I realize that I neglected to place a disclaimer at the beginning of the first chapter, so I shall do so now. The characters of Fruits Basket anime, manga, and related franchises are most certainly not my property. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Away with legalities! Continue with the story...

Shigure sat in his office, holding the bridge of his nose between his fingers, his eyes shut. In just a few minutes, his entire life had come crashing down around his ears. He knew his family was strange. Weird, even. Being part of the zodiac made his life even stranger than the ordinary Sohma's. Transforming into a dog at awkward moments did tend to give you a different perspective on things. Skew you, even. There were the odd moments when he found himself wanting to wag his tail, even when he didn't have one, roll in the dust, or search through garbage cans for scraps. He had even caught himself begging before. But that was nothing to what Hari had just unloaded on him. Being an animal of the zodiac was difficult enough to deal with; what about…the cat's true form? Or what Akito called the true form of the cat. Shigure had no idea if that was really true. How could it be? And now Hari was saying that Kyo was so tightly bound by the curse that he was incapable of any kind of escape, ever. Unless the curse was broken. As if that would happen. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't just let Hari take Kyo, even if Hari truly believed in what he was saying. In all likelihood, he had been tricked by Akito. Again. Akito hated the cat more than anything in existence. He wanted Kyo locked up, so he could torture him for the rest of his life. Shigure clenched his jaw. He wasn't going to let Hari take him. Not until he found out what was really going on.

The door slid softly open, and Shigure looked up. Yuki and Haru were standing in the doorway.

"Shigure?" Haru said, quietly than Shigure had ever heard him. "Can we come in?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Shigure chuckled, trying to recover his usual bubbly façade. He wasn't going to let them see him like this. The last thing they needed was to learn about Kyo, or Hari. They might let it slip to Tohru. Which reminded him—he needed to get her out of the house for the weekend, in case Hari…had to…take him.

Yuki and Haru sat down on the floor facing Shigure. The dog felt grateful that there was a desk between him and them. That afforded some protection, at least. Shigure ran through the notes on the table, pretending to be busy. After a moment, he looked up at them, putting on his "I'm-an-insane-artist-so-please-go-away" face.

"Yes?"

"What's going on?" Yuki asked, in his usual quiet voice. His purple eyes looked intently into Shigure's, or tried to. The dog wouldn't meet his gaze, continuing to shuffle the notes and make random markings with a pencil on some of them. When he later went through them he found that he had accidentally scored over what had been a nearly complete page, and had to completely redo it.

"Kyo is sick."

"We know that!" Haru exclaimed. "But why is Hatori so…freaked out? It's really weird."

"Hari?" Shigure asked bemusedly. "Freaked out? An interesting term. Slang, I believe. Modern American. Perhaps I should use it in my next novel…" He made another note. Yuki leaned over the desk.

"Stop it, Shigure. Tell us what's going on."

Shigure tensed. "Nothing." He was so bad at this. Why couldn't they corner Hari with their questions? He never gave anything away! Of course, that was probably why they chose him in the first place. Annoying adolescents.

"You're lying!" Haru stood up. His eyes were darkening rapidly. Shigure swallowed. Black Haru. Blast it.

"Now, calm down, Haru. This is nothing to get worked up over…"

Black Haru grabbed Shigure by the front of his kimono and stared into his face. "Tell us what the heck is going on!"

"Haru!" Yuki snapped. "Put him down!"

Black Haru didn't listen, but then, he never did. Shigure could feel himself losing it. Normally, he was the most mild of people. But today…everyone was getting on his bad side.

"Put. Me. Down!" He snarled, baring his teeth. Haru snarled back. Shigure struck him in the chest, and Haru fell backwards. The dog straightened his kimono and stood up, glaring at the two teenagers. Yuki stared at him in amazement. Haru clutched his head, moaning.

"That's enough." Shigure said. "That's more than enough! What do you think you were doing, coming in here and threatening me in my own home?" He was turning red, he knew he was turning red and yet he couldn't really stop it. He had had enough of this morning, enough of the mysteries, the curse, the blasted SECRETS of the Sohma family. They were screwed up. Completely screwed up. First Kyo almost killing Hari. Hari screaming, screaming at him. Then these two, acting like they owned the place. "I am sick and tired and you coming in here and telling me what to do! I'm tired of everyone telling me what to do! Shut up and go away!" He sat down behind his desk, trembling, his fists clenched in his lap. His younger cousins stared at him.

"What's wrong with you?" Haru asked. Shigure glared.

"Nothing!"

"Stop lying to us." Yuki snapped. "I'm sick of being lied to!"

Shigure closed his eyes. "Well, I'm sorry, Yuki, but you're just going to have to live with that." He looked up. "Now GET OUT."

They left. Shigure lowered his head into his hands and began to shake, strangled wet gasps coming from between his shuddering fingers. He couldn't take this anymore. He just couldn't take it. It was hard enough when Kyo first went through transformation in front of them. That had almost been too much. But now…he couldn't take it anymore.

Tohru was in the kitchen washing dishes when Hatori came in. She tensed. She liked Hatori. She had always liked him. But he still scared her. Most of the Sohmas scared her. She still loved them, of course. Even Akito. But they scared her. They were so angry. And so hurt. Tortured inside. Even the little children like Momiji, Kisa, and Hiro. Of course, Momiji wasn't all that little. But he acted like it. Tohru wondered if that was part of his hurt—acting like a little child of the same age he had been when his mother had abandoned him. Maybe he thought that would bring her back to him somehow. Just thinking about it made her want to cry. But she couldn't cry. She needed to be strong for them. And especially for Kyo, since he would be leaving soon. And he was sick…she could have slapped herself. How could she have forgotten about Kyo so quickly? She didn't usually forget so easily, not when someone was sick! But here she was, wondering about herself when one of her very best friends in the entire world was sick upstairs…

"Tohru." Hatori broke into her thoughts, his voice soft as usual.

She lied and gave him a bright smile. He didn't return it.

"Is Kyo all right?" She asked, biting her lip. "I was going to check on him…."

Hatori was silent. Tohru felt her throat constrict. He probably thought she was a horrible person for not asking about Kyo earlier. She knew she should have. She had just…forgotten.

"Hatori?"

He took in a breath. "I think it would be best if you departed this weekend."

"Departed?" Tohru squeaked, feeling icy fingers dig their way into her heart. She had to leave. She hadn't thought the Sohmas would send her away, despite what Akito said. She didn't expect…didn't want…she loved them.

"Not forever, Tohru." Hatori managed to smile very, very slightly at her. "Just for the weekend."

"But why?" Tohru asked. "What will they do without me? I have to cook, and I'm behind on the laundry, and there's not enough food here for them to live on over the weekend, and I haven't cleaned the house, and…"

"Tohru." Hatori let out a breath. "Kyo is sick."

"That's why I have to stay!"

Hatori stepped close to her and took her face in his hands. "Tohru. It's contagious. If you leave now, it's quite likely that you'll escape the disease. After three days, it will be safe for you to return."

"But..."

"Tohru, what good will you do anyone if you're sick?"

She blinked, feeling tears brim behind her eyes. "But you and Yuki and Haru and Shigure! You'll get sick too!"

Hatori released her and turned his back. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly hoarse. "We've…been inoculated."

"Then inoculate me!"

"It takes time, Tohru!" Hatori snapped, turning on her. She gasped and stepped back, her eyes wide. He cursed himself for losing his temper. Tohru was crying now. He hated it when she did that. It reminded him too much of Kana…Kana.

"Tohru, I'm sorry. It's…we don't want you to get hurt."

She gulped. "I understand. I'll get my things right now." Tears were streaming down her face. Blast it, why did she have to look just like Kana?

"And don't worry about where you're going to stay." Hatori added, watching her. "I got you a hotel room."

"That's too much!" Tohru's eyes widened even more, if that was possible. She still cried. "It's too much trouble!"

Hatori placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's not, Tohru. We need you to be safe."

"But I could go back with my grandfather…"

Hatori snorted. "From what I heard, that isn't the best place for you right now. The hotel will do quite nicely." He gave her a gentle push. "Go on, Tohru. Get your things. I'll have Shigure take you."

She slipped out of the room, hanging her apron on its hook as she went. Hatori stared after her, then took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He closed his eyes as the warm smoke filled his lungs, than exhaled.

"Hatori."

Recognizing the voice, Hatori didn't turn around or open his eyes. He drew in another lungful of smoke and let it out again before replying.

"What is it, Yuki?"

There was a soft step behind him, and Yuki came to his side. Hatori heard another, louder, step behind Yuki and turned.

"Haru."

The two adolescents faced him, their eyes dark and apprehensive, though they never would have admitted it. Yuki spoke first.

"What's going on, Hatori? Why are you sending Tohru away?"

The dragon released smoke again. "Kyo is sick."

"Not that sick."

Hatori faced him and looked coldly at the rat. "This subject is not under discussion."

"That's stupid." Haru blurted. Hatori raised an eyebrow, looked at him with the same lack of emotion, and inhaled. He left the room without looking back.

Haru stared at Yuki. "Okay, this is really weird."

"Yes." Yuki agreed quietly, staring after his older cousin. "They're acting very strange." His purple eyes flickered with something that Haru couldn't quite see.

"Yeah." Haru shoved his hands in his pockets. "What's up with them, anyway? Especially Shigure—I've never seen him mad before."

"I don't think Shigure was angry."

Haru stared at his cousin in amazement. "He hit me! Shigure never hits anybody!"

Yuki looked down. "He wasn't angry with you, Haru."

"He almost broke my ribs! I'd call that angry!"

Yuki let out a breath, exasperated. "Haru, you don't…"

Tohru walked in the room, her bag in hand. Her eyes were red and wet. Yuki felt anger rise at the thought of the pain that stupid cat was causing Tohru. Idiot cat. This was all his fault. It was always the cat's fault. For everything. Everything.

"Yuki?" Tohru asked, her hand reaching up to touch his face. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Miss Honda." Yuki smiled at her, easily concealing his anger. "Have a good time this weekend."

"I will!" Tohru beamed. Yuki could tell she was lying. "I've always wanted to sleep in a hotel!"

"It's okay." Haru grunted. Yuki almost kicked him but restrained himself.

"Be safe, Miss Honda."

She smiled. "Of course I will! Take care of yourselves this weekend!"

"We will."

Tohru left. Yuki and Haru went to the door to watch her leave, seeing Shigure sitting at the wheel of Hatori's car. Squinting to see through the car's darkened windows, they could see that the dog's face was drawn with tension. When Tohru entered the car, however, his face relaxed into its usual jovial lines. Shigure backed the car out and they left.

Haru turned to Yuki. "You were saying…?"

Yuki sighed. "Nothing."