Chapter 4: The Crab and The Goat
Ran did not speak that much the next day. Brad tried once or twice, but couldn't get her to. When the two went to go register Chad (It was the afternoon), she still didn't seem too happy. Both Brianna and Shadow went outside to play with Eric, and Miyu locked herself in her room to draw. Chad sat on the roof, playing his guitar. When he heard someone calling for them, he jumped off the roof (Heck yes) and landed behind the person smoothly. "Hiya. Why are you here?"
The person turned around. It was a girl with brown hair and brown eyes. She seemed surprised that Chad appeared out of no where. "Hello! I'm here to talk to Ran Kotobuki. Is she here?"
"No, but I'm the old-" Something hit Chad in the head. He rubbed his head and looked up to see Miyu leaning out of her window, her hand in the throwing position.
"Don't lie," Miyu yelled. "Hello. I think you're Tohru Honda, right? You may remember me; I'm Miyu. Wait right there and I'll show you to the oldest person currently here."
A few seconds later Miyu came outside, and bent to retrive what she had thrown. An eraser. She smiled at Tohru and led her to the backyard. Chad muttered something under his breath and went back onto the roof.
"Nii-chan!" Miyu called. She could only see Shadow and Brianna, both of whom looked furious. "Shadow, where's Nii-chan?"
"How should I know?" He said angrily. "We're playing hide-and-seek, and he always stays hidden!" Miyu could see why. They had trampled the whole area they were playing in, so footprints could be seen on the snow. It was hard to tell if they were new.
"ERIC!" Miyu screamed, using his name. He came out of hiding, behind a very large bush. Whenever Miyu used his real name, Eric knew she was serious.
"What?" He asked crossly. He saw Tohru. "Hello, Honda-san. What brings you here?"
"Um...well, I wanted to ask you if it was okay if we came over," Tohru said. Everybody looked at her blankly before realizing what she meant.
"Is the other person, the crazy one, coming too?" Shadow asked.
Tohru didn't know who the crazy one was until Shadow told her. "Rit-chan-san? No, he's not coming. He had to go back to the main house."
Someone else knocked on the front door, and Miyu heard. "Excuse me for a second," Miyu said.
Eric turned to Tohru. "I think's it's fine, but I have to ask Nee-chan first. Feel free to come in while I call her." He yelled to Brianna and Shadow, "Bri-chan, Shadow, come on! Get inside and warm up."
"I couldn't!" Tohru said.
"It's fine, don't worry," Eric assured her, going inside, followed by Brianna and Shadow.
Miyu ran right into Eric as he was going to the phone. "Nii-chan, it's Yu-chan and Sato-sensei."
"No way!" Eric said. Chad was leading a girl wearing all black, her hair was black, but her eyes were a light blue. She was wearing black-rimmed glasses. She was about thirteen. Behind the girl was a man with messy reddish-brown hair and brown eyes. He was twenty-six.
"Hello everyone," The man said. The girl only nodded, and was almost immeadiately hugged by Brianna and Shadow.
"Nee-chan! Have you come to play?" They both asked.
"Yes," The girl laughed. She looked up and saw Tohru. Her expression changed, and she hissed, "Who's this?"
"Yuna-chan, don't hurt her!" Eric said. "Satoshi-sensei, why are you here?"
"Visit," Satoshi said simply. "Just me though. Yuna-chan is here to stay."
"Then we have eight people in this house!" Miyu said. "It's getting crowded."
"I know, but the head sent me here," Yuna told her.
"You have a head of the family?" Tohru asked, interested. Miyu and Yuna both exchanged worried looks.
"You said too much," Miyu whispered furiously. She said, louder, "Yes we do."
Ran and Brad came back. They stared for a minute at Satoshi and Yuna, then Ran said to Tohru, "Tohru-san! Why are you here?"
"Eh?" Tohru jumped, because she was still talking to Miyu. "Oh, I came to ask you if it was okay if we came over to your house one time."
"It's fine," Ran said, ignoring Brad's protests. She turned to Satoshi and Yuna. "So, which one of you is here to stay?"
Satoshi pointed at Yuna. Yuna nodded. "Me."
Ran almost screamed in fustration. "Okay, everyone be quiet!" Everyone fell silent. "Chad, I registered you, so on Monday, you, Miyu, and Eric start. Yuna, if you're staying here, I have to register you into Junior high. Brianna and Shadow, you two are starting grade school on Monday. Does everyone understand?"
Nods from the youngers. Ran took a deep breath, and turned to Tohru, who asked, "Which high school is Miyu-chan, Eric-san, and Chad-san going to?"
"Um..." Ran turned to Brad for help.
"Kaibara High School," Brad said.
"I go to the same high school! I'm a third year. Is anyone else in third year?"
Miyu and Chad pointed at Eric. "Him."
Night had fallen outside, and in a desparate attempt to get the day over with, Eric said, "Yes. Oh look, it's dark!"
Brad glared at him. Tohru said while leaving, "I'm sorry for staying this long! Do you mind if the others and I came over tomorrow?"
"Feel free to!" Ran said. Shutting the door behind Tohru, she turned to Satoshi. "You'll have to stay a night. I hope you don't mind sleeping on a couch."
"I don't," Satoshi said. "But why are you letting another family come into the house?"
"Sorry Satoshi, but I didn't want to appear rude. Good night," Ran said firmly, going to bed. Everybody else followed.
Only Chad, Yuna, and Satoshi stayed where they were.
"Yu-chan, Sato-san, you won't get in trouble for coming here, will you?" Chad asked, for the first time sounding genuinely worried.
"I won't," Yuna said. But she winced anyway, and pulled up one of her sleeves. There were plenty of scars on her right arm. "But I would like it if he didn't torture me every single time we went over to main house."
"I won't get in trouble either," Satoshi said. "I was told to come here and see how they were doing. Chad, are you sure that he won't get mad at you for being here."
Chad looked away and sighed. "No. I may be his best friend, but that doesn't mean that he likes me. I did something wrong on New Years, remember Satoshi? I got in trouble for it. His whip? It hurts. I still have that scar, and if I'm not careful, it's going to open and bleed. I could possibly bleed to death if Sato-san isn't there."
"He did that to you?!" Yuna cried in a whisper. She hugged him gently. "Nii-chan, what have you been doing wrong the entire time? Is that why you took on the false cheer personality?"
"Too many things to count," Chad whispered. "I can't worry you all with them, Yu."