Chapter 4

Rin could hear someone breathing. Softly at first, the haggard exhales seemed distant, but she could tell they were drawing closer. She turned to face the stranger, realizing all too quickly that her arms and legs were bound to her sides, burning and scratching her skin with any slight movement. Darkness engulfed her; some unknown force seemed to be constraining her eyes shut. Deciding to scream out for Haru, she tried to open her mouth, but to no avail. Rin's mouth was covered in tape, preventing her from making a sound. Panic set in as footsteps approached her, slowing down as they neared her helpless form. The breathing stopped. A caressing touch ran its way through her hair, down her arms, and stopped on her stomach, leaving her skin feeling electrified and freezing all at once.

"My poor horse," the female voice sympathized, moving a hand to slightly loosen the chains wrapping around Rin's wrists, "It's not worth fighting it, Rin, you can't undo the past. You'll always just be… damaged to him." Suddenly, a splitting pain tore through her body, drawing tears from her eyes to a point where she could hardly hear the pointed laughter from the voice. Her consciousness slipping from the torment, she barely noticed the pair of hands gripping her shoulders tightly, shaking her vigorously. Rin's eyes ripped open.

Morning sunlight trickled through the frosty window of Hatsuharu's bedroom, illuminating the worried creases in the boy's face sitting beside her.

"The dream again?" Haru asked quietly.

"Yeah..." Rin admitted breathlessly, rubbing her wrists. He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her against his chest.

"It was different this time though," she leaned into him, grabbing the front of his shirt. "She… the person… she spoke."

"Who was it?"

"I couldn't tell. I didn't recognize her voice." Rin spent the next few minutes coming to her senses, and then untangled herself from Haru's arms. She walked slowly to the bathroom and climbed into the shower, eager to wash off the cold sweat that covered her body.

"Class starts soon," Haru added, standing outside the door so she could hear him. "Do you want me to stay here?"

"No, I'm headed to the dojo. Kagura wants me to come over. I'll see you later tonight."

"Right. Later."

Rin leaned against the shower wall and let the warm water pour over her face. It had been the tenth time she had the same dream, but this was the first time she had ever heard the voice. Akito's voice. Of course, she couldn't tell Haru that, he would just get worried. Ever since last year, she had been having trouble understanding how everyone could seemingly move on, forgiving Akito and forgetting the curse. When these dreams started though, she could tell something was wrong. She wasn't positive as to what it meant, but she definitely had her suspicions. She couldn't bear to think about it.

"Dammit." She cursed, cradling her head in her hand, fighting off an impending headache. After drying off, she threw on one of her more modest pieces, a black dress going just to her knees. Grabbing her bag, she left Haru's home, thankful his parents were gone for the week, and started the long walk to meet Kagura.

"It'll be fine," she reassured herself. " Everything's fine."


Legs crossed and face on the table, Kyo's mouth watered in response to the smell of tamagoyaki and steamed rice. He leaned his head to the side, peeking through the door into the kitchen. Hair pulled up with an apron covering her dark blue sweater, Tohru stood above the counter chopping vegetables, humming to herself. She caught his gaze and smiled sweetly at him, only to resume her cooking. He buried his reddened face into his arms, enjoying the rare silence at Ayame's crowded apartment.

"Breakfast is ready!" Tohru walked out of the kitchen with two plates of food and took her place next to him at the table.

"Thanks." He grabbed a plate and started eating, noticing her hand take one of his under the table.

"I'm glad Ayame-san and Mine-san had enough room for all of us to stay last night." Tohru thought out loud.

"If you call us having to share that tiny couch enough room, you clearly don't have high enough standards."

"Oh, sorry!" she laughed, "I was really comfortable, though!" Kyo's blush deepened and he looked away, admitting to himself that he didn't exactly hate sharing the small couch with her.

"I was thinking we could go and stay with Shishou. He has an extra bedroom, and I haven't seen him in awhile."

"That's a great idea, Kyo! I haven't seen Hana-chan since we left!"

The color immediately drained from Kyo's face. He had forgotten about that.

"Are they… together?" Kyo asked, horrified. Tohru laughed.

"Not in the way you're worried about. Although, I think she still likes him…but no, Hana works at the dojo now."

"Don't worry, she's not your mother just yet." Yuki walked in, wearing his pajamas still, and rubbing his eyes. He smiled at Tohru and entered the kitchen to grab a plate.

"Good morning, Yuki, you're up early! Is Machi still here?" Tohru inquired.

"What are you suggesting, Tohru? And to think, she's still in high school…"

Tohru's face flushed as she stammered, "No, I didn't mean, of course not that!" Yuki laughed at her stumbling attempts to explain herself as he joined the couple at the table.

"It's fine. Machi and the rest of the student council group left late last night. Machi has school today, too, and I'm not sure she'd want to miss class with exams a few days away."

"Oh no," Tohru fretted, "I fell asleep so early, I missed my chance to say goodbye…"

"You'll see them at New Year's, I wouldn't worry about it." Yuki reassured, already finishing off his rice. "So…you two are headed to the dojo? Give my regards to Rin and Kagura. Actually, now that I think about it, Haru told me Rin has been meaning to talk to you recently. I'm not sure what about."

"Are they staying there? The dojo?" She chuckled, and added, "Kazuma-san certainly has a knack for acquiring housemates!"

"I bet Kunimitsu doesn't mind." Kyo smirked, imaging his friend and his father surrounded by the bothersome women.

"Actually, I think Kagura and Rin share an apartment nearby, not that Rin is there much of the time." Yuki corrected, cleaning off his plate and setting it to the side.

"I'll take that, Yuki," Tohru finished the last few bites of her breakfast, stood up, and extended her hands out to both men to collect their dishware.

"Oh, thank you, Tohru. Here you go." Tohru left for the kitchen, leaving the cat and mouse in an overwhelming silence that lasted uncomfortably long. They stared at each other, wondering which would make the first effort to speak up. Fortunately, neither of them had to.

"Have I interrupted something? Perhaps a love confession from an ill-fated romance? I should have guessed it, after all these years."

Both boys turned their irritated gazes to Shigure, who had just entered the room. One of the few things Kyo and Yuki could agree on was the fact that Shigure was a complete idiot.

Breakfast passed without further incident, and Ayame and Mine eventually joined them. They all discussed the kimonos from the previous night that Ayame had ultimately picked for the New Years banquet. When they finished off the meal, Mine joined Tohru in the kitchen to help clean (despite Tohru's protests) and the four men were left at the table. Kyo stood and excused himself to collect his and Tohru's belongings; he wanted to escape to the dojo as quickly as he could. This left Ayame, Shigure, and a situational third-wheeling Yuki to themselves.

Making sure the women could not overhear, Shigure leaned forward toward Ayame and asked, "Who do you think will get married first, Aya, Yuki or Kyo?"

Ayame, always enthusiastic to speculate about his younger brother's life, tossed his hair and declared, "Definetely Yuki-kun. Isn't it brazenly obvious how in love he is with the charming Machi-kun? Yes, undoubtedly, my younger brother won't fail in the prospect of romance!"

"You remember that I'm still in the room, right?" Yuki asked irritably.

"I don't know, Aya, Kyo-kun seemed pretty serious when we went to pick him up, and those two already live together. I wouldn't be surprised if something happened at the New Year's banquet."

Yuki wouldn't let his curiosity get the best of him. "You two need to stop nosing your way into people's private lives."

"But Yuki," Shigure whimpered, trying to recall his zodiac animal and giving his best puppy-dog eyes, "Don't you want to know? Don't you care about Tohru-chan?"

"Of course I do, but-"

"Then you must want to know-"

"That's none of my business-"

"Oh, come now Yuki, you can't be serious-"

"Kyon-kichi was searching for an engagement ring!" Ayame finally spilled, proud that he had managed to keep his mouth shut for so long. A loud crash came from the door to the kitchen and the three men turned, horrified to see Tohru, pale as a ghost, standing in shock over the cup of tea that she had just dropped. She put her hand to her mouth, keeping her eyes riveted on the broken porcelain. Yuki was the first to react.

"Tohru, are you alright? I'm sorry, Ayame-san didn't mean to startle you."

Alarmed, she awoke from her reverie, shaking her head.

"No, I'm sorry! I broke such a beautiful cup! I can pay you the cost, Aya-"

Ayame interrupted her apology, "Please, Tohru-chan, there's really no need. Allow me to clean that for you."

"Excuse me, I should go wash myself off," Tohru said, noticing some tea staining her skirt.

"Do you need any help, dear?" Mine asked, emerging from the kitchen to find the source of the commotion.

"No, I'm fine! Thank you, really!"

Tohru walked quickly out of the room, locked herself in the bathroom and sat on the ground. She didn't understand her overreaction, but now that she was alone, it hit her all at once. An unrestrained giggle broke from her lips and she put her hands over her mouth again, hiding the excitement obvious of her features. She couldn't believe it. She had always felt like part of the Sohma family, but all of a sudden, she realized that eventually, she would be a part of it. Tears of happiness built in her eyes but she wiped them away, knowing that if Kyo saw her like this, he would assume she was sad, and then inevitably he would know someone had accidentally spilled his secret, and then Kyo would be, well, to put it lightly, absolutely furious. After a few minutes she collected herself, washed the tea off her skirt, and went to open the door. Leaning against the doorframe was Kyo, looking slightly anxious, but not upset.

"Good," she thought to herself, "He doesn't know what happened." She smiled up at him and said innocently, "You startled me, Kyo! Is everything alright?" He looked at her suspiciously, trying to read the emotions that she was fighting so hard to keep from him.

"Uh, yeah… I packed up our stuff. We're all set. That is, if you're ready." Kyo turned away, rubbing the back of his head. She could tell he knew something was off. She immediately felt dreadful for keeping something from him, even though she knew it was for the best.

"Perfect!" She overemphasized, taking his arm and returning to others. "Let's get going then!" She added abruptly, seeing everyone's eyes glued to them intently as they reentered the dining room.

"Fine by me…" Kyo replied, feeling extremely uncomfortable and confused under the sudden scrutiny.


In her entire life, Kana had never had a problem approaching unfamiliar doors. She lived by the thought that if life presents you with a closed door, hard work would open it for you. She reminded herself that in this situation, her life mottos would not make this any easier. She was surprised when she had ended up here, never expecting that she would find the words she needed to say. Especially this late at night. Talking a deep breath, she stepped forward, knocked on the door, and froze. About twenty seconds later, she heard footsteps at the door, and a woman peered out from behind it.

"May I help you?" Akito asked, looking the pregnant woman up and down, trying to remember if she knew her. Kana flinched; she knew Akito as the head of the family, but for some unknown reason recently she couldn't help but feel terrified around him. "…Her" she corrected herself mentally. "Why is she here?" she thought to herself.

"Who is it?" a familiar voice asked. Finally remembering who the woman was, Akito's eyes grew, and she quickly said, "Please, come in out of the cold. I'll have someone make us some tea."

Kana stepped into the lavish home and removed her coat, hanging it on a nearby rack. She followed Akito into an ornate living room, where Shigure sprawled on a lounge chair, reading what appeared to be a very old book. He sat up immediately, recognizing his friend's ex-girlfriend.

"Kana-san, what an unexpected surprise. I haven't seen you since Mayu and I parted ways." Kana noticed Akito shoot a displeased glance at him, and she left the room to presumably have tea prepared. Shigure offered her a seat while chuckling to himself.

"Don't mind Akito. She just gets jealous sometimes."

Kana's mouth hung open, having trouble believing that Shigure, the slightly annoying ex-boyfriend of her best friend, was now together with the head of the Sohma family. But she reminded herself she had business to address, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

"Shigure-san," Kana started, voice quivering with trepidation, "Recently, well, I've been getting these headaches. It's not due to my recent pregnancy, I think, but I keep wondering about certain things, and it puts me on edge."

"Isn't a health-related matter something you should be bringing up with Hatori-san?"

"No." She said a little too firmly. Shigure's eyebrows rose, sensing that whatever was going on, it could not be good.

"Please, do not inform Mayu or Hatori-san about this conversation. They will only worry about me."

"Why don't you relax and tell me exactly what's been going on." Shigure prompted.

She looked up at him, and taking her chance, she told him of what happened at the teahouse.

An hour passed and eventually, Kana stood to leave.

"I've taken up too much of your time, but thank you so much for your reassuring words, Shigure-san. I should get home though; my husband will worry. Please, thank Akito for the tea.

"Any time, Kana-san. Do you need me to accompany you home?"

"No, I'll be fine. It's just a short walk through the Sohma complex."

Waving goodbye, Shigure closed the door and turned around, face-to-face with Akito.

"I presume you were listening to that?" he asked.

"Of course." She retorted.

"You realize what this means, don't you?"

"Unfortunately."

Shigure sighed, and added, "It appears Ha-chan's memory wipes are not as permanent as we expected."

"This could be bad." She thought aloud, remembering the various times Hatori's trick had been employed.

"Very bad. Very bad indeed."