Disclaimer: Go back to previous chapters. The answer awaits you there!

Notable Notes from Misaki: Hello there, happy peoples! I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the last chapter. Replies from me to chapter 3 reviewers are down at the bottom.

Notable Notes from Kyo: Hi there!Just wanted to thank all the reviewers out there that have reviewed so far. (I have more than one review!!!) I'll thank you personally in the next chapter. Oh and Arrei, do you mind if iishi gets a Gure doll set too? Well I'll stop chattering so you can enjoy the story.

~*~

Hidden Memories

Chapter Five:

written by Misaki

~*~

"That's right," snarled Akito, an angered look upon his face, "and I'd like to know just how you found out, Hatori. After all, I ordered you to erase everyone's memory, including your own."

Hatori stared at him for a moment, shocked. When had that happened? Then... he had never really noticed....the odd gaps in his memory.

"Well, Hatori? I'm waiting."

"Oh...it was the birth records, Akito. They told the truth."

Akito whirled away in a flurry of robes. "Damn..." he muttered, half to himself, "How could I have forgotten the records...?" He turned to face Hatori again. "You will erase the girl's memory, and anyone else who knows. Then, remove your own memory again."

"But Akito-"

"Do it!"

"Akito, what about Yuki?"

"And why should I care about him?"

"But he's your brother! Don't you care about your own sibling?"

"No. Why should I?"

"If he dies," Hatori wondered how to phrase this, "you won't be able to...ah...talk to him anymore."

"Is that so...?"

Hatori nodded.

"Fine. I will come to the hospital with you. However-" he pointed at Tohru, still sitting on the floor, "you will erase her memory first. I do not need her spreading 'rumors.' In fact," he stated, "There is really no reason for her to even be around anymore. Erase all of her memories of us. Every single one."

Hatori turned sadly to Tohru, only to find that she was no longer there. He looked around wildly, and found her pelting out of the room. She obviously had no intention of getting her memory erased.

"Hatori, get her!" Akito yelled.

Hatori rose, persuing the onigiri. He rounded the doorway, and found Kyo and Aki standing there, identical looks of suprise on their faces. Tohru was disappearing down the hallway behind them.

"What are you two doing here?" he hissed.

"Um...just passing by..." Aki mumbled. However, Hatori could see that they had heard every word of the past conversation from the looks on their faces.

"You better keep everything you heard a secret, and don't let Akito know that you were out here, or he will order me to erase your memories, also."

Kyo nodded. "Com'on, Ghost." He grabbed Aki by the hand and pulled her down the hallway after Tohru. Hatori followed them, passing them as he ran by.

"You're not really going to erase Tohru's memories, are you?" whispered Kyo.

"Not if I can help it," replied Hatori over his shoulder quietly, and continued down the hallway after the escaped onigiri. (Yes, the onigiri sprouted legs and ran away!) He rounded the corner, and found himself in an empty hallway. However, it was too long of a hallway for Tohru to have escaped all the way down, so he knew that she must be hiding in one of the nearby rooms. He started walking down the passage, calling "Tohru" softly.

~*~

Tohru was hiding behind one of the many sliding doorways, and when Hatori walked by calling her name, she gave a sharp involuntary intake of breath. She quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late. The door slid open, and Hatori stuck his head inside the dim room.

"Tohru," he stated quietly, "I'm not going to erase your memory."

Tohru felt the breath that she had been holding slid out in a sigh of relief. "But why?" she whispered.

"I'll tell Akito that I couldn't find you. He'll be very angry, but there won't be anything that he can do to you. For now, you'd better go stay with a friend for a while."

"Okay." Hatori started to turn away, and Tohru said, "Hatori? Thank you."

He just turned and smiled sadly at her. "If I had to erase your memories, you're not the only one who would suffer."

~*~

At the hospital, Yuki was lying in his hospital bed, drifting in and out of consciousness. Ayame, in one of his few acts of brotherly "love," was sitting besides him, staring at his pale face. In his sleep, Yuki kept on wincing, as if in pain. Ayame frowned. The doctors had given him painkillers, so why was he still acting as though in pain? He was about to stand up and go complain to the doctors when Yuki started coughing.

"Brother!" he cried happily. However, Yuki's coughing only grew worse, and it looked, in Ayame's unprofessional opinion, that he was having trouble breathing. He pressed the button on Yuki' bed that would bring a nurse running, and a minute later, a harrased looking nurse strode in.

"What's the problem?" she snapped, and then stopped when she saw Yuki. Pushing Ayame aside, she rummaged in the beside table drawer, finally pulling out an inhaler, while Hatori had thoughtfully left behind. After admistrating to Yuki, she left, leaving behind a confused hebi and an unconscious nezumi. Ayame sat back down, and resumed staring at Yuki. After a few minutes, a tingle went up his spine, and he turned around to find Akito standing in the doorway.

"Akito!" he gasped, standing up hurriedly.

Akito entered the room, a scowl fixed on his face. He was followed by Hatori, who, Ayame noticed, had a cut running down his face that hadn't been there when he had left the hospital. It looked like the blood had only just dried, and when Ayame tried to question Hatori about it, he was shrugged away.

Akito was standing over Yuki, staring down at him with a look of extreme distaste. After a few moments of silence, he said,

"Fine. I consent."

Hatori nodded, and led him out of the room, once again leaving behind a very confused hebi and an unconscious nezumi.

~*~

AN: And that's chapter 5! I hope you all liked it.

Replies to the reviewers:

Arrei: Thanks for the review! Yep, so I have no problem with people who are bi. They are people, too (so are clones), and need to be treated exactly the same way.

Riyao Machrine: Oh, sorry I made you a little sick. *eh*

Ashes of Death, Lonely Tsukasa, ishii, and MysticSerpent1; thanks for reviewing!

Kyo's turn is next. Let's see what she can cook up!

Press the button. Press the button. Ah.......