It was the last day before I began middle school. Misaki was worried, but I was indifferent. It would just be more of the same. I was going to a prep school for prep school after all. My grades were good, although, that wasn't exactly what Misaki was worried about. She looked as she usually did. Her chin-length chestnut hair was neatly combed, and she was dressed in a clean-pressed pantsuit as she would depart for her ambiguous adult job just after dropping me off. Wary hazel eyes that while kind, always seemed as though there were something yet unsaid.

She pursed her lips, placing a hand on my shoulder before speaking. "Please, Kanae, promise me you won't get into any more fights." The laugh lines around her mouth made her expression somehow more serious.

"It was your idea to put me in Karate classes." I replied.

She rolled her eyes, lifting a finger in front of my face. "Don't make this my fault young lady. And I happen to know from my own childhood that Karate teaches one to avoid conflict."

I averted my gaze. "I won't make any promises that I can't keep."

"Kanae!" She chided.

I grimaced, a small snap of anger coming forth. "If you're so concerned about keeping up the Sohma family image then maybe you should just take me out of school then!"

That silenced her for a moment. I expected her to scold me instantly, but instead she gently took my chin so that I was looking at her again. "You should know that this isn't about that-" she stopped, taking a deep breath and pressing her lips together. She looked down for a moment, seeming to think better of what she was originally going to say. "I just don't want you to get hurt, or hurt someone else." The words she came up with seemed slightly forced. Like she thought that was what a good mother would say.

I nodded soberly. "I'm sorry, mom."

She reached forward to pull me into a warm hug. "You have nothing to apologize for sweetie." I didn't care if she wasn't really my mom. My birth mother abandoned me, and Misaki, she took me up outside of obligation, that's what truly mattered to me.

Middle school was hardly more than a jumble of irrelevant studies and people. I was still a Sohma, so I was to have consistently immaculate education. Private schools and honour programs; but I was kept decidedly separate from the other Zodiac children, all but, Kyou that is.

He was almost like me, but he was a much worse paradox. Cursed, but yet still rejected. He could never be accepted by the family, so with that, I attempted to form some common ground with him.

On our first day of school, we found ourselves in the same class.

"Hey there, Kyou." He looked at me indifferently.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"We're…we're supposed to be introducing ourselves to our fellow classmates."

He didn't reply, just shrugged.

I sighed and sat down next to him. "You can at least pretend to talk to me so the teacher won't scold us."

He opened his eyes, his cheek resting against his fist. "You've never really talked to me before, so why should you bother now?"

"I see you all the time at the Dojo. And when me and Mom sometimes have dinner with Kazuma." He seemed to stiffen at the mention of that name. I raised an eyebrow. "I wondered why you weren't there last time..." He made a sour expression, almost like he was sulking.

"What? My mom is friends with Kazuma."

He continued to scowl. "Well...she might be a little too friendly with him." He grunted.

I gave him a look of disbelief. "Hold up…are you…jealous?". He refused to look at me. "Wow…Kyou you're Jealous of my mom, and me…" I smirked. "What, is the little cat-boy so insecure?"

"Shut up, don't call me that, freak."

"…Freak? That's really rich coming from the idiot who-" Suddenly from behind us came the sound of the teacher calling us to attention. For that brief time we had all but forgotten about our surroundings. With little resistance we returned to our previous state of staring blankly at the front of the room until the lecture was enough underway that the teacher wouldn't care if we were paying attention or not.

We had to go to an assembly in the gym, orientation for the first-years. I stayed by Kyou, despite his idle protests. I didn't really know anyone else, and it felt like the crowd was pressing in on me from all sides.

"Hey? What's wrong with you? Why do you keep following me?" Kyou asked, annoyed.

"Just shut up." My hand gripped tightly around his arm. "I feel like I might be sick."

"…then stay away from me…" He said, but strangely enough, he didn't try to shake me off. "Whatever." He pouted.

I always knew that I was different. I was always able to understand people's emotions in different ways, but never could I have expected this.

The world around me tilted, diverging into a thousand different shapes, with my vision skewed I fell to my knees. I curled to the ground, it felt as if I were being blinded, deafened and burned all at once. I clamped my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut, but the screaming just wouldn't go away. "Make it stop! Make it stop!" I shrieked, my words only causing the storm around me to worsen.
What the hell is happening?

"Hey! Are you okay?!" I heard someone ask.

I think I stood up, but I didn't really feel in control. My body was moving on its own, trying desperately to stop whatever was causing me so much pain. There was pain reflected all around me, piercing my very being as I felt my limps collide with something unidentifiable. There was screaming until I felt myself restrained, and I heard an ardent whisper in my ear that was scarcely audible over the cacophony.

"Kanae! Kanae calm down!" The voice faded in and out and felt so distant. I don't know what happened after that. I only remember screaming for people to get away. The world was on fire, blazing hot.

Until suddenly, it burned out.

"…Kanae…" I heard a voice beckon me to waking.

"Kazuma-sensei?" I asked, attempting to sit up.

"Hey, don't get up so fast!" Another voice said almost scoldingly. I blinked, bringing them into focus.

Kazuma smiled at me, warmly as ever. With Kyou behind him looking disgruntled. "Kanae-chan, how are you feeling?"

I rubbed my head, everything felt fuzzy and sore. "Fine I guess."

"That's good then, Kanae. You suffered quite a trauma there. It must have been very disorienting for you."

I stared blankly at him. The way he spoke made it clear that he already knew the answer to my inevitable question.

"Kazuma…what…what happened to me."

He sighed, his smile becoming slightly serious. "I'm sorry that no one told you earlier. But, it was decided that we would wait until the right time. Although, no one could have known that you're first onset would be so violent." I kept looking at him. The words he used made it sound like I was being diagnosed with some horrible disease. "Kanae…" he continued, almost solemnly. "You have a certain…Ability. One that is passed down in the Sohma family just as the Zodiac spirits are."

I blinked. "What the…"

"From what we can tell…" he continued. "You have a Kiireji ability. One that is meant to allow you to sense the will of the spirits. But, over time, it has been observed to also allow you to feel the emotions of those around you."

My mind suddenly flashed to my last waking memory. It was as if I were feeling every known emotion at once. Happiness, Anger, Sadness, Joy, Grief.

"An…ability?"

"Yes. You have a sixth sense, for want of a better phrase. You can detect the auras and emotions of others just like you can smell a flower or hear a bird's call." I nodded slowly. It made sense, far too much sense.

"Is it…is it always going to be…" I grimaced, remembering the overwhelming pain I felt. The suffocating feeling. "Like…that?" Tears welled in my eyes. The implications of such things were so vast and terrifying.

Kazuma simply smile kindly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "No…don't worry. You will learn to control it in time. The symptoms normally emerge rather violently during puberty but calm down afterword."

"Oh…" I replied.

"But don't worry." Kazuma tightened his grip on my shoulder slightly. "Your mother and I will be here for you to help you through it." He was talking almost as if he were my father. Kyou seemed to notice that as well, and he didn't seem too happy about it.

I glared at Kyou after Kazuma had stood up to leave. "Why'd you even come if you were just gonna glare at me the whole time?"

Kazuma had left the room, but my comment made Kyou stay behind.

He paused, seeming to be considering his words. "Don't come to school tomorrow."

"What?"

"Just stay home. I'll bring you the assignments if we have any." He left without another word. I didn't even bother to try and stop him I was too bewildered. I let myself lay back on the bed, closing my eyes and letting out a large sigh.

Slowly, warm tears started to flow down my cheeks. I wasn't sad, or angry. It occurred to me that I hardly ever felt any of those things. And yet, I cried. Softly and silently, all alone. Since after all there wasn't all that much I could do to stop it.