"Ohayo!!!" Tohru greeted the Sohmas next day. They were all quiet once they saw a complete and mouth-watering meal in front of them.
Tohru placed a huge bowl of rice in the middle and clapped in amusement. "Please, sit down and eat."
"Tohru-kun, you know how to cook?" Kagura asked, completely focused on the food.
"Yeah, but I haven't cooked for a while so… I decided to cook something." She smiled.
"Ah, Tohru-san, you just made my tummy happy. At last I won't endure the pain of eating those…weird… tasteless cooking---"
"Don't push it." Yuki snapped.
"Please, eat up while I clean the kitchen for a while." She bowed and walked away.
"Why won't you join us, Honda-san?" Yuki asked.
"Ne, goddesses never eat, remember?" she blinked. "It's alright, Yuki-kun."
"Aah…" Shigure breathed deep as he shoved a huge amount of rice on his mouth. "The rice tastes good too!"
"Shigure…"
"I'm not saying anything, Yuki." He cooed.
"Mind if I join in?" Hatori came in and saw his cousins digging in the food on the table. "It looks like this is last day of your life."
"C'mon, Tori-san!" Kagura waved. "There's no occasion but it's enough for all."
"Ohayo, Tori-san," Tohru peeked from the kitchen.
"Has Shigure touched you?" The doctor asked quickly.
"Well… he did…"
Shigure met an evil glare from Hatori. "It's not that erotic." He chuckled.
"But once you did…"
"Why are you like this?" Yuki blurted out. He stared at Hatori and he stared back. "You always butt in and kept on protecting her."
"She's my friend---"
"You sounded like you're MORE than friends."
"Please no fighting." The goddess reminded hurriedly. Both men calmed themselves down and finished the meal.
"Ne, Tohru-san, are you sure you don't want some?" Shigure yelled.
"No thank you." She went out of the kitchen and went towards the door. "I'll go out for a while."
"No." Yuki quickly ordered. All of them stared at him.
"Yuki?"
"I'm not allowing you to go." He murmured. "I want you to stay here with me."
Hatori almost dropped his bowl when he heard that. He glanced at Tohru, who was shaking. This is not happening again…He did the same thing to her and…
"I won't be long, Yuki-kun."
"Stay." He ordered sternly.
Hatori stood up and went towards her. "Let's go, Celeste."
"But---"
"Where are taking her?!" Yuki asked fiercely.
"According to Shigure, you found her wounded in the forest." He explained. "I need to investigate about this. She might have an internal infection."
"She's a goddess." The clan head pointed.
"Who are you to judge her?" the doctor implied. "I'm a doctor and older than you. Unless you wanted to see her suffer, I would like to give her the best treatment."
"Mind if I come along?" Kagura asked.
"I don't mind." He took Tohru's hand and nodded. "Let's go then." They left the house and Kagura tagged along. The novelist looked at his cousin, who was seriously staring at his unfinished meal.
"Are you going to save some for Kyou?" he asked.
"He can take mine." Yuki whispered. "I lost my appetite."
"Yuki, it's not what you think." Shigure began. "Hatori met her when he was on your age, and she had a hard time with Akito. He was the one who kept on protecting her from him."
"What are trying to tell me?"
"What I'm trying to say is that you're acting like him!" Shigure roared. "You're acting like Akito!"
"So what if I do? There's nothing I can do." He smirked. "I was raised under his care and I do what he taught me: to be heartless."
"Then how come you understood her and believed her on who she really is? Lust? Greed? I don't think so." The novelist stood up and stared at his cousin. "You cared for her. You know that." He left the room silently.
Yuki glanced at the nearby window. He's right. I do care for her. He thought, I just got carried away earlier… and she looked at bit frightened when I ordered her not to go. Was I a bit harsh on her? Or maybe Akito is far more evil than me?
She said that her last master was Akito-san. What did he do to her back then that made her scared?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Akito-san---"
"Don't move."
He tossed away her clothes and laid her on the futon. She was shivering as the cold wind rushed inside the room. He sat up and undressed himself.
"Please---"
"Be quiet."
She obediently nodded as he pushed aside his clothes cuddled beside her. She stared at him in the eye. He looked handsome on the outside but---
"Don't do anything that will disappoint me, Celeste." He warned. "I want this night to be special. I want to make sure that it will go as smoothly as possible, understand."
"I don't know---"
"I'm your master and you should do what I have to say." He said sternly.
"But I'm not really allowed to---"
"Then let heaven curse us both." He kissed her roughly on the lips. She tried to push him away but, even though she was a goddess, he was too strong for her.
And so… she had nothing to do but to follow his order…
"Tohru…" she looked up and opened her eyes. Kagura sighed as she gazed upon her. "I'm glad you're okay."
"What---where are we?" Tohru sat up slowly.
"After we got out of the forest, you collapsed." She explained. "I was worried but Hatori wasn't. He said it's some sort of 'down feeling' inside you. So he carried you here, in his office."
"I see."
"You're awake?" Hatori went inside the room. "Or Kagura woke you up?"
"Hatori!"
"Kagura-san, can I talk to him for a while?" the goddess requested. Kagura nodded and left the room. "Tori-san---"
"First and foremost, are you scared of my cousin?" he asked calmly.
"Ano… it's not that but…" she looked away. "He sounded friendly and he's so nice to me but… what he said earlier was quite different." She looked at him. "I'm not scared of him but I'm scared of what he's going to do."
"I see." He responded.
"What do you think, Tori-san?" she looked at him worriedly. "Do you think he'll act the same thing Akito did to me?"
"Celeste, I know my cousin and I know he's smart enough to do such thing." He replied. "I trusted him to be a great head, not to use you for some selfish unthinkable acts. Akito was just so desperate that he did that to you without thinking."
"I dreamt about it." She said truthfully. "The same thing…"
"Let Akito rest in peace, Celeste. He maybe deserved the punishment that arrived to him but in his eyes, he was purely confused." He smiled. "I'm sure Yuki has his reasons why he did that. I trust him to be just but friendly."
"Okay,"
"Are you sure that you're okay? Do you feel any pain at all?"
"Nothing Tori-san," she smiled. "Thank you."
"It's nothing. I'll ask Kagura to walk you home. But now," he laid his hand on her head. "I want you to rest. It's a doctor's advice, so you should follow it."
"I will…" she laid back again and let Hatori kiss her forehead. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Why do you still call me Celeste?"
"It brings back happy memories." He smiled. "But if you don't like it, I'll just call you Tohru."
"Any name will be fine." She replied.
"Okay, Tohru." He stood up and left the room.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-
That afternoon, Tohru arrived at the house and was greeted by the Sohmas once more. But Yuki wasn't there. Perhaps he's trying to avoid me, she wondered.
After eating dinner, Tohru washed the dishes and went towards her room. She sat on her bed and wondered about…plainly nothing until she heard a knock on the door.
"Tohru?"
"Come in, Yuki-kun."
Yuki entered her room and sat beside her. "I'm… sorry about what happened earlier. I got carried away."
"I understand" she replied.
"Can I ask you a question?"
She giggled. "I think you have a thousand questions to ask me."
"You're right. And I just can't shrink it all in one question." He laughed. "I tried hard but…"
"I'll tell you everything tomorrow." She replied. "Just get some sleep, okay?"
"Can I even ask even one question?"
"Go ahead." She said willingly. "I'm an open book."
"Did you love Akito?" he asked. Tohru slightly jumped after he heard that question. Finally, she calmed down and answered it.
"Even if I loved him, he would never love me back."
"So you do love him?" he asked once more.
She let out a heavy sigh. "He moved my heart… but it's not love." She smiled. "I'll tell you tomorrow everything I know about Akito-san and Tori-san, back then when you were not there."
"Okay…" he whispered but somehow, he would want to know it now but he still have to wait till tomorrow to find out.
*******
SO that means you have to wait until the next chapter! LOL~! It won't be long! I had it all in mind!!!