Love Remains 13

~~~~~~~~

by girl_starfish

Kyou eyes the flowers with scepticism. "So, what, these weeds are supposed to tell us something?"

"It is not wise to dismiss so readily a message from beyond the grave," Saki said right behind him, making him jump.

"I've got the book!" Tohru said, joining her friends on the floor of the gazebo. "The list of flowers and their meanings are here."

Saki took the book. "We should start by identifying these flowers. A pity."

"What?" Tohru asked.

"The book does not have illustrations." Saki frowned. "This will be difficult."

"Oi!" Arisa swatted Kyou's hands away from the neat rows of flowers. "Don't mess them up!"

"I wasn't! I was just having a look!" The boy snapped back. "And why is there lettuce in the rows anyway?"

"Lettuce?"

Kyou waved the offending vegetable at Tohru. "Lettuce isn't a flower!"

"That's rocket, you numbskull! Don't you know anything?" Arisa thwapped Kyou on the back of his head.

"So what is it telling us?" Kyou picked up the basil and brandished it at Arisa. "It's a nice day to make a salad?"

"Guys--" Tohru's quiet plea went unnoticed. It was Saki who ended Arisa and Kyou's bickering.

"Rocket," she read out slowly, "is rivalry. Basil means hatred."

"I remember Shigure telling me that," Tohru said. "Something about planting basil on graves of murderers . . ."

"He's referring to a legend where a man was murdered and his head hidden in a plot of basil," Saki said in her usual disinterested tones. "The basil prospered on the flesh of the murdered man and grew so well that people got suspicious and dug it up, discovering the victim's skull in the process."

"Uh--" Tohru sweatdropped.

"Man, we so need to set you up with this dead friend of Tohru's," Arisa laughed. "You two sound like a perfect match!"

Tohru, feeling herself blush, said hastily "Do any of you know what the rest of these flowers are? I recognise Marigold and Geranium and that's about it." She looked up to find Kyou watching her closely, making Tohru's cheeks flame as though she'd been caught doing something forbidden.

Instead of commenting on Tohru's changes of colour, Kyou simply added to the list. "I know Jasmine."

"Belladonna," Saki said. "The rest are unfamiliar to me."

Arisa laughed. "Man, you guys are hopeless. Still, lucky I work in a garden centre, right?" She pointed. "Motherwort, Moss Rosebuds, Ambrosia, Everlasting pea, Virginian Spiderwort--"

"Slow down," Kyou said as Saki hurriedly flipped through the book. "You think we can go that fast, doofus?"

At last every flower had been identified and a meaning found.

"So those are the ones that applied to Rin?" Arisa said. "Read out what we have Tohru."

Tohru consulted her notes. "Concealed Love, Confession of Love, Love Returned, An Appointed Meeting, Momentary Happiness, Separation, Despair and Poison."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Arisa said in approval but Kyou wasn't sure.

"But she didn't die of poison, did she? She was murdered--"

"She could be murdered by poison, moron--"

"Belladonna can also mean death," Saki said. "As well as silence."

"Silence . . ." Tohru breathed. "Rin couldn't talk to me--she could only point to things--like the ivy! Hana-chan, does Ivy have a meaning?"

"We use it all the time in marriage bouquets," Arisa said.

"If it means marriage then and it comes first. . ." Saki pondered. "How about engagement then concealed love, suggesting whoever she loved it was not her fiancé."

"So she did love Haru." Tohru said excitedly. "Yuki's wrong--it wasn't a one-sided thing."

"He loved her back," Kyou said, fingering the Ambrosia. "And then what?"

"They met, they were happy together. And then these three are closer together--separation, despair and silence--do you think these apply to her death?"

"I think it likely." Saki nodded. "The next row please."

"You say these apply to the house?" Arisa asked.

Tohru shook her head. "I think it's someone in the house."

"In her time or now?"

"Look at what the flowers say, moron. We'll work it out from that."

Tohru read the list out again. "Sickness, Avarice, Rivalry, Hatred, Revenge."

"Charming," Arisa snorted. "Rin doesn't pull her punches, does she?"

Kyou thwapped her. "This could be important, moron."

"Sickness." Saki frowned. "For some reason, that reminds me of something."

"Hey, wasn't one of the original three always sickly? That master guy, Asato or whatever his name was?" Arisa said.

"Akito," Tohru said.

For some reason she felt nauseous. This could only have one interpretation.

"So Akito murdered Rin?"

"I thought that they were both murdered together though by that other dude—Hatsuharu."

"What if," Saki said, "it was revenge. Akito murdered Rin and then framed Hatsuharu for it."

"But he died too, remember."

"Hatsuharu killed him after he discovered Akito had killed Rin. Or Akito killed himself, but made it look as though it was Hatsuharu!" Kyou was also getting caught up in this theory.

Arisa snorted. "Murdering Rin I can believe . . . but killing himself just to frame this Hatsuharu guy? Seems a little bit farfetched to me."

"Maybe the answer will become clear once we've looked at the last line." Saki prompted Tohru. "These are the ones that apply to you, are they not?"

"Yes," Tohru reluctantly lifted the notebook. "Beware. Deceitful charms. An expected meeting. Do me justice. Love is dangerous."

"That all seems straightforward enough," Arisa said. "Except for the 'expected meeting' part."

"Not if you take it with the next part." Saki grouped the geranium and sweet chestnut together. "'Do me justice'--I wonder. Tohru, Shigure said something would happen today, didn't he? That they could be set free today?"

"And that something is a meeting?" Arisa suggested. "I dunno about that--"

"In the journal," Tohru said slowly. "Shigure and Ayame met Hatsuharu at the gates, a few days before Ayame died. He wanted to be let in--and today is the day Shigure died and the original deaths happened."

"If Hatsuharu is let in then he and Rin will be together--that would end the separation here," Kyou said. "You think that's what we have to do?"

"It makes about as much sense as anything else that's happened," Arisa sighed. "You think we can trust Rin?"

"Why wouldn't we trust her?" Tohru was astonished.

"People in love don't make the wisest decisions," Arisa shrugged. "Besides, she may just want to see her boyfriend again, not end the curse."

"Then again, if Hatsuharu was the node point, then surely she wouldn't need us to let him in," Saki argued.

There was a sudden sharp clatter, as hard objects hit the gazebo.

"What the--"

"Hail?" Tohru was astonished. When had it got so stormy? "But it was fine a moment ago!"

"Well, it's not now," Arisa sighed. "Looks like we're going to get wet or we're stuck here until this is over."

"I have a feeling," Saki said, "that we will not have long to wait."

Tohru looked across the garden as the door slammed shut, to see a lithe figure force its way towards them, against the wind. "It's Yuki! He's bringing us umbrellas."

"All right!" Arisa cheered.

"Never thought I'd be so glad to see you!" Kyou greeted Yuki as the boy reached them.

"You shouldn't have come out in this weather," Tohru fussed. "Your health--"

Yuki smiled. "I'll be fine. I could only find three umbrellas, Tohru, you'll share with me?"

"Of course!" Tohru blushed faintly as Yuki put an arm around her lightly.

They made the first dash across the lawn so Tohru didn't see Kyou's scowl.

~~~~~~~~~

Momiji drifted listlessly through the house. There was nothing to do!

Hatori had taken Kyoko to the hospital and Yuki had told him that he was on no account to pester Tohru's friends and make a nuisance of himself. Which meant there wasn't a lot he could do. His stuff was already packed so it wasn't like he could get a book out or anything--

Wait.

Momiji grinned. Of course--in the excitement from getting away from Yuki and making sure he didn't get the journal, he'd forgotten to retrieve it from its hiding place in the attic. Humming cheerfully to himself, Momiji bounced up the stairs to the attic.

The boxes were in disarray from where Yuki had been searching for him yesterday. Momiji smirked. Too bad his cousin hadn't thought of looking up into the rafters . . .

He could see the leather covered journal now. Momiji balanced precariously on two suitcases and a hatbox to pull himself onto the rafter it was on--

Only to see it fall into a pile of old laces.

With a sigh Momiji jumped down from the rafters. He upset a whole pile of hatboxes, and by the time he'd pulled himself from the mess he could not remember where the journal had fallen.

Poking through various old boxes, Momiji got distracted.

There was a lovely old birdcage, ornately fashioned from fine wire, with wrought iron ivy leaves supporting it. It was empty now, but with a bit of paint it would make a lovely home for any small creature. Momiji lifted it out of the box it was in, wondering if Hatori would ever let him get a pet. There was a tiny hole in the netting, but that could easily be fixed. Momiji frowned as he tried the door. Locked?

The key should be around the place somewhere. Momiji began lifting things out of the box the birdcage had been in.

Many musty books, some old accounting books, various bottles . . . Momiji sighed as he dug through the box's contents. This was boring. He'd been hoping to find something good--he paused as he found a small square box.

He'd seen them before, in an antique shop he'd visited with his parents. While his mother had haggled with the shop owner over some fine china, his father had noticed him studying the box and had knelt beside him.

"Know what this is?" he'd asked his son. "It's a writing set. Look, you write on the top like this--see how it's on a lean? That's so the ink runs down. This hole here is for the inkwell. And when you're done, you open it like so." He'd shown Momiji how to open it up.

"And you'd keep your paper and your quills tucked away inside," Momiji repeated, sliding the writing set open the way his father had shown him. It didn't open as easily as the one in the antique shop had, not being recently oiled. The hinges stuck, and Momiji had to try quite hard to get it open. But in the end, he succeeded, and the blond youth looked with triumph upon his discovery.

Unlike the set in the antique shop, this one had ink and fountain pen inside, as well as paper. Momiji lifted a few sheets out. It looked as though someone had been in a bad mood. Falling out from between the sheets were tiny scraps of paper--

It was very impolite to read other people's mail. Especially things that obviously they didn't want read. Hatori had told him so a hundred times. Not only that, whoever had ripped up the sheet of paper had obviously intended it to be unreadable. It would take ages to put it back together again.

Momiji was bored and curious. Plus, he figured the not-reading-people's mail rule didn't apply when said people were almost certainly dead.

An hour later Momiji grinned in triumph as he slid the last piece of paper into place.

It had taken forever, and he had such a cramp in his neck--but he had the letter.

Hunching over it in order to better read it--when had it suddenly got so dark?--Momiji frowned. It was that fine old fashioned handwriting that was so tricky to read. For a moment he thought about going downstairs to try and fetch Yuki. His cousin would almost certainly be able to read this--but Yuki would also most likely tell Hatori he'd been going through private possessions. No, this would be Momiji's discovery.

Smirking at how annoyed Yuki would be if he'd found something important, Momiji turned his attention back to the letter.

"My dear charge,

It grieves me beyond measure to write these words. You have known for some time that your condition was serious, but I have endeavoured to conceal from you the full extent of your illness until I was certain that all hope was gone. Acting not only as your physician, but as an old friend of your father's and your guardian, I would not be writing these words if I had not already consulted every expert in the field of your illness. As it is, I grieve that I could not deliver my news in person but must relegate them to this cold and inadequate paper. I am in Paris, having come hither to consult my last hope, but alas, his studies confirm what I have long feared.

Akito, you are dying.

I estimate a month at most, although with careful rest and the right diet you may yet be able to see another spring. I have written to your uncle to advise him to take over the running of the Souma estate, you have borne that burden long enough. You must take pains not to exert yourself. I advise total withdrawal from society, although a quiet visit in the evening, as long as you do not get excited, is permissible.

Of course, under such circumstances, it would be unfair to hold Rin to the engagement. I recommend telling her the news and breaking it off as soon as possible. It would be ungentlemanly to act otherwise. Of course, there will be some talk but I trust no damage to her reputation. I recommend a public announcement of the termination of the engagement with a reference to doctor's advice--some words to that extent. Of course, gossip being what it is, tongues will wag. Still, I fancy you need not fear that Rin will be left unprovided for by your passing, nor that she will go to far from home. Although lacking your talent, Hatsuharu is a fine man and will take good care of her.

I trust that thought will provide some comfort in these dark days. In the meantime, I will hasten to arrive back by your bedside as soon as possible. Wishing you adieu with all fondness and respect,

Yr. Mst. Obt. Srvt.

Kureno.

Momiji had to make himself take a deep breath.

This was it! He had found something that Yuki didn't know about--he had outdone his older cousin! Finally, Yuki would have to admit that Momiji was just as useful as he was!

A sudden breeze rustled the papers, and Momiji had to quickly snap his hands down to stop them from being blown away. He very carefully held the pieces between two sheets of paper, to keep them together--he had no wish to try and piece the letter back together again--and paused.

The windows were shut. The door was shut.

Which meant the breeze--

The papers in Momiji's hands rustled again as the person beside him moved.

"I see Shigure was not the only detective in this family."

Momiji looked up into a pale face, cool smile and fathomless eyes. He was not much older than Momiji himself, but the younger boy knew he could never hope to match the authority of that slight figure. "You're Souma Akito, aren't you?"

"You should call me sir," Akito said, leaning back against an old oak dresser. "I am the head of this house, you know. Although, perhaps a more informal mode of address might be permitted in these circumstances. After all, you have read my private correspondence."

Momiji had the grace to look embarrassed. "Oops. Hatori always says that's going to get me in trouble one of these days."

"Yes. Well," Akito leaned back, to regard Momiji coolly. "Now you know my little secret. What are you going to do?"

Momiji felt a twinge of fear. It had suddenly occurred to him that Souma Akito was not a good person to annoy. But another thought had also occurred to him.

"If you knew you were going to die--then it wouldn't matter when or how! If you could get it blamed on Haru--then Rin would never marry anyone and Hatsuharu--" Momiji gasped. "That's it, isn't it? That's what really happened--"

"That's what happened," Akito nodded. "I was jealous you see--Haru had never been able to hold a candle to me intellectually, but physically--you have no idea how it feels to spend a lifetime trapped by your own body. Always tired, always sickly--and then to see Rin prefer him! Of course our engagement could only be broken with the consent of the head of the family--and I would never have approved it. I love her, you see--I could never have been happy without her. The very idea of her throwing her life away on that . . . simpleton--" Akito shook his head. "A comfort? Kureno had no idea. It was a hell. And there was nothing I could do to stop it--"

"Unless you killed Rin?" Momiji's eyes were wide with a horrified fascination.

"Kill Rin? I could never hurt her--not my precious angel. But the thought of losing her to that coarse brute was intolerable. I had to get at him--but how? Haru was strong, next to him I was a fledgling," Akito laughed humourlessly, half veiled by shadow. "He could snap me in half like brittle twigs. Poison then? With all the drugs my doctors supplied me with, it would be simplicity itself to find something lethal--but Haru didn't trust me at that point. Rin either--I think they already knew. Knew I hated them. Then the letter--"

Momiji glanced down, guiltily, at the paper in his hands.

"I had to act quickly. Luckily my Uncle was visiting me at the time--I had a servant intercept the mail. He never received the letter Kureno sent. I had to act before my guardian returned to England. But how? It's quite funny really, how it came to me--a common crime story. The so-called victim turned out to be the murderer, the real victim being hanged for the crime he did not commit! It was not without a certain degree of risk of course, but what did I have to lose?"

It was lucky Akito did not expect an answer. Momiji was too enthralled with his story to have been able to give him one.

"I left nothing to chance. I drugged Rin beforehand--lady though she might have been, Rin may have been able to overpower me at the crucial moment. She would not accept gifts from me, but she ate the chocolates that arrived from her dear 'Hatsuharu'. Of course," Akito shrugged. "I only administered a sleeping draught. It would not do for the death to appear suspicious."

"And then you actually--" Momiji hesitated.

Akito nodded. For the first time in their conversation sorrow crept over his features. "I killed the thing most precious in the world to me." A bitter smile tinged his features. "I left nothing to chance. I even used a knife of his, a hunting dagger I had a servant remove from his lodgings. Rin--" he sighed. "I didn't have the chance to regret it. My plan worked well--almost too well. Hatsuharu returned early. He nearly did kill me. Idiot brute. Crying over her, her blood all over him--was it any wonder they thought him guilty? Haru didn't even have the wit to kill me--that would have been a fine revenge, truly making Rin's love a murderer. But in the end my death was of my choosing."

"You killed yourself?"

"With the same knife." Akito's smile grew even more twisted. "I lived just long enough to name him as my murderer and see him seized. I wish I'd been there to see the trial--" he sighed. "Or at least I did."

Momiji blinked in confusion.

"I suppose even the best plans go astray--I certainly had no idea that I was dooming us all to an existence like this." Akito held out his hands in front of his eyes slowly. "To die yet not die. To live and not live--" He frowned. "To be a mere shadow--" He shook his head, returning his attention to Momiji. "Well, now you know. It was a masterful plan. No one saw through it--not one soul. Not even that stupid lunk's parents. I had my revenge--more than I could even have known--"

"But Shigure saw through it," Momiji said slowly. "Didn't he?"

"What?"

"Shigure knew it was you--" Momiji's tone was certain. "He wasn't fooled."

"Of course, how could I forget your charming cousin." Akito laughed, slipping from the shadows to glide towards the door. "Shigure was very clever. He figured it all out--without the help of Kureno's letter too, I might add. Now how do you think your cousin managed that?"

Momiji trailed after him. "Shi-chan was really fond of mysteries--"

"There you have it! You really do take after him." There was something off in Akito's smile, and Momiji frowned, despite the compliment. "He knew something was wrong, but couldn't work out why--it reminded him of something he'd read, an old detective book in the library. I'd left my name in it. That's what gave it away in the end. I wondered if someone would notice," Akito paused momentarily. "Still, I think he'd suspected me even before then."

"Shi-chan is really smart!" Momiji agreed.

Akito continued down the hallway. "Of course there was one thing your cousin didn't know."

"Eh?" Momiji blinked at him. "What?"

Akito smiled coldly, his hand on the door to the locked room. "Your cousin's fatal error? Would you like to know what it was, Souma Momiji?" He slipped lightly inside the room.

Cautiously, Momiji followed him. As long as he could remember, this room had been kept locked. It looked as though no one had been in here since Akito's days--the furnishings were all Victorian, and a gas lamp lit the room with a soft glow. Shadows melted away to reveal intricately carved chests and shelves piled with books and curious objects. Momiji saw plenty of things to distract him.

A movement to his left brought his attention back to the moment. Akito had drawn up a heavy chair and seated himself in it, eyeing Momiji like a judge.

"Well, now," Akito said. "What do we do with you?"

"You were going to tell me about Shi-chan," Momiji reminded him, trying not to feel so nervous.

"Ah yes. Shigure," Akito said slowly. "Your cousin was very clever you know. He'd even worked out what caused the hauntings and what he had to do to stop them. Of course he overlooked one important fact."

Akito had not taken his gaze away from Momiji once in that entire speech. The boy shivered, uncomfortable under such intense scrutiny. "What was that?"

The door shut behind him. With a sickening lurch, Momiji heard the lock turn.

Akito smiled cruelly. "He thought I would allow them to end."

~~~~~~~~

"Move it Hana-chan! It wouldn't kill you to run, you know!"

Arisa and Kyou had joined Yuki and Tohru, dripping in the hallway. Saki was still delicately picking her way across the lawn.

"If you catch pneumonia and die, don't come crying to us!" Arisa yelled to their friend.

The thought of anyone catching pneumonia immediately sent Tohru into action. "Yuki-kun, stay warm! I'm going to put the kettle on!"

"And how's he supposed to do that?" Kyou muttered to himself.

The library door swung ajar.

Kyou pulled the door open. The heater had been on some time and the room was considerably warmer than the corridor.

"Thanks, Shigure," he said softly, before turning to call the others. "If you morons want to catch your deaths standing there that's fine by me, but there's a heater on in here."

Tohru arrived shortly afterwards with towels and the news that the jug was boiling. "Is everyone alright?" she asked anxiously.

Yuki smiled. "We're fine. Worry about yourself, Tohru-kun. You got wet too, you know."

Kyou rolled his eyes.

"This house is very different," Saki said. She'd finally reached the house and stood, dripping, in the library doorway.

Arisa threw a towel at her. "It looks different in the dark. So what?"

"The house's aura has changed," Saki continued, without even the slightest trace of discomposure in her voice. "It is no longer sleeping. That which was dormant has woken up."

"Ghostly activity has increased in the last few days," Yuki said. "Isn't that right Tohru?"

"Yes," Tohru admitted.

"Think they're building up to something?" Arisa wondered.

"Today."

"The jug must have boiled by now," Tohru stood up hastily. "Please excuse me."

"I'll help you carry stuff," Arisa said. "Coming Hana-chan?"

Saki shook her head. She was browsing the shelves. "This room has some very interesting feeling waves. I should like to study them."

"Suit yourself." Arisa snorted. "It's three sugars for you, isn't it?"

"I prefer five."

"You'll get cavities," Kyou warned her but Saki shook her head decisively, disappearing amongst the rows of books.

"No. I foresee no dentists in my immediate future."

"Whatever," Kyou muttered. Looking up he saw Yuki looking at him, and realised it was just him and the grey haired boy.

"So--"

"Ah--"

Silence. And then--

"You needn't think that gentlemanly stunt you pulled before will impress Tohru. She's got more sense."

"So I am to assume she goes for the rude, unmannered type?"

Kyou stood abruptly, kicking over his footstool in the process. "Want to fight, pansy boy?"

Yuki delicately set aside his towel. "Idiots first."

They were glaring at each other, sizing the other boy up and calculating their moves when the library windows were suddenly flung open, sending rain sheeting inwards.

"Quickly!" Yuki started to tug the nearest window shut. "Some of those books are first editions--priceless! If they get damaged--" With the wind gusting against the side of the house, it was impossible to get the window close. Yuki pushed as hard as he could--then felt the window give easily as another weight was added to his. His cold fingers fumbled with the catch and then it was secured. "Thanks."

"There's more than one window, moron," Kyou was already moving onto the next.

With a faint could-have-been-a-smile, Yuki followed him.

All the windows shut, Kyou slid to the floor momentarily out of breath.

"Thank-you," Yuki said, falling back into his armchair. "These books are family treasures--"

"I know," Kyou said. "I'm family, remember?"

Before Yuki could respond to that, Tohru and Arisa returned with the drinks.

Saki appeared out of the shadows only long enough to accept her glass of hot chocolate. Yuki took his noticing there was one mug left on the tray. "Who is that one for, Tohru?"

"Momiji. He likes sweet things . . . do you think I should have made one for Hatori too?"

"Hatori isn't here," Yuki said. "He's taken a car into town--he's trying to find us a motel to stay in."

"Whatever for?" Arisa wondered.

"Our flights are cancelled. Hatori doesn't think it's safe for us to stay in this house a moment longer than we have to," Yuki explained. "So he decided the best thing to do would be to get us all out of the house."

"Why doesn't he just phone?" Kyou said.

A light laugh behind him made him jump. "Silly Kyonkichi--don't you think he tried that?"

"You brat!" Kyou disentangled himself from Momiji with difficulty. "You made me spill my chocolate!" He paused. "Oi, you're pretty cold, shrimp. You feeling all right?"

Momiji gave him a sunny smile. "I'm fine!"

"You look very pale," Tohru said worriedly. "Sit down here, Momiji-kun, and have some chocolate."

Momiji obliged, cheerfully plonking himself down beside Tohru and sipping his hot chocolate. "Thank you Tohru!" He blinked as he realised he was now the centre of everyone's attention, wide brown eyes radiating innocence. "What?"

"You're not slurping your drink," Yuki said. "And you actually said thank-you . . . are you sure you're feeling alright?"

The blond boy pouted cutely. "Yuki-kun is being meeeean. I can behave if I want to!"

The others relaxed.

"So what do you mean Hatori tried the phones?" Kyou returned to his original query.

"The phones are dead!" Momiji sing-songed.

"They went shortly after the storm started," Yuki confirmed. "Hatori left his cell phone with us in case of emergencies."

"Sounds like something out of a b-grade horror movie," Arisa sighed, pushing her long blonde fringe out of her eyes. "Well, what do we do now?"

"Nothing," Yuki said at the exact same time as Kyou answered "Let that dude Haru in."

"You can't be serious!" Yuki protested. "All the signs point to Haru being the node point!"

"That's not what Rin said!"

"Rin?" Yuki's purple eyes were wide with astonishment. "She spoke to you?"

"She left Tohru a message," Arisa said. "Well, Tohru? You still have the notebook?"

"Y-yes," Tohru brought it out. For some reason inside the house she felt even less certain of herself and her judgement.

"I don't know . . ." Yuki said finally, once the list of meanings had been read out. "It sounds a little bit stretched to me."

"What do you mean?" Kyou bristled.

"Well, the message isn't very clear, isn't it? That 'do me justice' bit could mean anything, even refusing Hatsuharu admittance."

"What the hell do you have against Haru anyway?" Kyou snapped.

"I don't have anything against him, fool," Yuki said scornfully. "It just strikes me that the murderer is more likely to be the one with a history of violent behaviour."

"Geez, settle down you two," Arisa told them. "Anyone would think you two were the ghosts the way you're carrying on."

"I'm going to do the dishes now," Tohru said quickly. The tension in the library was getting under her skin. She had to get out of there.

"I'll dry," Arisa offered. She laughed self-consciously as she stood up. "Call me silly, but I've seen too many lame horror flicks. I don't think it's a good idea if any of us go wandering off alone."

Momiji slurped his chocolate noisily, his light brown eyes flicking between Kyou and Yuki who were eyeing each other again.

"You know," Yuki said. "Arisa is probably right. This is no time for us to let our mutual dislike cloud our judgement. Making the right decision here is crucial."

"I'll behave if you do," Kyou said, folding his arms.

Yuki sighed. "Fine."

"Fine."

They were silent for a few minutes more, until Kyou said abruptly "You're really sure it's Hatsuharu? Why?"

"Well, because whatever the circumstances, Rin seems to have been the victim. She died first, so I think she can be ruled out safely. And Hatsuharu . . . well, it just makes more sense. I can't see any motivation for Akito to murder Rin--he was obviously in love with her after all, and they were going to be married."

"Not even if she loved Haru?" Kyou asked.

"By all accounts, Akito was a perfect gentleman. If Rin loved Haru he would naturally give her up," Yuki said firmly.

Kyou was not convinced. "Easier said than done. Could you just calmly stand by and see the one you loved with someone else?"

"Can you watch me and Tohru together without getting mad?" Yuki returned.

Kyou stood up angrily. "That's it! You're so getting it now--"

"Shut up and sit down," Yuki said irritably, waving a hand at Kyou. "I was making a point. You and Haru strike me as having quite similar personalities--and who just lost control?"

Glowering, Kyou sat back down. "You and Akito have a lot in common too you know. He was an invalid, and you spent most of your childhood being sick."

"I don't see why that could be considered a bad thing," Yuki replied haughtily. "After all, by all accounts Akito was not only a perfect gentleman but a genius to boot."

"If he's so wonderful, how come he wound up a ghost then, huh? How come he hasn't figured a way out of it? If Rin could communicate with us then surely he could so why hasn't he? Because he doesn't want it? Maybe when you're as sick as he was being dead is better than being alive--"

Thwack!

Yuki stared at Kyou. The orange-haired boy put a hand up to his stinging cheek, anger glittering in his brown eyes. All he said was "Who lost control that time?"

"I'm sorry," Yuki said, shakily taking a deep breath. "I didn't mean--"

"You have a good right hand," Kyou mused, rubbing his cheek. "Better than I'd have expected from a weakling like you."

"Like I keep telling you, I got better," Yuki said. "But I know what it feels like to be sick, and I don't think that would necessarily make Akito jealous of Hatsuharu. After all, when I was younger I did envy you and Ayame and everyone else . . . but I didn't hate you . . ." Yuki frowned. "I didn't--"

"Well whoever did it, it's not like we're them," Kyou said with a shrug. "I guess our job is just to make sure no one else gets hurt."

"For once you're making sense," Yuki said with a smirk.

A frown had settled over Momiji's face, most unusual for him. Neither Kyou nor Yuki saw it, and it was gone a second later as Momiji hopped brightly out of his chair. "Are you two sure you're feeling alright?" he teased. "I thought I just heard you agree on something!"

"Shut your mouth, brat," Kyou grabbed Momiji and mussed his hair. "That'll teach you to be cheeky--"

Momiji squealed. He ducked and wriggled out of Kyou's grip. "It's nice to see you two being friends," he said, smiling. "Still I hope you two can keep it up, after all this is over and Tohru makes her choice."

Two sets of eyes, one deep purple, the other surprised brown, were fixed on him.

"What the hell do you mean?" Kyou demanded.

Momiji beamed at him, all innocence. "Well if it's a cycle that always repeats, then surely what happens tonight will determine which of you Tohru picks." He laughed. "See you later!"

He ducked out into the hallway, slipping into the shadowy recess behind the staircase.

A moment later, Kyou stormed down the hallway.

"You won't be able to change anything, you idiot!" Yuki yelled after him. "Hatsuharu will never set foot in this house as long as I'm alive to stop it!"

"Yeah, well that's a problem easily solved isn't it?" Kyou spun round to glare at the silver-haired boy.

They eyed each other dangerously and then Yuki said "If that's how you want to play it, then fine." He turned to climb the staircase and Momiji heard his footsteps gradually recede.

Kyou lingered a moment longer in the hallway, uncertainty written all over his face. Then with a shrug and a muttered 'idiot' he turned toward the kitchen.

Momiji smirked. The smile was cruel and out of place on his usually sunny face. He very quietly slipped out of the shadows to climb the stairs after Yuki. On the first step he paused and flung out a thin hand.

The volume of poetry that had gone flying through the air towards him halted midair, then was flung back in the direction it had come from. Another six volumes of the collected works of Shakespeare followed it and suffered the same fate.

"Rather immature, don't you think?" Momiji drawled. "Shigure."

The ghost appeared in the library doorway, hands clenched in fists. "What have you done to my cousin?"

Momiji laughed. "Nothing, yet. The question is . . . what will I do?"

"What do you want?" Shigure's voice was tight with barely controlled anger.

"Stop interfering," Momiji hissed. "You will not talk to that girl or anyone in this house tonight. If you do--" his smile turned cruel. "Poor little Momiji will become the newest addition to my little collection. Your choice, Shigure." He turned and climbed the stairs.

Shigure's expression as he watched Momiji leave was blank. He turned slowly back to the library, thinking hard.

"It appears," a soft voice said at his shoulder, "we have something of a dilemma."

Shigure was so shocked he almost forgot to remain visible.

Saki stood there, calm as ever, her eyes fixed directly on the ghost. "I suppose he was not making idle threats?"

"Unfortunately not," Shigure said, once he'd (figuratively speaking) got his breath back. "I can't think of a way to get Momiji away from him."

"That is indeed unfortunate." The black-haired girl frowned. "Still--" she stopped.

"You saw it too?" Shigure said.

Saki nodded slowly. "It is difficult for ghosts to exert so much control over one yet living. Why would such a step be taken unless--"

"He's afraid," Shigure smiled, grey eyes glittering. "He's afraid of what we can do. Which means we still have a chance."