EPILOGUE

The park was totally still, except for the sound of running footsteps. A boy ran past, and his hapless mother yelled, "Hataru, get back here!"

She looks familiar, thought Tohru. But where have I...

Before she could finish her thought, she felt her own daughter, Kyoko, run past her. Kyo's zoning out as always, she thought fondly, but before she could call Kyoko back she had crashed headlong into the black-haired boy.

"I'm so sorry!" Tohru wailed, running over, but the other mother seemed quite unruffled by an insane orange-haired girl crashing headlong into her son. Was his name Hataru? She thought. I think that's what I heard her say.

The mother of the child named Hataru looked up, and Tohru gasped. Slowly, she said, "...Akito?"

"Hm?" the mother looked up. "Yes, that's me. And you're the Onigiri Girl. That short haircut makes you look hopelessly 'soccer mom'."

"AKI-CHAN!" Tohru said, close to tears of joy. "I'M SOOO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!!! I didn't recognize you with your hair so long now!"

Akito fingered her hair absent-mindedly. "Oh? I've had it like this for awhile now."

"But it looks really good!"

"Tohru-kun?" said a surprised voice behind her, and she turned around to see a much more mature-looking Shigure (albeit without the kimono).

"Daddy!" whined Hataru, interrupting the adults talking. "Evil mommy isn't letting me run!"

"Oh, that's right, go crying to him," snapped Akito.

"D-daddy?" said Tohru, her eyes going in chibi spirals. "S-so you and Akito-san are-are-"

"I see Tohru-kun is as slow as ever, it seems," said Shigure cheerfully.

"Hey, Daddy, why does that guy have orange hair?" said Hataru, completely disregarding his mother.

"Huh, I don't- KYON-KYON!" yelled Shigure, waving frantically.

"I'm going pretend I didn't just see a perverted moron wave at me from across the park," muttered Kyo, but he came over to the growing congregation anyway.

"I see you're hair is carroty as ever," said Shigure, rumpling it affectionately. "I thought you and Tohru-kun were going to Kazuma's dojo?"

"I can't stand it there anymore since Hanajima started invading," said Kyo, giving Shigure the evil eye.

"Aw, just admit it! You missed me, lalala."

"Shigure, darling, shut up and let the adults do the talking," said Akito, whacking him on the back of the head.

While Shigure mouthed the words, 'unhealthy relationship', Akito continued. "the orange-haired girl is yours, I suppose?"

"Oh, yes," said Tohru happily. "This is Kyoko Sohma."

"This is Hataru Sohma!" said Shigure, holding the boy in question's arms to keep him from running away in pursuit of a pigeon again.

"He looks like you except less perverted with better hair," said Kyo dryly.

"I see Kyoko-chan looks just like Tohru-kun except she appears to have inherited the carrot-head gene," said Shigure, and Akito hit him again. "what was that for, Aki-chaaan?"

"Don't be rude about other people's children."

"We all know you love me, Aki-chan. There's no need to pretend."

"Actually, the only reason I married you was because you have a Wii and Hatori wouldn't buy me one," said Akito, inspecting her nails absent-mindedly.

Shigure muttered weakly, 'so cold', and then brightened up and kept talking. "So, how long are you staying?"

Kyo and Tohru exchanged a look. Kyo cleared his throat. "Well, actually, we're thinking of getting a house right here in Tokyo."

"Because I don't like sleeping in Kazuma ojii-san's dojo, desu," supplied Kyoko. this was the first time she had spoken.

"No one likes sleeping in a dojo," pointed out Hataru, and he and Kyoko got into their own conversation while the old friends continued to talk.

"A house? Nice," said Akito mildly. "Oh yes, I've had to move into Shigure's house and it SUCKS. Oh no, God forbid we just couldn't get a house 'inside' the Sohma family like Hatori but Nooooo... and he still won't let me hire a housekeeper to lift the house out of it's 'bachelor pad' state," she said mournfully.

"It's because no housekeeper would do such a good job as Tohru-kun," whined Shigure, and then he was silent for a minute. "WAIT!" he yelled, making them all jump. "Why don't you stay with us while you look for a house and Kyoko-chan could play with Hataru. ANNNDD, this would solve Akito's stupid housekeeper dilemma."

Tohru's eyes glowed eerily, and she said darkly, "Oh, but it would be too much trouble..."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I want my wife living with a pervert," said Kyo icily.

"Don't be stupid, I put Shigure on a leash during the day," smirked Akito.

"... I couldn't forget about Mom..." said Tohru.

"We're not asking you to go to Neptune," said Akito. "Or rather, Shigure isn't, as he didn't think to ask me about how I feel. But don't worry, I'm fine with it!" she added hurriedly as Tohru began to apologize.

"I want to go live with pervert-san and Hata-kun," said Kyoko, interrupting.

"Don't call him that!" snapped Kyo, but Tohru said slightly more cheerfully, "Well, if Kyoko-chan wants to go..."

"It's settled, then," said Shigure, picking up Hataru. "It'll be just like old times, won't it, Kyon-Kyon?"

"The things I do to please my wife," he muttered, but grinned slightly.

"Well, Onigiri Girl, I say you take all your stuff and start moving in tonight," said Akito briskly, taking Hataru from his father's arms. "The house also needs cleaning and such and the guest room needs to be unearthed. Meh. Oh, and sadly you'll have to put up with Hatori, as he visits quite often to play Wii golf with Shigure."

"Oh, I'd love to see Hatori-san again!" said Tohru excitedly. "And Rin-san and Rit-chan-san and Ayame-san and... what happened to Sohma-kun?"

"Yuki and Ayame are still single, too," sighed Akito. "They all visit, too, and they always raid the fridge, and... ugh."

"Let's face it, you hang out with us, raid the fridge, and play Wii golf too," Shigure reminded her, and together the four Sohmas and their two children walked off into the sunset.

"Hang on, what are we doing?" said Akito. "We're going the wrong way to get to your house, Shigure,"

"Whoops," said Shigure, and together the four Sohmas and their two children walked in the opposite direction down a graffitied alleyway.

WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSLEF INTO? GAH!

The answer is: A SEQUEL. I swear to god I didn't plan it that way, but now... oh well. Anyway, stay tuned for the new sequel Motherhood Diaries, in which Akito continues her diary cooped up in Shigure's house with Tohru and Kyo and the OC children, and thus our story takes a sit-com-like turn T_T.

(you may use this as proof that I have become way too attached to Aki-chan and can't stand to let her go...)

Now a word on the lovely OC children I make up spur of the moment: It does seem very Tohru-like to name her child after her dead mom. As for Hataru, I reasoned that since both Shigure and Akito like Hatori, we might as well give their kid a name that sounds similar.

I've never written a sequel before, but I'll do my best, desu! *salute* *goes sailor-suit schoolgirl on her readers*

~.kimi, March 2009