Chapter 7

(Akahana's POV)

When we heard Tohru's scream, Yuki and I had dropped the gardening tools and ran towards the sound. We found her huddled over a discarded Chinese-styled robe, and she was shaking.

Suddenly, she seemed to spot something out of the corner of her eye, and she screamed again. As she did, a light gray snake appeared from the collar of her shirt. Its yellow-green eyes were trained on Yuki, and could sense his emotions shift from worry for Tohru, to… disgust and hatred? Did Yuki despise snakes that much? Before I had time to think of an answer, a large spotted form lashed out at Tohru.

"Tohru!" Yuki cried. For a moment I was stunned he called her by her first name. But then my attention was shifted to the scene before me: Tohru had fainted and not more the three feet from her stood a large leopard with a snake hanging from its jaws. Chika!

Not bothering with Yuki's reaction right now, or the fact my sister was now a leopard, I rushed to Tohru's side. "Tohru, are you alright?" I asked.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" I heard Chika asked, followed by a soft thump. I looked up to see Chika had dropped the snake, and was slowly creeping towards us. She mewed softly. I recognized the sound; she was worried she might have hurt Tohru. She gently bumped Tohru's cheek with her muzzle. "She's out cold," she said.

I nodded. We needed to get her back to the house. I was going to ask Yuki to carry Tohru, but then I remembered how uncomfortable about being too close to girls. Tohru was a little too heavy for me, so I knew Chika would need to carry her. I tried to move her, but I needed help. I gestured for Chika to lay down so Tohru could rest her head while I talked to Yuki, who was still staring.

"Yuki, I know we have some explaining to do, but I could use some help here," I pleaded.

Yuki snapped out of his trance, but instead of helping me lift Tohru, he turned his attention to the snake. He glared at it, snatching it from the ground and storming towards Shigure's house.

"Wow… He must not like snakes…" Chika muttered, gently nuzzling Tohru's face.

"Well, let's get her back. Chi-Chi, you're going to have to carry her," I said, taking Tohru off her body so she could stand. I draped Tohru over her back and we walked back to the house. I remained by Chika's side so I could keep Tohru from falling off. All the while I kept going over what happened in my mind. Yuki and Tohru had just discovered our family secret. What would they say? What would they think? It wasn't long before we were back at the house. I opened the door to see Yuki gripping Shigure's shirt collar in his fist. He was shoving the snake in Shigure's face and his eyes were wild with rage.

"Never mind, just skin this thing and eat it!" Yuki yelled.

"Hey!" Chika yelled. "I caught it! My snake snack." They all looked to her, Kyo and Shigure shocked by Chika's new form. Before I could begin to attempt an explanation, Chika beat me to it. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything."

Neither one of us talked until we returned to the living room. Once Chika settled herself at the table with the Sohmas, I ducked into the kitchen to make some tea before returning to the room. Shigure then told us how the Sohma family bore a curse as well as us, the curse of the Zodiac. During his explanation Yuki's older brother made an appearance. I was amazed at how much the two looked alike, though their personalities couldn't be more different.

Of course not being the patient one, Chika quickly turned the conversation back to us before anyone could even make proper introductions. Before I knew it, Chika was telling them our family's curse. As the story was told, I kept a close watch over everyone's reactions. One thing I noticed was that they didn't seem surprised at all. Normally, if anyone saw Chika in this form, they would either run, scream, or like Tohru, faint. Sometimes it was all of the above. And if someone found out about our history, they'd brush it off and say we were insane. But everyone, even Tohru seemed to accept it. Once Chika finished our story, all eyes were on us.

"Mom told us that story nearly once a week. She would always say that she loved us, even though I was the leopard child. Not only do I change when my heart beats faster or when I'm afraid, but I can also change at will and repress the change for the most part. I'll be like this until midnight and then I'll change back to normal," Chika explained about the curse specifically before glancing at me. "Do you think I should tell them about…?"

I nodded and she sighed. I knew this was hard for her, especially since it was so close to our mother. "Just occasionally, when I change from fear, I'll go…what Mom always called it, into Beast Mode. I have no connection with my human side and am a totally wild, untamed leopard. Only people I love can talk me into normalcy, which, as it stands, is only Akahana now… Mom could before she…" Chika looked away. "If you ever see me with lots of spots and really dark eyes, keep far away from me or I may do something I'll regret."

I sensed her tense and before I knew it, Chika stood and trotted out of the room. This always brought up painful memories for my sister. While the curse had brought many sorrows for our family, Chika was always the one to take the full burden on her shoulders. After my attack and Mom's death, Chika had drawn more into herself. I wanted to go after her, but the sound of Shigure's voice caught my attention.

"By the way, this is the one and only Tohru Honda," Shigure said, finally able to give introduction. "You came to see her today, right?"

Ayame seemed speechless for a moment before suddenly perking up. "Oh, yes, that's right! I'm sorry about earlier. I am Yuki's older brother, Ayame."

"Oh, right. Pleased to meet you," Tohru said quickly.

"So you really do exist. The princess I've heard so much about. A single blooming flower trapped in a house of stinking men. Are they treating you well, princess?"

"You make it sound like she's been kidnapped," Shigure laughed.

Yuki, however, didn't see the humor in it. "Brother, you're being rude. Stop making fun of her!"

"Making fun?" Ayame actually sounded hurt. "Honestly, I mean Tohru nothing but the highest respect. So, princess, why don't you bring us some tea." He sat down at the table and patted it in a commanding fashion. "And lunch would be nice."

"That's not respect!" Yuki and Kyo shouted in unison.

"Of course, you're right. What was I thinking? Let me try again." He rose and held out his hand for Tohru. "Come Tohru! We're going out to eat."

"Oh, uh, I don't know…" she said as Ayame pulled her out the door.

"Don't worry, it's my treat!" Ayame yelled. Then they were gone. Never had I felt so awkward in a room before. Yuki and Kyo had been watching the door, only to turn a hard glare onto Shigure. The older man shrunk back in fear, trying to use me as a shield.

"Now, there's no use getting angry at me."

"You're the one who invited him here, ya damn dog!" Kyo shouted.

"Boys, chill out!" I said. "Look, I can tell you two clearly don't like Ayame, but there's no use acting like whining children. I'm sure Tohru will be just fine."

"Yes, Ayame is completely trust worthy!" Shigure said, slinking off.

"I trust him with a girl about as much as I trust you, which isn't saying very much," Yuki retorted venomously.

While the boys bickered on, I managed to slip away back up to Tohru's room. I packed up my things and then went on to pack Chika's things. I started thinking about the excuses to give to my dad about Chika not coming home with me. Maybe I could convince him she went shopping with Tohru. No, that would never work. Chika hated shopping unless it was necessary. I sighed. Mom had told us a long time ago that it was best Dad never knew about this part of our family. Chika had been all too eager to accept it, but I hated keeping secrets from him. Maybe now was the time for him to be let in.

"You thinkin' about leavin'?" Kyo asked, showing up in Tohru's doorway, leaning on the frame.

"Ah! What is it with cats and sneaking up on people?" I clutched my chest as my heartbeat returned to normal.

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Are you leaving before Chika comes back?" he asked.

I chuckled. "She never left." When he titled his head to the side in confusion, I pointed toward the roof. Knowing my sister, she was sulking on the rooftops. Whenever she got into one of her modes, she always escaped to the highest place she could climb to. Lucky for me, she always managed to stay close enough for me to find her when she was ready to talk.

He looked out the window and I saw a rather fluffy tail swing down and smack him in the face. "What the hell!" he said, jumping back from the tail.

I laughed. "That's my sister's way of saying, 'Come up here and I'll knock you on your ass.' Better just leave her till she's ready to come down."

Kyo nodded. "You know, you and Chika are welcome to stay an extra night. That way, you don't have to explain it to your dad." He said, starting to leave Tohru's room. "Tohru asked Shigure and he said you could."

"When did she have time to do that?" I asked. "Was she whispering to him during Chika's story, because no way she could have with Ayame in the room."

"Hey!" I got up and chased after him. I just caught him as he was headed for the stairs.

"What?" he asked

"So..." I started fiddling with a lock of my hair, a nervous habit Chika and I shared. "What do you think about all this?"

Kyo shrugged. "Once you've been in this family, nothing surprises us for long." He said.

"So, you're cool with my sister being a jungle cat?"

"You cool with me being a cat?" he asked. "And Yuki being the rat?"

Now I was really laughing. "Are you kidding? Compared to sharing a room with a 78 pound leopard, a rat and an alley cat are a breeze." Kyo smiled and even laughed with me. After a minute we both caught our breaths before I began to speak again. "But seriously, it's nice to know there are others out there who know what we've been through. Though, I'm sure none of you had to deal with all the hellfire drama my sister and I went through."

"Hellfire drama?" Kyo asked, suddenly getting serious. "You have no idea…"

"Oh please," I said sarcastically. "You wanna swap backstories, then you better be ready to..."

"Well, I was wondering… Do you really not like your brother?" The sound of Tohru's voice made me pause. I guess I had been upstairs longer than I'd thought if Tohru and Ayame were back already. Both Kyo and I stopped and watched from our place on the stairs. There was Tohru but she was by hersef. Odd. Even more strange was the position of her hands on her body. "I mean, I know it's not really any of my business. I was just curious."

"I wouldn't say I dislike him," Yuki answered. "He's just a little too much for me sometimes."

"Well if that's all, then we can overcome it!"

"I will do all in my power to match you halfway." Ayame's snake form crept out of Tohru's shirt collar. "My brother!"

The shock caused Kyo to fall over, and the idiot toppled right on top of me. "Kyo, move your big butt! I'm being crushed."

Kyo turned a vibrant shade of red and got off quickly, like I was on fire or covered in sickness. "Ah, welcome back you two," Shigure said pleasantly. Apparently he had entered the room while Kyo had been crushing me. As I looked up, I saw Yuki was trying to beat Aya while he was in snake form. He finally managed to slither over to Shigure as Tohru tried her best to calm Yuki down.

"Shigure, have you picked out a place for me to sleep tonight?" Ayame asked.

"Oh, you're staying over?"