Author's Note: Hey I'm Back! Sorry it took so long to update. I had finals for world history and let me tell you those were NOT FUN to study for. (A+ on my presentation though ^_^) So yeah, hope you enjoy this chapter and I will try to update faster now that I'm on summer break.

Chapter 7: Class of Surprise

"Knock Knock." Haru called as he burst into the classroom. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I realized that we were already 7 minutes late. Great. Thanks Haru. Thanks a lot.

"Oh is this your cousin Hatsuharu?" Mayu-sensei asked. She was a woman in her mid-20s with strange commanding air about her. I liked her immediately. She was pretty in a weird sort of way. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a strange wooden clip and she wore jeans and pale pink long sleeved shirt. She was sort of short but she gave you the feeling that in her mind you were the mice and she the cat, not the other way around.

"Yes Sensei." Haru replied, ever the mocking student.

"Well please tell us your name and something about yourself." Mayu-sensei said politely to me. I shot a fearful look at Haru. How would the students who had been staring blankly at us react to sign language?

Haru gave me a nod of encouragement. I turned to the class and held my hands up. I began to sign as quickly as possible.

My name is Rei Sohma. Something about me is that I use sign language to talk.

My classmates stared at me in amazement. I recognized the boy I'd met earlier in the crowd sitting in one of the desks in the back. He gave me a friendly smile and a small thumbs up. Haru translated.

"She says: My name is Rei Sohma. I use sign language to talk." Haru gave me a slightly worried look. I just nodded.

"Alright then." Mayu-sensei gave a smile as if a mute person joined her class every day. "Everyone lets go around the class room and introduce ourselves to our new student." So the kids sounded off. I learned that the boy in the crowd earlier was named Mateo. Haru eyed the kid strangely, as if sizing him up. I ended up sitting in between Haru and Mateo. This was mostly so Haru could translate for me. I sat through class and learned like everyone else. We had a ton of homework, and an essay due the week after next. But I had never felt happier. I belonged here! As we were getting up to go to lunch I felt a hand on my shoulder and instinctively tensed. I turned slowly around to face the person who dared touch me.

"Hey Rei," Oh thank the gods, its Mateo. Mateo was scrutinizing my expression with a curious look. But I guess he decided not to ask why I looked like I had just seen a ghost. He gave another wide sparkling smile, and then held out his hand. I was about to shake it, when he started gesturing with it.

Do you need help catching up in the curriculum? He was using SIGN LANGUAGE. I stared at him in amazement. Haru walked up with his books just in time to see the boy signing to me.

How do you-I mean where did you learn- My hands faltered trying to phrase the words right in my head.

"How do you know sign language?" Haru asked bluntly.

Mateo smiled up at my tall surly cousin. "I have a cousin who's deaf. I learned sign language to be able to talk to him. I was the only one of my family to bother learning."

Mateo's P.O.V

Rei's pale face was impassive. Her eyes were a different story. They were bright, shining green orbs that bored into me for a second. I'm not gonna lie, my heart skipped a beat. Her cousin Haru on the other hand was staring at me, as if he was sizing me up. Raising an eyebrow at him, I turned to Rei again.

So do you need help with your studies? I signed.

I'm alright. Yuki said he'd help me catch up if I needed. But I understand it so no…But thanks for asking.

"No problem." I spoke out loud. "Well I gotta go to lunch. Catch you guys later!" I dashed out of the room with a small 2 fingered salute. That Haru kid's constant stare was unnerving. I wondered how Rei had managed to tame the wild guy. Clearing my head of speculation, I wondered to the lunch room where Luko and Motoko were.

"Yo Mateo!" Luko called sitting at one of the many long wooden tables in the large tile floored lunch room. The tables were set out along the edges of the lunch room, making it easy to see what was going on in the center of the room. The high ceiling also lent itself for very good acoustics. So of course the noise was deafening.

"Hey guys!" I sat down at the table next to my friends. Luko was sitting at the table, his shaggy blond hair fluttering in the slight draft from the open door. His pale blue eyes sparkled mischievously as I took the seat next to him.

"So what took you so long? Meet any new girls?" I groaned internally. Luko was a major flirt. He asked me that every time I was late even when I was just coming from the library.

"No one special." I said nonchalantly. Though from what I had managed to gather from Rei, this was going to be an interesting school year.

Rei's P.O.V

I walked to the cafeteria with Haru. He seemed to be deep in thought so I decided not to interrupt. I'd leave him alone for a little bit. Trotting into the cafeteria I was amazed. The floors gleamed even though the students were already half way through the school year. I spotted Kyo with a group of other kids including Tohru. Since I had brought a lunch instead of buying one (this way's much more eco-friendly), I walked over to them, while Haru went to get in line for a school lunch. Shy, now that I was alone, I moved towards the table, wondering if maybe they wouldn't want me to sit next to them. When Tohru saw me, a beautiful smile lit up her face and she guided me over to the table. Total, there were maybe 8 people at our table. Kyo sat across from Tohru. On Tohru's right sat Yuki and to Kyo's right sat Uuo-chan. Hanajima was next to Tohru on her other side. Next to Uuo-chan was Momiji in all his adorableness. I took a seat next to Yuki. Haru sat across from me, next to Momiji. All in all, there was much chatter. I didn't have to talk much, and I could hear many different conversations taking place. Kyo and Uuo were often very close to killing each other. At one point I wasn't positive but I thought I saw Uuo clutching her plastic knife rather hard. Tohru would make everyone laugh and smile. Momiji told us stories that his class had told during current events. Uuo described what it was like to be in a gang, and Hana told me that I had "nice electric signals". (I just sort of nodded and tried not to seem really weirded out by that...) Yuki talked to Tohru about an upcoming test, asking if she needed help to study, and asked if I needed help understanding the current curriculum. Haru didn't speak a word throughout the entire lunch period.

*School ends* (Yeah, I know it's strange skipping over the entire school day, but I didn't have many ideas for it, ok? And before I get questions on this, yes I know Haru and Momiji are a grade younger than the rest, I just made them the same to make it easier on the plot.)

The group of us walked home, Uuo and Hana didn't go the same way as us because they're homes were in a different direction. Kyo and Tohru were deep in conversation when suddenly, there was a crashing noise. I felt something bang right into me, giving me just enough time to sigh, before *POOF*

Author's Note: You finally get to see what Zodiac creature Rei is in the next chapter! How many of you forgot that she's part of the curse? A few probably. It's fine. Makes it all the more interesting. Thanks for reading! Reviews would be awesome!

~Ripple