13Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of their characters. I only own my OC.
A/N: Hello...here's another story. Oh gosh. I am excited for this story but I do want to mention that I have never written an anime story before. Ever since I watched Fruits Basket again, I've been wanting to write an OC. And now here we have the character of Emiko Honda, Tohru's younger sister by one year. I gotta say it has been fun writing for her so far. I have a lot planned out for her as the story continues. I hope the first chapter is good. I do have a main pairing in mind, and if you follow my Tumblr then you know who I am pairing her with. However, the story will also focus on Emiko's relationship with the other Fruits Basket characters as well. I also just want to make clear that I will be following the 2019 anime version.
Now...enjoy the first chapter!
Chapter 1: Hello neighbors
It wasn't her dear older sister Tohru's gentle shaking that awoke Emiko Honda that morning. Nor was it Tohru's soft voice. No, instead it was a sharp sting she felt coming from one of her arms that had Emiko's eyes opening wide.
"Ow!" The fifteen year old arose suddenly from her sleeping position. That instantly alerted Tohru who looked her way from inside the tent they shared. The same tent they had been living in the woods for about four months now. The oldest sibling was already dressed in her school uniform. Her hair was done in her signature style with ribbons keeping her hair in place. Today she had on yellow ribbons.
"Oh, Emi, what's wrong?" Tohru asked in that worried tone of hers. She used the nickname she had for her little sister. Not a lot of people called her by that nickname anymore. The main reason being that Emiko didn't let them.
There was a time when Emiko had let her school friends call her that...but she didn't have those same school friends anymore. Now that she knew better, Emiko realized they weren't her real friends to begin with. If they had been her real friends then they wouldn't have bullied her because of her appearance. That all changed though when she started her third year in middle school. Apparently that's when she blossomed, as one would say.
The bullying had stopped and instead of getting harshly criticized she started getting acknowledged warmly by her classmates. Really, Emiko should have listened to her Mother Kyoko when she warned her about the reason why her classmates were suddenly being friendly to her. Her mother had only been trying to be helpful and she hadn't listened. Now it was too late. Her mother was now gone. And she too had once called her Emi.
Now only Tohru, along with own her best friends, Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima, called her by that nickname. Sometimes even Saki's younger brother Megumi, would address her as Emi with that monotone voice of his. However, unlike the girls Emiko used to associate with, Arisa and Saki were real friends to Tohru.
Emiko sometimes wished she had friends like that but she always managed to come to the conclusion that she was just fine with having her older sister as a best friend. The lonely feeling still lingered but she did well with ignoring it...well, she tried to anyways.
Emiko pushed away her blankets to look at her arm. Right arm to be exact. She frowned seeing redness that was beginning to form. "I think I got bit by an ant or something."
"Here." Tohru hurriedly handed her the already half used Hydrocortisone cream they had bought awhile ago. "This should help with the redness and relieve the itching. It's been helping, right?"
"It has." Emiko smiled at her older sister. "Thanks, Tohru." She began to apply the cream to where she got bit. A tiny sigh escaped her as she began feeling relief.
This unfortunately hadn't been the first time she'd been bitten by an ant or a bug of some sorts. For some reason though, Emiko was the one who suffered the most when it came to ants. Well, better her than Tohru, she thought. Her older sister didn't need to deal with getting bit by ants.
There happened to be a lot where their tent was set. They had the option of moving the tent of course, but Emiko really didn't see a point to that. The ants seemed to follow them whenever they moved their tent. Pesky little things they were.
"No problem!" Tohru brightly told her. "I can't have my little sister suffering from an ant bite!" Her smile still shining even after Emiko put aside the Hydrocortisone cream.
"Alright, I'm going to get ready now." Emiko let Tohru know as she started gathering her things she needed for school today.
Tohru nodded her head. "Okay, little sis. I'll go wait outside then. We still have some time though, so no need to rush."
"You mean that ant bite woke me up earlier than usual?" Emiko let out a huff. However, she couldn't be that upset given Tohru's light laugh. Her sister's laugh tended to cheer her up, even during the most randomest times.
"I'll leave you to it." The oldest Honda sister amusingly said before exiting the tent.
Once alone, Emiko began getting ready. Shockingly getting ready in a tent wasn't actually that difficult. That was something Emiko had come to know. Now it wasn't like Tohru and her had lived in a tent their whole lives. The tent didn't become their living situation until about four months ago. Before then they had been living with their paternal grandfather. The reason being because their mother had died and it had been decided that he'd be the one to take them in. Their kindhearted grandfather, who for some reason always refereed Tohru as Kyoko and Emiko as Katsuya.
Emiko had to admit it was odd but it did warm her heart whenever she heard her grandfather call them that.
The downside to that was that their kindhearted grandfather was living on a pension given his old age. Tohru and Emiko tried to help out around the house as much as possible. Tohru had even gotten a job as a janitor at some fancy building. It wasn't long after that Emiko found a job for herself at a Mini-Mart. So they each contributed with payments too. However, things changed again when their grandfather told them that his youngest daughter and her family would be moving in with them.
Their grandfather's house was already small, so it needed to be remolded in order to fit all of them. He told them that he would be staying with his daughter until the remolding finished and since their house was small too if they had a close friend they could stay with. Tohru and Emiko came up with the white lie that they did have someone to stay with in order to not worry their grandfather.
They did have the option to stay either with Arisa or Saki but neither asked them.
Emiko knew that Tohru did this in order to not be a burden, and so did Emiko. However, the youngest Honda also just didn't want to stay with her aunt and her family. Her Father's Katsuya youngest sister and her family didn't like either Tohru or her. And Emiko knew exactly why. It was because her parental side of the family (minus her sweet grandfather who'd been nothing but caring) had never been a fan of Katsuya marrying Kyoko because of her violet past. So of course they didn't like Kyoko's daughters.
Emiko had a sinking feeling that her aunt especially didn't like her because of the resemblance she had to her late Mother Kyoko. Emiko was practically a carbon copy of her late mother. Kyoko's natural hair color had been a strawberry blonde color but she used to dye it a fiery orange during her youth. Emiko though had Kyoko's natural hair color of strawberry blonde and her light brown eyes. While Tohru resembled more of their late Father Katsuya with her brown hair and brown eyes.
Tohru's resemblances to her father at times spared her from the side-comments her aunt would give, and for that Emiko was grateful for. She'd rather her aunt take out her anger on her than on sweet Tohru. But any extra time away from her aunt, she would take. That's why she had no problem living in a tent for the time being. She was anxious for when the renovations at her grandfather's house would finish. As much as she loved her grandfather she had no desire to live with her aunt and her family.
She supposed Tohru and her would deal with that when the time came. For now though the Honda sister's were living in a tent, and Emiko was fine with that.
That didn't exactly mean that living in a tent was one hundred percent great because as much as she tried looking on the bright side, there were downsides to it. The ant biting, along with other bugs lurking around, was an annoyance. Along with the change of weather. That was a big one. Also the whole bathroom situation which Emiko hadn't become accustomed to. Although she had a feeling neither did Tohru even with her positive way of thinking.
Emiko was just grateful there was a stream near by for them wash up and stuff. That's where Emiko went once she did her hair and dressed up. Her hair was just as long as Tohru's and but unlike her older sister, Emiko didn't style her hair. She just let her straight hair go loose. There were times when she would braid her hair but today wasn't that kind of day.
She was glad her school uniform wasn't wrinkled. Sometimes it wrinkled given the size of the tent the sisters shared. Both of them did their best to carefully layout their clothing the night before. From what she had seen when waking up, Tohru's uniform also hadn't wrinkled.
Since Tohru was still in her first year of high school her uniform was of course different than Emiko's. Tohru's uniform consisted of a classic white and navy-style shirt and skirt, while Emiko's middle school uniform consisted of a white sleeve collared shirt with a plain dark grey jacket over it. She also wore a dark grey skirt that reached near her knees to go with it. She couldn't say the uniform was as stylish as her sisters but it was really comfortable. And that's what mattered to Emiko.
Once returning from the stream, Emiko went into the tent to grab her school bag. When she came over to stand next to her sister, she saw how she was admiring the morning sky.
"Wow!" Tohru exclaimed as she looked up at the sky. She was using one of her hands to shield herself from the bright sun. "Usually the days start to cool off in mid-September, but it looks like we're in for another hot one!"
"Yes, it is rather warm. But the beauty of the day certainly makes up for it." Emiko agreed with her sister. She didn't sound as cheerful as Tohru but she still displayed a tiny smile.
Tohru giggled before running to their tent. She stuck her head inside and Emiko could tell she was smiling brightly. "Alright, you look after our things while we're gone. Okay, mom?" The oldest Honda sister happily told the photo she had of their late Mother Kyoko. "Goodbye! We'll see you after school!" She closed the tent and practically skipped her way to her younger sister.
This wasn't unusual at all. Her older sister did this everyday. Emiko had a similar routine too. Hers was to always put on the silver butterfly shaped locket that had been given to her by her Mother Kyoko. She'd done exactly that when getting ready.
Her mother had given the locket to her not that long after when her Father Katsuya had passed away. The silver butterfly locket contained a photo of the whole family. It was the only jewelry piece that really meant something to Emiko. She didn't know what she'd do if she ever lost it...not that she would allow that to happen.
"We still have plenty of time before we need to get to class." Tohru happily told Emiko as she glanced at the watch she carried. "So how about exploring the area for a bit?"
"Sure." Emiko agreed with a small smile. "It is unusual how long we've lived here, and we have yet to properly explore the area."
"Come on!" Tohru gently took hold of her hand, leading the way. "Let's go this way." Emiko let her sister continue to hold her hand up until they reached the end of a hill they've never been to before.
Tohru gasped at view they got of the city. Even Emiko had to admit to herself that it was an amazing sight.
"The breeze feels so good!" Tohru exclaimed.
"A breeze with sunny weather is always a good combination." Emiko added wistfully. She thought of their mother again thanks to the good view and weather. Kyoko would have liked the view for sure.
Tohru glanced at her younger sister, sensing her tone of voice. She gave a smile, and she felt good when she saw her slowly return one back. Her attention along with her younger sister's was caught by a bell chiming. They both turned to the left and were pleasantly surprised to see a house down the hill they were standing at. They both looked at each other before curiosity got the better of them.
The Honda sisters carefully got off the hill they were on and walked towards the direction of the mysterious house.
"A new discovery." Tohru whispered to her younger sister in excitement. "I didn't know there was a house here."
With anyone else, Emiko probably would have found their excitement over finding a house (even a mysterious one) in the woods to be lame. But not when it came to her older sister. Emiko found it to be diverting when it came from her.
"I wonder who lives here." Emiko finally spoke. The same excitement from Tohru wasn't fully there but the puzzlement was. She really did wonder who lived there considering their tent wasn't that far away.
"How cute!" Tohru squeaked when she saw animal figurines on the house's porch. Emiko looked at the animal figurines too and it didn't take long for her and Tohru to figure out they were indeed the animal Zodiac figurines. Tohru noticed that there was one animal missing.
"Hello."
A voice that belonged to man caused both girls to comically jump in place. They switched their gaze over to where the voice came from. Tohru and Emiko saw a man with dark greyish hair standing on the porch. He was wearing a dark green kimono and looked to be in his twenties. He was holding a newspaper and was looking at them with a muddled expression.
"This is a surprise. We don't get a lot of young girls wandering around here."
Emiko now felt sheepish, and she went into apologize. Of course her big sister beat her to it, as she usually tended to do when it came to these sort of things.
"Uh, good morning sir! We're sorry! We shouldn't have been looking around without permission!"
Emiko nodded her head. "We promise weren't doing anything bad."
The man chuckled at how they both apologized. The girl with the strawberry blonde hair didn't sound as frantic as the girl with the brown hair but it was still amusing to hear.
"It's fine." He told them as he folded the newspaper he had been reading. He set it aside as he continued conversing with them. "I just wouldn't imagine that teenagers like you two would find this place interesting."
The man sat on his knees near where the Zodiac figurines were.
"No, we both really find this place interesting!" Tohru hurriedly corrected him. She looked at her sister who remained quiet but nodded her head. "Especially these Zodiac figurines you've got." Tohru looked at them again, a bright smile on her face. "They're adorable."
The man smiled too when looking at the figurines. "Yes. They're a favorite of mine, too, actually."
"Except..." Tohru's smile wavered a little and Emiko was quick to notice. "It looks like another set without the Cat."
"The Cat?" The man looked bemused for a second there before his eyes lit up. "Oh, right. I see. You're thinking about the old Zodiac folktale, aren't you?"
Tohru nodded her head. "Uh-huh." She looked at her sister and then gazed up at the sky. "Our mom would tell it to us over and over again when we were little."
Emiko knew that the folktale very well and it was one Tohru held in her heart. She remembered how sad Tohru got when she first heard about the Cat being tricked, and not attending the banquet. She didn't like hearing about the Cat being lonely and sad. That's when Tohru declared she wanted to be the Year of the Cat instead of the Dog, and now at sixteen she still felt the same way.
Emiko too had been sad to hear about the Cat not going to the banquet but she hadn't cried nearly as hard as Tohru. The Cat's number one fan was definitely her older sister Tohru. And Tohru had no issues telling this man that as well.
The man looked between the two girls. "So you two are sisters." He asked despite the brown haired girl mentioning their mom. The girls were almost the same height, with the strawberry blonde haired girl being a bit shorter. Still, he was fairly surprised given their different hair color that they were related, but who was he to judge. He did want to know more though. He was definitely intrigued by their sudden appearance.
Emiko understood him wanting further confirmation. She could tell that on first glance one wouldn't be able to tell Tohru and her were related. "Yes, we're sisters." The youngest Honda told the man.
"And do you like the Cat as much as your sister?" The man quickly went on to ask her.
"Sure, but I don't think anyone is a huge fan of the Cat as much as my sister." Emiko started telling him. Her lips went upwards for just a few seconds. "Besides, I'm a fan of the Tiger. Which sure, it's still a Cat since it's the largest member of the Cat family."
Tohru giggled from where she stood next to her. "When we were little your favorite Zodiac member was the Rabbit. You thought the Rabbit was adorable."
The man smiled at Emiko's way. "Is that so?"
Emiko suddenly felt like she was under the spotlight. Her cheeks felt warmer than before. She had no idea why she felt embarrassed at having that brought up. It wasn't like Tohru was relieving anything serious. "Well...yeah. I was a kid though." She rushed to say, doing her best to appear nonchalant. "All kids at that age think rabbits in general are adorable. It would be a crime not to think so."
The man nodded, as if agreeing with her. "So your both technically still Cat fans then." He told them, redirecting the conversation.
Tohru cheerfully nodded her head while Emiko just shrugged her shoulders. The man's grey eyes twinkled as he stared off to the side.
"If he heard that little story, I wonder how he'd feel." The man muttered to himself.
Tohru tilted her head while Emiko furrowed her eyebrows.
"Um, pardon?" Tohru aked with a smile. The man just waved her off.
"So, then, Year of the Dog, huh?" He brought up and Tohru gladly nodded her head. The man then looked at her sister. "And what about you? What year are you?"
"I'm a year younger than my sister." Emiko answered blandly without really answering.
The man still managed to figure it out. "Ah, so if she's the Year of the Dog then am I right to assume you're Year of the Boar? The Year of the Boar tends to follow the Year of the Dog."
Emiko was impressed by his knowledge with the Chinese Zodiac that her eyes were beginning to even shine a bit. She nodded her head. "Yes, I am."
The man's smile widened. A few loud chuckles were released here and there making Emiko want to frown. Tohru was puzzled but remained smiling. Now it wasn't like Emiko was uncomfortable, but she was bemused. Emiko really had no idea why he found that to be funny. Was it an inside joke or something? The youngest Honda was left feeling quite puzzled. She, however, didn't comment on it.
"Please excuse me." The man apologized once calming down. "That is nice to hear. The Boar has a lot of character traits that are unique..shall I say."
"Yes." Emiko replied slowly, a little suspicious now. "I suppose so." That didn't really feel like a total compliment but she wasn't going to fight for one.
The man looked between them again, his smile slightly more mischievous than before. "I have to say now that I know both of your Zodiacs I feel closer to you both already. Especially you." He said to the brown haired girl. "After all, I am a Do-"
The man was suddenly caught off guard when a school bag was dropped on his head. Both girls gasped but it seemed Tohru was more thrown aback than Emiko was. They looked to the person who had dropped the school bag. It was a boy around Tohru's age. He had light grey hair and matching eyes. Right away Emiko knew he went to the same high school as Tohru because of his uniform.
"Will you at least try to control your baser urges." The boy said rather annoyingly at the man. His expression and tone of voice changed when looking their way. "Miss Honda." He greeted with a polite smile. "Hello." His smile fell a little when he saw the girl that stood next to her. She seemed familiar but also unfamiliar. Still, he apologized for his cousin's behavior.
"I hope my cousin here hasn't frightened you both too badly." His eyes once again went to the strawberry blonde haired girl. His polite smile returned and his eyes softened. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been formally introduced yet."
Before Emiko could introduce herself, her older sister went into a classic Tohru mini-panic. "Wait, Sohma?! Why are you here? I mean, good morning! Oh, wait, I'm sorry! This is my younger sister, Emiko Honda." She gave him a bow. "Emiko this is Yuki Sohma. He's in my class."
Suddenly a light bulb went off in Yuki's head. No wonder the girl seemed sort of familiar. She was Tohru Honda's younger sister. He had to say...they didn't look much alike but he found that oddly refreshing. It made him wish it was that way with his own older Brother Ayame. He offered Emiko another soft smile. "It's nice to meet you, Emiko."
Emiko gave him a bow in return as well. "It's nice to meet you too, Yuki." She replied back quietly as she took him in. So this was Yuki. Her older sister had mentioned him to her before. He certainly did look like a Prince. His beauty almost had Emiko blushing...almost.
The old her would have surely been a blushing babbling fool. Emiko would get that way when around beautiful looking people. Except she wasn't that person anymore. Not since her mother died.
"That really hurt." Emiko caught the older man saying as he was rubbing his head. "What do you have in there? Dictionaries?"
"Two dictionaries, actually." Yuki proudly stated as he adjusted his school bag.
"So you really do know each other?" The man asked, still rubbing his head.
"We've already established that." Yuki let out a sigh. "But I did just have the pleasure of meeting Miss Honda's youngest sibling." He said, less frustrated with his cousin as he gave Emiko another smile.
Again Emiko returned the kindness, but there was no blushing.
"I'm Tohru Honda, and this is my sister, Emiko Honda." Tohru bowed again, formally introducing themselves to Yuki's older cousin. "It's nice to meet you!" Emiko followed her sister's action once more, and bowed to the older man.
"Same here. My name's Shigure Sohma." The older man formally introduced himself too. He finally stopped rubbing his head. "Yuki's my little cousin."
"What brings you two to our house this morning?" Yuki earnestly asked the two girls.
While Emiko started to panic on the inside, Tohru showed her panic on the outside. "Oh, we live around here, that's all." She rushed to tell them, and Emiko to want to face palm herself.
"We had some extra time today before heading to school so we wanted to explore." Emiko added a bit more calm than Tohru.
Shigure and Yuki looked beyond surprised at what they said.
"Around here?" Shigure inquired. "Really?"
"You do?" Yuki asked staring between the Honda sisters.
Emiko discreetly tapped Tohru's hand letting her know they needed to go. "We'll just be going now." Tohru hurriedly said. They didn't get far because Yuki's calm voice called out both their names causing them to halt. They both slowly turned around to face the Sohma house.
"Yes?" Tohru managed to say as the Prince of her High School softly stared at Emiko and her. His smile just made his light grey eyes shine more than they already were from the sun.
"You're both headed to school? Why don't we both walk together? Yuki kindly suggested.
Tohru glanced at her sister with slightly even wider brown eyes. She was clearly shocked to have heard that. Emiko thankfully kept her composure. Tohru was able to give Yuki a single nod despite her shock.
Emiko knew there really wasn't an issue with Yuki walking to school with them. Her middle school was practically next to her sister's high school, so they wouldn't arrive late. Not that they would be late anyways given how early it still was. However...having a boy, and one who was considered a Prince at her older sister's high school, wanting to walk with them was...interesting.
Emiko looked at Tohru once more before redirecting her gaze onto Yuki who was making his way towards them.
Yes...this will be very interesting, the youngest Honda sibling thought to herself.
