The Sohma household was quiet, the winter's unrelenting cold seeming to seep in through its walls. Akito was sprawled out on his bed, drifting in and out of sleep. The constant buzz of the heater beside him was beginning to grate on his nerves, but shutting it off was out of the question. He had broken one the day before in a fit of rage, and had to spend the rest of the day in shivering cold. 'Hatori must have been trying to teach me a lesson…' he thought bitterly.

Hearing footsteps coming down the hall he scowled, hoping they would pass by his door, though he knew they wouldn't; there was no other reason to be down this far except to see him. As the door slid open, he remained still, feigning sleep. Someone shuffled in and gently closed the door. Akito could feel eyes upon him, checking to see if he slept and it made his blood boil. Everything was irritating him today. 'Must be this damned cold,' he thought, lying to himself.

After a long silence, the person began shuffling around the room and started to clean. Gritting his teeth, Akito curled his fingers into a fist; couldn't they see he was resting? It would be proper to leave and come back later! For several minutes he listened with growing annoyance to the sounds of their shuffling, picking up his clothes, moving items on shelves, and even their breathing. Whoever they were was breathing very loudly, which made him want to squeeze their throat until they turned blue. Combined with the consistent hiss of his heater, it drove Akito to the edge; if one more sound entered his ears, he was going to explode.

Unfortunately for the nervous young maid, as she reached down to pick up a discarded robe, the book she had in her arms fell with a loud thud onto the floor. Hands hovering above the cloth, she began to tremble. Before she could even look up, Akito was upon her, screaming and yanking at her hair. Everything she had picked up off the floor tumbled out of her arms as she frantically tried to free herself from her master's tight grip.

"You clumsy oaf! You rude and ungrateful wench, couldn't you see I was asleep? How dare you stomp about here like you own the place? This is my room, not yours, and still you drop all of my things as you did not care! What sort of help are you?"

Sobbing, she tried to pry Akito's fingers from her hair, but couldn't; for being so sickly, he was quite strong. "I-I'm sorry…! It…it won't happen again!"

The door flew open, the screams and sobs being heard almost immediately by Hatori, who had been making his usual rounds, "Let her go, Akito!" He moved quickly to them, but unbridled anger made the head of the household blind to all else except the poor, weeping girl before him. Snarling he pulled her up to his face, causing her to scream and scratch at his hands fiercely. Yelping, he released her, holding his bleeding hand to his chest as she scrambled away. Before Akito could lunge at her again, Hatori moved in front of him. "That's enough, let her go."

She threw open the door and stumbled out, not bothering to close it behind her. Anger still festering in his blood, Akito glared at Hatori, "She is the one at fault, not me! I was trying to rest when that loud, cow stomped in here! My health is more important than any petty job she was asked to do! And she didn't even do a good job. Look at everything laying on the floor? It was cleaner before ever set foot in here!" Cradling his hand, he shook his head, "And look at what she did to me, ME! Whoever she is, I want her fired…banned from the household!"

Sighing, Hatori listened and nodded, though he figured they wouldn't need to banish the girl to keep her away from this place, same as the last two maids who had been unlucky to cross Akito's path in the last week. As Akito's voice quieted and his breath began to slow, the doctor gazed down at the younger Sohma. "…this is about Yuki, isn't it?"

Bristling, Akito's eyes darkened, "He should know better than to wander from my side! Why would he want to live with Shigure? I refused him, but he wouldn't budge!" Whirling around, he kicked one the robes the girl had dropped with a wordless yell.

"He would have left even if I hadn't agreed, so I had to give in! The sneak! The..the rat!" Yelling again, he kicked his futon, knocking over the heater. Breathing heavily, he made fists, blood dripping down his hand. Carefully, Hatori moved closer, saying gently, "Let me look at you hand…we need to get it bandaged up." Though he was still upset, Akito nodded, silently following him to his office.

With a deep sigh, Diana sunk into her chair and stretched out her feet. It had been a long day. Rubbing her eyes she listened to the video game her daughter was playing; loud, violent, and totally foreign. Why did a teenage girl want to play something like that? Shouldn't she be interested in boys and make up? Squinting at the screen she tried to figure out what was happening, but gave up quickly; maybe it was better not to know.

"Here, Mom," her eldest daughter handed her a cup of tea, having a bottle of water and a can of coke tucked under her arm. Smiling weakly, Diana nodded, "Thank you, Rimi." Settling back in her chair again, she watched Rimi plop down beside Ryoko, touching the cold soda to her bare leg. Letting out a yelp, Ryoko snatched the drink and smacked her sister's arm as she muttered a few curses. If she wasn't so tired, Diana might have scolded her. But as it was, she remained silent, watching Rimi laugh and how the offense was forgotten as they started discussing their game.

Smiling, she enjoyed the moment of serenity, despite the noise; it was heaven compared to what she had been forced to hear all day. The young maid rushing to her in tears, her hair in disarray had scared Diana. But not as much as the first maid had, and it took only a few disjointed words from the girl for her to realize what had happened. Again. It had not been serene in the least. 'But serving Master Akito rarely is…' she thought, her smile dropping. Sipping her tea, she wondered what was going to be done. She was the "spare" whenever this happened. Rubbing her right arm tenderly, she hoped she wouldn't have to do that any more. But if he kept firing, and attacking people based on his mood, there wouldn't be anyone left! 'And who knows how long he'll keep me on…'

Her mood changed, she watched her children play somberly. This house was granted to them by Akito's 'good will.' If she lost her job within the household, they would be on the streets. 'Sometimes I wonder if that wouldn't be better…' Stopping herself from going down that line of thought, she shifted in her chair.

"…we lost another maid today," she said finally, having to get the weight of worry off her chest. Rimi turned with a frown, "Another one? Why?" Eyes glued to the screen Ryoko answered, "Cuz' Akito is bat shiiiit…"

"Ryo…" Diana warned, though she had no energy to argue with her today. "Well he is," Ryoko shrugged. A short silence followed, filled with agreement. Still, Diana felt it was her duty to say, "It is rude to say such things. Especially about the Head of the Household." She really did want to believe that Akito was simply misunderstood and that through love and patience, maybe he would change. But the longer she worked for him and lived within the Sohma household, she found it harder to maintain that belief. Hearing nothing but horror stories about him and then witnessing his fits of rage for herself—even being a victim of them—had certainly tainted her view of the young master.

"Do you think you can get a new one?" Rimi's question brought her mother out of her thoughts, "…I'm sure we will. Though if we can keep her is another story." Taking a mouth full of tea she wondered what they would do; they might be able to get someone who did not know if Akito's reputation. But that seemed cruel.

Letting out a curse as her character died on screen, Ryoko put down her controller and looked at her mom with a grin, "Aw, hell, let me clean up after him! He won't be able to scare me off!" Diana's head snapped up, "Absolutely not!"

Her fierceness startled both girls, so she continued in a calmer tone, "He is…volatile and prone to violence when he is annoyed, angered, or upset—" "Tired, constipated, hungry, happy…" Ryoko interrupted, nudging her sister who laughed, until she met her mother's eyes. Choking on the sound, she took a swig of water.

"This isn't a joke, Ryoko; he has hurt people."

"Then why doesn't anyone do something about it? Just because he's the fuc-" her mother's eyes narrowed, "…just because he's the head of the house doesn't mean he's got immunity from the law. Why hasn't anyone gone to the police?" Diana shifted in her chair, her finger tracing the edge of her cup.

"…it just isn't how things are done around here. What happens within these walls, stays within these walls," seeing her youngest child's objection grow she quickly added, "You know how powerful the Sohma family is, Ryo. I'm sure someone has tried to go outside the family for help, but was unable to get it. No one, not even the police, would want to go against such a family," leaning back she stared into her cup, "There is a strong sense of loyalty to Akito, even when he does terrible things."

Ryoko snorted, "Well he has none from me! If I see him lay a hand on anyone, he'll regret it!" Crossing and uncrossing her arms, Ryoko added in a louder voice, "And if this family is handing out loyalty, then why haven't they extended some to us? We're Sohma's too aren't we? We're treated with politeness and nothing more! Didn't Dad grow up here? They should be visiting us instead of that damned demon!"

The look of pain that crossed her mother's face silenced Ryoko, though she continued to fume; why should the violent and cruel Akito have everyone bowing to his every demand when her own father, wonderful man that he was, had been treated with such indifference?

"…anyone else hungry? We have leftovers," Rimi's cheery voice seemed to sooth the other two, even if it was only on the surface. "Yeah, just make sure the rice is still good…I don't wanna get sick again," Ryoko grumbled, turning back to the television, her fingers smashing the buttons with extra ferocity.

Nodding with a smile to her daughter, Diana made to stand up. "No, I'll do it, Mom. I'll just stick them in the microwave," with a grin, Rimi stood and trotted into the kitchen.

Sitting back, Diana gazed at the screen, losing herself in the weird music and sounds coming from it. Maybe just for a little while, they could forget everything; Akito, her husband, the other Sohmas…they could just be in their own world where everything was right. But as she listened to her children's banter from the kitchen and living room, she knew it would only be a lie. This was their life now, and had been ever since her husband had died a year ago. And unless something changed, it would continue to be their life. Closing her eyes, Diana felt a tear slide down her cheek, before she drifted into an uneasy sleep.