Chapter one
My name is Jacey Sohma.
I am 17 years old and a junior at Eagle View High.
I am a guard on varsity basketball.
I don't have a boyfriend.
After school I hang out with my friends at the local arcade.
I get A's and B's in my classes.
Basically, I'm a normal 17 year old teen.
The only problem is that I love raw steak.
It's never been weird to me. Most normal dogs love raw steak. But that's the biggest problem. I'm a dog.
The Sohma family is under an ancient curse that makes us turn into one of the animals from the Chinese zodiac when we are under a lot of stress or hugged by someone of the opposite gender. That's part of the reason why I don't have a boyfriend. There's only supposed to be twelve of us in the family with the curse, but this generation was lucky and got two dogs.
Most of the family lives in Japan. I live in America. Lucky me. I live with my friend's Sylvester, Bugs, and Tweety. Their parents had a sick sense of humor and a sad love for Looney Toones. They were abandoned when they were really little and Bugs, who is the oldest of the three, had to take care of them.
We actually lived really well together. The genders balanced out well. Two boys and two girls, even though Tweety isn't a girl name, that's okay. We really are like a family. Bugs takes care of all of us, cause' he's about 21. Syle (that's our nickname for him) is 18. And Tweety and I are 17. I trust them like I have trusted no one else. I trusted them so much that I had told them. Actually, I didn't really tell them. I got so beat up once after a fight that Bugs had to carry me home. But what happens when he tries to pick me up around the waist. Instead of holding a human, he's holidin' a Dalmatian in his arms. Thankfully, Akito didn't have their memories erased. I turned into a dog quite often now. Just by accident. That's what I get from living in a house with a whole bunch of people who aren't under the curse.
I had considered moving to Japan. Many times. Moving in with Shigure, which it seemed like everyone was. My two favorite cousins, Kyo and Yuki, lived there. But in the end, I had always decided it was better to stay in America.
Chapter 2
Kyo and Yuki hardly ever came to America. In fact, they had only each been once. Separately, of course. I hadn't seen either of them in 5 years.
Tweety and I were making dinner when I got the call.
"Syle! Get the flippin' phone!" I screamed at Sylvester.
"Make Bugs get it!" He yelled back. Bugs was fast asleep on the couch.
"It's okay, Jacey. You go ahead and get it. I'll take over for you." Tweety smiled gently. I smiled back and ran to get the phone.
"This is the Sohma/Looney residence." I immediately said into the phone.
"Umm is Jacey there." The voice on the other end of the line sounded fed up and angry. I knew that voice well.
"Kyo?" I asked suspiciously.
"So ya do remember me." Still sounded fed up.
"Of course I remember you! How can I forget my favorite cousin?" I exclaimed.
Kyo laughed.
"So was'up?" I asked.
"We're comin'."
"Huh?"
"We're comin' to visit." He actually had a hint of excitement in his voice.
"Seriously!" I exclaimed. I jumped out of the chair I was sitting in and it clattered to the floor and woke Bugs up.
"Yeah." Kyo laughed again. When he genuinely laughed, he had the sweetest laugh in the world.
"When?" I asked.
"Well we're getting on the plane tomorrow."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"What time will your plane get in."
"Around 3 PM."
"We'll come pick you up. Who all's coming?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Me, the damn rat, Shigure, Kisa, Mimoji and…"
He paused again.
"Yes?"
"Nothin', just expect one more person."
"'Okay, whatever. See you tomorrow at 3."
" Yeah, see ya." He hung up.
His words hung in the air.
"Just expect one more person."
What did he mean by that?
"What was that all about?" Syle asked. His black bangs hung in his eyes, but from what I could see of them questioned me.
"Kyo and Yuki are coming tomorrow!" I completely forgot about what Kyo had said. I was sure that whoever it was was sure to be okay if Kyo got along with them.
Chapter 3
At 2:30 the next afternoon, Syle and I jumped in our cheap mini van.
As Syle stuck the keys in the ignition, I studied him like I had so many times before.
He had black hair that hung about half way down his ears and shaggy bangs that hung in his eyes. His eyes were a deep blue but were incredibly clear. His body was slender and fit. But he had a very kind, relaxed face that showed almost no emotion. And he never smiled. At least not a real smile. He always gave a fake smile at school or a fake laugh at a joke. I hadn't seen Sylvester smile since the night he was abandoned by his parents. He looked almost exactly like his brother, except Bugs had blonde hair and his face had gotten sillier and more laid back as time went on. Tweety was completely different from both of them, with hazel eyes and bright red hair. And she acted so much like the character she was named after, it was scary.
Syle started the car and I turned to face the front. He gently pulled out of the parking garage to our apartment complex.
We drove for about five minutes before either of us said anything.
"So, you miss them?" Syle asked unexpectedly.
" Yeah, of course. They're the only family I got." I smiled at him. My parents had been killed when I was 5.
" What are they like?" Syle had never met them. When Kyo and Yuki had come, they had left unexpectedly and I had never gotten to introduce them.
"Well," I had to think for a second. "Yuki is really shy and all he want's is to fit in. Kyo has a quick temper and is easily embarrassed, but a lot of fun. Shigure's hilarious, but he is kind of a perve. Kisa is adorable, but she is even shyer than Yuki. And Mimoji, well, Mimoji gets really hyper."
"Are they under the same curse as you?"
I was surprised that he had asked that. Syle hardly ever brought up the curse. It just wasn't up his alley.
"Yeah. Yuki is the rat, Shigure is another dog, Kisa is the tiger, Mimoji is the rabbit, and Kyo is the cat."
"Cat? There's no cat in the zodiac." He took his eyes off the road and looked at me quizzically.
" It's a long story." I sighed. "I'll let Kyo tell you it."
And with that we pulled into the airport pickup lane.
Chapter 4
Everyone was waiting on the sidewalk with their luggage when we drove up in the pickup lane. Mimoji was waving up and down and waving to us. Shigure was checking out a girl that was packing her luggage into her boyfriends car. Kisa was talking to a girl that looked about my age, with long brown hair and huge brown eyes. Yuki and Kyo, of course, were standing behind all of them, fighting.
I had barely climbed out of the car when Mimoji pounced on me, throwing his arms around my neck. I caught him just before he would have fallen, pulling me down with me.
"Jacey!" He exclaimed.
"Mimo!" I smiled at him and set him down.
I gently placed my hand on his head.
"Dang, you've grown since the last time I saw you." I complimented him.
" Yep! I'm a first year now!" He proudly held up 1 finger.
I smiled and walked over to Shigure.
"Hey Shi."
" Ah Jacey! How have you been?" he asked.
"I've been great! How about you?" I asked and offered my hand for a handshake.
"Ohh, don't I get a hug?" Shigure stuck out his arms and made a pouty face.
" uh, no." I shot him a dirty look and walked over to Kisa.
I crouched down so that I was at her height.
"Cousy!" Kisa let go of the girls hand and threw her arms around my neck.
"Hey, Kisa." A little light clicked on in my head. "Wait, Kisa. You talked!"
"Yep." She released me and pointed to the girl. "Sissy taught me."
I stood up and looked at her.
"Hello. And who are you?" I asked.
" Oh, me? I'm Tohru. I live with your cousins and I clean their house, but don't worry, I haven't been mean or rude or anything and they've been very kind to me and…" She sounded very flustered and nervous.
"Woah, it's okay." I held up a hand for her to stop. " I'm Jacey. Any friend of my cousins is a friend of mine." I smiled, trying to reassure her that it was okay.
"Oh! Okay!" Than she darted over to the car where Syle was helping Mimo, Shigure and Kisa pack their luggage.
" You damn rat! That's the last straw. I cannot spend another minute with you." Kyo screamed suddenly.
"You stupid cat. I can't even look at you." Yuki replied.
"Hey you two." I stood inbetween them and held out my arms. " Stop or I might just have to pummel both of you."
They both smiled. "Jacey!"
I turned to Kyo first.
"And how is my favorite cousin doing?" I asked.
"Pretty good if you ask me."
I walked close to him and gave him a big hug.
"You been doin' okay J?"