Standard copyright jargon, these characters do not belong to me they are the property of Natsuki Takaya and TokyoPop.

Yes yes, I know the plot is very like the actual one except for some small differences. Just wait until next chapter, you see some funky things in this story. Tohru has no idea what they are, and that means that things will turn out very differently. But remember, this is a "what if"

Thirteen

Intro: In this world, the Zodiac has thirteen members instead of twelve. Yes the rat tricked the cat, but the dog stopped by to check on the cat, taking him with him to the banquet. Thus Kyo Mars is already in the house, he worships Shigure as the dog who was kind to the cat and despises Yuki, the rat who tricked the cat.

Tohru walked through the woods thinking again about the circumstances that had brought her here. Not long before, her mother had died in a horrible car accident and Tohru had gone to live with her grandfather. Just a month ago her grandfather had announced that he was going to do a renovation of the house in preparation for her aunt and cousins coming to live with them. He planned on going to a relative's house and had asked if Tohru had someplace to stay. Refusing, as always to be a burden on anyone she assured him she was fine. She had two friends who would have happily given her a place to stay. But Hana's family really didn't need another person to take care of, and Uo lived by herself. Tohru had firmly dismissed both ideas and set herself to live in a tent on woods bordering the city. No one had any idea and she planned on keeping it that way. "It really isn't that bad, Mom. This way I know that when I have to, I can live on my own!" As she walked through the woods talking to her mother she spotted a house.

"How cute!" Sitting outside drying were 13 rocks painted to resemble the thirteen animals of the Zodiac. She carefully examined them all. There was the dragon, the rabbit, the dog, the boar, the ox, the snake, the rooster, the horse, the monkey, the ram, the tiger, the rat, and last but not least, the cat. She picked up the dog examining it carefully.

"Why hello, where did you come from?" The masculine voice startled Tohru and she jumped up dropping the stone. "Come, come now, my apologies. I certainly didn't mean to startle you. Do you like my pets?"

Tohru looked up to see a tall Japanese man who looked to be in his mid 20s. He was dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono and his hair was just a tad long giving it the look of artful disarrayment. She nodded. "Oh yes! I love the Zodiac! Especially the dog, the cat, and the rat!" She ran her fingers over the stones righting the dog. "I was born in the year of the dog you know." She smiled at him.

"Really? I thought I felt a connection there." He smiled down at her just as a bag came seemingly out of nowhere to bash into the back of his head.

"What are you doing bothering that poor girl you pervert?" Tohru recognized the voice of her sixteen year old schoolmate Yuki Sohma. He peered around his victim to look at Tohru. His silver hair was immaculate as always and he looked every inch the gentleman. "Miss Honda, what a surprise to see you. Did my cousin bother you?"

"No not at all!" Tohru was taken aback by the casualness of his treatment of the older male. She bowed quickly, "Good morning Sohma-kun, I was just on my way to school and saw the stones and stopped to look! He came out and we were talking about them is all." She looked sympathetically at Yuki's cousin who was rubbing his head.

"What do you carry in that thing bricks?"

"No a full-size dictionary." Yuki looked at Tohru a glimmer of confusion in his deep purple eyes. "You say you were on your way to school?"

"Yes, I uh live near here." She stood as another figure joined them.

"What the hell is all the ruckus?" A boy with blazing orange hair stood in front of them looking at the scene before him. "Damned rat, lay off him." He offered the older one a hand up then spotted Tohru. "Who the hell?"

Yuki smacked the back of his head. "Miss Honda, my cousins. The loud mouth is Kyo Sohma, the other Shigure Sohma."

Tohru quickly bowed. "Pleased to meet you! My name is Tohru Honda."

Shigure stood returning the bow. "Pleasure to meet you Tohru. You say you live near here?"

"Yes. I was just on my way to school…" Her eyes went wide. "School, oh no I'll be late!"

Yuki smiled. "Wait, my cousin and I will walk with you. Kyo is transferring to our school as of today."

She smiled back. "Of course! It is always more pleasant to walk with others." Kyo glared at Yuki before running in to grab his things. The three walked off leaving Shigure watching from the open door.

The evening was fairly typical in the Sohma house. Shigure cheerfully placed microwave dinners in front of the other two. "Dinner time dinner time!"

Yuki sighed looking at the slightly dried mixture of rice and vegetables. "Can you cook anything right?"

Kyo glared at him. "Leave him alone! Don't see you trying you damned rat."

"Stupid cat, I fail to see that you lived here before two days ago. If you had you would have known that my cooking skills leave something to be desired."

Shigure laughed. "Very true! Mind you our diet when Yuki cooked was very charcoal rich. Burned rice balls, burned miso soup, burned noodles. Yes Yuki served us a fine array of burned dishes."

"Alright I get the picture!" Kyo glowered at nothing in general. "Where is the kitchen?"

Shigure stood and led him to a door and pulled it open. The site that met his eyes was nothing short of a war zone. There were piles of trash everywhere. The sink was full of what must have been at least two months worth of dishes, and the remainder of the dishes were in piles all over the rest of the kitchen. The floor was under dirt that must have been an inch thick and the entire place looked as if no one had entered in months.

"What the hell did you do to it!" Kyo looked around the room in shock.

"Well once I discovered both delivery and microwave dinners we closed it up and have since then lived on bachelor's finest." Shigure indicated the barely passable food on the table with a wave of his hand.

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Dog, you are nuts." He sat back down at the table with a sigh of resignation. "I would cook, but you would have to call a search and rescue team to find me."

The three sat back down to their dinner. "Fine dinner, fine dinner. Anyone care to join me for a walk?" Shigure looked expectantly at the boys who both stared back. "Well now, can't leave you two here alone, who knows what would happen?" he chuckled, "Yuki, why don't you just go grab your shoe…"

"I'll go!" Kyo interrupted. "Anything to get away from that damned rat." He stood and left to throw away his container. "Come on you dumb dog!" Shigure winked at Yuki before following Kyo.

Tohru reached her small tent just as dark was falling. "Hi Mom. Sorry I am home so late. I got held up at work tonight." She unpacked her school books and settled everything into its rightful place bowing to the small picture of her mother that sat on a small table. She weaved slightly as she finished placing the last book. "I am so hot Mom. I think I will go down to the stream and wash up before I start my homework." She opened the flap to find Shigure and Kyo Sohma staring at her.

"Miss Honda, I don't understand. Are you quite finished?" Yuki glared at Shigure who had been laughing since he and Kyo had found her. "You are living in a tent, in the forest, all by yourself?"

She gulped, "Yes, I didn't wish to be a burden on anyone."

"I wondered when you said earlier that you lived nearby. All the surrounding property is Sohma land."

She bowed. "I had no idea. I will pay you rent, but please, don't make me leave!"

The three cousins looked at each other. Shigure who had finally stopped laughing looked at Tohru. "If you will give us a minute Miss Tohru, we must discuss something." He beckoned the other two to join him in the hallway. "We can hardly leave her in the woods like that."Kyo glared, "but what about us? Having a girl here is hardly going to be accepted by the main house?"

"Stupid cat, I believe the reason most of us live here, is because we do not follow the rules of the main house."

Shigure nodded. "Yuki is right, as to us. We will just have to be careful is all." He turned and walked back into the room where Tohru waited. "Miss Tohru, we have talked it over and decided…" he stopped. The poor girl had collapsed asleep. "I think I can wait until morning to tell her. Kyo, Yuki, go retrieve her things. I will arrange to take her upstairs."

Tohru woke the next morning in unfamiliar surroundings and she looked around her slightly panicked, until she saw her mother's picture set carefully next to her bed. "Where?"

"Good morning Miss Honda." Yuki quietly opened the door and smiled at her. "And welcome to our home."

"Welcome?" She looked at him uncomprehendingly.

"Shigure, Kyo, and I discussed it and decided that you will remain here until such time as the renovations on your grandfather's house are finished."

"But I couldn't!" Tohru exclaimed jumping out of the bed. "It would be too much of a burden on you!"

"Not at all!" Shigure popped up behind Yuki. "You are skilled in housework and knowledgeable in cooking aren't you?"

"Yes, but I hardly see how that changes…"

"We are three poor bachelors Tohru! Would you deny us the opportunity for real home cooked food? You will cook and do light housekeeping and we will provide you a room and pay."

She looked between the two wildly. "But I couldn't…"

"You can and you will. Girls, I swear." The voice of Kyo Sohma drifted from behind the other two. "Just say thanks and shut up already."

She bowed quickly, "Thank you so much." She continued staring at her shoes, "but I cannot accept money. Only a place to stay."

"Of course, if that is what you wish." Shigure's voice was full of amusement. "I wouldn't dream of insisting you do anything that would trouble your conscience."

She looked up smiling sweetly. "Then, I will happily stay here until my grandfather's home is done." She looked around the room. "First things first however, if we don't leave soon, we will be late to school."

Yuki nodded. "Of course. We will leave and allow you to get ready. Kyo and I will see you downstairs shortly." With that he pushed the other two down the hallway and closed the door behind them.

Tohru looked around the room feeling like a whirlwind had just gone by. Live with the Sohmas? What would Hana and Uo think? What would the Yuki fan club girls say?

"Why didn't you just tell us!" Arisa Uotani looked outraged. "You could have stayed with me or Hana!"

"Yes Tohru, why did you not tell us that you were in need of a place to stay?" Hana stared at her, eyes wide and soul searching.

Tohru looked at her two best friends at a loss for words. The three made an interesting picture. Arisa, or Uo as her friends called her was very tall, her blonde hair was long. Her eyebrows were shaved and her skirt was long in the style of the female gangs (Yankees). Saki Hanajima's long black hair hung to her waist in rippling waves. Her face was always calm, almost emotionless and her purplish black eyes were piercing. Tohru sat between them, long brown hair and brown eyes, she was the shortest and youngest of the group. The three friends had been through a lot together and they were as close as family. "I just wanted to do it on my own."

Uo looked hurt. "But that is why we are here! So you don't have to do anything by yourself. We want you to turn to us if you need us…" She stopped as Hana laid a hand on her arm.

"Simply remember that we are always here for you Tohru."

"I will you guys." Tohru put her arms around them. "How could I forget my two best friends?"

"Good. Then I think we need to come inspect this place." Uo flung her arm over Tohru's shoulder. "Have to make sure they are treating you ok."

"Yes, that is a wonderful idea." Hana nodded. "We must ensure Tohru's well being."

"Let's go today!"

"NO!"

"Why ever not Tohru?" Hana looked at her. "Surely you wish to introduce your new patron to your best friends."

"I do, but I don't want to inconvenience them! I mean I am there because they are being kind!"

"Perhaps if she were allowed time to ask and plan it would be possible. Also if we simply show up, they might not be prepared. They might not have snacks."

"I forgot about that. Alright, you go home tonight Tohru and ask." Uo grinned, "Now let's get back to class before the teachers have a cow."

A/N: The next installment will come as soon as I have time. Please review and let me know what you think!

Black Dragon