Chapter 23

Wufei glanced at the house that sat behind both he and Duo. Hitomi had let the dog out of the bag when she had jumped on him and shouted out to the world. There was no possible way to hide this truth from Maxwell now. He had heard too much, even if he didn't know what he heard meant.

Wufei looked around, making sure that he and Duo were alone. While Hitomi had followed them out, he wasn't about to explain something that Heero held personally in front of her. Thankfully, he didn't have to do anything to get her to leave them alone. She seemed content to spy on her cousins, probably wanting to see how they would act around one another when alone.

Wufei led Duo a fair distance away so their conversation would not be heard. "What has Yuy told you?"

"Hee-kun hasn't told me anything," Duo pouted.

"What were you two doing when he took you outside?" Wufei would be glad if he had a starting point to go from, from that conversation.

Duo looked down sheepishly. "He was… uh… yelling at me for following you two."

"He didn't get into anything relating to the Sohmas?"

Duo shook his head no. "Just who are the Sohmas?"

Well, this was as good of a starting point as any. "Do you remember the day you set the office on fire?"

"What does that have to do with this?"

Wufei leveled a glare at Duo. "I'm getting there."

"Yeah, I remember. What about it?"

"It was while we all were milling around outside when a… clue came out involving Yuy's past."

"Clue? What sort of clue?"

Wufei smirked. "The kind you find falling right into your lap."

"O-kay?" Duo didn't know what to make of that last statement.

Wufei looked around again; making sure Hitomi wasn't anywhere close. "Maxwell, what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone."

Duo was now put on edge. He knew something serious was going on. If he was being sworn to secrecy, he knew it was big. What more, it involved Heero. "I won't."

Wufei looked at Duo, trying to see if Duo could handle the news. Whether he could or could not, it was time to share. "The Sohma's, Heero's family, are not normal."

Duo gave Wufei a look that said 'and what family is?'.

"Long ago the Sohma's were placed under a curse."

Duo almost snorted. A curse? Who still believed in that sort of thing? But with the look that Wufei was giving him, he knew it was no joke. "What sort of curse?"

"What do you know of the Chinese Zodiac?"

'What the hell?' thought Duo. 'Fei is jumping from topic to topic so much it's hard to keep up.'

"That there are twelve animals including the Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Serpent, Horse, and Ram. One of these animals guide over the year and anyone born in that year is born in the year of that animal."

Wufei nodded. "It is said that those twelve animals and a cat got invited to a banquet. Before the banquet was held, the rat talked to the cat and convinced it that the banquet was going to be held on a different night. When the banquet finally arrived, all the animals, minus the cat, went to the banquet. It was there at the banquet that the animals became the members of the Zodiac."

"That's all and good, but what does that have to do with Hee-kun and the Sohmas?" Duo was starting to get impatient. Him getting impatient was never a good thing.

Wufei sighed. "Just listen and you'll find out."

"I would if you got to the point," Duo recounted.

"The Sohma's are placed under the Zodiac curse." At Duo's blank look, he continued. "Thirteen members of the Sohma family are directly under the curse. Each of these thirteen people represents one of the Zodiac animals and the cat. When these people come under a great deal of stress or are embraced by a member of the opposite sex, they transform into their animal. An uncertain amount of time later, usually ranging between five to ten minutes, the person changes back from their animal form into their human form." Wufei stopped here to let all of this sink in.

Duo nodded a while later, signaling that he was ready for more information.

"That day you set HQ on fire, a female preventer bumped into Yuy, causing him to turn into his animal form. Luckily, I was the only one to see it. I was able to grab Yuy and find a safe place for him to hide until he transformed back."

"So Hee-kun knew about this? That he could transform into an animal?" Duo asked in wonder.

"Yuy knew about his transformation but not the reason behind it. He knew nothing of the curse."

Duo looked at Wufei, a thought finally making itself known. "How do you know all of this?"

"How do you think I know all of this?" Wufei questioned back. "I'm a distant relation to the Sohmas. I'm also placed under this same curse."

"That's why Hitomi asked if both you and Hee-kun were staying." All of the pieces of the puzzle were falling together. Why Heero was looking up the Sohmas, why Wufei went with Heero on this trip, and those two being secretive. It all fit.

"Does anyone else know?" Duo asked.

"Not all of the Sohma's know of the curse, only those who are directly affected because of it," answered Wufei.

"Not them, the others. Ya know, Q, Tro, Sally, Lady Une, any of them?"

"None. Only you, Yuy, and myself."

A smile crept on Duo's face. "So which animal are you? If you're the rooster, you're not going to hear the end of this."

Wufei looked disgusted. "Don't be absurd Maxwell. What was the sign of my clan?"

"You're the Dragon! So do you really turn into a dragon?"

Wufei scowled.

"So, are you huge? Can you fly like dragons do in Chinese myths? And…"

"Maxwell, don't be ridiculous. If my form was huge when I transformed, do you really think the world wouldn't know about this? That you and the other wouldn't know of this? The same goes for flying."

"So that means you're small. Just how tall are you? When you're in your animal form?"

Wufei felt like bashing Maxwell's head in but was only refraining because Yuy would than kill him. "I don't know. I never bothered to measure." Maxwell started to open his mouth. "I also never bothered to look at myself. It has been years since I last transformed and I plan on keeping it that way."

Duo's mouth snapped shut. "So, what animal is Hee-kun?"

"Does it really matter, Maxwell?"

Before the conversation could go any further, Hitomi ran over to them. "What are you two talking about?"

Wufei glared down at the offending girl. While she may have caught Maxwell, she still wasn't on his good side. She was annoying and didn't know when to leave well enough alone. Then again, he already had to deal with one person like that. It was no wonder why he wasn't willing to deal with another.

"I'm checking on Yuy," Wufei said as he started to walk towards the house.

"Fei man, wait up for me," Duo called as he quickly caught up with Nataku's pilot. Hitomi didn't say anything, but she also ran to catch up with the two.

So, you gonna tell me man?" Duo asked.

"Tell you what?" Hitomi asked.

"That you're a braided baka that doesn't know when to back off?" Wufei answered.

"Hey!" Duo cried mockingly while Hitomi giggled. When Wufei stayed quiet, Duo continued. "So you're really not going to tell me?"

"It's not my place," Wufie countered. "Yuy holds that as dearly as you do with your past on L2."

Duo got the message. Heero had given Wufei permission to give the more important details while leaving the others aside. It was what he has done while giving others a brief glance in his past. Usually knowing that he came from L2 was enough for anyone to leave him alone when questioning his past. If others pressed forward, he would say that he used to live at the Maxwell Orphanage. No one but the other pilots and a few select others knew more than that. He understood not wanting others to discuss his past, his secrets, without him there.