How Can This Be?

Chapter 3

The Unexpected Visit

ChipsAhoyPup

A/N I AM NOW ADDING MY FRIEND'S CHARRIE! Rainbow, Kea shall now be included in the world of my FANFIC! This'll be FUNNNN!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. JUST MY LIIIIIFEEE! Oh, and I don't own Kea, either. She's Rainbow's! :D

"Class, we have a new student today," Announced the teacher. I hate being the new kid, Thought Mel as she stood there, feeling terribly embarassed. Everyone was staring at her. Staring. "Say hello to Mel Sohma." Yeah, the Sohmas had known that her last name would sound weird here. So they said she could pretend to be their cousin. Hey, she did turn into an animal, you know.

"Hello," Whispered Mel as she took her new seat. Everyone's stares burned into her back. Just look away, I'm not THAT interesting! Mel started rapping her fingers against the table as the teacher got into the subject of the day, and droned on, and on, and on.

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Brrrriiiiiinnnggg! School was finally over! Why was Japanese school so much longer than freakin' American school? And why was Mel cursing in her mind. She ground her teeth. She usually didn't seeth this much, and when she got angry at people, she would never outright yell at them. Instead, she'd quietly hiss the retort that was on the tip of her tounge too quietly for anyone to hear.

"Ya okay, Mel?" Kyo asked, staring at Mel.

"Get off my back, I'm fine," Mel muttered, saying the "I'm fine" loud enough for him to hear.

"You're acting like you're mad," Kyo continued.

"WHY DO YOU KEEP TALKING?! I SAID I'M FINE!" Mel finally snapped.

"HEY, I'M TRYING TO BE CONSIDERATE! IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT YOU WON'T TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG!" Kyo retorted loudly.

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU, I'M FINE! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Mel screeched.

"NO YOU AREN'T! YOU'RE--" Kyo was cut off by an indigant voice behind us.

"Why are you guys yelling? Geesh, don't you realize others are nearby?" Kyo, Yuki, and Mel all whipped around to see a new face. Mel's shy shell once again totally wrapped around her.

"H-h-hello. W-who a-are y-y-y-you?" She stuttered. "I-I'm--"

"Yeah, yeah, you're the new girl, Mel. Don't act all innocent. I just saw you yelling at him," The girl growled, pointing at Kyo.

"U-u-uh," Muttered Mel, looking away, blushing in embarassment. God, why can't I ever hide in my anger?

"HEY, SHE'S REGULARLY SHY! I MADE HER ANGRY IS ALL!" Shouted Kyo, death-glaring at the girl.

"Whatev. I'm Kea." Kea held out a hand for Mel to shake, purposly ignoring the boys.

"H-h-hello," Said Mel, also putting out a hand and shaking hands.

"So, this orange-head is bothering you, then? Made you angry?" Kea slid over so she was next to Mel only, away from the two boys.

"N-n-no, I... I kinda snapped is all," Mel whimpered, bowing her head in embarassment.

"Miss Kea, would you like to come and visit our house?" Yuki piped up. Mel looked at him curiously. He must've realized that this was the first person Mel had talked to all day, other than Yuki and Kyo.

"Of course. How can I pass down an offer like that?" Kea simply replied.

"By the way, where do you live?" Mel was cautiously retreating out of her shy shell, having a feeling that Kea was trying to be nice now.

"Right there," Kea said, pointing at a house they just passed. "I'd been about to go home, but now that you offered..."

"The house looks empty," Kyo snorted.

"My... my mom's at work," Kea growled, sounding a bit hesitant.

"Oh, cool, where's she work?" Mel was totally out of her shy shell. She grinned in a friendly manner at Kea.

"None of your business," Grumbled Kea, avoiding Mel's eyes. Oh-kay. Odd. Must be some kinda secret incorporation. Unless it's an illegal job or something.

"Sorry," Mel simply said, and they arrived at Shigure's house. When they came in, they saw Shigure at the table thing.

"Oh, another high school girl?" Shigure asked. Mel wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, but she thought she saw his eyes dance in excitement. She shrunk back a bit, blushing in embarassment.

"Yeah, a high school girl. What's it to you?" Scoffed Kea, dropping her backpack on the ground and taking her shoes off. Mel also took her shoes off, nearly forgetting. It had been her first time to come back to the house.

"I'm going on the roof," Growled Kyo, stalking off.

"Big surprise," Answered Yuki, also walking off. Wonder where he goes after school, Mel thought to herself. (A/N Probably his secret base.)

"Let's go to your room," Suggested Kea, sounding a whole lot nicer now that Kyo and Yuki were gone.

"Okay," Mel said, leading the way.

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Mel had invited Kea to stay the night, with Shigure's permission, of course. He'd agreed, "as long as Kea didn't hug them." That's what he'd told Mel in private, and Mel had told him she would make sure to keep Kea away.

Now, Mel and Kea were having a pillow fight. It was such fun! Mel wacked Kea with the pillow repetitivly, laughing as Kea fell over. "That's it!" Kea shouted playfully, and leapt on top of Mel. Mel was about to laugh when Poof!

Kea was laughing so hard she didn't notice that she was no longer sitting on top of a human. When Kea stopped laughing, she looked down and saw a wolf-panther in her grip. She screeched and fell backwards in fright.

"How did I turn into an animal? A girl hugged me," Mel whimpered to herself. Kea's mouth was gaping. Suddenly, she scooped Mel up. "Hey, let me go!" Mel started to swat Kea with her front-paws, but it didn't work. Kea charged down the steps and went straight up to the boys, who were eating right now. Mel and Kea had finished eating early before they'd went up to pillow fight.

"SHE'S A DOG!" Snapped Kea, pushing Mel into Shigure's face. Mel's eyes widened as she saw how close she was to Shigure. If she was a human, her blush would've been as deep as possible.

"WHAT?!" Shouted Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure in unison.

"YEAH, WHAT? I HAD A FEELING YOU PEOPLE WERE WEIRDOS!" Kea yelled.

"Wait a minute," Said Yuki, brow furrowed. "You're a girl," He said, pointing to Mel. Mel nodded. "And you're a girl," Yuki added, pointing to Kea. Kea gave him a look that said, "Duh." "So, if you're both girls... then... how'd you transform?" He turned to Mel.

"I don't know! She fell on me! And then I transformed!" Mel cried out.

"Interesting," Shigure murmered, resting his index finger and thumb against his chin.

"Why would you let her fall on you, stupid?" Growled Kyo, looking annoyed.

"EXCUSE ME, I'M STLL HERE!" Shouted Kea.

"EXCUSE ME, I CAN SEE YOU!" Replied Kyo, standing up and shaking a fist in the air angrily.

"HEY!" Snapped Kea, and Mel was whimpering as Kea unconciously swayed her in the air. "WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO, HIT ME? YOU CAN'T HIT A GIRL!"

"Ow," Mel added, hoping Kea would realize that she was still holding her.

"AND YOU! WHY ARE YOU A FREAKIN' DOG?!" Snapped Kea, pointing a finger at Mel.

"I'm not a dog, I'm a wolf-panther," Mel scoffed, her tail twitching daintily.

"IF YOU'RE A WOLF-PANTHER, WHY ARE YOU SO SMALL?" Kea added.

"One, please stop shouting, my ears are extra sensitive. Two, I'm probably a wolf-panther cub, and three, I DON'T FLIPPING KNOW!" Mel shouted the last part, her ears behind her head.

"Fine, I'll stop shouting if you will," Kea said. Then she hugged Mel, placing her chin on Mel's head. Mel felt a sweat-drop slide down her head.

"Uhhh, why are you hugging me?" Mel's voice was shaky.

"Because you're so cuuute! Even if you are weird!" Kea replied, stroking Mel's head.

"I won't change back until midnight, so feel pet me until then," Mel replied dryly.

"We're still here." Mel turned her head a bit and looked over to see Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure staring at them strangely.

"I was being sarcastic!" Mel sighed, rolling her eyes. "Just, let me go, please," She said, turning back to stare at Kea.

Kea nodded and respectfully let go of Mel. "Don't stray too far."

"What are you, my mother?" Mel grumbled, licking her paw unconciously. This caused odd stares, and she stopped licking, instead flattening her ears in embarassment.

"No, but I'm your friend. I don't want you to get hurt," Kea said. "You're so small, you could get run over by a car, or attacked by a wolf, or--"

"I'm not gonna go outside, so don't worry." Mel padded towards the stairs. "Let's just... go to my room. I don't want to bother them," She suggested to Kea, tilting her head towards the boys to show who she was referring to.

"Alright," Kea said, nodding her head agreeingly. They started up the stairs. Mel was having alot of trouble getting up them. She had to raise her paws up as high as they could go and scramble her hind-feet to get up. Each step took about 5 whole seconds. It's alot of time to get up a flight of stairs.

Once they were upstairs, they went into Mel's room. Again. This time, Kea didn't pillow-fight with Mel. Mel couldn't anyways, because of the whole no-opposable-thumb thing. Instead, they decided to try to figure out why Mel was turning into a wolf.

"Well, I puzzled some things together," Mel said, tail twitching again.

"Which things?" Kea was always nicer when the boys weren't around.

"Sooo, I turn back at midnight, my fur is black, I'm part wolf, I'm part panther," Mel murmered. "Do you get it?"

"Yeah, it's all connected to night, right?" Kea asked, tilting her head.

"Woah, you got that fast. I had to totally explain it to the boys," Mel sighed, shaking her head.

"Boys are a lot dumber than girls," Kea pointed out. Mel laughed. Then Kea started laughing, too. They laughed together for a while.

"I'm still confused. Why did you turn into that?" Kea asked.

"I hate to tell you... those three boys, they turn into animals, too. But I'm not the same thing as them. When the opposite sex hugs them, or they get stressed, they turn into their zodiac animal. Yuki is a rat. Kyo is a cat. And Shigure's a doggy," Mel explained, then would've blushed if she was a human, having called Shigure a "doggy" instead of just a "dog."

"Rat?" Kea asked, tilting her head. "Yuki?"

"What?" Mel murmered, confused.
"Nothing," Kea said quickly. "Well, how come when I hugged you, you turned into an animal?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to figure that out." Mel placed her furry chin on her fore-paws.

"Well, what if it has something to do with night, too?" Kea seemed puzzled, though.

"Hugging people doesn't have much to do with night," Mel muttered. "Good idea, though."

"Mmm," Grunted Kea, sounding deep in thought.

"I'm thinking that..." Mel trailed off and looked away. "Nah, that's stupid."

"What? Just say it, we need ideas," Kea urged.

"Well... my two favorite animals happen to be wolves and panthers... but I don't think that has to do with the fact that I turn into one," Mel groaned.

"Wait! What... what type of wolf are you?" Kea inquired.

"I think Arctic, due to the white spots. But I don't see how this--" Mel was cut off.

"It does, Mel! Don't you see? Look, white and black... winter and summer..." Kea murmered. "Day and night, YIN AND YANG!"

"Where does winter and summer come in?" Mel muttered.

"Well, winter for the Arctic wolf, and black panthers probably like the summer more," Kea said, shrugging her shoulders. "So, something about how the yin of the Arctic Wolf and the yang of the Black Panther mixed into you."

A/N This is the best cliff-hanger I could come up with! I hoped you liked this chapter!

Ah, and, Rainbows, I hope I got Kea's personality right! If I didn't, just tell me, I'll change it in the next chapter! ^.^;