In the Icy Hallways of the Palace

Yuki recovered from his initial shock, and was now kneeling on the ground, busy avoiding her eyes. "I see. So that's good news for me. At least I can keep you under my observationjust to be sure that you won't blab what you saw."

"I told you, I'll never tell anyone about your secret!" Tohru said vehemently. "So please, do not worry anymore."

"Hmm?" Yuki raised a bow quizzically. "I doubt it. My motto is, never to trust anyone but myself. Why should I trust you, stranger?"

Tohru smiled. "Ah, but I have I introduce myself to you. I'm Honda-"

"I know you," said Yuki coldly. "Honda Tohru, the only person in the kingdom who do not know a Sohma prince even when he bumps right into her."

"Ah! You still know my name? I'm flattered!" said Tohru good-naturedly.

The comment made Yuki turn red. "Don't think that you can talk to me that way. I can easily have your tongue seized and sliced into pieces for showing disrespect to me."

"Ah well, you see, we both look like we're the same age so-"

"So you took the liberty to talk to me as if we are equals, is that it?" he barked. "That is stupidity!"

Tohru gulped. "B-But I just want us to be friends, Your Highness, for we'll be seeing each other everyday."

Yuki turned his back on her. "Well, you came to the wrong place. I do not need friends. I'm happy just being all by myself."

She sighed. Now she knows how proper the nickname "Ice Prince" for him was. "If you say so."

Yuki put his gardener's hat back and proceeded to the vegetable plots. "Take just one rose and leave."

She froze. "B-But I thought you said that the roses are for people with royal blood-"

"Look, if you don't want to get one, then don't," he said curtly.

She smiled slowly. "I want one!" She bent down and picked a rose carefully from the bush, unaware that the prince was

watching her from afar.



Hanajima looked at Tohru, puzzled. "Where did you get that rose?" she asked.

Tohru had just made it to the maids' quarter, and found her friend, Hana lying on the bed. Hana immediately notice the flower she was holding. She handed it to her. "This is for you! Get well soon, Hana-chan!"

"But where did you get that?" she insisted.

"The Prince gave me this." Tohru narrated to her what happened. Afterwards, Hana looked bewildered.

"Are you sure it was Prince Yuki?" she asked skeptically, although she knew that Yuki was the only prince interested in gardening.

"Yup!" said Tohru. "Anyway, for two weeks, I'll take your place as you recover from your sickness. And don't worry, I'll do my job with the best ability I could give!"

"I know you would," said Hana softly.

"So what are my duties?" asked Tohru excitedly.



"My Prince Kyo!!!" screamed Kagura, throwing her arms around the panicking Sohma.

"Let go of me!" yelled Kyo, trying to take his cousin's arms off that were choking him, but ended up with them losing their balance. He and Kagura landed on the bed, with him on top.

Just then, the door of his room opened.

"Your dinner, Your High-" The maid froze, face flaming upon seeing their uncompromising situation. "Aah! I'm sorry!" She bowed repeatedly in a frantic manner.

I know that voice! And those actions! Kyo gazed at the maid's face then his jaw dropped. "You?!"

"You know her, Kyo?" asked Kagura, puzzled. "She's our new maid replacing Hanajima."

Kyo, annoyed, got up. "Yeah, I know her."

The absent-minded dumbass.

He didn't know exactly why, but the thought of the apologetic girl hanging around the palace as a maid made him smile.

At least I know that I'm not the only human around here whose heart is not yet covered with ice.



Tohru's heart was beating rapidly. She just saw her rescuer again, but of all the situations

She fixed her maid outfit again and proceeded to continue delivering the trays of food to the princes.

"My rescuer is a prince! A relative of the Ice Prince!" she thought in amusement. "And I thought meeting the Sohma princes of the palace is just a dream!"

She stopped on the next door and was just about to knock when the door opened, and out came a man dressed in kimono.

He pushed his reading glasses up.

"My, my. Maids are starting to get prettier and prettier everyday," he commented lazily, brushing his bangs off his forehead

with his hand. "Are you sure you came here as a maid and not a beauty pageant candidate?"

This made her blush hotly. "No, I'm a maid taking the place of Hanajima Saki." She bowed. "I'm Honda Tohru."

He chuckled and held out his hand. "And I'm Sohma Shigure, a novelist by profession and a lover by nature. Still available, of course, and-"

A fist smashed on Shigure's head.

"Quit it, you lecherous bone eater!" snapped Kyo angrily.

"Ah!" Tohru blushed even hotter. Her rescuer arrivedagain?

"Ah, but I'm lonely, Kyo! There's no one to talk to here!" whined Shigure, rubbing his head.

"Forgive him," said Kyo, facing her. "He's one sex-starved maniac. Fortunately, not all of us are."

"You just want her for yourself!" another voice said.

Tohru turned around and found a blonde-haired boy looking at them smilingly.

"You must be Tohru, right?" asked the boy. "You're cuter than I thought!"

Tohru wanted to faint. Okaasan, they all say I'm cute, when all my life, no one has ever told me this before! They act as if I'm the first woman they've seen in ages!

"Hana is scary," said the boy.

"Momiji, that's a nasty thing to say!" said Shigure disapprovingly. He then rubbed his chin. "Well come to think of it, she kinda frightens me sometimes. One time I tried to talk to her, she gave me those denpa stares that I had to leave!"

"That's because you cornered her in the kitchen, and you were naked, save for the towel covering your private part, and you asked her to massage you," said Kyo dryly. "Perverted old man!"

Momiji turned to Tohru. "You're not like that, are you, Tohru-chan?"

She smiled. "Ah!"

"I know you're not like her! You are a bunch of roses so sweet!" And with that, Momiji jumped to her arms before Shigure or Kyo could stop him.

Poof!



Yuki was weeding his plants when he thought he heard an explosion. His eyes widened.

I know that sound. Did one of us transform?

He rushed back into the palace, leaving his gardening tools behind.



Shigure and Kyo's jaws dropped. On Tohru's arms was a cute little rabbit snuggling comfortably in Tohru's arms. The two looked at Tohru cautiously.

They were stunned to see her all starry-eyed. "Ah, what a cute rabbit! He transformed just like the Ice Prince!"

"You know?!" chorused the Sohma men.

She nodded. "Uh-huh!"

"Butwhat did Yuki say?" asked Shigure in interest. He vaguely remembered the day of Yuki and the princess' date when Yuki disappeared.

"He told me that he'll kill me if I tell anyone about the secret," she whispered.

"That's mean!" said Momiji.

"Vintage Yuki," sighed Kyo.

But Shigure laughed. "So did you tell anyone about the secret of the Sohma princes?"

She shook her head. "Nope, and if ever I do, will anyone believe me?"

"Oh!" Shigure smiled.

She's kind, she's wise, she's trustworthy, she's innocent, she's pretty

In other words

Perfect for my matchmaking plans.

Perfect for him.

"Don't worry, Tohru-chan!" said Momiji reassuringly. "He will never hurt you! Not when I'm here!"

Kyo snorted. "You are just as perverted as Shigure. Will you leave her arms already?"

"What?! And you'll take my place?" snapped the rabbit. "No way, Jose!"

"Besides," said the novelist calmly. "No matter how impossible Yuki is, he will never issue a threat to anyone, unless he lost control of the situation already." He smiled at her meaningfully. "And Tohru-kun, you made him lose his calm in the situation. You sent his emotions into panic. No one has ever done that to him before, least of all, a woman."

"Stop saying nonsense!" snapped Yuki, coming from behind. "It's not right to talk about me when my back is turned."

"Goddam mouse, what are you doing here? We did not invite you!" snapped Kyo furiously.

"I do not need an invitation. I live here," said the Ice Prince. He turned to Tohru. "Look, do your job. The palace is paying you handsomely, so don't put it into waste."

She looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Hey!" complained Kyo, but Shigure dragged him away.

"Run along now, Tohru," said the elder Sohma. "We'll see you later."

Momiji followed Shigure obligingly, but waved his ears first at Tohru before leaving.

The two were left alone in the hallway. The hallway that she felt suddenly turned cold with the sub-zero anger of Yuki Sohma.

"I'm sorry," she repeated softly.

Yuki looked at her silently, face devoid of emotion. "How long will you stay here?"

"T-Two weeks."

"What a long time," he commented before passing by her shoulders and going to his room.

Okaasan, does he hate me?

Does the Ice Prince dislike me?


tsuzuku