Author's Note: Yep- I'll give you a wild guess as to how well her plan will work out. Well- I don't want to keep you waiting- so- here you go!

Also: Lil Angelic baby- So glad you like my story so much! . it makes me really happy! And if you think it's funny now- just wait till she finally meets them. I got some great things planned! "signs"? There are "signs" on the backs of the books? what "signs"- you mean their Zodiac animal? O.o

Sango Twin: . well, if they didn't fall asleep, thet would be a lot of time to fill, and I'm just not up to typing all that. Sumimasen, if you don't like that she falls asleep/ . \ ''

senjo: No, please! I like like it when people ramble! (if you don't beleive me, check the reviews for my other Furuba Story) I'm just glad you like to read it! Now then- ON WITH THE SHOW!

Disclaimer: you know the drill

Chapter THREE: Why is he staring?

"Flight 72 to from America is now stationed at the loading dock,"

"Flight 72 passengers may now leave the plane,"

"Huh!" Therese said startled. The voice over the intercom woke her from her sleep, and she silently cursed herself for not waking up earlier. Gathering her stuff and shoving it as best she could in her bag, Jenny stood and got off the plane quickly, hoping to have enough time to make it to the bathroom. I can't believe I slept through the whole flight! Any of those guys from St. Jude's could have seen me as they walked to the back to go to the bathroom- I didn't even have enough sense to sleep with a blanket over my head or anything! If I can just make a hasty exit and get by Mike and his friends, everything should be fine. I think I'm the only one assigned to live in Tokyo, too.

Therese managed to get off the plane, hoping she had put enough distance between herself and the boys, but when she looked around the reception area, she couldn't find them. Where could they have all gone so quickly?

"Hey, Mike! Hurry up- we're gonna be late!"

"Shut your face- I'm coming!"

"Dude- you almost made us miss the plane, and if that train to Kyoto leaves without us, I swear!"

"Stop your whining! I'm right here!"

Aw- crap!, Therese thought, looking around, How did they get behind me? This isn't good! I can't make my way to the bathrooms without walking right in front of them! Gotta hide! Gotta HIDE!

Just as the group of boys entered the lobby, Therese plopped down on one of the plasti!c chairs lining the wall, grabbed a newspaper from the chair beside her, and hid her face behind it. Fortunately, the boys took no notice, and walked straight ahead, to the exit. Sighing deeply, Therese let the paper slip from her hands, and she slouched in her seat. That was a close one. At least I know now- they're going to Kyoto, so no problems there.

A fit of muffled giggles caught her attention- a group of about three girls kept glancing over at her, blushing and whispering. They only looked to be about a year or two younger, and Therese grew increasingly uncomfortable as they kept peeking her way. Trying not to look interested, Therese strained her ears to hear what they were saying.

"…so cute, isn't he?…"

"…must be American- the boys here aren't nearly that good looking!"

"…think we should go over? Maybe he'll ask us out!"

"…really is handsome! He must have a girlfriend!"

Wow- they think I'm pretty hot! Therese thought, sort of pleased with herself, I never knew I could make such an attractive guy…wait a minute- maybe that's not a thing to really celebrate. Does that mean I don't look good as a girl? This is all too confusing- I think I'm just going to get changed now, before my host family arrives.

Therese stood and made her way over to the area where the bathrooms were- but she didn't go in. Looking between the two doors, Therese hesitated. Which one? Which one should I go in? I guess the girl's, since I'm going to change into my girl's clothes. But what if there are already women in there? I don't think they'd appreciate some random guy just walking in. Maybe the guy's bathroom would be the best choice- but what will happen when I walk back out and I'm a girl again? Besides, I really don't want to see what a guy's bathroom looks like anyway- there could be men in there peeing in those fountain things! Maybe there's a janitor's closet or something where I could change-

"Excuse me, are you all right?"

"GAHH!" Therese exclaimed, jumping from surprise.

She turned around- and was met by the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. The eyes were a blue gray, shaded with long, dark lashes, and they belonged to a tall, teenage boy with equally silver hair.

Beautiful, Therese thought vaguely. But then she noticed that the silver-haired boy was not alone. There were, in fact, several other also looking at Therese in concern. There was another boy, who looked to be about her age, with vibrant orange hair, burning red eyes, and a very disgruntled scowl. Next to him was a teenage girl- she was very pretty, and she had long brown hair tied up in ribbons. Therese also noticed two older men, maybe late-twenties, in the group. One had shaggy black hair and wore a robe, and the other, wearing a three-piece suit, had a very austere expression on his face as he gazed down at her.

"Um- are you…all right?" the silver-haired boy repeated.

"Oh!" Therese said, snapping back to reality, "Y-Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, f-for asking, it's just- I'm not from here, so I just…um wasn't sure…uh…which bathroom…to go…in…to…"

The group of strangers only looked at her questioningly, and Therese knew what a stupid excuse it was as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Of course, of course," said the man in the kimono laughingly, "A natural mistake for any visitor to make. Where did you say you were from?"

"Oh-um," Therese said, relaxing a bit, "I'm an exchange student from America."

"Did you come here on the 9a.m. flight, plane number 72?" said the other man in a deep, serious tone.

"Y-y-yes, sir," Therese answered, a bit nervous again at his sharp, strict voice, "I did- the plane just arrived."

"That's good! I was afraid we would be late!" the man in the kimono smiled, "Now, then, you say you're an exchange student? You wouldn't happen to know a boy by the name of-" –the man looked over a sheet of paper until he found what he was looking for- "-'Thomas Rouna' would you? He is an exchange student we are picking up, and this form says he was on your flight. Do you know him?"

This isn't happening, Therese thought, looking at the group with wide eyes, This can NOT be happening.

Though she was sure it could lead only to disaster, Therese set her lips in a hopefully convincing smile and said, "Yeah, um- I'm Thomas Rouna. Pleased to meet you."

"Excellent!" The man in the kimono exclaimed, "What luck to find you here! And can you guess who we are?"

"Uh- the…Sohmas?" Therese ventured a guess.

"Right you are!" the man answered cheerfully.

"So, then, you must be Shigure Sohma. It's an honor to meet you," Therese said, bowing to the quiet, solemn man in the suit next to him.

"Um, actually, I'm Shigure. That is Hatori. He's the Sohma family doctor. He drove us here to pick you up." Shigure smiled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Therese apologized, bowing deeply to the real Shigure. Dammit! Therese reprimanded herself, Way to go, Therese! You really know how to start things off on the right foot!

"It's fine, really," Shigure said.

"Perhaps we ought to go get Rouna-san's luggage and head home," The silver haired boy said softly.

"That's the first good idea I've heard all day," Hatori said, leading them all over to the baggage claim.

"Hello, there!" the girl introduced, walking alongside Therese, "I'm Tohru Honda. It's great to finally meet you, Rouna-san. I hope you will like staying with us- I know we're glad to have you."

"Thank you very much," Therese said awkwardly, "And please- call me-er- Thomas."

A small fight caught Therese's attention, and she looked around- Shigure, the silver haired boy, and the orange haired boy had walked ahead to the baggage claim to get her bag, but the orange haired boy didn't look too happy with Shigure.

"YOU PERVERT! WHAT DID YOU HAVE TO GO AND SAY THAT FOR?" the orange-haired boy was bellowing, "One day, Shigure, the cops are going to come arrest you for being so lecherous, and I'm not going to stop them!"

"Please, let's just get Rouna-san's bag and go. Honestly, I don't know why you feel the need to cause a big scene whenever you go out in public," The silver-haired boy admonished, picking up Therese's suitcase and carrying it back to where she, Tohru, and Hatori were waiting.

"Shut up! Stop acting like you're all superior to me! You can't tell me what to do!" the orange haired boy screamed back.

"Don't you have any manners?" the boy with silver hair snapped, "You could at least have enough decency not to yell in front of our guest barely two minutes after you've met him."

The orange-haired boy, realizing how rude he was being, quickly folded his arms fell silent, but his red eyes smoldered with suppressed anger, and his lips were pursed with annoyance.

They all piled into the car, Tohru between Hatori and Shigure in the front seat, Therese in the middle of Yuki and Kyo in the back seat. No one really spoke while Hatori drove, and the silence was about to drive Therese crazy. But she used the time to go over what she had learned so far.

Wow- I really screwed this one up. Now I have to go through a whole year as a guy? Where's Lana when you need her? At least the family seems nice- I'll tell them I'm a girl when the right moment comes. Shigure wasn't at all how I pictured him. I thought he would be stoic and placid- I guess that's why I thought Hatori was Shigure. Also- the form didn't say anything about Hatori. He's a Sohma- maybe he's Shigure's brother. In fact…

Therese, who had been looking around, lost in thought, saw Hatori looking at her through the rearview mirror of the car. Therese looked away quickly, but when she glanced back- he was looking at her again!

Why is he staring at me? Do I have something on my face? Maybe I slept on my hair wrong and it looks funny- I never got to look in the mirror. Well- I'll just try to ignore it.

Silence pressed in on Therese heavily, who was growing more and more anxious and fidgetyby the minute.

"Are you all right, Rouna-san?" the boy with the silver hair asked her.

"Me? I-I'm fine," Therese said unconvincingly, "I'm just excited to be here, is all."

"Oh, you'll really like school here, Tohma-kun!" Tohru said from the front seat, "Yuki-kun is the Student council president- I'm sure he'll be happy to answer any of your questions."

"Well, I have been meaning to ask you," Therese said, turning to the boy with orange hair, "What's it like to be student council president? Is it hard, doing that and juggling all those other clubs?"

"What?" the orange haired boy said.

"Well, it's just that I was really active in my school in America, so I was thinking you would be the best one to talk to about school activities here," Therese went on.

"What on earth are you babbling about?" the orange haired boy asked again, sounding annoyed.

Therese turned to the boy with silver hair, since she wasn't getting anywhere with the other boy.

"Kyo-san," Therese asked the silver haired boy, "Do you help your brother with his clubs and things like that?"

"My…brother…?" the boy with silver hair asked confused.

"Well, the form said that you weren't really in any school clubs," Therese said, "and Yuki-san is so busy, and since the two of you are so close I thought maybe you helped him out a little."

"Close?" the boy with orange hair asked.

"Of course, Yuki-san!" Therese said to the orange haired boy, "You and Kyo-san must be the best of friends! Aren't you glad that he is your brother?"

No one in the car spoke a word, and Therese's question hung in the air. Uh-oh, did I say something impolite?

"Okay, I'm totally lost now," the orange haired boy said after a while.

"With a mind as small as yours, who wouldn't be?" quipped the boy with silver hair.

"Oh, and I suppose you know exactly what the new guy is talking about?"

"Hold on you two!" Shigure ordered, looking at the group in the back seat through the rearview mirror, "Tohma-kun, would you mind telling me which one of those two is Yuki?"

After a moment, Therese lifted her hand, and pointed to the sulking boy with orange hair on her right.

"And which one is Kyo?" Shigure pressed.

Therese pointed to the boy with silver hair and shockingly gray eyes on her left.

"And since they are both Sohmas, how are they related?" questioned the novelist.

"They're brothers." Therese answered promptly.

Shigure busted up laughing loudly, Tohru giggled, Kyo bristled, and Yuki and Hatori sighed deeply.

"-and you, Shigure-san, are their father," Therese finished.

Shigure stopped his manic laughter, but Hatori gave a small, sardonic smile and said sarcastically, "Nicely done, Dad,"

"Is…is that…not right?" Therese blinked.

"NO, IT'S NOT RIGHT!" The orange haired boy yelled, "That pervert Shigure is NOT my dad, and that damn Yuki is DEFINITELY not my brother! I get chills just THINKING of it!"

"Trust me, if anyone hates the thought of being your brother, it's me," the silver-haired boy huffed, "I am already ashamed to call you my cousin. I'd rather die than be related any closer to you than I already am."

"That's enough out of you two!" Shigure told the boys, before turning a kind smile on Therese, "I think the form you were given had a typo on it. That is Yuki-"-Shigure gestured to the boy with gleaming silver hair-"-and that is Kyo-"- then he pointed to the moody boy with bright orange hair-"-and I am positive that neither of them in my son…. maybe."

Pervert, Yuki and Kyo thought.

"Wow- I can't believe I had it so wrong," Therese apologized, not willing to say that she had made all of these assumptions herself, "I'm really sorry. No wonder you were all so confused. I'll be sure to get it right from now on- promise!"

Silence once again took hold on all of the people in the car, and Therese once again let her thoughts wander. Man- I really got things switched around, didn't I? It's just that Yuki was so quiet, and Kyo was so outgoing, I was sure I had it right. Guess that shows me not to predict people's personalities before I meet them. I was so sure I had it right, too! They're really nothing like I expected. Kyo may be more outgoing, but he's not the nice sort of outgoing I was expecting. In fact, he really seems to have a chip on shoulder. Is he mad at me, or does he just hate the world? I don't know…And Yuki is so quiet- except when he's yelling at Kyo. They might be complete opposites, but really don't get along like I thought they would. This is gonna be one helluva year, I know that much.

Therese quieted her thoughts as she caught Hatori looking at her once more in the mirror. What is his DEAL? I'm sorta starting to get a little creeped out by this! Gasp! Maybe he knows I'm really a girl! Can he really see through my disguise?

A voice that sounded annoyingly like Lana's told her, Disguise? What disguise? You mean an amateur haircut and a pair of Levi's? Yeah- NOBODY could see through such a flawless disguise!

Shut up! Therese told the voice, before silently admonishing herself, Great! Now I'm fighting with voices in my head! I'm probably only one small step away from picking up an air rifle and letting loose.

Okay- I gotta get a grip on myself.

Gah! He's looking at me again! Shigure-san said Hatori-san was a doctor. Man- then it must be so obvious to Hatori-san that I'm really a girl. I can't believe I really thought this would work- I should have told them I wasn't a guy right from the start. Or better yet- I never should have gone on this trip to begin with.

They finally pulled up to a nice, respectable-looking two-story house, surrounded by a forest. Everyone got out of the car, and Yuki took Therese's bag out of the car and went in the house with it. Therese went to grab her book bag, but somebody picked it up first- it was Hatori.

"Th-Thank you, Hatori-sama," Therese said, reaching out her hand for her bag.

But Hatori didn't give it to her. Instead, he gazed down at her thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "There is something I've been meaning to ask you…"

"Y-Yes?" Therese said, dreading what was to come. Aw, man- I didn't even make it in the house, and now he's gonna ask why I'm dressed like a boy. I am going to get in SO much trouble for this. I know I like to cause a little mischief at school, but this ha got to be the biggest thing I've EVER done. And now it's over before it even began.

"Is that your natural hair color?" Hatori asked.

Therese froze in shock. "Wuh-what?"

"I'm sorry if I offended you, it's just that I've always seen Americans with blonde or red hair. I was just wondering if your hair was naturally that dark brown."

"Y-Yes. Yes, it is. Guys in America usually have darker hair than girls do." Therese smiled, relaxing a bit.

"I didn't mean to pry," Hatori went on, taking Therese's bag and walking towards the house with it, "but I kept looking at you through the rearview mirror the whole ride here trying to figure it out, since I didn't want to be impolite and ask you."

"Oh, no, that's fine," Therese assured him, following him to the house, "I guess it's a pretty understandable question. I don't mind at all."

"That's good," Hatori said when they reached the door. He handed her book bag to her, and walked back to his car. Just before he got in, however, he turned back and said, "I do hope your stay here will be enjoyable. It was nice to meet you…Miss Rouna,"

And he took off down the road, leaving Therese speechless on the porch.


My Two Cents: O.O Wow- bet you didn't see that one coming did you? In fact, I really had planned on Hatori asking Therese about her hair color, and leaving it at that, just to sort of build some suspense, but have it be no big deal. But I like this MUCH better than that idea! I wonder what will happen next? Reviews and suggestions welcome as always, and arigato for reading!.