Ichirou Sohma's Story

Ichirou had practically ran out of the garage and dived into his car. "You better not blow anything up, kid," Ichirou's boss yelled after him, trying not to laugh.

"You worry to much old man." Ichirou started up his car and sped off towards where Masaru awaited him, Cafe Shukumei. One of the terrifying things about Ichirou was the fact he almost never listened to the rules of the road. He always went faster than he was supposed to, way faster and cut corners like a maniac. It was amazing that he had never been in a car accident while he was the driver. The glove compartment stuffed with tickets didn't affect him at all, just gave him something to laugh at. Fingers flew and horns blazed as Ichirou made his way to the popular cafe. It wasn't to long until he pulled up to the curb of the shop, laughing wildly at the high school students who had actually fallen backwards when he sped by. "Kids these days." He closed the door and locked his precious vehicle, patting its hood before walking into the cafe.

"Masaru," he started in a sing song voice. "Masaru, time to gather the explosives!"

Ichirou looked around, trying to find his sneaky snake of a friend. "I saw a big pile of lonely wood the other night and I heard it calling me. Need to stop by our houses and and see if there is anything we wanna burn." Several people looked at him like he was crazy, but he dismissed those people. If they didn't want to join in, then they were no fun what so ever. "I don't have any work tonight, so I wanna make this last."

Kutaki Sohma
Kutaki stretched her arms and fingers as she looked over the notebook she had just been writing in. With a satisfied smile she dropped off the window sill she had been currently sitting on and slid to the ground, some pieces of grass from her roof following her. She felt she deserved a break and one that involved some delicious coffee. pulling on a pair of shoes that were really slippers, though could barely pass as being shoes, she walked through the Sohma Estate. The younger kids were just arriving from school. She noticed Keiko headed towards Raiden's house, but instead of calling young girl's attention to her she just walked on. Her eyes kept open to see if she could spot Eri before she left, hoping her little bunny wouldn't mind coming with her before doing homework. But sadly she didn't see her.

Outside the Sohma estate everything seemed much brighter, sunnier. Maybe it was because her house was usually shrouded in shadow from the trees or because of the gloom that it seemed to impose on everyone as they entered. Either way Kutaki was glad for the sun and the excuse to stretch her legs. Her walk was mostly uneventful, except from the few odd stares from others at her clothing and hair color. It was also fairly long, you see she was headed to Café Shukumei. It was a ways away from the Sohma estate, but in Kutaki's opinion it had the best coffee and plus it gave her more time to clear her head so that by the time she would be back she would be able to write some more with little distraction. As she entered the place was crowded, at least though her eyes, this made her a bit uncomfortable, but she put on a smile and walked on to the counter. She ordered her usual coffee, an double espresso and found a place to wait. Her eyes drifted around the place as she people watched, always on the look out for a great character or even just a character quirk would suffice. Then she found Ichirou, the resident boar. Her smile grew when she recognized her old friend. He seemed to be currently looking for Masaru and had his back turned to her. She sneaked up behind him, really not looking as though she was sneaking but rather just her normal walk, then with no warning to those who happened to be watching she jumped up on his back. This looked like an impressive feat considering how much taller he was compared to the rather short goat.

"Well it's seems I've caught myself a wild boar," she said, not letting go as she hung from his shoulders, "What should I do with it I wonder? I could cook it? Nahh, the meat would be too tough. I could pin it and bring it a mate. But it would probably just run away. What do you think?" This last question she directed towards Ichirou, wanting him to answer back.

Cafe Shukumei, or just Shukumei as many of the customers had dubbed it, was thriving with business, which was hardly unusual on a Friday afternoon. As one of the more popular sites in the city, teenagers and young adults tended to flock to the cafe, eager to have their weekends start off right, sometimes stay-at-home parents came with their children for a treat, and even a few elderly couples here to enjoy a nice Spring afternoon. Yes, the cafe was packed, but not full enough to make the customers feel uncomfortable as they sat at either the tables or the couches, enjoying a coffee or pastry, chattering amongst themselves or typing silently on their laptops. However, in the back of the cafe, it was a much different story because in the back was the kitchen and it currently held just one occupant, Masaru Sohma.

It was one of those days where all the wait staff had shown up and even both of their baristas, ready for the Friday afternoon rush. This left the twenty-three-year-old to do what he did best; cook. His hair, an orangey-blond color, was pulled into a messy bun as he leaned over a fresh batch of strawberry pastries, the last for the day, icing each with deliberate care, creating a perfect swirl to top it of. He stepped back to admire his handiwork, sucking a stray bit of icing off of his thumb. Perfect.

"Masaru!" He was pulled out of his moment of tranquility, glancing over to the entrance of the kitchen. It was one of the new waitresses who'd been making doe eyes at him all week. Today, however, she seemed a little more nervous, a little unsettled.

"What is it, sweetie?" He asked, charming smile already pulled on his lips. She faltered for a moment, cheeks blazing a pretty pink color, still unused to his idle flirtation.

"I, um- Well, there's this guy who drove up like a crazy man and now he's in the cafe and..." She trailed off and for good reason. With the kitchen's door open, Masaru could plainly hear the cause of the disturbance.

"Masaru! Masaru, time to gather the explosives!"

Instead of looking perturbed, Masaru's grin grew even larger as Ichirou continued his rant about burning things. It grew even larger when the added voice of Kutaki joined him.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them," He advised the waitress, slipping off his apron and putting it away neatly. Apparently it was time to go. "They're insane, but they're not dangerous. Usually. Unless they're already drunk, which may be a possibility. I'll take care of it. Have a good weekend, sweetie." And with that, he exited the kitchen leaving the still blushing waitress behind., stepping out from behind the counter and made his way over to the two idiots he considered some of his dearest friends. Yes, they were idiots, but they were his idiots.

"Both of you, stop that! You're scaring off my customers," He chided, but the grin on his face shattering the illusion of real irritation.

Ichirou was tapping his foot impatiently, about to start up yelling again, when what felt like a child leapt onto his back. Now, Ichirou knew that no one outside the Sohma family would dare do such a thing. "Well it's seems I've caught myself a wild boar," she said, not letting go as she hung from his shoulders, "What should I do with it I wonder? I could cook it? Nahh, the meat would be too tough. I could pin it and bring it a mate. But it would probably just run away. What do you think?"

"I think you should keep it as a pet and call it Fiji," Ichirou laughed, trying to pull Kutaki off to no avail.

"Both of you, stop that! You're scaring off my customers," a familiar voice 'scolded'. Ichirou met Masaru's smile as he looked at his friend.

"Scare? Why, I'm offended! If anything, I attract more than scare off." Ichirou punched Masaru's arm lightly before grabbing his wrist. "I was thinking of going and picking up the others, later when everything is ready. I'm not even sure if anyone remembered that it is today," Ichirou rambled on, Kutaki firmly attached to his back and him dragging Masaru along. As he continued to speak, he opened the passenger door of his car for Masaru before once again prying Kutaki off his back. "This is going to turn out awesome, I just know it! As long as there aren't any snags or fights." After being successful in getting Kutaki in the backseat, Ichirou walked to the drivers side. But then again ... stuff usually goes wrong in our family. Well, life is life. Do what it will, he thought. It was fairly nice to spend time with the family since there wasn't anyone he hated, minus the Head, anyone and everyone was welcome to their little get together. It was just a matter if anyone would or wouldn't show up.

"Sweetheart, the only thing you attract is trouble and I don't need anymore more of that," Masaru huffed, hands on his hips but an unmistakable mischievous twinkle in his eyes. The flirtatious endearment tumbled easily from his lips, just another quirk that made Masaru, well, Masaru. He gave an exaggerated wince when Ichirou punched his arm, a pout covering his face before he let out a laugh and allowed himself to be tugged along by the wrist, waving at his coworkers(almost all of whom just carried on with what they were doing have seen this scene one too many times to care).

"Goodbye, everyone! I'll see you later!" He cheerfully called out before Ichirou pulled him out of the store, Kutaki still attached to his back like the world's clingiest backpack. His friend was still chattering on, practically vibrating with excitement. It made sense, at least a little bit. The Zodiac members, as linked as they were by their curses, didn't see each other as often as some might like. Some lived away from the Sohma compound, people had busy jobs and school lives, a general reluctance on some of the members' parts and so many other things kept them from actually seeing one another. So tonight, if everyone chose to come, was a special occasion indeed.

"My, aren't we a gentleman?" He quipped, sliding into the passenger's seat and buckling up as tightly as he could. Ichirou's driving skills were infamous and for someone who'd been riding with him all of these years(the horror...the horror...), well, if he didn't take safety precautions, that would mean he was a complete idiot.

"...As long as there aren't any snags or fights." Ichirou finished, sliding into the driver's seat.

"I'm sure it will all go smoothly," Masaru said with a smile, even if he didn't believe it himself. No, they didn't always get together, but when they did, tempers were sure to flare. Someone would say something wrong, someone would get upset- these get-togethers never really ended well with all of the immensely different Zodiac members thrown in together, personalities and opinions violently clashing with one another.

"Now, what do we have to do before the bonfire?" He asked, smoothly switching subjects. "We can worry about reminding everyone once we actually have something to remind them about."

Kutaki held her grasp tight around Ichirou's neck, refusing to let go. She hadn't seen him in a while so giving into the clingyness she felt. It amused her that Ichirou gave up on trying to get her off and just walked to his car with her on his back as if it was nothing. He was talking with Masaru about a bonfire party he wanted to have with the whole Zodiac family. She guessed she was part of the conversation too, but she just didn't have anything to add. Yes this was most likely going to go down in flames and Kutaki knew a couple members she would want to stay away from during the bonfire otherwise she might start a fight herself. They got to the car and she was reluctant in letting Ichirou take her off, just because his driving was dangerous enough without the added danger of having someone on your back as you drive. Unlike Masaru, however, she didn't put her seat belt on, call her a free-spirit or adrenalin junkie, but either way she found it more exciting not to.

"Now, what do we have to do before the bonfire? We can worry about reminding everyone once we actually have something to remind them about," Masaru said as they started to pull away from the curb.

Kutaki pulled herself to the edge of her seat, so that her chin rested on the back of Ichirou's seat, "Well I have a bunch wood outside my house, leftover from this winter that we could use up," she stated matter-of-factly as the car took a sharp turn around a corner sending her sprawling across the back seat. When she came back up there was big smile on her face. "There's also several dirt areas near my house that we could use to place the bonfire. As for food you'll have to find your own way," she said as she patted Ichirou's cheek, "So Masaru that new waitress fall madly in love with you yet?" She turned her head slightly to look at the snake in the shotgun seat. She noticed the waitress earlier, one she hadn't recognized from before and it was an ongoing joke with him about how he gets everyone to fall in love with him so quickly.

"I'm sure it will all go smoothly," Masaru said with a smile. "Now, what do we have to do before the bonfire?" He asked. "We can worry about reminding everyone once we actually have something to remind them about."

"Well I have a bunch wood outside my house, leftover from this winter that we could use up," she stated matter-of-factly as the car took a sharp turn around a corner sending her sprawling across the back seat. "There's also several dirt areas near my house that we could use to place the bonfire. As for food you'll have to find your own way," she said as she patted Ichirou's cheek.

Ichirou smiled at his friends. "Kutaki, what would we do without you! Food is really the last thing I can think of. I was going to bring some of my telescopes and blankets from home, so ... yeah! Food shopping it is!" Ichirou quickly speed up to a store, practically slamming on his breaks in front of it.

"So Masaru that new waitress fall madly in love with you yet?" Ichirou chuckled as he got out of the car, earning glares from almost everyone for his death-defying driving. With a shrug, he opened Masaru's and Kutaki's doors.

"How do you do it, Masaru? You've even managed to have me fall in love with you," Ichirou squeezed his friend in a giant bear hug, leaning on him as much as possible.

Every time Masaru climbed into Ichirou's car or, really, any vehicle driven by his friend, he always stepped out with a slight tremble in his step and a mental vow to never, ever do that again. And yet here he was, still riding shot-gun all these years after Ichirou had miraculously been given a driver's license (Masaru still liked to say that they'd only given him his license so that he'd never put another driving instructor through that again). So, really, it was his own fault that he was in this situation, clinging to his door as Ichirou made wild swerves and seemed to make a game of breaking as many traffic laws as possible. Still, through his very appropriate terror, he listened as Kutaki checked off some of their necessities, only being able to respond once the car had pulled to a safe(enough) halt.

"So Masaru that new waitress fall madly in love with you yet?"

"Hardly," He sniffed with mock-indignation, sliding out of the passenger's side door, a little disturbed that he wasn't trembling that much. Oh, Lord, it had finally happened. He'd gotten used to Ichirou's driving. "It's just a little crush." And that it was. As much as it was an on-going joke between the three, his flirtations had caused more than enough problems in the past. It was a delicate art, for someone like him, a charming flirt, to avoid exposing the family's secret. Not that that was enough to stop him, mind. The day that happened would be the day he settled down with someone and he couldn't see that happening anytime soon.

He was broken from his fake scorn when Ichirou wrapped his arms around him, nearly pulling him off of his feet in a big bear hug.

"It's all a matter of charm," He teased, returning the hug for a moment before wriggling out of it and patting Ichirou affectionately on the cheek. "You'll always have a special place in my heart, though, lover-boy. And, of course, my dearest Kutaki as well." He twirled around, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and grabbing Ichirou's wrist with his unoccupied hand.

"All right, then, enough of this. Time to shop!" He announced, and dragged the two inside the store, away from the malicious (and one or two horrified) stares of those unfortunate enough to see the terror that was Ichirou's driving.

Kutaki gave a small smile as Masaru wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He grabbed Ichirou's wrist and soon the two were being pulled along into the store. It was a regular grocery store, quite small, but this particular one carried a surprisingly wide variety of food. The halls between shelving was very small, only big enough for one person while walking, but if need be you could squeeze two, this was done so that they could have as much food as they did. Today it seemed that the store was rather busy, which made sense people would be buying all the food they could for the weekend. Kutaki slipped out from underneath Masaru's arm, grabbed a basket and disappeared into the crowd. This was one advantage she had for being so small. She figured that the best food for a bonfire would be that which you could put on a stick and cook on the fire, so she headed to the seafood section and got shrimp, eel, and crab sticks. Her tiny body moved with ease through the crowd only getting gently bumped, and she made sure those who did bump into her weren't men, while everyone else was shoved around. She wondered idly how Ichirou and Masaru were doing in such a crowded and small area. It didn't take too long before the basket was full and she was searching for the boar and snake.

This part would seem easy considering how tall her two friends are, but the place was still pretty crowded and all she could see were tall people, or at least people taller than her. Her eyes narrowed in frustration as she looked around, she slowly made her way to an open-ish area to give her breathing room and a place to think. She heard someone talking and they were close by, it took her a moment to realize that whoever it was, they were talking to her. She turned her head and saw two guys sneering at her.

"Well, well, well, looks like some kid lost her parents," one said.

"It does doesn't it? Hey they little girl, are you lost? Do you need help finding your parents again?" the other guy said in a mockingly concerned voice. The two guys burst out laughing, Kutaki's mouth set itself in a firm frown. She wasn't as bad as Koji when it came to her height, but it didn't make it any less annoying or degrading. She wanted nothing more than to hand their asses to them, but seeing how crowded the store was and that she hadn't yet paid for the food, she couldn't really do anything except ignore them. She closed her eyes to calm her temper a bit and then started looking for her two friends again. She eventually found the top of Ichirou's head and began to head in that direction when a hand grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Where do you think you're going blue head?" it was one of the guys, "How can we help you if you run off on us?" The sneer on his face made Kutaki's blood boil.

"I'm 26 years old," Kutaki stated simply.

"What?" was the intelligent response she got.

"I'm 26, I'm not a kid. Now let go," Kutaki said again. When that didn't happen, she lifted her leg and gave a quick strike to the back of this knee. He gave a short holler and fell to the ground on one knee.

The store was, quite unfortunately, filled to the brim with shoppers today, all apparently planning for their weekends. While the little grocery store may hold almost everything that they might need for food and beverages tonight, it came with a risk that most of the members of the Sohma zodiac would be wise to remember. Danger was fully present in the form of those of the opposite sex, all in close quarters. All it would take would be a careless shopper tripping and falling into them or an ill-timed twist towards them in close quarters and everything would go straight to Hell. Still, the older members of the Sohma family had survived this long without exposing the clan's curse and Masaru wasn't going to let an overcrowded store end that streak.

He allowed Kutaki to slip out of his grip, watching her as she disappeared into the milling crowd of shoppers. Then, releasing his own grip on Ichirou, he blew his old friend a kiss before disappearing as well into the depths of the crowd, sashaying past various people clustered around items on sale and squeezing through packed aisles. He grabbed a few things, favorite of his own. Soft marshmallows, creamy chocolates, and, after a moment's hesitation, put back a case of beer in favor of soda. As tempting as it may be, the members of the zodiac had a hard enough time cooperating without the additional hazard of some of them getting drunk.

With his own little errands finished, Masaru looked over the heads of the crowds, craning his neck to spot either of his friends. Ichirou should have been easier to find, reasonably speaking, but it was Kutaki who caught his eye first or, rather, Kutaki's actions. He quickly elbowed his way through the crowd that had spread out around Kutaki and her would-be- well, he had no idea who they were. Bullies? It didn't really matter right then as he finally pushed past the crowd and made his way behind Kutaki, putting a reassuring and steadying hand on her shoulder as he pulled her backwards, towards hi.

"What seems to be the problem here?" His voice came off as friendly and cheerful and the relaxed smile on his face did nothing to shatter the illusion.