Kyo stood at the bottom of the staircase, drumming his fingers on the banister. It had been five minutes he'd been standing there, possibly longer, and there was still no sign of Tohru. He sighed, looking up the stairs, then frowned. This was taking way, way too long.

That having been decided, he abandoned the banister and simply made his way upstairs.

Coming to the door of their room, Kyo gave a quick knock. "Hey, are you just about ready? We need to get going soon if we're going to get Hajime to Kisa's in time to make our train."

"Um...not quite," Tohru's somewhat embarrassed voice floated through the door, and Kyo sighed again. "You just need to get dressed, Tohru. I know it's a little more complicated for girls, but it shouldn't be that-" He opened the door, and stared blankly into the room "-hard." Turning to look from the assortment of clothing to his wife, Kyo could only ask "Tohru, what the hell?"

Tohru was incredibly apologetic. "I know, Kyo, I know! But I just can't decide what to wear, it's entirely too much pressure! I don't want to embarrass myself, or anyone else, either."

Kyo was shaking his head, looking at the five outfits that Tohru had laid out. "It's just dinner, Tohru, not a wedding. Or a job interview. Or whatever else this," as he gestured at all the clothes, "is all about. Pick a dress, put it on. Good to go."

Tohru gave him a reproachful look. "It isn't that simple, Kyo!"

"How? What's hard about it?"

The fact that he even had to ask was a testament to how very different Tohru and Kyo felt about a lot of things, up to and including tonight's dinner. For Kyo, it was all easy; they'd be told to dress up nicely for a fancy dinner, and therefore Kyo had put on his suit. Just like that, he was set. And Tohru didn't doubt he'd shine, wherever they ended up going for that fancy dinner. Kyo always looked handsome, but in his dark grey suit and black shirt he looked positively devastating.

And then there was Tohru. What kind of dinner was it? What kind of restaurant? In what neighborhood? What would the clientele look like? How busy would it be? How many people would she have to worry about seeing her? And most importantly, would she embarrass their dinner companions?

Kyo was looking at the dresses again and shaking his head. "You should have just asked Rin her opinion and had done with it; they're the ones who picked the restaurant, she probably knows which one is the best choice."

Tohru sighed. "I thought about that, but I really didn't want to pester her, or make her feel like I couldn't make a proper choice on my own."

"Tohru, you packed five outfits for this one dinner. You're seriously overthinking this."

"It's Isuzu and Hatsuharu, Kyo, and we're going out with them! If anything, I'm underthinking this."

It had been both surprising and not, Rin and Hatsuharu's blazing ascent into fashion notoriety these past few years. Rin had managed to transform what started as a simple part-time job at an independent alternative fashion retailer into modelling, styling, and eventually ad designing for that same store. She'd amassed a huge following, captivated by her edgy style and bewitching beauty, and proved a massive draw for the business. With the influx of admirers, Haru in turn had started to spend time in the store, providing a little healthy intimidation for any swains who got too aggressive.

Rin's bosses hate hated having Haru around at first, but soon discovered that he also fit their demographic and attracted attention all on his own. So when Rin asked about doing a marketing campaign that featured the two of them, the store had jumped to say yes.

That campaign had been unexpectedly explosive, attracting the attention of much bigger eyes than either Rin or Haru had imagined. Suddenly the two of them were being aggressively headhunted, other companies wanting to somehow bottle their magic as well.

For her part, Rin was over the attention. She had no desire to remain in front of the camera, or in front of the crowds. But she was happy to accept a position at a major alternative label, taking up the reins of their chief creative for the entire marketing team. If she could get paid a lot of money to create, she'd take it.

But Haru had found he enjoyed the limelight, and after the two of them talked it over, they'd decided now was the time for him to enjoy it. He'd signed on with a major Tokyo modelling agency, and with his distinctive looks and his cool attitude suddenly catapulted to national attention. In the past two years, he'd been popping up everywhere; on billboards and magazine ads, and in fashion campaigns. He'd even managed to parlay his connections in the modelling industry into a nice little side business, taking the jewelry design he'd been doing for years and transforming it into a regularly retailed line.

Needless to say, Tohru found Isuzu and Hatsuharu's lifestyle a little intimidating. When they were all hanging out at the dojo, or on the Sohma Estate, or up at Tohru and Kyo's house in Hibe, it was easy to act normally; in spite of their success, neither Isuzu or Hatsuharu had really changed. If anything, they were more 'themselves' than ever, still sticking their thumbs in the eye of convention and laughing the whole time.

But the idea of going out with them was incredibly intimidating. Isuzu was bad enough; even back in high school, Tohru felt depressingly plain next to her. But these days Hatsuharu was something else entirely. Tohru was confident that wherever they went, there was bound to be someone who recognized him; he hardly blended in, even before he'd started modelling. And it was far more likely there'd be others who recognize him, too, and that meant attention, and possibly pictures, and she just didn't quite know how she felt about all of that.

The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass either Isuzu or Hatsuharu by wearing the wrong clothing and making them look bad!

Kyo was completely ignorant of Tohru's inner turmoil, and probably wouldn't have been that much help even if he knew. He'd never been one to care about looks that much, but he would always vote Tohru best-dressed, no matter what she was wearing. And as far as he was concerned, if Haru and Rin cared what Tohru wore they would have spelled it out more clearly.

But the clock was ticking. Before they met Haru and Rin at their apartment, they still had to drop Hajime off with Kisa. Although they were technically going out to dinner, they'd been asked to come by much earlier, in the early afternoon, so the four of them could have time to properly hang out and talk before their meal. Kyo wasn't thrilled about having to hang out in his suit, but it would be nice to have a chance to visit with Haru for a while. He wasn't even upset to see Rin, assuming she kept her snark to herself for a change.

Tohru was still dithering, so Kyo decided to make it easy on her. "That one," he said, pointing to a wine-colored knee-length dress with a black ruffled petticoat. "The one you wore to Ayame's wedding. You haven't worn that in a while, it would be nice to see you in it again. It's fancy, but not so fancy you'll be uncomfortable. And I can help you with it," he said, grinning as he gestured to the corset back.

She wasn't quite sure, but Kyo was right; they should already have been on their way by now, and she still wasn't dressed. "Ok, that one it is." Moving quickly, she shucked off her daywear and slipped into the dress, along with all its related accessories. Then she hurried across the hall to the bathroom, gesturing for Kyo to follow. "I need to do my hair; can you get the back for me?"

Could he do the back, indeed. With the ease of much practice, Kyo secured the back of Tohru's dress and fastened the lacings while Tohru rapidly brushed out her hair and wrapped it up into an easy but elegant knot. Then a quick swipe of mascara and lipstick, and she was dressed and ready to go.

"How do I look?"

Kyo's response was to kiss her hard enough to make her toes curl, and Tohru laughed when they finally broke apart. "Kyo, my lipstick!" She reached out and wiped the dark smudge off of his lips, and turned to quickly fix her own mouth. Then she smiled, dropping the lipstick into her purse. "Just in case."

Kyo grinned, completely unrepentant. "Shoulda thought about it before you decided to wear the stuff. But since you are ready now, we really ought to get going."

Tohru nodded, already crossing the hall to grab her shoes. "Do you have all of Hajime's things together?"

"Yup, already in the entryway. Dad's just been wearing him out, so hopefully he'll be ready for a nap as soon as he gets to Kisa's."

In spite of Kyo's initial worries about the time, they managed to make their connections with no problems. They'd dropped Hajime off with Kisa at her home on the main estate, and in spite of Tohru's shoes had made it quickly back to the train station in plenty of time to catch their train.

They were meeting Isuza and Haru at their apartment, a place Tohru and Kyo had only been a couple times before. Going so far into the city was an always adventure, and as they rode along Tohru felt herself becoming increasingly nervous.

The train was crowded, so they both had to stand. Kyo was holding onto a bar with one hand, and the other wrapped around Tohru and firmly anchored her against him. She rather liked it; being held by him always managed to take the edge off when she was stressed.

And she was stressed enough that he noticed, even on the crowded train. "Hey, Tohru, you ok?"

She took a breath. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just...different. The train, the city, the evening...I'm really hoping not to embarrass them, Kyo. What if I do something silly in public, and it embarrasses them?"

Even though Tohru had lived in Tokyo her entire life until she was eighteen, Tokyo was a very large city and she'd never gone too far into its heart. That part was stressful enough, but the closer they got the more she worried. Isuzu and Hatsuharu were such dear friends, she knew they would both always cut her unnecessary slack, but they were the ones who'd have to deal with any public relations fall out and she hated the idea of causing either of them any trouble.

Kyo gave her a squeeze. "First of all, it's not like you don't know how to behave in public. Just because we're going somewhere fancy doesn't mean you'll suddenly forget your table manners or something. And second, it's Rin and Haru. She loves you so much you could probably stab Haru without her batting an eyelash, and he...is Haru. I doubt it's even possible to embarrass him."

Watching Haru's career trajectory had been somewhat amusing for Kyo. When Haru had first mentioned Rin wanted him to appear with her in her inaugural ad campaign, Kyo and Haru had both chuckled about it, musing together over what that actually meant. They'd both heard it plenty of times, 'are you a model?' or variations on the question, and Kyo had joked that Haru just wanted to give a different answer for a change without having to worry about keeping his story straight. Lying had never been one of Haru's strengths.

As Haru rose to national notice, Kyo had been somewhat incredulous, but still amused. He never would have thought Haru would be such a big deal, but Kyo had never claimed to understand fashion, either. It all seemed like an annoying pain to Kyo, spending so much time standing around and having your picture taken, not even getting to choose what you were wearing most of the time.

But Haru liked it well enough, and he'd been more than willing to tease Kyo back about being too insecure to let someone else dress him. "You never know, Kyo, if you actually gave fashion a chance, you might find you like it."

Kyo was more than willing to leave all of that to Haru.

Kyo had never worried that attention would change Haru, and he'd been right not to. For all intents and purposes, Haru was still the same man he'd always been; still blunt, still saying things he shouldn't, still calling Tohru "Honda." He even still attended classes at the Sohma dojo.

Given the choice, Kyo personally would have rather they all meet at the Sohma estate and grab dinner somewhere local; it would have been a lot easier for Tohru to stay in her comfort zone. And he was a little concerned himself about what kind of a place they'd end up, and with what sort of attention. Haru was nationally known, and his white hair made him very distinctive, so they might very well end up having some observers, and that thought made Kyo's own skin crawl. It had been nearly two years since Haru had first nonchalantly warned them about picture-taking fans, and the idea had yet to sit right with Kyo.

Though if he were honest with himself, it wasn't completely unknown for a stranger to take his picture. Such was the lot of most of the Sohmas, at at least one point in their lives. Especially those 'blessed' with unusual coloration.

Kyo's words were encouraging, and Tohru felt a little bit better as she thought about them. She couldn't deny that Kyo was right about Isuzu, other than maybe the stabbing part. As if she would ever stab anyone, let alone Hatsuharu! And it was true, Hatsuharu wasn't very rufflable. It had been years now since he'd last gone Black, all of them firmly hoping that that part of him had died off with the Curse. The Hatsuharu that remained was sweet, and nearly as placid as Master Kazuma.

They arrived at their station, squeezing out onto the platform along with the rest of the packed train car, and Tohru let out a deep breath as they made their way through the crowd. "Could we slow down just a tiny bit, Kyo? I don't want to go too quickly in these shoes!"

Kyo glanced down at Tohru's wine-red heels. She'd gotten better at walking in high heels over the years, but they were definitely not something meant for speed. "I don't get why you even bother with those things; they don't seem that comfortable."

Tohru took Kyo's arm with a smile. "Because I like them, once in a while. And they go with the dress, and they make my legs look nice."

He smiled, patting her hand. "Your legs always look nice, Tohru, you don't need to risk falling just for that."

She giggled, giving his arm an extra squeeze. "Well, the other facts still stand."

"As long as you do, too."

Shoes aside, the two of them still made decent time and soon found themselves standing outside of Haru and Rin's building, a large high-rise overlooking a trendy section of the city. Tohru was struck once again by nerves as the two of them walked into the lobby and up to the doorman.

Kyo was unbothered; as relaxed as he seemed, they might as well just be walking into the Hibe grocery store!

"Hi, we're here to see Hatsuharu and Isuzu Sohma?"

The doorman looked at the two of them, then consulted a clipboard at his podium. "Names?"

"Kyo and Tohru Sohma."

The doorman nodded, then gestured them forward to the elevator. As they stepped in, Tohru let out a deep exhale. "That was so stressful!"

"I just told the guy our names, Tohru."

"I know, but it was the way you had to say it! That man looked so very serious!"

Kyo chuckled and hugged her against him as the elevator rose up. "You always get bothered by the weirdest things."

In spite of Tohru's nerves, she was really looking forward to today's dinner. It was June, and the last time she and Kyo had been back in Tokyo was all the way back at New Year's. Today was the first chance they had to see either Hatsuharu or Isuzu in over six months, and she was thrilled for the opportunity to catch up. She and Isuzu texted frequently, but Isuzu had never been all that fond of phone calls and Tohru missed talking to her. And Hatsuharu, of course!

The elevator opened into a hallway with four doors, and Tohru and Kyo crossed to the one with a nameplate that read "Sohma," smiling at each other before ringing the bell.

Hatsuharu opened the door. "Hey, you two made it! And you even dressed up," he commented, looking the two of them over approvingly. "Nice suit, Kyo."

"You're the one who said to dress up, remember?" Kyo had long since outgrown his instincts to constantly fidget while wearing a suit, but he still wasn't crazy about it and could do without the reminder.

"Yeah, I know. It's just always a little weird to see you put in an effort."

Kyo snorted, and the two of them stepped into the apartment. Then Haru turned to Tohru, and his smile was approving. "You look great, Honda. Love that dress on you."

Tohru blushed, looking down and smoothing her skirt. "Really? I wasn't quite sure what to wear for today, Kyo finally had to step in and choose for me."

Haru gave his cousin a respectful nod. "Good choice, Kyo." Turning back to Tohru, he leaned in and gave her a hug. "You look hot, Honda. It's perfect."

Kyo took Haru's shoulder and raised an eyebrow at him in mock-annoyance. "Could you not say things like that when you're holding my wife?"

Haru let go of Tohru and gave Kyo a shrug. "I could, but why? It's true, she's looking pretty damn hot! As you have to know, seeing how you picked it."

Tohru was blushing, but she was smiling as well. There had been a time when Haru's compliments had deeply unsettled her, but now they only made her smile. And for all that Kyo always pretended to be annoyed with Haru, she knew that he liked it, too. Tohru could be a little self-conscious about herself, and it was hard to give herself credit for being attractive. Hearing it from someone else, someone other than Kyo, even, was always an ego boost.

Kyo chuckled. "Yeah, well, you're not wrong there." Smiling, he pulled Haru into a hug, which the other man returned. "You're looking good, Haru. I see the fashion world hasn't worn you down just yet."

Haru shook his head. "Nah, everything's still going good. Busy. I've just been in Kyoto for work this past week, so it's nice to be back home for a while. Rin's a good sport about it, but she gets grumpy if I'm gone too long."

They were still standing in the apartment entryway, and at the mention of Isuzu's name Tohru perked up. It was nice to see Haru, but she was really looking forward to catching up with the other woman. "Where is Isuzu, Hatsuharu?"

Haru turned to look at Tohru, and she was somewhat surprised to see that he was actually grinning at her. "Living room. And she's really excited to see you, Tohru; you two will have a lot to catch up on, I'm sure."

Haru's expression was uncharacteristically eager, and it was enough to make Tohru and Kyo look at each other in surprise. But Tohru wasn't going to let an invitation like that slide, and she walked past Haru, down the hall into the living room.

Haru and Rin's living room was large and spacious, with big windows that looked out onto the city. And Tohru could see the back of Rin's head over the top of the couch as she approached, Haru and Kyo just behind her. "Hello, Isuzu! It's so nice to see you!"

Rin turned, and she smiled at the sight of Tohru. "Hey, Tohru, thanks for coming. Welcome to our home." Putting her hand on the back of the couch, Rin pushed herself up to stand, and Tohru and Kyo both felt their eyes get huge as they looked at her. It was always rude to make assumptions, but right now there was no question: she quite clearly massively pregnant.

Haru was grinning from ear to ear, and Rin gave him a chagrinned look before looking at Tohru and Kyo, who were both gaping at her midsection. She wasn't surprised; she'd been very careful to keep even the tiniest trace of their news from Tohru and Kyo's ears. Still, she could do without the gaping, and after another minute she said drily, "My face is up here, you know."

Tohru ripped her eyes away from Rin's belly and looked wide-eyed at her friend. "I'm so sorry, that was so rude of me! I'm just-" She broke off, the cardinal rule of another woman's pregnancy 'thou shalt not assume anyone is pregnant unless they tell you' blinking like a neon sign in her brain. "-I'm just so happy to see you!"

Kyo had also turned away from Isuzu, and he was looking at Haru's smug grin with an incredulous look. "How the hell did you manage to keep this a secret, Haru? You never keep anything secret."

Haru chuckled, still grinning. "It's a lot easier when you don't see people very often. You guys are actually the first in the family to find out."

Kyo's eyes widened again. "Us?" And he glanced back at Rin, focusing once again on just how big she was. "How?"

Rin bristled somewhat at the insinuation, and she glared at Kyo. "I get it, I'm a fucking whale. You don't have to rub it in."

Seeing as how Hajime was only a year and a half old, Kyo had recent enough experience with a pregnant woman to know he'd stepped in it. And this pregnant woman was pretty volatile to begin with. "I'm sorry, I was just...surprised. By all of it."

"That was kinda the point," Haru said cheerfully.

Rin was still glowering at Kyo, but then she shrugged. "It's not like we go back to the Estate very often. I haven't been back since New Year's, and Haru's only been back to the dojo. Even he knows how to shut up once in a while, it's not like they talk much about anything besides karate there anyway,"

Haru was nodding. "And it's pretty easy to stay quiet when you're really motivated. It's been pretty hard to keep it from Yuki, but other than that I think I've done a pretty good job keeping my mouth shut."

"For once," Rin commented, coming around the couch to finally give Tohru a hug.

Tohru had been listening to everything and trying to process it. No one had actually said anything yet, and she was a little disappointed in Kyo for actually saying something. Just think if they were wrong! It was entirely possible that Rin had just suddenly gained a large amount of weight, or had a medical condition, or...

"Honda, what's with the face? You look like you're about to take an algebra test or something."

Tohru blushed, looking back at Hatsuharu. "It's just..." She turned back, looking at Rin and biting her lip. "I don't want to assume."

Kyo and Haru both laughed at that, and even Rin managed a chuckle. Then Rin put a hand on her stomach. "I think the point for guessing is way past, Tohru, but yeah, I'm fucking knocked up, ok? Somehow, something got through and now...this."

Rin's tone was a mixture of amused, annoyed, and resigned. Neither of them had been planning to have a baby; while they weren't specifically against it, both Rin and Haru had been firmly on the fence, with Haru leaning slightly more 'yes' and Rin leaning slightly more 'no.' But they'd both agreed that they could sort that one out later down the road; both of their careers were flourishing, they were busy. They liked their lives just fine the way they were.

And then...surprise!

Rin couldn't believe it at first when she saw the positive test. They'd been so careful, all this time, and now all of a sudden she was pregnant? She'd gone back and forth, trying to decide what to do; did they keep it? Not? What did Haru want? What did she want?

Now that Isuzu had confirmed things, Tohru finally allowed the excitement she was feeling to bubble to the surface. "Eeeee, I'm so excited for you two! You're going to be such a wonderful mother, Isuzu!"

Rin had a few doubts on that score; more than a few doubts, actually. But Tohru's confidence in her was encouraging, and she gave her friend a smile. "Well, I'm definitely going to try. I sure as hell know what kind of mother I'm not going to be, and that's a good start."

The four of them settled down in the living room, Kyo and Tohru on one end of the couch, Rin and Haru on the other. Haru was leaning back against the corner, Rin in his arms and his hands resting on her bump; it was a very tender image, and one that Tohru found sweet and Kyo found...slightly unsettling.

It was strange, seeing Rin that maternal.

Tohru was now all business. "So, when is your due date?" She imagined it couldn't be that far out; Rin was absolutely enormous! Thinking back to New Year's, Tohru couldn't remember Isuzu having even the tiniest hint of a bump, so she must still have been pretty early along. It was a pity that they hadn't told she and Kyo then, but she could understand them wanting to wait until the first trimester was over!

For some reason, Hatsuharu found the question funny, and he started chuckling, earning him a poisonous look from Rin. Then Rin sighed and turned back to Tohru. "November 2, if all goes well."

Tohru and Kyo's eyes got enormous again, and Tohru couldn't stop the surprise in her voice. "November?" But that means you're only-" She broke off, flushing, then winced at the way Isuzu's jaw clenched.

And Rin was clearly annoyed as she finished Tohru's sentence. "Twenty-one fucking weeks."

Now, it had been a year and a half since Tohru had Hajime, but she remembered all too well some of the 'fun' details of pregnancy. Like how big she'd gotten. And Isuzu was already bigger than Tohru had been at seven months pregnant, when she was barely five!

Tohru felt awful; it was clear that Isuzu was uncomfortable about her size, and here was Tohru rubbing her nose in it. Some women just grew more than others, there was nothing to be ashamed about!

If only Tohru could figure out a way to actually say that without making Isuzu feel even worse.

They could always count on Haru to lighten the mood, though, and he didn't disappoint. "Yeah, it's pretty impressive, isn't it? She's already pulling out all the stops, both in belly and breasts!"

Tohru and Kyo both crimsoned and looked away, while Rin gave Haru another angry look. "Damnit, Haru, it's not funny!"

He nodded, in total agreement with her. "You're right, it's not funny. It's hot! Seriously, those things are amazing."

Rin was still scowling, but it was hard to remain annoyed with him for too long. "Well, you still need to shut up about it."

Haru shrugged, then looked over at Kyo. "Women are so weird when they're pregnant, aren't they?"

Kyo wasn't about to let himself get dragged into the crosshairs. "You really need to learn when to shut up, Haru."

Tohru was still crimson and desperate to change the subject. "Um, so, if you're twenty-one weeks, have you had your anatomy ultrasound yet? Did you two decide to find out the sex?"

Once again, Haru was laughing. "Oh, we did, Honda. We even thought we'd tell you, unlike you guys, keeping Hajime to yourselves." He glanced at Rin, who was giving him a small, somewhat amused smile. "I've got it in my pocket, you want to give it to them?"

"Oh, just go ahead and give it. Might as well get this over with," she said, giving Tohru and Kyo a sideways glance.

Grinning, Haru shifted on the couch to pull a folded piece of ultrasound paper out of his trouser pocket. "Sorry, it's a bit wrinkled. I've been carrying it around for a while."

Tohru took the folded paper and leaned back against Kyo, who had sat up curiously. Neither of them had any guess as to boy or girl, but it would be exciting to know! Then Tohru opened up the paper, and both of them stared in shocked disbelief.

Their reaction was everything Haru had hoped for, and he cracked up. Rin was smiling as well; though her amusement about the whole situation was significantly less than Haru's, she was still glad she'd agreed to his proposed 'reveal.' Tohru and Kyo couldn't act 'cool' if they tried, and both of them were once again left gaping, first at the ultrasound, then back at Rin.

Kyo was the first one to find his words. "So...that explains a lot, then," he managed, trying to figure out a way to say something that wouldn't get him punched.

Tohru was a lot less cagey. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're having twins!"

The ultrasound was clear and detailed: two babies, perfectly formed. And above each, a label: 'Twin A, boy' and 'Twin B, girl.'

Haru had calmed down enough to talk again, but he was still grinning. "Yup, twins. Two of 'em, because apparently when Rin and I do something, we do it and then some."

Author's Note: This is part one of two. I really wanted to do a story where they found out about Haru and Rin's pregnancy, because it seems like it would be very unbelievable.