Sohma Kingdom History, Lesson 3-
The curse that the witch placed on the Sohma Kingdom apparently knows no bounds. All members of the royal family are cursed by having their bodies take on certain characteristics that typically appear on the Zodiac animals. For instance, Yagma Sohma Lord of Marbury had whiskers and a tail just like a rat, Talla Sohma Countess of Kanet Fields had Tiger-like claws and stripes all over her body, and Kuni Sohma of Darnet has a boars nose right on her face. Apart from these animalistic qualities there are always 13 members of the family who carry a large part of the curse. These 13 look completely normal but can not embrace a member of the opposite sex without being turned into the spirit of their zodiac animal. The lesser royal family members cater to the whims and needs of the Zodiac Jyūnishi that corresponds to their physical traits. However, the 13th Jyūnishi, the cat, is segregated as no one else in the entire bloodline ever possesses traits from it.
Chapter 3- Monster by Nature
"Hey rat-boy, get the hell up!" Kyo exclaimed as he threw open the door to Yuki's room.
Yuki rolled over in his bed and half opened his eyes to look out the window, it wasn't even daylight yet, then fell back asleep.
"Damnit, I'm not messin' around! We've got big problems!" Kyo said as he vigorously shook the sleeping Yuki. "It's the Oni, they somehow managed to get this far into the east and they're attacking the village!" Yuki still wasn't fully awake until Kyo attempted to then punch him in the face, which he block and countered.
"Let me go you moron! I'm gunna go save the village, you can just stay here and sleep like a little baby." Kyo ripped himself from the room and ran towards the door to the inn.
Yuki cast another quick glance out the window and now noticed a faint glow coming from the fields, they had been set ablaze! Yuki went into the box and quickly threw his armor back on and readied his Vorpal Blade. 'This is what I get for not patrolling the country side for Oni these past few weeks…' Yuki thought as he followed Kyo footsteps to outside the Inn.
Kyo was already busy fighting four Oni soldiers at once, Kyo threw his deadly fist in the one of the soldiers' stomachs causing him to topple over. Yuki saw that Kyo had left himself open to an attack from the right and immediately joined the fray, fighting alongside Kyo.
"I don't need your help!" Kyo shouted as he landed another attack in the face of an enemy soldier.
"Where is the village guard?" Yuki yelled as he plunged his Vorpal Blade into the side of his enemy, ignoring Kyo's outburst.
"Where do you think the guard is!" Kyo finished off his opponents and began running towards the Elders house. Yuki looked towards his sprinting relative and realized that the Oni would obviously have gone after the village Elder. Yuki attempted to run after Kyo but a group of Oni soldiers blocked his path. Yuki knew he had no choice but to fight and leave Kyo to protect the Elder.
Kyo made it to the Elder's house, the streets were stained with blood and bodies of Village guards and Oni men piled around the area. Kyo readied his metal fists as he saw the guardsmen pressed nose-to-nose outside the Elder's door. Kyo saw he had the advantage as the Oni Soldiers' backs were completely unguarded. He leapt on to the closest soldiers and cleaned broke his neck. In a series of rapid attacks he felt his extensive training truly pay off as the amount of living Oni Soldiers quickly depleted. The guardsmen saw they're opportunity and continued their struggle with a pumped-up bravado.
"Shit, who is this kid!" One of the Oni yelled as he backed away from the fray. "Retreat! Now!" The soldier yelled and all the Oni who could still walk immediately followed after him.
The Villagers began to cheer as the enemy ran off, "How's the Elder?" Kyo said as he turned back towards the house.
The Guardsmen shuffled away from the front door as the Elder slowly made his way from the house. His face was contorted with rage as looked upon Kyo.
"It's him!" the Elder shouted as he pointed towards Kyo. "He's the monster who brought the Oni on us! It's the curse of the evil Sohma family! He's the CAT!"
The villagers looked confused until the Elder said the word 'cat'. Their faces no longer looked to Kyo as a hero but as a grotesque monster. Some of the villagers turned their makeshift weapons towards him and grave muttering came from the crowd.
Yuki finally arrived at that moment and looked to Kyo, confused about why he thought he saw tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "What's going on here?"
"Him too! He's nothing but a royal brat! We don't need the help from the "Living God's" underlings! Get out of our town immediately!" The Elder raged at the two boys.
Someone then threw a bottle and it shattered on side of Kyo's head, Kyo just stood there. Yuki noticed he was talking to himself under his breath. The villagers laughed at Kyo and began throwing whatever they could find at him, soon twisted scraps of metal and glass were being pelted at the pumpkin-haired boy. Yuki tried to pull Kyo away but found him to be unmovable, his head was looking towards the ground, almost in shame but Yuki looked on his face and saw that it was anything but.
Kyo had a manic look in his eyes, "I'm a monster am I? Monster?" Kyo was saying over and over again. Yuki looked towards Kyo's hands and noticed that his bracelet was slipping off his wrist. "I'll show them a monster."