Hello, there, adding some new stories to my page. Trying to break out of Naruto for a little while. This here is a Kyoxoc fic, only because he's awesome!

(c) Natsuki Takaya

Zakura Kojima belongs to me!

I was so happy when you smiled

Your smile breaks through the clouds of grey

Far from the sunny days that lie in sleep

Waiting with patience for the spring

When the flowers can bloom, renewed again

Knowing there's more beyond the pain~ of today

Although the scares of yesterday remain

You can go on living as much as your heart believes~

You can't be born again, although you can change

Let's stay together always

"Wow!" Tohru exclaimed softly, placing a hand over her eyes to look at the clear sky above, "Just look at that beautiful sky, Zakuro!"

After I finished putting my hair in its braid I gazed at Tohru fondly, "I'm sure it is beautiful, Tohru." I grabbed my bag and joined her outside of the tent, taking in the wonderful morning air, "Did you say good-bye to your mom?"

Tohru smiled and went back into the tent to say good-bye to her mom. She's such a sweet girl…Oh! Hello. My name is Zakuro Kojima. Just so you know we haven't always lived in a tent in the middle of the woods. Ever since I was 8 years old I lived with Tohru and her mom while my mom disappeared to America. She was friends with Tohru's mom and she immediately took me in as her own daughter…it was always just the three of us…until the accident. Now it's just me and Tohru. I promised since then that I would always be with her through everything as a promise to Kyoko.

"Zakuro, are you ready to go?" Tohru asked me as she took me hand, just as she did when we were in middle school. She would always hold me hand.

Nodding my head, we began our walk on the trail that took us to school. During the short walk, Tohru checked the time on her watch and said that we had some extra time and wanted to explore the area a bit. I was a bit hesitant, but I wanted Tohru to be happy, so whatever she wants goes.

We came across a river, a small lake with a rocky shore, we made note to come back there when the summer gets hot to go swimming, a small garden, and strangely a snug two story house with a deck, a balcony, and a koi pond on the side.

"Look at this Zakuro…" Tohru said approaching the front of the house to gaze at the interior, "…it seems so peaceful…"

I nodded my head in agreement, "It must be nice to live here."

As Tohru walked along the porch deck she saw a small stand with Zodiac animal ornaments, "Look, Zakuro! How cute! The twelve animals of the zodiac!"

I joined her side to gaze at the ornaments, "Yeah, they are cute." All of them were really well done except, "…they left out the cat."

"My word…" A young male voice said softly that it startled us, "Is it just me or are there two strange girls standing outside my house?" A young adult with dark hair wearing a olive colored kimono holding a newspaper appeared in front if us.

Realizing that she must've been trespassing, Tohru began to spazz, "Oh! I'm sorry! We were just looking! We didn't mean to intrude!"

I calmly placed a hand on her shoulder, "Calm down, Tohru. There's no reason to go into a panic."

"Yes." The young man agreed, "She's right. No harm done. I just set them out to dry." He explained kneeling down on the deck to join us, "It seems hard to believe these silly little things could catch your interests."

Tohru lightly shook her head, "No, we really like them. We don't think they're silly at all, right, Zakuro?"

"I think it's silly that the cat isn't included." I stated rather boldly, "I really like the cat. It should be included with the other animals." I began to ramble passionately, "So what if there's only twelve months of the year! There should be a special holiday or event dedicated to the year of the cat!" I began panted and became flush with embarrassment knowing I just rambled on in front of a stranger. "Ah…sorry about that…"

The man just chuckled and waved it off, "Don't worry about it…I just wonder what he'll say when he hears he has a fan…" He muttered a bit to himself.

"What?" Tohru asked.

"Oh nothing, so what year were you two born?" He asked curiously.

Seeing no real harm I answered, "Tohru was born the year of the dog and I was born in the year of the ram."

This caught the man's interest as he gazed at Tohru, "Oh, is that right? I know there was something I felt about you..." He began to lean closer, "…aside from your pretty face -"

He was cut off when a green school bag landed on his head by an outstretched arm.

"Please excuse my cousin, Miss Honda, Miss Kojima…" Tohru and I recognize that soft sensuous voice anywhere, "…he's a bit of a flirt, but he's harmless. In general it's usually best to just ignore him."

Tohru gasped, "Yuki Sohma!" She got starry eyed as she gazes at the pale, purpled eyed, perfect male figure.

I almost laughed to myself, 'I can image she's ranting about the fact Yuki Sohma is standing in front of her.'

"What do you have in that bag?" His cousin asked, rubbing his sore head, "A dictionary?"

"No, I have two of them." Yuki responded, pulling his bag onto back.

-0-

"So, you're Yuki's classmates from school? Let's start again. I'm Shigure…Yuki's older and much less violent cousin." He explained.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Tohru Honda."

"My name is Zakuro Kojima."

"Well, Miss Honda, what are you doing here?" Yuki asked curiously.

"U-uh, well, we live…near by…" She answered vaguely, not sure how to answer.

'It is kinda embarrassing that we have to live in a tent in the middle of the woods.'

"Nearby?" He continued to ask.

"Uh…right!" She blushed and looked at me for some kind of help.

I didn't know what to say either. Can you really tell two strangers that you live in a tent until your other relatives can take you in? "Okay! We're going to be late. Why don't we start walking?" I giggled nervously, grabbing Tohru by the arm and dragged her away slowly.

"Wait." Yuki called, "Since you're both here, why don't we walk together?"

"Uh…heh heh…"

-0-

Not even part way there to the school we came across Yuki's fanclub.

"L-O-V-E! We love Yuki! Yuki! Yuki! L-l-l-l-ove! L-l-l-l-ove!" Three of them cheered boldly on the side walk.

Yuki, Tohru, and I kept our heads down and continued walking without batting an eye at them. If Tohru and I know anything about the Yuki fanclub, it's that we're going to get cornered by them for even walking with him.

-0-

"Okay! Start talking!"

Yup, it was only a matter of time. As soon as Yuki left us to go to homeroom, three Prince Yuki fan club members dragged us into the hall way for interrogation.

Naturally I kept Tohru behind me, "What are you talking about?"

"Why were you two walking to school with Prince Yuki? Details and they better be good!"

"It was just a coincidence." Tohru softly explained.

"Well for your sake I hope that's all it was! Ha!"

"Every girl in this school knows that Yuki Sohma is the best looking boy in school!"

"And he's intelligent!"

"And great at sports!"

"And for your info we are the Prince Yuki fanclub! We got first dibs sister so you better stay clear!" They all yelled getting steadily closer to our face.

"Hey!" Uo yelled from behind them. Saved by the ex-yankee.

"What?" The three girls yelled, before turning around to see who they were yelling at. Big mistake on their part since most people know that when they mess with Tohru, they also mess with her two best friends Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima.

Arisa stood there with her tough aura surround her, "They said it was a coincidence! Now get lost before those pointy noses of yours get bruised."

The three girls flinched back in fear, "Now hold it, Yankee…you're not going to scare us with that street thug talk!"

From behind Arisa came a familiar dark aura that usually surrounds Hana when she's angry, "One more word…" She spoke softly, "… and you'll all get *Beeeep* with electric shocks."

That did the trick because they all ran down the hall in fear.

"Good job, Hana."

"Were those catty little girls bothering you?" Arisa pulled Tohru into a hug and stroke her head, "Aw…Hana, don't actually shock anyone, okay?"

-0-

Later that day while in Home Ec. Class Tohru told the story of us bumping into Yuki on the way to school. She admitted that she couldn't talk to him or look at him even though she wanted to.

"There are some strange electric signals coming from that boy." Hana said with her ever apathetic tone, holding a bowl of rice in her hands.

"Here we go again." Arisa said sarcastically, "Hana's Electric Report."

"Strange how?" I asked.

"I don't know. He's different." Hana replied.

Arisa brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes, "I admit he does seem to have an air of mystery about him and there are some strange rumors floating about him too."

I picked up on what she was saying, "Oh, yeah, I heard about the one when one of those Fan Club girls tried to hug him. But he literally pushed her away and ran off."

Hana placed a bowl of miso soup in front of Tohru, being mindful not to spill any on the shirt I was sewing for Home Ec, "Like I said strange electric signals."

Tohru pulled off her yellow apron, "Uh, let's talk about something else?"

"How's that job of yours coming?" Arisa asked curiously.

"Fine. Why?" Tohru asked, hoping her fiend wasn't worrying about her.

In fact all of us were worried that Tohru was working too hard. For Tohru's sake I didn't say anything to the others about her living in a tent. I'm sure that if she told them, they would help her out a little; then again that is how selfless Tohru is. She wouldn't tell anyone about her problems. Sometimes she doesn't even tell me and I've been getting even more worried because she's been getting a little pale.

-0-

After school I met Tohru over by the lockers so that we could begin our walk back to our little home. We didn't expect, however, to bump into Yuki who was also getting ready to leave.

When Tohru saw Yuki she easily got flustered, "Oh. Yuki it's you…I mean it's…" She fumbled cutely before settling with, "…Hi…"

Yuki chuckled softly to himself as he closed his shoe locker, "It seems we're all making a habit of bumping into each other. Shall we walk together?"

Since Tohru doesn't have a mean bone in her body, she couldn't refuse. We walked in the same awkward silence as we did this morning.

"It was nice meeting your cousin this morning. He was funny." Tohru said, trying to start a conversation, "And those Zodiac ornaments he made were really cute."

I smiled and rubbed her head, "Tohru, you think almost anything is cute."

"Well, it is true." She blushed lightly.

"I think I overheard the two of you saying something about the cat?" Yuki asked curiously.

Tohru flushed with embarrassment, "It's an idea I had when I was a kid…it was silly."

I however stood proudly by my passion for cats, "I love cats, so I thought it would be cool to have a holiday dedicated to the cat since it was wrongfully tricked."

Yuki walked a little further ahead as his whole attitude shifted, "Cats…useless, foolish creatures." He whispered with disgust.

My smile rapidly turned into a frown, 'Is he a cat-hater or something?'

Tohru gasped softly when she heard the tone in Yuki's voice.

"Tell me something. How familiar are you two with the history of the Chinese Zodiac?"

Tohru looked down at her feet, "I know the stories my mom used to tell me…"

"Wasn't it originally used as a sort of calendar to tell the passage of time?" I asked.

Yuki kept his back to us as he stood still on the side walk, "Yes, only later in time did people start using it for astrology and fortune-telling…I don't know how the animals came to represent the years, but I don't believe they were there from the beginning." He spoke softer and softer, but his tone was firm, "What I do know is that the cat should never be included. It's been shunned for thousands of years and yet it still yearns to be accepted…like I said a truly foolish animal."

"I understand that some people prefer cats to dogs, but you take the hatred to a whole new level." I retorted.

Yuki ignored my remark and turned around to face lightly touched her forehead with mild concern, "I noticed it this morning that you were starting to look pale. Please take better care of yourself." He removed his hand from her forehead and continued walking home without waiting for us.

Flustered, Tohru touched her head where Yuki touched her moments ago, "Wow…he really is mysterious and so smart too. He knows a lot about the Chinese Zodiac, doesn't he?"

I crossed my arms in thought, "Yeah…" I looked up at the orange-red sky realizing what time it could've been, "Hey, Tohru…aren't you going to be late for work?"

Tohru's blue eyes widen with panic, "Oh no! Work!" She spazzed waving her arms around in a flurry, "I'm going to be late! Late! Late! Gotta run! Run to work!" She rambled as she ran down the street still waving her arms like a mad chibi.

I shook my head amused, "Oh, Tohru, where would your head be if it weren't attached to your head?"

-0-

"Ayame, sir!" I called out into the fabric store, as I closed the door behind me, "I'm here for work."

From behind the tall brown shelf of silk fabrics, Mine appeared in her black and white maid outside, "Ah, Zakuro, you're right on time! We've got a new shipment of fabrics just for you!"

I smiled relieved. I've been waiting for those shipments for weeks, "That's great! So I'll be starting on the costumes today then." I removed my jacket and bag and placed them behind the register counter. "Say…where's Ayame?" I asked her looking around for my over-enthusiastic silver haired boss, "He's usually here by now yelling at me to change into something cute for the store."

A soft hand landed on my shoulder from behind me, "You're absolutely right about that, Zakura!" Yep, there he is. "You are amazing to be able to predict what is to come next! You must be psychic!"

"Uh, no, sir. It's just that you say it every day since I started working here." I told him.

"Never mind that!" He exclaimed happily, "The latest shipment of fabrics came in at my order and I must witness your next creations!" He cheered.

"You mean the cosplay I plan to make?" I asked him.

He nodded vigorously, "Yes! Yes! And may I compliment you on a job well done on those, what were they called, Vampire Knight day class and night class uniforms! They were a very big hit! I've had many calls on requests that I lost count!" He laughed.

I blushed at the compliment. It's not often he gives them out.

"So, what are you going to make today? Something with feathers? Bows? Laces?" He rambled on and on about what would compliment the other. And once he starts Mine chips in ideas as well and this is the part where I go to my quiet station and get to work.

-0-

Later that night, I began my tired trek back to the little tent Tohru and I shared. My arms, legs, and eyes were tired. Even my ears were tired from listen to Ayame squabbling on and on in my ear about absolutely nothing.

'I hope Tohru got to the tent safely. I don't like letting her walk home alone at night. She's such an air head sometimes that I worry someone is just going to grab her.' I sighed at the dreaded thought.

As I walked down the parted trail where the trees parted at the opening to out little camp, I was relieved that the little camp light was on. That meant Tohru was here before me and she was alright.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

I slouched with embarrassment when I came through the opening of the trees, when I saw Yuki and Shigure there. What's worse was that Shigure was laughing his head off, holding his stomach and pointing at Tohru.

"Shigure…don't you think you're over doing it?" Yuki asked, he probably thought it was awkward rather than funny.

"We're busted, huh?" I asked them, coming into view.

When Shigure turned his head to look at me, he laughed even harder.

Bastard.

-0-

After that little episode, Yuki and Shigure invited us into their house so we could all talk about our 'living conditions'. We sat in the living room around the square table. Yuki and Shigure sat on one side while Tohru and I sat together on the other side.

"So, you two have been living in that tent by yourselves?" Yuki asked over Shigure's constant snickering.

"Uh huh." Tohru answered quietly.

"For how long?"

"I don't know…just over a week?" Tohru admitted embarrassed causing Shigure to laugh a little louder.

"It's not that funny, is it?" I asked out loud. Shigure laughed even harder.

Yuki continued to ignore him, "So that explains it. All of this land is Sohma property." He explained to us, "It seemed odd that we suddenly had new neighbors."

'How rich are they that they own an entire forest?'

"I'm sorry." Tohru apologized, putting her sad eyes to good use, "…but please…can we stay there a little while longer? It's only for a few more weeks and then we'll leave. We don't have much money put together, but we can pay you. Please let us stay." She pleaded.

Shigure finally stopped laughing enough to tell us with all seriousness, "Those woods aren't too safe. There are wild animals, landslides, floods, and the occasional weirdo prowling around. I don't think its okay to leave you two out there alone."

"So you're done laughing?" Yuki and I asked him in unison.

Tohru stood up confidently with her fist raised, "Don't worry about us! We already got used to all the bugs and snakes! If we can stand up to them-" Her dramatic speech was short lived when she suddenly fell over.

"Tohru!"

"Miss Honda!"

I supported her in a sitting position while Yuki checked her head, "She has a fever!"

"Ice! I'll get ice!" Shigure told us running over to where I assumed the kitchen was, but when he pulled back the sliding door we say a black sea of decay and trash.

I temporarily forgot about Tohru to look at the mess of a kitchen, "I think the woods are safer than your kitchen."

Yuki and Shigure blushed with embarrassment. "Well, relatively speaking." Shigure tried to explained, but suddenly stopped with a serious look on his face. He was quiet for a moment before he started speaking again, "There. You hear that? There has been another landslide."

"Really? How do you know that?" Tohru asked him when she recovered a bit.

"Hm, I suppose you can say its instinct." He replied.

"Was it close?" Yuki asked.

Shigure smirked, "Close to the tent-er" He faltered when he remembered that we were still here, "I mean, not at all!" he sort of sang.

He really was as stupid as he acted if he thought we didn't believe him.

-0-

When Tohru and I came back to the camp site we were devastated to find that our tent was buried under the landslide. I think Tohru took it harder than me since she started panicking that her mom's picture was still in there. She even tried to dig her out herself, before the fever took its toll on her and she passed out again. She didn't want to leave the picture buried in there, but we finally convinced her to go back to Shigure's house after we promised to come back out in the morning to dig our stuff out.

When we got a bed set up I let Tohru lay down first since she needed it more. Once she was comfortable, I held her hand and stroked her head soothingly, just the way she liked it to help her fall asleep faster. I guess the day finally caught up to her when she closed her eyes. She was out within seconds.

"You really do care for her even though she's not your sister." Shigure commented softly on the other side of Tohru.

I didn't look at him, I kept my eyes on Tohru, "I do because it's what her mom wanted and I do it because I want to. Tohru is such a sweet hard-working girl. I don't care if she causes me trouble with her kindness and absent-mindedness…she does it all for her mom."

"What happened to her mom, if you don't mind me asking?"

"She died last May." I told him, "Tohru put this thought in her head that she was the cause of it because she didn't tell her mom to 'come home safe' like she did every morning before her mom left for work. It was the same day that Tohru didn't say it that her mom died." I told him, trying to keep my voice from wavering. 'It was one of the saddest days of my life.' "Tohru thought about leaving school just to keep working but then she remembered her mom telling her that she never got to finish high school so she wants Tohru to stay in school to get her diploma. That's what kept her going all of this time."

Shigure didn't say anything and it only took me a while to realize Yuki was standing by the doorway holding a pack of ice in a towel. "Miss Honda, is kind of amazing." He whispered, "For someone so cheerful to have had to go through all of that suffering…she still finds a reason to smile." He walks over to me and gives me the ice pack, "I'm going to go out for a while. Shigure can keep an eye on you and her."

"What? Where?"

"You're not going to try digging out that tent – you are aren't you?"

I eased my hand out of Tohru's to stand up next to Yuki, "Do you want me to come with you? It won't be easy if you do it alone…" I trialed off when I noticed an eerie purple glow in his eyes.

"I didn't say I was going alone."

"Be safe, Yuki." Shigure said, waving good-bye when the sliding door closed.

There was a pregnant pause before I muttered, "What the hell was that?"

"Don't worry about that for now. Why don't you go and get some sleep?" Shigure suggested, "You must be tired from everything that happened today."

Without much of a fight, I crawled under the blankets with Tohru, "Thanks for everything you did for us, Shigure. We really appreciate it."

"It's no problem." He whispered quietly, "Now get some sleep."

-0-

The next morning I somehow woke up before Tohru. It was a little odd since she was normally the early bird. Shigure was already awake when I found him wandering in his own hallway. He had asked me how we would feel about staying at his house with him and Yuki until Tohru and I can get out bearings together. Sure, the idea of living with two strange boys would be awkward, but what choice would we have until Tohru's grandpa can get his house together? Let's face it. Tohru and I were desperate.

"I don't know how Tohru would feel about it, but I guess we could stay here a while…"

"Fantastic!" He literally sang while patting my shoulder, "There's an extra room upstairs with a few odds and ends, surely you and Tohru will be able to stay up there." He rambled pushing me towards the stairs, "It's the big empty one. There are some clothes in the drawer for you to wear until you get yours washed. Make yourself at home!" He sang again before disappearing down the hall, probably to freak Tohru out.

'What have we gotten ourselves into?' I asked myself walking up the wooden steps to the second floor where there were four other doors. I opened the nearest one to find that it was the upstairs bathroom. Closing it I tried the next room to see that it was already occupied and took a wild guess that it was Yuki's room. Closing the door I went to the next door down the hall. It was empty aside from the glass door that led to the balcony outside but it had a tall book shelf on the far wall filled with books. I had to remember to come back here to check them out later.

Going to the very last room I found it vacant aside from the brown dresser that Shigure was most likely talking about. Pulling back two of the drawers, I found it was low on clothes than I have ever seen in a dresser. I pulled out a small black short- sleeved shirt with a red button up one. Closing that drawer, I dug around the next one to find at least three or four pairs of the same olive green pants.

Stripping out of my dirty clothes, I slipped on the new ones just in time when Yuki and Tohru entered through the door.

"Zakuro! Shigure and Yuki are letting us live with them!" She told me with a big smile, "They'll let us stay if we work for room and board without any money for return!"

I patted her head, "I know Tohru. It's going to be great to not have to sleep outside."

She clasped her hands over her chest, "Isn't it like being in a dream?"

I half-heartedly agreed with her, "Yeah or one bizarre twisted nightmare…"

"I apologize for the smell…" Yuki said as he opened up the only window in the room, "…we've had this room closed off for a while so you should probably keep the window opened…"

We were trying to listen to him explain why the room was closed off but we were distracted by the crackling noise coming from the roof above us. I absently thought squirrels were fighting up there until the roof caved in with all the debris.

"Ahh!" Tohru gasped as I pushed her behind me.

"What was that?" I demanded.

We all stood there recovering from the shock. When the dust and dirt cleared there was a guy standing in the middle of all the debris! He had short bright orange hair and long bangs that hung over his eyes. His skin was slightly tanned and he had a slim figure like Yuki's. I also realized the clothes he was wearing were similar to the ones I was wearing.

'Who is this guy?' I wondered in awe, 'How did he break through the roof?'

"Yo." He said with his back to us as he cracked his neck, "Time to pay the piper, rat-boy. I'm here to collect." Even his voice is amazing!

Yuki leaned against the window, smirking, "Really? I would've thought he's send somebody bigger." He taunted egging the other guy on.

Growling, the orange hair guy clenched his fist, "That's right! You better get your tough talk out of the way because I'm about to wipe that stupid little smirk right off your face!" He yelled running at Yuki.

Tohru tugged me by my arm to pull me towards the boys, "Zakuro, they're going to fight we gotta stop them!"

"Wait! Tohru!" She was rushing in too fast and tripped over her pant leg. She fell into me, knocking me off balance and into the orange hair guy's back. I prepared for the painful crashing of falling on top of him and Tohru falling on top of me.

However it was weird when I fell on him, I felt his body disappear under me into something furry.

Shigure moved into the door way wondering what was going on, "Yuki, what were all those crashing sounds I just heard? Kyo's not here, is he?"

"Tohru…can you get off me? I think I fell on something."

Tohru immediately got off of me and started spouting off apologies, "I'm so sorry! Are you-" She stopped cold when she saw the orange cat in my arms.

"I think we broke him." I told her holding the angry cat at arms length.

This set Tohru into a whole new panic attack, "Ahh! We turned him into a cat! I'm so sorry!" Shigure tried to get our attention, but due to Tohru's loud panic, we couldn't hear any of it. "I don't know how it happened but we're going to get you help! We got to get him to the hospital!" She yelled, trying to pull me up really fast so we could get the cat to the hospital, but she tripped on her hand leg again and fell into Yuki and Shigure.

Then the weirdest thing happened! They disappeared in colored smoke and transformed into a rat and dog! First a cat and now a dog and rat? Are we in a crazy house or something?