((Hi again. Thank you to my 3 reviewers from last time. Hoping to see more reviews on this chapter! It's the longest one so far. Happy reading. c:))

I stood at the bottom of the stairwell. Feeling frozen in time. I listened closely for the voices in the dining room. Trying to hear if his was one of them.

"Ah, Miss Honda, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's late." That voice, Yuki's, came from behind me. I jumped and turned around. Yuki was coming down the staircase, smiling softly. He was dressed in a smart gray suit with a purple tie that matched his eyes.

"O-oh! Yuki! Yes, we can go in there together," I said, smiling back. "You look very handsome!"

A small blush crawled across his pale cheeks. "Well, thank you. You look lovely yourself, Miss Honda." He then reached the bottom and offered his arm. "Shall we then?"

I nodded and linked my arm with his. As we made our way to the dining room, I stole a couple glances at him. He really did look very handsome. But so, so much like his brother. Which forced me to look away.

"Tohru, Yuki!" Shigure greeted as we stepped into the dining room. "What took you two so long? Could it possibly be fodder for my next great novel: 'The Rat and the Riceball: A Steamy Adolescent Love Affair'?"

Yuki rolled his eyes and unlinked his arm from mine. "Former rat now. And no, of course not. I would never make an advance on a taken woman, even if she is taken by the most disgusting reptile in existence."

"Former reptile! Former reptile!" Shigure pointed out, grinning. As the two continued to banter, I looked around the room, my stomach in knots. But with one glance-over, relief washed over my body. Ayame was not there yet.

On the left side of the long table sat Hatori, Shigure, Yuki (now that he was taking a seat next to the former dog he was still arguing with), Hatsuharu, and Ritsu. There were a few empty seats in between. On the right side sat Kagura, Kisa, Hiro, and Momiji. Empty seats were to be found there as well.

"Sissy! Sissy! Sit next to me, Sissy!" Kisa suddenly cried out. I looked over at her and smiled tenderly.

"Of course I'll sit next to you, Kisa-chan!" Heading over, everyone except Kagura moved down one seat so that I could sit in between her and Kisa.

As Kisa flung her arms around me, Hiro groaned loudly. "What are you doing here anyway? This is a family celebration, and you're not part of this family."

Kisa frowned, but it was Kagura that spoke up in my defense. "Tohru is probably the one that broke the curse, you short-sighted sheep! So you might want to think about thanking her instead of dissing her as soon as she sits down!"

I waved my hands frantically. "O-oh, thank you, Kagura, but really, I'm sure Hiro didn't mean anything by it! He's right. I'm not part of this family, and-"

Kisa chimed in: "But Sissy will be someday! Sissy is going to marry Grandpa Ayame and then she'll be my sissy and my grandma!"

I flushed. The nausea, only having vanished for a few happy moments, returned. "Well, I don't know, Kisa-chan. I mean. Well. The thing is...!"

Kagura looked away from Hiro and to me, her angry expression turning into one of delight. "Oh, yeah, I forgot you and the snake were dating." This seemed to make her very happy. "You should marry him. If you do, my darling Kyo would be able to see once and for all that his destiny is with me, not with you!"

I laughed nervously. "Um, well...well, I...it's a little bit early to be thinking of marriage!" I couldn't believe that I had just sat down and already we were talking about Ayame.

"If I was dating Kyo, I'd marry him after a day! Or maybe after an hour!" Kagura said.

"Well-"

Kisa bounced up and down in her seat. "Sissy and Grandpa getting married! Sissy will look so pretty in a white dress!"

"T-thank you, Kisa-chan, but really, I-"

Kagura started twirling her hair in her fingers, smiling. "I could help you plan the wedding, Tohru. Yeah! I have about a dozen different plans for me and Kyo, and since I'll only use one, you could choose from the others. One of my favorites is the 'winter wonderland' wedding. Ayame won't transform in the cold anymore, so it could really work!"

"That's so nice of you to offer, Kagura, but really, it's..." I felt like I was going to throw up. They didn't realize how much it hurt to talk about this. Yes, after six months of dating, it was too soon to be thinking about marriage. But that didn't mean I hadn't thought of it already.

Before I started dating Ayame, romance was never on my mind, I was all about finishing school and making Mom proud. But as soon as our courtship began, I found myself thinking about stuff like this. Wondering if maybe he would be my husband someday. What our wedding would be like. More importantly, what marriage would be like.

I pictured us getting a small little house out in the countryside. Raising our silver-haired, blue-eyed children among open fields, near a lake. I would stay home with the kids, or maybe teach at their one-room schoolhouse down the street. And he would drive a half hour to his shop each day but he wouldn't mind because he was tired of city life and loved the miniature paradise we had found together.

Now it was all gone. Forced out of my daydreams by things beyond my control. It hurt so bad.

But thankfully Hiro interrupted our 'girl talk' with: "This is so boring. When is the food going to be served? And is it even going to be edible? If Shigure made it, I'll probably starve myself."

Hearing this, Shigure turned toward Hiro and put a hand over his heart. Wincing. "Oh, Hiro, why so cruel? Such little faith you have in me!" He then smiled. "But no, I didn't cook anything. It's all edible! And it will be served as soon as everyone arrives."

Hiro sighed. "But who knows when, or if, everyone will arrive?"

"Well, we'll wait just a few more min-oh, look, here's a late comer now!" Shigure announced. I quickly turned to the entryway of the dining room to see if it was him. But it was only Kyo, looking supremely uncomfortable in the black suit he was wearing.

He sat down next to Momiji, his face red. "Not. One. Word."

Momiji beamed. "One word about what? How handsome you look?"

"Don't make me hit you!"

"Wah! Handsome Kyo's being mean to me!"

"Don't call me 'Handsome Kyo', you stupid brat!"

I watched this petty argument continue, smiling. Some things never changed.

But most things did.

After another ten minutes, Rin and Kureno arrived. At that point, the demand for food became enormous, and Shigure finally succumbed to the masses.

The food was brought out on silver platters. There was enough pot roast, sweet potatoes, glazed vegetables, green bean casserole, and buttered bread to feed a small army. The food looked mouth-watering but my stomach wouldn't cooperate with my eyes. Every time I brought my fork up to my lips, my stomach did another backflip.

After a while of "ooh, this is so delicious!" and "is that cinnamon on the sweet potatoes?" and similar discussion, the Sohmas launched into what the dinner was really about. The curse being broken.

Everyone had their own theories. "Maybe Akito has been lying to us all along. Maybe he knew the curse would break after a certain number of years and just didn't want us to know," offered Rin.

"I doubt that," Hatori countered. "It is more likely that there is another prophecy associated with the curse that even Akito is ignorant of."

"Or maybe Tohru is secretly in love with Handsome Kyo!" Momiji joked.

Kyo smacked him upside the head. "Stop calling me that!"

Hiro piped up: "Who ever said Tohru had to be the one to love Kyo and break the curse? She's just some stupid ordinary girl that found this family by accident. She's not part of our ancient history. Any random girl could break the curse by falling in love with Kyo."

Shigure mused, "Ah, but if I'm not mistaken, the love must be reciprocated." He then turned to the cat. "Unless...? Is there something you're not telling us, Kyo? Have you taken a lover?"

Kyo's eyes became white and slanted. "Taken a lover?! Are you serious right now?!"

"As a heart attack!"

"No, I haven't taken a lover, you filthy mutt!"

All of a sudden, it seemed everyone was talking over each other. Spouting theories. Debunking others. My head spun round and round, but I didn't contribute anything to the conversation. And I still hadn't taken a bite of my dinner. My stomach was aching as fiercely as ever.

It didn't help that I kept glancing at the grandfather clock and the doorway. 6:54 and he still hadn't shown up. Maybe he was going to skip it altogether? Ayame wasn't one to turn down a party under normal circumstances. But these weren't normal circumstances. So I started to feel hope that he would nobly choose to sit this one out.

This gave me a small window of peace, which I used to finally try the lavish meal in front of me. I found that I was able to stomach three bites of pot roast and a couple spoonfuls of the mashed sweet potatoes. As long as I kept tuning out the clashing opinions around me. And as long as I kept my eyes away from the clock.

But as it seemed to do lately, my peace came to an abrupt halt. Only a few minutes later, Ayame's voice shocked the Sohmas into a collective silence. I bet it was just about the only thing that could have accomplished such a feat.

"Well, well, I see you've started the party without me. Tsk, tsk! I should have brought along some of the whips I sell in my shop, for this is obviously a punishable offense," he greeted loudly, finally appearing in the doorway, dressed as flamboyantly as ever.

While he did conform to the standard of wearing a suit, he couldn't just wear a normal one. His suit jacket and matching pants were white but patterned with dark purple roses. The shirt and vest under it looked normal enough, black, simple. But instead of wearing a tie, he wore a frilly silver cravat that looked almost blinding, even though the only light around came from a few quiet candles on the table.

As they looked up from their plates to watch Ayame strut through the entryway, the Sohmas' reactions were decidedly mixed. I got the feeling that half of them loved and almost worshipped the man, while the other half hated him with every fiber of their being. I wasn't sure which camp I fell into anymore.

Shigure was the first to speak. "Aya! My love! You have finally graced us with your presence!" He sprung up from his seat. Dashed over to his cousin and nearly knocked him over with his forceful embrace.

Stumbling back, Ayame laughed. "My, my, Gure-san. Now I know you're excited to see me, and it's perfectly understandable of course, but please. Try to contain yourself, at least until after dinner, at which point we can go back to your room and you can show me how truly happy you are that I'm here." He winked, and several members of the family groaned in annoyance.

Shigure made to reply, but before he could, Hatori piped up. "Come on, you two. This is a family celebration. It would be kind if you saved your ridiculous and highly inappropriate antics for when the children aren't around."

Hiro nodded. "Amen to that." For the first time, it seemed he was embracing being referred to as one of the 'children'. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.

"Fine, fine," Ayame immediately agreed. As keen as ever to do whatever Hatori requested. He then turned back to Shigure with a coy smirk. "Until later then...Shigure."

"I'll be counting the minutes...Ayame."

"Yes!" The two gave each other a thumbs up and then Shigure took his seat yet again. It was then that Ayame began looking for a spot of his own.

"Hey, Ayame, I'll move down one so you can sit next to Tohru!" Kagura suggested happily.

And all of a sudden I couldn't believe that I had chuckled just a moment ago. Now my heart was anything but light. Ayame finally made eye contact with me, almost as if asking if it would be all right if he sat next to me.

What could I say or do? Not much of anything. Not when every person at the table besides the two of us thought we were still a happy couple. Poised to get married even. I gave him a small, weak smile in reply and looked toward my plate.

"Thank you, Kagura. How very thoughtful of you!" he said as the former boar moved her own plate and utensils down by one. Soon enough Ayame was sitting right next to me, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat for the rest of the night.

"Good evening, Tohru," Ayame said softly. "You look absolutely stunning. Except..." He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized my outfit. "That dress. I didn't make that dress."

"R-right, it's, um...it's from a department store," I admitted, my palms sweaty.

"A department store?" Only a deaf person wouldn't be able to hear the injury in his voice. He looked like I had just slapped him across the face. Hard. But then he merely looked hurt, like a wounded child. "Oh. Well...I understand, I suppose..."

"It's just that-well, this...I didn't mean..." I started, but thankfully he was interrupted by Yuki from across the table.

"What took you so long to get here anyway, Ayame? I started to think, and hope, that you weren't coming."

"Well, that's not a very nice thing to say to the big brother that adores you!" Ayame huffed, this time only feigning hurt. "And as for what kept me, you see, I have this little thing-you might become acquainted with it yourself someday-it's called 'work'. It tends to keep me busy, and unfortunately, late for impromptu dinners such as this one."

This shut Yuki up, but for some reason, I was seized by the impression that what he said was far from the truth. I don't know how, but I felt like I knew it was a lie. Maybe because I had become so tangled in lie-telling myself lately. Maybe I knew how to recognize them now. Whatever the case, I knew that the real reason he had shown up so late wasn't because of work but because he had been wrestling with himself for an hour. Trying to decide whether or not to show his face here.

As for why he ultimately decided to do it, I couldn't figure out exactly. And before I could stop myself, I found my voice speaking again: "But you were able to close up shop early then?"

He looked back over at me, blinking. "Oh, well...yes. For a bit, I wasn't...well, I wasn't entirely sure if I should close up shop early just to come to this dinner," he began, turning his eyes from me to his plate, which was still empty. "But then I realized that...no matter how much work tries to interfere...I am and will always be part of this family. And that's something that I should honor."

Ayame then looked in my eyes again and we shared a meaningful look. Yuki raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even know your shop stayed open this late."

"Hm?" The former snake looked at his brother. "Well, it's not surprising that many of my customers prefer to come in at night. You know, away from prying eyes!"

Yuki still looked suspicious but decided to initiate conversation with Hatsuharu instead of continue with Ayame. Everyone was talking amongst themselves again and while they were distracted, Ayame leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Tohru, I know this is incredibly awkward, for you as well as me, but for the sake of family unity, we mustn't ruffle any feathers tonight. So in just a moment, I'm going to put my arm around you and you're going to let me."

I was used to following his orders by now so I simply nodded. Tried to repress a shudder. As promised, he pulled back from my ear but his arm swung around my shoulders and his hand began absently playing with my hair. I could only stand it for a few seconds before I leaped out of my seat, almost knocking into the table. Several Sohmas looked up at me in concern.

"I...I...I have to go to the bathroom!" With that, I sprinted down the hallway. Ignoring the mumbles of confusion from the dining room. Once I got to the bathroom, it happened: I finally succumbed to my aching stomach, I finally relieved myself of the tiny bit of food I had eaten.

Panting, I splashed cold water on my face afterward. Not really caring if it ruined my make-up or not. But what I did care about was how I was going to go back in there and face the rest of the dinner. I felt thoroughly horrible.

'Is Ayame really making me this nauseous all by himself? Or am I still sick?' I wondered. 'But no, I had a cold, not the flu. Maybe I'm cramping. But it doesn't feel like cramps, and I was supposed to have my period three days ago, not today.

...I was supposed to have my period three days ago.'

At this thought, I threw up once more.