Chapter 04: The Tiger and the Sheep

"Yuki-kun! Yuki, where are you?" Tohru asked. "Yuki!!"

All she could see was mist. She had no idea how the mist covered the whole place, but she had to get out of here! It was slowly strangling her to death.

Then she felt a hand touch hers. It wrapped around her wrist, and she was pulled to safety. She tried to look at the mysterious figure, but all she could see was a silhouette. Soon they were out of the mist, but still the person refuses to look her way.

"Matte!" She tried to hold his shoulder to make him stop, but slipped. She ended up on top of him as they both fell down the ground. She opened her eyes. " Are you alright-"

She got the shock of her life when she saw what was staring right at her face.

A mouse.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Honda-san! Honda-san, wake up!" an urgent voice called her.

She opened her eyes and found Yuki Sohma kneeling before her. He was still wearing his pajamas, and apparently, her scream woke him up.

"G-Gomen nasai," she said, embarrassed. "I-I just had a nightmare!"

"Tell me about it," he said sympathetically. It somewhat calmed her down. A little.

"You may think it's stupid," she said uncertainly.

"Try me."

"I-It's about a…m-mouse," she said shakily.

His face was unreadable. "And..?"

"It was a mouse."

"So?"

"It scares me. Didn't I tell you before that I_HATE_MICE?" she asked.

He nodded. "I know. But what did it do to you?"

She paused. "Er..nothing harmful." She blushed. "In fact..oh, forget it."

He smoothed her hair. "If it did nothing bad to you, then it doesn't deserve your fear or your sleeplessness over it. Go back to sleep, Honda-san."

She nodded.

He tucked her again. "Goodnight, Honda-san."

"I'm sorry again for disturbing your sleep," she apologized. "I'm sorry for being a bother."

"You are never a bother, Honda-san," he said before closing the door.

It had been quite a while since he left but she was still staring at the closed door, her master's words echoing in her mind.

"He is so kind…" she whispered.

Then her dream flashed again in her mind.

"Of all the possible God-made creatures in the world, why did I have to dream of a mouse?" she asked exasperatedly before going to sleep.

But after just a few hours, she was awakened again by the sound of roof crashing.

Earthquake!

But she felt no tremor after the noise. She cautiously opened the door and found Kyo in front of her room, rubbing his back.

"Kyo!" She knelt down beside him. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" She looked up at the hole on the roof.

Shigure arrived, scratching his chin. "Tsk, tsk, This would be the sixth time we would have to repair the roof. If this continues, we would end up with no budget for dinner."

"But Mr.Shigure. Kyo's already hurt!" She tried to reach for his shoulders but the boy imprisoned her hand.

"D-Don't touch it. I-It hurts," he said awkwardly.

"I-I see."

"Be more careful next time, baka neko," said Yuki, entering the hallway.

Kyo threw him a dirty look. "I do not need your concern, chikushou nezumi."

Tohru sighed. If that was a cousinly concern, she didn't want to know anymore what a cousinly malice is.

"You could have destroyed the part of the roof covering Honda-san's bedroom!" her master added.

"She could move into mine anytime," Shigure put in.

Kyo sighed. "I'm sorry, Tohru."

She blinked. "Y-You don't have to, Master Kyo. You didn't do anything bad to me."

"But the nezumi is right. I could have harmed you-" His mouth clamped shut, realizing what he said.

"Why do you keep on calling each other those literal pet names?" she asked curiously.

Kyo and Yuki looked at each other.

"Cousinly affection," answered Shigure for them.

"Baka neko," said Yuki. "You can let go of her hand now."

Tohru realized that Kyo was still holding her hand. She blushed.

Kyo smiled and placed it down gently.

As Tohru prepared breakfast, Kyo helped her by washing the plates. Shigure was reading the newspaper in the living room. Yuki on the other hand was taking a bath.

"So you are the personal attendant of that snob," said Kyo as he wiped the plates dry and placed them on the rack.

"I won't exactly call him a snob. He's very kind to me," she said thoughtfully.

He shrugged, then changed the topic. "But why do you also work in the house?"

She smiled. "I just want to. I love doing household chores."

Shigure laughed. "You'll make a fine wife someday," he yelled from the living room.

She blushed. "That's the farthest thing in my mind now. I just want to concentrate on my studies right now. I want to be a veterinarian someday."

Kyo looked at her. "A vet? But you are too cute to be one!"

This made her blush more. These men act as if they haven't seen a woman yet. Why do they call me beautiful even if I'm just average compared to other girls?

"I would love to be a sick dog if she would be the one to massage my naked body," put in Shigure. "Are you going to do CPRs too, Dr.Honda?"

She giggled. "No problem! As long as it's not-"

"I know, a rat," said Yuki, joining them in the kitchen.

Kyo smirked.

Shigure looked down at the broadsheet again.

"What's for breakfast?" asked her master, sitting down the table.

She smiled cheerfully. "Omelets in the house."

Shigure walked into the room. "You forgot the milk, Tohru. Kyo's day never starts without his daily source of calcium." He winked at her. "His bones are very fragile, you know. One day without milk, and his skeletal system will collapse."

"Ha-ha. Funny," snapped Kyo.

"I'm sorry. I'll get some this afternoon," apologized Tohru.

"No, Shigure was just kidding-" began Kyo.

"I wasn't," said the man flatly.

"I'll accompany you to the grocery store this afternoon," said Yuki.

"Thanks, Yuki," she said.

"First-name basis already?" remarked Shigure laughingly.

Yuki rolled his eyes. "Why do you have to remark on every single happening in this house anyway?"

"Because it's boring," he sighed. "My brain factory is having a drought. No creative juice is flowing in my mind, and I need to pass something to my editor if I would like my roof to be repaired." He looked at Kyo pointedly.

"God, Shigure! It wasn't my fault I suddenly turned hu-" He howled in pain, clutching his foot that Yuki stomped on subtly.

"Turned what?" she asked.

"Huge," replied Yuki.

"Oh."

"Kyo has this, uh, unusual biological chemistry. His weights fall and gain dramatically, you know," added Shigure.

She looked at Kyo sympathetically. "It must be hard."

"Yeah," he replied weakly.

"I know!" Tohru clapped her hands together. "I'll pitch in! I'll find a job so I can help in repairing the roof!"

"Honda-san, you don't have to-" began Yuki.

"Yeah! This is already your job," said Kyo, glancing at Yuki.

"But I don't want Shigure-san to feel pressured. Real artists have flashes of inspiration that they cannot force. If he cannot write, he must not force himself," she reasoned.

"Well, I suppose I can ask a loan from Ha-san," said Shigure slowly.

"Good idea," said Yuki. "And next time that the baka neko destroys anything, he must pay for it himself."

Tohru was puzzled. Their relatives live in such a grand mansion and yet they opt to live in a separate place?

Yuki stood up. "We better hurry or we'll be late for school, Honda-san."

"Wait up!" said Kyo. "I'm walking with you guys too!"

Yuki frowned. "Walk with us? But you always walk alone to school."

"Or Kagura drags you there herself," said Shigure.

"I have my reasons," he said simply, looking directly at her.

Tohru glanced at Yuki who was on her left and Kyo who was on her right. Sighing, she looked straight ahead. They weren't able to make a decent conversation for the last 10 minutes. She might as well have walked alone.

"So guys," she began. "What do you guys usually do when you're not making your assignments?"

"I play pool," said Kyo immediately.

"I do advance readings on my future lessons, or I play flute," replied Yuki.

"I like billiards! And I love listening to the flute!" she gushed. "Maybe sometime, I can play with you guys."

"I'll be glad to teach you some tricks," said the orange-haired boy.

"I'll be happy to play for you, Honda-san," said the purple-eyed lad.

"So what do you like doing, Tohru?" Kyo wanted to know.

She paused. "Cooking. And playing tennis. And playing scrabble."

They all stopped when they heard a high-pitched voice calling Yuki and Kyo's name. They both turned around and saw a woman pulling a pretty little girl.

"Ritsu?" asked Yuki, frowning.

"I-I'm sorry for calling you unexpectedly. I'm really sorry, but this is an emergency, really. I'm sorry because I might be the reason for your tardiness if I don't make this talk short-" the woman said.

Tohru blinked.

Kyo leaned over to her ear. "Find the word apology in the dictionary and you'll see the name Sohma Ritsu written all over it."

"Say it then," instructed Yuki.

"Kisa needs a place to stay so I'm wondering if you can both take care of her?" Ritsu smiled apologetically.

Tohru looked at the little girl who refused to look at them.

"I'm sorry for any kind of disturbances or fuss that I will cause you, but you see, I'm helpless. I'm sick, and Hatori says I need to be quarantined, so-" continued Ritsu.

"Yikes!" said Kyo, stepping away from Ritsu.

"Sure, no problem," said Yuki, holding out his hand to Kisa.

The girl hesitated, then took his hand.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry again if because of me you'll be late again-"

"Get going, get going!" said Kyo, shooing Ritsu away.

"Who is she?" asked Tohru.

"He," corrected Kyo.

"That's another Sohma," informed Yuki. "So is she." He looked down at the girl. "This is Kisa, also my relative."

Tohru knelt down so she and the girl would be face to face. "Hello! I'm Tohru Honda! How do you do, Kisa?"

No reply from the little girl.

She laughed uneasily. "It's ok if you don't want to talk to me." She turned her back on the lass and sighed.

"She's not talkative," explained Yuki, wanting to make her feel better.

"Naruhodo," she said slowly.

Kyo looked at his watch then at Kisa. "So what do we do with her?"

"I'll bring her home to Shigure," volunteered Tohru. "You two can go ahead of me."

"But-"

She shook her head smilingly. "You're in the first section, Yuki. They'll miss you for sure if you don't get there in time." She turned to Kyo. "And Kagura-san might not be too happy if she learns that you were late for school."

"Well, you have a point there," said Kyo, rubbing his cheek.

Yuki was reluctant, but he nodded. "Take care, Honda-san."

She nodded. "I will." She took Kisa's hand. "Let's go?"

The lass snatched her hand away from Tohru's.

She sighed again and plastered a smile on her face again forcibly. "Let's go!"

Tohru looked at the quiet girl beside her. She had tried to strike a conversation but Kisa was unreceptive. She wondered how the little girl was brought up.

She was shocked when she suddenly felt something hit her on the back of her head. She turned around. "Hey-" She paused when she saw a boy holding a rock, and was throwing it up and down his palm. "Who are you?"

"Where are you taking Kisa, lady kidnapper?" he barked.

Lady Kidnapper? She placed her hands on her hips. "Excuuuuse me, little boy, but I'm not a kidnapper! I volunteered to take her home-ugh!" She was thrown another rock again, and it her on the forehead. Blood dripped down her eyes.

"Hiro-kun, matte!" said Kisa, alarmed.

The boy stopped. "Did the old lady hurt you?"

Old lady?!

"No, she's telling the truth. She's taking me home to Shigure-san!" she said.

"Oh?" He looked at Tohru testily. "Why didn't you say so earlier, then that would have saved you the wound?"

"How should I say what I was supposed to say when you took me by surprise?!!" she cried.

"I was just being cautious. What if you were really a kidnapper? Should I announce to the world what move I was going to do? That I was going to attack you?" he asked.

"Well, in the process, you hurt me!" she said.

"Too bad," he said, shrugging. He approached Kisa. "Are you sure that the witch didn't hurt you?"

"Witch?!" Tohru cried. It felt silly to argue with a boy, but he was speaking like an adult. "Take that back!"

"Alright then, hag," said the boy, smirking.

Shigure smiled upon seeing the children. "It's been quite a while, Kisa, Hiro."

The kids nodded.

He then noticed the wound on Tohru's forehead that the latter was wiping with her hanky. "Tohru, what happened?"

Hiro choked.

"I-I just..slipped and fell. I hit my head on something hard, " she stammered.

"Clumsy girl," he said gently. "I'll find some cotton swabs and some alcohol-"

"No need! I'm ok!" She looked at the clock. "I'm going to be late for school." She smiled at Kisa and Hiro. "See you guys later!"

On her way out, she heard Kisa asking who she was.

"Yuki's personal attendant and our little domestic angel," replied Shigure.

"Oh. Yuki's slave and your house maid," said Hiro.

Tohru fought the urge to go back and hit the boy's head.

More Sohmas in the house. I wonder what more is in store for me, she mused.

tsuzuku