AHhhh! so sorry this took so long >. I've been so busy, and sooo stessed... but that's just unimportant. Also, I'vedecided that I'll continue this storyline until the end, and then post some bonus chapters thatI haven't found time to write yet.Yeah, that's totally out of the blue...butI thought I'd just let you guys know that the end will not really be the end...and we still have more than six chapters to gountil we get to the end anyway. :P

So anyway, R&R, enjoy!

CHAPTER 10

By the time Hatori got to the school, he was entirely composed. He parked the car, and walked straight to the principal's office.

There were six people sitting in the chairs in the office. One was a teacher, nursing a bloody nose and a split lip, and three others were young girls he didn't know, nursing other various injuries. A boy he didn't know was wincing as he touched his black eye, and Akiko was sitting primly in her chair with no visible injuries except a slight bruise on one cheek. Hatori shook his head in amazement.

Another teacher noticed him standing outside of the door and ushered him into the room. "You are Souma Hatori, the father of Souma Akiko?"

"NO!" Hatori yelled. "I mean, no, I am her guardian, but not her father."

"I see. Well, is it possible that we could contact her parents-"

"I'm an orphan." Akiko snapped.

"Oh. Well then, will you please have a seat? We have to discuss what went on in the hall today. Akiko, why don't you tell us what happened?"

"Fine." She said sulkily. "That boy flipped my skirt, and what I did to him was just a reflex. I lived in a convent for the last twelve years of my life, what did you think I was going to do? Those girls laughed at me after that, and I told them that just because they were older didn't mean that they could be rude to me. She slapped me, and I warned them to leave me alone. And then that one pulled my hair and we got into a fight."

"So that's how your cheek was bruised." Hatori said.

"Yes, love," She replied with a mischievous smirk. The teachers stiffened visibly, and all the other students looked shocked. Hatori gave her a warning glance.

"How long is her suspension?" he asked.

"Two weeks, because she attacked the teacher. Everyone else involved had a week."

Hatori swallowed visibly. Two weeks, alone, at home, with Akiko? Well, it wasn't like he had a choice. "Very well. I'll take Akiko home now."

"Good," Akiko replied, standing up and threading her arm through his. He gave her a look and she let go, pouting. The two of them left the room.

When they got back, Ayame was gone, and Shigure was slightly more drunk and sitting on the mat. Rin had also arrived.

"Hey, Akiko," She said.

"'lo, Rin. I was just suspended for two weeks." She tilted her head towards her room. Rin and Akiko walked off to Akiko's room, Rin carrying a very large knapsack.

After they closed the door, Rin tossed Akiko a beer. "Now, tell me what happened."

A little later, back in the other room, Shigure fell asleep, a can of beer in his hand. Hatori, who by now was extremely drunk, wandered from the room. He met Akiko, also drunk, wandering from her room. Rin had apparently passed out.

Akiko bared her teeth at Hatori, feeling an inexplicable anger towards him. He returned the gesture. Akiko suddenly attacked in fury, clawing at him with her nails. Hatori grabbed both of her hands in his own, trying to prevent her from scratching him. He managed, for the most part, but then she tried to kick him. He tried to prevent it, but their legs got entangled and they crashed to the floor on their sides. Momentarily stunned, Hatori shook his head. Akiko bared her teeth again and snapped at him, while trying to pull her hands free. She was stronger than she looked, and Hatori couldn't afford to let go of her hands, so he snapped back at her. She tried to bite his nose, but he pulled his head back just in time. Then, trying to retaliate, he snapped at her nose, but because he was drunk, his aim was horrible, and he got her lower lip. Akiko glared and licked the blood from her lip. Then they both bit at each other at the same time. Their jaws locked together, and they glared at each other. Akiko pulled away fiercely and tried to press her body closer to Hatori's. If she could just get him to transform-

Hatori realized what she was trying to do fairly quickly. He let go of one of her hands and she clawed at his shirt, ripping all except for the last button off. The top button of his pants also opened. He got his free hand between them and pushed her away. He caught her other hand and held both of them in his own.

"Bastard!" she grunted, trying (and failing) to knee him. She bit at Hatori again, and he responded sluggishly. She felt his grip loosening and realized he was about to pass out. Wrenching her arms free, she slapped him on the hip. "Ha, I can hold my alcohol better than…you…"with that, she passed out as well, one hand still resting on his hip.

Dawn found them in the same hall the next morning. A bleary Shigure and Rin stumbled upon the two, sprawled on the floor. Exchanging evil grins, both of them reached for their cameras.

Their position had shifted slightly during the night. One of Hatori's hands was tangled in Akiko's hair. The other was resting lightly against her chest. Their legs were entwined and Akiko's skirt had hiked up so that her panties showed. Hatori's shirt was open except the last button and his pants were partially open too. One of Akiko's arms was beneath her head, and the other was on Hatori's hip. Their lips were almost touching.

Shigure took one of the photos and stuck it inside Hatori's almost empty cigarette box. He would find it very quickly. Rin stuck a copy of hers in Akiko's underwear drawer.

Akiko and Hatori were both stirring. Rin and Shigure both fled, not wanting to be around for the explosion that was sure to come. Both of them opened their eyes at the same moment, and jerked their heads backwards. Neither of them screamed, or made any sort of sound, probably because they felt as though they were going to throw up. They tried to untangle themselves and failed spectacularly. They got their legs mostly apart and their arms off of the respective chests and hips, but Hatori's hand remained tangled in her hair. He knew enough not to yank, as obviously that would cause a scream of pain and fury. They managed to get to their feet, blearily. Their heads were both aching (hangover, no doubt) and their clothes were pretty much destroyed. Hatori got his hand out of her hair with a few seconds of work, and started to straighten his clothes. Akiko straightened her skirt, and then suddenly yanked it up again and examined her lime green underwear. Panic filled her eyes.

"Wait," she said "This isn't the underwear I was wearing yesterday. I know I was wearing the peach pattern."

Hatori was slightly stunned. "Oh, no. Don't tell me we…we didn't, right?"

Akiko had already fled the room. Hatori went out to take a smoke. Turning the box upside down, two cigarettes and a piece of paper fell into his hand. He stuck a cigarette into his mouth, lit it, and then turned to paper over.

Akiko grabbed a towel and some clothes, then yanked open her underwear drawer. She intended to take a very long bath. She pulled out a plain black underwear set, barely noticing the piece of paper that was entangled with them. She walked to the bathroom and put down her clothes, then picked up the paper and turned it over.

Shigure and Rin winced as two screams echoed from Hatori's house.

"Do you think they woke up?" asked Rin.

"No," replied Shigure, "They wouldn't react quite so badly, especially with hangover. I think they found the pictures."

They decided to flee back to Shigure's house before they were discovered.

At Shigure's house, Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo had gone to school. Ayame and Kagura, who had the day off, were there. They just sat around, talking about nothing much.

"Hm." said Shigure jokingly "We should get Akiko and Hatori together."

"Great idea!" said Rin. "They would make the perfect couple!"

"I was jok-" he was cut off by murmurs of agreement from Ayame and Kagura.

"But what if Akito doesn't approve?" Kagura asked after a moment.

Shigure and Ayame smirked at each other. "Oh, don't worry," said Shigure "he, uh, has a soft spot for his 'sister'"

They started to formulate a plan.

Author's note:

yeah...I realize that last bit was kinda weird. And about the underwear thing, that's just Akiko's memory being stupid. Such things tend to occur.Anyway, hope ya'alll enjoyed it and please review. My pet review-eater has been eating well for the past little while :P keep it up! heh.