Recap:

"Kaede!" her mother called to her from the door. "There shall be minimal time wasted or there shall be dire consequences." she warned. Kaede bowed and walked along the stone path to the gates.

It really is turning out to be a nice day…

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The hustle and bustle of the market was enough to make Kaede's head spin. She would have to get used to running such errands again if she hoped to gain the respect of the other maids. Many of them didn't like her; they thought she was below them just because she was the daughter of the head maid. Kaede didn't even want the job, but was forced into the line of work by her family, it being the family tradition. For decades the Hitachi family served under the Sohmas, and it was just tradition for her to join them on her 13th birthday, two years ago.

Kaede felt even more out of place walking around the town in her traditional clothes. Before she had left, she forgot to change out of her uniform in a rush. Suddenly out of nowhere Kaede was bumped from behind, causing her paper bag of groceries to be spilt all over the ground of the market along with her.

"Ah! Please won't somebody help me?" She called out, but her voice was too small, and the noise of the streets filled with crowds seemed to muffle her efforts. From past experiences, Kaede had learned to take care of herself, so she picked herself up, cursing at herself for dirtying the food.

"Excuse me miss," a sweet womanly voice with an implacable accent called to Kaede, just above her as she was refilling her bag with the already bought food. Kaede looked up and saw a very beautiful woman with long blonde hair. "May I help you with that?" she bent down beside her and began to help. "I'm very sorry for the rudeness of this area, it's just hard for anybody to slow down it seems," she smiled, a familiar smile, but Kaede was sure she had never met her before.

Kaede stood with her bag of ruined food in hand and frowned. Her mother would not be pleased. "Is that the Sohma house-maid's uniform?" the woman asked, taking Kaede by surprise.

"Y…Yes," Kaede stuttered, hiding her face in her bangs. She was a very shy girl, and wasn't used to strangers talking to her.

"Then here." The woman said, causing Kaede to look up. The pretty woman handed her a new bag with the things she needed; brand new and dirt-less.

"Oh no! I cannot accept this, this is too much" Kaede bowed her head.

"But I insist! It was not your fault you were knocked down"

"But it was not your fault either! Why should you pay for my clumsiness?"

"Because," the woman paused "The owner of this store is a friend of mine" She smiled, leaning to one side.

Kaede gave it some serious thought, and decided to switch bags. "I am all too grateful." She thanked, bowing once again to the woman.

"It was no problem! Please have a wonderful day! And be careful!" The woman called as Kaede slowly walked away. She felt very happy, today was going bad, but well.

The weather is perfect, I was helped by a pretty not-so-strange stranger, and I get to go visit Momiji at his school. To deliver his lunch of course.

Kaede felt around her pockets. HIS LUNCH! She looked all around her and in the bag, but could not find the tin. She figured it must have dropped when she fell and started panicking. What will mother say! And Momiji must be starving!

She looked at her watch.

12:45! Momiji's lunch hour would be ending soon.

That's when she heard someone yelling.

"KIMONO GIRL!" The woman with blonde hair called, waving her arms around in the air. "YOU FORGOT YOUR CUTE LUNCH!" Kaede gasped. Once the woman caught up to her, Kaede smiled, blushing like a tomato.

"You seem to keep saving me this afternoon." Once the woman caught her breath, she stood up straight, looking softly into Kaede's eyes.

"It's no problem helping a young Hitachi." She smiled. "I'm married to a Sohma, so I'm aware of the family connections."

Kaede sighed in relief, though knowing that's not how she recognized the woman; at least she wasn't some sort of stalker. "Well I better get leaving, thank you so much for everything today onii-sama."

"Thank you for giving me a workout!" she smiled, punching the air. "I can often be found at the market, so please drop by any time."

Kaede nodded and turned to leave, looking at the piece of paper in her pocket. Now, it was finally time to make her way to Kaibara High School. And hopefully before lunch period was over.

So maybe this day could get better..

-End Chapter 2-

A/n: And it will! It took a while for this one to come out, and pretty much it was unexpected…. Might begin writing chapter 3 now… Probably. The story promises to be a bit fluffier. Ohhh yes. And the blonde woman will be coming back in the future if you haven't realized who she is (shame on you).

Thank you to all of the people who have read it, and super thank you to the reviewers. You're what gave me incentive to update.