Chapter 37: Great Expectations, Huh?

It was an extremely tense ride to the hospital in Daisuke's van. It was near impossible not to sense the anxiousness in the man's eyes as he drove. Sitting next to him was his, equally anxious, wife and mother of Tohru. In the seats behind, Ryusuke glared an icy, calculating glare out the window as he leaned against the armrest. Izuna and Kyonosuke, clutching hands together tightly, were next on the list of impatient teens; and after them were Torahku and Sarutoubi, and the extremely fidgety Michiko who couldn't seem to sit still. In fact, the only calm one, aside from Ryusuke and Sarutoubi, was the young Himemiya Sohma, as she sat on Torahku's lap, cradled in her cousin's arms.

No one dared to speak a word, all caught up in their individual thoughts, which all centered on the wavering cat-girl.

The most intriguing thought, however, belonged to Daisuke; father of said cat. Though he was as worried as anyone over Tohru's condition, he couldn't help but marvel at the rest of the family and their reactions. The zodiac members, who had only known his daughter for a few days at the most, cared for her as if they had known her for ages. Peering into the rear-view mirror, he could see their anxious faces, worried expressions; the slightest of which, though very hard to spot, on the icy Ryusuke's face - a rare occurrence indeed, Daisuke noted.

Michiko's relationship with Tohru was probably the most understandable; since Michiko had practically lived off of the old Tohru's every word. And, at the time just before Tohru and Kyo's death, Michiko had been the only one with them, the one who had called the rest of the elders, and the ambulance, for help. Daisuke's mind drifted to that moment in the forest that happened not even a day ago. Michiko, God knows why, jumped out in front of the deadly transformed-Tohru, begging her to come home and revert back to the Tohru Michiko loved; and, when it was all over, or when they assumed it was in this case, Michiko was the first to run to Tohru's side, not wanting to loose yet another Tohru in front of her very eyes. Michiko's love for both Tohru's was clearer than humanly possible.

The rest of the family, however, was a completely different story. Sarutoubi, Daisuke thought; well, he could befriend anyone with a personality like that. Torahku; he was known to be a skirt-chaser, but, against my better judgement, he had better have some respect for my daughter. Izuna; she was quick to emulate Akane when she saw traits that she liked, so Tohru wouldn't be any different, no? As for the three girls; they would follow anything Izuna said, though they probably each have a reason of their own for liking Tohru so much, which went for Kyonosuke as well.

It was Ryusuke and Akane that got to him as he pulled into the entrance of the hospital. Those two have always been on another level compared to the rest of the family. Their role as the 'mother and father of the zodiac' was coveted and respected; but, to Daisuke's wonder, the two had suddenly taken an interest in Tohru, and the man couldn't understand why.

Michiko slid her door open and was the first out of the van, followed by an, equally anxious, Izuna, who had Kyonosuke's arm in tow as she dragged him towards the front doors of the hospital. Torahku, calmer than the first two, lifted Himemiya up onto his shoulders and ran to catch up with the two girls; while Ryusuke held the door open for a, much too caught up in her own thoughts to notice, Akane.

"I'm off to park." Daisuke waved Hitomi off as, finally, she ran to catch up with the others.

"Tohru-chan…!"

Michiko slammed the door open and ran head first into the chest of a tired-looking horse-boy.

Michiko rubbed her head as she stared up at Kaoru. "S-sorry there Kao-nii…"

Kaoru smiled. "Glad you could make it Mii-chan."

Izuna peered into the door with eyebrows furrowed. "Two visitors at a time, huh?" she pouted, "that's hardly fair, don't you think Kao-nii?"

"It's not like she's going anywhere." Kaoru said with a light, very unfitting for the situation, smile. "You'll just have to be patient, Izuna-chan."

"Fine, fine… I'll just talk to Chikarai Oba-chan for the time being." the 'wolf' sighed as she closed the door silently.

Kaoru nodded before leading his younger cousin to Tohru's bedside. The rabbit nearly sprinted to her older cousin's side and stared hard at the unconscious Tohru's face.

"S-she doesn't look as pale anymore…" she noted as Kaoru took a seat at, Michiko could assume, his usual place.

"Yeah, her breathing's gotten normal too." Kaoru shrugged. "It'll only be a matter of time now, huh? More importantly…" He looked straight at Michiko. "Have you found her beads?"

Michiko looked shocked for a moment, but then her gaze dropped from Tohru's face to the floor; almost like a sad kid who just got caught for a prank he was sorry he pulled.

Kaoru's expression hardened. "So… that's a no then?"

Michiko, for once extremely silent and solemn, nodded her head slowly. "I'm, like, sorry… seriously, Kao-nii. Sarutoubi-nii and I looked pretty much everywhere but we couldn't find them at all!"

"Not even in Kamina's room?"

She shook her head. "We looked there first, and then Tohru-chan's room because, maybe, Hitomi Oba-chan moved them there? Then we asked Kamicchi and he said he had no idea."

Kaoru nodded, taking all the information in. Then, strangely, he pulled a smile at his regretful younger cousin. "Well, you've just gotta keep looking, huh?"

Michiko stared confusedly at him; was he in any position to smile at a time like this? But, her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking on the door and a muffled: "K-Kyon, don't disturb them!"

"You can come in." Kaoru called as Kyonosuke and Izuna stumbled into the room.

Kyonosuke waved slightly. "H-hey Kaoru nii-san…"

The horse nodded in acknowledgement as he got up and ushered Michiko out of the room with him.

Izuna sighed as she stared at Tohru on the hospital bed. "Oba-chan said that she's trying to overcome something mentally, right?"

"Yeah…?" Kyonosuke answered tentatively.

Izuna pursed her lips, "Hmm, what do think it is? Maybe we can try to help her."

Kyonosuke put a hand on Izuna's shoulder. It was great that she wanted to help, which was typical Izuna-behaviour, but Kyonosuke knew the reality. "As much as you want to, there are only two people who can help her now."

Izuna turned quickly to him, "W-who…?"

Kyonosuke pointed to the unconscious cat in the hospital bed. "Nee-chan, obviously, and..."

Izuna smiled. "Kao-nii, right…?"

Kyonosuke nodded, but then thought for a moment. "Well, actually, there probably is one other person that could help nee-chan, if he decides to come out of hiding." The boar shook his head, "…like that's at all possible."

"Katsuya…?"

Kyonosuke sighed. "His own sister is hospitalized because of him and he just runs away."

Izuna's eyebrows furrowed. "Let's bring him back." She muttered quietly.

"Hmm…? Sorry, what'd you say?"

Her eyes never strayed from Tohru's face as she repeated. "Let's bring Katsuya back."

"W-why…? He's already done this to nee-chan, and he won't even repent for it!"

"But he's family…" Izuna's words made Kyonosuke understand where she was coming from.

Izuna loved the Sohma family more than anything in the world, and Kyonosuke, as well as everyone else in the family, knew this as a fact. If anything was out of place, at all, she would do anything to set it straight and, in this case, it was Katsuya; but that was only the first reason.

Kyonosuke recalled the night before when Izuna reunited with Kamina. She cried and Kamina, though he wouldn't allow himself to shed tears, clutched onto his sister like he hadn't seen her in years, instead of just a couple of hours. Kyonosuke knew that Izuna loved her brother more than anything in the world. He could only imagine the thoughts she had on Katsuya and Tohru being separated at birth and never knowing the joy of having a sibling. Kyonosuke knew Izuna wanted to share that feeling with everyone, including Tohru.

"We'll do whatever we have to." Izuna nodded, turning to Kyonosuke. "You'll help me, right Kyon?"

Kyonosuke bit his lip; he didn't want anything to do with Katsuya anymore, but Izuna was asking him. He shook his head decidedly. "Sorry Izuna, I'm not the one to help you. If you're going to confront Katsuya… you'll need someone else."

Izuna wasn't angry at all; she understood why Katsuya wouldn't go. He was the boar, after all; one look at Katsuya and all of her boyfriend's anger would bubble up to the point where she probably couldn't control him.

She nodded determinedly at Kyonosuke before turning to Tohru one last time. "Don't worry Nee-chan. Your brother's coming here whether he likes it or not." And with that, she turned on her heel and practically stormed out of the door.

Kyonosuke sighed and shook his head jokingly as he walked over to the side of Tohru's bed. "Looks like there's nothing we can do to stop her, Nee-chan." He scoffed, "But, y'know Izuna, sometimes she's more of a stubborn boar than I am." He chuckled to himself as the door opened slowly.

"Forgot something, Izuna…?" Kyonosuke called, not looking up to see that his visitor was, in fact, not his girlfriend.

"Hmm, Izuna-chan…? Didn't she storm out of here a second ago?"

Kyonosuke didn't look up, but he knew the voice: Dr. Yousuke Ishiyama, his and Ryusuke's father.

"I recall her leaving Akane in charge of taking care of Himemiya-chan while she towed Torahku and Sarutoubi out of the hospital with her." Another voice answered his dad's initial comment.

Kyonosuke's head darted up and he was stared straight at Ryusuke, who was standing alongside their father. His eyes narrowed. "I thought we were only allowed two visitors at a time."

Ryusuke scoffed as he leaned against one of the walls and Yousuke took a seat across Tohru in the bed from Kyonosuke.

"I don't think the doctor is quite considered a visitor when it comes to his own patient, wouldn't you say, Kyonosuke?" Yousuke smiled.

Kyonosuke smiled back. He loved his dad and had always hoped to become a doctor like him someday; but everyone around him always said that Ryusuke would make a better candidate for succeeding their father, which only added to the piling reasons for Kyonosuke's hatred towards his brother.

Yousuke Ishiyama was a tall man with a striking resemblance to both Hatsuharu and Hattori Sohma, of the previous zodiac; as if the two were merged together to create this man. He had black hair like that of Hatori's, but his grey eyes were the very essence of Hatsuharu.

Yousuke worked alongside Chikarai Sohma, who was close childhood friends with Daisuke and Rin; which was how he had met Rin in the first place. Dr. Chikarai and he were the main doctors of the Sohma family, both understanding the curse very well; though, in his practices, Dr. Yousuke often took the more scientific or logical side of things, while Dr. Chikarai went for the humane and psychological reasoning; which sometimes caused conflict.

"Will Tohru-nee be alright…?" Kyonosuke asked, completely disregarding Ryusuke's presence in the room.

"I'm sure you've heard from Chikarai-san." Yousuke nodded. "Though she is more focused on explaining it psychologically, I must admit that her theory stands."

Kyonosuke leaned his arm against the chair rest and his cheek against his fist as he stared at Tohru's face. "So, she's having a kind of subconscious obstacle in a dream as we speak?"

"Or so Chikarai-san says…" Yousuke nodded, looking to Ryusuke for a moment. "Besides that, Kyonosuke…"

"Yes dad…?"

Ryusuke stood straight, facing Kyonosuke, from the wall as Yousuke went on. "You're brother would like a word with you…"

"Why doesn't he just tell me himself…?" Kyonosuke muttered; hating how the conversation had, yet again, turned to Ryusuke. "Why do you need to be brought into this, dad?"

Ryusuke shrugged, "Would you have listened if dad wasn't here?"

Kyonosuke pouted, averting his eyes from the two men. In his mind, he silently apologized to Tohru; if she was awake, she probably wouldn't want to be right in the middle of the next few minutes of conversation.

All hell was going to break loose, after all, since this was Kyonosuke first and final confrontation with the men who placed the most expectations on him.

Sorry you'll have to hear this, Tohru-nee. Hopefully that obstacle you're facing will distract you from what's going on out here.

I have a feeling that every A/N from now on is going to start with me apologizing for a late update. So, once again, sorry! I'm especially sorry this time since I said I could get this chapter up by last Monday, which was Thanksgiving. You'd seriously think I would've learned that "Thanksgiving" actually meant: "Hoards of family members come to raid your house"-day. (^_^) Also, I read the latest Bleach chapter and I had to write a fanfic for it or I would've died of depression. But, besides those things, I'm glad I got this chapter up! Also, I'm posting a little 'extra' with this chapter, which isn't really part of the story line, but someone asked me to do it and (don't worry, I didn't forget) it just took a little time. We could call it an "Omake Chapter" I guess, but in reality it's just the character profiles. Enjoy them~!
In terms of Kyonosuke, Ryusuke, and Yousuke's (see what I did there?) 'talk', well, I'm actually a little sketchy on how well this will play out so, please, bear with me here. Writer's block is a pain and a curse and pretty much the very embodiment of my annoyance. But, I have a plan for next chapter, which I think is cool, but well, we'll just have to see. For all those readers who are missing the Gaiden chapters, let's see if next chapter will be a good substitute. See you then!