~ ~ ~
Sorry about the delay but tests coming up, u noe . . . please continue reading and I'll try to update as soon as possible!! ^_^
~ Maeven ~
Throwing Away the Key
Tohru scrubbed vigorously, lost in her thoughts. She chewed her lip worriedly as her little inner self ran around inside her, panicking. 'Why is everybody acting so weird around me?! Did I do something wrong again? Why are they avoiding me?!' She rinsed the dishes and furrowed her eyebrows. Shaking her head furiously and pasting a grin on her face, she picked up the tray of green tea and walked in the living room.
To her surprise, the three males were actually in the midst of having a quiet, civilized conversation. They murmured softly and occasionally, she could pick up phrases like "she still doesn't know" and "are you sure about this?" and the worst of all, "how the hell are we going to get her out of the house?" Tohru's little inner self was definitely bouncing off the walls now. She bit her trembling lip. 'Oh no. Oh no. They're kicking me out. Oh no. Okaa-san, what do I do? Oh -'
The three cousins looked up, noticing her presence in the doorway for the first time, and quickly stopped talking. All of them focused their gazes on her and then shifted their eyes away guiltily. Tohru's little inner self was now banging her little head against the wall of her stomach. "A - ano, is there something you want to tell me?"
Kyou flashed his eyes at her. "No. Why? Did you hear something?" he demanded.
Yuki continued, unsmiling. "What's the matter, Honda-san?"
Shigure rested his chin in his palm and fixated his dark eyes on her intently, awaiting her response.
"N - no . . ." The inner self was officially committing suicide.
* * *
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Uotani and Hanajima stood by the gates with Jyuuni, warning any potential crazed fans off. Tohru rushed out of the building, panting heavily. "G - gomen . . . have you been waiting long?"
Uotani shook her head roughly and turned away. Hanajima offered a brief smile before following. The boys trailed along. Tohru frowned agitatedly but before she could take a step toward them, Kyou tilted his head back and barked, "Oi . . . don't you have work to go to?"
The girl blinked and stuttered, "Well . . . yes, but today, I don't have to work so many hours so I was thinking that I would walk home with you first and prepare some food -"
"Don't need to, Tohru," Momiji responded, turning his chocolate brown eyes away.
Haru stated dryly. "We've got ourselves two sufficient bodyguards to do the walking home part and as for the food segment . . . they're big boys . . . they could handle it."
Tohru nodded dumbly. "I - I suppose."
Yuki's back was turned to her and his voice lilted grimly toward her, "Well, then, you can go to work now . . . we'll see you later . . . ja ne."
"Bye, Tohru," the girls murmured as the group walked off, leaving the bewildered Tohru behind. 'What's happening, Okaa-san?!'
* * *
"There she is! Oh, isn't she such a pretty little thing?"
"Oh yea, she is! Too bad -"
"Shut up . . . let's just hurry up. We've been planning too long for this to botch things up now."
"Yea . . . boy, I just can't wait. You guys all ready?"
"Yep . . . I'm always raring to go."
"Yea, whatever . . . let's just go. Let's make this quick and painless . . ."
"For us, at least hehe . . ."
Tohru stepped out of the building and stared up into the dark sky. She heaved a sigh. 'Everybody's been acting so strange . . . what exactly had happened? Oh well . . . better get back now . . . it's so late now . . . can't make them worry.' She turned around but to her shock, a hand clamped over her mouth tightly as a pair of muscular arms wrapped around her. "Mmmph!" She struggled in vain as she was dragged into the darkness of the shadows.
"Hurry before she calls any attention!"
"Where is it?!"
"I thought you said you had it!"
"Baka! Like I'll let you handle my things . . . I got it . . . now shut up . . . you're causing more ruckus than she is . . ."
"Hurry! Hurry!"
"Shut up! It's a delicate procedure . . ." Tohru tried shouting for help but the viselike grip around her mouth squelched any hopes for that. To her horror, she suddenly recognized the familiar sting of a shot and as she felt herself go weak and her vision fade to darkness, she could only think dumbly . . . 'Oh no . . . Yuki . . . Kyou . . . they're waiting for me to come home to make dinner . . . what am I going to do?'
* * *
Yuki took a deep breath and opened the door. In the darkness, he made out the shadow of his worst nightmare.
"Yuki . . . what a pleasant surprise . . . did you come to thank me for my delightful surprise?" Akito's soft whisper sent chills down the boy's back but Yuki stood firm, stepping into the hated room. He hesitated, his carefully prepared speech forgotten at this crucial moment.
Akito looked up sharply from the white bird dangling on his fingers. "What is it? Yuki, you know you can tell me anything. What is it?"
Yuki flinched and stated decisively, "We're not going."
In a flash, the head of the clan slammed the boy against the wall and Yuki gritted his teeth in pain, the back of his head throbbing. Akito leaned his face close and murmured dangerously, "What do you mean you're not going?"
Yuki raised his chin and stared into Akito's eyes firmly. "Jyuuni is staying in Japan . . . we decided -" He couldn't finish as he was thrown across the room. With a thump, he landed on the hard cold floor and he bit back a groan of pain. Akito walked over to him and he had to stop himself from crawling away. The elder boy looked down at him and whispered softly, "Do you understand the trouble I went through for you? Do you not UNDERSTAND?!" He kicked Yuki in the stomach and the boy doubled over. "WHY? WHY MUST YOU TIME AFTER TIME AGAIN DISAPPOINT ME LIKE THIS? I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE HAPPY! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE THIS! HAVEN'T YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE THE WORLD AND NOW THAT I'M ALLOWING THIS, YOU'RE SAYING NO?! NO?!" Akito's eyes flashed crazily and he leaned over, hauling Yuki up.
The mouse gasped hard, staring back into Akito's eyes. The head of the clan closed his eyes tightly and slowly released his hold, letting the boy slide down slowly to the floor. He turned away, covering his eyes with his hand and laughed bitterly. "You're not even scared of me anymore . . . no more cowering like a baby. All I see in your eyes is hatred . . . rage . . . fury . . . at me . . . no more silent pleading . . . no more tears. Yuki . . . how did you change so fast? When did you change? Right under my nose . . . Yuki . . ." Akito stopped suddenly and Yuki stared at the tall boy warily. When he began talking again, it was cold and emotionless . . . and yet, it scared Yuki even more. "That dumb girl. It's all her fault. It's all that meddling girl's fault. She caused you all to change . . . to betray me. That dumb girl. And you!" Akito whirled around to point at Yuki, his voice trembling once more with rage. "You're also dumb! Do you realize what you've done today? You've just thrown away the key to freedom . . . by your own hands! Never ever again will you receive this once in a lifetime opportunity and what do you decide to do?! You refuse! You let that girl poisoned your mind!! You think I'm trapping you all?! That girl is the one who's caging you! That girl is the one who's enslaving you one by one! That girl is the one who's hypnotizing you into following her!! THAT GIRL!!" Akito pushed over a small table with a flick of his arm and the vase crashed to the floor. "Yuki . . . you've just thrown away the key to freedom . . . I would never let you leave ever again . . ."
Yuki clenched his fists tightly and got up slowly. He staggered to the door and closed it tightly behind him, leaving Akito once more in a room of shadows.
* * *
"Where is she? Where is she? She should be here by now," Kyou paced endlessly back and forth. Yuki stumbled into the room and the cat looked up. The mouse looked pale and weary, clutching a hand to his stomach. "Oi . . . you - you dead yet?"
Yuki rolled his eyes. "You'll be dead before I am . . . baka neko." He plopped down into a chair and rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"How'd he take it?" Kagura asked hesitantly.
"Same as always . . . a little screaming . . . a little kicking . . . a little wrecking . . ." Yuki mumbled exhaustedly. "Is Honda-san here yet?"
"No . . . what the hell is keeping her?" Kyou said, looking up at the clock again.
"You think something went wrong?" Momiji asked worriedly.
A door slammed and everyone looked up expectantly. Hatori strolled in, looking grim. "Yea . . . something definitely went wrong."
* * *
Tohru groaned. Her head throbbed and her whole body felt numb. Her eyelids felt heavy and as she slowly opened them, the sudden blinding harsh light was too much for her. She tried to speak but her throat felt clogged up, ending up in a croak. 'Where - where am I?'
"What kind of an idiot does this?!"
"Hey, I thought it was a good idea!"
"Oh, shut up!"
"I told you not to tamper with my stuff! Why don't you ever listen?!"
"Shuddap all of ya! I'm getting a headache now! I knew we shouldn't have let you do this!"
"Now what do we do?"
People were arguing . . . and not very quietly either. Tohru winced at the raucous voices. 'Where am I? Who kidnapped me? And why?!' She closed her eyes tightly to hold back her tears and whispered softly, "Yuki . . . Kyou . . ."
"Yes?" To her shock, two very familiar voices responded absentmindedly. She rolled her heavy head around to stare at the two boys, who turned their heads to her, looking as bewildered as she probably did.
"Honda-san . . . you're finally awake!" Yuki exclaimed in relief.
"Oh god, Tohru, thank goodness! I thought they killed you!" Kyou sighed, sagging against the wall.
She blinked slowly and cleared her throat. "Uh . . . no but um . . . can someone please tell me why you, uh, kidnapped me? I would have gone home eventually, you know . . ."
Everyone grinned sheepishly. "Well, actually, um, surprise! Yea . . . happy birthday?"
"EH?" She sat up in a flash, wincing as her head throbbed again. Her eyes landed on a huge sigh in the middle of a grand room in what seemed to be a restaurant: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOHRU!
Uotani stepped forward, folding her arms. "Yea, I told everyone . . . can't believe you would forget it yourself, Tohru . . . such an important day!! But anyways, this was supposedly a surprise birthday party until these bakas here messed everything up . . ." She jabbed her thumb at Shigure and Ayame, guiltily waving.
"Huh?"
Hatori stepped forward grimly. "I was charged with the job of bringing you to this place . . . but then, the two idiots decided to tag along and somehow . . . everything went downhill. They messed around with the anesthesia shot and you got an overdose . . . that would explain your throbbing headache and your numb body . . . not to mention knocking you out for five hours."
"EH? FIVE HOURS?"
Yuki nodded bleakly. "Gomen, Honda-san. I knew I should have kept the stupid dog and the crazy snake as far as possible from you."
Ayame pouted. "How were we to know? I was just making sure that the injection was okay . . . I thought more would be better . . . all things in life are like that!!"
A vein throbbed in Kyou's head and he rolled up his sleeve. "Then, I guess more punches will be better for ya, huh?"
Tears rolled down Tohru's face and she hiccupped a little.
"Onee-chan, are you okay?" Kisa dropped to her knees beside Tohru.
"Tohru? Do you feel pain anywhere?" Momiji asked anxiously.
She shook her head furiously. "No . . . I'm not crying because of the pain . . . I'm crying because you guys are so nice . . . you all went through so much trouble! I - I don't know what to say! I - I feel so warm!"
Kyou ran a hand through his head awkwardly. "Well . . . are you sure you're not just feeling warm because you're sick?"
Yuki smiled, "It's the least we can do, Honda-san . . . we're your family."
Her eyes filled with tears again and she began sobbing uncontrollably.
Kyou looked distressed and he patted her back clumsily. "Uh, there, there . . . don't cry . . . uh, there, there . . ."
She beamed through her tears.
* * *
"Nani?! You're cheating!!" Kyou yelled, throwing down his cards.
Uotani scowled and banged her fist down on the table. "You little carrot- top! Stop being a sore loser!"
Kagura frowned, "Kyou-kun is not a carrot-top! He has magnificent orange hair!"
Yuki said dryly, "I wonder what color you think a carrot is."
Hanajima sighed. "Do I really need to do something to quiet you all?"
"Yummy!! Food! Food!" Shigure and Ayame scarfed down their pieces of cake. Hatori tried to sit as far as possible from them while trying to maintain distance from the sobbing Ritsu who's still blaming himself for Tohru's condition.
Kisa laughed lightly at Hiro's story while Momiji and Haru talked quietly in a corner.
Tohru smiled at the cozy, happy scene. 'Everyone's so active . . . so happy. This is the best birthday ever! Okaa-san, are you happy today too?' She closed her eyes a little; her head was still pounding and she rubbed her temples a little. She sighed and decided to go out for some fresh air. 'Should I tell them? No . . . shouldn't interrupt their fun . . . I'll be back soon anyway . . ." With a final glance, she smiled blissfully and closed the door softly behind her.
In the cool air, she shivered a little and wrapped her arms around her. She closed her eyes tightly and inhaled the night air deeply. She exhaled happily, staring up at the twinkling stars. "So happy today!"
"Really?"
With a start, she turned around. Two tall men stood them, smiling eerily at her. She smiled back and nodded. "Yes . . . today's one of the best days in my life . . ."
"Maybe . . . maybe not . . ." one of the men spoke softly. He took a step toward her.
"Huh? What do you mean? Are you a fortune-teller?"
"You could say that . . ." the other man took another step.
"Really? Can you tell more about me?"
"Well . . . your name is Honda Tohru . . . you're currently in high school . . . and you're friends with a group of extremely popular, wealthy music idols . . ."
Tohru nodded excitedly. "Sugoi! You guys are really talented. Can you tell my future then? Will I go to college?"
The men paused in front of her. "Well . . . you would unexpectedly meet a downfall . . . something that would change your whole life drastically . . ."
Tohru frowned, furrowing her eyebrow. "A downfall . . . when?"
The man smiled his weird smile again and whispered. "Now."
The other man swung up his hand and knocked it against the back of her neck. Tohru didn't have time to be startled, crumpling forward into their arms, her eyes closing.
"Happy birthday, Honda Tohru. May all your wishes come true," they laughed as they picked the girl up and walked off into the night.
Sorry about the delay but tests coming up, u noe . . . please continue reading and I'll try to update as soon as possible!! ^_^
~ Maeven ~
Throwing Away the Key
Tohru scrubbed vigorously, lost in her thoughts. She chewed her lip worriedly as her little inner self ran around inside her, panicking. 'Why is everybody acting so weird around me?! Did I do something wrong again? Why are they avoiding me?!' She rinsed the dishes and furrowed her eyebrows. Shaking her head furiously and pasting a grin on her face, she picked up the tray of green tea and walked in the living room.
To her surprise, the three males were actually in the midst of having a quiet, civilized conversation. They murmured softly and occasionally, she could pick up phrases like "she still doesn't know" and "are you sure about this?" and the worst of all, "how the hell are we going to get her out of the house?" Tohru's little inner self was definitely bouncing off the walls now. She bit her trembling lip. 'Oh no. Oh no. They're kicking me out. Oh no. Okaa-san, what do I do? Oh -'
The three cousins looked up, noticing her presence in the doorway for the first time, and quickly stopped talking. All of them focused their gazes on her and then shifted their eyes away guiltily. Tohru's little inner self was now banging her little head against the wall of her stomach. "A - ano, is there something you want to tell me?"
Kyou flashed his eyes at her. "No. Why? Did you hear something?" he demanded.
Yuki continued, unsmiling. "What's the matter, Honda-san?"
Shigure rested his chin in his palm and fixated his dark eyes on her intently, awaiting her response.
"N - no . . ." The inner self was officially committing suicide.
* * *
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Uotani and Hanajima stood by the gates with Jyuuni, warning any potential crazed fans off. Tohru rushed out of the building, panting heavily. "G - gomen . . . have you been waiting long?"
Uotani shook her head roughly and turned away. Hanajima offered a brief smile before following. The boys trailed along. Tohru frowned agitatedly but before she could take a step toward them, Kyou tilted his head back and barked, "Oi . . . don't you have work to go to?"
The girl blinked and stuttered, "Well . . . yes, but today, I don't have to work so many hours so I was thinking that I would walk home with you first and prepare some food -"
"Don't need to, Tohru," Momiji responded, turning his chocolate brown eyes away.
Haru stated dryly. "We've got ourselves two sufficient bodyguards to do the walking home part and as for the food segment . . . they're big boys . . . they could handle it."
Tohru nodded dumbly. "I - I suppose."
Yuki's back was turned to her and his voice lilted grimly toward her, "Well, then, you can go to work now . . . we'll see you later . . . ja ne."
"Bye, Tohru," the girls murmured as the group walked off, leaving the bewildered Tohru behind. 'What's happening, Okaa-san?!'
* * *
"There she is! Oh, isn't she such a pretty little thing?"
"Oh yea, she is! Too bad -"
"Shut up . . . let's just hurry up. We've been planning too long for this to botch things up now."
"Yea . . . boy, I just can't wait. You guys all ready?"
"Yep . . . I'm always raring to go."
"Yea, whatever . . . let's just go. Let's make this quick and painless . . ."
"For us, at least hehe . . ."
Tohru stepped out of the building and stared up into the dark sky. She heaved a sigh. 'Everybody's been acting so strange . . . what exactly had happened? Oh well . . . better get back now . . . it's so late now . . . can't make them worry.' She turned around but to her shock, a hand clamped over her mouth tightly as a pair of muscular arms wrapped around her. "Mmmph!" She struggled in vain as she was dragged into the darkness of the shadows.
"Hurry before she calls any attention!"
"Where is it?!"
"I thought you said you had it!"
"Baka! Like I'll let you handle my things . . . I got it . . . now shut up . . . you're causing more ruckus than she is . . ."
"Hurry! Hurry!"
"Shut up! It's a delicate procedure . . ." Tohru tried shouting for help but the viselike grip around her mouth squelched any hopes for that. To her horror, she suddenly recognized the familiar sting of a shot and as she felt herself go weak and her vision fade to darkness, she could only think dumbly . . . 'Oh no . . . Yuki . . . Kyou . . . they're waiting for me to come home to make dinner . . . what am I going to do?'
* * *
Yuki took a deep breath and opened the door. In the darkness, he made out the shadow of his worst nightmare.
"Yuki . . . what a pleasant surprise . . . did you come to thank me for my delightful surprise?" Akito's soft whisper sent chills down the boy's back but Yuki stood firm, stepping into the hated room. He hesitated, his carefully prepared speech forgotten at this crucial moment.
Akito looked up sharply from the white bird dangling on his fingers. "What is it? Yuki, you know you can tell me anything. What is it?"
Yuki flinched and stated decisively, "We're not going."
In a flash, the head of the clan slammed the boy against the wall and Yuki gritted his teeth in pain, the back of his head throbbing. Akito leaned his face close and murmured dangerously, "What do you mean you're not going?"
Yuki raised his chin and stared into Akito's eyes firmly. "Jyuuni is staying in Japan . . . we decided -" He couldn't finish as he was thrown across the room. With a thump, he landed on the hard cold floor and he bit back a groan of pain. Akito walked over to him and he had to stop himself from crawling away. The elder boy looked down at him and whispered softly, "Do you understand the trouble I went through for you? Do you not UNDERSTAND?!" He kicked Yuki in the stomach and the boy doubled over. "WHY? WHY MUST YOU TIME AFTER TIME AGAIN DISAPPOINT ME LIKE THIS? I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE HAPPY! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE THIS! HAVEN'T YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE THE WORLD AND NOW THAT I'M ALLOWING THIS, YOU'RE SAYING NO?! NO?!" Akito's eyes flashed crazily and he leaned over, hauling Yuki up.
The mouse gasped hard, staring back into Akito's eyes. The head of the clan closed his eyes tightly and slowly released his hold, letting the boy slide down slowly to the floor. He turned away, covering his eyes with his hand and laughed bitterly. "You're not even scared of me anymore . . . no more cowering like a baby. All I see in your eyes is hatred . . . rage . . . fury . . . at me . . . no more silent pleading . . . no more tears. Yuki . . . how did you change so fast? When did you change? Right under my nose . . . Yuki . . ." Akito stopped suddenly and Yuki stared at the tall boy warily. When he began talking again, it was cold and emotionless . . . and yet, it scared Yuki even more. "That dumb girl. It's all her fault. It's all that meddling girl's fault. She caused you all to change . . . to betray me. That dumb girl. And you!" Akito whirled around to point at Yuki, his voice trembling once more with rage. "You're also dumb! Do you realize what you've done today? You've just thrown away the key to freedom . . . by your own hands! Never ever again will you receive this once in a lifetime opportunity and what do you decide to do?! You refuse! You let that girl poisoned your mind!! You think I'm trapping you all?! That girl is the one who's caging you! That girl is the one who's enslaving you one by one! That girl is the one who's hypnotizing you into following her!! THAT GIRL!!" Akito pushed over a small table with a flick of his arm and the vase crashed to the floor. "Yuki . . . you've just thrown away the key to freedom . . . I would never let you leave ever again . . ."
Yuki clenched his fists tightly and got up slowly. He staggered to the door and closed it tightly behind him, leaving Akito once more in a room of shadows.
* * *
"Where is she? Where is she? She should be here by now," Kyou paced endlessly back and forth. Yuki stumbled into the room and the cat looked up. The mouse looked pale and weary, clutching a hand to his stomach. "Oi . . . you - you dead yet?"
Yuki rolled his eyes. "You'll be dead before I am . . . baka neko." He plopped down into a chair and rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"How'd he take it?" Kagura asked hesitantly.
"Same as always . . . a little screaming . . . a little kicking . . . a little wrecking . . ." Yuki mumbled exhaustedly. "Is Honda-san here yet?"
"No . . . what the hell is keeping her?" Kyou said, looking up at the clock again.
"You think something went wrong?" Momiji asked worriedly.
A door slammed and everyone looked up expectantly. Hatori strolled in, looking grim. "Yea . . . something definitely went wrong."
* * *
Tohru groaned. Her head throbbed and her whole body felt numb. Her eyelids felt heavy and as she slowly opened them, the sudden blinding harsh light was too much for her. She tried to speak but her throat felt clogged up, ending up in a croak. 'Where - where am I?'
"What kind of an idiot does this?!"
"Hey, I thought it was a good idea!"
"Oh, shut up!"
"I told you not to tamper with my stuff! Why don't you ever listen?!"
"Shuddap all of ya! I'm getting a headache now! I knew we shouldn't have let you do this!"
"Now what do we do?"
People were arguing . . . and not very quietly either. Tohru winced at the raucous voices. 'Where am I? Who kidnapped me? And why?!' She closed her eyes tightly to hold back her tears and whispered softly, "Yuki . . . Kyou . . ."
"Yes?" To her shock, two very familiar voices responded absentmindedly. She rolled her heavy head around to stare at the two boys, who turned their heads to her, looking as bewildered as she probably did.
"Honda-san . . . you're finally awake!" Yuki exclaimed in relief.
"Oh god, Tohru, thank goodness! I thought they killed you!" Kyou sighed, sagging against the wall.
She blinked slowly and cleared her throat. "Uh . . . no but um . . . can someone please tell me why you, uh, kidnapped me? I would have gone home eventually, you know . . ."
Everyone grinned sheepishly. "Well, actually, um, surprise! Yea . . . happy birthday?"
"EH?" She sat up in a flash, wincing as her head throbbed again. Her eyes landed on a huge sigh in the middle of a grand room in what seemed to be a restaurant: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOHRU!
Uotani stepped forward, folding her arms. "Yea, I told everyone . . . can't believe you would forget it yourself, Tohru . . . such an important day!! But anyways, this was supposedly a surprise birthday party until these bakas here messed everything up . . ." She jabbed her thumb at Shigure and Ayame, guiltily waving.
"Huh?"
Hatori stepped forward grimly. "I was charged with the job of bringing you to this place . . . but then, the two idiots decided to tag along and somehow . . . everything went downhill. They messed around with the anesthesia shot and you got an overdose . . . that would explain your throbbing headache and your numb body . . . not to mention knocking you out for five hours."
"EH? FIVE HOURS?"
Yuki nodded bleakly. "Gomen, Honda-san. I knew I should have kept the stupid dog and the crazy snake as far as possible from you."
Ayame pouted. "How were we to know? I was just making sure that the injection was okay . . . I thought more would be better . . . all things in life are like that!!"
A vein throbbed in Kyou's head and he rolled up his sleeve. "Then, I guess more punches will be better for ya, huh?"
Tears rolled down Tohru's face and she hiccupped a little.
"Onee-chan, are you okay?" Kisa dropped to her knees beside Tohru.
"Tohru? Do you feel pain anywhere?" Momiji asked anxiously.
She shook her head furiously. "No . . . I'm not crying because of the pain . . . I'm crying because you guys are so nice . . . you all went through so much trouble! I - I don't know what to say! I - I feel so warm!"
Kyou ran a hand through his head awkwardly. "Well . . . are you sure you're not just feeling warm because you're sick?"
Yuki smiled, "It's the least we can do, Honda-san . . . we're your family."
Her eyes filled with tears again and she began sobbing uncontrollably.
Kyou looked distressed and he patted her back clumsily. "Uh, there, there . . . don't cry . . . uh, there, there . . ."
She beamed through her tears.
* * *
"Nani?! You're cheating!!" Kyou yelled, throwing down his cards.
Uotani scowled and banged her fist down on the table. "You little carrot- top! Stop being a sore loser!"
Kagura frowned, "Kyou-kun is not a carrot-top! He has magnificent orange hair!"
Yuki said dryly, "I wonder what color you think a carrot is."
Hanajima sighed. "Do I really need to do something to quiet you all?"
"Yummy!! Food! Food!" Shigure and Ayame scarfed down their pieces of cake. Hatori tried to sit as far as possible from them while trying to maintain distance from the sobbing Ritsu who's still blaming himself for Tohru's condition.
Kisa laughed lightly at Hiro's story while Momiji and Haru talked quietly in a corner.
Tohru smiled at the cozy, happy scene. 'Everyone's so active . . . so happy. This is the best birthday ever! Okaa-san, are you happy today too?' She closed her eyes a little; her head was still pounding and she rubbed her temples a little. She sighed and decided to go out for some fresh air. 'Should I tell them? No . . . shouldn't interrupt their fun . . . I'll be back soon anyway . . ." With a final glance, she smiled blissfully and closed the door softly behind her.
In the cool air, she shivered a little and wrapped her arms around her. She closed her eyes tightly and inhaled the night air deeply. She exhaled happily, staring up at the twinkling stars. "So happy today!"
"Really?"
With a start, she turned around. Two tall men stood them, smiling eerily at her. She smiled back and nodded. "Yes . . . today's one of the best days in my life . . ."
"Maybe . . . maybe not . . ." one of the men spoke softly. He took a step toward her.
"Huh? What do you mean? Are you a fortune-teller?"
"You could say that . . ." the other man took another step.
"Really? Can you tell more about me?"
"Well . . . your name is Honda Tohru . . . you're currently in high school . . . and you're friends with a group of extremely popular, wealthy music idols . . ."
Tohru nodded excitedly. "Sugoi! You guys are really talented. Can you tell my future then? Will I go to college?"
The men paused in front of her. "Well . . . you would unexpectedly meet a downfall . . . something that would change your whole life drastically . . ."
Tohru frowned, furrowing her eyebrow. "A downfall . . . when?"
The man smiled his weird smile again and whispered. "Now."
The other man swung up his hand and knocked it against the back of her neck. Tohru didn't have time to be startled, crumpling forward into their arms, her eyes closing.
"Happy birthday, Honda Tohru. May all your wishes come true," they laughed as they picked the girl up and walked off into the night.
