I own no one. Except for Caleb who Daelaeyni is borrowing.

I just want to know if you liked my Ayame in the previous chapter. I think it was okay, but not great. So if you review peas tell me how I did.

The rain had still not stopped by the end of the school day. Momiji decided that he would go bowling with some of his friends and left Haru in the rain. Of course Haru had an umbrella, Momiji isn't that careless.

There was no sound on the streets except for the strong noises of water droplets on the objects careless people left outside. Thunder sounded from a distance and lightening flashed soon after. But that could not drown out the helpless mew that Haru heard. Looking around he saw a speck of orange under a chair, cowering from the rain.

Quickly Haru scooped it up into his coat where it struggled until it realized that Haru was dry. Haru looked down at the wet animal and it looked up at him with bright emerald eyes. It was a kitten. Haru's first thought was that it was Kyo, until it started purring and rubbing its head against his chest.

Suddenly the wind picked up and papers that weren't held down were blown around and into Haru's face. His umbrella didn't want to stay still and so it flew out of his hands and exposed him to the cold rain. When drops of water landed on the kitten it cried in surprise and clawed Haru. He had to get out of the rain so he started running toward a building close by.

It was Hana-chan's house. Haru remembered the building from when Hana-chan brought them here. Hesitantly Haru walked up the steps to the door and knocked three times. A woman that seemed to be Hana-chan's mother opened the door. Haru by that time was soaking wet and his hair was sticking to his head.

"Oh, you're Saki's friend. Um…Yuki?" She asked with a smile. "Well come in, come in. Oh, Megumi, get him a towel or two." Then she pulled him out of the rain and into the entrance hall. "So Yuki, what brings you here?"

"Actually, my name is Haru. The reason I'm here is that I lost my umbrella and this was the closest house I could get to. Besides, I had to get this little guy dry." Haru held up the kitten in his arms and showed it to Hana-chan's mother. The kitten was actually white with orange spots all over it. It's little pink ears twitched and it blinked its green eyes interestingly at Haru.

"Awwww! What's his name?" She asked petting its head. Haru looked at the kitten closely and then replied.

"Her name is Orange." Megumi appeared with the towels silently, then they moved into the living room where Haru dried off, and Megumi played with Orange. Hana-chan's mother brought in a cup of tea for Haru and a bowel of milk for the kitten.

The front door swung open as lightening flashed behind Hana-chan to make her seem even creepier than she was. She shed her shoes and walked into the living room.

"Hello, Haru. What are you doing here?" Hana-chan asked. Megumi looked over at his sister.

"Did you sense his waves?" Megumi asked looking between Hana-chan and Haru. Hana-chan nodded and sat on the couch. Orange uncertainly walked up to Hana-chan and rubbed her head on Hana-chan's bare legs. She leaned down and picked up the kitten.

"I found her on the way home, they won't let us keep pets at the Sohma estate. Will you keep her?" Haru asked as the kitten took an instant liking to Hana-chan.

"Why not, she's adorable. Mother would love her. Father is more of a dog-person, but he's outnumbered. What's her name?" Hana-chan asked scratching the kitten's head.

"Orange." Piped up Megumi. "I think that it is a fitting name for a witch's cat."

"Aren't witches' cats normally black?" Haru asked confused.

"I am not a normal witch, besides the Yuki-fans call me demon lord so either way I'm not normal." Hana-chan said smiling slightly.

"I think you're fine, no one is normal, or perfect for that matter. You've sensed then waves given off by the Sohmas you've met. Totally not normal." Haru said standing.

"Compared to me, you are normal. You can't hear what people's hearts say or kill them by wishing it." Hana-chan said looking down at Orange.

"Yeah, but I can become an outcast just like the way you were and I could be exposed at any minute." Haru sighed and looked at his watch. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then he said thank-you and good bye to Hana-chan's mother and left.

For awhile Hana-chan sat on the couch and wondered what he meant by what he said. There was only one thing she knew the Sohmas had a secret.

Haru was cursing at himself for the way he ran his mouth. If he hadn't left as soon as he did he might have spilled the Sohma secret. Hatori would murder him. There was just something about Hana-chan that made him feel safe. He could relate to her, only her curse wasn't a secret.

The rain had softened but not stopped when Haru finally reached home. There was no one to greet him and that was okay, Haru wanted to be alone. He sat in his room with the music on to drown out the rain. There was a knock on the door, but Haru didn't hear it. The door opened and revealed Kisa. She was wearing a damp school uniform. Haru opened his arms and Kisa ran into them, hugging him tight.

"I heard that you were sad." Kisa mumbled into his shirt. "You helped me so I want to help you." Her selflessness made Haru smile.

"You already did. I'll be fine. How's school?" Haru asked. Kisa had been talking a lot lately. It had been nearly six months ago when she would hardly talk. Kisa smiled big and happily.

"I made a friend! She just moved into my class. Her name is Akako, she's got red hair, and they made fun of her too. Then we decided that we should stick together, and now they don't bother us." Kisa's smile never wavered and Haru's grew. The clock on the wall behind them chimed five o' clock.

"I have to go, mom will get worried about me if I'm late for dinner again." Kisa said hugging Haru one more time before running off in the direction of her house. Haru sat back and stared at his ceiling with a faint smile on his face. There was a knock on his door before the person entered.

"Is Kisa over here? Her mother wants her." It was Hiro. He looked at Haru's smile and one of his eyebrows lifted. "What wrong with your face, did you get botox or something? It's creepy."

"Hiro, Kisa left. She's probably already at her house by now. Why don't you go over there." Haru said turning away from the door.

"You can't force me to go anywhere. I don't have to go anywhere you tell me to just because you are a few years older. In fact I can stay right here." Hiro said immediately sitting on a vacant chair.

"Get out of my room before I hurt you." Haru said slowly to calm himself down. Hiro knew exactly how to talk to push Haru's buttons.

"Fine, I'll charge you with child abuse and see you in court." Hiro smiled wryly and crossed his arms.

"You know that attitude is why Kisa is always distant with you. If you were actually nice to someone besides Kisa and your mother maybe she'd hang out with you more. Cocky remarks like that gain no points with the ladies is what Shigure used to say." Haru said glancing back at Hiro. "If you were nicer to Tohru when Kisa's around she'd spend more time with you."

"How would you know something like that! You're just the stupid ox!" Hiro said his face angry.

"Maybe, I am the stupid ox, but I got to hang out with Tohru more often because I befriended Kyo. Or at least I'm tolerating him." Haru stood and turned toward Hiro. "You better get out of my room before I sell you to the Chinese."

Hiro thought about what Haru said and decided to go and visit Tohru, his rival. He got one of the older Sohmas to drive him there through mockery and bribery. When he reached the front door he started having second thoughts. Nevertheless he knocked on the door, half because it was raining and his ride left and half because he wanted to. It was Yuki who answered the door.

"Oh, Hiro, what are you doing here?" Yuki asked surprised. Unless Kisa was with him Hiro never came over.

"I came to see Tohru." Hiro said as Yuki let him inside. "Where is she?"

"Tohru is making dinner, I'll tell her to make extra for you." Then Yuki left Hiro in the hall to take off his shoes and follow him.

"Hiro! It's nice to see you again! I'm making chicken, is that okay?" Tohru asked coming into the room with and wooden spoon and an apron around her waist. "Do you want anything to drink while dinner is cooking?" Hiro wasn't there for two minutes before she started fussing over him.

"Why are you always so cheery? It seems too fake to be sincere happiness. Why aren't you ever sad? It is really creepy." Hiro said sitting on the couch.

"Well, I won't allow for sadness. We have enough sad memories and matching tears to make a sorrow ocean so I try to make happy memories to make up for them. You have bad memories too, If you let me I'll help make some happy ones." Tohru said leaning against the doorframe.

"I came here asking for Kisa advice, how did we get to making happy memories." Hiro asked looking at Tohru's ditzy smile. She shrugged and went back to the kitchen. Hiro followed her.

"I know, why don't you take Kisa out on a date? Go to the movies share a box of popcorn." Tohru said stirring the pot on the stove with the spoon.

"How am I going to do that? ' Oh, Kisa will you go on a date with me? We can go to the movies." Hiro said mockingly to Tohru.

"I thought you didn't like Tohru, Now you're asking to go on a date with her? It doesn't make sense." Shigure said walking in the kitchen. "That smells wonderful." He came in on the part where Hiro said "…will you go on a date with me?"

"I didn't ask Tohru!" Hiro said getting angry. Tohru looked just as confused, as he looked angry. "Why don't you go play computer games! That's all you do all day is sit at your computer."

"On the contrary little sheep. I've been working on a new book called "A Flower among the weeds." It is going remarkably well, since I have great examples for it." Shigure glanced at Tohru who was stirring the pot and trying to listen to the conversation at the same time.

Hiro ended up eating dinner with Tohru and he managed to go ten minutes without a snide remark. He still called her Stupid woman, but Tohru didn't seem to mind. Yuki called Hatori and asked if he could pick Hiro up after dinner. Tomorrow there would be school. Before Hatori arrived Tohru and Hiro wound up making plans for Saturday in which Hiro and Kisa would go on a date.

"Well, it seems that you aren't so stupid after all. Even if you still can't get your cooking right." Hiro said as he left. Kyo nearly murdered Hiro after that comment, but Tohru pulled on his sleeve.

"You shouldn't let him walk all over you like that and call you stupid woman." Kyo said to Tohru in the kitchen. Tohru was cleaning up the plates and putting the leftovers in the refrigerator.

"He seems to have it hard at home and takes it out on people around him. If he gets everything he wants to say out then maybe he wouldn't say things like that anymore. You used to beat Yuki up everyday right? And then you saw each other more often. You got to see how hard each of you had it. Now you don't even argue much." Tohru said looking at Kyo. "True, you don't like each other, but you endure each other's company. Right?"

Kyo looked out the window at the dark forest behind the house. He was remembering all of the times that Hatori had treated the wounds that Yuki had given him and all of the wounds that he had given to Yuki. Sometimes it was pretty bad. Kyo once had to be hospitalized for blood-loss. Yuki's right arm had been broken twice and his nose had been bloodied quite a few times. His jaw had been fractured as well as both wrists and a leg. Kyo had black eyes, bloody noses; all of his fingers had been broken or fractured at least once and his leg had been broken.

For once Kyo had nothing to say to Tohru. He stood there until e felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned expecting it to be Tohru, but found that Yuki was attached to the hand.

"Don't touch-!" Kyo didn't even get to finish that sentence because Yuki hit him.

"Don't touch my stuff." Yuki said walking away.

"You can't just accuse me of touching your stuff and then hit me!" Kyo yelled. "I don't even want to look at your stuff let alone touch it!" Tohru just watched in confusion as the two argued.

"What's wrong?" Tohru asked innocently.

"Kyo took one of my pens." Yuki said looking at Tohru. Kyo's mouth hung open as he stared at Yuki.

"You hit me because someone stole one of your writing utensils!" Kyo yelled, turning slightly red from anger. "That's so stupid! Why would I take your pen? What would I use it for?"

"You'd write with it." Yuki said in a 'duh' manner.

"Oh, sorry, that was me!" Tohru said rubbing the back of her head. " I needed to write the shopping list and couldn't find a pencil so I borrowed one. Tohru reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue ball point pen. "Here. Sorry for causing you trouble."

"That's okay." Yuki said taking the pen from Tohru. He then turned and went back into the living room to finish his homework.

"Did I miss something?" Kyo asked looking at Tohru. She just shook her head and planted a light kiss on his lips.

"Don't worry about it."

Hiro walked up to Kisa that night and clasped his hands behind his back. He was so nervous, he didn't know if he could muter the words.

"Kisawouldyougoondatewithme?" Hiro asked when Kisa followed him into the hall. She was in her nightgown and had been getting ready for bed when he asked to talk with her.

"What did you say?" Kisa asked. His words came out all jumbled and she couldn't make them out.

"Do you want to go see a movie with me on Saturday? No Onee-san, just me and you?" Hiro asked a little slower. Kisa smiled and nodded.

"I'd love too. What movie will we see?" Kisa asked.

"I don't know, but we could find out when we get there." Hiro said with newfound strength and a smile. "Well, it's getting late. You should head to bed. I'll see you on Saturday." Hiro waited until Kisa went into her room before waltzing down the halls with a grin on his face. He was so happy he could explode. Haru saw him and smirked.

"What happened to you?" Haru asked, he didn't need an answer Hiro never smiled unless he was mocking someone or if Kisa did something.

"Kisa's going on a date with me on Saturday." Hiro was so happy he blurted it out. He didn't even seem to care until a few minutes afterward when he realized what he said. "Ah…I mean we're…going to-."

"Save it. You two were meant for each other. One of you hardly talks and one of you hardly stops talking." Haru said mocking Hiro. "I can see your wedding now. The tigers and sheep flock to you on your special day. Of course they are separated wouldn't want the bride's family to eat the groom's. Ayame could make special dresses for the women and suits for the gentlemen." Hiro was starting to get annoyed and was turning faintly pink on his cheeks.

"Will you shut-up! It nothing like that. Do not repeat what you just said to anyone you got that!" Hiro said pointing menacingly, well as menacingly as a grade-school kid could. Haru just smiled and wiggled his fingers.

"I guess that means I don't get an invitation." Haru said jeered backing down the hallway. Glaring Hiro chased Haru down the halls as Haru continued to give wedding advice until Hiro locked himself in his room.

Hiro flopped on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Saturday was a day away and time seemed to be going backwards for Hiro. He thought back on the dinner he had with Tohru. She didn't seem so bad. After all except for Rin the zodiac seemed to like her a lot. Especially Kyo. Hiro saw the looks he gave Tohru. Well, Kyo may be the cat, but he suffered as much as the rest of them if not more.

Exhaustion overtook Hiro and he rolled over had fell into the soft clutches of sleep.

Tohru was finishing her homework when someone knocked on her door. The door opened to reveal a tired looking Shigure.

"Do you need anything?" Tohru asked putting her books away. "Do you want some tea?"

"No, but could you answer a few questions?" Shigure asked sitting on Tohru's bed. He pulled out a small notebook from his kimono as well as a pen. Tohru nodded and looked at him with a smile.

"I'd be happy to." Shigure smiled back at her and put his glasses on.

"What comes to your mind when you think of the word romantic?" Shigure asked his pen posed above the paper ready to write what came from her lips.

"Candles. And flowers. Not just any kind of flowers though." Tohru bit her lip and thought for a minute. "Roses and Carnations. I think in any color except yellow, and white. Oh, and like sounds of a waterfall or a fishpond. I think that's it."

Shigure scribbled furiously in the notebook and looked up at her. "If you were all alone in the house and your favorite song came on the radio, what would you do?"

"That happened the other day! I was cleaning the kitchen with the radio on and a song came on. I couldn't help it I started dancing!" Tohru said smiling to herself. "It was so funny. I caught a glimpse of me in a mirror." She put her hand to her mouth as if she would start to giggle. Shigure wrote that down in the book.

"Last question, If the man you fell in love with was kidnapped by his rival in love, what would you do?" Shigure asked looking at Tohru intently.

"I would go look for him of course. I may not be very smart, but I can find things especially if I put my mind to it." Tohru looked at Shigure's hand as it swiftly wrote what she said down. "Is that for your book?"

Shigure smiled mysteriously at her. "You will just have to read it when it's finished." Shigure said standing. "Thank you. You have helped me a lot. Would you mind brining me a cup of tea in a few minutes?"

"Sure, I've finished my homework." Tohru said as Shigure walked out of her room. Tohru quickly set out the uniform she would wear tomorrow and then walked down stairs. She set a kettle on the stove to heat up the water and then went to find Kyo and Yuki.

Yuki was with his garden. He was pulling out the weeds that made their home in between the growing plants and putting them in a bucket. Yuki was humming to himself as he sat back on his heels and observed his work.

"Yuki, do you want some tea?" Tohru asked. She Yuki jump in the waning light of the sunset, but he turned around with a smile. "Shigure asked me to make some for him. Do you want some too? Or how about hot cocoa." Tohru squatted next to him and stroked the leaves on the nearest plant. "What's this one? It's new."

"It's a pepper plant. I planted it a few days ago." Yuki handed Tohru the watering pail beside him. "Do you want to water it?" Smiling Tohru carefully poured a small amount of water over the plant. Faintly they heard the kettle whistling from behind them in the house.

"Oh, I should go get that." Tohru said standing. "I'll bring you some tea." Yuki smiled when she left and looked back at his plants. He finished watering them and walked back to the house where Tohru was balancing four mugs on a tray.

"Here, let me help you." Yuki said taking the tray before Tohru dropped it. The phone rang from it's home on the table in the hallway. Tohru ran to pick it up.

"Oh, hello, Grandpa! How are you? You're well? That's great." Tohru said into the phone. "You know Caleb? Well, he's in town. He bought an apartment near Uo-chan I believe." Yuki, not wanting to eavesdrop went to Shigure's study where Shigure was typing like lightening on his computer. He handed Shigure the tea in which Shigure sipped and set it down next to the other three mugs beside him.

When Yuki walked back into the kitchen Tohru had already hung up the phone and was putting away some dishes. Tohru glanced at Yuki before drying her hands and taking the tray. She set it on the table, took one of the mugs, and handed it to Yuki who sat down in the living room and flicked on the television. Tohru took up one of the other mugs and brought it upstairs to Kyo.

As usual, he was on the roof. He looked as if he was sleeping. Quietly Tohru walked over to him and sat down. She leaned over him to see if he was really awake as his eyes snapped open. Tohru pulled away quickly, he had started her. The tea in the mug sloshed around and some landed on Tohru's arm.

"Ah! Hot!" Tohru shrieked putting down the cup. She hurriedly tried to wipe the steaming liquid off her, but Kyo go to it before her.

"I'm sorry!" Kyo said using his shirt to soak up the tea.

"Ah, now your shirt is dirty! Oh, did I disturb you? I sorry." Tohru said her eyes wide either from the fact she woke him up or that the tea hurt. Kyo pulled her arm away from her.

"Are you hurt? How bad is it?" Kyo asked looking at the red stain on her forearm.

"It's nothing. I've had worse. Once a curling iron burned me. I had a scab for months. Mom felt so bad she bought me ice cream everyday for a month. It was kind of funny it looked like a heart." Tohru said laughing. Kyo smiled at her a little awkwardly.

"You are so weird." Kyo sat back, but still glanced at Tohru's arm once in a while. "Do we have any burn medicine in our First Aid kit?" Tohru shook her head. "And you would know. You're such a klutz." He saw Tohru's blush.

"Let's go inside. I'll get you another mug of tea." Tohru said starting to get up.

"Can we stay here a little longer? We can't hug or anything, but we can sit here." Kyo said looking at Tohru. She sat back down and looked up at the sky. The stars were starting to come out.

"Ohhhh. Make a wish Kyo!" Tohru said pointing to a star just ahead of them. Tohru remembered the rhyme her mother taught her when she was little. "Star light, Star bright. First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might. Have the wish I wish tonight." Then Tohru closed her eyes. And wished. When Tohru felt Kyo's lips on her own she opened her eyes.

When they parted, Kyo smiled. "Did you get your wish?" Tohru just smiled back at him.

"We should go downstairs. It's getting cold." Then Tohru picked up the mug and walked over to the ladder that she used to climb up. Kyo followed her downstairs and into the kitchen where she refilled the mug and handed it to him. She yawned and told them that she was going to bed.

Tohru had changed into her nightgown and turned off her lights when Yuki came upstairs. He paused outside of her door and then continued down the hall to his room. Tohru rolled over and stared at the wall. She knew full well that what she wished on the roof would be impossible, but she still tried to hope. There was nothing more she ever wanted more than for it to come true.

Tohru's wish was to find a cure for the Sohma curse.

So, how did you guys like it? I think I did Hiro awful, but I wanted him to be a little nicer than he is in the books. (I found out how to make dots, but I don't know if they'll show up.)

Halfway through this chapter I forgot what I was going to write and I changed most of it. I think that this version is better. So, tell me what you fink of it.