Transparent Smile - A Fruits Basket Fanfiction

Chapter 1

A young girl was getting ready for the day... In a tent. Her and her sister, Tohru, have been living in a tent for about a week, because their grandfather gave them the news that his house was going under renovations.

Emi had a place to go, her best friend's house. She even suggested it to Tohru, but of course, her sister declined the offer. Emi felt frustrated that Tohru was being so persistent to stay at her friend's house since she did not want to trouble them.

As her younger sister, there was no way that Emi could leave her sister alone. In the end, she ended up living in a tent with Tohru.

It was only temporary, Emi reminded herself over and over in her head.

Getting out of the tent, Emi saw her sister staring up at the sky. Smiling to herself, Emi made herself be known. "I'm going to go on ahead. I'll see you later, sis."

Tohru gave her a cheerful smile. "Alright. Be safe."

"Be safe." Emi repeated. Turning towards the tent, she whispered something under her breath. "Bye mom." Having a moment of silence, Emi walked ahead, leaving her sister behind who would be on her way to her school soon enough.

~•~

Arriving at a middle school, Emi set her bag down on her school desk. The classroom was lively, still enough free time to chat before the school day started.

Sitting down on her chair, Emi took out a sketchbook from her bag. It was her treasure. She loved to draw. People, landscapes, clothes designs, you name it. It was her favorite pastime.

"Hey Emi!" A girlish voice called out. Turning around, it was her best friend since elementary school. The one who offered to let her and Tohru stay at her house. She had wavy chestnut hair with a white hairband. Her eyes were violet like her name.

Opening up to a blank page in her sketchbook, Emi gave her friend a smile. "Hey Sumire. Did you just get here?"

"I did! I almost overslept, but it's a good thing my brother woke me up on time!"

"Geez... You tend to oversleep sometimes."

"I can't help it if my bed is comfortable."

"I can't argue with that."

"So... How's your situation?"

Emi averted her eyes. "We're still living in the tent. We shouldn't be there for too long though. Grandpa's going to call us soon."

"Still... I'm worried. There's been news about stalkers wandering around. I'm just afraid you and your sister will get caught up in that."

Emi pumped her fist in the air, smiling brightly. "If something like that happens, I'll be there to protect my sister! No stalker will lay a hand on either of us!"

Sumire sweatdropped. "If you say so..."

"Sis has work today, so I was going to pick her up from there."

"By yourself?"

"That is my only option."

Sumire let out a sigh. "Just... Be careful, ok? I would be devastated if anything happened to you."

"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine! It's my sister that I'm worried about... She's been working so much lately... I don't want her to push herself too hard..." Emi wished that she could get a job to help, but no one really hires middle schoolers. She felt so bad that Tohru had to pay for herself and her. If only she was able to work too...

"Emi?"

Snapping out of it, Emi turned towards her blank sketchbook. "Sorry. I was thinking about what to draw."

"You know, Emi. I'm willing to request another commission so you can earn a little bit of money."

Emi grunted in response. "How did you..?"

"I can read you like a book. I'll be happy to help you out. I'll think about what I want you to draw, and I'll name my price. What do you say?"

Emi didn't want to feel pressured. Sure, it would be helpful, but she felt bad about getting money over a drawing. Even though Sumire was on the richer end, she didn't think her art was worth any money. She didn't want to trouble her friend. God, I'm sounding just like sis right now.

In response, Emi smiled brightly. "Of course. Just tell me what you want, and I'll get it done by the end of the week."

"Thank you!" The bell began to ring. "Looks like class is about to start. I'll give you my request after class."

"Alright. I'll be waiting." Taking out her textbook and notebook, Emi started doodling the sky as a quick warm up. The view from the window was the perfect reference.

~•~

Later that day, Emi was walking towards Tohru's workplace. It was already pitch black, past 10 o' clock at night.

Looking around her surroundings, Emi saw no one in sight nor no one following her. The paranoia of Sumire's warning made her feel a bit uneasy.

Arriving in front of a tall building, Emi hurried inside just in case there was someone following her.

In the inside, the building was quite spacious and professional like. It was completely spotless. Emi snorted to herself. "You sure know how to clean the place up, sis."

Her eyes wandered around the room. The lights were slowly turning off, the workers calling it a day. From a far distance, Emi saw someone wearing a cutesy hat and hoodie walking by.

Emi could only catch a glimpse before they disappeared into another area. "Who was that..?"

"Oh, Emi. You're here." Turning around, she saw Tohru standing near her.

"Hey sis. How was work?"

"It was alright, thank you for asking."

Taking a closer look at Tohru, she noticed that the color was drained from her face. "Are you feeling alright..?"

"I'm fine! You don't have to worry about me!"

Whenever Tohru said that, it made Emi even more worried than before. She could tell that her sister was way past exhausted. "Let's go home."

On their way home, Tohru kept stumbling as she walked, almost losing her balance. This was nothing new, but it always worried her. I knew it... She's coming down with a fever. Again...

Arriving at the tent, Emi opened the tent up, having Tohru go in first. Closing it up, she turned on the flashlight that was used as the primary light.

"I'm home, mom. I'm really tired, but I still have homework to do."

Emi shook her head. "Sis, you should get some rest. I can try to do your homework for you."

"But the lessons are different from yours."

"True, but I can always figure it out. It can't be that hard anyway."

"It's fine, I'll do it. But I'm going to wash my face at the stream to wake myself up."

"Sis..." All Emi could do was watch Tohru walk away with a towel in her hand. Letting out a sigh, she noticed that Tohru stopped midway in the tent. Only her head was sticking out. "What's wrong?"

All of a sudden, Emi started hearing hysterical laughter at the other side of the tent. Peeking her head out, she saw two unfamiliar men standing before them.

Alarms started going off in Emi's head. "STALKERS!"