Noa left the main estate and traveled to Shigure's house. She approached the shoji and lightly knocked on the wooden frame.

Shigure pulled back the shoji. "Oh, Noa, what a pleasant surprise," he smiled. He smirked at her as he put his hand to his chin. "Finally realized I'm the only man for you?"

Noa rolled her eyes. "Hello, Shigure."

"What brings you by?"

"I need to speak with Yuki."

"I believe he's upstairs studying with Tohru. You can go on up."

"Thank you. Is Kyo here?"

"No, I'm not sure where he is. Probably just wanted to get away from Yuki for a while. They had a rather terrible argument just an hour ago. Worse than usual I mean." He raised his hand to his eye to wipe away an imaginary tear. "My poor bookcase did not survive."

Noa shook her head at his overdramaticness. "I was hoping to finally meet him."

"I'm sure you'll get the chance eventually. He's around here more often than usual." He cupped his hand around his mouth as if he was telling her a huge secret. "Between you and me, I think it has to do with our little flower."

Noa raised her eyebrows in surprise. She made sure to store that little piece of information away.

She went upstairs and down the hall until she came across Tohru's opened door.

"Miss Noa!" Tohru exclaimed when she saw the woman standing in the entranceway. She quickly stood up and ran over to her to hug her. "It's so good to see you again!"

Noa smiled. "It's good to see you too, Tohru. I hope you're all studying hard."

"Oh, yes, we are! Exams are coming up after all. Yuki's been helping me study some of the harder stuff."

Yuki smiled over at the two of them. "Hello, Noa."

"Yuki, come here. I need to talk with you."

"Oh. Okay." Yuki put down his book and stood up. "Miss Honda, I'll just be a moment."

"Oh, no, take all the time you need!" Tohru told him.

Noa led Yuki outside of the room and into the empty one next door.

"Is there something wrong?" Yuki asked.

Noa decided that beating around the bush wasn't going to do anyone any good so she just came out and said it. "Akito is going to be staying with me for a little while."

Yuki's eyes widened in fear and disbelief.

"I know you have a rough history with him, and I wanted to let you know so you weren't in for a very unpleasant surprise if you ended up visiting me."

"Noa…you can't do this," Yuki said quietly. "He'll…he'll hurt you."

"Yuki, you told me that those under the zodiac curse have no choice but to obey Akito. But that's not me. He cannot force me to do anything, and I will certainly not let him physically hurt me."

"But…why would you do this?"

Noa didn't want to tell him that she was mainly doing this in order to let Akito keep seeing him because he would just end up blaming himself if something happened to her.

She tenderly put her hand to the side of Yuki's face. "Akito needs to understand rules and structure, something he is sorely lacking by living in the main house. He needs to know what it is for someone to tell him 'no'. He needs time away from Sohma house, and my home is the best place for that, don't you think?"

Yuki continued to look at her fearfully. "Please, Noa…just be careful."

"I will. I promise."

The following day after preparing her house for the temporary additional occupant, Noa drove back to Sohma house to pick up Akito.

If his behavior the previous day was anything to go by, this was not going to be easy. But there was no way Noa was going to let Yuki go without a fight.

The double doors opened and Kureno and two other servants escorted Akito out with his bags in their hands. Akito wore the same outfit as yesterday, and she briefly wondered if he ever wore anything else.

Noa got out and opened the trunk before going over to the servants and taking Akito's bags from them. "I'll take these." She turned to look at Akito. "Is this everything you need for now?"

"Of course it is," Akito snapped. "And if I need anything else, you can just come here and retrieve it for me."

She decided to let that one go for the time being.

Noa loaded up the trunk and then shut the door. "All right. In that case, hop in."

Akito stared at the passenger door. "Open it."

"That is not going to happen."

"You are hosting me in your home, so you have to do what I say."

"Correct, I'm hosting you. But I'm not your slave. You're a big boy, you can open a door on your own." She smirked a little. "Unless…you can't."

Akito glared at her and opened the car door.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Shut up."

"Watch your mouth."

"Don't tell me what to do." Akito scanned the interior of the vehicle. "Hatori's car is better."

"Well, this was the best I could do, and it has served me faithfully for twelve years."

Kureno watched the interaction with mild amusement.

Noa turned and bowed to Kureno and the two servants. "Akito will return in one month. If you need him for anything, please feel free to contact me."

"Please take care of our master, Miss Kaneko," one of the servants said.

"I will do everything I can for him."

Kureno came up to her and said quietly, "Akito's never stayed anywhere except here. He rarely even leaves the estate at all. Everything will be new and overwhelming, and—"

"Relax," Noa smiled. "I promise I'll take good care of him."

Kureno nodded and stepped back next to the servants.

Noa got into the driver's seat and rode away from Sohma house.

Surprisingly, Akito did not have any more snide comments and remained silent for the entirety of the short drive.

That is, until she pulled up to the house.

"Your house is very small. It's pathetic."

"Well, not everyone can afford an estate with multiple living spaces. With only two occupants, it's enough for us."

"Two?"

"Yes, me and my son. But Yuta's about to be a senior in college and is getting ready to move out any day now."

Akito fell silent. When Noa looked over at him, he appeared to be deep in thought about whatever could possibly be on his mind. She wondered if he was thinking more cruel thoughts about her and her possessions but figured he would actually state all of those opinions rather than just think about them. So just what was running through his head?

Noa got out of the car and opened the trunk. "I'll take this bag, and you can grab the other one."

"And why should I?" Akito asked with disdain.

"Because they're your belongings. I don't have to help you bring them in. But I will."

Akito angrily grabbed his other suitcase and yanked it out of the trunk.

Noa had never met someone with such a nasty attitude before. Didn't he have parents who wouldn't tolerate this horrible behavior?

Then again, if Yuki's parents were anything to go by, she could only guess what Akito's parents were like.

She closed the trunk and headed inside. "You'll be in the guest room on the second floor."

"Is that where my precious Yuki stays?"

"When he stays the night, yes. It's the only spare room I have." Noa walked up the steps and into the guest room. "I've already made the bed up for you. You can hang up all your clothes in the closet or put them in the dresser. The bathroom is just down the hall. I just cleaned the tub, so you can take a bath if you want or you can just shower if that's what you prefer. If you need anything else, let me know. While you get settled, I'll go ahead and start making dinner."

Akito pointed to his suitcases. "You can't make dinner. You need to unpack my things."

Noa smirked a little. "Akito, you are perfectly capable of putting away your clothes by yourself."

Akito glared at her as she left the room. He despised how she always managed to get the last word and how she constantly wore that stupid grin whenever she spoke to him, as if she was just trying to irritate him.

Akito opened one of the suitcases and took out some of the clothes. He had never folded clothes before. The servants always did it for him.

After several attempts at folding one of the shirts, he gave up out of frustration and just crammed everything into one of the drawers.

"Hey, Akito!" Noa called. "Come on down! It's time to eat!"

Akito rolled his eyes. He never ate at a table. He always had his meals brought to him. Did Noa really expect him to eat with her? He was already in her home. That should be enough. There was no way he would share a table with someone of such low standing. It would be an insult to him as the head of the Sohma household.

Akito came down the stairs and looked at the table.

"I made some chicken karaage," Noa smiled. "Did you get everything unpacked?"

"Yes, no thanks to you."

"You can lay off with the attitude after I worked to cook for you and everything."

"My cooks are better."

"How would you know if you haven't even tried my cooking yet? Take a seat at the table."

"I'll eat in the room I shall be staying in."

"I don't think so. I don't allow eating anywhere except the dining room and the living room on special occasions. The last thing I need is bugs and other creatures crawling around my home."

"I said that I'm going to eat in the room I am staying in."

"And I said no."

Akito had had enough. Ever since yesterday, this woman had done nothing but push every single one of his buttons, and his fury had now quickly boiled over.

His fist went flying with every intention of hitting Noa in the face.

But just like last time, she caught his wrist before he could hit her and held it firmly in her hand.

"Akito," she said sternly. "We don't hit people. It's not nice."

Akito yanked his wrist out of her hand. "Stop treating me like a child!"

Noa placed her hands on her hips. "I'll stop treating you like a child when you stop acting like one. Now I know that at Sohma house, you're used to getting your way all the time, but here things are going to be a little different. As long as you're under my roof, you're expected to follow my rules."

Akito crossed his arms. "And what if I just left? I could return to the main house any time I wanted."

"I suppose you could. But what might the other members of the family think when the head of the household can't even last one day outside of the estate? Oh, I'm sure they won't say anything, but they'll certainly be thinking it."

Akito glared fiercely at her, wanting so desperately to claw her eyes out.

"Besides, if you leave before the month is over, you forfeit, and I win. And I get to see Yuki as much as I want."

"Stupid woman," Akito muttered.

"Spoiled child."

"You are annoyingly overconfident."

"When you go through the struggles of marriage and raising a child, you're allowed to be this confident. Now take a seat and eat some dinner."

The next week proved to be very, very difficult. Akito met every single one of Noa's requests with either a snide remark or a selfish demand.

Luckily, the violent outbursts slowly began to decrease since he quickly figured out that he just couldn't seem to catch Noa off-guard enough for him to hit her. It was the first time he had tried to hit someone with no success and it made him even angrier.

Until he had a better idea than using his fists.

"Noa, I want some ramen. Go buy some for me."

"We're having curry and rice for dinner tonight, Akito," Noa answered. "We can have some ramen tomorrow night."

Akito growled before picking up the nearest picture frame and throwing it at her. Even she couldn't catch flying objects, especially larger ones like pictures. This would do the damage he had been trying to inflict on her all this time.

"I hate you!" he screamed at her. "I hate living here! I hate everything about this place!"

The glass on the frame cracked and the frame itself broke when it hit the wall behind Noa.

Akito was furious that he had missed, but the look on Noa's face when she realized what it was that he had thrown told him the frame was more than just a silly picture.

Noa's heart skipped a beat as she knelt down and picked up the broken frame and the picture inside.

It was the picture of Kei.

She stood back up and turned to glare at Akito. She was surprised when she saw him shrink back just a little bit, but the look on her face did not waver. It was the ever-terrifying 'angry-mom' look, something even Akito's angry face did not rival.

"Akito, we do not throw things in this house! Do you know what you just threw at me?! This was a picture of my late husband, and it is extremely important to me! Just because you don't get what you want does not give you the excuse to throw things or hit people! Do you understand me?!"

Akito glared back at her. "Fine, then just send me back to the main house already! Then you don't have to deal with me anymore!"

Noa put the broken frame down on the counter and slowly walked over to the young man. "Akito…just because I'm angry doesn't mean I'm going to kick you out and send you back." When Akito didn't respond, she quietly added, "Is that what you thought was going to happen?"

Akito's silence answered that question for her.

Noa sighed heavily. "Come here."

She led Akito to the living room and sat him down on the couch across from her. It was easy to tell he was reluctant to listen to her, but he kept still as he sat down.

"Let me tell you something. I do not give up easily. I'm going to see this through to the end, no matter what happens."

If she wasn't mistaken, she could've sworn that a very, very slight glimmer of hope flashed in Akito's eyes.

"Listen…I didn't bring you to my home just because I wanted to keep seeing Yuki. That's obviously a huge part of it, but it's not the only reason I made this suggestion. I wanted to get you out of that extremely stifling place and help you to experience a somewhat normal life outside of all the pressure that comes with being the head of the household which I'm sure cannot be easy."

Akito refused to meet her eyes. "I was fine."

She noticed that the way he said that, it seemed like he was trying to convince himself of that more than her. "Maybe you were. But now you'll at least gain more experiences outside of Sohma house which will make you a better leader." She knelt down so that her head was much lower than his as a way to meet his eyes. "But that means that you cannot go around yelling and fighting when things don't go the way you want them to."

Akito looked at the broken frame sitting on the counter and felt something hurt his chest. Was it possibly…guilt?

No, it couldn't be that. It wasn't his fault. If Noa had just gotten him ramen like he had asked, he wouldn't have had to throw the picture at her. It was all her fault. Not his.

"I'm going to go find a new frame for the picture," Noa told him as she stood up. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I promise you, we'll have ramen tomorrow night. Next time you want something for dinner, just ask me. I'll be happy to make it for you, provided I haven't already started something."

While Noa left the living room to search for a new frame, Akito tried to process what had just happened. He thought for sure that when he made her even the slightest bit angry, she was just going to send him back to the main house. Noa had been so furious with him…but then…she calmed down and treated him so kindly…

No. Maybe it wasn't today, but soon, she would abandon him. Everyone would. Only the members of the zodiac would be the ones who never left him. That was the way it always had been and always would be. He had accepted that long ago.

Noa would never be able to stay…especially if she found out the truth about them.

That night, Noa passed by the closed bathroom door and heard the sound of water splashing inside.

She knocked on the door. "Akito, did you find everything you needed?"

"Yes. Now leave me alone."

"Well, when you're finished, I'll make a cup of hot chocolate for you, okay?"

"Why?"

"I don't know, I just thought it sounded good."

"Fine."

"Take your time."

Only a few moments later, a terrible crash sounded from inside the bathroom along with a cry of pain.

Noa rushed to the door and quickly knocked on it. "Akito, are you okay?!"

The only response she got was a quiet groan.

Noa panicked a little. She didn't want to just waltz in on him when he was naked, but he could be seriously hurt and she couldn't just do nothing.

She grabbed a towel from the hall in the closet. Then she whipped open the door, careful to avert her eyes as much as possible. She tossed the towel onto Akito's lower half before she could see anything.

However, when she turned to look at Akito, she was faced with a startling revelation.

There was an addition on his upper half that certainly did not belong to any man.

Noa quickly averted her eyes once more.

Akito slowly pulled the towel up to cover his…her upper half as well as her lower half.

Once the towel had been properly secured, Noa looked back at her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders to help her stand up.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly. "What happened?"

"I just tripped getting out of the tub," Akito answered, once again not meeting her eyes. She squirmed out of Noa's arms. "I'm fine."

"Well, you don't look like you got hurt anywhere, so I'll leave you to get dressed. Um, the hot chocolate's on your nightstand."

Noa exited the bathroom and closed the door. Then she released a very long breath.

It seemed the Sohma family was full of more secrets than she thought.