Usual disclaimers...

Okay, I know this is ahead of schedule but I couldn't bear waiting any longer to post! Yes, the beginning is sappy. I used a different technique in this chapter, but it shouldn't distract from the plot too much. I don't know if I'll continue it in the upcoming chapters--let me know how you feel about it and we'll see.

Don't know when the next chapter will come up, because I have writer's block.

Ah, a bit of a note: I quote the manga in this chapter--all quotes are italicized.

Tohru sat at a table in the park. Everything was green and new, smelling of freshly cut grass and new paint. Children ran around her, yelling delightedly and pushing one another. Old women and old men sat on benches or walked slowly and carefully around trees. Lovers held hands and gazed deep into each others' eyes…Tohru looked away, and back at sensei, Uo, and Hana. She had to explain soon. But she didn't want too. She still felt as if it were betrayal.

She missed them. Oh, how she missed them.

"Tohru?" Mayuko asked gently, taking her hand across the table. "I understand that you don't want to talk about this. But we need to know. Something is very wrong with the Sohmas."

Tohru bent her head, her hair hiding her face. "I know." She said, very softly. There were tears in her voice.

"Tohru." Uotani held her. "It's okay." She stroked her friend's hair. "It's okay."

Tohru nodded, choking. "I know."

How was she supposed to explain this? How could she expect them to believe her? She had no proof. It wasn't as if she could ask the Sohmas to come out and transform—they had kicked her out, after all. Shigure had said they didn't need her anymore. They didn't need her anymore. Tohru trembled, trying to comprehend, trying to explain it away. There had to be an explanation. Had to be. But she couldn't explain it to them, even if she had said she would. She just couldn't.

"Tohru." Hana looked at her. Tears were running down her face. Tohru remembered the waves. They were probably telling Hana everything…she buried her face in her hands. "I know it hurts. But please tell us."

Tohru sniffled. "I…I…this will hurt them so badly. They don't want anyone to know." She looked up at them, pleading desperately for release. "They hate it. They don't want anyone to know!"

"Tohru." Mayuko's face was stained and apprehensive. "What are you talking about?"

Tohru hid her face again. She couldn't bear what she was doing. It was so wrong. Her mom had always taught her never to betray a trust, never reveal a secret, never break a promise. And here she was doing just that, to her closest friends. To her family.

It was breaking her.

"They…the Sohmas…have a secret…"

Akito lay on the floor of his room, tracing patterns on the wood as usual. He was so bored. Everything was going terribly today. The food had been cooked wrong, and then served at the wrong temperature. It had given him a stomachache, and then Hatori had been nowhere to be found. Akito was going to give him hell when he came back.

What the stupid Dragon thinking, leaving like that? He hadn't been given permission, and then when one of the maids had tried to contact him for Akito, he had his cell phone turned off. Hatori never turned off his cell phone. It was against orders. What if he had been dying? Akito slammed his fist against the floor, bruising his fingers in the process. Idiot Dragon! Where was he?

Someone screamed. Akito looked up, curious. This might be interesting. It had sounded like one of the maids. Perhaps the dear thing was being raped. But who would rape her? All of the maids were quite ugly. Akito smiled. Poor thing. She would probably never recover…that might improve her personality a good bit. Broken servants were always so much more useful than the other kind.

Several of the maids burst into the room, shutting and locking the door behind them. Akito looked at them in anger.

"Who told you to come in? Out!"

"Master…master Akito…" They gasped. Akito stared.

"What is wrong with you? Out!"

"They're coming for you, master! You must leave!"

"Who's coming?"

The door exploded.

The three other women looked at Tohru.

"A secret…what is it?" Mayuko asked. She had a really bad feeling about this…

Tohru swallowed. She might as well get it over with quickly. "They turn into the thirteen animals of the Jyuunishi when hugged by a member of the opposite sex or when their bodies get stressed."

They gaped at her.

Akito stared at what had once been his door and wall. His beautiful wall…his strong door…completely gone. Blasted to smithereens. And there was no fire, no explosives. Just a clean break—the door and wall had been ripped from existence.

Kisa stood in the hole, hand held palm outward, her chin lowered and eyes fixed on Akito. Involuntarily, Akito felt a shiver run down his spine. The child looked like a tiger. He shook himself. That was ridiculous. It wasn't as if she was dangerous…but the door! The door was a mere coincidence. There was some explanation…

"Yes." Someone said from outside the room, and then laughed. There was a soft step, and someone stood in the doorway behind Kisa. Akito drew back, stark horror on his face.

"You're joking." Uo managed. "Some joke, Tohru. What a good one."

"She's not joking." Hana whispered. "She's telling the truth."

Tohru wept.

"Okay…" Mayuko said. This explained a great many things—why Hatori had never held her, why Shigure, when they had dated, had never touched her. But…what was so terrible about this? It seemed more an amusing embarrassment than anything else. "That's strange. But…" She saw that Tohru was still crying. "Why are you crying, Tohru?"

"It's a curse." Tohru wept. "They're trapped. They can't do anything about it, ever. Their family has had this curse for thousands of years—so long they can't remember any time before they had it. They hate it. It hurts them." Just living in this world…is painful for us…. "It's ruined their lives!" Tohru shouted, staring wildly at her friend. "They can't live as normal people with it! And Akito TORTURES them because of it!"

"Akito…the head of the house?" Mayuko asked, looking sharply at Tohru. Kana's grief…Hatori's eye…the suppression…"What does he do?"

The. Cat. Was. Here. Here, in his room. His sanctum. Akito ran to the window, checking to make sure the charms were still in place. They were there! The ones at the door…he realized, and shrank back in horror. They had been blasted away…

"Useful little power, isn't it?" The Cat remarked coolly, stepping past Kisa and looking down at the dust of what had once been the door. "What a mess."

No protection. No protection. No protection. Akito leapt towards the window, but before he could climb out of it there was a rush of wind and someone grabbed him by the collar. Akito looked up, eyes full of dread, to see Momiji standing there, smiling at him.

"Hello, Akito." Momiji's smiled widened. "Going somewhere?" He hurled the head of house across the room towards the Cat. Akito fell, crumpled, at the Cat's feet. Every bone in his body screamed with pain. The Cat nudged him with his foot.

"Pitiful."

Akito closed his eyes. It was coming. He knew it. The stupid maids—why hadn't they warned him?

"Open your eyes." The Cat ordered. Unwillingly, Akito opened them and immediately wished he hadn't. Every Jyuunishi was standing there, gathered around the Cat, staring at Akito. And worst of all…

The Rat was beside the Cat.

Neko and nezumi…

"He hurts them." Tohru whispered. "Hurts them so bad they want to die. Die. And never let anyone see them again."

Mayuko stared, her thoughts whirling. Hari…Hari…what was happening to him? What was going on? She had to go to him! She had to go to him!

Mayuko started getting up, but Hana pulled her back down.

"Wait, sensei." Hana murmured. "I do not think that would be the best course of action at the moment."

But Hatori…Hatori needed her. She knew he did. She could feel it. Why hadn't he told her? Why hadn't the baka inu told her?

"I think…I think that Shigure didn't tell me everything about the curse." Tohru said softly, almost to herself. "Or maybe he didn't know it all himself. But…something's wrong." The curse is bizarre…sinister…the Zodiac are monsters…She paused, then looked at her three friends. "And I don't know what to do."

"They want to be saved." Hana whispered. "They want to be spared…OH!" She fell to the ground, clutching her head.