Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that are a property of SNK/Playmore; this includes, but is not limited to Shen Woo, Duo Lon, and the rest of the Hizoku clan.

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Authornotes: FSK: Tell 'em, Kyoichi!

Kyoichi: Otay Miss Lady! Miss Lady wants you to read and review...and um...Mr. Shen Woo and Mr. Duo Lon weren't harmed in the writing of this fic.

Shen: No. Just my dignity...

FSK: Good Kyoichi! And Shen...I suggest you be nice or Mr. Peepers gets it. -Nudges Duolon- Say it Duo...

Duolon: Cricket thrives on reviews. And...she doesn't like you to flame her so be nice...or I'll go all hormonal on you...and by the way, this is all my POV...

FSK: . . . oo;;;

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Chapter 1: A Clan's Curse Comes to Fruition

I'd been what you call a skeptic for some things; the Hizoku curse was one of them. I mean, who ever heard of a male at marrying age having to bear his own children if he didn't marry and had a one-night stand with another man? I certainly haven't heard of another curse like that! I mean...I know the Yagami curse involves dying young and your mother dying...but a man getting pregnant from a one-night stand if he didn't marry before a certain age? I closed the scroll and shook my head, feeling quite tired. I probably stayed up too late reading scrolls again.

As I headed to bed, I took off my jacket; as it rubbed across my chest, I winced somewhat. My chest was never this tender before! I thought nothing of it as I eased on my embroidered silk pajamas with golden dragons carefully stitched on them. Again, the masculine breasts of mine were quite tender, causing me a slight bit of discomfort as I put it on. What the heck could be up with me? Worse yet, the pajama bottoms seemed to fit odd--they were somewhat tight on me; guess I've been eating too much bird of--wait...I hadn't been eating that much bird of paradise lately! In fact...the smell of it seemed to make me gag now. I just hoped I could sleep tonight in between the uncomfortable feel of my pajamas and my mind's wanderings.

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The next morning, I awoke with the most pounding headache I'd had in a long time; I'm not usually prone to headaches, so this wasn't something that I could brush off so easily. Damn this headache! I leaned forward somewhat, the pain becoming all too much from both the splitting headache I'd been getting and the tenderness of these Buddha-forsaken breasts; all at once, I buried my face in my hands, unable to sob, but not exactly the most happy "camper." (Who came up with the term "happy camper" anyway?) The only sound that seemed to come out was almost like a pained noise.

Upon hearing the sound of a fist tapping on the door, I gave a muffled voice. "C...come in..."

The door opened, reavealing Shen Woo, who seemed to look more insomniac than I could ever be.

"A...are you feeling alright, Duolon-kun?" He asked, a hint of concern in his voice. Apparently, he'd heard me. "I mean..."

"I've got a splitting headache!" I screamed, which, I must say, was most unlike me. "How do you think I feel?"

I must say that I was terribly irritable now--something I hardly seem to be normally; in fact, I usually seem to be the most calm person there can ever be.

Shen whispered. "That...must be terrible."

Suddenly, I felt a strange urge overcoming me and buried my face in Shen's shoulder, starting to sob uncontrollably. Shen started stroking my back, unable to think of anything better. Suddenly, I felt the worst urge to vomit and pushed myself away from Shen, then ran to the bathroom to vomit. When I returned, Shen pulled me to him, running his battle-worn fingers through my midnight tresses.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked, his eyes giving more than concern now. "You can't tell me you had to pee really bad because I heard you puking in there..."

I muttered. "I don't know...damnit...I've just not felt so good...It's like...bleh..."

"You know what? I'm going to take you to the doctor. Sounds like you have the stomach flu or something like that..." Shen frowned before picking up the phone.

Within a few hours, though I'd still not changed out of my silk pajamas, Shen Woo dragged me out of the hotel; luckily, I wasn't kicking and screaming, but I still wasn't very willing, as I was still quite tired and now I had to pee. BADLY. As soon as we got to the doctor's office, I ran to the bathroom. A few minutes later, I emerged feeling much more relieved, as I had both needed to pee, and I had the added need to vomit again after smelling an old lady's arthritis cream. I was then called into an exam room for one of the assistants to take some vitals; my temperature was up somewhat.

I was then put in an exam room and Shen was allowed back to be with me. Almost upon seeing him enter the room, I started to whimper a little, causing him to hold me gently and rock me. It's amazing how much that soothed me; I mean, Shen had done that before about six weeks ago, when I'd ran into his room crying, but it wasn't as strong a comfort as I was getting now. Around that time, the doctor came in.

"So...what's wrong with...Duo, is it?" The doctor asked.

"Well...I've had really bad headaches lately, I'm tired all the time, the least little thing gets me sick to my stomach, my...ahem...my breasts are feeling more tender than normal...and that's just the tip of the iceberg..." I replied, still clinging somewhat to Shen, who kissed my forehead softly.

The doctor nodded. "I see. I'm going to have a simple blood test done on you, alright?"

I nodded timidly, then seemed to nuzzle Shen almost as though begging him to carry me. I didn't feel like walking; would you feel that way if you had to have been dragged out of a hotel room? Observant as ever, Shen eased me into his arms and carried me to the laboratory area so that the lab technician could draw some of my blood. She wiped the skin off first, then jabbed the bend of my arm with a normal-sized needle to take some blood; finally, she bandaged it and nodded for Shen to take me back to the examination room.

A few minutes later, the doctor returned with a rather puzzled look on his face.

"You're a man, right?" He asked me.

I nodded, burying my face into Shen's arm tiredly.

"Hmm...this is strange indeed. According to the blood test, you're six weeks pregnant..."

I buried my face deeper into Shen's arm, trying to hide my face, which was now a deep cherry red. Shen cuddled me close, stroking my back and kissing my forehead. Me? Pregnant? Bah! The scroll had been right! Damned curse! How would I explain this to Ran, Chitto, and Sai? I could just see it now...I could see Sai elbowing my ribs and snickering, Chitto laughing and telling everyone...and Ran...well...I didn't want to think about what she'd do. I mean, it's not as if I wanted to get hit in the face with a fan...

"Shen...promise me I won't have to tell my clan?" I murmured tiredly.

"Not if we can get away with it..." He muttered as I started to fall asleep.