CHAPTER 9

Kazuma chuckled, switching the phone to his other ear. "Why do you always tend to call me with these problems, Shigure? I'm sorry, but if she really did throw a fit, then you must've done something to make her do it!"

There were soft, sobbing noises that were obviously fake and Kazuma had to roll his eyes, playfully at the receiver. "Shigure, calm down, it's so obvious that you're not really crying-"

"DO YOU WANT ME TO START CRYING FOR REAL?" Shigure cried into the phone so loudly that Kazuma had to hold it a few inches away from his ear. Shigure was acting ridiculously childish. "I'M NOT AFRAID TO CRY, KAZUMA! ONLY REAL MEN SHED TEARS!"

Kazuma sighed, and waited until the shouting was over before he finally put the phone back to his ear and said, calmly. "What do you want me to do?" It wasn't a legitimate question, but Kazuma assumed that it wouldn't hurt to humor the man.

"Punish her! Smack her upside the head or karate chop her face or whatever you martial artists do at that dojo!" Shigure said, excitedly.

Kazuma laughed. "Goodness, did she really piss you off that badly? Are you sure you want me to beat my own little sister?"

Shigure sobered up and chuckled. "No, I'm actually not quite certain you can."

Kazuma opened his mouth to object, but after quick consideration, he smiled. "I'm not sure I can either."

Shigure sighed. "Seriously, though, I didn't know what to do. She walked into my house, into my study, and up to me for help. For the first time in my life, Leiko wanted my help! I…I didn't know how to react to that! I mean, I tried to make her feel better about Kyo's situation. After all, he has a new father, you, and a loving 'aunt' I guess you could call Leiko, although, I feel like she's much, much more than that."

Kazuma smiled, warmly. "Yes, I feel that she is too. Both of us, for different reasons, felt drawn to that little boy and wanted to help him and shield him from the hurt of the world. I guess we've failed terribly and…we knew that'd happen from the start. He's still terrified by his father and…and I don't completely blame him."

There was a pause. "So, I guess I should just give her time then? She was still fired up from Maro's visit and needs to cool off, huh?" Shigure asked.

Kazuma leaned back against the wall. "Well, don't let yourself off that easy, Shigure. After all, you shouldn't have brought up such a raw topic like you did."

Shigure groaned. "I didn't know! I still don't understand! Why did she leave? Why did she bother to come back? Where did she go? Damn it, I want some answers!"

Kazuma nodded. "Those are all good questions, and I don't blame you for wanting answers, but take your own advice."

"Which is?"

"Give it time."

Shigure sighed. "Okay, Buddha, whatever you say." He chuckled with Kazuma and added, "I'll see you later, then."

"Take care." Click! Kazuma hung up the phone and rubbed his temples, eyes closed in thought. Leiko had always had that spit-fire attitude, but was surreptitiously smiling when she met people, always trying to be kind, outgoing, and win over their approval. He knew that being in the Zodiac, especially for those like Leiko, approval was the most desperate of wishes. To have someone see you turn and reject you in such a time of need…must be awful…

Kazuma remembered how he was the first one to see Leiko as a fox. His father never wanted to hold Leiko because he was afraid of how fragile the small baby had seemed. At only 6 pounds and 5 ounces, Leiko was a premature birth and a sickly baby at that. The doctors were actually surprised that she lived and, thinking back, Kazuma was surprised that she didn't transform into a fox, being so weak and sickly at the time.

Their mother was protective over Leiko at all times. She never let anyone but her hold the baby for fear of Leiko popping like a bubble or breaking like a porcelain doll. Kazuma was only a teenager when she was born, around sixteen years old, and he hadn't wanted a new baby sister. But Leiko was born with the most adorable tuff of interesting reddish-brown hair with white tips and black roots. She smiled at him after three weeks and started laughing at five. Everyone was extremely surprised. These things usually didn't happen so soon, but what was remarkable was that she only smiled or laughed around Kazuma.

But the mother still refused to let him hold her. "She's too precious for strong, destructive male hands, Kazuma!" she'd lecture him.

He didn't think that he'd hurt her. After all, he'd held a baby before when the only form of money he could make was babysitting cash. So, one night, when Leiko was three months old, after his mother and father were long gone to sleep in a different room, Kazuma snuck into baby Leiko's nursery. He wanted to hold his baby sister and see her smile up at him and giggle, like she did when she saw him walk into a room while their mother was cradling her.

He tip-toed into the room and saw her sleeping soundly in the crib by the moonlit window. He smiled down at her soft, baby skin and familiar reddish hair. He softly put his hand down into the cradle to caress her cheek. She was a beautiful baby ad so peaceful. She awoke to the feel of his touch and when she saw him looking down at her, smile cracked an adorable baby smile.

Kazuma cautiously moved away his hand, but smiled back and waved at her a foot above her eyes. "Hi, baby Leiko," he cooed, quietly into the night. "Did I wake you? Can I hold you?"

She giggled and reached up her tiny hands towards his face. He grinned and oh-so-carefully lowered his hands into the crib and pulled up his baby sister, watchfully remembering how his mother held her, minding her head and bowed legs, and pulled her into his chest, affectionately. "I love you, baby sister," he whispered.

However, the moment he pulled her close into a soft embrace, there was a soft, audible POOF! And soft, sweet smoke filled his nostrils, covering his vision of baby Leiko. But he wasn't feeling soft, baby skin on his rough hands anymore. He felt…fur. Soft, fine fur, like a cat or rabbit. A bushy tail hung down his arm where her short, stubby legs had been cradled and when the smoke cleared, to his immense shock and confusion, he was looking down into the same green eyes.

But attached to a baby fox lying on her back, squirming around. Her pelt was the same exact coloring as baby Leiko's interesting tuff of hair and a diaper was around the animal's rump, slipping off due to it being too big for the infant fox. Kazuma, scared, let go of the fox. The baby animal almost fell to the floor when Kazuma quickly caught it. It let out a cry of shock, but Kazuma was still frozen in fear and confusion.

A fox? What? Where was his adorable baby sister? Where was Leiko and why was he holding a fox and…and…WHAT THE HELL WAS HAPPENING?

He quickly put the fox down into Leiko's crib. It rolled around on its back, flapping its tail around. Kazuma gripped the crib railings and stared at the fox for…ever it seemed like. In retrospect, it was probably only ten minutes, but Kazuma was still captivated by fear. Fear that he had turned his little sister into the fox somehow, fear that this wasn't his sister at all and she had fallen out of something, or maybe she would never change back into a baby.

Or even worse. That his suspicions were right and this fox was Leiko.

He wasn't wrong.

Within the next ten minutes, there was another puff of smoke and the baby fox was a naked baby Leiko, squirming around on her stomach, unable to roll herself over. She let out a pitiful cry and tried to turn her little head to look at her big brother for help.

But he was gone.

In the time that he had seen his sister change from a fox back to a baby and roll, uneasily, he was back in his bedroom, packing up his things. He knew he was only a teenager, but he was frightened out of his mind and he had no answers. He couldn't ask his parents for fear of what they'd do to him…or Leiko for being such a freak child! He could hear the light click on in his parents' bedroom and before the door followed, he zipped up his bag and raced out of the room, grabbing his keys. He would run away to Fumio's home (his best friend and confidant). Maybe he would live on his own. Or maybe he's start his own dojo like he'd always wanted.

He didn't care. Anything to run away from what he'd just witnessed.

Kazuma wasn't proud of what he'd done that day, but he'd especially regretted it when he heard the rest of Leiko's story. She was only three when their father held her and eventually found out. He never told their mother about the curse, though. He'd done what Kazuma had done and left, leaving both Leiko and their mother utterly confused. Kazuma wished he had been there for this to protect her, but…he wasn't that strong.

It was only when she eight did it all start to go downhill…


*Leiko Sohma, Age 8, Doctor's office*

Leiko's mother had rushed her into the hospital the moment Leiko blacked out. The girl was running a 104.9 degree fever! Leiko's mother, Hisako Sato was doing the best she could, but no matter how fast she could rush her daughter and into a hospital room, she still felt like a lousy mother. How could she have let her daughter get so sick? The moment she set the little girl on the gurney, she knew that would not be able to handle if Leiko left her too. She needed her husband, Shiro Sohma. She would've settled for her runaway sun Kazuma too. She just couldn't take this scare alone. The doctor could see that she would not be able to wait outside the examination room, so he gave her a kind smile and said, "Come, Miss Sato. Your little girl needs you."

"Thank you!" she breathed, graciously and Hisako ran through the "No Non-Hospital-Personnel beyond This Point" door and towards room 603 where her daughter was being kept in. Wait for me, my dear Lei! Wait for me! was all she could think, over and over again until she thought she'd be driven mad. She raced into the room and skidded past the curtains. She tugged at a frazzled looking nurse. "Is that my Lei? Leiko Sato-I-I mean Sohma? I-Is she behind that curtain, nurse?"

The male nurse gulped, looking petrified. "Y-Yes, ma'am, but I'm afraid…well, she's fine except one thing…"

Hisako gaped at him, expectantly. "Well? What is it?"

The nurse coughed. "I-I don't know how to put this…I could have been seeing things, but…"

Suddenly there was a puff of smoke from behind the frail curtains. Anxiously, Hisako tore them away to see her daughter coughing and naked under the sheet. Appalled, the mother rushed to her side, quickly covering her up with blankets. "Nurse! Is this any way to treat a patient?"

The nurse, confused, walked over and saw what she meant. Stuttering, he quickly shook his head. "Th-That's not…I-I mean, I didn't-!"

Hisako clucked at him. "Oh shut up!" she put her hand, protectively on Leiko's cheek. "I should have never let that man touch you! I'm sorry, my sweetheart, are you feeling better?"

Leiko coughed, but smiled, weakly at her mother."Y-Yes, I-I think I am, but I-I don't know what just ha…ha…happened-!"

Suddenly there was another puff of smoke, causing Hisako to tumble backwards and cough. She began to panic. "Leiko? Leiko? LEIKO?" she screamed, patting around the sheets for her daughter. She froze when she felt fur. The smoke cleared and a small fox was peering up at her mother, who was terrified, wide-eyed, and disgusted.

"L-Lei…ko?" Hisako whispered.

The small fox, surprisingly answered her in Leiko's voice. "Y-Yes?"

And then Hisako fainted. Even though the fox had changed back into a girl, the pain was still there. Even when Hisako woke up, there was no way she would be able to forget the sight of her daughter as an animal. The nurse raced out of the room, any excuse to leave Leiko. She was curled up against the headboard of the bed, thin hospital sheets pulled up against her naked trembling body. She was staring at her mother, unconscious and sprawled out on the linoleum floor at the foot of the bed.

Her face was shocked and scared. Suddenly her mother's eyes slowly opened and she looked up at her daughter, slowly coming back. "M-Mommy? M-Mommy? A-A-Are you…?"

Hisako's eyes went wide and fearful when she looked at her daughter's blood-shot eyes and sweaty skin, shaking in fear. She crawled backwards, quickly, petrified. "NO! NOOO! GET AWAY FROM ME! GET HER AWAY!" she screeched.

Leiko's eyes shimmered, her jaw hanging open. Doctors ran into the room and grasped her moth by each shoulder and some had to grab her hands and legs to keep her from falling into a psychotic break and hurting herself. Leiko reached out her hand, helplessly, but Hisako screeched, rejecting her. "NO! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" she gapsed, dramatically. "I know why Shiro and Kazuma left…b-b…BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU!"

That was the last thing Leiko saw before a doctor shoved her curtain across her vision and she could only see the silhouette of her mother, retching and letting out ear-piercing screeches, like a banshee or haunted ghost.

And a week later, Hisako killed herself in a murderous attempt to kill her own daughter. When word got around within the Main Sohma Estate that it was because of Leiko and her "secret" form, she was shipped to the "Inside" immediately…never to see her friends or any shred of the family she had left again…


*Leiko, Age 27, Present*

Leiko felt bad for blowing up at Shigure. Honestly, she shouldn't have visited him for help in the first place. She should've gone to Ayame like she used to always do when she was worried or scared or confused. Ayame was the one that would always make her feel better, which was surprising do to his contradicting, upbeat, and a bit crazy personality. She felt safe when he was around. After all, Aya had been Leiko's first friend.

She now stood outside the dojo to visit her brother. She wanted to try and see if talking to her own brother would be better than talking to Shigure. She often did this when she was younger, switching from friend to friend, trying to see who would make her feel better and say the right things. Ironically, she always ended up at Hatori's, but that was her last resort this time. She missed him, but she knew that that would be a talk for another day. She took a deep breath and walked inside. Kazuma's assistant, Kunimitsu smiled at her. He was hauling a box across the hall. "Leiko! What a surprise!" he said, cheerfully.

Leiko always did like Mitsu. He never usually let people down and was the most optimistic person she knew! The only problem with Kunimitsu was that he and Leiko had never been close enough to talk on a deeper level, but Leiko wasn't completely sure if a guy like him could take her issues. Careful not to let Mitsu hug her, which he was used to, she opened out her arms. "Here, let me help you with those boxes."

Kunimitsu shook his head, turning slightly away. "Nah, a man's got to have his pride, you know?" he joked.

Leiko frowned. "Oh and a woman helping you would hurt it?" she snapped.

Kunimitsu sighed. "I didn't mean that! Do you really want to help me?"

Leiko laughed. "No thanks," she smirked. "A woman's got to have her pride, you know."

Kunimitsu rolled his eyes, playfully. "Ha ha." He winked and walking past her, noted aloud, "Kazuma's in the dojo waiting for Haru and Kyo to show up for some official rematch of honor…or something innocuous." He teased.

Leiko chuckled. "Yeah, those two can fight, but they never really hurt each other. Thanks Mitsu!"

She quickly made her way up to the doorway when she heard voices. One was Kazuma, but the other made her blood run hot, heavy, and livid. She felt her fists curl up and she marched up the door, not bothering trying to think any of her rushing train-speed thoughts through. She simply crashed into the room and hissed out one word to the other voice through her clenched teeth. The girl glared back at her and the room got deathly still, the atmosphere like a battlefield before a general yells, "Charge!"

Leiko licked her lips, glaring and wishing the other person dead. "Rin."