Waah! You didn't think it was possible... BUT I ACTUALLY UPDATED! Heh, it's been awhile...sorry...I really got into updating my Motoko story, and, well, I had put this one on hold...but I'm back! (And I've also changed my name!) -Ritchan-san

Back to School

It was Kisa's first day back at school since the gang had attacked her. Having had taken the past week off of school (Hatori said she should give her wound time to heal).

As Kisa sat in her desk, waiting for class to start, she felt the gaze of some of her peers fall on her. The young tiger pretended to be interested in her workbook. To tell the truth, it had been hard for her to walk to school today. She knew there would be stares, there would be gossip, but she also knew that the longer she waited to come back to school, the harder it would be.

"Kisa's hurt!" Tohru exclaimed. Running into the next room, Tohru watched as Hatori properly dressed the wound.

"Onee-chan?" Kisa said, as Tohru entered the room.

"Kisa!" As Hatori finished, and got up to leave, Tohru threw herself on the younger girl. "Kisa, are you alright!"

"It would be best if you refrained from mauling her", Hatori said. "At least, for the next few days, as the wound heals".

"Oh…", Tohru replied, detaching herself from Kisa. "Okay".

"So…what happened?" Kyo asked as he and Yuki entered.

"Well…" Shigure started.

Everybody had been so nice to her. Yuki and Haru also hardly left her side. Tohru spent every waking moment with her 'little sister' (and, Kisa suspected, even the non awake ones). And Momiji did everything in his power to keep her entertained. Kisa smiled. Those four were like siblings to her. If someone who didn't know any better saw how the five of them got along, they would have thought they were siblings.

They weren't the only ones who had helped Kisa recover. Hatori was there, helping Kisa whenever Akito didn't require his assistance. And Shigure helped her catch up on her homework as she missed school.

Then there was Hiro. As soon as the elementary school had let out, Hiro had immedeatly come to visit Kisa, flowers in hand (he picked them on his way to Shigure's house ;) Isn't that cute?) He left her side only to use the bathroom, and even took the first few days of school off to spend with Kisa. However, after the insistence of his mother, he returned to class in the day time, only to once again appear by a certain young tiger's side at night. The whole time Hiro was with Kisa, he hardly spoke. He probably didn't know what to say. Still, his presence cheered the young girl up.

Kisa sighed happily to herself. As the others had helped her, she had continually thanked them. In fact, not one person had gone with out a thank you…except…

Kisa turned her head to her right. Sitting a few rows over, Megumi was, as usual, alone. Deep in a book, he hardly noticed the wary glances he was receiving from his fellow classmates.

Pausing to turn the page, he sensed a particular gaze set on him. Turning, he saw, to his surprise, Kisa Sohma sitting in her usual spot, looking at him. As soon as their eyes locked, Kisa quickly turned away, and busied herself with checking her homework.

Megumi was not expecting to see her back so soon. After the 'incident', he had assumed she wouldn't be back in school for a while yet. Sitting in the corner, distant from everyone else, she seemed so…lonely. While he himself was alone, he was still surrounded by the others…in the midst of the crowd. Kisa on the other hand…

"Alright class!" the teacher called from the front as the bell rang. "It's time to get started!"

As the other students returned to their seats, Kisa stole a peak at Megumi. No longer looking her way, he had his attention turned to the teacher. Kisa chewed her lip nervously. How could someone so unknown to her, someone she had never even spoken to before put themselves in danger just to save her? How could someone do something so selfless?

And how was she ever to thank him?

Kisa wrung her hands nervously. She had a hard enough time approaching any normal human being without backing into her wall of insecurity, but Megumi was even worse. The 'Hanajima Boy', as he was known as, gave off such a…foreboding…aura, that that was part of the reason WHY Kisa had never talked to him. Megumi was so…different…so creepy. Some people even wondered if he was human at all.

"That's just mean", Kisa said to herself. She of all people should know this. Everyone was human…even the members of the zodiac.

Staring down at her notebook, she suddenly noticed something sticking out of the top of it. The young girl slipped the item out and found herself staring at a small envelope. She slowly proceeded in opening it, only vaguely aware of the teacher droning on up front. Tilting the envelope slightly, Kisa poured the contents into her outstretched hand. It was a small charm bracelet with but a single charm on it; a tiny, caramel colored tiger. Staring at the gift with wonder, Kisa turned her attention to a slip of paper that had gone unnoticed before. Fingering the note, she read it. Her eyes watered, and a small smile came to her lips.

Kisa

No matter what happens

Remember that you are loved

Who could it have been from? There were so many people who had said that to her in the past…it could be any one of them! Kisa turned her attention back to the bracelet.

"…Kisa Sohma!"

Kisa's head snapped up as she realized all the eyes in the classroom had turned on her, and she stared guiltily at the teacher who she assumed was watching her from the front of the room. However, she realized the teacher was not, in fact, studying her, but rather the class. Everyone in the room was now stalk still, and various whispering could be heard. Apparently they were shocked with something. With…what? Kisa's face displayed confusion, as though she hadn't registered what the teacher had just announced.

The teacher noticed. "The literature project…"

What literature project? What was she talking about? Kisa's face was blank, but she was sweating nervously.

"…Megumi Hanajima is paired with Kisa Sohma", the teacher repeated.

Kisa's shock could only be matched by that of Megumi's. Looking over, Kisa saw his face contort in surprise.

The teacher continued listing off the pairs, but Kisa could barely concentrate. How on earth would they be able to work together if she couldn't even get up the courage to thank him?

"All right, get in your groups".

Head light, Kisa proceeded over in the direction of Megumi's desk. Her legs shook as she forced herself to bring one foot in front of another, and, before the tiger knew it, she found herself standing in front of the 'Hanajima Boy'.

Megumi spoke first. "I guess we're partners then".

He waited to receive acknowledgement from Kisa, but she was just stared nervously at her feet.

Flipping through his notebook, Megumi continued. "She didn't set much guidelines for the project, so I guess we can do just about anything-".

"Thank…you".

Megumi's head snapped up, confused. "Hm?"

"…I…wanted to…thank you…for…standing up for…me…". Kisa wrung her hands nervously. "…from the gang…last week…". Looking up, she snuck a peek at her partner.

Megumi's face was blank. However, after pausing a moment, a slight smile came to his lips. "You're welcome".

Kisa, relieved, let out a sigh.

Megumi stopped sorting through his papers. "You're better? Your wound, I mean; you must be better, because you're back at school".

Blushing, Kisa replied. "Yah…I'm better…"

"Well, we should probably head to the library now", Megumi said, surveying the now empty classroom. "We need to pick a subject and get research materials".

Kisa was usually nervous walking down the hallway without a teacher. Last time she had, a gang attacked her. Somehow, though, with Megumi beside her, Kisa didn't feel quite so defenseless…so alone.

Once in the library, the two started flipping through books of short fictional stories. On the walk, Megumi filled Kisa in on what the project was about. Each pair was to select a short piece of literature, whether it be a newspaper exert or a poem or a short story; just about anything would work, and research the background of the writing and present the results to the class.

"Maybe this won't be bad at all", Kisa said to herself, as she watched Megumi scanning a novel. He seems really nice, and he's not creepy like people make him out to be. Granted, she was a tad nervous in his company, and he was still as mysterious as ever, but what was the worst that could happen?

"Here", Megumi said, breaking into Kisa's thoughts. "I found an interesting story. This would make a good piece for the project".

"Okay!" Kisa said, quietly celebrating Megumi's success. Joining him on the opposite side of the table, she looked over his shoulder. The sight of the story caused Kisa's heart to stop and her breath to freeze.

Megumi, hearing no response from Kisa, looked up to see her face displaying a mixture of surprise and fear. "We…don't have to do this one if you want…"

"…No…it's fine…" Kisa's voice squeaked.

Megumi studied Kisa's face for a moment, and then he left his seat. "Well…if your sure, then I'll go tell the teacher our selection…". He waited a moment, giving Kisa time to react; to stop him, but, when she didn't, he just raised an eyebrow, and continued toward the teacher.

Kisa didn't see him leave; her eyes were rooted to the story printed on the pages before her. Tracing the title with her finger, she whispered the six words to herself. "The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac".

Lucinda the Maid- Yay! I got the 9th (and now 10th) manga, so I saw more of Megumi:) He really is a cool character. I hope you liked this chapter :)

Stacey- Ahh, grammar...not one of my best subjects ;) XD I'll try to reread everything multiple times before posting. Thanks for pointing that out. :) Yah, I know Kisa's probably in an all girls school...but since that's never actually stated in the anime or manga, I decided to make things interesting! Thanks for reviewing:D

animaeGuRl- Thank you :) Hope this chapter was okay!

Craze Izumi- Most people, like you, are hoping for a MegumixKisa fic...heh, I still don't know how it's going to turn out though! I'm just the one posting the story...the characters are acting it out (I know, that sounds so corny XD XP)(But who doesn't love corn? JK). Megumi is definetly one of the coolest characters. Thanks for the review:)

Ryokko-Chan- Yay, thank you! Since everyone else is giving their opinion on the subject...would you rather see a MegumixKisa pairing or a HiroxKisa pairing? Just wondering :D XD

des- Thanks for the review:) Sorry it took forever to update (darn writer's block!) XP

Aaya- Thank you, you are the first person to want to put any of my writing in a C2 Collection! (Jumps up and down) Sure, you can use it! (I took a look at your C2 Community, it's cool:) )(Don't worry, Hiro will show up more next chapter:D)

ashayuik- Hope your heart hasn't exploded yet...there's more fluffieness to come! XD

Anna Banana- I apologize for not updating sooner.. "I APOLOGIZE TO THE WHOLE WORLD!MY VERY EXISTENCE IS ROBBING THE EARTH OF IT'S SWEET AIR...I APOLOGIZE TO THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!"...(sees Anna with large wooden spoon) Uh oh...

shadowed ambience- Yes! Chrissy's Stamp of Approval! BOOYAH! XP :D

Different Child- Thank you for reviewing:)

Inuyasha4ever9391- (Sees chocolate bar) CHOCOLATE! Heh, sorry about that XD Ya, I hate those cocky ninth graders...wait...I'm a ninth grader... :P Well, now I'm going into 10th grade... I look foward to hearing from you in the future:D

Queen- It's review like yours that I really enjoy. It's nice to get some pointers here and there about what I'm doing right or wrong. Thanks, I'll try to fix the spelling and punctation errors as best I can:) Thank you for the nice long review:D It's not often an author gets one of those!

SkiesAbove- I'm glad you enjoyed it so much:) But really, you did an awesome job on your story:D

CHA CHA CHARMEN- Sorry for the violence...I don't intend for the rest of the story to be like that. It just kind of played itself out as I was writing that part. Hope you liked this chapter:)

nefarious nature- I love Megumi a lot too! But then, I love Hiro and Kisa alot...and Kyo...and Yuki, and Haru, and Momiji, and Ritsu, and Motoko, and Kureno, and Shigure, and Hatori, and...sorry, got off track. Thank you for your review! I'll try not to give up on this fic when I know I have so many people following it:)

Wow! Look at all these reviews! That's the most I have ever had to respond to in one chapter alone! I feel loved! Thanks guys!

Ayame: "Just don't let it go to your head".

Oh, YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!

Ayame: "I have full right to...for I am the King!"

Yuki: "Idiot"

Kyo: "So this is what the author does when she is bored..."