A/N: Thanks for the reviews, favorites and alerts. This chapter pretty much stayed the same with a few errors and details switched around. Enjoy!

Chapter 1:

The Curse of Sohma Family

"Guys," Kagome spoke up as all three of them rounded a corner. "I have found her." She stepped forward, "She is being harnessed by those harpies again." Uo, Hana and Kagome had been looking for Tohru for the last ten minutes. They all agreed to meet in front of their classroom but when Tohru didn't show up, Kagome knew that something was wrong.

Uo growled furiously, "I hate those girls. Can't they do anything better than tormenting others?"

Hana just shook her head, clearly upset if her face never showed it, "No, they are being mean to Tohru because she walked with Yuki Sohma this morning."

A vein in Kagome's head throbbed, "I really hate that boy." She began to walk over towards Tohru with Hana and Uo following close behind. "Hey!" She screamed at the girls.

"What?" The Prince Yuki Fan Club turned around, but paled at the sight of the witch Tohru Honda's posse of friends. Kagome Higurashi known around the school as a powerful miko, also rumored to have a really bad temper, had her spiritual powers flaring, "Get away from her!"

Following Kagome's lead, Uo grabbed the shoulder of the middle girl. "She said it was an accident now back off before your big noises get bruised."

The girls seemed to get the picture but one girl decided to be brave and point at Uo with a warning. "Hold it Yankee; you are not going to scare us with that street yard talk."

On cue, Hana joined in along with her other friends. "One more word and you will all it with an electric shocks." She said darkly, making the girls ran off down the hallway fleeing for their lives.

Tohru breathed a fresh air of relief. "Thanks, I didn't think they would ever leave." Her friends were always there for her and it made her smile.

"Were they picking on you?" Kagome asked Tohru while pulling her into a hug which made her friend turn bright red from embarrassment. "Hana, don't really shock anyone okay." Kagome asked and Hana turned off her power. "You can get them later." Kagome said making Hana smile widely.

"Come on let's get to class. I can't afford to get another detention." Uo said folding her arms behind her head.

"Uo, that would be your own fault." Kagome clarified as they all walked to cooking class.

"The truth is I was so nervous walking to school with the prince today… I couldn't talk to him… no, I couldn't even look at him." Tohru said as they started cooking class together.

Kagome just started making her rice balls for the four of them. "I wouldn't worry about it." She started the rice cooker. "Princely probably didn't even notice…." Kagome spoke with a bitter tone.

"You don't like him Miko?" Tohru wondered.

Kagome gazed over to her friends, "It is just the way he acts around others." She clarified, "He pretends to nice to everyone but I know it is only an act. He is hiding his true feelings and I don't like people who do that." She tried to explain her reasoning, "I mean, if he could just show people who he really is then maybe I would be able to stand him half of the time."

"I sense strange electric signals coming from the boy." Hana joined in on the conversation, slicing a piece of fish down the middle of the stomach.

Kagome's rice cooker dinged as she began to take the cooked rice balls out. "I agree. There is something dark about his aura. Every time I get close to him it is as if there is a demon inside of him. It is strange."

"Strange, how?" Tohru pressed as Kagome handed her a finished rice ball.

Hana shrugged her shoulders, "He is just different."

Kagome handed out the rest of the rice balls to her friends, "It is a new thing I am trying. Hana's mother showed me how." Tohru smiled at Kagome, her friend was a good cook, much better then herself.

Hana smiled brightly as Kagome put another rice ball in.

"Hey, not to change the subject but I remembered a story about the prince." Uo said, running her fingers through her hair. "The guy's a walking enigma. Never talks about himself." The former Yankee leaned back in her chair and added, "Not that I care." She sat back up straight again and continued. "I hear a second year girl confessed her love for him once…and when she tried to hug him, he flung her away. Totally freaked her out."

"I—I didn't know that. I wonder why?" Tohru said, surprised.

"Exactly," Hana said simply, picking up a small wooden spoon. "It's the mystery that makes him so intriguing." Just then, they heard footsteps approaching the table.

"You there!" a cafeteria staff called, "Move your hands, not your mouths!" When she got a closer look at their table, she was shocked. "Oh—oh my…" The four girls each had a plate of fish, there was rice cooking off to the side, sauce, and even a few side dishes lay out in front of them.

Uo broke the silence. "Hey, lobster face. Can we go on now or would you like us to help extract your foot from your mouth?"

"Who do you think you're fooling? Honda and Higurashi made these for you!" the woman yelled pointing at Uo's plate.

"What do you care?" Uo replied instantly. Tohru was going into another panic attack from all the yelling between the teacher and Uo..

"Uo, sit down before you get a detention again." Kagome said as she worked on her meal.

Hana walked over to the rice cooker. "Oh my, the rice is done, too." The staff woman walked away quickly, not caring anymore. The table got silent, as students complained about their food being edible or not.

"Oh hey," Uo started up a conversation, "I'm going shopping with Hanajima on my way home today me. Why don't you both come with?" She hesitated. "Oh wait, you're both working aren't you?" she asked, leaning over to the girls.

Tohru looked up. "Yes, I don't want to be late," she said, smoothing her flower-print apron.

Kagome nodded, "I had an option to work another shift but I rather walk Tohru home." Tohru laughed a little. She couldn't tell Kagome that she walked to her grandfather's house, waited for her to leave and walk back to the tent. She would be furious.

Uo clicked her tongue. "That sucks, you both having to pay all your school expenses yourselves."

"But you both shouldn't have to work every day just to pay your tuition," Hana said, serving their rice. "This is public school."

"I help my mom pay for my tuition and just transportation back and forth. No big deal."

Tohru brought her hands to her chest in fists and smiled. "After I graduate, I want to be able to pay my own way. That's why I have to start saving up now!" she said, trying to cover up her current situation with a half-truth.

Uo's eyes got watery. "God dammit, Tohru," she started crying, but kept her voice even. "You're making me cry! So selfless." She sniffed, trying to relax. "Eat up. You need your strength!"

"Yes ma'am," Tohru muttered.

Hana looked down at the table. "Our little Tohru made this," Hana said proudly.

Kagome smiled at Hana, "She will be a good house wife when she gets older."

Uo got herself together. "You're still living with your dad's family, right?" she asked Tohru.

Tohru blushed furiously at herself for not telling them. She stiffened. "Yes!" she said a little too quickly.

"Are they feeding you properly? They're not cheating you out of the money you're earning are they?" Uo was seriously concerned now, while Hana was mumbling about how perfect the rice was.

"Not a grain out of place…"

Tohru was still…panicking. I cannot tell them the truth! Tohru thought, if she knew I was living in a tent, Uo-Chan would be outraged. She burst into grandpa's house on her motorcycle! Kagome would have the angriest fit I ever seen her have and she might purify everyone in a mile radius. She shuddered at the thought of it. How would she explain that?

After they finished their lunch, Arisa Uotani, Saki Hanajima, Kagome Higurashi and Tohru Honda went to their next classes. The rest of the day flew past just normal.

Kagome was currently waiting for Tohru outside of the school, "I hope she hurries up. We have to go to work." Kagome complained as she rounded a corner and collided with something hard. It made her fall back and land on her butt. "Hey! Watch it!" She opened her eyes to see a very stunned Yuki Sohma staring at her as if she were an alien. "Princely, watch where you're going!" She dusted herself off.

"I am sorry Higurashi." He said offering his hand, after he recovered from shock. Kagome took his hand regrettably and stood up.

"Just watch it next time Princely." She stormed off into the opposite direction.

Yuki watched her leave and touched his chest. Why hadn't he transformed?

Kagome was surprised to see Tohru in a muddy outfit the next morning. After some argument, Tohru finally agreed to let her uniform be washed. Tohru just got her clothes back from the school office. She was currently in some sweats, though. "Thank goodness I was able to borrow the school washing machine," she said, smiling.

She and Uotani were walking to Hana on the other side of the hallway. "You looked terrible," Uo said.

"Where did you fall, anyway? In a pig pen?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, no…" Tohru told her nervously, scratching her head.

Minami walked up to her. "Pity you washed your uniform," she said. "The mud looked so good on you," she added sarcastically. Tohru brushed her hair out of her face with her hand, and looked at her blankly. Hana started to chase her down the hallway, her head makings buzzing noises. Even lightning was coming out of her head, almost literally.

Kagome stared at them, "I will get her later." She would let Hana have her fun for now but after school, the girl was dead.

Uotani ran her fingers through her hair, and watched Hana start to turn to come back down the hallway. "The Prince is late today, too. No wonder they're more suspicious today than usual," she reasoned. "What a lame put down," she mumbled.

I can't tell her I'm staying at the Prince's house. "I—I'm going to go change in the locker room," she said quickly. Then she turned towards the other end of the hallway. "Thank you, Hana."

"You want me to go with you?" Hana offered.

Tohru laughed nervously. "That's okay," Tohru politely declined. She went into the girls' locker room, and the girl's walked back to class but Kagome stayed behind on the other side of the hall. As she heard Tohru coming out of the locker room, she saw Yuki Sohma talking to Tohru so she hid behind the soda machine and listened in to their conversation. "Honda-San," she heard a calm voice say from behind her. She turned. Yuki was leaning against the wall with his hands behind his back. His expression was sorry. "You didn't tell them, did you? Your friends." He looked down. "About us?"

It is about his aura?

"Tell them…?" Tohru thought about it. "No! I did not—"Her eyes were wide and she went into a panic. "Am I making you nervous? I am a liability, aren't I? I…would never tell anyone! My mom always told me that gossiping is wrong!"

Yuki smiled a little bit. "No, it's not that."

"I promise!" Tohru rolled up her sleeve and held her arm up, bent in an 'L' shape. "I'll sign my name in blood or burn myself with a cigarette or anything you want! I'm pretty sure my mom did stuff like that!" she said quickly.

Tohru you really are ditz sometimes.

Yuki held up a hand. "No, I told you that's not it." What kind of person was her mother…? He wondered.

"I'll—" Tohru tried to offer something else, but Yuki started to walk towards her quickly, and she went up against the other wall. Yuki's hands were on the wall, his arms blocking either side of her, so she could not escape him. Tohru widened her eyes and shrank a little bit; she was clutching the clothes she was carrying to her chest.

Kagome saw the way she saw Yuki holding Tohru like that and she was about to go but then she heard the next line. "You're going to all this trouble to keep our secret," Yuki started to explain.

Secret? What?

"But it may not be enough. I'm sorry…" He paused and closed his eyes. "…but your memories might have to be erased." Tohru's eyes grew wide and she loosened her hold on the clothes. 'Curse' Kagome thought, what kind of curse?

"I say 'erased', but it's more like hypnosis." His eyebrows pulled together and he opened his eyes. "A long time ago, our secret got out, like it did today. I was in second grade." Yuki had been home-schooled until this year. "We were playing in the garden at the main house. A girl got carried away and tried hugged me. I caused such a commotion that eventually they had to suppress the memories of everyone who was there," he explained.

He could remember the day so clearly. Akito…? Akito. Yuki asked that day. Am I so strange that we have to erase people's memories to hide it? he'd asked him with a small voice.

Akito told him, yes, you're strange. Is it not strange for a boy to turn into a rat? Akito asked as a rhetorical question. If normal people knew your secret it would sicken them. They'd stay away from you. You would be forced to live alone. Akito told him coldly.

"Sohma-Kun?" Tohru asked for the third time. He had been silent for a while. Yuki stood straight and let his arms fall. He looked away from her.

"I cannot defy Akito's wishes. What he decides is what must be done," Yuki told her. "So…I'm sorry." He looked at the floor. "You never asked to get involved with the Sohma family's problems. I'm sorry," he apologized again. It was silent for a moment. "That's all," he said, turning to walk away.

"Uh, um—wai—" Tohru took a step. She held his arms from behind making sure he would not leave, but she was leaning forward just a little too far. Yuki's eyes widened when he noticed her. He transformed. Tohru fell to the floor, losing the support, and Yuki, rat form, fell to the ground. Yuki stood up in his pile of clothes. Kagome nearly paled at the sight of this, now she knew that she had to find something about this and then comfort Tohru about it or even Yuki.

Tohru turned and kneeled by the wall and banged her fists on it. "I'm so sorry! I did not do that on purpose. Oh, I'm such an idiot!" She squeezed her eyes shut and mentally kicked herself, her head down towards the floor.

Yuki sighed and looked down. "Don't sweat it. It's fine. As long as no one saw…"

Tohru sat up and turned on her knees to face him. "Um…Thank you for worrying about me." She was avoiding discussion of the current situation; afraid it would make Yuki uncomfortable. Yuki looked up at her. "It makes me really happy…I, uh—" She paused. "It's okay. I'm fine," she said with a smile. She leaned down a little. Yuki was so small right now compared to her. "I found out such a big secret, that you have to talk to the head of your family about it. You can't help it." She continued to smile. "Please, do whatever will make your family feel most comfortable," she requested. Her face grew pained. I'll be sad to forget though. They took me into their house unconditionally when they found out I was living in a tent. I was so very happy. However,…I'll bear with it. She looked down and smiled weakly to herself. Then she looked up, still smiling. "There is one thing—please…If my memories are erased…will you still be my friend?" she asked hopefully, trying to find a bright side. She truly wanted it. "Ack!"

Yuki turned back into human form just then. Tohru threw her head back, ran to the wall, and stared at it, trying to recover.

"It seems it didn't take long to change back this time," Yuki said after he finished changing back into his clothes, laughing once, nervously.

"Sohma-Kun, your tie is crooked," Tohru, told him after she turned back around.

"Eh? Oh…I'm terrible at this kind of thing." Yuki brought his hands up to fix it, but Tohru walked over and did it for him. 'If normal people knew your secret it would sicken them. They'd stay away…' the thought kept running through his head. Yuki just had to ask. Tohru had just finished fixing his small white tie. "Honda-San…you're not…sickened by me?" he asked cautiously.

Tohru, misunderstanding the question, said cheerfully, "Nope! I feel fine!"

Huh…? Yuki thought. She thought he asked if she was feeling sick. "…Hey. Do you want to…walk home together?" he asked her.

"Okay!" she agreed in the same cheerful tone. They'd already missed half of the last class. "Let's go home!"

'Please…will you still be my friend?' Tohru had asked before. Yuki never got a chance to answer, although he knew it. "Thank you," he told her when they were about halfway home.

"Anytime!" She held a fist in the air. "I'm good at tying neckties." He knew that's not exactly what he'd meant, but he still smiled.

So as they walked down the hallway Kagome came from behind the soda machine, 'I have to find out more about this and now!' That night Kagome rode the bus to the shrine, borrowed some of her grandfather's old scrolls, and took them home with her to study for the weekend. "Kagome what are you doing?" Hana asked her friend who sat in the middle of the living room looking at a bunch of scrolls. Kagome looked up at her, "Oh just doing some extra research."

Curse of the Zodiac, In the area of feudal is a powerful family, where thirteen members of their family about be possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac. They are doomed to turn into their animal forms when they are weak or when they are embraced by anyone of the opposite sex who are not possessed by a zodiacal spirit. The cure is unknown…

Kagome gasped as she looked up from the scroll. It was strange because so far only Yuki smelled of a demon or spirit. She could see it in his aura, the rat of the Zodiac. Was this the same family that the scroll spoke of?

The next day at school, Kagome was surprised to learn of a new student joining their little group, another Sohma apparently Yuki's cousin. So as soon as she entered the room, something dark hit her senses to where it made her stumble to the floor, giving her a headache. Tohru heard a crash and saw her friend Kagome sitting on the floor rubbing her head. "Kagome!" She cried out in worry and rushed over to her friend kneeling down next to her.

"Are you okay?" The priestess rubbed her eyes and looked at Tohru,

"Yeah I am, it is just I wasn't excepting a huge aura to be here and it knocked my senses out of whack." She said looking towards the boy. "He smells like a cat demon." Tohru nearly blanched at her friend's statement. Kagome was a very powerful person, so Tohru wasn't surprised about the aura but she didn't know about the curse the better.

On the other side of the room, Kyo was surrounded. "Where? Where is he?" A girl in the class asked.

"Look, over there! The guy with the orange hair," Minami Kinoshita said.

"Huh?" the first asked. "They don't look alike at all!" she laughed.

"He's cute!"

"Is that his natural color?" Minami asked.

"Hey, are you really Sohma's cousin?"

"Do you guys get along?"

Tohru was still near the doorway, standing with Uo, Kagome and Hana. Hana was curling Tohru's hair for her. Hana released the top of the iron's handle and Tohru felt a lock of her hair fall. Hana took another few strands. Kagome was watching Kyo, almost intently. Kyo sat stiffly in his seat, with an annoyed look on his face that made Tohru worry. Inside, his mind was spinning. He was being completely silent. He thought if he did not give in, they'd leave. He's getting scared…Kagome thought to herself.

Kyo felt someone staring at him. He turned his head to see that one girl Tohru from his house. Sitting with her was three other people, but one was really unnerving. Her long black hair reached her back and she had blue eyes - they just stared at him as if she knew what he was.

Yuki was sitting down at a table, talking to a friend of his. "Yuki-Kun!" a student said happily, walking up behind his chair. Yuki sat straight, and looked over his shoulder a little bit, showing that she had his attention. "Is it true your cousin just transferred here?" she asked. "Introduce us!"

He smiled at her and said, "I'm sorry, Senpai. He is my cousin, but we're not close." Then he added, "I don't even speak to him."

"His hair certainly is interesting," she commented.

Tohru was staring at Yuki. That smile…

"It's a little like Kyoko-San's hair color," Kagome said, coming back from the other side of the room where Kyo was.

Tohru smiled. "Now that you mention it, it is!"

"They're the same," Hana said. She finished a curl in Tohru's hair and spoke again. "The same, the very same…" She looked like she was in deep thought and concentration. Tohru and Uo could both tell she was not talking about his hair color. "I feel the same waves from him as I do from Yuki Sohma. These waves I sense from them…what they mean?" she asked herself. "So different from the others…almost inhuman…" she trailed off, as always, no emotions showed.

"I got that vibe too, actually earlier I was knocked down from the new kid's aura." Kagome said and her friends stared at her. "There is something not human about them at all."

"Hey that's rude," Uo commented. Tohru was on the edge of a panic attack. She could not let them find out. Hana and Kagome are very powerful to sense things that no one else can. Tohru never really ever understood her wave reports, though but Kagome's sensing their aura that was scary.

Kyo jumped up from his seat and headed for the door. He'd had enough of this madness. A girl went after him and called, "Sohma-Kun!" She walked up behind him and grabbed his arm. "Hey, where are you going? Let's talk!"

Kyo noticed that she was dangerously close. Kyo couldn't let her get that close. He grabbed her wrist and slammed her onto the floor, pinning her down by her shoulder. "Kuaaah!" she screamed. "OW! That hurts!"

"Kyo!" Tohru shouted, going into a panic for the girl.

"Sohma-Kun, what's wrong?" somebody asked. "Just…chill okay?"

"Let go!" the girl he was pinning to the floor screamed at the top of her lungs.

Kyo jumped up and ran back to the other side of the room. "Leave me alone!" he shouted. Kyo then jumped out of the window.

"EEEK! Stop! This is the second floor!" Minami shouted as he was falling.

He landed on his feet and started running. "Amazing! Did you see that? Just like Sohma's cousin to be special!"

"Special? He's a freak! This is the second floor!"

"Oooooh! How dare he pick on a girl?"

Yuki said nothing. He hated being involved in anything that was involved with Kyo. Even that they just mentioned his name once.

"Kyo-San…" Tohru muttered quietly, not following what just happened. She did not know that he landed and ran.

"Interesting guy!" Uo cracked up. "Ha! It's not every day you see a guy jump out of a second story window!"

Kagome just walked away from the group following the boy to the side of the school where he was sitting gasping for air. "You know," Kyo nearly jumped in the air at the sound of another voice, when he thought he was alone. "Normal humans wouldn't be able to do that," She turned to him "but you and your family are something special aren't you?"

From the other side of the courtyard Yuki was standing behind a door listening to that Higurashi girl talk to his stupid cousin, she knew about the curse.

"How the hell you know?" Kyo yelled at the girl, standing up.

She smirked and turned away from him, "I would be more careful about displaying your unnatural skills someone might notice something weird and besides Princely," Kagome turned to were Yuki was hiding, "I would be more careful on where you hold certain conversations, the wrong person might hear them."

She smiled and walked away but then but Yuki stepped in front of her first. "How do you know about us?"

Kagome looked at him, "You forget I am a priestess, I can see people's auras and you two have a rat and cat mixed in with them, am I right?" she paused again, "I know about that curse on your family..." Just as she was about to walk past him Kyo ran to her and grabbed her arm but then he tripped on something and both of them sent to the ground.

There was no time to react. No time to stop what was about to happen.

The pain was bad, his ribs aching from the collision, which did not really surprise him. However, what did surprise Kyo was the fact that he had not transformed. The two hit the ground, the girl lying underneath him. Even as he fought to get his breath back, Kyo still did not transform into the Cat of the Chinese Zodiac. He remained a man, not orange cat, but a man.

What the Hell?

"Yikes, today would have been a good day to stay in bed!" she whined and looked up at him, for a second and realized what position she was in. "Get the hell off me!" She pushed him off, stood up picking up her bag and walked away cursing underneath her breath. Just then Yuki just stared at her back and his cousin, why didn't Kyo transform? What was going on?

Kagome walked through the hallways, and saw Hana and Uo down the hallway. "Hey have you guys seen Tohru?" Kagome asked.

"No," Uo said, "We're actually looking for her now." They searched everywhere, the classrooms, cafeteria but that was until they came down another hall. "I'm picking up Tohru's waves," Hana told her friends, pointing to Tohru.

"Ah, there she is," said Uo. "What are you doing there? Class is about to—"

Tohru went up, hitting her head on the metal box. She did it purposely to make them think that it was why she was crying. "Ow! It hurt so much I started crying. No, really, just now…the corner…ouch!" she lied. She put her hand on the top of her head for effect, even though it did hurt.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you ran into it on purpose," Kagome said.

"Now, now, don't spoil her cover-up," said Hana. None of them were buying it.

"Tohru come on, let's go." Kagome said to her friend but then she saw Yuki Sohma looking at her, she just rolled her eyes and turned back around smiling at her friends.

The next morning at breakfast in the Sohma house, Shigure was the one who started up the conversation. "So, Kyo-Kun…" he started with a strangely perverted look. "I hear you walked our little Tohru home. How was your date?" Kyo grumbled and glared at him, but Tohru and Yuki just froze. Yuki glared as Kyo did, but annoyed. "Kyo-Kun and Tohru, sitting in a tree, K...I...S…—"

"Stop that! It wasn't like that!" Kyo yelled across the table, cheeks blazing. "Yesterday was a fluke. It won't happen again! Ever!"

"Okay!" Tohru said, laughing. "I'm just happy you're eating my food. Do you like it?" she asked cheerfully.

"Huh? Uh…" He looked down. He looked back up after a moment. "It's—" he almost started, but he saw Yuki, staring…at…him…"What?"

"Nothing."

"Will you quit staring at me?"

"I was just looking."

"Well, cut it out!" Kyo shouted loudly again.

"Do you like it?" Tohru tried again.

Kyo misunderstood the question, because now he was on the subject of the staring. "It sucks!" he shouted, looking straight at her. Everybody stopped. Even Yuki, who was in mid-sip of his drink?

"I—it's okay. I timed that poorly," Kyo stuttered.

He…makes me sick, Yuki thought. "Miss Honda, why don't you go check your bag just in case you didn't forget anything."

Tohru looked at him, "Your right, I will be right back." As she, left Yuki turned to Shigure.

"Shigure, something has happened." Yuki said.

"What is it?" his cousin asked.

"Someone knows about the curse." Kyo said.

"He didn't transform when he fell on her like the clumsy cat he is!"

"SHUT UP!" Kyo yelled.

"So you are saying, someone didn't cause his transformation? How did she find out?"

Yuki looked at his cousin, "I am not sure but she is a friend of Miss Honda, a Kagome Higurashi."

"The rumor around school is that she is a priestess." Kyo said and Shigure looked at them both, a priestess? How strange.