"I'm home!" an enthusiastic voice screamed.
The brown haired girl took off her shoes and carefully put her jacket away. She softly began to hum a little song, making her entrance in the living room. Her brown colored eyes widen upon seeing the arrival of a familiar red haired girl, who was accompanied by the former horse and ox.
"Welcome home, Honda-san," Aria softly smiled upon seeing the familiar brown haired girl.
"It's nice to see you again, Aristia-chan! How have you been?"
"I'm doing pretty good, thank you," the red head answered, while pouring tea into her and Rin's cup.
"Do you also want some tea, Honda-san?"
"O-Oh, yes please,"
After talking for a while, a light atmosphere blossomed into the room. Stories about their personal lives were told by each of them while the others attentively listened to the speaker.
"So are you here for a little vacation, Aristia-chan?" Tohru asked with curiosity lingering in her voice.
The red head shook her head.
"No, today is the last banquet,"
A soft lingering sound echoed due to some pink sakura petals being blown by the the gentle breeze. Her red hair was swayed by the wind, as if someone held a fan in front of her. A soft smile engulfed her face upon seeing the little scene in front of her.
Even though the relationship between the former cat and the former boar became a little bit tense, the two were currently hugging and 'fighting' with each other.
The former fox girl was so focused on her two bickering 'cousins' that she didn't notice the familiar incoming presence beside her.
CLICK
"Cheaters are scum," the tall blonde guy said after taking a picture of them.
"Wha... No!"
"Scum," Aria decided to join. A disapproval look on her face. Looking at the orange haired man as if he had committed a deadly sin.
Kagura decided to join the game and walked beside the red haired girl, happily grabbing her hand in the progress. Swinging and jumping as if she was on a school trip. The three left with a 'serious' face leaving the now astounded orange haired boy.
"Are you three ganging up on me now?!"
While Kagura had completely left the scene, Momiji stopped in his tracks. Aria noticed this and decided to wait for him. The blonde young man gave Kyo a gentle smile before coming back to her side.
"What was that?" Aria asked the boy beside her.
"Hm.... nothing," he mysteriously answered with a smile plastered on his face, making Aria let out a sigh.
"I will never understand boys,"
Upon opening the heavy wooden door, Aria's smiling face turned into one that was full of questions. Her sight was met with Rin intensely staring at the former rat, while he and Haru were having a peaceful conversation. At least that was what she assumed.
"What's going on, here?" she decided to ask.
"Nothing?" Haru questionably answered. "I just confessed my love to Yuki,"
Aria could see the dark aura that emitted from the former horse expanding upon hearing those repeated words.
'Ah, I see,' The red head thought and approached the fuming black haired female who was currently sulking on the floor.
Aria began to hug the female, while Haru patted his girlfriend's head. These actions made Rin blush and cutely pout.
"Huh, Akito's not here yet?" Kyo walked in and decided to interrupt the little scene.
"Says the man who's late! Where have you been wandering, Kyonkichi?" Ayame dramatically asked the man.
"Well, I've hardly ever been inside the main estate, so..."
"Ah, I see! It's combined size and opulence must be too much for rides such as yourself, but I give you my blessing to wander these grounds without fear!"
Kyo looked fed up with the older Sohma, but decided to stay quiet and to listen to his rambles.
Suddenly, they were interrupted by one of Akito's assistants, who was trying to get everyone's attention.
"May I have everyone's attention? Akito-san is ready to see you,"
The group shifted their attention to the unlocked door. Their eyes widened due to shock upon seeing the shocking appearance of the Sohma head. Even Aria was astonished at the sight in front of her.
Sohma Akito wore a bright red colored traditional Japanese kimono which was embroidered with pink, white and purple lotuses. A large yellow colored cloth could be seen behind him — or rather her.
'What the actually fvck?!' they all thought.
"Hatori, where is Shigure?" the female head asked in which he replied that he didn't know about his whereabouts.
"A-Akito-san, have you adopted my cross-dressing habit?" the former monkey exclaimed with much shock printed on his face.
Akito only blandly responded with a straight "No" at his question. You could see that she actually found it a ridiculous question, but just decided to leave it be. She started to slowly bend down to sit on her cushion.
"Just as all of you have been able to return to who you are, I'll return to my true self," the head exclaimed.
"You're all free,"
"I know I should have said this sooner, but..." she trailed off. "I've cause such suffering..."
"... I'm so-," Akito stopped herself from apologizing. Her red painted lips began to tremble. She eventually began to bow to all former Chinese Zodiac members.
"I was always cruel, and yet..."
"I understand your reasoning, Akito," Aria decided to interrupt her. "But I'm currently not ready to completely forgive you, yet,"
'Not after what you did to Rei and Isuzu-nee,'
"I understand, and I don't expect you to," Akito responded.
"But I still want to give you something, Aria," Akito motioned for her attendance to come. The woman approached them with a letter which was held by both hands. She reached the enveloppe out for the red haired girl to take.
"What is this?" Aria questioned while carefully opening the letter.
"Sohma's Heavenly Hell?"
"This contract states that you'll retrieve full ownership of your late-mother's restaurant," Akito exclaimed.
"But isn't Reiko the current owner of this restaurant?" the former fox asked in which Akito shook her head.
"No, I only placed her as the acting owner of the restaurant until you were old enough to take over or even be alive at the age of 18 or above...," she muttered at the end.
"My sister also agreed with it, so please don't feel guilty,"
"You can see this as a gift from me as well as Reiko,"
"And that was how I spent my weekend," Aria casually told her friends while munching on a big tuna onigiri.
The group of friends were looking at her with wide and attentive eyes. Osamu even accidentally dropped his sandwich upon hearing the bizarre story.
"You're telling it as if it isn't a big deal to you, Tia-chan!" Atsumu exclaimed or rather screamed.
"Well, it was more shocking to me than you'll think, Atsumu, but yeah life goes on I guess..."
"Still, I'm glad that you took back your ownership of the restaurant," Reiko decided to speak up.
"I actually didn't want to run a restaurant for my whole life you know..."
"Twen, whawt is ywor dweam jwob, Rweiko-chwan?" Atsumu asked with a full mouth.
(AN: Then, what is your dream job, Reiko-chan?)
"Hm, maybe something like a businesswoman or a CEO of one of our corporations..." she thought out loud.
"You'll definitely able to do it, Rei-chan!" Ayaka loudly exclaimed, which made the said girl chuckle.
"Thank you, Aya-chan. You want to be a teacher, right?" Reiko asked which made her eagerly nod her head.
While this conversation about the future happened to one side of the group, Aria decided to approach her brother who was leaning on the rooftop fence and staring at the air.
"Did you know about our mother's restaurant Ki-nii?" Aria asked her brother.
"Hm, she did tell me about her passion for cooking one time, but I didn't know that Ka-san practically owned a whole restaurant in the past," Akihiko exclaimed.
"Maybe she didn't want Tou-san to feel guilty..."
"Hm, perhaps you're right,"
DING
DONG
DING
"What a drag... the break is already over," the lanky guy muttered.
"Don't be sad, Rin. We'll see each other at volleyball practice," Ayaka tried to cheer up her boyfriend. Fortunately, she succeeded and received a ruffle in her hair in return. Annoyance was written on her face, in which she began to complaint to the said boy. In contrast, he found it amusing to see his girl's reaction.
The others soon followed after them with Aria and the third year volleyball captain at the end.
"So I'm assuming that you're going to Tokyo after graduating?" Kita asked the girl who was walking beside him.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that you're not coming with me, Shinsuke," the girl winked.
Kita chuckled at her antics and shook his head.
"Maybe I'll be starting my own farm," he suddenly exclaimed which made Aria's eyes lit up.
"But that's actually a perfect idea! We could collaborate which makes living together easi-,"
"Already dreaming about starting a family huh?" Kita teased his now blushing girlfriend.
"J-Jeez, I didn't know that you were such a tease, Shinsuke..." Aria trailed off.
She suddenly came up with a mischievous idea in her head and began to smirk. She quickly grabbed his head and turned it to her direction. Aria began to stand on her toes and give the man a quick peck before running away. Kita stood still in his tracks, not being able to process what just happened to him. When reality finally hit him, the man smirked and began to chase after her.
He caught up with her and began to firmly hug the red haired girl from behind, making Aria let out a loud laugh. The two were a laughing mess with each other, not even bothered by the stares of their fellow students.
'I'm home...' Aria thought while looking at her loving boyfriend.
Not everyone is born with a reason to live. It's something that you have to find for yourself. Maybe she wasn't perfect. Maybe she had a long way to go. But she was finally able to stand and walk on her own. Without hurting anyone and without being a burden.
THE END