Mama had explained that Tohru was not allowed to touch Kyo, and that she had to be very gentle and quiet with him.

Tohru always tried to be a very good girl, so she did just what her Mama said.

But why didn't Kyo want to play? When Tohru showed him her doll, he didn't even look at it. He kept on looking down at the floor.

So Tohru decided to play a different game. Next to her dolls was a small box and some paper. She slid one sheet towards Kyo, and kept one for herself. She opened the box.

"Let's make pictures. What color crayon do you want?"

He took his eyes off the floor and looked over at her. "I'm going to start with blue," she pulled it from the box. "You can take any color you like."

"So my boss… get this! My boss says, 'I can't believe I just blew 3000 yen in there!'" Kyoko cracked up at her own story.

As she laughed, she looked over at Sohma. Haruka Sohma-she'd finally gotten her to open up enough to tell her her given name. Haruka was smiling nervously. An improvement-before she just looked nervous without the smile.

"Hey, you want a beer? I'm going to have one myself, since I don't have work tomorrow, and I'd feel bad drinking alone."

She turned her head back from looking over at her son on the other side of the room. "Oh, I haven't had a drink for several years. Not since before Kyo was born."

"Then it sounds like it's time you had one! Sure to help you relax."

"Ah, I'm not sure-I wouldn't want to get drunk with Kyo here."

"Whoa, sister! Not talking about that, just having one beer. I think I've got some shochu and sake, if they're more up your alley. No? Well just a minute." Kyoko got up and walked over to the apartment's small kitchen area. She fetched two pilsner glasses, and put them on the table. She pulled two beers from the refrigerator and brought them over. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. Attached to the keyring was a bottle opener. "Handy piece of equipment, right?"

She popped open the beers, and poured one glass for Haruka, and one for herself. "So, drink as much of that or as little of that as you like. Or just keep the glass in front of you, if you prefer. I'm not going to pressure you. I just want you to have the option, 'kay?"

"Oh. Yes. Thank you." Haruka instinctively bobbed her head in a bow.

"Cheers!" Kyoko held her glass up, then took a sip. "Ah… cheap beer, the nectar of the gods. It brightens the eye, loosens the tongue, and warms the heart." She took another sip. "So, I've told you about my husband. What's the story with yours? What's he like?"

"Ah, he's a very handsome man. He earns a good living. He's a very hard worker."

"The kind who lives at his job?"

"He does work very long hours."

"And drinks with his work colleagues afterwards?"

"I think he may do that from time to time." She nervously looked over at her son again.

"I know that type. Probably never helps out at home, or with raising the boy, right?"

"I… I don't think I'd say that. I mean, he does work very hard, so he's tired when he gets home. And, I'm afraid that Kyo is grumpy with his father, so…"

"Hey, I've got a question, okay?" She lowered her voice a bit. "And it's just the two of us talking. I don't know your husband or any of your family and friends. You could tell me the craziest secrets of your life, and it wouldn't get out, because not only can I keep a secret, even if I couldn't, I wouldn't know anybody from your world to tell it to." She lowered her voice even more, so that the children on the other side of the room couldn't hear if. "Does he yell at you and your son? Or do anything worse? It's just us girls here." She reached out and put a hand on her arm. "You can tell me anything. I've heard just about everything before."

Haruka looked silently at her glass.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. And if you want to wait and tell me later, that's cool, too."

"So let me tell you about my dad-he was a yeller. And looking back now, I was a bit of a brat back then. But… I also know that I didn't deserve that. He didn't have to yell at me. He could've asked questions. He could've listened. He didn't."

"So I wonder… who's listening to you, Haruka? Raising a kid is a lot of work. And even if your man is out so much of the time, he should still have the time to be able to listen to you, yeah?"

Kyoko took another sip. "So, I'll listen. I'm here for you, sis."

Having finished her sky, Tohru looked over at the crayons, to see what color to choose next. She saw Kyo's hand hovering over one of them. "Oh, you want the yellow one?"

In an instant he drew his hand back and looked to the floor again. "I'm sorry if I surprised you. Here." She pulled the yellow crayon out of the box and placed it on Kyo's paper. Then selected a brown crayon for herself and resumed drawing.

She started off so quietly, Kyoko could barely hear her. "I don't think he really wanted to be a father."

She paused a long time. Kyoko did not say a word, instead moving next to her at the table, and putting a hand on her back.

"We… I don't think either of us knew what it would be like. And it's hard, you know? I didn't have any brothers or sisters, so I was never around little kids. And my husband-he's the youngest in the family. And they're a rich family."

Kyoko slowly rubbed a circle on her back.

"And…" She looked over at his son to see if he was looking in her direction. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "And Kyo is not an easy child to raise. He's so sensitive to touch. I'm the only one he talks to. And I think he might be scared of his father."

Realizing what that sounded like she waved her hands in denial. "I'm not saying that he hits him or anything. But he is brusque. And sometimes he's a bit… loud. My son will run away when that happens. I wish he would be a little more gentle. Maybe Kyo would be happier."

Quietly, Kyoko asked, "how does he speak to you?"

"Oh, well, that's different. I do things that frustrate him, and I should know better. I'm an adult after all. I just wish he would be more gentle with our boy. He's still so young, and he's had so many problems in his life already. He can't really help how he acts."

There was a pause. Kyoko put her arm around Haruka's shoulder. "It's true that your son can't help how he acts. He's so innocent. He doesn't know better. He doesn't deserve to be treated roughly."

"But…" Kyoko's voice wavered for a second. "...listen, I feel like you should know that you don't deserve it either. If you do something that bugs him, he should talk to you about it in a normal voice. You don't deserve to be yelled at. He does yell at you, right?"

Haruka bowed her head down. "Yes."

Tears came to Kyoko's eyes. "Thank you for telling me. You're very brave. And you deserve to be able to complain. If he's being rough with you, you can't keep it all inside. Because then you'll start to feel like you deserve it. You don't deserve it. You're such a kind mother. You deserve better. Can you say that for me, sweetheart?"

"I… deserve better."

"Damn straight you do. You need to believe it. Because it's true."

Tohru held up her picture. "All done! Look, Kyo, I drew our house! And that's me and mama and you and your mama."

She looked over at Kyo's paper. He had quietly drawn a long yellow shape and put the crayon down. "Are you all done, too? Can I guess what it is?"

She considered the picture for a few moments. "Is it a duck?" He shook his head. "Is it a lion?" Another head shake. "It looks kind of like a rolled omelet."

Kyo shyly smiled. "Did I guess right? Is that what it is? You're good at drawing, Kyo."

She closed the box of crayons. "Want to see my animals? I can tell a story about them."

"It's such a rich family, and they're all so traditional." She took another drink of her beer. "And I think my husband thought I was going to be some kind of yamato nadeshiko and help him stand out in the family. But I disappointed him and Kyo disappointed him, and he doesn't make nearly as much money as some of his cousins do, so guess whose fault it is?"

She sighed. "But. What can I do? My Kyo has… special needs. There's help that only the family can give him. For his sake, I have to stay. And for anyone to leave the family? Well, I've never heard of it happening before."

Kyoko grimaced. "It's a crappy world for us women sometime, Haruka. I don't know if it's that men don't know what it's like for us, or that they do know but can't be bothered to do anything about it. I think I could count the number of decent men I've known in my life on one hand, and two of them are my husband and my father-in-law."

"Your husband sounded like he was a good man."

"He was. I mean, he was a complete smart-ass and he'd sometimes annoy me just for fun. I miss him so damn much."

"The one I miss is my father. I hope that Kyo grows up to be more like him than my husband."

"Your old man was good to you?"

"He didn't talk very much, and he usually had a stern look on his face, but he was always very kind. Before we were married, I thought my husband might be the same way, because he didn't talk much, either. I was wrong."

Kyoko held up her glass. "To the best men in our lives leaving us early."

Haruka brought up her glass, and set it down again. "No. Kyo is going to be the best man in my life. And he's going to be here for a long time."

"I'll drink to that!"

"...So when the twelve animals were having their party," Tohru held up a stuffed cat, "the cat came to the door. And she asked god if she could come in too, even though she was late. And all of the animals really liked the cat, so they asked god if the cat could stay too." She held up a small plastic rat. "And even the rat said she was sorry for tricking the cat. So, god said that the cat could stay, and she joined the party, and they all lived…"

A small hand reached out and held hers.

"Ah… Kyo? But I'm not supposed to touch… Mama? Mrs. Sohma?"

From across the room, the two women looked over.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to… but Kyo touched me and I know I wasn't supposed to, and I'm sorry, but…"

"You didn't try to hug him, or anything?"

"No, ma'am. He just touched my hand."

Kyoko lightly touched Haruka's shoulder. "Will he be okay?"

She looked at the two children for awhile, then smiled slightly. "It should be fine. A tiny bit of touching like that is fine. It's just, when it's more than that that he really has problems. Ah, Tohru?"

"Y-yes, ma'am?"

"Don't worry, I'm not angry at you at all, you didn't do anything wrong. But do you know why he touched your hand? Was he scared or something?"

"I don't know, ma'am. I was showing him my animals and I was telling the zodiac story of the cat."

"Of the cat?"

Kyoko laughed. "Oh, there's an old story about the Chinese zodiac that Tohru loves. But she likes to change the ending so that the cat gets to go to the banquet after all. My little girl loves happy endings."

Haruka's eyes grew slightly misty. "I like happy endings too. I really do. Thank you for telling him such a nice story, Tohru. I promise you that he loves it." The little girl, slightly bewildered, nodded.

She suddenly looked at the window: it was quite dark outside. "Kyoko- what time is it?"

"Almost eight. Do you need… oh no, do you need to get home before your husband? I'm sorry, maybe I can phone a taxi for you."

"No. No! Please don't worry about that. He's out of town. He won't get back until tomorrow night. But still, we should get back soon. Kyo needs his rest. Kyo? We need to be going soon. Say goodbye to your friend."

Kyoko watched as Kyo looked down at the floor again. "Haruka? I'd like to be very selfish for a minute." Kyoko looked at her and smiled. "Stay the night here."

"What?"

"I never had slumber parties with my friends. Around the age that girls do that, I was sort of rough, and the friends I had didn't really go in for that kind of thing. So let's have one tonight. If you don't absolutely need to be home tonight, then sleep here tonight with Tohru and me. The kids can go to bed soon, and we can talk some more. I feel like you're the kind of person I could talk all night with. I've really taken to you and your son, Haruka. You're my kind of people, you know?"

Haruka flushed slightly and looked down. "That's very flattering of you to say. But we don't have our things-and I feel like we'd be putting you out."

"If you and Kyo don't mind sleeping on one futon, Tohru and I can share the other. I can loan you night clothes. I can even run down to the convenience store and get you toothbrushes."

In a matter of minutes, the end of the room had been converted to sleeping quarters. Futons, blankets and pillows had been set out. Tohru had changed into a white nightgown, while Kyo wore a pair of Tohru's pajamas that were baggy on his smaller frame.

"Geez-I'm a sucker for kids wearing clothes that are too big for them. Your son is going to murder me with cuteness, Haruka."

Smiling, Haruka tousled his hair. "He really is cute. He's my pride."

"I know what you mean. Tohru is the same for me. She's the best thing I've ever been a part of." Kyoko patted her on the shoulder. "We've got some damn good kids."

"Yeah."

The children were soon laid down in their beds, though it hardly seemed that Tohru would sleep anytime soon. She was thrumming with excitement at the novelty of a sleepover. Laying on her side, she giggled and waved at Kyo. "And tomorrow Mama and I can make breakfast-hey, do you want rolled omelet? We can make one, it's easy! And pancakes are really yummy. They're my favorite. And…"

"Tohru, pumpkin, you need to go to sleep first. You can't have breakfast without sleeping first, right?"

"No…"

"So you'd better go to sleep so you can have breakfast in the morning."

Tohru thought about that for a moment, and bowed down to the airtight logic of the argument. She closed her eyes and made exaggerating snoring noises.

"I'm living with a comedian, Haruka," Kyoko smiled as Tohru's fake snores dissolved into giggles. Kyoko went over and kissed Tohru on the forehead. "There's my magic spell. You will go to sleep now."

"I'm already asleep, Mama!"

"Good girl."

Haruka and Kyoko sat and watched their children for a few minutes. They had settled down and were either asleep, or would be soon.

"Kyoko?"

"Yeah?"

"I really appreciate you doing this. It's so hard not having anyone to talk to. In his family-I don't know if there's anyone there I can trust."

"Tonight, when you came up to me? I… I promise I wasn't going to do anything… permanent. Not with Kyo there. I could never."

"But I might have later. If I knew someone was taking care of him-I might have… you know."

Haruka looked at Kyoko and smiled. "I think you should know-just telling that to the wrong person could ruin me. They could take Kyo away from me. So I've told you that. And you know why?"

"Why?" asked Kyoko softly.

Haruka sniffled. "Because I've really taken to you, too. You're my kind of people." She reached out and gripped Kyoko's hand, who squeezed back.

"Hey, Haruka, I'm getting another beer. You want one too?"

"Yes, please."

"So I've got a package of dried squid around here somewhere. I'm thinking we can snack on some squid, have a beer, turn the radio on softly and listen to enka music, and then cry all night."

"That sounds absolutely perfect."