"Are you ready, Tia?"
"Yes, I am. Are you ready, Momiji?"
"Yes!" the bunny responded with full confidence.
"Okay, let's go," the fox said and the two of them were headed to the stage.
It was currently New Years Eve. All cursed Sohma's were gathered at 'God's' place. Each year, two zodiacs are performing a ceremonial dance. Aristia and Momiji are doing the performance this year. That's because it was currently the year of the Fox and last year it was the year of the Rabbit.
The two Sohma's were wearing traditional Japanese clothes. Aristia wore a black and red colored traditional Hanfu that was embroidered with various flowers and foxes. Her hair was neatly tied in a sharp bun and decorated with pearls and golden hair ornaments. The red haired Sohma also had cherry colored eyeshadow on her eyes and her lips were painted bright red. On top of that, she carried a traditional red umbrella in her left hand and a red colored fan in her other hand.
Momiji wore a bright orange and yellow colored kimono that complimented his rabbit features. He also wore a hat that looked like a massive yellow lotus.
(AN: see pictures beneath for the clothes)
When the performance ended, 'God' and the other cursed Sohma's applauded for them. Words were exchanged and Akito even complimented them for their beautiful performance.
"Tia-chan!"
"A spectacular dance! I must say, the mingling of Momiji's innocence coupled with your seductiveness exuded something exquisite!" An enthusiastic snake exclaimed.
"Yes!" The monkey agreed.
"Thank you, Aya-nii," the girl smiled.
'Seductiveness?' Aristia innerly sweatdropped.
Everyone was having fun, even 'God' himself. That was until Kisa innocently asked a question that riled Akito up.
"Uhm, does anyone know where Kyo-nii and Yuki-nii are?"
"Did they even attend the banquet today?" Hiro asked while raising his eyebrow.
BUZZZ
BUZZZ
BUZZZ
"Hm? What is this?"
"I just got a message from Yuki,"
"He texted that he and Kyo aren't able to attend the banquet this year," Hatsuharu said.
"No way...."
"Are you telling the truth, Hatsuharu?" Akito asked with a low dangerous voice, in which the ox nodded.
"M-Maybe they became sick or caught a cold?" Kagura exclaimed, trying to ease the mood.
"SHUT UP!" Akito screamed and loudly smashed his fists on the table, which made the the female scared.
"This is ruining my mood. I am leaving. Come Kureno," The Sohma Head said and suddenly stood up.
After 'God' was gone, all Sohma's let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm so glad he didn't throw a tantrum this time," Aristia commented.
"Angry Akito-sama is the scariest....." the younger tiger exclaimed.
"Yeah......" the sheep agreed.
"Should we all eat?" Aristia asked.
"It will be a waste to let the food run cold,"
"Nice suggestion, Tia-chan!" Ayama exclaimed while giving her a thumbs up.
The Sohma's were now having dinner without their 'God'. Small talk were made and everyone looks now comfortable with each other, without the presence of their 'God'.
"What do you think of my new outfit?" the snake flamboyantly asked.
"It looks beautiful on you Ayame-san!" Ritsu exclaimed, in which the two youngest Sohma's nodded their heads.
"HO HO HO~ I appreciate your good taste in fashion, Ritsu!"
"Hm? Did you get another piercing, Hatsuharu-kun?" A curious boar asked the ox.
"Yes, I did it myself,"
"Really? Let me see! Let me see!" an enthusiastic bunny said.
'They all look happy together...' the red haired girl thought.
'If only we could be happy without the curse...,'
"Haru, be honest. What was the real reason Yuki and Kyo didn't come?" Arsitia asked the man beside her.
"I think you already know the answer," the man responded while eating the vegetables.
'Umai....,'
"No, I mean-"
"Nothing is lonelier than celebrating New Years Eve without a companion, or in this case companions,"
"I think out of all of us, you'll understand it the best,"
Hearing this, Aristia's eyed widened.
"W-What do you mean? I don't understa-"
'When is Ki-nii coming back?'
'W-What?'
'I hope he soon comes back,'
'What is this?'
'Celebrating New Year without Ki-nii is lonely....'
'Whose memories are these?'
'I am scared.......Mom.....Dad,'
"Are you alright, Tia?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm going to the bathroom for a minute," the fox exclaimed and walked away, not knowing that a certain someone was keeping an eye on her.
In the bathroom
The red haired girl was splashing water in her face to calm herself down. After that, she grabbed a towel that was on the nearest chair and dried her face. Aristia was looking at herself in the mirror and redid her make-up. After a while, she had finished. Aristia was about to head back, until she noticed the beautiful moon brightly shining in the sky.
'This wasn't the first time I had such 'flashbacks'' the fox thought.
'Something isn't right with my memories,'
'It is impossible to suddenly have flashbacks of things I don't even remember,'
'And it only happens when certain topics like family are discussed,'
'When I tried to ask about my biological parents, Tori-nii and the others always dodged the question,'
'At first, I didn't want to make random assumptions, but now I'm sure,'
'Someone intentionally altered with my memories,'
"Geez, another thing to worry about," the red haired girl thought out loud.
"I wonder how Kita-san and the others are doin-,"
COUGH
COUGH
COUGH
'What the-'
COUGH
COUGH
COUGH
Aristia tried to stop her sudden cough attack with her hands, but she suddenly felt some liquid in her hands.
"B-Bloo-"
COUGH
COUGH
COUGH
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH,"
"Tia-chan! Are you alright!?" A worried Kagura asked the little girl in front of her.
'Oh no,'
"I-Is that blood?" The now mortified Sohma rhetorical asked.
'Please go away,'
"I-I'm going to call for help!"
"NO, DON'T, KAGURA-NEE!" the red haired girl screamed on top of her coughs.
"BUT-"
"Please.... *COUGH* Don't......" a crying fox pleaded the elder.
POOF
Suddenly, red colored smoke came out of nowhere with a little red white haired fox sitting on the red Hanfu.
'Oh, I changed,' the red haired girl thought while slowly losing consciousness.
The last thing she heard was a panicked Kagura screaming and asking for help.
A couple of minutes later
It was still dark outside, meaning it was still the current year and the sun still hasn't risen. On the bed laid a red haired Sohma, who was peacefully sleeping. Well, that only looked on the outside. The girl was actually having a dream, or rather a nightmare she didn't wanted to see.
Four people, were walking down the road. One was a beautiful woman with long white colored hair. She seemed to be really energetic and had a bright smile plastered on her face.
The woman was accompanied by a tall slender man, who had short brownish hair. He was the silent type of man. Even though he didn't really expressed his feelings with words, he couldn't hide his true feelings in his eyes. His brown honey like eyes were filled with love for the woman and the two younger kids in front of him.
One was slightly older than the other one. The oldest was a brown haired boy, who has the same features as his dad. The only differences between them were their attitudes. The boy took after his mother in that aspect.
The youngest of the family of four was a little shy girl who has short red hair, tied up in two pigtails. The girl seemed to be really afraid of strangers and held the hand of her older brother really tightly.
"Wait a second. Isn't that me?" a confused Aristia asked herself.
"What am I doing there?"
"Who are those people?"
"That boy beside me looks awfully familiar..."
And then it clicked.
"I-Is that my biological family?"
Then she saw that the parents suddenly disappeared, leaving the two kids alone.
The scene changed and they were suddenly at a graveyard. Aristia saw the two kids and other people grieving by two tombstones.
"Mom, Dad..... Please come back!" the youngest cried.
"Why did you leave us so early?" the oldest bailed his eyes out while tightly holding his little sister's hand.
Aristia didn't know what her overcame, but tears suddenly flowed out of her eyes. Even though she tried to wipe them away, new tears came out of her eyes.
Then her eyes widened upon seeing six familiar faces.
"Akito-sama, Gure-nii-sensei, Tori-nii, Aya-nii and Kureno-nii?"
"Why are they here?"
Then she saw a little child tugging the black sleeve of the current Sohma Head.
"No, wait a second,"
"Isn't that....... Reiko?" Aristia asked with a mix of shock, confusing and sadness.
Then Aristia opened her eyes. She was met with a familiar looking ceiling.
"Are you awake?" a deep voice asked her.
Aristia slowly tried to sit straight in bed and looked at the owner of the voice with an unreadable look.
"Yes, I am. Thank you Tori-nii,"
"......"
"......"
"......"
"......"
"Is there something wrong, Tia?" the dragon asked, breaking the silence in the process.
Aristia clenched her fist and deeply frowned.
"Tori-nii...."
"Please, answer truthfully,"
"Did you know my biological parents?"
1628 words
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AN: Thank you for reading this chapter my dear readers! I finally found some time in my schedule to write for my book (yay~)! We're almost at the end of the first season and I can't wait to start writing for the final season. The next update would be the final chapter of season 1!
Please comment, vote and share~
Stay safe and healthy my dears!
Lots of love from your author-san <3