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Hatori Sohma (草摩 はとり Sōma Hatori) is a fictional character in
the manga and anime series entitled Fruits Basket. Hatori's Chinese Zodiac animal is the dragon, but he transforms into a seahorse whenever he is hugged by the opposite gender or his body comes under a great deal of stress, because the seahorse is the
creature thought to be a baby dragon. He's actually very self-conscious about this, and even threatened his cousin, Shigure Sohma so he wouldn't tell Tohru Honda what animal he was.
Role in the story
Duties
Hatori is the family doctor of the Sohma clan. He is quite rough with his patients, namely Shigure (as a joke after Shigure kept annoying him, Hatori
deliberately kept missing the spot in Shigure's arm where a shot was supposed to be administered). While he appears to be
a very serious and grim young man, he really has a warm, gentle and caring nature deep down. He is perceptive, but not talkative.
Hatori appears to be the one who understands Shigure's true nature best and is often the one Shigure will semi-openly discuss
his machinations. Hatori also likes to read books, usually books of very old genres often found only the Shiraki family's
bookstore, though he finds books Shigure wants him to read are often terrible in taste.
Whenever Akito Sohma decides that someone is to have his memory erased to protect the Sohma secret, Hatori is the one who executes Akito's order.
It is unknown how he does such things, but the event usually occurs as he lifts his hand upon the victim's forehead and, with
a flash, they collapse and awake without such memories. As of now, he has erased the memories of Yuki Sohma's friends, Momiji Sohma's mother, and Kana, Akito’s second cousin and Hatori's former lover.
Relationships
Hatori, contrary to his typically grave manner, once fell in love with an 'outsider', Kana. Her buoyancy and kindness attracted him, and even when Kana discovered Hatori's curse and viewed him in his Zodiac form, she simply smiled and expressed
how she was willing stay by his side and fully accept him for who he was. Having finally found true happiness, the love-struck Hatori asked for Akito's permission to marry Kana. In response, Akito severely injured Hatori's left eye with a nearby vase, causing him to go blind in that eye. Furthermore, Akito accused Kana of hurting Hatori, telling her that he wouldn't have been injured if she had
never existed. Kana, taking in Akito's spiteful words, was unable to bear the guilt she felt over Hatori's injuries, and descended into madness. Hatori, left with no choice, erased Kana's memory to ease the immense burden of blame with which she could not endure. Tohru reminds Hatori of Kana, so he feels at ease around
her (Like Kana, Tohru panicked trying to figure out whether to put Hatori in fresh water or sea water. Also, when Hatori asked
her what happened to snow after it melted, Tohru replied, "Hmm... well, it turns into Spring, doesn't it?" Which is the same
reply Kana gave.).
Kana, once able to smile again, later married another person, but Hatori, knowing that her memories were not deeply buried,
chose not to attend her wedding for fear that she might remember her past at the sight of Hatori. Kana's best friend, Mayuko Shiraki (who is the teacher of Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, Saki, and Arisa) is romantically interested in Hatori, and was interested in him
the whole time he was dating Kana. To try and escape this feeling, she began to date Shigure but dumped him after a month.
In book 10, Hatori learns that "Mayu-chan" (Mayuko) had and still has feelings for him, and they began to date. Natsuki Takaya gives clues that this relationship is a long-term one.
