two in one night!!! i'm so proud of myself... no more writers block!!! w00t!!! newayz... on we go...

I woke up later that day, seeing that the sun was already down, and I yelped really loud when I sat up quickly. My brain was banging against the sides of my skull, and it hurt like hell. Hatori was by my side in a second.

"Gah! Normally my headaches go away within minutes." I said quietly. Hatori did the eye check thing again, then placed his hand on the back of my head.

"The stitches seem to still be in place, but they do seem irritated. I'll have to clean it again." He said, leaving to get some gauze and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Lay down on your stomach please." I did, and he separated my hair down the middle.

"What stitches? What happened?" I asked.

"Well, when you met Momiji earlier, you fell backwards onto a sharp piece of stone. It split open your head, but the skull was still intact." He explained, pouring alcohol onto one of the pads, then patting it on my head. It stung like a bitch, but I didn't cry out this time. I just bit into the pillow I was laying on.

"That reminds me," I said when he went to put more alcohol onto the pad. "How did I get over here. Miji doesn't seem strong enough to carry me."

"He came straight to me. Hatsuharu actually carried you. He was here with me."

"Hatsuharu?"

"He's another Sohma. Stop biting the pillow before you bite a hole into it. I'm done."

"Oh. Did he leave?"

"Yes. He had a friend to see to. If you're up to it, I can take you home now. I'm afraid you missed dinner, but I'm sure Shigure, Yuki, Kyo and Tohru are all worried about you." He cleaned up his things.

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot they weren't here. I think I could do it. Do you have any asprin first?"

"You get two children's ones in ten minutes. I'll let you prepare yourself, and be back in a few moments." He said, standing up and leaving. I looked around the room once more, noticing for the first time a single picture on a shelf. It was of a woman. When Hatori came back in, I asked him about the picture.

"She's a friend." He said, simply. I thought better than to push more, so instead I let him help me off the bed and out into the car waiting for us. We drove to Shigure's in silence. When we got there, I heard the slamming of doors, and Kyo ran out, followed very closely by Tohru.

"WHAT THE HELL? WE CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR FIVE MINUTES! HOW DID YOU END UP AT HATORI'S? YOU'RE SO DAMN LUCKY HE WAS ABLE TO HELP YOU!" Kyo shouted, once he was within ears distance. I smiled, wondering if I could play with him a little sometime later.

"Kitty! You're okay right?" Tohru reached me, and hugged me really tightly. I smiled again and hugged her back.

"I'm fine. Hatori helped me a lot. It's really thanks to him I'm here."

"Thank you Hatori!" Tohru said, bowing to him. He dismissed her bow with a wave of his hand.

"Think nothing of it. I was only happy it wasn't worse than it is. She's got stitches, so be careful. They're on the back of her head." He explained. "Kyo, please remind Yuki of his checkup." He said, then got back into the car and drove off. I turned to the house, and with Tohru holding my hand, and Kyo watching my every step, made it to the door safely. Shigure and Yuki were sitting at the table. I told them good night, then had Kyo's help upstairs, no matter how much I protested. When I reached my room, I teased him about me having to get into my nightgown, and asked if he was going to help me with that as well. He fumed and yelled at me again storming out of my room. A few moments later, I heard his telltale footsteps on the roof. I finished changing just as a knock was at my door.

"I'm decent." I said, getting onto my bed. The door opened, and Shigure stood there.

"He was really worried about you."

"I could tell."

"We all were. Hatori called us a little bit after he got back from taking Momiji home."

"I figured. I was actually surprised you all weren't there banging the door down."

"Hatori told us not to come over. He didn't want you stressing your wound."

"That was sweet of him. I'm sorry, but I'm a little tired. Is it okay if I go to sleep now."

"Sleep well my princess." He said, then closed the door and walked down the hall. I heard him hit the first step, and was asleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling perfectly fine, but soon found out Hatori had come over early for a quick checkup. Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki were all already at school. He checked me over, saying my wound was healing nicely, then asked if we could have a serious talk.

"I want to stay here." Was the first words out of my mouth. I didn't know why I said that, but Hatori looked like he understood.

"Do you enjoy living here?" He asked, simply.

"Yes. I love it so much."

"And that is the perfect reason why you and Tohru should leave. I'm afraid Akito might be planning something horrible."

"Akito doesn't know anything about me. You may not be able to go against him, but I'm not part of the curse. He can try to use me all he wants, I just want to be with Yuki, Kyo, and even the perv Shigure. And I know Tohru does too."

"I just don't think it wise to put yourself in this type of predicament."

"Don't worry about me. I'm strong enough to handle anything Akito throws at me. And I'll make sure to protect Tohru. She's strong inside, even though she doesn't show it." On my face, resolve was written. I could see that he understood he wouldn't get me to give in to him. He gave me a super small smile, and left. I sat in bed for a while, until Shigure knocked on the open door.

"Is it okay if I come in?" he asked. I nodded. He sat on the edge of my bed. "Hatori's only looking out for you, you know that, right?" I nodded again, unable to find words. "Good. Now, if I remember right, this week is the school's festival!" He said, snapping me out of my daze by his uber happiness. "I was thinking you and I could help out as parent-helpers!"

"Neither one of us are parents." I pointed out.

"Well, that's true, but I know it would be fun anyways. They're always looking for helpers."

"Yuki's only been there for a year, how would you know what they're always doing?" I asked him, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Um…" he stammered a little.

"Let me guess, you went down to the high school before Yuki was even there to look at all the pretty high school girls?" I asked him, knowing I was right. He blushed. "PERV!" I yelled and punched him in the arm. "But it sounds like fun. Plus, Hatori told me not to strain myself, so I think helping wouldn't do that." I said, purposely making it sound weird.

"Wait, Hatori told you what, so you think what?" Shigure looked so confused, I couldn't help but bust out laughing. That was when we heard the door downstairs.

"SHE HAD BETTER BE IN BED RESTING, AND YOU BETTER NOT BE MAKING HER DO ANYTHING!" The loud voice of Kyo rang through the house. His known stomping carried just as well, and he opened the door without knocking. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE WITH HER?" He demanded.

"Keeping her company. She just woke up, Hatori checked to make sure she was okay, and I thought she might like someone to talk to." Shigure explained as if it were nothing.

"WELL, GET OUT OF HERE, SHE NEEDS HER REST!"

"I'm not going to get any rest with you shouting. Plus, I'm hungry." I said, getting out of bed. "Would you like anything Shi?"

"Of course. I'll help you down the stairs." We both walked past Kyo, who was yelling about me being out of bed, and how I shouldn't be doing anything. Ignoring him was not going to work, considering he was following us, and practically right behind me.

"LOOK, IF YOU WANT TO HELP ME, STOP SHOUTING! IT'S GIVING ME A MAJOR HEADACHE!" I yelled right into his face. He steamed up, turning red from rage, before turning around and running straight back up the stairs. A few moments later, the sounds on the roof were heard again. "GAH! He annoys the hell outta me. You got any children's asprin? Tori said I could have that if I got a headache. He doesn't want me to have anything stronger with the open wound."

"Of course. I'll be right back."

When he came back with the asprin, I already had food going. Rice in the rice cooker, and I was rolling up some sushi. He handed me the asprin, and got me a glass of water, then sat down and helped me.

"This is delicious. I never thought to put tofu in sushi."

"The people I stayed with in America didn't like to eat meat, stupid vegans. So instead they substituted fish for tofu. I just add the fish right back in." I cut up my roll and picked one up to eat.

"You didn't get along to well then?"

"Not in the kitchen. Everything else was fine. If I wanted meat, I left the house. Of course, that didn't stop me from bringing it home every now and then just to bug them." I smiled an evil smile.

"Well, aren't you just the little devil? Well, thank you for the snack, I think I'll go call the school and let them know they have two more helpers." He got up and left. I munched on another piece of sushi, then put some on a plate and went to the roof.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP HERE? YOU COULD HURT YOURSELF!" Kyo's temper didn't seem to have gone down just yet.

"I'm fine. Momiji scared me when I hurt myself, and Hatori says as long as I don't fall on my head again for a while I'll be fine. Deal with it. Seriously. People would think that you liked me or something the way you're going on about it. Anyways, I brought you some sushi. It's got tofu in it, but also fish. I thought you might be hungry." I handed him the plate and started to leave.

"Wait." He said. I stopped and turned around. "I don't know why I'm so protective of you." I went back to where he was and sat down. "I just know that when you're around, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Let me guess, you get the same feeling with Tohru?" He nodded. "It's called caring. I'm guessing you haven't ever had this feeling? Well, at least not for a couple of girls?" He looked at me confused. "I figure you might care about your dad. But since he's a guy, it might not be so prominent."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Just, don't go too crazy. I know how far I can push myself. And please, stop shouting at everything." I punched him in the arm.

"So, you got to meet Hatori and Momiji? I feel sorry for you."

welp... i was going to let her meet Haru... but then i thought... lets have some fun with another idea i had... and Haru will show up in a later chapter... but not too much later... newayz... reviews are uber nice... and they'll let me noe if yall like it, or if i should just quit while i'm ahead...

i 3 u all just for reading this!!!