Chapter four… The Truth…
A large amount of smoke covers the room and when the smoke cleared the little girl had no idea that she had transformed into a small orange cat. "Kyoichi, go to the pond and look into the water." Kyo points to the garden that had a small pond and some flowers scattered about.
Kyoichi pads over to the small pool of water looking down into it, seeing her reflection she falls back hoping it was just a dream, a high pitched scream being let out.
Tohru hearing the scream runs out and holds her crying daughter who was terrified by the sudden transformation. "Calm down Kyoichi, its ok, this is normal." Tohru carries the orange cat back inside the house and sits down leaning her back against the wall. "Let me tell you a couple of stories, "Tohru looks down at the cat in her lap. "Long ago, God decided to invite thirteen animals to a banquet, telling the animals to come to his house the following evening. He also warned them not to be late. When the rat heard this he decided to play a little trick on his neighbor, the cat. The rat told him that the banquet would be the day after tomorrow. The next day all the animals lined up for the party and the rat rode all the way there on the back of the cow. Everyone had a wonderful time, everyone except the cat who had been tricked."
At the end of the story Kyoichi had transformed back into a human girl and Kyo had brought a blanket in from the next room and wrapped it around the naked girl's shoulders.
"But that story is a little warped from the original. This is how the original goes." Tohru looks up to gather her thoughts, then back down at the young girl in her lap. "Once upon a time there was a person who lived all alone in the mountains. One day the person descended the mountains to find that many people lived below it. But the person was still alone. This person had a thousand powers, lives, and memories. The person learned that this was different than those who lived below the mountains, and thus developed a fear of other people.
"One day, the person was visited by a cat. The sudden visitor bewildered the person. The cat bowed his head and said he had been watching the person for quite a long time. "You are a mysterious person; I can not stop being attracted to you. I am but a stray cat, but let me stay by your side. Please Lord God," was what the had cat said. And from that day onward the cat kept his promise. He never left God's side, not even for a moment. This made God happy, this gave God an idea. He thought that maybe he could get along with others as long as they weren't people.
"As a result God wrote and sent many invitations. As a result twelve animals came to meet God; thirteen animals in all. Together, they held a banquet every time the moon would shine. They would sing and dance as the moon quietly watched over the inhuman banquet.
"But one night the cat collapsed. His life had run out. Everyone cried for the cat and realized everyone would die and the banquets would come to an end, no matter how much they enjoyed them.
"God recited a chant then drew a circle on a sake cup. God made the cat drink from the cup before speaking to everyone. He said that he was going to make their bond eternal. Everyone nodded and lined up to take a drink from the cup. The rat was the first to drink; followed by the ox, tiger, and rabbit, all in order they shared the drink of their vow.
"After the boar had drunk from the cup the cat started to cry, his breath faint. The cat asked God why he made him drink and then said that even though their time together was short, he was happy he was able to spend it with God. The cat didn't want eternity.
"The cat's words were unexpected; to everyone else, those words were words of rejection. They scolded the cat. But the cat continued to speak. He tried to reason with God, saying that even though things are frightening; they needed to except that things end. They needed to accept that lives depart. "Even if one more time, we both die and meet again. I want to see you under the light of the sun instead of the moon. I don't want to meet you with just those of us here; I want to see you smiling with other people." The cat twitched his tail one last time and died. But no one cared about him anymore. They were filled with the sense that the cat had betrayed them.
"Slowly, one by one, the others died. Finally, when even the dragon died, God was left alone once again. And then the day came when even God died, but God wasn't afraid, because he was protected by his promise with the others. "Once again, we'll hold our banquets, as many times as we want, forever."
Kyoichi starts nodding off, and Tohru smiles at her, "Kyoichi, you're the cat in these two stories. The Sohma family has had this curse for a long time, and you're not the only one, there are other Sohma members cursed like you. In time the curse will break. But we're not sure when."
Kyo looks over to find that Kyoichi had fallen asleep, "Good job calming her down Tohru."
Tohru stands up holding the sleeping child, "I'll go put her to bed." She climbs up the stairs and disappears behind a corner and Kyo stares out at the moon.