Ties of the Past

Natsume frowned a bit as some of the cursed children touched her. She wasn't used to all the attention, at least not her Cat counter part. The Cat within her wanted to run away, and hide in some place dark and lonely while the God within her wanted to smile and hug each and everyone of her Jyuunishi. No one ever knows which side of her would win. Sighing quietly to herself, Natsume touched the boy closest to her, which was the rabbit and ruffled his hair a bit. She new very well that this boy was her younger half brother, Chichiri.

As she gave the much craved attention to the cursed children, Natsume watched her mother from the corner of her eyes as Akito embraced Shigure. It was so sweet that it felt nauseating. Natsume quickly recomposed herself before gnetly prying herself away from the Jyuunishi. The cat within her was taking over now. The black haired girl walked up to Shigure and her mother.

"Shigure-san, I hope you've enjoyed putting your hands on my mother after so many years of spiting each other." She said scornfully, but Akito glared at her while Shigure let out a playful laugh, which hid his angered side.

"Now now, you shouldn't disrespect your mother like that. She's still head of the Sohma Clan." The former dog said with a false smile.

"Yes, and she screwed up." Natsume added, glaring at Akito, "Big time, as did you."

Akito was about to slap her daughter when she quickly caught herself. Akito may have completely recovered from being sickly, but she still had the mean streak that had never truly died, a reminder of all the hell she's been through.

"Oh, and how did I 'mess up'?" Shigure asked, but before he could get an answer, Akito pulled him away, an indication that her daughter treaded on thin ice and nearly leaked out the secret.

Her lips curled into a smile. Natsume knew when she had bested her mother. Her teal gaze flickered to the Half American Blonde Sohma, everyone had called "Mo-chan" and Daisuke, the new horse. "Daisuke-kun, why didn't you come over to greet me and who is this?" She asked, eyeing Morgan with a sharp glare.

Daisuke shrugged in defiant silence. He was so much like his mother deslite having his father's looks. "This is Mo-chan. She's a Sohma, Shigure's daughter." He answered.

Natsume raised an eyebrow and eyed the blonde.

"Hm, you're not a Jyuunishi, but yet you're not exactly an outsider." She mused, looking Mo-chan over.

"You're not actually Shigure's daughter, are you?" She asked.

Mo-chan nervously bit her lip as she gathered her thoughts, and nodded. "Yes, I am." She said.

Hatred and suspicion burned within her heart, but Natsume kept a calm facade as she spoke, "I overheard you talking about the cat. True there's no "Cat" in the Zodiac, but there was one in the legend. A long time ago, God invited thirteen animals to a banquet, but the rat tricked the cat by telling him the wrong date. So, the cat foolishly believed him and slept in on the day of the banquet while everyone else became the representations of the Zodiac."

Seeing the dumbfounded look on Morgan's face, Natsume smiled, "But you know what's worse about me being both the God and the Cat?"

Mo-chan shook her head in stunned silence.

"I can't go to the banquet and yet I can. But every year, I get torn apart by my two halves that I feel like dieing. Like my mother, I can't go out very often, but I can, however still go to the banquet, despite the Cat."

"And it was because of our father that I am cursed twice, but he wasn't alone. My mother had a hand in it too."

Suddenly, Chichiri ran back up to his sister and tugged on her arm, "Mo-chan, let's go play." The seven year old rabbit whined. Morgan gave a smile of relief at the reprieve from being in Natsume's presence and nodded in agreement.

"Of course, Chichiri." She then looked at Daisuke, "Wanna come, Daisuke-san?" She asked.

Daisuke shrugged again and proceeded to follow them to the group of Jyuunishi that were playing tag.

Natsume gave an involuntary shudder at having touched her half-sister, whose blood was tainted with that of an outsider's. "I cant't believe that's my half sister." She whispered as Saya led her away.