Author's Note (1): Sorry for taking so long- too much fic on my plate, too much work and was too little time. It's short and sweet and I'm still working on the ending and this thing's sequel. So thank you all for reading and being very patient with me!

Author's Note (2):My japanese sucks. I'll try to keep it to a minimum. Plus, I may get confused with the honorifics. I just hope I got them all right. f not, I hope some of you will let me know.

Author's Note (3): I can't remember all the names that Tohru calls Hanajima, so I'll just name her Saki here. And I promise that I'll get it right in the next chapter or fic she appears.

Chapter Five: Going to School

"Well, how do I look?" Yuki asked as he faced Tohru. "Is it noticeable?"

"Ano-maybe you should stay home today, Sohma-kun?" Tohru suggested after a moment. "I mean, it's been two days since you were hurt and it doesn't look very bad- the swelling has gone down but-"

"You still look like you got your ass kicked, Rat-boy," Kyo interrupted as he looked up from his traditional Japanese breakfast.

"You should talk, you stupid Cat," Yuki retorted as he glared at Kyo as best he could. "You look like you went through a meat grinder yourself."

"Perhaps Tohru-kun is correct, you should stay home today," Shigure suggested as he looked at his young charges. He winced as he gazed at them. "The both of you."

"I can write the two of you a note," Hatori suggested as he put out his cigarette. "That would excuse the both of you from school today.

Kyo glared at his older cousin. "Yeah, with your hand like that, how are you going to write it?"

"Like you expect to write properly with your hand like that? How do you expect to take notes? At least I can look at the board and take them!" Yuki shot back with a glare. "You should stop talking so stupid-"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tohru cried as she looked at Yuki and Kyo and everyone else at the table. "This is all my fault! I'm so sorry!"

Alarmed, Yuki placed his hand on Tohru's shoulder. "Honda-kun, it wasn't your fault. Please don't cry. It really wasn't."

Alarmed by the tears gathering at her eyes, Kyo hollered, "Will you stop with the crying? It wasn't your fault that we were hurt this way! It was that damn Ayame's fault! Or that damn Negi-san's fault we were hurt!"

Tohru started to cry harder. "But it was my fault that I brought Negi-san here! I should have warned you about Negi-san but I totally forgot and now you're all hurt because of me!"

"Now that's not true," Yuki protested as he desperately tried to think of a reason to stop her from crying any more.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Kyo sputtered out, desperately trying to think of something to say.

Shigure smiled gleefully at his cousins' attempts to comfort Tohru. 'Oh, this is so much fun! Should I say something? I want to say something! What could I say-' "OW!"

"Don't say anything," Hatori said calmly as he sipped his coffee. He ignored Shigure's incredulous look and the failing attempts to comfort Tohru done by Yuki and Kyo. If anything, she seemed to be more inconsolable. Sighing, he placed his coffee down with a distinct click and rose to his feet and walked over to her. He hardly noticed that Kyo and Yuki became quiet as soon as he knelt down behind her and put his hand on her forehead. "Just as I thought, Tohru-kun, you're starting to get a fever. You must cease this crying immediately if you wish to go to school today."

"Hai, Hatori-san," Tohru whispered as she bowed her head down and tried to stem the tears.

Then Hatori looked sternly at his two young cousins who were looking at him warily. "And you two boys, stop agitating her even more."

Kyo started to sputter. "We're not-"

"Agitating her," Yuki finished through gritted teeth. "We're trying to calm her down."

"Mah-mah! And you boys seemed to be doing a fine job," Shigure snickered at them. He ignored their twin looks of death.

Ignoring Shigure, Hatori forced Tohru to face him by lifting her face with the crook of his finger under her chin. "Tohru-kun, the boys are correct: This was not your fault, only Negi-san's. Yuki can survive going to school with two black eyes, Kyo insists that he's fine with his hand and black eye. Ayame will be fine as long as he stays off his sprained ankle and I can take a couple more days off because of my bruised ribs. The only person who is not fine is you, Tohru-kun. Your hand still has not healed and you just got over that slight concussion because of your fall. And because of that, we're not healing as well as we all should. So you must calm down, Tohru-kun. Do you understand?"

Wiping her tears with her sleeve, Tohru sniffed, "Ha- Hai, Hatori-san. I'm sorry to make you worry, Hatori-san."

"I'm a doctor, Tohru-kun. I'm supposed to worry about my patients," Hatori chided gently. "Now be a good girl and wash your face. I'll drive the three of you to school today because you're all already late. Then I'll pick you up after school."

"Why do you have to pick us up?" Kyo snarled as he glared at Hatori.

"We can walk home, we're perfectly fine," Yuki protested mildly.

"But if you walk home, we're going to be late going to Tohru's grandfather's today," Shigure said as he sipped his tea. "And we don't want to be late."

Dismayed that she forgot all about the meeting with her grandfather, Tohru's eyes grew round. "Oh no! Grandfather! I forgot all about him!"

"But we didn't," Shigure said smugly. "So it's all right."

"How can that be all right?" Kyo roared at Shigure. "He might-ow!"

"Want to see how his granddaughter is doing, right Kyo?" Hatori finished for him. He gave Kyo an annoyed look. "Because if he finds that she's so agitated that it makes her sick then he might think it unhealthy for her to stay here."

"So it might be best if you calm down, Honda-san," Shigure finished for Hatori as he looked at Tohru. "It would not do for you to be feverish today. And besides, you have nothing to worry about- I will be there to-"

"Bore Hatori to death with all the nonsense that he sprouts out of his mouth," Yuki finished.

"Yuki! You wound me!" Shigure cried as tears ran down his face.

"Yes, he did it very well, didn't he?" Hatori commented. He looked at Tohru and patted her on the head. "Now go and wash your face. We must leave soon."

"Hai," Tohru said as she raced towards the door to do Hatori-san's bidding. The room was quiet as the two younger boys looked at their older cousins with annoyance.

"And that, boys, is how you calm down a distressed maiden," Shigure snickered as he looked at the annoyed faces of Yuki and Kyo. Then his face became unusually serious. "You know that she is quite worried about her visit to her grandfather's and these incidents with Negi-san are of no help. Keep your arguing to a minimum if you please and we'll get along fine for the day."

"I will if this damn Rat will keep to himself," Kyo snarled as he looked at Yuki.

"Only if you keep your stupid comments to yourself, you stupid Cat," Yuki shot back as he glared at Kyo as best he could.

"I could make one of you stay home," Hatori commented as he looked at the two boys. "Then one of you can take care of Ayame."

"Are you nuts?" Kyo yelped as he stared at Hatori in horror. "Hell, no way am I going to take care of that damn Snake! Let Yuki stay! He's his brother!"

"I don't think so!" Yuki gritted out as soon as the words came out of Kyo's mouth. "I've had enough of his nonsense, thank you!"

"Don't worry, I'll care for Aya," Shigure snickered as he looked at Kyo and Yuki and their twin looks of horror. Not that he could blame them, the bedridden Snake had driven everyone in the entire household nearly mad. If he wasn't fussing about Yuki then he was fussing about Hatori. If he wasn't fussing about Hatori then he was teasing Kyo. If he wasn't teasing Kyo then he was seeking entertainment from Shigure. And if not that, he was absolutely determined to help Tohru with her chores but more often made a bigger mess than there was originally.

'At least there more than the resemblance between Yuki and Ayame could be found' Shigure thought with a snicker. Nevertheless, it was a testy situation. Even Hatori was ready to forget his oath and do in the demanding Snake until Tohru came up with the brilliant idea of asking Ayame to teach her how to embroider and decorate pillow shams. After that, some calm reigned in the Sohma household. "He should be happy now that he can hobble around."

As Yuki looked at Shigure in disbelief, Tohru raced into the room with her school bag and a pair of dark sunglasses. "Sohma-kun, please! Try these on- perhaps they will work in hiding your black eyes!"

"Honda-kun, I'm sure that they will," Yuki smiled as he took them from her and put them on.

Tohru smiled delightedly. "Oh! Sohma-kun looks just like a movie star!"

"Thank you," Yuki blushed as he ignored the laughter coming from Shigure and the sneering looks from the stupid cat. "But, Honda-kun, I don't think that the teacher will allow me to wear them during classes."

"Oh no, I didn't think of that!" Tohru exclaimed in horror.

"Don't worry, I think that the teacher can make an exception for you," Shigure said with a wave of his hand. "Just as I know that your teacher will make an exception for Tohru's and Kyo's hands because of Hatori's notes."

"And with that, off to school with all of you!" Shigure said as he made shooing motions as he rose himself. "I have to get ready since there is so much to do today! Tralala!"

Fruits

Basket

Forever

"What the hell happened to you?" Arisa demanded as she saw Kyo walk into the classroom. The her jaw dropped even further as she saw Tohru's wrapped bandages and Yuki's face. She grabbed her friend's shoulders. "Tohru! Are you all right? And you- prince! Who the hell gave you those shiners?"

"I'm sensing a lot of agitation in Tohru's depna waves," Saki said ominously as she looked at the two Sohma men. Her eyes narrowed as she walked closer to Tohru and the boys. "Why is there some agitation in her normally calm waves?"

"Oh no Hana! It wasn't their fault! Really!" Tohru said quickly as she started to wave her hands around. "Really- it wasn't! Ow!"

"Will you stop waving your hands around like a damn maniac!" Kyo hollered as he grabbed her bandaged hand.

"Honda-san, please stop doing that, you'll loosen your bandages," Yuki said more quietly as he grabbed her other hand. "And then Hatori will have to come back and he will become quite upset with us."

"He won't be the only one that will be upset if you guys don't give us a reason why Tohru's hand is all bandaged up like this," Arisa growled as she cracked her knuckles.

"Yes, 'upset' would hardly be the word if we don't get any answers," Saki said as her eyes narrowed and she looked at the boys.

"Oh no! Don't be upset with them! It was all my fault- really!" Tohru cried out as she looked at her friends. She looked at them with wide eyes. "I was the one that brought Negi-san with me!"

Shocked, Arisa looked at down Tohru. "Oh hell. You mean that Negi-san did all this?"

"Oh, dear," Saki said as she looked down at Tohru. "Then he was very active over the weekend, I take it?"

"Very active," Tohru said miserably as she looked at her friends. "He even hurt Hatori-san, Shigure-san and Ayame-san."

"Wow, that's a lot of people he got," Arisa whistled.

"Indeed it is," Saki agreed as her gaze drifted over to the two boys. "You boys were quite lucky to escape relatively unscathed by Negi-san."

"Wait a minute! You two know Negi-san?" Kyo demanded as he looked at the two girls that surrounded Tohru. "How the hell do you know Negi-san?"

"And what do you mean we were relatively unscathed?" Yuki demanded as he looked at the two girls warily.

Arisa smiled grimly. "Why the hell wouldn't we know Negi-san? We were introduced to him the same way you were- he gave me a bruise the size of Okinawa on my back and caused Saki here to lose five hands at Old Maid in a row."

"That sounds unscathed to me," Kyo snarled as he glared at the former Yankee.

"Negi-san was quite lenient on Uo-chan and Saki-chan the year he met them," Tohru said helpfully as she looked at her friends and smiled. "Not like the other times."

Yuki and Kyo stared at Tohru. "The other times?" "WHAT other times?"

"Yes, Tohru is quite correct- we managed to meet him relatively unscathed," Saki said as she looked at Kyo. "Two years before- Negi-san managed to burn down half of the apartment next door and the year before that, a man insulted Negi-san and he was bitten by a dog. The bite then became infected and he was hospitalized for days. So yes- I think that you are relatively unscathed, don't you think?"

"And don't forget to mention that the landlady slipped on Negi-san and she had to be hospitalized for weeks for a dislocated hip- all because she said that he was puny-looking," Arisa shuddered. "That is one vengeful spring onion."

Kyo's jaw dropped as he stared at the two girls incredulously. "You're kidding- Negi-san did all that? There's no way that-"

Saki's eyes focused on him. "Are you really sure that you wish to finish that sentence? Negi-san has a far reach even after being ceremoniously taken to the river bank."

"Uh, right," Kyo grimaced as he started to feel the hairs on his arms start to rise.

"Ease up, Hana," Arisa ordered as she looked at Kyo then at the school prince. "So has the worst happen yet? From our experience, Negi-san really likes to leave with a bang- ceremony or not."

Sweat formed on Yuki's head as he thought about the imminent meeting between Tohru and her grandfather. "I think the bang will come sooner than you think."

"And the bang shall start right now if you five won't get to your seats," announced the teacher as she glared at the standing students. "Everyone take out a sheet of paper- we're having a pop quiz on Japanese history right now."

"Aw, shit- bang is right," Kyo groaned as he sat at his desk.

Author's Note (4): This was short and like I said, I'm still working on this and it's sequel. (Sorry, it won't involve Negi-san...I hope. I pray. Mainly because Negi-san is too violent for me.) Anyway, pelase review and thank you for reading!