(A/N) Hello and Happy Valentine's Day! Don't have a Valentine? Well, I don't either... anyway, I would like to thank my reviewers! The ever reliable Candice White and Skai Breeze, and my new reviewer, echic24. Thank you so much! Your input really means a lot to me and pushes me to keep writing. Thank you! I hope you all enjoy chapter three, which I re-wrote two and a half times (yes, two and a half).

And I don't own Fruits Basket, blahblahblah... no matter how much I may wish I did, blahblahblah... (this applies to all of the chapters from here on out. I'm tired of writing it...)

My dad carried me to my room. I was a cat. A cat?! First, I turned into a hideous monster and now a cat?! I shouldn't be turning into anything! I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt like I was frozen. The only voluntary movement I was making was my breathing. My dad still held onto me as he sat down on my bed. I didn't like this feeling.

"You should turn back in a few minutes Kyoko," he said, placing me on bed. I shakily stood there. I didn't like having four legs. I also didn't like this growing feeling that my parents knew a lot more about what was happening to me than I did.

"How do you know so much about this?! Why aren't you freaking out?!" I questioned. I actually didn't think that I was going to say that. I thought that I was going to meow or something... but it was clearly my voice. My dad lowered his head, while my mom was at my dresser. What was she doing?

"I am freaking out Kyoko," my dad said finally, turning to look at me. "I'm freaking out because this was never supposed to happen to you. You were never supposed to have to go through this!" he said. He was angry.

"Please stay calm, Kyo," my mom said. Her voice was solemn as she pulled some clothes out of my dresser. My dad ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"Kyoko, for a long time… the Sohma family has shared a curse. They were cursed by the animals of the zodiac," he said slowly, as if he didn't know how to say it.

"But the cat isn't even a member of the zodiac!" I exclaimed. I really didn't mean to yell, but I was so frustrated. None of this made any sense.

"The cat would have been, if it wasn't for that damn rat..." my dad replied bitterly.

"You remember the story we used to tell you, right?" my mom asked. Suddenly, I heard the poofing noise again. I looked down at myself, relieved to see that I had turned back to normal. My hands, my arms, my legs... but I was naked… thing was, I didn't really care. My dad got off my bed in a hurry and stood in the opposite direction. That's when my mom handed me the clothes she had gotten earlier. I absentmindedly put on my pajamas. They had never felt so good.

"So..." I said, massaging my temples, "how do you two know all this?" I asked. My father turned back around. He opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it again. So I talked again instead. "How did you know when I was going to turn back, or even if I was going to turn back at all? And that voice... you knew that I was hearing a voice, how would you know that?" I had to stop myself. If I didn't, the questions just would have kept piling on.

"Because I was the last person to be cursed by the spirit of the cat. That's how I was born, and I remained cursed until I was eighteen. That's when the curse was broken," he said.

"If the curse was broken then why is this happening to me?!"

"I don't know, Kyoko! This was never supposed to happen again! The curse was broken, over, done! I don't understand why this is happening, but you have to trust me. I am not going to let you live the rest of your life this way. The curse was broken before, so it will break again."

"Yeah, that'll happen. Curses just decide to break every day. You don't even know how the curse was broken, do you?"

"Kyoko, stop being so cross. We understand that you're scared and confused right now, but we didn't know that this was going to happen anymore than you did. The important thing is that we stick together as a family," my mother said, speaking up. I rolled over and sunk my head into one of my pillows. I already felt different.

"Look Kyoko, I-" my father began, but was cut off by the phone ringing. I jerked my head up and jumped slightly at its suddenness. My dad cursed under his breath. "Who in the hell calls at four in the morning?!" he yelled at no one.

"I'll go get it," my mom said, getting up and hurrying to the phone. My dad walked over and sat on my bed again, his head in his hands.

"Why did I turn into a cat when I hugged you?" I asked. He sighed, then turned his head to look at me.

"It's a part of the curse. You can't hug anyone of the opposite sex, or else you'll turn into a cat. Same goes for when you get weak, like if you're sick or something. You'll turn into a cat then too," he said. I sat up and crossed my legs. I stared at my hands as I fidgeted with my fingers.

"I can't hug you again? Ever?" I asked. My stomach sunk. I had turned into a monster and a cat, AND I had just been told that I was cursed, but yet, this was the information that scared me the most? The thought of never hugging my father again made me sick to my stomach.

"Hey, this is not going to be permanent, okay? You've gotta trust me. There's got to be some way to break the curse, and we'll find it, just like last time. I'm not going to let you live the rest of your life this way. And I mean, we can still hug. You've got about two seconds after you hug someone before you turn into a cat. But I won't hug you unless you want me to," he said. I continued to stare at my hands as I picked at my fingernails. It was a nervous habit.

"There's a lot more to this than you're telling me, isn't there?" I asked. He slowly nodded his head.

"I promise that I'll try to answer any questions you have, but right now, I wouldn't even know where to begin. You should get some rest," he said, putting his hand on my arm.

"I don't think that I'm gonna be sleeping…"

"Well, you gotta try," he said. I was quiet. "You okay?"

"If I go to sleep, will… will I turn in… into that thing again?" I asked. Fear lined my voice.

"What?! No! No, it's okay. You're gonna be fine. The beads," he said, grabbing my arm and lifting my wrist so I could see the bracelet. I really didn't want to see that bracelet anymore than I had to. It just reminded me of everything. "The beads stop you from transforming. As long as you always wear them, you're gonna be okay," he said.

"That was Hatori," my mom said, coming into my room. "He said that the curse is back. Kisa gave birth to her daughter tonight, and she was the first. She turned into a lamb while Hatori was holding her. Around the same time, all of the children woke up from nightmares, and that's when he thinks everybody got cursed," she said. I couldn't believe it. My friends were cursed too? "He asked if we would come to the Sohma estate for a week or two."

"But it doesn't make sense!" my dad exclaimed. He turned towards my mother and lowered his voice. "I mean, Akito died three years ago," he said, hushed. Akito? What part did she play in this?

"There's a new head of the family."

(A/N) TA-DA! I hope you enjoyed! In the next chapter, we'll final get to meet some new characters. Exciting, right? Thanks for reading! Tell me your thoughts! Read and Review!

stacyTHEemo