Sohma Kisa

Sohma Kisa is the Chinese Zodiac representative for the Tiger. She is initially shy and reserved, but began opening up to others when Tohru consoled her. She lives with her mother while her father is never seen.

Background
Kisa lives with her mother who is kind, but is also overprotective of her. Her father is never seen or mentioned at all. She and Hiro were the best of friends in elementary school. When he had privately told Akito that he was in love with Kisa, this is what made Akito became very furious upon learning about this. Afterwards, Kisa was beaten up by Akito, and Hiro knew that his private confession had led Akito to attacking Kisa. While visiting Kisa in the hospital; Hiro was completely shocked, confused, and very sad when she didn't spoke to him and thought it would be better to stay away from Kisa. When she started middle school, she was constantly teased for her unusual hair color. Eventually, everyone including female classmates started pretending that she wasn't there. However, they managed to notice her every time she would say something, and would laugh at her for everything and anything she said.

Soon after her class started ignoring her, and she sealed away her ability to speak. Hatori said that her words were there, but she mentally shut them off. She stopped talking to her family, then she stopped going to school, and then she had ran away from home. Hatsuharu found her, while he was walking on his way back home. This marks her first appearance in the franchise.

Personality
She is a sweet, and kind person. She cares deeply for Tohru and Hiro. She also likes how Hiro is taking his role as a big brother to Hinata very seriously. However she didn't like it when Hiro spoke rudely about Tohru having photos of her mother, and not of her father.

Appearance
Kisa has a golden orange hair color, and light orange brown eyes. She often wears cute little dresses along with her school uniform.

Chinese Zodiac Sign
Kisa is possessed by the spirit of the tiger. As she isn't an adult or teenager yet, when she transforms, she is shown as a tiger cub. She has honey brown colored eyes, and orange colored hair due to sharing similar traits with her animal, the tiger. This has led to kids at school picking on her and eventually ignoring her. In the anime, the silhouettes are shown mostly as girls, but eventually she overcomes this, and embraces the fact that she is cursed and is different from other girls but she learns to love herself. Like all Sohma family members, Kisa would be surrounded by Tigers whenever she didn't transform.

Fruits Basket Manga
Kisa would start to purposely cause her family problems, and one day she ran away. The whole family was searching for her, but Hatsuharu found her in a bush, 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 Honda mistakes Kisa for a cat, and tries to pet her. Kisa bites her in her return. Kisa is separated from Tohru, and they go back to Shigure's house to treat Tohru's bite. When Hatsuharu starts talking about Kisa, she bites him too, and then runs off again.

After Kisa runs outside, Tohru goes after her. She finds her in a bush in their front yard, then Kisa bites Tohru again. With Tohru's hand still in her mouth, Kisa's mother comes. She starts to tell Kisa what she has been doing to her, and that she was very hurt that Kisa would run away from her. Tohru (still being bitten) then starts to talk to her mother about what she thinks is in Kisa's mind.

She says "You know, it could be she just didn't know how to tell you. Maybe she was worried about what you would think. Or she was worried that, she'd disappoint you... Maybe she was afraid. And maybe, maybe she didn't want anyone to know. So she tried to hide it. She put on her bravest face, and she did her best to look strong in front of everyone. But still, she knew. She knew she wasn't strong. And the more she tried to hide it, the more ashamed she felt; the more she began to hate herself. And the more she began to be afraid that you would hate her too if you knew the truth. If you knew how scared she was to face the other kids. And maybe, that's the reason she couldn't say anything to you. Maybe that's why she ran away. Because the thing she was most afraid of, the thought that scared her the most, was that her mother would reject her. That she would be hated by someone she loved".

Kisa then transforms back, and instead of biting Tohru, she holds her hand. She starts to cry, and Tohru puts her sweater around her. Kisa remains at Shigure's house, following Tohru "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. Eventually, with Tohru's strength, she regains the ability to speak.

Yuki went through a bit of the same thing. He said to Kisa that to have confidence, you need to have other people say they like you. Then Kisa thinks of how Tohru always said "I love you" to her, and soon after Kisa goes with Yuki to pick Tohru up from work, calling her "onee-chan" and hugs her.

When Hiro meets Kisa for the first time in several years face to face, her first words to him are to return Tohru's notebook to her. They argue about Kisa idolising 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 (but he never mentions he was behind Akito beating her up). Eventually, Hiro tries to say the words "I love you" but he can not. Kisa, however, understands on the spot that he wanted to say that, and forgives him.

Afterwards, Hiro joins Kisa and Tohru watching Mogeta at Shigure's house.

Kisa and Hiro have their first shown fight over a remark passed off from Hiro about Tohru's 'obsession' with her late mother. In the end, Kisa feels some guilt for having sided with Tohru (when naturally, a person should side the person he/she loves, at least in her mind). She decides to apologize to Hiro and goes to Hiro's room, but Hiro accidentally hits her in the face with his door when he decides to apologize to her. They soon make up.

She is delighted when she finds out that Hiro's mother is pregnant.

Kisa, Hiro, Momiji, and Haru go to see the play put on by Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, and their friends. In the entrance hall, Hiro notices a couple of boys staring at Kisa saying things like: "Check out the cutie!", "Is she foreign?", and "I wanna talk to her a little! Just a little won't hurt!" Hiro warns Kisa to be careful. She responds that she'll be careful not to bump into anyone in that big crowd. Hiro mutters, "It's not the crowd I'm worried about" while glaring at the boys. Haru notices, too, and picks up Kisa and carries her into the auditorium. After the play, Hiro comments, "Crud, what was that?" While Kisa goes on about what a great job Tohru did onstage, it becomes apparent that Momiji got the whole thing on tape, and he says they should put it on a DVD.

Kisa and Hiro go out and are near the hospital when they see Kyo vomiting (from running). Kisa is very happy to be able to greet Kyo directly, rather than relying on Hiro to speak for her. Hiro does not like the sight of Kyo's vomit, but 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 her curse breaks at last, she is with Hiro and his baby sister. They appear worried when she begins to cry.

When she and Hiro think about Tohru leaving with Kyo, 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 (2001 Anime)
During a downpour, Hatsuharu introduces Tohru and Yuki to Kisa Sohma, the Tiger of the Chinese zodiac. Kisa is mute due to being bullied as a child. Yuki begins to have sympathy over her after he learns that Kisa ran away from her home and stopped attending middle school. Kisa's mother later arrives, worried as to why she ran away from her home. Tohru responds by saying that Kisa might feel rejected by her mother if she knew about Kisa being bullied at her school. Kisa is agreed to stay at the household residence until further notice. During that time, Kisa seems to be clinging to Tohru, following her wherever Tohru went. Tohru and Yuki meet with Momiji and Hatsuhara after school, figuring out that Kisa was bullied at her school for her hair and eye color. After Hatsuharu receives a letter from Kisa's middle school, Yuki reads it to her. Yuki and Hatsuharu encourages her to speak and later to attend school again, after they explain that one must be accepted by others before one can be accepted by oneself.

Due to depression and stress because of failing one test on the midterm exams, Tohru comes down with fever and bedridden. Even though Tohru is worried about making dinner or going to work, Kyo and Shigure tells her to get some rest until the fever lets up. Shigure calls Momiji to cover for Tohru at work, while Kyo decides to make leek soup to care for her. Shigure ridicules Kyo after he notices Kyo wearing a gas mask and goggles while cooking the leek soup, as. When Kyo gives the leek soup to Tohru, she later starts to cry, explaining to him that the failed test and the fever were the sources of her depression and stress. After Tohru goes to sleep, Yuki arrives, only to find out that Kyo used the leeks in Yuki's garden to make the leek soup. Momiji, Hatori, and Kisa visit the household residence to check up on Tohru. Yuki comes by to give her a study guide he constructed for her in preparation for the retest of the midterm exam, which she later takes and passes.

While on her way to work, Tohru encounters Hiro Sohma, the Goat of the Chinese zodiac. He is shown as a person who practices sophism, constantly hurling verbal insults. Hiro steals Tohru's notebook from her handbag, causing her to panic. Tohru, Kyo, Momiji, and Kisa all find him to confront his attitude. Returning her notebook, Hiro then admits his jealousy toward Tohru, because of how affectionate he is for Kisa. While Tohru and Kisa spend time with Hiro, Kyo becomes upset of the way Hiro is treating Tohru. It is later discovered that Hiro is fond of Kisa and wants to protect her, that after blaming himself for not defending her when she was bullied at school. Tohru takes them to a playground and they stop by a nearby vendor for ice cream. She cheers Hiro up by saying that he is courageous for always caring for Kisa.

Quotes

 * Sissy

Her mother
She gets along with her mother very well. But couldn't tell her, that she was being bullied at school. Until Tohru reveal that, she went through the same thing, and say that Kisa was probably afraid of what her reaction would be if she found out. After the incident, she sees that Kisa is very fond to Tohru, like a big sister-little sister relationship. She even told Tohru what Kisa's favorite meals were, when they spoke on the phone. When Kisa was staying at Shigure's house when she stop going to school from being bullied, Tohru reveal that Kisa' mother stills cares about her.

Honda Tohru
Tohru is Kisa's make-believe 'onee-chan' which means 'big sister'. On the day she meets Tohru, Kisa bites her hand. But after running out of Shigure's house, Tohru finds Kisa and makes a very inspirational speech. After that, Kisa clings to Tohru like a real little sister does to her big sister. She always sees Tohru as her big sister and in the English anime, she always calls her 'sissy'. Kisa loves Tohru very much, and goes on and on about her. She tells Hiro that whenever she's around Tohru, she feels all warm inside. Hiro says he doesn't like Tohru at all due to jealousy, and Kisa is very sad and surprised at his reaction to Tohru.

Sohma Hiro
Kisa and Hiro have always liked each other very much, but never really mention the word "love". Whatever Kisa says, Hiro always agrees and understands. For example, he watches Mogeta simply because Kisa wanted to watch it with Tohru (and he winds up liking it, too). Another example of this is when Tohru takes Hiro and Kisa to the playground. Hiro does not want to go, but when Kisa replies that she likes it there, he forgives Tohru.

When they were younger, Hiro had told Akito that he was in love with Kisa (something, mentioned by Hatori, is that one should never tell Akito that they love someone). Akito ends up injuring Kisa out of pure rage, putting her in the hospital for 2 weeks. When she is bullied by her classmates, he can not bear to go near her and help out, because he is scared of Akito finding out and hurting her again. In chapter 126 Hiro is trying to confess his love for her and questioning whether she was fine with his not being cursed anymore, but he never really gets it out as Kyo has vomited in front of them. He is with her when her curse breaks. In the final chapter Kisa is holding him by his arm, and when she starts crying about Tohru, Hiro comforts her.

Sohma Hatsuharu
Kisa looks up to him as an older brother. When Kisa first appears, Hatsuharu is searching for Kisa when he finds out that she has run away from home. He finds her in the bushes in Tiger form and carries her in a blanket but stops when he sees Tohru and Yuki along the way. When she first begins talking again (even though it was only a Mhm), Hatsuharu grabs and holds her there for a while. He tells her that her voice is beautiful and that it has been such a long time since he and the others have heard it. It is shown that Hatsuharu adores Kisa and treats her like a younger sister when he searches for her in the rain.

Sohma Yuki
Yuki went through a bit of the same thing. He said that to have confidence, you need to have other people say they like you. Then Kisa thinks of how Tohru always said "I love you" to her, and soon after Kisa goes with Yuki to pick Tohru up from work, calling her "onee-chan" ("sissy" in the English anime dub) and hugging her.

Sohma Akito
She doesn't get along with Akito. It was reveal that after Hiro told her of their realtionship. Akito have beaten Kisa up, and made her round up in the hopstial.

Sohma Shigure
She reveal to Tohru, that she calls Shigure "Uncle Shigure" much to Tohru's shock.

Sohma Hatori
She reveal to Tohru, that she calls Hatori "Uncle Hatori" much to Tohru's shock.

Sohma Ayame
She reveal to Tohru, that she calls Ayame "Uncle Ayame" much to Tohru's shock.

Knownable Relatives

 * Unnamed Mother (Mother)
 * Honda Tohru (Surrogate Older Sister)
 * Sohma Hiro (Boyfriend)

Trivia

 * Kisa calls Tohru "onee-chan", which means "big sister" (she calls Tohru "Sissy" in the English version).
 * Kisa can be a bit clueless at times, as during Sorta Cinderella, when Hiro 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.
 * Kisa's hair color is similar to Kyo's, but in reality, this is one of the few things they have in common. Kyo was not happy with Kisa staying at Shigure's house, and angrily told her that it shouldn't be that hard to speak. This nearly drove Kisa to tears until Tohru intervened.
 * Kisa's father is never mentioned, but this does not technically mean she has no father.
 * 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.
 * Kisa feels it is a major accomplishment when she is able to greet Kyo directly instead of relying on Hiro to speak for her.
 * Kisa sometimes gets frustrated at Hiro because of his treatment of Tohru. This leads to some arguments, but they are resolved and only add to the closeness of their relationship.
 * Kisa and Hiro together is like a tiger and a lamb.
 * Kisa considers the "Mabudachi Trio" her uncles, even though they are actually her older cousins, calling them Uncle Hatori, Uncle Shigure and Uncle Ayame. Additionally, since Kisa considers Shigure her uncle she could also see Akito as her aunt, though this is highly unlikely since she put Kisa in the hospital previously.
 * As she refers to the Mabudachi Trio as her uncles it is possible she also considers Ritsu and Kureno her uncles as they are in the same age group. If she considers them her uncles it is possible she considers their girlfriends Mitsuru and Arisa  her "aunts".
 * It is possible she considers Akito as well as Mayuko and Mine as her "aunts" as Akito marries Shigure and Mayu is Hatori's girlfriend and Mine is Ayame's (although it seems unlikely Kisa would be in a hurry to call Akito "Auntie").
 * Kisa shares both the same Japanese and English voice actor with Lynette Bishop from Strike Witches.
 * Kisa is the youngest female member of the Zodiac, and is dating the youngest male of the Zodiac.
 * Funny enough, in book 10, if you look closely when Kisa and Hiro are talking in her room, you can see she has a stuffed tiger on the bed.
 * Kisa is a Russian word meaning "Kitty".

Voice Actresses
all information on Sohma Kisa came from http://fruitsbasket.wikia.com/wiki/Kisa_Sohma
 * Japanese : Kaori Nazuka (2001 anime), ??? (2019 anime)
 * English : Kate Bristol (2001 anime), ??? (2019 anime)