Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Eye Of The Storm ❯ Dropping The Bomb ( Chapter 6 )

Eye of the Storm

Chapter 6:

Dropping The Bomb

It took longer for Keiko to repair the damaged sliding door than she estimated; she didn't figure in falling asleep periodically as she worked. After fixing the door Keiko took a cold shower to wake herself up and skipped soaking in the warm water of the tub afraid she would fall asleep and drown. Though the cold water helped somewhat to keep Keiko from drifting off to sleep while she studied it didn't last for long. Only thirty minutes had past when Keiko fell asleep on her open book at the table in the living room.

"Keikokun, Keikokun." A gentle voice called.

"Hm? What?" Keiko responded sleepily.

"It looks like someone was working to hard last night." Shigure observed. "Let me guess last minute studying for a test?"

"No, by the time I…" Keiko stopped short of what she was saying when she saw Yuki and Kyou walk into the room and groaned. "I'll go get ready for school Keiko said and rushed out of the room. Not having received a full night's sleep Keiko was a little on edge. Fixing the door really did take a long time and even asleep she was dreaming that she was still working on the door that was repaired.

During breakfast Keiko didn't say a word to anyone. Her thoughts seemed to wander between her frustration at Yuki and Kyou fighting and smashing Shigure's house that she found herself without antiquate energy to repair yesterday to wondering if everyone really was unburdened by her presence as they seemed. "Why must they fight so much? Is Shiguresan really not bothered that much about his house getting wrecked every other day? I wonder if everyone is actually really stressed out from me being here, because they want to help me and are afraid of the head of their family finding out I'm here. What if that happens? Though it was vague, from what Yuki said this Akito doesn't seem like the type to over look such a thing. In fact when ever his name was mentioned they all seemed… afraid." Keiko thought remembering the look in Shigure's eyes even though he smiled and was nonchalant as usual the day she had crashed into Hatsuharu and caused him to transform. ? Could that be the reason Yuki and Kyou are at each other so much? Hondasan did say they are fighting more than they used to. Oh, it's all my fault and here I had the nerve to get angry because I had to repair Shiguresan's door. I'm the reason they're fighting more than they used to. They're too nice to yell at me so instead they just take it out on each other. I'm nothing but a burden to these people. What was I thinking? Maybe it would have been better for me to rot on the street then to put them through this." Keiko thought. Her mind stopped wandering when she suddenly became aware that someone was staring at her. Looking up her eyes met Yuki's.

Shigure lowered the newspaper he was reading noticing the unmistakable change in the atmosphere. Kyou stopped eating and looked over at them, visibly annoyed.

"What happened?" Tohru thought to herself. "Keikokun and Yukikun were getting along so well now this."

"Excuse me." Keiko mumbled then quickly removed herself from the table. The thoughts that ran through Keiko's mind were the thoughts that had been running through her mind ever since the Sohmas took her in. She still could not accept their kindness because she still could not believe it to be true. How could strangers treat her so kindly, kinder than her own relatives and not ask for anything in return? In the cold harsh reality that Keiko was brought up in, despite the warm loving home her parents provided for her, there was no way that they weren't expecting something in return. At that moment the stress she felt had came to a climax and had made her physically sick.

"Keikokun." Shigure called as he knocked on the door of the bathroom. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fi-." Keiko started to answer but ended up vomiting again.

"I'll come back later." Shigure said before returning to the dinning room.

"Shiguresan, is Keikokun alright?" Tohru asked.

"From the sound of it she's really sick. Tohrukun you didn't accidentally mix some bad vegetables in with the food this morning did you?" Shigure asked.

Tohru panicked. "No, I thought they were fresh. I just bought them yesterday, unless they were bad when I bought them. Oh, no!"

"Calm down, Hondasan." Yuki said. "I'm sure whatever's wrong with Keikochan has nothing to do with the food."

"Yukikun did you do anything that would make Keikokun sick?" Shigure asked.

"Like what?" Yuki asked angrily.

"You two haven't been getting along at all lately. Dirty sneaky rat that you are, you probably poisoned her." Kyou said.

"Idiot, what makes you think I would do something like that?"

"Yeah, I bet you slipped some raw leeks into her food when no one was looking.

"I didn't! And even if I did how are leeks poisonous?"

"Um…" Tohru started not sure how to defuse the argument.

"Gentlemen, please we have a very sick young lady in the house." Shigure said casually. Kyou and Yuki abruptly stopped arguing much to Tohru's relief.

"Stupid cat." Yuki thought.

"Damn rat." Kyou thought.

"Hm, now that that's all taken care of, why don't you three go on to school while I look after Keikokun." Shigure said taking a sip of tea. Everyone looked at him distrustfully.

"What? Why are you all looking at me like that? You don't think I would do anything shady do you?" The only response he received were three simultaneous nods. "You too Tohrukun? I'm hurt." He said mockingly. "To prove you wrong I'll call Hatori over here right away."

"You'll what?!" Yuki and Kyou shouted.

"Shigure-." Yuki started but was cut off by Kyou.

"Why can't you just take her to hospital?" Kyou boomed.

"I could but it would be a perfect opportunity for Haasan to meet Keikokun."

"What happened to keeping her a secret? If you tell Hatori you might as well tell that damn Akito!" Kyou yelled even louder. Shigure just smiled.

"You didn't!" Yuki said standing to his feet recognizing the look on his older cousin's face. Shigure only laughed nervously. "So, what did he say?" Yuki asked ready to burst.

"He wants to meet her this Saturday morning." Shigure answered.

"That's tomorrow!" Kyou yelled jumping to his feet. "When the hell were you planning on telling us?" Shigure sweat dropped. In the beginning he had planned to not even to tell Keiko until that evening and let everyone else find out after Akito had met her. He felt it would be better that way. At the time of telling Akito that Keiko was living with them it seemed like a good idea, but as the week drew on the dog was having second thoughts and was now worried about the fate of young woman as well as their own.

"I'm going to school." Yuki said as he left the room obviously infuriated. Tohru was silent. She only picked up her school bag and left right behind him. Kyou did the same leaving Shigure alone. A little while later Keiko wondered back into the room to find Shigure seated at an empty table.

"Shiguresan?" Keiko uttered noticing a contemplative and troubled look that Shigure never wore on his face in front of other people.

"Oh, Keikokun." Shigure said smiling.

"What is it?" Keiko said sitting down at the table.

"Oh…You noticed." Shigure said with a serious tone. "I should have told you sooner but the head of our family Akito wants to see you tomorrow morning."

"What? Oh, no?! Are you in trouble because of me? How did he find out?" Keiko asked becoming panicked once again.

"Well, if any trouble should come to us, I am not yet sure and as for how he found out I told him."

"You… told him?"

"Yes. At the time it seemed like the best thing to do…" Shigure said his voice trailing off as he looked over at Keiko.

"I see." Keiko said holding her head down.

"So, tomorrow it will be determined weather or not my memories will be erased."

"I'm sorry." Shigure said remorsefully.

"Don't apologize. You could get into a lot of trouble for keeping a secret like this from the head of your family. After all I wasn't even supposed to know about your family's curse and one person outside the family already knows. Two knowing about the curse would be make it even more difficult to keep a it a secret."

"You didn't think you could keep our secret?"

"No, that's not it. I would have kept the curse a secret even until death. It's just that imagining things from your perspective I can understand why you didn't want to keep my being here a secret any longer and, if it is decided, why my memories would need to be erased." Keiko said with difficulty as she clutched her stomach. Taking a deep breath she tried to ignore the sharp pain she felt. "It's ok, so I'll be going now." Keiko said standing up, but became very dizzy and fell backwards. Shigure was able to stand up and caught her, without making any movement that could be considered a hug,

"You have a very bad fever." Shigure said putting his hand to her forehead after carefully laying her down on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Keiko apologized weakly. "All I can do is be a burden."

"Don't say that." Shigure said softly.

"Why not? It's true isn't it? If my memories get erased it won't really matter. Life will go on, besides it was an accident that Tohru ran into me that night anyway. Things will just go on as they would have."

"Keikokun, we want you here with us. Don't ever say or think you are a burden to anyone here again. You've been a great help in the short time were here."

"How?" Keiko asked turning on her side feeling her already cramped stomach contract painfully again.

"You've given us more faith in the people around us."

"Is that really a good thing?" Keiko asked. Shigure gave a slight gasp. He didn't expect such a pessimistic remark from a seemingly usually cheerful person. "Say more people find out about your curse. Say the majority of them are trustworthy and truly would protect your secret with their lives, but even so… All it takes is one liar, one deceitful person to be trusted who would exploit your family for their own purposes. Did Hondasan ever tell you? My father was a lawyer and my mother was a model. Before they became so successful in their careers both sides of my family disowned them. The reason why was never told to me. The only people they could count on were each other. Being a lawyer my father had to deal with deceit everyday, but I guess that comes with the territory, and so did my mother. A lot of people think being a model is easy, but it isn't. It's a very shady world. I know first hand having spent so much time with my parents as I grew up." Keiko said remembering a supposed photo shot her mother was called to. It was a photo shot, but instead of being for fashion magazine it was for a hentai publishing. Keiko's mother wanted to show her daughter what she did for a living, but it turned out to be a mistake to take her daughter to work with her that day. Right after Mrs. Yamada opened the door to the area the photo shot was to take place in, the last thing Keiko remembered was her mother's hands being put over her eyes. Later her mother explained the best she could about why they had to leave, but it wasn't until a few years later that Keiko fully understood what had occurred that day. Many people in her mother's career had become famous by first taking on shady jobs such as possing for perverted magazines, but Keiko's mother refused to take on such jobs and became extremely successful without lowering her standards.

Keiko's father witnessed many shady deals between law firms and criminals, which was the reason he became a lawyer to help in some small way to bring such characters to justice. "At a very early age, I learned that looks can be deceiving and even those that seemed trust worthy can turn on you in a heartbeat. Keiko continued starting to cry. "I want to be the kind of person that helps others, but I think my presence here has done just the opposite. No one said much to me regarding Akitosan except to say that he is the head of the Sohma clan, but… but…" Quiet sobbing swallowed Keiko's words. "I can tell from the look in your eyes, no matter how straight of a face you try to put on, that everyone is afraid of him." Keiko thought as she lay clutching her stomach.

"Does it hurt more, Keikokun?" Shigure asked becoming worried. "Just stay calm I'll call a doctor." He said leaving her side to phone Hatori. As he dialed the number he felt a chill go down his spine as he remembered the word's Keiko spoke. "All it takes is one liar, one deceitful person to be trusted." They were too close to the words someone else had uttered. Yes, the world was full of deceitful people but it was also full of good people. Shigure wouldn't allow himself to believe that those good people were not as abundant as the bad ones. "Que sera sera." Shigure uttered in a low voice to calm himself as he listened to the phone ring.

"Hello?" Hatori's voice said sternly.

"Ah, Haasan, there is a bit of a problem…" Shigure started. Hatori didn't bother to ask what that problem might be. He knew from unusual tone in Shigure's voice that it was bad.

"I'm on my way." Hatori said hanging up the phone.

Keiko lay on the floor of Shigure's house in a deep sleep. The pain in her stomach had become to much for her to bare counciously. Feeling a hand firmly resting on her arm Keiko stirred and opened her eyes.

"Don't move." She heard a voice say. Blinking Keiko looked up at the blurry figure leaning over her. She didn't even notice there was a needle in her side. "How are you feeling?" Hatori asked removing the needle.

Keiko sat up and looked at him with blurred vision. In her pain induced haze the image of the man before her conformed to that of her father.

"Papa, is it really you? Where's mama? Oh, papa!" Keiko thought as she reached out and hugged Hatori. The dragon gasped. He reached to pull her away but it was too late. Hearing the usual Bomf sound that accompanied the transformation of a Sohma into one of the zodiac Shigure ran into the room.

"Ha… ha ha… AHAHAHAHAHA!" Shigure exploded into nervous laughter so loud the sound of his voice snapped Keiko out of her daze.

"What's so funny?" She asked the notice the seahorse twitching angrily in her lap. "Where did… Oh no!" She exclaimed standing to her feet and running out of the room nearly knocking Shigure over.

Trying as best he could to restrain himself from laughing any more Shigure followed Keiko to the bathroom. She was panting heavily as she leaned on the edge of a tub. "How did a seahorse end up in my lap?" She asked out loud.

"He's actually supposed to be a dragon." Shigure said snickering.

Keiko jumped she had no idea that the novelist was standing behind her until he spoke.

"A dragon?" Keiko said looking down a creature that was no bigger than the palm of her hand. Presently it had an expression on it's face that was somewhere between embarrassment and indignation.

"Pretty pathetic isn't it?" Shigure said bursting into another fit of laughter.

"Oh, shut up!" The seahorse growled.

"Oh, um, excuse me." Shigure said trying desperately to stop laughing. "This is Sohma Hatori. Hatori this is Yamada Keiko." Shigure said without laughing long enough to introduce them.

"But how did he end up-

"Transforming?" Shigure said still giggling. "Ah, well Haasan here is the doctor I said I would call. When he got here he took one look at you and said he would have to give you a shot in the abdomen to relax the cramping. I left the room only for a second and the next thing I know Haasan here was in his zodiac form." Shigure said thoughtfully holding his chin. "Haasan, care to enlighten us as to why you felt it necessary to hug keikokun?"

Hatori was so furious he couldn't say a word.

"I know I've always told you that you needed to improve your bedside manner, but don't you think that was taking it a little to far?" Shigure said mischievously.

"Why you…" Hatori uttered becoming violently angry with Shigure for making such accusations. Perhaps the dragon would have done something to shut his cousin up but at the moment he couldn't do much of anything except be angry as he floated in the tub. Then suddenly Boomf! Hatori had changed back to human form and Keiko fainted.

"Yare yare, Haasan, look what you did." Shigure said in a mocking tone.

"Shut up and pass me a towel." Shigure said fuming.

Moments later the two men moved Keiko into bed.

"I'm going to go make some tea." Shigure said turning to leave the room. "Don't do anything I wouldn't." He mockingly cautioned.

"Don't you mean don't do anything you would?" Hatori retorted.

"Ah, Haasan, that hurt." Shigure said putting his hand to his heart and pretending to falter.

"Just go make the tea." Hatori said irritated.

"Right away." Shigure said scampering off.

It was a little while later before Keiko woke up again. Sitting up in the bed she jumped when she saw Hatori sitting across the room. "Are you fully awake?" He asked walking over to her.

"Yeah." Keiko answered. "And I'm sorry about earlier." Keiko said sweat dropping as she bowed in her seat. "I was dreaming you were someone else." Keiko admitted.

"It's quit alright." Hatori said as he lifted her head and stuck a thermometer in her mouth.

"After all what man in his right mind would mind being hugged by a beautiful young woman such as yourself, even if it does turn him into a seahorse." Shigure said as brought in tray with three cups of hot tea on it.

"Do you ever stop?" Hatori asked taking note of Keiko's temperature. "Your temperature is down a few degrees from earlier." Hatori told her as he passed her a cup of tea. "How do you feel?"

"Much better, thank you." Keiko said taking a drink from the cup. "I'm so sorry for causing such trouble."

"Oh, don't worry about bothering Haasan, that's what I'm here for." Shigure said.

"Indeed." Hatori agreed picking up his bag and getting ready to leave.

"Wait! Keiko said hopping out of the bed. "How much do I owe you?" Keiko asked.

"The only thing you should be worrying about is getting some rest, a particularly irritating person has already taking care of it."

"Oh, thank you very much." Keiko said bowing."

"Don't mention it." Shigure said ushering her back over to the bed. "Just get better."

By the time Kyou, Tohru and Yuki were back from school Keiko was up and about doing all the house work in her pajamas.

"Ah, Keikokun!" Tohru exclaimed.

"Welcome back everyone!" Keiko greeted as she beat the dust out of the floor rug.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Yuki questioned.

"I was for a little while earlier." Keiko said. "But after a short nap I couldn't sit still…" Keiko's voice trailed off; embarrassed to still be in her pajamas in the middle of the day "Excuse me." Keiko said running upstairs. When she returned Yuki and Tohru had gone off to the secret base and Kyou was outside practicing his punching.

"Kyouchan, wanna hit a baseball around when your done?" Keiko asked. She had dressed in sweat pants and a tank top and was carrying a baseball bat and ball. She was going to find a batting cage. When she saw Kyou she decided it would be better to invite him to play.

"Un, we can go a couple of rounds." Kyou said.

"Go a couple of rounds? You want to spare with me?" Keiko asked misunderstanding Kyou's statement.

"What? Hell no. I'm not sparing with a girl."

"Ah, afraid I'll kick your ass?" Keiko taunted.

"No, and that's not what I meant. I meant I'd play baseball with you."

"Let's spare first." Keiko said dropping the bat and ball.

"What are you doing? No." Kyou said backing away as Keiko came closer.

"Come on Kyouchan, I'm just a girl after all you could probably beat me easily."

"That's exactly why I'm not sparing with you. You'll get hurt to easily, so forget it."

Keiko smiled "Trust me, I'm not the one you should be worried about getting hurt." Keiko said swiftly moving and kicking Kyou behind the knees causing him to falter so badly he fell over.

"Fine, I'll spare with you, but don't start crying when I beat you." Kyou said smiling.

"That's my line." Keiko said taking a fighting stance. "Let's go!" She said lunging forward.

"HIYAAA!"

"KYAAA!"

"What's all the racket?" Shigure asked coming outside to see Keiko and Kyou going at it. "Kyoukun, you should be ashamed; picking on poor Keikokun."

"What?!" Kyou yelled destracted from the fight long enough for Keiko to kick him and send him sliding on his back side. "Damnit, we're suppose to be sparing that hurt!" Kyou yelled turning his attention back to Keiko.

"Sorry, I was holding back you know. Guess I don't know my own strength." Keiko apologized smiling.

"You were what?" Kyou said jumping to his feet. He was about to start yelling some more when Shigure's giggling interrupted. "What are laughing at? It's your fault I lost!"

"I'm sorry." Shigure said coving his face went back into the house still giggling.

"Damn dog." Kyou muttered. "Hey, let's play ball already. Kyou said looking over at Keiko.

"Ok, you pitch." Keiko said tossing Kyou the ball.

"Alright! Get ready. I'm not going to go easy on you either." Kyou said winding back.

"Really? That's a surprising change from just a few minutes ago." Keiko said holding the bat.

"Shut up and just hit the ball… that is if you can." Kyou said then threw the ball as heard as he could. Just at the right moment Keiko hit it sending the ball flying over the trees. Kyou looked off into the distance where the ball had gone surprised.

"Oops, guess we better go find it." Keiko said

"Looks, like it went over there." Kyou said pointing. "Come on!" He said running off.

"Another challenge? A race it is!" Keiko said taking off after him. "If I find the ball first you'll have to cook dinner for a month!" Keiko said passing him.

"What? W-wait a minute!" Kyou yelled catching up. "If I find it-."

"You get challenge me to a rematch." Keiko interrupted and speed off.

Nearly an hour later Kyou and Keiko were out of breath and no closer to find the lost ball then when they started.

"I give up." Kyou said out of breath.

"Me too." Keiko said panting.

"You know… for a girl… you play awefully rough." Kyou commented in between breaths.

"Hehe, you're one to talk. You throw the ball so hard I'm surprised the bat didn't break when I hit it." Keiko said laughing, but from lack of breath it sounded more like wheezing and hacking.

"Keikochan?" Yuki said when he saw them on the small cliff just abve his tiny garden.

"Hey, what are you guys doing way out?" Keiko asked regaining her composure.

"…Just some gardening." Yuki said looking at the ground.

"Oh, I just remembered I needed to go shopping today. Kyoukun, will you come with me?" Tohru asked.

"Sure."

"I'll come too." Yuki said standing up.

"No, it's okay, you have to take care of the base." Tohru said grabbing Kyou's hand. "See you later." Tohru said running off and dragging Kyou.

"I'm sorry for seeming so bossy just now, but I thought it would be good to give them some time alone." Tohru said apologizing once they were out of hear shot.

"It's okay. You can stand to be a bit bossy sometimes, besides I was thinking the same thing."

Back at the base Yuki and Keiko were having a awkward moment. They both had something to say but neither had said a word.

"Are you still mad about the other day?" Yuki finally asked.

"No, and about that; I'm sorry." Keiko said bowing. "If I hadn't started that food fight neither of us would had to stay after school to clean up the mess."

"No, it's okay, I was being a jerk." Yuki said they silence fell again.

"Yuki, I… I want you to tell me more about Akito." Keiko blurted out. Yuki looked up with wide eyes. Why on earth would anyone want to know more about Akito? Seeing the expression on Yuki's face Keiko turned away. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"Keikochan… I want to tell more, but it's too difficult. I wouldn't know where to start or how to explain." Yuki said his voice wavering.

"That bad huh?" Keiko said sympathiticlly. Yuki exhailed and closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling, but they came anyway. Yuki fell to his knees sobbing silently. Keiko turned around not knowing what to say. She wanted to give him a hug, but knew doing some just might make things worse. Kneeling down beside him Keiko gentally put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." Keiko said again as she started to cry too.

"It's not your fault." Yuki said quietly as he held her other hand to face. "I try so hard not to show my pain, my weakness and all it does is build up inside. When I'm alone it hurts; being left alone with my thoughts and memories of when I was in the main house with Akito. When I feel burdened by those memories I come here to forget, but lately doing so doesn't seem to work any longer. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget what he did to me."

Keiko said nothing. She could feel her insides twisting. Yuki would probably be able to at ease this very moment if she wasn't around. "What have I done?" Keiko said out loud.

"You haven't done anything." Yuki said wrapping his arms around her and transforming. "I don't know why, but I feel like I can be myself around you." He said; his small body hugging her hand. "I can laugh and you'll laugh with me, I can cry and you'll cry with me, even when end up arguing; it's strange but I'm happy. If you have done anything you have truly been my friend, thank you."

Keiko smiled. Though anxiety over causing the Sohmas trouble was still eating at her mind for that moment it seemed to melt away. "Yuki, I'm glad we're friends too." Keiko said holding Yuki in the palm of her hands.

That evening, just before going to bed, Keiko was practicing a formal bow and greeting while Tohru brushed her hair.

"Keikokun, you seem nervous." Tohru said observing her roommate's behavior.

"You're right, I am." Keiko said sitting up straight. "I'm meeting the head of the Sohma clan tomorrow. I know how to get along in regular conversation, but I've never been in such a formal situation before. What if I offend him or something?"

Tohru looked out the window as she searched for the right words to say. "Just be yourself." Tohru said quietly. "Just be yourself and I'm sure everything will be fine." Tohru said with a little more conviction. "I hope." She thought remembering her last meeting with Akito. He had become pretty violent with her and even ordered Hatori to erase her memory in his rage, but somehow Tohru's kind words were able to pierce through the darkness within Akito and she was able to continue on living with Shigure and the others.

Keiko put her hand to her chest and breathed deeply. "You're right Tohru. I worry too much."

"You're welcome." Tohru said smiling at finally being called by her name.

The next day everyone dressed in their best clothes, except for Kyou who wore a blue short sleeved shirt and cargo pants, and set out for the main house. Keiko felt a little out of place having gone through the trouble of putting on a kimono while everyone else was dressed in western style clothes. Kyou waited at the main gate since the cat wasn't allowed inside the main house. He didn't have to come, but Keiko had grown on him and he wanted to be there for her. When the rest of the group got to the main house Hatori met them at the entrance.

"I'll be taking her to meet Akito." He said to Shigure whose eyes widened in horror.

"It's already been decided?" Shigure asked.

"All I know is what he requested of me. Akito wants you to wait outside, that he made very clear. Keiko." Hatori said hinting that he wanted her to follow him. Keiko nodded stepping forward but stopped when she felt someone grab her hand. Turning around she could see Yuki looking at her with pleading eyes that said "don't go". Though they had known each other for long Yuki felt very close and grateful to Keiko. She and saved his life and constantly kept watch over him. In that since she seemed to behave like an older sister even though she was actually a year younger than him. Because of this unique bond Yuki didn't want her to loose her memories.

Keiko made no effort to speak. What could she say that would make him feel better? Giving a small smile she pulled her hand away and followed Hatori into the halls of the main house.

"Huh?" Kyou uttered seeing the group minus Keiko approaching the gate. "What are you all doing out here?" He asked with a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Akito didn't want us coming in." Tohru answered.

"How come?" Kyou asked insisting on a much more detailed answer.

"We don't know. That's all we were told when Hatori met us at the door." Shigure said looking back at the large house.

"Hatori?!" Kyou exclaimed. "How could you leave her alone with those two? I don't give a damn what Akito does I'm going in there!" Kyou said starting to march off when Shigure grabbed him back.

"Hold on, don't go stirring up trouble. We don't even know what he plans to do." Shigure said dragging Kyou back to his previous position in front of him.

"So, you're just going to wait to see if he erases her memory?" Kyou asked then looked over at Yuki. "And what about you, damn rat? How can you just stand there? Isn't she your friend?"

"From how you're acting stupid cat I'd think she was you friend as well, but you and I both know that none of us can truly stand up to Akito." Yuki replied looking over at the house as well. "All we can do is wait." He said clinching his fists.

`This is the room Akito is in." Hatori said as he and Keiko stopped in front of an oak sliding door after walking down a long hallway. Keiko looked at the door nervously. A small popping sound distracted Keiko from her worrying as her hair, that had been neatly pulled up behind fell down.

"Oh, no the band broke." Keiko thought pulling the loose pieces of elastic from her hair and desperately trying to fix it.

"Don't fidget so much." Hatori sternly said as he helped her fix her hair. "You look fine, don't worry about it and try to calm down."

"That's easy for you to say." Keiko thought.

"Listen, I seriously doubt he will order your memories to be erased." Hatori said as if he could hear what she was thinking. "I don't know if I should be worried or relieved about his behavior of late, but if it spares this girl then I suppose I am unnecessarily worrying." Hatori thought to himself as he opened the door.

Behind the door was a wide room floored with tatami. There were a few paintings on the walls, but otherwise the room was completely bare. Keiko gulped carefully entering the room. Once Keiko was inside Hatori processed to close the door behind her.

"Wait." Keiko said turning around just as the door shut. Ha-to-ri…san."Keiko murmured. It was too late Hatori was already on his way down the hall to wait with everyone else outside.

"He said Akito was in here, but no one's here." Keiko thought looking around the empty space when her eyes settled on the sliding door that was wide open to the outside of the house. That's when she noticed a shadow coming toward the entrance that looked like it belonged to a human. Quickly Keiko dropped to the floor and bowed her head.

"I'm very pleased to meet you." Keiko said keeping her eyes on the floor as the footsteps approached her. A pair of bare feet stopped in front of her and silence followed. "Oh, no. Was I supposed to speak first? Was that rude of me? What if I offended him already? He's not saying anything." Keiko thought has her heart started pounding. Feeling a hand gently come to rest on her head Keiko fought the urge to recoil as it moved down to her face in a caressing motion and lifted her chin up.

"So, Yamada Keiko is your name." Akito said looking her in the eyes. "We didn't get a chance to properly introduce ourselves in the park the other day. I'm very pleased to meet you as well Yamada Keikosan. I am leader of the Sohma clan, Sohma Akito." Keiko's heat nearly jumped out of her chest. She could not believe the she had come face to face with the man she had embarrassed herself in front of at the park, nor that he was the head of the Sohma family. Lastly Keiko was excepting to meet an elderly man and Akito was far from that image. Just looking at him Akito seemed to be no more than a few years older than she was.

~*~To Be Continued~*~

A/N: Ok, Akito is being his usual creepy self. But forget about him. I managed to get a whole lot more Hatori action in on this chapter only because I feel the story line called for it (yay). Next chapter I don't think I'll be so lucky.

I could make it so he ends up transforming a lot, but that could cause him to have a heart attack and die of embarrassment. Anyone who's been royally embarrassed before can imagine what that might be like. Anywayz, still looking on ways to get some Kagura action in. I've thought of a few ways but I'm not sure they'll work in on the story line and just might end up as omakes…

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Bootleg Omake Theater #2 (This has nothing to do with the main storyline.) If He Could Kiss Himself He Would

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. The occupants of Shigure's house decided to have a picnic out in the yard. Tohru and Keiko made the sandwiches to prevent them from having any weird ingredients like fermented radishes, Shigure's favorite, or somehow end up being burnt, which was Yuki's specialty. Shigure made sure to pack the cooler with drinks and made sure he had something to drink before they ventured out into his ridiculously huge yard that could have easily doubled as a nature preserve.

It was only 10 am, but Yuki was still half asleep and Shigure was already out of his mind drunk and was hiding it the best he could. Seeing he how he was having trouble walking and talking at the same time he had Kyou and Yuki carry the cooler, which was four feet long and filled to the brim with ice and drinks, however; Shigure's choice of cooler bearers was turning out to be a bit of a mistake.

"Where are you going, you damn rat? Everyone is headed that way. Kyou said pulling the end of the cooler he was holding in the opposite direction Yuki was going. To tired to know left from right Yuki followed Kyou's lead. He knew before hand that they would have the picnic in the morning to avoid the heat later in the day, but he was unable to get to sleep the previous night.

"Damnit, wake the hell up already and walk straight!" Kyou yelled.

"Kyoukun, please don't yell." Shigure asked with a goofy looking smile on his face as he fanned himself with the folding fan he carried during the summer. Though Yuki waking up and slamming Kyou into the nearest tree was a concern Shigure was more concerned about the alcohol induced headache that was coming on that only seemed to escalade with Kyou's voice. No sooner did he ask Kyou to quiet down did Shigure walk straight into a tree. Realizing his blunder Shigure sweat dropped. "Maybe they haven't noticed I'm drunk yet." He thought.

"And what the hell is wrong with you?" Kyou yelled. "Don't tell me you're asleep too."

"No, I think it was the wine he had earlier." Keiko murmured.

"Shiguresan is drunk?" Tohru asked surprised.

"That's right." Keiko confirmed. "He does that every so often and then tries to pretend nothing is wrong with him. I'm surprised you haven't noticed seeing how every so often if more like every other day."

"Did you really have to point that out, Keikokun?" Shigure asked embarrassed.

"It's your own damn fault." Kyou said as continued to tug the over sized cooler in the right direction.

Finally, they made their way to the open field and begin to set up. Keiko laid out a blanket for Yuki to rest on while Tohru and Kyou unpacked the picinic basket. Shigure made himself busy putting together a make shift icepack for his head.

"Yuki you can rest here for a while." Keiko said. "Yuki?" She said again looking around. "Where did he go?" She thought and gasped when she saw him about to walk right into the stream. Keiko ran and was able to pull him back before his foot went off the small ledge above the water. "You are a handful when you're asleep." She said guiding him back to the group.

"Is Yukikun alright?" Tohru asked as she saw the pair walking back over to the blanket.

"Yeah, he's still sleep." Keiko answered pulling him back over to her side as he started to wonder off again. "Hondasan, could you help me get him over to the blanket?" Keiko asked as Yuki seemed to forget about walking and his legs gave away leaving Keiko struggling to hold him up without making any motion that would be considered a hug.

"Oh, right!" Tohru said rushing over to them and holding Yuki's other side. Kyou watched as they carefully laid him down on the blanket and fumed. "Why is he getting so much attention?" He thought then looked away.

"Isn't the weather great?" Tohru asked. Before Keiko could answer Yuki muttered something in his sleep. Keiko narrowed her eyes having completely heard the utterance. Tohru looked down at her napping companion curious as to what he could have said.

"What's going on?" Kyou asked having left Shigure passed out on the ground with an icepack to his head.

"Yukikun is talking in his sleep." Tohru informed.

"Really? What he say?" Kyou asked ready to punch him straight in his face if the rat was bad mouthing him unconsciously.

"I don't know." Tohru answered.

"Looks like he's going say it again." Keiko said. Everyone listened careful as Yuki's sleep filled voice chanted.

"I'm so pretty,

I'm so pretty,

I'm so pretty,

I can't sleep at night."

"Well that explains a lot." Tohru said out loud.

"It sure does." Keiko agreed.

"It'd figure that damn rat would say something so vein." Kyou said slightly fuming as his face twitched.

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A/N: Yeah, I know that was kinda long and didn't make sense but it wasn't suppose to! Thanks for reading. ^_^