ENJOY!

CHAPTER 20

The next day, Akiko was up and ready for school, on time. Hatori drove her there without incident. The day of staring at Yuki passed quickly.

After school, Akiko waited in front of the school for Hatori to pick her up. He'd never been late before; he was usually there before school even let out. She barely noticed the group of guys that were eyeing her until a few of them began to walk over. They reached her and stood around nervously for a second. Then one of them began to introduce himself. 'Shit.' She thought.

"I'm-" He was cut off by Hatori's arrival.

"Ha'ri!" Akiko exclaimed. She ran a few steps toward him and grabbed his face, pulling it down and kissing him firmly on the lips. When she let go, he reeled, amazed; he hadn't been expecting it. Akiko grabbed one of his hands in her own, threading her fingers through his. She glanced back over her shoulder and shot a 'sorry, I'm taken' look at the boys. Then she saw who was standing on the school steps behind them. The smile became pasted on and totally fake. 'Shit! Why now?' she thought, dragging Hatori, who was half-unconcious,back toward the car.

Yuki, Tohru, Kyo, Haru, and Momiji stood staring in shock as the "twin sister" of the head of the family kissed Hatori.

Kyo laughed. "That looked just like the rat in a skirt with darker hair, kissing Hatori!" Yuki glared

"No," Haru replied in his customary slow fashion "It looked exactly like Akito-San in a skirt, kissing Hatori."

Yuki, Kyo, Haru, and Momiji glanced at each other and burst out laughing. Tohru just smiled uncertainly.

Later on, at Rin's house...

Rin burst out laughing. Akiko had just told her what had happened that afternoon.

"It would have been so good if Yuki hadn't been there!" Howled Rin wildly. Kagura laughed too. Akiko glowered.

"It isn't fair." She wailed. "My life sucks so much." She slumped on the bed, looking hurt.

Kagura patted her sympathetically on the shoulder. "It's ok. It's not like you had a chance with Yuki anyway." Akiko gave her the full-blast Akito glare. Kagura affected not to notice. "I mean, after what your twin did to him…" she shook her head. "I don't know."

Akiko reflected on this for an instant. Then she burst into tears.

'I still have a chance.' Akiko tried to convince herself later, lying in her room. 'After all, he doesn't know who I really am.' She sighed and rolled over, thinking of Yuki. She fell asleep, dreaming of him. But the last conscious image she remembered was someone with vivid blue eyes.

The next morning, Akiko didn't get up. She lay in bed until about noon. Hatori was getting slightly worried. Was she sick? It wasn't like her to miss breakfast, at least not on a school day. He decided to take her some food. He assembled some snacks on a tray, and then knocked on her door.

"Come in." Akiko called miserably. Hatori opened the door, carrying the tray of snacks.

"Here." He said simply, setting the tray down.

"Oh, thanks." Akiko replied, blushing. Hatori smiled slightly and left the room. She sat up and picked up her notebook, several pages of which were already covered with hearts. She flipped to a new page and began to draw Yuki.

Later on, Hatori came to check in on her again. He noticed that she hadn't actually eaten anything, but had fallen asleep again. A notebook rested on the pillow near her head. Hatori shook his head. He moved the notebook off of the futon, and gently pulled the covers back over Akiko. Then he got up and left the room.

When Akiko woke a while later, she somehow felt…different. She didn't know how. Sort of happy and sad at the same time. Shrugging, she reached for her notebook-and realized that it wasn't on the pillow where she'd left it. She sat up suddenly, frantically looking for it, and spotted it on the floor beside her bed. She also realized that she was covered. Hatori must have come in. Panic shot through her again. What if Hatori had read the notebook? For some reason, she was frantic. She didn't know why she should care so much, but she did. She called Hatori.

A few seconds later, Hatori came to her door. "Yes?" he said.

"Um, Ha-San, did you read my notebook?"

Hatori blinked at her. "No."

"Oh." She tried not to show her relief. "Thank you."

Hatori nodded at her. "You should eat," he said over his shoulder before he left.

Akiko nodded and grabbed a cracker as he closed the door. She nibbled on it, feeling dreamy. Then suddenly, she sat up.

"Wait a second." She said aloud. "I didn't see Yuki, he isn't anywhere around here. Then why…" It slowly came to her. It wasn't Yuki she liked at all! Her crush had shifted. Akiko slumped backward with a groan. She felt like crying. Damn these girlish impulses. Pushing aside the food tray, she crawled under the covers of her futon and fell asleep.

Hatori had finally managed to make a cure for Akiko. He mixed the contents and poured the counteractive formula into a small teacup, which he left in the kitchen. It needed to sit for a few minutes. In the meantime, he went back to his office.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

nothing really happens in this chapter, eh?..heh. once again, sappyish, kinda stupid, and well...yeah.

WELL,I hope you guys enjoy.. I feel so loved :P thanks for all the great reviews.