Just a reminder, I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the characters, blah, blah, blah.

Annnd….Action!

***

Kyo was still a cat, an unconscious cat, but a cat nonetheless. This made it easier for Hatsuharu, who held the conked-out feline as Tohru bustled around the kitchen in a frenzy trying to figure something out to help Kyo.

Haru guessed that perhaps he had made a mistake in bringing Kyo downstairs. All the cat really needed was to sleep; it was raining after all. "Maybe I'll just put him to bed," Hatsuharu told Tohru.

"Oh, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I think he's just tired." He scratched behind Kyo's ears and heard a faint purr as he moved back up the stairs to Kyo's room. "Betcha wouldn't let me do that if you were awake," he murmured to the feline in his arms.

"Do what?" Kyo had woken up, and, woozy though he was, didn't enjoy being carried by Hatsuharu.

"Nothing."

"Whatever. Put me down."

"No, you might fall asleep and fall down the stairs."

"Shut up, or I'll scratch your eyes out."

"Fine." Haru carefully placed the cat on the floor. "I'd better get going, anyway."

"Hell yeah, you better get going. You spend more time here than at your own house!"

"Do you not like having me around?"

"It's not that, it's just…" A momentary lapse in judgment (caused by being half asleep) had brought the cat dangerously close to actually talking about his *feelings*.

"What was that?"

"Uhhh… Here's my room. See ya." Kyo hopped into his room and somehow managed to close the door in Haru's face. (He was still a cat after all.)

Haru stood outside the closed door once again wondering what the hell was wrong

with the cat. "Maybe he just likes to close doors." Haru took this as his cue to leave.

"Oh, wait!" Tohru ran after him from the kitchen.

"Here's an umbrella. I wouldn't want you to get sick."

"Thank you, Tohru." He turned around to step off the porch.

"I..I'm not sure what's the matter with Kyo. He seems to be acting differently than usual."

Tohru was playing with the hem of her skirt as Hatsuharu turned around to look at her in surprise. "I didn't ask, but thank you. It's good to know you can see subtle changes in people."

Haru walked into the rain. The steady downpour had turned into a light shower, but Hatsuharu opened the umbrella Tohru gave him. Then, he reached into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. It was a map Momiji had drawn for him. Haru had forgotten it was in there. The map showed a picture of Sohma house (with a smiling rabbit) and a path to get to Shigure's (a smirking dog.) Haru glanced at the paper and put it back in his pocket. It was a good thing Momiji was always looking after people.

***

Shigure sat in his study, still reading the Sunday paper even though it was well after eleven o'clock. The strange thing about this scene was a sleeping Momiji lying on his floor.

Momiji had arrived sometime around eight o'clock that morning in a state of distress. It was a good thing Shigure had been woken up by an early phone call because the rabbit didn't seem to want to talk to anyone else. Shigure didn't need to hear what had happened, however. Hatori was the one who had called.

Hatori told an interesting story. Momiji's plans of befriending Akito had been revealed to the dog, and while he himself felt no motivation to buddy up with the leader of the Sohma family, Shigure had no problem with Momiji trying. He thought Momiji could handle any trouble from the moody invalid, and softening his personality might be good for the entire family.

The problem was that perhaps the young rabbit wasn't ready to try and tame Akito. And that's why the tired Momiji was sleeping on Shigure's floor.

"Momiji, perhaps you'd better wake up. It's almost noon."

"Huhwa?" The blonde slowly rose from the floor, blinking sleep out of his eyes. "Where am I?"

"You're in my study. Would you like some breakfast? I'm sure Tohru wouldn't mind…"

"No, that's okay!" Momiji interrupted. "I'd better be leaving now, anyway." Momiji got up and stretched.

"Momiji, you don't have to talk to him if you don't want too."

"Huh?"

Shigure continued to read his paper as he spoke. "You don't need to interact with Akito unless it is necessary."

"Oh." Momiji turned slightly red. He had acted stupidly in front of Akito. // 'Thank you, Akito'…he must think I'm an idiot!//

"I think I owe it to him to apologize for today. I think I was rude." Momiji shuffled his feet.

"You don't owe him anything." Shigure still avoided the rabbit's eyes.

"How can you say that? After what Hatori told me…"

"I already know what Hatori told you, but there comes a point when you realize there isn't anything you can do to help him, except what he tells you to do."

"Well, obviously I'm not to that point yet!" Momiji stormed out of the room as Shigure smiled to himself. This could definitely prove helpful to everyone.

***

Momiji was faced with yet another problem. It was still raining, and he had forgotten the umbrella Hatori had loaned him in Shigure's study. He had made it to the trees outside Shigure's house, before realizing his dilemma, but his ego didn't permit him to go back. He was just acting stupidly everywhere he went today. //What a day…//

He leaned against a tree and thought about the effects of running around in the rain.

"What are you doing here?"

"Bah!!" Momiji jumped in the air.

"Oh, Haru," he said after the surprise of being snuck up on dissipated. "What are *you* doing here?" Momiji countered.

"I asked first, and besides it's raining. Why don't you have an umbrella?"

"Uh…I forgot it…"

"You seem to be doing that a lot lately. Here, we can share, *again*."

The two walked down the path. "Now why were you at Shigure's? Did something happen with Hatori?"

"No, not really…I learned everything I wanted to, though."

"Huh."

"What?"

"You're not telling me something."

Momiji sighed. "I acted really stupidly in front of Akito."

"So?"

"So I feel like an idiot!" The rabbit waved his arms, jostling the umbrella and sending water droplets down on both the boys.

"It's just Akito. Calm down," Haru murmured rubbing some water off his shoulder.

"Yeah, well we owe Akito a lot…"

"What the hell went on at Hatori's?"

"Nothing…so why did you go to Shigure's?"

"You still didn't tell me how *you* ended up here!"

"I felt like visiting Shigure, okay? I needed someone to talk to."

"Why didn't you talk to me?"

"I'll tell you later. I need to cool off."

"Fine." Hatsuharu knew Momiji would tell him sooner of later; they were best friends after all.

"So, back to you?" Momiji changed the subject.

"Oh, I needed my calculator."

"Why didn't you just call and ask them to bring it to school tomorrow?"

"Huh…that would have been smart."

Momiji shook his head. "Maybe you just wanted to go over and visit someone?"

"…I don't know what you're talking about."

A sly look was the response. "So, who had your calculator?"

"It was in Kyo's room. Why?"

"Uh-huh."

"What are you aiming at?"

"How's Kyo feelin'? It is raining, after all."

"Actually, he's been acting strange lately, not just because of the rain."

"Now you're not telling *me* something." The rain had stopped sometime during this conversation. Momiji stuck his hand out from under the umbrella. When he determined there was no rain, he skipped out in front of Haru.

"You *like* him, don't you?" he hummed.

"What?"

"Yup. I could tell!" The frolicking continued, in direct contrast to Haru's slow pace.

"I…don't…"

"Pu-lease," Momiji stuck out his tongue. "You've been flirting with him for days!!" He mimicked Haru's voice, "Kyo, can you help me study?"

"If you haven't noticed, I do that to everyone."

"Perhaps." The rabbit was still elated about his discovery. "But not so much to Yuki anymore."

"You'd better be glad I'm in a good mood."

"Do you think I would be doing this if you weren't?" the rabbit taunted.

Haru mumbled something indiscernible and closed the umbrella.

"And you know, Haru," Momiji put his face close to Hatsuharu's ear and whispered, "I think he might like you too."

Suddenly, he pulled away and continued skipping down the path under the newly uncovered sun. "But you never know for sure, until you ask!!"

Haru just shook his head.

***

Whoo, that's enough to shake a stick at! Next chapter'll be out soon. Inspiration comes faster with good reviews *nod, nod*