Kisa Sohma

is one of the recurring characters of the Fruits Basket series.

She is the Tiger of the Chinese Zodiac. When she is first introduced, Kisa had sealed her words away since she was harassed and ostracized by her classmates due to her naturally golden hair and eyes, a side effect of her curse. Tohru Honda, who understands Kisa's distress because she was once bullied herself, helps her to come out of her shell. Kisa then becomes very attached to Tohru, viewing her as an older sister.

Kisa is best friends with Hiro Sohma and is close to Yuki Sohma and Hatsuharu Sohma, viewing them as older-brother figures.

Appearance
Kisa is a slender young girl with fair skin and large amber-colored eyes ― without any white highlights in her manga design ― who is noted to be very cute by people around her, especially by Tohru and Hiro.

She has nape-length, straight golden-yellow hair which she wears into a bob, with a scruffy fringe and two long strands of hair framing her face.

Kisa is often depicted in her school uniform, which consists of a light-purple colored tailored sweater with dark purple sleeves, along with a yellow ribbon around the collar. It also consists of a short light-purple skirt, long white stockings, and a pair of brown loafers. On other occasions, she likes to wear feminine clothes such as dresses. She also styles her hair with ribbons, borrows Tohru's clothes from time to time and imitates her style out of adoration.

Personality
When Kisa is first introduced, she refuses to speak since her classmates bullied her by laughing whenever she tried to say anything. She also willingly bites Tohru twice and Haru once while in her tiger form. It is implied that this is a defense mechanism and that she had developed trust issues after being bullied at school. However, after seeing Tohru's kindness, it encourages her to come out of her shell. She starts talking more often and expressing what's on her mind. Yuki also empathizes with her due to his own experiences with bullying, so both resolve to be better.

It is revealed that Kisa is a very innocent, shy, but sweet, kind-hearted, and soft-spoken girl. She dislikes conflict and prefers to sort things out with civil conversations. She is also quite sensitive and easily shaken, and can break down in tears quite easily. Despite that, she prefers to bottle up her true feelings of sadness and conflict, and chooses to show a smile outwards. She can be somewhat clueless at times, as during Cinderella-ish, when Hiro Sohma tells her to be careful, she says that she won't "bump into anyone", but he was really telling her that there were other boys who had their eyes on her. She didn't pick up these clues but is saved by Haru.

She is also meek, shy, withdrawn, and reserved, and is initially seen to not be very good to make her own decisions. So when she is able to greet Kyo Sohma directly instead of relying on Hiro to speak for her, Kisa feels it is a major accomplishment and is proud over herself.

Pre-Fruits Basket
Kisa has been best friends with Hiro Sohma since childhood, and the two would often play and spend time together. Eventually, Hiro fell in love with Kisa, and he confessed his feelings to the head of the Sohma family, Akito Sohma. Akito, in response, was enraged and proceeded to beat Kisa up, leaving her to recover in the hospital for two weeks. Kisa was devastated and just couldn't understand why Akito had hurt her.

When Kisa started middle school, she was constantly teased for her golden hair and eyes, which were viewed by her classmates as unnatural. Eventually, everyone started ignoring Kisa, though they still managed to notice her every time she would say something and would laugh at her for everything and anything she said. During this time, Kisa wanted to reach out to Hiro, but Hiro, guilt-ridden from his actions and afraid that Akito would attack Kisa again if he spent time with her, started ignoring her. Soon after, her class started ignoring her as well, and Kisa sealed her ability to speak. Hatori Sohma said that her words were there, but she mentally shut them off.

Second Year Arc
Because of her problems of being bullied and ostracized in school, Kisa would start to purposely cause her family problems, and one day she ultimately runs away. The whole family searches for her, but Hatsuharu Sohma finds her in a bush and in her tiger form. While taking her back to Shigure Sohma's house, he bumps into Yuki Sohma and Tohru Honda, who are waiting for it to stop raining. Tohru mistakes Kisa for a kitten and tries to pet her, but Kisa bites her in her return, and they all go back to Shigure's house to treat Tohru's injury. When Haru tells everyone that bullying in the reason why Kisa is acting the way she is, she bites him and runs off, to which Tohru goes after her.

Tohru finds Kisa in a bush in their front yard, and when she attempts to befriend Kisa, she bites her again. With Tohru's hand still in her mouth, Kisa's mother arrives, clearly on her wit's end. She asks Kisa why she had been causing trouble for everyone, and expresses that she was very hurt that Kisa had run away from her. Tohru, with her own experiences of being bullied and unable to tell anyone until her mother Kyoko Honda found out and comforted her, tells Kisa's mother about what she thinks is in Kisa's mind: she deduces that Kisa just didn't want to worry the people around her, because she was afraid that she would be hated by her mother if she told her that she was being bullied. Moved by Tohru's words, Kisa transforms back and hugs her. Kisa remains at Shigure's house for a few days, following Tohru around like "a baby duck". During a call from Kisa's mother, Tohru discovers that Kisa is always in her mother's thoughts and that she loves her very much.

Although Kisa wanted to speak with the strength she found from Tohru, she remains mute. That afternoon after school, Haru brings a note from Kisa's homeroom teacher, stating that she needs to find the good in herself in order to recover, love herself, and move on. Yuki disagrees, believing that one can only love oneself when someone else accepts them for who they are, referring to Tohru's acceptance of him. Kisa finally speaks in agreement, and Yuki reassures her that Tohru will always be there for her, too. Soon after, Kisa goes with Yuki to pick Tohru up from work, and upon hearing Kisa speak, the two girls hug one another and break down in tears. With the support she found in Tohru, Haru, and Yuki, Kisa resolves to better herself by returning to school and begin facing her fears.

When Hiro meets Kisa for the first time in several months face-to-face, her first words to him are to return Tohru's notebook to her. They argue about Kisa idolizing Tohru, leaving Kisa at the brink of tears. Hiro decides to give in and return Tohru's notebook. When Kisa asks why he had not helped her when she was bullied, Hiro is lost for words but explains to her vaguely why he kept a distance from her. Eventually, Kisa realizes that Hiro has been worrying about her despite everything, which is more than enough to make her happy and forgive him. Afterward, Hiro joins Kisa and Tohru to watch Mogeta at Shigure's house. Hiro later demands Tohru to take him and Kisa out somewhere. They go to a park and Kisa stays behind while Tohru and Hiro go to buy some crepes. Hiro tells Tohru that he was angry for being unable to help Kisa when she was injured by Akito and when she was bullied. Because of this, Hiro swears he will become a "prince" and protect Kisa in the future. When Hiro returns to Kisa, she remarks that he looks happier.

During summer vacation, Kisa and Hiro get an invitation from Momiji Sohma to the Sohma beach house. While Hiro initially refuses to go, he changes his mind when Kisa tells him that she wants to go. They arrive a day later and Kisa is very happy to see Tohru again. With Tohru and the Sohmas, Kisa has a fun time at the beach. However, when Hiro passes off a remark about Tohru's 'obsession' with her mother which visibly saddens her but she brushes off, Kisa gets upset at Hiro, thinking that he had only come to the vacation house to aggravate Tohru. Kisa then runs away, with Hiro regretting everything. Later that night, Kisa began feeling a bit guilty for having sided with Tohru, so she decides to apologize to Hiro. She goes to Hiro's room but he accidentally hits her in the face with his door when he decides to apologize to her as well. However, they apologize for their actions and soon make up. The next few couples of days, she is delighted when she finds out that Hiro's mother is pregnant, and worries when Akito arrives at the beach, afraid that Akito will hurt Tohru the same way she was hurt.

After summer vacation, Kisa decides to follow Hiro home and visit his pregnant mother, Satsuki. Kisa is happy to see Satsuki again and she excitedly asks her 'aunt' about the baby's gender. Satsuki says it doesn't matter, since she is sure that her unborn child will be as cute as Hiro, which Kisa seems to agree on. When Satsuki suddenly asks Kisa if she doesn't want to make Hiro her husband for this reason, she isn't able to answer, though Hiro blushes furiously at his mother's question.

Kisa, Hiro, Momiji, and Haru go to see the Cinderella-ish play put on by Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, and their friends. In the entrance hall, Hiro notices a couple of boys staring at Kisa and flirting about her. Hiro warns Kisa to be careful. She responds that she'll be careful not to bump into anyone in that big crowd. Haru notices, too, and picks up Kisa and carries her into the auditorium. After the play, Kisa goes on about what a great job Tohru did onstage.

Kisa attends the Sohma banquet on New Year's Eve, where she is seen happily spending her time with the other Zodiacs minus Kyo. When Akito attacks Yuki during the banquet, Kisa were protected by Kagura.

A few days later after the birth of Hiro's younger sister, Hinata Sohma, Hiro and Kisa are seen spending time together and the two eventually bump into Haru. When Haru questions Hiro about Rin, he eventually confesses that he had witnessed Rin being pushed off a second-story balcony by Akito, which was the reason she had been in the hospital for so long. Hiro also confesses that it was his fault for Akito injuring Kisa a while back. Haru later leaves since he had gotten to know the truth about Rin, Hiro breaks down sobbing for hurting Kisa, though she comforts him by saying it wasn't his fault.

Third Year Arc
Kisa and Hiro are invited to Shigure's house for dinner, but they end up arriving earlier than Tohru and the others. Thinking they are alone, they are surprised to see Kyo Sohma, but Kisa is able to muster up her courage and greet him. Kyo tells her that Tohru will be arriving soon. Kisa is later seen to be very happy to be able to greet Kyo directly, rather than relying on Hiro to speak for her, and happily spends the evening with Tohru and others.

After Hiro's curse broke, he asked Kisa if she hated him now that he wasn't one of the Zodiacs anymore. Kisa is momentarily surprised before asking him if he doesn't hate being with someone who's possessed as herself. However, before Hiro is able to confess his true feelings, they are interrupted by Kyo Sohma vomiting. They offer to help him, and while Hiro does not like the sight of Kyo's vomit, Kisa gives him her handkerchief to wipe his mouth. When Kyo sees Kisa and her actions, he remembers how Tohru had treated him before, taking care of him despite being a troublemaker and the odd one out of the Sohma family.

When Hiro visits Akito for the first time after his curse broke, Kisa follows him to act as a support for him.

When Kisa's curse breaks, she is seen spending time with Hiro and his younger sister, Hinata Sohma. She begins crying over having it broken, shocking the two siblings.

Once all the Zodiacs' curse breaks, Kisa is invited to the final banquet of all by Akito. Kisa and Hiro accompany each other, and when Akito reveals herself to be a woman, both of them are very shocked. Akito tries to apologize for everything she has done, but without success. However, she explains that she would now move forward, continue living as a Sohma and the head of the family, and that she would be giving all the Zodiacs their freedom to do whatever they want.

Epilogue
When Kisa and Hiro think about Tohru moving with Kyo to the countryside, Kisa goes into an overdrive of emotion. Hiro comforts her, telling her there is no point holding back her emotions and tears. As Kisa cries, she remembers all the memories she had with Tohru, right from the start when Tohru met her for the first time.

Fruits Basket Another
Kisa is seen in Shiki Sohma's flashback, where she stands beside Hinata Sohma and greets Shiki during one of the annual Sohma events.

The Tiger of the Zodiac
Kisa is possessed by the spirit of the tiger. Whenever she is hugged by the opposite sex, or if her body goes through a great deal of stress, Kisa transforms into her Chinese Zodiac form. Like all the Cursed Sohmas, their respective animals are drawn to them; and in Kisa's case, tigers (though this is unlikely, considering that tigers aren't found everywhere). The Tiger is the third of all zodiac animals.

In Chinese culture, Tigers are courageous and active people who love a good challenge and adventure in life, which applies to Kisa later in the series as she grows throughout the obstacles she faces, rather well.

As she isn't an adult or teenager yet, when she transforms, she is shown as a tiger cub. She has naturally golden eyes and hair due to sharing similar traits with her animal. Since these hair and eye colors aren't considered normal for a Japanese girl to have, this has led to her classmates at school to bully and eventually ignore her. Kisa was visibly affected and even went mute for a period, but eventually, she overcomes this, embraces the fact that she is different from other girls, and learns to love herself.

When Kisa's curse broke, she was subconsciously aware of it and broke down in tears, describing it as a bittersweet experience. Kisa's curse was the overall seventh to break.

Trivia

 * According to the official Fruits Basket Character Book:
 * Kisa's name is derived from the second month, kisaragi or "changing clothes month", which is the month of the tiger of the traditional Japanese calendar.
 * Natsuki Takaya says she likes drawing Kisa in frilly dresses, though she mentions that Kisa herself wouldn't want that. Because of that, she mostly draws Kisa in such clothes in color pictures and official artwork.
 * Kisa dislikes flashy colors.
 * According to Takaya, Kisa was originally designed as in the running for being the first or second most beautiful character.
 * Kisa considers the "Mabudachi Trio" her uncles and calls them Uncle Hatori, Uncle Shigure and Uncle Ayame, even though they are actually her older "cousins".
 * Kisa is the second youngest member of the Zodiacs.
 * Kisa owns a stuffed tiger plushie.
 * Kisa likes playing in parks.

Kisa Sohma Kisa Soma Kisa Soma Kisa Soma Kisa Sohma pt-br:Kisa Sohma 相馬キサ