"Akito, I'm going out to run a couple errands," Noa said as she stood outside the guest room. "I'll be back as soon as I can, okay? And I'll be sure to pick up some ramen."

Akito did not acknowledge her as she remained in bed.

Ever since yesterday, Akito had not said a single word to her. Noa didn't want to press her or force anything out of her, but Akito couldn't stay silent forever.

"I left some breakfast on the table for you. So just go ahead and eat whenever you feel up to it, okay?"

Still no answer.

Noa sighed as she grabbed her keys and left the house.

At Sohma house, Hatori wondered how Akito was getting along over at Noa's place. Noa was patient and warm and accepting of others, but everyone had their limits and it was very possible that Akito would reach Noa's.

He just hoped Akito didn't physically hurt her like everyone else. Though if he was being honest, he was very curious as to how Noa would handle that if it did indeed happen. Surely raising a young boy, she had dealt with her fair share of violent outbursts and knew how to handle them. And unlike the rest of the Sohma family, she didn't have to put up with anything Akito tried to do.

"Hatori."

Hatori turned around as he was abruptly knocked from his thoughts by the sound of the very woman in question.

"We need to talk."

Hatori raised his eyebrows. Had she come to return Akito? Had it all proven to be too much for her so soon? With Akito winning their little deal, what would Yuki do now without the woman who had become like a mother to him?

He quickly forced himself to stop jumping to conclusions.

"Come in."

Noa took a seat on the chair opposite him. She looked straight at Hatori with serious eyes. "I know Akito's secret."

Hatori remained expressionless, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say or do. Was he supposed to erase her memories now? If she knew the secret of the zodiac curse, he couldn't just do nothing, right?

But then, Tohru had been allowed to keep her memories, something that still didn't make sense to him.

Noa realized she had to clarify which secret she knew. "I know Akito is actually a girl."

Well, it wasn't the secret, but it was something that was supposed to stay between a select few of the Sohma family members. But Hatori generally only erased memories when Akito told him to, and Akito wasn't around to tell him to do anything. Should he go and ask Akito what she wanted for him to do?

"I want to know why," Noa said sharply. "Why was she pretending to be a man? And tell me the truth. I can't care for this girl if I don't know what's really going on."

Hatori sighed. He really should've seen this coming. Akito could only stay in another person's house alone for so long before her secret got out. Hatori wondered how Yuki had managed to see Noa so often for the last several years and still keep his curse a secret. Because Noa was such an affectionate woman which meant there was no way she hadn't hugged him yet, he had an inkling suspicion that she had found out but they were keeping that fact a secret from everyone.

It wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. He would never forget little Yuki's face when he begged him not to remove his friends' memories. It would haunt him forever.

Hatori looked up at Noa. He knew that he wasn't supposed to reveal such personal Sohma family matters to an outsider, but how could he expect anything to change if they continued to keep so many things secret?

"It was Ren Sohma," he finally told her.

"Ren?"

"Yes, that's…Akito's mother."

Noa felt her mouth go dry.

"She used to be a servant in the Sohma household many years ago and then married Akira Sohma who was the head of the household at the time against the older maids' vehement disagreements. Not long after that, Ren became pregnant with Akito. When Ren found out she was to have a girl, she threatened to abort her if she was not raised as a male. Akira worried she would go through with the threat, so he had no choice but to agree."

Noa put her hand to her mouth in disbelief as she listened to Hatori's explanation.

"Only four of us in the Sohma family in addition to Akira knew the truth, myself being one of them. The head maid also knows because she had to assist with the delivery."

"Why just you four?"

"The reason isn't important."

"Why did Ren want Akito to pretend to be male?"

Hatori sighed again and it took several moments for him to speak. "Akito was destined to be the next head of the household before she was even born, and Ren didn't want a girl as the head. Ren was also incredibly possessive of Akira. She feared that if her child was a girl, she would replace her as the one Akira cared for the most."

"And you all just went along with this? Did no one think about how completely messed up it was?!"

"Akira was the head of the household. We could not go against him or his wife."

Noa shook her head and then held her head in her hands as she propped her elbows on her knees.

It was no wonder Akito acted up all the time. Not only did she lack structure in her life, she also had even worse parents than Yuki's, or at least a much worse mother.

At the moment, all Noa wanted was to run back home and hold Akito in her arms and provide her with all of the acceptance and affection her own mother had refused to give her. Of course, Akito would never allow her to do so, but she still wanted to.

"I'm not saying it was right, but we had no choice," Hatori said softly. "Shigure and I have constantly tried to be there for her and show her that we accept her as she is, but…it's not enough, and it never will be. Ren has instilled into Akito that any bond she has with anyone is doomed to fail. And Akito has in turn instilled that belief into Yuki."

Noa recalled when Akito's eyes had flickered with hope when she had told her that she wasn't going to give up on her. Now it all made sense.

Noa rarely felt hatred for another human being, but she had not even met Ren yet and she could safely say that she hated that woman.

"So, now that you know…what will you do?"

She finally stood up from the chair and met Hatori's (dare she say, ashamed) eyes. "Let me be very clear. The month is not over yet, and Akito is going to remain with me until then. And if I had my way, I would never bring her back here."

Without another word, she quickly exited the room.

Hatori stared after her guiltily. Maybe…just maybe, Akito would finally get the affection she so desperately needed.

Akito needed someone from outside of the zodiac who genuinely cared for her. The zodiac bonds were strong, but at the end of the day, they were just forced bonds which made them essentially fake. Akito held on to those bonds far too strongly to the point where she ruled everyone through fear and intimidation. She needed to know that there was someone out there who wasn't going to abandon her, zodiac bond or not.

Later that afternoon, Noa returned home and found that the breakfast she had set for Akito remained untouched.

She sighed and made a quick lunch before putting it on a tray and bringing it up to the guest room.

"Akito?" she said as she came to the door. Akito had barely moved an inch from when she had left that morning. "I made some lunch for you."

"I don't feel good," Akito said to her which was the most she had said in the past fourteen hours.

"Well, that's probably because you haven't eaten anything today. Here, I brought it up for you."

"I thought you wouldn't let me eat in here."

"Sometimes, I'm willing to make an exception."

Akito finally turned to face her. She was wearing another yukata but no robe. Noa put the tray on the bedside table.

Then she put a paper bag on the bed. "I went out and bought some clothes for you. I had to guess your size, so if anything doesn't fit, just let me know and I can return it."

Akito stared at the clothes she pulled out of the bag. All of them were small but fashionable women's shirts and pants.

"Why did you do that?"

Noa sighed. "I went to go see Hatori. He explained to me why you were pretending to be a man."

"Aren't you mad that I lied?"

Noa took the chair away from the desk in the room and pulled it up next to the bed. "Why would I be mad at something that isn't your fault?"

"So you just expect me to act like a girl now? Just because you know my secret?"

"Akito, I brought you here because I wanted to get to know the real you. I can't do that if you pretend with me."

"I don't have to share anything with you. You're just a stupid woman who's meddling in affairs that are none of your business."

"Maybe I am. And you're right. You don't have to share anything with me. But I would really like it if you did. I really do want to get to know you."

"If you get to know me, you'll hate me. And you'll just send me back."

"No. I already told you I don't plan on sending you back, at least not until the month is over. And after hearing what Hatori told me, the only person I really hate is your mother."

"Finally, something we agree on."

Noa smiled a little. "Eat some lunch, okay? It isn't healthy to starve yourself like that."

"I'm used to it."

Noa lost her smile. "What do you mean?"

Akito looked away from her. "It doesn't matter."

Unwilling to pry any further for fear Akito would put her already high guard up further, Noa got up from the chair and replaced it by the desk. She gave Akito another smile. "By the way, I bought five different kinds of ramen for dinner tonight."

Akito didn't smile, but Noa saw her eyes brighten just the tiniest bit.

When Noa stepped downstairs, the front door opened.

"Yuta?" Noa exclaimed.

"Hey, Mom!"

Noa laughed as her son hugged her tightly. "What are you doing back?"

"I had a free weekend, so I thought I would pop by. I saw the light in the guest room was on. Is Yuki here?"

"Actually, it's one of Yuki's relatives. Come on up, I'll introduce you." Noa leaned in close and lowered her voice. "I'm warning you right now, she's a little temperamental."

"I'm sure you're handling that well," Yuta joked.

Noa rolled her eyes and started up the staircase before going back to the guest room. "Akito?" she said as she knocked on the door. "May I come in? There's someone I want you to meet."

"Who?" Akito snapped.

"I see what you mean," Yuta whispered.

Noa opened the door to the room. "Akito, this is my son, Yuta. Yuta, this is Yuki's cousin, Akito Sohma. She's the head of the Sohma household."

Yuta smiled kindly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Sohma."

Akito felt her heart skip a beat at being called 'Miss' for the first time in her life. It felt so much better than 'Master'. It felt…real.

"Yuta's going to be staying here for the weekend," Noa told her. She turned to her son. "We're having some ramen tonight for dinner."

"Sounds good!" Yuta answered. "I'm going to get my stuff into my room."

"All right."

Noa turned to leave.

"Noa," Akito said.

Noa turned back to face her.

"You said Yuta is going to move out soon."

"Yes, he's graduating from college next year, so he'll need to find a place of his own."

"How…how are you okay with him just…leaving? After everything you've done his entire life?"

"Akito, everyone has to leave home eventually. It's a part of growing up. Just because Yuta is leaving my house doesn't mean he's going to abandon me. It just means that he's ready to start his own life. He'll visit me when he can like he's doing now."

Akito remained silent at her words.

Noa realized Akito didn't understand the concept of people leaving home. In her mind, if someone left, they were completely abandoning her. She had no doubt that was a result of the zodiac bond in addition to Ren's horrific parenting. It made her want to return Akito back to Sohma house even less.

Noa went down the hall to Yuta's room and lightly knocked on the door. "Yuta, there's something I have to tell you."

"What's up?" Yuta replied.

Noa quietly shut the door so Akito wouldn't overhear their conversation. She sighed heavily as she crossed her arms. "I just found out that Akito is a girl yesterday."

"So I wasn't crazy. I knew Yuki always referred to Akito as a male."

"I spoke with Hatori today about it. You remember, he's the family doctor?"

"Yeah, I remember you talking about him. What'd he say?"

"Basically, her mother is a twisted human being who forced her to grow up as a male. Only a handful of the other Sohmas know about this. I mean, can you even imagine what this has done to her psychologically?"

Yuta slowly ran his hand through his hair. "It's hard to believe someone would do that to their child."

"I don't even know how to handle something like this."

"Well, if anyone can figure that out, it's you. From what I saw, I think you're making some semblance of progress. Even if she does seem to hate you right now, she's not completely averse to living here."

Noa wished that she had someone else to talk to about the whole zodiac curse. But she was sworn to silence.

Aside from Yuki, none of the few Sohmas she knew were allowed to know she knew of their curse lest Hatori erase all of her memories which would absolutely crush Yuki. And she couldn't discuss all this with Yuki because Akito scared him so much that talking about her with him would bring back some very unpleasant memories.

She had promised that she wouldn't tell Yuta, so he was out of the question.

She was completely alone.

With both Yuta and Akito in their separate rooms, Noa went back downstairs and walked over to the picture of Kei. She lightly ran her finger over the new frame.

"I wish you were here," she said quietly. "You always knew what to do. Even in the craziest of circumstances, you always had a plan. I just hope I'm doing what you would've done."

Kei's eye seemed to shine brighter in the picture as if he could hear every single word she said. With a melancholy smile, Noa reminded herself that though she could not talk to anyone about the curse, Kei would always be there to listen.