Chapter Three: Kisa

"But it was so weird seeing him there!" Hiro exclaimed, a somewhat puzzled expression on his face. "You know how he—" he lowered his voice slightly as if someone unwelcome were to overhear "—how he hates Akito. Why would he come back to the main house, anyway? I mean, a lot of us miss him and all, but still..."

I simply shrugged, not knowing very well the person my good friend Hiro spoke of. Yuki had lived with Shigure for quite some time, and only came around the main house on special occasions such as the New Year. I vaguely recalled a dance from many years ago when the year being ushered in was that of his Jyuunishi form, the rat. But that had been many years ago. In the past few weeks, however, Yuki had been making routine appearances around the main house, a true rarity before. It seemed odd, but I didn't think it had anything at all to do with me.

"Maybe he just misses everyone," I said absently. The topic hardly held my interest. "Maybe he's just making up for all the time he's been away, and how he never comes around."

"Maybe," Hiro replied, seeming deep in thought. We walked in silence for a few minutes, on our way to have some after school ice cream at a parlor nearby. As we neared a corner, I heard a familiar voice shouting at someone.

"LIAR!" it yelled. Almost immediately the sounds of an ensuing scuffle broke out. Hiro and I exchanged glances, and simultaneously dashed to the scene of the fight, where blurs of the black and white of Hatsuharu flashed around alongside the bright orange of Kyo's. The two of us stood in shock for a few moments while fists flew along with acid comments.  But then a line from Haru made my jaw drop with it's cruelty.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL TOHRU SEES IN YOU!!! YOU'RE JUST A CRUEL AND EVIL SPIRIT OF THE CAT!! NO WONDER YOU'RE THE REJECTED JYUUNISHI!!"

Kyo's face turned even redder, making him look positively livid. He was just about to throw a punch right in Haru's face, when I heard someone shouting.

"Kyo! Hatsuharu! Stop fighting!!" It was Sissy. She was standing much as Hiro and I were, frozen in front of the enfolding scene. Kyo's concentration was broken for a split second, but it was all Haru needed to get the upper hand and pummel him senselessly. It was right about then when I heard—

"Haru!" It was my own voice. I had cried out without realizing it, or even meaning to. Hiro and I, coming quickly out of our stupor, seized Haru's arms and pulled him off of Kyo. Though Hiro relinquished his side, I held tightly to the arm I had grabbed, insuring that he would not leap on Kyo again while he was down.

I watched for a moment as Kyo assured Tohru that he was fine, before rounding on Haru. "You can't beat up Kyo like that for no reason! He hasn't done anything wrong!" I shouted, upset with him for having gone Black.

"He's the one that put Yuki into this depressed and dark state!" he yelled back, though I knew he was not angry with me, but instead just venting. "Yuki didn't deserve that! Kyo needs to pay for the pain he's putting Yuki through!" Despite knowing this, I flinched at the rage in his tone. Suddenly his expression softened, characteristic of him turning White once more.

"Come on, Haru," I said, letting go my hold on his arm and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go home."

* * *

"You must learn to control your impulses, Hatsuharu," a cold voice rang out through the doorway to Hatori's office. We hadn't even entered, and the doctor was already berating Haru for his actions, of which—to our knowledge—he knew not.

Once inside, Hatori gestured for the two of us to sit down in chairs that sat before him at his desk. He leaned his hands together at the fingertips, placed his elbows on the edge of the desk, and stared at us with his chilling glare. I looked away, and Haru broke first.

"It's that cat, Hatori," he confessed. "You know what he's done to Yuki! You've seen firsthand the worst of it, and you of all people should understand—"

"Understand what? The pain love can bring a person?" Hatori snapped, his hands clenching into tight fists. He quickly composed himself and settled back down into his chair. "You are correct, however; I have seen the physical effects of this situation on Yuki, though I speak of more than just his lack of appetite and drooping demeanor."

I furrowed my brow, and brought up a picture in my mind of Yuki as I had seen him the day before, and compared it to another of him when I was staying with Sissy a few months back. The difference between the two images was drastic, once I thought about it. Yuki's natural beauty was now masked by the gauntness of his face, and his lean build was no longer an excuse for the extreme slimness that went beyond slender. Had he not been eating? Sissy was a good cook, and I knew he thought so, so why did he not eat?

Next to me, Haru seemed to be thinking deeper into it. "Yesterday..." he suddenly whispered. "Yesterday, I was leaving the house to go on an errand, when I bumped into him. There was a large bruise on his arm, and his shirt was ripped. He said he had fallen, but he has the grace of a swan, he would never fall. I can't believe I didn't see..."

"Well, you're not exactly the most logical thinker around Yuki, Haru," I piped in. He shot me a look that said "shh." I suddenly wished I could retract the statement, unsure as we both were of how Hatori would respond to talk of Haru's feelings for Yuki. It was not a secret, but rather kept on the down low.

"But if he didn't fall—and that I am sure of—how did it happen?" Haru inquired, trying not to seem too interested, and failing badly.

Hatori closed his eyes for a moment, before turning them upon us in a somber look. Not that Hatori had any looks that were not somber. "Hatsuharu, Kisa, the name of Sohma is a dark one. Many secrets are kept in this family, one in which you are intimately involved. But that which you ask of goes beyond the Curse of the Zodiac. It is perhaps for your own good that you not know—now, at least. This matter is one to be dealt with by the family's elders—"

"Like Akito?" I asked innocently, wondering if Yuki had told the Head of the family anything.

Eyes flashing, Hatori quickly responded, "No!" He took a deep breath. "You must not speak of this to anyone—anyone—especially Akito. I will speak to Shigure soon, and I will brief you on any information I deem relevant to you. Now go, and remember—do not speak of this, even to each other."

* * *

"I can't believe Hatori!" Haru fumed, pacing the length of his bedroom. "He thinks we're too young to understand! As if age matters when someone you care about may be in trouble! No, is in trouble!"

Tuning out Haru's ranting, I allowed my thoughts to tumble over one another in my mind. Kyo and Sissy dating; Yuki depressed and battered; Hatsuharu utterly distraught and taking out his frustration violently; Hatori asking us to keep quiet; a storm was brewing within the Sohma family, and it looked like I would just have to hold tight and weather it. After all, how could it really affect me?