It's been said that my mother died of a broken heart. His own family had killed my father and my mother had to raise me on her own. We struggled throughout my entire childhood. I'm now sixteen and my mother is dead. My father can't help me and I don't even know my own family. I am Ichigo Sohma, I am cursed with the vengeful spirit of the dog, passed on by my father.

Chapter 1: Finding My Way

"Sohma, Ichigo," the teacher called.

"Yes, Sir?" he replied.

"Come with me!"

"What is it? What happened? You seem awfully worried about something."

"You're mother has been found unconscious, she wants to be with you. She hasn't gotten much more time to live."

"I understand."

Ichigo left the school and rushed home right away. Nurses and doctors were running through the house. He made his way to his mother's bedside and sat with her hand in his.

"Ichigo, my time is up," Reiko coughed.

"No, Mother, you'll be all right," he promised, all though he knew what the outcome would be.

"No, Ichigo. I need you to listen to me. When I die you get all that I have and you must take shelter from the rest of your family. Your father had relatives that will help you. I have left you a boat ticket to Japan. You need to find a man named Yuki Sohma," Reiko explained.

"No, Mother, when you die I won't leave here. I want to always be with you!"

"I'm in your heart my son. I will always be there with you no matter where you go. Never forget who you are never forget anything that you have endured and experienced and cherish each moment you spend in your lifetime and grant happiness to the woman you will care more about than anyone else in the world. Just like your father, Shigure Sohma. Don't forget and always remember this, I love you my son, my Ichigo," Reiko spoke her final words and she closed her eyes for the final time.

"Mother! Mother!"

In the obituaries it stated that her death was unknown. She wasn't old and she wasn't sick, she was in good condition. Ichigo believed that his mother had died of a broken heart.

Present Day

"All boarding for Japan!" called the man from the boat.

Ichigo ran on board and presented his ticket to him. Ichigo was then led to a nice room on the boat that he would be staying in. It seemed familiar to him, but he didn't know how. Images of a man in a dress and a boy who dressed like a girl flashed before his mind as he looked down one corridor.

"Weird," he breathed.

"I look just like my father," he said as he looked at himself in a mirror and looked at his mother and father's wedding picture. "Mom did say that I was just like him before she died. She said it all of the time and every time that she looked at me. How am I supposed to find this Yuki person if I don't even know what he looks like?"

Just then a boy around his age walked by his room. He wore traditional Chinese clothes and had bright orange hair.

"Weird color. I wonder what kind of dye he uses, it's so vibrant," he thought and he stepped outside.

The boy turned around and looked at him.

"So you're him?" he said. "There doesn't seem to be anything so great about you. Miss Reiko said you seemed special. You just look like your dad," he continues with a sigh.

"Excuse me? Do I even know you?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, I guess it's only proper if I tell you my name. The name is Kyo, Kyo Sohma. You must be Ichigo. Am I right?"

"Sohma? You're a Sohma too? Uh, can you tell me who this Yuki guy is? My mother wanted me to meet him."

"Yuki? Yeah, I know him. He's my dad."

"Oh. Really? Well, can you take me to him then?"

"Uh, sure."

Ichigo followed Kyo up to another level and opened the door to a larger room. There was a woman sitting at the dresser brushing her beautiful long brown hair. She turned and looked at the two.

"Hey, Mom I found him."

"Good job, Kyo! I'm so proud of you. Bring him to your father now."

"Yes, Mother."

Yuki sat comfortably in a bed and looked up from his book. He smiled at him.

"Hello, you're Ichigo aren't you?" he greeted.

"Yes, Sir. I'm Ichigo Sohma it's nice to meet you," he said with a bow.

"So your mother raised you to be a gentleman, unlike your father."

"Yuki, Shigure wasn't a bad person. He did take me in after all. Hello, I'm Tohru," Tohru said to him.

"Oh! My mom said that besides her you knew about the secret!"

"Yes, and then I learned a lot about the Sohma family and became part of it at first by name when I married Yuki, then by blood when I gave birth to our son, Kyo," she replied happily.

"Mom…" Kyo grunted.

"I still can't believe we named him that…" Yuki sighed.

"Yuki, the night of Kyo's death was the night that he was conceived. It wasn't right for us to be so joyous without paying our respects to Kyo's death."

"Yeah, well, I still can't believe we named him that. How was Uo after that?"

"She began to feel the emotional pain and is still recovering little by little. But, I'm sure that she'll be fine," Tohru replied brightly.

"Going back to Ichigo's previous statement, it had appeared that many people knew of our secret then and still do. But, it doesn't really matter now, does it?" Yuki continued.

"Uh, no, no not at all. I was wondering… Who killed my father?" Ichigo asked.

"A person in our family. Of course, it was to be expected. The way your mother and father escaped to America. It led to a lot of deaths. Many people who helped died to help them. They really wanted to carry out the last wish of their friend Ayame," Tohru replied.

Tohru had seen Yuki's anger and fear. Even though it seemed that he hated his brother, he really did care for him. He knew deep in his soul that his brother was just trying his best to fix their unchained relationship. It was so very hard on Yuki that Kyo had died too. He could never fully hate Kyo the way people thought he did. When Kyo needed help Yuki was there. If he had really hated Kyo then he never would have helped him. He would never have spoken to him. After Kyo's death it had become clear to him that Kyo was a very important person in Yuki's life, what he really felt toward Kyo was envy. Horrible, green envy.

"I hate this family. This family took my father. I can tell from what all of you have said. Mom, Miss Tohru, you Yuki, my father was a great man that I never got to meet. I hate this family with all of my heart and soul," Ichigo said suddenly.

The two adults and their offspring looked at him.

"Don't say that. You don't really know everyone. Not every one is bad. A lot of people loved your father very much," Tohru comforted.

"Then who killed him? Who was it?" Ichigo asked again.

"Akito, Akito killed your father. But, he's long dead. Akito gave the order to have your father killed and my brother, Ayame. Akito was killed by the person he trusted most, that person was a man named Hatori," Yuki replied, cringing every time he had to say the name 'Akito'.

"Hatori? Can I meet him?" Ichigo asked.

Tohru and Yuki looked at each other. Kyo looked puzzled.

"Who's Hatori? And Akito, who's he? Why haven't you told me any of this yet?" Kyo asked stubbornly.

"Don't interrupt, Kyo," Yuki snapped.

"You're hiding something. Both of you and I know it!" Kyo stated again.

"Kyo, shut up!" Yuki shouted.

"No, this boy comes into your life and you tell him things I never even got to know? Who is this kid? Why is he so special? Why do you love him so much? WHY?" Kyo shouted.

"Kyo! Learn your place!" Yuki ordered.

"I know my place! I-" Kyo began.

Kyo's face beat red. He looked at his father. Yuki's face was angry.

"Shut up, Kyo! You have no idea what I had to go through! I have my reasons! You should learn to shut up! You stupid, Cat! Why don't you ever shut up?" Yuki shouted, his voice full of rage, his entire body shaking.

Kyo looked at his father with disgust. He got up off of the floor and walked out of the room/

Back in the room

"Yes, you may meet, Hatori. Soon, as soon as we arrive in Japan," Yuki replied to Ichigo after calming down.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Yuki," Ichigo replied.

This was really more of a catch up chapter. I know it seems a little rush but, I think you'll like this.

W-well, ahem, it's been a while. How have you all been? Enjoy what ever holiday you celebrated? Well, anyways, how do you like my new story? It's pretty good if I do say so myself. It could be better, but I'm satisfied… for now. So now the story unfolds. What happened all of those long 16 years? Find out in the rest of the story… eventually! Questions? Comments? Feel free to ask… as long as you follow my policy, which is, in case you forgot… NO FLAMES! TTFN. Ta Ta For Now!