Hello everyone, sorry it's taken so long. Busy Busy Busy. Happy Fourth of July to those in America. Happy today for everyone else! So, I've graduated college with my associates. I've graduated High School. I have all summer off except for my job. Please be patient with this chapter. I just got a new laptop. Since the keys are spaced farther apart, I'm havign spelling and speed issues. Also, I have to use a gimpy word processor, since my computer does not have a CD slot. Excuses, excuses, right? On with the chapter! Oh, one last thing, up until the last chapter, I've been good about one manga chapter per story chapter. Last chapter I encompassed five and six, so this story chapter plays on chapter 7 of the manga.

Jessi Kitty: Kisa! you adorable little kitten of a tiger, do the disclaimer, please?
Kisa: *nods slowly* Jessi Kitty does not own Fruits Basket, just the odd ball ideas thrown into the plot.
Jessi: SO CUTE! *Hugs*
Kyo: You like her more too, huh? *Jessi nods* Stupid shecats!

~~Shigure's Home~~

"Kyah!" A screech, followed by a crash was heard throughout the Sohma home. Tohru Honda, a lovely brunette kitsune had just fallen, dropping her armful of Shigure's books to the floor. Yuki, the cursed rat of the zodiac, stopped to make sure the 'young' girl was okay. Tohru was a hundred years old. It was nothing to scoff at for a human, but she was still referred to as a 'kit' in kitsune society.
"Honda-san, are you alright?" The silver haired boy asked, concern filling his purple eyes. Tohru glanced up, rubbing her head where twin fox ears peeped up through the chestnut hair. She nodded, glancing down at the scattered books.
"Shigure's books ... " She murmured. Kyo, the orange haired cat of the zodiac story, trotted up behind them.
"Stupid. I told you not to help this early in the morning."
Yuki looked at the cat furiously. "She's helping so that you can have a room, you stupid cat."
"I didn't ask for your help, you know." Kyo retorted. Yuki tossed his own armload of books at the orange haired boy, who fell to the ground under the weight. He got up, spitting mad. This of course, started yet another of their many arguments.
"If you have time to argue, you have time to move the books." Shigure shouted, walking past the fighting cousins. They stopped their arguing, resuming the task at hand. With nothing more exciting occurring, they finished the migration of the books to Shigure's room. As Tohru was handing over the last stack of books, the doorbell sounded. Tohru perked up, ears erect and tail wagging. Yuki smiled at the sight, while Kyo outright laughed at her.
"You look like an excited puppy." He noted. Tohru frowned at him quickly before perking up. She trotted to greet her friends, Uo and Hana. Tohru had not remembered to tell the Sohma men her friends's secrets. She felt bad, as the demons all knew of the Sohma curse now. Kyo had been careless at school on his first day. The kitsune led the girls into the living area, where the boys were all standing. Saki smiled slowly.
"A dog." She said. All three men knew of the Saki Hanajima's ability to read waves. At her words, the Sohmas froze. Saki smiled wider before clarifying. "Over there." A dog had begun poking it's nose into the open door. The Sohma's let out a collective exhale as Shigure shooed the dog away and outside.
Arisa and Saki sat down in the living area. Tohru went to gather drinks to pour for the Sohmas, herself, and their guests. Arisa looked around lazily, ever the bored cat. She leveled her gaze on Shigure. "You're Shigure, right?" He nodded. "What do you do for a living?" she asked.
"Oh? I'm a writer." He said, almost as lazily as the cat.
"A novelist?" Tohru asked sharply, dropping her bottle of soda. Her ears and tail popped out, displaying her surprise. Kyo and Yuki tried to distract the two guests from seeing but it was too late.
"You never asked, did you?" Arisa asked as she shook her head. Saki just reacehd to rub right behind Tohru's ears.
"I love your ears Tohru. I like them better when they're black with emotion though." Saki murmured. Tohru just smiled, leanign into her friend's hand. The Sohma's sat, flabbergasted.
"They know?" The Sohma's asked together. Tohru nodded. Arisa just looked at the boys as if they were stupid.
Saki was the one to speak up. "Of course we know." She said.
Tohru shook her head. "Besides that, to think, all this time I've been so close to a novelist!" She cried.
Yuki shook his head. "You'll give him a swelled head, Honda-san." Kyo murmured his assent. Shigure and Tohru stood up at the same time.
"I just remembered something. I'll be right back."
"Sorry I can't stay. I have work to do. You kids have fun." Tohru headed out one door, into the house, while Shigure left. Arisa glanced at Saki.
"Tohru sure has gotten pretty used to it here. I know she didn't tell us because she didn't want us to worry, but we made a promise to Kyoko-san that when Tohru needed us, we'd be there. She's our best friend. She's always there for us, but when she needed us, we couldn't help her." Arisa said solemnly, staring down the Sohma boys. "It's like she's in some kind of pain, an even as her friends, we can't help her."
"She wouldn't think of it like that." Kyo said softly.
"Honda-san isn't the type to see her life as the glass is half empty." Yuki added. Tohru returned in that moment, just as Arisa stared at the two intently. Saki smiled behind one of Shigure's novels.
"Dai-Hin-Min!" Tohru cried, holding up a deck of cards while her tail wagged happily. All four, who'd been sitting in a serious silence broke out into laughter. Bets were made, and many laughs were had as the five played the card game until supper and even late into the evening after.

~~Tohru's Room~~

Arisa sat on Tohru's plush new bed in her sleeping clothes. She coughed, rubbing her sore throat. "I yelled too much tonight. My throat hurts." She complained. Tohru giggled, arranging her bed for the other two to sleep with her.
"And I lost." Tohru said contentedly. Saki giggled softly.
"You're not a cunning trickster like other kitsune, are you Tohru?" She asked light-heartedly. "Your bed is nice though."
"Yes! Shigure bought it for me."
Arisa laughed. "He's like a grandpa to you, isn't he?" Arisa glanced down. Outside in the hallway, an orange haired cat exited the bathroom. "Oh Tohru! You still have this hat?" She asked. Kyo stopped, peering through the door to see a small red hat. Recognition flashed over him.
"Yes, because it's a happy memory!" Tohru smiled, grasping the hat to her chest.
"Which memory, tell us!" Arisa said, glancing at the hat. Tohru shook her head. She grinned a cunning smile. she turned tucking the hat back into it's safe place.
"I can't it's my secret for now, okay?" she told the other two. She gazed at her friends with a loving smile. "I'm so very blessed. Living with the Sohma family, having a mother who loved me, and you two. My very best friends. You're always by my side. You always support me. I'm so very grateful." She said happily, clasping her hands in a prayer like motion. Arisa looked at Tohru softly.
"They understand." Arisa noted.
Saki nodded. "Tohru is that kind of person." Tohru looked between the two of them befuddled.
"We have an eternal friendship." Tohru said happily.
"As eternal as we are." The other two responded. So the three fell asleep. One silky brown fox curled around a blonde, fork tailed cat. The two animals were held close in the arms of a beautiful girl with inky wings and hair, looking all the world like a fallen angel.

~~The Next Day~~

Kyo Sohma was waking up by drinking milk from the carton. His cousin, Yuki Sohma, staggered down the stairs and into the kitchen. Kyo turned to him, about to speak when Yuki collapsed against his shoulder. Tohru entered laughing.
"Is Sohma-san usually like this in the mornings?" She asked happily as Kyo stiffened, trying to wake Yuki up without touching him. "Though I'm impressed Kyo-kun. Even though you want to beat Sohma-san, you didn't attack him in his sleep."
"It's not that. He's even stronger when he's like this." Tohru looked at Kyo, realizing that he had to have tried attacking him in his sleep to know this. "That annoying rat! Others have to train hard to get results, but he doesn't have to work for it at all!" Footsteps were hear as Yuki Sohma walked up to Kyo, landing a forceful punch on the cat's jaw. Kyo looked up at him, pissed. "Aren't you still asleep?" He yelled.
Yuki blinked, still waking up a bit. "Your annoying voice woke me up." He said.
"You bastard! I'll beat you this time! It's my life's goal!" Kyo called viciously. Yuki crossed his arms, looking at the orange haired boy mildly.
"Yelling this early in the morning. What are you?"
"The cat and the mouse." Spoke Saki from behind the three. The two Sohma's froze. Tohru glanced at her two friends. "That's what they're like." She clarified.
Tohru sighed. "Hana-chan. You really shouldn't tease them like that. "You'll give them a heart attack." Yuki and Kyo looked at Tohru.
"You said you didn't tell your friends, Honda-san." Yuki said, looking troubled. Tohru shook her head.
"I didn't tell them. Kyo transformed in front of them. They followed me when i went to look for him on his first day of school. Shigure peeped around.
"You know I'll have to tell Akito, the family head." Shigure said. "This might be the straw on the camel's back that gets your memory erased." He said seriously. Tohru glanced at him.
"I was hoping you wouldn't say anything to Akito ... "
"I have to Tohru-kun." Shigure said. Tohru shook her head.
"What if they have a secret too." Shigure gave it some thought. He shrugged.
"I won't say anything unless more people find out." he glanced at the two boys. "Be more careful." He turned back to the three girls. They watched as Arisa shrank into a blonde cat with green eyes and a swishing, forked tail. The cat proceeded to stand up.
"I'm Arisa Uotani, a nekomata." Shigure stiffened, watching in amazement. The two boys's jaws dropped. Arisa giggled before transforming back. The Sohma's looked at Saki, waiting for her to transform into an animal. Instead, she grew inky black wings.
"I am Saki Hanajima, a tengu." She said easily. Her eyes as dark as her feathers. "It goes without saying that this is not to be mentioned to anyone. Or bad things may happen." She threatened. The Sohmas balked at her ominous words. The two girls hugged Tohru tightly.
"Take care of our little Tohru, now." Arisa said. The two girls walked out, Arisa throwing a wave behind her. "We're going to be visiting plenty. Gotta make sure Tohru's being treated right."
Saki giggled. "As if she couldn't burn them to ash if she wasn't?" Aris shrugged, and that was the last of the conversation Tohru or the Sohmas heard.
"I don't know about having women over so much." Kyo grumbled. Shigure shrugged.
"They know. It's not like we have to guard our secret carefully around them."
Yuki looked at Shigure. "Is it really okay not telling Akito?"
The man sighed. "For now."

I know this is annoyingly short, but I am still attempting to A) get used to my new keyboard so writing is more tiring than before. B) Keep it one manga chapter per story chapter. Do you like how I didn't spoil what's my version of Tohru's hat story? No, probably not, but too bad. Please review, or I will have no drive to write. And If I have no drive to write, then you might have to wait this long again for new chapters. Thank you to my loyal readers who've stuck by me this long. I am truly sorry for the semi hiatus you've had to endure. I promise to post more often. Once a month, if not more!

~~The Jessi Kitty (Riverclan's Brambleheart)