Disclaimer: I'm sure Matsushita-sensei is tired of me defacing her work. Now, I hope Takaya Natsuki-sensei will not sue me. I have no money anyway.

"I have noooooo money!"

"He is a friend. I want you to back off of him."

All right! Here we go again! Now Watari's dipping his fingers into the pie of the Sohma family. ^_^

Yuki: I'm going to kill you.

Nah. Too much trouble. Besides, you should be glad! I made it so you can touch people! Sort of.

Watari: How am I coming up with all these potions?

It takes a while for me to think of 'em! I'm trying to be creative, you know.

Shigure: (humming) High school girls...

Kyo: YOU HENTAI!

Shigure: (sparkly eyes) But Kyoooooooo-kuuuuuunnnnn!

Knock it off, you guys, or I'll ...um...I don't know what I'll do, but I'm sure you'll regret it.

Hatori: Akito will not let this pass unpunished.

Yeah? What's he going to do? He's two inches shorter than me and probably weighs half of what I do! I'll just kick his butt. =)

Sohmas: -_-''

Yeah whatever. On with the hilarity.

Quietly, Tohru padded downstairs to the kitchen. It was almost time for everyone to be up, and she wanted to make sure they had a good breakfast ready. Rather unexpectedly, everyone had descended upon Shigure's house the night before for an impromptu party. Kyo had tried to be his usual anti-social self, but he'd gotten dragged into a card game against Ayame, Hatori, and Haru. Naturally, Hatori won. Considering Ayame was pathetically easy to read, Kyo was too fixed on watching what Yuki was doing, and Haru had been in his amiable, albeit rather flaky White personality, Hatori hadn't had much competition.

Although everyone had been invited to stay, Hatori had still left. Shigure didn't press his fellow Mabudachi, knowing that Hatori's duties to Akito always came first. Ayame had been thrilled when they offered to let him stay, begging Torhu to share her body warmth with him. Kyo and Yuki would have killed him had not Momiji distracted them by glomping Tohru at that point and turning himself into a little yellow bunny. Of course, the Sohma males all ended up sleeping in guest rooms. With Momiji, Hiro, Haru, Ritsu, and Ayame comfortably ensconced in a room, Kagura and Kisa slept in the room next to Tohru's. Of the twelve Jyuunishi, only Isuzu-san and Kureno-san did not appear.

Tohru smiled as she went into the kitchen. The Sohma family seemed to be...more cheerful now than when she had first unintentionally trespassed in their lives. Even Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun were getting along better than they had before.

She was halfway done with breakfast when a light knock sounded upon the door. Hurrying to answer it so that the still-sleeping Sohmas would not be woken, she found a tall, strange blonde man with a Kansai accent standing at the door. For some reason, he was wearing a white lab coat.

"You're Honda Tohru, ne?" he said.

"H-hai!" she said, taken slightly by surprise.

The blonde smiled. "Hatori-sensei sent me over with this," he said, producing a small vial out of his coat and handing it to her. "If you wouldn't mind, make sure all the Sohmas in the house get a bit. It's a cold preventative," he added quickly. "It was made especially for them, bearing in mind the...erm...rather unusual circumstances of their bodies..."

Tohru, at first a little worried that this man knew about the Jyuunishi curse, relaxed. Of course. He must be one of the Sohma cousins without the family problem. "Of course! I'll make sure they all have some."

He looked relieved. "It's medicine, so they won't want to take it," he warned. "Why don't you slip it into their food, and not tell them?"

"Anoo....I guess I could," she said doubtfully. "Are you s-"

The blonde was gone.

Watari walked into the lab rubbing his hands together. "003! I'm back!" he yelled. The tiny owl pushed the stop button on the microwave and opened the door with his nose. The smell of popcorn drifted over the lab. Watari pulled a chair up to the viewing glass and grabbed the popcorn. "Thanks." He watched the screen, absently feeding the owl.

"Thank you for breakfast, Tohru-san, it was delicious!" Kagura said, beaming happily. Her eyes glinted as she poked the orange-haired boy next to her. "Kyo-kun!"

"Gochisousama deshita," muttered Kyo, looking a little worried. When Kagura failed to pound him into a pulp, he relaxed.

"Let me help you clean up, Tohru!" Momiji piped up, grabbing dishes from in front of his relatives. Shigure seemed perfectly happy to let others do the work while he sat and chatted with Ayame.

"Tohru-chan," said Shigure. "You didn't eat much."

Tohru paled. "Ah!" she said nervously. Shigure-san noticed! I can't tell them about the medicine, or they'll be mad at me! @_@ "Anoo...to be honest, I was so hungry I ate while I was cooking," she said. "I'm sorry!" It was at least true. She knew better than not to eat, or they'd force her to.

"Maa, don't worry!" he told her, looking at her strangely.

Tohru sweatdropped. I don't think I'll be able to lie if he asks me again...

"I'd better go," said Haru quietly, breaking the mounting tension. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Will you be okay by yourself, Ha-kun?" Ayame asked. "Maybe Momiji-kun should go with you - "

"I'll be fine," Haru said. The others seemed far from convinced that his directional skills had improved at all. He stood, walking around the table to where Yuki sat. "Take care of yourself, Yuki," he said seriously. "It's raining today and you can't get sick again." He bent down and hugged the mouse.

Poof!

Understandably, everyone at the table went superdeformed at the sight of the familiar clouds of smoke that heralded the Jyuunishi transformation. A moment later, a rather surprised looking mouse and a confused cow could be seen.

"What the hell?" Shigure said inelegantly.

Ayame was halfway on his feet, staring at the animals in Shigure's dining room. "That's impossible!" he exclaimed. "You transformed - but you're both men, both Jyuunishi!"

"Well something's gone seriously wrong!" Yuki said, climbing up on the table.

"Haru! What did you do?" Kagura asked.

"I didn't do it," Haru said.

"Well, it wasn't Yuki, was it?" Ayame said.

Yuki glared at his brother. "No, it wasn't me."

"That doesn't mean it was Haru!" Tohru pointed out quickly.

"Yeah, why couldn't it be the mouse's fault?" Kyo demanded, sneering at his long-time rival.

Yuki transferred his rodent glare to Kyo. "I said it wasn't me!"

Ritsu, who had been shyly silent throughout the meal, suddenly jumped up, his face haggard and gaunt. "It must be my fault!" he shouted. "GOMEN NASAAAAIIIII! I apologize!"

"It wasn't your fault," Hiro said laconically. "You aren't talented enough to effect such a peculiar and unusual change in the curse."

Ritsu looked defeated. "But I - "

"Hiro-chan is right, Ritsu-kun," Shigure assured the monkey.

Moo-cow Haru lowered his head. "This is starting to annoy me," he said in a rough voice.

"Oh great, that's all we need, Black Haru to show up in cow form," said Shigure sarcastically. Momiji looked thoughtfully at Tohru, who was beginning to feel both guilty and ucomfortable. Should I tell them about Hatori-san's cold medicine? she wondered.

Before she could open her mouth, she was suddenly pounced on by Momiji's child-like form.

"TOHRUUUU!!!" he sang, holding her tightly in his spindly arms. "This is great! I can hug you! I can hug you!"

"M-Momiji-kun!" she gasped.

Ayame's eyes glowed, and he posed dramatically. Yuki looked alarmed. Kyo, however, was there to intercept his elder cousin as Ayame tried to glomp Tohru. With another puff of smoke, both the cat and the snake appeared in their cursed forms.

"Dammit, you lousy snake!" Kyo snarled.

"Tohru-chan!" Ayame hissed, crawling closer. "You must warm me up!"

Yuki was about ready to pounce on his older brother, but he was too late. Ayame crawled up onto Tohru's leg, and there was another grand poof of smoke.

Tohru found herself staring into Ayame's hypnotic eyes, and nearly passed out when she realized he was naked and straddling her leg. Her minor panic attack didn't have the chance to begin as the transformed Sohmas realized that she was their chance to be changed back. She was instantly glomped on all sides, and found herself surrounded by naked Kyo, Yuki, Ayame, and Haru.

She fainted from pure shock.

When Tohru opened her eyes, Kagura was seated next to her bed, looking worried. "Ah! Tohru-san!" she said. "You're awake!" She was taking great care not to touch the young woman.

"Kagura-san..." Tohru mumbled. "What..."

"Neesan," said Kisa from the other side. "Ano...what was in that breakfast?"

"In the breakfast?" Tohru repeated.

Kagura looked stern. "We know there had to be something in it. The curse doesn't get confused like that."

Tohru sat up. "He said it was medicine!" she sniffed. "Hatori-san sent him over. So you guys don't get sick."

Kagura exchanged a glance with Kisa. "Tohru-san, have you ever known Hatori to send someone to do a job like that?" she said evenly. "Or have you hide the medicine? Hatori-san's the kind who would make us take it anyway."

"But - "

"Who was the man who delivered the...medicine?" Kagura asked.

Tohru's memory was moderately fuzzy, but she described the lab-coat-wearing blonde in the glasses who'd appeared on the doorstep. "He spoke with a Kansai accent," she added.

Kisa shook her head, and Kagura said, "Nobody like that in our family. Momiji-kun and his mother and sister are the only ones who are truly blonde like that. Sohmas are generally dark."

"Do - you think he was a bad man?" Tohru asked apprehensively. "I didn't even think...I mean, I just wanted to...I didn't want Yuki-kun to get sick."

The door opened and Shigure entered. "Ah, Tohru-chan," he said. "I've just spoken to Hatori. He says he didn't send anyone over."

She looked totally appalled. "Gomen nasai!" she exclaimed.

He winced. "Please don't. Ritsu-kun is still here, and I can't stand to hear any more apologies."

"Oh! Of course!" Tohru exclaimed. "Gome--umm..,"

"Shigure-san, what exactly is going on?" Kagura asked.

He scratched his head. "As near as I can tell," he said, "whatever it was this mysterious blonde gave Tohru has reversed the essential thrust of the curse, which is the embrace by a member of the opposite sex."

Kisa blinked. "So now I can hug boys who aren't Jyuunishi?" she asked.

Shigure smiled. "In theory, yes, Kisa-chan," he said. "But we don't know how long it will last..."

Kagura stood. "I'm more curious why it means we can't hug even other Jyuunishi members," she said. "If Isuzu were here - "

Tohru leaned back. It was very rare for the reclusive Sohma Isuzu to visit their house, especially when she knew Haru was a frequent guest.

" - she'd probably find whoever made this potion and make him fix the curse permanently," Shigure finished for Kagura. "That is a good question. I think we should find out more about Tohru's visitor before we mention it to Rin."

Tohru ducked her face, feeling it turn red. One of Kisa's tiny hands crept into hers. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked.

"I'd say you've done enough already," said a deep voice from the door. She jumped, looking up to see the Jyuunishi doctor standing there. Shigure was maintaining a discreet distance as he edged past his cousin. "Shigure. Where are you going?"

Shigure grinned. "Aya and I are going out," he informed Hatori.

Hatori's brows rose, although only one was really visible. "And?" he inquired.

Shigure's grin widened. "We're going to pick up high school girls!" he announced, and vanished into the hallway.

Shigure, you pervert, thought Hatori. -_-' He transferred his attention back to Tohru. Casually he gestured for Kisa and Kagura to leave them. The tiger and the boar exited the room silently. "Tohru-chan," he said seriously, "can you remember anything else about this man?"

She shook her head. "He just gave me the vial with the medicine in it to put in their breakfast."

"A vial? It must have been a potion of some kind." Hatori frowned thoughtfully. "In that case, even if it's powerful, it should work through the system and wear off in a few days at the most."

The door opened and Momiji poked his head in. "Are you feeling better, Tohru?" he asked.

"Oh yes, thanks, Momiji-kun," she assured him with a bright smile.

"Momiji," said Hatori. "Do me a favor." The blonde German boy looked suspicious, but obediently enetred the room. Hatori reached out and gently hugged the boy to his side.

In a poof of smoke, Momiji disappeared, poking his nose out from the pile of clothing in his little yellow rabbit form. Hatori remained unchanged. "It is this mysterious potion then," the doctor murmured.

Rabbit Momiji looked vaguely reproachful, but hopped onto Tohru's bed and was soon himself again.

"Why does being hugged by a girl change them back?" Tohru wondered, politely averting her eyes as Momiji scrambled into his clothes again.

"I would guess this potion could not entirely nullify the curse," Hatori said matter-of-factly. "There will always be some reaction associated with the opposite sex. In this case, it merely happens to be useful." He turned and opened the door. "Thank you for your answers."

"Ano..Hatori-san...?"

He paused, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Hai?"

Tohru looked embarrassed. "Er...nothing," she said. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "If I find anything out about that man, I'll let you know." he left her room, closing the door behind him. Interesting...a potion of some kind. I'll take some blood samples from them and see if I can figure out what's in that potion. Maybe I can fix the whole curse...