Written by Miyu, Vampire Princess

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
AU to the furuba universe...well only a little I think. I wish I could say when the idea for this came to me. All I do know is that it's going to take me an eternity to write the whole piece. *sigh* This story focuses on an original character and is told from her point of view.

Chapter 3 - The Long Night

The atmosphere inside Hatori's car was so thick you could slice it with a butter knife. If I hadn't been allowed to wind the window down I would've choked on the foul air. Of course, it didn't help that both Hatori and Shigure were smoking almost constantly.

I was both grateful and spiteful for the silence in the car. I wanted someone to talk to me. To tell me and reassure me that all was well. But then, I'm not sure I would've had much to say in return. Anything nice at any rate.

I'm not sure what caused my mood to swing so widely. I think I ran a gamut of emotions with each tree or house that passed. Sad, then happy, then excited then scared and back to uncertain. Anger and depression had only recently entered the picture. They sprouted when I started thinking of evil scenarios that my cousin might put me through when I meet him.

Sighing, my body sinks further into the seat. As I close my eyes, I try to clear my mind of all thought. That should help with my nerves right? Yes, that was it. Think happy thoughts. Think about mom's chocolate chip cookies. Think about dad's hugs. Think about the puppy I never had as a child.

Okay perhaps the last was a bit far fetched, but it worked anyway.

With another sigh, this one much more content than the last, I open my eyes. The scenery hadn't changed much, but the neighborhood had. Houses that I didn't recognize, with yards as wide as sporting fields, sped past as the car continued on its way. It looked like an upper crust section of town, although a few of the homes really stuck out. I suppose their owners didn't think to take care of them.

A small jolt of shock causes me to look at Shigure's reflection in the window beside him. He appears to be staring out the window, his eyes focusing on some blank spot as mine had earlier. He was deep in thought, the slow drags of his cigarette indicating such. He appeared to be worried, his brow furrowing with some unknown thought. Our eyes meet briefly and I look away as quickly as possible, shocked.

He was definitely worried. But I noticed something else. Something I'd actually seen in my father's eyes. Especially when he talked about Akito.

Fear.

I suddenly wished I wasn't alone in the car with my cousins. I suddenly wished I was still in class with Chidori and Sakura. I suddenly wished it was my first day and I was at home reading the books that Yuki had left for me. I suddenly wished I'd never thought to come to Japan at all.

For the love of--! Sierra, get a hold of yourself!

"We're here," Hatori stated.

The car had pulled into a small, hidden driveway, stopping as it neared an equally small garage. There was one other car, parked in the grass off to the side. It looked a little worse for wear, but with a little cleaning and a fresh paint job, it was probably drivable.

Shigure got out of the car first, followed by Hatori. I reached for the door handle, pausing midway as if in indecision. I really didn't have much of a choice in the matter, now did I? And I was already here....

To my surprise, the door opened without my touching it. Blinking in shock, my head lifted to see Shigure holding the door open for me. I lowered my eyes as quickly as before. I didn't want to see the fear there. But there was no fear in his voice.

"We don't want to keep Akito waiting," Shigure said with a small smile.

If it was meant to be encouraging, it failed.

But there was one encouraging thing that occurred as we followed Hatori through the grounds of the estate towards the main sections of the house. As I walked, gaping at the marvelous design and structure of the Honke, my hands began to shake with the pent up nervousness and fear I was feeling in the car. I'm not sure when it happened, but...I must've stopped to gawk at something and Shigure had pulled me along by my hand. I had immediately stopped shaking, which is only part of my point.

He was holding my hand!

A sign of affection that he didn't even show me on my first day in Japan. I'm not sure if it was truly meant to be affectionate or not, but I was relieved that he didn't let go until we reached Akito's rooms. It was a small amount of comfort and the smile on his face as we entered the hallway to Akito's room was more genuine than any I'd seen.

"Everything will be fine," he whispered to me as Hatori knocked on the door.

"What should I expect?" I'd wanted to know since I got into the car, but I'd been afraid to ask.

"Just keep calm, and don't speak unless spoken to, all right?"

I nodded furiously, eyes wide and my heart rapidly beating in my chest. The door had been opened. Shigure squeezed my hand one last time before letting go. He ushered me inside then followed.

The room was well lit. There were candles everywhere, and the remaining daylight streamed through several open windows around the room. There were three pillows already placed on the floor. Hatori and Shigure took two and I cautiously sat myself on the remaining one. I didn't notice anyone else in the room until movement by one of the windows caused me to look up.

On a cushion by the windowsill sat a young man. He didn't look much older than myself. I would've guessed no older than 20. And when he turned to look at us for the first time, I held my breath. The contour of his face, the cut of his hair, everything!

He looked just like Yuki.

Or was that the other way around?

With a smile best suited for a leering cat, he nods to us in greeting. A bird floats in through the window and lands on his shoulder. If he notices, he ignores it.

The air in the room is so tense. More tense than it was in the car on the drive over. My eyes start to tear up a bit as my mind thinks that I'm suffocating. Hatori's and Shigure's presence is barely enough to keep me from fidgeting uncomfortably in my seat.

The silence is broken by a calm, almost soothing voice. I'm almost too stunned to respond when he asks, "You are Sierra?"

My mouth opens to respond and I give a questioning glance to Shigure on my right. He nods in approval. "Hai. Sierra desu."

"Akito desu," he introduces himself, his smile growing. With some effort, he rises to his feet. The bird twitters, flying away as he walks into the room. Unceremoniously he sits on the edge of his bed in front of us. "I thought you to be...more...American. You're father told me that you looked like your mother. I see now that he is correct. Very pretty, indeed."

I found that response unnerving instead of annoying or complimentary. I blinked, uncertain if I was supposed to respond to that. But I needn't have worried as Akito continued, "Have you enjoyed your first week here in Japan, Sierra-san?"

I nodded, offering him a small smile. "Hai. Very much."

"How was your first day of school?"

"Challenging," I responded honestly.

He raised an eyebrow in question, a bubbling noise like a chuckle coming from somewhere deep in his throat. He's either amused by my answer or by my growing distress. I'm still not sure which was worse.

"Are the lessons that difficult?"

"Iie." Shaking my head, I tried to find another way to explain it, but there was no other word I could think of. "Just...challenging."

"And your cousins, how do you like them?"

I shrugged, a bit confused as to where this conversation was going. I figured he was merely trying to get my opinion on all the basic things. "Well enough, I suppose. We've gotten along so far."

"And Honda Tohru. What do you think of her?"

I took a moment to consider my answer. "We get along as well. We are roommates after all."

The smile on Akito's face grew more devious. Casually he asked, "What would you say if I told you they were keeping a secret from you?"

'I wouldn't be the least bit surprised,' was the first response that came to mind. But instead of speaking my thoughts I asked, "A secret? What kind of secret?"

He raised another eyebrow in mock surprise. "You're father has not told you?"

I shook my head. THAT was a stupid question. "Iie."

Leaning back on the bed, his smile was highlighted by shadow. "Interesting. Very interesting indeed."

The silence that followed his comment was rather awkward. I half waited for him to tell me the secret. The other half simply wanted to hide behind Shigure, or better yet, run from the room. During the silence he eyed me carefully, as if sizing me up or something. I did my best not to squirm, but I moved a bit anyway, cursing myself silently. It was rather unnerving and I'm sure he knew it.

"Sierra-san?"

I jumped at the sound of my name. "H-hai!" My voice was somewhat high pitched and almost squealing as I answered him. Damn my nerves!

"Would you do me a favor, onegai?"

I felt myself calm a little, thinking he'd ask me to pour him some tea, or something less than trivial. "H-hai."

"I want you to hug Hatori."

I blinked, confused. Hug Hatori? Was there a point to this exercise? I looked over at my cousin, who looked at me with a bit of surprise, then I looked back at Akito. "Why?"

The smile dropped from his face at my question and he leaned forward as if to intimidate me. It worked. "Just do it," he hissed in return.

Taking a deep breath, I stood and made my way over to my cousin, kneeling beside him as I had done on the pillow. He didn't look me in the eye as I sat down and for some reason, that bothered me. I tiled my head to one side and asked lightly, "This isn't going to hurt you, is it?"

He tried to offer me a smile, but failed. Miserably. "No. It won't hurt."

I looked back up at Akito, unsure if what Hatori had said was true. The young man was smiling again, his eyes lit up in anticipation. Something was going to happen, but no one was going to tell me what.

"Gomen nasai."

I'm not sure what I was apologizing for, but it was the only thing I could say as my arms began to wind themselves around Hatori's shoulders. He sat deathly still. I think he was holding his breath. Seconds felt like minutes as I moved myself closer until I had him in a loose embrace, my chest to his shoulder and my arms wrapped around his neck.

POOF!

A cloud of smoke erupted from no where. I was surrounded by a white fog, swinging my arms almost wildly to keep it out of my face. It took me a moment to realize that I was no longer holding onto Hatori. He'd disappeared somewhere in the fog. Where had he gone?

Coughing I kept waving at the smoke. As it started to clear and I regained a bit of my sight, I cautiously asked, "Hatori?"

"Squee."

With the smoke gone I looked for the sound I'd heard. I didn't sound like Hatori, and I couldn't see him outright. Was this some kind of magic trick? If so, it was kind of neat. Still, I wondered over where my cousins could've gone. The smoke didn't last that long.

"Squee."

Looking down where Hatori once sat, I see his clothing covering the pillow. By the gods, was he naked? What was he thinking?! But there's something moving in the cloth of his shirt. Carefully I leaned over, my eyes focusing on the movement. With one hand I gently move the sleeve of his shirt to find something wriggling underneath.

"A...seahorse?" How did that get in here?

"A dragon of the sea," Akito corrected me. My skin crawls as I realize that while I've been occupied, he'd snuck up on me. I suddenly don't like being very close to him and I can feel his heat over my shoulder, feel his breath in my ear. I have to suppress a shiver.

"Is that...." I'm really unsure how to phrase this without sounding demeaning. "Is that Hatori?"

Akito's breath tickled my ear and I forced myself not to cringe. "Hai."

"Does he..turn into a sea horse...whenever someone hugs him?"

"Only a member of the opposite sex. And only if they're not one of the jyuunishi."

"Jyuunishi?" The word sounds strange to my ears, but I knew I'd heard it before. Was it during my conversation with Momiji? Or had it been when Sakura and I were talking about our zodiac signs? Yes, that was it!

"A member of the Chinese zodiac," Akito told me, moving closer still. I could hear his wide smile as I frowned. "There are thirteen in all. Thirteen cursed Sohma. Hatori is one of them."

Cursed Sohma? Is that what my father had avoided telling me about? A family curse? How could he possibly fail to mention that?! I blinked again, looking unconsciously over at Shigure. Akito just laughed.

"Go ahead. Hug him. He is your uncle after all."

He gave me a small push on my shoulder. With one last look at Hatori -- or rather, the seahorse -- I stood once again and walked over to Shigure. My uncle managed the smile that Hatori could not. Another poof and a cloud of smoke distracts me. I noticed a male form shadowed in the smoke, but I had little chance to figure out what's going on before Shigure wrapped his arms around my middle and hugged me tightly.

POOF!

I was surprised to find, after the smoke had cleared again, the paws of a large black dog resting on my stomach. Following the legs I saw the rest of the dog, who winked at me with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. I stood, mouth agape for kami knows how long.

"Shigure-otooji?"

"Nothing to be scared of, ne?" It was the dog talking, but I clearly heard my uncle's voice. He removed his paws from my stomach and laid gracefully on the pillow. I finally managed then to snap my mouth shut.

Kami, but that was creepy. Not really that fact that he was a dog. Something about it suited him, actually. It was more the fact that he could TALK in that form that had me unnerved. Hatori hadn't been able to talk, or perhaps he simply hadn't wanted to.

Hatori!

My eyes darted to the opposite pillow to see Hatori buttoning his shirt. His pants were pulled on and slightly crooked. He'd missed a button on the bottom of the shirt and had to start over again with a sigh. When he was finished, he ran a hand through his hair and looked over at me a bit nervously. A light pink suffused his cheeks. Had he been embarrassed about changing into a sea horse? Well, okay, I could see how that could be, but I thought it was rather...well, cute.

A fourth puff of smoke made me jump and back away from where my uncle was laying. After a few steps I bumped into something. Turning around, I noticed Akito, hovering over me. Kami, but he was tall. And even frail looking -- and amused as he was at the moment -- he looked like a looming gray cloud. I'm not sure where that analogy came from, but it seemed right at the time.

"A dragon and a dog," he said. "Two out of the thirteen jyuunishi. Would you like to know who the others are?"

I had the feeling that even if I said no, he'd tell me anyway. So I nodded to placate him. He smiled, leading me back to my pillow. I heard the rustling of clothes behind me before I noticed that Shigure was back to normal, and dressed save for his jacket, kneeling on his pillow.

When Akito told me the tale of the jyuunishi, he used names in place of the animals. Since, I'd heard it earlier that day, I had to think hard to remember the animals in the right order. Yuki was the rat. Haru, the bull. Kisa, the tiger. Momiji, the rabbit. Hatori, the dragon. Ayame, the snake. Kagura, the boar. Shigure, the dog. Kureno, the rooster. Ritsu, the monkey. Isuszu, the horse, and Hiro, the sheep. A lot of names and only a few faces to place with the story.

It took even more brainpower to imagine Kyo as the cat.

When he was finished the tale again, I had many more questions than answers. My brain was really turning on this. It was practically overwhelming. But one question plagued me on too many levels. I just had to ask, and hope for a good answer, though any answer would've done.

"Where do you fit into all this, Akito-san?"

He smiled at me -- and I'll be damned but it was almost a genuine one -- shaking his head. "That...is not important. At least, not right now."

Not the answer I wanted, but as I said, it was an answer nonetheless.

"You must not reveal this to anyone," Akito warned. "Not your friends, nor your family. Only a select few know about this curse." His smile was more like a smirk. "You should feel honored by this."

I nodded emphatically unsure how to respond.

"Have I overwhelmed your tiny little head, Sierra-san?"

Yes, you stupid bastard! You've only given me more questions and no answers, save one. But the only thing I managed out of my incessant thoughts was a muttered, "Hai." I didn't even take his 'tiny little head' comment as the insult it was meant to be.

"Our meeting is concluded then," he said, waving a hand at us. He suddenly looked very tired, his eyes dropping dangerously as if he were going to pass out. "I would like to nap before receiving my evening meal."

I noticed Hatori and Shigure standing, and I did the same. We all bowed to him before leaving the room. As soon as I hit the hallway, I let out a long breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Not quite relief, but close enough. That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Scary as hell, but not quite bad.

"Sei-chan?"

I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. The first thing I pictured was a dog's paw but it was definitely a human hand. I looked up at Shigure, surprised. He smiled down at me. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Iie." It could've been worse. "But...."

He looked at me curiously, leading me down the hall by my shoulder. "But what?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "It's nothing," I told him, forcing myself to smile. I was tired, my brain still spinning with information it was trying desperately to comprehend. Like all my other questions, it could wait until tomorrow.

Hatori gave me a brief tour of the Honke before we parted near his home. Shigure said we could walk to his place through a path in the woods. It wasn't far, he assured me, and I honestly couldn't complain. I needed the time to sort out my own thoughts before confronting Yuki, Kyo and Tohru with the information I'd learned.

Wait a minute! Tohru already knew! My mind spun even more at this realization. I hadn't considered that before.

"Sei-chan?"

The tone of Shigure's voice made me look up at him as we walked along the forest path. His eyes spoke of concern where his smile was almost apologetic. "You're not afraid of me now, are you?"

Afraid of him? I tried to figure out why he'd think such a thing. His hand on my shoulder had merely surprised me back at the Honke. Of course I did jump a mile, and I had pictured his hand being a paw. Even still, I didn't think I was afraid of him.

"Iie," I answered honestly, shaking my head. "I'm not afraid of you. I just have to be careful, ne?"

His smile brightens just a little. "Hai."

It amazed me that he didn't ask anything else along the way. No, "do you regret coming here" or "do you hate me for being a dog". He probably could've cared less what I thought of him, as long as I wasn't afraid of him. Was that comforting to him? It was interesting to consider and it brought a smile to my face.

Carefully -- and much to my uncle's surprise -- I laced my tiny fingers through his and held his hand the rest of the way home.

The others had just gathered around the dinner table when we arrived. We smiled at them as we entered the house. They seemed quite happy...and in Yuki's case quite relieved...that I appeared unharmed. Tohru was just putting the last of the meal on the table as Kyo gave me a cursory examination from across the table. He also seemed relieved that I'd been unharmed and I was grateful to both of my cousins for their concern. It helped to cheer me up considerably.

That, and the pictures of them I had in my head of their jyuunishi forms.

It was only speculation at the time, but I still managed to break into giggles twice during the meal and apologized profusely for disrupting their conversation. Yuki, Kyo and Tohru only looked at me confused. Shigure merely smiled.

We ate sushi, mostly tuna and salmon since it was the only thing Tohru could find at market the week before. I'd only had raw fish on several occasions and couldn't remember if I liked it or not. Purposefully taking my time with the chopsticks, I let the others grab their fill before I tentatively dug in.

The tuna was fantastic, but I wasn't big on the salmon. I'm not sure if it was the fish or something in the rice that made it taste...well, weird. I shoved the pieces down that I'd taken and moved to take the last piece of tuna. I blinked in surprise as another set of chopsticks beat me to it.

I looked up to see Kyo put the fish into his mouth. With his eyes closed, he smiled happily and sighed contentedly. I had another image of him as a cat and barely stifled my giggles, stuffing my mouth full of rice instead.

When dinner was finished, I ran upstairs to do my homework while Tohru cleaned up. By the time she was finished, I had managed to finish my math homework. She came into the room, asking if I needed any help. I happily told her no and we chatted more about our day.

"What did Yuki-kun say when he found out...about my meeting?" I asked.

Tohru smiled. "He came running downstairs after Hatsuharu-san told him. He was blabbering, asking all sorts of questions. He muttered the whole way home and he was pretty quiet until you came home. I think he was worried."

"HE was worried," I said, brightening up just a little bit more. "I was worried too. I mean, I had no idea what to expect, and Hatori and Shigure were no help. But it wasn't all that bad, really."

"Sierra-san, he didn't...I mean...did he--?" Tohru sounded so uncertain and concerned that I put her out of her misery.

"No, Tohru-san. He didn't do anything, or say anything insulting." Actually a few of his comments had been insulting, but I figured it best to leave those out.

"What did he say to you then?" she asked curiously.

"He told me about the family curse," I answered simply. "Well," I corrected, "Not so much told me as showed me at first. He told me to hug Hatori and Shigure, so I did."

"You HUGGED them?!"

She sounded surprised, but all I could do was laugh. "It's not all that bad. Their curse I mean. And quite honestly I thought Hatori was rather cute in his jyuunishi form." I paused. "Although I must confess I wasn't sure if I should leave him be or put him in water."

Tohru seemed to relax and laughed with me. "I had that same reaction when I first saw his jyuunishi form."

"Honto ni?"

"Hai!"

We talked for hours, as Tohru tried to describe each of my cousins whom I hadn't met yet. She even described their zodiac forms. It was interesting to listen to, and a few of my unanswered questions finally got answered. You know, I think she was finally relieved to be able to talk to someone about the Sohma curse. It's not like she could tell her friends. Heck, I couldn't tell mine!

So in some way, yeah, I guess it was nice to have someone else to talk to.

Tohru had said good night and climbed into bed just after 10 o'clock. I was still awake, reading a chapter for my history class. But when the clock struck the hour of eleven, I realized that I was nowhere near being tired, nor was I focusing on my reading. My thoughts were still running a mile a minute.

Climbing out of bed, I made my way to the bathroom. From there I went downstairs. The light was still on in Shigure's study. I took a step towards the light, but thought better of it. Instead I unlocked the front door and stepped outside onto the porch.

I leaned against the railing, much like Yuki had that first night. My eyes stared into the darkness, focusing on nothing particular. My thoughts turned to my meeting with Akito and my conversation with Tohru. I wanted to meet my cousins, see for myself what their transformation was like. Perhaps I was making light of their situation, but in my mind the curse could've been much worse.

"Oy, what're you doing up?"

I blinked, startled out of my thoughts by the sound of Kyo's voice. I looked right, then left, then right again. I even turned to look behind me but I didn't see him.

"Baka. I'm above you."

He most certainly was, more to my surprise. I looked up towards the roof above me and caught sight of something orange. After my eyes focused a little, I could make out his face and part of his neck as well. He was hanging upside-down.

"Are you ALWAYS up there?" I asked.

"It's my favorite place to be," he replied. "You okay?"

"I suppose." A shrug followed. "I've got a lot on my mind, is all."

"Wanna come up?"

"On the roof?"

He shrugged...sort of. "Sure."

"How do I--?"

"There's a ladder on the side of the house. On your right. I'll meet you there." With that, he disappeared.

Finding my way to the ladder was like walking blind through a cemetery. I bumped into thing I had no idea was there, and I'm sure I bruised a spot or two I didn't know existed on my body. But I found the ladder, right where Kyo had said it would be. Cautiously I climbed up to the top.

Kyo sat just a few feet away, looking at me as I climbed my way onto the roof. My heart was pounding from exertion and adrenaline. Slowly I crawled until I was sitting beside him.

"I bet this is a great view during the day," I commented.

"It is at night too."

"Can you see in the dark, Kyo-kun?"

"Aa." His voice seemed as distant as his eyes. "How did it go...you're meeting with Akito?"

"It was nothing spectacular," I said with another shrug.

"He didn't yell at you?"

He hissed at me, does that count? "Nope."

"Hit you?"

Well, he had been close enough. "Nope."

"What did he say to you? Anything insulting?"

"A few thing I suppose, but nothing damaging to my ego."

"What did you talk about?" He asked this as if he couldn't imagine us having an actual conversation.

"He asked me about my stay, showed me the jyuunishi curse, how I was enjoying school--"

I said it in such a manner on purpose. I wanted to see Kyo's reaction. It was difficult this late at night. My eyes didn't want to adjust to the darkness, but I got it nonetheless.

"Showed you?!"

"Hai."

"How?"

I sighed. He was cursed to. Did I really have to explain it? "I hugged them."

"Them?"

How dense are you Kyo-kun? "Hatori and Shigure. I hugged them."

He was quiet for a moment before he asked, "And?"

"And Hatori changed into a seahorse, and Shigure into a dog. It was no big deal really."

"No big deal?"

I shook my head, trying to empty it of my thoughts. "Look, I'm sure you think you're curse is a big deal. I'm not trying to be insulting here. I don't have to live with it. To me, it's no big deal."

Kyo seemed really surprised by my comment. Either that, or he was surprised I knew he was one of the zodiac. "It...doesn't bother you?"

"It's a little odd, yes," I replied. "Perhaps a bit creepy in some cases," such as my uncle's. "But it doesn't disturb me in an 'oh my god you're freakin' hideous and I can't stand to be near you' way." I looked at him curiously. I suddenly felt like I should've been having a different reaction to this knowledge, and was confused as to what it should be. "Did that make any sense?"'

"Kinda." He looked at me through the darkness. Was it my imagination or could I see a small glow of red in his eyes? "I'm sorta...glad...you're not freaked out by it."

"You know, the reason I kept giggling at dinner was because I kept imagining you as a cat."

He laughed. He actually laughed. I thought he'd be upset. "Really? Trust me, the real thing isn't exactly cute."

"I'll be the judge of that," I told him with a devious smile. He backed away slightly, afraid I was going to hug him. "But only when you're ready to show me," I added quickly.

He nodded to that. "Deal."

And from the there, the conversation steered towards more congenial things. He told me a little about his childhood, more specifically about his shishou, Kazuma Sohma. His grandfather had been the previous recipient of the cat curse. Akito hadn't mentioned that.

He'd asked me more about my old school and my martial arts background. You could tell just by talking to him that he loved Martial Arts. It was practically his life. That...and defeating 'that damn rat' as he called Yuki.

It was just before one in the morning when we heard someone coming up the ladder. For a moment I thought it might be Shigure, but was relieved when I saw Tohru's smiling face appear. She had woken up and gone to the bathroom when she realized I was missing. She just wanted to make sure I was all right.

"Oyasumi, Kyo-kun."

"Oyasumi, Sei."

I said good night to Kyo, following Tohru back to the ground. I felt strangely good after talking to my cousin, and strangely more tired. When I reached the room and laid back down, I was out until the alarm rang -- much to my chagrin -- just after six.

My second day of school wasn't much different than the first. Still a bit of trouble in math. Still tried to be nice to Yuki's fanclub girls. I even got a special assignment in English, since it's practically my native language.

But somehow I felt like a different person. Probably because I saw my cousins in a new light that morning. I had told Kyo that I'd learned about the curse, but I hadn't mentioned it to Yuki, Momiji or Hatsuharu. I was learning that some people are more comfortable with their curse than others.

After school I did a double check to see if Hatori's car was waiting by the gate again. I'm not sure why. Just paranoid I guess.

We walked home together -- Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, Momiji, Hatsuharu and I -- stopping at an ice cream stand for a snack. Tohru said it would ruin our dinner, but Momiji didn't care. Neither did I really. Ice cream simply sounded lovely.

As we walked home, we talked about our day. Momiji had been chosen as class representative for the student council. Yuki teased him about being president next year, but the young blond shook his head vehemently.

Kyo complained about the amount of homework they'd been given in English. Again, it was Yuki that teased him, but I managed to get them to avoid a fight by offering to help. They glared at each other over Tohru's head, but said nothing more.

Haru said nothing except that his day had been rather boring. It was tough to imagine boring for Haru, especially as unexpressive as he usually was. Still it was comfortable walking with him and Momiji behind a smiling Tohru and my rival cousins.

We stopped outside the main door to Shigure's, saying good-bye to Momiji and Haru who needed to walk back to the Honke. Tohru had invited them for dinner, but they had to turn her down. Somewhat distressed by this, Tohru excused herself so she could start dinner. Kyo immediately headed for the roof while Yuki excused himself so he could start on some homework.

"Ne, ne?" Momiji asked as I was left alone with him and Haru. His smile was cheerful, as was his demeanor. "You know now, right? About the curse?"

I nodded. I hadn't mentioned to them that I knew -- neither of them seemed interested in what happened the night before -- but I supposed that either Akito or Hatori did. "Aa."

"Then you won't mind if I...." His voice trailed off and before I realized what he was doing, his arms went around my shoulders and he pulled me closer. I opened my mouth to protest but nothing came out. "Hug you!"

I managed to sputter and cough through the puff of smoke that appeared. I could no longer see Momiji, but I could definitely feel something in my arms. As the smoke cleared, I noticed two, long, yellow ears tipped with a chocolate brown. A small noise wiggled up at me, whiskers twitching in the process. I was holding Momiji, I dazedly realized. Momiji, a furry, cuddly, yellow bunny. He rubbed the top of his head against my chin, settling comfortably into my embrace. I smiled down at him, stroking his back lightly.

"Momiji's not afraid of transforming," Haru commented with a wry smile. "Unlike some of us."

I looked at him curiously as I gave my blond haired cousin one last squeeze before settling him on the ground by his clothes. Standing I asked Haru, "You don't like transforming?"

"I have other things to worry about," he replied.

Kami but I was confused now. "I don't understand."

"It's all right," he answered, his expression never changing. "You will in time."

I had no idea what that meant but I let it slide. Kyo called down to tell Haru to stop picking on me. Haru said he wasn't. I seconded that. He wasn't picking. He was teasing. There was a difference, albeit a small one.

"Whatever!"

"Ah, Sierra-san! You have a phone call!" Tohru stood in the doorway with the cordless phone in hand. She smiled, offering it to me. "It's your father, I think."

My cousins forgotten, I offer them a small wave as I head into the house talking to my father. He'd called to ask how things were. Apparently he'd heard about my conversation with Akito. News travels that fast in this family. Amazing.

I assured him that all was well. School was going great. I was getting along with my uncle, my cousins and Tohru. I was having a great time and nothing could possibly spoil my fun.

Well, all right, perhaps 'nothing' was a bit strong. It's almost like saying 'never'. It is a long time, you know. Never, I mean.

But I was certain that LITTLE could spoil my fun.

Even Akito.

Kami, what was I thinking?

~TO BE CONTINUED~