~And so a new curse begins...
The Sohma family has always been full of secrets. For many generations members of our family were cursed to take on the form of animals from the Chinese zodiac. They were bound to honor a promise long ago made to God to forever be together. They suffered for a long time...until that final banquet. The spirits of the animals finally said their goodbyes and followed their God, who was no longer lonely, to the next life.
The whole family rejoiced. Finally they were free. No longer bound to a person they hated by a promise they were forced to keep. Life became quite and peaceful for a few generations. Until that is...I was born.
My name is Kanayuki, and I am the new God of the Zodiac.
No other members of our family had been born cursed. So no one knew that God was among them. I didn't even know it. The only thing I knew was this unbearable pain. Like there was a hole in my chest. I was terribly lonely. Until Shino was born.
Our families peaceful existence was shattered, and they blamed him for it. Simply because he transformed into a dog after he was born. His father was disgusted and after learning about our families past he divorced Shino's mom and left. He blamed her saying our family was cursed. Of course the family had his memories erased.
Everyone was in a panic. They didn't understand why this was happening now after all these years. And sadly there was no one left from before to ask.
I hadn't met Shino yet. His mom had been moved to the inside. I was inside as well, but my parents wanted me to stay away. As if it was some sort of disease. But something inside of me wanted to meet him. It was like I was being called.
We didn't meet until he was 3. By this time I was turning 7. His mother came to wish me well on my birthday. As soon as Shino saw me he began to cry. He ran to me and clung to my kimono. Everyone gasped and the whispers began.
He was so beautiful. One blue eye and one brown eye. Special...just like him. His shaggy grey hair stuck up in tuffs as if he had just woken up from a nap. As he cried and clung to me I felt that ache in my chest fade away. I wasn't lonely anymore. But that was when the blame shifted from him to me. I was the new God. So therefore this was my fault. At least, that is what the family thought. My parents abandoned me and left the Sohma. I didn't care because I had Shino now.
Right after my identity was revealed the next cursed child was born. Akane the cat. It made me happy. These children were being born for my sake. So I wouldn't be lonely anymore. Or so I told myself. It made sense didn't it? That the spirits would come back to be with me? I always wanted to be with them. I couldn't play with Akane because she was a baby, so Shino was my constant companion. The next two zodiac were born as well. Twins. The first set of twin zodiac ever recorded in our family history. Haruko and Hana. Haruko the boy was the tiger and his sister Hana was the sheep. I was the happiest I had ever been. Until I got sick.
I don't know when they started exactly, but I began to have boughts of brochitious. Our family doctor said it was common for the head of our family to be sickly. Akira and Akito were both very fragile. His grandfather Hatori cared for Akito and his great grandfather and great great grandfather had cared for Akira. He said my lungs were weak. I would probably develop ashma and need an inhaler.
Shino stayed by my side. He was always so happy. I was happy that he stayed with me. That is until he began to talk about going outside. "And mama said I am almost old enough to go to school! Doesn't that sound like fun Yuki-Nii? Have you ever gone to school? Was it fun? Did you meet other kids? I want to make lots of new friends!"
I don't know why but I got scared when he started talking about leaving me. What if he liked the outside better? What if he made new friends and left me here? I don't want that ache to come back! Why can't they stay here with me?! Didn't they come back to be with me? He was smiling at me. But I was afraid...which made me angry. "Is that what you want?! To leave me?!" *cough cough* "You want to leave me here all alone to die! I know that's what you want! That's what they all want! They all hope I die! *cough cough cough cough* They think that...If I went away the curse would...go with me! Why?! What did I...do wrong?! I didn't ask to be born! *cough cough*
Shino's eyes were wide with terror and he had backed away from my bed. One of my maids ran in. I was coughing so badly I was seeing spots. "Kanayuki-San! Please calm down! You're only making your condition worse!" She turned to Shino. "Leave imidately! It's obviously your fault he is upset!" I glared at her. "Don't you talk to him that way!! You..." I had coughed bad enough to black out. After that day Shino acted different towards me. Distant. Reserved. It made me angry. I got mad one time and now he hates me? Is that it? Just blame me. Go ahead. I can be the villain if that is what they want. Everything is my fault after all anyway. No one wanted me to come back. No one will miss me if I died.
No other zodiac children were born for awhile. I am now 29, and the final child had only just been born a few years before. The rat, first to arrive in the legend, was the last one to arrive to the new banquet.
