Disclaimer: You think I own any of this? (dies laughing)

Note, 1: This is one of my first attempts at writing the Fruits Basket characters. Please forgive me if anyone seems too out of character. Advice is always appreciated; just don't be mean or uppity about it.

Note, 2: I don't like curse words. Nor am I certain that my parents would allow me to type them. Therefore, all swearwords will be written as follows: -CENSORED-. The strongest words I'll ever type out in this fic are: dang, shoot, and crud.

Verisimilitude

Fourteen: Home Sweet Home

"I've been watching you, Yuki," Akito smiled, pleasantly enough. "I've been watching ever since you left. I missed you."

Yuki, clenching his fists to keep his hands from shaking, continued to stare at his feet rather than look up at the person he was standing before.

"What's the matter? Aren't you happy to be back home? What was one of those drippy sayings again? …Ah, yes. There's no place like home…. Home sweet home…."

Akito walked towards the other boy, one hand behind his back. He used his other hand to gently lift Yuki's chin. "Why aren't you saying anything, Yuki?" Akito whispered. "Have you forgotten your manners?"

He released Yuki's chin, only to use his now-free hand to slap the rat across the face. Yuki flinched, turning his head away, but didn't say or do anything other than tighten his fists further.

"What's the matter, Yuki?" Akito hissed. "Forgotten how to scream? Do I have to teach you again? You're a slow, stupid learner, so it could take a while."

Yuki bit his lower lip and squeezed his eyes shut.

Hatori? Shigure? Anyone… please help me…

-

Kyo looked around.

Dang…

He shivered a bit and plunked down against one of the buildings lining the alley.

Shoot…

Glaring out at nothing in particular, the orange-top let out a slight growl.

For Pete's sake, Ha'ri, I'm not even cursing! Come find me! Geez… the only way that this would be worse would be if Haru had been my trail guide!

Completely exhausted from his sudden flight, Kyo hung his head, closing his eyes.

I won't sleep, I won't sleep, I won't sleep…

He slept.

-

Hatori led Tohru down to his car, helping her into the backseat with Momiji and Hatsuharu.

"Hello, Tohru-chan," Momiji sniffled, managing to make a smile cut across his tear-stained cheeks. "You're gonna come with us now, so you'll be okay." He took a hold of her hand, squeezing lightly to make sure that she knew he was there.

Tohru, still crying, blubbered, "Hai," out of pure politeness.

Momiji, Haru, and Hatori seemed to understand that Tohru probably didn't feel like talking at the moment, so they drove the rest of the way back to the Sohmas' apartment in silence.

Once at the apartment, Hatori was just about to open the door when Shigure flung it open. The black-haired writer seemed poised with an annoyed expression on his face, until he realized who it was, at which point he swallowed hard and looked very worried.

"Hi, Tohru-kun," Shigure smiled weakly. "My, such an honor to be in the presence of such a beautiful lady." He gasped, "Oh, Ha'ri, did you forget her baggage?"

Hatori rammed Tohru's backpack, which he'd filled with a few necessities, into his cousin's stomach.

"Can't you just try to stop acting like an idiot for two minutes?" hissed the medical student.

"Ummm…" Shigure pretended to think.

Hatori made a disgusted little noise before saying gently to Tohru, "Could you follow Momiji and Haru to the bedroom? You can take the bed with the pillow that has the dragon emblem on it. Haru," he continued, grabbing back Tohru's schoolbag, "can you carry Tohru's bag?"

Haru nodded solemnly, taking the bag, and started towards the bedroom.

"C'mon, Tohru-chan," Momiji smiled, holding Tohru's left hand in his right. "You can sleep with my favorite stuffed animal tonight. She's a big yellow bunny, and she's all fluffy and soft. Her name is Teruko; you can hug her whenever you want and keep her as long as you need."

Having verbally introduced Tohru to his toy bunny, Momiji carefully pulled the onigiri to the bedroom.

"Where are Kyo and Yuki?" Hatori demanded, as soon as the kids were out of earshot.

"Well, um…"

"Shigure," Hatori said quickly. "Where are they?"

"W-well… they're not here…"

Grabbing Shigure by his shirt collar with a dangerously tight grasp, he murmured lethally, "Where are they?"

Shigure gurgled a bit, rasping, "Hard… to… talk… choking…"

Loosening his grip only slightly, Hatori growled, "Where?"

"I… don't know… Ha'ri…"

Hatori cursed under his breath, shoving Shigure to the ground with an aggressive push.

"I should've picked them up myself," muttered Hatori, accidentally-on-purpose kicking the dog in the shin as he stalked past him. "Should've known I couldn't trust you…."

"But… what'd I do?" Shigure gasped out, rubbing his neck and moving his injured leg slightly.

"Look, you -CENSORED- mutt," Hatori all but growled, instead of answering Shigure's question. "Can I trust you to stay here with the kids and not do anything stupid or perverted?"

"Of… of course." Shigure carefully watched Hatori, who was violently shoving a few things into a plain black backpack. A couple of blankets, some small water bottles, a box of crackers….

"Whatcha doing?" Shigure asked tentatively, not wanting to get totally beaten up.

"I'm going to look for them," Hatori glared, grabbing a flashlight and checking if it worked. The experiment was a success so he kept it in his hand as he stalked out the door, carrying the backpack, tossing over his shoulder, "Take care of the kids. I'll be back before breakfast tomorrow."

Shigure finally stood up, dusting himself off, and spoke to the closed door. "Okee-doke, Tori. I'll get on the phone and call some neighbors and stuff… maybe Yun and Kyon are with them… and maybe you're gonna get all exhausted for nothin'… and maybe I'll start laughing my head off at you…"

He grabbed the phone and started dialing.

"I hope."