First clue

Tohru explored her little place day by day, inch by inch. Besides school work, there wasn't much else to do. She almost wanted Akito in here. At least he wouldn't make things this boring. Tohru was unused to not being talked to. Generally, she was well liked by everyone, even if she made friends with some of the scariest people.

Tohru opened up a cabient, and noticed a picture frame on the ground. She was about to pick it up when she felt herself being thrown across the room. "Don't pick that up!" Someone yelled. Tohru didn't know who and she was too busy looking herself over. She wasn't injuried too bad. She finally looked up. It was Akito. He looked frantic, scared even.

"Akito, are you okay?" Tohru asked. She got up and went to Akito's side. Akito was hiding this feeling all along. She couldn't let him keep it inside.

"Why do you even care!" Akito lashed back. "No matter what I put you through, or how many things I take away, you come to me. I don't get it. You are just like him!"

"Whose him?" Tohru asked.

"None of your business." Akito left the room.

Later that day:

Hatori had come by to help her with her homework. It wasn't necessary today. With Hatori's help, Tohru was getting better at her studies. Sometimes, she didn't even need help with her homework anymore. Her mom wasn't of much help in the homework department. She never made it to high school in the first place.

Still, she was happy to see Hatori. It wasn't like she didn't like Momiji or Kisa. They were both cute and fun to be with, but Hatori was just different. He was different than Uo and Saki back home. Whenever she saw him, a bit of happiness rose within her. She never felt that before. She waved at him. "Hello Hatori. How was your day?"

"Good so far. How was yours?" Hatori replied. He took off his shoes and stepped inside.

"It was interesting. I don't know if it was good or bad." Tohru smiled.

"Well, we have time. Care to tell me about it?" Hatori asked.

"Akito was acting strangely today. I was exploring like I usually do. Usually, he doesn't mind at all, but today was different. I opened a cabinet and saw there was a picture inside, face down. I went to pick it up, then Akito screamed at me and threw me across the room. When I went to go help him, he yelled back at me saying 'You're just like him' and walked away. Who was him?"

Hatori looked back at her. "Sorry, but you don't need to hear about that. Leave it in the past." Hatori looked like he was remembering something horrible.

"Hatori, what's wrong? Are you okay? Do you have a fever or something? Did I say something wrong?" Tohru began to worry. It was only natural. I mean, Hatori looks like he is in serious pain.

"It is just a bad memory." Hatori replied.

"Okay, I won't ask about it anymore if you are uncomfortable." Tohru said.

"Now, you are making me feel guilty." Hatori looked back at her. "I can't tell you about that memory, so I'll tell you about another bad one."

Tohru began crossing her hands. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I want to tell you it. I should of told you the day in the hospital. It must of slipped my mind while I saw you there. The Souma family, as you know, is dark. I am part of that darkness, and I have a past as well. I can also fall in love, and I fell in love with someone that didn't know the secret. She was fine with it and soon, we wanted to be married." Tohru smiled, but she felt a little sadness inside. "We had to ask Akito for permission first. Akito didn't take the news very well, and I lost sight in one eye and Kana blamed herself for it."

Tohru hugged him and realized he was warm. She blushed and backed away. Usually, she didn't have a problem with hugging people. It must be the curse. Thats it, the curse. "I'm so sorry."

"There is an end to this story. Let me finish." Tohru nodded. "To save Kana, I erased her memory. Her suffering was gone, but so was her love for me. It was a necessary sacrifice." Tohru began to cry. That was so sad. "It wasn't a total bad ending. Kana got married and I returned to my life. It isn't horrible."

"Still," Tohru sobbed, "You should of been married. Someone like you deserves it and all."

"Well," Hatori looked off, "at least I can protect the young ones. I was the one that helped Haru get Yuki off the estate."

"Who is Haru?" Tohru asked.

"Oh, zodiac of the cow. I forgot, you haven't met hardly any of them. You'll meet them all at the New Year's banquet coming up. I wonder what Akito is going to do about that."

"Oh, there is a banquet coming!" Tohru's eyes lit up in happiness. She couldn't wait to meet the others.