Dance of the Curse: Prologue (Kyoru)

[melrose_stormhaven]

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket does not belong to me. It belongs to the brilliant Natsuki Takaya, who, I believe, is a great manga-ka! I don't make money from all of this, so don't sue! The title roughly comes from the Escaflowne song, Dance of Curse.

Dedicated to: the Fruity people out there, those who love Fruits Basket as much as I do and to all Kyoru supporters! Kyou and Tohru forever!


Dance of the Curse


Prologue: Spring Blood


Spring was quite warm this year, warmer than the past ones. It had come earlier too, judging by the way trees and other plants seem to renew themselves.

The young woman smiled as she gazed at the yet unopened sakura peeking out of the branches of the ancient trees. In a few more days, it would open, and the whole air will be heavy with the scent of the sakura.

"Hime-sama?" an ancient, masculine voice said from the shoji screens behind her.

She turned slowly, her many-layered silk kimonos of spring colors rustling and shifting as she did. The shoji screens quickly opened, revealing a man. She regarded the man, a very old servant of her clan with his hair completely snow-white with age, with a faint and distant smile–but no more than that. "What is it?" she asked with characteristic coolness.

The old man quickly prostrated himself on the floor. "Forgive me for disturbing Hime-sama, but the head of the Souma clan is here."

Souma. Her fists clenched consciously at the mention of the name. She rose gracefully and two handmaidens quickly adjusted her kimonos. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"The head of the Souma requests an audience with Hime-sama."

"Ah." She had a good idea what this meeting would be about. "His request is granted. Send him here." She turned to her two handmaidens. "When the Souma arrives, you are to leave us alone," she commanded. "No one is to come here or be near this place without my permission."

"Hai, hime-sama." Both the girls bowed low in acquiescence.

She heard footsteps and soon, the old man announced the presence of the Souma head. The girls opened the shoji screens, and allowed the Souma inside.

"Hime-sama," the Souma said in his deceptively soft, quiet voice. He too, bowed low to her. Behind him, the two handmaidens quietly left, closing the shoji screens as they did, leaving them alone.

"What is it this time, Souma?" she asked bluntly, gazing expressionlessly at the man.

The man lifted his head. The young woman noted that there were dark circles under his eyes, and though young, the young man looked quite pale and gaunt. However, his dark eyes burned with a feverish and determined light, belaying the weakness his body showed. "We have decided to…go through the 'dance'."

The young woman was surprised, but she did not show it on her face. "I see," she replied carefully. "Have you considered this thoroughly? Once the 'dance' begins, you cannot stop."

"We have, hime-sama."

"Have you now?" she murmured silkily. "And who will be the virgin sacrifice? That girl who is a dear friend of the clan? Will her friends let you do that to her?"

The Souma head's face hardened. "They will do as they are told," he replied stonily. "I am their God. They will obey me."

She raised a delicately arched eyebrow. "Oh? We shall see about that, Souma. We shall see."

~T.B.C.~

Author's rant: My first furuba fic! Please be gentle! This is actually more of a 'toe testing the water temperature' fic, so there will be revisions! Anyway, if you're missing the FURUBA characters, they'll show up next chapter.

Some note on usage: I'm no expert on Japanese but I think hime roughly means 'princess' in Japanese. The honorific (?) -sama usually indicates a higher or exalted position (sort of like master or mistress or like in Kami-sama (God)).

[bookworm]

Bad Souma (i.e. bad Akito). Bad, bad boy.

I'll be waiting for the next part. Good start here.

[AngelOfDeath]

Oooo.


This is very intruiging. I'll be waiting for more.

[Waking Dreamer]

It's a damn good intro. =) I'm curious to know who this woman is! And you picked the best pairing of all (IMHO ;D)! I'm definitely waiting to read what happens next!

[Mizaya]

Does this mean you're going to post the rest of this fic AND add more chapters?? *is excited* I've been waiting patiently for updates over at ff.net. This story is on my favorites. I love it!

[melrose_stormhaven]

Hey, Mizaya! I didn't know you're here too!! Hi!!!
yeah, I'll be posting it here too...
If you're wondering why I'm taking so long to update this in FF.net, I'm still researching about the Kamakura era...you'll find out why soon enough!

Thanks to those who commented! I'll post the next chapter this week!
ja!

[Kaili Charmer]

YEA! ANOTHER KYORU FIC FOR KAI!!! It is for me, right? well, it's for every other fan too...but i enjoy being egotistical. Cool start, now that you've stuck your toe into the water, you'd better jump into the pool before someone just pushes you in.

I don't know what I meant either.

[melrose_stormhaven]

I have to, won't I? But still, I keep on looking over my shoulder, and boy, do I see a LOT of people wanting to push me into the pool...not just here, but in FF.net...

Minna: We're waiting...

Melrose: Hai, hai! *scuttles away*