Chapter One

Akari took off her mask and set it beside her computer and closed down The World on her computer screen. She yawned and walked sluggishly to her bed where she fell asleep instantly in the hot apartment room on a sultry, humid July evening.

"Dammit! It's already 9:30 am!"

Akari got out of bed and haphazardly folded her blanket. She quickly dressed in a turquoise cami and flung on beige short-shorts. She ran a comb through her straight chestnut colored hair. She sighed, Saturdays were always hard work. She headed for the door but then remembered to stuff her wallet in her back pocket, today was pay day. She was on her way to work at Café Himaka. Boys were always giving her a hard time there. It wasn't just the stupid pick-ups they tried on her that got her worried; she was part of a curse. If a person of the opposite gender hugged her she would turn into a Scorpion. She was "possessed" in a way, the spirit wasn't evil or bad or anything, it just made her…un-regular. Other girls had boyfriends who took them to see movies. The only people she could go to see the movies with were other family members who were possessed as well. She could hug her brothers and male relatives, but it wasn't the same, it didn't feel right, all of them, possessed by ancient zodiac spirits. She sometimes wished she were normal, but, it was pretty cool that she was able to turn into a scorpion, she had a killer pinch.

Akari grinned at the idea of turning into a scorpion on a first date. She turned the corner in her sports convertible and parallel parked in front of Café Himaka. Once she arrived in the kitchen she tied a bow at the back of her apron with Café Himaka embroidered in sky blue on the front. She put on her best smile and walked into the seating area with her head held high. She gasped, the Sohmas were here! Yuki Sohma and his cousin Kyo Sohma, with…who was that? Was it their dad, their uncle? Tohru walked in the door, she lived with the Sohmas since her mother had died. She happily walked over to greet Tohru coming in.

"Tohru! I never thought I'd see you here!"

"Akari! You work here? We usually come later, you probably weren't working."

They walked over to the table were the Sohmas were sitting.

"Akari, this is Yuki and Kyo Sohma."

"Uh-hum…" the other man cleared his throat obviously.

"Oh! And Shigure!" Tohru practically glowed as she introduced them.

"Hi, I'm Akari. Can I take your orders? My manager will get cross if she sees me socializing too much." She replied.

"I'll have a green tea, please." Yuki said softly, and smiled.

Akari smiled back. Wow, he's cute. She thought to herself.

"Coffee." Kyo barked out.

What's his problem? She gave him a dirty look. He dirty-looked her back. She felt like sticking her tongue out, so she did. Tohru giggled.

"Kyo, don't be so mean! Don't treat Akari like that! She's my friend!"

Kyo just grunted in reply.

"I'd like to two fruit tarts and a chai latte. Thanks!" Shigure gave a sly look that confused her.

"Akari? Can I have a Vanilla Bean Latte?"

"Sure Tohru, I'll be right back."

She walked away thinking, the Sohmas sure were a strange group of people. Yuki was so soft spoken, and Kyo was so passive and she knew he probably had anger management problems. Shigure was just plain confusing. He was probably one of those old, perverted bachelors. She wondered if there were more Sohmas. They were interesting, her sister Tora would say that they had a special "vibe". She missed Tora, she had traveled to inner-city Tokyo with her brother Kiyoshi. Tora's sign was Aquarius, and Kiyoshi was a Taurus. She lived out in the country with the rest of her family, thought she had left the closed family home in Tatoshi valley a year ago. Tora had begged her to come to Tokyo with Kiyoshi and her, but she had declined. She planned to spend a worry free summer this year. Last year's summer had been a disaster, people had found out about the family curse. They had had to repress memories to stop the chaos. So, she had moved out into her own apartment to help prevent any more trouble. It had mostly been the two twins, Rika and Riku. They were Gemini together. They had been so eager to earn their new names, Riaka and Riuku. They had to prove themselves worthy of their new names; they went way too far and got the Shimura family into deep trouble that they barely got out of. She missed then all, but she also loved her new, independent life. She quickly prepared Tohru and the Sohma's orders on a tray with napkins and straws and left the kitchen.

Rejoining the Sohmas, she found another boy.

"Tohru?" she asked hesitantly. Yuki responded instead.

"Oh, this is Kurisu, he's a friend of Kyo and mine."

"Would you like anything?" she asked tentatively.

"Yea, can I have a frappechino?" Kurisu said, "And, call me Chris."

"Sure."

After getting Chris' order to him, Akari accepted an invitation for dinner at the Sohma house, where Tohru had lived since her mom had died. Then, Chris decided to invite them all to a restaurant out of town, in the outer-city Harushima instead. Everyone said yes, a chance to go into the city was always taken.