Since I can't think very well at the moment, I apologize beforehand if the chapter sucks. I've decided that Duo is the rat, Heero is the Ox, Quatre will be the rabbit, and Wufei will either be the dragon or the tiger, can't make up my mind. I'm also going to have Kyou Sohma in the story since absolutely nothing can compare to his awesomeness. Demo, since our kitty friend will be joining us, so will the rest of the Sohma family. I really need some suggestions! Help me! And a BIG thank you to my first two reviewers, volleyvoll34 and bit-Blackmage. On with the story!

Chapter Two: School Project from Hell

It was after school and the weather was really nice. Leaves were starting to change color and fall from their branches, signaling the beginning of autumn. Duo trudged along on the sidewalk. His day wasn't going very well so far. First, he had gotten sent out into the hallway for twenty minutes; which actually isn't all that bad except now his arms felt like overcooked spaghetti. Second, he had the perfect opportunity to be paired with the only girl he really liked for a school assignment. The very thought of Hilde made Duo feel a bit better. But unfortunately she ended up being partnered with some hot-tempered guy with sleek black hair tied back in a ponytail. And there had to be something wrong with the new kid, Heero Yuy. Duo remembered what had happened only a short while ago.

Duo was sulking from getting paired with Heero. Heero came up to him and laid a scrap of paper on Duo's desk.

"What the hell is that? I'm not your garbage man, throw it away yourself, Yuy!" Duo snapped.

"Hn." Heero glared at Duo, then spoke in his usual monotone. "That's my address. Come after school. We need to work on the report." Then Heero turned and left without saying anything else.

Heero hardly seemed human the way he acted, all anti-social and empty. Duo pulled the scrap of paper out of his pocket and looked at the address again. Well, he was on the right street at least. This neighborhood looked pretty rough, like the kind you see on TV where someone's been murdered. Apartment complexes with ten-foot tall fences and barbed wire on top stretched all the way down the street and by the address, Heero's was at the very end of the street. Sighing, Duo continued his depressed trudge to Heero's house.

"Hey you!" called out an angry voice.

Duo looked up to see a teenage boy standing on the top of the fence surrounding an apartment complex. The boy had bright orange hair and angry red eyes. Duo recognized this boy from before. He randomly appeared and would pick fights with Duo, always losing.

"Fight me you damn rat!" Kyou shouted. (A/N: Go Kyou!!!)

Kyou Sohma… they had the honor of meeting each other when they were younger in elementary school. They always fought and it seemed Kyou had reappeared to try and end the long line of losses to Duo. Duo smirked and flipped his long braided chestnut hair. "You again? Why don't you just give up baka neko? I don't know why you want to fight me anyway, you always lose."

Kyou jumped down from the fence, his fist pulled back to strike Duo when he landed. Easily moving out of the way, Duo brought up his knee into Kyou's stomach. Kyou collapsed onto his knees, holding his gut.

Shrugging, Duo taunted, "Another quick win for the Prince." Then he continued on down the street.

The apartment building where Heero lived was dirty and grimy. With a scrunched noise, Duo went up the stairs and kicked the door labeled '4' so he didn't have to touch the door. Heero opened the door slightly to where only his Prussian eyes could be seen; it was still somewhat held shut by the chain lock. "Hn." Was once again the only thing Heero said. He closed the door again to undo the chain lock then opened the door wider, so Duo could come in. Duo entered and looked around at the cleaner interior of Heero's apartment then he turned and looked Heero up and down. Heero was wearing a green tank top and spandex shorts. Why the hell spandex shorts? Duo wondered.

"Er… nice place…" Duo said nervously to start a conversation.

Heero didn't respond, instead he went into the kitchen where a laptop sat on the small table. Both of them took a seat at the table and there was a long silence.

"So… what's our report about?" Duo tried to strike up a conversation again.

"Mythology." Heero said bluntly.

"What mythology should we do?"

"Hn…"

"I don't know what we should do either… I'm American and we don't have many mythologies. I'm not Japanese either so…" Duo rambled.

"Chinese." Heero muttered.

"Why Chinese? I mean we could do the zodiac or something but why Chinese?" A nervous feeling was starting to grow inside Duo.

"Chinese." Heero stated firmly.

That was it, Duo had snapped. "What the hell is your problem, man?! And why do you always answer me with fragments?!" Duo ranted.

Prussian blue met cobalt blue eyes. Heero responded in his usual unemotional monotone but it seemed like he was a different person now. "Who do you think you are, Prince? You look down on others like they are dirt."

"I do not!" Duo protested.

"You don't know how hard life can be. Especially when you're cursed." Heero growled.

Blinking twice, Duo had to think about that. What does he mean by cursed?

Heero drew out a 9mm handgun and aimed it at Duo, who started to back away. "Get out." Heero hissed.

Duo was really scared now. "Whoa man! Chill! And where the hell did you draw that gun? Spandex space?"

"Omae o korosu." Duo ducked and ran for the door as Heero pulled back on the trigger and the bullet hit the wall where Duo's head had been.

Scrambling for the door, Duo flung it open and ran out of the apartment building and down the street back into his neighborhood. He skidded to a halt and leaned against a nearby wall, catching his breath. Was Heero nuts?! He was trying to kill him! Duo turned around and faced the direction where Heero lived.

"Fine! You can do the damn report by yourself!" Duo spat and went inside his house.

TO BE CONTINUED

I hope you guys liked this new chapter. If you have some input for me, it's very welcome; hell I don't even mind flames.