The next day, Noa picked out a pink and purple spaghetti-strap sundress for Akito to wear on her day out with Yuta.

Akito had only interacted with Yuta a handful of times when he had stayed home for a weekend, and she wasn't sure what to say or do. She had never been alone with a boy before who wasn't a member of the Sohma family.

It was one thing to be alone with Noa, but it was another thing to be alone with her son.

"What's it like being the head of such a large family?" Yuta asked as he drove.

"It's…a lot of work," Akito answered, trying to commandeer her usual dominant attitude. "But everyone respects me. I share a very close bond with several members of the family, and one day soon, all of them will come together and stay with me forever."

"Forever's a pretty long time. Don't you think that things can change between now and then?"

"They have no choice. It is how things have always been."

"I understand keeping tradition, but what if you all want to do different things? What if one of the members wants to travel the world or get a different job or find a spouse or raise a family?"

"That is impossible," she answered quickly enough to give him pause. "They are not capable of leaving me like that."

Yuta's mother had been right about Akito having attachment issues. She really planned on keeping these members of the family by her side at all times. He could only imagine the tactics someone with her temper used to achieve that goal.

"Okay. Well, what if you wanted to do something different? What if life had a way of opening up more options for you?"

Akito didn't know what to say without revealing the secret of the bonds she shared with those under the zodiac curse. No one outside of the Sohma family could possibly understand their way of life.

But would he think poorly of her if he knew how important those bonds were to her and how much she planned her life around them?

Wait a minute, why was she so concerned with what he thought about her?

"Change can be pretty scary," Yuta continued. "I'm sure even you were a little intimidated when you left the only home you've ever known and came to stay with my mom. But it can be for the best in the end. I mean, I've noticed a change in you just from the short period of time I've known you. I don't exactly know how to describe it, but it's a good difference."

Had she really changed so much in a matter of three weeks?

She could admit to herself that her heart had become less hardened towards Noa though not completely accepting just yet.

Noa was the first one who hadn't put up with anything Akito dished out. The other people in the Sohma family accepted whatever she did to them either because she was the head of the family or because they were under the zodiac curse and didn't have a choice.

Having someone defy her had made her so angry at first and still did, but the more Noa continued to do it, the more Akito began to see that her ways of running the family weren't for anyone's benefit except her own.

And she hated that. Because if Noa was right, and Akito was slowly beginning to see that she was, that meant that Akito had been wrong all these years. And if Akito hated anything, it was being wrong.

Yuta parked the car and hopped out so he could open Akito's door for her.

She stepped out and waited for him to retrieve his bag from the backseat.

Once they had reached the sand, Yuta took his shoes off and placed them in his bag. "Want me to take yours too?" he asked Akito.

Akito hesitantly slipped her flip-flops off and handed them to Yuta. The warm sand dug in between her toes.

She felt a littler nervous at the sight of the large body of water in front of her. She had never been to the beach before. Sure, she had been to the Sohma family beach house before, but she never actually went to the beach. She generally hated being outside in the sun since she tended to burn very easily not to mention she always had to wear a lot of clothing in order to mask her gender.

However, wearing her light sundress made being outside much more tolerable, and she could sort of understand why so many people seemed to enjoy it.

Yuta gently took her hand and began to walk forward with her. "It's a perfect day for this," he smiled.

Akito noticed that it was really rare for Yuta to not smile. She wasn't sure she could recall a time where he wasn't smiling. A part of her wondered if that was due to having Noa as a mother. Another part of her wondered what she might have been like if she too had grown up with Noa as her mother instead of Ren. How would Noa have handled dealing with a child who was the god of a curse that could only be found in storybooks?

Would she be like little Momiji's mother and ask Hatori to erase every memory of her child, would she be like young Hiro's mother who happily accepted her child for every part of who he was, or would she be like Rin's parents who pretended everything was okay until they just snapped?

Yuta set his bag down on the sand and took out a white bottle. "Here, put some of this on. Mom will kill me if you end up getting burned."

Akito took the bottle of sunscreen and squeezed some of it into her palm before rubbing it on her arms, legs, and face.

"May I get your back?"

She hoped he couldn't tell that she blushed a little at the question.

"I would prefer you didn't," she answered. "But seeing as I don't want my back to get burned, I suppose I don't have a choice."

She thrust the bottle in his direction without looking at him.

Yuta just laughed lightly and gently rubbed some sunscreen onto the portion of her back that was exposed. He found it really cute how she continued to act like she hated everything in order to mask how she really felt inside.

Akito could feel her face heating up even more as Yuta hands rubbed her back but she was sure it was just the hot sun blazing down on her causing that.

Yuta put the bottle back in his bag and walked towards the water. The tide rushed up to meet his feet and quickly soaked them which caused him to shiver a little.

He turned and smiled at Akito before holding his hand out to her. "Come here. It's really cold, but it kinda feels good."

Akito once again looked away from him. "I can't swim," she said with as much dignity as she could muster.

Yuta laughed again. "That's all right, it's too cold to go in too far. But don't worry, I'll protect you."

Akito's heart skipped a beat. Would he really protect her if something happened to her? If he was anything like his mother, he probably wouldn't hesitate for a second.

But there was no reason at all for him to do anything for her. He didn't know her nearly as well as Noa did. Would he still do whatever it took to keep her safe?

She took a few nervous steps towards the water. When the tide rushed in again, it washed over her feet and she frantically hopped back in alarm.

"That's freezing!" she exclaimed. "How could you possibly enjoy this?!"

"I didn't think it was that cold. You just have to get used to it. Come here."

Akito went forward again so she was standing next to him. Once more, the water rushed over her feet and though she desired to step back again, she stayed put for fear of Yuta teasing her.

Yuta took a few more steps in and shivered. "Man, this really is cold."

"So why are you going further into the water?"

"Because the sun is hot so this kind of evens everything out."

She could admit that the sun beating down on her shoulders was starting to make her sweat and the water on her feet wasn't that cold anymore since her body had adjusted to the temperature.

She nervously ventured out further as well.

"Look at you!" Yuta praised. "Coming out here all on your own!"

"I am not a child you need to coddle," she snapped.

Yuta held his hands up in mock surrender. "Yes, ma'am."

Akito inwardly sighed. Why was it so hard for her to talk to people without getting angry at them? Why was it so hard to talk to him?

Suddenly, a wave larger than both of them expected when so close to the shore came crashing into their legs.

Yuta was prepared for it, but Akito had no idea such a small wave could have enough power to knock her over which was precisely what happened.

Before she splashed down into the cold water, Yuta's arms reached out and quickly pulled her into him.

"You okay?" he asked.

Akito just nodded, wondering if Yuta knew how tightly he was holding her.

Yuta could feel her shaking in his hold, no doubt from the frigid water they were standing in and probably from the shock of nearly falling. Without thinking, he gently scooped her up into his arms.

"What are you doing?" Akito asked quickly.

"Let's get back onto the sand so you can dry off. Good thing Mom recommended I bring a couple towels."

Yuta began carrying her back to the shore where he had set down his bag.

For reasons Akito didn't understand, her heart had begun to pound in her chest. She could feel Yuta's muscles on her legs and back and a toned stomach beneath his shirt as he held her close to him.

Akito had always loved being held. She could remember from a young age asking Hatori to carry her and Shigure holding her to get her to sleep. Just recently, Hatori had carried her to her room after yet another fight with Ren. Whenever she needed consoling, Hatori would hold her. Shigure used to hold her until he screwed everything up and got himself kicked out of the main house.

She had always thought asking for them to hold or carry her was a way for her to strengthen her bonds with them. But even now, she enjoyed the feeling of Yuta, someone who didn't even have that kind of bond with her, carrying her.

His body was warm against hers both from the hot sun and from their skin contact. Normally when people held her, she wore her yukata not this type of revealing dress. Feeling his hot skin on her own made her heart beat even faster.

When Yuta set her back down onto the sand, a large part of her longed for him to continue holding her.

Why…why did he make her feel this way?

Unaware of all the gears turning in Akito's head, Yuta took one of the towels out of his bag and handed it to her. She took it, letting her fingers brush over his for a split second. It sent a spark through her that felt more surprising than the cold water hitting her feet just minutes before.

The bottom of her dress had gotten a bit wet from the large wave so she attempted to dry that off as best she could. It didn't take too long for her to warm again due to the sun shining down on her.

"You wanna walk along the beach?" Yuta asked. "I'll make sure I'm on the look-out for any more of those surprise waves."

"Fine," Akito answered shortly.

Yuta wondered if she was angry with him for causing her to get wet or for carrying her without her permission. Either way, she had agreed so at least he had that going for him.

He wondered if she knew just how pretty she was. His mother really had a sense of style, and the dress she had picked out for Akito to wear fit her perfectly. He was aware he had only known her for a couple weeks, but he felt as if he could look at her forever. Of course, he had no intention of telling anyone, not even his own mother, about that.

As Noa approached Shigure's house, she saw Yuki step outside.

His eyes widened when he saw her and he immediately bolted over to her. He would've hugged her out of relief had it not been for the curse.

"Noa!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, Yuki."

"Are you okay?"

"Calm down, I'm fine."

"Akito didn't hurt you, did he?"

"He tried to. But I didn't let him."

"No one's ever done that with Akito before."

"Yes, I'm sure you can imagine how well that went over with him. But it turns out that I'm just faster at catching his arm than he is at hitting my face."

The idea of Akito being stopped from hurting someone, especially Noa, brought a little bit of joy to Yuki. He wished he could have seen it himself.

"Yuki, I'm a 40-year-old woman. I can handle dealing with someone who's just barely out of his teens. You don't have to worry about me so much."

"But I was. I know what Akito is capable of. I didn't want him to do anything to you. I wanted to come by and see if you were all right, but I was just…afraid."

"I understand," Noa replied, knowing how much Akito terrified Yuki. "That's okay. In fact, you should worry more about the three thugs who attacked me while I was out one afternoon."

Yuki's eyes widened again. "Wait a minute, what?!"

"Oh, it's okay. You can just ask the one with the broken nose."

Yuki smiled a little bit. Even after all this time, Noa continued to surprise him. "Where's Akito now then if he's not with you?"

"Yuta's spending the day with him."

"He won't…hurt Yuta, will he?"

"No. We've managed to get to a point where Akito isn't violent with us anymore, at least not physically. He still uses those pretty harsh verbal barbs though. But getting out of the main house has been really good for him. I've seen that he has a lot more layers than I thought he did, and I've come to understand why he is the way he is."

Yuki frowned. "You mean you think it's okay what he's done?"

"No," Noa answered firmly. "I will never attempt to justify what he did to you. I may not know what exactly happened, but I know it's not good and it's nothing you deserved to go through. What I'm saying is that there's a lot going on that you don't know about, and things are much more complicated than I thought they were."

Yuki crossed his arms. "As long as you're okay."

Noa lightly tussled his hair. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm tougher than I look."

Yuki laughed lightly. "Want to come inside? I think Miss Honda is just finishing with lunch."

"As long as she doesn't mind the extra guest."

"I'm sure she won't."

"That girl would probably let a burglar join her at the table."

Yuki laughed again. "Kyo and I had the exact same thought."

Noa turned her head as the door opened and Yuta and Akito stepped inside.

"Hey, welcome back!" she smiled. "How was your day?"

"It was great!" Yuta replied. "We walked along the beach and then we stopped inside several of the stores. Then we got lunch at this awesome restaurant that served the most incredible soup."

"Sounds like you had fun. Akito, did you have a good time?"

Akito refused to look at either of them. "It was better than the rest of the time I've spent at this place."

Noa took note that that was the first time she hadn't included 'stupid' or 'wretched' when mentioning her house. "I take it that means yes. You must be pretty exhausted. I have a bath all ready for you in the upstairs bathroom, so you can go up there and soak for as long as you want. When you're done with that, I'll heat up some dinner."

Akito went up the stairs to take a bath, slightly stunned that once again, Noa had gone extremely out of her way to provide comfort for her.

Once Akito had disappeared, Noa and Yuta sat down on the couch.

"Okay, how'd everything go?" Noa asked.

"It really was good. She kept trying to pretend that she hated it, but I know she enjoyed being out and about. She ate really well too, and thankfully, she didn't get too burned. Her skin was a little red, but the bath will probably take care of that."

"I'm glad things went well."

"Hopefully, she now understands that more than one person outside of the Sohma family cares about her and she'll be a little more open to letting both of us in."

He left out how he had felt after he had rescued Akito from falling into the water. When he had picked her up, he had just wanted to get her out of the water so she would stop shaking. But as he held her tiny body in his arms that was much lighter than it should've been, he suddenly had an overwhelming urge to protect her from everything. He wanted to hold her forever if it meant that she would never have to go through anything terrible ever again.

"I'm proud of you, Yuta. You've handled all this far better than I thought you would."

"Well, I want to help her as much as you do. By the way, where's my bath?"

"You hate baths. But the shower's open."

Yuta laughed as he went inside the downstairs bathroom.

Upstairs, Akito sat in the tub replaying over the events of the day. If she was being completely honest with herself, it was the most fun day she had ever had in her entire life. She hadn't had to worry about running the Sohma house or the zodiac members or anything Sohma-related at all. She hadn't realized how relaxing that could be.

Yuta had treated her to a nice restaurant along with a crepe for dessert from one of the crepe trucks. She had a feeling Noa had told him to make sure she ate because he had been particularly pushy about her eating lunch.

He had also bought her a small keychain with the Japanese lucky cat attached to it, saying that he hoped it would bring her good luck when she ended up having to go back to the main house. She could still remember the feeling of his hand touching hers to close her fingers around the cat and the incredibly tender smile he had given her.

She sank further beneath the water as she recalled how he had made her feel when he had carried her.

Akito had only ever had romantic feelings for Shigure. Part of her still held those feelings even after everything that had happened, but she didn't know if she could ever truly be with him again after knowing what he did and how he had betrayed her.

She also didn't know how much of the feelings shared between them were a result of the zodiac bond. It was entirely possible Shigure only believed he was in love with her and vice versa because of the curse.

Akito knew that Noa cared for her. She kept trying to deny it and push Noa away, but she had done so much for her that by this point, it was pointless to try to believe anything else.

If Noa could come to care about her as a person, she wondered if Yuta could come to care about her as a woman.

But she still greatly feared that once they both found out the things she had done in the past, they would inevitably end up leaving her.