W00t, I'm back!...kinda. Enjoy the chappie, and emm...I have no idea where this is going. XD

Chapter3: noon

It was raining in the streets. Children were at school, most people were busy working, and some were just at home, inside their dry and cozy houses or apartments, watching the raindrops plick against the window.

So were Yuki and Kyo at Shigure's house. For four hours straight, they had been staring at the window, sitting merely inches apart from each other. But they didn't care.

As long as we don't move, everything'll be fine…

They hadn't seen Tohru leave, but Hatori had told them when he came back from the bathroom, and the two hadn't even bothered to ask him why his hands were bandaged…after all, it was today. The doctor had blushed when he saw them looking at his hands, and had then stiffly sat down at the low table next to his brother.

Shigure and Haru were still sleeping, the last one seemed to be suffering from severe in-dream shizo-attacks, as his hair kept flashing from gray to white and back while ha was sleeping.

Kisa was still huddled in Tohru's warm blankets in her corner, and she had her eyes closed at the world for now, but at least she was calm. And Tohru'd be back soon.

-----Aya's shop

There hung a dreadful silence in the spatial room. The lights were out, and the only dim shimmer of the cloudy streets outside gave some luminance through the big glass windows. And in the silence, seven people were on the floor. Five because they had just gotten their asses handed to them, and two because they were in a state of shock.

Ayame wasn't aware of anything. He hadn't noticed that his assistant had caught him, and he didn't know that right now, he was the cold, rapidly breathing snake that lay in Mine's white apron.

Mine knew that her boss had protected her, and that he had probably saved her from an unwelcome treatment the thugs might've condemned her to. What she didn't understand was why Ayame was gone. Right now, she was too scared to comprehend what was happening, and she was on the verge of tears.

One thing, she did realize: she had to get out of here as fast as she could. When those guys woke up, she wouldn't stand a chance, even if they had all suffered minor and major injuries. And Ayame was nowhere to be seen…

Only when Mine was about to stand up and run for it, she saw the fragile silvery snake on her lap. Her brown eyes widened, but she didn't scream. She could see that the small thing was completely rigid and tense, and its eyes were squeezed shut, as if it was in pain.

She had never seen such an expressive snake before…

The water splashed up when Tohru dashed through the puddle, careful not to slip. She had gotten antiseptics for Hatori, milk AND cream for Kyo, some sweets for Kisa and Shigure, and something healthy to eat for all of them. Also, she had taken a shortcut past her school to get them all a day off.

She hadn't been all that surprised to hear that none of the Soumas were present today. It seemed that Momiji's mother had called earlier that day to tell that the family members that weren't at Shigure's would stay at her place for today.

Tohru began to seriously consider the 'another curse' option.

O-O-O-o-o

Mine sat completely still. The store was cold, the door was open. Her breath started to form little clouds in the chill. A shiver went through her body.

Ayame was cold. So very cold. His whole body hurt, and how he longed for some warmth…he slightly twisted himself in pain, barely able to gather enough energy to move.

Mine observed the tiny snake with tears in her eyes. The little thing was slowly curling itself up, as if it was getting ready top go to sleep…or ready to die.

She had never been really afraid of snakes…well, at least she wasn't afraid of snake leather, since she sometimes used it in her creations. Her boss never did, but he wasn't bothered by the fact that his assistant thought it was fashion like any other tissue.

This was a bit different, however. Mine found herself leaning away from the thing, prehistoric human-animal phobias arising in her mind. People have been afraid of snakes for a long time, since fear is in the first place a protection from harm; in this case from a poisonous bite.

But the girl soon regained her senses… how could she be afraid when the creature on her lap was so tiny and...weak? Slowly, she moved her hand over the snake.

Ayame shivered when he felt a little warmth radiating over him. He squirmed around, unconsciously trying to find the source of it.

Mine put her hand on the silver snake, and suppressed a shiver. The thing was so cold…she didn't know much about snakes, but that couldn't be a good thing. She felt a faint heartbeat, rapidly pounding underneath the scales.

In a flash, she recalled the moment when she had caught Ayame. In that endless time, she had felt the same heartbeat.

Her hand was getting cold…Mine withdrew it and placed her other one on the snake. She had no idea why, but she had this feeling that she should try to get the little reptile warm again. She looked around, and saw no sign of life from any of the five violators.

The snake sighed tiredly, contently resting under the blanket of body heat Mine provided for him. His blood started flowing faster again, and Ayame slowly regained consciousness. He dared to let his tongue peek out of his mouth for a split second and tasted the scent around him. Something clicked.

When she returned her attention back to her lap, the snake blinked its eyes open. A delightful olive shone in the irises, but her surprise was even greater when the silver thing suddenly whispered.

'…Mine-chan…?'

She gasped. She knew that voice too well for her own good. Her mind went in circles when she answered.

'Ayame-san…i...is that you?'

Mine saw the snake's eyes widen a little, before it squeezed them shut again. It started squirming again, and now, Mine tried to find what was troubling the little creature. She carefully prodded the snake a bit, and then she saw some pretty ugly bruises on its chest. Also, she noticed that some scales were rubbed off at its head, and whatever skin was underneath was a bit bloody.

'My god, it is you…' she whispered breathlessly when she recognized the wounds. Now she also saw that wherever a snake's left shoulder could've been, there was a swollen bruise.

With tears dripping down her cheeks from the emotion of knowing that her boss was alive, Mine didn't even bother asking what happened or why he was in his current form, but she decided to leave the shop immediately.

Ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach she had gotten from the intense relief and very carefully lifting the injured snake in her apron, she stood up, still a bit wobbly from the tension and the worry she had experienced.

Only then she noticed that Ayame's clothes were laying in a heap on the floor, right in front of the spot where she now stood. Glancing at the limp silver snake, she picked them up in one arm while holding Ayame in the other, and turned to face the door.

Before she left, she locked the door with her spare key, one of the tokens of trust from her boss. Weird to imagine that at the very moment, she was carrying him warmly nested in a bundle of his own clothes.

Her face void of emotions, her gaze only focused on the path before her, Mine crossed the empty road. Good that there wasn't much traffic now. After all, it was a Friday, and it was nearly twelve a.m..

Her mind was set on one goal right now: to get her boss and her dearest, most precious person in the world to a safe place, to his family. The house where his little brother lived was closest, the one house of that writer called Shigure, she remembered.

Well, it wasn't that hard to remember when his family was one of the things Ayame talked about the most. It always gave her a warm feeling to know that Ayame could really care for his family, and sometimes she was even a bit envious of him having such a big family.

For some reason, she really appreciated that he asked her opinion and her advise about the problems he had with his younger brother. It made her feel a part of it, somehow. And even if they all acted strange at times, all the Soumas she knew were really nice people.

While her mind was being drowned in both worry and nice memories, Mine nearly forgot to stop at the phone booth on the corner of the street. With a grim determination, she took the phone of the handle, placed the bundle of clothes on a dry spot and called the police.

Devoid of emotion, she reported the attempted robbery. She told the officer to come via the back door, since the front door was locked, and that they shouldn't look for her or the shop's owner, because the latter was on vacation and because she herself didn't want to go near the thugs again today. She'd come by tomorrow to sort out the rest.

When Mine was done, she picked up Ayame again and checked his temperature again. When she felt that he was getting cold again, she pushed her hand under the layers of cloth. Careful not to hurt him, she gently stroked his scales as she ran along the pavement.

Meanwhile, Tohru was almost home again. She was glad that she didn't see any gaping holes in the walls or smoke rising from the house or anything like that. Out of breath, she slowed down from her mad running to a normal pace.

She thought about what she had witnessed on her way home…

When she had passed the Souma estate house, Tohru had observed the most pecukiar sight in her whole young life (well, apart from the first time she had 'hugged' Kyo, Yuki and Shigure):

In the garden, the most feared being of the whole family, Akito Souma was painting the fence.

And he was crying while he did it.

Tohru had been so baffled that she had dared to stare at it for at least five minutes. Akito, the frail, slender, fragile Akito was painting the fence white, with all the energy and might he had, while the tears streamed down his cheeks. His face was red from exhaustion, as if he'd been doing it for hours, and his black hair was matted against his skin, damp from sweat and rain.

After five minutes, he suddenly dropped everything, and rushed inside the house. A minute later, he came out again, took a deep breath and started again. He'd repeat the process every five minutes, as if he was a scuba-diver that needed to get extra air every so-often.

Tohru almost felt sorry for him…the way he was working as if his life depended on it, the way he cried as if he was trying to paint over a painful memory.

He'll probably get sick in this weather… Tohru thought, but she shrugged the feeling off and hurried home to her more prominent worries at Shigure's house.

…now she was nearly there. Maybe things would be normal again soon. And until they are, she 'd take care of 'her' boys. Although she could use some help...she wasn't expecting any from Kisa, and her friends were at school where they belonged.

When she saw Mine running towards her with a familiar red bundle of clothes in her arms, her stomach dropped. Never wish, because it might actually happen…

The problems weren't over yet.

----well, tbc

R1R please, cuz it makes me happy bling