A/N: If I'm correct, we're now on Season two of the anime. Just in the manga order.

Ritsu and Mitsuru met once they returned back to Shigure's, their entire interaction rather well and as canon. Though it also meant that Ritsu left, which was bittersweet. Minami wasn't sure when she'd see Ritsu next because he didn't appear much in the manga. The bell rung as Shiraki-sensei wiped down "Ah, that's right, who hasn't handed in their course preference forms to me? You have to hand it in to me the week before the exams. We'll be having meetings right after the summer holidays! Please remember to inform your parents!"

"But Shiraki-sensei I don't have parents!" Minami called and they stared at her in silence.

"Minami we already know that." Uo said and Hana laughed.

"Well Minami-chan, just tell whoever your guardian is to come." Shiraki-sensei said. "Class dismissed."

"They're so touchy." Minami said.

"You're the one that jokes about being an orphan." Hana said.

"I've been an unofficial-official orphan since I was three." Minami said and shrugged She was trying to make a joke, but Minami was known for having bad jokes since no one could tell when she was joking. Minami watched as Kyo and Uo had a face off until each other. Even though all of them go out to the school grounds and sit down on the grass and ate together.

"It's ben a while since we all had lunch together." Minami said and looked around.

"Yeah usually Carrot-top won't leave us alone. He always begs for us to sit with him." Uo said with a serious expression on her face.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Kyo yelled.

"Well it's true that he always eats with us." Hana said and looked over at Kyo. "Or he's eating with his little girlfriend."

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Kyo yelled.

"Everyone had their own things to do, and time just went by." Yuki explained as he continued to ignore Kyo's shouting.

"Mina-chan… have you handed in your course preference form yet..?" Hana asked

"Yep." Minami said with a nod.

"Right… I'm still not too sure…" Hana said as she ate her octopus styled hot dog. "I still haven't handed mine in…"

"I still haven't decided what I plan on doing in the future." Uo said with her hair tied up. "While we're on the topic. Are your plans for the future, still the same, Mi-chan? Choosing to work…"

"No actually." Minami said. "After Tohru passed on, I changed my mind. I think I'll go for higher education."

"In what?" Uo asked.

"Well maybe in language?" Minami said.

"I don't know how you're still fluent in English after all these years." Uo said and smirked and leaned over. "There's still an alternative, which is getting married, hm…?" Minami blushed and looked down. "How's that older guy? Still talking to each other?"

"Is she talking about Hatori?" Kyo asked annoyed.

"That's his name!" Uo said with a smile. "Still interested in him? You've always had a thing for older guys!"

"You mean you've never seen me interested in boys our age." Minami said.

" Aiya, that's too troublesome… " Hana said. "Me. I would prefer to continue studying in a university, then graduating and finding myself a job…"

"Who would want to marry you anyway." Uo said with a blank look on her face. "Bah! Let's stick to the topic, and let's say... If you had to choose between these two, which one would you pick?"

"HA?!" Yuki and Kyo asked confused and Uo and Hana stood up with menacing auras around them. Yuki and Kyo followed them up nervously.

"Ha? What are you guys 'Ha'-ing about…?! Could it be that Mina-chan thinks both of you aren't good enough for her, so she doesn't want to choose? Hey….?!" Uo threatened.

"Aiya… then let's have a contest, shall we…?" Hana said.

"Stop annoying us with your crappy rubbish! You're just trying to annoy us, aren't you?!" Kyo yelled.

"But I don't feel like getting married," Minami said.

"Even though you have that ring? You wear it everyday! Even during swim class!" Uo said and Minami nodded and sighed. "Maybe I'll be the first one to get married!"

"Who would want you…" Kyo asked which ended with him getting hit in the head by said girl.

"I don't care when, but I'm getting married for sure." Uo said happily. "You know I did happen to meet this okay guy at my part time job."

Minami paused for a second. Man… time was flying by,

"This is new…" Hana said.

"What kind of person is he?" Minami asked, though she knew.

"Um… I guess he's a lot like Tohru!" Uo said shocked and they paused.

"Wait like Tohru?" Minami asked and Arisa nodded.

"In that case I really want to meet him…" Hana said.

"I don't think he's the type of guy you're thinking about Hanajima." Uo said in return. Minami looked over at Yuki and Kyo who had conflicted looks on their faces.

"It's okay to be unsure." Minami said to them as Uo and Hana talked.

"Wait?" They asked at the same time and glared at each other.

"No… nothing…" Minami said and classes ended only a few hours after. Minami just finished work and stretched out, Momiji was trailing beside her happily.

"It's going to be the summer holidays soon." Momiji said. "But there's still so much school stuff to do, which is annoying! Even the first years have to decide what course they want to take for next year… But I'd already decided a while ago. So I'm more relaxed!"

"That's good, that you already have a plan." Minami said with a soft smile on her face.

Momiji smiled at her. "Yes…. well… In my opinion, it might be a bit tough. However, if I can make it, that would be wonderful. Because I keep telling myself that, I have more inspiration. If I ever get the opportunity, I'll show it to you, Mina-chan!" He looked like he was glowing, of course Minami already knew that he could play the violin, but the passion in his eyes was enough to make her glow.

"GO FOR IT, MOMIJI!" One of her fellow coworkers yelled as tears rushed down her face.

"YOU CAN DO IT, MOMIJI! WE WILL ALWAYS SUPPORT YOU!" The other woman said, with similar tears, though she was holding a tissue.

"I will try my best." Momiji said happily and Minami said goodbye to Momiji and walked over to Yuki, who just so happened to be walking her back to Shigure's. It wasn't often that Yuki did this, since he was so busy, which wasn't something that really bothered Minami. Since Kyo also didn't show up, spending time with his father.

"Sounds like… a fanclub.." Yuki said as they walked away. "Momiji is their idol…"

"I'm happy Momiji is so passionate." Minami said with a soft smile, as they walked side by side. "Though he hasn't shown me what he is passionate about."

"But he must have mentioned.. That it might be 'a bit though'." Yuki said.

"He did." Minami said.

"Actually… right… there are a lot of things…. That we need to persist and fight for…" Yuki said with a distant look on his face.

"Yuki." Minami said and he looked over at her with a distant smile, it didn't feel like he was actually looking at her. Maybe somewhere else.

"Huh? What is it…?" Yuki asked,

"It's…" Minami started to say, but closed her mouth, this was something that Yuki would have to figure out himself. With that look on his face, she didn't feel like it was her place. To give him advice. "Nothing." Minami said and smiled at him, though it didn't feel real. They said goodbye to each other from the stairs and Minami walked into the kitchen and saw Kyo… cooking. "I'm surprised to see you cooking, especially so late at night."

"Well I'm hungry and can't sleep, so I'm cooking some instant noodles!" Kyo said, he looked away. "But we're all out of the sauce and I don't really know how to make it."

"What flavor?" Minami asked.

"Soy souce will do just fine." Kyo said and Minami stared at him.

"Just… soy sauce?" She asked and he had a faint blush on his face.

"How would I know, that's why I asked you to do it!" Kyo said and they started to cook.

"You're going to have to learn these things, I can't cook like this forever." Minami said with a sigh.

"Don't you think I already know that." Kyo said with an attitude on his face.

"You don't have to be rude." Minami said, honestly she wasn't in a good mood. Not one bit. "How was practice?"

"It was fine. Shishou cut his hair at the back, which I guess gives him a different look." Kyo said.

"Does he want to look younger?" Minami asked and Kyo shrugged.

"He said 'There really isn't any particular reason! Cutting off a bit of hair shouldn't have any detrimental effects for anyone I would think!'... He's just another… 'silly adult'." Kyo said as Minami got the noodles.

"We'll be adults soon, maybe it won't be so silly then." Minami said not looking at him. "Do you have any plans for the future? Will you run the dojo?" Kyo paused and looked off with a conflicted look on his face and sighed.

"... Maybe not. Actually… I've been thinking about it, but… because I'm the incarnation of cat… I still… Don't know what to do. Even if that's what I want, even if my shishou agrees to it. If the Sohma clan chooses not to accept it, then they will stop me. The Sohma clan pays close attention to these sorts of matters, and they've never failed to have it their way. If things go wrong, I could…" Kyo's eyes froze with an intense emotion on in them and he covered his eyes with his hand, his posture tense.

"... uh…. No, Just forget about this kind of thing! Nevermind!" He said angrily. "So, you asked me what i, the spirit of the cat, thought about the future, let's see, at the moment I can't even step out into society! I can never be like a normal person, living a normal life! Whenever I think about all this I feel that there is no hope! Maybe not! It's like…" He paused and took a deep breath. "Even though Shigure seems to be a member of society, it's actually not like that, it's like… I didn't say all this because I don't believe in my shishou. What is it? Your expression."

Minami blinked and looked up. "What? Does my face look strange?" She asked.

"I don't understand you, sometimes I think you have everything planned, but other times… I can't even tell." He said with an annoyed look on his face. "Let me ask you, your feelings aren't too different, aren't why! Even if you graduated from high school, your job, even if you were self-sustaining.. If you still had a mother… and sister." He paused and looked at her expression, it was unchanged. "... your future decisions would always involve them, right! But because your family is no longer here now, you're all by yourself, and so concerned about your future, you're actually feeling highly insecure!"

"Are you happy? Proud that you figured that out?" Minami asked him with a blank expression on her face. "You know I'm insecure, congratulations."

"You've been acting weird ever since…" He paused and they locked eyes. "Ever since…"

"Always?" Minami asked with a smile on her face. "That I'm always different?" Kyo paused and leaned over and they stared at each other.

"How about I cheer you up with some good news?" Shigure said as he slid open the door making them flinch in shock.

"Shigure.. Weren't you asleep?" Minami asked him.

"I just got up. Hey, Kyo-kun what stupid thing did you do to make Minami angry at you?" Shigure asked.

"You know, Minami-chan, if you feel uneasy whenever you think about something, then you'll feel all right if you don't think about it, right?" Shigure said and Minami blinked at him confused.

"Isn't that just pushing the problem aside?" She asked him.

"That's how some people look at things, but try to listen to my advice" Shigure said and took a seat beside her. "For example, right beneath Mi-chan's feet, is a room full of dirty laundry, so much that there isn't even room to turn around. So what should you do? Furthermore we don't have a washing machine at the moment, so you have to wash each one, one at a time. You don't have any other option. Can you really clean them all? That choice… would it really make you happy? Whenever you think about you feel insecure, but time is passing you by… well, then what should Minami-chan do?

"... firstly you start with the clothes closest to your feet, washing them one by one! Having a clear view of our goal is important, but if all you do is look to the future, then all those clothes around your feet with block your path forever, correct? The 'present' 'today'. What's important is thinking about what you've don't today, and if you gradually wash the clothes one by one, it would turn out to be so easy you may feel bored. Whenever you feel the uneasiness beginning to well up in your heart, then have a good rest. Read a book or watch some tv. Or just sit around and have instant noodles with everyone else!"

Minami looked over at Kyo and noticed that the words helped him out much more than her. "Maybe you should give those words of advice to Yuki," Minami said and stood up, ignoring the frowns around her. "That advice just won't help me."

Shigure frowned as she walked outside and shut the door. 'Maybe the advice would help a normal high school student, who hadn't already been through high school once already.' Minami knew what she was afraid of. Not about her career plans, or about the Sohmas (well not completely). What her number one question was: Would she disappear at age 20 just like she did the last time? Would this all be a deep? Or will she stay in this world?

She looked down on her ring, feeling conflicted. Her expression the same as before… lost.

A/N: This scene played out differently, with Tohru because she appreciated the advice and Kyo helped her realize her own insecurities. But it didn't feel like it should go the same with Minami. Sometimes people give out advice, and it doesn't hit you right or feel like that's your truth.

The realization Kyo had towards Minami, was that she always seemed off or strange. That she acted too much like an adult, and that's one of the reasons why I couldn't see MinamixKyo because their actual experiences don't line up. Minami would feel too old with Kyo. Her emotions aren't consistent, because she knows that she's passed the first arc. Ritsu was the last character that she would need to meet, for the first arc. The first arc is the introduction of characters, tensions will rise and this chapter was the introduction to these new tensions.

Also Shigure's advice wasn't 'directed' towards her but towards Kyo. It was like Yuki and Kyo were pushing their own insecurities on Minami, and she's not in the mood for it. It's tiring being the 'therapist' of a group, which is why she didn't feel the need to give advice to either of them.