6

"So?" Shigure lit his cigarette, "What's up?" Hatori had his back turned to Shigure.

"Kisa's mother. She's near breaking point again." His voice was unusually quiet and Shigure could hear a slight note of concern.

"To be honest, it doesn't surprise me."

"Really?" the doctor was skeptical. "I have heard of almost nothing of Kisa's happiness recently. The kids in her class haven't improved but she knows she's loved now. Miss Honda has been quite a savior in her life. I can't understand why her mother is now having trouble. Is there something you know?"

"No. But… she's always been so protective. I've always felt that she was on a fine line between extremely over-protective and rejecting her. They are both such fragile people. I suppose, deep down, I've always expected her to reject Kisa." Hatori coughed, Shigure's thoughts had surprised him.

"Yes, you are right about them both being fragile. But Kisa… I think she is the kindest of all of us."

"She could come and stay with us." Shigure offered. "You know how much she and Tohru care about each other- they're sisters as far as Kisa is concerned and I think Tohru too."

"Perhaps later. I think she is feeling the change in her mother's mental health, and school is still hard for her. I don't want her to know anything is wrong, and I think she needs to feel a stronger love from her real family." He paused. He knew that the word 'real' was harsh, since Tohru was so dear to her… so dear to everyone who knew her. But still, it was true that she wasn't a Shoma. "I will ask Hiro's family to take her in for a little while."

"Yes, it sounds as if he needs to prove himself to her. Perhaps that would improve his feelings towards Tohru as well." Hatori had thought that same thing. He made an agreeing noise.

"Still… she is always welcome here." Shigure really loved the little girl.

"It is a shame that this would happen now… her birthday is in a little over a week." Shigure's heart sank for the little Sohma. He had forgotten that her birthday was so soon.

"What can we do, Hatori?"

"We, can only take care of her and try to help her mother. The others, the ones she is closest to, must be the ones to help." Shigure understood. If the people she valued most did nothing to help her she would feel let down and abandoned.

"But… how will they know?" he didn't think it would be right to tell any of the children that Kisa might loose her mother.

"One will figure it out. Probably Hatsaharu," he laughed a little, "He acts as an older brother to her, you know. He usually finds out what's going on in her life." Shigure put his cigarette out in the dirt. Hatori crouched down and did the same.

7

"Yuki?"

"Please come in, Miss Honda." The screen door slid open. She walked in quietly.

"I brought you some leek soup! It's supposed to be very good for your health." She smiled and set the try down by his bed. Yuki was elated that she was so concerned for him. He wanted to tell her that he was just exhausted and that nothing was really wrong but, that would take away from her helping him. He picked up the spoon she had placed on the tray and he lifted the bowl and put it in his free hand. Tohru watched as he ate quickly.

"There's more soup," she offered. In fact, there's more of almost everything we had for dinner." Dinner… that reminded her, "I'm sorry I didn't come to wake you up! Shigure and Hatori thought it would be better to let you rest and I want you to get better too," she briefly paused.

"No, no. It's alright. I'm glad I got to sleep a little more. I needed it more than I thought." He gave her a reassuring smile and she beamed back, which made him smile more.

"Miss Honda? Would you walk with me to the secret base? I need to cover the plants so they aren't damaged from this unusual cold."

"Oh yes of course."

"Don't stay out too long, I don't want your fever to increase." Hatori walked into the room.

"Aaaah! You have a fever?"

"It's very slight, Miss Honda. I'll be ok, I promise." He looked to Hatori, his lavender eyes begging the doctor to reassure the girl.

"Just don't stay out to long. I'm going to leave now, it's getting late. Miss Honda, thank you for an excellent dinner. I haven't enjoyed a meal so much for quite a long time." His tone didn't change but he was grateful.

"Oh you're very welcome Hatori! I'll be happy to cook for you any time you'd like something to eat." She felt like she needed to repay him for all the times that he had come to help her. And she knew how hard he worked. She really admired him. "Yuki, I'll meet you downstairs ok? I'd just like to go say bye to Momiji."

"Yes of course. I'll be right there." He still sounded tired but happy. Tohru followed Hatori down the stairs.

"Come along Momiji, we're leaving."

"Oh do we have to?" He whined. "I hardly got to see Tohru!"

"Yes, it's late"

"Ookaay. Bye Tohru! Thanks for dinner!"

"Thank you Momiji. You helped me so much today! I'll see you at school tomorrow!" She and Shigure stood at the door waving good-bye. "Ja-ne!" she called out. Kyo had gone to his room by now- he was pouting. Momiji turned to wave again. Tohru was still smiling. He giggled and ran back into her arms. POOF! Tohru held the yellow rabbit looking at him completely confused (). Momiji giggled again as Shigure took him into his arms and his clothes.

"Hatori" he called out.

" I know, I know. Momiji come along now, we've troubled Miss Honda enough for the night. Shigure could you bring me his clothes?" Shigure handed the boy's clothes to the doctor. He was about to place Momiji on the ground but Hatori stopped him.

"It's ok, I'll take him. He's probably very tired." Momiji snuggled into his clothes in Hatori's strong arms.

"Thanks" he mumbled, sleep finally coming over him. Neither Shigure nor Momiji was truly surprised by Hatori's kindness. He was a very good person and had a special soft spot for Momiji. He walked away from his friends' house with the sleeping rabbit in his arms.

8

Yuki slipped on his shoes and took his coat from the closet- it looked a little silly with his pajama pants. Then he bent down and got a tarp, a wire dome, and some stakes.

"All ready." He announced.

"Can I help you carry anything?" Tohru asked from behind him.

"No thank you, Miss Honda."

"Oh okay." She smiled

"We'll be back soon, Shigure!" He called. Shigure made a small noise to show that he had heard Yuki but he didn't go out of his way. "Oh!" he exclaimed after a few steps down the walkway, "We should have brought a light!" Tohru laughed a little and she clicked on the small black flashlight she had remembered. "I should have known you would remember something like that," Yuki said with a smile.

"Oh! Speaking of remembering," at this she took a periwinkle scarf out from her jacket's biggest pocket, "I brought this for you, so your fever wouldn't get worse." She was glad it was dark because she started blushing. Yuki looked down and gave her a big smile- he couldn't help it. She was so kind, so caring. 'If only I could hug her…' he thought sadly.

"Thank you, Tohru," he said, wanting to be closer to her in some way, "that was so thoughtful of you. Could you help me?" he lifted his hands a little to indicate that they were full. Tohru was surprised to hear him say her name, but she liked it.

"Yes of course!" He bent down slightly to make it easier for her to tie the scarf. "How's that?" she asked, worried that it was too tight.

"Perfect. Thank you." They continued walking in the forest. When they reached the clearing, Tohru turned off the light- it was nearly a full moon. She could tell that Yuki had been there recently; there were no weeds and the dirt looked soft. 'It's so wonderful- he really loves this little patch of land.' She watched him place the carefully-fashioned dome around his garden. Once he seemed happy with the placement and that it wouldn't be going anywhere, she took the tarp and tossed one end to him. Together they spread the tarp over and staked it down.

"Looks good," Yuki said, admiring their work. "I think that should hold and protect the plants. I wouldn't want to ruin the strawberries."

"Strawberries! I don't remember planting those!" Tohru said, very surprised.

"It was a surprise for you, Miss Honda." He turned and smiled at her.

"Oh Yuki! Thank you so much!" She exclaimed. It was all she could do to keep herself from hugging him.

"I'm glad you're happy," he said. "Shall we return? I wouldn't want to disobey Hatori, and it's getting late." 'I can't believe Yuki did that for me!' Tohru thought. She was so happy she was hardly paying attention to where she was walking.

Suddenly, she tripped on a rock. Yuki reached out and caught her jacket.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes. Thank you! I'm so clumsy," she said sadly. "And I forgot to turn on the flashlight." At this she clicked the little button and light sprang from the tube.

"Even with the light, it's easy to loose your balance in this forest," Yuki said, trying to make her feel better. "Would you like to take my arm?" He held his right arm out and bent it.

"Oh, thank you." She said, placing her left hand on his arm. 'He's so nice' she thought to herself.

A cough from Yuki interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh no! Are you alright? Is your asthma acting up again?"

"I'm ok," he said softly, "Really. I just need to get back to bed." Tohru nodded and they quickened their pace a little.

Shigure was sitting at the window which offered the best view of the path to Yuki's base. He watched them for a while, smiling. As they neared he hurried into his study and pretended to be writing. He wasn't the only one watching, however.

"Hello, Shigure! We're back!" Tohru called cheerily. She and Yuki took off their coats and shoes.

"Thank you, Miss Honda."

"Oh you're welcome! I'm glad I could help save the secret base"

" Good night," he smiled a little.

"Good night!" Tohru beamed. She noticed that he still had his scarf on and was about to tell him when Shigure called out.

"Tohru! Could you come into my study for a minute before you go to bed?"

"Oh yes of course!" She turned and went down the hall as Yuki climbed the stairs to his room. He took the scarf off and looked at it. It was the one Tohru had given him for Christmas that winter. He smiled as he ran his fingers over it. Then he sighed and climbed into bed. He fell asleep quickly with a small smile on his lips.