"Long, long ago... Kami-sama told all the animals, I invite all of you to a party tommorow. And on no account, be late. When the mischeivous mouse heard that... he told a lie to his neighbour, the cat, that the meeting was to take place the day after tommorow. The next day, the mouse rode on the ox's back and arrived in front of the meeting place... After that, the ox, the tiger and so forth... and had a fun time there until morning. ...except for the cat that was fooled."

This is the story of the Chinese Zodiac, as told by Honda Kyoko in Fruits Basket. The mouse tricked the cat into not coming to the party Kami-sama invited them to and the cat was left out of the Juunishi. There are other stories about the Chinese Zodiac told in real life however. One of which is that Buddha was upset with how the world was turning out so he asked all of the animals to come to him to see if they could help. Only twelve animals showed up, however. Buddha was dissappointed that only a small number of animals showed up, but praised the twelve by giving them a year of their own.

Many legends also state that because the rat was the first animal to show up, he became the first year of the cycle. The ox the second, the tiger the third, and so on. The boar is the last in the cycle because it was lazy, and took its time.

Not many legends mention the cat at all. However, Fruits Basket tells us that the cat was tricked by the mouse and never came to the party; the cat was left out. This is an important element in understanding the hardships Kyo has had to endure. He was cursed with the spirit of the cat and because of this, he is left out of the celebrations held at the Souma compound.

While twelve members of the Souma family are possessed by the spirits of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac, Kyo is possessed by the spirit of the cat. Like the members of the Juunishi, Kyo turns into a small, orange cat when he is hugged by a member of the opposite sex or when he becomes nervous. However, the cat is not a member of the Juunishi even though he can transform.

The cat's spirit is a vengeful one. Because it was tricked into not attending the party, the cat grew to hate the mouse. Legend has it that the reason as to why cats and mice fight each other in present day is because of this rivalry. It makes sense that Kyo hates Yuki, who is possessed with the spirit of the mouse. Kyo believes it's Yuki's fault that he was shunned and left out of the celebrations in the Souma compound. In any case...

Kyo is trying his best to become a part of the Souma family. It's ironic that Yuki is trying his hardest to get out of the Souma family and envies Kyo's freedom. Nevertheless, Kyo trains hard and every day challenges Yuki to a fight, hoping that if he beats Yuki, he can be a member of the Juunishi.

It certainly is the fault of the mouse that the cat is left out, but it isn't exactly Yuki's fault that he is possessed by the mouse's spirit. Either way, Yuki doesn't like Kyo all too much (though his hatred for the cat isn't as strong as the cat's hatred for him). He sees Kyo's challenges as being irritating and views Kyo as being rather stupid. Even though the two may have similar opinons on things, they couldn't be any more opposite to each other than they all ready are.

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