"Hello?"
"Toh-ru!"
"Umm…this…this is…"
"Momiji here!"
"Oh! Hello, Momiji!" Tohru said in a more cheerful voice.
"Hello Tohru! I was wondering if you, Kyo, Yuki, Shigure are free right now? I want to bring Shimaya over there!" Momiji almost shouted into the phone with excitement.
"Shi…Shimaya?"
"Oh yeah! You don't know! She's one of the Timikas! Please say we can go!"
"I'll go ask Shigure, could you please hang on a while, Momiji?"
"Sure!"
He heard the phone being put down and heard background voices. Then, Tohru hurried back and picked up the phone.
"Momiji?"
"We can go? Yes?"
"Yes! Please come! I will prepare some tea!"
Momiji put the phone down and turned to face the excited Shimaya. One look from her and Shimaya bounced on him and hugged him tight.
"Yay! We can go! Right?"
"Yep! Let's get going! Come on!"
"Do you like Mingzashi?"
"Why?"
"I think she likes you."
"I thought she liked Shigure?"
"That's what I thought so too," Ritza frowned. That day, Mingzashi had made it quite obvious that she liked Hatori. She had hidden it so well, that Ritza did not realize till it was a bit late. "But it wasn't."
Hatori stared at her intently. He liked Ritza, not Mingzashi. Shigure's going to do something again, I just know it. Like that time with Kana and then her best friend…
"Then I am sorry," Hatori said slowly.
"No need. I was just…lost about what to do. I have a feeling Shigure would do something about this. I know he realized earlier that Zashi liked you. I am sorry," Ritza apologized.
Hatori thought and thought and thought. There was a long silence between them, till it was broken by Hatori. Almost broken by Hatori.
"Hatori!" a familiar voice came from behind. Oh no. He was spotted. He wasn't supposed to be here. Suddenly, a hand laid on his shoulder.
"Fancy meeting you here," Akito said smiling.
Hatori couldn't read that smile. Was it threatening and menacing, or was it just a smile? Somehow, for once, he couldn't read it.
On instinct, Hatori stood up. "Akito."
Akito gave a smile he couldn't read again. Suddenly, Toyoko came from behind. Now it was Ritza's turn to get nervous. But Toyoko was wearing a warm smile, so much easier to read than Akito's. However, Ritza still looked nervous.
"I'm sorry! Toyoko, I didn't mean to…" Ritza burst out.
Toyoko gave an understanding smile and said warmly, "Not to worry. There are many secrets I don't know about yet too. This just happened to be found out."
Ritza seemed to relax. How Hatori envy them. They seemed to have a connection just by looking at each other, and can communicate just that way. How he wished he could be like that with Akito.
Akito gripped tighter on Hatori's shoulder. He felt Akito come closer. What he said next surprised him.
As Shimaya and Momiji walked, an orange color caught Shimaya's eye.
"Tamasha! Kimiko?"
Two heads turned around. It was Tamasha and Kimiko. Why are they not at Timika estate?
Momiji waved to them as they neared. "Hello!"
Both greeted with a smile. They asked Shimaya and Momiji where she was going and decided to go with her. They had wanted to find Toyoko, but didn't, so they thought they'd find Yuki and Kyo.
"TOHRU!"
"Momiji! And…Shimaya…and…Shimaya…and Shimaya…I…" Tohru stuttered, seeing two other people coming along.
Kimiko and Tamasha held out their hands and said, "Hello Tohru, I've heard a lot about you. I am Tamasha, the cat, and this is Kimiko, the mouse."
"T…Tamasha… Kimiko…I… don't know whose hand to shake first…" Tohru continued stuttering. Is it okay for me to meet them like this? Should I have asked permission first? Will the master be angry?
"It's alright, relax. I'm so happy to meet you! Yuki spoke so highly of you that I couldn't wait to meet you in person!" Kimiko said.
Tohru blushed a deep shade of red. "I'm not all that good…"
"What are you doing here? All of you nut heads!" a voice interrupted them.
"Hi Kyo! This is Kimiko here, and Shimaya! You didn't talk to them at the party, did you?" Tamasha turned around.
Kyo glared at Kimiko. "So you're the rat, aren't you? No doubt just as sneaky as that Yuki."
A sharp tinge hurt him. It left a red hand mark on the right side of his face.
"T…Tamasha?"
"How dare you! How dare you insult Kimiko! You're lucky she has a good nature of forgiving!" Tamasha shouted at him. How dare he insult Kimiko like that? I know he hates Yuki, but he doesn't even know Kimiko and wants to be enemies with her!
Kyo was shocked. A cat sticking up for a rat? Whoever heard of…th-?
Another sharp tinge struck him on the head. Yuki.
Kyo acted on instinct and started to fight with Yuki. I won't let Master's work go waste! I'll fight and win! Win the damned Yuki!
"Yuki…Kyo…Please…stop…do not fight…please…" Tohru begged.
Both of them stopped at once. Neither of them wanted to upset Tohru, and besides, they had visitors.
Yuki turned around, "Hi again, Kimiko. Tamasha? Shimaya? Nice to meet you."
Shimaya bounced on him and hugged him (Shimaya loves hugging people. She thinks it's nicer.) "Hi Yuki! Kyo! Tohru!"
Kimiko just smiled and nodded at him. But Tamasha remained quiet. She seemed to be in deep thought. "Tamasha?" Kimiko nudged her. Suddenly Tamasha looked up at Yuki.
"Please don't hate me, even though I am the cat."
I can't think of any other title, so there's all 3, 4, 5…. Sorry! Oh well, I'm answering all reviews next chapter, so not for this one! No time, have exams coming up! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Do wait for the next!