Disclaimer: I own a large amount of squat. Don't sue me.

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Ayame was the first on up the next morning. She kicked off the blankets and saw Ruri sleeping on the other side of the bed. 'Not a dream…not a dream…' She carefully touched her lips, still unsure if it had really happened. Unsure if she really did have as wonderful a time as she remembered. She got out of bed and walked down the hall to the extra room.

She looked into the room and saw Amiboshi sleeping peacefully on one side whereas Tasuki was more sprawled out. She smiled. "Not a dream…" She whispered in confirmation and left the doorway.

Kohana was coming out of her room as Ayame came down the hall. "Morning, ne-chan." She rubbed her eyes.

"Morning, Kohana. How was your night?" Ayame picked up the smaller girl and the two sisters headed into the kitchen.

"It was fun! I caught Ruri and Ami-kun kissing in the closet!"

"What were they doing in the closet?" Ayame asked, shocked.

"Kissing." Ayame put her on a chair.

"I mean besides that. What were they doing in there in the first place? I assume they didn't go in there with the intention of making out…I hope so anyway…"

"Oh, that. We were playing hide and seek! Ami-kun and Ruri went in the same place not knowin' it."

"I see." Ayame smirked. "What a fortunate accident…"

"What did you and Tas-kun do?" She asked, eager to know if things were going to work out between her sister and Tasuki. "Did ya have a good time?"

"It was wonderful…" Ayame said, smiling. "I had such a good time…" Ayame headed over to the freezer to find something for breakfast.

"Uh…Ayame…don't look in the freezer!" Ruri came scurrying into the kitchen. Her hair was a mess and she looked like she just rolled out of bed.

"What? Why?"

"Uh…'cause there's nothing in there!" Ruri got in front of the door.

Ayame raised an eyebrow and backed away from the freezer. Instead she went to the garbage. There was an empty ice cream container in the bin. "Ruri…"

"Yeah?"

"Care to tell me why there's an empty container from chocolate ice cream in the garbage?" She dangled the sticky box in front of her friend's face.

"Well, uh…" Kohana started laughing. "Stop that!"

"Did you three eat the whole thing?" Ayame was desperately trying to sound calm.

"Yes…" Ruri lowered her head. "We got hungry…"

Ayame pulled the pizza box from the trash. "Pizza and ice cream? Oh, that's a wonderful meal."

"But it was good!" Kohana piped up.

Ayame tossed the empty boxes back in the trash. "I'll let it slide this time only cause I'm in too good a mood to be angry."

"Phew…" Ruri wiped the sweat from her brow. "I thought I was in for it there."

"So Kohana said you and Amiboshi kissed in the closet…" Ayame began slyly.

"She did?" Ruri turned red in the face while glaring at Kohana.

"Yeah. Sounds cute to me."

"And you and Tasuki? Do tell, do tell. You promised." Ruri found some waffles in the freezer.

"It was nice. We saw a movie, not the greatest though…went out to eat…stayed in the park for a while…came home…"

"Did you kiss him?" Kohana asked suddenly.

"That was blunt…" Ruri remarked.

Ayame blinked. "I don't know if that's your business."

"Yeah, it is. I got you two together. I wanna know." She stood up on her chair so she could be closer to Ayame's height.

Ruri laughed. "Kohana's got you there!"

Ayame frowned. "Kohana, why aren't you asking Ruri?"

"'Cause I already know Ami-kun and Ruri kissed in the closet last night, remember?"

Ruri shut her mouth abruptly and turned a deep shade of crimson. Ayame burst out laughing. Kohana grinned and turned back towards her sister. "So? Didja?"

Ayame sighed. "Fine. If you must know…"

"I do."

"We did. Alright?" She poked her little sister in the nose.

She wrinkled her nose. "How many times?"

"What?" Both girls were a shocked at the young girl's question.

"What?" Tasuki and Amiboshi came into the kitchen. "Good morning."

"Morning." Ruri smiled.

"Morning. Nothing." Ayame made her little sister sit completely on the chair.

"Nu uh! I was askin' Ayame if…" Kohana started very loudly.

Ayame's eyes widened. She grabbed a waffle out of the toaster and shoved it in Kohana's mouth. The small girl looked indignant as she crossed her arms and let out a snort. Though she still ate it.

Tasuki laughed. "Do mornings always start like this?"

"Not usually." Ayame took the other waffle out of the toaster and put it on the plate for Kohana. "You guys can have whatever you can find for breakfast."

"Thank you." Amiboshi smiled politely.

Ruri began rummaging through the fridge. She pulled out the plate of leftover pizza.

"Pizza for breakfast?" Amiboshi raised an eyebrow at her as she stuck the plate in the microwave.

"Why not? It's a good breakfast." She set the timer.

"You have an odd idea of a good breakfast." Amiboshi pulled out the orange juice.

"I like my breakfast." She took the pizza out of the microwave and began to eat.

Ayame pulled out some cereal and as she did, she was becoming painfully aware of her fact that the kitchen wasn't made to accommodate 4 adults and a 6 year old. She kept bumping into Tasuki and although he didn't notice, she and Kohana did. Kohana kept giving her older sister sly grins that made Ayame blush.

After breakfast, all the girls went to the bedroom to get changed and brush their hair. Kohana finished first and same out to keep the boys company.

"Hi!" She jumped up onto the back of the couch. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah. You?" Tasuki smiled.

"Good. Ami-kun plays pretty." She smiled at the younger blonde boy. "I think Ruri fell asleep too. Did she Ami-kun?"

"For a little bit…" He shrugged.

"You like her?"

"Kohana, don't you think you're asking questions that are too personal?" Amiboshi blushed.

"You call that personal? I saw you two fall out of the closet kissing!"

His face went about 10 shades darker. Tasuki nearly fell off the couch laughing.

"You shouldn't laugh, Tasuki. I know you kissed Ayame." She said very matter-of-factly. "She just wouldn't tell me how many times."

Tasuki shut his mouth and it was Amiboshi's turn to laugh hysterically.

"What's so funny?" Ayame asked as she and Ruri came out dressed in jeans and t-shirts.

"Nothing." Amiboshi and Tasuki said quickly.

"Nu uh!" Kohana interrupted. "We were talking about…"

"I think I understand why there was a waffle in your mouth when I came in." Tasuki pulled Kohana over the back of the couch into his lap.

She wrinkled her nose again for a moment but then giggled. "Ruri says I should keep my mouth shut."

Ruri covered her eyes with her hand. "Now would be one of those times…"

Amiboshi smiled. To him, Ruri was even cuter when she was embarrassed. "Well, I think we should get going."

"So soon?" Kohana sat up. "You guys gonna give them goodbye kisses?"

Everyone blushed a little. "Kohana…why don't you go get the stuff you were taking to your friend's house? I think it's buried under a bunch of stuff in your room." Ruri rushed the little girl back to her room.

"Gee, can your sister be subtle or what?" Tasuki asked teasingly.

"Oh, I know. She's so good at being subtle…" Ayame shook her head.

"I'm gonna go get my coat." Amiboshi got up from the couch and left Ayame and Tasuki alone.

"So…" Tasuki started.

"So…" Ayame sat on the couch with him.

"Can I look forward to another date?"

She lowered her eyes and blushed. "I guess…yeah…"

"Good." He smiled.

"We should let Ruri and Amiboshi go out together first though."

"You think?"

"Yeah. I mean if we have fun, so should they."

"You're a sweet girl, you know that?" He raised her chin gently so he could look at her eyes.

"Might be my downfall someday…" She smiled and moved closer to him.

"It's not a bad thing." He leaned into her and kissed her deeply again. One hand held her by the waist, the other at the back of her head. He ran his fingers through her hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Ayame, I…oh!" Ruri froze when she walked into the living room. Tasuki and Ayame were still kissing and took no notice of her. "Oops…" She whispered and scurried out of the living room.

Amiboshi was fishing through some of the coats. He couldn't find his. "Ruri, where'd my coat go?"

"Which one is it?"

"It's a dark blue fleece thing. Zipper in the front."

Ruri thought for a moment, then reached into the front closet and without looking pulled out Amiboshi's coat. "Here."

"How'd you do that?"

"Years of finding lost things in this house. Kohana loses a lot of stuff. You develop a 6th sense about these things." She smiled.

"I see." He noticed her face was a little flushed. "Something wrong?"

"I just walked in on Tasuki and Ayame on the couch…"

"So?" She gave him a look. "Oh…kissing again…"

"Yep." She shook her head. "They need to find a more private place to do that."

"Sounds like you're jealous to me." He smirked.

She tried to look offended, but it didn't work that well. "Maybe a little…"

He laughed gently and took her hand. He pulled her in for a deep kiss. Amiboshi caught Ruri slightly by surprise, but it only took her a split second to get into the kiss.

"You know…you really should warn me about these things…" She murmured against his mouth.

"Do I have to?" He nipped at her lower lip.

"Nah…never mind." She sighed happily and continued the kiss.

After a moment, Amiboshi let her go. "Okay…I guess it really is time to go…"

"Yeah…" Ruri breathed slowly.

Tasuki and Ayame came into the front hall. "Amiboshi, ready to go?"

"Yeah." Amiboshi slipped into his coat.

Kohana ran into the front hall to say goodbye to the boys. After hugging Amiboshi, she hugged Tasuki.

"Thanks for taking Ayame out. She needed it." She whispered to him.

He was surprised by the seriousness in her voice. But when he let her go, she was smiling happily like she did most of the time.

The girls waved goodbye as Tasuki and Amiboshi left in Tasuki's car.

Ayame and Ruri looked longingly out the window once the car was gone.

"So can I pick 'em or what?" Kohana smiled proudly.

"Jeez, don't get so cocky…" Ruri stuck out her tongue at Kohana.

"Shouldn't I? You and Ayame wouldn't have met Amiboshi and Tasuki if I hadn't found them now would you?" Her hands were on her hips.

"Okay, okay. You win." Ayame patted her sister's head. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad you decided to run away for Ruri and talk to them."

"Yay!"

"Just don't do it again, okay?" Ruri crossed her arms.

"Well, if things go good with Tasuki and Amiboshi, I won't have to!"

"Ay, ay, ay. Kohana, go get your stuff. You're gonna be late for your play date at Izanami's house. Let's get going."

"Okay. I'll get my stuff." Kohana ran back to her room and grabbed her bag with assorted toys in it. "Let's go."

"Ruri, where do you want me to drop you off?" Ayame grabbed her coat.

"Home. I gotta get changed and then I'll walk to my afternoon classes."

"Walk? But it's gonna rain today." Kohana looked up at Ruri as they left they house.

"There aren't any clouds anywhere." Ruri looked up at the sky.

"The weather can change pretty fast…" Ayame sided with Kohana.

"Whatever. A little water never killed anyone."

"It ain't the rain. It's the lightning that can kill ya." Kohana said.

"Thank you, Princess of Optimism…" Ruri glared at Kohana in the back seat.

"Anytime!" She grinned.

Ayame dropped Ruri off at home first then Kohana at her friend's house. She went to work later that day.

Ruri jumped out of her shower and into her school uniform. She wore a simple blue skirt and white blouse with a red bow.

She stopped in the kitchen to grab a snack and looked at her car keys on the table. 'Everyone said it was going to be raining today…but it's so nice…' "Eh…screw it…"

"Screw what?"

She turned to see her father in the doorway. He wasn't a very tall man, barely taller than his only daughter in fact. His brown hair was combed back nicely so it didn't fall over his blue eyes. "Oh! Daddy…nothing…I was thinking about driving to class but it's too nice."

"Are you sure? It supposed to…"

"I know. Rain. But it's too nice now. And even if it does, a little water can't kill me." She smiled and kissed her father. "I love you Daddy. I'll see you later."

"Alright." He sighed as his daughter ran out the door with her bag.

"Did she enjoy her date last night?" Ruri's mother appeared next to her father. It was obvious the red haired, green-eyed woman used to be strong, but her illness made her pale and tired.

"You should be in bed. The doctors said you need rest."

"Not until you tell me how her night went. Besides, I'll never get any better lying in bed day and night. I need to move sometimes." She gave him an annoyed look.

"I admire how brave you are for being so strong right now."

"I have no intentions of dying. I have a daughter and a husband to take care of. Don't even think about implying it. Now how was her night?"

Ruri's father sighed. "She had a wonderful night. When she came home she was talking incessantly about this Amiboshi boy she was with."

"Good to hear. It's nice to see her enjoying going out with guys. Normally she hates it."

"You know what the funny thing is?"

"Hmm?"

"They weren't actually out on a date. They were watching Kohana while Ayame went out with some friend of Amiboshi's."

"Really? And she still had that good a time?"

"Yep."

"This must be one interesting guy if Ayame started dating again."

"I didn't get anything out of her about Ayame's date, but she had a good time too."

"Very interesting…"

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The last school bell rang. Ruri closed her notebook as the teacher said good-bye to them. 'Another day…another five pages of notes…another teacher pestering me about my mother…' She slid the small book into her bag and tried to slip out discreetly. Unfortunately, it didn't work and a teacher caught her.

"Ruri! How's your family?"

She let out a sigh before the teacher reached her. "We're fine."

"Are you sure? You know we're here for your family…"

"Yes…I do. And I'm grateful. But my mother is home right now. She's not any better, she's not any worse, they still aren't sure what she has, they aren't sure if it's 100% fatal, they no nothing more than they did last week. I assure you that if anything happens the school will know." She felt like she was pleading with her teacher to leave her alone.

"Ruri, it's our job to make sure our students are okay."

"I know…but you can't treat me like I'm a lost child. I'm not. If my mother dies, I will be, but for now I can handle things alright on my own." She turned away from the teacher. "Thank you for your concern." She walked off before her teacher could say anything else.

'Jeez…why can't they treat me like an adult? And my mother won't die…she's too strong for that…'

Ruri walked through the parking lot of the school on her way home. She saw some of her friends in a car.

"Ruri! Ride?"

"Nah. Walking."

"Rain."

"No biggie."

"Sure?"

"Sure. Thanks!" She smiled and kept walking.

"Well…" She said to herself. "How many people have told me it's gonna rain? Maybe I shoulda listened…" She smiled to herself as she walked through the park.

There weren't many people in the park, probably all home because they thought it was going to rain. As the sky began to cloud, she began to wish she had listened to everyone. There was now no doubt in her mind that it would rain.

As it started to rain, Ruri looked up to the sky. "Well, here's the part where I start to look like a drowned rat…"

She didn't bother hurrying through the rain in an attempt to stay dry. There was no hope of being anything but soaked no matter how fast she moved. Her hair became plastered to her head. Every so often she'd push pieces from her eyes.

In a few minutes, she was well soaked and she came across the bench Tasuki and Amiboshi had been sitting on when Kohana first talked to the boys. She smiled when she thought about Kohana asking her if she thought Amiboshi was cute. Sure she'd been embarrassed at the time, but truth be told, she had liked Amiboshi from the start. Tasuki had the sexy bad boy thing going for him, but Amiboshi was cute and sweet and that was what she liked more in a guy.

As she stared at the bench, it stopped raining around her. She was surprised and looked up. It was still raining in the rest of the park, just not around her. She looked above her head and saw a navy blue umbrella over her head.

"Fancy meeting you here." A soft voice came to her ears.

She turned and saw Amiboshi smiling, holding the umbrella over their heads. "Amiboshi!"

"The one and only." He chuckled and offered her his jacket.

She graciously took it. For one, she was cold, and for two, her blouse was almost see through. "Amiboshi, what are you doing here?"

"I like walking in the rain." They walked down the path together. "I'm guessing you didn't come out here to do that…"

"No…I didn't. I got caught in the rain walking home. Everyone kept telling me I should take a car or get a ride, but no! I decided not to listen!" She sighed angrily. "Now I look like a drowned rat!"

Amiboshi couldn't help but laugh. Not because he wanted to be mean, but because of the way she described her situation. "You know something though?"

"What?" She looked up at him as they walked under a gazebo like structure built for times like these.

He shook some of the water off his umbrella and looked at her. "You're awfully pretty for a drowned rat."

She smiled but still blushed. "If you like that look, sure. I'm queen of the rats." She attempted to comb out her hair with her fingers but to no avail.

They stood together watching the rain in silence. Ruri felt very comfortable in Amiboshi's presence. 'Dang…a moment alone with him and I look horrible…'

Amiboshi turned from the rain and looked at her.  He pushed a few more stay hairs from her face.

"Thanks." She murmured. "So…you like being out in the rain?" She needed to break the silence.

"Yeah…I find something soothing about it…you?"

"Well, not so much rain, but I love to swim. I've been on a swim team for years now…"

"I see. Ruri?"

"Yeah?" She looked up at him.

"I uh…" He completely lost his ability to speak when he looked at her.

"What's wrong, Amiboshi?" Her eyes widened with concern.

"Ah…" He continued to stutter.

"What?" She was confused. She'd never seen a guy get speechless around her. Normally, she made guys comfortable because she was such a tomboy.

Amiboshi said nothing. He raised his hand to her face and cupped her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. He slowly moved forward and kissed her.

She smiled inwardly since she knew no one could interrupt them. No one was out now. She felt his hand move from her cheek to her hair. He played with the wet strands while keeping her close. She reached her hands up to his hair. His was considerably drier than hers and made it easier for her to run her fingers through it.

He put a small distance in between their faces. He smiled at the blushing girl in front of him.

"So were you gonna ask me something or not?" She asked with her hands still in his hair.

"Are you busy next Friday?"

"Don't think so."

"Would you like to go out to dinner?"

"Love to."

"Should I walk you home? It's still raining pretty hard."

"If it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all." He picked up the navy umbrella and they headed back out towards Ruri's house. She walked close to him as the rain fell around them.

It was only a 5-minute walk or so to Ruri's house but she was glad for the company and the umbrella.

They stood on her porch for a moment.

"Thanks for walking me home." She unzipped his fleece coat and handed it back to him.

"Anytime."

"See you later."

"See you." And with a quick kiss on the cheek, he stepped down and headed back home.

Ruri hurried back inside so she could change.

"Were you out there with some one, honey?" Ruri found her mother in the kitchen on her way up stairs.

"Yeah…Amiboshi…" She said dreamily.

"You new babysitting partner?" She smiled.

"You could call him that." She giggled.

"You should have invited him in. It's miserable out there. Looks like you got caught in it."

"Yeah…I did…but it doesn't matter. I got to meet up with Amiboshi." She started up the stairs. "I'll tell you about it later. I need dry clothes and a phone."

"A phone?"

Ruri was already most of the way up the stairs. She went into her room and found a dry shirt in her closet. As she hopped into a pair of pants, she called Ayame.

~Mushi Mushi? Ayame speaking.~

"It's me."

~Have fun in the rain?~

"Shut up. But…" She fell on her bed while fighting with her pants and the phone. "I did have fun."

~What are you doing? Did you just fall over?~

"I'm trying to get out of my wet clothes."

~I can wait. You should have called after you had your pants on.~

"Too late." She sat up. "Got 'em on."

~You're weird…~

"Duh! But anyway, I'm glad I got caught in the rain a little while ago."

~Why? It's not pretty out there.~

"I know. But I was walking through the park and you know that bench under the willow tree where we met Tasuki and Amiboshi the first time?"

~Yeah.~

"Well, I was walking past it and guess who showed up with a umbrella?"

~Amiboshi?~

"Exactly. He kissed me again…"

~So how many times does that make it?~

"Four." She giggled.

~Four? That many? Really?~

"Uh huh."

~Wow, I've only kissed Tasuki 3 times.~

"Where was the first one?"

~In his room…~

Ruri knew her friend was blushing. "In his room? That time we ended up over there on accident? Why didn't you say anything before?!?!"

~It's my business! But anyway, do tell what happened just now!~

"Alright, alright!" She giggled. "Well, after he showed up with the umbrella, he let me borrow his jacket since I was already soaked…" Ruri happily told her friend the whole story while thinking about his dinner offer for next week.

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~*~Shadow Hawk~*~