Chapter Four: Another Ushida?

The next day after school Katsuya snuck quietly into the house. The truth was he was trying to avoid his sister as much as possible. In fact he had left for school that morning without her and did his best not to speak to her in class, even though she tried. He just couldn't take her questions about the night before and he certainly wasn't ready to tell her that he was going to take Stephanie on a tour neither. But unfortunately for him Sakura was two steps ahead.

"Hello Kaye" she said suspiciously as she stood in front of the front door her arms crossed.

"Sakura!" he started spinning around, "How did you get here so fast?"

"I just took a page out of your book and got home before you."

"But weren't you supposed to go out with your friends this afternoon?" he asked nervously.

"I told them that I had something much more important to do" she grinned slyly.

"Huh?" his eyes blinked.

"You've been avoiding me since last night and I want to know why?"

"Uh Sakura" he sighed moving towards his room to change, "I don't have time for this."

"Come on little brother, spill" she replied following him and standing in the doorway, "I know you're up to something."

"I'm not up to anything."

"Then why did you invite her to dinner last night?"

"Because we're friends," he said as he unbuttoned his shirt and threw it off.

"That's not good enough for me."

"All right. I'll tell you, just turn around would ya?"

Geez" she rolled her eyes, "It's not like I have never seen you before. We did share a room at one point."

"Sakura" he growled.

"All right. I'm turning," she said in a huff turning her back as he removed his pants, "Now tell me."

"I invited her over so she wouldn't be alone last night," he explained slipping on his tee shirt.

"Huh?"

"Nobody was going to be at her house and she was going to be eating dinner alone. And I didn't think that seemed right so I invited her over. You can turn around now," he said as he walked over to his bed to put his socks on.

"Oh" she replied as she moved into the room, "But is that normal?"

"A lot of the time it is. Most of the time her brother, sister, and her eat alone."

"That sounds weird. And kind of sad too."

"Yea" he nodded, "I felt bad so I invited her over. Now you know okay" he stood up and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"You look like you're getting ready for something important," she observed crossing her arms.

"I'm going out this afternoon," he said simply grabbing his jacket.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm" he hesitated, "Okay. I'll tell you. But don't make a big deal out of it."

"Okay" she nodded, "I promise I wont."

"I'm taking Miss Kamiya on a tour of Kyoto this afternoon."

"You're going on a date?" her eyes became wide as she squealed.

"It's an outing" he retorted, "Not a date."

"But the two of you are going out somewhere together. It's a date."

"It's an outing."

"Date" she insisted.

"Call it what you want" he shrugged with a sigh, "I'll be back later."

"Hey!" she said as she followed him out into the hall, "What about my rice balls?"

"They're in the fridge as we speak. I did them last night. But don't touch them till I get back, because I made more than a dozen and some of them are the kind you don't like."

"All right" she nodded as he put on his tennis shoes, "But can I ask you one more thing before you go?"

"Shoot" he nodded his head back.

"Do you like her Kaye? I mean do you like her?"

He paused for a moment and then raised his eyes slowly toward her and smiled.

"Yes. I do. But I've decided that I am going to take things slow."

"How slow?"

"I don't want to make any mistakes" he replied standing up after tying the lace on the second shoe, "I've decided to be her friend first and then see where it goes from there."

"Is she what you have been looking for?" Sakura asked as he opened the door.

"I don't know" he smiled again and then added, "We'll see. Don't touch the rice balls" he replied firmly.

"I won't," she promised.

"If you do, I have a sentinel watching them for me" he said sarcastically.

"A sentinel?" she crossed her arms and frowned slightly, "What? Do you think I can't be trusted?"

"I know you can't" he grinned, "Takara is going to keep and eye on you for me."

"Great" she huffed, "Guarded by a ten year old."

"See ya later" he replied closing the door leaving Sakura smiling despite his remark about the rice balls, and quite pleased that her brother had finally started to show interest in someone.

(Next Scene)

Katsuya arrived at Stephanie's home a few minutes early so he paused briefly at the gate and took a deep breath. In his mind he knew that he was only going on an outing, but Sakura's words haunted him. It was true that it was one guy and one girl going out somewhere, which technically was a date, but he shook his head out of that thought and then walked into the gate heading for the door.

Inside the house Sam sat in the living roomlookingover a study manual, his glasses propped neatly on his nose. His eyes focused on the page but his mind just couldn't concentrate on what he was reading. Since moving to Japan he had tried his hardest to keep up with his studies and to focus less on the world around him, except when it came to his sisters of course. Since the oldest of the children, his brother Stephen had remained back in the states with their father he had taken upon himself as the next oldest to protect them in his place. The truth was before coming to Japan, Sam had been the laidback brother but he had promised Stephen before leaving that he would do what he could to look out for them. A burden he wished he hadn't taken because he hated arguing with his sisters and he was certain to them it must have seemed that he had changed. He sighed heavily as he suddenly heard the doorbell ring and lifted himself slowly from the couch to answer it. As he opened it he frowned once more, for Katsuya was standing there.

"Sohma? You again?"

"Uh" Katsuya stammered, "Hi. Is Stephanie ready?"

"Pardon?"

"We're going out this afternoon. To see Kyoto," Katsuya said as Sam eyed him and snorted slightly as his sister came down the stairs.

"Oh hello Katsuya" she replied politely frowning at Sam, "You ready to go?"

"Oh. Uh yea" Katsuya nodded and she moved past her brother's glare.

"I'll be back later," she told Sam and then the two of them left from the door heading towards the gate.

Sam watched them leave and then sighed himself as he closed the door quietly and looked down at the ground.

"This is not good. Not good at all" he said to himself.

(Next Scene)

"I'm so sorry" Stephanie replied as they walked towards the park.

"For what?" Katsuya asked a bit confused.

"My brother's behavior. He shouldn't treat you like that."

"Oh no. It's all right. I'm sure he just cares about you. Well here's the park" he pointed out as they arrived, "I'm sure this would be the first place that you would like to see since you mentioned it to me before."

"Wow" she smiled and breathed in the fresh air as she gazed at the grass and the large pond, "It's beautiful. I know I am going to love it here. We used to have a park back home I used to love to spend my afternoons in."

"Good. I'm glad you like it" he grinned as they moved towards the water.

"Where exactly are we going today?" she asked.

"Well I decided we should see our part of Kyoto first and then we'll move onto the touristy section since the temples are all over there."

"Temples?"

"Mhm. Kyoto is one of the biggest known places near Tokyo that has tons of temples around. That's why it's such a tourist attraction. In fact many people come here on school trips. My parents did for their junior trip in high school" he continued as they headed for the small town where the shops were located, "And they liked it so much that they came back for their honeymoon."

"Oh I see. But has your family always lived down here?"

"Not really, why do you ask?" he said turning to her.

"I heard that there is a large estate that has your family name somewhere around this part of Kyoto."

"Oh yea. It's about ten minutes from my house. But that place has been emptied for years. A lot of years. Most of the Sohma family lives up in Tokyo now."

"And your family? Is that where they are originally from?"

"Yea. My mom met my father and Uncle there. We moved down to Kyoto when Sakura and I were just babies for one reason or another" he skipped past the subject, "Anyway my parents liked it so much down here that they decided to stay. My Uncle Yuki lived down here too when he was married. The rest of our family are up at the main house in Tokyo."

"Oh. So where are we headed now?" she asked as she saw some of the small shops.

"To the temples" he replied with a smile, "That is if you don't mind?"

"Mnm. Not at all."

"I figured we could go to see some of the temples and then stop for lunch along the way."

"Okay" she nodded, "That sounds like a good idea" she took his arm surprising him slightly, "Lead the way Mr. Tour Guide."

He chuckled and blushed slightly but was still completely relaxed much to his surprise at her affection.

(Next Scene)

By the time it was two in the afternoon Katsuya had taken the elated American to a number of temples on the eastern side of Kyoto. They leaned over a bridge staring at the water, eating strawberry crepes, which she had never tried before.

"So what did you think?" he asked as he finished his off.

"It was so amazing. I've never seen so many beautiful buildings."

"Did you have a favorite?"

"Hmm? I really liked the one with the water and all those pretty bridges."

"Oh you mean Daigoji temple? Yea that one is really pretty."

"And the gardens around it were gorgeous. The other temples were pretty too. What was that one with the huge garden and the large lake behind it or in front of it? I can't remember which?" she giggled.

"Um I think you're talking about Ninnaji temple. The other one we visited was the Toji temple."

"Is that the one they called the "Guardian temple?"

"Yea" Katsuya nodded, "That's the one. It's the one with the tallest pagoda."

"I had no idea that temples had so many buildings either."

"Each building is for a specific purpose. Yea I admit that all the temples we visited today were wonderful. But none of them were my favorite."

"You have a favorite?" she asked as she finished her crepe.

"Mhm. Would you like to see it?"

"Is it far?"

"No" he shook his head, "It's just around the corner. And we don't have to take a bus this time either."

"All right" she agreed, "Let's go."

Katsuya nodded and then led her around the corner till they came to a large temple surrounded by many green trees. They stopped right in front of it and Stephanie stared around her a bit confused.

"You can barely see the temple where we're standing" she replied.

"Not this time of year" he shook his head, "Besides it's not the temple I love, it's the surrounding area."

"I don't understand," she said quizzically.

"Every autumn the leaves on those trees become a patchwork of colors. It's a very popular place to visit that time of year but I have never seen anything more beautiful then when these trees become covered with leaves of red, orange, and gold. That's why Tofukuji temple is my favorite. Because I live in this town and can come to this temple even before the crowds arrive. I can be one of the first people to see it happen" he smiled as he stared at the trees and her heart melted at the gentleness in his voice.

"I can understand that" she nodded, "I love that time of year too."

"If you want," he replied looking directly at her, "When autumn comes, I'll bring you here and you can see for yourself what I mean."

"I'd really like that" she nodded.

"Good" he smiled, "Well we have been walking around most of the afternoon, without stopping. We should get something to eat now."

"I agree" she nodded again and then the two of them headed for the section of Kyoto where the restaurants were located.

(Next Scene)

Unfortunately at that moment they didn't make it to the section for heading their way were two people that Katsuya had been sure he would never see again. He stopped dead in his tracks and frowned as Stephanie looked at him quizzically.

"Katsuya? What's the matter?"

"They're back" he said loud enough for her to hear.

"Huh?" she looked in front of her as the two teenagers stopped in front of them.

Both boys had dirty blond hair and brown eyes. The taller one was smirking at Katsuya while the younger of the two moved closer in front to eye the young girl.

"Well. Well. Well" the older brother spoke up, "Sohma? Fancy meeting you out here."

"Ushida" Katsuya spat, "I thought you'd gone back to Tokyo."

"Disappointed?" the younger one snickered, "We missed you too."

"I can't say I have missed you" Katsuya said angrily as the older one moved around the two of them and the younger brother moved closer to the confused girl.

"Neither did we. But we're here now so there is nothing you can do about it" he placed his hand on Kaye's head, "Monster" he added cynically.

"Get off of me!" Kaye knocked his hand from his forehead; "Don't start trouble now that you're back."

"Katsuya" Stephanie whispered, "Let's get out here" she took his hand.

"Well what do we have here" the younger one said, "What's your name sweet heart?"

She grimaced at his forwardness as Katsuya stepped in front of her.

"Leave her alone Takechi," he ordered.

"He's right Takechi" the older brother replied with his hands in his pockets, "We'll be seeing him at school later anyway. Goodbye Sohma" he said as he walked away, "Oh and say hello to your sister for me" he chuckled as Takechi smiled one last time at Stephanie and took after his brother.

"Jerks" Kaye muttered under his breath.

"Katsuya" Stephanie replied, "What was that all about?"

"That was Hayoto and Takechi Ushida," he said with a sigh.

"Ushida? Well why were they picking on you? Who are they?"

"Let's just say this" Katsuya replied as they began walking in the opposite direction, "The Sohma and the Ushida family have long since been enemies and when I say long I mean it has been going on for years. We don't like them, they don't like us. That's always the case."

"I see" she nodded.

"I'm sorry if he made you uncomfortable coming onto youlike that" Katsuya replied as she moved ahead.

"That's all right" she nodded, "Besides I have dealt with boys like him before" she looked back over her shoulder, "It's nothing I can't handle."

Katsuya pondered her response and then followed her down the road determined to put the fact that the Ushida's were back in town out of his mind, and to simply enjoy the rest of the afternoon with her.

(Till Next Time)

Authors Note: Okay this chapter became way too long so I decided to stick with Katsuya and Stephanie's first encounter with the Ushida's in this chapter and I will do Sakura and Stephanie's second encounter in the next. Also if you have any questions about the temples in the chapter, I did research before I wrote about them and if you're interested I highly recommend looking up the temples yourself. Some of them are really pretty. Anyway two more chapters to go for the week so I'd better get started on those! Hope you enjoyed it!

Next Time on Curse Renewed:

Chapter Five: I Thought You'd Never Ask

Sakura and Stephanie meet up with the Ushida's once more and Katsuya finally gets the courage up enough to ask her on a date. See what happens next time!

And

Chapter Six: Seasons of Love

Not telling yet!