(Chapter Seven: The Rat and the Cow Team Up)

Tohru walked briskly to the Sohma main house on Saturday afternoon. Earlier in the week Hatori had been by and suggested to her to come in for a check-up since she hadn't been for a while. Of course she offered to pay, but he said nothing of it. She walked slowly to the gate and opened it, peering inside the courtyard.

"Hi there Tohru!" Momiji appeared with a grin.

"Oh Momiji! You startled me," Tohru gasped in surprise.

Momiji chuckled.

"Sorry about that. Come on in. Hari's been waiting for you."

"Oh okay" she followed him to Hatori's house.

(Next Scene)

Once they arrived there Hatori greeted her cordially and began to examine her. However by the end of the test he said that she was perfectly healthy.

"You keep going the way you're going Tohru" Hatori replied, "And you'll have a long happy life."

"Thank you Hatori" she smiled, "So how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing" he smiled back.

"But" she started to protest.

"I wouldn't dream of asking you for any money, after all you have done for the people I care about."

"That's a stand up thing to do Hari" Momiji grinned, "Say aren't you going to be late for your appointment?"

"Oh you're right" Hatori looked at the clock and nodded his head, "I am."

"Well I don't want to keep you" Tohru replied.

"Don't worry Hari" Momiji added, "I'll show Tohru out. You go ahead."

"All right" Hatori nodded again, "One more thing, don't overdo it too much Tohru."

"Hmm?"

"With it being your last year in high school. I know how people put a lot of pressure on themselves in this year particularly."

"I'll be careful" Tohru promised with a smile.

"Good. Well with that said, I had better get going. Have an excellent afternoon" he bowed his head and then departed.

Momiji chuckled as he left and grinned slyly.

"He's nervous about something. Come to think of it" Momiji put a finger to his lips as if he were thinking, "He has been acting a bit strange lately."

"Momiji" Tohru spoke up, "You're with Hatori a lot. You don't live with him by any chance do you?"

"Well no" Momiji smiled, "But I am over here quite a bit. I live in the main house, where Akito does."

Tohru stopped and her face suddenly dropped.

"You live with Akito?"

"Not exactly" Momiji shook his head as they walked outside, "Just close to him. But I come to Hari's house because I feel more comfortable here."

"Oh I see" Tohru nodded.

"Well we better get you back outside the main gate" Momiji replied leading the way with Tohru walking slowly behind him.

She stopped suddenly and looked back at the main house, as a sharp cold wind hit her back. Which was surprising because it was at the end of summer. Tohru looked behind her and spotted the window she had seen Akito in before, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Tohru!" Momiji called from the main gate, "Are you okay?"

"Uh I'm coming Momiji!" she called back running over to the gate, "I'll be going now."

"But are you all right?" Momiji said in concern.

"Yes Momiji I'm fine" she nodded, "Don't worry. I have to hurry home now. See you at school on Monday!"

"Bye!" Momiji waved as he closed the gate and stared at her retreating figure.

He frowned a bit and then walked back to Hatori's house intent on doing some last minute homework. As he walked he stopped at the main house and looked at it. He frowned some more and then continued on his way.

Tohru walked until she came to a bench that was quite close to the main house. She sat down on it and sighed heavily, placing her hands together.

"It's a lie," she thought bending her head forward sadly, which made her hair fall around her face, "I'm not fine. I'm not fine at all."

(Next Scene)

Hatori walked slowly to his destination with a little bit of hesitation in his heart. He didn't know why he was doing this or what urged him to do this, but he had decided, and he was not about to back down now. He opened up the door of the bookshop and the bells tinkled as he entered.

"Go answer the door dear" a kind old voice said, "We have a customer."

Mayuko came out of the back of the room and was astonished to see Hatori dressed very elegantly and smiling.

"Hatori? Oh of course you're here for your book aren't you?" she ran behind the desk.

"Yes" he nodded, "I thought I would come pick it up."

"Naturally" she nodded as she searched for it, "Is that all you need today" as she placed it on top of the desk.

"Well I" he said nervously, "I was actually kind of wondering."

"Yes?" she looked up.

"Are you doing anything this evening?" he leaned forward.

"Uh" she replied startled, "No I typically just close up around six and then I go home. Nothing really out of the ordinary. Why?"

"Well I was thinking, I get off around the same time, how would you like to go to dinner with me?"

"Like a date?"

"Yes" he grinned.

"Oh" she blushed, "I guess that would be wonderful. I'd love to."

"Great. Then I guess I'll pick you up here or do you prefer for me to pick you up at your home?"

"Here's good. I can close up the shop early and then run home and get ready and make it back here in time."

"All right then I'll pick you up here. About six thirty I think should be fine."

"Yea" she nodded happily, "Six thirty."

"How much do I owe you for the book?"

"Huh?" she stopped and then realized, "Oh! Oh right. Um that will be 2,226.08 yen."

"All right" Hatori replied taking out the money, "Here you go."

"Enjoy your book," she said handing him the bag with the book in it.

"I'll see you later" he bowed his head heading for the door.

"Right. Later" she waved as he departed the store with a smile.

She smiled to herself much like a schoolgirl going on her first date.

"I can't wait till later."

(Next Scene)

Shigure looked up at the clock over the mantle and frowned. He turned back to his paper as Yuki came into the room.

"Miss Honda's not back yet?" he asked surprised.

"No" Shigure shook his head, "And I am starting to get worried. Her appointment with Hatori should have been over by now."

"Yea" Yuki agreed, "And Kyo's not back from the dojo yet. I'm gonna go look for her."

"That's a good idea. Be careful out there."

"I'll be fine" Yuki replied as he left the house.

(Next Scene)

Yuki ran down the streets scanning for Tohru but there was no sign of her. He sighed and finally headed in the direction of the main house. As he approached closer to it he saw Tohru sitting on a bench with her head bent.

"Miss Honda?" he replied walking over to her.

Tohru looked up and saw Yuki staring back at her with a concerned look on his face.

"Yuki? Oh my" she realized, "I have been sitting here a long time haven't I?"

"Are you all right?"

"Um no" she shook her head, "I'm not. I'm so sorry I worried you."

"No that's all right Miss Honda" he sat down next to her, "I'm just glad to see that you're okay in some way. What's wrong? Can you tell me?"

"I. I don't know if I can."

"You know a wise person once said to me, that it always made her feel better to talk to someone when she was in some sort of pain."

Tohru smiled a little.

"Throwing my words back at me?"

Yuki smiled.

"I think I deserve that."

"No" he shook his head, "You don't deserve it, but I would like to help if you'll let me."

"It's kind of a long story" she looked up at him.

"I've got time."

Tohru smiled again and then took a deep breath. For about an hour Tohru told Yuki everything that had happened up at the summerhouse. All that Akito had done to her, Kyo etc.. When she was finished Yuki sighed himself and leaned back a bit angrily.

"I thought there was something bothering you" Yuki said, "Now I understand."

"Yuki I don't know what I am going to do."

"You know what Miss Honda, I think for now, you should just do as Master Kazuma says. Just ignore him."

"Do you really think that that's the best thing?"

"Yes I do" Yuki nodded, although in his head he was thinking something else, "This can't go on" he thought, "I need to get some help and fast" he paused, "Miss Honda. We should head back. Shigure was worried about you too."

"Oh. All right" she nodded standing up, "I am very sorry I worried the both of you."

"Don't think any thing of it" Yuki smiled standing up as well, "Like I said I'm just glad you're okay."

"We should hurry back" she moved forward, "Maybe Kyo's back by now," she said happily.

"Maybe" Yuki agreed as he followed her back home.

(Next Scene)

On Monday morning Hatsuharu pulled a message out of his locker. Momiji was changing his shoes nearby.

"What's that Haru?" he asked.

"Uh a message. I got to go. I'll meet you in class" he took off for the roof.

"You're gonna be late again!" Momiji called.

Hatsuharu opened the door of the roof and saw Yuki standing on the edge near the fence gazing down below him.

"Yuki!" he said loud enough that Yuki could hear him, "I'm here."

"Haru" Yuki said as he walked over, "I'm glad you came."

"What's this all about?" Haru asked, "This isn't like last time when you accused me of something is it?" he joked.

"No" Yuki said with a bit of irritation, "It's more important than that. Don't worry about being late to class, I'll take care of it."

"This must be serious" Haru frowned, "For You to break a school rule."

"It is. Sit down Haru this is gonna take awhile."

"Okay" Hatsuharu sat and began to listen as Yuki told him exactly what Tohru had told him two days ago.

Yuki finished with the letters that Tohru had shown him. Haru frowned even more as Yuki concluded. Then he stood up and walked over to the fence himself.

So that's the situation we find ourselves in," Yuki replied.

"Mmm" Haru grumbled, "I don't like this. This is way too much like familiar territory."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"They just got together right? Kyo and Tohru?"

"Yes. So?"

"Well I'll be damned if Akito is going to ruin another relationship! Especially theirs!"

"You're not going black on me now are you Haru?"

"No" Hatsuharu shook his head, "But this just irritates me. It's not fair. I won't let Tohru or Kyo suffer the way I have. Do you think I don't know? That I don't know what happened to her?" he closed his eyes.

"I. I don't" Yuki started to say.

"With Rin. I know what he did to her. I know he's the reason that she ended up in the hospital in the first place."

"You know about that?"

"I'm not stupid Yuki. I figured it had to be something like that. Anyway like I said before, I'll be damned if Akito is going to ruin this. I'm not going to let him."

"I'm glad you feel that way" Yuki nodded, "Because so do I. Haru we have got to do all that we can to protect Miss Honda from Akito."

"Agreed" Hatsuharu, said taking his hand and shaking it.

(Till Next Time)

Authors Note: Hey guys! First chapter of the day. Don't worry about finding out how the date went with Hatori and Mayuko. That will be revealed later in this book. And for those of you who are wondering, Mayuko is a teacher in Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo's school. She is also the best friend of Kana, who as you know was Hatori's former girlfriend. She dated Shigure for a while but she really likes Hatori, and Shigure has been doing everything he can to get them together. Just wanted to clear that up for you in case you were wondering. Okay that's it for now; see you in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Telling Kagura

Kagura is informed about Tohru and Kyo's relationship. Plus Yuki and Haru put their protection plan into action!