Seeking Solace
To A New Beginning

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"Momiji-kun? Is everything all right? You don't seem to be yourself today." Tohru was sitting at the desk beside him, voice filled with worry.

"Eh? You think so?" Momiji asked, without any enthusiasm.

It was another Helping Hands meeting, and once again, Tohru was trying her best to be a good counsellor to Momiji. Tohru couldn't shake off the feeling that something was troubling him. Throughout their conversations that day, he was merely nodding and saying "I see," and "Is that so?" in the appropriate places. He didn't seem to be as animated and bright as he had been the week before.

Tohru frowned, and allowed herself to worry about him as the silence between them grew. It was hard to have a talk with him when their conversations were so one sided. Finally, she spoke. "Momiji-kun, could you please tell me what's wrong?"

Momiji shook his head and looked to his shoes, several locks of his blond hair falling out of place. "I'm sorry, Tohru, I can't say."

"Alright," she said uncertainly, "but if you do need to talk, you can come to me anytime you want. It's never fun to be upset, and it's easier to become happy again with the help of your friends."

"Thanks, Toh-ru. I appreciate that a lot." He couldn't help it, he said her name in the sing-song voice he had grown accustomed to using with her. Momiji was trying his best to follow Yuki's directions: 'Don't act in the carefree way that you normally do. That may remind her of the way that things used to be, and will cause her pain. So try not to say things that will rekindle her memories.' It's so hard, Yuki. Even a 'nobody' like me, someone she barely knows and has met with only once before, troubles her. I can tell by the way she looks at me that she cares about my well-being. Not because she feels sorry for me because I am cursed, but because I am a person. She doesn't want me to be upset, and I don't want her to be upset because of me. I don't understand what to do, Yuki. Toh-ru, what should I do? Momiji smiled a little bit to show that he wasn't mad at her.

Tohru smiled back, and they sat together without speaking, absorbing the sounds of the other students. Finally, she opened her backpack and pulled out several books. She chose one from the middle of the pile, and then pushed the remaining towards him. "Would you like to read one?"

Momiji looked through the pile of books, then glanced at the one in her hands, surprised at what he saw. "Ehh? You're reading about the Chinese Zodiac?"

"That's right!" Tohru hugged the book against her chest. "My mother always used to tell me different stories about the animals of the juunishi, and I wanted to relive the adventures. Okaa-san and I used to read this book together, and it was almost as if I was living alongside those very same animals." Seeing the bewildered expression on his face, Tohru began to feel a little embarrassed about saying anything about it. "Maybe I was just a strange child." She laughed a little. "But recently, I realized that I couldn't remember parts of the legend anymore, so I borrowed this book from the library. The Zodiac was important to me for some reason. It seems a little hazy. I'm not sure why I was suddenly thinking about those animals these last few days."

"You like the animals of the juunishi?" Momiji asked, a smile forming on his face.

She nodded. "Of course! All the animals are all very important. Every single one."

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The weather remained dreary for the rest of the week, and Tohru found that her tent that she had grown to call 'home' simply wasn't going to cut it anymore. With her savings, she was able to rent a small room; and to keep it she would have to put nearly every cent she earned towards the rent payment. It was definitely worth it. They had a finished basement which was accessible from a door in the backyard. The room was small, but it came with a bed, a dresser, and a small end table. She even had access to the basement bathroom. It was perfect.

Okaa-san, I've finally made a place for myself now. I'm sure that I'll be able to work more hours to be able to keep this home. I hope that you're proud of me in heaven.

"So when can we visit?" Uo asked Tohru after she had told her and Hanajima about her new residence.

"Yes, Tohru-chan, I would like to see your new home as well. I want to make sure that it is a suitable place for you to live." Hanajima smiled, and nodded to Uotani. She truly has parted ways from the Sohma household. Though I still worry about what has happened between the three of them, both Yuki and Kyou seem to care.... Yuki's eyes still showed great care for her when I confronted him about her, and Kyou did his best to take care of Tohru when she hurt herself. Maybe nothing is wrong at all, maybe we are over reacting. But still, something is off balance, I just cannot place what that is yet.

"Whenever you are both free will be fine." Tohru smiled, and turned to Uotani. "Are you working today after school, Uo-chan?"

"Yeah, but not until after supper today. I'll have time to drop by."

"Alright! Then you're both invited to come today! Though I'll warn you, it isn't much, but it's really good for the price."

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Shigure walked back and forth in his traditional robe, gripping his phone with both hands. There was no reply, just the endless sound of ringing in his ear. It has to be done. He tried again, redialing the number he knew only too well. Finally, someone answered on the fifth ring.

"Please let me speak to Akito." He requested in a polite yet demanding tone.

"I'm very sorry," the voice of one of Akito's servants replied, " but he is not well and cannot receive calls. He's with Hatori at the moment. His cold has worsened, and he needs to be tended to."

"I see," Shigure sighed.

"Would you like to leave a message?" the servant asked.

"That's alright, I'll try again another day." He hung up the phone very quickly, hoping that they had not upgraded their phones to have call display. He didn't want any questions from Hatori about why he had called.

You still have some time. I hope that you'll be careful in light of the current situation. I know that I will have to tell him eventually; it's always me who has to report back to him, isn't it? It's my smiling face that lets me deceive you all, you know, sometimes I feel bad about it. A little. At least I can have some fun until I have to tell him, since teasing you all about Tohru is my specialty.

The author clamoured down the stairs with a light dance in his step and headed to his study for another long day of work.

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With school out for the day, Uotani, Hanajima and Tohru met at their lockers so that they could walk home together. Once they were sure that they had all of their necessary books, they headed out the front door. Kyou was not far ahead of them, and once in while, he turned his head to see if the trio were still behind them. He picked up the pace and made sure to keep his distance. He did promise to avoid unnecessarily meeting with Tohru, and he had grumpily agreed to it.

He crossed the street, heading in the general direction of Shigure's house. But now, Tohru and her friends had turned the corner and were now heading in the opposite direction. He slowed down to his normal speed and walked leisurely home, a small part of him wondering if she was going to Hana or Uo's house for the afternoon.

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"This is it!" Tohru exclaimed as they reached the house. "Isn't it pretty?"

It was quite pretty, it had a small flower garden in a circle shape along side a sand coloured interlocking brick pathway. The path led to the front door and the garage. It was simple, yet elegant. But looking down the street was a peculiar sight. Their yard was similar to every other yard on the street, down to the same type of flowers. Luckily, their garage door was painted a pale green colour, distinguishing it from the others.

"Perhaps they all hired the same landscaping company," Hanajima said as she examined the street. It would have been a little more startling, but she eventually noticed that the house on the corner was different - it had a row of flourescent pink flamingos stuck in the garden below the windows. She couldn't help but shudder.

She and Uo started walking up the path, but Tohru gently led them behind the garage. "Actually, there's a backdoor entrance. This way!" They rounded the corner to see that a set of stairs ran along the side of the house which lead to the door. Uo bounded down the stairs, skipping several steps on the way and waited at the bottom for Hanajima and Tohru to show up.

Slipping the key into the hole in the door, Tohru opened it and allowed them access to a hall with three doors. Upon closing the door behind them, Tohru noticed light reflecting on two orbs that were smaller than a marble in the corner by the door on the left side. She pulled a metal chain hanging from the ceiling which illuminated the small hallway with a gentle glow.

The two orbs belonged to a small, furry creature. With the sudden change in light, the fluffy, grey mouse looked between the three in surprise. Uo jumped a little when she saw it; she was glad that neither Tohru nor Hana had noticed her fright. She felt silly. Hana stared at it, and muttered under breath, "what state of cleanliness must this house have to have rodents?" Tohru didn't seem to register any surprise at all on her face. She looked at it for several seconds. Sensing that it felt trapped and isolated, she opened the back door again, and the mouse scurried out of sight into the outdoors.

"Ara, Tohru-chan." Hana said after Tohru had once again closed the door. "Have you seen any other mice here so far? Living with rodents isn't safe."

"Actually, that was the first mouse I've ever seen here." Tohru smiled and opened the rightmost door of the three which was her bedroom.

"You're quite brave then, Tohru, I thought that you would have screamed or something." Uo laughed as they entered the room.

"I'm used to them, I guess." Tohru replied, not quite sure where she would ever have gotten used to being around mice.

The three girls stood in the doorway to the room as Hanajima and Uotani scrutinized the room.

"It's very...small," Uo said finally, "but it is a rather nice place for the price!"

"It's not quite becoming of Tohru-chan," Hana assessed, "it seems rather sterile. The white walls, white ceiling, light pine furniture.... it is visibly empty."

"Hey, we can spice up a little bit. Maybe add a mirror over there on the while, some pictures and books on a shelf, a paint job for the walls." Uo surveyed the room again, trying to picture Tohru's dream room.

"Oh, it's fine for now, really!" Tohru tried to convince them. "I would like a little colour eventually, but that will have to wait until I can save up more money."

"You are allowed to paint the walls, right?" Uo asked, still set on making the room more homely.

"Well, yes." Tohru paused to think, then told them, "They may want to paint over it eventually, so I can paint the walls any colour as long as it isn't too dark of a colour like navy or black."

"What a dreadful shame," Hanajima thought out loud with a sigh, looking down at the black cloak that she had folded in her arms.

Tohru wouldn't be one to choose black walls anyways. Uo laughed again, imagining what it would be like if Tohru suddenly donned a flowing black dress with dark, gothic eye makeup. "What is it?" Tohru asked her curiously.

"It's nothing at all."

"I suppose that since you like it, you will be happy here." Hanajima said, giving the room one last once-over. "It doesn't seem to have the atmosphere or energy of your last residence, but it will definitely be alright."

Tohru smiled. "Thank you, both of you, for accepting my choice."

"Think nothing of it, we just want to make sure you're safe." Uotani grinned.

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Author Notes:
Eighth chapter; Uploaded June 3rd 2003.
I forgot to mention this earlier, words in my works are spelt the Canadian way. (ie: colour instead of color). Just in case any Americans read it and think I'm making an error, hehehe. I can't believe how long it took me to write this chapter. I had all these notes written for it, it was just getting around to writing it up. It's been a busy few weeks, I cannot believe it. School's so close to being finished though....only three more weeks.
I do not own the rights to any of the characters mentioned in this fan fiction.

Language Translations:
Okaa-san - Mother
Juunishi - members of the Chinese Zodiac
Ara - Oh My