Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to someone else until someone buys me the copyrights to the series. Am still waiting on that, people, hint, hint. Anyways, thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

Still Cursed Inside

Sitting in his room with a number of bottles lined up along his living room table Momiji couldn't decide which one to drink first. Should he alternate between the hard liquor and the fruit coolers or just work his way up from relatively harmless to toxic levels? Decisions, decisions, Momiji mussed as he propped his head up on his hand as he sat, looking at the pretty colors or the various drinks. He should probably start with the softer stuff first, he didn't want to pass out too soon and waste the rest of the drinks. How long did this stuff last for anyway? He hadn't seen expiry dates on any of them. He could always just give away what was left over, since he intended to make this a yearly thing rather than a regular one. The way Hatori did. Smiling slightly as he remembered that time five months ago when they had had that drinking party on the anniversary of his cousin's would be marriage to Kana. That had been a lot of fun considering why they'd been drinking at the time. It seemed so long ago now, especially since the curse was now lifted and everyone was free. Everyone but him. Oh he didn't turn into a rabbit anymore but he was still cursed. He was still alone and different from everyone else. All the others had special someones to rejoice in their freedom with, even the ones who, like him, had lost their parents because of the curse. Rin had Haru and Kagura's family and Kyo had Tohru and his adopted father. Everyone had some sort of family or person to go to now except him. He had friends and his cousins of course. He wasn't so stupid that he didn't realize that. But it wasn't the same as having someone who wanted you to be happy and free more than anyone else in the world. So here he was, about to have himself one hell of a drinking binge on the anniversary of the day his mother's memories of him had been wiped. It seemed like the thing to do. Grabbing the nearest bottle off the table Momiji popped the lid off and raised the ice cold bottle in a mock salute. "Here's to you, mama."


Striding down the path Yuki Sohma looked around at the swirling leaves scattered throughout the compound, not yet racked up and turned into compost. Breathing in the scent of earth and autumn he enjoyed the scenery as he headed towards Momiji's house, hoping to find his young cousin at home this late in the evening. Ayame had wanted to stop in to see Hatori on their way back to Shigure's house and rather than listen to his brother prattle on about the day they'd spent together Yuki had used visiting Momiji as an excuse to bow out. Of course Haru's place was on the way too but Yuki felt the need to see Momiji instead, because there had been something about the boy's behavior this week that had planted within him a small seed of worry. Momiji's usual boisterousness had seemed off somehow and Yuki's gut said that it wouldn't hurt to drop in and take a few minutes to make sure the rabbit was doing okay. Walking up the stone path to the porch he could see that Momiji was in, the younger boy with his back to him as he sat down in front of his table. Knocking to get Momiji's attention it took a few knocks before the boy's head turned and seeing Yuki motioned him to come on in. Sliding the door open Yuki walked over than came to an abrupt halt once he caught sight of the dozen various bottles on the rabbit's table. "Momiji! What on earth are you doing?"

"Uh oh, the Prince's eye sight is going. Your fan girls will cut off their hair in mourning over the news that their hero has to mar his perfect beauty with glasses." Laughing gaily at the idea Momiji grinned up at his older, much more stuffy cousin. A lot like Hari in that respect, now that he thought about it. "So what are you doing here? Is Haru not home?"

"I didn't check. Momiji, why is your table full of liquor bottles?" Thankfully, as far as he could see only one of them was empty and Momiji appeared to have just started on another.

"Cause I'm celebrating. Care for one?" Picking up one of the coolers Momiji held it out to his cousin, not surprised when Yuki made no move to take it. This was Yuki after all. "It's only a cooler, Yuki. It won't bite." Giggling at the look on his older cousin's face Momiji turned to put it back on the table with the rest. "Never mind, I should have known better than to ask. Princes only drink wine and champagne, right?"

Insulted and embarrassed over his reaction Yuki sat down and picked up the bottle, reading the label while Momiji smirked at him. Egged on by the knowing look on Momiji's face Yuki defiantly opened it and took a large sip, surprised to find it rather fruity and surprisingly good. Taking a few more sips Yuki decided he liked it and since he couldn't taste the alcohol it couldn't really be that bad for him. He'd stay and finish the drink, just to show Momiji that he was tough enough to handle it. Besides, he still needed to find out why Momiji was drinking in the first place. No reason he couldn't enjoy this cooler thing while he was at it.


"I wonder what could be keeping Yuki, this isn't like him." Hatori muttered, interrupting another recount of Ayame's day with his younger brother. It was times like this he was eternally thankful that he had been an only child. An older brother like this would have driven him to drink, possibly to homicide. He didn't blame Yuki for sneaking off to see Momiji but that had been two hours ago and he really needed the boy to show up and get his older brother away so that he could get some sleep.

"Huh? Yuki? What do you...is it that time already?" Blinking in surprise up at the clock Ayame couldn't believe how late it was. Yuki had said he was only going to drop in on Momiji to say hello. Where was his little brother? It wasn't like Yuki not to be punctual and he had said he'd be back in twenty minutes or so, so that they could get back to Shigure's at a reasonable hour. Sending a worried look in Hatori's direction Ayame began to think of all sorts of terrible things that might have delayed his precious, sweet brother. Maybe Ren had gotten ahold of him? Maybe he'd fallen and was lying in the bushes some where, in utter agony as he called out to his older brother to save him? What if Akito had attacked him for some reason and thrown him out a window like Rin? What little color he ever had faded from his face as his imagination spiraled out of control.

Rolling his eyes at his friend's dramatics Hatori simply pulled out his cell phone and handed it over to Ayame. "Just call him and see what's up."

"Oh..right." Looking a tad sheepish Ayame quickly dialed his brother's number, waiting with baited breath as the phone rang five times before his brother's sweet voice came over the line to say hello. "Little brother! Where are you? Why aren't you here yet?"

"Big brother? Is that you? HI, Ayame! How are you? Where are you? Why aren't you here?"

Blinking Ayame didn't know what to think. "Yuki...where are you?"

"I'm at Momiji kun's, Silly. We're having a party to celebrate Momiji's freedom from the Wicked Witchy Bitchy. That's what we decided to call her. Don't you think that was terribly clever of me? Momiji said it was and I have to agree. Don't you think so, big brother?"

"I think I'll be right over there. Don't leave until I get there, okay?"

"Okey, dokey." Yuki replied and promptly hung up.

"Hari...we must get to Momiji's house immediately! My brother's been possessed!"


"Not posessed..just very, very drunk." Was Hatori's diagnosis ten minutes later as they stared at the two intoxicated youths who were staring at them with dumb smiles and even more interesting faces. Apparently they'd both felt the need to express their loss of their cursed spirit by drawing on their faces with a black marker and cutting out construction paper ears. Both had given themselves long whiskers and black noses, their looks completed with bunny ears taped to Momiji's forehead and round, Mickey Mouse ears taped to Yuki's. Yuki had even turned his belt around so that he had a little leather tail, which he proudly showed off while the two adults stared in a mixture of shock and amusement.

"Yuki..you're...you're..drunk?"

"I'm not drunk." Looking insulted by the thought Yuki shook his head as he motioned towards the two empty bottles on his side of the table. "I only drank two coolers! They're just like a fruit drink." Waving his newly started bottle in the air he took a big gulp just to prove his point, making a sound of anger when Ayame snatched the bottle from his grasp. "HEY!"

Raising an eyebrow Hatori couldn't help but smile just a little over the whole thing as he watched Yuki try to get the bottle back from Ayame, who was taking advantage of his superior height to hold the bottle out of his brother's reach. It didn't help that Yuki appeared to be having some problems with his motor functions, missing the bottle by several inches with every wild grab. "He's this drunk after only two coolers? He's going to get eaten alive in college."

Horrified at the thought Ayame could clearly envision it all, so dumbfounded that he didn't even notice Yuki successfully grabbing the bottle back. "Well then, he's not going to college." Ayame declared, slamming a fist into his open palm, his decision made. "I, as his most beloved and adored older brother have decided it. I will not have him corrupted or used by those who don't understand just how frail and delicate my dear, dear little brother is. As his older brother, it is my duty to spare him the horrors that will await him at the godless, alcohol filled, hell holes known as college. I simply will forbid it."

"You're so weird." Was Yuki's giggled reply, not concerned in the least as he took another sip.


Biting back a snicker Hatori crouched down beside Momiji, the younger boy looking up at him expectantly. "Momiji...care to tell me what's going on?" Something was definitely up and the bottles that were scattered over the table told their own story. Something was very wrong with his young charge.

"Well I was having a private drinking party but Yuki came in and had a cooler. Than he had another one. I didn't mind him dropping in though, it was sorta like how I dropped in on you that other time, remember?"

"I remember. Now mind telling me what your excuse is for all this?" Would he have to ground Momiji for this, Hatori wondered, hoping not. As Momiji's guardian he was in charge of disciplining his cousin but in this case he had a feeling something was punishing Momiji already. Had something happened at school or with one of the other cousins? A run in with the rest of his family perhaps?

"My excuse for getting Yuki drunk or my excuse for having a party and not inviting you? Cause I was thinking about it but you seemed so tired early and I didn't want to bother you." Grabbing a bottle off the table without looking at it Momiji held it out to the surprised doctor. "Here you go, Hari. You can have some too if you want! There's more than enough for everyone I'm sure."

Taking the bottle Hatori paused, surprised to see a very excellent wine vintage in his hand. Well, at least the boy had gone for quality as well as quantity. But that wasn't what was important right now. "Momiji, what I want to know is why you decided you needed to get drunk in the first place."

"Oh. Well that's an easy question, Silly. Why didn't you just say so in the first place? The reason I'm drinking all this stuff is because today's the anniversary of the day Momma ditched me. I figured, since I was lucky enough to get out of having her for a Momma, I should celebrate and give thanks, you know? Yuki decided to join me, cause he thinks she's a real bitch too. Both our Mommas are, come to think of it. Is your Momma a bitch too, Hatori? I can't really remember ever having met her."

Momiji never talked badly of his mother. In all the years Hatori had known and cared for his younger cousin he'd never heard Momiji speak about his mother like this. There had been occasions when the boy had expressed pain and anger about his mother's choice but he'd never so much as hinted that his pain at her betrayal had cut him this deep. "No...I don't think you have met her. She's...she was an adequate mother."

"So she was like Haru's mother. Not a bad mother like mine but not a good mother like Hiro's."

"Exactly."

"Oh." Looking thoughtful for a moment Momiji's gaze turned towards the bottle that was still in Hatori's hand. "So are you going to drink that or not?"

Going with his gut Hatori nodded as he sat down more comfortably beside his cousin. "Yeah. Yes, I think I will."

"Good."


Turning his head Hatori wasn't surprised to see that Ayame was still busy trying to lecture Yuki about drinking while the boy paid him no attention whatsoever. In fact, from the looks of it, Yuki was trying to finish that bottle in record time just to piss Ayame off. "I think I'll order us some take out to counter balance all this alcohol first though." Setting the bottle back on the table Hatori patted Momiji's head affectionately. "What do you feel like tonight?"

"What will look the least gross when I maybe throw it up later?"

"It all pretty much looks the same coming up, Momiji."

"Oh...well then I'm in the mood for some sweet and sour pork." Turning his head Momiji reached out to poke Yuki in the shoulder, his cousin so drunk Momiji wasn't sure the guy even felt it. "Hey, what do you want to eat? Hari's buying us some food. I'm getting sweet and sour pork."

Blinking a couple times it took Yuki a moment to process the question while successfully drowning his older brother out. "That sounds good, I'll have that too. And spring rolls, I really like spring rolls. Maybe some chicken balls too, Hatori? With plum sauce?" Yuki asked, giving his older cousin his best puppy dog eyes which were amazingly effective since Yuki had never, to Hatori's knowledge, stooped to that since he was a very little boy.

"I can do that. Aya, why don't you call Shigure and tell him that Yuki won't be coming home tonight. You can use Momiji's phone, it's over there."

"Why would I..." Reading his best friend's look accurately Ayame didn't even try to argue. Personally, he wanted to get his little brother as far away from all this alcohol as possible. For some reason though, Hari thought it best that they all stayed put and Hatori tended to know best. Or at least more than he himself did. It probably had something to do with Momiji, Ayame speculated, looking at his young cousin out of the corner of his eye. Yeah, from the looks of things Momiji was going to party with or without them. Drinking by ones self tended to end badly. And, just as he hadn't been around for his own little brother in the past, he hadn't been around for Momiji much either. In fact, Hari and Shigure were really the only cousins he'd hung out with up until a couple of years ago. Maybe it was time to step up and act the part for once. "I'll do that right now."


It was close to midnight and Akito really should have been in bed, but was too restless to sleep. So here she was, in the middle of the night, wandering around with Kureno for company. The older man was still leaning a bit heavily on his cane but he'd insisted on coming out with her, especially since he knew the grounds better and it was easy to get lost on the huge compound, least of all at night. Thankfully the moon above was full and the garden lights were shining brightly. It really was a nice night and a peaceful one...up until they'd arrived at the gardens in front of Momiji Sohma's house. Despite the late hour Akito could hear music playing from inside and it had to be loud, for it to be audible out here. "What's that song he's playing?" Akito demanded to know, turning her head to look up at Kureno.

Pausing to concentrate on the sound Kureno's eyes widen slightly in surprise. "It sounds like Thriller."

"Thriller?"

"Yes, it's a song from the 80s, by Michael Jackson, an American. It was very popular when I was younger, even here in the east." Some things just never lost their appeal to the young generations, Kureno thought in amusement, remembering hours spent learning the Thriller dance, along with his other cousins. Back then, they'd still been allowed to play with him and they'd had a lot of fun with that song in particular. It was infectious that way.

"I can't hear the words from here. Lets go and listen too." Not waiting for his agreement Akito began walking up the path to hear the words to the beat that seemed to be calling her name. Getting up onto the porch Akito stared through the screen door, her mouth hanging open in shock as she blindly stared at her cousins. Coming up behind her Kureno looked in too and saw exactly what had got her attention. Hatori, Ayame, Yuki, Haru and Momiji were all inside and they were..well...doing the Thriller.