Author's Note: The author has discovered that while she loves writing, she seems to hate the editing process. The author would like to take a moment to worship the one beta whose mind she hasn't yet broke. ::worships Kurai::

Disclaimer: Still not mine. Please don't sue. All I have are the dust bunnies under my bed.

[3]
The kami is at his best when he is clearly needed. No matter the madness that drives him, he is most suited to being that which he is meant to be: the one who holds our lives in his hands.
-Sohma Jiro, Tiger, 1874

"He was sleeping on the couch when I arrived. When he woke up, I convinced him to eat, and take the pills he prescribed himself. By the time he was done eating, he was feverish enough to begin denying that he's sick, but he wasn't as insistent on working as I expected him to be--as I remember him being last time.

"I was able to get him into his bed without much trouble, and Ayame is with him now.

"I don't... I'm sorry. The last time he was ill must have been four or five years ago. It's hard to say what is different, because time always makes things seem less bad than they were, but... it seems like something in him isn't fighting the way he did before."

"Her."

Shigure shook his head. "It's the only possible cause I know of, but my instinct tells me that's not all of it. I've been busy with my house and my novel, so I don't just know everything. She might be part of it, but... I'm sorry, I don't know. Maybe I just want to believe he isn't still hurting from that so badly."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Your instincts are good. You'll flush it out, one way or another."

Shigure couldn't help feeling a surprised pleasure at the praise. Praise from this source was so rare, so precious, but for doing something as small as this, it was odd. From his kneeling position--exactly the same as Hatori's earlier that day, though now Akito was lounging on a couch--Shigure studied Akito, and wasn't entirely displeased by what he saw.

Akito's hands were in a relaxed position, but white knuckled. He had the tightness around his eyes that usually warned of rage, but his eyes weren't focused on anything in the room. Seeing Akito worried was even more bizarre than seeing Ayame worried, but it meant that Akito was taking the illness seriously, and would set his games aside for a time. Well, he would set some of his games aside.

The calm competence that Shigure had hidden himself in since that phone call suddenly started to shred. He wanted to comfort Akito. He wanted comfort for himself. He wanted someone else to take charge, but the only other person who would was Hatori. Shigure's hands flexed with the restless need to do something.

"Shigure. Come here." Obediently, Shigure rose from the center of the floor and knelt at Akito's side, fighting down yet another worry. Akito's hand was cool against his face, gentle as it ran through his hair. Shigure yielded to an impulse and relaxed so that he was half on the couch, half sprawled across the floor. "My faithful hound, so loyal to me, so faithful, but you need your pack, don't you?" The gentle soft voice wove itself around Shigure's mind, bringing his dog-nature to the front of his mind, reminding him that no matter what he thought when he was away from the house, part of him belonged here. "Don't worry. Your loyalties won't be divided over this. He's mine, too. We can protect him together. We can give him the space to heal. I'll even try to make sure he doesn't have to worry over me. Now. Tell me, Shigure. Tell me what worries you."

Shigure's mind resisted words; not Akito's words--he suddenly wanted to tell Akito everything--it simply resisted coming out of the warm comfort of letting his master worry over everything. Akito's hand still ran through his hair, gently tugging the words from him until they could fall freely. "I worry. I worry that I don't know enough. I worry that we might need a doctor for him, for you. We don't have any other doctors now, no one but her. And, oh, god, it would break him. It would break him to see her, to be helped by her, and then to make her forget again. It would break him if you needed someone, and it couldn't be him." That hand still ran through his hair, pulling out his fears to the light, and then brushing them away. Shigure spoke without reserve because he knew he spoke a truth that Akito wanted to hear. The best manipulations were always from the truth.

"And if you grew sick, or Ayame did, worrying over him like this? Wouldn't that hurt him, too?" Shigure knew Akito was testing him, and testing Hatori through him, but again, the truth was the right answer.

"No, not as much. He's used to us getting ourselves into trouble. We'll get ourselves out of it, or he'll help us, but he knows it's our natures, and he'll be mad at us, not himself.... But maybe you can tell him not to use such big needles on us?" Shigure lifted his head, to make--what else?--puppy eyes at Akito, and smiled wanly when he received a small laugh in return.

"Is that everything?"

"No." Shigure let a pout slip into his voice. "Those boys are going to destroy my house with their fighting while I'm gone, and then I won't have anywhere to stay, and I'll have to stay with Haa-san, and he'll kill me." Akito's hand slid through his hair one last time, and then pushed at his head in a wordless signal to sit up. The test was mostly over, and though Shigure wasn't certain of the results, he did feel better for speaking his fears. He was faintly surprised to feel an honest expression on his face, instead of the pleasant expression he normally wore for Akito. He let his face fall back into a calm, collected mask.

"Would you worry less if they were here? I can send for them. I don't want you distracted right now." Yes, the test was mostly over, but not completely.

Shigure shook his head slightly. "Please, don't send for them. They want their illusion of freedom." He paused with a question on the tip of his tongue.

"Shigure. I need you focused on Hatori. Ask."

Shigure knew he would be on thin ice, but he couldn't safely ignore a direct order. "Would you mind if I told Tohru-kun that Haa-san is sick?" He watched Akito out of the corner of his eye, expecting a negative reaction.

Akito merely looked thoughtful, though his tone was bitter. "I suppose she'll offer to come over and make soup for him, or some such nonsense. And I suppose that would make at least one of the boys offer to escort her, for her own safety, which will, of course, stop them from fighting." Akito didn't say that Yuki and Kyo would want to protect her from him more than anything else, and actually sounded slightly pleased. Shigure wondered why this particular bit of pleasure seemed like such a bad thing. "Yes, let them keep their illusions for now. Tell her."

"Yes, Akito-san." Shigure was relieved by the final answer, but still troubled. Was his idea too obvious? Were his attempts to manipulate Akito too obvious, or was there something he didn't know? More importantly, did it matter, if it got the results he needed?

"If you need me there, send someone, any time. If Hatori asks, tell him I'm resting quietly, staying out of drafts, and all those other things he worries about. Now go."

Shigure left with less to worry about, but a great deal more to puzzle over.

A/N: Whee! We've all survived another chapter! Or at least I have... I've gone and done a horrible thing. I've ordered the manga in Japanese, despite my terrible skills with the language. But I get to see the pretty pictures! I'll probably be editing heavily once I get inspired, but I'm also wrestling with chapter 9, so if we're lucky there won't be too much delay between chapters. And now for specific comments!

Mystical: I didn't see your comment in time for chapter 2, but I hope you liked your more and your more-more.

Tairi: I hope I answered your question here! I love how the others see Ayame, but I'm terrified to write his POV. I'm probably going to have to with one of the scenes I have planned...

Aura Black Chan: Is this soon enough? ;)

Sakura Sohma: Um, yes. I do that, too. Shigure seems to have taken over. Bad dog, no Ayame for you! Uh, right, I'll just go back to replying to comments now.

rabbitTsukino: Thank you!

kaesaku: Thank you! I hope you like this as much as the last part!

the-kaiba-hier: Woohoo! I am a sock rocker! ...Sox roxxor? Hmmm... something like that.