She is on Duty

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket...

Chapter 2: Permanent!

"Did you feel anything prick your skin, when you were fighting the girls?" Yuki asked me. "Yeah, I just shook it off because I thought they pinched me with their nails or something." I replied. "Well, it wasn't nails, it was a hypo." He said sadly. I gasped and said, "A hypodermic needle? Filled with what?" "A permanent poison, that quickly spreads through the body upon contact with your vein." He said darkly. "Don't worry, Hatori took 90 of it out." Tohru said. "Eh, Heh, uh, yeah. Anyways, do you know what kind of poison it is?" I said somewhat uneasily. "No, it's unknown, which is unusual." Kyo suddenly said. "So, if this 'Hatori' you speak of took out only 90, what happened to the other 10?" I asked. "Well, he didn't want to kill you, because the rest is in your lungs." Kyo said. I gasped, what does that mean? Will I have problems breathing? Will I die sooner than my time? So many grim questions filled my head and my face became darker and darker as more and more questions popped up. Yuki noticed this and said, "Lucy, you'll have to live with us until we're absolutely positive that your fine." "No! I couldn't! My parents will be worried sick already! My apartment! The bills! What about work? And-" "Your parents came in already, so did your brother. We're gonna move your stuff out of your apartment and you have a week off because we told your boss what happened." Tohru piped up. "Yes, we told them already about your condition, and they agreed with us." Yuki finished. "You guys are so kind, how can I repay you?" I said, voice filled with guilt. Just then, a man came into the room, and told everyone to leave. His right eye was covered by his hair; I guessed that he was Hatori. "Am I gonna die, Doctor?" I asked with mixed feelings. "You can call me Sohma-kun. That question cannot be answered right now." He replied. "How will this poison affect me?" I questioned. "This poison is in your lungs and bronchial tubes. It may give you some difficulty breathing. Also, it may clog at times, if it swells up. If, that does occur, then someone near you should contact me immediately." He said. I gasped. Clog my breathing? Swell up? Difficulty breathing? I paled at the thought of it. Then, Hatori gave me a shot and said, "This should reduce the chance of having an attack today. I will leave you now." He left. Yuki, Kyo and Tohru came back in. "What'd he say?" Tohru asked worriedly. I breathed in deeply, and then scrunched my face at the thought that my breathing organs in my body were infected. "He said-"was all I managed before I swallowed my breath. I gasped, but no air entered my lungs. "Help." I said. Yuki and Kyo's eyes went wide, Tohru scrambled for the phone and pressed the button that speed dialed Hatori's number. "Hello, Dr. Hatori Sohma speaking. Business or pleasure?" "HATORI!" Tohru yelled. "Lucy, she's having an attack! Hurry! She can't breathe! Hurry!" She yelled. "I'll be right over." He said before he hung up. I tossed and turned in the bed, trying to rid the pain. Hatori came over and I fainted, because of fatigue. When I woke up, I was still in the same bed, Tohru, seeing that I woke up, said, "Lucy! Are you Okay? We were so worried about you!" "I'm fine, I'm just a little-aghh!-" I fell back down into the bed. "LUCY!" Tohru screeched, waking whoever was asleep at the house. Immediately, Yuki and Kyo burst into the room. Then, a man with dark blue hair and midnight blue eyes, and with a twinkle in his eyes, came in. He suddenly yelled, "AHHH! High school girls!" and ran toward me. Tohru and I 'eeped' when Kyo's fist met his jaw and when Yuki's leg met his face. "Ow, cousins, that hurt!" he said to Kyo and Yuki. "That's the point, you hentai inu." The boys said in unison. "Cousins?" I asked the man. "Yes, I'm their cousin, Shigure Sohma." He said as he bowed. "Who might you be?" he asked me. "I'm Lucy Kim. It's a pleasure to meet you, Shigure-san." I said and tried to get up, but then a pain shot through my body again and I shot back onto the bed. "Oh, Lucy, don't try to do that. Why don't you get some sleep?" Tohru asked me kindly. "Thanks, but I slept for more than 3 days, remember? Besides, I can't sleep, I'm starving." I replied weakly. "Oh, then that can be arranged, Lucy." Shigure spoke. "Thank you Shigure-san, you are so kind." I said as I closed my eyes. I mustered up all of my strength and stood upright on the bed. Then, I slowly walked out of the room, with Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, and Shigure following closely behind. "Aghh!" I said and fell into... Yuki's arms? "I had a feeling that you might fall, so was ready to catch you if you fell." He said. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could have sworn that Kyo flashed an angry look at Yuki's back. I blushed, and then regained composure, and continued walking to the kitchen. I took out a mixing bowl, flour, baking flour, a can of peas, 3 carrots, 6 eggs, milk, a once-frozen chicken, a salmon and 5 small pie trays. (This isn't a real recipe, don't try it!) After kneading the dough, freezing it for about 20 minutes, cutting up the chicken and carrots, stuffing it, and cooking it, I was done. "Everybody, dinners ready!" I said. "Miss Kim! You recovered so quickly! Did you prepare dinner? Did Shigure tell you to do it? I'll kill him." Yuki said as he came into the dining room, observing me. "Wha da ya say?" Kyo said sleepily as he entered the dining room. "Where's Tohru?" I asked as Shigure entered the dining room. "I don't know, maybe she's sleeping, I'll go check on her." Yuki said as he started to get up. "No, Yuki, I'll get her, you guys just eat." I said as I placed 5 pot pies and one sizzling salmon in the middle, and left. I walked into Tohru's room. "Yeah, it's great here, yeah, Lucy, she's so kind to me, uh huh, yeah okay, bye dad!" Tohru said and hung up. 'Dad? She still has contact with her dad? I got a lead! All I have to do is wait for the next phone bill to come, and then I can check the number she called! I have to tell chief! Yes!' I thought. I entered her room, and said, 'Tohru, dinners ready! You gonna come?" Everyone's waiting." "Oh, yeah!" she said and quickly followed me to the dining hall. After dinner, Yuki asked me," Miss Kim, could I see you in the hall?" "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." I said. "Tohru, you can handle the dishes, I presume? Thanks." I said as I went to go see Yuki. "Yeah, of course, Lucy!" She told me.

I saw Yuki in the hall and approached him. "Yes, Yuki? What is it?" I asked, voice filled with curiosity. "Well, I think you should know about our family curse, now because you're going to be living here." He said. "Curse?" I asked him. "Yeah, you see, if we're hugged by a member of the opposite gender, we turn into animals of the Chinese zodiac. When we change back, we're totally naked." He finished the last sentence with a blush as red as a tomato. "Oh, really?" I said as I hugged him. Nothing happened. "What happened?" he asked me. "Nothing happened!" I said.

O.O

"Everybody! I didn't change! I didn't change!" Yuki yelled as he grabbed my hand and I flew downstairs. "Wha?" Kyo said as he came down the ladder. "I didn't change!" Yuki yelled once more. "YO!" Kyo said as he slapped his hand over Yuki's blabbing mouth. "Its okay, Kyo, I know." I said to him reassuringly. "Oh, well." He said, embarrassed. I took Kyo's hand over Yuki's mouth. "Shigure, do you know why I didn't change?" He asked. "Then would you mind telling me why you were hugging on the first place?" He retorted. I deal with this kind of comment all the time; it means that he's jealous. "Why are you so mean, Shigure-san? Are you jealous?" I said as I moved my face so our faces were only an inch apart. He blushed something fierce! Then, I noticed everybody was holding their breath. "You can breathe now." I said as I backed my face away from Shigure's and narrowed my eyes. "Haa..." said the three in unison. "For a minute there, I thought you were gonna actually gonna kiss him!" Yuki exclaimed. Tohru was still blushing madly at what she could have witnessed. "So, back on the subject, why didn't you change?" Kyo asked Yuki and me. "I dunno." I said. "Lucy, why don't you try and hug me or Kyo?" Shigure interjected. "Oh, Okay, I'll hug Kyo first." I said and walked over to Kyo. I hugged him, nothing happened. "Holy..." was all Kyo could say, staring at his body. "Ok, now hug me." Shigure ordered. I went over to Shigure and hugged him, nothing happened. "So, are we free of our curse?" asked Kyo. "I don't know, I'll call Aya and Hatori." Shigure replied as he reached for the phone.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

The next day, I had all the members of the Chinese Zodiac in front of me. I could tell which animal they were just by taking a glance at them. "Ahem, before you do this, Lucy you must know the consequences. If you spill the beans, Hatori will have to erase your memories. Understand?" Shigure said firmly. "Yes, Shigure-san." I said as I approached Yuki. I hugged him, nothing. Next, I approached the guy with black and white hair. I knew he was the ox. "Ox, right?" I questioned him. "Yeah, my name's Haru." I hugged him, nothing. Next was a little girl, she was so cute! She had Hazel eyes with equally hazel hair. "Hello, what's your name?" I asked her sweetly. "Hi, my name's Kisa." She replied. "Tiger, correct?" I said. "Yep!" she answered and pulled me into a hug. Nothing happened. I approached a blond boy with big, brown eyes. "What is your name?" I asked him. "Momiji. Gut Morgen!" (Good morning!) he said. I understood him perfectly. "No, No, Momiji, Gut ten tak!"(Good afternoon!) I corrected and showed him the time. Indeed, it was afternoon. "Oh yeah, you're right!" he exclaimed. "Bunny, rabbit?" I asked him. "Yeah." He replied and squeezed me tightly. Nothing! Next came a man, I gulped and blushed. "Hello, Sohma-kun." I said and wrapped my arms around him. Nothing happened. The next was another man. Man! What is with this household and men? I thought.

Hello! I corrected chapters 2 and 3:)