Disclaimer: Not mine. I wish, but not mine.

Uo-chan's Solution

Chapter Two:
Mikan-chan!


"Hanajima-san," Yuki protested, trailing her down the street. "Hanajima-san, I really don't think that's a good idea...If Shigure learns that you know, then he'll probably tell Hatori and Akito, and then you'll surely lose your memories..."

Uotani smirked. "Well then, we'll just have to find out again, won't we?" The glance she slanted Tooru clearly indicated that, in that event, she expected Tooru to play a role in 'assisting' in their rediscovery. "What's a few minutes lost from the afternoon, anyway?"

Still hunched in Tooru's arms, Kyou muttered, "You obviously haven't met Akito yet, yankee. He'll get to you soon enough."

"Oh?" She turned her smirk to him. "Is the little kitten scared?" He bristled, spitting in response, but knew that protest was useless. Uotani wasn't really listening for an answer, and it was, after all, the truth. The scared part. Not the kitten.

Yuki was more willing to explain aloud what was troubling them both. "Uotani-san...Akito can get very angry...and very violent. He's attacked all of us—all of us zodiac-cursed Soumas—at one point or another, and nearly killed one of our friends by shoving her out of a second-story window. And he...he hurt Honda-san." Yuki ducked his head in shame. He hadn't been there to protect her, hadn't had the foresight to see that Akito might take out his anger on her...

"Ba—ka," Uotani drawled even as she slung a protective arm around Tooru's shoulders and squeezed reassuringly. "Tooru's strong, yeah? No damn Souma can keep her down for long." Tooru smiled brightly up at her friend, and Kyou rolled his eyes, catching Yuki's expression of disbelief. For one small moment, they were in agreement.

Coughing, Yuki said, "Moreover, Uotani-san...We're worried about ourselves. If Akito finds out that we were careless, somehow, about not keeping far enough away from 'normal' people, he might decide to take out his revenge on one of us—any one of us—or even on Honda-san..."

And the idea that Akito would do that made his blood run cold.

"Is that so?" Hanajima's comment was idle, a distant murmur. "I think I might like to meet this...Akito..."

Kyou sneezed in an attempt to laugh, a trait most cats were not endowed with. "Yeah, I'd like to see that happen," he grumbled. Then again, he mused, if anyone could stop that tormenting bastard, it'd have to be Hanajima...

Tooru glanced at the grocery store as they passed. "Ano..." Yuki stopped and looked at her as she hesitated, blushing endearingly. "I don't wish to cause a problem or be an inconvenience, but...If we're already here anyway, I thought, that maybe...I could..." She gestured with one hand at the supermarket. "I'd need to come back for tonight's groceries, anyway, but maybe it's too much of an imposition..."

Uotani beamed at her. "Good idea! We'll have a cooking party!" Not that either Hanajima or I cook much...She added silently, but merely shrugged that thought aside. No matter. "Let's go!" She reached for Tooru's hand and was surprised when her fragile friend shook her head. "What's the matter?"

Looking down at Kyou, Tooru fidgeted nervously. "Well...we can't just leave Kyou-kun out here on his own...There are too many people around...And we can't take Kyou-kun into the supermarket with us, either..."

A moment of silence passed among the five, and then Uotani sighed gustily in disgust. "You're kidding." Tooru blinked, surprised at Uotani's statement when she hadn't yet said anything. "All right, all right, I got it. I'll do it." Uotani stuck out her arms. "Hand 'im over. And no scratching," she ordered Kyou as he unwillingly let a grateful Tooru dump him into Uotani's arms and hurry into the store with Hanajima and Yuki following.

"...This is disturbing," he finally managed to say when he felt his voice wouldn't crack.

"I'll say," Uotani snapped back, keeping her eyes fixedly on the store across the road and trying not to feel like a moron for standing on the corner, a bright orange cat in her arms, carrying on a conversation with 'no one', as far as anyone else could tell. "The sooner Tooru's done shopping, the happier I'll be."

"You're one to talk," Kyou retorted sourly. "I feel like a fool."

She rolled her eyes, shifting so she could drape his pants over her shoulder. "You look like a foo—"

"Mommy! Mommy!" A little girl came hurrying up the street, tugging on the hand of her laughing mother. "Look, a kitty cat!" She gazed up adoringly at Kyou, addressing Uotani. "May I please pet your kitty cat?"

Uotani and Kyou exchanged a glance, and then, grinning, Uotani crouched down so the short child could reach. "Sure, 'jou-chan," she said, stifling her snickers as, resigned, Kyou purred as the little girl stroked his shoulders. "His name is Mikan."

The little girl chortled in delight, scratching under Kyou's chin. "Mikan-chan!" She whispered, stepping back and smiling up at Uotani. "Thank you for letting me pet your cat, Oneechan," she said politely. "He's very cute." Then she turned and followed her mother down the street.

Uotani grinned down at Kyou, mimicking the girl's young voice. "Mikan-chan! You're so cute!"

"Shut up," he growled, glowering at the ground. "I hate this."

There was silence, and then Uotani asked seriously, "Hey. So, why are you guys cursed, anyway? What'd you do?"

"How 'm I supposed to know that?" Kyou snarled ill-temperedly. "The Soumas have just always been cursed. There's just always one of every Juunishi living. If I were to die, some other undeserving sucker would be born the cat."

"...How..." Uotani blinked in embarrassment as he twisted his head to look at her questioningly. "How do you, you know...have kids?"

Kyou hastily looked away. "We can if we're, you know, involved with another Juunishi. We don't change if it's one of them hugging us or whatever."

She smirked. "'Or whatever' is right, Kyon. You don't have children by 'hugging'."

"Shut up," he hissed angrily, remembering just in time not to raise his voice and attract attention from the other pedestrians. "There are a lot of Soumas who aren't cursed, you know. They don't have problems having children."

Uotani grinned maliciously. "And you would know that...how?"

Kyou's claws curved into her arm, and she yelped in pain. "Uo-chan?" Tooru's worried exclamation had Uotani turning to find Tooru rushing over from the store, Hanajima and Yuki in her wake, burdened down by packages. "Are you all right?"

Kyou snarled in annoyance but released his grip on her arm. Uotani smiled disarmingly. "Of course, Tooru," she said, turning to head down the street so Tooru couldn't see her give Kyou's tail one sharp yank. "I must have stepped on something. Let's go, I'm hungry!"


10.17.04

NOTES: All right, part two! After this, we're off to Shigure's. We're getting quickly to Uotani's idea of a "solution" to the Souma curse...