Disclaimer: I do not rule the land of the zodiac...ness. But I am the year of the horse, does that change anything? Huh? Does it? No? Crap.
Chapter 5
Eiko has stayed with the Sohmas for three weeks now. She soon got a job as a waitress, and she finally got used to living a life on earth.
Eiko was walking up the stairs when she heard voices. She stood against the wall, listening.
Eiko's P.O.V.
"... We'll still have to tell Akito." It was Shigure's voice. "I know you don't want to, but it's the rules."
"What Akito doesn't know won't hurt him." Kyo's voice responded.
"Wow! I'm surprised! You two are agreeing on something! But unfortunately, it's not that easy."
"But Miss Honda stays here." I could tell that it was Yuki... but he sounded different. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but there was definitely something different.
"And Akito is beginning to dislike her," Shigure added.
"Beginning to? That's an understatement," Kyo said. "Let's talk about this later, I'm hungry." I heard footsteps so I quickly ran off to Tohru/My room.
'Akito... Akito... where have I heard that name before? Rrg! It's on the tip of my tongue!" I hit myself in the head, trying to knock the memory of the name Akito to the surface of my brain. After a few painful blows to the head, I decided that I should check my handbook. I could smell lunch from downstairs. I realized how hungry I was and took my handbook with me. I began to search through it as I walked down the stairs.
Yuki's P.O.V.
Man... I can't believe we're going to tell Akito about Miss Eiko. He's not going to like this at all. Since lunch was ready, I thought that I should go get Miss Eiko. Last I saw her she was in her room. I went towards the stairs to see Miss Eiko trip on a stair. I yelled "Watch out!" But it was too late. She crashed into me, and we fell to the floor.
Eiko's P.O.V.
"Oww..." I slowly pushed myself up a little bit. I realized I was on top of Yuki, and quickly got off of him and sat next to him. I was still kind of in shock from the fall. Yuki groaned and slowly leaned up. He looked at his hands and his eyes grew wide. He turned to me, shock written all over his face.
"Yuki, are you okay?" I thought he had been hurt because his face was horrified.
"Y-yeah..." Yuki continued to stare at me. I looked over to the others who were all at the table. They were all staring at me too.
"That counts as a hug doesn't it?" Tohru asked.
"It does... this has never happened before. We'll definitely have to tell Akito now..." Shigure responded, not taking his eyes off me.
"Damn, this is messed up." Kyo muttered.
I thought for a minute. 'Hug... Akito... Sohma! The Sohma Family Curse!'
"Oh my god!" I stopped myself and muttered under my breath. "My apologies for saying your name in vain." I stood up fast and ran up the stairs two at a time.
Outer P.O.V.
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Eiko ran up the stairs and everyone blinked after her.
"What the hell was that all about?" Kyo asked. Eiko ran into her room and walked over to her pile of belongings. She picked up a thick book that looked kind of like a dictionary. The cover was completely blank. Eiko turned it over to the back cover. There was a golden symbol of a wing on there. She brushed her hand over the symbol. The wing lit up and the book flipped over. There were now huge gold letters on the front cover saying, "Family Curses". She opened it up and began to flip through it.
"Sohma, sohma, sohm- ah! Here it is!" Eiko put the book in her lap and began to read.
The Sohma Family Curse, also known as the Curse of the Zodiac, is one of the longest curses never broken. Even today there are secrets that are unknown. All that is known of the curse is that thirteen Sohma family members change into animals of the zodiac when hugged by the opposite sex. There is also one that holds the "Core" of the Sohma Curse. Any angel that fails will lose their wings, and be forced to be a servant of the head of the family unil the head dies. Then they too will die as a human.
"Wait... that can't mean that-!" Eiko ran back down the stairs and out the door. "I'll be right back!" She called over her shoulder as she ran out into the woods. She ran into a clearing and stopped in the center.
She looked up and screamed, "Felix! I know you're up there!" A blinding light appeared in front of her. She covered her eyes with her arm as a man steped through the light. The light disappeared and Eiko lowered her arm. The man was wearing a school uniform, and had short black hair. He was a head taller that her, and had wings that were 5 feet long each. "Felix, don't tell me..." Eiko started. The man looked down.
"My apologies. It's out of my hands."
"But, Felix, you're the head of our class! Surely you can do something!"
"You know I can't override the AAA."
"The Angel Assignment Agency? But the AAA only gives assignments to graduated angels, and I'm only a ninth year!(There are fifteen years total.)"
"I'm not really sure why, but I'll go check things out up there. For now you should work on learning abuot the family curse. Speak to a man named Hatori Sohma. He knows about the angel assignments and will be able to help you. Speaking of knowing about us... records have it that you told a human you were an angel?" He gave her a piercing look.
"Um, well... you see- I, uh..."
"You know we're not supposed to tell humans!"
"But that Hatori guy knows..."
"He's cursed. Is Tohru cursed?"
"Of course not, but... oh."
"Don't you ever pay attention in class?"
"In History? Do you think any girl in their right mind could pay attention when Shinta's in the room? Even I can't help but stare. And anyway,Tohru is completely trustworthy." Felix gave her another piercing look. "I'd trust her with my life."
"Fine. Just try not to let anyone else find out," He could tell that she was serious. "I'll leave for now, but I will come back and tell you the news from up there. Remember, you're a student. You only have a year on Earth, unlike the graduated angels. If you don't break the curse by then..."
"I know."
"Good luck." With another flash of light, Felix disappeared. Eiko sighed.
"Well, I guess I better go back. I think I've thoroughly confused the others." Eiko headed back towards the house.
When Eiko walked into the room, everyone was sitting at the table.
"What's up?" Eiko sat down next to Yuki. Shigure looked serious. "Umm... is something wrong?"
"Well, you see..." Shigure thought of a way to explain. "I know! Tohru, hug Yuki."
"Ehh?" Tohru blushed.
"Why can't you just tell her?" Yuki asked.
"She wouldn't belive me." Shigure replied.
"I don't believe anything you say Shigure. It could lead to my death one day..." Eiko said.
"See? My point exactly. If you really don't want to then I'll gladly hug Tohru myself."
"Fine." Yuki said as he hugged Tohru. There was a loud POOF and pink smoke swirled around the room. Eiko coughed, and when the smoke disappeared she looked up.
"Huh? Where'd Yuki go..." She looked down and saw Yuki's clothes on the floor. "Um... and why isn't he wearing his clothes...?" The clothes jerked and Eiko jumped. She slowly lifted up Yuki's shirt, and underneath it was a small rat with purple eyes. 'I see... so Yuki's the rat. I guess I have to pretend I don't know... I'm gonna hate myself for this...' She thought to herself.
"Aww... a cute little rat." Eiko had to admit, he was an adorable rat. "C'mere little fella." She put out her hand for the "rat" to sniff. Kyo burst into fits of laughter, and Shigure chuckled lightly. Tohru didn't see what there was to laugh about (poor naive Tohru...) and just smiled. Kyo rolled on the ground, tears forming in his eyes as he laughed.
"...Miss Eiko?"
"Aaah! It talked!"
"Eiko... that's Yuki" Shigure managed to say through stifled laughs. Kyo continued to roll around on the floor.
"What! But how?"
"Well, it's kind of a long story. A REALLY long story. You see..." As Shigure explained, Eiko listened, pretending to be surprised. She learned a few things she didn't know about the curse. Like the fact that Akito is the head of the family ans carries what is called the "core" of the curse. Yuki still hadn't changed back.
"Oh, I almost forgot. When we change back we're-" But it was too late. There was a loud poof. "naked. Wow! I did forget again. Haha!"
"Aaaahh!" Eiko covered her face in her hands, and lowered her head to her lap. She sat there while Yuki put his clothes on. (Tohru had looked away right before it happened.)
'They SOO didn't mention that in the book!'
Minutes passed by and Eiko sat there motionless. Yuki put his hand on her shoulder.
"Miss Eiko? Are you going to be all right?"
"Y-yeah. I'm fine... just... dandy." She stood up, not looking at Yuki's face. She couldn't bring herself to look at him. "I'm just going to get something to drink." She walked out of the room into the kitchen.
"Well, do you think she should know about us?" Shigure asked.
"You're asking that now? Anyway, I'm worried about her. She looked kind of shaken."
"She DID see you naked." Shigure stated.
"Shut up! I knew that, but she looked upset about something else... did something happen when she was in the woods?"
"Like rape?" Shigure asked.
"NO!" Yuki shouted.
Eiko had filled a cup with water, but instead of drinking it, she splashed it in her face.
"Whew, I think I feel better now." She dried herself off with a towel and went back to the others. "So you transform when hugged, right?" Eiko asked as she sat down. "That can be an advantage sometimes can't it?"
"It's not that simple..." Yuki looked down.
"It doesn't really seem like a curse. I mean, how is it bad? Sure, you can't hug someone, but that doesn't mean that it's the end of the world."
"But you can't have s-" Shigure started, but Kyo and Yuki both punched him in the face. "Ow! You guys are so mean!"
"Pervert," Kyo said.
"Well, back to what we were talking about. You'll understand the curse when it's time, but until then be happy! Live life to the fullest! Que sura sura, right?" Shigure reverted back to his old self.
"Sure... whatever. I have to finish my homework for Monday. If you'll excuse me." Eiko stood up and went to her room. "I guess I better start studying." She walked over to her backpack and pulled out a piece of light blue chalk. She walked to the wall and drew a large circle. When the two ends of the circles touched, a bright blue light filled the circle. It cleared and there was an angel with spectacles on the other side.
"Angel's Sanctuary of Books, how may I help you?" The woman said.
"Hi. Umm, I would like to rent a book on the Sohma family curse."
"The Sohma Curse? Why would you want a depressing book like that?" The woman asked with a stare.
"Uh, project."
"I see. One moment please." The woman walked out of sight for a minute and came back.
"There is no book on the Sohma curse. It's too unknown. However, there is a book called Terrible Curses that has some information on the Sohmas."
"Oh, then can I take out that book?"
"State your name, year, and how long the book will be out."
"Eiko Takaia, ninth year, and one year." The woman pushed a notebook into Eiko's hands and a quill.
"Sign here." Eiko signed it and handed it back to her. A minute later, two small faeries brought a huge textbook and threw it at Eiko. She almost fell over. "Have a nice day." And with that, the blue circle disappeared.
"Okay. Let's see what this book has to say."
Author's Notes: Well, there's the end of another chapter. I'm so good!.
Kyo- No you're not! You haven't updated in months!
Page-chan- Lies! Don't make me kill you off! And you were gonna have such a happy ending too...
Kyo- Nooo! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! grabs page-chan's leg and sobs
Yuki- What's up with him?
Page-chan- Oh, nothing. He was just admitting his undying love for me.
Kyo- What! No I- page-chan gives him a piercing look
Tohru- Oh, Kyo loves Page-chan?
Kyo- NOO! It's not true! It's not true!
Tohru- That's so CUTE!
Kyo- NOOOOOOOOOOO!
Yuki- See you later...