Hatsuharu Sohma

, more commonly known by his nickname, is one of the recurring characters of the Fruits Basket series.

He is the Ox of the Chinese Zodiac, and has something of a Yin and Yang personality related to the Ox's personality; he's usually calm and placid, but can become enraged when provoked. He has a reputation in the family for being somewhat stupid, and blamed Yuki Sohma; the Rat, for it when he was a child. After Yuki asked him whether he believes he is stupid, he realized the mental trap and has since loved Yuki. Haru later begins attending Kaibara Municipal High School along with Momiji Sohma as first-year students.

Haru had a romantic relationship with Isuzu Sohma prior to the beginning of the series, but she later breaks up with him to protect him until she can find a way to free him from the curse.

In Fruits Basket Another, he is married to Rin and the father of twin children Sora and Riku.

Appearance
Haru is a tall, slender young man who is noted by very handsome by both girls and boys alike. He has shaggy, two-toned snowy white hair with black roots, and spikes sticking out from all angles. He has fairly sharp and somewhat droopy dark brown eyes.

Haru wears the standard Kaibara High uniform for males, which consists of a blue sweater (white during summertime) with a white color around the collar and edges, and a yellow shirt underneath (white in the anime). Unlike other students, Haru wears his school uniform unbuttoned without a necktie.

In addition to this, he wears jewelry and accessories like chokers with spikes and small hoops or studs and green tattoo on his right arm. He also has three piercings in each ear. Outside of school, Haru usually dresses in gothic clothing, mostly black in color, wearing tight jeans, white socks, tanks, and chains.

Personality
Haru has two personalities, black and white (also known as dark and cheerful). Under normal circumstances (when he is "white"), Hatsuharu is laid-back and kind and usually has a plain, straight-faced look, taking everything very calmly and is usually more quiet and respectful. When he turns "black", however, he becomes violent, perverted, short-tempered, rude, foul-mouthed, loud and cruel.

Despite this, he is an older-brother figure to the younger zodiac members and is immensely loyal to the ones he cares about, particularly Yuki Sohma, Rin Sohma, Kisa Sohma, Hiro Sohma and to an extent Tohru Honda as well.

Although younger than Yuki or Kyo he displays a maturity beyond his age and is shown to be observant, he can also be a prankster at times, although he means well. Best seen when he whispered into Tohru's ear which looked suggestive but in truth it was for her to call Yuki by his name, which embarrassed both Tohru and Yuki when it happened to the point the latter transformed, but was nonetheless immensely happy.

He becomes Black if provoked (For example: In the episode "Make it Clear If It's Black or White", Haru goes Black because of Kyo refusing to fight him). Haru will also turn into a full chaotic "black" when something major happens to him such as Rin leaving him. Haru also bottles up his emotions and tries to help others without thinking of himself, usually causing a mental breakdown.

It is eventually disclosed that his "Black Haru" personality was born as a defense mechanism in order to cope with the many insults and mockery he received as a youngster.

Meeting Yuki Sohma
Ever since he was young, Haru had been ridiculed by the adults in the Sohma "inside" for being stupid, due to the story of how the Rat was able to take advantage of the Ox to become first in the Zodiac because he was stupid. For this reason, Haru subconsciously saw Yuki as an enemy and held a strong hatred towards him. Due to constantly being called various degrading names by the adults, Haru was very irritable and eventually developed his black persona, which caused his parents a lot of grief. They made him start martial arts to relieve his stress, and although Haru enjoyed it and became friends with Kyo Sohma, it did not work as a stress reliever because he was getting laughed at there too.

One day, Haru ran into Yuki, who he had never spoken to previously. Despite that, Haru snapped and let everything he had been bottling up out; that he hated Yuki and that all of his misfortunes were caused by him, including how people constantly called him stupid. However, after Yuki asked Hatsuharu whether he believes he is stupid, Hatsuharu realized the mental trap and that he was in fact not stupid, to which Yuki told him that he believed him. After this incident, Haru didn't get as angry as often since Yuki let him get everything off his chest and freed him from the shackles of his mind. Haru was also shocked how different Yuki was from what he had imagined, and has since been in love with him.

Pre-Fruits Basket
Two years prior to the beginning of the series, Haru and Rin fell in love and consummated their relationship. Haru knew there could be consequences, but he pursued Rin anyway. However, Akito found out about their relationship, and Rin convinced Akito that she was the one who seduced Haru. In response, Akito pushed her off a window from the second floor which left her hospitalized. When Haru visited Rin in the hospital, she only claimed that she had gotten bored with him and broke up with him. Since Haru didn't know about the circumstances behind Rin's injuries and her incident with Akito, he could not say anything.

During that time, Haru had become sick of how much Yuki had suffered by living in the Sohma main house. He begged Shigure Sohma to let Yuki live in his house, and Shigure agreed on the terms that Haru had to call Shigure "sensei".

First Year Arc
He first transforms when Yuki falls from his weak lungs after falling sick and after an intense endurance physical run with Kyo at school. Haru hugs Tohru Honda in order to transform into an Ox so he can carry Yuki on his back and bring him back to Shigure's house easier and not realizing how ridiculous it looks for Yuki to be riding on the back of an Ox.

Arriving at home Haru morphs back into a person much to Tohru's shock (as he is nude). He then whispers something into Tohru's ear which Yuki finds suspicious. Eventually, as the talk develops, Tohru call's Yuki by his name which embarrasses them both, and Yuki morphs into a rat as a result as he is immensely happy at being called by his name. It is later revealed he had told Tohru to do exactly that, knowing Yuki would like it.

Third Year Arc
Haru reveals to Yuki and Kyo that Akito had brought up an "announcement", and that all of the Zodiacs, including the Cat, are invited to a banquet. Haru seems to be happy that the situation has become better, especially in regards to that the Cat's Room had been destroyed.

When Haru's curse broke, he was with Rin and they both were subconsciously aware of it. Rather than being happy, Haru expresses that it was sad in its own way. Haru and Rin then comfort and hug one another in the wake of their broken curses.

Once all the Zodiacs' curse breaks, Haru is invited to the final banquet of all by Akito. When Yuki expresses that he is glad that their relationships didn't change despite the curse being broken, Haru confesses that he will always love him. This makes Rin jealous, and Haru is later seen patting her on the head to comfort her. Later, when Akito reveals herself to be a woman, Haru appears to be surprised. Akito tries to apologize for everything she has done, and 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
Towards the end of the series, Haru, Rin, and Momiji are catching up in one another lives. Haru and Momiji are surprised by how everything managed to work out regarding the curse, and how mature they are in comparison to Shigure, who did use some dirty and manipulative tactics in order to break the curse. They also talk about Kyo and Tohru's eventual departure, and listen to Momiji's wish to find a new love and his desire for Tohru to become happy. The three of them are last seen reminiscing about the memories they share with Tohru, and how it had helped them.

Fruits Basket Another
At some point, Haru married Rin, having twin children Sora Sohma and Riku Sohma between them. They are stated to live in town.

Haru is briefly mentioned by Hajime Sohma, as he says that he would have petitioned Haru to do something about Sora if she didn't pass her tests, considering how much Hajime had helped her study.

Mutsuki Sohma also recalls that when they were younger and the family was sued by Sawa Mitoma's mother, Haru mentioned that her mother could easily hit the ranks of the most psychotic people in the world.

The Ox of the Zodiac
Hatsuharu is cursed by the spirit of the Ox of the Zodiac. Whenever he is hugged by the opposite sex, or if his body goes through a great deal of stress, Hatsuharu transforms into his Chinese Zodiac form. Like all the Cursed Sohmas, their respective animals are drawn to them; and in Hatsuharu's case, Ox. The Ox is the second of all zodiac animals.

He has black and white-colored hair due to sharing similar traits with his animal, the Ox. In Chinese culture, Oxes are the hard workers in the background, intelligent and reliable, but never demanding praise, which applies to Hatsuharu rather well.

Hatsuharu has no sense of direction due to being cursed by the spirit of the Ox, once getting lost for just trying to find the house Yuki lives with Shigure (which is nearby and easy to find). It is mentioned by Kyo that he had to lead Hatsuharu to the bathroom as he could not find it and often got lost. Hatsuharu's Yin and Yang personality (as in his "Black" and "White" personalities), mirrors the Ox's traditional personality characteristics in the Zodiac.

When Haru's curse broke, he was subconsciously aware of it and described it as a bittersweet experience. Haru's curse was the overall tenth to break.

Trivia

 * According to the official Fruits Basket Character Book:
 * Haru used to dress like Kyo, but Rin's influence made him adopt a flashier look. Now he dresses the way he does because he likes it.
 * Haru has a lot of clothes and spends money on his wardrobe "shamelessly". He is especially fond of leather, so he enjoys winter.
 * Haru has no sense of direction, as he once became lost for three days in another town while looking for Kyo in order to challenge him. And when he was young, he managed to get lost on the way to the bathroom and needed Kyo's help to find it.
 * Apparently, Haru annoys Kyo as much as Momiji does.
 * Hatsuharu's appearance differs between the manga and the anime adaptions:
 * The manga and 2019 anime depict Hatsuharu with brown eyes. The 2001 anime depicts him with grey eyes.
 * The manga and 2019 anime depict Hatsuharu with three piercings on each ear. The 2001 anime depict him with two piercings on each ear.
 * In an author's note, Natsuki Takaya mentions that the various jewelry and leather accessories he very often wears are made by himself.
 * In an author's note, it is mentioned that Haru is caught up by strange things, which is proven when it is mentioned that Haru was going to confess his love to Rin when his height surpassed hers.
 * This is also proven when he is talking to Rin about how the teachers in his middle school didn't like his attitude or his hair, so he had no choice but to pierce his ears.
 * When questioned, Haru shows the student council president that his hair color is indeed natural. The exact method of how he does this is never truly revealed, but it's implied that it was highly lewd. There are some implications in the manga that he revealed his pubic hair to prove his hair was natural.
 * Momiji mentions that Haru used to get bullied over his unnatural hair color, but occasionally, he would turn black and beat up the people who make fun of his hair.
 * Yuki mentions that Black Haru is "much worse than Kagura".
 * Haru appears to have some strange habits, such as sticking out his arms in a "T-pose" and grabbing on to Yuki whenever he sees him.

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