Colour of the Roses

"And then," concluded Shigure to Hatori as he spoke into the phone, "The cat turned into Tohru-kun! Is this a new development in the curse?"

"You hack," said Hatori brusquely as Shigure bounced through the story of the night, "The curse is several millennia old. It doesn't just 'get a new development.' You should know that, having studied it yourself."

"Well, it's not like I can bother to remember it, Ha-san," said Shigure casually. "Can you come over and look at her anyway? She's cut up pretty bad."

'Cut up pretty bad'? thought Hatori. The girl was half-butchered. It was amazing she'd somehow gotten to Shigure's at all. When she had run form his office, he'd expected to find someone in that medical condition lying on the grass outside the house, barely conscious.

"I...well, I'll explain everything of what I know that happened when I get there. I know some of it, but there are dark gaps that I don't know. This goes deeper than the usual curse, Shigure."

"Always so dramatic, Hatori!"

And then:

"How are Yuki and Kyo?"

Shigure's eyes flicked to the room down the hall where they had settled Tohru into her own bed, wrapped in spare kimono so as not to irritate the cuts. He stretched the cord, and could just make out the steadfast silhouettes of Yuki and Kyo illuminated by her bedside. Alongside Tohru was Kisa, tiger ears twitching in her sleep. But neither of the boys showed any signs of sleep. He blinked and returned to the phone conversation as Yuki reached for Tohru's hand.

"They're worried...what else? It's normal for them to transform, but they've never seen it in Tohru. And those cuts and bruises...She looks like she's been beaten." He stopped and waited for Hatori's reply, leaving an unspoken question in the air. White noise filled the line for an awkward moment.

"I'll be right over," said Hatori, snapping back to his usual business-like self.

Yuki watched Tohru's face intently, the warm dappled light from her bedside lamp casting a glow on her face. If he hadn't been so upset, he might have likened her to a fairytale princess...maybe Sleeping Beauty. She was sleeping soundly now, which was remarkable – she'd somehow managed to turn into a cat, run through a monsoon to the Sohma house – where Kyo had dropped her on her head.

His eyes flicked to Kyo's face for a brief second, just analyzing the eyes. They were glowing an angry orange, with slits for pupils. He had a hand clamped around Tohru's, and his knuckles were white with anger and fear.

"Don't break her hand, stupid cat," muttered Yuki beyond Kyo's hearing, as he gently reached for Tohru's other hand. "That's the last thing we need."

Hatori took his coat from the hook and collected his medical kits and the unfinished report on Tohru. That, at least, he would be able to finish and add to his catalogue. Although he wished there was no such file at all.

Somehow she had received the Sohma family curse. No one understood how, or why, or if this kind of transfer was at all possible. Due to the information on the Sohma curse, this new breed of curse seemed entirely backwards. He had only studied the curse briefly himself, when Shigure had spent his time doing so in his teen years. But he knew the information was out of date, maybe even proven wrong by new developments.

He sighed. He didn't know how he would talk her into going, but if anyone could find out the nature of Tohru's curse, it would be she. This was going to take some doing.

A/N: I know this is really confusing right now, but it will come to a rather probable plotpoint/conclusion. It does contain some spoilers according to the zodiac curse.

I read the TokyoPop manga, so my information is based on that and any stuff I discovered online. Therefore I use the Japanese suffixes (-kun, -san, -sensei, etc) but I don't use Juunishi, neko, or nezumi (mainly as I read the manga, and they are not mentioned there, and it would probably just mess with my head.)

And the disclaimer, which I forgot in first two chapters. Sorry! --U

Takaya Natsuki-sensei is amazing. I can only dream of being as good as she is :) In basics – this is not my stuffs.