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Ren Sohma (草摩 楝 Sōma Ren) is a fictional character in the manga Fruits Basket.
Ren is Akira Sohma's widow and Akito Sohma's mother, and has an antagonistic relationship with the latter.
Role in the story
Ren was originally a maid within the Sohma household. As a young man, the head of the family, Akira, was sickly and often
required attention. While most of the household and servants treated her badly (and even in the present, some of the senior
maids still think poorly of Ren), Akira did not and she was won over by his gentle nature and kindness. She spent as much
time as possible with him while trying to improve his health.
The two eventually fell in love and married, with Ren coming to believe she was the most important person in his life.
On the night Akito was conceived, Akira sensed that their child would be someone especially special to the family. When their
daughter was born, Akira rejoiced as he recognized Akito was the one who would be loved by all the members of the Jyūnishi.
Ren, on the other hand, was less than pleased with the attention Akira showered on their only child and believed that Akito
was stealing away Akira's affection for her. Disconcerted by her reaction, Akira attempted to reassure her that Akito's godliness
was proof that their relationship was special and that he wanted her to be happiest about Akito.
Still, Ren disliked her daughter immensely and soon decided that her daughter should be raised as a male. The reason, she
gave Akira, was that the head of the family could not be female though it appeared that the real motivating reason was that
Ren was jealous of her husband's great affection for their daughter.
When Akito was a young child, Akira's poor health finally caught up with him, and claimed his life. Before he died, he
gave Akito an empty box (which a maid later told her contained her father's soul), stating that he would never truly leave
her, even if Akito couldn't physically see him. Moments after the late head's death, Ren burst into the room, distressed that
his departure had been so sudden that no one had had time to come and fetch her, fueling her anger towards her daughter.
Ren and Akito became extremely antagonistic, especially since Ren believed her daughter was nothing. She would continually
claim that Akito's bond with the Jyūnishi was fake, instilling doubts within Akito and her relationship with the thirteen
cursed Sohmas, while Ren and Akira's relationship was the "real thing". Sly and cruel, Ren's attitude towards Akito may have
caused Akito's tendency to lash out at the Jyūnishi and treat them as though they lived only for her, especially as Akito
refused to comply to her mother's claims that Akito should treat the Jyūnishi with kindness and respect.
The argument between them boiled to the point where the two made a bet. If Akito was so confidant in her bond with the
Jyūnishi, she should let Tohru Honda live at Shigure's house and allow her to be aware of the Sohma curse. If the Jyūnishi still return to Akito as she believes
they will, Akito may remain head of the family. If her bond with the Jyūnishi breaks, Ren will win the bet and Akito
will be forced to bow down to Ren and be forced out of the family forever.
Ren has been known to be selfish and manipulative. When Akito chose to be with Kureno Sohma, Ren deliberately slept with Shigure Sohma, knowing that it would anger Akito and that Shigure was angry that Akito had chosen Kureno rather then himself. While she
never liked her, Ren pretended to befriend Isuzu Sohma (whom Akito had already hurt many times before) and tried to use the girl to steal the box Akira had given Akito. Isuzu fails,
though Ren is able to obtain the box later on when she barges into Akito's chamber and threatens with a knife to seize the
box. When Akito finally surrenders the box, Ren's triumph is short-lived. Ren had always believed the box contained something
of Akira's and was completely shocked to discover that it was and always had been empty. At that moment, Akito takes her mother's
knife and is about to kill her, but at the last moment, changes her mind because of Hiro's release from the curse that very
moment and leaves a stunned Ren alone with Akira's box.
