Hello! This is my first fanfic, so please, have mercy.

Now let's pretend that the curse was broken, and everyone lived their little happily-ever-afters one year earlier, and that's why Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki are still in school, and Shigure still hasn't moved into the main house yet.

Also, reviews would be greatly appreciated, so please do remember to review (a fav and follow wouldn't hurt either).

Anyways, please enjoy Blood In The Water!


A young man walked into a crowded bar full of several women. As he sat down, a wretched woman walked up to him.

"My, my, if it isn't that lonely fox. Come in for a drink, son? Or maybe a quick lay?" The old women asked the boy, cupping his chin in her slender inhuman fingers.

The young man pushed the old hag aside, his auburn hair flying as he did so.

The woman sneered. "You know, I hear that recently, your old woman's wish was, ehe heh," She turned the boys face towards hers once again smiling harshly as she did so. "...broken."

The boy bolted up out of his seat.

No. No.

He turned towards the wretched hag, spitting fire and screaming, "No! That's not true! You liar!"

Another woman mocked him. "Aww, you know it is true. It really is a pity though. Oh well, just like Kanagurumi to go around doing stupid things."

The boy ran out of the bar, hot, fiery tears streaking down his face.

No, it's not true. It can't be.

NO.

He ran and ran and continued to run, mumbling a single word to himself while doing so.

"Sohma..."


"I can't believe we're finally in our last year of high school, Yuki-kun!" Tohru Honda smiled as she walked to school with Yuki and Kyo Sohma.

The boys nodded. So much had happened during the summer, it was almost impossible to imagine going back to school. Once the curse had broken, it seemed almost too perfect.

Well, happily-ever-afters must exist after all, Yuki thought to himself as he took in the warm sun and cool breeze that engulfed his being.

It was true, everyone had gotten their deserved happy ending. So why did it feel so strange going back to school with Kyo-kun and Honda-san?

When the trio arrived at the school, there it was, waiting to greet Yuki... the Prince Yuki Fanclub, also known as the-weird-schoolwide-organization-that-stalks-Yuki-Sohma.

"Yuki! Look over here!"

"Sohma-kun, I have something for you!"

"Yuki-kun, our new president wants to meet you!"

Yuki smiled at his fans, and turned back to Tohru and Kyo, saying, "Sorry, but I have to go meet with the rest of the student council now."

"Of course! You go right on ahead, Yuki-kun!" Tohru smiled, waving Yuki goodbye.

Yuki was rather disappointed when he knew he wasn't going to see Machi, as she was on a vacation right now. He sighed and walked into the building when-

"Yuki! Come here! There's someone that wants to meet you!"

A girl whom Yuki had never met grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into the school building, running as if there were no tomorrow.

"P-Please, miss, slow down!" Yuki protested, but the girl continued to be energetic.

"Sorry, your highness, but the President just has to meet you!"

Yuki was then hurled into a room full of several girls, each of them squealing of the sight of the Prince, whose face was being shoved into that of the Prince Yuki Club's newest president.

Yuki found it rather odd that the president of Pri-Yuki was male. And he didn't look in any way feminine, either. He had long, blood red hair that reached his shoulders and eyes that were nothing less than sheer, blazing golden fire. As Yuki starred into those eyes, he felt something strange, something inhuman, and something cold. The boy had a rather thin build, but he was tall, ridiculously tall and making Yuki feel tiny in his presence.

The red-haired boy held out a hand, and smiled boldly. "Yuki Sohma! It is indeed grand that we are to finally meet! My name is Ichiru Ayakashi, but please, call me Foxy!" He voice was not unlike that of a con artist, slimy and cold, slippery and deceptive.

Yuki stuttered and starred in awe and wonder at the boy - more like a man - in front of him. "I-I'm Yuki Sohma..."

"Of course I know who you are! Why else would I have joined this silly little fan club of yours, you fool! But actually," He firmly placed his hands on Yuki's small shoulders, almost crushing him under his weight. Yuki could've sworn he felt the boy dig his claws into his skin - but why would he have claws?

"I have something to ask of you, Yuki."


Yuki was now sitting in an empty classroom, positive his had missed the first class of his new term. Sigh... it couldn't be helped, though, could it? Ichiru Ayakashi had wanted to speak with him.

"I hear you've recently let a young girl into your home." He said calmly and collectedly. There was something simply odd about this boy, something Yuki simply couldn't place. But his bringing Tohru into their awkward conversation only made his nerves grow more alert.

"Yes, Tohru Honda has been living with my cousins and me for quite some time now. Why do you ask?" Yuki wondered.

"I know this is a terrible thing to ask, but I was wondering if you might show me the same hospitality. As you can probably tell, I am far too old to be going to school here. I am actually twenty-six years of age, and I had dropped out of high school when my parents died, so I could get a job and provide a home for myself. My house unfortunately burned down in a terrible fire no more than a week ago, and I cannot afford to stay in a hotel for much longer. Please, I would not be much trouble. If you tell me no, I suppose I can still try and find refuge elsewhere, though."

Yuki starred into those eyes of golden fire; the man was not lying, and Shigure's house was large. Still, it might be a problem if everyone in the school knew that the Sohmas took in anyone in need of a place to stay...

"I will ask my cousin if we can take in another guest." Yuki huffed, not really looking forward to asking Shigure if there was enough space for this monster of a man to stay in.

The man beamed a gleeful smile of joy. "Thank you! Thank you much! This good deed will not go unrewarded, your Highness! I will only treat you with the upmost kindness and respect!" The man who called himself Foxy then left the room, leaving a rather confused and exhausted Yuki behind. I'm already so behind anyway... Might as well just cut class today...


"Another guest, you say? Hmm, my house is getting full! Maybe I should accept Akki's offer to move in!" Shigure mused at the thought of another person - a grown man, no less - inhabiting his lair.

"He seems to just need a place to stay for a while, until he gets back on his feet. He seemed... like an interesting person, Gure-san." Yuki said the last part quietly. He still felt that something, that something irresistibly strange about the man with eyes of golden fire.

"I guess it can't be helped... He may move in as soon as he likes. Sigh... It looks like I'll be spending a lot of time at the Main House, soon..." Shigure got up from his comfortable seat in his old chair, grunting as he did so.

He picked up his house line. "I simply must inform Akki dear of this news!"


No more than a day later, a man with hair the color of blood and eyes that danced and sang with golden fire stood on the front doorstep of a house belonging to a certain Shigure Sohma.

"Well then, you are most certainly NOT what I pictured..." Shigure mumbled to himself upon opening his front sliding door.

The man lit up with glee. "Are you the cousin of Yuki I've heard so much about?! Shigure, isn't it?! It's so great to meet you! I am Ichiru Ayakashi, but please, do call me Foxy!"

Shigure was a little taken aback. This guy is worse than Aaya... "Well hello there, Foxy-san! Yes, I am 'Gure, please make yourself at home here!"

"Well, this is a beautiful home! It almost reminds me of my old place... Ahahaha! I feel at home already!" The sauntered into Shigure's house with brass, stopping and admiring Shigure's not-that-well-furnished living room.

Shigure starred at the strange man, trying his hardest to read him. His was certainly something else. He acted much like Aaya, but his voice was raspy and slimy, the voice of a man who would trick you. When he looked into the man's eyes, he saw fire, and expected to burn, but instead felt an incredible, inhuman cold that no force on Earth could rival.

Reading people was Shigure's best feature, and he could tell that Foxy-kun was going to be tricky.

"Well, Gure-san, where might I be staying in this fine establishment?"

Shigure snapped out of his trance-like thoughts. "O-Oh! Go upstairs, first room on the right is my room. You may use it."

"Thank you much! I will go sort my things!" He ran up the first flight of stairs in no time at all. "Again, thank you!"


Ichiru sat in Shigure's room, holding something delicate in his hands. It was a cup, filled with Sacred Sake. In the sake, was a picture. A picture of a beautiful woman in a royal kimono, with long, long silver hair that reflected off the moonlight. Her skin was creamy and pink, and a starnge smile danced on her thin, pale lips. She had a short pointed nose. When one saw this picture, they'd think this woman to be the absolute picture of beauty, and expect to see beautiful eyes, but, alas, her eyes were covered with silk bandage.

Ichiru held the cup close to his face and murmured, all too quiet for even the dead to hear, "There's blood in the water, now, Kanagurumi-sama. Everything is going to work out. Everyone is going to be punished." And with that, he drank from the cup.