Chapter 1

The sunlight, pouring like a trickling fountain, splashed into my room through the half-closed blinds, piercing my body with its warmth. I didn't want to get up today; if I could stay here I would. It was the middle of July, the eighteenth to be precise. I sluggishly moved to a sitting position. My gold room catching fire, painting a tapestry in my mind. Today was special; it was my special day. I would spend it the way I wanted to; even though I wanted to stay here, it would be a waste of a day. I was going to the local fair. The fair is a big celebration in Kaibara. People that live in and around the city come to enjoy all of the rides and entertainment provided. Couples go together, families go together, and friends go together. As for me, I'm going with my friends Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame.

I grabbed my bathroom bag (I don't trust anyone with my things), and headed for the bathroom. After locking the door, I looked in the mirror. My brown curly hair was a frizz-ball again this morning and my green eyes looked dull on my tanned face, that would all change soon enough. I had a shower, blow-dried and straightened my hair, and put on a small amount of mascara and eyeliner. Now, since my face was washed my eyes stuck out like a shooting star across the night sky. There was one thing that would make this complete. I had to step up on the toilet to reach the medicine cabinet, I hated being short, I was only about five-foot three. I grabbed my bracelet that looked like Kyo's, I promised him that I would always wear a bracelet like his whenever I went out. I slipped it on, the red and white beads glistened against my skin; perfect! As I came out, dressed in a Hollister shirt and denim shorts, I noticed someone sitting in the chair by the couch. It was Hatori. I chucked my bag into my room, "What are you doing here?" I asked, "and where's Shigure and Aaya?"

He looked at me as if I was crazy. "I'm here to take you to the fair, since someone doesn't want to get her license." It wasn't my fault I'd been too busy to take my road test, "and Shigure and Ayame left to get tickets."

"So what, you guys just broke in?"

"The door was open, we knocked but no one answered, so we just walked in." I guess I was too tired to have noticed that the door was wide open. River forgot to close it, again!

I sat down on the couch and rested my forehead on my hands. "Ugh," I groaned, "I hate mornings!"

"It was your idea to get to the fair early."

"Yeah, well, early for me is like noon, not eight in the morning, and that was your idea!"

"Well, some of us don't have the luxury of sleeping in, early for you is late for us and if we don't get there soon, it'll be late for both of us: Shigure and Ayame will probably sell our tickets or just head in without us."

I didn't feel like talking anymore so I just looked at him and nodded. I attempted to rise off of the couch, but as I stood I fell back down, I shouldn't get up that fast, I always get head rushes.

Hatori supressed a laugh, he held out his hand, "You're such a klutz. Here, lemme help you up."

I looked at his hand, blush reaching to the outer-most parts of my face, I looked away, "Hmph, I can get up on my own." This time, I almost fell down but managed to maintain my balance, "See, I'm not a klutz!"

Hatori broke out with a little laugh, "Well, klutz or no klutz, we have to go."

It was a fairly quiet ride. The silence was broken every now and then by simple, conversational questions followed by a response, then silence again. 'Why is he always so serious?' I have always wondered why. There's no possible answer besides the fact that his father is the Sohma family doctor, but still, he's only sixteen, he doesn't have to be so serious. My father is one of the head surgeons in the country and my mother is one of the top verteranarians, but I am as hyper-active and care-free as can be! I should have every reason to be serious, but I don't. Maybe it's the way we were raised, I don't know.

When we arrived, Shigure and Ayame were waiting for us. The line was reaching to the corner store two blocks away. "Where were you guys?" asked Ayame.

"Someone decided to take her time this morning," Hatori responded.

In return, I exclaimed, "it's not my fault I'm a girl! I have more to do to get ready!"

"Like what?" asked Ayame. Of course, the most feminine male out af all three of them had to ask. I gave him a list of everything I have to do to get ready, and in return, he gave a list of everything he has to do... it was longer than mine. ugh...

"Can we just go in, before the lines for everything get ridiculously long?" I asked.

"Sure!" exclaimed Shigure and Ayame. They looked at eachother and started roaring with laughter. I didn't see what was so funny. For the next couple of hours, my time was spent eating crepes, playing the games, and going on all of the fast rides with Shigure and Ayame. Hatori isn't that much of a ride person. We ended up walking by the tunnel of love and Shigure and Ayame wanted to go on it: predictable. I wanted to go in the haunted house. Shigure and Ayame wanted to do that too: also predictable. We decided to go in the haunted house, get some supper, and then go in the tunnel of love.

We went in the haunted house and Shigure and Ayame took off on Hatori and me. "Great!" I exclaimed gently smacking my forehead and keeping my hand there, "they're like kindergardeners!" Then suddenly, a ghoul popped out of a corner just as I was passing by it. I screamed and clung to Hatori's arm. He looked at me in the most bizzare way. I've never seen him look at anyone that way before, even when we were kids. He laughed a little bit and that made me feel better, but not enough to let go of his arm. I clung to his arm and squeezed it when I was scared. He never looked at me that way again. When we got out, Shigure and Ayame were waiting. I had let go of Hatori's arm when I saw the sign above a door that said "exit."

We decided to go to one of the resturaunts that were on the same street the fair was being held on. I sat by Shigure and across from Ayame. It was... interesting, for lack of a better word. Now we've arrived at the tunel of love...

"Oh, great!" Ayame exclaimed, "you can only fit two in one of those swan boats!"

"That's typically how it is," Hatori replied with a sarcastic tone. What was with him today?

"So who's going with who?" I asked, trying to get to the point

"I want to go with you and Shigure."

"I want to go with you and Aaya," complained Shigure

"I don't care who I go with," Hatori responded.

Thankfully, I had some toothpicks in my pocket from the resuraunt. There were two with red tips and two with blue. "Here," I started, "we'll do it this way, whoever picks the two red goes with eachother and vice versa." I held out the four toothpicks making sure to cover the colors with my hand. Shigure closed his eyes and picked one: red. Hatori did the same and picked blue.

I held out the toothpicks towards Ayame, "I guess this means I can't go with you," he stated.

"Yeah," I replied, "Pick one." Ayame closed his eyes and picked one. He looked at it and a smile apread across his face. I looked at the toothpick in my hand: blue.

'Great,' I thought, 'why do I have to be with the serious one?' I put on one of my convincing smiles that says I'm happy when, really, I'm not, "Ha'ri, I guess I'm with you!"

"It would seem that way..." He was averting his gaze. There was no sign of emotion on his face. Was he happy? Disappointed?

"Well, now that that's settled, who gets the first boat, or better yet, who wants it?"

Shigure and Ayame insisted that they have the first boat. Hatori and I didn't care. When the first boat came Shigure and Ayame were all excited and ran towards the boat pushing eachother out of the way in an attempt to be the first one on the boat. It only helped to prove my point about the kindergardener thing. When the second boat came, the couple that ware on it were all lovey-dovey and I pictured Shigure and Ayame getting off like that. Not a pretty sight! Hatori and I slowly made our way to the boat and then we entered the tunnel of love.

Hatori pulled something out of his shirt pocket but shifted his body so I couldn't see what it was. He then slipped a small package into my hand with a pretty baby blue ribbon tied on top, "here," he said, "this is for you."

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked.

"Because it's your birthday."

"I thought that coming here was my birthday present from you three."

"Well, I wanted to get you something and when I saw this, I thought of you, so I bought it."

"Thank you." I tugged at the blue ribbon. It slid off with ease. I then tore off the wrapping paper slowly, dragging it out. When all of the paper was off, a small yellow gift box was sitting in my hand. I lifted the lid and a ten-karat gold locket was sitting in the bottom, "it's beautiful, thank you very much," I said with a smile. He helped me put on the locket, then out of nowhere, Hatori's hand grazed my cheekbone and found its resting place on my shoulder. He was looking at me in that bizzare way again. Hatori kept his gaze.

"Happy sixteenth birthday," he whispered softly with a smile. He leaned in to kiss my cheek, but I turned my head to see what he was doing and instead of hitting my cheek, he hit my lips. I was startled but I kissed him back. It seemed to be about a minute long but there was a light at the end of the tunnel: the end of the ride. Our lips parted with both of our faces beat red. That was not supposed to happen! I am dating Shigure after all.

When we got off of the ride we tried to keep enough distance apart from eachother without making it seem awkward as we approached Shigure and Ayame. "Why are your faces red?" asked Shigure.

Hatori looked at me, "well, if Mikaru would have stopped taking pictures on her cell phone, we wouldn't have gotten in trouble. The ride attendant told her to delete them." Hatori is a surprisingly good liar.

"I see," Shigure replied averting his gaze. What's wrong with him now?

There was an announcement coming from a megaphone. Everyone who is going to the fireworks please make your way to the main grounds.

"Well, we should probably head there now..." I said with a sigh. The day went by so fast, it's hard to believe everything that happened today. We all started heading towards the grounds when Shigure grabbed my arm and pulled me over behind a sign.

"Did anything happen in there?"

"Like what?"

"Between you and Hatori?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"No, nothing, it's just as Hatori said. Why can't you trust us? Why can't you trust me?" tears were swelling up in my eyes, on the verge of overflowing. I had to stick to the story, and I was crying because I felt guilty. I couldn't tell him the truth, that would wreck everything: our trust, our friendship, our love.

"I was just checking, take it easy," he replied.

"Why do you feel the need to check? Why can't you trust that I won't do anything?" I was raising my voice now in spite of myself.

"Because I love you," that was the first time I had ever heard those words come out of his mouth. The sad part is, they were said with no emotion, a monotnous tone with no meaning.

I looked at him, tears flowing down my face like a waterfall. "You know, I think it would be best if we weren't together, I still want to be friends but..." I paused, Shigure looked startled, "I-I can't do this anymore! You show no sign of affection or attraction, you're just with me and that's not good enough!" I didn't want to know how he would take it so I ran off back to rejoin Hatori and Ayame. I didn't care if tears were streaming down my face. I didn't want to be with Shigure anymore but I also didn't want to be alone and the only place I felt comfortable was with Hatori and Ayame. They were sitting on the ground awaiting the fireworks or Shigure and my return. Ayame looked back and saw me.

"What happened?" he asked, worry filling his voice. Hatori jumped up and both of them approached me. They couldn't hug me, not in public, but they both put a hand on my back and tried to comfort me as best they could as I explained what happened. Hatori had a look of guilt on his face but before I could say anything more, the fireworks started. Shigure was nowhere to be seen.

After the fireworks, Ayame said that he'd walk home and Hatori would drive me home. The car ride was completely silent this time. There were occasional glances towards eachother and it looked like he wanted to say something and then bit his tongue.

"Do you wanna come in?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied, "I haven't seen your dad or River in a while."

When we got into the house, it was dark, no one was home. Hatori took a seat on the couch and I went to the kitchen. There was a note on the table:

Hey hun,

Gone out with River. Be back tomorrow.

If you want, Hatori, Ayame, and Shigure

can stay the night.

SEPARATE ROOMS!

Love Dad

"Hey, Hatori," I called, "Do you wanna stay the night?"

"Why?" he asked coming up behind and scaring the shit out of me.

"Because my dad says you can."

"I'd have to-" before he could finish what he was saying I handed the phone to him and went to the pantry to grab some ramen.

Hatori hung up the phone after talking to his parents, "yeah, I'm allowed to stay, separate rooms though..." he sounded slightly disappointed.

"Yeah, I know, that's what my dad says,"

We ate ramen as our midnight snack and then we sat on the couch and watched a horror movie that my dad rented, it was stupid really. I hate it when there are scenarios in movies and if there's a scratch on the door the main character will go and check it out, even though normal people would be scared shitless and run for lives AWAY from the door! It was just stupid. I did enjoy it though, I was cuddled agaist Hatori (in a position where he wouldn't transform) and in the middle of the movie he decided to grab my hand, I don't know why.

After the movie I went into more detail about what had happened today. He listened to what I had to say, silent and reserved. It was either as if he saw it coming or he was playing out different scenarios in his head, I don't think he saw what was coming next, "So what are you gonna do?" he asked.

"I dunno, I won't be dating anyone for a while, though."

"I see..."

"Oh, I forgot, I have good or bad news for you depending on how you want to take it..."

"What is that?"

"I'm going to Canada after the summer is over, if I come back it won't be for a couple of years, I can still communicate over the internet," I paused, "I just found out last night... My mom is gravely ill and the doctors say she'll last maybe five years if she's lucky, and depending on how things run..." I started to choke up, "you may never see me again..."

"That's only a month and a half," he replied

I quickly realized how fast that time was going to go by. In reality, that was a harsh realization to come to, I was going to miss everyone that I have ever known, especially Shigure, Ayame, and Hatori... I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay and suddenly, my mom didn't matter to me anymore because, to my surprise, Hatori was the only one that mattered. Tears started to roll down my face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, apparently surprised with me, crying randomly. I felt so stupid. Why couldn't I say no to my dad? Why was it bothering me so much that I was leaving Hatori? What the hell was wrong with me?

Hatori gently placed his hands on my face directing my averted gaze towards him. His face looked serious yet gentle, "Mikaru, what's wrong?"

I looked at him, the tears had stopped. I had no reason to cry. I was still in Japan, I was here, in my house, alone with Hatori. I was only worrying him more by crying, "I don't know," I replied. His eyes lit up a little bit. There was a hint of a smile, but no more than that. That was better, he was not worrying about me anymore. His black hair hung from his face as he towered over my pitiful five-foot three-inch shortness. He just stared at me for a while. Inevitably, I stared back. His hands dropped to my shoulders once he was sure that I wouldn't look away.

"Look," he began, "If anything's wrong, you don't have to be afraid to tell me." A rosie color was slowly spreading across his face.

"I know," I replied placing one of my hands on top of his. His face rapidly turned rose, then cherry red. There was an awkward silence.

"So now what?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied. I looked at the clock. It was one thirty in the morning, "I'm going to go get ready for bed."

I walked into my room and found my silk pyjama pants and a baggy shirt to wear. I threw those on and ran out of my room. Hatori was sitting on my couch with his shirt off. He was watching t.v. "I hope you don't mind," he said without looking away from the television.

"No, I'm fine with it." I took a seat in the chair beside the couch. I started watching some random show with him. Once it was over he turned the t.v. off. I got up and stretched, "I'm going to bed," I yawned.

"Okay," he replied as he got up off of the couch, "good night," he said. I turned around to head to my room and suddenly, I was wrapped in a warm embrace for about a second before there was a puff of smoke. Hatori had turned into a seahorse. I'm not a member of the zodiac but I've grown up around the Sohma's so, I'm allowed on the inside and it doesn't bother me to see them transform. I waited for him to change back, sitting on the couch, watching him lay there on the floor. When he did change back, I looked away and waited for him to become decent. He came and sat down beside me.

"You know..." he started, "if you really don't want to go see your mom, you can stay with me. My parents like you and all, so I don't think that it would be a problem."

'Even though I chose to live with my dad because my mom needed to move, I still need to be with her, even when she goes,' I thought. It was true. My mom had to move because she was needed as a veteranarian in Canada instead of in Japan. She gave us the choice of coming with her but we declined. She came to visit once a year but when she found out River's secret she lost it. She said it was our fault that he turned out the way he did. She stopped visiting after that. That was about three years ago. But, I still love her to pieces. Besides, if it weren't for her, I would never have met Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame. But it's her that's taking me away from them. "I don't think I can do that," I murmered.

Hatori just looked at me funny. I wasn't too sure what to make of it. I smiled at him and I was relieved to see his expression change. It was that look again. I was beginning to like this look. I knew I could get used to it and I really wanted to stay with Hatori and not leave. I guess I was lost in thought because Hatori gently cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. The kiss was gentle, reassuring. I relaxed a little. I didn't realize that now he was on top of me supporting himself on the couch with his hands and mine were placed on his chest. My face went beat red. I knew where this could go, so, carefully, making sure not to move to a position where he could transform, I broke the kiss and sat up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I saw the disappointment in his face, "bathroom," was all I could muster. I got up and headed to the washroom. I washed my face, I tried to convince myself that today was a dream, that I would come out and Hatori wouldn't be there. He was acting abnormally. It was a good abnormal but it still weirded me out. I dried off my face and opened the bathroom door. I went in the direction of the living room. Hatori wasn't there, where did he go? I turned around and bumped into something. Again, I was brought into a kiss. This one started like the last but became more passionate. Hatori slowly progressed into my room without letting me break it. Then, I was on my bed. He broke it, this time, to sit beside me.

Out of breath, I asked, "What are you doing?

He stared at me, possibly bewildered at the stupidity of my question. "Starting something that should have been started a long time ago." His lips met with mine again, picking up where we left off. I allowed myself to drift away. It didn't matter anymore because I knew that in the morning things would be different, but I was unsure of whether they would be for the better or worse.

Chapter 1 End