Ch.7

The small woman was surprised when she looked up from the stool where she'd been sitting and saw Akari and Touya standing there. She recognized the girl immediately from this morning but had to think a bit before her mind remembered the pale boy.

"Yes?" She asked. She hadn't expected the girl to come back so soon. Especially after seeing the girl's initial reaction.

"I think you lied to us." Akari stated boldly, her fear making her words less than polite and more blunt than she usually was. Behind her, Touya tensed. "I think you can help Hikaru or at least you know something of what's going on but you won't tell us! I want to know why! I want to know how I can undo the wish." She took a step forward. "I'll do what you asked of me if you'll answer my questions!" At this the boy frowned and moved as if to grab the girl.

The woman held her hand up.

"First of all calm down." She closed the book that she'd been looking at and placed it on the shelf behind her. Then with careful movements she stood up and regarded the two in her shop. "I'm Claire." The two teens blinked. "My mother liked the French." More blinking. The two exchanged bewildered looks and then the girl sighed.

"I'm Fujisaki,Akari." She bowed her head slightly.

"Touya, Akira." Claire smiled.

"Much better." She went to the door after that and switched the plastic open sign to the other side so that it read closed. Then she locked the door. "This might take awhile. Follow me…" Heedless to say, this Touya, Akira was not a happy camper and the poor girl, Akari looked like she was having serious doubts at having come back. Claire's smile widened.

And just when she had thought life was getting a bit dull…

Hikaru's feet hurt and so did her head. She let Waya lead the way to wherever they were going next. All the places on Akari's list had been checked out. Some had been closed for the day, others had been closed for good and as for the rest… they'd been of no help whatsoever.

She'd learned that she'd been the reincarnation of some great whatnot in the year blah and that her future held great promise. In other places she'd learned that she'd been born under the sign of Saturn. Whether that was good or bad depended on the time, the day, the month, the movement of the stars… basically everything. Right now was a bad time. She didn't need no stars to let her know this bit of information. Then there'd been more promises of her finding a dark stranger that she'd live happily with for the rest of her life and have many children. They seemed to like the number four for her. Why four? Of all the possible numbers to tell her, why did they ALL have to pick four? It gave her the creeps.

She was NOT planned to have kids. She was not planned to be a freaking she. Try explaining that to someone busy ready tarot cards about your future though.

Hikaru felt miserable and all she wanted to do by this point was go back home and curl up in a ball and not move again until this horrible nightmare was over. But she couldn't go home. She sighed and then bit her lip. For one moment, as if she hadn't felt miserable enough, she thought of Sai. Oh just great. It was the second time this week she'd thought of him.

She was gonna be depressed for the rest of the freaking week now if not longer. To think that he'd disappeared from her life just like that…with no warning. It was almost gonna be a year now since that had happened. She felt the all too familiar lump in her throat grow. She only wanted to him again. To hear him again. He'd been the only one…to fully understand her. And she'd taken it for granted up until Sai had disappeared of course. Life was always like that.

Always.

She hated it.

From the corner of her eye, Hikaru saw Waya looking at her with a worried face. After several of these looks Hikaru snapped her head up and glared at him.

"What is it?"

"W…what should we do now?" Hikaru blinked and realized that they'd been walking around a bit aimlessly for the past, she checked her watch, hour and half. She groaned.

"Go back in time and erase everything?" She asked only half kidding. Waya stopped walking, hands deep in his pocket.

"You know you can stay with me and Isumi…"

"I'd still have to go back to get my stuff Waya." Hikaru stated weakly. "I have to face him sometime and apologize for the fact that I'm a complete and ungrateful jerk."

"Anyone in your position would have reacted that way." Waya muttered, rubbing the toe of his shoe in a crack in the pavement.

"…maybe…" She turned on her heels and started to head towards the train station. Now or never…

She couldn't lose him now. Not when she'd gotten so far and lost so much in trying to catch up to him.

So it would have to be now.

She heard Waya run to her side and together they made their way back Touya's house.

Hikaru stared at the wooden door with dread. Should she knock? Ring the doorbell? Or just stand here looking all pitiful? Waya stayed silent and made no move or any other gesture that could be taken for impatience. It was surprising to Hikaru. She'd never realized how considerate the loud redhead actually was. She mustered her courage for him mainly because she knew how agonizing it can be to just wait for someone to make up their mind about something. Her hand pressed the doorbell once, twice… the door opened.

"Come in." Touya said politely, game face on meaning that it was utterly closed of all emotions. The other boy didn't ask how the day had gone. He didn't need to. After all it was quite clear that Hikaru was still a girl. Hikaru and Waya made their way in and too soon the door was closed behind them. The three stood in the foyer, silent.

"Look, I—"

"Akari has somethi—" Hikaru and Touya both started and stopped talking at the same time. Hikaru blinked.

"Sorry, go ahead." The boy now girl said in a humble manner that was rare to see. Usually Touya would have said no… you go ahead and there would have been a longer exchange while they wasted time in trying to make the other say what needed to be said first. But here he just went on as if he'd never even been interrupted in the first place.

"Akari has something to tell you. She's in the living room."

"She is?"

"Yes." And with that the taller boy walked out, leaving the other two to follow. Well this boded well. Hikaru's stomach seemed to be made of knots.

"Ne Touya…" She tried to broach the other again.

"Yes?" The tone was civil. It was polite. It did not mean it was friendly or warm or inviting. Hikaru had never understood how Touya managed to do it.

"I'm sorry for what I said this afternoon. I didn't…I didn't mean it. I was just upset with everything and…" And it sounded so lame, even to her ears. Touya's shoulders seem to hunch forward for a minute, to round themselves.

"It doesn't matter Shindo." But it did. It really really did.

"Yes it does." She whispered softly. Touya sighed.

"Later Shindo." He turned to the living room. "What Akari has to say is more important." The redhead was on her knees in front of a go board. Her look of fierce concentration as she looked over the white and black stones was broken as the three entered the room. Akari looked up and a smile spread over her lips.

"Hikaru!" She got to her feet. "Did you have…" Her question trailed off into nothing as her eyes found the answer to her question. Hikaru was not changed. "Oh." She paused as she watched Touya usher the two further into the room and ask them to sit down. She sat back down again and stared at her feet for a moment before speaking. "I…uh… I went back to the first place we went to Hikaru and…" She bit her lip and looked to Touya for support. Green eyes caught hers and the paler boy nodded once. "…and…the lady there was able to give us some answers."

"Us?" Hikaru asked tiredly.

"Touya came with me." Akari said rapidly. She didn't know how her friend would take the rest of what was to come.

"What answers?" Waya asked, leaning forward. "Does she know how to get Shindo back to being a guy?"

"Yes…" Akari started and was nearly drowned out by Hikaru and Waya jumping up and down and doing a victory cheer. "Wait! It's not that simple. It's…" She looked torn. "…complicated." The two weren't listening to her at all!

"How do I turn back? What do I have to do? C'mon Akari… spit it out already!" The old Hikaru that everyone knew was back. A whirlwind of excess energy that was right now focusing on Akari alone.

"…You have to wait." Touya's voice cut into the questions.

"What?" Hikaru and Waya asked at the same time.

"What he means is that…" Akari quickly began before she could lose her nerve. "Is that it's a matter of time Hikaru. You have to wait until you experience certain things that girls go through before you can be a boy again." Hikaru sat down and stared at her childhood friend in disbelief.

"I have to what?" She asked weakly, already dreading the answer.

"What kind of experiences?" Waya asked, voice strained.

"…uh…" Akari avoided looking at Hikaru directly. "We're not too sure. It all depends on what I was thinking of when I made the wish." She took a deep breath. "But one thing is for sure… you… you…" She stuttered and turned a painful bright red.

"Spit it out Akari!" Hikaru hissed coming closer to the other girl.

"Oh Hikaru you're gonna have to at least wait until you get your period and that could take at most a month before it happens and I'm so sorry…" Hikaru paled visibly and jerked backwards as if Akari was suddenly diseased. Waya choked on the air he'd been trying to breathe and started to cough. Only Touya seemed calm out of the group. "I never meant for this to happen and I want to take it back. Please don't hate me Hikaru…" The girl continued apologizing and pleading. She was ignored though. Not out a spite or anger but simply out of shock. Dangerously pale, Hikaru managed to ask one more thing.

"Anything else…?" Akari winced.

"Everything else is just a possibility Shindo." Touya answered for the redhead.

"What are they though?" Hikaru pushed on weakly.

"Just things that girls find important I guess." At Hikaru's glare, the girl continued to explain. "First kiss or …HIKARU!" Akari shrieked as her friend simply fell to the ground in a dead faint.

A/N- Srry this is a short chapter. I'll make up for the fact by writing more in the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed. Thank you for those who keep reviewing me! It def. means a lot to me. Hugs to all.