Author's Note: Important occurrence! And FYI, there are three more chapters and the epilogue after this. Right now I'm listening to old Jewel songs (something I kind of consider a guilty pleasure) and I forgotten how melancholy her songs were in the late nineties ("Adrian" "Painters" etc). Hopefully this chapter will spread a little cheer.

Chapter 27 (A Perfect Fit)

"Wake up, Kita! Come on! Wake up!"

Kita's arm flew to her face to cover her closed eyes. She had grown re-accustomed to waking up at a decent hour but she could feel from the throbbing migraine that this was by no means a decent hour. It felt like five in the morning. She moved her arm a little lower and felt the light pour into her eyes as her pupils constricted. Suddenly the light was blocked by the ever-smiling face of Shigure.

"Aya, she's up!" he announced over his shoulder.

"Oh, wonderful!" came the dramatic response. Kita moved her arm down a little further as Ayame stepped closer to the bed, long, silver hair flowing behind him.

"What're you doin' here?" Kita asked, her speech sounding something like that of someone who had knocked back a few.

"Kita, have you forgotten? It's White Day. I'm here to give you a present to pay you back for the delicious chocolates you gave me." Shigure said, producing a box from behind his back and putting it in her lap.

"But what's he doin' here?" Kita asked, pointing to Ayame realizing too late that she sounded annoyed by his presence even though she wasn't.

"Well, when Shigure had to find the ideal gift to give to you he had no choice but to come to me and rely on my expertise." Ayame said dramatically.

"He made it." Shigure clarified. "I guess in a way it's a present for you and Akito." he added in a hushed voice with a wink.

Kita blushed as her eyes grew wide. Oh no. Please tell me it isn't some sort of uniform for a perverted fantasy, she thought to herself as she tentatively unwrapped the present and opened the box it was inside. She held her breath as she shifted through layers of white tissue paper until a gleam of blue cloth shown through. With careful hands, she lifted it from the box.

It was a nightgown, light blue silk with navy blue lace trim along the top. It had thin straps and looked like it would fall to her knee but had a slit up the thigh anyway. It was pretty: sexy but not revealing. Kita smiled at them.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." She gushed sincerely.

"You're welcome." Shigure answered with a grin.

"Now you can stop wearing those tank tops and, ugh, pajama bottoms." Ayame said.

"Hey, I like my tank tops and pajama bottoms, thank you very much!" Kita said, with mock offense. "But really, Ayame, you did an amazing job. And it's good to see you. It's been a while."

"Oh, don't thank only me, even though I do deserve an ample amount of praise for my fantastic design and sewing skills. It was partly Shigure's idea and Mine helped with the actual construction of it. Which, by the way, she was wondering if you were ever going to come by and visit again and I had to tell her that I haven't even seen you since that time Shigure brought you by the store two years ago!" He said, with his hand up to his forehead for effect.

"Well, if I come by is she going to treat me like a dress-up doll again?" Kita asked, remembering when she had been put in a maid's uniform the last time she went and then was forced to walk out in front of Ayame and Shigure.

"Oh, you know that she can't control her natural urge to dress up every cute girl she sees! But don't let that stop you from coming. It would be fun!" he insisted.

"If I get the chance, I certainly will." she assured him, knowing that getting the chance was a highly unlikely thing to hope for.

"Good."

"So Kita, when are you going to open your other presents?" Shigure asked.

Kita furrowed her brows. "What other presents?"

Shigure and Ayame stepped away from each other as if they had rehearsed it, to reveal two gifts placed on the floor so that she would see them when she woke up. Kita got out of bed and went over to them to get a better look. One was a wrapped rectangular box and the other was a basket of fruit, wrapped in plastic. She reached for the basket first to see that it was from Hatori with a message saying that she was probably going to get a lot of chocolate so she should have some healthy snacks too. She chuckled and then grabbed the box. The card on top read, "Kita, I thought you could use a new pair and these seemed like a perfect fit for you. -Kureno."

She tore off the paper and lifted the lid to see a pair of slippers nestled on a cushion of tissue paper. They were her size, unlike the ones she usually had to wear, and they were the same shade of purple as her yukata. On the top of each shoe was a white, embroidered dove like the ones that frequently seek company with her and Akito.

"Who are those from?" Shigure asked, pointing to the slippers.

"Kureno." she said, trying them on to see that they did indeed fit nicely. He must have looked at my shoes' labels, she thought.

"Oh." he said, surprised that Kureno had actually made a friend. "And I saw the fruit basket was from Hari. Really playing the doctor card it seems." he said, laughing at his own joke. "Well, Aya and I must be off. You need to get ready for school."

Kita groaned, the fact just dawning on her. At least, today is the last real day of high school. And it's a shortened day too, she thought gleefully.

"It's my last day before exams." she said, matter-of-factly.

"That's marvelous!" Ayame said.

"Yeah." Kita repiled apathetically. She wasn't really sure how marvelous it was. No more seeing Hoshiko and Raidon. No more safety of knowing what will happen every day. What am I going to do? What will happen if I don't go to college? If I stay here, what will my life be then?

"Kita? Hello?" Shigure said, waving his hand in front of her face. "You were spacing out."

"I'm just a bit stressed." she said, shrugging it off. "I see you guys later. Shigure, say hi to everyone at your house for me. Ayame, say hi to Mine for me. And tell her I think she should marry you."

"Of course I will!" Ayame said, winking.

"Bye Kita."

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"Here, Kita. Here, Hoshi." Raidon said casually, handing them each a box of chocolates.

"Thank you Rai." They both said, practically in unison. Kita ate one of the candies which turned out to be a peppermint one. Hoshi put her box on her desk and glared at it. She was on a diet, even though she had no weight to lose, and she was considering all sweet-tasting things to be her enemies. Chocolate in particular was one of her more tempting opponents.

"You're welcome." he said, smiling. "So Kita, are we going to see you at graduation?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, his friendly temperament instantly less cordial.

Kita gave him a bewildered look. "I don't know why you wouldn't." she said slowly. He was hinting at something but she couldn't quite figure out what.

"Oh good! I was sure you would be too busy being at Sohma house to come!" he said sharply.

Kita knitted her brows. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

Raidon sighed. "Oh nothing. I have no problem with the fact that one of my best friends has vanished into oblivion to leave us wondering if she will ever want to spend time with us again."

Kita's mouth dropped open. Raidon hardly ever got pissed off. He usually had a very calm demeanor redolent of Hatori. She looked over at Hoshi, who stared down at her shoes guiltily. "Rai, I've wanted to go out with you and Hoshi, it's just that..." her voice trailed off when she realized she wasn't sure what excuse she could use to end the sentence.

Raidon's face softened and he put his hand on her shoulder. "Kita,...the Sohmas...do they...hurt...you?" he asked. He had seen the bruises and scratches. He didn't believe her story about piercing her lip. She wasn't the type to get a pierced lip and, if she did, she was too smart to try to do it herself. It all seemed so suspicious.

"No." she said quickly. It was only kind of a lie in her mind. She hadn't been beaten in a long time. Definitely not since she last went out with them. "If I tell you, will you promise not to say anything?"

Raidon and Hoshiko nodded, curiously.

Kita took a deep breath to work up the nerve. "You know Akito? My...boyfriend?" The word still didn't sound accurate when connected with him. "Well, he's very sick, deathly sick, in fact, and I like to be there for him when he needs me because he isn't going to live long enough to see the age of thirty." She paused to take in their relatively skeptical expressions. "I promise... I'm not lying." She said seriously.

Hoshi's hand went flying up to cover her mouth in shock. Raidon's eyes widened.

"Oh, Kita." Hoshi cried, running over to her and giving her a hug.

"I'm sorry." Raidon said, now feeling like he deserved a public stoning. "And I'm sorry for being so malevolent towards you. I should have acknowledged that you would probably have a respectable reason for not being able to be with us."

Hoshi nudged him as a sign to join them and he hugged the girls, forming a tight group that couldn't be broken by anything.

"It will be okay, Kita." Hoshi murmured, sounding a bit weepy, almost like she was taking on Kita's pain for her.

"I know. One day everything will work out."

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"Kita, guess what?" Momiji exclaimed, as they walked, or in his case, skipped, down the road towards Sohma house.

"What?"

"I got you some candy!" he shouted, thrusting a box into her hands. "Haru got you some too."

"Ruin the surprise, Momiji." he said, joking as he handed her some chocolates too.

"Thank you so much, guys." Kita said, grinning as she cradled her treasures. "Are you coming to graduation?"

"Of course!" Momiji said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Sure. Why not?" Haru answered.

Kita laughed as she pulled open the door to the Sohma estate, holding both boxes in her left arm. "Great. I'll see you there then. It's the day after finals are over, Friday at six."

"Okay, bye!" Momiji yelled. Haru gave his usual wave and the two younger boys walked off to their homes.

Kita entered the main house, arms full of confectionary treats, and walked off to her room, feeling a bit worn out. She put the boxes of candy on her nightstand and fell onto her bed, her head hitting something that had been placed on her pillow. It made a hard, hollow sound on impact so she assumed it was a container of some sort. She sat up and looked down at the pillow to see a small, navy blue velvet box placed there. Someone got her jewelry. It must be Akito, she thought. He's the only one who didn't give me a present yet. Judging by the size of the box, it's probably earrings.

She flicked up the lid and stared, stunned at what the box was harboring. It was a ring: large diamond in the middle, an amethyst on each side, and a silver, or is it platinum, band. An engagement ring. A very beautiful, very expensive engagement ring.

With trembling fingers she lifted the ring from its case, not being able to resist the urge to slip it onto her finger. A perfect fit. How it fit perfectly was a mystery. It's not like Kureno's slippers where he could have easily looked at her shoe labels to see what size she was. This was her finger. She didn't even have any rings to compare it to.

She held her hand out in front of her face to admire the way it looked on her finger. The light trapped in the diamond projected all the colors of the rainbow like a prism. Exquisite cut, transparently clear, and absolutely breathtaking.

Is this his way of proposing, or re-proposing as the case is? She wondered. Does he want an answer? Is it a demand?

With her right hand, she went to take the ring off but found herself stopping, putting her hand down and laying back down on her bed, left hand still outstretched in front of her.

What now, she thought. As if I wasn't already having a hard time deciding what to do after graduation, he just made it that much harder.