-The Secret Sohmas-

I don't own Fruits Basket… I really don't think you'd want me to.

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I'd like to thank you all who are reading this. The fact that you're reading my work makes me very happy!

I'd like to thank the two reviewers that came back to read my second chapter:

xmissayumix – I'm so very happy you like my second chapter as much as my first. I'm sorry I didn't update this 3rd one as quickly as I did the 2nd. But this one is long and should be ever better than the previous ones… I hope.

JennyKim319 – I'm so happy you like my names! I was so worried. I, actually, didn't even realize that Tohru's mother even spelled her name that way until I looked it up to check. I love coincidences! If you have any suggestions for the older Sohmas, I'd love to hear them. Their names are much more difficult to think of.

-And I'd like to thank the newcomer, keiko-lily, for loving my story and hoping there are many more chapters. This story won't have as many chapters as other stories I have written, but this one also has much longer chapters than other stories I have written. I'm also hoping on writing a spoof-like bonus chapter if I can pull myself together.

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Please enjoy!

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Chapter 3 -

The room was dark and warm when she entered it. She knew whose hands reached out through the darkness so she remained where she stood, pressed to the door, and waited.

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Kyoko woke up just in time to see Kyo, Yuki and Tohru off to school. She had missed eating breakfast with them, but, sure enough, Tohru had left hers laid out with another note. Tohru had made her lunch again too. Kyoko's face lit up with a genuine smile, a smile that few have ever seen, a smile that revealed her true age.

She bathed earlier today and so had more time to wait for the three to return. Dressed in a dark green T with black trim and loose black pants to match, Kyoko set about the house to keep her hands busy. Tohru kept a tight house so there wasn't much of anything that needed doing. She attempted to fix the bit of broken tatami mat, but there wasn't much she could do about it without getting a new one.

Looking up from the table, she spotted Shigure's room and the books strewn about on the floor. Sighing, she stood and slunk into the room and started gathering books from where they lay scattered. Shigure was sitting at his little desk. He smirked. "Now, what may you be doing?"

"I'm cleaning up your room." Kyoko didn't look at him, she just picked up books.

"My, my, it seems I have a second little housewife."

"Don't look too far into it, dog-boy, I'm just bored out of my mind and your room bothers me."

Shigure stood, removing his glasses and laying them on the desk. "Admit it, you just wanted to see me."

"I'm looking for some window into your soul to tell me how the heck anyone can live with you."

"Well," hummed Shigure, whisking by her to the door. "Let me know when you're done."

Kyoko didn't turn to make her reply comment. "You know I hate you, right?"

"Of course," Shigure grinned as he slunk away. Kyoko shook her head and was content enough to be without Shigure's company and having a task large enough to eat up some time.

Shigure returned soon enough. Kyoko had stacked the books and rolled up blankets with minimum patience and kicked stuff off the floor. Shigure was very pleased to find books unearthed that he forgot he had. He sat down with one or two of them and asked Kyoko to join him. She wouldn't give him the pleasure, but sat against the inside of the doorframe, her legs spread over the door track.

"So tell me about your cousin. She didn't say much when I tried to talk to her."

"Yukiko? No, she probably wouldn't talk to you. She doesn't like guys. She's always been the mature one." Kyoko sighed in her slightly peeved way. "She's always doing things like that, ya know. Trying to undermine me. It's irritating."

"She's always doing that?"

"I lived with her before I came here. It didn't matter what I did, she could always do it better. Not that either of us got praised much for anything. Her mom's a jerk and her sister's an all out, high maintenance nut-job."

A sweat-drop appeared on Shigure's forehead, realizing that Kyoko had to have been talking about their equivalent of Ayame.

"I could never really think of them as family."

Shigure tilted his head, his glasses slipping down his nose. "Did you have any family?"

"Well, I guess the ones I thought most as family would be my sensei..."

Shigure smiled expectingly, seeing that Kyo's sensei was his adopted father, but he looked over at Kyoko and she began to raise a hand to her mouth. "And his son..." She wasn't looking at Shigure but out into the opposite room, her slender fingers spread across the lower half of her face. She looked eerily beautiful, the hair in the back loose against her neck. Shigure turned from her for a moment. "Did you love him?"

Kyoko's eyes went wide and she jumped up, flustered, waving her hands. "No, no, no, it's nothing like that. I mean-"

Shigure's eyes looked up to meet hers, but she wasn't looking at him. She raised the hand to her face, her other hand to support the arm, and she was gazing off into the other room again. "Perhaps... Perhaps I did." Her eyes shimmered with water and her cheeks were painted with a flattering blush. She turned to Shigure, who was now standing. "Do you think it's wrong to love someone that much older?"

Shigure approached her. "How much older?"

"He can't be much younger than you." Kyoko was against the door as Shigure hovered over her, his head low. "No, that's not wrong."

She looked up at him and he looked down at her, mere inches from her face. For a moment she let him hover there, then she smirked. "You know I hate you, right?"

"Of course." He smiled.

She patted him twice on the cheek and slid out from under his gaze. Just then, as if on cue, the doorbell rang and Shigure watched Kyoko pass through the room to get the front door. He shook his head with a mischievous grin and closed his door.

--

"YUKI-CHAN!"

Yukiko, the fragile girl from the day before, wearing the same elegant and expensive looking school uniform, slipped off her shoes at the door.

"What are you doing here?" Kyoko demanded angrily, taking the girl's bag. When Yukiko finished removing her shoes and neatly placing them next to Kyoko's, she took her bag back. "Death in the family. They let me go early."

"Why you little-" Kyoko almost laughed. "You're here before the others got home."

"Speaking of others," Yukiko followed Kyoko to Tohru's room, placed her bag down and sat on Tohru's bed, pulling out a cell phone. "Hara's coming."

"WHAT!? Hara? Why's Hara coming?"

Yukiko was taping at her phone. "She insisted. She forgot her things, though, so she had to stop back at the main house first."

"Oh, God! You mean Hara's coming by herself?"

"She was suppose to meet me here." Yukiko stated, not looking up from the phone.

Kyoko sighed and fell down on the mat she had slept on. "She's probably in Indonesia by now."

"I'm sending her step by step instructions. She should be fine."

"Yeah, if she can find the station in the next two days."

"She might not have left the house yet."

"WHAT!? She hasn't left yet?"

"Last I checked, she said she was just leaving."

Kyoko flipped over on the mat she was on and sighed bitterly. "It's probably because of Ren."

"Possibly."

"I hope that guy gets himself raped."

Yukiko looked down at Kyoko's back with cold eyes. "You shouldn't say things like that, Kyo-san. It might just happen."

"Yeah, well, I don't care. Someone should at least take that stick out of his ass."

Yukiko went back to her phone. "I think that's what Hara's trying to do."

Kyoko's figure scrunched up, before flipping back over and stretching. "Dang it, why does Akito not care about her."

"I think he does, even if she is a bit eccentric."

"You'd think he'd like that, though."

"I don't know." Yukiko shrugged, still typing away.

"She probably gave herself up to Ren or something."

Yukiko looked up again. "You'd don't think she'd do that, do you?"

"Ya never know with Hara."

"I hope she didn't. She's too young for that."

"Yeah well, maybe she just told Akito that. Not like she hasn't lied to him before. You ever lied to him?"

Yukiko looked up like that was a stupid question. "Of course I have. I'd have to. He wanted to see me last night."

"Already?"

"He said he wanted to know why I was so late."

"What'd ya tell him?"

"I said I was with my boyfriend."

Kyoko had gotten serious, but at the last comment she started laughing. "Aw, that's a good one. Like you'd let any guy get anywhere near you. Did he believe you?"

"I doubt it, but he let me go either way." Yukiko finally snapped her phone shut. "She's on the train."

Kyoko sat up. "Good." She started looking around the room. "Hey, do you have a shoe or a brush or anything?"

"Yes, why?" Yukiko removed a brush from her shoulder bag and handed it to Kyoko who took it and hucked it at the door. There was a loud yelp.

"Mind your own business, Shigure!"

Shigure, who had been lurking outside the door, slid it open a crack so they could see how embarrassed he was.

"Oh, come on."

Both Kyoko and Yukiko stood. Yukiko spoke for her voice could be the coldest. "This is not for your ears." Both Kyoko and Yukiko sent stares at Shigure harsh enough to make blood run cold. They were both angry enough and icy enough to warn him to forget all that he had heard and Shigure slipped away toughly whipped.

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When Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo came home, they were surprised to find a second pair of shoes in their entrance. Coming inside, they found Shigure tied up in his room, Yukiko reading and Kyoko laying on her back tossing a ball up in the air chatting with her cousin. Kyoko caught her ball and sat up. "See! I told you they'd be back any minute!"

"Shut-up, already."

Tohru looked nervous. "Should we untie Shigure-san?"

Kyo and Yuki made no sign that they intended to do so, so Hatsuharu did it. Kyoko and Yukiko's eyes followed Haru as he went. Tohru smiled brightly when Haru returned. "This is Hatsuharu-san. He wanted to meet you."

"And Momiji! Momiji wants to meet you too!" A bouncy blond boy appeared from behind the rather stoic white-haired boy.

Kyoko's face lit up. "Aw, Momo!" She stuck her hands out and Momiji slapped them accordingly (double low five). Momiji laughed. "Momo's my little sister's name. How did you know my sister's name?"

Kyoko smirked and elbowed Yukiko. "We've got a Momo back home and she looks just like you."

This made Momiji extremely happy and jumpy and he leaped on Kyoko in a big hug. "Yeah! That makes Momiji so happy!"

Kyoko quickly became less friendly and peeled Momiji off her. "Sit, rabbit."

Haru was still standing there looking the same as ever and Yukiko walked over and bowed to him since Kyoko was being clung to. "Pleasure to meet you, Hatsuharu-san. My name is Yukiko."

"Yo." He said in reply.

Kyoko elbowed Yukiko again, joining her to look Haru over. "He's just like her, doesn't he. He's even got the tattoo."

"Like who?" Yuki asked, turning from watching Momiji cling to Tohru.

Kyoko rolled her eyes a bit with a smirk and Yukiko answered for her. "Our cousin, Hara. We'll be picking her up in a little while."

Kyoko bent over past Yukiko "Apparently she wanted to come, too."

"Oh, wow." Tohru smiled happily, clapping her hands.

"There're more of you!" Momiji was jumping cheerfully. "How many? How many?"

"I believe there are as many of us as there are of you." Yukiko pointed out. A horrified look passed over Yuki and Kyo as if a great ominous storm cloud chose them to dump a bucket of cold water upon to drain away all possible cheer. Haru didn't seem to care and Momiji became even more excited. "We should have them all over and have a party."

The terrible storm cloud spread and passed over Kyoko. Yukiko straightened herself up. "I don't think I would trust them all here."

Kyoko looked as if she was about to faint when a chime sounded through the room. Kyoko growled. "I hate that ring."

Yukiko pulled out her cell and checked her new text. "She's on the subway. We should head over." The two girls headed for the entrance.

"I want to come. I want to come!" Momiji squealed. "Another Haru sounds fun!"

"Well, it's a girl Haru."

"OO! That sounds even better! Is she cute?"

"Ehehe, you could say that."

Tohru smiled, just as excited as Momiji. "We should all go."

Shigure appeared behind them. "I'll go too!"

The two girls and their male counter parts sent Shigure a cold glance. It was a 'We don't want you to come, but if you are you better behave' glare.

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It was a pleasant walk to the station. Spring was coming, but it was still cold. The group took up basically the entire sidewalk, but they didn't mind (except possibly Tohru and the Yukis). There were questions about Hara and Momiji asked a lot of questions about their Momo. Apparently the members of Kyoko and Yukiko's families split into groups of sorts. Kyoko, Yukiko and Hara were a click and Momo mostly hung out with the younger group, though she did go back and forth since she was the same age as Hara.

She was easy to find. She stood against the wall, a long white coat draped over a cylinder-like duffle bag. She wore leather boots, tight, faded jeans with a belt with a colossal silver buckle that matched her necklace. A black long sleeve shirt left a silver of her waist uncovered. She had a decent-sized bust. She wore gloves, a collection of jewelry, and a cowboy hat hid her eyes. She was barely taller than Kyoko. When they got closer they found her hair was almost exactly like Haru's except in the back. There was a thigh-long length of hair wrapped up in black leather from the back of her head.

"Hey, Hara!" Kyoko shouted across the way. The cowgirl, with one hand lodged lazily in a small pocket, tilted her head so her elegant brown eyes appeared from beneath the brim of her hat. She looked dangerously beautiful.

"Stop that, Hara. You're going to scare them."

Hara flicked her hat so it didn't hide her eyes and turned to Haru in her stoic, but flirtatious manner. "Am I scary?"

Yukiko sighed, "Of course Haru's not going to be scared of you."

"Nice choice of a place to wait, Hara," Kyoko coughed as she got bowled over by people rushing from the subway.

"I agree," said Hara, picking up her duffle with one arm and throwing her coat over the other shoulder. "It's almost hard to breath."

"That's not a good thing!" Kyoko hissed at Hara as they started moving through the crowd. "What if something happened to Yukiko?"

Hara leaned foreword to see her cousin. "Are you alright, Yuki-chan?" Yukiko had loosed the top button of her uniform, but she shook her head. "I'm fine, Hara-san, really. Everyone, this is Sohma Hatsuhara."

Hara stopped to bow to everyone even though they were all still walking. Kyoko and Yukiko sighed.

"So, wait, you guys are Sohmas, too?"

"The faces and the names are the same but I serious doubt that we're closely related." Yukiko stated quickly.

"Even within our family, it seems like we're barely related." Kyoko grumbled.

"But the curse is the same?"

"Ooh, yeah."

Somehow they believed them.

Hara didn't quicken her pace very much to catch up, but when she did and they were almost out of the station, she was bumped by someone going the other way. "Woh,"

Yukiko sighed. "Hara, you lost your coat."

Hara turned and looked back to see her coat on the ground. "Oh, look. I did."

Yukiko shook her head and went to get it, but she had barely picked it up when another load of people rushed off the subway. She was quickly swarmed.

"Yuki-chan!" Kyoko shouted into the crowd. "Ya gotta be quick, girl!"

But though Yukiko tried, she kept getting cut off, and having the curse, she couldn't just blindly charge into the crowd for fear of transforming. Coming this deep in the get Hara had been risk enough.

Yukiko was tall, but she wasn't that tall and she was vanishing quickly behind the crowd. She pulled back against the wall and it became harder for her to breath. Kyoko and Hara quickly realized what was happening, as did some of the Sohmas.

"Yuki!" Kyoko leaped into the crowd without a second thought. Hara was a bit more careful. Crowds were very dangerous to the Sohmas.

Tohru turned to the Yuki standing next to her. "Yuki-kun, you don't think that Yukiko-chan has a condition too, do you?"

Yuki was looking into the crowd. "If that's what's wrong, then she most likely has it worse than I do."

Tohru suddenly became very frightened, as did Momiji. Neither of the girls were in sight. There came a loud cry and Hara's coat came into view. Apparently she was pushing people out of the way with it. Behind her, walking like a firefighter and her fallen victim, Kyoko marched forward with Yukiko in her arms. "I got ya, girl."

Yukiko coughed. "Please, Kyo-san, you're embarrassing me."

"Yeah, well, be quicker next time and I wouldn't have to save you."

They all marched out, quickly and carefully. Haru had gathered up Hara's bag. Once outside, and free of the people, Kyoko propped Yukiko up on a bench. "Ya damn rat, you shouldn't do stuff like that."

"It's not like I - had a choice." Yukiko's voice was soft and breathy.

"You could've made Hara get her own stupid coat." Kyoko unbuttoned the top of Yukiko's uniform to better allow her to breath. Yukiko started to swat her away. "It's okay. I'm fi-" She broke into a painful fit of coughing before she could finish. Hara took Yukiko's head in both her hands. "You shouldn't try to lie when you're sick. It's bad luck."

Yukiko didn't have the breath to tell her to shut-up.

"Come on, let's get you out of here." And Kyoko picked her up, Hara pulling her coat over her. One could've frozen that moment and made it into a war memorial. With Kyoko heaving Yukiko gently in her arms, looking forward, determined to move her; Yukiko curled up in her arms like a helpless babe; and Hara seeming unusually motherly and caring, adjusting the coat so that Yukiko stayed covered.

They're all so strong, Tohru thought, as the three girls returned to them. Tohru looked at the boys around her and wondered to herself, I wonder if they could all band together like that, even if they don't like each other...

"Does someone have Hara's bag? I'm not going back in there!"

Haru presented it to Hara. It was a very amusing scene since they looked exactly alike and acted very similarly.

"Wow, Kyoko-chan. You're very strong." Tohru commented on the girl carrying Yukiko.

"It's nothing. Yukiko's got nothing on her. Yuki could carry her."

Tohru smiled, "Yuki-kun's very strong too."

Kyoko looked Yuki up and down with a raised eyebrow. "Really? He doesn't look like much, either."

Yuki went red and both the ox folk spoke up against her. "Don't be mean to Yuki-kun."

"He's cute like a panda." Hara stated. Haru nodded his head in agreement. Yuki just looked very very confused. "Why a panda?"

When they got back to the house, they laid Yukiko down and analyzed her.

"It wasn't a very bad attack," Yuki said, as a cold pack was brought for Yukiko's head.

"Trust the other Yuki to know, right? I've lived with this one, rat-boy. I know if it's a bad attack or not." Kyoko sounded rather peeved. Hara was tending to the weary Yukiko.

Tohru stepped in to quell possible fighting. "Should we call Hatori-san?"

The two conscious Juunishi girls looked up and then at each other. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea for the adults to know about us."

Hara was about to nod, when Shigure started having trouble clamping his hands over his mouth. Everyone turned to him, all either angry, worried, or frowning childishly. Kyoko marched up to Shigure with her very angry face on. "Shigure?" The angry face was temporarily mixed with a flirtatious tone as she approached him. "Shigure? Did you tell anyone about us?"

Shigure let his hands down from his mouth slightly, still trying to hold in a laugh. "Only Hatori and Ayame."

"YOU TOLD AYAME!" Kyoko smacked Shigure to the ground in anger and then pulled at her hair in her own frustration. "Dear God, We're doomed!"

"Ayame?" Yukiko's voice, though it was quiet and strained, broke through all the other sounds in the room. Hara was kneeling by her side as Yukiko turned to try to see the others. "Is Ayame here?"

Hara took the hand that Yukiko had freed from the covers. "No. Ayame's not here."

"Good," the recovering Yukiko wheezed. "I don't want her to see me like this."

Yuki looked down at the girl on the floor that was the spitting image of himself worried at the possibility that her sibling might be here. Yuki thought that he wouldn't have wanted Ayame there either, but because he was loud and obnoxious, not because he was worried about how he'd be viewed. Pondering this, Yuki began to wonder how different these girls' lives actually were from their own.

"Hey," Tohru cheered, "If we all want to stay here, how about we play a game or something."

"Like what?" Kyoko asked, now sitting on Shigure because she hated him so much.

Tohru thought for a moment. "How about Dai Hin Min?"

"Aw, man! I hate that game!" Kyoko protested.

"I'll play," Yuki stated calmly. Both Kyoko and Kyo threw themselves into the circle of players. "Deal me in!"

"The guy Yuki can't be that hard to beat, right?"

---

An hour later

--

"I can't win any of these games! Not even Old Maid."

"That's because you can't bluff to save your life."

"I could too bluff to save my life! I just didn't want to!"

Sigh...

Yukiko was sitting up now and playing the less stressful card games. The party learned very quickly that Kyoko and Kyo almost equally sucked at these sorts of games (Kyo a bit more than Kyoko).

"Forget this!" Kyo shouted finally. "Let's do a fighting game."

Hara looked up. "You have any first person shooters?"

"I prefer fantasy RPGs, myself."

"Not that kind!"

Shigure looked up from the pile of discarded cards. "Can we not wreck my house, please?"

"Let's do the 'throw balance' one, then."

Kyo blinked at the girl suggesting a game.

"It should be fine as long as you match up the right people." Kyoko grinned. "Hara, help me demonstrate."

"Oh no," Yukiko rested her forehead on her fingertips. "Kyo-san, perhaps using Hara is not a good idea."

"What? Kyo doesn't know what he's doing."

Kyo's ears stuck up at being underestimated. Kyoko and Hara stood side to side and locked their feet together. They took hands and backed the other foot up a step. "Now the point of the game is to knock the other person off balance by pulling or by using their force against them. Ya ready, Har-"

Kyoko turned back to face very stern, very mischievous eyes. "Ya gonna throw me, little girl?"

"Oh God, I forgot!"

Yukiko hid her face in shame and the Sohmas all had sweat drops. It's hard to forget about Black Haru and this girl somehow forgot about Black Hara. But, then again, it was Kyo's counterpart so it wasn't that surprising, just awkward.

"Yuki-chan. Help."

"Don't bring Yukiko between us. You wanted me to help you demonstrate so let's show 'em what you can do!" And with that, Hara clamped down her grip on Kyoko's hand and yanked. Kyoko was instantly transformed into a rag doll.

"Come on, Kyo-Kyo! Show me what cha got!"

"You're gonna rip out my arm, ya moron!"

Yuki sighed. "This is going to get worse before it gets better."

Tohru was completely flustered and frightened. "I don't think I want to play this game."

Momiji jumped and cheered. "It looks like they're having fun!"

Yukiko started to stand, her legs still shaky. "Hara's extremely competitive."

"Then why didn't she go black during the card game?"

"Card games and such are games of simple wit and strategy which she doesn't need to get excited for. She and Kyoko, though, have been fairly evenly matched physically since childhood. She won't stop until she wins and Kyoko has too much pride to quit."

Shigure grinned. "You can't pay for things like this! This has been an interesting day!" He was beat up and booted out of the room before he could say much else.

The battle continued. Hara sunk her nails into Kyoko's hand and completely lifted her off the ground. "Out you go!" Hara swung, but Kyoko had wrapped her entire body around Hara's arm in desperation. "Sohma Hatsuhara! Chill out!"

Hara raised the arm with Kyoko attached to it and Yukiko ran across the room.

"You can't hold on like that! That's-" there was the wind up, "-CHEATING!" In something that looked like Yukiko coming to Kyoko's rescue, Yukiko had crossed the room and opened the shoji screen door so Kyoko went catapulting into the yard without damaging the screen.

Hara was mad with triumph. "I beat 'er. Did you see? I threw her right out the door!" She faced the remaining party, her hand tensed as if it was bloodied. "Who's next?"

There was a flurry of movement to hide Tohru. Hara pushed past Kyo. "I already beat you." She got to Yuki and grinned malevolently. "I haven't beat the rat, yet." Yuki was looking at her rather stoically, as he normally did in battle, and was prepared to beat her down when Haru stepped in front of him. "Don't worry, Yuki. I'll protect you."

Yuki didn't look entirely thankful.

Hara laughed her evil laugh. "I don't want to fight over a girl."

Yuki's face darkened and Tohru's touch kept him from smacking Hara down, though that probably would've made things easier.

"Come on then, Lover boy. Don't hold back. Your princess needs saving. Yuki's probably the best ya got left, huh?"

The room held their breath. No one had told Hara about Rin or their break-up, but one could assume there was a similar character in Hara's group. There had been a tone in Hara's provocation that gave it a particular sting and Haru didn't like it. He kicked and Hara leaped backwards to dodge.

"Shut-up." Haru hissed, his iris's small and focused. "Ya talk about Yuki like that and I might just have to do something to ya."

Hara grinned. "Oo, what ya gonna do to me? Tough guy's so big he has to pick on girls."

"Little girl's so full of herself she beats up girls and goes to pick on guys."

There was a laugh. "Yuki still counts as a girl."

Yuki did not appreciate being the object fought over. The two black versions were throwing kicks and punches while throwing threats and disses.

Kyoko roared to life from the bushes. "HATSUHAR- uh oh." She appeared next to Yukiko, stuck with leaves and twigs, and found the two of the Ox zodiac battling to the death.

It was a sight that no one had ever seen and no one would ever see again: Black Haru vs. Black Hara. Both were on the offensive and both weren't going to back down.

Tohru pulled at Yuki and Kyo. "We have to stop them."

"I thought breaking up Black Haru and Kyo wasn't worth it. I'm not going in there."

"Yuki could always fake fainting."

Yuki ran a hand through his hair. "That would only stop one of them."

Kyoko was frozen in her spot watching the two wail on each other as the danced around the room in a violent blur of white and black. "If this wasn't terrible, this would be really cool."

Yukiko sighed and, on wobbly legs, walked toward the two. In a clash of moves that were too fast for almost anyone to see, Yukiko brought them both to the ground. Heaving harsh breaths in between the two combatants, Yukiko said in between gasps: "Hara, you should- apologize- to Haru-san and- Yuki-san and- every else."

The dust knocked up from the mats cleared and Hara and Haru sat up. Her cheek very red, Hara slid onto her knees and bowed to the ground. "I'm sorry, Haru-san." Haru, too, had sat up and bowed, apologizing to Hara. Then they simultaneously turned and bowed to the group watching and apologized. Tohru said it was all right, but Kyo and Yuki were still transfixed on Yukiko, who hadn't moved from her follow-through position.

Hara caught Yukiko as she collapsed, breathing heavily. Kyoko marched over to her. "You shouldn't have done that, ya damn rat."

"Well, maybe if I certain stupid cat wasn't being so stupid I wouldn't have had to."

Yukiko was exhausted anew and resting, but Yuki and Kyo had seen in that instant that Yukiko was much stronger than them and could've thrown both of them through the wall, no problem.

---------------

Yukiko and Hara left after dinner. Dinner was like a small party. Hara and Haru didn't apologize any more. They went back to making their comments like nothing had happened and the uneasiness faded quickly. Hara talked a bit more than Haru. She and Haru shared many stories of their mysterious adventures in strange places (a.k.a. them getting lost), some of which were very amusing. Hara, apparently, had found herself in the Imperial Palace and didn't know that that was where she had been until Yukiko identified it for her. They talked very casually about their lives, though all three of the girls had a way of talking that really didn't reveal a dang thing about their lives. Shigure returned and they talked about the house set-up.

"We should move out and get a house."

"You think we could pay for it if we pooled our allowances?"

"Do you think Momo would want in on it?"

"Nah, she likes home too much to move out. Besides, she hangs out with the middle-schoolers and they're not going anywhere."

They mentioned several different 'he's, but didn't explain any of them.

After dinner, there was a fair bit of repacking and cleaning up to do so they were all split into groups. Shigure retired (not really, but he pretended to). Momiji helped Tohru in the kitchen, Yuki helped Yukiko pack up, Haru helped Hara clean up and Kyoko was sitting outside on the deck when Kyo found her starring off into the dusk.

"What are you doing out here?"

She started slowly. "I don't remember much of my childhood. I can't help thinking that perhaps it didn't even happen."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Kyoko smirked at him, then turned back to the approaching darkness. "Which one of us is the dream? It all seems so real, but perhaps when whatever we're meant to do is all done, maybe we'll be the ones to vanish."

Kyo gave her a look like she was a crazy, psycho lady and he probably shouldn't have sat next to her. Kyoko laughed at him. It was a sad, regretful laugh. "I tried so hard to escape the Sohmas and all I did was run into another family. It can't just be coincidence, can it? Am I here to teach you something and then leave like a bad dream? Is it the other way around?"

Kyo wasn't sure what to say to her. He was still working on his people skills, but he pieced together some of what she felt and what he felt. "I don't really get what you're saying and I don't know why you're here. But you're real. This is real. Every word you say, every motion we see is somewhere in our memories. And even if that memory is erased, it can't erase that it happened."

He paused, but only for an instant. No one can erase their past. "No one can truly erase the effect one person has on another or the past."

Kyoko smiled a little and shifted closer. "Do you think that's why we're here, Kyo? To make an effect on someone else? Are we here to heal you?" Her hand was touching his hand and her face was very close to his, but he didn't blush. He looked at her for a moment and then turned his head and looked back out at the remaining light. "No."

Kyoko stopped, starring at the side of Kyo's face. She smiled and pulled back, shaking her head. "Thank you for that, Kyo-kun. You're right. We can't be here to heal you."

Kyo turned his head to see her turn hers to him, her eyes shut and smiling, brimmed with tears. "Because that's why Tohru's here."

She smiled brightly and tears streamed freely down her face. Perhaps she was less like Kyo than they originally thought. One might look at this and think that Kyoko was crying because she could never compare to Tohru, but that wasn't why she was crying at all.

"Thank you, Kyo-kun. Thank you for that." Kyoko slipped off the porch and looked up at Kyo from her spot on the ground, still smiling. "When I figure out why we were brought together, you'll be the first one I tell."

A voice from inside called for Kyoko again, and she ran around the outside of the house until she returned to the front door to send off her two cousins.

"Schools off tomorrow." Hara said, tossing her coat over her shoulder.

"We'll be back," Yukiko nodded.

"Don't come so often you blow my cover," Kyoko scowled.

"I make no promises for Hara." Yukiko sighed. Hara said nothing in her defense. She just bowed as Yukiko bowed and left. Tohru was behind Kyoko waving. "Nice to meet both of you!"

"Pleasure's all ours!" They shouted back at once, and they vanished into the trees. Haru and Momiji left right after them.

Tohru kept waving until they were all out of sight and smiled to Kyoko. "You have a fascinating family!"

Kyoko nodded. "As do you."

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Note: where the word 'haru' means 'spring', the word 'hara' means 'field'. A clever name for one born of the cow, eh?

-kun is a masculine ending, where as –chan is a small child/young girl ending. –san has no gender. When ever I use –chan, I'm referring to the female, and when I use –kun, I'm referring to the male.

Yuki-chan Yukiko

Yuki-kun Yuki

Kyo-chan Kyoko

Kyo-kun Kyo

Kyo, by itself, will practically always be the normal Kyo (same with Yuki). If Yukiko says 'Kyo-san', she's probably referring to Kyoko.

When narrating, I'll use their least confusing name.