Hey, Aiko here! This is my first fan-fiction, so please no flaming. Constructive criticism is accepted. I've recently gotten into the anime Fruits Basket, so I started to wonder, what if there were other zodiac families out there? So, I'm doing one about the Chinese zodiacs, meeting the Western zodiacs...

Leo walked back home from school. He shifted his book bag on his shoulder. It was filled with homework, loads and loads of it. He always seemed to get more homework. Maybe his teachers were secretly plotting to drown him in worksheets. He smoothed back his dark hair. Not only did he have homework to worry about, but his transfigures were becoming more frequent. Every day it seemed. It didn't help that Jared and his gang singled him out. The sound of a snapped branch. So soft, only Leo's acute hearing could pick it up.

"Hey! Leo"

Just before Leo could turn around, Jared tackled him. Leo's face smashed into the pavement. Instant bloody nose, he thought. Jared's two friends, Aaron and Mathew pinned his arms down. Jared took Leo's bag and shook all it's contents out. Leo's textbook landed on his head. He grunted.

"Hmm..." Aaron picked up a paper "the essay Mr. Tom made us write"

The sound of ripping told Leo what happened. It took him an hour to write that. Any more of this, Leo thought and I might just transform.

"Hmm... calculus homework. Nonimportant" it was Mathew this time. The sound of ripping again. Leo felt his teeth getting sharper. Oh-no! Leo groaned in his head I'm transfiguring again!

"Hey, Mathew, Aaron, is this normal? Leo's hair turned from brown to gold" Jared's voice was stern with a hint of worry.

Leo was definitely transfiguring. Hopefully, before anything too noticeable transfigured, he could get the strength of the lion. Wriggling around, he managed to loosen the boys' grip. Finally, he got the lion's strength and was able to throw them off. Quickly getting up, he raced toward the woods, faster than any human could. He got there just in time. Abruptly stopping and hiding behind a tree, his eyes turned to a soft golden color. A lion tail sprouted from the base of his spine. Soft, golden lion ears replaced his human ones. Whiskers appeared. He was in his zodiac form now, a human with a lion's tail, whiskers and ears. Golden hair and eyes. Unnatural strength, agility, and senses.

Sighing, Leo tried to calm his heart rate. He nervously looked behind him. Jared and the gang were gone. Thankfully, the left his book bag behind. A few minutes later, Leo transfigured back into his human self. The whiskers and ears shrank back. His tail swooped back into his spine and his eyes and hair turned back to brown. He jogged out of the forest, picked up his stuff and headed home.

"I'm home!" Leo yelled as he opened the door. Immediately, he was tackled to the floor.

"Get off Sage!" He groaned.

"No way!" She laughed "I trained Heracles, and he defeated the lion! I am Sagittarius!"

"But the crab joined the lion!" Carter jumped on top of her, squishing Leo even more. He was Cancer. Immediately, they began fighting.

"Heracles sucks!"

"No, he doesn't, Hera does"

"Well, you were a man in your previous form"

"And you were dead"

"Says the old centaur!"

"Centaur this!" Sage started transfiguring. Her lower half turned into a brown horse. A bow appeared in her hands and a quiver full of arrows appeared on her back. Her eyes turned to a dark, soft brown. A sage plant appeared behind her ear. She kicked Carter back.

"Oh yeah?" He transfigured as well, his hair shifted color from blond to red. His eyes turned black. His hands hardened and turned into crab claws, while his back formed a crab shell-like armor.

"Sage, Carter, no transfiguring until night!" Libia, Leo's adoptive mom, appeared out of nowhere "Balance people. Half the day we don't transfigure, the other half we do."

Sage and Carter transfigured back to their normal form.

"Typical Mom, always about balance. She's a regular Libra zodiac."

Sage sniffed and sauntered out of the room. Carter helped Leo up.

"Hey, why is your forehead purple?" Carter asked. Libia looked at Leo, like she was silently demanding an explanation. No way am I telling them I was jumped.

"I tripped"

"Did you transfigure?" Libia raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe..."

"Leo, you've got to get that under control, who knows what the public would do if they found out"

"Sorry"

"C'mon now, time to go to bed"

"Yes mom" Leo trudged upstairs. Carter bounded after him. There were 11 beds in their house. 1 for each zodiac, minus his adoptive parents who slept together. All the children, except Kayla, were adopted. Like Leo usually did, he named the rooms as he walked by. Kayla the Capricorn, Marine, the Aquarius, Seth the Pieces and Libia the Libra, Ari the Aries, Tyler the Tauros, Gem and Zack the Gemini, Carter the Cancer, My room: Leo the Lion. Up head, Avleen the Virgo, Sepia the Scorpio and Sage the Sagittarius' rooms lay. Carter disappeared into his room and Leo followed his example. The rest of the children stampeded upstairs.

"Good night everyone!" Seth and Libia called out. They would stay downstairs for a few more hours. Leo turned on a lamp and started repairing his homework. He sighed. Tomorrow it would be rinse and repeat.