Prettyinpinkgal: Holla mi amigos y amigas! Wazzup? One more review and we reach fifty! Yay! Thanks everyone! I'm honored that this story is the first Furuba fanfic you've read and you like it, Ellopoppet! (rereads last sentence and sweatdrops) That sounded really cheesy. I'm sorry. But I really am happy about it! There's no extra animal to the Chinese Zodiac in this fic, Nyrocat. You'll have to read to see what happens...:)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just Hikaru. :)

TROUBLED LOVE

CHAPTER NINE: NEW CURSE, NEW FREEDOM

The duck blinked and looked around, trying to figure out why everything seemed to be so high. Tsuki went to rub her sore head, but she found that she didn't have an arm; she had a wing. In shock, she went over to the nearby puddle by a broken water fountainShe gasped. What on earth just happened, Mom? She was in a small duckling's body. "Wh...what happened?" she whispered. Tohru's eyes widened. She could talk in Japanese still, not in quacks. Just like...

Just like the Sohmas when they transformed.

What made her transform? Why was she a duck? She recalled how the boy who fell on her accidentally hugged her on the way down. "Oh gosh..." Does this mean I'm cursed like the Sohmas? Am I going to go through with this every time I'm hugged by someone? the officially freaked out duck-girl thought to herself. Suddenly, she closed her eyes and a light surrounded Tohru. She opened them and saw she was a human again. She sighed with relief when she saw her clothes were still on.

"Honda-san?" she heard someone say. Tsuki whirled around. "Nekono-san?" the person said. It was Yuki.

Thank God he didn't find out who I was, Tsuki thought, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, Yuki-kun, it's you. Ya know, you can call me Tsuki. You don't have to be so formal!"

Yuki smiled halfheartedly. "I couldn't even call her by her given name until a few days before she left..." he murmered sadly to himself.

Tsuki frowned and looked at the floor. She'd give anything to tell him that she was Tohru, but that would cause more problems. "You mean Tohru Honda, right?"

Yuki nodded and stared at the floor as well. After a few moments, Yuki said, "You sort of remind me of her."

"Who, Honda?"

Yuki nodded. "Yes. You seem tough, but at the same time, you look like her a little."

Tsuki grinned. "So I'm guessing this Tohru wasn't quite the kogal type!"

Yuki smiled slightly. "Yeah, she was really sweet and considerate...Ah! Not saying that you're horrible or anything! I..."

"It's okay! I get whatcha mean." And she did. She knew more than anyone how different she was. "Hey, by the way, could you please help me with my English homework?" Tsuki put on a pleading look, just in case he tried to refuse.

The Rat nodded. "Sure. You can come over to our house, and I'll help you."

Crud! His house! It's hard enough avoiding telling everyone who I am as it is! "Oh no, that's all right! I don't wanna bug you or any..."

"No, I insist. I'll take you there after school," he replied, smiling.

"Uh, sure. Thanks." The two began walking to buy lunch when they walked on a wet section of the floor. All of a sudden, Tohru slipped (A/N You knew it was coming! XP). "Whoa! Watch out!" she cried as she rammed into the unsuspecting Sohma and made them crash onto the floor. She almost freaked out, about to appologize for turning him into a rat...again. Then Tohru remembered how she was supposed to not know about the curse.

Calmly, Tohru said, "Sorry 'bout that. You okay?" She expected to see a little rat, but instead...

"I...I'm fine." Yuki looked just as shocked as she was as they both realized he was still in human form! "Uh...how about you? You're fine? Good, then I have to go! Please excuse me!" With that, Yuki rushed off, leaving a very, very confused Tohru behind.

There's something strange about today... she thought as she watched him run off, still shocked. If she hugged him by accident, why didn't she herself turn into an animal?

Yuki kept running, shocked at the previous event. Why wasn't he a rat? What had happened?

Finally, Yuki gathered up Haru, Momiji, and the one he refered to as "stupid cat".

"What do you want, you dang rat?" Kyo said semi-angrily. He still wasn't quite himself.

"Shut up and I'll tell you," Yuki shot back. "I accidentally was hugged by Nekono-san when she slipped, and I didn't turn into my Zodiac animal!"

"Eh? How can that be?" Momiji asked as energetic as ever. The two others were too stunned for words.

"I don't know. I think you three should 'accidentally' hug some girls and see what happens."

"What if we turn into our animals? Then what do we do?" Haru asked.

"We'll have to do our best not to let anyone see, and if they do, then we'll have to have Hatori erase their memories," Yuki said, regretfully.

Well, the quartet "accidentally" got hugged, but nothing happened. Why this was occuring, no one knew. But the more they thought about it, the more they assumed that a certain Sohma was behind this.

Akito.

Prettyinpinkgal: I know, it's so unbelievably short that it's not even funny. I'm sorry! But, hey, it's an update, right? So that's a good thing, right? Well, ttfn!