A special thanks to TohruKyoYuki for reviewing my last chapter!

.-x-.

"Where were you the other day?" Hatori asked the silent boy who just entered into his home through the Zen garden entrance.

"About. I got stuck in the unbelievable wilderness that is known as a city." Haru stated blankly as he plopped down in Hatori's office.

Hatori swiveled around in his desk chair to look at the two males. "I don't see why you don't call me to come pick you up. Momiji does." The Dragon stated with a slightly irritated tone.

Haru shrugged nonchalantly before relaxing backwards. Hatori looked at the Ox for a few more seconds before turning around to his desk again. His dark green eye lingered on the picture of Kana before returning to the paperwork before him.

"So you haven't been around Mizuki then?" Hatori asked quietly. While keeping his back to the Ox, his eye was cast to the side, looking the Haru from the corner of his eye.

Haru shook his head. "Not really." He stated simply. Whenever Haru came around, it was customary for the Dragon to ask him if he confronted Mizuki.

"Not really…?" Hatori repeated quietly. He shuffled a few papers before turning back around. Haru's usual answer of "no" was what Hatori was expecting. "Explain." Hatori ordered.

Haru's grey eyes looked up to the ceiling. "She shouldered me a week and a half ago on accident. She apologized and went about her business." Haru explained. He left out the park confrontation.

Hatori nodded. "Good. I don't want Akito to think you're not upholding your end of the promise."

Haru's steel eyes flicked towards the somber man in front of him. "Understood."

.-x-.

"For now, we'll just announce the main cast that you've all voted for. As for the other cast members. Stage hands, and so on, we'll decide on those another time." A short girl said from the front of the 2-D class. It was time to do the class plays, and the whole class was a little uneasy of the topic…Cinderella.

Mizuki looked between her friends, and up to the board. To her dismay, she was on the list. A tap on her shoulder came from behind her. Reiji leaned up next to her ear. "Good going, Cinderzuki." Reiji joked, before reclining.

The girl swiveled around and gave him a playful glare. "I didn't ask for this!" Mizuki stated before giving in to Reiji's laughter.

"WAIT, HOLD ON!" Kyo's loud voice boomed over the class as he stood up abruptly. Yuki turned to the angered Cat. "It's too late now, get over it!" The slender boy said, before turning back to the board.

Voices from all the students in class erupted almost immediately. As they looked between the characters, everyone immediately started laughing at the list. From Tohru as the evil step sister, to Kyo as the Prince, to Mizuki as Cinderella, the play was certainly going to end up interesting.

Mizuki settled back into her chair and sighed loudly as Kyo continued to make a fuss. Reiji's good-hearted laughter from behind only continued to provoke her.

As Mizuki rested her head on the table, she overheard Tohru talking to Yuki. She was attempting to sound evil, and immediately Mizuki laughed. 'This is definitely going to be interesting…'

After a few more minutes of the class's laughter and Kyo's yelling, the bell rang for the next class to start. Immediately, Mizuki grabbed her bag and headed for the door. Reiji soon fell into step beside her. "You okay? I didn't make you mad, did I?" Reiji asked her as they strode down the hallway towards the gym.

"You didn't do anything, Reiji-kun. It's just I've had a headache ever since that encounter with that really angry guy." Mizuki stated. Everyone was curious was she was a little more quiet and somber. In truth, her head was pounding ever since that day where she met that bipolar guy Haru. She told Tohru when they were cooking about a week ago, but other than that, she hadn't brought it up to anyone else.

"Did you talk to your doctor about it?" Reiji offered as they continued to push through the students. She gave him a curious look. "That may be a good idea…" She would definitely talk to Hatori later about her never ending headache whenever she saw him next.

As the two neared the gym, they separated ways to change into their uniforms. "Meet ya back in the gym for class?" Reiji asked her. Mizuki nodded and gave him a smile. She pushed the door to go into the bathroom and set her bag on the floor. Slowly, she withdrew her withered uniform from her bag. As she put it on, she noticed how she was starting to fill it out again. Her school uniform also wasn't falling off of her anymore.

Mizuki tied her black belt around her waist and zipped up her bag. On her way out, she threw her bag over her shoulder. As Mizuki entered the gym, she noticed Kyo stretching in their usual spot.

"Hey Prince." Mizuki greeted playfully. A vein popped in the orange-haired boy's forehead. "Please don't remind me…" He stated sullenly.

"But, I suppose it won't be so bad if you're playing Cinderella." Kyo muttered, with a blush creeping up on his face.

Mizuki took notice of the blush and red appeared on her face as well. "Yeah…I guess it'll be good…" She stuttered out.

"Hey, I have a question…" He asked her sheepishly. A bashful look crossed over his usual harsh features. She stopped stretching and cocked her head in his direction.

"What's up, Kyo?" She asked him quietly. His eyes were downcast and his cheeks progressively got redder.

He pursed his lips and looked sideways, trying to give a look of irritation. "I was just wondering if you're dating Rei-tard."

Mizuki's head cocked back in confusion. "Haha! No! He's just really polite…and it's nice to have someone on the outside to talk to." She stated thoughtfully while spreading her legs to stretch again.

Kyo's eyes lingered on her. "But why?" He asked her. Mizuki hummed before answering. "He may be a classmate, but he's also a teacher of ours. That'd be really awkward. Plus, we've talked about it before, what with all the rumors…We kinda just see each other as siblings." She answered truthfully.

"Keh, like I'd let you date him anyways." The stubborn answer from the guy next to her brought Mizuki's attention from stretching to him.

"What do you mean? I thought you guys reconciled!" She asked him. He scoffed and turned away from her. "Well, yeah, but that's not what I mean!"

"What do you mean then?" Mizuki asked, while flicking his reddened ear. His orange eyes peered back at her in irritation. 'Is she really this oblivious?!' He thought angrily. Before he could open his mouth, Takeshi came out and ordered the class to stand at attention. As the class popped up onto their feet, the Cat took a long look at the white-haired female at his side before shifting his narrowed eyes to the front.

.-x-.

Shigure gave a look of disbelief to the two nervous girls kneeling before him. "You're kidding. Kyo's playing the part of the Prince?!" The Dog let out a laugh as he flipped through the pages. The two came to him to ask how to be good at acting for the play. But before he could continue poking fun, a foreboding aura came up behind the two girls.

"Tohru…Mizuki…" Immediately, the two girls scrunched in terror as Kyo stood behind them. "Yes…?" They asked in unison, while clutching each other for support.

"What're you doing? Don't tell him stuff he doesn't need to know! And you, DON'T LAUGH LIKE THAT." Kyo said in response to the snickering Shigure. Immediately, Kyo snatched the two copies of the play and stalked off. "I'm confiscating this!"

The girls trailed after him. "B-But, Kyo, if you take it, we can't memorize our lines!" Tohru pleaded. He turned towards the girls behind him. "Just make sure not to tell Shishou, okay?" Tohru balked as Mizuki looked between the two.

"Who's that?" Mizuki asked. Kyo gave her an irritated look before it turned into a confused one. "You haven't met Shishou?" Kyo asked, while holding the scripts away from a scrambling Tohru.

Mizuki shook her head. "He taught me martial arts and he also took me in when I was younger. I'll take you to meet him one day." Kyo stated, while moving the scripts away from Tohru's grasp. The white-haired girl nodded before helping Tohru get the scripts.

"I really wasn't going to interfere, but do mind letting us get out of the hallway, please?" Yuki stated evenly to Kyo. As the trio turned, Yuki was standing with Hatori in the entranceway.

"Ah, Yuki-kun, Hatori-san!" Tohru and Mizuki almost said in union. They turned to look at each other before smiling.

The two males took off their shoes and stepped up into the hallway. "Uhm, Mizuki, Tohru, the pot is boiling over— Oh hey!" Shigure said from the kitchen, before sneaking over to his best friend.

"Will you be staying for dinner, Hatori-san?" Mizuki asked as she and Tohru ran off to the kitchen. He gave her a verbal confirmation before turning to the Dog whose playful façade slipped off his face after all of the younger people left.

"Is Mizuki really having headaches? I heard from Haru that they had an encounter about two weeks ago." Hatori asked quietly. The Dog's usual bright eyes were narrowed and dark. He nodded.

"I overheard her stating that she's had a splitting headache ever since she saw him." Shigure's voice was even and cold. Hatori hummed and pursed him lips.

"Dinner's ready!" The two girls chorused as they brought the food out to the table. As they set the food up, the rest of the members gathered and took their seats.

When Mizuki and Tohru sat down, everyone began putting food on their plates. "You guys made codfish too?" Kyo asked with a slight glimmer of appreciation shining through is gruff comment.

The two nodded happily as he grabbed a huge piece and dropped it on his plate. "Do you really have to act like you have no manners, Kyo? How do you expect to find a female companion with those mannerisms? So sad." Shigure cried, while pretending to wipe a tear from his face.

Kyo scoffed in his direction and immediately put a huge chunk of codfish in his mouth, and chewed slowly in the direction of the lamenting Dog. Shigure wailed again loudly in distaste.

The group quickly finished their dinner. "It was yummy, ladies, thank you!" Shigure said happily. The rest of the males around the table nodded in agreement.

Mizuki and Tohru gave them bright smiles before beginning to take the plates and dishes to the kitchen. As they began to wash the dishes, the males brought the rest of the plates from the table.

"Oh, Hatori, can I talk to you for a second please?" Mizuki asked the older Sohma as he dropped off his plate.

He turned around. "Sure." Mizuki continued to dry the dishes as she turned to him. "I've been having a really bad headache lately, would you mind checking it out for me since you're already here?"

Hatori nodded. "I don't mind. Let me get my bag out of my car and I'll check you upstairs." Mizuki thanked him as he went outside to get his doctor bag. The girl turned back to finish the dishes with her friend.

"Mizu-chan, you can go upstairs. I'll finish, okay?" Tohru said brightly. Mizuki gave her a confused look. "You sure, Ru-chan?" She asked the smaller girl.

Tohru nodded happily and Mizuki gave her a quick hug. "Thank you! I'll clean the dishes tomorrow night then!" She told her friend as she walked out into the hallway and to the stairs.

When she finished climbing the stairs, Hatori entered the house. She immediately went to her room and left the door open. She plopped on her bed as Hatori made it to her room. As he entered, he shut the door behind himself. He pulled a chair up to her bed and sat down.

"So, how are you feeling?" He asked her monotonously. She pondered slightly. "I've been having a terrible headache for about a week and a half now…It all happened after I met some weird guy that I think is related to you. It was so weird." Mizuki explained. When she mentioned the bipolar guy she'd bumped into, a sharp pain erupted in her temple. Immediately, she grabbed her head.

Hatori watched quietly before touching her head softly. "Who was it, Mizuki?" Her eyes, although narrowed in pain, focused on him. "Sohma…Hatsuharu." She said carefully, albeit easily. Saying his name felt right. Her eyes narrowed further. "Do you think I know him Hatori-san?" Mizuki asked him quietly. Her eyes were showing the strain she was putting on herself to remember the enigma of a guy that she met.

Hatori slowly removed his hand from her head and fished a bottle out of his bag. He shook a small pill from it and gave it to her. She thanked him as she took it and gulped down water that she had on her bedside table.

He replaced both of his hands on her head, almost cupping her face while doing so. "Hatori, what's wrong? Why won't you answer me?" She asked, while her green eyes were beginning to fill with recognition. He remained silent as he watched the younger girl fight to remember his cousin. Almost a few seconds later, her mint green eyes widened in recognition.

"Haru…wait, Haru? My Haru?" Mizuki said slowly, as memories started to fill her mind. Hatori placed his right hand over her face so that his fingers touched both temples.

"I'm so sorry Mizuki." Hatori muttered, with unshed tears threatening to fall from his eye. She tried to back away from him. His grip held her strong. "What do you mean? I have to go find him! I have to go tell him that I—"

With a bright flash, Mizuki crumpled back onto her bed, asleep. Hatori's hands were still cupping her face as he leaned over her. Small droplets of water fell onto her face as he fell to his knees at her bedside.