter, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’d actually be really easy to cover both of those chapters in one episode. You could actually splice the events of them together pretty nicely, so that Tohru getting sick is still the main thread of the whole episode even if it ends with Kazuma showing up.

I think they could at least do some things like making the part in Chapter 31 where Kyo and Kagura go shopping together be related to Kyo cooking for Tohru while she’s sick. But we’ll see.

I know some people think that ep24 will cover the whole true form arc, and that ep25 will be chapters 35 and 36, but I don’t really feel like that’d work well. The true form arc is way too much of an emotional climax all around to not be the season finale. And chapter 35 in general would serve as a nice sort of semi-recap of the true form arc to start season 2 off with.

And in general I don’t think the series has ever adapted three whole chapters into one episode, and I don’t think they’ll start with this arc. I think it’ll be like how they adapted the Uo arc into two episodes when it was also three chapters long. Either way, I think they’d be able to pretty easily flesh it out a bit to cover two episodes, whereas it’d be difficult to condense it into just one episode without it feeling rushed. But who knows. I have faith in them one way or another.

For the time being I’m just gonna emotionally prepare myself, lmao.

#murasaki rambles #fruits basket #me @ the fact that the kyo arc starts next week: this is fine :)))))

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