Chapter 2: Maybe Someday You'll Have Woke Up
"Wow! Yea! That rocked!" Nick, the little boy, grinned and pumped his fist in the air. The boy's energy was enough to break the silence that had filled the small room. "So wha'd'ya think?" He turned to the others.
"They have my compliments." Hatori was still staring at the TV, which was now focused on the dark stage.
"They were wonderful Nick. Tell you brother great job." Shigure added.
"Yes, their singer is quite talented." Haru added with a nod.
"Quite talented!" Kagura remarked, "She was amazing! I mean that last song… it was really there, you could feel the pain and desperation of the words." The Boar was still clinging to Kyou, who seemed to be the one zoning out this time. His gaze was focused out the dark window, looking down at the stage. "That man Charles said her name was Katie Anderson, right?" Nick nodded an answer. "She's really impressive. It's rare that you get singers these days who can really portray all the emotions that their lyrics say."
"Yea, well…" Nick frowned for a moment before turning a grinning face back up to Kagura. "I'm glad you like her, cause you guys are gonna get to meet her. Well the whole band actually."
"Oh really!?! That's so cool." Kagura's eyes sparkled. "Isn't it Kyou dear?"
…
"Kyou?"
…
"Hey!" Smack! "Pay attention, I'm asking you a question here."
"Ow… damnit woman what is with you?" Kyou rubbed the back of his head. "What the Hell do you want?" He growled.
"Kyou… you're so mean." She pouted. "Why-- do you always-- have to be-- so mean to me?!?" Her voice started to rise as her eyes began to glaze over.
Kyou took a few steps back. Shigure sighed,
"Kyou, why don't you just try to behave for once?"
"Say, I've got an idea." Nick placed a hand on Kagura's shoulder to get her to look at him. "Wanna come help me check on the band? I mean my brother can tell me if they are ready to see you guys… You'll like my brother, James is really cool." He grinned and Kagura smiled back, momentarily forgetting the tirade she was about to go into.
"Okay. Come on Kyou." She grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door following their new found friend. Even after the door was closed, Kyou's protests could still be heard.
"Finally, some peace!" Haru slumped down on the couch. "Hey… you two… you can stop staring at each other, the song IS over you know." Shigure and Hatori followed the Cow's gaze to see that Yuki and Tohru were still holding hands and looking into each other's eyes.
"Oh Haru, leave them be, they're sssssoooooooooooo cute." Shigure chimed in a sing-song way. It was then that the poor "couple" realized that they were being watched and immediately let go and looked away, both blushing. "Aaaawwww… now look what you did… Haru you are so cruel." Shigure was grinning still.
"Um… thank you for the dance Miss. Honda." Yuki added quietly.
"Oh, no no no," Tohru was waving her hands around in her usual fashion. "Thank you Yuki. It was really nice. I don't think I've ever danced with a boy before."
If it was possible, Yuki blushed more. He turned slowly and smiled at her, letting the smile linger before facing the others with a well placed glare.
"And next time Haru, Shigure's right… just keep your mouth shut." His voice was cool, Haru's grin just widened. Tohru looked confused.
"Um… where did Kyou and Kagura go? Oh and that little kid, Nick? What happened?" She blinked. This brought a laugh from Hatsuharu.
"Well you were too busy gazing into lover boy's eyes to notice—" Haru was silenced by Yuki's fist; at least for a moment until he smiled and started laughing again. "Sorry Yuki…" he cleared his throat. "As I was saying, Nick took Kyou and Kagura to meet his brother… or something like that."
"Oh… why?" Tohru still looked confused.
"I guess you didn't hear that either. We're going to get to meet NRGX apparently." Haru's voice was still calm, almost bored sounding.
"That's so cool. Hatori this has turned out to be such a wonderful evening. Thank you so so much." She smiled.
"It was my pleasure Tohru, and I assure you, the night is far from over." Hatori actually smiled. He was not certain what it was about Tohru Honda, but she seemed to have the ability to make just about anyone happy. Now if only it worked on Akito.
Kyou had managed to convince Kagura to let go of his hand and sated her by walking slightly behind her. She and Nick were chattering on about nothing as the group walked through the back corridors. Nick paused in front of an unmarked door and smiled to them as he opened it. Beyond the door was the main dance floor, which had emptied by now. The lights were up and the club locked for the night.
"Wow. This place is a lot bigger from down here." Kyou mused as he followed the other two into the dance floor.
"Yea it really is. You would never be able to tell from that room upstairs." Nick added. A voice from across the room startled them all.
"Well I had wondered where you'd gotten off to." The boy, or rather young man, sounded amused. He wore a pleasant smile as he walked over to the group. His hair and eyes were the same color dark brown as Nick's. Except he wore his hair down to the middle of his back and tied in a braid, he also had a goatee. Unlike the rest of the band, he was dressed in black cargo pants and a black wife beater. "You should be careful Nick; you know how dangerous clubs like this can be." A silent acknowledgement passed between the two. Nick laughed,
"Don't worry Jamie. The Souma's let me stay with them in the box so I was fine." With that, the younger boy ran over to the older and was lifted up; after setting Nick back down, James made his way over. "Hi. I'm James… Canix. I do all the mixing for NRGX. I see you already met my younger brother." He held out his hand; Kagura took it instantly.
"I'm Kagura Souma, and that's Kyou Souma." Kyou was still looking around the place; he had never been in a club before.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Kagura, and you too Kyou. And thanks for looking after my little brother." He smiled warmly.
Kagura opened her mouth to tell him no thanks was nessisary, but another voice began before hers could.
"It's good to see you have started introductions James." The new voice was familiar somehow. Kyou and Kagura turned to see the older man from earlier walking out from back stage; he was still dressed in the white suit. The man was flanked by two of the women from the band; Lania, who was now wearing red snakeskin pants and a black halter-top; and Sylver who seemed comfortable in jeans and a tight blue tee shirt.
The side door opened again and this time it was Hatori and the others who walked out.
"I'm glad you found your way down here, it can be quite confusing back there." The blond man said to Hatori with a smile.
"Welcome to Japan, Alexander." Hatori replied as he crossed the room and shook the older man's hand.
"I'm glad to be here Dr. really, truly, glad. I do suppose formal introductions are in order now that we have everyone from your side here." Hatori nodded in response. Alexander took a step back and gave everyone a full bow. "Good evening everyone. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Alexander Sohma. Head of what you might call the American Branch of the Souma family."
Somewhere a pin dropped, and it was the only sound that could be heard.
For the moment, time itself seemed to be irrelevant, as Alexander Sohma explained to the others the reason that they had never heard of their family in America. He told them about Taro, and Yasuo, and how eventually the Zodiac Curse began to appear in their line as well. Alexander remained calm and collected as he spoke of how their family had tired to contact the main branch over the years, oh so long ago; and how eventually Shido Sohma gave up. Lastly, after an unknown period of time, Alexander explained his intentions for being in Japan; a desperate, if somewhat forceful, effort to rebuild the ties that were lost and re-forge the bond of family.
"I don't know what to say." Kagura's voice sounded distant. "I mean… I'm not sure what should hit me first. That we have more family that we didn't even know about… or that there are others out there who share our curse." She swayed a little on her feet and gasped in surprise as James put an arm around her.
"Either… both maybe." He managed a smile at her surprise. "Don't worry, you aren't going to transform. I'm James Sohma, that's my real name, sorry about deceiving you earlier. It's just that I knew Alexander wanted to be the one to tell you guys everything. And it was not my place to do so before it was time." He seemed much more serious than the young man who was playing with his little brother only a short time ago. Then again, it was a serious situation.
"So you are a member of the Zodiac?" This from Yuki.
"Yes, I am. I'm the Snake, and my younger brother Nick is the Monkey. I think you'll find that all the people you are about to meet are more than what you expected them to be."
"We're all Sohma's." The youngest of the Americans, Sylver, spoke next. "The whole band I mean. Originally, Caitlin, Alexander's daughter, started the band just for fun. We had no idea we would actually be popular. Once we started performing and recording, it was decided to use… pen names of a sort I guess. We figured the family had enough attention as is, and we didn't want to make any more trouble. Oh yea, I'm Sylver by the way." She held out her hand, no one moved, they all just stared at her and the rest of the Americans as if they had grown a second head… or maybe a third.
"It's nice to meet you Sylver. I'm Tohru Honda." With a warm smile, Tohru stepped forward and shook the girl's hand. "That's Yuki, Kyou, Hatsuharu, Kagura, Shigure, and Hatori." Tohru began introductions, "they're all Souma's. I'm the only one who isn't, but don't worry I've already promised not to tell anyone about the curse and all."
"Oh we know dear." The older woman said as she smiled sweetly at Tohru. "Hatori was kind enough to tell us about you in his letters." She sauntered forward and took both of Tohru's hands in hers. "I'm Lania Sohma, and believe me it is a pleasure to meet you." Nick moved up and wrapped his arms around his brother, who was still holding Kagura; she seemed to have gotten her feet under her, but since she was not protesting his hold he had not let go.
"Yea I'm sorry bout not saying something sooner, but the real reason I wanted to stay up there with you was that it's way to easy to run into girls in a place like this. So when Jamie told me to find somewhere safe, I figured that was the best bet." He added sarcastically, "well don't all embrace at once. I mean come on, we're reunited family here, shouldn't we all seem a little happier."
Tohru grinned back. "Well I could always give you a hug, if you really want one." Nick took two steps back and looked honestly afraid.
"No no, that's okay." Nick squeaked. James laughed as his little brother blushed; this only made him laugh harder. Seeing the boy in such a predicament was pretty amusing. And before anyone knew it, Kagura and Haru were laughing along with him. Tohru joined in as the boy's cheeks turned a bright crimson red.
"Miss Honda?" Yuki placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong with you people? Have you all gone crazy?" Kyou shook his head. And the laughter died down and all the participants were left with smiles on their faces, Alexander relaxed, seeing that perhaps there was a chance after all.
"Okay, let's start over." Haru began. "As Tohru said, "I'm Hatsuharu Souma; most people just call me Haru though. Welcome to Japan, it's good to have you." With that, Haru went around shaking hands, followed by Kagura. Shigure and Hatori had already started chatting with Alexander and Lania, leaving the "kids" to cause havoc.
"I am terribly sorry for seeming rude earlier, it's just that this came as such a surprise. I think I am still a little stunned." Yuki made his introductions as well.
"Hey don't worry about it. It's not like it was very fair on you guys. I mean we've always known about you; but your family was never told about us." James added while trying to pry Nick from his waist. The youngster was avoiding Tohru like the plague; afraid she may just go through with her threat and hug him.
"Right, nice to meet you all." Kyou had his hands in his pockets and a smug, out of place look on his face, but never the less he shook hands with everyone. "This is insane." He mumbled.
"So if you don't mind me asking, I mean I don't want to seem rude, but I can't help but be curious; what animals are all of you? I mean besides James and Nick." Tohru asked looking shy. Yuki placed a hand on her shoulder as if to reassure her. Tohru had learned long ago that if it was left up to her to figure out, she would never be able to tell who was who. Just remembering how she found about and Kagura… or Ritsu was proof enough.
"Well what do you say we play a little game, and you can guess?" The voice was new, and seductively male. The blue haired youth from earlier had walked out of a side door and was now approaching their little group. With a bow of flourish, he introduced himself as Kahlan Sohma. He was still dressed as he was earlier, which meant he still only had half an outfit on. At this close, he was even more attractive, and the girls could not help but notice. He nodded to the men and kissed the hands of Tohru and Kagura, earning him a glare from Yuki and Kyou, but if he noticed, he pretended not to. "Don't worry about introductions, I head them, just wanted to see how things played out is all."
"Ah Kahlan, always one to make an entrance," Sylver shook her head. Kahlan flashed the girl a smile that reflected back and forth between silver eyes.
"You know me Sis, I see a pretty girl and…" he shrugged, "I just can't help but sweep them off their feet." He flashed the grin to Tohru, "but I am afraid a kiss on the hand will have to do for you my dear… Wouldn't want to transform and spoil all the fun of the game."
Tohru blinked, unable to speak.
"Why don't you just keep your hands to yourself Punk!?!" Kyou said as he stepped in front of Tohru and separated her from Kahlan. Laughing Kahlan stepped back,
"Chill out man! I had no idea the lady was taken. Besides I just tease, my heart belongs to another." He made a dramatic statement about it.
"Kahlan, you are such an idiot." James added with a sigh.
Kyou looked stunned, he was not sure what just happened, but if it got that blue haired freak to leave Tohru alone, he was okay with it.
Finally getting her voice under her, Tohru joined in. "I think it sounds like a fun idea; but I'm afraid I don't know enough about any of you to even try to guess what member of the Zodiac you are. And are the other Souma's aloud to help me?"
"Well sure they are… and in regards to your first statement, we'll do it this way… Each of us will tell you a little about ourselves, and of course you can all do the same," he indicated to the members of the Japanese Branch, "that should help."
Tohru nodded, "that sounds perfect. So who's gonna start?"
"Well since it was my idea, why don't I start?" Kahlan spread his arms with a smile, letting the lights glint off a silver nipple ring. "My name, as I said, is Kahlan Sohma. Sylver there is my big sister. I do backup and rhythm guitar for NRGX, and in my spare time I am a senior in High School; I like loud music, a good club scene, and of course the love of my life Caitlin Sohma."
"I swear she's going to kill you the next time she hears you say that." Sylver mumbled under her breath.
"Oh that's so cute. So she is your girlfriend? Is she a member of the Zodiac too?" Tohru was her normal exited self.
Sylver laughed, "Actually no, Kahlan, despite himself can not seem to "sweep" Cat off her feet. She has dodged every advance he has made and usually ends up kicking the crap out of him when he pushes too hard."
"Such harsh words Syl… I have all the time in the world. It's not like she's being eyed up by anyone else."
"No, because she would probably kill them too; I think the only reason she lets you live is because you're family. Oh and if she doesn't kill you, Dani will." Sylver replied.
Kahlan sighed and gave her false dreamy eyes. "Oh but the chase is half the fun. You guys saw her; she goes by the name Katie Anderson on stage. She's NRGX's lead singer, and she is so pretty with out all that makeup."
"Moron." James sighed.
"Anyhow… so what do you think Miss. Tohru? What is behind door number one?" Kahlan grinned.
Tohru looked pensive… "well… I don't know… let me think about it for a moment."
"If I may Miss Honda… Since our new "friend" Kahlan said that we could help you, perhaps you should look at his physical appearance as well as what he has said." Yuki squeezed the hand on her shoulder gently and smiled.
"His physical appearance?" Tohru looked Kahlan over carefully and he practically modeled in a circle for her. She sighed, "Nope, still not helping. Why… do you know?" Yuki glanced up to catch Kyou's gaze, Kyou raised an eyebrow and sighed.
"Do you want us to take this one for you?" Kyou said in a tired voice.
"Sure, do you know too Kyou?" She was cheerful.
Kyou just sighed and somehow, in unison with Yuki, said one word… "Cow!"
Kahlan laughed… "Not bad Souma's… good guess… how did you know?"
Yuki and Kyou looked at each other again and then pointed behind them to Haru.
"Because you remind us too much of him." Kyou said
"Haru is the Cow as well." Yuki frowned, great another one… I hope he doesn't have a black side as well. If so, I hope this is it because if he gets any worse I don't think I'll be able to deal with it.
Kahlan and Haru looked at each other and smiled. "Yea I guess we do have a similar style." Haru added in. "So who's next?" He looked around "How bout you Kagura?"
Kagura smiled, "okay, sure. Well I'm Kagura Souma. I like cooking, cleaning, and anything else that will make me a better wife to Kyou in the future." She latched herself onto the Cat's arm.
"Damnit woman we are not engaged! What part of that don't you understand?" Kyou tried to pull away.
"But Kyou, you were the one who proposed to me when we were just kids." She pouted.
"YOU MADE ME! Remember the whole boulder incident, I was afraid you were gonna kill me." He protested
"Kyou… you're being mean AGAIN!" And as Kagura beat Kyou around the room Kahlan, James, Sylver, and Nick were left to ponder her possible identity.
"Please allow me to apologize for…" Yuki paused, unsure of which one really needed him to explain their actions. Frowning, he rested his forehead in his palm, "… well for both of them. Kagura loves Kyou very much; really, she just has a… loud way of showing it."
James shook his head, "don't worry about it. It's all cool. Though really, I'm stumped as to what member of the Zodiac she is. Can we get any more hints?"
"Kagura is a wonderful person once you get to know her. She's always been willing to help me with chores around the house." Tohru added, James raised an eyebrow, perhaps at the mention of chores… or maybe it was just placing the violent woman and "wonderful person" in the same sentence together.
"Well Kelly is kinda like that." Nick added looking up at James for confirmation.
"True…"
"And we have no idea what she'd be like when she gets older, so who knows." Nick continued. "Can I take a guess?" He looked to Yuki and Haru, since the other two were "busy" at the moment.
"Sure Kid, I don't see why not. No one's gonna stop you." Haru shrugged.
"Well then my guess would be the Rabbit." Nick nodded, "Since that's what Kelly is."
Haru and Yuki looked at each other and blinked, each having their own mental picture of Momiji at the moment.
"Not quite," Yuki added. "Kagura, you win this one. Why don't you come introduce yourself properly to another member of the Zodiac. Besides, I think that stupid—" Yuki stopped. "I think Kyou is well and thoroughly… sated, for the time being." Kagura came out of her tantrum and looked down at Kyou, who was under her feet and not moving.
"Oh poor sweet Kyou… what happened to you. How did you get all these bruises?" She exclaimed as she cuddled him.
Yuki glanced back at all the Americans, who looked tremendously shocked, and merely shook his head.
"I'm fine… I'll be even better once you let me go." Kyou sounded defeated.
"Okay, but just for a little while." Kagura was back to her cheerful self. "I'm the Boar actually." She added as she walked back over.
"Wow I never would have expected that." Nick cut in. "You're way different from our families Boar. He's not quite so…" as Nick searched for the right word Sylver spoke for him.
"Excitable… I think would be one way of putting it."
Nick nodded.
"No, Kagura seems like a generally good person. Lee is an asshole." Kahlan shoved his hands into his pockets as he mumbled under his breath.
"Not here Kal, please not here." Sylver laid a hand on his shoulder. Kahlan nodded, looking a little indignant.
"So what does our new friend win, I mean she should get something." Kahlan smiled and seemed to be back to his "normal" self. James looked at him and the two exchanged a grin.
"I don't know, we could always give her you for a night… but I think that should be the prize for the looser not the winner." James added sarcastically.
"You would think something like that. Fine fine… so who's next? Kagura, why don't you choose?" Kahlan swung an arm around his sister's shoulder and ruffled her hair. Kagura thought for a moment.
"Well you could always guess Kyou."
"Alright." James looked over at the orange haired boy. "So looks like it's your turn then."
"No, it's not. Because I am not doing this; it's stupid." Kyou crossed his arms.
"I think you are the one who is stupid, can't you even try to get along like a normal human being." Yuki glared at his rival.
"Shut up you damn rat! No one asked you." Kyou shot back.
Yuki sighed, "You really are an idiot."
"That's it… you're dead!" Kyou moved towards him and threw a punch, which Yuki easily avoided.
"Oh like I haven't heard this one before." Yuki added as he continued to dodge Kyou's punches and kicks.
"The Cat." Kahlan said suddenly. Both combatants stopped. "You're the Cat." Kyou glared at him and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. "Yea, so what if I am?"
"I think it was the damn rat comment that gave it away. Our Cat says it often enough." Kahlan replied.
"So do your Cat and Rat fight like Yuki and Kyou?" Tohru looked at Kahlan quite seriously.
"Yea I guess… though I get the feeling that ours are a bit closer than these two. I mean for all their fighting, they still believe in the bonds of family."
"What does the rest of the family think about him?" Tohru had moved over to stand next to Kahlan with out even realizing it. "Is he still an outcast in your family?" There was sadness in her voice at the last part. Kahlan sighed and looked at the floor.
"We're not really supposed to talk about it." He mumbled. Tohru looked defeated at the news.
"Of course, I understand." She sighed.
The uneasy silence that passed between the two was shattered by Alexander, as he walked over to their little group. "I'm sorry to interrupt Miss. Honda," he said turning to Kahlan. "Kal, if you don't mind me asking… Where are my children?" The Head of the Family seemed discouraged, in a tired kind of way. "And Isabella." Kahlan grinned at him,
"Well… when I left them my sweet Katie and Dani were in the middle of a heated discussion over some random thing and Isabella was playing the diplomat as she always does." Alexander sighed,
"I'll give them another 5 minutes and then I am going down to get them." With that he walked away to rejoin the other group.
"So, Mr. Alexander has two children then?" Kagura walked over to Kal and Tohru.
"Actually he has four. Two sets of twins. Kat… Caitlin and Dani, or Katie and Daniel Anderson on stage, who are 17; and then there's Maryanne and Regene, the younger set, their 6."
"Aww… he and his wife must be very happy." Tohru was smiling again. Kahlan sighed,
"It would be best not to mention Alexander's wife, at least not around him or his kids." Kagura and Tohru stared at the Cow. "You see, Marilyn passed away giving birth to the little girls. It's still a pretty open wound for the lot of'm."
"How sad." Kagura frowned.
"It's hard to loose your mom, I would know. My mom died almost two years ago." Tohru added.
"Sorry bout that." Kahlan looked down.
"Hey what are you all moping about over there?" Haru was smiling as he called over.
"N- Nothing." Tohru grinned at him. She ran over to stand with Yuki and Kyou, who were talking to James, Nick, and Sylver.
"How does she smile like that?" Kahlan's voice was distant again. "I mean, after telling me her mom died…"
"Well that's Tohru for you. She's just that kinda girl, doesn't let anything get her down." Kagura returned.
"You Souma's are lucky." Kahlan was watching the way Yuki and Kyou smiled at the girl, the outsider.
"We really are. Well come on." Grabbing his arm, the way she usually does to Kyou's, the Boar dragged him back to the others. "So, who's left to guess?"
"We still need to figure out who's who over there." Nick said pointing to the adults that were chatting. "They just guessed Sylver right. She's the dragon."
"Wow, cool." Kagura glanced over.
"Yup, that's me." Sylver gave her a thumbs up. "And we already know that Hatori is the Dragon as well. So that leaves Shigure for us to figure out and Lania for you, right?"
Kahlan nodded. "Yea that's right, and Isabella, Kat, and Dani; when they finally make their way up here."
"Don't get your hopes too far up." The female voice was cheerful in an amused sort of way. "We're not that special."
Kahlan did not have to look, "hello Isabella." He turned around along with everyone else. Two new people had entered the room from back stage. The bands bassist and also the lead guitarists, Tohru gasped at the sight of them, more at the boy. Still dressed in his white suit, Daniel Sohma strolled in next to his cousin. His suit was speckled with red and there was a freshly open wound on his lip. Alexander suddenly sounded angry.
"Daniel what did you do!"
"I'm sorry father," the blond haired boy bowed his head. "I... I…" he sighed.
"What Dani means is that he had no idea that he would make her THAT angry." Isabella threw an arm over Dani's shoulder and smiled. Alexander put his head in his hands. "He picked on her, she picked back. They fought and she left."
"What do you mean… left." Alexander did not lift his head.
"She took the bike and went home." Daniel added. "But really that may have been for the best, I mean she was in a real foul mood."
"She was fine till you started with her." Isabella did not miss a beat.
"I ALWAYS start with her; she's my sister for crying out loud. We bicker all the time; it just usually takes more than that to get her riled up." Dani sighed.
"Alright, alright, Daniel, we'll talk later. For now make your introductions, that IS why I asked the Souma's out here. And it is getting late; I would not want to keep them too much longer."
"Yes father." The boy bowed again and made his way over to the crowd of teenagers, followed by a still smiling Isabella.
"I am Daniel Sohma, The Rat; it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He bowed to the others.
"You're hurt." Tohru was right there, resting a hand on his cheek and looking at his lip. Daniel took a reflexive step back.
"I'm fine. Really, it's not that bad." He sounded nervous. Tohru looked hurt at his reaction.
"Oh don't worry about Dani," Isabella had moved up to place a hand on her cousin's shoulder. "He's scared of girls." She said to Tohru.
"I am not!" he growled.
"Yea, yea he is." Isabella nodded.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm Tohru Honda, I know I'm not a Souma, but I have already promised not to tell anyone about the curse."
"Oh, I see then, Dr. Hatori told us about you." Daniel added.
"Are you sure you're okay?" She still looked concerned. He nodded in response. "So your sister did this?" She had an almost sad look to her.
"Yea, I mean we're siblings, isn't it a given that we fight? But for all what it's worth we really do love each other."
"Maybe, when you're not trying to kill each other." Kahlan added with a grin.
"Aw come on Kal, lighten up." Isabella threw her arm around his waist. "They never try to kill each other… maim, mutilate, or seriously injure maybe… but not kill." She laughed. Apparently, she was the only one to find it funny.
"Alright Isa, before you kill all of us with your rater dark sense of humor why don't you tell Miss Honda here a little about yourself." Kahlan nudged her on. Isabella stopped laughing.
"Why?"
"So she can guess what animal of the zodiac you are. You kind of entered a little late into the game but hey, no matter." He pointed everyone out to her and told her who he or she was, and in the end, Isabella was still grinning.
"Wow, we really did walk in a little late. So you said this is a guessing game?" She smoothed out the fabric of the ankle length black skirt. That, and a black three quarter sleeved shirt were covered by a large (almost too large), flowing red trench coat. Kahlan nodded to his cousin.
"Yes please Miss Isabella." Tohru replied with a smile of her own.
"Okay, okay, and Isabella is fine or Isa, no title. We are not quite as formal in America… Well where to start." She developed a pensive look and ran her hands through her auburn hair that hung around her face to cover emerald green eyes. "Other than playing bass for the band I like anything music or artsy. You know what I mean?" She winked, if it was possible she was more dramatic than Kahlan, "let's just say I am a child of the muses."
"The… what? " Tohru looked confused.
"You know… painter, poet, musician, and my real job as a novelist," Isa grinned.
"A novelist you say?!?!" No one was really sure where Shigure came from or when he had gotten over to their little group. But he had now latched himself onto the girl's arm and was grinning at her. Yuki and Kyou could practically hear his usual chorus of "high school girls, high school girls, one two three, high school girls," and Isa certainly looked to be about that age.
"Pervert!" They both said in unison as they smacked him in the back of the head.
"Leave the poor girl alone Shigure, you'll give us ALL a bad reputation." Yuki frowned.
"Yea there's no way she would be interested in a dirty old man like you." Kyou added while glaring.
Shigure managed to ignore them both. "So what kind of books do you write? Oh and I am Shigure Souma a novelist myself, it is a great pleasure to meet you Miss Isa… May I call you Isa?" Kyou and Yuki looked like they might blow a fuse if they had to tell him to shut up again. To their surprise, or perhaps it was horror on their face, Isabella smiled back and placed a black gloved hand over his.
"Well my serious work is more along the lines of fantasy and a little alternate reality; on the side a do a sort of… horror romance thing. It's cute really. I have a lot of fun writing it."
"Do you use a pen name, perhaps, one that I may know you by?" Shigure started to lead her away from the group.
"Hey you damn dog!" The two writers turned as one. "I said leave her alone you pervert." Kyou was trying to help, really he was.
"Oh you're just jealous that I like your older cousin better, now stop calling him names." Isabella did not miss a beat, and rendered Kyou speechless. Isa turned back around, ignoring an also speechless Shigure, and this time it was she who was leading HIM away from the group. A few moments later they were both laughing.
Tohru looked pale. "She's the Dog isn't she?" The riceball did not need to look at Kahlan; it wouldn't have mattered even if she did, currently everyone was starting at Shigure and Isabella.
"Yea… let me guess… so's he?" Kahlan added, there was a little something in his voice… fear maybe.
"That's correct… good guess." Tohru replied quietly.
"Is it just me… or does anyone else get the feeling we are in for an… interesting stay in Japan?"
Silence was the only answer the Cow received.
A/N: Hey guys I know this was long and confusing enough to garner a head ache, I would know I had to write it. But now that introductions are done it will be a lot easier from here on out. It's kind of hard when the story doesn't have focus characters yet, at least not from the American side. But I plan on splitting them up and pairing them with members of the Souma's. I think that will make it easier. (e.x. Kahlan will hit it off really well with Haru and Kagura, I also plan on keeping the two Rat's together as best as possible.)