Chapter One
"Okay, now put your arm around him!" Said the smiling brunette, a camera held in her hands. "Smile! Look excited!"
"Just take the picture already." Responded her orange haired husband.
She snapped the picture, beaming.
Kyo and Tohru Sohma's children were ready for the first day of the new school year.
Their uniforms were crisp, their hair brushed, and their stomachs filled with butterflies.
"Have a great day!" Tohru pulled each child into a tight hug.
"Try not to get into any trouble." Kyo smirked, placing a hand on each of their heads.
"Will do!" Their son, a small brunette boy responded cheerily.
"We'll see." Their daughter grinned, her hair the same orange color as her father's.
Soon they were out the door and on their way to school.
Kira Sohma was entering her first year of high school.
Although she would rather die than admit it, she was very nervous.
Although the only differences were the new uniform and new building, she still felt much older than she had the previous year.
Roku, her younger brother, was bouncing behind her as usual.
He clipped her heel with his school shoes.
"Can you please walk next to me? You don't need to follow me anymore, you're already in your second year of middle school!"
He grinned and picked up his pace so he was walking next to her.
Although he was already thirteen, he was still as innocent as he was when he was much younger.
She noted that he stutter stepped to sync their steps.
"Are you excited for high school?" He asked.
"A little, I guess." She replied, shrugging.
"t won't be much different, its just an exciting change."
"Exactly." As always, Roku spoke more like a doting mother than a little brother.
They walked in silence for what seemed like only a couple minutes.
Before they knew it, the school appeared in their view.
They reached the corner of the sidewalks that led to the separate schools.
They wished each other good luck on their first days of school and parted ways.
Roku bounced toward the middle school and Kira walked toward the high school.
It felt so strange for her to go the opposite way than she had for the past three years.
She had to admit it – she felt older.
She entered the school and waved to a few of her friends.
Almost everyone looked the same as they had last year, but some were taller and many had lighter hair and tanner skin.
She wished that she had gone somewhere fun over the summer.
She had stayed home and spent a lot of time with her family.
Although the Sohma family had their own estate, many of the Junishi had decided to leave3 the area after he curse was broken.
Many of them had started families and spread out from the area that they connected with their dark pasts.
She wished that more of her cousins lived nearby so that she would have known them better.
She only had time to befriend them during the annual Christmas gatherings that they always had.
As she approached the main hallway, she spotted one of the two Sohma's that attended the school with her.
She was surrounded by a group of bubbly girls who were all gossiping loudly.
All of their skirts were too short and their shirts too tight.
The only one who didn't look absolutely ecstatic to be there was the only one whose uniform seem to fit properly – The Sohma herself.
Teruki was small and very thin.
Her long hair was pulled back into her signature high ponytail topped with a bow.
She was smiling haf-heartedly and nodding politely to the girl who was chatting to her.
She looked mildly enthused to be there, but Kira had known her well enough to know that she was completely bored out of her mind.
The girl looked up and a sparkle appeared in her eye as she caught Kira's eye contact.
A grin appeared on Kira's face, and Teruki smirked.
She left the group of obnoxious girls and approached her cousin.
"Hello there." The girl offered.
"Long time no see, Ruki-kun." She put emphasis on the male honorific, a long running joke from their childhood.
Teruki winced.
"Haven't heard that one in a while." She smiled and held up her fist.
Kira pumped hers against it.
This had been their way of greeting each other since they were children.
They talked a little about their summers.
Ruki had gone to Europe with her family and left Kira with no one to hang out with all summer.
To be honest, Kira wasn't exactly good at making friends.
She was very friendly and good at keeping conversations, but she was not good at forming relationships – she did not know how to please people.
If she was too nice, people thought she was fake, but if she was too honest or sarcastic then she turned people off.
Over the years she had learned that if you are yourself around everyone, then you will make true friends and won't have to pretend to be anyone you are not.
As a result, she had many acquaintances but only two people that she considered her friends.
The first of two stood next to her now.
The fact that Ruki was her cousins almost forced them to get along, although their father's life long rivalry proved that wrong.
She had known Ruki literally her whole life. They had been infants at the same time and had spent almost all their time growing up together.
The only person that Kira considered her friend was making an entrance now.
The doors burst open and birds flew in from nowhere.
Rose petals floated through the air.
Music filled the air.
Everyone stared and gaped.
All the older students looked bewildered.
The freshmen knew immediately what was going on; they had spent the last three years adjusting to her flashy style.
"Matsuri!" Kira smiled.
"Matsuri." Ruki groaned.
"Good morning sunshine~!" The girl sang.
She walked directly toward Kira.
Both Sohma girls noticed that her feet were clicking – she was wearing high heels made of glass.
Everyone in the hall was staring.
All the girls looked furious and jealous, and the boys were either enchanted or terrified.
The second-hand embarrassment Kira felt was unbearable.
"I've missed you so much!" Mitsuri hugged Kira dramatically.
She was overwhelmed by the smell of expensive perfume.
"I missed you too! How was your trip to Rome?"
"Oh, the usual. Nothing special. Hi Ruki-san!" She smiled.
"Why are you wearing those shoes?"
"I wanted my first steps in these halls to be in something dazzling to start off my high school experience! Although I don't appreciate your lack of excitement to see me, its nice to see you as well."
"Bye." Teruki spun on her heels and returned to the group of girls who were now gossiping furiously.
She had always had a strong dislike for Mitsuri and she had never made an attempt to hide her contempt.
"How was your summer? What are you goals for the year? This year is going to be a great one, I can feel it!" Mitsuri rambled.
"Well I didn't do-" Kira began to respond, but as usual, Mitsuri had already moved on from the train of thought onto another going at top speed.
"I really want a boyfriend." Mitsuri whined. Suddenly she perked up. "And I know who I want!"
Kira followed her gaze.
There was a boy standing in the doorway leading a big group of students into the school.
She had never seen any of them before.
He was very good-looking; he had dark blue hair and tanned skin, and his face was kind and welcoming.
Mitsuri kept her eyes glued to him and continued to speak, but Kira let herself look at all the unfamiliar faces that trailed behind him.
It was unusual for their school to get transfer students because the town was so small.
Nearly everyone at the school knew each other because they had all attended school together for years.
Unfamiliar faces stuck out like a sore thumb.
All the students that had just entered the school were very unusual looking, and Kira had to admit that they were all gorgeous.
There was the boy with blue hair and the kind face, a girl with a long ponytail and big blue eyes, a lanky boy with glasses, a girl with auburn hair and a scowl, and a tall boy with a huge grin plastered on his face.
The curious thing was the way they were all talking together and laughing. It seemed like they all knew each other.
Before anyone had time to react to the group of new students, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of their first day.
Kira and Mitsuri flowed with the huge mass of students toward the classrooms.
They had all received their classroom assignments over the summer, and Mitsuri had cried tears of joy when she had found out they would be in the same classroom.
Teruki had been assigned to the same room as well.
Although Kira was thrilled that her only friends would be her company all year, she knew that this meant she would have to make a conscious effort if she wanted to make new friends this year.
They entered the classroom, 9-C, and searched around the desks for a paper on it that had each of their names printed at the top.
Kira found hers closest to the window in the middle of the row.
As students slowly filtered in and the seats began to fill, Kira discovered that Teruki was placed directly behind her and Mitsuri was on the other side of the room.
More and more students came into the room.
There were people that Kira had known since she was tiny and she still had not really befriended any of them.
A boy sat down next to her.
She believed that his name was Taichi.
He immediately turned to the boy behind him, Hakoto, and words came streaming out of his mouth.
"I heard that a new family moved into town the other day! They are all cousins and a bunch of them are coming to our school!"
Hakoto blinked in response.
Suddenly the room broke into whispers.
Everyone looked toward the doorway.
The last two students to enter were from the group of unfamiliar faces – the boy with the blue hair and the girl with the auburn hair – the scowl was still on her face.
Kira heard Taichi whisper, "I think that's them."
The bell rang again signaling the beginning of class.
Everyone took their seats and settled in.
The blue-haired boy sat in front of Kira, and the girl with the auburn hair took the seat right in front of him.
Kira cast a glance across the room.
Mitsuri flashed her a thumbs up.
Kira smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Good morning everyone!" A small woman with short wavy hair entered the room smiling pleasantly. She looked nervous. "I will be your teacher for this year! You may call me Iruka-sensei."
She wrote her name on the board with a star next to it.
She clapped her hands together and began a long speech about high school beginning and how hard work will pay off in the long run.
Kira began to zone out.
Before long she began to hear deep breathing, and turned around to see Teruki dead asleep on the desk behind her.
It was all she could do not to burst out laughing.
She got Taichi's attention by mistake.
She heard him whisper, "Sleeping Beauty" to Hakoto, who smiled.
Iruka-sensei's voice picked up and she clapped her hands together again as she ended her motivational speech.
"Now we can begin our introductions!" The class groaned. "I would like each of you to take a turn at the front of the room and introduce yourself with your name and a fact about yourself."
She pointed at the front right of the classroom.
A nervous student stood up and walked to the front of the room.
They said their name and favorite color.
They breathed a sigh of relief and then sat down, leaving the stage to the next student.
The irony was that everyone already knew each other.
Hardly anyone paid attention except to laugh at their friends' awkward facts about themselves.
By the time Mitsuri, the fifth person to go, introduced herself as the daughter of the Japanese ambassador, half the class was talking softly.
As more and more people went, more and more people began talking and less and less were paying attention.
Iruka-sensei was red in the face, but Kira didn't think she had it in her to scold the class.
She took a mental note of that.
The introductions droned on, and the chatter got louder until it became a struggle to hear the introductions.
Iruka-sensei gave a futile attempt to hush the talking.
However, the entire room became silent as the auburn-haired girl took to the front of the room.
The teacher looked thrilled.
The girl didn't look nervous at all – in fact she looked almost annoyed.
"I'm Airi Okabe and I'm a Scorpio."
The blue-haired boy tensed up so quickly that he almost stood up.
"Scorpio?" Someone repeated.
"Is that by Western astrology, Airi-san?"
"Yeah."
"Very nice! Thank you!"
Airi nodded and took her seat.
The class whispered a little.
As the blue-haired boy stood up, he placed a firm hand on Airi's shoulder and leaned down to whisper something furiously in her ear.
She smiled devilishly.
Although he looked quite annoyed, he regained his composure and seemed very calm by the time he took his place in front of the classroom.
It was silent again.
"I'm Shiita Okabe." He began.
"Oh! Are you are Airi-san siblings?" Iruka-sensei asked smiling at him.
"No, we are cousins." He responded politely.
"Oh! I see. Please continue."
"My family and I just moved here from Tokyo."
Students began whispering again.
"Well, I'm pleased that you are here! Thank you." The teacher said.
"Thank you." He took a seat.
As he sat down, Kira's stomach lurched-
Shit.
It was her turn.
She had zoned out so deeply she had forgotten her fact.
She stood up slowly and walked to the front of the room, beginning to get flustered.
She had known all of these kids for so long, there was no reason to be nervous.
"I'm Kira Sohma." She began. "… And I've lived in this town my entire life."
"Thank you Kira-san!"
She breathed a sigh of relief and sat down.
There was a pause.
Kira turned around.
Teruki was still passed out on her desk. Everyone in the room burst out laughing.
Kira shook her and she blinked, dazed.
"Isn't there one more…?" Iruka-sensei asked tentatively.
"Oh." Ruki stood up and stretched. "Sorry."
The class laughed again.
She wandered up to the front of the classroom and sighed loudly.
"I'm Teruki Sohma." She said, looking up at the ceiling.
Then she went to sit down.
"You forgot your interesting fact, Teruki-san!" Iruka-sensei sang from the front of the classroom.
"No I didn't." She responded, taking her seat.
"What do you mean…?" The teacher began to sweat.
"I don't have any interesting facts about myself, so I chose to sit down instead of make something up. Sorry."
Iruka-sensei considered prodding the girl to state a simple fact, but her steady eye contact was unsettling.
"O-okay. Well, good job everyone! I hope you all enjoy your time in this class!" The bell rang. "Its already lunch time! The introductions took much longer than I thought they would. Enjoy your lunch everyone!"
She left the room and everyone began to leave their seats.
Some people fished out their lunches from their bags, others left the room to seek their friends in other classes.
Kira turned around, grinning.
"You're such an asshole." She said to Teruki.
She shrugged in response.
"It happens."
"Hello Sohmas~!" Mitsuri cooed, approaching them with a colorful bento box in her hands.
She pulled the empty seat from behind Kira and spun it loudly.
She sat facing them.
Kira had made she and Teruki little bento boxes with sandwiches inside.
She handed it to Teruki.
"Hey thanks!" The girl mocked being surprised.
"I knew you would complain if you forgot your lunch, so I thought I would bring one just to be safe."
"So kind of you." Teruki winked, eating the carefully made lunch with gusto.
"I want to talk to Shiita." Mitsuri whispered.
Kira turned around slowly – Shitta and Airi were eating together in silence.
Kira shrugged.
"Okabe-kun!" Mitsuri said cheerfully.
"Yes?" He turned around politely.
"You said you lived in Tokyo, right? What made you move here? Its such a great city."
Airi made a loud scoffing noise.
Shiita ignored her completely.
"Well my family only lived there for a little while. It was very crowded and we um…" He blinked. Kira turned to face him. "We thought it would be nicer to live in a more rural area."
Mitsuri smiled pleasantly.
"Well it's a lovely place here. I'm happy you decided to come!"
"As if it was a choice." Airi said quietly.
Shiita spoke over her.
"I'm happy we came here too!"
"Your whole family came here with you?" Mitsuri pressed, still smiling.
"Can you please do us all a favor and mind your own business?" Airi asked sharply.
Shiita shot her a look.
"Don't be rude." He said flatly.
Mitsuri giggled.
"It's fine! I shouldn't be nosy."
"It's not being nosy, its just being curious." He said warmly. Mitsuri blushed slightly. "But yes, my family bought a big house outside town and we are all living there together. Its quite an experience." He smiled. "We have a lot of cousins."
Mitsuri's eyes brightened.
"That's just like the Sohmas!"
Kira and Teruki both shifted uncomfortably.
"Who?" He asked.
"This is Kira and Teruki Sohma." She said, making a gesture toward the two girls. "They have lots of cousins too. They all lived on an estate togethter, but a lot of them moved away. Right Kira?"
She felt a bead of sweat form on her forehead.
"Yeah." She smiled and laughed awkwardy.
"All of their parents went to Kaibara High School too. They kept to themselves all of high school and never were in any relationships with anyone and didn't do anything –not even hugging anyone!- until suddenly all of them started dating at the same time and they all got married after they graduated and that's why they all are around the same age and-"
"Okay that's enough." Teruki said suddenly.
"They really don't need to know any of that." Kira said sharply.
She turned to them.
"Sorry."
They were both staring at the Sohmas very deeply.
"Oh, that's quite alright. Its all very," He smiled. "interesting."
A small smile appeared on his face.
Airi's stare was so deep that Kira had to turn away .
The rest of her lunch suddenly seemed very unappetizing.
"Please don't freak out."
The rest of the day was very strange.
It went very fast, but with Shiita whispering in Airi's ear the whole afternoon and Teruki fuming behind her, Kira wanted to go home desperately.
The truth was, Mitsuri knew about the curse.
She had been Kira's friend for so long that she knew everything.
She knew the Sohmas were kept from feeling affection and from knowing love, as well as the curse leaving them feeling helpless and trapped in their own bodies.
Tohru had decided it was okay to tell Mitsuri about the curse because it was no longer in effect.
She was at their house so often and the curse was so casually a topic of conversation that MItsuri didn't think of it as a big deal anymore.
Sometimes Kira felt that she didn't even believe them about the curse.
She had given away information that wasn't hers to give away just to keep Shiita interested in their conversation.
Although she loved her to death, Kira knew that Mitsuri was a very difficult person to be friends with.
The next day went very slowly, and Teruki slept through almost every class.
When it came time for lunch, Mitsuri came to sit with them.
Things were awkward because Kira and Ruki were both annoed with Mitsuri for talking about their family yesterday.
She was completely oblivious, however, and spoke thoughtlessly without realizing that neither of them were listening.
She eventually got bored of her own voice and excused herself to go to the bathroom.
Ruki and Kira exchanged a look.
They both laughed.
This caught the attention of the Okabe cousins that were seated behind them.
Shiita turned around so that he was facing them.
"If you don't mind me asking, where is the estate that your family lives on?" Shiita asked.
His eyes were bright blue and full of genuine innocence.
He had a very simple, pleasing face.
"Well its on the outskirts of town, but I don't live there. I live in the house that my parents lived in when they went to school. Teruki lives in the estate, though."
He looked at the gray-haired girl.
She looked annoyed, and didn't respond.
As far as Teruki was concerned, there was no reason to be talking about their family.
She knew that eventually the conversation would lead to a question that could only be answered by the curse.
"So you all used to live there and then you all moved away?" He asked, seeming genuinely interested.
"Kind of. Our famiy was based there and people came and went, and then everyone…decided to spread out." She smiled, hoping she was vague enough. "What about your family?"
"What about them?" Airi responded, frowning.
"Well you said you moved from Tokyo…"
"Yes." Shiita began. "We all grew up together in the same neighborhood and when the head of our family decided it was time to move out of the crowded city, we came here. Now we are all living in this big house. Its almost like a hotel." He smiled, although his eyes were looking almost melancholic.
"Or a prison." Airi spoke so quickly that it took Kira a second to process what she said.
There was an awkward lapse in conversation.
Shiita swallowed hard.
He turned back to continue his lunch and whispered something to Airi that put a glimmer in her eye.
Mitsuri returned as he turned away, and when she realized that she had just missed an exchange with him she look very hurt.
Before Kira had a chance to explain that he had started the conversation, the bell rang again.
The next couple days were the same way.
Mitsuri was very pouty and Shiita asked Kira tons of questions about their family.
"Your family sounds a lot like ours." He said once.
"I highly doubt that!" Kira laughed.
There was a gleam in his eye.
"You never know."
He winked at her.
That afternoon when she began her walk home from school, she saw a girl from their class standing with Shiita.
She wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying, but she tried to figure out what was going on through their body language.
The girl said something smiling, he responded, and she looked crushed.
She said something else and held out her arms, and he spoke very quickly and then turned to leave, leaving the girl looking miserable.
He looked shaken as he fled from the scene.
That night, Kira sat down for dinner with her family.
Tohru had made a huge bowl of rice full of pork and egg.
"Can I ask you something?" Kira asked, voice cracking slightly.
Her parents both nodded. Roku looked up.
She felt very nervous because of what she was about to ask, but the question had been pounding in her head all day.
She took a deep breath.
"Do you think there are other families like the Sohmas? Families that are cursed?"
Tohru's eyes widened.
Kyo chewed slowly and thought for a moment.
The question lingered in the air the way a loud noise rings in a silent room.
"Well, I suppose that could happen." Kyo spoke slowly. "Depending on what you mean by 'cursed.'"
"Well, there's this boy at school," Kyo arched his eyebrows. "Not that kind of boy. But he keeps asking about our family. He lives with all his cousins and they are all under the watch of a head of the family. I also saw him get really freaked out when a girl tried to hug him today."
Both his parents were silent.
After a silence that seemed to last forever, Kyo spoke again.
"I don't know what to tell you. Just be careful." Kyo said, standing up and excusing himself.
"You could hug him yourself and find out!" Roku piped up, grinning.
Kira shook her head smiling.
"Just please try not to get too involved." Tohru said softly.
"Practice what you preach mother."
Tohru burst out laughing, and together the three of them cleaned the kitchen and went to bed.
As Kira let herself fall asleep and thoughts floated thinly through her mind, she had no idea of the day that would follow that night of sleep.
One never expects that changes that affect you for the rest of your life.
The next day of school went very quickly.
Kira let herself daydream all day long.
It was five minutes until the ball rang.
Kira was mentally preparing herself for a three-hour nap upon her return home.
"Kira-san, Shiita-san, thank you for volunteering to clean the classroom."
Kira looked up, confused.
"Of course!" Shiita replied strongly.
"N-no problem." Kira added, blinking.
He turned around and whispered.
"I hope you don't mind, I was just hoping we could talk."
"Okay. Yeah. That's fine." He smiled and turned back.
She cast a glance at Mitsuri.
She looked very angry.
The rest of the five minutes lasted an eternity.
Teruki poked and Kira's back repeatedly and kept whispering imaginary situations that always ended in Shiita murdering her or kidnapping her after they were done cleaning the classroom.
It took all of Kira's willpower not to respond.
When the bell finally rang and Kira was left alone with him she wanted to throw herself out the window.
The classroom cleared out quickly, Teruki threw out a suggestive insult as she left, and soon they were alone.
She considered throwing herself out the window.
They cleaned the board and erasers, swept the classroom, and kept busy until the classroom looked clean.
All of their talk was small and he did not say anything about her family or so much as mention his.
By the time they were done, Kira was very confused.
"Can I walk you home?" He asked.
Shit. She thought.
"Yeah, sure." She said.
They walked in silence for a while before they reached the bridge.
The water was very high and fast, due to the rain that had been accumulating over the last month.
There was no one around.
He cleared his throat.
She felt the strong urge to throw herself over the edge of the little stone bridge.
"I trust you." He said seriously, looking straight into her eyes.
"I've known you for a total of four days." She responded, feeling herself getting more and more freaked out.
"Do you trust me?" He asked, ignoring her protest.
She paused, then nodded.
Suddenly he was holding her hand.
He stood up on the side of the bridge, then pulled her up with him.
Before she could even think she was in his arms, pressed against him.
They were falling into the water.
She felt the cold water envelope her body as she felt his body disappear from her arms.
She surfaced from the water and struggled to swim in the strong current.
She drifted quickly from the little bridge and soon it was out of sight.
She recollected her thoughts – Where was he?
She found a surface to wrap her arms around and she was pulled out of the water.
She began to struggle to catch her breath.
The water was so cold that her body was numb.
As soon as she could muster a breath, she shouted out.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"
"Sohma-san," She rubbed her eyes and let herself focus on what was in front of her.
She couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening.
It was Shiita's voice, but the only one with her in this small clearing was a small animal.
A ram.
"Please don't freak out."
Hello! Thank you so much for reading this. :) I'm sorry that it is such a slow start, but please bear with me. Please let me know what you think!