DDL: Well, I went through a bad writers block but I got passed it YAY!
Julia: Did you ever have a brain?
DDL: and for all my hard work I got a muffin from my first reviewer! YAY for muffins! and thanks to cooliocows215 the only reviewer so far but one day things will change! -holds muffin high in the air -
Kyo: -snatches muffin and eats it -
DDL: Nooooo! That was for me.
Kyo: This? -shows chewed muffin from inside mouth-
Haru: Please enjoy the chapter.
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Tohru lay on her bed pondering over the newly discovered Western zodiac members or, well, member. She didn't know who the others were; at least not yet. The thought of making new friends made Tohru overly excited. She'd have to make a big feast just for them. It had only been two weeks since she discovered the secret and Laharl had kept a close eye over her the whole time.
Laharl was an interesting character by himself. He seemed to know so much but had tons of trouble in school. He spelled all his E's backwards and everything looked like a five year old made it. Everyone had down falls, Tohru guessed. Tohru sat up as she heard Kyo screaming and the familiar voice of Kagura trying to force her love upon Kyo.
- Downstairs -
Shigure sipped his tea as Kyo tried to wrestle Kagura off him.
"Well at least she isn't afraid to show how she feels." Julia giggled nervously.
Reina pulled yet another bucket out of the void and poured the icy water on the two. Kagura let go of Kyo and turned her wild boar eyes to Reina. Kagura pulled back her fist and launched it into Reina's face. Reina flew backwards through a door and landed on the ground. Laharl and Julia jumped up but sat back down when they saw Reina stand up and swipe the blood from her lips.
"Now, Kagura, that wasn't nice. Look what you did to my door." Shigure took another sip of his tea. "I hope you can pay for that."
"Sorry Shi–" Reina appeared; quickly upper cutting Kagura in the stomach. Blood shot out of Kagura's mouth.
"I think you need anger management classes." Reina said with the normal no emotion thing. Laharl nodded at Julia and she nodded back. Julia caught Kagura as she fell forward and Laharl put Reina in a sleeper hold.
"You need a therapist." Kyo countered for Kagura. In Kyo's mind she truly did. During the last two weeks he went to the same spot at the lake and watched Reina be free and happy. Sometimes she would call for Fiery but Kyo hadn't transformed and so Fiery never came.
After about one hundred and twenty seconds Reina stopped struggling and fell asleep. "I'll take her upstairs." Julia nodded as she set Kagura on the floor carefully.
"Aren't you going to say something about this Shigure?" Kyo asked.
"Why!? Why must you always break the house!?"
Kyo rolled his eyes and looked at Kagura. "She needs to go to a doctor. Reina probably broke a rib or two." Julia told Kyo in the most serious tone he'd ever heard come from her.
- Upstairs -
"Is she okay?" Tohru scrambled around fixing up Reina's bed.
"Yeah, she's just really sleepy." Laharl lied through his teeth. Tohru let out a sigh of relief.
"Laharl, I've been wondering. If you're a part of the Western zodiac… is Reina a member as well?"
"Ding ding ding! You are correct. Now, what sign do you think she is?"
"Well, she always seems to carry water with her...that could be Aquarius or Pisces."
"So which is it?"
"Aquarius." Reina answered sitting up.
"Oh, you're awake. You should lie back down." Tohru jumped up to set her back down but Reina waved her off.
"Could you bring me some tea?" Reina kept her eyes on the covers, "where do you think you're going Laharl."
"I…was...just going..." Laharl stuttered nervously as he sat down by Reina's feet while Tohru went downstairs.
"How long?"
"Two..."
"Days?"
"Weeks."
"Laharl," he waited for the icy cold water but nothing happened. "I'm going to kill her."
"WHAT!?"
Reina kept her eyes on her covers and tightened her fist. "Reina, you can't! She can keep a secret. I promise. She knows the members of the Chinese zodiac." Reina pulled her hand to her mouth and breathed in deep. Laharl grabbed Reina's shoulders and shook her. "Reina, PLEASE!" Reina cracked and started to laugh. Laharl let go and pulled back surprised.
"I was kidding." Reina stuck her tongue out as Laharl tackled her.
"You had me worried."
"Yeah, well, get off me. I can't breath."
"No." Reina groaned as she tried to pull her brother off her.
A figure busted through the door which just so happened to be Tohru. "Shigure-san is taking us to the zoo!"
"What?" Laharl said going back to his seat.
"Yeah, something about us bonding so we don't break his house any more. He calls it our getting along trip."
"How corny." Reina's emotionless voice answered as she wrapped herself in her cover.
- Later in the Backyard -
Tohru sat down in the grass pulling her knees close to her chest and staring at the moon. Laharl sat down behind her and rested his back onto hers. "Did I get you into trouble with your sister?" Tohru asked resting her head on her knee.
"No, as long as you can keep a secret she will relax around you and maybe some day you'll see the person she once was."
"I don't understand. You talk in riddles too much Laharl." Tohru bunked her head against Laharl's.
"Ask me a question. I'll answer true, I swear."
Tohru thought hard about what she really wanted to know right now. "How was your curse created?"
"A long time ago," Laharl slowly formed the words in his mind. "When signs were being created, one was over looked because of a spell cast by Taurus so that his love Aquarius could be part of the zodiac. Even though Aquarius was very grateful because she was now accepted she could not learn to love Taurus and that caused many problems. When the thirteenth sign was discovered so was the curse. That is about as far as I know. I don't even know if that's true."
"You said you'd tell the truth."
"It's the truth as far as I know."
"Hey, you two love birds, it's time for bed." Julia shouted from a window, making Tohru and Laharl blush.
- The Day of the Zoo -
"Now we'll split into groups of two of people who don't get along well so you can learn to get along." Shigure clapped his hands like it was the greatest idea in the world.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Yuki asked as him and Kyo glared at each other.
"Don't question me!" Shigure pulled out a chart with names written on it. "Julia will go with me, Kyo will go with Reina, Laharl will go with Tohru, and Yuki will go with...Ayame."
"What?" Yuki turned around to see his brother running and waving at them with his girly long sliver hair and questionable clothing that makes him look even more like a girl.
"That's Yuki's older brother." Tohru told Laharl.
"Why can't I go with Tohru or Laharl?" Yuki asked.
"Because you get along with them."
"They get along with each other."
"They don't break the house do they?"
"Oh, my dearest brother, how I have missed you!" Ayame pulled him into a hug, "Have you missed me too?" Yuki thought about strangling him but he knew if they didn't get along at the zoo he'd have to do this all over again like a nightmare. Yuki patted his brother on the back as Ayame text messaged a man known as Hatori.
- Down by the sea critters -
"This is so...uncomfortable...no, think positive or you could transform. Come get a hold of yourself." Kyo slapped his cheeks. "Think about killing Yuki."
Reina watched the fish swim around in the tank bored to death. Kyo glanced over a map of the zoo and finally pin pointed where he wanted to go. Kyo held his hand out to Reina.
"I don't have any money." Reina glared at his hand.
"I don't want your money." Kyo stared at her in disbelief, then took hold of her hand and pulled her out of the building with the sea critters, leading her to the next place.
- By the Kangaroos -
"Look, Haru, they can jump really high like rabbits!" Momiji jumped up and down for no reason.
"Yeah…" Haru answered his thoughts traveling off.
"Haru! Haru! Look there's Julia!" Momiji jumped around some more pointing them out.
Out in the distance Shigure held his hand out in the gesture to say hi and Julia recalled the last time she had met them in the back of her mind. When they got close enough Haru held out a cell phone. "I think you dropped this. I tried to return it earlier but I get lost easy and couldn't find you."
"So, that's what happened to it." Julia placed her hand on her cell phone and took it from Haru. "Thanks."
"Is that why you're here?" Shigure pondered. "Or have you in this short time developed a crush on Julia."
"I'm not like the characters in your story Shigure." Haru answered simply.
"You can write? The books sell?" Julia questioned.
"I feel suddenly un-liked." Shigure whined.
"How's Kagura?"
"Hatori said she'll be able to walk in a couple more days." Momiji said every word cheerfully like Reina never really meant to hurt Kagura.
"That's good." Julia flipped through messages on her phone she missed. "Did you do anything to my phone?"
"Ah..." Haru turned away and started walking.
"Where do you think you're going?" Julia ran after him as Haru broke into a sprint.
"I don't think this trip is working." Shigure told Momiji.
- Near the Tigers -
"Look at them! They are brave and strong like your older brother Yuki."
"You're more like a flamingo. Tall, skinny, and girlish."
"That is so kind." Ayame typed yet another message on his phone.
"It wasn't meant to be nice..." Yuki snatched the phone from his brother. "Stop writing him already."
- At a Barn in the Zoo -
"Why is there a barn in the zoo?" Laharl asked looking at some pigs.
"I want to pet one." Tohru looked excited and ran over to one closest to the fence. "They're so cute." She petted a mud covered pig.
Laharl leaned on the fence. "Do you like animals?"
"Yeah, well, I like a lot of things." She smiled up at him not knowing that each time they talked Laharl felt lucky to be apart of the Western zodiac.
- Around the Birds-
"You like birds right?" Kyo let go of Reina's hand.
"How do you know that?"
Kyo darted his eyes. "Ah...Laharl said something about it..." he looked into her eyes. "Buy it. Buy it. Come on, buy it."
"Thanks." came out a shy whisper from Reina as she walked over to a cage with a large bird in it.
Kyo blushed. "What the hell is wrong with me? I like Tohru...or maybe...I did?" Kyo felt his heart beat fast and he ran to a hidden spot just in time as he transformed. Reina turned around saw Fiery come out of a bush.
"Fiery? What are you doing here?" Reina picked him off the ground. "Where's hot head?"
"Is that what she calls me? Oh yeah emotionless! Stick! Idiot...I can't believe I'm shouting insults in my head."
"Meow."
"Fiery, you got the same color hair as him, ain't that funny?" Reina sat down on a bench and whispered into Fiery's ear "Maybe he went to the restroom. Remember the last thing I said about hating humans. It's still true but I think if Laharl trusts Tohru with our secret then she isn't like the others don't you think? Like rice balls in a fruits basket that's what the Western and Chinese zodiac are."
"Western what? Ah...let me go I need to change back." Kyo scratched her finger, jumped off of her lap, and run off.
"You come and go just when I need to say something, don't you Fiery?" Reina thought to herself.
- Near the Turtles -
"Is this trip over yet?" Yuki thought as a giant turtle walked in slow motion over to him.
"Lover! What are you doing over here?" Yuki turned his head to see Ayame talking to Shigure and Momiji.
"Where's Julia?" Yuki asked.
"With Haru!" Momiji giggled to himself.
- Julia running after Haru -
Haru ran pass the Lion cage where Lions were going crazy. Soon they broke out and were following Julia in the chase of Haru. "They smell cow." Haru thought.
"Stop running." Julia yelled. Everyone around them was panicking and trying to get to the exit.
Haru stopped and charged a lion. "Bring it on, man eating lions." Julia stopped running and stood still as a lion tackled her and started licking her face as the others tried to rip Haru's arms off.
The scene spread throughout the zoo and soon as Reina and Laharl got the word they ran to help Julia. Haru kicked the lion off of Julia, pulled Julia into his arms, and ran as fast as he could to the exit. Reina and Kyo arrived first onto the scene as teams were trying to recapture the lions.
"They aren't here." Reina panicked between heavy breaths.
"Maybe they escaped." Kyo grabbed Reina's hand and pulled her to the exit. "Haru isn't fast but he could fight off a lion."
Laharl and Tohru saw Kyo and Reina and followed them to the exit.
Haru sat down beside his bike and took a deep breath. Julia stood beside Haru fiddling with her fingers. "I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry about?" suddenly back to white Haru.
"They came because...it's hard to explain."
"It's like saying I can call cows and smell like them."
"You're the cow from the Chinese zodiac!?" Haru looked up shocked.
Kyo and the other three heard Julia's words. "You know?"
"Haru, I am the Leo from the Western zodiac."
"Julia, that's not something you say aloud in a...empty parking lot." Laharl said scaring Julia.
"What the hell is the Western zodiac?" Kyo asked.
"I guess this means Shigure's trip was a success." Reina said sarcastically. "Let's talk at the house."
Julia pulled out a notebook as they walked to the car. "Sarcasm is back."
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DDL: So we have discovered so much yet so little.
Julia: We have discovered you need a life.
Laharl: and a knew brain.
Reina: and a knew personality.
DDL: You're going down all three of you! Just wait til your next part.
Reina: Well, she can't kill us so there really is no sense in threatening us.
DDL: Just you wait.
Haru: What happened about the muffin thing?
DDL: Stay tuned for next time on Gundam Wing...I mean Breaking the Curse
Haru: Where's Kyo?
Cast: ...