BANG! BANG! BANG! My head was feeling sore, but that was probably because I was banging it against the wall. It was so... loud. Everyone was stepping on everyone else's nerves. The house is too small to accommodate two families. Right now, there was a raging war going on between Kaia and Jesse, and somehow Dean had been pulled into it. Shigure and Shoji seemed to be trying to find the best position NOT to be noticed by the rampaging teens, Tohru was kind of just sitting there and letting out a nervous giggle from time to time, Kyou and Yuki were just staring at them, while I was just watching them from my position by the stairs and banging my head on the wall.

"Well, damn, Kaia! Who's fault is it that we're here anyway? You have no right to be complaining about anything! Especially to the people who were kind enough to take us in!" Dean shouted. I was surprised and impressed. Dean was relatively keeping his cool.

"It's not my fault! Jesse wouldn't help me, so I had to do it by myself!" Kaia shouted back.

"You should know that you don't cook sushi, you idiot!" Jesse exclaimed.

"Guys, you shouldn't fight..." Tohru attempted.

"Well, I didn't know, and you couldn't spare your precious time to show me!" Kaia yelled.

"Damn, will you ALL shut up! Your pissing me off!" I screamed, pretty much randomly. I just couldn't take it anymore.

"You stupid cat! Stop getting into other people's business!" Jesse yelled at me.

"It is my business if your yelling about it in my vicinity!" I cried, clenching and unclenching my fists. Composure. I needed composure.

"Well, it's not my fault that you can't control your emotions and don't want to explode in front of your boyfriend! Everyone else can just sit there without getting involved in our argument!" Jesse yelled.

I froze. How did JESSE know about me and Kyou? My eyes darted to Dean but he shook his head slightly. He couldn't have caught us at any time... we were so careful! This wasn't how we wanted everyone to find out. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but instead of blushing, I just walked slowly to Jesse.

SMACK! I slapped Jesse, and he was too surprised to defend himself, so it landed right across the face, leaving an angry red mark and some blood from the corner of his mouth. "You speak but nothing but lies and manipulations come out. You are a rat. A dirty little rat that deserves to be exterminated. If only you could see, nobody really likes you. Who could like a dirty little rat?" I spoke softly, but my tone spoke volumes of pure anger and violence. I turned to leave, and noticed Yuki, looking more surprised than anyone else in the room. I realized that my words, meant to hurt Jesse, may have hurt him, too. I motioned slightly for him to follow me if he wished, meaning to apologize.

Then Jesse spoke, and I was frozen in my tracks. "Don't any of you see it? It's obvious! Especially because of how she reacted to what I said! She and Kyou! They're always disappearing together, and they share a room! You can't say you didn't see it!"

I slowly turned around again, and was careful not to look at Kyou, instead, turned a gaze of pure hatred on Jesse.

"Shawny, don't look at him like that! Because... because I've noticed it, too. The way you look at him... the way you guys act when you think no one's looking... but tell me I'm wrong, Shawny, please..." Kaia looked at my pleadingly. Kaia was part of the reason I hadn't wanted to tell people about Kyou and my relationship. She had a monster crush on him, and, though she did stupid things, she's my cousin, and I didn't want to betray and hurt her.

Dean stood up and walked to me, whispering softly. "You might as well tell them, Shawna. It's over. I'm sorry."

"I- I..." I didn't know what to say. Kaia's desperate face, Dean's apologetic one... then Jesse's satisfied smirk. There was no way I was going to let him get the last word. I glanced at Kyou. He shrugged.

"You know what? Kyou and I are going out. We have been for some time. We didn't tell anyone because this was very experimental and new for both of us, and we didn't know how to go about it. And... and now you know. So there's nothing to hide anymore." I nodded in satisfaction, surprised at myself for saying that much. Jesse had just made me so angry.

"Shawny, how could you? You knew... you knew how I felt..." Kaia broke down into sobs, and I walked over and rested my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Kaia. But it just sort of happened. You know... please, don't be angry with me." The words... I just said them as they came to me. Before, I would have never considered saying something like that. Deciding to continue these strange actions, I did what my instincts told me to do and knelt next to her, wiping her tears. Kaia leaned into my hand and stared at me with watery eyes.

"You're so different. Before, you would have just stared at me and walked away. If it's because of him, there's no way I could be angry. I love you, Shawny. I know you don't feel that way towards me, in fact, you don't deal love at all, but I don't care. It makes me happy to see you happy, because it hurt me to see you so sad for so long. If you're happy now, with Kyou, if he can make you love things, please, make the most of it." Then she looked at Kyou. "And you. Don't you dare hurt her!"

I stared at Kaia. She loved me? Since when? When did Kaia actually acknowledge my existence before we moved to Japan? I wracked my memory. Kaia had always been in my classes, and more than once, I had caught her watching me. I had always assumed it was a look of pity because I was the cat. Now that I thought about it, it was more like a look of concern. Those things that would appear on my desk if I had had an especially bad day. I always thought they were from Lilah or Dean, only neither would fess up. It must have been Kaia. Those little things, like fresh cut flowers, or some candies with a note that said, 'Smile, you look so pretty when you do' or something similar had always made me feel so much better. And then I remembered a memory long forgotten. Kaia and I were little, and we were playing in the yard. We couldn't have been older that four or five. Kaia's father had come, and yelled at Kaia for playing with me, calling me a filthy cat and other cruel things. Kaia had looked determinedly into her father's face and said "Daddy, Shawny is MY friend, not your friend. Shawny is fun to play with and nice. You are being mean to my friend." Then she had run to me and we had started playing again, leaving her father open-mouthed.

"Kaia... it was you. It was you and I never realized." I pulled her into my embrace and held her. Kaia knew I didn't know it was her doing all these nice things for me, and she had never once spoke up and said 'I'm the one leaving you those things! Give me credit for them!' Was her seeing me happier because of them enough for her? I realized that Kaia had always been hanging around when I was near Dean. I couldn't believe it. I had always thought Kaia was shallow, but in reality, all she ever wanted was to see me happy.

"I was happy that you were smiling. I just didn't want to see you sad, so I would try and make you smile. I figured you wouldn't accept them from me, because you pushed everyone away except Dean and Lilah, and, after a while, even them, so I watched from a distance. All I want is you to be happy." Kaia smiled at me, and tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn't help it. I blinked them back and squeezed Kaia once more, then stood up and turned to Jesse.

"Are you satisfied, you damn rat? You tried to hurt me, and ended up just making me feel better. That's why rats are so stupid." I stopped, realizing that my words stung more than one person in the room once again. I turned to Yuki and said "I don't mean to offend you when I say things like that, Yuki. You are a good person, and my lumping you together with that scum," I motioned to Jesse, "Is unforgivable. Please, if I ever say anything cruel about rats, know I mean nothing of the sort to you. My hatred and rivalries do not leave my family. I would prefer to have you as a friend than a rival, anyway." I smiled, hoping that corrected the cruel things I had said earlier.

"I take no offense Curna-san. I understand and never thought that your words were directed towards me. We are friends, are we not?" He smiled back. I nodded. Then feeling suddenly exhausted from speaking that much in less than and hour, I promptly left the room, went upstairs, and went to sleep.

On my way upstairs, I heard the voices behind me. "Ah, young love. How beautiful." (Shigure)

"Shut up Shigure!" (Kyou)

"Who would have guessed. Someone could actually enjoy your company. I'm shocked." (Yuki)

"Stay out of this you stupid rat!" (Kyou)

"Hey, I'm just surprised Kaia has a heart. I was sure she was a heartless demon." (Dean)

"DEAN!" (Kaia)

"Owowowowowowowow! I was joking! I was joking! I love you, sis! OW!" (Dean)

"You guys really shouldn't fight..." (Tohru)

CRASH! (Kyou being thrown through door again because he tried to take on Yuki. Again)

"Oh, dear. You broke my house again." (Shigure)

I couldn't help but smile. Those people were my new family. I could now say that I loved them all, and without them, I would still be grumpy and pushing everyone away. Well, everyone but Jesse. I hate Jesse.