Winter Illusion

Chapter Two

Tohru walked into the room, but soon discovered that her guests were nowhere in sight. She stood still for a moment before her ears picked up on sounds from the kitchen. After coming closer, she realized that Akito and Hatori were having an argument, which was soon cut short with a fit of coughs from Akito. Hatori, being the calm-and-collected doctor promptly gave him a handkerchief to cough into.

"I should have restricted you to bed rest, Akito." Hatori was saying, holding Akito in his place in the chair he was sitting in.

"I refuse to be treated like a pregnant woman!" He yelled, but was reduced to yet another fit of coughing. Tohru flinched when the handkerchief was covered gradually in blood. Akito got up against the doctor's protests.

"Slow down, Akito."

"Back off!" He yelled. He spilled blood on the floor this time, causing Tohru to not stand by anymore. Hatori blinked in surprise when Tohru grabbed a rag and began to wipe up the mess.

"Tohru." Hatori said, holding onto Akito so he wouldn't fall over. "We—"

Tohru only smiled a watery smile, understanding. "Don't worry. I can handle it." She said. Hatori felt his heart melt for this girl and immediately scolded himself for it. "Do what you need to."

Hatori nodded, helping the now-quiet Akito out of the kitchen. "We will see you soon, Tohru." He said, exiting the house. Tohru sighed when she heard the car drive away.

There was yet another episode of the Sohma family drama.

Tohru tried to focus at the task at hand—which seemed to be doing the laundry—but failed miserably. What was happening to Akito? He couldn't be dying this soon, could he?

Tohru thought of how the two men looked at her the other day when she tried to help clean up the mess of blood on the kitchen floor. Akito had looked…hungry? Kind of like the gaze a tiger would have for its prey. Or a scientist for its experiment. Tohru shivered, deciding it best to not think about him, but rather someone else.

Hatori politely knocked on the door a first, then eventually a second time. "Tohru?" He asked, opening the door when she didn't answer. He listened for a moment before locating her in the laundry room. He turned away as he glimpsed a view of her putting wet clothes in the drier and picking a laundry basket up with clothes that needed folding. She let out a yelp of surprise before letting loose a laugh of relief when she saw Hatori standing in the doorway.

"Oh! I thought you were a—never mind! Hello, Hari-san. What brings you here today?"

He couldn't help but smile a cool, non-revealing smile at her surprise. "I am sorry to say I am on business." Tohru froze for a moment, which Hatori cleared up quickly. "Don't you worry. Not that sort of business." He noticed how she un-tensed as she left the laundry alone and led him to the kitchen.

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked while walking to their destination. She stopped in the main room where the table was sitting on the floor. Hatori wanted some of her tea, but thought back to Akito's words before he had left the Sohma house.

"I apologize, Tohru." He said. "But Akito has requested to see you right away."

"Oh, right!" Tohru said, perking up at the mention of Akito. "Let me just pack the lunch I was making up and we'll go."

Hatori patiently waited as she took a little less than five minutes before she came back out of the kitchen, ready for him to lead the way. Hatori forced his heart to slow before leading her to his car, opening the door for her, and also getting into the car with her. Hatori made small talk about what she was doing in school, and was surprised how quickly she was blasting through it all.

"You are in your third year of college?" Hatori asked, trying not to feel or be surprised. She nodded eagerly.

"Yes, I am. I'm supposed to be a second year, but I got so excited about what I'm learning and wanted to know more. I passed all of the written tests with perfect scores, so they gave me the chance to advance a year ahead."

Hatori knew it was impolite to ask her age, and left it at that. "What field are you going into in Psychology?" He asked.

"I am in the Health Psychology field." She said, smiling when he realized what that meant.

She was going to attempt to help him stop his smoking habits.

Hatori was saved when they pulled up into the Sohma residence. Tohru had really changed over the past year or so that he has seen her last. She seemed more…bold and less naïve.

He opened the door for Tohru and took her to meet the head of the Sohma house, the curse holder—Akito.

A/N: I apologize for the short chapter--it was a better place to end it. Thank you to the readers for sticking with this fic--you've been a wonderful audience.

Love and kisses,

Kate