Chapter 001
Tohru Honda is seen staring up at the expansive sky outside of her tent. Her bookbag is at her side, and she asks a portrait of her mother if she's forgotten anything. With a quick, "I'm off!", Tohru sets out for school. She notices that she's early, so she decides to explore out the surrounding area. What she finds is a house.
Small zodiac ornaments are sitting on the porch, drying. A tall, dark haired man in a robe comes out, surprised to see her. She blushes, surprised at how beautiful he is, as he nears. She looks at the ornaments and states that he has all the animals but the cat. Taken by surprise again, he questions the cat from the zodiac legend. She nods before talking about how her mother used to tell her the zodiac story all the time. The end of her tale ends with a flashback of little Tohru in tears saying how she'll stop being the year of the dog, and become the year of the cat.
Amused, the man says how much he wishes someone could have heard of that so he could see the look on that person's face. Changing the subject quickly, he says how he's a "dog" as well,l but is quickly interrupted when a bookbag hits the top of his head. A highschool freshman stands at the door, asking the man if he has to be a lech. Looking up, Tohru is surprised and flustered to see one of her classmates. Like his cousin, he's also beautiful.
At school, a girl in short pigtails begins to interrogate her on why she was walking to school with Yuki Sohma, the reigning "prince" at their school. In the minds of the female student body, they believe that the two were flirting with one another. She tells the girls that it was just a coincidence, but they decide to interrogate further. However, before they can, Tohru's friends, one a yankee, the other a "psychic", come by to get them off her back. With a threat from the "psychic", the girls make a mad dash in the opposite direction.
Tohru tells her friends of her encounter with Yuki's cousin, Shigure. Tohru told Yuki and Shigure that she lived near them, much to their confusion. During her walk to school, she froze up because she was so nervous. Whatever the other girls were accusing of ealier, didn't happen. Hanajima, the "psychic", mentions how she detects strange waves from him. Uotani, the yankee, states that a second year girl confessed her love and tried to hug him, but he flung her away. A teacher spots the girls talking, and as she begins to scold them for not cooking, she stops, flabbergasted at the wonderful meal in front of them. Hanajima begins serving the rice, as if nothing was out of the ordinary, as Uotani asks about Tohru's job. This of course, leads to her father's family. They question if her grandfather is taking good care of her. Tohru, a bit nervous, quickly announces, "YES!" Though, Tohru knows that she just couldn't possilby tell her friends the truth because they're always looking out for, especially Uotani.
As she leaves school, Tohru bumps into Yuki at the lockers. She apologizes to him about being at his house in the morning. He forgives her and talks about how the cat never really had a place in the zodiac from the beginning since it was orginally a timekeeping system of tens and twelves. Confused at his story, she questions if he hates cats. Yuki gives her a small smile, yet his eyes are cold. The beeping of her watch interrupts the silence, and she freaks out because she doesn't want to be late. Before she leaves, a leaf falls. Yuki catches it before it falls on her head, and tells her to take care of herself better because she doesn't look too well before he leaves. Blushing, Tohru places her hand on her forehead and watches him leave.
Tohru begins to think back on what caused her to live in the tent. Her father, died when she was only three. She loved her mother, and never thought that her mother would leave her one day - until the car accident. The family decided to let her live with her grandpa. However, four months after the decision, he told her that his daughter's family was going to live with him, so they had to remodel the house. He wondered if she could stay with a friend during the remodeling, and she agreed whole heartedly, wishing to begin living on her own, just as she would after she graduates.
Shigure and Yuki walk through a dirt path during the night. Shigure mentions how they need a "flower" (he means a woman) to brighten up their barbaric, bachelor lives. Yuki disagrees, causing Shigure to ask why but then he spots Tohru. The two ponder why she's out in the woods so late. Yuki brings up her mother's death and perhaps she moved in the area. Shigure, on the other hand, says that it's impossible since they weren't renting the land out to anyone.
Tohru stumbles in her tent, welcoming the portrait of her mother. She gets out some supplies to wash her face, and heads back out. She's greeted by two very suprised faces. After a moment, Shigure breaks out into a fit of laughter. Yuki tells him calmly to not be so rude.
In the Sohma house, Tohru explains her situation. Yuki calmly tells her that the land she was sleeping on is Sohma property and hasn't been rented out or sold, simultaneously, Shigure is still snickering about the whole incident. She begs to be able to stay, making a declaration that she doesn't mind the slugs. However, she soon falls to the ground due to her fever. Shigure, finally over the whole incident, walks to the kitchen, staring at the mess, wondering where the ice would be. Tohru looks at the kitchen, stating it's a "garbage jungle." Hearing a wolf howl, Shigure states that there has been a landslide. He says it's his "animal instincts".
The three arrive at Tohru's tent, where the landslide completely covered it. She frantically atttempts to uncover the earth, in an effort to save her mother, but Shigure stops her. He suggests that she get some rest and they'll uncover it in the morning.
Lying in a futon at the Sohma home, Tohru tells Shigure of her troubles. The morning her mother died, was the only morning she didn't tell her to "Come home safe". Although, she wanted to get a full-time job and quit high school, she knew she couldn't because her mother wanted a better life for her. Her goal: to graduate for her mother. Tohru slowly drifts off to sleep. Yuki returns to the room with ice, hearing everything. He finds it incredible, admiring her determination. He admits that he's always wanted to leave the family, but he only had enough courage to flee to another Sohma's house. Making sure Shigure looks after her, Shigure asks if he's going to leave to dig up her things - afterall, he can't do it alone. Yuki turns around with a mysterious gaze telling Shigure, "I never said I was going alone", with a pack of rats behind me. Shigure merely smiles and tells him to be careful.
Images of her mother and a boy placing a hat on a younger Tohru fill the page. Her mother's words of telling her to not push herself so hard and being herself fill her head. Tohru slowly opens her eyes, surprised to find that she fell asleep. She quickly slides the door out of her way, ready to dig her mother out. She stops, surprised to see a smiling Yuki greeting her good morning. She blushes and stutters out a good morning, attempting to fix her bedhead. He hands her her mother, and asks if she would check to see if all of her belongings are in the bags he brought. She asks if he dug through it by himself, and he honestly says he didn't, but it's a secret, giving her a mysterious smile which instantly quiets her. Yuki begins to take her things upstairs in a room where he tells her she can stay until the remodeling on her grandfather's house is complete. She blushes, telling him she couldn't possibly stay. Shigure appears behind her, questioning if she likes to do housework. She mentions she does and Shigure happily welcomes her into the Sohma home. Being humble, she keeps trying to find a way out of the situation, insisting that she's become a burden on them, but Yuki tells her it's okay because it was their idea. He also tells her to be herself and to do things at her own pace, the words that she dreamt her mother told her earlier. Finally convinced, she tells them that she's at the mercy of their hospitality. Shigure pulls Yuki to a side, telling him that he was kidding about the whole "flower" incident and wondering if it's okay to let her stay since she is a girl. Yuki tells him that's fine as long as she doesn't hug anyone.
Yuki shows her the bedroom (she's now dressed in boy clothes) and as he opens a window to allow fresh air, a boy with orange hair bashes through the ceiling. Yuki calmly looks toward him, Shigure merely looks above, and Tohru, stares at the boy horrified. He massages his shoulder muscle, stating to Yuki how he's break Yuki's neck. Tohru looks on, confused at the entire confrontation, wondering if the new boy is hurt. Yuki looks at him, amused, asking if he always has to break something when he comes home and telling him that he'll never beat him because he's too weak. Angered by his words, the boy begins to threaten Yuki, and Tohru, horrified, walks toward him, telling him to stop, and in the process, slipping on a piece of wood. To break her fall, she hugs the boy. Apparently, not knowing she was behind him, he looks at her, afraid, everyone screaming.
Shigure makes his way back up, wondering if Kyo is back. Yuki says nothing but holds his head in embarrassment. Tohru, freaking out, wonders if he's okay, sifting through a pile of clothes and holding up a cat in his stead.
