The news about Tohru's pregnancy spread throughout the entire Sohma estate in the next few weeks and everyone minus Yamato of course were thrilled for her and Kyo and sent them cards and presents in congratulations. Just as Yamato had requested Katsuya and Takara visited the main house every Friday for their sessions with him. So far Kaye had been very guarded on his relationship with Stephanie and Akito hadn't brought back any new information either, so Yamato felt very discouraged and realized that he was the only one who could possibly get the information he was searching for. The question was how? The answer to that came on a rainy Wednesday afternoon when he had been called to one of the offices. The Kyoto schools were working on a city project to show the educational board back in Tokyo how many exchange and transfer students filled into each school every year. And since Suichi Nakamura high had so many new students in that category the past year, they were a prime candidate.
"We chose you Mr. Sohma" the teacher replied finishing his explanation of the project to him, "You may choose any three students to join you on this project that have enrolled this school year. I have a list for you" he handed the paper to him, "Read it over and then come back later with your choices."
Yamato glanced over the list briefly and then selected immediately. He circled them with a pen and then handed the paper back with satisfied grin.
"I don't need to come back" he explained, "I know exactly who I want."
The teacher looked over his choices and then smiled.
"Excellent choices Mr. Sohma. Particularly the last one."
"I liked that one too" Yamato nodded.
"You may start this afternoon. We will have those students prepared for you. Good luck!"
"Thank you sir" Yamato said bowing his head politely and then leaving the office still smiling, "This is just what I needed" he thought, "The perfect opportunity."
(Next Scene)
After the second class Reiji and Stephanie were called to the side by their teacher who informed them that they were needed in one of the conference rooms with no real explanation, but by handing them each a slip of paper. After a short but not a very informative reason for leaving to Kaye and Sakura the two of them walked down the hall heading for the room.
"What do you suppose this is all about?" Reiji replied.
"I have no idea," Stephanie said shrugging her shoulders.
"This doesn't give much information either" Reiji added holding up the slip of paper.
"Well we're here now" she replied taking the handle of the door, "So once we're inside we'll probably know what's going on."
He nodded as she opened the door and they peered inside the large room. But the only thing they saw was another person sitting at the long table. Akito looked up in surprise as the two of them entered the room with stunned looks on their faces at the sight of him.
"Akito?" Reiji frowned.
"Reiji? Miss Kamiya?" Akito said astonished.
"What are you doing here?"
"I don't know. What are you doing here?"
"I asked you first" Reiji insisted crossing his arms.
"So what? I asked you second."
"All right sheep boy, you answer my question or you'll regret it."
"Listen you stupid dragon, I don't know anymore then you know!" he stood up offended.
"All right you guys that's enough" Stephanie told them quieting them down, "Now it's obvious that we have been called here for a reason. So calm down and don't argue."
Akito took his seat once more as Reiji continued standing with his arms crossed.
"Well if there's a reason, what could it be?"
"I don't know" she shook her head, "There must be something we all have in common. Maybe it has to do with that."
"What does that got to do with anything?" Akito retorted with a sour look.
"Why don't you just hear her out" Reiji replied angrily.
Before another argument could ensue the door was opened once more and the three of them looked back stunned once again, this time at the sight of Yamato standing in the doorframe.
"So sorry I'm late" he said casually as he came through the door and shut it behind him.
"Yamato" Reiji replied slowly as he moved past him.
"Master Yamato?" Akito said confused standing up.
"I'm glad you all could make it" he grinned walking to the front of the table and in particular staring at the only girl in the room.
"What's going on?" Reiji said a bit worried.
"Sit down. All of you and I'll tell you" he gestured politely.
They all did as he asked but Reiji continued to frown as he took his seat.
"He's being far to smooth again" he thought, "He's putting on an act. He's never been this nice unless he's after something" Reiji looked at Stephanie briefly, "And I'm afraid of the answer."
"For starters I suppose you're confused about why you're all here" Yamato began, "This morning I was called to one of the offices and was asked to head up a project dealing with transfer" he said as he passed them each a folder, "And exchange students. I was told to pick three students to assist me. You two I chose naturally because you're family and it would make it more comfortable for me. Plus Reiji you are a second year whereas Akito is a first year so it gives it more variety. As for you Miss Kamiya, it's obvious why I chose you," he grinned menacingly towards her.
"Yea. It sure is" Reiji grumbled in his head.
"You are the only exchange student as of this year and it would be a great asset to the project."
"Oh I see" she nodded, "Well I'll help anyway I can" she smiled back.
"Now that we've got that settled," he replied sitting down at last, "Let's get started."
As they began flipping through the folders Reiji continued to ponder Yamato's thinking.
"I know exactly why you're doing this" he thought, "You don't fool me for a minute Yamato. But you're going to regret making me a part of this project. For I will prevent you from getting the information that you want."
(Next Scene)
After the first meeting with Yamato Reiji and Stephanie met with Katsuya and Sakura to inform them of the project. Katsuya was quite concerned about the prospect however and on the way home, after Stephanie had departed for her own residence, he confided in Reiji about his fears. But Reiji assured him that in following the blood oath that he would protect Stephanie at all costs from Yamato. And so he did. For two weeks he did everything in his power to stop Yamato from asking too many personal questions or getting even remotely close to Stephanie alone. Unfortunately for him someone was watching out for Yamato as well, and Akito had observed Reiji's behavior the entire time and thus informed Yamato of it. Yamato wasn't fazed by it. He had his own suspicions and he decided it was time to get serious.
On the third week of the project it was the second week of February and Valentines Day had arrived. Stephanie of course like most of the girls had given Katsuya chocolate according to the old tradition. In turn she had given some to Reiji and Sakura as well for being such good friends, Reiji in particular. She knew he was looking out for her and despite her feigned ignorance about what went on in the conference room, she knew that Yamato was trying to confront her once again, and was waiting for the day when he would actually succeed. On this particular afternoon she arrived at the room without Reiji because he had to deal with all the chocolate her had received because her didn't care very much for the sweet or the girl's affections for that matter. As she opened the door once again she noticed that Akito was by himself, reading his book.
"Good afternoon Akito!" she replied cheerfully.
"Hey" he said back not even looking up from his book.
"Happy Valentines Day" she added placing his chocolate next to him.
"Uh huh" he nodded but then stopped reading, "Huh?" he looked over and saw the present, "What's this for?"
"It's for Valentines Day of course," she said as she unpacked her bag.
"You're only supposed to give that stuff to your sweetheart on Valentines Day" he retorted surprised.
"Not only that, but you give it to people you care about."
"You don't even know me?"
" I know you enough" she replied as she sat down and placed another piece of chocolate at the head of the table, "So just enjoy it."
Akito said nothing more but returned to his book with a shake of his head. A couple of minutes later Yamato arrived in the room carrying a large bag of chocolate himself.
"Master Yamato?" Akito looked up surprised as he struggled with the bag and entered the room.
"Here Akito" Yamato held out the bag with a frown, "Take this."
"Yes sir" he nodded standing up and taking the bag from him as he sighed and took his seat.
"Good afternoon Miss Kamiya" Yamato breathed heavily.
"Good afternoon Mr. Sohma" she replied back concerned at his expression, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine" he nodded, "Where's Reiji?"
At that moment Reiji arrived and apologized for being late before taking his seat. Yamato cleared his throat and stood addressing them.
"We've been doing really well with the project so far. We're nearly done and I'm quite pleased with the way it's turning out. I think the teachers will be too. However there is something that still is required and" he said closing his eyes and grinning slightly, "Rather than all of us work on the same thing at once I've decided that this afternoon that Akito and Reiji, you both will go to the copy room and work on the paperwork while Miss Kamiya and I remain here to do more research."
"But. Uh" Reiji began as Akito stood up, grabbing the papers.
"Is there a problem Reiji?" Yamato raised an eyebrow at him.
"Um. Are you sure that's the arrangement you want Yamato?"
"Yes" Yamato stated a bit irritated at his defiance.
"Because I could stay here and she could go to the copy room with Akito."
"Reiji" Stephanie interrupted, "He's right. It would be a more lucrative way to get things done. Wouldn't you agree?" she looked at him directly with seriousness in her eyes.
Reiji saw her knowing look and realized what she really meant. She knew. She knew that Yamato wanted to talk to her alone and she was willing to take that risk no matter the consequences. As he stood up he nodded his head slowly in understanding but still with the worry in his heart as he followed Akito out the door, determined to come back as fast as he could.
Yamato saw the exchange of looks between them and realized at the same time as Reiji did what her intentions were. Still he wasn't deterred and determined more than ever to accomplish is goal. He cleared his throat and pulled out the next bit of information they had to record.
"So speaking of the project" he began, "Are you enjoying Kyoto Miss Kamiya?"
"Huh?" she looked over but then smiled, "Oh yes. Very much. How about you Mr. Sohma?"
"I can't say that I have seen much of the city. Not really anyway."
"Well you ought to. It's really beautiful."
"So I've heard."
"Is that all you really wanted to ask me?" she said writing on her piece of paper.
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Let's be honest Mr. Sohma" she replied, "You've been trying to get me alone for weeks now. So what is it you really want to ask me?"
"You're quite intuitive," he said smiling slightly, "Do you know that?"
"I just have good instincts that's all. So what do you want to know?"
"Hmm" he thought, "How do I word this properly. It's not so much about what I want to know" he replied, "More like something I want to say."
"Oh?"
"Yes. No one has really ever been involved with the Zodiac curse that is on the outside. You can't blame me for being a little worried."
"Of course not. But I've already given you my word that I would say nothing."
"Yes. Yes you did. However it doesn't mean that I'm not concerned. Especially when it comes to Katsuya."
"Uh huh" she said a bit warily at the mention of his name.
"I don't want him to be influenced to believe things that are impossible."
"Such as?"
"He is a member of the Zodiac, much like all of them. And in being so he has a certain obligation to me."
"Obligation?" she raised her eyebrows.
"They all do. I as the head of the Zodiac carry the core of the curse on my shoulders. Therefore in a way they are indebted to me."
"Indebted to you?" she replied a bit angrily.
"That's correct" he nodded catching the anger in her voice, "They owe me a certain amount of respect because of it."
"And by respect do you mean actual respect or complete submission" she replied seriously.
"Excuse me?" he replied back a bit affronted.
"Mr. Sohma. I've been watching you too you know. Just like you've been watching me. I'm fully aware of your insecurity to me."
"Insecurity?"
"Yes. You're worried all right. But it's not because of the reason you said. It's because I am with Katsuya who before you considered as your property. Am I right?"
"I never thought of him that way?" Yamato retorted.
"But you do. You think that you own him in one-way or another. That's the same thing. The truth is you're jealous of the relationship that we have" she replied as she stood up and placed a book back on one of the shelves located behind her, "That's the real reason of why you don't approve of me being with him."
"You're quite bright" he frowned but stared directly back at her, "I believe I underestimated you" he stood up, "Suppose I am jealous. What would that matter?"
"It wouldn't" she shook her head, "But at least you would have admitted it."
"And you would absolutely love that wouldn't you?" he accused, "That you're right. It would absolutely thrill you for me to admit that so that you're assumptions of me would be valid."
"My assumptions? What are you talking about?"
"You must have some opinion about me by this point" he said loudly, "We've spent a lot of time together."
"Is that what you're after? You want to know what I think of you?"
"That would be a start."
"Why? So you can use that as another reason to threaten me? I won't give you the satisfaction" she replied angrily.
"Tell me!" he demanded with a shout that shook the whole room and startled her for the moment.
"You really want to know?"
"Yes" he nodded fervently.
"All right" she nodded with a determined look as she moved away from the bookcase, "All right I will give you my exact opinion of you Mr. Sohma. To me you are a very confused person. You don't know what you want. And if you don't get your way you act like a spoiled brat. You say that you love the people around you and yet you hurt them. You treat them as if they are dirt under your feet. I've watched you. I've watched the way you talk to them. To Reiji and Akito. You're very blunt and rude a lot of the times and very demanding. I do sense that you have honorable intentions when it comes to the Zodiac members but you're handling it the wrong way. You talk about respect. You say they respect you. No they don't. Don't fool yourself. They don't respect you. Not really. They fear you."
"Isn't that the same thing?" he retorted crossing his arms.
"No. There's a major difference between both of those things. Fear is something you instill in a person and respect is something you have to earn. Have you earned their respect Yamato, because I don't think you have?"
"I don't think you would understand anything. You don't understand anything about my family and you shouldn't pretend to."
"I think I understand enough because I know what I see. You want my personal opinion of how I feel about you Yamato" he stared at her furiously as she continued, "You're nothing but a bully. A bully who is so afraid of losing what you have that you do everything in your power to have control of it. So much to the point that you're pushing away everything that you're trying to hold onto. And you're abusing your power so much to the point that you're being most unfair. That is what I really think of you Yamato. You're scared. You're intimidated by my presence because I take them away from you in your eyes and you don't like to share for fear of losing them. And to you I am a threat and you're going to do everything in your power to get rid of me."
"Enough" he interrupted, "You've said enough" he moved towards her, "As far as I am concerned you don't have the right to have such an opinion."
"You asked me and I told you" she retorted.
"Yes I did and now that I've heard it I demand you do something."
"Demand?"
"Stay away from my family or else. Especially Katsuya. I don't want your kind of influence around him."
"That's up to your family. But as long as Kaye wants me around, I'm staying."
"Why you little, nosy woman. How dare you defy me" he moved closer to her so she ended with her back against the wall with wide eyes, "I told you that you would regretitif you went against me."
"You can't order me around Yamato. I'm not your property either" she said staring at him defiantly, "And I unlike them as you put it, do not respect you in the slightest. I don't respect anybody who treats people this way."
"I swear to you," he said as he pressed his hands on the wall surrounding her on both sides, "You will do as I ask and you'll be begging on your knees for my compassion on your fate."
She frowned angrily at him and then pushed him aside. She picked up her bag and turned to his stunned expression.
"I'm sorry Mr. Sohma. I'm not one who sticks around to be bullied. I'm leaving and more than likely, you will not be seeing me again" she opened the door, "By the way. The chocolate that's sitting on the table is yours. Happy Valentines Day" she added sadly as she departed.
As she stood outside the door she held her hand over her mouth.
"He was so close" she thought a bit terrified, "He had me pinned against the wall and he was so very close. He surprised me. So much so that I'm actually afraid. I never thought that could happen. I can't keep doing this" she said aloud as she headed down the hall, "I've got to put an end to it before it gets worse."
Meanwhile in the room Yamato stared at the chocolate in his palm and continued to frown but with a feeling of slight guilt in his heart for how things had turned out.
(Till Next Time)
Authors Note: Okay guys! That's it for this week! Four more chapters to go! See you all on Monday!
Next Chapter: An Uncomfortable Situation
Because of her last confrontation with Yamato, Stephanie has left the project and he is not too thrilled about it and once more confronts her on her actions, stirring up past memories that she has tried to forget. Don't miss a minute!