Shiki Sohma

is one of the recurring characters of the Fruits Basket Another series, and the main protagonist of its one-shot. He is the son and only child of Akito and Shigure Sohma.

He is a first-year middle school student who is in the Go Club along with his friends Chizuru Sohma and Rio Mosca. Being the son of Akito, who was a source of suffering and pain within the Sohma family in the past, Shiki was made a target by his grandmother Ren Sohma and her side of the family. Despite that, with the help of his loving parents, family, and friends, Shiki is determined to overturn the notion that nothing can ever change, in regards to his mother's situation, and wants to become the next head of the family after his mother to reinforce this dedication.

Eventually, after secrets are revealed and confrontations are resolved, Shiki develops a budding romance with Sawa Mitoma, who he has always thought about ever since he was very young.

Appearance
Shiki is a young boy with an average build and a rather tall height, who is noted to be near-identical to his mother; including inheriting her face- and eye shape. He has straight, black, and nape-length hair with long bangs that frame his face and covers most of his forehead, and a pair of droopy black eyes. According to Sawa Mitoma, Shiki has an extremely pale complexion and is very beautiful.

Personality
Shiki is a quiet, shy, and frail boy who is a bit awkward when it comes to normal, everyday living. He usually keeps a level-headed demeanor and a natural facial expression, and even when he is startled or surprised, he manages to hide his reactions quite well. For example, when he found out that Sawa would come to the Sohma cottage with the rest of his relatives and him, Shiki dropped a bucket of Go pieces while still holding a completely poker-faced expression. However, Shiki does show a smile from time to time and does occasionally blush when he is in Sawa's presence. While he is genuine with everything he does, is honest, and has no problem telling people what is on his mind, he can be rather awkward while trying to express himself and his emotions.

Shiki is perceptive, as he can read situations and come to a solution quite well. He is also perceptive about other people and conscious about the actions of the people around him, as he calls out on Mutsuki Sohma being sly, but not to the same extent as his own father. Shiki is also quite secretive, and while he generally isn't an open person, he doesn't like opening up about himself and is quite isolated. Despite that, Shiki is a very polite and kind person who always thinks about others' happiness, and for these reasons, he is well-loved by his friends and family.

History
Shiki Sohma is the only child born to Akito and Shigure Sohma. Shiki grew up in a loving and warm household; his mother learned hand games for his sake, he would read bedtime stories with his parents, and they would take Shiki to different places so he could have fun and experience new things. Akito also thanked Shiki for giving her the opportunity to experience many things for the first time in connection to becoming his mother.

One day, Shiki went out on some business, where he noticed a young Sawa Mitoma standing in the same spot for several hours, both when he was on his way and on his way back. Shiki was worried because she had cried the whole time, so he went back to check on her. To his surprise, he found her lying unconscious in the snow, having slipped down a flight of stairs. Before asking his father to call the ambulance, Shiki gently told her that she would be alright. This incident, however, prompted Sawa's mother to use it as a chance to sue the Sohma’s for money, and claimed Shiki had pushed Sawa. However, there were no witnesses to confirm this accusation; Sawa couldn’t remember herself as she had hit her head incredibly hard and Shiki stayed silent throughout the court. However, the lawsuit and everything were eventually resolved neatly and tidily. Although Sawa didn't remember the boy who "saved" her, Shiki has always been thinking about her since that day.

At a later point in his childhood, Shiki began receiving countless notes from his maternal grandmother's, Ren, side of the family, where they threatened and degraded both him and Akito. Shiki kept quiet about this and kept all the notes he received until Mutsuki found about and convinced him to tell Shigure about it, as he felt like Shiki didn't have to bear the burden himself. But it wasn't just the notes - Shiki was constantly reminded by Ren and the maids that his mother was a horrible person and that she didn't deserve to give birth. Ren was so infuriated by the fact that Shiki looked so much like Akito that she attempted to kill him by stabbing him with a knife at one occasion, but Akito protected him and took the blow in his stead. Shiki was terrified and sadly clung to his mother, and in the aftermath, he was comforted by Mutsuki and Hajime, who witnessed the scene and were equally as upset.

After this incident, Akito made the decision to tell Shiki about her past self, her many mistakes and sins, and how she atoned for them, and Shiki was very saddened to hear about how his mother had hurt the families of all the people who are so kind to him. Shiki also realized that the fact that Akito would always stay away from the Sohmas as she had made up her mind that she would never try to join the family circle, was a way for her to atone for her sins. She would make sure to drop Shiki off with everyone else so he could spend time with them and form his own circle of friends though, since she was adamant about never letting Shiki bear her burdens. Despite Akito's efforts, for the following years, due to always having been surrounded by people like Ren and the ”old-timers”, Shiki began living life as if he was sorry about it; he also stopped attending all of the Sohma's gatherings and preferred to stay alone. It wasn't until he met Sawa again that this started to change.

Before Summer Vacation
When Michi Manabe throws a sukiyaki party at Mutsuki's house for everyone to attend, Mutsuki messages Shiki to come, as he had hoped that Shiki could introduce him to Sawa, but Shiki does not reply. After the party, Mutsuki calls Shiki again, where Mutsuki informs him about Sawa's visit and how he should have been there. Shiki hesitantly agrees and quickly hangs up.

When Sawa is on the way to the Sohmas' house, she finds Shiki sitting at a staircase and looking unwell. Worried about the stranger, Sawa offers help, and he explains that he was only feeling under the weather. Upon hearing this, Sawa tells him she will help him home, and as he slowly leads Sawa to the Sohma house, she realizes that he is part of the Sohma family. Upon arriving at the house, Kinu Sohma tells them Mutsuki and Hajime are currently not around but that they are free to stay. After Kinu leaves to take a nap, Shiki and Sawa begin to have a conversation where Sawa reveals how much she is enjoying herself ever since she met the Sohmas, and Shiki tells her that he is happy to hear that. He once again thanks Sawa for helping him out, as it had made him very happy and reminded him of a certain someone, but before he is able to tell who, he cuts himself off while smiling. Hajime and Mutsuki then arrive, and later, when Sawa picks out some clothes she was asked to borrow, Mutsuki explains that he had not planned the meeting between Shiki and Sawa, mentioning that he is not as sly as Shiki's father, to which Shiki agrees. The five then have a meal together, and before parting ways, Sawa happily bids him farewell, and Shiki is seen to be touched by the aspect of meeting her again.

Several days later, Shiki goes up to check on how his friend Chizuru Sohma is managing his father's shop all by himself. He is accompanied by his other friend Rio Mosca, and to Shiki's surprise, he finds Sawa working at the store with Chizuru. Sawa explains that she is glad to see Shiki again as she had wondered how he was doing, but she stops herself because she thinks she was being creepy. Shiki disagrees, and tells her he was happy to see her as well while they both blush. They are interrupted by Chizuru and Rio's "lovely" commentary, much to Sawa's embarrassment. Shiki later asks Sawa is she is okay since she looked down before, but Sawa insists that she is fine, since she could talk to him.

Before summer vacation at the Go club, Chizuru tells Shiki that he heard from Mutsuki that Sawa might be going with them to the Sohma cottage. This causes Shiki to drop a bucket of Go pieces in surprise, and Chizuru seems surprised at Shiki’s reaction and repeats the phrase “might come.” Shiki simply asks if that is so and leaves the room.

During Summer Vacation
During summer vacation, Shiki comes to the Sohma cottage a day later than Sawa and the Sohmas. It is revealed that Hinata Sohma, his chaperone, initially intended to take him there by train, but since Shiki wanted to come to the cottage as soon as possible, she decided to drive him there, which prompted Shigure to tease him. When Sawa sees Shiki in the dining room, she blushes and Shiki suddenly falls since he has poor health, with Hinata walking in with a medkit. As Shiki recovers, Mina Sohma asks him what he will do now that he is in the cottage, and she suddenly suggests that Shiki accompanies Sawa to the aquarium. Although Sawa is initially unhesitant because she doesn't want to trouble Shiki, he goes along with her and assures her that it’s all good. He tells her that he had visited the aquarium before together with his parents when he was little, and that he especially liked the manta rays. Sawa then says that she thought Shiki wouldn’t actually come to the cottage, since it seems he usually doesn't come to gatherings, so she is very happy that he came. Later, Shiki explains that the reason he doesn't come to gatherings isn't because he dislikes people, but because he always misses his chances when looking for “compromises” within himself. He then tells Sawa that he is glad he came as well and that he had fun with her.

Shiki and Sawa return back to the cottage and meet up with Rio, who just arrived. He asks them if they had fun, to which they both begin blushing again, which annoys Chizuru. The three boys plan to play Go, a Japanese board game, and Shiki offers to teach Sawa about it. During the nighttime, everyone gets together to enjoy the fireworks. Shiki walks up to Mutsuki privately, thanking him for inviting him, but also the fact that he and Hajime are always taking care of him. Shiki thinks to himself that even though things may get hard, he still has people who protect him and care about him. He looks at Sawa and thinks to himself that “real loneliness” is what he saw the day he met her during their childhoods.

After Summer Vacation
After Sawa finds out how her mother had sued Shiki when they were little and remembers their first meeting, Sawa expressed that she wanted to talk Shiki. Shiki arrives in the next morning when Sawa is eating her breakfast and asks her if she is fine. Sawa is shocked to see him so early in the morning and frantically questions Kinu why Shiki is here and she responds that she had called Shiki. And although that is true, Sawa is still incredibly nervous. Hajime asks Shiki whether he came by taxi, but Shiki says that’s not the case, as his father brought him. Sawa is touched that Shiki wanted to come to see her so early in the morning and suddenly tells him that she wants to speak with him.

Shiki and Sawa take a walk in the garden, and she apologizes to him for having forgotten their past and for her mother’s actions as well. Shiki also apologizes to Sawa, as he is afraid that he had hurt her during the past incident. Sawa tries to deny this, but Shiki starts telling her his side of the story; the incident itself was a trivial matter for him, but he afraid that Sawa - the girl he saw crying that day - would keep getting hurt and cry again, and he would think about her from time to time throughout the years. So when he reunited with her several years later, he was very happy to see her happy. Sawa begins crying and realizes that by looking down, she has lost sight of so many things important to her, and thus thanks Shiki for helping her when they were younger and how he has always kept her in his mind. She then asks him if they can continue being friends despite everything, and Shiki happily accepts.

After returning home and joking about Shigure with Hajime, Mutsuki, and Sawa, Kinu tells Shiki that she is happy with how things went, since Shiki had worried so much about Sawa. Mutsuki later asks Shiki if he heard about the upcoming school festival from Sawa, and Shiki replies that Sora already informed him of that. Shiki thinks about going when thinking about the prospect of meeting Sawa there. On the day of the school festival, Shiki attends along with Chizuru and Rio. Chizuru notes that Shiki looks unwell, but Rio concludes that Shiki is just very nervous. As thinks to himself that he always is restless before seeing Sawa and that he ends up wanting to see her again, he suddenly sees Sawa running to their direction and Shiki makes his way to meet up with her.

Trivia

 * It is possible that Shiki's name is derived from both his parents' names; Shigure and Akito becomes "Shiki".
 * Shiki is shown to be around his mother's height, which implies that he is around . However, by the chapter 13, Shiki height seems to be more around his Dad. Takaya has declared that Shiki will continue to grow until reach Shigure's height.

Shiki Soma