HOT HAWAIIAN NIGHTS

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Chapter 3 – Words of Wisdom

"Honda-san, did Shigure go somewhere?" Yuki entered the kitchen to see Tohru furiously stirring a pot of delicious-smelling stew. He could also smell fresh bread baking in the oven.

"Ah, Yuki-kun! Yes, Shigure did go out, but he didn't mention where he was going. I hope he's alright." Tohru turned her attention back to the stew. "Dinner should be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Don't rush, there's no hurry." Yuki said, although he was starving. 'Where did he run off to?' he grumbled to himself. 'It's just like him to not remember to tell anyone where he's going-----"

"Hello, Yuki-kun, Tohru-kun, Kyo-kun, we're home!"

We're home? Yuki had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as soon as he heard that. He could hear three voices in the hallway. One was definitely Shigure's, the other sounded like Hatori, and the third... sounded like his brother, Ayame. 'What is he doing here?' Yuki thought angrily. 'Why does Shigure keep insisting he visit when he knows I can't stand him?'

Tohru came rushing out of the kitchen with bowls, spoons, cups, forks, and knives in the crook of her arms. She suddenly stopped as Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame filed into the dining room.

Yuki stood silently by, watching the three men. Hatori definitely felt uncomfortable, judging by the look on his face. It was as if some family member had just keeled over and died. Yuki knew the doctor hated to come unannounced, especially if it was an unannounced meal. Shigure and Ayame, on the other hand looked quite comfortable, chatting and joking with each other.

"I'm sorry, Tohru-kun for not warning you earlier, but it seems that Aaya and Haa-san are joining us for dinner." Shigure quickly informed the girl. "We have some business to attend to, but I thought before we get to that, a nice hot meal might lift everyone's spirits up."

"Oh, of course! Welcome, Hatori-san and Ayame-san! Please, sit down and make yourselves comfortable. Dinner is just about ready."

Tohru placed the utensils and dishes around the square table, double-checking to make sure there were six places set. After filling each cup with hot tea, she pulled out chairs and ran back into the kitchen.

"Well, sit down!" Shigure motioned for Hatori and Ayame to take a seat.

As he sat down, Ayame winked at Yuki, who hadn't moved. "Why, hello little brother," he smiled as he shook out the napkin and put it on his lap. "I haven't seen you in ages either! My, all these family members seem to be on the other side of the world," he sighed, playing with his long, silver hair. "Even if you live close by, I rarely get to see my Yuki."

"You saw me yesterday." Yuki said between gritted teeth. He watched as Shigure and Hatori chose seats and then chose his seat, putting noticeable distance between himself and his older brother.

Ayame noticed this as well. "Yuki, why are you sitting so far away from your own brother? Come, sit over here." He patted an empty chair to his right.

Yuki shook his head. "I'm fine here." He muttered.

Wrong answer. Sighing, Ayame got up from his chair and quickly sat to Yuki's left before his younger brother could protest. "Sometimes you can be so stubborn," he said, shaking out another napkin and setting it on his lap. "We should get to know each other, Yuki. We really haven't been able to talk one-on-one."

Yuki started to say something, but he caught the look Shigure was giving him Groaning in frustration, Yuki stayed where he was.

"What the hell....?" Kyo had come downstairs only to find most of the Sohma family in his dining room. "What's going on?" he asked Shigure while taking a seat.

"Ah, the grumpy cat awoke from his slumber," Shigure grinned and sniffed appreciatively as Tohru came out of the kitchen, holding a large pot of stew between mitted hands. She set the pot down and left just as quickly as she had come.

"We have a surprise for all of you," Shigure said, a twinkle in his eye. "I'll reveal more after everyone has eaten."

Just as he finished, Tohru came back holding a golden loaf of freshly baked bread. Setting it on the table, she chose a seat between Yuki and Kyo. "Dinner's ready!" she said happily. "Please, everyone eat your fill," she said motioning towards the edibles. "There's a lot more food than this, so please enjoy!"

"This looks wonderful, Honda-san," Yuki praised as he dished himself a steaming bowl of stew. "This is better than anything Shigure has ever tried to make. His art of "cooking" is more lethal and deadly than anything."

"I heard that." Shigure broke off a piece of bread and dipped it into the stew. Popping the morsel into his mouth, he gave a sigh of contentment. "Although I do have to say, Tohru-kun, you're cooking is the best I have ever eaten – period."

Kyo just muttered something and continued to eat. Although not willing to state his opinion out loud, he fully agreed with Yuki and Shigure. 'Shigure's cooking doesn't even look edible. It looks like the plastic pretend food little kids like to play with.' He thought, chuckling lightly as he took a sip of tea. While lost in thought, he saw the others laughing, joking, and eating. Smiles were exchanged, jokes were told, and more laughter echoed around the room. 'This is kind of nice,' Kyo leaned back and sighed. 'Although I don't like that perverted snake and that damn rat, just sitting here with everyone is... kind of nice...'

After everyone had finished eating and the dishes had been cleared away, Shigure cleared his throat. Glancing at Ayame and Hatori, he started. "As you know, Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, and Tohru-kun, my new novel is arriving in bookstores soon. I usually take trips to different places to promote my new books, but most trips have usually been inside Japan. This time," he said, rubbing his chin. "It's going to be in Hawaii."

You could hear a pin drop in the room.

Yuki stared at Shigure, Kyo stared at Yuki, and Tohru stared at all three of them. "H-Hawaii?" she asked. "Oh, but isn't that too far away? Are you going alone?"

Shigure smiled and shook his head. "Now we are getting somewhere," he said, putting his arms behind his head. "Even though this is a business trip for me, I thought, and Ayame and Hatori agreed with me, that this might be a golden opportunity to get in some bonding time."

"Bonding?" Kyo sweat-dropped, moving his chair ever so slightly away from Shigure. "What do you mean bonding? Are we all going to hold hands, sing cheesy camp songs, and toast marshmallows?"

"If you like. I, on the other hand will be on the beach, enjoying the sun, surf, and..." sighing, Shigure trailed off and closed his eyes, his mind already in paradise.

Yuki and Kyo sweat-dropped. "Is this really a good idea?" Yuki asked Shigure. "I mean, we don't all exactly get along... and it's not like any miraculous friendships are going to spring up and present themselves to us."

"And that precisely, my dear Yuki is what this trip is all about!" Ayame exclaimed. "I personally would like to see you at least try to open up a little. It's about time somebody removed that stick up your ass! Come on, it will be fun!"

Yuki glanced at Kyo and Tohru, both of whom had been silent throughout this speech. "Who else is going?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer as soon as he asked that question.

"Well, I was planning on inviting Hatsuharu-kun and Momiji-kun," Shigure responded, rubbing his head. "I think this would be a great time for all of you teens to go out and have fun! Enjoy being in paradise – it may only come once in a life time."

Motioning for Ayame and Hatori to follow him, Shigure got up and walked to the bottom of the staircase. "If any of you need us, we'll be in my office," he said. "Think about this. Don't push this away as some stupid trip. You just might find out things you never knew about each other. You never know, sometimes the bit of information you thought wasn't the answer, actually turns out to be closer to the truth than you would have expected." Shigure gave a small smile and went up the stairs, followed by Ayame and then Hatori.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kyo snorted and got up from his chair. "If he thinks I'm trying to be friends with that damn rat, he has another thing coming." he muttered and stalked to his room.

Tohru watched Kyo leave and saw Yuki go out the backdoor. 'I probably shouldn't disturb them, although I want to know how they feel about this trip.' She thought and slowly stood up. Looking around the quiet dining room one more time, she silently retreated to her bedroom and quietly closed the door.

...

"That was unusually... wise of you." Hatori said as the three men made themselves comfortable in Shigure's home-office, as Shigure locked the door.

"Yes, that was such a nice thing to say. I hope we didn't just ruin our chances of getting Yuki and Kyo to come on this trip." Ayame pouted. "Sometimes Yuki can be such a party-pooper."

"We haven't even spoken to Hatsuharu and Momiji yet," Hatori muttered, sitting cross-legged on a blue cushion. "I wonder how they'll respond to the news."

"Momiji-kun would probably be ecstatic," Shigure chose to sit in his computer chair. "Haru-kun on the other hand might need more convincing."

"Why? If Yuki decides to go, Hatsuharu would definitely not protest." Hatori said.

"True, true. He does love Yuki-kun very much, doesn't he?" Shigure sighed. "Maybe a little too much."

A lengthy silence followed. After a while, Hatori shook his head. "Where did you get that from?" he asked. "Those wise words... surely they came from somewhere?"

"Are you suggesting I didn't use my own wits and pearls of wisdom to come up with a genius quote such as that one?" Shigure gasped in mock surprise. "Why, Haa-san, if you're jealous, just tell me! I'll be glad to share my extensive knowledge with you!"

"Seriously, where did you get it?"

"Well, I saw a message on your side-mirror as we were in your car," Shigure smiled. "It said something like, objects in mirror are closer than they appear. It just so happened to be stuck in my mind when I thought of using it. And, if you think about it, it's very true."

"A car... he got that off the mirror of the car," Hatori muttered to Ayame. "I worry about that man."

"Me too. But, you have to admit, that was actually clever." Ayame shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I guess we should figure out some way of raising more money and also think about making those phone calls to Momiji-kun and Hatsuharu-kun."

'Why is everyone sounding so... odd?' Hatori thought as he saw Shigure pick up the phone. 'First Shigure with his car-quote and now Ayame with his serious attitude. I guess they're more like men and less like little boys than I thought.'

"Ah, Gure-san, did you remember to buy my whoopie cushion, itching powder, and tape?" Ayame asked, stretching out on Shigure's sofa.

Putting a finger to his lips, Shigure pointed to a desk drawer and Ayame happily opened it and took out his treasures.

Hatori's eyes widened just as Shigure spoke, "Hello? Momiji-kun, this is Shii-chan... yes, I have something to tell you..."

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Viror: Oh, poor Hatori! Having to deal with those two pranksters would give me a migraine times 10 too. Oh well, he'll loosen up as the story progresses. Should I continue? Let me know.