Sorry it took me so long to update. Please enjoy...

---

-- o -- o -- o --

Four

---

Closed for Cleaning

-- o -- o -- o --

---

"I wish I could see them."

Shigure sweatdropped, hiding his face behind his newspaper.

It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning. Yuki and Kyou had been at Sohma house for days now, and Tohru had not been allowed to see them.

Shigure was behind his desk, reading the paper. The sliding paper doors leading outside were open, and through them he could see Tohru sitting on the porch with a book.

Tohru gazed at the fluffy white clouds floating past. Her textbook sat forgotten beside her, its pages flickering with the breeze.

I'm so worried about them...

As if hearing her thoughts, Shigure said, "Don't worry so much, Tohru. They're with family. I just saw them last night, and they're being well taken care of."

-- o -- o -- o --

The door slid open and light streamed across the floor, stopping just short of Yuki's huddled form.

Akito stepped into the room and shut the door behind himself, his lips arched into a smirk.

"Yuki... How are we feeling today?"

Yuki was sitting against the wall, head lowered, face hidden. His knees were drawn up to his chest, and his shackles jingled as he crossed his arms and laid them across his knees. He lifted his head and unflinchingly met Akito's gaze.

Akito made a conscious effort not to back away. Yuki noticed, and his smirk matched Akito's.

"I feel miserable. Does that please you, Akito? That's your only purpose in life, if I'm not mistaken... to keep all of us as miserable as you are."

Akito's eyes widened and he sweatdropped, trembling. He hesitated, then rushed across the room and kicked Yuki in the shin.

Yuki grunted through clenched teeth, leaning into the wall and massaging the pain away. Akito loomed over him, pleased, but his pleasure and his smile vanished when he heard Yuki laugh.

Yuki sneered up at him through mussed purple bangs. "That's always been your M.O. Kick'em when they're down. You're a coward."

Appalled, Akito spun on his heel and retreated as fast as his feet could carry him.

-- o -- o -- o --

Haru lay sprawled in the middle of the room.

This was not his bedrom, but a dark, empty cell. Haru had been locked in here for... for...

He crinkled his brow. How long had he been here?

He'd decided to count the days by the sun- and moon- rise through the wooden bars in his window, but he'd lost track.

Sighing at his forgetfulness, he sat up and began to stretch. As limb extensions phased into shadow boxing, his thoughts found Kyou.

He closed his eyes, focusing on balance and form. Kyou's crimson gaze watched him from the darkness under his eyelids.

You're stronger than me... and Yuki's stronger than us both. Will I ever catch up?

A small scratching noise brought Haru out of his thoughts. He followed the sound and saw a little orange cat squeezing his way between the bars in the window.

He squirmed, then wriggled, then hopped down to land on the tatami mat floor, never taking his gaze from Haru's.

"Found you."

He padded past Haru, to the sliding doors. "This is so stupid. Sure, they're locked, but they're made out of paper, for crying out loud." He smirked and brought out his claws.

"Kyou, don't. We can't go against Akito's orders."

He sat down and licked one of his paws."And why should I listen to anything that asshole has to say? Why the hell should I do anything but what I wanna do?"

"Please, Kyou. I don't want you to get in more trouble..."

Kyou stopped licking his paw and looked at Haru. "Right. I'm the big idiot who's always shooting his mouth off and screwing everything up, right? The worthless, stupid cat."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to. Yuki's been saying it for years. Not to mention everyone else in the family." He lowered his head, gazing off to the side. "Worthless cat."

Haru saw the sadness in Kyou's eyes. Before Kyou could react, Haru had scooped his cousin into an embrace.

"You're not the worthless cat. You're important to me, Kyou. You make me feel passionate about martial arts..."

Kyou began to struggle, unintentionally digging his claws into the flesh of Haru's arms.

"That's not what I want!"

-- pon!

Kyou was suddenly alot heavier in Haru's lap. The crimson eyes gazing into his were now human.

Haru blinked at Kyou and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could form a thought, he was pushed to the floor, and Kyou's tongue was sliding into his mouth.

"-- Mmph!"

Kyou was on top of him, his nude body pressed against Haru's black t-shirt and black leather pants. He rolled his hips into Haru's and they simultaneously grunted. Although Haru's was from the startling arousal, Kyou's was from discomfort.

Kyou's hands started working at Haru's pants, trying to remove them as he moved his body into the space between Haru's thighs.

Haru struggled, tried to push Kyou away.

"Stop! STOP IT-- Unnh!"

It took Haru a minute to realize that Kyou had struck him across the face. The world went white for a few seconds. Slowly, his vision returned and Kyou was gripping his jaw painfully, holding his face close. He spoke in a low, sinister hiss:

"You better shut the fuck up."

Haru was shocked. Kyou always said pig-headed things, but he'd never said anything in such a cruel manner.

Kyou seemed to feel the same way-- he froze, their gazes locked, and something inside Kyou seemed to snap, as if he were coming out of a trance.

He slowly struggled to his feet, never breaking eye contact. His voice was very quiet and shaky.

"I'm sorry... I'm... sorry..."

Turning, he tore through the paper doors and vanished.

-- o -- o -- o --

"... Damnit, what the hell was he thinking?"

The curvy, petite blonde couldn't stop grumbling to herself as she swept chunks of crumbly wax off the floor of the magic shoppe.

"Thanks alot, Ez. Two weeks of relaxation, all gone poof the moment I see your lame decoration ideas! Not to mention the fire hazard..."

"Um, excuse me..."

"-- Yaaahh!" She jumped half a foot in the air before spinning to face Hatsuharu.

"Oh, hi. Sorry, we're closed for cleaning."

"Megumi let me in..."

"Hn." She peered at him, noticing the black-and-white hair. "You're the love potion kid."

She bowed. "I can't tell you how sorry I am about the mixup."

"No, don't apologize. It was no one's fault."

She straightened and smiled. "He said you were a sweetie."

Haru blushed.

"You're not here for the real thing, are you? Love potion is very dangerous."

"Is RaChan here?"

"Oh. He's still asleep, the lazy baka. I'll go wake him for you."

"Thank you very much", he called after her as she went to the back.

-- o -- o -- o --

Haru had not realized how badly he'd needed someone to talk to. He doubted the two he felt most at ease with-- Tohru and Momiji-- would be able to handle the issues that were tearing him up inside. He was grateful for RaChan's sympathetic ear.

"... He mumbled an apology and ran off. I tried to follow him, but I got lost, and next thing I knew, I was standing in front of your shop."

The two were sitting at a huge wooden table in the back of the shop. Haru thought that by now Akito must've found out that he and Kyou had escaped, but pushed thoughts of Akito's wrath away and took another sip of his ramune.

RaChan smiled, chin in hand. "Sounds like he's snapped out of it." He looked away for a second and blew out a sigh.

He stood and held his hand out for Haru's. "Come on. I'll help you find him."

---

-- o -- o -- o --

closed for cleaning

---

finish

-- o -- o -- o --

---

Hope you liked it. I'll try to update faster next time. BTW, if you're wondering what RaChan looks like, you can see a pic of him by clicking on a link I've just added to my profile.