Chapter 3

Enjoy!

On her way to her house inside the Sohma compound Kisa found herself standing outside Momiji's house. Her mind raced though a torrent of thoughts all centered around her cousin.

For centuries many members of the Sohma family were born cursed. Kisa herself and her cousin Momiji were among the many. (A/N: My math kinda is off a bit so go along with the numbers lol) They'd grown up in a cursed world, each of them possessed by the spirit of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac plus God and the cat and each had lived surrounded by pain and suffering. God had suffered the most though no one had realized it and had tortured the rest of them to ease her own distress. Kisa had been the tiger and Momiji the rabbit. It hadn't been until seven years ago that they thought there was a cure. Seven years ago they met Tohru Honda.

It was Tohru who broke the curse four years ago setting everyone free but it was also Tohru who Momiji had fallen in love with. However Tohru had fallen in love with the Cursed Cat, Kyo Sohma and they'd moved right after high school together. Tohru had been a big sister to Kisa, a mother to two other cousins and best friends with all of them. Kisa wondered often, when she heard Momiji's sad playing, if he missed Tohru because he was still in love with her or because she was the first person to really understand his pain. He managed to hide it so well from everyone else.

"Kisa-chan?" A soft voice called her name drawing her attention back to her surroundings.

A tall handsome man with blonde hair and soft brown eyes was leaning down to peer at her. There was a bit of sadness deep in his eyes and Kisa knew she had to chance it.

"Momiji-kun… next week would you drive me to pick up something I bought?"

~Art of Love~

Emiko set the phone down gently considering what Kisa had just told her. She'd run into the violinist and convinced him to take her when she picked up her painting. After a minute of thinking she called her grandfather then headed down stairs for dinner.

"Okaa-san! Otou-san!" She squealed hugging both her parents. She tackled her sister when she wander into the room freshly changed from her work clothes. "Onee-chan!"

"oof!" Alana grunted when she hit the ground. "Aren't you supposed to be at practice?" She asked pushing Emiko aside.

"No practice tonight." Emiko told her cheekily.

"Calm down you two." Their mother, Chizue, scolded them gently. She was a rather short woman but thick with muscle, her black hair was starting to go gray but her chocolate eyes were filled with life. She'd played international sports for much of her youth and saved and invested that money well. Investing was how she had met her husband.

Mizu Takashi was a business man and a banker when he met Chizue and it was love at first sight. Many were surprised because she was so loud and outgoing and he was calm and collected but they'd been married twenty five years happily. "How was work today Alana-chan?" Mizu asked his oldest daughter their identical black eyes meeting over the stack of plates he handed her. Alana had his willow thin build but not his height, that was Emiko's.

"Eventful." She admitted setting the plates on to the table. She enjoyed the calm family routine of cooking and setting up for dinner. It was the one time a day they were all together. It was probably the only routine that she still enjoyed, the others had begun to chafe and drive her down.

"How so?" He asked turning to check the pot of sukiyaki.

"Alana has been listening to a wonderful violinist and met his cousin the other week. Turned out that the cousin is in my class and now is my best friend! She's great. Well anyway I took her up to see onee-chan today and she was certainly surprised!" Emiko explained grinning.

"You're evil." Chizue told her ruffling her hair.

They all chuckled and then fell into discussions of their parents work and Emiko's schooling. No one had ever scolded Alana for not completing college. She'd gotten a job and painted constantly to sell her art and gain recognition for her work. But Alana had begun to think it was time to…she wasn't sure. Move out, start looking for other galleries to display her work and concert halls to play in, anything to break up the monotony of her life.

That was how she'd discovered the Sohma estate. She decided to walk home a new way so her scenery was changed at the very least. The violin music was played so masterfully that it drew her closer and closer until she stood against the wall listening. The music was always beautiful, sometimes light and cheerful, others mournful and sad.

After dinner Alana made her way to the piano that was tucked into the corner of one of their rooms and sat before its' ivory and black keys. She gently pressed down a few keys then let her fingers dance across the notes drawing out the slow tone of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Emiko leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed over her chest as she studied her sister. What would her reaction be next week when Kisa came and brought along Momiji?

When she finished her song Alana glanced up to see Emiko holding out an envelope. She glanced at the return address and then jerked her eyes back to her sister. "Good luck." Emiko told her then left quietly.

Alana glanced at the envelope and then slowly pulled out the two pieces of paper within. One was a note from her grandfather and the other was a letter to him from Matoko Art Gallery and Amphitheater one of the country's most renowned and celebrated art dealers.

"Dear Mr. Takashi," It began. "Thank you for your interest in Matoko AGA and our ongoing search for new and bright talent in the field of visual and musical art. Upon reviewing the information that you have given us we are pleased to inform you that within a months' time one of our critic's will be visiting your Gallery and speak with you further. Please have a number of pieces of the artist you wish to display readily available." It went on with a list of things that were recommended, more flattering compliments and a promise to call to finalize the date. It was signed the Vice-President of Matoko AGA.

With shaking fingers Alana set down the paper and picked up the note from her grandfather. "I hope you aren't upset with me Alana-chan. You need to spread your wings and as an employer and your grandfather, I can't hold you back. Let me try to help you on your way."

Alana slowly placed it with its companion piece and placed her head into her hands as tears began to slide their way down her cheeks. Trust her grandfather to realize how unhappy she was before she herself did. Outside the house the sun began to set but the sky was lit with beautiful colors. Emiko sat on the roof lost in thoughts of her sisters discontent and knew that she just needed to wait for the sun to rise.

~Art of Love~

Kisa watched the scenery outside the windows of the car as Momiji made his way toward the Gallery. Ever since she'd asked him she'd questioned whether it was a good idea or not. A sigh came from the back seat and Kisa turned to look at her boyfriend Hiro. "Something wrong Hiro-kun?"

Hiro was a Sohma as well and one of those who'd been cursed by the Zodiac. As the Ram, Hiro had grown up sarcastic and almost cruel to protect himself and Kisa from pain. It wasn't until everyone's curse had broken that Hiro admitted he'd always tried to protect Kisa and been in love with her. They'd had a lot to work out but finally they began officially dating two years ago. "This artist…" He began his voice quiet and his brown eyes glinting in the reflected sunlight as he pushed his light brown hair from them. "Who is she?"

Kisa smiled at him for being kind in his questioning, all too often he slipped back into sarcastic mode. "Remember our classmate Emiko-san who I introduced you to? It's her onee-san."

Hiro's eyes narrowed slightly at her. "She isn't like Takashi-san is she?" He asked remembering the loud sporty girl. He tended to let Kisa and Emiko be alone when they hung out simply because he knew how difficult it was for her to make friends so he didn't know her all that well.

Kisa giggled. "No. She's almost the complete opposite of Emiko-san. But she's a wonderful artist. I saw her painting the other day and decided to buy the piece because I loved it so much! There are a few others I may buy as presents today." Kisa gave Hiro a happy smile and Hiro felt his own lips twitch up in response.

"So why did you want me to drive Kisa-chan?" Momiji asked glancing at her as they neared their destination.

Kisa blushed. "We rarely see you Momiji-kun! Besides they have someone who plays music throughout the day and I thought maybe you could look at working here too. Haru-kun says you don't have anything to do and it would be fun!" Kisa ranted not subtle in her excuse making.

"Well that is true and I may look into it, however," He reached out a hand to ruffle her hair as they pulled up to the Gallery. "I am not sunk into depression. You all don't have to worry so much about me." He got out from the car and Kisa and Hiro quickly followed.

Like I said my math is a bit off probably. But for the sake of the story it will be this way:

*Alana is the same age as Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, Arisa, and Saki which is 22.(They were 18 when the manga ended and I have it say 'four years' so it should be like that)

*Momiji, Hatsuharu, and Machi are 21.

*Kisa and Emiko are 17 years old.(Kisa is four years younger than Momiji so that should be correct)

*Hiro is 16. In the manga Hiro and Kisa are a year apart with him actually a year younger so I am going to keep with that.

I will say the other peoples ages as we go on but since all of these are grouped together I will say all of them. All characters are from Manga, this is Manga Continuation not AU or Anime. If anything is confusing please feel free to ask for clarification in your review and I'll try to clear it all up!

Vocab

Okaa-san = Mother

Otou-san = Father