Chapter 24: Getting Warmer

"You're going to what?"

"I've told you already, Katsuya Onii-san."

"That's the reason you brought that stupid cat here in the first place?"

"Of course," Kamina nodded.

"And what if something goes wrong, like what happened to the previous cat?"

"That only happened because not everyone knew about the… circumstances surrounding the cat's curse. Everyone knows about it now."

"Except for that idiot cat…"

"Well, if all goes according to plan, she won't have to find out."

"You're just gonna trust that she'll be able to do it."

"Everyone trusts that she is able to do it."

"And what if she can't?"

"I believe she can." Kamina said, standing suddenly.

"Tch…" Katsuya scoffed as he stormed out of the room, "Fine, whatever…"

As he stepped out of Kamina's room, he ran into Kyonosuke, who was walking down the hallway.

"O-oh, good morning Katsuya nii-san," Kyonosuke bowed. "Forgive me for running into you; Izuna seemed to have ordered the three girls to annoy me."

"Ahh, good morning to you too, Kyon-kun…" Katsuya nodded.

Kyonosuke gave him an inquisitive look, "Is something the matter, Katsuya nii-san?"

Katsuya shook his head, "Nah, it's nothing. I just… need to clarify something, maybe you can help me."

"Of course," Kyonosuke answered, "You were always there for me, I'll help in anyway I can."

"Alright…" Katsuya began; his face devoid of any emotion at all. "How do you feel about the Sohma curse?"

Kyonosuke's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, "Nii-san, you've already asked me this before."

"I told you, I'm just clarifying something."

Kyonosuke hesitated before answering in a hushed voice, "I love the Sohma curse."

"And… just another thought, feel free not to answer, why do you love the Sohma curse?"

"It's what brought me and Izuna together, after all. And, it's what makes Izuna smile when she's told how dog… or, 'wolf-like' she is."

Katsuya slapped him on the back; a playful expression suddenly looking alien-like on his, once, emotionless face. "You're just a regular romantic now, aren't ya, Kyon-kun?"

"That's because of the curse as well."

Katsuya nodded, his expressionless face returning as he crossed his arms. "Then, as it stands, there are two people in this family that do not want the curse to end…" He pointed to Kyonosuke, "you…" then pointed to himself, "…and me."

Kyonosuke looked up to see Katsuya smiling at him, like he had done when they were younger. "Looks like you're on my team, Kyon-kun."

"Y-yes…" Kyonosuke nodded at Katsuya, "I've always been on your team, Katsuya nii-san!"

Katsuya smirked knowingly at Kyonosuke's obedience, "Good… I'm glad to hear that, Kyon-kun."

Meanwhile, Tohru had finished showering and Izuna had leaded her to the kitchen, where Akane and Kaoru were scrambling around as Torahku and Sarutoubi sat at the counter, idly enjoying their breakfast.

"Yo, if it isn't Neko-chan…! Good morning to you!" Sarutoubi waved enthusiastically.

Torahku stood immediately and took Tohru by her hand. "Yes, what a wonderful morning it is. Wouldn't you say, Mizunashi-chan?"

"Uhh…" Tohru nodded hesitantly, once again under the influence of Torahku's 'special power'. "K-Kaoru…!" she called, averting her gaze from Torahku. "Where's my mom?"

Kaoru turned from the food he was preparing to give Tohru his usual plastic smile. "I left her with one of the family members, who had been waiting to meet her since this morning."

"Oh…" Tohru nodded as she took a seat between Izuna and Sarutoubi at the counter. Torahku had already taken back to his seat, pouting slightly at how, as Sarutoubi mockingly told him, Tohru had chosen Kaoru over him.

Tohru stared intently at both Akane and Kaoru. The two turned to face her and Akane raised an eyebrow. "Is… something wrong?"

Kaoru smiled, "Ahh right, it seems that we're the only two animals in the zodiac that Kitten hasn't guessed."

Akane smiled slightly, "Not to worry, Tohru-chan. My animal will be the easiest to guess."

"Really…?" Tohru said expectantly, her eyes bright.

"Of course," Akane nodded, "…since it will be the last animal to guess." She turned to Kaoru. "I assume she understands that there is no trial and error."

Kaoru dipped his head accordingly, "Kitten understands that well enough, don't you Kitten?"

"H-huh… oh, yeah," Tohru answered; though her thoughts were elsewhere.

Horse… Snake… she thought, there are only two left so this should be easy. She had thought it over since late last night, after Izuna and Kyonosuke had left her room. Tohru didn't know Akane well enough to guess based on personality but Kaoru…

She thought she understood Kaoru fairly well for a person that had only known him for four days. But Kaoru didn't give many hints. He acted both snake-like and horse-like, so how was she to choose?

Tohru thought back to when she first started this guessing game. Michiko was too easy; playful, hyperactive, wants a lot of attention - she was obviously the bunny. If Akane hadn't given Tohru the hint yesterday morning, Tohru thought, she would still probably guess Ryusuke, Torahku and Sarutoubi's animals at some point; and the same went for Himemiya, Kana and Haruhi.

And, just so we're clear… Tohru noted mentally, The stupid rat told me his animal.

More recently, Tohru had to think hard about Kyonosuke and Izuna's animals; they were tricky, but Tohru still got them nonetheless.

But this was really getting to her: she had known Kaoru the longest and yet, she had absolutely no clue as to what animal he was.

"Kitten…"

"H-huh…?" Tohru blinked. Kaoru's smiling face was too close for comfort; Tohru's face turned back into the colour of her hair.

"Your breakfast is going to get cold…" Kaoru nodded, pointing to the plate that had, somehow, made its way in front of her while she wasn't looking. "Oh and, while you were staring into space, everyone already left."

"E-Ehh…?" Tohru looked around, only to see that Kaoru was, once again, right. Akane, Izuna, Sarutoubi and the distraught Torahku had already disappeared from the room; leaving Kaoru and the confused red cat together.

Tohru shook her head. "O-oh… right." She nodded, digging into her food and stuffing a spoonful of scrambled eggs into her mouth. She paused for a moment.

"Kitten, is something wrong…?"

"This…" her mouth opened slightly, "T-this is amazing…!"

Kaoru smiled, sliding himself into the bar stool across the counter from Tohru. "You think so…?"

"D-did you make this, Kaoru?"

He nodded, smiling even wider at his kitten stuffing her face. "I'm glad you like it, Kitten."

When she had finished, he handed her a napkin, still smiling as wide as when she had started. "Was it really that good…?"

"You've never tasted your own cooking?"

"Well yeah, since, generally, I don't really cook…"

Tohru's mouth dropped, "But, those were the best scrambled eggs I've ever tasted! There's no way that's you're first time cooking!"

"I didn't say it was my first time, I said that I generally don't cook." He shrugged, "I've never really gotten the chance to, around here." He nodded, using his thumb to wipe some ketchup that Tohru had failed to clean off near the corner of her mouth, "You were my first taste-tester, so thanks, Kitten!"

"You should let everyone in the clan taste this! It was great."

"Ahh well," Kaoru sighed, "I'm fine with just one person knowing about it." He stood from the seat and winked at Tohru, "Especially if it's you, Tohru…"

All of the blood had, once again, made its way just in time to flush Tohru's cheeks for the second time in twenty minutes.

"U-umm…" was all she could say.

"C'mon," Kaoru laughed, opening the door to leave the kitchen, "You should probably be meeting Kamina-kun now."

Tohru snapped out of it before running to catch up with Kaoru. "Kay, I'm coming… w-wait up!"

"You're so slow, Kitten!" Kaoru called from down the hall. "I'll race you to Kamina-kun's room!"

"I-idiot, I don't know where it is!"

Kaoru stopped running and smiled at her as she finally caught up to him. "Ahh, you're right Kitten, I guess I haven't been doing well as your tour guide!"

Tohru put a hand on his shoulder, steadying herself as she panted. "N-no, you've been doing fine…" she said between gasps for air.

"You need to exercise more, Kitten…"

"Shut up…"

Kaoru laughed, "Ahh the sweet tone of normalcy. I haven't heard you say that all day, Kitten."

Tohru rolled her eyes, "Well, you haven't been as annoying all day. So… thanks…"

After he didn't respond, Tohru looked up at him and noticed that he was eyeing something behind her. She turned around, only to see the horrible rat down the hallway; far enough so that he wouldn't see them, but close enough for them to hear his conversation.

"Ughh…" Tohru grunted, "And my morning was going so well until he decided to rear his ugly head."

Tohru watched as another man stepped out of the room and into the hallway with Katsuya. The man had dark brown hair and deep light-violet… Tohru's eyes widened.

"D-Daisuke-san…?" she muttered.

Kaoru snapped his gaze at her. "Y-you know him?"

Tohru looked up at Kaoru, nodding, "Y-yeah, he showed up while I was sitting in the garden after the banquet. Right before you…" she trailed off; that little awkward situation between her and Kaoru was really something she didn't feel like recalling.

"Did he say anything to you?"

Tohru shrugged, "Not much. All we did was introduce ourselves and look at the stars… Oh, but he did tell me a little about the old Tohru, and everything she did." She studied Kaoru's expression carefully. He was anxious and Tohru had only now noticed the dark bags under his usually smiling eyes - did he not get much sleep last night?

"I-is something wrong…?"

"N-no…" he shook his head, putting on his usual plastic smile. "It's just… about Daisuke Oji-san…"

"Oh, I knew it. He is an uncle in the clan. He told me that he had a daughter and a son in the family."

Kaoru laughed a very dry-sounding laugh. "Did he really…?"

Tohru nodded slowly; she had never heard Kaoru use that kind of laugh before.

"Well don't worry Kitten, he wasn't lying to you."

"Hmm…?"

"You should know that… Daisuke Oji-san…" Kaoru pointed to where the man in question and Katsuya looked to be having an argument from their place down the hall. "Daisuke Oji-san is Katsuya's father…"

A/N's: I'm getting kind of worried. People are still reading this, right? Sorry to ask, but I'm kinda paranoid. If it's because my A/N's are seemingly getting longer, then I hope this shorter one will compensate. Well, other than that: "Plot Twist Alert!" I'm steadily climbing to the climax of this story, so I hope everyone's looking forward to it. Next chapter (a Gaiden) will be about Akane and Ryusuke's back-stories so expect Kyonosuke, Izuna, Kaoru, Sarutoubi and Torahku to slip their way into there (maybe even Michiko, you never know). (^_^) Don't forget to review and tell me how I'm doing, because honestly I have no clue. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you guys in the next one!