Noa opened the door to a shop and a small bell rang above it announcing her presence.

"Welcome, my darling customer!" a flamboyant voice rang out. "You've made one step in making your life greater! Whatever your dreams or desires, you can be sure that they will be fulfilled here!"

The silver-haired man with the dramatic voice came into view and eagerly clutched Noa's hands.

"Yours truly will work tirelessly to ensure your satisfaction!"

"So what I've heard is true," Noa smirked. "You really are extremely hyper."

"Oh, so you've heard of me? Well, it's only natural you would then seek out my services. After all, you'll never find another clothing designer as perfect as I am."

"And very full of yourself. I'm Noa Kaneko. It's nice to finally meet you…Ayame Sohma."

Ayame's eyes sparkled. "You're the Noa Kaneko? The one who looks after my darling little brother? Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Because I couldn't get a word in. If it's all right, I'd like to treat you to lunch."

"Ah, perfect timing, I was just about to head out." He turned to the back of the shop. "Mine, dearest, I'll be back momentarily! Watch the shop while I'm gone!"

"You got it, boss!" a female voice replied from the back room.

Ayame quickly grabbed Noa's hand and rushed out of the store before she had time to take a breath. "Now come along, I know the perfect place. I'm surprised it's taken you so long to seek me out. Surely, Yuki has talked about me and how much he adores me. And since you care so much for my adorable brother, I'm sure you'll come to love me as well. Yuki and I may be different, but we share plenty of similarities. True, I don't exactly know what they are, but I'm sure they're there."

"Well, actually—"

"Here we are!"

Ayame pulled Noa into a small little restaurant and proceeded to sit down at one of the tables.

"I know exactly what you should get. Don't worry, ma'am, I shall order for you!"

And he did just that. Without any input from Noa, Ayame placed orders for the both of them.

Then he laced his fingers together and placed them under his chin. "So, please, tell me how you met Yuki and how you've managed to forge such a wonderful bond with him. I could use some pointers. Deep down, I know Yuki worships me, but I'm having trouble getting him to understand how much he appreciates all of my wonderful qualities."

"Yuki is—"

"Miss Noa, I have heard many things about you from the main house, but I'm quite intrigued to know why you have stayed by Yuki's side for so long and then later interfered with affairs at the main house."

"Well, I wanted—"

"Yuki must've talked about me, and you just had to meet me, isn't that right? I'm even more lovely in person, aren't I? The bold age of 26 and I'm still going strong! You don't find many people who have their life figured out at 26, do you? It's just goes to show how perfect God has made me! It doesn't seem fair that one such as I can be so utterly extraordinary, but I suppose some of us are just luckier than others."

"Oh, my goodness, please stop talking!" Noa begged.

Ayame looked at her in confusion. "Is there a problem?"

"I now understand why you and Yuki aren't very close. I have never met someone who talks so highly of himself before."

"Oh, I simply must tell you about this one time—"

"No!" Noa interrupted firmly. "No. I'm talking right now."

For the first time in his life, Ayame shrank back under stern words that didn't come from Hatori. He had received the 'stern-mother' look and it was much more terrifying than the looks his own mother gave him seeing as she never cared enough to put any effort into raising Ayame. Did mothers always have such scary faces when they were angry?

Noa sighed, finally getting a little bit of quiet. "Let me go over what's happened so far. You dragged me to this restaurant almost literally, you ordered for me without asking what I wanted, and then you asked me several questions but gave me no time to answer any of them. Do you see the problem there?"

"I tend to get a bit excited sometimes, especially where my brother is concerned. I must admit, I've wanted to meet you for quite some time, but Yuki would never let me."

"Well, there's reasons for that beyond the fact that he doesn't get along with you. And from what he tells me, he has a good reason for that."

Ayame's eyes lost their sparkle for the first time all day and he gave a sad smile. "Yes. He does."

Noa was surprised he admitted that so readily.

"He still won't tell me what he went through at the main house, but whatever it was, I should've been there to help him. Instead, I acted selfishly and put my own needs above his. It haunts me every day, Miss Noa. I've tried to make amends, but nothing I do seems to work."

"Ayame, how many times do you have an actual conversation with Yuki?"

"I don't know, maybe once every two weeks or so if I'm lucky."

"No. I mean a two-way conversation in which Yuki actually gets the chance to talk as well. I'm gonna guess that the answer is never if what I've witnessed so far is anything to go by. I think what you need to do is focus on letting him talk sometimes. Just start with fifteen or even just five minutes of uninterrupted conversation. That means you do not say a word until he is done talking."

"Five…minutes?"

"Okay, if that's too daunting, even just one minute would be a start. A full 60 seconds of you not saying anything while he's talking. I know he would really appreciate it and it would make a world of difference. And for the love of mercy, you have got to get yourself off your astronomically high pedestal."

"It's accurately high."

"Guess again."

Ayame chuckled a little. He could understand why Yuki loved this woman so much. She said what people needed to hear even if it wasn't pretty, and she didn't hesitate to get her point across. She also had a way of talking bluntly but warmly at the same time.

"Look, I'm sure you're aware that you and Yuki are polar opposites. But I don't think you take it into account when you're with him. He's shy and reserved and he will only open himself up to people that he really trusts. The thing about trust is that it is so hard to gain and so easy to lose. You're going to have to work hard to get it back. That means that you stop worshipping yourself, you stop thinking everyone else needs to worship you, and you start thinking about what's best for him."

"Miss Noa…may I ask…how you became so close with him?"

"I listened to him. But I listened to more than what he was saying. I listened to the way he said things, and I listened to all the subtext. And then I made sure that everything I did for him was in his best interests."

"It doesn't seem fair that someone like you who has no business with the Sohma family is closer to him than his own flesh and blood. But then, I suppose there's no one to blame for that except me."

Noa looked at him sadly. At least he could admit he was wrong. That was usually the hardest step.

"I apologize, Miss Noa, for being so rash this afternoon."

"Apologies are a pretty big step, Ayame. Have you ever personally said 'I'm sorry' to Yuki for what happened and for what you did?"

Ayame looked down at the table. "That could never make up for what I put him through."

"No, but those two words go a really long way. I think I would start with that. Don't embellish it or add unnecessary nothings. Just walk up to him and tell him you're sorry. If you keep putting off actually saying the words, Yuki may never really know that you're actually remorseful about what happened."

Ayame gave her another small smile. "I'm glad you found him."

Noa smiled back. "He found me."

A waiter came to the table and placed the two dishes in front of them.

Noa picked up her chopsticks and took a small bite. Then she smiled again at Ayame. "I have to admit, you may be rash but you have pretty good judgment. This is amazing."

Noa took to visiting the main house nearly every day to see Akito. On some days, she was too busy to make the trip, but as much as she loved spending time with Akito, she wanted to teach her that just because she wasn't able to see her every day didn't mean that she was completely abandoning her or didn't care about her.

It took a little while for Akito to stop having tantrums whenever Noa missed a day, but gradually, she reluctantly accepted that Noa had a life of her own and couldn't stay by Akito's side every second.

On some days when Noa couldn't make it to the main house, Yuta stopped by from college and visited with Akito as well.

She remained the hard-headed girl he had met, but he just continued to smile at her and laugh at all of her verbal barbs. He knew that her attitude was simply a defense mechanism, and he quickly got used to it and made some light-hearted retorts of his own here and there.

Akito had yet to reveal her true gender to everyone else in the Sohma family. Noa didn't pressure her about it, but she wondered how long the girl could handle having everyone refer to her as male when she knew she just wanted to be addressed and treated like a female.

Noa also continued visiting Kazuma's dojo and taking self-defense lessons from him. She had started going only once a week, but soon she was making the trip at least three times a week if not more. Neither she nor Kazuma even realized just how often she was coming to the dojo until Kunimitsu, Kazuma's assistant, pointed it out.

On one occasion, she ended up staying later than she had planned.

Noa looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm cutting into your dinnertime, aren't I?"

Kazuma laughed kindly. "My dinnertime varies. Sometimes I end up teaching students well into the night and don't eat until very late. But since I'm usually by myself seeing as Kyo is at Shigure's, it's not too big of a deal."

"You eat alone every night?"

"Well, not every night. Sometimes, Kunimitsu will join me. However, seeing as he is busy tonight, would you like to have dinner with me, Noa?"

Noa raised her brow in surprise. "You're inviting me over for dinner?"

"Yes. Is that bad?"

Noa laughed awkwardly. "No, I, uh…I'd love to join you."

Kazuma smiled. "Wonderful. Then let us depart."

The two of them made the short journey from the dojo to Kazuma's house.

"Make yourself comfortable," Kazuma told her as they stepped inside. "I'll start making us something."

"I can help if you need me to."

"No, that's not necessary. I shouldn't be too long."

"Okay, if you're sure."

Noa took a seat in the living room and took in the small living space. She had never been to Kazuma's house before, but he kept it very neat and pristine. She could easily imagine him raising Kyo here.

Not long after Kazuma had begun cooking, Noa started to smell smoke wafting throughout the house.

Concerned, she quickly went to the entrance to the kitchen.

"Uh, Kazuma?"

"Mm-hm?"

"The food is…on fire."

Kazuma turned to look at the pot on the stove where a small fire had started inside of it. "Oh, so it is."

"Don't be so calm about it!"

Noa rushed over to the pot. Luckily, there was a lid on the counter nearby. She picked it up and slammed it onto the pot but not before one of the flames licked her hand and burned it.

"Ow!" Noa exclaimed as she backed away from the pot, holding her hand.

"Are you all right?" Kazuma asked as he quickly came over to her. "Here, let me see." He gently took her hand in his own and examined it. "I'll get a bandage for you."

He left the kitchen for a brief moment and returned with a small white roll. Noa held her hand out for him as he carefully wrapped the bandage around the injury.

"I'm so very sorry," Kazuma sighed. "I invite you over and you burn yourself because of me."

"Oh, it's okay," Noa smiled. "Kitchen fires happen to everyone."

"It should've been me who took care of it. I was just…distracted."

"I figured. Hasn't anyone ever told you that you shouldn't read and cook at the same time?"

Kazuma laughed lightly. "Kyo has. I guess I should've listened."

Noa noticed that he had finished bandaging up the burn, but he was still holding her hand. For some reason, the action made her heart skip a beat.

"Uh…why don't I make dinner instead?" she offered, cursing herself for stumbling over her words.

"No, I can't ask my guest to be the one to make dinner."

"Kazuma, no offense, but we'll both starve if we rely on you."

Kazuma laughed again. "I don't have a whole lot in my kitchen."

"That's okay. I can make a meal out of pretty much anything. Yuta was a pretty picky eater when he was a kid. I had to learn how to get creative with cooking in order to get him to eat balanced meals."

"You talk about your son so often. I'd love the chance to meet him someday."

Noa smiled a little. "I'd like you to meet him too. Maybe the three of us can have dinner sometime soon. And by that, I mean go out for dinner."

When Kazuma laughed again, Noa's heart skipped another beat. Lately, she had found that the more time she spent with Kazuma, the more nervous she felt around him.

What was this? Was she some kind of schoolgirl with a crush? It was ridiculous!

But if she was being honest, she hadn't felt this way…since she'd first met Kei.

"Hey, Kyo, you finished training?" Noa asked as she prepared to leave the dojo.

"Yeah."

"You wanna go get a snack with me? My treat."

It was the thousandth time she had asked that question, and he always said no, so she was pretty surprised when he answered, "Fine."

"Really?"

"Only because I know you'll never stop asking me."

Noa laughed. "Well, you're not wrong. Grab your stuff and let's go. I know a really good crepe stand not far from here."

Kyo changed into his street clothes and left the dojo with Noa.

They walked down the path until they came to an open park where there was indeed a man selling various kinds of crepes.

"Just get whichever one you want," Noa told him.

Kyo told the vendor which crepe he wanted and then Noa did the same before paying for both of them.

Once they both had their crepes, the two of them sat down on one of the park benches.

"Aren't you glad you finally accepted?" Noa teased. "There's not much better than free food."

"Yeah, yeah, I only agreed because you're so freaking persistent."

Noa laughed again. "It's not my fault you kept saying no. I knew I would break you eventually."

Kyo growled angrily. "You're so annoying, you know that?!"

"Ooh, big words to say to the person who just bought you food."

The boy embarrassedly slumped down into the seat.

"Look, I know you've kind of had mixed feelings about me because I spent so much time with Yuki as he was growing up. But I really want to get to know you, not all of the incredibly biased things Yuki has told me."

"That rat's been bad-mouthing me, hasn't he?!"

"Oh, and you haven't been bad-mouthing him? Nice try."

"Why do you always gotta shoot down everything I say?! You're worse than Shigure!"

"I'm a mom. What did you expect?"

Kyo rolled his eyes.

"You've certainly got quite the temper, don't you?"

"So what? You gonna go complain to Master?"

"Hardly. After spending an entire month with Akito, this is nothing. But Kyo, listen. About Yuki, I know you've been angry at him since the two of you were kids, but have you ever considered his side of things?"

"What's that supposed to mean? He's Akito's favorite which means he just got a bunch of special treatment. I wasn't even invited to anything because Akito hates me."

"Did you ever think that maybe being Akito's favorite isn't all you think it is?"

"It can't be any worse than what I've gone through."

"How do you know? Have you ever asked him for his side of the story?"

Kyo looked away from her. "Well…no. What's the point anyway? It doesn't matter anymore."

"The fact that you both argue on a daily basis says that it does. I'm sure that you haven't had it easy. But Yuki hasn't either, and I think you're old enough now to stop moping about the things you can't change and focus on what you can."

"Ugh, I didn't ask for a therapy session! If I had known this was coming, I would've just said no again! Free food ain't worth it."

Noa smirked a little. "You're just mad because you know I'm right."

"Yeah, you wish!"

"Ah, the temper's come back. Well, you can act upset all you want, but from what Tohru's told me, I know you've got a good heart behind all that big talk."

Kyo blushed a little. "She…she talks about me?"

Noa raised her eyebrows at Kyo's reddening face, but she didn't mention it. "Yeah, all the time. She cares about you a great deal. One might even wonder if she has a crush on you."

At that remark, Noa was pretty sure steam was about to come out of the embarrassed boy's ears.

"You look out for her, okay?"

"Yeah…" Kyo answered. "I will."

Soon enough, Noa and Kazuma fell into a comfortable routine where Noa would come over and make dinner for the both of them after they trained together.

Yuta joined them a few times so he could meet Kazuma, and Kyo also ate with them when not staying at Shigure's.

Over time, Noa began to bond a lot more with Kyo. Once he had actually accepted her offer to take him out to eat, the two of them ended up going out more often. He still had the same fiery temper as ever, but she always enjoyed every second they spent together.

Kazuma eventually explained to her why exactly he took Kyo in as a child and what his parents had been like. Kyo's mother tried to show him love, but Kyo had always been able to see that it was fake and forced love. Eventually, the pressure of it all was too much and she walked in front of an oncoming train. His father constantly blamed him for his mother's death to the point where Kyo was so angry at the world and so depressed that Kazuma decided to take him away from all of the hatred and blame.

When Noa learned all this, she tried to show Kyo the true motherly affection he had always lacked. She realized that she was sort of becoming the 'pseudo-Sohma-family-mother'. It was more difficult with Kyo though because she always felt like he and Kazuma were hiding something from her.

On an ordinary summer day, Noa went to the main house as she always did.

The gates were locked, so she knocked on them and waited for a few minutes for one of the servants to get to them.

One of the doors opened, and out stepped the head maid, Shima.

"Oh, it is you, Miss Kaneko," she said rather icily. "Master Akito is not here at the moment, but I will be happy to show you where you can wait for him."

"Akito isn't here?" Noa asked. "But it's still pretty early. Where did he go?"

"It is none of my business to know that unless Master Akito wishes for me to know."

Noa just shook her head as she stepped inside the gate. She followed Shima further into the estate until they were almost to the back.

"Are you sure Akito wants me to wait for him all the way out here? We usually meet in the center house."

"Do not question Master Akito's orders."

It was no secret to Noa that Shima wasn't exactly fond of her. She had always been pretty cold towards her, but this was different. She seemed extra icy today.

The head maid led her to a very small building all the way in the back of the estate. The place looked almost abandoned as if no one had touched it in years.

Maybe Akito wanted to discuss something with her privately where no one would be able to hear them.

"Right this way," Shima said as she opened the door to the place.

Noa stepped inside…and the door slammed behind her with a sickening lock. She ran to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Shima?!" she called in a panic.

"I won't let you continue to destroy Master Akito…" Shima said lowly through the door.

"…What? What are you talking about?"

"You…who don't even know what this family goes through…you attempt to come in here and change everything. The Sohmas have lived through the same tradition for hundreds of years. An outsider like you could never hope to understand."

"Shima, please, I'm only helping Akito!"

"You are doing no such thing. Akito is perfectly fine the way he is. He does not need someone like you changing him."

"He needs someone who cares for him!"

"There are a select group of Sohmas who care for him more than enough. He doesn't need you."

"Shima? Shima?! Shima!"

Noa banged on the door, but no one answered. No one could hear her all the way in the back of the estate.

She looked around the small place. The only windows had been boarded up, leaving the place in almost complete darkness. She tried to find a light but soon realized there weren't any.

Was this…the infamous 'Cat's Room' she had heard about? Was this the place Kyo was expected to be locked up in later in life? How could someone do something so horrible to another person who was part of their own family?

Noa tried to calm herself. Surely someone would eventually notice she was missing, right?

But…Yuta was off at college and she had no idea when he would get a break again. Akito would just be angry and betrayed that she stopped visiting. Odds were that she most likely wouldn't come looking for her. Yuki would stop by her house, but when he saw she wasn't there, he would just go home. Kazuma and Kyo would just assume she was busy when she never came to the dojo.

And if any one of them did find out she was actually missing, none of them would possibly think to look in the Cat's Room. Yuta didn't even know this place existed.

…How long was she going to be trapped here?

Days passed.

Noa lived in darkness and isolation inside the Cat's Room where no one could hear her cries for help.

The door only opened for a brief two seconds in order for someone to bring her a plate of food. Sometimes, the plate came three times, sometimes it was only once, and sometimes it didn't come at all.

The first time it had opened, Noa hadn't been fast enough to overpower the person who had opened it before it shut again. She had waited by the door for hours but it hadn't opened again that day.

The next time it opened, she was so hungry that she barely had the strength to make it to the door much less overpower the servant.

She knew Shima had always disliked her, but she had never known that she would go this far. What was so bad about changing Akito? Didn't Shima know that Akito had been full of despair when she had first met Noa? Could she not see that Akito had started to show a real smile instead of her malicious smiles? Did she not know that Akito needed a mother-figure in her life to comfort her and protect her and discipline her? Didn't she know that it was more harmful to just agree with everything Akito said without hesitation?

Try as she might, she could not understand Shima's reasoning.

She wondered if anyone had started looking for her. Maybe no one knew she hadn't been home in a long time. Maybe they all still thought she was just out for the moment.

The house was drafty at night and Noa had no blankets or even a bed to lie on. Shima truly kept her completely deprived of almost everything.

There was a bathroom inside the small place, but there was no hot water. She was forced to take frigid showers which only worsened her living conditions.

"Kei…" she said quietly as she lay on the floor. "Please…help me. Help someone find me. I'm…I'm scared. I wish you were here with me. I know that you would find me. Please let someone know I need help."

If this was what Kyo had to look forward to, she would do everything in her power to make sure he never had to suffer through this.

If she ever got out.