Hi guys, I hope you enjoy the next instalment! If could take the time to review it, that would be fantastic- feedback is always welcome, right? Shorter chapter this time around, too. Anyways, enjoy and sorry for any typos. I assure you, nothing was misspelled knowingly

Chapter 10- What is the curse?

She entered the room. Ben had been right; Tsuneo was sat on the bed, staring at the wall, his hands clasped together and his head bent in deep thought. He didn't look up when she entered, instead choosing to smile a little to himself.

"Everyone laughed," she started awkwardly.

"Yes, they did. Regarding that kiss…"

"I think Ben loves Sora, too."

"Yes, he does. Very much so. I wanted to tell you something that me and Ben agreed, and it's regarding the feelings we both share towards you and Sora."

Haruhi stopped in her tracks. This made everything she was going to say after that fly out the window. She sensed Tsuneo was going to say something very important, and she knew what it was about.

"Ben and I… want to figure out how to break the curse."

"I figured as much."

"For you and for Sora, and for the older Zodiacs, still confined in the main house. Akito's taken so many memories, so many precious things away from people, that the curse needs to be broken again to free everyone."

"When we get back, I'm gonna ask Kyo and Tohru about it. They probably know something about it all."

There was a hurried knock on the door. Haruhi looked up to see Ben standing there, looking breathless.

"Look, I know we were meant to have a few more days here, but Kyo and Tohru just phoned and they say there's a couple of visitors for you guys, so you got to come back now," he said in one breath.

"Who are they?"

"Dunno, they didn't say. But we're heading back, first thing tomorrow."

The journey back was as bumpy and intermittent as the first journey from the main house had been. From Sora's expression, Haruhi could tell that she knew; Ben must have told her. With everyone's joint resolve, Haruhi was sure they could break the curse… if there even was a way. Was there a way? If someone as amazing as Tohru couldn't do it, who could? Like Raiden had said, long ago, you couldn't mess with bonds of blood. A bond a blood… how on Earth were they meant to break that? It sounded wrong.
As the mini-bus pulled up in front of the dojo, the chauffeur put his hand for the fee. Haruhi slipped some money into his expectant hand and followed Tsuneo, Sora and Ben out of the bus. Her heart was hammering for some reason, and she had the feeling that the others' were as well. Would Tohru and Kyo approve of what they decided? Probably, but would they help? No-one knew the answer to that.

"Welcome back!"

Haruhi heard Tohru's sunny voice and saw her running towards them, holding Kyo's hand. She looked a little confused as to why they all looked like someone had just died.

"Oh… Hi there," Haruhi said weakly. "We are so glad to be back."

"Oh, why?" her smile faded slightly.

"We have something to ask you," Tsuneo said sombrely. "Plus, we would like to find out who the visitors are."

As they walked inside, Kyo seemed to understand what this was all about. It was amazing how one trip to a hot spring could change them all so much. They had returned with a new resolve.

"We have someone here with us," Kyo added, looking behind himself at the group of teenagers. "It might interest you."

"Who?" Sora asked.

"Well, three people actually, but they came separately. Yuki and Naoko are two of them. They're just here for a visit, and Kureno will be staying with us for a while."

***

It felt like the first day: confusing. Haruhi went first into the living room, to see Yuki knelt down in his usual neat Chinese attire, talking to the one they called Kureno, and Naoko, who looked up at Haruhi and grinned.
Kureno had a strange shade of auburn hair and matching eyes, and he had a gentle face, both kind and apologetic. He looked up when they walked in, and smiled at Haruhi. She cracked a small grimace back, wondering why she felt a strange connection to him. It was a weird feeling, like a pull.
Diverting her attention from this, she looked at Yuki and her face lit up. It was good, like seeing an old friend. He looked much happier than he had on the night she met him. Maybe it was getting Naoko back.

"Long time, no see!" she grinned at Naoko.

"Hi, Haruhi! I'm here visiting with dad. Cool, huh?" she replied. She seemed close to Yuki already.

"You look different. Brighter, more content. Kyo and Tohru have done a good job," Yuki complimented. "It's good to see everyone again. You have all come along quite nicely."

"Who's this guy?" she said, pointing her thumb dismissively (her attempt at bravado) at Kureno, who was smiling from person to person.

"Hey, calm down, I won't bite," he joked. He had a strangely serene expression. "I'm Kureno Sohma; I used to be the bird of the Zodiac before you. Although, you probably sensed that."

"I see, that's who you are!" She realised something. "Bu-But I thought you had your memories erased! Why are you here? How?"

"Well, they weren't buried very deeply- as soon as I saw Kyo and started talking to him, I remembered everything. I've seen my son Raiden- yesterday- and everything's coming back to me," he said happily. He seemed a bit distant, but cheerful, like Tohru. She also noticed how handsome he was for someone his age.

"You must be glad," she supplied, a bit stuck for conversation topics. This wasn't her forte. "Are you seeing him again soon?"

"He's coming to live with us, but I'll be staying here for a while. My wife Arisa is taking care of him while I'm here. I managed to get her memories back, too, after some work."

Kyo cleared his throat, and Haruhi realised with discomfiture that everyone had been listening to their conversation. Sora giggled. They were all still stood up. Tsuneo was the first to move, and seated himself next to Haruhi, and Ben Sora followed suit. Ben sat almost possessively close to Sora at the sight of Tsuneo and Haruhi, which made Sora flush a little.
Tohru stood at Kyo's side, looking content and blissful as always.

"That's really all I was going to explain anyway," Kyo sighed. "Kureno's going to be staying with us for a while. Allowing some bonding time for Arisa and Raiden, and also because they seem to have had a fight."

Kureno bit his lip and gave a short chuckle. "Yes, about that… She was a bit- very annoyed that we had both our memories erased, and wanted to go to Hatori to confront him. I tried to stop her, and, well…" He pointed to the red mark on his cheek that Haruhi just noticed. "She'll be over it soon… I hope!"

"Anyway," Kyo said, turning serious. "What did you all want to ask us?"

Haruhi, Tsuneo, Ben and Sora all exchanged glances, silently deciding who would be the one to speak. Haruhi eventually accepted that that would have to be her. Somehow, she had taken over the role as the natural leader of the group.

"Kyo…" She began quietly. "What is the curse, exactly?"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became very tense. There was a faint ringing in her ears. Naoko's eyes darted between Haruhi and the others. Haruhi remembered that she didn't know.

"Because I think that you really do know what it is… You were the cat, after all."

Kyo sighed, and then took a deep breath, as if he were preparing to drop a bombshell or something. "I wanted you to figure it out on your own, which is why I didn't tell you. I think that you probably know by now as well, actually.
The curse is… Well, it's more than just the transformation into the Zodiac animal when hugged, or weak. It's more than an obligation to obey Akito. The curse is a prevention."

"A prevention? Of what?"

"It's a prevention of love. In the old legend, God wished for all the animals to stay by his side for eternity, which is how the curse came about. The animals all loved God, and everyone was happy, except for the cat, which is why the cat has been the worst-treated animal out of all the Zodiac. As their spirits live on in you, you feel a pull towards Akito, an obligation to love and serve her forever, and no-one else."

Haruhi swallowed. She had known this all along; she had just not been entirely certain. "So the curse is that we are forbidden to love anyone but God? We all have to stay together?"

"That's it. Akito is afraid of being alone, so she wants to surround herself with the only people she thinks will love her, like God."

"But surely she'd want to be loved as more than just God, but as a person?"

"That did happen once. By Tohru. Tohru opened the gap and made amends with Akito as a woman, and not just as God. Things just didn't go as planned, that's all…"

This had gotten Haruhi thinking. The curse was all about bonds, and love. Why did it have to become a curse? When did it become a curse? When the animal spirit vessels, the Zodiacs, realised that they weren't permitted to love anyone else? Akito had said so herself, she was born to be loved. Haruhi did love her, but as a Zodiac member. Tohru had loved her as a real person. She had to admit, Tohru was much more amazing that it first appeared.
If this was all true… How on Earth were they meant to break the curse, when they hated Akito from the bottom of their hearts? Surely this wasn't the way? There had to be something else, a missing link, something they had overlooked…

Kureno unconsciously brushed a hand over his lower back, and smiled distantly. "It was an eventful few weeks, I can tell you…" he said. "I just wish it could have turned out differently to this. Akito's change in personality wasn't as firm as we all thought."

"Forbidden to love anyone…" Ben mumbled. "That does sound like a horrible curse. All the more reason I want to break it!" He glanced anxiously over at Sora.

"To be able to admit to the ones you care for that you truly love them… I wonder what that's like," Sora mused.

"It's the best feeling… ever," Kyo said quietly. He looked sadly at the young Zodiacs. Kureno met Kyo's eyes, then Yuki's and the three of them left the room.

The strange pull that Haruhi had felt when in Tsuneo's arms… That must have been the curse. What else could it be? Though she wanted him more than anything, the vengeful spirit inside her raged and kicked up a fuss, until the moment she pulled away. Love Akito only… It had whispered.

***

"So now, we've got Tohru, Kyo, me, Tsuneo, Sora, Ben and Kureno all living under one roof! It's gonna be eventful," Haruhi mused, trying to lighten the mood, after a few minutes of brooding silence.

"Not fair. At home, Raiden and Haku can be so boring!" Naoko complained. "They always stick together and ignore me."

"Too bad, 'cause we're all having fun here," Haruhi teased.

"I like it with my mum and dad, though. They're really cool. Though, I do wish my dad owned a dojo."

"So…" Tsuneo mumbled. "We're going to break the curse? But how? Kyo did not give us many things to go on."

Sora sighed. "He gave us nothing to go on."

"He wants us to figure it out on our own."

"But we can't do that- we're not smart!"

Haruhi sighed. What were they going to do? They had nothing to go on, nothing at all. Kyo had told them everything he knew. Tohru had tried to break the curse before, by having the Zodiacs form a strong connection with her, and she had prepared to accept Akito into her life and love her, but that didn't work. Clearly, love wasn't going to solve anything.

"Hey- was that a knock at the door?"

Haruhi stood up. They didn't usually get random visitors. She ran through the small list in her head of people it could possibly be, and narrowed it down to Machi, Kairi, or Arisa .

She ran through the hallway and quickly opened the door. Still breathless from running, she leaned against the doorway to see Kairi stood in front of her.

"Oh? Hello, Kairi," she said in disbelief. It had been a while. They hadn't spoken since Ben came to live with Kyo and Tohru.

"I just thought I'd pop in and see how my friend is doing," he said pleasantly.