Chapter 20 – Surprise, surprise 2

After they had finished breakfast, Hatori excused himself from the table. But Akito stopped him.

"I won't be having my checkup today, Hatori," Akito called after him.

Surprised, Hatori turned around. "Why?"

"Because I'm going out today and won't have time for useless checkups."

Hatori just nodded and left.

Toyoko stood up and pulled Akito up as well. "Let's do something more mature today…"

"Riding horses wasn't too bad."

"Yeah, but was childish. Go for tea?"

"No way. Tea makes me sick."

"I don't believe that. Come on; let's go for a nice cup of tea. I'll treat."

"…"

"I wasn't able to go tour around this city because of you, you know."

"Hey. It's your own fault you are trying to rack your brains because of me," Akito replied, irritated.

"Oh yeah? Ok, then I'll leave now." Toyoko turned and made a move to show she was serious. Akito immediately grabbed her hand. "WAIT!"

Toyoko stopped, "So we'll go for a nice cup of tea?"

"Yeah," Akito sighed.

"See I knew you were a good boy!" Toyoko said playfully.

"Whatever."

(Outside)

Akito and Toyoko walked along the street full of rushing people. They did not walk hand in hand, but quite close…which made both of them nervous, though neither of them showed it. Suddenly, Toyoko pointed to a small café.

"That looks like a nice place. What do you think?"

"I don't know. Your choice. I've not been here for quite some time."

"Akito, you live here."

"Yeah, but I still don't know. So you choose. I'm fine with whatever."

So both of them walked into the cozy and steamy café. The smell of coffee hit them the moment they stepped into the café. Toyoko took a deep breath.

"Smells wonderful. What do you think?"

"I don't drink coffee or tea."

"Not to worry, I'll get you a fruit juice. How's that?"

Akito shook his head. "Nope."

"Then what do you want?"

"What do you think?"

"You are starting to irritate me, Akito Sohma."

"Fine, I'll take…what do they have here?"

"Let's get a table and have a look at the menu!"

Toyoko spotted a table in a far corner for two. Nice place. And pulled Akito with her and made their way to the little booth. Both sat down and shared a menu. Toyoko decided on cappuccino. And she decided to have chocolate chip biscuits.

"What do you want? I'll go queue up."

"Grape juice."

"Anything to eat?"

"Nope."

"I'm ordering chocolate chip cookies. Want to share? I'll order a bigger plate."

"Ok. Be fast."

And off Toyoko went. Akito glanced around, tryingnot to think of the painful feeling that was starting to creep onto him the moment Toyoko left,but did not take much of the surroundings in. Until his eyes fell on Hatori who was sitting at the opposite far side of where he was sitting. Hatori was talking to someone, and he had a smile that Akito had not seen since Kana left. Who was Hatori talking to? Shouldn't he be at the main house? What is he doing here?

Akito glanced at Toyoko's direction. She was almost at the cashier. He'll wait for her then confront Hatori together.

Toyoko soon came back with the order. The cappuccino smelled good, but he did not want to taste it anyhow. As Toyoko sat down beside him, he neared her and whispered, "Look! There's Hatori!"

Toyoko looked at the direction Akito was pointing to. "Yeah," she agreed. "And talking to someone too. Someone he likes a lot, I bet. Want to go talk to him?" she added, reading his mind. Akito gave a mischievous smile and nodded.

"But well finish the cookies first," Toyoko teased, making him annoyed.

(Back to main house)

"Where's everyone gone to?" Shimaya wailed, alone in her room and just flipping through the pages without taking anything in. "I know I'm having an exam soon and is studying, but everyone's gone! Zashi, Ritza, Toyoko…" Shimaya thought unhappily. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Shimaya said eagerly, hoping to be entertained. In came a yellow-haired boy.

"Momiji!"

"Shimaya!"

Both hugged without transforming (of course). When they broke apart, Shimaya said excitedly, "I can't believe that we've not met up since the party!"

"Yeah!" Momiji replied, just as excited. "I was bored, and Hatori was out… So I thought I'd pay you a visit, since you're so near! It's much nearer than going to Shiggy's place!"

"I really want to hear more about Tohru, Yuki and Kyo! Please continue the story you were telling during that party!"

"Okay, well, I really, really love Tohru. Sister kind of love, mind you, nothing more. And Kyo is so fun to fool with! He's really a nice guy, actually, and he is very caring too! He may display a bad character, but actually, he's such a softy inside! Oh, and he loves Tohru!"

"Really? This is so funny! I wonder if we can go visit them now?"

"Hmm…Maybe! I'll give them a call to see if they're at home!"

"Yay!"

(Back to café)

"Right, we've finished the cookies, my grape juice, and your cappuccino is nearly finished. Can we go now?"

"Try a sip of cappuccino first, then I promise we'll go over there, okay?"

"You're kidding!"

"I don't care," Toyoko stuck out her tongue.

"Fine!" Akito took a sip. A sweet taste spread out in his mouth. Bittersweet. Not bad. But of course, he won't allow Toyoko to prove him wrong. "Yuck!"

"Liar. You like it!" Toyoko replied smiling. "All seen from your face," she provided.

"Whatever, can we go now?"

"Alright, you've done your part, so I guess I have to do mine too. Let's go."

They got up and made their way towards the table where Hatori and someone else were sitting. Toyoko gave a small gasp when they neared.

Ritza.

Okay, I know that Akito and Toyoko have gotten real cozy together, and I know the story is moving forward very fast. Well, like I said, I can't get all the way and make my story so long... So it's very fast forward. Something to do with my personality, cuz I'm quite a straightforward person... REVIEW!

By the way, Daydreamer! I used your idea! Them meeting somewhere else and not on purpose! Thanks so much for the idea! If anyone else has any ideas, please feel free to tell me! THANKS!