Love is really hard to come by, especially in a family so dysfunctional like mine.
It's all because of a curse that has affected us for generations, in which thirteen members of the family get possessed by an animal from the Chinese zodiac. If any of them is hugged by a person of the opposite sex or gets incredibly stressed, they transform into their respective animal.
As a result, it makes it incredibly difficult for them to find love and be accepted by anyone who has no knowledge of the curse.
My older brother Hatori, or Hari as I like to call him, is the dragon. Even though he's ten years older than me and can come across as cold and distant, we're fairly close. He has always put in the effort to look out for me, especially after our parents passed away.
As for me, I am the panda.
You are probably thinking that the panda is not part of the Chinese zodiac, which is correct. But, in the Sohma family, it was foreseen that every century or so, a child would be born with the spirit of the panda; an animal that symbolises peace and good luck.
I, Chika Sohma, am that child.
For the majority of my childhood, I was confined in the family estate by the orders of Akito; the current head of the family. I was rarely allowed to go outside, and I was homeschooled during my elementary school years. The only fresh air I could get most of the time was the breeze from standing at an open window.
As much as Hari knew how much I hated being indoors, he didn't really have a say in what I could and could not do, unless it was medical related.
It's well known that zodiac members don't transform if they hug another member, but there is one exception that is unknown to most of the family.
Legend has it that if two members of the zodiac transform upon hugging, they are deemed to be forbidden soulmates.
I wasn't aware of it, until something unexpected happened.
