"No fucking way am I letting you guys do this." Kyo glared at Hatsuharu as he, Shigure and Yuki sat in Kyo's living room. "Tohru's already been through enough, she doesn't need to get in any more danger."
"We weren't talking about Tohru." Shigure sighed at Kyo's quick temper. "The woman who is after you two has apparently given up breaking the curse through Tohru. She's now aiming at you. After all, you can't love something that's dead." Shigure shrugged casually as Kyo's jaw dropped in shock.
"She wants to kill me?" He said nervously, shifting in his seat a little. "What's with this woman? Why does she want the curse back so much?"
"Ah, I believe Akito has the answer to that. She told me that this woman has been taking care of the zodiac born children since her father's time. The woman has raised two generations of children, and has seen them through the best and worst times. Now that we no longer have the curse, she was no longer needed. So, I believe she wants the curse back so that she'll be needed by us again."
"God, what a psycho." Kyo sighed, running a hand through his orange hair. "So she wants to work back at the main Sohma house, even if it means killing me?"
"I believe so. You know how the elderly thought of the cat, Kyo." Shigure nodded solemnly, hinting at the all too familiar idea of the cat house, where the zodiac cat was to be kept for his entire life.
Kyo shivered and nodded, looking at the ground uneasily. "So you want to use me as bait? Aright, I'll agree on one condition."
"Name it." Hatsuharu shrugged, glad that Tohru was out of the house momentarily to talk with the girl across the hall in the apartment building.
"Keep Tohru safe while I'm busy. She's had it rough lately, and I don't think she's completely over it." Kyo looked in the direction of the door, concern filling his eyes.
"I'm still shocked that you turned out to be such a romantic." Shigure sighed wistfully, making Kyo glare at him in annoyance.
"Look, I just don't want her to get any more hurt. She about broke down before, and I never want to see her like that again." He snapped, and calmed down. "Scared me to death." He muttered under his breath, hoping no one heard him. Yuki smiled as he heard Kyo's whisper, but decided not to say anything about it.
"Are we all ready then? We should discuss the plan while Tohru's out of the room. She probably wouldn't approve of it." Yuki nodded in satisfaction.
"I just hope she doesn't go looking for me, wandering around the streets or something." Kyo sighed, knowing Tohru would do that if she found him missing.
"She won't, I'll be watching over her." Shigure said seriously, his face without a trace of sarcasm. Kyo was taken aback at the sudden seriousness of the usually goofy Shigure, but nodded in satisfaction, knowing he would take care of Tohru.
"Alright, I was thinking of something subtle. We don't want to make it obvious that we're trying to trap her." Hatsuharu said, leaning forward in his seat as they started discussing the plan.
"That's a good idea. She seems like the type of person who is overly cautious." Yuki nodded.
"Alright, so Kyo walks to the market to get some groceries. Not a big deal, the man has to eat. She's probably waiting for a chance when he's alone, that she can do something drastic to capture him. The only thing is, we don't know what she'll try and do." Hatsuharu looked up at Kyo with dark eyes. "You may get really hurt."
Kyo shrugged. "Yuki's been beating on me since I can remember. I think I can take anything she throws at me."
Yuki smirked at that comment, but only nodded. "She'll probably try hitting you with something. Just keep your eyes out."
Kyo nodded and looked to Shigure, as Tohru walked out of the kitchen with the tea she had prepared for everyone. She handed people their cup of hot tea and sat down beside Kyo, looking at everyone's grim expressions in confusion.
"What's wrong with everyone?" She asked, setting down her cup in concern.
"Nothing, Tohru. We're fine." Kyo smiled, hating to lie to her.
Tohru nodded slowly, not entirely believing Kyo, but decided to change the subject.
"So Shigure, how are you and Akito doing?" She smiled.
Shigure smiled whistfully. "Ah, wonderful, as usual. Akito has really calmed down a lot since the curse has broken, and she's even wearing skirts every now and then." Shigure snickered at the surprised expressions the last news made. "Yes, she's experimenting a bit. I rather like it."
"I'm sure you do." Yuki rolled his eyes, but smiled.
"So Kyo, do you have anything to eat? I haven't had a meal since breakfast." Hatsuharu said casually, sipping his tea.
"Um…" Kyo looked at Tohru in question, and she blushed.
"No, we don't- I wasn't expecting guests, and we only have enough rice for Kyo and I." She stammered, but Kyo put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"You're fine, Tohru. I'll go to the store and get us something to eat. You stay here."
Tohru looked at him and sighed, nodding. "That would probably be best."
"Shigure will stay here with you. Hatsuharu- you come with me, since I have no idea what you'll want to eat." Kyo stood, grabbing his apartment keys as he walked toward the door. Yuki stood with a sigh.
"I'll come as well, to make sure you two get something that's actually healthy."
Kyo glanced back at Tohru's concerned face as he walked out the door, feeling horrible for leaving her alone.