Disclaimer: If you haven't already figured it out, I am not Natsuki Takaya. However, I did remember half of the name this time. That means I've either posted too many chapters, or my memory is improving. As always, although I'm SURE (ha, ha) many of you would like to pay me for my stories, I cannot accept monetary appreciation as this is a fanfic (to the ever-lovin' lament of my family, who wants me to get paid for my hobby).

Chapter 9: Trips and Falls

The car journey was very quiet. Hatori drove with his right hand lightly sitting on the wheel, his left was resting on the door. The clean scent of the leather seats wafted around the confines. Tohru sat very tense, her hands tightly gripped in her lap. When Hatori reached over to turn on the CD Player, Tohru jumped like he'd tried to shoot her.

"Calm down Tohru-kun. I'm not going to harm you."

She turned bright eyes on him. "You mean you're not going to erase my memories?"

Hatori chuckled painfully. "No. We just decided it was better for you to be away from the boys while we figure out what happened. No reason for you to be emotionally abused when you haven't done anything wrong."

Tohru continued to look at him, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "So I'm not selfish?"

Hatori was watching out the window again. "Everyone is selfish on occasion, but you are not exceedingly selfish."

"Really?"

He swapped driving hands and gently reached over and momentarily laid a hand on her shoulder. "Really."

Tohru sighed in relief. So they really meant it last night when they said they were only doing this to get Akito off my tail. Relaxing in her seat, Tohru listened to the music and was quickly lulled to sleep.

Hatori hummed slightly off-key to Schubert and looked over at the young lady sleeping in his car. I'm not sure what the boys are up to, but I bet anything it is related to Kagura being sent back to school. Neither of them is slow when it comes to picking up Akito's vibes. He didn't agree with Akito's plan, but it wasn't his position to get involved. He would let the boys figure out how to solve the problem and keep his ear to the rail and his thoughts to himself.

sssss

Tohru woke up as Hatori turned the engine off. She sleepily blinked and gathered her thoughts as Hatori exited the car and opened the trunk to unload bags. Yawning, she stretched and then opened the door. The first thing she noticed was the clean crisp smell of wet moss. Then she realized the noise she heard was water running over rocks. She turned to Hatori. "Where are we?"

Hatori was walking in front of her, a bag in each hand. He didn't miss a step as he answered. "A Sohma retreat that very few of us know about."

"Does Shigure-san know about this place?"
"No. I was told by Kazuma's grandfather, the previous cat. He established it as a haven for those who were being oppressed by members of the Sohma, as he himself had once been." He turned and looked at her unblinkingly. "Unless Akito has somehow discovered the secret, the only other people who know about this place are Kazuma and the people who maintain it."

She sighed in relief before suddenly realizing that Hatori had a bag in each hand and was quickly approaching the door. She ran up the stairs and slid the shoji open for him, earning a grateful look. The entrance had a river-stone floor and high-beamed ceilings. Long banners depicting all of the animals of the Sohmas graced the spaces between windows and doorways. Amused, Tohru spent a few minutes studying each one. They were done in the scrolling artwork of the Chinese, not the more lined style of the Japanese.

Hatori quietly walked up beside her. He stood with hands lightly in his pockets and looked at the banner Tohru was currently viewing. A very graceful dragon wound through trees, curling smoke emitting from his nostrils while the forked tongue flicked out. He could almost see a wink in the one visible eye. "Things in this banner are not shown to real size." Tohru suddenly turned and looked at him, realizing he was standing there. His cheek was tightened, and she wasn't sure if it was because he was humored or resentful of the difference between the forms.

"Does the dragon ever look like that Hatori-san?"

"No, it's not realistic. There are no dragons. We only turn into the real animals that are equivalent. However, a sea-dragon is not as interesting as the classical Chinese dragon." He smiled. "Kazuma's jiji was Japanese, but he had a love of all things Chinese. Since he designed this living space, he got to choose the décor. Kazuma and I honor his memory by leaving it alone." He walked away. "Come on, if we're going to get anything done today, we need to get started."

"Eh?" She ran behind him, hair trailing with the movement.

They entered a kitchen area and Tohru stopped in her tracks at the sight before her. Hatori was smiling a genuine ear-to-ear smile as he gazed at the lovely woman in front of him. "Rio, let me look at you!" A thin woman in a peach and green ankle-length yukata turned around once and looked at him with mischief in her eyes. "How old are you now?"

She laughed lightly, her voice sounding like the tinkling of temple chimes. "Twenty-two Hatori-san. You've been gone a long time!"

He laughed lightly. "Apparently. Are your parents here?"

Her face fell slightly. "No, Sofu-jiji (grandfather) fell last week and broke his hip. They are in the hospital with him." Hatori looked concerned. She waved her hand at him. "The doctors all agree that he will recover from this. They are just having to watch him to make sure he doesn't get out of bed, you know how stubborn he is."

"Well, is it okay for us to visit?" He nodded towards the silent girl standing in the doorway and Rio noticed for the first time they were not alone.

Very quietly, she leaned forward and whispered. "Hentai Sensei. You know I can't put the two of you in the same room."

He blushed. "I believe you misunderstand."

She laughed again. "Or maybe you do. I understand clearly. Are you both staying, or am I taking on a new border?"

Hatori cleared his throat. He hated that she carried this type of knowledge about him. "A new border." She clucked her tongue at him and started to turn towards the girl. Hatori caught her arm before she could move away. "But not for very long. This isn't a nine-month issue. We're having a little trouble in paradise and we're trying to protect the angel from the demons." She sighed in relief and pulled away.

"Konnichiwa. Welcome to my home." Tohru blinked as this vision stopped directly in front of her. Rio grabbed her hand and pulled her through the room, disregarding Hatori as if he'd suddenly become an appliance. "Let me show you the view!"

At the other end of the kitchen stood two sets of French doors. Opening one set, Rio ushered Tohru through and outside onto the deck. "Oh!" In front of her was a forty-foot waterfall that ended in a deep pool of azure. "So that's what I heard when I stepped out of the car."

Rio smiled, this one was going to be easy to deal with. "Yes. We call this place Kakurega no Suiren, The Waterlily's Retreat." She pointed to a large patch of pink, white, and yellow water lilies that dotted the pond below them.

"How lovely!" Tohru bent over the rail to get a closer look, startling a golden crane that squawked and flew off on graceful wings. Rio turned to look at Hatori, passing an unvoiced thought between them. How lovely, indeed.

A/N: Hope everyone's had a great week! See ya next week.