Changed For the Better: A Fruits Basket Fan Fic
Disclaimer: same as chap 1-9
Chapter 10: The Phantom of the Onsen
Hatori and Hatsuharu Sohma stood in the threshold of the office, staring at the man in the blue and white kimono typing at the computer.
"Ahem," Hatori coughed
"Haa-san? Haa-kun? What a pleasant surprise!" Shigure said looking up from his computer. "I didn't expect you at all!"
"I called you an hour ago to tell you that we were coming," Hatori said annoyed.
"You did? Oh well, I must have forgotten; you know us writers, so forgetful!"
"I can imagine," Hatori answered.
"Anyway, Haru, why don't you go make yourself useful and make us some tea?"
"What?" Haru replied.
"Normally, my housewife would have sensed both of you coming a mile away, and the refreshments would have ready the minute you walked in the door. But, alas, she has been stolen away today in celebration of White Day. Therefore, since you are the only one here that is familiar with the kitchen, it is only right for you to make the tea."
"How can you not be familiar with your own kitchen?" Haru asked. As soon as he said it, he realized that it was Shigure he was speaking to. "Fine. I'll be back with the tea," he said leaving the room.
"He's a good kid. So polite," Shigure commented as he got the ashtray that he kept in his desk drawer out. Both men went into the living room for a smoke.
"So, I take it that this visit isn't an arbitrary act of longing to see me. I haven't seen either of you in what, over a month?" Shigure said lighting Hatori's and his cigarettes.
"I need you to keep Hatsuharu here for a few days."
"Why is that?"
"Isuzu is in the hospital again."
Shigure sat silent for a second with the cigarette dangling from his mouth "I heard she was doing better."
"She was recovering, but then Akito had a talk with her this morning."
"I see. Hell knows no fury like Akito's scorn."
"Are you trying to be funny?"
"Not really. So I take it Haa-kun doesn't know yet."
"No. I found him and came here as soon as I could. It would have been more difficult to bring him here if he were angry. "
"Do you still think he has an anger management issue rather than a psychological one?"
"Hatsuharu doesn't need medication, if that's what you're implying. I won't make the same mistake my father did."
Shigure sighed. He knew about Hatori's struggles as his father's intern before he retired from his job as the head Sohma family doctor. Hatori believed from his studies of modern medicine that his father prescription of antidepressants was wrong for someone as young as six year old Hatsuharu. His father, on the other hand, was more set in his old ways of thinking; he believed that the medicine was what little Haru needed to stop his "black" nature from emerging as often as it did.
The result of the medication made Haru lethargic. He would walk around in a stupor every time he took his dosage. People in the family would then gossip about how slow and stupid the ox was, which in return made the "black" personality show even more when Haru forgot to take the medication. Hatori hated seeing his younger cousin so drugged up, but there was nothing he could do until the day he would become the family doctor. And when that day finally arrived, the first thing he did was to revoke his father's erroneous prescription.
"Don't think that I don't trust your judgement, Haa-san. You're the smartest person I know," Shigure said exhaling smoke, "next to me, of course."
"Being conniving doesn't necessarily mean you're intelligent."
"Ouch. Why are you acting so bitter today, Haa-san? Is it because of what happened to Rin, or are you worried about something else?"
"Just keep Honda-kun away from Akito."
"There's no need to worry about that. She's with Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun, and Momitchi at the family onsen today. You're not jealous, are you? I know I am."
"What are both of you talking about?" Haru said as he carried the tray of teacups into the living room.
"Nothing in particular," Shigure lied, putting out his cigarette. "Haa-san told me that he wants you to stay here until the others get back from their trip. It seems that's he's afraid I'll burn the house down if I attempt to cook something unsupervised."
"Then don't cook anything, Sensei."
"Hatsuharu, you know very well that Shigure is incapable of not doing something if you tell him its prohibited," Hatori asked.
"I know that. But this decision is really unexpected, Hatori-san. Is something wrong?"
Before he could answer Haru, his pager went off. "I have to go," Hatori said as he checked the number. "Take care of him until Honda-kun gets back."
"He'll be in good I hands, I swear!" Shigure said, getting up from his seat to walk Hatori out.
"I wasn't talking to you, Shigure."
Haru sighed as his two cousins left the room. He had planned to give Rin her White Day present later that day, but now that he was at Shigure's house, he would have to sneak back out to the main house to do so. He had thought he had seen her there earlier, but she was talking with Hatori at the time. Because he didn't want to rouse suspicions, he had stayed away. But in his heart, he desperately wanted to see her.
Shigure broke Haru's daydream by dumping a stack of papers in front of him.
"What is this?" Haru asked.
"You looked awfully bored, so I decided that you needed a good book to read."
"This looks more like you dumped out a file cabinet and threw it on the table."
"How intuitive! That's exactly what I did! The papers in front of you make up a story from my one of my files. It is the sequel to my cult classic, Summer Colored Sigh, which is appropriately titled Autumn Painted Cough."
Haru looked at Shigure like he lost his mind.
"Anyway, I need someone to proofread it for me before I deliver it to my editor tomorrow. Since you're here, I have decided you just are the person to do it."
"Sensei, why would I edit your papers when you have an editor?"
"Don't second guess genius! Get reading! There are three hundred fifty pages of romance and angst that need to be spell-checked sitting in front of you. You're not leaving that spot until you finished all of it. Besides, I was thinking of presenting a copy of it to Tohru-kun with her White Day present when she gets back from the onsen, so I want the story to be perfect."
Haru stopped reading the first page, and looked up at Shigure. "How is Honda-san? I haven't seen her in a while. Is she well?"
"It's hard to tell these days. I rarely see her since her rehearsal schedule has picked up. You're probably better off asking Kyo or Yuki that question since they go to school with her everyday. Why do you ask? Do you have a crush on her, Haa-kun?"
Haru rolled his eyes. "So, she hasn't been upset or troubled at all?"
"Is there a reason she should be?" Shigure said with a peculiar tone of voice.
Haru averted his glance. "Obviously not if you're not aware of anything, Sensei. I was under the impression know all the gossip in this family."
Shigure playfully gasped. "Why do you accuse me of being a gossip, Haa-kun?" he asked as he got up from the table to leave the room. "Besides, it's not gossip if it's the truth."
When Shigure left, Haru went back to reading the story. He was in no way a romance novel fan, but strangely, he was hooked to the plot. In Shigure's office, however, Shigure didn't have the same amount of concentration. He knew Haru knew something that he didn't, and it bothered him; not having control of any situation always bothered him. The first thing he was going to do when Tohru got back was to find out what Haru knew. After all, he had to live up to his reputation as the family gossip.
Tohru and Momiji stood outside their room in the onsen saying goodnight to Kyo and Yuki.
"Goodnight," Tohru chimed to Yuki and Kyo, "and thank you both for a wonderful day!"
"Gute Nacht!" Momiji sang. (good night)
"Momiji, you should sleep in our room. You're going to bother Honda-san, and she needs her rest.""Don't worry about Momiji-kun; we'll be fine," Tohru replied.
Kyo, who was leaning against the wall, sighed loudly. "Whatever. Night'," he said turning toward the direction the room he and Yuki were to share.
Tohru opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it. She had noticed that Kyo had been acting odd ever since she returned with Yuki from outside with the yellow ribbon he gave her in her hair. Yuki saw the worried expression on her face and smiled. "Honda-san, it's still White Day. You're not supposed to be worrying about anything."
"Yuki's right!" Momiji added. " We're still on our "Steamy Onsen Heartful" tour, Tohru! No worrying allowed!"
"Don't worry about me."
Tohru smiled. " You're right. I guess I worry too much."
"If I wanted you to know, then I would have told you when we first met."
"Well then, Goodnight, Honda-san. Momiji, don't forget she needs her rest, okay?"
"Just stay out of it. You can't help me."
"Ich verstehe," (I understand) Momiji replied sadly.
Tohru didn't reply; instead she continued to smile. Her thoughts were so clouded with other worries that she couldn't muster the word goodnight again. "Just keep a smile on your face and everything will be all right," she thought to herself.
When Yuki left their side, Tohru and Momiji went into their room. "I'm so excited Tohru!" Momiji squealed.
"Eh? Why is that, Momiji-kun?"
"We get to spend the night together! Let's tell scary stories and stay until sunrise!"
"Umm…why you do want to tell scary stories?" Tohru said apprehensively.
"Because they're fun! Tohru, do not like scary stories?"
"Well…" She didn't want to disappoint him and say yes, but in reality she was terrified of them.
"That's okay! I brought cards instead! Will you teach me how to play Dai Hin Min? I heard you, Kyo, and Yuki talking about it at Shii-chan's house and I want to play too!"
Tohru smiled. "Okay!"
The card game had helped cool Tohru's thoughts, and she was enjoying the time at the onsen again. Momiji was a fast learner, and strangely was a master play Dai Hin Min player after he got the hang of the game. After playing a few dozen hands, Tohru began to get sleepy, so they both decided to call it a night. When Tohru crept under the covers of the futon and rested her head on the pillow, she closed her eyes and wished that for just that night, she would sleep peacefully with Momiji at her side. However that wish wouldn't come true.
Begin Freaky Dream Sequence
There was a knock on her dressing room door.
"Come in!" she called out.
Mel Hoshi stepped inside and closed the door. Immediately her heart started racing. It was the first time she saw him since the incident with Haru and the pill bottle. She didn't know what to say, but lucky for her, Mel had other things on his mind besides the pill bottle. "Tohru, I have great news! Well it's great for me, not so great for Ken."
"Oh, what happened to Ken-san? Is he okay?"
"Is he okay? How can you say that about that jerk? Don't you remember what he did to you at the last rehearsal on Tuesday?"
"I try not to remember such things," she said uncomfortably.
"Fortunately for you, the rest of the cast does. It seems that our manager, Nitta-san, found out, and Ken was officially dismissed from the company this morning."
"Oh no! I didn't want him to get fired, especially now that costume fittings have taken place!"
He knelt next to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Tohru, the man practically groped you in front of everyone. Don't defend him. He was just asking to get fired with his actions." he told her matter-of-factly. "He's just lucky Kiko-san punched him before anyone else got to him. I just hope you learned from this that you're not always going to have someone to protect you. Just keep in mind that you can't believe everyone is looking out for your best interests all the time, Tohru. Be selfish once in a while and stand up for yourself. No one will blame you for doing so."
She looked down at the history book on her lap that she was studying before he came into the room. She didn't want to look at him. Kyo had told her months ago the same thing that Mel had just said, and perhaps that's one of the reasons why she felt so ashamed. She didn't tell anyone at the house what happened, but she knew she should have said something to someone. She felt like a coward. "I'm sorry I disappointed you, Mel."
"Don't worry about me; everyone is worried about you. The guy who plays the phantom, Ichiro-san, said that when you and him were practicing the title song earlier on stage that you were acting spaced out. I covered for you though and told him that's how you normally act."
"EH? Do I really act that way all the time?"
"Tohru, I was joking! You're so cute when you're flustered. Oh, I didn't tell you the other part of the good news! Since Ken is now gone, guess who is now playing the part of Raoul?"
"Um…" she thought to herself intensively. No one in the main cast had understudies.
"I am, Tohru! I now have the part! This idiotic acting company doesn't believe in understudies for their principal actors, so the only person who could learn Ken's part in such a short time was decided to be yours truly. I think its because I know better English than half the cast, but at least now we'll be in more scenes together than just the masquerade sequence."
Tohru smiled. "That's exciting! I'm so happy! I can't…" She paused as she thought more and more about him playing her love interest, and then she began to grow red. "Umm…but what about the scenes where Christine and Raoul…"
"Kiss? Tohru, it's no big deal; I'm sure you kissed those guys that you live with hundreds of times a day," he commented, waiting for her reaction.
"EH? NO! I…no…I don't…I haven't…" she said flustered.
"This would be the time when you slap me for the comment, Tohru. Seriously, stand up for yourself. Anyway, I think I know why you're concerned. You haven't had your first kiss yet, have you?"
Tohru gasped and then turn the color of a cooked lobster. She knew there were scenes in the play where her character had to kiss the phantom and Raoul, but she didn't want to think about that until the time came.
"This is a little embarrassing, but guys, at least sketchy American guys like me, can tell whenever they meet a girl who is…um…for the lack of a better word…inexperienced in…kissing. But don't worry. I don't want to make us look uncomfortable on stage, so when we have to do those scenes, we'll just stage the kiss until you have your first kiss. Even it doesn't happen until after the show is over, I won't pressure you to do something so that you're uncomfortable."
She began to breathe easier. "Okay. Thank you, Mel."
"No problem," he said, smiling at her. "Hey, I have to get back to the stage, so I'll let you go back to studying; I wouldn't want that history book on your lap to get lonely."
"Umm…Mel…before you go, I have to give you something," she said while searching her bag.
"Is it a present?" he said anxiously. His jovial mood soon changed after Tohru pulled out the pill bottle from her tattered bag.
He snatched the bottle from her hand. "Thanks," he said coldly. His whole demeanor had changed, and he was fidgeting uncomfortably. " I forgot you had this."
"He sounds exactly how he did on the phone last night," she thought to herself.
"Mel, what is wrong? Are you going to be okay? I'm worried about you."
He looked at her, and Tohru grew frightened. His mirror-like gray eyes grew more distant with each passing second. "Mel, please answer me. I'm worried. Please tell me you'll be all right."
"No one else knows that you have these, right?"
"The only people who know are just me and my friend who found the bottle while helping Ayame-san. Hatsuharu-kun knew that they were important medications, so he told me about them; you can trust that he didn't say anything to anyone else except to me."
Mel had a look of anger on his face after she said this, and she was confused and frightened. "Just…don't worry about me," he said defensively. "I don't want you to know what's going on, okay? And, if I wanted you to know, then I would have told you when we first met. So just stay out of it. You can't help me."
"Mel…"
"JUST STOP!" he yelled, leaving the room.
The door to her dressing room remained wide open, and the cast members that were near the door at the time peered inside to see a shocked Tohru with tears trickling down her face.
End of freaky dream sequence
Tohru woke up in a cold sweat and was breathing heavily. "I wish that was just a dream," she thought as she buried her face in the pillow. "But the dream was real. Mel still won't speak to me except in practice on stage. And now that the director threatened us with our jobs to stop staging the kisses, things are more awkward than before. I really messed things up. I just hope Mel is okay."
She sat up in the futon and looked to her right. Momiji was still sleeping soundly by her side. " I don't want to wake him if that dream comes back, so I'll go do something else until everyone wakes up," she thought to herself.
Tohru got out of bed and went to her overnight bag. She grabbed her script, which she accidentally had packed, and quietly left the room. She walked down the dark and silent corridor and went into the REC room near Yuki and Kyo's room. In the room, she sat down on a couch near the ping pong tables and the windows so she could have some light.
Tohru tried to practice her lines, but she ended up fumbling through the pages of the book. She couldn't think about anything except the dream that she just had. As she flipped through the pages for the twelfth time, she heard a noise from the hallway. " I hope I didn't wake anyone up," she worried. "I don't think I was saying the lines loudly. Maybe there's a phantom in the onsen…"
Tohru's laughed off the last comment, but as she thought about it more, her heart began to race. She remained perfectly still until the noise went away. All was good until five minutes later the noise came back. This time she could make out the noise was footsteps, and she became more scared. Tohru clutched her script to her chest until she heard the footsteps go in the opposite of the REC room.
However, as soon as she sighed loudly with relief, she heard the footsteps traveling back her way. As the steps got closer and closer, she could feel a chilled wind on her the back of her neck. "There is no phantom of the onsen," she repeated to herself over and over, trying to calm herself down. But as the footsteps came to the door of the REC room, she wanted to scream. Instead, she closed her eyes and covered her face with her script.
The door of the REC room slid open and the lights flickered on in the room. Tohru slowly lowered the script to see Kyo standing in front of her.
"What are you doing in here? Don't you know it's three in the morning?" he said in a loud whisper.
She ignored his chastising and breathed a sigh of relief. "Kyo-kun, I'm so glad it's you! I thought there was a phantom in the onsen."
He shook his head at her comment. "Go back to bed. It's three in the morning, and you shouldn't be practicing right now," he said as he saw the script in her hand. "In fact," he said taking the script suddenly from her hands, "this is supposed to be your day off! What are you doing with this book?"
"I accidentally packed it."
"Whatever. To bed with you."
"But Kyo-kun…"
"To bed."
"No."
Kyo was taken aback with her response. She had never been assertive with him before. "Why not?" he said sitting down next to her on the couch. He had a feeling that there was a story involved with her newfound assertiveness.
She looked away and didn't want to answer him directly. "I didn't wake you up, did I Kyo-kun?" she said sadly. "I'm sorry."
He sighed. "No. I was already up. That damn rat talks in his sleep, so it's impossible for anyone else to get any rest in the room. I heard some footsteps in the hallway, so I thought it was that crazy concierge okami. I hoped that she'd move that idiot outside or something, but I guess it was you that I heard instead."
"Sorry I disturbed you, Kyo-kun."
"Oy. Didn't I tell you already that I was awake? You still haven't told me why you were in here by yourself. Are you sick or something?"
"No, I had a bad dream."
"Is that all?" he sighed. He was going to make a comment how on silly she was acting, but as he opened his mouth to say it, he saw her hands cover her face. She was trembling and he could hear her sobbing quietly. "She's really upset," he thought to himself.
He got up to go bring her a box of tissues from the other side of the room. "Hey, don't cry," he said handing her the box. "Do you want to talk?"
Tohru looked at his caring smile, and blew her nose. "No, that's okay Kyo-kun. But, thank you for worrying about me. You are always so kind to me, and I don't deserve it."
That was the last thing he expected her to say to him, and it made him blush and become a little angry. "You're the last person in the world who wouldn't deserve no kindness, Tohru," he thought to himself.
"I guess I really do worry too much," she said drying her eyes. "And I don't want you to worry about me, Kyo-kun, especially since you and the others want me to have a good time. So, let's do something together." She took the script back from his hands. "Since we're both up, do you want to run lines with me?"
"I don't know. I'm not very fluent in English, so I wouldn't be a help to you."
"Hold on," she said, flipping through her script. "Oh, I thought there were translations for the dialogue in the back of this script, but there are just translations for the songs."
When she mentioned the songs, he fully became aware that he could ask her to sing something. No one in the house had ever heard or seen her practice anything from the play. The only person who wasn't involved in the show that he knew that got remotely close to seeing her in practice was Haru when he saw her in costume. Whenever Yuki and Kyo would go to pick her up, they weren't allowed access to the theatre or backstage. So therefore, the thought crossed his mind that he could be the first one among him, Yuki, and Shigure to hear her sing. Even though the thought of making the others jealous suited him just fine, he secretly wanted to hear her do something from the show.
"You probably wouldn't want to hear me sing," she said closing her book.
"I didn't say that!" he said louder than he knew should have said.
Tohru looked at him puzzled at first, but then smiled. "I haven't warmed up and my throat is a little dry, but I could try manage something audible. Here," she said as she put the book in his lap, "pick a song."
" I don't want you to wreck your voice."
"Please pick a song, Kyo-kun. The song titles are in Italics at the end of the booklet."
He opened her script to the back pages. He read the translations to the titles and thought that all of them sounded odd, so he randomly picked one and showed it to Tohru.
"Hmm, "Music of the Night". I don't sing this song in the show, but I do know it. It was one of my mother's favorite songs, and as a plus it doesn't have a higher register for me so it's possible I can sing it softly. Good choice Kyo-kun!"
He averted his gaze from her to the script. "Sure."
She inhaled and exhaled a few times, attempting to start. "I'm sorry. I'm a little nervous singing in front of people I know. Don't laugh too much, okay?" She told him.
"I wouldn't laugh at you, Tohru," he thought to himself as he read the lyric translations.
Tohru took a deep breath and leaned toward him so he could her since she had to sing softly.
Night-time sharpens,
heightens each sensation.
Darkness stirs
And wakes imagination.
Silently the senses
abandon their defenses.
Slowly, gently,
night unfurls its splendor .
Grasp it. Sense it,
tremulous and tender.
Turn your face away
from the garish light of day;
turn your thoughts away
from cold, unfeeling light.
And listen to the music of the night .
Tohru stopped and looked at Kyo. He was staring at lyric page with a blank expression on his face. "Kyo-kun, do I sound okay? I know the last note was slightly sharp."
He was incredulous. "This person next to me can't be her," he thought to himself. "That was…"
"Kyo-kun, are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"I can stop if you're tired."
"No. Go on, I'm not tired."
"All right. Remember, no laughing."
Close your eyes,
and surrender to your darkest dreams
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before!
Close your eyes,
let your spirit start to soar!
And you'll live as you've never lived before . . .
Softly, deftly,
music shall surround you .
Feel it, hear it,
closing in around you . . .
Open up your mind,
let your fantasies unwind,
in this darkness which you know you cannot fight -
the darkness of the music of the night . . .
Let your mind
start a journey through a strange new world.
Leave all thoughts
of the world you knew before.
Let your soul
Take you where you long to be.
Only then,
can you belong to me . . .
She stopped all together after the last verse. With her tiredness, she had forgotten how passionate the song was, and the last line had made her a little embarrassed. She diverted her gaze and backed away from him.
"Tohru…"
She slowly brought her eyes to look at him. He was staring at the door, the script still open in his hand, trying not to look at her either.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, still looking at the door.
"Oh no, Kyo-kun! You didn't do anything! It was me who should be sorry!"
"No," he sighed. "I really am sorry. I said some things before that I shouldn't have about you and the play. I didn't know…I didn't know that your voice…"
Tohru leaned toward Kyo again and put her hand on his upper arm. "Kyo-kun, I wasn't hurt by what you said. I think I came realize that it was your strange way of showing that you were worrying about me. I really am grateful that you care about my feelings, Kyo-kun."
He sighed and turned toward her. " You know, you really are…" He began to say hopeless, but as he stared into her azure blue eyes that were inches away from him, the other word that came to his mind was something he was too embarrassed to say. "Tohru," he thought, "you really are beautiful."
They remained inches away from each other until Tohru turned her face away to cover a yawn with her hand.
"Are you tired?" he asked.
"Just a little, but I don't want to go back to bed and wake up Momiji-kun if that dream comes back. You must be tired Kyo-kun. You haven't gotten any sleep at all tonight. You can go back to bed if you need to. I'll be fine out here."
"Don't worry about me. You are the one who needs the rest. You're going to make yourself sick one of these days if you continue to push yourself the way you do. Hey, would it help if you to sleep better if you took my room for the night? That stupid rat can sleep through anything, so you wouldn't have to worry about your dream coming back. I can manage to share a futon with that annoying rabbit for the rest of the night; I'll wake you up early so that you can go back to the other room before the rat gets up."
"But Kyo-kun, I couldn't possibly take your room!"
"Then think of it as my White Day gift to you. Now you have to take it or you'll hurt my feelings."
Tohru was flustered. " I don't want to hurt your feelings, Kyo-kun, but…"
"Then it's settled. Come on," he said getting up from the couch. "I'll show where to go."
She got up and followed him out of the REC room to the dark partitioned room that he shared with Yuki. He showed her where his futon was laid and began to leave the room.
"Kyo-kun," she said turning toward the direction she thought he was standing in the darkness.
"Good night, Tohru," he whispered, pushing the screen so he could leave.
"Good night, Phantom of the Onsen," she whispered back.
If it weren't so dark in the room, Tohru would have saw the genuine smile that came across Kyo's face after she said that. "One day, Tohru," he thought to himself as he left the room, "maybe, just one day, I'll be the kind of person you'd want to belong to."
Author's Note: I'm going to keep this short this time. I could go on and onabout the crazy escapades in my Texas government class, but that would make me more frustrated. By the way, Texas is the only state that permits residents to cast ballots from space. What can I say? I love this state, but not learning about its government.
Okay, I lied about keeping this short, but it suddenly occurred to me that I should talk about Mel. When I think and write of him, I think of a song that I played in band at my school at the last concert. It's called "Elegy of a Young American" by Ronald Lo Presti. It was written after the death of JFK. It's angsty, but its pretty and sad. How does this fit into the story. You'll see in the next chapter, if it doesn't get too lengthy like this chap ( 20 pages…). I think I am incapable of writing short chaps. Does the length bother anyone? Please let me know either way.
I really would like this time thank my readers and reviewers. You are super duper awesome! Dark inu-fan, I looked up the dress just to make sure I described it right. It's really cool that you pointed that out, and seriously, since you sound like you're familiar with the show, feel free to continue doing so. Ms. Ahem…what can I say to you except thanks for sticking with the story. I am glad you enjoyed "Dark Lady" in the last chap.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for sticking with the story thus far. Review if you can; I try to post as fast am able to but reviews do help with my motivation to write. Until chap 11 ( which is going to be a TOHRU UPDATE!) – this is Lani out.