Chapter 1: The wooden Cat
I had been walking through the woods quite often since I moved into my uncle's house. My father had died a while ago from a disease and my mother moved somewhere far away so she could get a good job and send me money once a month to buy clothes and pay for school- it was hard at first but the Sohma's have made it much easier for me. I met them a week ago, I noticed a black haired man sweeping the floor of a shrine and went to see what exactly he'd been doing, that's when I'd found out it was his house. It felt awkward just talking to him in the middle of the day not knowing him well so I carried on my way, but on the way back something awful happened. I'd tripped over a fallen log, it sent me stumbling down the hill, unable to stop the dreaded spinning I landed right into the pond. I was cold wet, and now covered in little purple bruises. The real pain didn't hit until I tried to walk out of the pond, placing my foot lightly into the grass trying to hoist myself out, I heard a bone snap after that all I knew is I was screaming, unbearable pain and darkness followed.
"Is she ok?" I heard a light feminine voice say "Well, she's gone and twisted her ankle," a familiar male voice murmur. "What are we waiting for- let's get her inside," the female said, I still could not open my eyes. I waited another ten minutes before trying to do or say anything, they'd placed me on something cool and soft, that's when I'd opened my eyes.
"Hey! She's awake now, what's your name?" a girl with long brown hair tied in ribbons asked me. I answered to her weakly. "My name's Mica," I said wincing as I felt a bandage being tied around my ankle. "Yes, yes it will sting for a bit," said a man, I looked over and it was the man who'd seen sweeping the shrine earlier. "Shigure don't be insensitive," the girl said scolding; I kind of just smirked though it hurt like hell. "Tohru, you know I can't do insensitive around a pretty face like that!" he exclaimed- I saw this Tohru girl drop her head in shame. It'd taken over an hour to finish bandaging everything up and I thanked them sincerely, insisting I must be on my way, but I was soon coaxed into staying for dinner. "Tohru this is delicious!" I said excitedly biting into a sushi roll. "Not only did you guys save me but you've prepared an excellent meal," I said gratefully, they both chuckled. I quirked my head to the side unsure of why they were laughing.
"We didn't save you we only bandaged you up, the one who pulled you out of the water was my nephew Kyo," Shigure explained. I didn't remember anyone else being there but I'd just noticed something dangling from my neck. It was a plain necklace, black thread with a rough wooden bead in the shape of a cat hanging from it. "Did he put this on me?" I asked not even knowing who I was referring to. Tohru ate her soup silently. "He did, that necklace was important to him so he probably didn't want to lose it," Tohru said, wiping the corners of her mouth. I nodded. "A wooden cat…I think I've heard of the Sohma's before…" I thought to myself; Recalling the tale of the chinese zodiac. "but the only thing I can remember is the cat was never welcomed into the legend,"