Beingwhoiwishiwas: thank you so much for the review. I'm excited to write the rest of it. I really hope you and everyone else who read this story like it too! Thank you very much.

ComeToWonderland: This story was on haitus for many years…. Like 5… but I am currently fixing up the previous chapters (This is the last one to fix), and I will be continuing to write this story. So fear not… at least not yet. I might stop again later in the future, who knows. But thank you for your kind words, and fill free to keep reviewing and making me feel guilty for not getting another chapter out sooner.

Chapter dedicated to both haillemattes13 and beingwhoiwishiwas! Please everyone enjoy~!

It's school time and everyone is getting ready for the cultural festival that's in 7 days. Yuki, who is the male class representative, is up at the front giving us information on the festival. Yuki told us, "Health inspections have been completed! We are officially go for our rice ball stand. Do we have any ideas for what we should do?"

Tohru stood up and suggested, "how about a three flavored rice ball? We put three different flavors in one. It could be fun."

One of the Yuki fan girls spoke up in a mocking tone, "that sounds disgusting. What if you got salmon, leek, and pickled plum in one?"

A fellow Yuki Stalker agreed, "That sounds gross."

Uo, being the badass that she is, twirled her lead pipe before smashing it into the blonde fan girl's desk. Uo glared at them and in a dark tone of voice she threatened, "That can't be any worse than your crappy attitudes."

The blonde questioned in a terrified and shaky tone, "aren't there rules about bringing lead pipes to school?"

Kyo, completely ignoring the situation with his cousins stalkers, offered up the idea for a rice ball battle. People beating one another until only one victor was left to claim the prize of the rice balls. Oh sweetie. We're trying to sell rice balls, not make a competition to win rice balls. Everyone was quick to reject Kyo's idea and move on to try and think of an idea of their own.

Yuki then gave out the suggestion, "how about a hit or miss. We'll have a special offer. Buy 3 rice balls can chose a 4'Th for free. Only we'll have some misses mixed in that we can make with some strange ingredient or something."

Everyone jumped on board for Yuki's idea, talking about all the possible miss flavors and what not as Kyo's temper began to wear thin. Kyo was angry enough to leap up and stand on his chair and desk, more demanding than asking, "how come you're just gonna follow whatever idea he says?!"

One of the guys in the classroom said, "You can't call us followers for knowing a good idea when we hear it."

Another guy spoke up, "yeah, and besides. Who would want to get all bloody over a couple rice balls anyway?" The guys in class were quick to start teasing Kyo by calling him nick names like Kyo-Kyo and what not. I noticed Yuki just staring at everyone teasing Kyo, looking rather resigned at the whole scene.

Yuki turned to the female class representative and gently spoke, "I have a student council meeting to attend. Would you mind handling the arrangements for the stand?"

The other class rep responded, "no problem. Leave it to me."

Suddenly people tried stopping Yuki from leaving, claiming to have questions about the stand. I got the feeling all the attention Yuki was getting would irritate Kyo to know end. Low and behold when I looked over at Kyo, I saw kittens all over him. Really cute kittens, as a matter of fact.

"Aw look," one of the girls called out. Yuki and Tohru got panicked looks as they saw the cats.

"Whoa, where did they come from?"

"I don't know, but these cats sure are cute!"

"Look at the fluffy little brown one, it's got to be the cutest."

"These cats really love Kyo."

Everyone began crowding Kyo and making lots of comments which seemed to piss Kyo off even more. Tohru muttered, "Kyo." Kyo, not able to contain his anger anymore, shot up and left the classroom as quick as he seemed able, with all the cats still clinging to him and meowing. I stood up from my seat and walked over to Tohru to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," I told her, "I'll go make sure he's all right." She nodded her approval at the idea and I walked out the classroom door. Whenever Kyo sulk's at home he always goes to the roof. I guess I'll try there. I walked up the steps of the school and opened the door that leads out onto the roof. I didn't see Kyo anywhere out here, but I soon heard him… or rather, I heard his cats.

I followed the sound of meows to look up at the small roof above the stairs. I climbed the ladder on the side and found the signature orange hair of the person I was looking for. I climbed up onto the roof and sat down next to him.

"You all right there Kyo? That was quite an exit you made."

Kyo jumped and was all too quick to glare at me. He shouted, "would you quit sneaking up on me?!"

I ignored his shouts and picked up a little black cat, and began to stroke its fur, eliciting a steady purr from its throat. A small smirk slithered onto my face as I asked the temperamental teen next to me, "Just how do you expect me to refrain from cat jokes, if every time I turn around you're more cat like than before? I mean, the power to summon cats when you're upset? Really? It's paws-itively crazy."

Kyo took in a few deep breaths to calm himself before he asked, "so why're you up here anyway?"

"Tohru."

"Tohru? What does she have to do with this," he asked, stroking the fur of a cat next to him.

"She was worried about you, what with how you cat-astrophically lost your temper and stormed out of the classroom."

Kyo let out a groan as he laid back and stared at the sky. He took in a deep breath before asking, "You're not gonna stop with the cat jokes, are you?"

"I'll admit, it's very unlikely."

"God dammit," Kyo mumbled half heartedly.

"So is it just you who attracts the animal you're cursed as, or can the other zodiac members do it too?"

"Yeah, it's the same for everyone. Yuki can call rats to him, and Shigure dogs."

"Well that's pretty neat."

He stood up from where he was lying down to shout at me, "it is not neat! One time I was walking through the mountains with Kagura, and a whole pack of boars came up to us! I thought we were gonna be eaten!"

I couldn't help myself as I began to laugh, just imagining Kagura and Kyo as kids, fighting off wild boars. Something about it was just so funny, maybe it was the idea of Kyo being scared, or the possibility that all the boars loved Kyo just as much as Kagura. Then I imagined what it would be like for the Dragon, or the tiger, or even the snake. An army of slithering snakes terrorizing a neighborhood.

Kyo was quick to get angry again and asked, "what's so funny?!"

I shook my head and managed to suppress my laughs to giggles and told him, "Imagine an army of small snakes slithering around and terrorizing a neighborhood. Or a bunch of tigers. I really want to meet the tiger of the zodiac." Kyo was looking at me strangely while I kept giggling. Once I stopped giggling he was still giving me that strange look of his. I tilted my head to the right and asked him, "what?"

That seemed to snap him out of whatever daze he was in as he shook his head to clear it of its thoughts and said, "Nothing." I picked up the cat and put it on the ground before I stood up, brushed off the back of my skirt, and held my left hand out to Kyo.

"So are you ready to come back to help with the stand," I asked him with a gentle tone.

Kyo turned his body away from me and asked, "Why should I go back and help? They probably don't need me anyway with Yuki around. No one would even care if I was there or not. They're all too busy looking to him. That's the way it's always been, even when we were kids. He's always been the smart one, he knows how to get stuff done, and he's good with people. Everyone around him is always telling him how talented he is. He doesn't even half to try and they all look up to him. It's just like martial arts. I've been training much longer than he has yet he still beats me. It makes me sick." Kyo looked down at the ground, his hands shaking in rage at what he had admitted to. He began to shout again, as if he was asking the gods above, "what do I gotta do to be like that?! Why can't I be, more like him?!"

Kyo was jealous of Yuki.

The thought connected a lot of dots together, explaining the behavior of the both of them. They were jealous of each other, and the other not appreciating what they already have, just makes them more irritated at one another. Since when did boys become so petty about their emotions? These boys are turning my life into one of those Asian high school dramas. I took in a deep breath to calm myself and told Kyo as gently as I was able to, "You're a real idiot."

Kyo quickly turned to face me, shock and anger clear as day on his face, "What did you say?!"

"You mean to tell me, you honest to god believe that you have to be just like Yuki to be admired or considered special? Grow up! You don't need to be anyone other than yourself. Every human being on this earth is made with flaws, and things they don't like about themselves. But just as everyone has flaws, they have good and admirable qualities too. Yuki isn't perfect, not even close. Neither is Tohru, Shigure, or anyone else on the god damn planet because perfection doesn't exist. Perfection is nothing more than an idea that's perceived differently by every single person. So, get over yourself already and get up. Because while you may not think so, I believe you're fantastic just the way you are."

Kyo's eyes began to shine with something I had never seen before. Though if I had to put a name to it, I would say it looked like hope, determination, and resignation all in one. It was a strange but inspiring look. I put my hand in front of his face, offering to help him up. He seemed hesitant but Kyo still grabbed my hand and pulled himself up, the cats jumping off of his shoulders and legs as he did. We both climbed down the ladder and were making to go back down the stairs to class.

"Hey Natsumi?"

"Yeah," I asked, as I turned my head to look at him.

"Thanks."

"I paws-itively don't know what you're re-fur-ing to, but you're welcome fur whatever it is."

"I hate you."

It was the next day and Tohru and I were both in the kitchen making rice balls for the stand. Rice balls were pretty fun to make, especially when you're making some with weird flavors. Tohru and I had a crazy amount of rice balls already made. The proof being that when Kyo walked in and shouted, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! Are you trying to turn this place into a rice ball shop?!"

Simply ignoring his shouting Tohru smiled at him and said, "good morning! You're up early aren't you?"

Kyo picked up a leek rice ball and said, "no this is when I always get up."

Just as he was about to take a bite I wrapped my hand around his wrist, effectively pulling his hand and the leek rice ball away from his mouth. I plucked the rice ball out of his hands and put it back where he grabbed it from. I quickly began to make another rice ball, this one with salmon inside, as Kyo began yelling some more.

"What the hell was that about?! It's just one rice ball, its not gonna be missed!"

I turned to face him so he could see me roll my eyes at him. I grabbed his wrist once again, and lifted it up before flipping it over to reveal the palm of his hand. I placed the salmon filled rice ball in the center of his palm before reaching up to flick his nose. "That rice ball you were trying to eat has leek in the center. I wasn't willing to deal with the cat-astrophic temper tantrum you were bound to throw. So that rice ball has salmon in it. You're welcome."

"Would you quit it with the god damn cat puns already?! AND WHO WOULD WANT TO EAT A LEEK RICE BALL?!"

Seeing as how I turned back to making rice balls, completely ignoring Kyo's anger, Tohru explained, "We're doing a hit or miss stand remember. So the leek is supposed to be a miss."

Kyo stalked out of the room and towards the table, "Ah, whatever!"

Tohru was standing in the door way of the room looking at Kyo and mumbled loudly, "Maybe the reason you don't see it is because it's stuck to your back." Tohru's words caught Kyo's attention as he turned to look at her and she explained her statement, "What I mean is. A person's admirable qualities. Like a… pickled plum on a rice ball. In other word the person's the rice ball and the plums stuck to their back. So, all over the world you could have rice balls made with all sorts of wonderful ingredients. All different flavors, shapes, and colors. But since they'd be stuck in the middle of someone's back, they could have a plum and not even know it. They'd look at themselves and think, "I'm so plain. Nothing but white rice." Even though it isn't true. Just turn them around and sure enough, there it is. There's the plum. So, if someone is jealous of somebody else, it's probably cause it's easier to see the plum on somebody else's back than it is on your own. I can see it. Right there on your back Kyo. You can't see it, but you have a great big plum on your back. You're admirable in your way, and Yuki is admirable in his way."

Kyo blushed bright red that would rival a tomato, pretending to be angry to hide it, "OKAY NOW THAT'S THE DUMBEST THING I EVER HEARD! AND WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT A STINKIN PLUM ANYWAY?!"

Tohru bowed her head in apology and said, "I'm sorry. We could change it to salmon or cod if you like. Excuse me. I guess I left the kettle on the stove." Tohru got back up and walked back into the kitchen. I was making a plate of rice balls in the shape of cat heads as Tohru took the tea off the stove when we heard Kyo say softly, "Hey. You've each got one too. I mean stuck to your back… there are plums… I-I can see them."

Tohru looked surprised and happy as she asked, "you can see it?"

Kyo kept his head away from us as he said, "yeah but it's small. Like a baby plum."

Tohru responded enthusiastically, "Baby plums are delicious!"

It was the day of the cultural festival and Kyo was helping the guys set up the stand. "It's crooked," Kyo told the other guys.

One shrugged him off, "Doesn't matter. As long as it stays standing, cat lover."

The other guy popped up saying, "yeah, no one would notice something so small anyway cat lover."

"Quit being so finicky, cat lover."

Of course, Kyo got pissed and shouted at them, "what's the deal with all this cat lover crap?! Are you trying to make fun of me or something?!"

One of the guys started waving his hand and said, "we got you figured out. You talk tough but deep down your just a softy who loves animals." All three boys cooed at Kyo.

Kyo being Kyo, he shouted at them, "knock it off will ya?! For the last time-!"

I began to ignore Kyo's shouting at our classmates as I laid out the rice balls on the appropriate trays for the stand. Uo's voice caught my attention as she asked, "why is it every time orange-top is around I get a headache?"

Yuki responded to Uo, "at least he's trying to help this time. For him that's pretty rare."

Two upper classmen opened the door to our class room and walked in calling out, "oh Yuki~!"

Yuki turned towards them and gave a polite, "hello."

They started giggling as soon as he did, and one girls spoke, "guess what? We have a surprise for you Yuki. It's a present."

The other girl started talking, "all the senior girls chipped in and bought it hoping you would wear it today." … Wear it? I paused in my placement of rice balls knowing I had to see this.

Yuki was quick to question, "wear?"

The girls pulled out this pink dress from seemingly no-where and chimed together, "Ta~ Da~! A one of a kind festival outfit just for you, Yuki!"

If I had any less control over myself I would have laughed. The mental image of Yuki wearing that ridiculous dress was priceless. What was even better than the mental image was seeing it up close and in person. I would have felt bad for Yuki if he wasn't the one who willingly agreed to wear it. The fault was entirely on him, though Yuki being in such a dress attracted quite a lot of attention to our stand. Our classmates were doing their best to sell rice balls whilst I was off to the side with Tohru listening to the excitement. Everyone was saying things like "they're selling like crazy!" "we're on track for first in the food category" till they switched to praises for Tohru "I think it's thanks to Tohru's delicious rice balls for that." "It's all delicious" "Tohru you gave us such an incredible variety" "your cooking is so good that even the misses taste yummy" "I especially love these cat shaped rice balls!"

Tohru was blushing of embarrassment and humbly told them, "oh no really! Natsumi helped with a lot of them. And the cat shaped ones were just something fun we came up with."

I sighed as I heard Tohru bring me into the conversation. "really? She doesn't seem like the type to cook."

Tohru shook her head in denial, "oh but she is, and the cat shaped rice balls were mostly her idea and she always makes delicious food. Though, I don't really think the food is what's really attracting everyone to our booth." She looked off towards Yuki who was in the silly dress. A lot of people were trying to take pictures of Yuki while the three fan girls tried to fight them off.

The female class rep commented, "I don't think we could have asked for better advertisement."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Yuki looked at Tohru and immediately turned his head away in shame. Tohru mumbled sadly to herself, "I hope I didn't do anything to make Yuki mad at me. he looks upset."

"Don't worry about him," Kyo told her, "my guess is it's more embarrassment than he can stand having to dress up like that. I mean he's already got a big enough complex over that girly face of his."

Suddenly a young male voice called out, "YUKI~!"

We watched as a young boy with blonde hair and a bright smile ran up and jumped up onto Yuki's shoulders, hugging Yuki's head to greet the rat of the zodiac. The young blonde soon commented, "Yuki, you look like a girl."

Kyo then asked to no one in particular, "what the hell? What is that little brat doing here?"

I turned to look at Kyo and asked, "You know him?"

A tall man with dark hair and olive eyes walked in and told the young blonde in a deep voice, "Momiji, you are not to go running off by yourself. Yuki, Kyo, I see you're both looking well."

Yuki's eyes widened in shock as he mumbled out, "Hatori." Girls started swarming around them ogling over the three Sohmas: Momiji, Hatori, and Yuki. The young blonde Momiji took off his hat and greeted everyone in the class room, "hi there! I'm Momiji Sohma. And this guy here with me is Hatori Sohma. We're two of Yuki and Kyo's relatives."

Tohru turned to Kyo and asked, "Is that right?"

Kyo nodded his head in confirmation all the while glaring at his relatives. Kyo seemed to be speaking more to himself then us as he said, "yeah that's right. Never mind Momiji. What's that bastard Hatori doing here?"

I raised an eyebrow at Kyo and lightly scolded him, "That's not a nice thing to say about your relatives, Kyo."

Hatori pulled out a stethoscope from the bag he was carrying and placed the end to Yuki's chest and told him, "Take a deep breath."

While Kyo kept his eyes on Hatori and Yuki he explained to Tohru and I, "Hatori's a doctor."

I looked at Kyo and smirked a little as I asked, "are you sure he's not a vet?"

Kyo took the time to turn and glare at me before going back to watching Hatori like a hawk. Yuki asked Hatori, "couldn't we have found a better time for this?"

Hatori reminded Yuki, "We did. We had an appointment. You should know you can't skip your monthly check up."

Tohru appeared beside Yuki and asked, "Checkup? Yuki why would you need a checkup? Is there something wrong?"

Yuki's eyes widened as if just realizing Tohru was beside him and said, "sort of."

Hatori took his stethoscope away and explained to Tohru, "his bronchial tubes are fairly sensitive. He used to suffer from asthma attacks when he was little. It's a condition he's gradually growing out of. But we like to be sure. I'm assuming your Tohru Honda."

Tohru seemed surprised and told him, "uh. Yes I am. Nice to meet you."

Tohru smiled up at Hatori till he looked over at me and asked, "Can I presume you're Natsumi Hisoka?"

I walked over next to Tohru and Yuki before bowing politely to Hatori, "Yes I am. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Hatori then replied to our greetings, "indeed. I didn't expect you two to be such ordinary girls."

Yuki then shouted in a reprimanding tone, "Hatori!"

"Ah! Don't! You can't climb on the stand," we heard the female class rep shout. We looked over and saw Momiji sitting on the stand while eating a rice ball.

Kyo grabbed Momiji and, whilst trying to pull him off of the stand, asked, "what do you think you're doing you little runt?!" Tohru and I left Hatori and Yuki to go help Kyo with Momiji. Kyo had just gotten Momiji off of the stand and pulled the blonde behind the white curtain where the extra rice balls were kept. Kyo hit Momiji on the head and said, "Stay here and sit still!"

Momiji then started crying out, "Somebody! Help! Kyo's hitting me! Waaaaaah!"

I walked up beside Momiji and knelt next to him as I started stroking his hair. "There, there," I gently cooed to him.

Tohru walked closer to us and asked, "Is everything okay?"

Momiji seemed to light up in realization and cheered, "That's right! You're Tohru Honda, right?! And you're Natsumi Hisoka! Right? Right?!"

Tohru and I both nodded out heads in confirmation and he jumped around in joy and smiling as he asked us, "Do you know who I am?"

Tohru and I both spoke together, "you're Momiji."

Momiji somehow managed to smile brighter as he cheered, "That's right! That's right! You remembered my name! That makes me so happy! Let's all be friends! Hey, you both know about the zodiac thing, right?" Tohru and I nodded in confirmation, yet again. He jumped up and ran towards us saying, "That means I can hug you!"

Kyo was quick and grabbed the back of Momiji's shirt as he shouted, "hold it right there lover boy!"

Momiji whined back at Kyo, "but Tohru and Natsu don't mind if I transform! Do you Tohru, Natsu?!"

I could see Kyo was on the verge of hitting Momiji again as he shouted, "do you even know where you are?!"

Momiji looked back at Kyo as best as he could and complained, "You just want to keep them all to yourself! I bet you hug the both of them every day!"

Kyo, having fallen right into Momiji's trap, released the boy with a blush on his face, "who would want to do that?!"

Momiji ran up and tackle hugged both Tohru and I in a hug while shouting joyfully, "I would!"

There was the typical explosion of a member of the zodiac transforming. Once the smoke cleared there was a bunny on Tohru's knee that I could easily assume to be Momiji. I thought fast and quickly picked up Momiji's clothes, hiding them under my shirt just before some of our classmates came in. One of Yuki's fan girls looked around and asked, "Wait where's Momiji? And what's with the rabbit?"

I turned to her and answered calmly, "Momiji went to the restroom. We found this bunny back here eating a rice ball and we were trying to catch it. Sorry for the concern we'll just take the bunny outside now." They easily bought the response I gave them and Kyo, Tohru who was carrying Momiji, Hatori, Yuki and I left to the roof of the school.

"You little brat! Do you know what you almost did," Kyo scolded Momiji.

Hatori told Momiji, "You're going to be grounded for one week."

Momiji looked at them with teary eyes as he asked, "What'd I do? Tohru! Natsu! They're scaring me!"

Kyo shouted at Momiji, "leave them alone! It's your own damn fault!"

I scratched Momiji between his ears and asked, "If you're going to call me by a nickname would you mind calling me Sumi? I'm much more used to that nickname."

Momiji nodded his little bunny head and said, "sure!"

Hatori took his turn to scold Momiji, "I'm very disappointed in you. We're only lucky Natsumi was able to come up with a good explanation."

It reminded me I still had Momiji's clothes under my shirt. I took them out and sat them on my lap all the while Kyo started smirking and said, "even if she didn't come up with a good excuse Yuki could have just bat his pretty eyelashes a couple times and have everyone swoon-. AH!"

Yuki had run up and punched Kyo under the chin and sent Kyo flying in the air. Yuki then stood menacingly above Kyo and threatened him, "next time I'll send you flying off the roof." Yuki then turned his attention to Momiji and stood in front of the bunny, who was on Tohru's head, and scolded him, "Momiji you really do have to be more careful."

Hatori was quick to agree," indeed. You'd do well to heed that advice. Now I think it's time we went home."

Momiji then began whining, "Oh come on! I wanted to talk to Tohru and Sumi some more!"

Tohru was on Momiji's side, still wanting to learn more about the new Sohma's, "It would be a shame if you couldn't stay longer."

Hatori didn't waver and told them, "Take a moment to say your goodbyes."

Momiji whined to Hatori, "Hari you're so dull!"

Kyo shouted in the background, "YOU HEARD HIM MOMIJI! NOW GO HOME!"

As Hatori was about to walk towards the stairs and back into the school he turned to Kyo and Yuki, "I almost forgot something very important. Yuki Kyo line up by the fence over there. Now I want an honest answer to this question. What is the last letter in the alphabet?" Kyo and Yuki answered "z" at the same time making a false and awkward smile appear on their faces. Hatori quickly took out a camera and got a picture of the two before they could realize it was happening. Hatori picked up Momiji and walked to the door stating aloud, and if I didn't know better I would say I heard a mocking note in his voice, "That should be a nice picture for Akito."

Momiji was waving good bye to us as the two descended the stairs causing me to realize realized Hatori didn't have Momiji's clothes. I ran to catch up with Hatori and Momiji, coming to a quick halt as I caught the sleeve of Hatori's white dress shirt and said, "I forgot to give you Momiji's clothes for when he turns back. My apologies."

He took the clothes and said, "thank you. Please come with me for a moment."

"Okay," I responded only slightly hesitant. I followed Hatori to the schools staff office. He had someone page for Tohru while we went into one of the conference rooms to wait for her. Momiji had gone into a side room for when he transformed back into his cute little blonde self and put on his clothes. Hatori was smoking as he waited for Tohru to join us. It was quite a contradiction to me, to see a doctor smoking cigarettes which are typically claimed to be bad for you.

Just as I was about to comment on it, Tohru opened the door and said, "Excuse me."

Hatori turned to her and said, "I apologize for having to page you like that. But what with Kyo and Yuki around it didn't seem the both of you and I would get a chance to speak properly." Tohru looked shocked and freaked out by something. I was curious what I had managed to miss while I was with Hatori.

"Right to the point then," Hatori said while handing me a paper, "this is the address of the main Sohma estate. I want you both to come by on you next day off. I believe the two of you and I have several very important matters to discuss. And it goes without saying neither of you are allowed to speak about our meeting to Yuki and the others. Nor are you allowed to refuse my request. Am I being clear?"

I nodded in affirmation to Hatori, "We both understand. We'll see you on our next day off."

End of chapter 7. All new chapters from here. Look forward to it.