Chapter Seven:

Rae Miyagi felt absolutely miserable. She was indeed sick, and couldn't for the life of her figure out how it had happened. One minute she was prancing around solving the world's problems through the effective prowess of mediation, and four seconds later, she's lost her lunch in the bathroom of her office. She now sat in a lounge chair with a thermometer sticking out of her mouth.

Sora stood next to her, arms crossed, patiently waiting for the telltale beeps. He knew Rae had been working herself to the end ever since her charity dinner with the Morinozuka's went south, but she had an immune system that could beat the plague. He didn't normally worry about things, but perhaps losing her grandmother's necklace had caused an emotional toll on her body that weakened her immune system. He pulled her to a chair after he found her dry heaving in the bathroom only ten minutes ago. Once she was able to focus, he got to work on figuring out what was wrong.

"Maybe you should take the day to get better," Sora suggested as the thermometer beeped. He pulled it from his friend's lips and examined it. "I'm going to call a cab to take you home. You have a high fever. Not enough to go to the doctor just yet, but rest is the best option at this point. Akira was sick and she ended up passing out. Let's try not to repeat that scenario in your place of work."

"No," Rae protested. She weakly tried to push herself out of her seat only to fall back with a groan. "I'll be fine. I just need a moment," she croaked.

"No, you need to go home," Sora said. "I'm calling Ren instead. You might pay the cab more to take you to the library or something. He'll take you home and you can come back when you feel better. The boss man won't want his only mediator to miss two weeks of work because she didn't take a day to feel better."

"I have mediation tomorrow morning," Rae argued.

"All the more reason you should go home and rest," Sora explained. "This could be a simple twenty-four hour bug. So take the day, and I'll push the mediation to the afternoon."

Rae groaned reluctantly. "If anything pops up," she started. She blinked to shake the dizzy feeling in her head. "Promise me you'll call if anything major comes up." She pushed herself up so that she could leave the office. Ren was only a five minute walk away from his studio at the radio station.

Sora left to call his best friend's brother. He made plans to schedule the mediation for the late afternoon, allowing Rae to rest just the slightest bit more. This was his job, and it was a job he did well.

Fifteen minutes later, Rae was ushered from her office by Sora and her brother, and was headed for her bed at home.

0o0o0o0

Meanwhile, Takashi Morinozuka had a full hour and a half before his Theory of Law class started and he was on a mission. He would not stop until he had found what he was looking for.

In the past two weeks since the charity dinner had been so viciously robbed, Takashi have been searching the internet and calling several pawn shops about a butterfly necklace. He had done more talking in these past two weeks than he had ever done in his life, and it wasn't until last night that he had yielded any proper results.

The necklace was made from cut pieces of glass rubbed smooth and round by the sea. They had been collected and later shaped to that they could fit into the silver wings of a butterfly. The handmade pendant had been hung from a silver chain and was later presented to Rae's grandmother.

Takashi had talked to a man who owned a small, eclectic pawn shop near Shibuya station. After explaining the situation to the shop owner, the man had agreed to hold the piece until tonight when Takashi could pick it up. Not knowing it was stolen, the shop owner only requested that he not be turned over to the police for having stolen merchandise. Takashi even planned to pay the man for the money he lost in buying the pendant from the thieves. After all, the shop owner was just another victim in the robbery.

Having the time, Takashi was going to the shop early. Then he could take the necklace and present it to Rae. He hadn't spoken to her in a couple weeks and he only hoped that she wasn't mad at him. She didn't seem to be mad that night, but even as an experienced member of the Ouran High School Host Club, he found women strange, almost alien subjects. One minute they were happily talking about their day, and then the next night they yell at you for calling their dress 'nice'. They were strange creatures indeed.

Perhaps it was just his overall lack of experience when it came to dating that led to his belief that Rae may harbor feeling of animosity towards him for her getting hurt. He had sat there and watched her get slapped. He didn't do anything to help her.

When he arrived at the pawn shop it took him a moment to enter. He had to collect his thoughts before he could open the door. He would have to talk, even it if was against his quiet nature. He put a pleasant smile on his face, felt his pocket for his wallet, and opened the door.

The old man standing at the back of the shop held a brook as he swept up some broken glass. He smiled at Takashi. "Feel free to look around, young sir," he said. "Let me just clean up this mess, and I'll be able to help you, should you need it."

Takashi nodded silently and stuffed his hands into his pockets as he slowly made his way down an aisle of books. There were old books, new books; leather bound books, books in English, French, and German. He pulled a Japanese print of what was clearly a mystery novel that had started in America from a shelf and wondered is Rae read books like this. Wasn't her father an American ex-patriot?

The old man walked up to him a couple minutes later. "Can I help you find something in particular?" he asked.

Takashi pulled his wallet out and extracted a business card. He politely held it out with both hands. "Morinozuka, Takashi," he said simply.

The man's face lit up as he took the card. "Ahh, yes, you're the young man I spoke to on the phone last night." He nodded as he turned to walked to the back of the shop. "Please, come with me."

Takashi followed the elderly man into the shops back room. More items had been brought in. "Of course, we have rules about selling items, so the necklace had been sitting back here waiting to be shown. The clasp is broken, I'm afraid. I have other chains if you wish to replace it."

Takashi nodded. He would keep the broken chain too just in case Rae wanted it. He wasn't sure if it was original or not.

"It really is beautiful," the old man continued to talk. Takashi was okay with this. "The silver is what makes it somewhat valuable."

The old man grabbed a medium sized velvet box. He turned and held it out to Takashi. "It must be very important if you've called several shops asking about it. Who is she?" Clearly this was a woman's necklace.

Takashi took the box in his hands gingerly and lifted the reluctant lid open. He smiled when he saw that it was Rae's necklace. "A special friend," he answered. "Her grandfather made this as an engagement gift for his wife."

"Ahh, some sentimental value to add to its worth," the old man smiled with a knowing twinkle in his eye. "Please, take it. I had no idea it had been stolen."

"How much did you buy it for?" Takashi asked.

"You don't have to pay me for it," the old man protested.

"You were cheated," Takashi said as he pulled some cash from his wallet.

The old man sighed. He knew that he would be unable to argue with the young heir. "I paid 4900 yen for it. I'll give you a new chain for only one hundred yen more."

"Thank you," Takashi said handing over the money.

He left the shop only a minute later and jumped into his car so that he could get to his class. He had Rae's necklace. Now all he had to do is give it back to her.

0o0o0o0

Rae meekly made her way to the door after she heard the doorbell ring. She had no clue who had come to see her, but they possibly mad the worst timing on the face of the planet. She had a fever, and a severe lack of appetite. The TV was on some obscure high school drama, but she wasn't aware of what was going on. She had been staring off into space wondering when the feeling of dizziness would go away.

Rae covered her mouth as she looked thought her small peep hole. She backed up in confusion. "Takashi?" she mouthed. She was at a complete loss. Takashi hadn't spoken to her in two weeks and now he was at her door. How had he gotten past the front desk on the first floor? It was then she remembered that a woman was at the desk for the evening.

She coughed as she opened the door slightly. "Hello, Takashi," she greeted weakly.

Takashi could tell something was up. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were half closed, and she was wrapped in a blanket. "Sick."

"I'm not contagious," Rae said quickly. "The truth, you spread more germs likely to cause illness before you exhibit signs of being ill yourself."

Takashi felt himself smile as she blurted out random health facts to prove her point. He nodded towards the inside of the condo. "Can I come in?"

Rae blinked and nodded before she opened her door all the way. "Won't you come in," she suggested politely.

Rae moved to her couch while Takashi removed his shoes and closed the door. He joined her on the couch quickly.

"I'm not very good company right now," Rae said. She coughed into the blanket.

Takashi didn't waste much time, he pulled the velvet box from his jacket pocket. "Yours," he said.

Rae stared at the box for a minute. She tentatively reached out and took it in both hands. She couldn't contain the gasp that fell from her lips as she stared at her grandmother's necklace. She put a hand over her mouth as she started to cry. He had found her necklace somehow, and he had given it back.

She looked at him and pulled her hand away from her mouth. She turned to face him more before she launched herself at him She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Through coughs and sobs of joy, she managed to thank him profusely for the return of such a sentimental item.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," she whispered.

They sat like that for a half hour, quietly embracing each other happily. Takashi pulled himself up and moved to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Rae asked.

"Making soup," Takashi answered. He was going to help her feel better. She was an important mediator after all.