"W-What are you talking about?" Tohru gaped, at a loss.
"Tohru, Tohru, Tohru," Shigure chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Why must you always jump to conclusions?"
"Jump to...What?" Tohru was still confused, her brow furrowing.
"The thing about secrets," Hatori began. "Is that no one is supposed to know what they are. When someone knows one secret out of many, it is easy for one to be confused for another."
"...Huh?"
"You are the keeper of many secrets, Miss Honda. One too many if you ask me," Ayame chimed in. "I'm afraid you simply jumped to conclusions when that horrid Suzuki girl said she knew your secret. Knowing where you live isn't exactly a big secret," Shigure spoke.
"I'm sorry, but what?" Tohru asked, completely and utterly confused. What she was surprised about was they were going to tell their secret to the Jing's!
"The secret you thought that Kana girl knew," Ayame explained, his deep voice gentle. "Was that you lived with my prince like brother Yuki. That fan club of his would have made your existence miserable! You would have been quickly outcasted, and I'm afraid your friends Hana and Arisa wouldn't have been able to save you."
Tohru's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, her hand flying to her mouth shocked. She blinked once, and then fainted.
"Well, she took that better than I would have thought," Shigure said gleefully.
"You knocked her out," Lianu said pointedly.
"Ah yes, my words are quite powerful. I should've warned her...Oh well," Shigure shrugged.
"And while we're on the matter of Tohru," Hatori spoke up, turning his eye toward Hojo.
Hatori really never liked that boy.
"You are to vacate the premises immediately. You are to never come near Tohru Honda again, is that understood?"
"Are you insane? She's my girlfriend-"
"And if she truly mattered so much to you, your eyes would not have strayed to a third year girl. Do we understand each other?" Hatori asked coolly.
"You've been playing with Tohru's emotions?" Kyo demanded, trying to keep himself from knocking the ungrateful boy to the floor.
"No, it's not like-" Hojo tried to stammer.
"Miss Honda is a fragile girl, she does not need someone coming in and messing with her mind," Yuki said coldly.
"Uh-Oh," Momiji murmured, knowing things might get ugly soon...
"Anyway, why are you still here? Didn't you hear my threatening friend here? He told you to get lost," Shigure said pointedly, and Hojo rose to his feet unsteadily.
"I-"
"We don't care if you have any last words, dude. Get outta here, we don't need jerks in this house," Lianu said icily.
"Tell Tohru that-"
"We won't," Lianu smiled darkly.
"If I so much as hear your name in conversation, I will come and find you. I have ways of locating people, trust me," Hatori spoke. "You are to never contact Tohru, attempt to find her, or engage her in any manner. If you disobey any of these things, I will have you hunted down. Do you have a passport?" Hatori asked calmly, and Hojo knew the only way he would avoid these crazy peoples wrath would be by fleeing the country.
"Good bye now," Kisa said firmly. Hojo opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and headed for the door.
"Oh Tohru, why do you have to make such of a mess for us to clean up?" Ayame bemoaned aloud.
"Tohru doesn't mean for this to happen," Kisa defended her sissy. "She's just a trouble magnet."
The Sohmas thought over that statement, realizing how true that sentence really was.
"So, do want our help loading Tohru into your car?" Mrs. Jing asked cheerfully.
"What?"
"Well, she's obviously going back with you. I would hate for that threat to be carried out!" Mrs. Jing laughed, standing up. "Poor Hojo, he's going to have a tough couple of days. You guys can really threaten a person, I'll give you that!"
"I'll get her things," Lianu said, getting up and heading towards the room she'd been sharing with Tohru.
"Such a shame, I was really enjoying Tohru's cooking," Mr. Jing sighed. "I guess I'll have to put up with my wife's food again..."
"Hey!"
"It's really scrumptious darling!" He said quickly, and then turning to the Sohmas shook his head and mouthed a firm 'NO'. "I'll get Tohru," Mr. Jing said, and the group released a collective breath. They had wondered how they were going to get the girl into the car...The Sohmas were all mostly guys, except for Kisa, who wouldn't have been able to carry the older girl. And if anyone else tried to pick her up...The Sohma secret would have been blown, again.
Tohru was settled into the back seat of Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame's car, the rest of the group piling into the other car.
"Well, I'm going to miss that girl," Mrs. Jing sighed. "Take good care of her, or we'll come find you."
"Funny," Hatori smiled at the light threat.
"I can't believe she's still out," Lianu wondered. "I would've liked her to be conscious when we said goodbye. Then again, she probably would've put up a fuss. I hate emotional goodbyes anyway."
"It was nice meeting all of you, and thank you for keeping Tohru safe. I wish you luck in all of your endeavors," Ayame said tearfully, not caring that it wasn't exactly manly to cry in public.
"Take care!" The Jing's called out, and the two Sohma cars began to drive off.
"Bye Tohru, take care..."
~(0)~
The miles disappeared beneath the wheels of the cars, passing through the Shadow Forest and Forgotten Canyon, the Dangerous Gulch and through the Bandits' Stretch, until finally the familiar sights of their city rose up to meet them.
Tohru had simply fallen asleep during the drive, going from fainted unconscious to dreamland sleep. Hatori had called Arisa and Hana and told them to meet them at Shigure's house, that they had found Tohru and were bringing her home.
Hatori thought about that statement after he hung up with the ex-rebel girl. It felt right saying that, it truly did. There wasn't any foreboding or anxiety in his heart, no worry or stress, he felt calm.
Peaceful.
His one good eye flickered to look at Tohru's form in the backseat. He knew it was probably because she was coming back with them, such a big part of their lives.
He absently wondered if she knew how much she meant to them.