Umi-chan: Wow… before writing this fic I hated Yuki but you can't help but feel sorry for him sometimes. By the way um… GOMEN NASAI!!! I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING AS QUICKLY AS YOU ALL WOULD WISH!!!

Chapter Fifteen: The Painful Truth

(Pohli's point of view)

I sank under the weight of his arm around my shoulder. Slowly he led me away from the house I was staying in towards a smaller one that almost looked like a shrine.

"Where are we going?" I whispered and tried to pull away but he dug his fingers into my shoulders. He unlocked a large padlock and slid the door open to reveal a small room with a wall made of gold. What is this place?

He led me to the center of the room and willed me to sit. I faced the gold wall as I kneeled down and he went and closed the door.

"Do you know the zodiac legend?" He asked as he walked from the door to the gold wall and lit some candles revealing a beautiful picture carved in it. I solemnly shook my head, I knew of the zodiac but not the story behind it.

"There was a God, he invited the twelve creatures to join in a great feast. The rat who was not invited tricked the cat out and gained a place among the twelve parts, the Cat being the thirteenth." He pointed to the engraving of a man in the center surrounded by zodiac animals. "But, there was a cursed placed upon thirteen souls to bear what we call the zodiac curse. The vengeful spirits of the zodiac that the God tricked possessed these people. Even now we do not know what exactly happened with all of it." He sighed and ran his hand over the gold, polishing it slightly. "Those thirteen are cursed in many ways, they are not even permitted to have physical contact with member of the opposite sex with out transforming into their zodiac animal." He laughed a little and walked by me to a closet in the wall and pulled out a silver box. "Hello my old friend…" I heard him whisper as he placed the box down in front of the golden wall.

"You see, there was another curse placed. The god knew that the vengeful spirits would eventually come and kill him. You know what that fool did? He took another soul. He took a human infant and bonded part of himself to it. The child was born…" He paused briefly, long enough to smirk as he opened the box. "The child was born to die." I looked up through my bangs at his silhouette; he had pulled a few things out of the box, a feather, a bit of orange and gray hair. He was holding a magnolia flower in his hand; slowly he raised it to his face and breathed in its aroma. "He knew that the force of the zodiac even being alive would cause the child to wear down, to decay the soul killing it over time. He believed that the soul he bonded with would be eradicated after the zodiac's revenge killed it." The gentle grasp he had on the flower changed into a tight clench and the remains of its petals fell to the floor.

"But he was wrong… Another child was born and the curse and soul was passed. So he did what he considered a favor. He gave the child control of the others. They would have him as their leader, look up to him, and follow him and his every whim. But what kind of excuse is that? This child would hold the brunt of the curse, born to die, not even a chance to live but a eighth of his life. Live in the Sohma cage, not allowed to go out except on a leash like a dog. Not even enough freedom as to go out to the sidewalk for a brief stroll. No, they force the family head to stay in the cage as if willing him to die faster. What kind of life is that?" He growled. "To die slowly, from the inside out. To be torn from the world before a natural death." I swallowed hard as he went on. "And they want to call that a life."

I could feel my inside twisting and wringing around. People don't just make things like that up unless they know how it felt.

"The Sohma family is cursed. Yuki, Haru, Kyou, Hatori, Shigure; all of them that you know are cursed." He sat down on the ground across from me and pulled his knees up to his chest, "As am I." His eyes began to fill with anger and he crossed his arms.

"Who… Who was the one? Who was the one born to die?" I managed to get out in between my wispy breathes for air. He ripped his hand back and brought it towards me with so much speed I thought he was going to strike me but instead I felt his fingertips lightly touch my cheek.

Then quietly he whispered, "I was born to die."

I jerked back. "No! You can't just be born to die, it doesn't work like that there are no such things as curses!" I shook my head and fumbled backwards across the floor trying to get to my feet. When I did, I didn't even give him a chance to respond I ran.

I ran away.

I ran away this time, I didn't hide under the sink and watch my fears torment me. I ran, I would fight my fears but this time I would be ready I wouldn't believe Aki was going to die. It doesn't work like that.

But as I ran the more I thought about how Yuki and the others never got close to any one or how Kyou never hugs Tohru…

No. Its not true, Akito is just some psychopath who needs to get a life but instead is hell bent to torture me.

Ok that was a pathetic thought.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Midori standing next to Yuki outside one of the houses. Pausing, I started making my way towards them. I had to know the truth…

(Midori's point of view)

When Yuki had seen me walking towards him in my black dress and glittering sleeves, I thought my eyes saw a slight blush on his pale face. "Good evening." I nodded, feeling quite mellow and relaxed at the moment.

"Good evening, Midori-san." Yuki smiled pleasantly.

You can just call me Midori, you know, I thought.

"Where's Pohli-san?" The older boy looked over my shoulder to see if Pohli was lagging behind.

"She told me she needed some time to herself." I replied quickly and thought for a long, silent moment. "She told me that… you were right… about Akito, that is. Seemed to really hurt her."

"Oh… " Yuki trailed off for a brief moment before gently grabbing my arm by a glittering sleeve and leading me into the house for the second banquet. "The second banquet is generally an informal one." I could see he was clearly trying to change the subject from Akito and Pohli.

The room had changed drastically from the day before. Instead of small groups of tables with various foods on them the large tables were lined against the wall like a buffet table and there was no place to sit. Everyone who was there chatted among his or her own little groups. Tohru and Kyou were together, Kisa, Hiro, Momiji, and Hatsuharu were in another corner, Saki and Hanajima were watching Kyou and Tohru closely. Shigure was probably the oldest guy there and very smug about it.

"Such pretty high school girls." Shigure laughed giddily.

Yuki narrowed his violet eyes angrily and proceeded to hit him over the head. "You planned this didn't you?!" The zodiac rat demanded, somewhat aware of what the answer would be.

"Yes I did plan the second banquet." Shigure whimpered and held up his hands in defeat. "Please don't hurt me."

Sighing, Yuki released the collar of his older cousin and turned his attention back to me. I had to stifle a quiet laugh at what had just happened. You have to admit it that it's admirable how Yuki could do that to people when he wanted to.

"Sorry about that, Midori-san. Can I speak to you in private outside?" Yuki questioned with a worried look on his face.

I nodded and followed him outside curiously. What could he want to talk about that is worrying him so?

It wasn't as cold of a night as it had been the days before. And so, we stood outside on the wooden porch that surrounds each house. Yuki rubbed his shoulder hesitantly and didn't look at me. That was the last clue I needed, something was definitely bothering him. My eyes softened and I gently placed my hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"Midori-san… there's something I must tell you…" Again, Yuki refused to make eye contact with me.

"Yuki!" Pohli called, making the two of us jump in surprise. The blonde ran up to us panting and stopped before stepping onto the porch. She looked up at Yuki determinedly before suddenly reaching out for him and hugging Yuki.

I gasped when there was a loud POOF and smoke engulfed Yuki. What should I do? What could I do?! Pohli stared down at Yuki the rat with wide eyes before bursting into tears. Utterly flabbergasted, I didn't know what to do! I kneeled down on the edge of the porch and hugged Pohli trying to comfort her for some reason unknown to me. Yuki didn't know what to do either.

"Akito was right!" Pohli sobbed into my shoulder. "He was telling the truth! The Sohma family is cursed! And that means…" She sobbed into my shoulder harder.

Hearing her mention the curse I glanced down at Yuki and he seemed troubled by this as well. "I'll take her back to our room." I told Yuki.

"Very well." Yuki nodded and his expression turned angry and determined. "I'm going to find Akito. There are some things I must discuss with him."

Going our separate ways, I led Pohli back to our room. Now I disliked Akito even more…

TO BE CONTINUED

Umi-chan: Hope you enjoyed that and sorry again for the delay.

Kyou-chan: School starts soon…

Umi-chan: Don't remind me.