--Wow. Eight reviews already. Heh. I feel loved. As for the crossover situation, there is one vote for FMA and one for DNAngel so far. I'm going to keep the vote open for a little while longer, though, so please keep sending me your preferences. Also, I was thinking about maybe adding books (like Harry Potter and Maximum Ride) into the mix. Thank you to my reviewers. Read on!
Disclaimer: (waves hand) "I do not own Fruits Basket." People: "You do not own Fruits Basket." Me: "Thank you, carry on." People: "Thank you…carry on."
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Chapter FourThere was a gasp. Everyone stared. Emily opened her eyes and smiled happily.
"W-Why didn't he transform?" Kyo asked.
Shigure peered at Emily and Momiji. "Well, that's surprising."
"Is she a member of the zodiac, too?" Tohru asked excitedly.
"I don't think so," Yuki answered slowly. "What would she be? There already is a dog, an ox, a dragon, and all the others. At least as far as I know."
Momiji looked at Emily. "So I can hug you without transforming?"
"I guess so," Emily replied.
"Yay!" Momiji exclaimed, hugging the girl again. She squeezed him back happily.
Kyo opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a loud crash from outside.
"What was that?!" Tohru exclaimed fearfully.
"Don't worry," Shigure assured her. "It's probably just a large animal. Like a bear or something."
"Bear?" Kyo asked. He paused. "Jason!" He got up and began to run to the door so he could beat the "bear" to a bloody pulp.
"Hold on," Emily said, grabbing hold of Kyo's shirt.
"What?" he snapped.
She put her finger to her lips. "Shh, listen."
Everyone was quiet. Now they could hear some shouting from outside.
"Is that Skye-san?" Tohru asked.
Emily's eyebrows were furrowed. "No, that's not Skye's voice."
"Then who's outside?" Yuki wondered.
"Let's find out," Shigure said, getting up.
Everyone followed Shigure outside. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.
"Where-?" Kyo began.
"Shh," Shigure interrupted. "Listen."
Everyone was quiet. Now that they were outside, they could hear the voices better, even though they came from further away.
"Which way did she go?"
"This way! This way!"
"Get her!"
"Get the freak!"
"What the-?" Emily mumbled.
"Tell me about it," a voice muttered from behind her.
"Wha-?" Emily spun around. She stared. The blue-green eyes of her best friend stared back at her. Skye raised her eyebrows.
"But…how? Huh? Wha?" Emily pointed from her friend to the path where the voices were and back again.
"I circled around through the woods," Skye explained.
Emily nodded numbly.
"Why were those…whoever they were calling you a freak, Skye-san?" Yuki asked.
Emily turned on her friend, hands on her hips. "What did you do?"
"Nothing!" Skye defended, holding her hands up in front of herself. "I didn't so anything!"
Emily gave her a look that said "I-know-you-did-something-so-just-spill-it."
Skye responded with a look that said "I-didn't- do-it-so-what-do-you-want-from-me-Geez."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Then why?"
Skye averted her eyes. "Uh, well…um…"
"What happened?" Shigure asked gently, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Skye opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. She hesitated. "I…" Everyone leaned in closer. Skye cringed back and glanced around at them.
"Out with it, Skye!" Emily raised her fist threateningly.
"Feathers," Skye mumbled.
"Eh?" Emily's hand lowered slightly.
"What?" Hatori asked.
"Feathers?" Yuki repeated.
"I'm confused," Kyo announced.
Skye pulled back the sleeve of her black, hooded sweatshirt. "Feathers," she confirmed.
Someone gasped. Everyone stared. Stiff feathers jutted out of her arm in random patches. Hatori gently prodded one of them with his finger.
"Hmm," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Skye yanked her sleeve back down.
She sighed. "I'm turning into a bird." She sagged in exasperation and defeat.
"Nice job," Emily said sarcastically. "How'd you do that, genius?" Skye glowered at her.
"The only bird in the Chinese Zodiac is the rooster, right?" Tohru asked.
"Yes, but we already have a rooster," Yuki replied.
"Hey," Momiji interrupted. "Where did Haru go?"
"Oh, right! Hatsuharu-san was here!" Tohru said.
Everyone looked around.
"Who cares where that damn punk went? He'll come back eventually," Kyo assured them all.
"Well, let's go inside and examine Skye-chan's feathers more thoroughly," Shigure suggested.
Skye's eyes suddenly snapped back into focus and she straightened up. She stared at her arm with wide eyes, even though the feathers were hidden by her sleeve.
"I…I'm turning into a bird," she muttered, bewildered. Suddenly, she looked up at the people around her. "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"
-End-
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--Heh…bird……uh…pudding! Anyway, R&R. No, on second thought (waves hand), "You will review." Readers: "We will review." Me: "You will push the little purple button that says 'go' and vote on which anime/book shall be in the crossover." Readers: "We will push the little purple button that says 'go' and vote on which anime/book shall be in the crossover." Me: "Right. Carry on." Readers: "Right. Carry on…"