AN: Hey, all! Welcome to my little one-shot inspired by Fruits Basket and Fruits Basket Another. I really do love my Sohmas! Please enjoy!

In hearing the absolutely ludicrous accounts of his parents' adolescence, Hajime Sohma was at a complete loss. Curses? Humans, turning into animals? Ridiculous. Impossible. Insane.

And yet, there was a look in his father's eyes, a look Hajime couldn't quite understand. It was a look full of pain, of that he was sure, and there's no way his father could fake that kind of face. He had seen a video of his father attempting acting once, and there's no way he could have pulled that off. Even though the tale was too tall for even a child to believe, Hajime couldn't help but accept that it was true. There was no way his strong, determined father would make, not only a pained face, but one filled with fear. Hajime always thought his father feared nothing.

Hajime knew that the face his father made while he told his story would stay with Hajime for the rest of his life.

It was the day before New Year's Eve and every New Year's the entire family gathered at the main estate. Hajime had mixed feeling about the main estate. On one hand, it was grand and beautiful, and usually filled with people he loved deeply, on another, Hajime always felt like there were secrets stowed away there. It was as if a bit of darkness lingered along the hallways. He could never quite put his finger on it.

One such bit of darkness emerged that day in the form of a crazy old woman. Hajime was wandering around the estate on his own when someone called out to him.

"Well, if it isn't the son of the Cat, loafing about without a care in the world," said an unhinged voice that put a venomous emphasis on the word "cat". Hajime turned to see an old woman with long, black, but greying hair staring at him with cold, unforgiving eyes.

"Um, I'm sorry, you must be confusing me with someone else," he said nervously. Even as he said it, he didn't quite believe it. This woman knew exactly who she was talking to, even if it did sound like nonsense. Then, she laughed: a bone-chilling sound.

"But how could I? You look just like him. You know, It's good you don't turn into a monster. Aren't you lucky?" She laughed again, but it didn't reach her eyes, "It really is comical how all those children like to pretend they're actual people-"

"Now, now, Ren we've talked about this. It isn't nice to say people aren't people" said a voice from behind Hajime. Hajime turned towards the voice.

"Uncle Shigure?" Hajime said and his uncle smiled at him.

"Don't you act so high and mighty, you dirty dog! You can all keep playing house with your little families, but deep down you know the truth! You're abominations! Monsters! And to think you're even passing your dirty blood down to create more monsters!" The old woman, Ren, shouted. She continued to ramble as Uncle Shigure waved down a maid and asked her to assuage the old woman. Hajime stared at her as she was taken away, still shouting ugly words about them all being monsters. It was all utter nonsense, but for some reason, Hajime felt like crying.

Shigure placed a hand on Hajime's shoulder and smiled at him.

"Try not to take what Ren-san says seriously, Hajime-Kun. She's an old, sad woman that is hurting in her own right," Uncle Shigure said and Hajime nodded, "Why don't we head back?"

Hajime walked with his uncle back to the main house where they found his parents in the living room sitting under the kotatsu. When his parents saw him, they knew something was wrong. Something in his face must have given it away.

"Hajime?" his mother asked as she got up. His father followed suit. Hajime took a look at them and then stared at his feet.

"Hajime-Kun, may I have a moment with your parents? Why don't you find Mutsuki? I think I saw him heading to Shiki's room" Shigure said, again with a smile.

"Um, yeah. Okay" Hajime said and left the living room, closing the sliding door behind him, but keeping it open just an inch. He wasn't really one for spying, but he couldn't stop himself. He positioned himself behind the wall on the same side as the slit he had made so they wouldn't see his silhouette through the screen door.

He looked through the small slit between the door and the wall and saw his parents eagerly awaiting Uncle Shigure's explanation.

"What happened, Shigure?" Hajime's father asked and the tone of his voice reminded Hajime of the same voice he would use when people told them they looked alike. It was an anxious, nervous voice.

"Nothing major, he just had an unfortunate run-in with Ren," Uncle Shigure said. His mother's eyes widened and his father's brow creased. What were they so stressed over?

"What-what did she say?" his mother asked. Then, the room got quiet.

"She told him he was lucky he didn't turn into a monster," Uncle Shigure said, his voice uncharacteristically serious.

At the word "monster" his father clenched his fists and he glared at the floor. Hajime had seen his father anxious and upset before, but not like this.

His mother, with a gentle, worried looked, took her husband's hand in one hand and put the other on the top of his arm in an effort to comfort him.

"Kyo-Kun, it's okay," she said, in the softest voice.

"It's not okay, Tohru. I don't want him hearing stuff like that. I don't want him to think-" but he stopped himself and squeezed the hand that held his. Hajime was at a loss for what could be making his father react like this. It was wholly unlike him.

"Y'know, maybe you should tell Hajime" his uncle suggested.

"What?! We can't do that. He'll think we're insane" his father snapped. Now, that was more like him.

"Maybe. Or maybe it will clear up a lot. We told Shiki" Uncle Shigure said. This caused both of Hajime's parents to gasp.

"You did?!" they both exclaimed.

"Oh, wow. You're in sync"

"Dammit, Shigure! What happened?" Hajime's father asked.

"Age hasn't gotten rid of that temper on you, Kyo-Kun! I thought your beautiful family may have tamed you a bit but-"

"STOP MESSING AROUND!"

"Alright, alright! Sheesh, you're no fun. Nothing happened. Shiki didn't believe it at first, but that's to be expected. Eventually, they realized that it must be true. Shiki has had a couple encounters with Ren too, but Ren wasn't as gentle with Shiki as she was with Hajime, let me tell you" Uncle Shigure said, and Hajime was even more confused. What was this deep, dark secret they were keeping from him?

"Kyo, maybe he's right," Hajime's mother said. It was unusual for her not to add honorifics to his name. Hajime always assumed it was out of her compulsive politeness that she'd keep an honorific on her husband's name, but when she left it off, Hajime knew that it was when she was trying to convey something important to her husband.

"Tohru…" his father said in a sad, gentle voice. Then, Hajime felt the desperate need to leave, so he did. He shouldn't have been eavesdropping in the first place, but now he was really feeling guilty for listening in on something that obviously brought everyone, especially his father, so much pain.

He couldn't help but think about it all night while the New Year's preparations continued around him. Mutsuki asked him what was wrong, but he just shook his head.

"Just tired. Not used to staying up this late"

"Your dad does make you get up crazy early every day," Mutsuki said.

"Best time to train," Hajime said, having a hard time investing in the conversion. He could tell Mutsuki was concerned.

The next day, New Year's Eve, Hajime woke up early like he always did and went down for breakfast. When he got down, his parents were waiting for him at the table. His younger siblings were nowhere in sight. Hajime noticed that both of his parents looked a little anxious, and in turn, he began feeling anxious as well.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"We let your brother and sister sleep in. We were hoping to talk to you about something, Hajime" his mother said kindly.

"Okay," Hajime said as he sat down in front of them.

"Hajime, you'll be going to high school pretty soon and I know you've been thinking about Kaibara and, um…" his father trailed off. Hajime saw the tension come back into his father's brow as he clenched his fist. Hajime waited patiently.

Hajime's mother gently put a hand on her husband's clenched one and waited for him to look at her. When he finally met her eyes, he softened and allowed himself to take a breath.

"It's okay" she whispered and he nodded, then looked at Hajime straight on. Hajime felt tension rise in him and realized he stopped breathing too.

"Hajime, what I'm about to tell you is going to sound insane, but I need you to understand that I am completely serious and it is not a joke. None of it. Can you do that?" his father asked. Hajime could only muster a nod. God, what was going on?

"Good. That's good. Well, as you know, the Sohma family is an old family with lots of, uh, traditions. A lot of those traditions, like the way we celebrate New Year's, comes from a special condition a few of our family members used to have" the older man said, finding it difficult to explain.

"Like cancer?" Hajime asked, now terribly worried somebody was sick and dying.

"No, no! Nothing like that. Dammit, I'm not explaining this well. Okay, Hajime, for you to understand this you have to come to terms with the fact that things beyond your imagination exist. Like, curses. Curses are…real" his father continued, now embarrassed.

"Okay, you lost me" Hajime admitted.

"Do you know how Auntie Hana-chan has her waves? How she has a special ability that shouldn't even exist in the real world? What your father is trying to say is that the Sohma family was once cursed in a way that shouldn't have even existed" his mother said, uncharacteristically articulate for her. This gave Hajime's father some courage.

"Yeah, it should never have existed. Look, this is where it really gets crazy. Do you remember the bedtime story your mother used to tell you? About God, the animals, and the banquet?" his father asked.

"Yeah," Hajime said. His mother used to tell him all the time because he loved it. Especially the part where the Cat makes new friends after he was tricked by the Rat. He liked how the Cat got to be happy after being deceived like that.

"Yeah, well, your mom told you a much kinder version. The Cat never makes new friends, he just gets left out of being in the Zodiac. At some point, the Cat, the Rat, the other animals, and even God were all real. Real and vengeful. For some reason, the spirits of these animals chose the Sohma family to host them. They…they would possess Sohma children essentially" Hajime's father said. Hajime, who was dumbstruck by the outlandish tale, could only listen in silence.

"It works like reincarnation. Once a possessed family member died, some time later that spirit would be born again in a new Sohma. It might take decades, but without fail, each animal would get reincarnated again, all while impeding on the soul of its host, the Sohma. It was like sharing one body with two souls" Hajime's father continued. This made Hajime's head snap up. His father was making it sound like he knew first-hand.

"Dad, I don't get it" Hajime confessed.

"That's okay, just…just listen. So, if you were a Sohma possessed by a vengeful spirit of the Zodiac, that meant a lot of things. First, you'd be born two months premature and if you were a male, your mother's embrace would cause you to…to…" his father said, searching for the words.

"Transform," his mother said, finally.

"Transform into what?" Hajime asked.

Hajime's father took a deep breath.

"The animal you were possessed by"

"Um, excuse me?"

"I know! I know! It sounds insane, but it's true. 100% true. Whether you were possessed by the Cow, the Dragon, the Rat, or even the Cat, you'd transform into that animal if you were embraced by the opposite sex. That's just how it was!" His father said. Hajime's head felt like it was about to explode.

"How is that even…possible?" Hajime asked.

"I don't know. I don't know, but it was. There's more to it than just that though. There were fourteen of us total. There were the twelve Zodiac animals, the Cat, and well, God. The twelve Zodiac members and the Cat turned into animals when embraced or weak, and have some quirks associated with their animal. Many of them had odd hair and eye colors that correspond with the animal as well. God was a little different. She didn't transform or anything, but she basically had the power to rip us apart with her words or whatever. We couldn't go against her, basically. And then there was-"

"Wait, wait, wait! Dad, are you trying to tell me that you…? You were one of these possessed Zodiac things?" Hajime asked, starting to lose his cool.

"I'm getting there. Just, listen, okay? There was also the…the Cat. And the Cat was different because he wasn't actually part of the zodiac," Hajime's father said and he tensed again, while his wife silently supported him, "he was the outcast. The most cursed one of all. His existence is one built upon the…the sacrifice of others. People who surround the Cat usually end up hurt" Hajime's father stopped as he began to choke up. This shook Hajime more than anything else. Never in his life had he seen his father cry.

"Kyo…"

Hajime's mother put her second hand over her husband's and he held onto it for dear life, as if her hand was the only thing tethering him to the earth.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Yeah, sorry. It's…hard to talk about, after all this time. So, the Cat, in addition to turning into a cat when embraced, also had a 'true' form. Its true form was…" Hajime's father trailed off. He looked down at his left wrist for a moment and then looked at Hajime. Hajime blinked at his father's gaze. There was so much turmoil in his oddly colored eyes. It took every ounce of strength in Hajime not to look away. Finally, his father finished his sentence.

"The Cat's true form was a monster. It was something worse than you'd ever imagine in your nightmare. It was hideous, disfigured, and smelled worse than rotting flesh. It was terrifying. The Cat was the only one with a 'true form'"

Hajime felt his chest tighten. The way his father described this monster…it sounded like he had seen it first-hand. Experienced it. And the way his mother was trembling made him think she had too. His father continued.

"On top of all that, the Cat, once he reached adulthood, was confined to a small room by himself at the Sohma estate, never to see anyone again…except for God. That's where he would live out the rest of his stupid life…in a room made just for him. His existence was necessary, however, for the other twelve Zodiac members. 'At least they weren't as cursed as the Cat' or something. They looked down on him. They couldn't help it. We were just born like that" Hajime's father said, his eyes in a far-off place.

"Dad were you…?" Hajime began to ask, but when his father looked at him with his orange, cat-like eyes and orange hair, Hajime knew. His father, Kyo Sohma, was the Cat. The outcast. The most cursed of them all. The Monster.

"Yeah" Kyo confirmed.

"But you're not like that anymore, right? What happened?" Hajime asked, afraid of the answer. At this, Kyo actually smiled.

"Your mother saved us all," Kyo said, adjusting his hand so that his fingers interlaced with his wife's, "She was dumb enough to fall for a cursed idiot like me and the whole curse just collapsed"

"N-n-n-no! You're mistaken! I didn't do nearly that much! Kureno's curse was broken long before you met me!" his mother, Tohru Sohma, said, her face red and flustered.

"Well, it's just a theory, but I know it would have never broken if you weren't there...if I hadn't met you again in high school," Kyo said, as he looked at her with a gentle smile. Hajime felt a huge desire to leave as his parents were starting to get mushy around each other again.

"So…it just broke?" Hajime asked, deliberately interrupting the loving gaze shared between them.

"Yeah, all of us were set free. All fourteen of us were gathered and we all finally became just ourselves"

"So, who else was part of the Zodiac?" Hajime asked, and his parents listed them all out for him.

"So, that's why Uncle Yuki will call you a stupid cat sometimes?" Hajime asked.

"Keh, I keep telling him that nickname is in poor taste"

"But Kyo, you call him stupid rat too," Tohru said.

"Only 'cause he does it first!" Kyo said.

Then, Hajime made a connection.

"So, that's why that old lady told me it's lucky I'm not a monster? Because I'm your son?" Hajime asked and a pained look crossed his father's face.

"Yes. Even now, there are some of the old Sohmas who still view me as 'The Cat'. The Cat was the lowest of the low, so because you're my son, people in this family may say things like that. For that, I'm really sorry, Hajime" Kyo said, and the face his father was making was so sad, he could hardly believe it came from his father's face.

"Dad…" Hajime said, but he had no words. They had all fled him at this point. They sat in silence for what must have been ages. Tohru was the one to finally break it.

"Hajime! I made breakfast! Are you hungry?" she asked. Hajime smiled.

"Yeah, mom. That sounds great"

Hajime was really surprised when he found out Mutsuki knew all this. He'd known about it for years, apparently. I guess it must have been much harder for Hajime's father to tell him, with the title of "monster" hanging over his head.

Something Mutsuki said had really stuck out to Hajime.

"We both resemble our fathers. Maybe, that's something special"

Yeah. Maybe it was.

A couple days later, Hajime was helping his mother with chores at their house when he began thinking about everything his parents had said to him. He tried to imagine what it was like to transform whenever you were sick or whenever your mother tried to hold you. He tried to imagine how painful it would be to be an outcast in the world, but also in the Zodiac. What would it feel like not to belong anywhere?

Pretty lonely, was his first thought.

Then, his feet were moving him to his parents' bedroom. His mother had a Zodiac set with a papier mâché cat on her shelf full of treasured items. There was also, he remembered, some weird beads she kept in a bowl. He had asked about them before, but his mother would always smile and give the infuriatingly vague answer "oh, just an old memory".

He had no proof, but he was almost certain they were related to his father's curse. When he spotted them in the corner of his parents' room, he felt like they were pulsating with a strange aura, beckoning him, almost. He reached out towards them…

"Hajime?"

Hajime snatched his hand away from the beads and snapped his head towards the direction of the voice. It was his mother.

Hajime felt a surge of guilt course through him. First, eavesdropping. Now, invading his parents' privacy. What next?

His mother didn't seem angry, however. She never really was, but Hajime expected to be reprimanded in some way. His mother wasn't really one to yell or scold, but Hajime thought he'd at least get a troubled or disappointed look.

Instead, his mother looked at him, then the beads, then back at him, and smiled softly.

"Mom, I-! I'm sorry, I was just-"

"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. You're probably really confused right now. Do you have anything you want to talk about?" she asked with her signature kind smile.

Hajime, who should have been used to his mother's kindness, was taken aback by it. For some reason, he felt so criminal…and yet, he did have questions. He looked back at the beads.

"What are they? The beads?" He asked, looking back at his mother. Her smile faded and her eyes grew soft with distant sadness. She moved closer to him to get a better look at the beads herself.

"They were once a bracelet, a protective charm, that kept those possessed by the Cat from turning into their 'true' form. No one's really sure, but they're apparently made of the bones of a powerful warrior from a long time ago. Your father had to wear them every day of his life and could never take them off" she said.

Hajime felt a lump form in his throat.

What was it like? Having to wear them constantly, always terrified you'd turn into a monster if they broke or fell off? Hajime thought.

"What happened to them?" he asked. At this, Tohru smiled and blushed.

"It was the first time your father told me he loved me. They day we decided to be together. He…asked to hug me even though he knew he'd transform. Then, when we embraced, he didn't. At that moment, everyone was released from the curse. The spirits left. It's hard to imagine, but your father cried a lot. I did too!" She said with a big smile and a laugh, "The first thing he did was rip off the beads"

She was crying now and Hajime's eyes threatened to do the same.

"I…wish you'd told me sooner" Hajime confessed. He didn't know why, but he felt like he should have somehow shared this burden with them as their son. His mother gave him a look that said, "I'm sorry" and then she searched for the right thing to say.

"You know, after that time, I think the next time I saw him cry was when you were born," his mother said, her eyes full of kindness and love now.

"It was when I held you to my heart for the first time and nothing happened," she said with her arms held close to her chest, "You were just a beautiful baby boy in my arms. Just Hajime, and no one else. He had been worried. He was so worried that you'd somehow be possessed. He was so relieved when you weren't, he cried and said, 'he's okay, he's okay'. Did you know, Hajime? Your father loves you more than anything and the last thing he wants for you is to have the life he used to have. I think that's why he really didn't want to tell you. He didn't want you to have any part of that old life" his mother said.

If Hajime was close to tears before, then he was right on the brink now.

"Mom…"

"Your father…I think his greatest fear is hurting those around him. He was terrified of becoming a father because he was convinced he'd end up hurting you somehow. It's not my place to tell you, but…there's more than one death your father felt responsible for because of the way he was. It's not true, but he's always believed that. He was ashamed. He was ashamed of being the Cat and the misery it brought people around him. Kyo-Kun, he…things used to be so painful for him, but he's really kind and caring underneath all of that, Hajime" she continued, her tears coming back.

The tears Hajime had been holding back finally fell. Why did he need to go to such lengths to protect him? Why should he be ashamed of the way he was born? It didn't sound like any of this was his fault. Then, Hajime had an idea.

"Mom, do we…have any string?"

The next morning, Hajime woke bright and early to train with his father in the dojo.

"Keep your back straight. Yeah, good. Make sure your weight is on that back foot" his father instructed as Hajime did drills.

"Hai!" he said as he hit the punching mitts his father wore. When the punch landed, his father grew silent and lowered his arms.

"You…why are you wearing those?" his father asked. Hajime wondered if he was angry.

"I…want to," he said.

"Take them off. You don't know what they are"

"I know and I'm not taking them off"

"Hajime!"

"No! No, I won't take them off," Hajime said as he began to punch towards his father. His father immediately blocked him with the punching mitts, but Hajime began to attack more fiercely.

"I know what they're made of! I know they're why the Cat's existence was built on the lives of others, but..!" Hajime continued, as he fiercely tried to break through his father's defense, "But, they were once yours! And now they're mine! Because this is proof I am your son and I want everyone to know because I'm proud! I'm proud to call you my dad!" Hajime said with a finalizing punch to his father's mitt. Both had stopped dead.

Kyo looked at his son with wide-eyes and a fluttering feeling in his chest. Then, a warm smile came across his face.

Hajime felt tears threaten him again.

Then, with whip-like speed, Kyo grabbed his son's wrist and pulled him into an embrace.

"Yeah, I'm proud too," he said awkwardly, but Hajime was certain he heard a crack in his father's voice.

When they separated, both turned away to deal with their wet eyes privately.

"You ready to start drills again? Your jabs really suck" Hajime's father said, getting back into Shishou-mode.

"What?! Those were some of my bests jabs ever!"

"Have you ever seen a jab?!"

They continued their friendly bickering as Hajime finished his drills, his new accessory laying gently on his left wrist, no longer a burden to its wearer.

When they finished their training, they grabbed their water bottles and sat on the bench on the outside of the Dojo. Hajime wiped the sweat from his brow with his towel.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"You met mom in high school, right? At Kaibara?" Hajime asked.

"Well, that's when we officially met, yeah. First year." his father said and Hajime noted that he'd have to ask about that later.

"When did the curse break?" Hajime asked and his father looked stunned.

"Why?"

"I…I want to understand everything. I think…I think I need to" Hajime said, realizing his reasoning was thin. He couldn't explain it, but he wanted to know everything about that time.

Kyo looked at his son, still surprised, but his warm smile came back.

"Yeah, I get it. My curse broke at the end of our third year" Kyo said, looking off into the distance.

"So…you were cursed until you were 18?" Hajime asked. That meant that by the time his father was his age, he was still living with it.

"Yep"

Hajime was lost in thought for a moment. Then, an important question popped into his mind.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"What's it like being a cat?" Hajime asked, and his father responded by slapping the back of his head.

"Stupid"

Hajime laughed.

"Aw, come on! Tell me! Is that why you like fish so much?"

"I like fish because fish is good!" Kyo said, getting worked up despite himself.

"Do you ever look at mice and want to chase them?"

"How stupid do you think I am?!"

Hajime laughed again and this time, his father joined in.

Their laughter died down and then, Hajime made a decision.

"Hey, dad? I…I want to go to Kaibara High" he said, unsure of why he felt so nervous. His father fell silent and looked off in front of him again.

"It's not close to here"

"I know"

"You couldn't go there and live here" his father said.

"I know"

For a long time, they were silent.

"Your mom will miss you a lot"

"Yeah"

"You still gonna train in the morning?"

"Every day"

"Hm. I guess it's fine then. If you're sure" His father said, still not looking at him.

"I am. I want to see where you and mom met"

"Yeah, well, that is a pretty good story"

"How did you meet? You were just in the same class?"

"Well, not exactly. I was kind of a hot head when I was younger, so I broke through the ceiling of her room so I could fight Yuki" he said easily, if not slightly embarrassed.

"You, what?!"

AN: And there you have it! How Hajime got Kyo's beads and how he came to decide to go to Kaibara. This was a little different than what I normally write, but I'm so desperate for Hajime/Kyo interaction, I did this.

Hope you enjoyed! Please comment and let me know what you think. Your support and feedback give me the energy to write more, so I really appreciate it. Thanks so much for reading!