ZOMG... Ayame, Kagura, New Years and more!!! Holy crap this one took a ton... 16 Word pages... Help me I'm crazy...

Chapter Seven – The Ups…

"Sayuri wake up, I need the chair." Hatori shook her sleeping form lightly. It was the third time that week that she had fallen asleep in his office chair while he was out or busy. He didn't mind it; he knew how tired she was. But he needed to get some work done and it was the only chair he had in his home office.

It had been four weeks since her visit with Akito. It was almost the end of December now and New Years was approaching fast. Sayuri opened her eyes reluctantly and sat up. "Sorry." She apologized softly. "I didn't mean to fall asleep again." She smiled shyly.

"It's fine, you must be extremely tired. Why don't you go take a nap?" He helped her stand and then stole the chair. She smiled and left the office.

Hatori rarely worked at his actual office anymore. He preferred to work from home and make house calls. Over the past few weeks, Sayuri started helping him with his paperwork. She was running out of things to do around the house and she had read almost every book he owned. Since he was working from home, she saw how stressed he was and decided to try and help him in whatever way she could.

They found themselves staying up late talking about files and going over cases. They would sit in bed at night, papers everywhere, talking about whatever they had read or discovered that day. Sayuri was becoming more confident in his presence, and Hatori was feeling as if he could show her more of who he really was each day.

Once she was out of the office, Hatori's cell phone rang. He knew the ring instantly and he took a deep breath before answering it.

"Ha'ri!" Exclaimed Ayame on the other end. "I can't believe how shameful you are! Getting married and not telling me! You horribly awful man! I'm coming over this afternoon with my wedding gift and you can't stop me!" Hatori could tell he was twirling with excitement just by the tone of his voice. "I'll see you in two hours!"

The click of the phone was barely heard before Hatori jumped out of his chair and ran to find Sayuri. He found her sitting in bed, reading and had to restrain the urge to shove her in a closet before Aya arrived. "I need to tell you something…" He began.

She hated those words. They always meant that something was wrong. She nodded for him to continue anyway. "My cousin Ayame is coming over. You need to be prepared… He's a little…" Hatori couldn't think of the right adjective to describe his flamboyantly obnoxious cousin. "Overwhelming." He finished pathetically.

He looked at her in her sweat-pants and t-shirt and sighed. "You'll have to change." He commented.

"Of course." She replied a bit sarcastically. "I can't wear sweats when I meet one of your cousins." She explained. "Is he a member of the Zodiac?" She asked.

"The snake." He answered as he ruffled through her side of the closet. Finally he found a pretty little white dress that he hoped would satisfy Aya's need for women to be frilly. Sayuri watched him wordlessly, shocked that he would be so animated over something so small as meeting a cousin.

She silently took the dress from him and closed herself in the bathroom. It was simple, nothing she ever wore was that intricate. The white fabric fell away from her body right below her chest. It had long sleeves and the skirt came to her knees. When she stepped out of the bathroom Hatori was stunned for a moment.

He looked her up and down, for the first time noticing a slight roundness to her midsection. His eyes must have focused on the spot because her hand gently stopped there and she spoke hesitantly. "Is it really that obvious?" she asked.

He shook his head in disagreement. "Not if you don't know…" He tried lamely. The front door rang and Sayuri gave her signature jump. Hatori spun. Of course Aya would arrive an hour and a half early.

Both of them answered the door together. Ayame flung himself through the doorway and proclaimed his joy at their being wed, before either one could say a word. Sayuri appraised the man as she always did when she met someone new. So far she didn't like him.

He was tall, with long white hair. His eyes were golden and resembled a snake lying in wait for its prey. He wore a red outfit that she couldn't identify the style of. He seemed extremely feminine for a man, especially a cousin of Hatori. He was also loud, something she didn't enjoy in the least.

Suddenly he was staring at her in open-mouthed shock. "Why Ha'ri! She's absolutely stunning! I can't believe you haven't brought her by the shop yet, I simply must introduce her to Mine! My goodness dear," here he approached her and held one of her hands in both of his. "You are a raven-haired goddess. My mortal eyes are not fit to behold your splendor!" He showered her with compliments until she politely interrupted him.

"You have a shop?" She asked, trying to change the subject. She had never been comfortable receiving compliments, and in her current condition she felt nowhere near "goddess" status.

Ayame glared at Hatori. "You haven't told her about me? How shameful of you! I, your dearest cousin, an unknown to your new bride! Ha'ri you must be so careless!"

Hatori ignored him and spoke to Sayuri. "He owns a fabric store downtown. He lives outside the Main House as well."

"It is not just a fabric store!" Ayame interjected. "I sell fantasies!" Sayuri was quickly becoming overwhelmed by this man who was now seemingly measuring her with his eyes. She turned red as his eyes settled on her waist and a wicked grin flitted across the corners of his mouth.

"Ha'ri. I must say, you have been keeping secrets from me." He said, quite calmly. "Why didn't you tell me I was going to be an Uncle?" He asked slyly. Sayuri's hands flew to her waist. She knew that it wasn't noticeable, but for some reason this man saw what no one else had.

"We weren't telling people yet." Hatori tried to explain.

"And you thought putting her in a pretty white dress would distract me? I'm a designer, I have trained my artistic eye to notice every curve of a woman's body." He grinned at Sayuri here. "That particular curve is especially important."

She turned as white as a sheet. This man had absolutely no sense of decency. No filter for what he said. Somehow she would have to survive an entire afternoon with this man. The thought made her want to run and hide. She suddenly realized that Hatori was standing next to her with a hand on her shoulder. She didn't know how or when he had moved to that position, but she was grateful to him for doing so.

"Well, I had a wedding present for you, but it certainly isn't fitting anymore!" Ayame pouted. Sayuri wondered what could possibly have changed in the time they had been talking to make his wedding present void.

"Ayame, you didn't…" Hatori's hand on her shoulder noticeably tightened its grip.

"Of course Ha'ri! It's what I do! For goodness sake, I can't believe you'd be upset by it. But now it won't fit her at all!"

"Hatori?" She looked up at him with a confused expression. She was also beginning to be scared by this "wedding present" that supposedly wouldn't fit her anymore.

"He made you a dress." Hatori explained calmly.

Ayame picked up a bag he had dropped by the front door and handed it to her with much flourish. "Maybe you can wear it after the baby comes." He was ever the optimist.

Sayuri reached in and pulled out a very small dress. She knew it would fit her, when she was skinny again, but it would be skin tight. It was a pale green, and by the look of it, it was a nurse's uniform. In the bottom of the bag was a pair of white knee-high socks and white shoes. There was also a nurse's cap but she couldn't see it behind the shoes.

Hatori glared at Ayame. "What kind of wedding present is that?" He asked through grit teeth. Hatori was always one to keep his temper in check.

"I've always known your fantasy was nurses. Just like Shigure's is school girls. I've always wanted to give you this, but there was never a girl to wear it!"

Sayuri's head snapped up from staring at the dress. How stupid could she be! This man thought they were in love, and this dress was for them both to enjoy. She began turning red at the thought. Unfortunately, Aya noticed.

"Now now, don't be shy! You two are married, about to be parents! I mean, sex is an obvious part of your relationship!"

Hatori finally stepped in. "Aya, there is something we need to tell you." He began. "Shigure already knows, so it's only fair that you know as well."

Sayuri paled. He was going to tell this man, the one who had no filter on what came out of his mouth, their secret.

"The baby isn't mine." They probably weren't the best words for him to start with, but it got Ayame's attention. "Sayuri was," he hesitated. "She was raped near the end of October, by a Sohma. It was the night Ritsu died, and we think the baby might be the next monkey. We got married to keep the zodiac curse within the family."

Ayame immediately switched gears. "Oh! What a tragic tale! You poor little flower, completely and utterly alone in this dank forest of hideous men!" He clasped Sayuri's hands in his and tears began to fill his eyes. Though his words reeked of melodramatic insincerity, she couldn't help noticing that underneath it all he really was sorry and concerned.

"You would do well not to spread the story around. Not many people know, even inside, the truth behind our marriage." Hatori interrupted. He sounded cold and distant. As if he was trying to remind himself that their marriage was only a façade. Sayuri, of course, saw it only as confirmation that his other gestures of caring were only an act.

Ayame let go of her hand and smiled brightly. "Come now Ha'ri! We must change the subject to something much lighter!" He turned back to Sayuri, who was dumbfounded by his ability to change emotions so quickly. "Would you like to hear stories of our high school years? Ha'ri, Guri and I were thick as thieves!" He continued on into an elaborate tale of his and Hatori's younger years and all three of them moved into a more permanent arrangement sitting in the main room.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur of stories, compliments and inappropriate comments. Sayuri nodded and smiled. The stories Ayame told were mostly about his shop and his own endeavors. The man talked about himself as if the world around him cared of nothing else.

When it came time for dinner it seemed almost unnecessary to invite Ayame to spend the evening meal with them, he seemed to be under the impression that he would be staying no matter what they said. He spent the time fawning over Sayuri and trying to make sure she ate enough. As he was leaving afterwards he ordered her to come to his shop the following weekend so that he could measure her for a dress. "A maternity dress this time, something sweet and motherly!" He exclaimed on his way out the door.

It was now late into the evening and Sayuri was so exhausted she could barely stay awake long enough to change her clothes. When she fell into bed that night she didn't even worry about touching Hatori. He noticed this when her leg brushed against his and she didn't flinch. It was the first time she had touched him. In response he turned out the lights and brushed a stray hair out of her face. It was a gentle touch; she barely noticed it before drifting off to sleep.

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Two weeks. Two weeks and no sleep. Two weeks, no sleep and a very large bruise on his left shoulder. Hatori held an icepack on his shoulder for the third time that day. Where morning sickness was gone, nightmares had moved in.

It was a common symptom of pregnancy, but in Sayuri's case it was violent and horrifying. She would roll over in her sleep and fight some unseen attacker until Hatori shook her awake. He was usually the one in the line of fire, and the large purple marking on his shoulder was proof of how hard she fought back against whoever was trying to hurt her.

The count was now eleven weeks. Everyone in the Sohma family knew that Sayuri was a "proud mother to be" as so many of them put it. Hatori smirked and rubbed his shoulder when one woman exclaimed how excited they must be.

It was also a week from New Years. Knowing that she would need time to mentally prepare herself for meeting the entire Sohma family; Hatori told Sayuri about the celebrations several days ago. He also told her that he would have to dance at the Zodiac Banquet. She still hadn't seen his Zodiac form, but she knew he was the dragon. You couldn't live long in the Sohma house without knowing who people were.

Sayuri wanted nothing more than to spend the holiday locked in her room reading. Unfortunately, her position as the wife of a very high ranking member of the family would not allow her to do that. She would stand by his side, greeting people and accepting congratulations for something she did not want to be congratulated on. She would smile and look pretty and wait for the three days to be over.

Today, as Hatori sat icing his shoulder, Sayuri was watching the family preparing for their celebration. No one would let her do anything, not that she blamed them. She was dropping things and tripping more than a normal human being. She couldn't tell if it was because she was so tired from the lack of sleep, or if it had something to do with the hormones. Today, she sat on the porch sipping tea and found herself almost asleep, when a girl not much younger than herself came over to her with a shy look about her.

"Hello." She said quietly. She was rather cute. Her hair was a nice chocolate brown and she seemed sweet. Sayuri smiled and nodded a hello.

"I'm Kagura." The girl continued. "Are you Sayuri?" She asked. Sayuri nodded and smiled again. She was meeting new family members daily now. Some of them were kinder than others, and as this girl sat down next to her, she couldn't help thinking she would like this one.

"Oh good! I just got off the phone with Hatori, he told me I could take you shopping." She proclaimed it with joy; Sayuri's first impressions being torn in two.

But, being a gracious and completely submissive person, Sayuri gave in and let the girl drag her away from the main house. Before she left, Hatori handed her a credit card with "Sayuri Sohma" printed on it. She hadn't been given anything with her married name yet and so she spent a few minutes rubbing her thumb over the lettering. Finally Kagura grabbed her arm and started dragging her to the stores.

For a girl she barely knew, Kagura was completely in tune to Sayuri's sense of style. Every store they entered, mostly maternity, she was able to find something within. Every time she handed the older woman an outfit or article of clothing, it was exactly what she wanted. Sayuri didn't even have to try anything on before they made their purchases and moved on to the next store.

It felt good to be out of the house and in the company of another woman. She felt comfortable enough around Kagura that she was willing to even laugh a little at some of the strange outfits women were supposed to wear when expecting. The baggy denim and the frilly pink peasant tops were something to be mocked and scorned and Kagura was just the person to do it with.

Sayuri had never spent so much money in one shopping trip before. Several times Kagura had to reassure her that the family could afford it and that she shouldn't worry about price. She couldn't help remembering what Akito told her at her first meeting. She really was fortunate to have fallen into the laps of a very influential family.

They staggered home early that evening; weighed down by countless shopping bags. Upon walking through the front gate Sayuri dropped the few bags Kagura would let her carry. The main house glowed with paper lanterns and decorative lights. There were dragons everywhere and family members bustled about in droves. The sight was overwhelming.

Kagura danced forward and twirled. "I love it when they finally get the lights up! It's so beautiful!" She ran back and helped Sayuri pick up the bags she had dropped and then dragged her by the arm back to Hatori's house.

When they reached what Sayuri now called "home" Kagura helped her carry the bags into the seemingly empty house. The two girls hugged and parted friends. Sayuri felt exhausted from her day out shopping, so she left the bags on the floor in the entryway. She picked out some clothing from one and made her way back to the bedroom, where she planned on changing and then taking a quick nap before dinner arrived.

When she opened the door she was frozen by the sight of Hatori, shirtless, practicing his dance for the Zodiac banquet. He hadn't noticed her silent entrance, and so he continued in the intricate steps. They were powerful and smooth. Every few steps would be faster than the ones before and the force of the dragon spirit seemed to emanate from him. There was a heat in his steps that was eerily similar to fire. Sayuri stood mesmerized by the grace and power of it all. When she got a glimpse of his face she could see that his hair was tousled and his forehead dripped with a light sweat. When he turned away from her, it exposed a large purple welt on his left shoulder. She gasped when she saw it and the noise made him turn sharply to see who was watching him.

"How?..." she managed to ask, reaching out to his shoulder. She wasn't aware of how violent she had been in her sleep as of late. He came slowly over to her and absentmindedly grabbed the sore spot with his right hand.

"It's nothing." He tried. He could see that she didn't believe him. He tried to change the subject. "I think you're the first person outside of the Zodiac to see one of our dances." He brushed his bangs away from his good eye and gave her a hesitant smile.

"Really? Why don't other people get to see the dances?" She asked innocently. His dance, in her mind, was beautiful. It portrayed the dragon to the smallest detail. She wondered if every Zodiac dance was this intricately laced in with the spirit it represented.

"Probably for the same reason we don't let outsiders know about the curse. It's not very common practice." He grabbed his shirt off the bed and brushed past her on his way to go take a shower. She wanted to know more about the bruise on his shoulder, but he seemed completely disinterested and unwilling to talk about it, so she didn't bring it up again that night.

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The first night of New Years was chaotic to say the least. The entire Sohma family flocked to the main house for the evening and so many introductions were made that Sayuri's head was swimming. She wore a black dress with white cherry blossoms printed on it. The deep v-neck made a beautiful frame for her necklace and her hair was pinned back in a messy bun with chopsticks. Though it was black, the dress prominently displayed her new baby bump, Ayame spent hours measuring and choosing the perfect fabrics for her petite frame.

The only thing that kept her from running when people came to congratulate her was Hatori standing by her side. He fielded many of the questions she was too shy to answer, and he kept his hand in hers throughout every introduction.

Several other women in the Sohma family were expecting, and some had newborn babies to present to Akito. The expectant mothers were all unknowingly candidates for bearing the next zodiac child. Sayuri was almost nervous about her position in the family now. She never considered that idea that she wasn't carrying the monkey. What would happen to her if this all ended? How would she survive raising a child without these people to support her?

"Excuse me, could you hold him for a minute?" A mother with a newborn stood in front of her and held out her baby to Sayuri with a pleading look. Hatori had gone to get the two of them drinks and Sayuri had been quickly ambushed by mothers wanting to congratulate her. This woman had, along with the newborn, a small girl at her side in tears. Sayuri nodded and hesitantly took the squirming baby in her arms.

She held him as if he were made of porcelain. He looked up at her with giant blue eyes and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. It was exactly that moment when Hatori looked over to see her holding the newborn so affectionately. Shigure and Ayame were on either side of him in an instant and they both sighed in his ears.

Shigure spoke first. "She really does look perfect like that; so at home holding a baby." He mused.

"Yes, it's so picturesque isn't it?" Ayame interjected. "I must say, the dress suits her to a tee." He grinned from ear to ear.

"What she really needs now is a dark and handsome man to stand behind her, one hand on her shoulder, gazing down at the baby in her arms. That would make it novel worthy." Shigure continued, blatantly pushing Hatori towards her.

"You know that's not possible." Hatori protested. "I can't fall in love again. I've had my chance." He sighed.

"Sometimes fate gives us another try at the things we think we've failed at." Ayame was right, for once.

Hatori looked back and forth between his two best friends. "I can't afford to fall in love. If that baby isn't one of us, then she's going to have to leave. I can't get attached." The look in his eyes spoke volumes above what his words attempted to portray. He was afraid of his heart breaking again. He was afraid of losing another love.

Shigure neglected to tell Hatori that he was above and beyond in love with her. Though it didn't seem like it, Shigure was a very observant person. The relationship between Hatori and Sayuri amused him. Neither one acknowledged their own feelings, and neither one noticed the obvious love the other had for them. He wondered sometimes if they were the most oblivious couple he could find, then he remembered Tohru and Kyo.

Hatori looked at the smirk on his friend's face and decided it was time to return to the land of the sane. It would soon be midnight, and he had to take Sayuri back to Shigure's house to spend the rest of the holiday with Tohru. He slid up behind her and slowly made his presence known. He didn't want her jumping with a baby in her arms.

She turned her head away from the now sleeping baby and smiled at him. For a moment she forgot her situation entirely. "I hope our baby is as cute." She told him absentmindedly. Before the sentence ended, she realized what she was saying.

The mothers around them laughed and one commented before Hatori could. "With the young doctor here as a father, and your stunning beauty, your baby is bound to be the most adorable child in the Sohma family."

Hatori took a moment to compose himself. Sayuri's unthinking comment hit him like a ton of bricks. Our baby he thought repeatedly. Our baby but it wasn't. He had no claim on this baby. He had no right to call it his. And she was just playing her part for the crowds. Or so he believed.

"We need to get going." He put a hand on her shoulder as she handed the baby back to his mother. "Your parents are waiting." The family believed that Sayuri's parents wanted her to spend New Year's with them. Akito was perfectly willing to let "the imposter" spend his holiday with "that woman".

As they walked out to the car, Hatori couldn't stop thinking about the "our baby" comment. She sounded so serious when she said it, and yet both of them knew it wasn't true. All the way to Shigure's house, he kept going over the words in his mind. His thoughts flipped back and forth between "she was acting" and "she wants to consider me the father". But he knew that the latter couldn't be true. She didn't see him that way, she was afraid of him and he was nothing more than the man who took responsibility for someone else's actions. It seemed to be his lot in life.

Sayuri, on the other hand, could think of nothing but the feeling of holding a baby. It felt so perfectly right somehow. Her maternal instincts kicked in instantly when she picked up that little bundle. Her dreams of holding her own baby were shattered in an instant when she remembered that, if her baby was a member of the zodiac, and if it was a boy, she would never be able to hold him without him turning into an animal. The thought brought tears to her eyes and caught in her throat. Taking care of a baby was her duty, holding it and loving it, her privilege; a privilege that would be taken from her by this curse.

As they pulled up to the house, Sayuri spoke quietly for the first time. "When can we find out the sex of the baby?" She asked resolutely, the time taken to work up the courage to ask obvious in her tone. Hatori noticed the change in her voice from her normal, hesitant self.

"We're at twelve weeks right?" He asked rhetorically. They both knew the count almost to the hour. "We can have an ultrasound anytime you want." Without her saying it, he knew the reason. She wanted to be able to hold her baby, the same way the other mothers held theirs. She wanted to know now what the chances were for her to be unable to hold her child. Hatori's mind raced through all the mothers of zodiac males, one in particular stood out above the rest: Momiji's mother. She had rejected her child with every fiber of her being because it changed into an animal when she held it. How would Sayuri, who had been through so much already, react to such a drastic ordeal?

"As soon as New Years is over?" She inquired, back to her hesitant self again. He nodded and then wordlessly got out of the car and helped her out. He walked her to the door, where Tohru was waiting excitedly for her houseguest, and then left to return to the world he now loathed even more than before.

Well, there it be, new chapter! However, it may take some time for another one as it is only in concept stages. .

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