Hello, welcome to Chapter 1 of Awakened. I've decided to do some revising, and editing, and what's a better place to start than the beginning? Anyways, I've not changed much, I've just added more information, but if you have already read it already, you are not missing anything. But you can read it if you desire to do so. So please enjoy chapter 1.

The day began just like any other day in the summer, warm sunshine with a cool breeze passing through every so often. The birds were sitting in the trees, signing a lazy tune, while beneath the trees branches ants were scurrying about trying to find food. Off in the distance, one could see a large fortress with a large gate, standing solemnly in front of a descent sized town. In the town, however, most civilians were resting from the afternoon heat.

However, Kyou Sohma, along with Yuki, Hatsuharu, and Momiji, were walking around the quiet town. They were walking together in complete silence, purely enjoying the atmosphere, except for Kyou, who was walking slumped over, and obviously in a less than perky mood.

Momiji Sohma was the first one to speak from the pleasant quietness, "Have you heard there is going to be a party tonight!"

"Where," asked Hatsuharu Sohma indifferently.

"I don't know, but I do know it will be great fun," exclaimed Momiji jumping up and down in excitement. "I just love parties!"

"We cannot go if we do not know where it will be," said Yuki Sohma, trying to act as the voice of reason. "Besides, we were not invited."

"I don't care. I will go to that party even it is on the other side of town," Momiji said with much cheerfulness.

Haru and Yuki looked away from the exuberant boy, while Kyou growled, "I do."

"Why?" asked Momiji with a slight frown that did not last long before he laughed and said, "I don't care what Kyou thinks!"

"'Why,' he asks," murmered Haru, ignoring the others. He stopped in the middle of the road, and continued speaking. "Probably because a certain someone," he took a quick glance at Kyou who was walking away, "lives on that side of town." Then speaking louder, and directly at Kyou, Haru said thoughtfully, and quite loudly, "Hm, maybe just a thought, but after being rejected more than five times he does not want the subject to be brought up again?"

"Is Kyou in love?" asked Momiji with wide innocent looking eyes.

Kyou snapped his eyes onto Momiji and said, "Even if I was, I would not let you know dumb rabbit." Then he turned around and shouted at Haru, "How'd you know, you stupid cow?"

"Intuition?" murmured Haru. Kyou glared at the younger boy, and started marching away from the Sohma's. However, before he could get very far, Yuki called out.

"So who is the girl?" he asked, joining the game. The game was known best as Who Could Annoy Kyou the Most, and because the orange haired boy lost his temper quickly, the game went by rather fast. And that was why it amused the others to no ends.

"I never said it was a girl," growled Kyou, turning around to face Yuki. Then as am after thought, Kyou said, "Besides it is no one that you know, damn rat."

"So it is a girl," said Haru rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "So is she pretty?"

"Of course she is-" said Kyou with a dreamy look on his face. However, when he realized what he said, a looke of complete horror crossed his face, and he snapped, "I never said that, stupid cow!"

Haru shrugged, "Well Yuki knows all the grils in this town anyway." He put an arm around Yuki. "Right Yuki?"

"It was never my intention to have a fan club," said Yuki annoyed. "And would you please release your hold on me?"

Haru let go of the other boy, and turned back to Kyou who was still glaring at him. "Hear that stupid cat?" When Kyou made no movement, he continued, "We'll figure it out sooner or later."

Passing Kyou with Yuki and Momiji walking with him, he turned around suddenly and said, "Sooner or later, Kyou. Probably sooner than later with our luck and influence."

Giving Kyou a radiant smile, the others walked away, leaving Kyou in the dust, and murmuring to himself, "I doubt it, because you don't know that it is Takauji Kameko."

Kyou followed the threesome lazily for some ways until Momiji turned around abruptly and asked through giggles, "What does her name begin with?"

Kyou, not paying attention because he had been dreaming of her, answered, "Her name begins with a 'K'."

Momiji exclaimed, "A 'K' really? That narrows the list down!" Jumpin up and down in enthusiasm, he ran over to Yuki and Haru. "Kyou's one true love's name begins with a 'K'! Doesn't that narrow down the list?"

Raising an eyebrow, Yuki stated, "Her name begins with a 'K' and so you think that that mere fact will narrow down the list quite a bit?"

"Yeah," Momiji said nodding his head. "A 'K' would narrow the list down, would it not?"

Yuki sighed, shaking his head, and said, "We do not know if her first name begins with a 'K' or her last name. For all that we know, she might of given Kyou a false name and identity."

Haru chuckled and added, "And knowing that stupid cat, he would be too dense to even tell the difference."

As Haru finished speaking, Kyou came from behind and smacked Haru down onto the group. "I am not dense, stupid cow," he said with a blush creeping out onto his cheeks. "At least not that dense to not know what her name really is, and I really know that her first name begins with a 'K'!" Then suddenly, with a look of abhor at giving away the information, and proving that he was in love, he took another look at Haru, then he sprinted down the road, took a turn and went into the dark, dense woods.

Momiji watched, and when he lost sight of Kyou, which occured rather quickly, he asked with worry, "Will Kyou be all right in the Dark Woods?"

"We are talking about the stupid cat here," said Yuki turning away from the direction that Kyou ran off to. "Of course he will be all right."

"Oh, okay," said Momiji, staring at his feet. "Only if you are completely sure Yuki."

"Well, I'm sure," said Yuki.

Haru then stood up and said as he brushed off dirt from his clothes, "I am surprised he was so mad about the idea of false identity. Stupid cat probably doesn't understand the idea of false identity or the the meaning of the word dense probably."

Yuki sighed, and said, "Stupid cat is the stupid cat, and you are you. Besides, if you keep that mood up Haru, and you'll turn black."

"Whoever said I was not black yet?"

On the other side of town, inside the town's limits, in the biggest, grandest house, many servants were working hard to clean up the large building. Tonight there was going to be a huge party, and the owner, Master Takauji, wanted everything to be sparkling clean and absolutely perfect for his guests that would arrive in a few hours..

Upstairs in Master Takauji's daughter's room, a servant girl, Tohru Honda, was trying to find her mistress's party clothing. It had been over two hours since the oldest, had asked for her to find their clothing. Now, after hours of fruitless searching throughout the entire first, second, and third floors, Tohru had finally found the closet with the costumes, whiich happened to be on the second floor, but something of great importance was missing, the masks.

Sighing dejectedly, she grabbed the box full of costumes and trugged slowly back to the main room where Kameko, Akina, and Nyoko elegantly sat embroidering pillowcases that were decorated with brightly colored flowers and vines.

Upon seeing that Tohru had fianlly come back after many hours, Kameko was the first one to set aside her embroidery and ask anxiously, "Did you find everything?"

Tohru shook her head and answered, "No ma'am. I could not find your masks. I am very sorry. I will leave right now and go find them." With a look of determination, Tohru was ready to walk out of the room.

Nyoko and Kameko were trying hard not to laugh as she about walked out of the room, however Akina, the youngest took pity on the servant girl.

Akina looked up from her embroidery, she simply said, "It is not surprising that you couldn't find the masks."

Tohru gasped, and said, "I am sorry. I did not mean to lose them. I will go out to the market right now and buy new ones. I will use my own money to do so. Please do not release me from my job. I will do anything, but please do not fire me." She put a hand her pocket, and took out a coin. Sighing she said, "I don't suppose this'll buy anything, will it?"

The three girls looked at the pitiful coin in her hand. They looked at the coin, then at her face, then finally at each other.. Akina was the first one to start giggling, and the other's joined quicly. Tohru merely watched the three girls in abhor, and felt her eyes becoming very wet. She was about to leave the room, when Kameko scolded her sisters, by saying, "Can't you see she's upset?"

Rapidly, they stiffled their giggled, and contained themselves into proper young women. Nyoko then informed Tohru, "When Akina-chan said that it was not surprising that you couldn't find the masks, she merely meant that we had already found them. So there is no need for you to buy us new ones and expecially with your own money."

Tohru looked at the three girls confuesed and simply asked, "Huh?"

Kameko, Akina, and Nyoko looked at each other and burst out laughing again. Tohru looked at them awkwardly and said, "I am sorry. I didn't realize that what I said was that amusing."

Kameko shook her head and said, "No need to apologize. The fault really lies on us three." The other two nodded their heads, and she continued. "We knew where the masks were all along, but you are just too fun to tease and we could not resist. The look on your face was to entertaining to give up."

"Oh," said Tohru looking down with a blush creeping onto her cheek. She was starting to feel like she had to leave the room imediately, or else she would again find herself in another embarassing situation. However, Kameko began to speak, and Tohru had to stay.

"Anyways, changing the subject now. I wonder if any of the Sohma's are coming to father's party," said Kameko twirling a strand of hair around her finger thoughtfully. "I have heard they are all fools and would do anything to make us, the Takaujis, irate."

Laughing gaily, Nyoko said, "That's only too true. At least what Manabe said upon his last visit." Then she looked out the window, and stared out towards the foretress on the other side of town. She then dreamily asked, "Isn't one of the Sohma's sweet on you, Kameko-chan?"

"I do not know, is he?" asked Kameko. "But then again he has professed his undying love to me at least ten times, so I suppose it is a yes."

"A definite yes," agreed Akina. "I overheard some of the servants talking about him. I did not hear a name though, so Kameko-chan is there a name to this face?"

"Not that I know," said Kameko smiling. "He is just a man that loves me, but I love him not. So I obviously do not care for the name."

"Oh," said Akino. Suddenly she turned to Tohru. "Do you know the name, Tohru-kun?"

Tohru, putting away their embroidery, looked up. "Huh?"

Nyoko smirked, and then asked, "Do you know what Kameko-chan's loverboy's name is?"

Tohru shook her head, "No, I do not know who he is, let alone his name." When Nyoko and Akino looked disappointed, Tohru jumped up and asked, "Was I suppose to know it? I'm sorry, I'll go right now, and try to find the name."

She was running out of the room, when Kameko called, "Come back Tohru-kun."

Stopping where she was, Tohru walked back into the room to see what Kameko wanted.

"Yes?" she asked meekly.

Shrugging, Akino said, "Tohru go find Hana-chan and Uo-chan. We need to get ready for the party. It will be starting very soon."

"Yes, Akina-san," Tohru said. She quickly finished putting away their embroidery, and then bowed.

After walking through the door, the shutting it, Tohru gave a sigh of relief. Listning to Kameko, Nyoko, and Akina was hard work and very exhausting. She was not used to being adressed so with such friendliness by the higher ranks. She has been taught and personally believed that servants and mistresses should not be friendly at all with one and another, but that was not the case at the Takauji's household. Shaking her head at the household, Tohru decided not to muse on the subject but to go and find her two best friends, Saki Hanajima and Arisa Uotani, in the kitchen.

When Kyou arrived back at the Sohma household, covered in leaves, mud, and sticky substances, Yuki, Haru, Momiji and the other's were already preparing to go to the party at the Takauji's house.

Haru, putting on an ox mask, noticed his entrance first. After looking at Kyou he said, "If you plan on going, you better get ready now."

Kyou replied wearily, "I am not going."

Momiji, wearing a rabbit mask, bounced over and pleaded, "Please come with us Kyou. It will be no fun without you there."

Yuki, with a rat mask in his hand, said to the exuberant boy, "It would be better if he did not go, stupid cat." He glared at Kyou. "You would just ruin our plan."

"What plan?" asked Kyou and Momiji at the same time. Both looked at the Zodiac rat in confusion, one because he believed that this plan was up to no good, the other because he had completely forgot.

"You know, the plan," said Yuki sighing. "You know, the plan that we created when that stupid cat went to sulk in the Dark Woods."

"Oh that plan," nodded Momiji, as if he just remembered. "I remember it now."

"Remember what," asked Kyou looking from Momiji, to Haru, then to Yuki. Nobody was moving, but Kyou could swear he saw a mischievous grin on Yuki's face. Yuki never grinned, so Kyou figured something bad was going to happen.

Sighing in defeat Kyou said, "I am going to this party, but only to see what you three have up your sleeves."

He then went away to clean himself up, and Haru and Yuki went in another direction, completely ready to leave. Only Momiji was left, and he sighed happilly. "Good, now Kyou can stop them if it gets out of hand. I don't want the Takauji's to be upset." He then followed Yuki and Haru in the direction that they had left in.

Well, I hope you liked the new revised chapter! I'm going to revise some others. Expecially the earlier ones. I kind of forgot what happened in those chapters (isn't that terrible?) So please review, I would like to know your input! Viviana Tully