Okay, guys. I'm completely redoing this story. I'm putting it in the past tense with a first-person point of view now, and I've changed the main character's name to "Mei". Also, I've fixed some errors with the paragraph spacing. I'm also adding a new chapter. Hope you like it!

Okay, here is some background information on the main character: Her name is Mei Sohma. She is the Panda in the Zodiac. (Yes, I realize there is no Panda in the Zodiac, but there is for this story.) She is Kisa's older sister. She is sixteen years old. She has black hair and dark brown eyes. She is of a medium height. She likes to wear goth/emo clothes, but does not like to wear super-short skirts (like Tohru's). However, she does not mind most mini-skirts. She has just transferred to Kaibara Public High School when she heard that her younger cousins, Momiji and Haru, were going there, too, as well as Yuki and Kyo, two cousins that are about the same age as her. Plus, her younger sister's friend, also her cousin Kyo's boyfriend, Tohru Honda, whom she never really met, goes there too.

Since her and Kisa's parents died two years ago, she and Kisa have been living in an apartment together. She has worked after school and on the weekends and during vacation to help pay the rent and pay their school tuitions.
Okay, here's the story!:

"Oh, no, we're going to be late!" I screamed when Kisa finally woke me up after the alarm clock on my nighstand had been beeping for half an hour. "It's already 8! School starts at 8:10. Eek! Why didn't you wake me up earlier, Kisa-chan?"

"Because I just woke up, too, and I'm hungry," answered Kisa.

"Well, get dressed, and then grab a leftover slice of pizza. We don't have time to cook breakfast right now." I said as I started putting on my new uniform. I hated the skirt. I had been too busy to specify which skirt I wanted, so they had sent me a mini skirt. Ugh. Then I grabbed a slice of pizza and Kisa and run out the door. I dropped her off at Hiro-chan's house to play until it was time for her to go off to school, and ran off to school. "Ooh, I'm late," I muttered to myself.

"Hmm?" someone asked from behind me. Totally freaked-out, I turned around to see ... my cousin, Haru.

"Hi, Haru-chan. Where's Momiji-chan?"

"In the classroom already. You should probably head off to your class, too. You're in class 2-D, right? Same as Honda-san, Yuki, and Kyo?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Where is that anyway?"

"Down the hall and to the right. You're probably going to be late, though."

I dashed off down the hall and into the classroom just before the bell rang. I took an empty seat. To the left of me was my cousin, Yun-chan, and to the right of me was a girl with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. In front of me was my other cousin in this class, Kyo-chan. The girl to the right of me turned and said, "Hello. I'm Tohru Honda. I think I remember Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun mentioning that one of their cousins was going to be starting here today. Are you Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun's cousin?"

"Yes, " I answered. "I'm Mei Sohma." Then, in a quieter voice, I said, remembering that Tohru-kun knew about the Zodiac curse, "I'm the Panda, in case you didn't know."

0~0~0

After class, I decided to go over to Shigure-nii's house with Yuki and Kyo, and was surprised to see Tohru coming with us. I asked, "Do you live near Shigure-nii's house?"

"No," she answered politely. "I live with Shigure-san, Yuki-kun, and Kyo-kun."

"Why?" I asked, confused and not noticing the "be-quiet" gestures that Kyo and Yuki were sending my way. "Did something happen to your family?"

"Um, well, yes, kind of," she muttered, blushing deeply. "My, um, mom died, um, last year in, um, a traffic accident, and, um, my dad, died, um, when I was really little of pneumonia."

"Oh," I responded, blushing too and looking down.

Suddenly, Tohru, Yun-chan, and Kyo-chan all yelled, "Mei, watch out!"

I looked up just in time to see a boy riding a skateboard right into me. "Aaaaah!" I screamed, realizing I would not be able to get out of the way fast enough. The boy tried to swerve away from me, too, but it was too late. Suddenly, POOF! A pink puff of smoke swirled around me, and suddenly I was on all fours in Panda form. I looked around, bewildered, while Yuki distracted the boy's attention and Tohru gathered up your clothes.