Chapter 4: Science Partners

Don't ever bite your sister.
Don't kick her in the shin. Don't slap your sister silly
and don't sock her on the chin.

Don't tape a "Kick Me" poster
upon your sister's back. Don't take your stinky socks off
and then put them in her pack.

Don't purchase plastic spiders
and place them on her head.
Don't leave your rubber rattlesnake
inside your sister's bed.

Don't do this to your sister
for, if you ever do, I'm pretty sure she may do something
even worse to you.

-Kenn Nesbitt

Tohru was running, and was panting, by the time she started walking again. She passed a house. It was big, and it felt familiar for some odd reason, but she didn't dwell on that fact. The house didn't look deserted. So she went a bit closer to it, then she saw rocks, painted like the zodiac. By the looks of it, it was still wet.

"Well, well, what is a beautiful young girl like you doing in the woods all alone?"

She turned her head, alarms screaming 'DANGER DANGER!' she almost kicked the dude in the face. 'Don't let your guard down.' The first rule of training that she had taught herself when in the dreaded house. "Um…uh…" she stammered, her red face burning hot, shaming all the tomatoes in the world. She thought fast. "Hi!"

"Well hello to you to. I can see that you were admiring my work?" the man said proudly. "Yes it is very nice, but…" the man looked at her in confusion

"What? Is there something wrong with it?" he looked over his wonderful work. "NO! NO! There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that…well…" she took a deep breath. "Well, where's the cat?"

He first looked confused, then, like a light bulb, his face lit up with amusement. "Oh, you mean the cat? Well, technically, he's not part of the zodiac."

Tohru's voice cracked a bit. "Well, he is supposed to! I mean…from my point of view…"

The story recited in her head.

The Story

Once a long time ago, God told 12 animals of a feast that he was holding, due to living on the earth for so long. He said that whoever came there first, would be the first animal of the zodiac calendar.

The animals were happy. But the cat showed up late, and Zeus told the rat to tell the cat about what was happening.

The cat and the rat were very good friends. But when Zeus gave out the prize of being the first zodiac in the calendar, he knew he would lose if the cat was there. So he told the cat that the feast was the day after tomorrow. He told the cat, that if he got there first, then he would be able to be the first in the zodiac calendar.

The cat was excited. He hurridly went home to prepare for a feast, that he would never see.

The ox was the slowest of them all, so he decided that if he got there a day before, he would get there before the rest of the animals. But the rat heard of his plan, and jumped onto the cows back.

When they got there, the ox thought he had won, but then the rat jumped off of his back, and Zeus gave him the prize of being the first zodiac. The animals lined up, and each got their place in the calendar. The ox was the second.

When the cat had woken up the next day, he was surprised to see everyone glaring at him.

God then said "You have disrespected me, cat. For that, you shall not be in the zodiac. You will be in the family, but not the zodiac."

The cat was then shunned by all the animals. He was all alone.

End of Story

When her mother had told her that story, she always cried. Roku always cried a bit to. Feeling bad for the cat.

Ya see, they had a secret...and the secret was-

"Shigure, what are you doing here? And what were you about to do?"

Shigure was reaching out for Tohru, his hand outstretched.

Tohru's eyes widened. This was THE Prince Yuki. She winced a bit, remembering the Prince Yuki fan-club.

'Stupid girl! You could've been kidnapped or something! What happened to the 'don't let your guard down?' STUPID!' As Tohru continued to beat herself with her own private thoughts, she bowed her head in a polite fashion to Prince Yuki.

"Good Morning to you Prince Yuki-san"

"Hello. You must be Ms. Honda. It's nice to meet you." He said in a monotone voice.

'He knows my name! Wow, with all those girls chasing him, I'm surprised that he even knows my name!'

"Well, since we go to the same school, we might as well walk together."

"Um…uh…" she stammered, her voice cracked once again.

"Sure!"

"Well then, we better hurry before the school gets filled up."

"O-O-Okay!"

And with that said, they walked to school.

'I wonder what Roku is doing right now…'

With Roku…

"DIE YOU PATHETIC SHINIGAMI! DIE!" a droplet of blood fell. Adding more blood to the already red battlefield.

"GAH! WHY DO SOULS HAVE SUCH FREAKING SHARP NAILS?" his cheek had come into contact with the nails of this soul. Usually, he would have to go all 'Tohru' and be nice, and coax them down to the underworld. Which there, they would become judged, and either go to the good place, or the bad place.

Looked like this one wants to stay on the earth plane… not happening.

"YO, DUDE, STOP COMPLANING! YOUR ACTING LIKE A PANSY!" a masculine voice shouted at him. Roku ducked, nearly getting his head chucked off by another scythe. "WATCH IT!" Roku yelled, and then, the soul screamed. Roku covered his ears. ANNNNDDD this was why he had to become like Tohru.

There screaming was too much for him.

"DAMMIT, WHY IS THERE SO MANY CRAZY PEOPLE KILLING OTHER HUMANS THESE DAYS?" unwanted tears came out of his eyes. It wasn't like he was sad. Oh no, they judges would make sure those people went to the good place.

THE DAMN SCREAMING WAS TO MUCH FOR HIS WONDERFUL EYEBALLS.

After a few seconds, the screaming stopped.

"Dude, your so outta shape." the masculine voice said again.

"Thanks for noticing Ice. Lots of death lately. More training." He countered.

"Um… I needed to ask you a question. Well, is your sister still single?" The one named 'Ice' said.

Roku had a weird glint in his eyes. "Ooh… I can see where this is going…" Ice punched him in the back. Which hurt him like hell, and trust him. He knew what that felt like, after all, he is in a LIVING one. So that counts.

"GAH THAT HURT!" Ice shrugged. "It was a simple question, and you make it sound like honey boo boo or whatever you humans call it.

"Anyway, yeah she's still single, why?"

Ice blushed a bit. "Can I come and see her when this crap is over and done?"

"And you call me the pansy, blushing like a freaking tomato."

"ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION MAN."

Roku rolled his eyes and smiled. His eyes twinkling with mischief. "Surreee" Roku snickered. "Pansy…" Ice rolled his eyes in a 'very Roku like way'. "Come on Number 6. Let's hurry the hell up before you get some more scratches. And there not gonna be from the souls." He slowly flew away from the bloody battle field he was standing on.

"OI!" Roku shouted.

"What is it?"

"Number 6 is just a title. I EARNED NUMBER 1 FOOL!"

A smack on the head with a gigantic scythe was enough to shut Roku up. Roku jumped in the air to catch up with him.

'I wonder what Tohru would be doing…'

With Tohru…

She didn't know what to do.

One of the humans that she is walking with

Is a MALE

Has a fan club

That hates her to the GUTS.

She did the first thing that popped to her mind.

"Do you feel sorry for the cat in the story?" Yuki stopped dead in his tracks.

'YOU ARE SO STUPID! WHY WOULD YOU ASK THAT? WHY? IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR HEAD? Stupid…'

"No. Cats are stupid fools. If the cat was smart enough to go ask other people for verification, then he would have been part of the zodiac. All best friends lie to each other. He should have believed him that quickly."

"Wow, it sounds like you really don't like cats…"

"Yes, I do."

They continued walking onto the road to school, when she asked another question.

"Do you believe the zodiac is real?" he stopped again, looking at her in confusion. "What do you mean Ms. Honda?"

She twisted the rope on her bag. "Well, my dad told me a story, that the zodiac was real!"

Flashback

"Daddy! DADDY!"

"Yes honey?"

"CAN I MEET THE ZODIAC?"

Her father smiled.

"Yes you can, when you get older."

"DADDY, THE KIDS IN MY SCHOOL SAY THAT THERE NOT REAL! BUT I KNOW IT'S A LIE!... Right dada?"

He smiled again.

"You are so right. Did you know, that if you hug a member of the zodiac, and there a boy, then they turn into one of the animals of the zodiac?"

Tohru squealed in delight. "I KNEW THEY WERE REAL!"

Tohru wasn't a chatter box. She wouldn't tell anyone. What was talked in the family, stays in the family. Of course, she would say they were real though…

"But Tohru, that doesn't mean you can go around in your class and hug all the boys." Tohru frowned, and her father's deep laughter calmed her. "Now…"

He picked her up. "WEEEEE!" Tohru screamed.

"Lets go get your tiny belly filled up!"

"WEEEEEE. COME ON DADA! HIGHER! HIGHER!"

End of Flashback

Yuki was still staring at her. In amazement or confusion, she couldn't point it out. She looked into his purple eyes… 'Wait…purple? EYES?'

Instantly she was reminded of the rat she had saved. She shook her head.

"That's amazing..." he said quietly, then he continued to walk on.

"I don't believe in the zodiac though." Tohru let out a huff of disappointment.

They continued to talk about random things, and before she knew it, they were at school.

She could FEEL the evil glares on her back. The 'Princess' of the Prince Yuki fan club, was GLARING DAGGERS at her back. She even turned her head around to check her back to see if it had holes in it. Yuki ran off with a quick wave.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"Moko?"

"Here sir."

"Honda-chan?"

"Here!"

"Honda-kun?"

There was silence.

"Is your brother skipping again?" the teacher asked, clearly annoyed with this.

"No, he has come down with a really bad case of stomach flu, and has been throwing up lately." And it was true; he only ate the lunch Tohru made, because she was the only one that knew how to make 'non-human crap'. Last time, they had been running low on food, and the store was out of stock, so Roku had to eat the 'crap they called food' and was throwing up. His stomach had rejected it, and he had thrown up his guts on to the middle of the lunch room floor.

Not a nice memory to remember.

The teacher looked at her suspiciously before saying something that made her blood run cold.

"Now we will choose the partners that everyone will be paired up with for this year's science fair."

There was a bunch of grumbles, and groans from the students. The teacher rolled his eyes. A person shouted out; "CANT WE CHOOSE OUR OWN PARTNERS FOR ONCE, MR. TECH?" A bunch of 'yeah!' erupted from the class.

"Silence!" Mr. Tech shouted out, and the class immediately went quiet.

"I WILL BE MAKING THE PARTNERS! DO NOT WHINE ABOUT IT!" the class groaned again. "Now, since Roku is not here, Uo decided to skip again-" he wrote something on the clipboard and then continued talking. "And Hana is not in this class, you will be choosing a DIFFERENT partner."

Roku had made it VERY clear to the entire school system and students that if there was a project, NO ONE except Hana, Uo, or him was allowed to pair up with Tohru during projects and whatnot.

YUKI'S family had made it very clear that they he was not allowed to pair with any girls.

At all.

So imagine Yuki's face when the teacher called out his partner…

"I'm sorry Yuki, but due to the majority of females in the class, you must be paired with a female." The teacher said sadly. "Yes Mr. Tech. I understand. I can deal with it?"

"Are you sure you shall not get into trouble?" the teacher asked hesitantly.

"Yes sir." Yuki said in a monotone voice. The girls in the class swooned.

"Well then, you shall be paired with…" the girls beside him were watching the teacher with anticipation.

"Tohru Honda."

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

The bell had rang, signaling that school was finally over.

Once again, she turned to check her back to see if she had holes there. She shivered and turned her head around slowly. She saw them nearing her. 'Oh no, here we go again…'

"So, little Ms. Innocent. What were you doing walking with the Prince today? Huh?"

Roku had always told her to ignore them. Those stupid Prince Yuki fan club. What was with the obsession? She didn't want to be rude, Oh no! It's just that, usually, things got a bit violent after some 'talk'.

"Yeah, what's the big idea pairing up with the Prince, huh? Some unknown love business going on that we don't know about?"

Suddenly, Tohru's hair stood on end.

"Hello Tohru." The one named 'Hana' came out of thin air.

"ITS ELECTRO GIRL!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

"NO GIRLS! STAND YOUR GROUND!" the 'princess' yelled out. And like an army, her troops stood their ground.

"YES MA'M! NOW ANSWER THE QUESTIONS MS. TOHRU HONDA!"

"Sorry girls, I can't stand to see my best friend get beat up by some low scum bags like you." All they could see was a flash of blond hair before they were grabbed by the collars, and pushed against the wall.

"Now, you will leave Tohru alone, and will not disturb her ever again. Got that?" they nodded vigorously. Sweat making beads on their face. Uo let them go, and they ran. But Hana got a hold of them and shocked them before they could leave.

"Tohru, when you go to the Prince's house, if he does anything to you, and I mean ANYTHING, make sure you call either me or Hana, and we will rush to come and beat his sorry ass. Ok?" A bead of sweat appeared on Tohru's forehead. "Ok."

"I do not approve of this at all. That boy has very strange waves and signals. Be very careful Tohru."

She smiled at the two." Don't worry, I will!"

She smiled as they walked away. Touched by their worry, she nearly bumped into the Prince.

"Oh…I'm so sorry! I hope I didn't hit you or anything! Oh dear…" she worried, and continued to ramble on. "It's ok. Really." For some odd reason, when he said that, she blushed, just a bit. "So when should we meet up?" Tohru was tongue tied. Usually, if she was talking with a boy, Roku was there to help her. But Roku wasn't here. "Um..uh…THE LIBRARY!" she said as the thought popped into her mind suddenly.

"Ok. Well, I guess I'll see you…"

"Wednesday!" she said happily.

"Then our date is set. See you on Wednesday." With those words said, he walked away. Tohru smiled and walked to her little tent that she temporarily called;

Home.

O.O.O.O.O

I TRIED TO MAKE IT SHORTER! I REALLY DID! But then, everytime I would stop, I was like 'THIS IS THE MOST HORRIBLE PLACE TO STOP, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?'

Then I just kept going and going till I was satifised. This is probably like… I dunno, over 2,000 words or something?

Wow, Can't believe people reviewed! I am the surprised, by the very least! So here is what went down a few days ago;

Me: MY AUTHORS NOTE WAS TO MEAN! GAH WHAT THE CRAP IS WRONG WITH ME! I'M LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET THOSE REVIEWS! –goes to delete it-

Bestest Friend: No it wasn't, your just expressing your opinion to the fan fiction people, who like to read your stories!

Me: PEOPLE HATE ME! I'M SORRRYYY!

Bestest Friend: Your acting like Ritsu from that show…FRUITS BASKET! YEAH!, Ichi.., ICHI CALM DOWN!

Me: WAHHHH MUST DELTTEEE!

Bestest Friend: If you delete it, then no more strawberries for your fat tummy.

Me: hmm…my strawberries…or reputation…( hehe, let me tell you, I got my name for a REASON. Just letting yalls know)

SUDDENLY AN
ALIEN CAME DOWN, ABDUCCTED ME, AND THE ALIENS MADE ME THEIR QUEEN. AFTER REPOPULATING THEIR WHOLE PLANET AND SPECIES, BEFORE THE DIED OUT, THEY LET ME HAVE MY WISH, AND RETURN TO EARTH!

Just kidding! But seriously, if the note sounded to 'demanding' then I really am sorry.

(I tried to follow myself, but it said I couldn't follow myself. DARN IT.)