Disclaimer: Oi, I hate you Disclaimer-san. I will proclaim one of Fruba as mine and you will not be there to stop me!

(Disclaimer sends out Lawyers)

…But those bastards will. On with the chapter. (By the way, I got up to vol. 15 on the Fruba series but after some digging, I pretty much know what's happening.)

Kagura slid open the door. "H-Hello? Shigure? Anyone?" Slipping inside and pulling off her shoes, Kagura wandered into the house looking around for any sign that someone might be home. When only silenced greeted her, Kagura breathed a sigh of relief and turned around only to have the crap scared out of her. "U-WAH!"

Kasumi smiled at her, her red eyes narrowing in on the boar's brown ones. "Hello Kagura-chan. I haven't seen you in…a while." She greeted with an icy tone. Kagura took a step back, clutching her cat bag she dragged everywhere with her.

When no reply came, Kasumi continued. "What's with the silence?" she asked, taking a step forward, keeping eye contact with the girl. Maybe she was installing fear in her? The thought only made her smile more.

Kagura bumped into the wall and she held her bag closer to her chest. "It is…well I—." she stumbled over words, trying hard to take the words she's tripped on to make them a complete, sturdy sentence. So far, that wasn't going very well. She took a breath and exhaled. "Yes. It has been a while." Usually, Kagura wasn't afraid of anything but she was frightened and amazed, that Kasumi seemed to be the only one to scare her with only a glance.

Kasumi's smile faltered. She spun around to go back to the table where she had been reading. Dropping onto her pillow, she motioned for Kagura to sit with her. Kagura, not seeing any able excuse—as her mouth would just not cooperate with her brain—obliged and sat across from her. Kasumi folded her hands together on the table. "Let's talk." She said casually.

Kagura lowered her arms and her bag sat on her lap. "Talk?" she repeated. Her jaw seemed to be glued shut. Even that simple word came from clenched teeth. Kasumi nodded, now holding her head up in her hand.

"You hate me don't you?"

Kagura gasped and leaned forward. "O-Of course not, Kasumi-chan. You've been gone for so long…" he voice trailed off. How could she find a way to talk about Kasumi coming back to the Sohma estate without talking about the reason she left in the first place?

Kasumi twirled a piece of hair through her fingers absent mindedly. "Hm." She grumbled then let her fist fall back down onto the table. Kagura flinched, her eyes trailing back up to Kasumi's. The blonde girl grinned. "Kagura-chan, please, tell me how you feel." She said with an icy-sweet tone. "If I said that I think you're an udder disgrace, you would hold that against me, but I would only be telling you the truth."

Kagura wished for someone to come in at the exact moment and save her. Grimacing and digging her nails into the cat bag, she abated a loss for words. "I…I don't think that of you—." She cringed as another fist beat on the table.

Kasumi stared at her with her lips pursed in a manner of trying to read what Kagura was really thinking. She chuckled, the corners of her mouth moving up. "Surely, you are lying." She said in her normal tone.

Kagura shook her head profusely. "Oh no, of course not. I haven't seen you in years. How could I think that of you?"

Kasumi thought about saying "Because I love Kyo-kun." But she hesitated, her tense shoulders loosened and she was able to smile again, brushing Kagura's last sentence away. "So, Kagura-chan, tell me."

"Tell you what?" Kagura asked in her tiny voice.

"This Tohru Honda girl." Kasumi said, flicking her hand over her shoulder. "What's her deal and how does she know about us?"

Kagura looked down at her bag. Us? Kasumi wasn't even apart of the zodiac. Well, she was technically. She used to be. "D-" Kagura started.

Kasumi blinked at her confused but found her nervousness amusing.

"Does 'us' really include you?" Kagura asked, closing her eyes, holding her bag again close to her. "I mean…I guess it would since…since…since—." She stumbled. She took a breath to try to finish her sentence but Kasumi was ahead of her.

"—Since I broke the curse?" Kasumi asked. Kagura tilted her head forward in a slow nod. Kasumi leaned back on her hands. "This is true…after all, I'm the first one to break it. I wish I could tell you—." She said this looking to the side. Kagura stared at her. Was Kasumi opening up to her? Or just rubbing the fact that she was no longer cursed in her face?

"—But I don't even know how I did it. I guess I was just so tired of never being able to be hugged by my father or held by any boy, I just willed the curse away.

"I guess that's also why I feel horrible for Kisa." A dark yet sad look crossed Kasumi's pale face and her red eyes relaxed to a brown. Kagura leaned forward, relaxing her grip on her bag. Kasumi was calming down.

"Because I gave her the curse." Kasumi mumbled the last part. "I was born the tiger." She said more to herself than to Kagura. In fact, she had completely forgotten Kagura was right in front of her. "I know it's not my fault that Kisa was born the tiger. But maybe if I had just kept the way I was, she wouldn't have to through all the teasing."

Jerking her head up, she was reminded of a presence. Kagura sat there looking at her frowning, sad for her. "I-Is that also why you have a fondness for…Kyo-kun as well?" she stuttered.

Kasumi shrugged looking at the table. "Because he's also a cat like me—excuse me—like I used to be. Yes." She said simply, relaxing her arms by leaning forward and let them rest in her lap. "I wanted to tell him exactly how I diminished the curse but when I thought back, I couldn't remember how I did it myself. So I promised myself to stay loyal to Kyo-kun and when I remembered, I would tell him." Her smiled returned but it was a sad, lonely smile. "Then Kisa was born…"

Kagura felt salt water stinging her eyes and out of pure embarrassment, wiped at them furiously. When Kasumi looked up, the boar was thrown into a fit of apologies. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she shrieked. A voice in her head told her to calm down. Taking a deep breath she scraped the back of her hand across her cheek. "It's just that I…never heard you open up like this."

Kasumi's sad stony features remained unmoved. Kagura took this silence as an advantage to her thoughts. Her jaw had been unglued and words were now streaming out of her mouth. "You feel so guilty about Kisa but its okay. It's not really your fault, anyway. I think you should open up more like this. Everyone thinks that you're crazy for leaving."

"Then let them." Kasumi said, getting a little pissed off. They all thought she was…crazy?

The door slid open and the two girls looked up. Yuki was standing there. One look at the red-eyed Kagura and the steamed Kasumi and Yuki turned on the blonde girl. "Just what are you doing to Kagura?-!"

Kasumi held up a hand. "I am…opening up to her."

DONE! Sorry for the long wait but there aren't that many reviewers out there for this story anyway. Well now we know her secret. Woot woot. Next chapter should be soon.