Chapter five

(Authors Note: As of chapter 96 in Fruits Basket we've discovered something quite shocking about Akito, Akito is a woman! Woah…greatest plot twist ever….and um…Kureno and Akito are sort of in love and um..in chapter 96 we can see Kureno and Akito kissing. Then the last panel contains Akito looking into a mirror with his shirt coming off, we can see he's um…not a man.)

Tohru and the others looked as Kyo slammed the door behind him. Slowly, kagura moved to go upstairs up Shigure put his hand out to stop her, "He needs…to do this on his own…"

Shigure left Kagura to dwell on his words and walked up to the other Zodiac members who had just arrived, "So Rin and Kureno are coming?"

Ayame looked at Shigure, "Yes, Rin…and Kureno…"

Shigure laughed to himself, "Kureno! Imagine, Akito's right-handed man betraying him like this!"

"Didn't you hear?" Haru stated, "Kureno also said…he has found the cure for the curse. He is very close to Akito, he loves him as his own brother, and thus, even when he accidently bumped into a maid, he didn't transform! He has found the cure, or has he?"

Hatori shook his head, "Maybe…not completely…I saw the other day, he was sitting in the garden and roosters came up beside him, has he truly ended the curse?"

Tohru heard a door open and Shigure nodded, "It seems the only two you haven't met are here Tohru…Rin and Kureno" Thoru smiled and opened the door and looked to see a young woman about Kagura's age and a young man around Hatori, Ayame's and Shigure's age. Thoru greeted them and they entered. Yuki locked the door behind them and turned to Kureno, "Did anyone follow you?"

Kureno laughed, "Not hardly, I…betrayed Akito, I can still transform into my zodiac animal….I am still cursed"

Everyone in the room grew silent for a while, no one moved, no one said a word until Hatori said something ending the paiful silence, "So…what do we do? Do we just sit here and do…nothing?" Momiji was the first to answer, "no…we can't just let it…it's time to find an end to this curse…Kaede is dead and Kyo is now the only one with the cat's spirit. Even so…some of us have had our lives destroyed my Akito." Momiji paused and looked at Yuki, "Yuki…Akito beat him and whipped him, Haorit lost his eye, Rin, you lost someone you love, you were afraid Haru would get hurt, Kisa was hurt too, the list goes on and on." Momiji turned to face everyone again and smiled, "I think this is something that needs to end, even if it means our lives, so that the next generation won't have to face what we've been thorugh and Akito"

"Yeah, well, what can we do?" Haru said gently, "We don't even know how to end the curse. Kureno thought by loving Akito it would end the curse, but even so, he's still cursed. Isn't there anything we can do?"

Kureno shwalledo hard, "Yes…there's a way. You see, I know more about the curse and Akito than anyone else, so now I'll reveal some secrets that have been kept hidden for years. This might shock you, so everyone needs to be here, Kyo included as well as Tohru"

Tohru looked at the ground, "Kyo…"

"What're you all blubbering about?" Kyo shouted from the top of the stairs, "So what, am I finally welcomed amongst you, just because I'm cursed, but, I'm not even a part of this!"

Everyone smiled to themselves as Kyo sighed, stepping into the lvingroom. Kureno smiled, "There are five elemtns to the curse, one is the curse of taking the spirits of the 12 aimals plus the cat, the second never fidning love outside the houise of Sohmas, third is the core, fourth is the true form of Kyo and the fifth is Akito."

Rin looked at Kureno for a minute, "The curses of being the cursed."

Kureno nodded, "To end the curse, all five must be destroyed. Only then will the curse truly be ended."

Tohru looked at Kureno, "Kureno-san, how can we destroy it? I know I'll…" Thoru pasued for a minute then said, "do anything to help my friend, do end your curse…but even if we don't succeed..I'll still be by everyones side"

Everyone looked at Tohru, she wanted to help them, an outsider would risk anything to help them. Someone who didn't understand their pain would help them. Kureno grinned, "Alright."

Thoru had gotten tea and snacks fro everyone while they discussed how to end the curse. Shigure had been nominated by Kureno to take notes during the sicussion (writer skills!) Kureno waited until everyone was ready to proceed, "The first element of the curse is the taking of spirits from the zodiac. I think I have a way to get the spirits out, but it could also produce a side affect. I was thinking of having the spirits exorcoised out, but the risk is they might just head into other new born Sohmas…"

Ayame stood up and shouted, "But that'sa a risk we have to take!"

Kureno, "We just might…onto the second element, is already solved, thanks to ms. Honda. Had it not been for her, we wouldn't have been able to do this. THe other four are much easier than finding someone outside the family to love you and accept you. Tohru has truly worked wonders, she's even influenced Akito, though very little, she has influenced Akito. However, the biggest step of all was helping all of us, what would we do without you Tohru?"

Tohru blushed, she had just met Kureno, and Rin, had she really been that much of an influence? She knew the answer, yes she had, each and every Shoma she loved dearly. Kureno looked at the others again, "third is the core and the fifth is Akito, three and five revolve around Akito," Kureno looked at the ground, "I think that's enough for tonight, Shigure said he had enough plces for everyone, so that's all for tonight."

Everyone shrugged, slightly confused by Kureno's ending so quickly and Tohru and Shigure began herding everyone out. Tohru felt a tug on her shoulder and turned around to see Kureno. Kureno shook his head and said nothing for a moment. Tohru felt herself beginning to blush then Kureno said, "We need to talk."

Kureno and Tohru sat far from the house, making Tohru feel slightly uneasy. Kureno said across from her and sat looking very serious. Thoru waited for Kureno to speak and finally he spoke, "What I'm about to tell you cannot be spoken to anyone else, not Shigure, Yuki, Kyo, no one, do you understand?"

Tohru nodded, "Yes"

Kureno didn't smile as he continued on, "First about Akito, he's not who you think he is. You probably don't understand right now, but it'll be made clear. Kaede is not dead. She's still alive, Akito had her shot carefully as not to kill her. When he stabbed her the first time, he aimed not to kill her but to pretend to kill her and hate her. She no longer processes the cat spirit and she never has. These things happened because Akito has been trying all along to divert everyone from the truth. A long time ago, Akito was born, that was 19 years ago, and Kaede was born a few years afterwards. They are not parent and child. However, there is a connection between the two, they're brother and sister, or should I say sisters? Yes, Akito and I are lovers, Akito is not a man, he's a woman."

Tohru stood shocked for a minute, "I…"

Kureno shook his head, "I'm not finished. There is a reason Akito has been deceiving everyone all along. However, only I know that and he told me not to tell you that. However, the curse of the Sohma family, cannot be cured. It will coninue until the end of time, until the last Sohmas dies out. Now…about Kaede. She is fine and safe, she carries the curse that affects Kyo. For Kaede and Kyo are truly half siblings, Kyo's mom was raped by Akitos father ."

Thoru just stopped and stared at Kureno for a moment, "But…breaking the curse…"

Kureno nodded, "Everything I said in there was a lie, the only true way to break the curse is to love Akito…and bestow upon her a kiss, as I have done and thus broken the curse. So, in other words Kaede, Kyo and Akito are all siblings." Kureno paused for a moment, "Now…please don't tell the others just yet. I'll break the news to them in time." Kureno began to walk away, leaving Tohru stunned and speechless. Kureno paused in his walk, his back facing Tohru, never turning around, he spoke, "There is Sohma blood in your veins. Have you ever noticed that your mother has the same color hair as Kyo? She was a Sohma too. So if you do love Kyo, Yuki or any other Sohma, it'll be okay for you to fall in love. However, there are still many secrets in the house of Sohma." Kureno said no good-bye, but pressed forwards towards the house. Tohru sat for a moment, thinking of the facts she just learned. After staring into the night sky and silently prayig to her mother, she went back inside, a smile covering her face, to hide her confusing feelings.

Tohru went to bed that night after everyone else had fallen asleep. Tohru started to turn off the light when she heard two people talking softly outsifde her window. She silently moved across the floor not to awaken Kagura and Kisa who were sleeping in the extra beds. They must be in a heavy sleep, Tohru thought. Tohru moved cloer to her window and peered outsife to see Kureno and Akito. Tohru knew it wasn't right to ease drop and began to walk away when she heard Kaede's name mentioned. Tohru listened closely but stopped herself, it wasn't right to listen in and climbed slowly into her bed. Tohru felt her eyes slowly drifting to sleep and found herself waking up from a nightmare a few hours later. Tohru rubbed her eyes and tiptoed to the window and peered out to see that Akito and Kureno were still talking. Akito happened to look up angrily at tohur and motioned for her to come down. Tohru stepped back and quietly went downstairs, her heart raced. She had no idea of what to expect, but maybe it would end her confusment. Tohru quietly slid oopen the door and walked out to meet Akito who glared at her, "So…you know my secret?"

Tohru felt her face turn red, "Yes…Akito-san"

Akito smile revealed a devilish intetion underneath, "You'd better not tell until the right time. I have my own ways of dealing with those who disobey me. You are part of this family, now live by my word, or face the consequence."

Tohru felt her body begin to shake and slowly nodded. Akito smiled with her own devilish grin and began to walk away, leaving Kureno and Tohur behind.