Two Weeks Ago:
It was late at night, and Tohru was walking aimlessly down a street with no streetlamps. Well, there were streetlamps, but they were all busted.
The point is, Tohru was walking down a dark street—crying.
Who should find her, but none other than Yuki, Haru, and Rin?
"Isn't that Tohru?" Rin calmly asked, pointing towards a figure walking in the dark away from them.
"Miss Honda? Miss Honda!" Yuki called, running to her along with Haru and Rin.
"Tohru!" Haru and Rin called, getting her attention.
"Oh, hey guys. What are you doing here tonight?" Tohru asked with a fake smile.
"We should be asking you the same question. Why are you walking down a dark street—at night—alone? Where's Kyo?" Rin asked, looking at the distressed girl.
Tohru couldn't take it anymore—and she couldn't lie to them—not with how kind they've been to her these past few months; she collapsed to the ground in tears.
"Miss Honda!" "Tohru!" Yuki, Haru, and Rin exclaimed, shocked and concerned.
"Tohru, what's wrong?" Rin asked, kneeling next to her friend—who was more like a younger sister now.
"What did that stupid cat do this time?" Yuki asked, annoyed, knowing Kyo did something stupid.
"I-I-I don't even know her… What did I do wrong?" Tohru asked, incredibly upset, tears gushing down her cheeks.
Just with those two sentences, the trio quickly figured out that Kyo had cheated on Tohru.
"How did you find out?" Haru calmly asked, looking at Tohru; he was trying to remain calm—and asking questions for some reason helped him.
"Shelle something—they were near Mom's grave. They said she had family near there, but I don't know—they were very close to Mom." Tohru softly answered through tears before she started choking on them.
"I know who you mean…" Yuki dully replied.
"What are you going to do? Do you wanna come stay with me tonight?" Rin sincerely asked, looking at the now very distressed girl.
"Ok." Tohru softly responded.
"Are you kicking him out now?" Yuki asked, looking at Tohru.
"I can't—his name's the first one on the lease. But—I broke up with him." Tohru softly replied as they helped her up.
"Good for you." Haru and Rin said with a sigh of relief.
"Finally." Yuki just came out and said it.
"Come on; let's go to my place. I'm sure I can get Kagura and Kisa to come over. We can have a girls' night. You can forget all about that cat." Rin stated with a smile.
"Ok." Tohru softly replied with somewhat of a smile.
Two Hours Ago:
"Oh Gure, you have no clue how long it's been—how much I've missed you so." Ayame said in his typical banter.
"Far too long if you ask me. I've missed you too." Shigure replied with a smile.
"Let's never separate again!" Ayame happily exclaimed to the entire block before turning a corner into a park; they were on their way back to the main estate.
"Mmmm…" Shigure and Ayame heard a faint moan.
"Did you hear that?" Shigure asked, listening.
"Mmmm…" As they walked on, the moans got a little clearer.
"Do you think this park is haunted? There it is again!" Ayame exclaimed, clinging to Shigure.
"No, I don't think so. It's coming from these bushes. Pull back the bushes and we find—Tohru? Oh my God! Tohru, what happened?!" Shigure asked, alarmed when he saw a badly beaten Tohru.
"Shi—gure… Aya…" Tohru managed to get out before blacking out.
"Tohru, hold on! Ayame, take her back to the main estate; I'm going call the police—and Hatori. Take her and go." Shigure very seriously instructed.
"Right!" Ayame obeyed, carefully picking up Tohru and started running, holding Tohru closely.
"Hello?" Hatori asked on his end.
"Hatori, it's Shigure. Don't hang up. It's Tohru; she's badly injured. Aya's on his way with her; he should be there shortly. We don't know what happened; we just found her lying in a bush. Hatori, it's bad." Shigure quickly answered in a panicked tone.
"Ok. I'll be ready. Did you call the police?" Hatori seriously asked.
"I'm going to when I hang up with you." Shigure answered as calmly as he could.
"K. Bye." Hatori said, hanging up.
Shigure called the police and explained what he knew; they told him to stay—and they would be there in a few minutes. They also asked where to find Tohru now.
Shigure then called Tohru's two best friends and the rest of the family.
(He called them at different times, but instead of rewriting the same thing eleven or so times, I'm just writing it once.)
"Hello?" Arisa and Kureno, Saki, Akito, Yuki, Kagura, Momiji, Haru and Rin, Ritsu, Hiro, Kisa—and Kyo asked, answering the phone.
"Hey, it's Shigure. Don't have a lot of time to explain. Have to talk to police. Just calling to let you know that Aya and I found Tohru at the park—in some bushes; she was severely beaten." Shigure explained.
"WHAT?! What happened?! Where is she?! Is she alive?! Is she dead?! What's going on?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock and anger.
Each time, Shigure had to pull the phone away from his ears.
"I'm not sure, but she is alive. I had Ayame take her to Hatori's; he'll take a look and figure things out. But I have to go; the police are here. Bye." Shigure said, hanging up.
Fifteen Minutes Ago:
Ayame had just arrived at the main estate and was running to Hatori's.
When he got there, Hatori was already outside, waiting.
"Come on; get her in here." Hatori said right away.
"Place her on this bed." Hatori sternly instructed as soon as they entered the medical room.
Ayame did as he was told.
"Now, go home, change and let me take care of her. Place this sign on the door on your way out. I don't want anyone interrupting me; I need one hundred percent concentration. Oh. And bag those clothes; I'm sure the police will want them as evidence." Hatori seriously instructed.
"Yes, of course." Ayame agreed before leaving; his clothes were wet and did have some blood from Tohru on them.
He hung the sign up and left.
The Sign Read:
Ongoing Procedure
No One Allowed In Until I Say So
Need Concentration
Feel Free To Wait Down The Hall A Little Ways
Will Let You Know When You Can Come In
"Dear God, Tohru, what happened to you?" Hatori asked as he started checking her out.
Now:
Hatori had just opened his door and taken down the sign.
Not even a minute later, everyone was in the room with them.
"How is she? Is Tohru ok?" Momiji was the first to ask, panicked.
"Sissy?" Kisa softly asked, crying into Hiro's chest.
"What happened?" Kagura and Rin asked, upset.
"Who would do such a thing?!" Yuki asked, pissed off.
"Where's Kyo? Shouldn't he be here?" Ritsu asked, concerned.
"Tohru broke up with him when she caught him cheating on her with that new transfer student, Shelle." Yuki answered, annoyed.
"Where is she?!" Uo and Hana demanded, out of breath, as they ran in.
"What the hell happened to her?" Uo asked when they saw Tohru.
"We don't know; Shigure and Ayame found her on their way home. Ayame brought her here and Shigure stayed to talk to the police." Hatori calmly explained.
"Shigure insisted on being the one to stay with the police." Ayame dramatically, yet slightly seriously said—hands on his face; he really was worried for Tohru.
'Because you'd scare the police away—or worse—get locked up.' Yuki thought to himself.
"Where was she found?" Hana asked right away.
"The park." Shigure answered, walking in with the police.
"Why are they here?" Akito asked right away.
"They need to see Tohru; they need to make sure she's ok/safe in Hatori's care." Shigure seriously spoke.
"It looks like an actual doctor's office and room here." The officers noted in shock.
"Yes, this is my practice." Hatori seriously said, folding his arms across his chest, slightly offended.
"Well—she looks like she's hooked up to everything properly. When she wakes up, please call us so we can talk to her." The officers sternly stated before leaving—after inspecting some more.
"Is Tohru going to be ok?" Kisa asked, upset.
"She'll be just fine with time." Hatori seriously, yet calmly replied.
"What's wrong with her?" Haru plainly asked.
"He means, what's broken." Rin said, looking at Hatori along with everyone else.
"She has a severely bruised tailbone, a concussion, three broken ribs on her right side and two broken ribs on her left side. Her left wrist is broken, and her right elbow is dislocated. Her ankles are both sprained and her left knee is also dislocated. Oh, and she seems to be in a coma." Hatori explained as gently as he could because of Kisa and Hiro.
"Is she going to die?" Kisa asked with tears in her eyes, getting Hiro's and Momiji's attention right away.
"Not on my watch. And trust me when I say, I'll be watching her very closely until she heals properly." Hatori promised with a small, soft smile.
"Ok you two, we should get you home." Shigure stated, looking at Kisa and Hiro.
"We'll take them." Rin offered as she and Haru got ready to leave.
"Ok." Shigure calmly replied.
"Don't worry; I'll call you as soon as she wakes up." Hatori sincerely promised, looking at Kisa with a smile.
"I have a question." Momiji asked before they left.
"And what is that?" Akito calmly asked.
"Why are we cursed again? Why do we all of a sudden turn into animals again—except for when we hug Tohru?" Momiji asked, confused.
"He's right—she's the only one of the opposite sex—outside of the family we can hug without turning into animals." Shigure explained, looking at Hatori.
"It's because she's become part of the family; she's always been part of the family." Akito calmly explained.
"What about us?" Uo seriously asked.
Uo and Mitsuru both found out when they embraced Kureno and Ritsu, and they suddenly changed.
Hana was just there with Uo and Kureno.
"I'm not sure…" Akito honestly answered.
"You all must find true love for the curse to be fully broken—all twelve of you official. Only when all twelve of you find love, will the curse be gone forever." An invisible voice calmly explained, confusing everyone.
"Who's there?" Everyone asked, looking around.
"Just a friend." The voice responded before it went away.
"What of Kyo?" Yuki asked right away.
"He's a lost cause. I'm not saying the cat itself is a lost cause. Kyo, however, is; he once had love but threw it away. When that happens, there's no point in wasting that chance. He is no longer cursed as he's no longer part of the Zodiac. So, if you wish to end the curse—without a cat, you all have a year to find true love. If even only one you haven't found true love in the next year and the new cat is born, you will be cursed until that child is of age to find true love. Most of you have your true loves:
Shigure and Akito
Ayame and Mine
Kureno and Arisa
Yuki and Machi
Ritsu and Mitsuru
Hatsuharu and Isuzu
Hiro and Kisa
"So, that means that Hatori, Momiji and Kagura, you three have a year to find your true loves. One Year." This voice calmly explained before it stopped talking.
"Hello?" Ritsu asked, calling to no one.
"I think that was God…" Akito spoke, holding her chest.
"So do I." Shigure agreed.
"Whoever that was—all of us must find our true loves." Haru calmly noted; he already had his true love.
"Not all of us—just Hatori, Kagura and Momiji." Rin retorted.
"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Kagura asked, annoyed.
"We'll have to figure it out as time goes by…" Hatori sighed.
"Within a year?" Momiji nervously asked; he didn't want the curse to return—none of them did.
"So what if we already have a true love?" Ritsu asked, causing Mitsuru to blush.
"Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to make you blush like that! I apologize to everyone in the room!" Ritsu cried out.
"No, I'm sorry; I shouldn't have blushed like that! I'm so sorry!" Mitsuru cried out.
"That's enough you two… If you have your true love already, you don't have to do anything. It's the three of us who have to find someone." Hatori seriously explained.
"Right." Shigure replied, trying—and failing to hide a mischievous smile.
"Don't you even dare think about setting me up with any of your creepy friends." Kagura said, looking at Shigure.
"Ok, everybody, go home and get some rest. We're not going to figure this out tonight—Tohru just needs rest." Hatori sternly instructed; he was getting a headache and wanted everyone out for the night.
"Ok. Call us if anything changes." Shigure instructed as he and everyone else left the room.
'Tohru… What happened to you?' Hatori thought to himself as he sat in his chair and watched over her…