For the next six years, Yuki visited Noa's house every chance he got. At least once a week if not more, he walked home with Yuta after school.
When Yuta graduated from high school and went to college, Yuki made the walk on his own. Each time, Noa welcomed him with open arms and already-made delicious snacks.
She helped him with his homework when he needed it and gave him advice when he started serving on the student council.
She quickly became more of a mother to him than anyone else, including his own.
Sure, Noa could be pretty strict sometimes, but Yuki only knew that was because she cared about him, and she proved that by the overwhelming amount of affection she showed him. There wasn't a thing she could do to make him dislike her.
Akito was aware of almost every visit but kept waiting for the time when Noa betrayed Yuki so he would come running back to him. Or better yet, the time when Noa discovered his secret and he could order Hatori to erase her memories.
Both had yet to happen and as much as Akito hated it, there wasn't a whole lot he could do. For all his power over the Sohma family, he didn't have any control over Noa.
After moving into Shigure's house, Yuki visited Noa less often because as much as he enjoyed visiting her, her house had also been something of an escape from Sohma house. Living with Shigure, he didn't need to escape as much.
Of course, after Kyo moved back in, he spent more time over at her house, but not as much as before because Tohru had also joined them and he wanted to keep her company.
Yuki eventually introduced Noa to both Shigure and Tohru on separate occasions. Kyo had yet to meet her because he didn't care about who Yuki liked so he never made the effort to come in contact with the woman.
Shigure had privately thanked her for caring for Yuki all these years and saving him from living a life constantly under Akito's twisted wing.
The more she heard about Akito, the more Noa wanted to meet this person face-to-face and understand what made him so bad.
Yuki had explained to Noa that Akito was the "god" of the zodiac which meant that none of the members of the zodiac could really hate Akito despite the constant abuse they suffered.
Noa noticed that Yuki never talked about what Akito did to him or why he was so afraid of him, but she never pushed it. It was clear it had scarred him and now that he had finally broken out of his petrified shell, she didn't want to force him back into it.
Tohru had taken an instant liking to Noa and soon began joining Yuki when he visited her.
The girl was a ball of sunshine and Noa was pretty sure it was physically impossible to dislike her. She could stand to be a little more confident and sure of herself and maybe accept help from others more often, but really, even that was a stretch.
Aside from Hatori and Shigure, Noa had yet to meet any other member of the Sohma family. She wanted to, but Yuki was too worried that someone would discover she knew their secret, and the last thing he wanted was to lose her.
However, there came a day when none other than Hatori showed up on Noa's front doorstep. She had invited him over before, but he had never taken her up on the offer, and she wondered what was different about now.
"Come in," Noa offered.
Hatori stepped inside.
"May I offer you something to drink?"
"No, thank you. I won't be here long."
"To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Akito wants to meet with you."
Silence stretched throughout the home for several long seconds.
"Why now?" Noa finally asked.
"He didn't mention it. I suppose he wants to meet the person Yuki has become so fond of."
Noa remained a little wary. Akito struck a deep fear into Yuki's heart and she was a little hesitant to meet with him for real this time. On the other hand, she had heard people speaking of him so often that she wanted to know more about him and understand just exactly why and how he made everyone so terrified.
"When?" she asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon. And I think it's best Yuki doesn't know about this."
"I didn't plan on telling him."
Hatori nodded. "I'll see myself out then. We'll be expecting you."
Noa watched him leave.
So this was it. She was going to meet the infamous Akito.
Following her word, Noa showed up at the Sohma household the next afternoon for her meeting. She decided to dress a little nicer to show her respect for Akito's position (even if she didn't hold much respect for the person).
One of the servants opened the door and led her to the largest building inside the estate. A young man stood outside Akito's room.
He turned and gave her a warm yet pained smile. "You must be Miss Kaneko."
"Yes. And you are?"
"Kureno Sohma. It's nice to finally meet you. Akito's talked about you often."
"I can only imagine what he's said about me. Are you close with him?"
"You could say that."
Yuki had told her that Kureno was the Rooster of the zodiac and spent a lot of time by Akito's side. So much time, in fact, that almost no one in the family ever even saw him and no one could say for sure when he had last left the estate.
There was no way that was healthy, and Noa wasn't really sure which one of them was to blame for this man's sheltered nature.
"Akito?" Kureno called through the shoji. "Miss Kaneko has arrived."
"Send her in," an icy voice replied.
Kureno pulled back the shoji for her. Noa took a deep breath and walked inside.
The room was rather dimly lit, but she could see Akito sitting on the right side of it though he was wrapped in the shadow. She politely sat on her knees in the center of the room.
"It is nice to finally meet you in person, Akito."
"Don't address me so familiarly," Akito snapped.
"My apologies. May I ask why you requested me to come here today?"
Akito finally stepped out of the darkness and faced her. Even though Yuki had told her Akito was only four years older than him, she was still surprised to see that the head of the household was so…young. He wore a pale yukata under a pink and blue robe.
He looked so…pale and skinny. She wondered if he ever went out in the sun by choice.
But she was also struck by just how cold and piercing his eyes were. They were the hardest and angriest eyes she had ever seen. No wonder Yuki was so scared of him.
"My precious Yuki has been spending much of his time with you. I want to know why."
"I cared for him when he was having an asthma attack, and—"
"Yes, yes, I already know all that! I mean, why does he continue to go see you?! You're the one who said he wasn't going to like it there!"
Noa kept her calm composure. "I said 'probably', not 'definitely'. He visits me because he was searching for the affection he was lacking while living here."
"Are you saying I didn't provide for him?!"
"You provided the basic necessities, but I quickly saw that it had been a long time since anyone seemed to have genuinely cared for him."
"And what you would know?! I cared for that brat! It was everyone else who didn't like him! If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't even have a reason to live!"
If Akito had instilled that into Yuki's head as much as she thought he did, it was no wonder Yuki was so depressed when he had first come to stay with her.
"I disagree. He gets along very well with my own son, and the both of us care very much for him. That's enough reason there."
Akito leaned in close to her face and was thoroughly disappointed when she didn't lean back. "You want to take him away from me, don't you? You want him to leave me! You, an outsider, have no place here amongst the Sohmas! I order you to leave Yuki alone!"
Noa calmly stood up, seeing no reason to sit if this person was just going to continue to hurl insults and accusations at her. "If I have no place amongst the Sohmas, how can you give me orders and expect me to follow them?"
Akito growled and his fist flew towards her face.
Noa's hand shot up and grabbed his wrist before it could make contact with its target.
Akito's eyes widened and he wrenched his wrist out of her grasp. No one had ever stopped him like this before!
"How dare you defy me?!" he screamed.
"You may be the Sohma's master, but you are not mine. You are nothing but a spoiled child who throws tantrums when you don't get your way."
"You have no right to talk to me that way, you stupid woman!"
"I see you haven't changed from the time we spoke six years ago."
Noa remembered what Yuki had explained to her before about no one in the zodiac being able to disobey Akito. The servants certainly couldn't disobey him. She didn't know what the other Sohmas did, but from what she heard, Akito didn't have much contact with those outside of the zodiac.
If that was the case, he had to be used to getting his way all the time.
…She knew just what to do.
"Well, how about this?" Noa suggested. "Why don't you come stay in my house yourself? Then you can be the one to determine if it's a safe environment for Yuki to stay in."
"Why would I want to do that?" Akito growled. "I can just order him to stay away from you."
"But you can't order me to stay away from him."
Akito glared fiercely at her. He hated this woman. Barring that awful woman he called his mother, he could safely say that he never hated another person so strongly.
Noa made direct eye contact with him as he vehemently tried to intimidate her with his harsh glare. There must've been years upon years of built-up anger locked away inside him. She wondered if it was ever be possible to unlock it all.
"If you come stay with me for…say, one month, and you still believe that Yuki should not visit me, I will agree to back off."
Akito stared her down. "One month?"
"One month. After the month is over, I will accept whatever your decision is."
He smirked cruelly. "Fine. I'll come to your wretched place for one month, and if I am dissatisfied…and I will be…you agree to never speak to another Sohma again for as long as you live."
Noa held out her hand. "We have a deal."
She could tell he would rather have his arm chopped off than touch her, but he slowly reached out and shook her hand.
"I will come by tomorrow to drive you to my house."
"I'd wish you luck, Noa Kaneko, but I know you will lose."
Noa smirked in his direction. "Don't underestimate me, Akito Sohma."
And probably for the first time in his life, Akito did not have the last word.