Alright everyone…. Welcome back. This is take three on this story! Editing and not really changing the plot but I'm hoping to close this story as well as Spiritflame soon. Thanks for following everyone!

Chapter One: Revealed

I was flopped on my bed facedown when my mom walked in.

"Nick?" she asked, pushing the door open. "Rough day?"

I groaned.

"A letter came for you." I heard the creaking of the bed and felt myself lean to one side but I didn't look up. "It's from Japan. Do you know anything about it?"

"No," I said, my voice muffled by my pillow.

The bed creaked again as she stood up. "I'll just leave it here. Want me to shut the door?"

"Mhmm," I hummed into the pillow. I heard the door shut and sat up. I ran my hand over my face and looked over at the nightstand. She letter was sitting on in it, addressed to me, Nicolette Mente.

What made my blue eyes finally snap wide awake was the return address.

Sohma.

Shaking now, I pushed my waist-length hair out of my face and carefully slid my index finger under the seal. But I was shaking so much that the envelope ripped at a weird angle anyway, and I decided to just tear it open.

I took out the letter and began to read.

When I stopped reading, I had to put it down again. I looked over at my little orange and white kitten sleeping on the windowsill next to my bed.

I looked back at the letter.

Kiara was a Sohma.

I slid off the bed and pulled out a dusty old box from way in the back. My boxes for moving away to school in the fall blocked the way, and I struggled to pull it out. I blew on it, making the dust fly everywhere and brushed it with my hand. I gingerly opened the box.

After years of neglect, I pulled out the first book in the series.

Fruits Basket.

My breathing became heavy, and I skimmed through the pages. I slammed the book shut.

This can't be happening.

The letter was from Akito, the head of the Sohma family. He was requesting my presence in Japan.

Apparently, Kiara was really the daughter of Yuki and Tohru Sohma. Something had happened to Kyo the night of their high school graduation and has been missing ever since. Kiara – being the first of the next generation of Sohma's – had obtained the curse's powers in a new form; she couldn't become human at all.

But I couldn't imagine why she was given to me. I had gotten her from a rescue about a year ago. I was told they found her on the street in good condition but had no owner or mother.

The only Japanese I really knew was from watching shows and reading manga like this one. Other than that, I learned the numbers and some cultural stuff from my ninjutsu classes a few years ago, but that was it. There were plenty of other people like that….

But Akito was clear: he had a vision of me. For some reason, I was the only one that could bring Kyo back.

I smirked. I had always wanted to visit Japan.

The letter contained a ticket and a fake letter for a company non-existent that runs through my new school, offering me a chance at a study abroad program for the summer.

With no job, no camp, and no internship to speak of, I knew it would be easy convincing my mom.

I took a deep breath.

I finally came to terms with it; this was happening. This was real.

And I was going to Japan…

With Kiara Sohma, the cat.