"Where are we going, Reiko-chan?" a whining Atsumu asked the girl, in which she ignored him.
"Reiko-chan~"
"Rei-ko-chan~"
"Reiko-,"
"Just shut up and walk, Bakatsumu!" the woman replied, but was shockingly not angry at his whining.
The golden haired twin pouted at the sudden yell from the ravenette.
"What Rei-chan meant is that you need to be more patient, Atsumu-kun," the french girl replied.
"Yes, don't whine, ugly," the grey haired twin replied.
"What did you call me, you piece of crap!?"
"Ugly! U-g-l-y," Osamu spelled out loud.
"You-,"
"Atsumu, Osamu, behave," Kita interupted them.
"Y-Yes, Kita-san!" the twins said in unison, afraid of their captain becoming angry.
"Pssstttt........Aya, where are we going?" a curious Suna asked the girl.
"Who knows, Suna-kun," the girl said and emphasized the honorifics in a teasing way, which made the boy grunt.
'She's such a tease,' the boy thought.
The group of friends were currently walking through town. The girls saw the boy's devastated states, after losing the finals, and wanted to cheer them up, especially the ravenette, Sohma Reiko. Even though she looks like she doesn't care about their well-being, she actually does care a lot. Especially when it happens to be the golden haired boy. The boy didn't even want to toss a volleybal, which made the girl snap and drag him to their current situation.
After a couple of minutes passed, the group of friends stood in front of a big building.
"Sohma's Heavenly Hell....." Ginjima muttered.
"Sounds evil," someone muttered.
"What is this place?"
Before someone could answer, Reiko slammed the door open. Everyone's eyes widened, with the exception of her two best friends, who were following the ravenette.
"I want a table for us all, right now," Reiko ordered.
"Yes, follow me, Reiko-sama," the waitress gestured.
"Sama?" Osamu questioned, while they were walking after the two of them.
"Yes, she is the Sohma Head's little sister, if you remembered," Akihiko answered.
"Oh...eh.....yes, I do, Aki-san,"
"Unfortunately....." the golden haired twin muttered, while silently clenching his fist.
Memories of Akito abusing his Reiko came into his mind. He still couldn't believe how her brother treated her. He and his twin also fight, but it never went as far as giving each other a trauma. They knew when to stop.
"Are you guys coming or should we leave you?" An impatient ravenette asked the three guys.
"We're coming!" they said and followed them.
"Are you perhaps the owner of this restaurant, Reiko-chan?" Osamu asked the ravenette.
"I'm only the acting-owner of Sohma's Heavenly Hell," the girl replied.
"Acting?" Atsumu questioned.
"Yes, acting,"
"This restaurant is actually from my aunt, but she eloped with her husband and changed her surname. And because this restaurant has the name 'Sohma' in their name, it became one of ours again," the girl explained.
"What about the real owner of this restaurant? What happened to them?" Akihiko asked the girl.
Reiko clenched her fist and sighed.
"Unfortunately, they died in an accident....."
When they all sat at the table, the waitress came to take their orders. One by one she wrote their orders down with a smile plastered on her face. But her smile immediately turned into a frown, seeing the red haired fox girl.
"Do I have to take that thing's orders too?" She lowly mockingly asked herself, but the ravenette and the others heard her. They all frowned, giving her their disapproval.
"PATRICIA! Apologize right now!" Reiko yelled, while loudly closing her menu.
"Yes, yes, Reiko-sama," she lazily said.
"I 'deeply' apologize for my behavior, Aristia-sama," she gritted through her teeth.
The waitress and the others were anticipating a 'Thank you' from the girl, but oh boy.... They didn't know her yet.
"Hm? You know you should treat your customers like kings and Queens, right? So what did you say, Miss. Patri- oh wait Miss. Waitress? I didn't quite understand you well. Can you say it louder for the people in the back?" Aristia mocked and changed her seating position in a more majestic way.
Patricia's frown deepened. She hesitated, not wanting to be lower than one of the Sohma Head's 'pet', or so she called them. Her friends smirked, seeing their demon manager show her 'dark' side.
Aristia wasn't really someone with a lot of patience. Having enough of Patricia's silence, she took some action. The red haired girl grabbed the waitress' hair and held her ear by the said girl's mouth.
"I don't have all the time, Patricia-chan. Just apologize to a lowly 'pet' like me, or so you call us. You don't want to lose your job, right?" the woman mockingly chuckled, in which the waitress' eyes widened.
"I-I SINCERLY APOLOGIZE FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, ARISTIA-SAMA!" The waitress loudly yelled and ran away.
The others looked at her like she was really a devil in disguise, but quickly averted their eyes when she began to smile.
"So, what should I eat?" The red haired girl questioned, like nothing happened just now.
'SHE REALLY IS A DEMON!'
After their meal, the friends were strolling around town, until a familiar voice caught the red haired girl's ears.
"OH NOOOO!!!!!!!"
"WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO ME NOW!!????"
Aristia stopped in her tracks and sweatdropped, hearing the screams of her cousin's editor.
"What's the matter, Aristia?" Kita asked, who was a few steps ahead.
The red haired girl pointed to the panicked woman across the road.
On the pathway stood a young woman with fair skin and a petite build. She was dressed in office clothing; a simple blouse, tight skirt, and heels. The woman has short, straight purple-greyish hair which reaches down to her ears, with evenly-cut baby bangs framing her forehead. She has light purple eyes, where tears were streaming all over her face.
The woman's name was Mitsuru. Beside her laid a red colored bike in the middle of the pathway. She grieved over her bike as if it was dead.
"Are you alright, Mit-san?" The red haired girl asked, while approaching the crying woman.
The girl eyed the big wounds on her knees and gave her an apologetic smile.
The woman turned around and more tears streamed out of her eyes, upon seeing the fox girl.
"A-Aristia-san...... What should I do!? I need to deliver these papers to Shigure-san, but I fell when my bike hit some debris on the road!" The woman cried.
"MY BOSS IS GOING TO KILL ME, WHEN HE'LL FIND OUT!!!"
"Mother, Father, forgive me for leaving this world before you......," she cried, while writing an apology letter.
"C-Calm down, Mit-san. You're not going to die. I'll bring them to Gure-nii-sensei if you want to," Aristia suggested.
"Aya, will you please patch her wounds?" The girl requested, in which the blonde nodded and magically pops out an emergency kit out of nowhere.
Hearing this, Mitsuru's tears immediately stopped.
"Y-YOU REALLY WANT TO DO THAT FOR ME, ARISTIA-SAN!??" the woman loudly asked, in which the red haired girl gave her a smile and nodded.
"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, ARISTIA-SAN!!!! I DON'T KNOW HOW I CAN REPAY YOU!!!! I'M SORRY FOR BEING A BURDEN TO YOU!"
"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SO-"
"Please stop apologizing, Mit-san. Just focus on your recovery," the woman chuckled.
"Y-Yes, I'm sorry....."
"Are you going to be okay on your own, Aristia-san?" Akihiko asked the girl.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'll see you all later!" Aristia shouted and walked away.
"Be careful on your way, Aristia,"
Moments passed and dawn broke down. Our main character finally arrived at the Sohma cottage. Well, if she only climbed the big stairs in front of their entrance that is. Aristia was a fast runner, but didn't have a great stamina. Before she could climb the stairs a sudden voice caught her by surprise.
"What a surprise seeing you here, Aristia-chan~," a muscular voice whispered in her ears.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" The woman shrieked and turned around in her defense mode.
"My, my, you don't have to be on your guard with me. Why the sudden occasion?" Shigure asked the red haired girl.
"You really gave me an heart attack,Gure-nii-sensei!" the girl sighed and handed him some papers.
"What is this?"
"I came across your editor. She needed to deliver some papers, but unfortunately, she had an accident on her way, so I requested her to bring it instead," Aristia explained.
"How nice of you, Aristia-chan! Come inside," the man said and climbed the stairs, im which the fox girl sighed, but nonetheless followed him.
When they arrived inside the cottage, the two Sohma's were surprised at the sight they were seeing. The brown haired girl, who was staying with the Sohma's after her mother's death, was hugging an unconscious young woman, who has long black hair. Aristia loudly gasped and threw her hands to her mouth from the shock.
"I-Isuzu-nee-san?" The shocked woman softly muttered.
Tohru's eyes widened, hearing the familiar voice of the red haired girl and turned around. Immediately after that, the black haired girl transformed in her horse form, due to exhaustion.
The brunette panicked, but calmed down when Aristia reassured her that everything is going to be alright.
After some time, Isuzu transformed to her human form, but was still unconscious. Shigure carried her into Tohru's room and put the horse woman in bed. The two girls were silently treating the black haired girl, but Aristia broke the silence by telling her a story.
"Hey, Honda-san. Do you want to know why Isuzu-nee acted the way she did, when she saw you?" The girl asked, in which the brunette nodded.
"It all begun in Isuzu-nee's childhood. Out of all cursed Sohma's, Isuzu-nee lived the best life. At least, that was what we all thought. We all saw how her parents loved her, but unfortunately it was all an act," the red haired girl frowned.
"Her parents forced themselves to love someone like her, a cursed Sohma, but couldn't take the stress anymore and broke out of their play. They began to abuse Isuzu-nee and even let her starve,"
"One day, me and Haru found her almost unconscious laying on the pathway. While I was staying beside her, Haru called Kazuma-sensei. We brought her to the hospital and stayed their for a while,"
"A couple of minutes passed and Isuzu-nee woke up. The doctor wanted to inform her parents and ask them about the accident, but she didn't want that. She wanted to be wanted and loved by her parents again like before and wanted to do that by being a good and proper girl,"
"But unfortunately, when her parents visited they told her to never come home again and abondened her,"
"Me and Haru became angry and stood up for her, but all efforts went in vain,"
"Since then, she was adopted by Kagura-nee and lives with them,"
When Aristia ended the story, she didn't hear a single sound of the brunette. She looked up and was shocked at the sight. Tohru was looking at her with widened eyes, while tears were streaming on her face.
"Why?" The brunette muttered.
'Why?' Aristia questioned in her head.
"Why did all of you experience something tragic?" Tohru asked, while trying to wipe her tears.
The fox girl give a pained smile and answered her.
"Because we are cursed, Honda-san,"
"Then I am going to break the curse!" Tohru exclaimed with a determined face looking straight in pink-ish eyes of the red haired girl.
Hearing this, made the fox girl almost burst out of tears, but she only gave the brunette a grateful smile.
'So that's why you appeared in my dream,' she thought.
"Thank you, Honda-san,"
(AN: From here on, most thoughts are in Sohma Isuzu/Rin's POV)
After a couple of hours, the black haired girl, Sohma Isuzu, woke up in an unfamiliar room to her. She looked around and felt something or rather someone heavy laying on her left leg. Isuzu softly smiled and lightly stroke the red hair of the little girl.
Upon feeling the warm touch on her head, Aristia woke up from her slumber and opened her eyes. Her sight was met with soft eyes looking at her, but it immediately turned into one of surprise, upon seeing the brunette. Isuzu was about to ran away, but Tohru softly put her back in bed.
"Please don't get up," the brunette pleaded.
'Why is she...'
"I will go notify Hatori-san," Tohru exclaimed and headed downstairs.
'No, I don't want to get close to her,' Isuzu thought and looked back at the red haired girl, who was warmly smiling at her.
'She neither.....'
After some time, Tohru came back with the two adults, Sohma Shigure and Sohma Hatori and left the three Sohma's alone.
"Tohru-kun found you in the living room on the floor and throwing up," Shigure said
"Then, you transformed into a horse. Boy, we were at a loss,"
"We couldn't possibly take you to the hospital in that state," the dog added.
"Anyway, we waited for you to regain consciousness. Remember now?" the adult asked, while the horse girl was crouching in bed.
"I remember," Isuzu replied.
'I had an unpleasant dream. How humiliating,'
"Isuzu, you're going to the hospital," Hatori exclaimed.
"No! I'm not going," the horse replied.
"Isuzu-nee-san....."
"No! I hate the hospital!" Isuzu shouted and ran to the window.
She was about to spring out of the window, but Hatori held her back.
"No! Let go! Leave me alone!" the girl shouted and struggled to get out of his grip.
Suddenly, someone dropped a tray of food and called the said girl's name.
"P-Please don't, Isuzu-san! That's dangerous!" the brunette pleaded.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, the horse girl calmed down and slowly sat on the bedside.
"Rin, why not learn how to take care of yourself?" Shigure advised.
"Especially if you want people to leave you alone,"
'What am I doing?'
'It will never end like this...'
While Tohru and Shigure were saying their farewells to Hatori outside, the red haired girl was left alone with the horse girl. It was silent between the two. No words were exchanged, until Aristia decided to break the silence.
"Isuzu-nee, what happened to you?" the girl softly asked.
"You don't need to know! Just live your happy life and leave me alone!" the black haired girl shouted at her, in which Aristia became silent.
"You really think I'm living a happy life, right?" the fox girl lowly mumbled.
"What?" a surprised Isuzu asked, with slightly widened eyes.
"What did 'he' do to you, Isuzu-nee?"
The black haired girl remained silent, not wanting to be reminded of the incident.
"Did he injure you, Isuzu-nee!?" Aristia asked, while her voice gradually raised.
Isuzu flinched, but didn't said anything and hid herself inside the bedsheets.
"Please go away," she muttered from under the bedsheets.
"No, I won't leave you,"
"....Do as you like,"
After a while, the grey haired boy came inside with a new tray of food. He nodded at the red haired girl, acknowledging her presence and put the tray of food down on the table.
"Rin, you're not eating?" he asked.
"I'll never forgive you if you contact Haru," the girl responded.
"Haru told me you'd manage on your own," Yuki said and approached the bed, where the girl was laying on. Aristia only watched their interaction.
"But let me tell you something,"
"Haru still loves you, Rin,"
"He loves you very much," the man exclaimed and left the two of them alone.
"Hey, Tia,"
"Yes, Isuzu-nee,"
"What do you think of the girl?"
The red haired girl was shocked at the sudden question, but answered nonetheless.
"I think she's a kind girl,"
'You're kind too, Tia-chan,'
'You're kind....Too kind,'
'I feel sorry for kind people,'
'That's why I didn't want to see her, either,'
'But when I visited Gure-nii's for the first time after our breakup, I saw her there,'
'A strong impulse overcame me,'
A sudden knock on the door brought the black haired girl back to the world.
"I'm coming in," Tohru announced.
"How are you feeling?"
"Uhm, I'll be sleeping with Aristia-chan in the living room downstairs, so please don't hesitate to call me if you need anything," the brunette exclaimed.
The red haired girl, who was crouching against the wall, was attentively listening to their conversation.
"A-And, I'll leave some water here for you,"
"Stop," the ravenette interrupted.
"Stop trying to break the curse,"
'Break the curse?' the fox girl thought.
"You went to Kazuma to ask about it, didn't you?" Isuzu asked the brunette.
'What?' Aristia's eyes widened.
"What are you trying to do?" Isuzu questioned further.
"Do you look down on us? Feel pity for our hideousness?" the horse girl asked with an angry look on her face.
"None of it... None of it is your business!"
"Kind people like you should just live in their kind world!" the girl yelled and tch'ed.
Shadows of her two dearest persons came into her mind, warmly smiling at her.
'I don't want kind people to be taken advantage of,'
'The sight of their hurt expression....'
"Could it be that you're trying to break the curse, as well?" the brunette asked the horse girl.
Both Sohma's eyes widened, hearing the question. Well, more like a statement.
"I told you to stay out of it!" Isuzu yelled.
"Do you know how to break it?" Tohru desperately asked.
"Shut up! I said it's none of your business!"
"Isuzu-san!"
The horse girl couldn't take it anymore and grabbed the brunette by her collar.
"Isuzu-nee! Don't-" the fox girl tried to intervene, but Isuzu's yells surpassed the volume of her own voice.
"Don't meddle! Don't interrupt me!"
"No!"
"No! I will meddle!" the brunette bravely argued back.
"What the hell?!"
"No! I have things I cannot give up, just as you do!"
"Shut up!"
"That's why-"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
"Shut up! There's no way!" the ravenette shouted, while her emotions affected her voice.
"There's just no way!" Isuzu slowly began to cry.
"Nobody knows the way..."
"I can't free them this way," she exclaimed with a broken voice, while her white haired lover and red haired sister appeared in her mind.
"I.... I don't know what to do...." she said and looked at the now shocked fox girl, before running away.
Tohru immediately ran after the horse girl, leaving Aristia alone in the room, who was deep in her thoughts. She was still progressing the information she heard in the previous conversation. Questions flooded into her mind.
'Isuzu-nee was trying to break the curse the whole time?'
'Since when!?'
'Did she all do this to protect me and Haru?'
'But what about her own happiness?'
'What happened between her and Akito that made her become this way?'
'Why does Honda-san want to break the curse?'
''Things you cannot give up on?' she said, right?'
The fox girl sighed and opened the window. There she saw Isuzu tightly embracing the brunette and crying her heart out. A tear suddenly streamed out of Aristia's left eye. She immediately wiped the tear away and looked at the sky.
"I wonder...."
"Do I have something I cannot give up on?"
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AN: Hello my dear readers! Thank you so much for your patience for the chapter update! Unfortunately, I caught a cold last week so I was unable to write.... Luckily, I've healed and completed this chapter! I hope you like it~
Please comment, vote and share!
Stay safe and healthy my dears~
Lots of love from your author-san <3