"DAMMIT! NOW HOW ARE WE GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS!"

"Don't blame this on us you stupid cat!"

"What'd you say! Go ahead! Say that again!"

"STU. PID. CAT."

"YOU DAMN RA-"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!"

The gray mouse struggled to stay atop the large dog's head as it suddenly sat up to bark the demand.

Y-you mean they t-talk too? "I need therapy…" muttered Cesia to herself, rubbing her aching head.

"…stupid cat," hissed the mouse.

"I am SO going to bite your head off!" The red cat made a lunge at the mouse.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" yelled Cesia, half screaming. She furiously grabbed the cat by the tail and yanked the mouse off of the dog's head. "You two, STOP FIGHTING! MY GOD, you're giving me the BIGGEST headache in the WORLD! Now tell me what the hell is going on here!"

Both captive animals laid their ears back in defeat.

"YOU!"

The black dog froze as a finger was pointed at him. "Er, y-yes?" it stammered, slightly scared.

Cesia leaned in closer to the dog's face, never letting go of the other two animals in her hands. "Tell me what's going on, NOW!"

The dog started to sweat furiously, being put on the spot. "Well you see," he pointed a paw at the mouse, "That's Rune right there," he then shifted the direction to the cat, "And that's Rath Sohma there." Then he put his paw down. "And I'm Ruwalk." He could practically see the sanity leaving Cesia's brain.

"You're…you're…ani…mals…" she muttered under her breath, staring blankly at the wall.

"No, we're aliens-OF COURSE WE'RE ANIMALS SHITHEAD!" scowled the cat across the room. The third Sohma had taken this chance to dash into the nearest corner and glare at the mouse.

"DON'T YOU TALK BACK TO ME LIKE THAT YOU IDIOTIC TWIT!" yelled Cesia back at the cat, getting more irritated by it every moment.

"Oy…calm down, geesh," pleaded Ruwalk, sweating slightly. "There's a very good explanation for this, don't get over-excited now." He yipped as the glare turned and shot at him.

"SPEAK."

"Well, you see…" he started, backing away an inch or so, "Our family, the Sohmas. Well, we've lived with this curse for many years. Twelve of us- well, thirteen, including Rath- turn into the twelve- er, thirteen, I mean- animals of the Chinese zodiac when extremely weak, or when (for some reason) hugged by a person of the opposite sex."

Cesia was calmer now, breathing regularly and ignoring the seething cat. "You mean…this is normal?"

Ruwalk laughed, "Well, more or less, I guess you could call it 'normal'. We've been like this forever."

"I see…but then, how do you change back?" asked Cesia, not wanting her new acquaintances to be animals forever.

"Oh, well you'll figure that out right about…"

-POOF-

"Now."

"EEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Cesia desperately turned a three-sixty to face the door as the three animals turned back into their original forms, but missing one thing…

Their clothes.

"PUT SOME STUPID CLOTHES ON!" she yelled, covering her eyes even though she wasn't facing any of them. Stupid and totally abnormal thoughts ran through her head. 'I'll never be able to marry! My innocent, virgin mind has purged into dirtiness!'

"Ahaha, well, wasn't that funny," came Ruwalk's voice.

- ( - it's a cat!) –0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Well, you're still welcome to live here, even if we are slightly…weird."

"Oh, it's okay! You're not- um, THAT weird. But of course, I'll still clean and all that junk, so don't worry!"

"Heh, I like this kid," said Ruwalk, pointing to Cesia and looking approvingly at Rath, "Good manners, much unlike you, ya ol' grumpy kitty."

Rath sat silently in his corner, fuming.

Rune gave small smirk, "It's not his fault he's an annoying, indecent, selfish, irresponsible-"

"My GOD! SHUT UP!" yelled Rath, suddenly rising from his sullen spot and charging straight for Rune. He grabbed a hold of the blonde's shirt and pulled his face close. "You better shut that mouth or yours or I'm gonna have to for you."

"Oh really?" asked Rune sarcastically, looking relaxed, "Are you quite sure you're capable of doing what you just inquired?"

"DAMMIT! DON'T YOU GO USING BIG WORDS WITH ME!" shouted Rath, getting angrier.

"Why? Does it make you feel dumber than you already are?"

"I ain't dumb! Shut up!"

"Is 'shut up' all you can say?"

"SHUT UP GODDAMIT!" Rath raised his fist into the air, ready to punch Rune.

Rune caught sight of the hand and quickly slid over to his left, giving a passageway for the fist to instead land on the door behind him.

"Now, really, do you have to fight?" asked Ruwalk mostly to himself since no one was bothering to listen to him. "My house…"

They had already begun to fight; Rath doing most of the work, and Rune just dodging everything coming at him.

"You know, for someone who disappeared for four months training, you really suck," sneered Rune, taking the fight outside to prevent further damage to the house.

Rath got angrier, if that was possible, and started to fight harder, "Well you haven't changed at all either! Spoiled, cruddy, friendless-"

But he didn't have time to finish his words. Rune immediately gave him a mighty punch in the stomach, knocking all the way across the backyard and into the nearby fishpond.

"Crap!" Rath clutched his paining stomach and turned over in the shallow, rocky pond. He had probably killed a couple of fish there.

Rune glared down at him, "Shut up, you have no clue what you are talking about you stupid cat, so I suggest that until you do, you refrain from speaking." And with that, he turned and walked back into the house, up the stairs, and into his room.

"Ah, well, that's Rune for you," mumbled Ruwalk half to himself. "Anyways…" He turned to face Cesia again. "Sorry, but I'll have to report this whole little fiasco to the top boss-man."

"Who?" asked Cesia, watching Rune go up the stairs.

Ruwalk got up from the table and smiled, putting a hand on top of Cesia's head. "Don't worry about. Just make yourself at home here."

No one noticed the red-haired boy running off back into the dense overgrowth of trees.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

dark-birdie: I kept getting requests to stray from the fruba storyline, so well, I hope I did justice! I honestly didn't know how this would go, but I hope it's smoother from here on now. Sorry for the long wait, don't forget to review!