WELCOME! ENJOY YOUR STAY!

CHAPTER 18

When Hatori returned from the hot springs, Akiko was still refusing to speak to him or anyone else unless it was absolutely nessecary. All she did was sulk in her room. Hatori wished he could cheer her up, but between researching the medicine and preparing his presentation for a doctor's convention, he didn't have much time. He'd asked Ayame and Shigure to do something if they could, and well...Hatori didn't know quite how he had wrangled it, but Ayame had managed to convince Akiko to come to the Doctor's convention with him- as his date. They'd promised she'd look the part too. Hatori sighed, and glanced at his watch.It was an overnight convention, and if they didn't leave in five minutes, they'd miss the train. He didn't really want to take Akiko with him, but he wasn't about to leave her in Shigure's care and it was better than having random drunk women throwing themselves at him. "Akiko! We're going to miss the train!" he called down the hallway.

"I'm coming!" She yelled back. She appeared a few seconds later, lugging a huge suitcase full of clothes. She was wearing denim hot pants, high-heeled sandals and a mens sweatshirt, one of Kyo's. Hatori wasn't sure how she'd gotten hold of it, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He did know that the first night was a formal dinner and that 'jeans' and a sweatshirt would not do. Akiko noted his look.

"I'll change when we get there. We're checking in first, right?" She said. Hatori nodded. They managed to catch the train in time and the trip was uneventful. The first mishap occured when they went to check into their rooms."Ah, Sohma Hatori and Akiko. This way to your room."

Hatori blinked. Akiko came right out and asked "Room? not 'rooms'?"

"Uh...yes...you see, we assumed, since you were Hatori-san's guest and you share the same name...you are married, right?"

"No!" snapped Akiko. The receptionist looked startled.

"Oh, I apologize. Let me see...oh, dear, I'm afraid we have no more vacent rooms. You don't mind sharing, do you?"

Akiko sighed. " I guess not. Please show us the way." She said, smiling a very fake and angry smile.

A few minutes later, Hatori was sitting on the bed waiting for Akiko to finish dressing. Dinner was due to start in about half an hour, and he knew Akiko would take forever, so he pulled out a book and started reading.

Akiko was in the bathroom, examining her reflection in the mirror. She was currently standing in her underwear and bra, doing her makeup. Rin had shown her how to get different effects by blending colours and such. She decided to go for an 'innocently alluring' look, so she applied some subtle blended shades of gray to make her eyes look bigger. She put a hint of blush on her cheeks, accenting her high cheekbones and a glossy pink lipgloss. Then she slipped into the dress Ayame and Rin had chosen for her to wear. After checking her reflection, she realized two things. The 'innocently alluring' look was the only thing the made her look like she wasn't a whore, and her bra was showing. A lot. Grumbling, she decided to ditch the bra. The dress she was wearing was the one she didn't want at Ayame's, but he had altered it slightly. It was a perfect fit, and it had a thin strap of black ribbon that looped around her neck, hopefully preventing any accidents, such as her dress falling down and leaving her nude to the waist. She was wearing smooth black stockings, the strappy dress shoes, and a small black purse. After a bit of fussing with her hair (she just pulled her longer bangs back with a couple of clips) she decided to check out her jewelry. she found the black choker that she had gotted from Rin, and a diamond pin that she pinned onto it, as well as a diamond braclet that had been her mothers'. She checked out her reflection again, and almost decided to start over, but decided to just darken the eyemakeup a bit. Then she went out to meet Hatori.

Hatori, of course was wearing a suit. He was reading when Akiko came out and cleared her throat, striking a pose. Hatori looked up and his jaw dropped. After a second he closed his mouth and offered her his arm. She smiled coyly and took it, and they walked down to the banquet hall.

Kana was also at the convention, without her husband. She was wandering around with Mayu, talking with people and just relaxing. They both stiffened when Hatori and Akiko entered the room.

"Where did he find that?" exclaimed Kana, her eyes narrowing. "For some reason, I feel...irrationally jealous..."

Mayu was speechless.

"Hey, wait...that's Akiko! The head of the family's twin sister! How...?why...?I don't understand." Kana mumbled.

Mayu reached out to stop Kana from doing anything stupid, but she was too late. Kana was already marching over to confront Hatori, not realizing what she was doing.

She planted herself directly in front of them. "Hello, Hatori." She said coldly.

"Kana!" Hatori tried to pull away from Akiko, but she was holding onto his arm tightly, with wide eyes.

Akiko leaned over and whispered in his ear. "She's jealous! Do you think she remembers? Where's her husband?"

Hatori leaned over and whispered back. "I don't know. It doesn't matter, ok?"

Kana cleared her throat significantly.

Hatori raised his head suddenly. "I apologize, Kana. Nice to see you. How are you?"

Kana raised her eyebrows. "I'm doing well, I suppose. If I may ask, when did you two..?"

Hatori and Akiko glanced at each other, and grinned. "We're not really dating, if that's what you mean."

"Oh? Then why...?"

Hatori smiled and lied through his teeth. "She's under my care as long as she's at the main house. I didn't want to leave her alone at home while I came here, so I brought her."

Kana laughed. "She doesn't seem too troublesome." She was oddly relieved. "And I suppose that having her around would prevent the curse from being revealed."

Hatori and Akiko's breath caught in the same moment. "Wha-what do you mean?" Stammered Akiko.

"I don't know," She replied, puzzled. "I...don't understand why I said that, it makes no sense... One too many drinks, I guess. Well, Bye!" She wandered off, with Mayu.

Hatori and Akiko glanced at each other. "So she doesn't remember anything." said Hatori, trying not to sound too relieved. Or too disappointed.

Akiko smiled. "I hope not. Let's go get something to eat." With that, they wandered off.

Akiko'd gone back to the rooms early because she had no intrest in the presentations. She arrived and changed into her pajamas, before she realized that there was only one bed. She shrugged and climbed in. Hatori would figure it out.

Later that night, Hatori came back to the room. He changed quickly into his pajamas, eager to sleep. The presentation had gone fairly well, taking into account the fact that half of the patrons were too drunk to know what was going on.

He suddenly realized that there was only one bed. Akiko was lying on one side, alseep. Hatori shrugged and got into the other side of the bed. Akiko would live. It wasn't as though they'd never woken up in the same bed before.

The next morning, Hatori awoke first. He quickly got out of bed and changed, grateful that Akiko hadn't woken first and made a scene. Their train left at about two thirty, which meant they had most of the morning to do as they pleased. Akiko woke up soon after Hatori. They decided to go out for breakfast since they were both up so early. Akiko went into the bathroom to get dressed.

"Uh, Hatori?" She called a few minutes later. "Can I borrow one of your shirts?"

"Why?" Hatori called back. Akiko sighed and walked out of the bathroom in a knee-length black skirt and her bra.

"Rin chose my clothes, and I don't feel like wearing something strappy and lace-up." Akiko said.

Hatori turned his back on her and went to his suitcase. He pulled out a white shirt and tossed it to her over his shoulder.

"Thanks," she called, walking back into the bathroom. She pulled on a tight black tube top that didn't quite reach the waistband of her skirt and then pulled Hatori's shirt over it. She considered putting on makeup, but decided to just put on some lipgloss. The only shoes she had were the same ones she'd worn last night, but they matched well enough. She toyed with her hair for a few minutes before she realized that it had actually grown enough in the past month to tie it back in a ponytail. She decided to wear it like that, since it was practical and looked good.

She stepped out of the bathroom and posed for Hatori. "How do I look?" She asked.

Hatori studied her thoughtfully. "Nice, but you need some accessories."

Akiko barely managed to keep herself from gaping in surprise; Hatori had never made any suggestions before. It was a good suggestion, though. The fact that she wasn't wearing any jewelry or anything did seem odd. She found herself eyeing Hatori's belt. It had a silver buckle and looked pretty ambiguous, the perfect touch.

"Hatori, give me your belt."

"What? Why?"

"Because I want to wear it."

"If my pants fall down, it's your fault." Hatori said, unbuckling it. He pulled off and handed it to her. She buckled it around her own waist, the smallest setting being only slightly too big so it rode low on her hips. Frowning thoughtfully, she slid one side higher, so that it was on an angle.

"Perfect." She said, smiling at Hatori. He smiled back wryly and checked his pants. They were, of course, a perfect fit, so they wouldn't actually fall down. He offered his arm to Akiko. "Shall we?"

Akiko took his arm. They sauntered outside to hail a taxi.

Authors Note:

Hm. I think this is gettinga little bit boring. Meh. Read and Review...and all...hugs