A/N - Wha! I love reviews! They are my energizer batteries. I thought I'd take this time to place a disclaimer. I do not own Fruits Basket, Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, or any of the other characters depicted here except for the teachers. And Amatsuka Kozue! I apologize to all the Yuki lovers for her abusiveness. Gomen nasai! She's really very nice once you get to know her! ...sort of.
Kozue: ::blows up the school's teacher lounge::
ACK! Amatsuka! What did I say about constructing bombs out of house hold appliances!! Erm...anyway, back to the story...

CHAPTER THREE
Enigmatic Siren

'And you shall be loved by my lovers, courted by my courtiers. You shall be the queen of all men that have strange eyes, whose necks also I have clasped in my nocturnal caresses; of those who love the sea, the sea that is immense, tumultuous and green, the formless and multiform streams,

the place where they are not, the woman whom they do not know, sinister flowers that resemble the censers of a strange religion, perfumes that confound the will; and the savage and voluptuous animals which are the emblems of their dementia.'

And that, my dear, cursed, spoiled child, is why I am now lying at your feet, seeking in all your person the reflection of the formidable divinity, of the foreknowing godmother, the poisoning wet-nurse of all the lunatics.

&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&

"So what, some teacher got shown up by a third year girl. What's the big deal?"

"I don't know, but Takemora-sensei looked so upset. I felt so sad for him." Tohru said without looking at Kyo who lounged next to her on the roof. "I know that it's not wrong to correct someone's mistakes but…it was like she was attacking him at the same time."

"Eh." Kyo sighed, scratching at his crop of citrine hair. Secretly, he was always pleased when Tohru came to him with her problems, though he wasn't ready yet to confess to himself why. At the same time it always frustrated him because he was rarely any good at being able to help her. If she was being hurt or scared, that he could fix because all it required was strength. He had no idea how to fix emotional issues. "Well…I guess…there's really nothing you can do about some stuck up girl with a bad attitude. Besides, if she's really so smart then she'll probably be sent to a different school soon."

He grinned at the sky, pleased with his own solution. Maybe he wasn't so bad. He was getting better at this. He could just see it. Tohru would always come to him with everything saying 'Kyo you're so wise!' and Yuki couldn't ever call him stupid again. And-

"AH!"

Tohru's scream launched him to his feet immediately in a defensive maneuver. "What!? What is it!?"

"I forgot! Now I have to make Arisa-chan and Saki-chan's lunches for the next seven days."

Irritation twisted his face and made him tremble. "You weren't…even…listening." The words a low murmur.

"Huh? Did you say something Kyo?"

"You idiot! Don't scream like that when there's nothing! You almost scared me off the roof with your yelling! Are you crazy?"

A nervous smile blossomed on Tohru's features. "Heh, heh. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Don't apologize in such a flippant way! You just never listen do you?"

"I do, really." Oh boy, here we go again.

Yuki listened to their conversation from the deck beneath them, leaning against the half repaired screen doors—Kyo had broken them once again. Some things would just never change. He returned to the house again as their words dissolved into a repetition of Kyo's usual admonishment and Tohru's attempt at temper soothing apology, which only had the opposite affect. He had to admit, part of him was jealous. There had been a time when he had once thought that he could be with Tohru but she was meant for Kyo, he'd seen that. Everyone had, in fact. Maybe that was another part of his curse, to always be left behind even when the person didn't mean to.

"There you are, Yuki. There's a telephone call for you." Shigure said as he entered his hand over the mouth piece of the receiver.

"A phone call?" Yuki extended his hand to accept the phone as their guardian nodded.

"It's your school's Head Teacher. I was just about to ask him to call back. Into trouble are you? Oooh. Yuki's in trouble. Yuki's in trouble."

He ignored Shigure's teasing and lifted the phone to his hear, summoning up as much patience as he could muster. "Hello, Head Teacher."

"Oh, Yuki. I apologize for disturbing you at home but I had another favor to ask. Well, really it's no more then an extension of the favor I requested earlier."

"Oh?"

"You see, Miss Amatsuka was in a traffic accident this morning." The words ripped through Yuki's careful nonchalance like a scythe. His body went ridged and his hand became limp around the phone. Yamaguchi-sensei went on, unaware of his reaction on the other line. "She's being discharged this evening but her mother is working late and can't pick her up. The entire mess puts the school in a bit of a bind since the accident happened while Amatsuka was supposed to be in classes. So I was hoping that you could walk her home, if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

Walk her? So she wasn't hurt that badly? "No, that's fine."

"Wonderful! I'm very grateful. Well she's at Niagata Hospital. Just tell the front desk who you are and they'll let you take her. Everything's been worked out already."

"Alright, then. Goodbye." He hung up and grabbed his coat from the wrack, shrugging his arms into it.

"Is everything alright?" Shigure asked, his teasing evaporated into real concern.

"I'm just going out for a bit. I'll be back."

"Ah, Yuki—"

He closed the door on Shigure's protest and started down the lane towards the city. Amatsuka was in a care accident. How much time passed between when he spoke to her and when it happened? What if she had died? The last thing she'd have ever heard was what he had said to her.

That made him nervous, for some reason.

"Gin!"

"Wha! Yer cheatin!"

"That's just being sour. It's not my fault Gin is my game."

"Oh, she's got you there Kei." Said a voice like powdered sugar before giving a weak old laugh. "Well done deary."

"Well I say, deal again! I'll teach you women to abuse an old man."

The shuffling of cards followed the demand. "Best eleven out of thirteen then."

Yuki watched from the doorway where he'd yet to be noticed. Amatsuka's hair had been pulled back into a ponytail that draped over one shoulder. She wore her school uniform still though the sleeve was torn off one side and the upper part of her left arm was wrapped heavily in white bandage. Her long fingers moved with deft skill, shuffling a deck of playing cards and she sat across from an old couple—a dark haired woman smiling happily in a chair and a bald old man who lay in the hospital bed. She dealt the cards between them.

"Next time I'll be teachin ya how to play poker. We'll see how well you do then."

"Really, Kei!" the woman admonished. "I don't know how you got so competitive. I don't know why Kozue still visits."

"So I can have someone to win against, of course."

The woman laughed, a careful noise that turned her head and brought her eyes to the door way and consequentially Yuki. Surprise widened her eyes and then it seemed she took in his uniform. A glance was cast in Kozue's direction and then a speculative little smile lit her features. All in the span of a heart beat.

"I think you have a visitor, dear."

Amatsuka looked up from arranging her cards, and glanced back over her shoulder. She saw hope flicker and die in her eyes. It was so brief, the fall of a tear drop from a wide eye and just as sad. Yet it's fleeting made him wonder if he had seen it at all.

"What are you doing here?" she inquired without surprise.

"Oh, your boyfriend is it?" The old man prodded nosily.

"What a handsome boy. My hair's a mess! Come in, come in!"

Yuki flushed but he entered the room as he was bid. "I'm sorry for the interruption." He bent his head to the couple before looking at Kozue who had turned her face away from him completely. "The school asked me to come get you. Your mother—"

"I thought so." She stood tersely, handing her cards over to the old man. "I suppose we'll have our rematch next time."

"Don't think you'll win so easily!" The man, Kei, assured with a grin.

"Have fun, you two." The woman cheered.

"Keep an eye on her, young man." Kei narrowed his own at Yuki critically. "She owes me money and I don't want anything happening to her until then."

A small smile graced Kozue's features and she followed Yuki from the room. What kind of girl was she that she'd play card games with an old couple at the hospital but was so vicious towards a teacher at school? Her silence as they left the hospital was deafening, even her steps barely made noise and she walked a step behind him rather then beside.

"Can you walk fine?"

"Why?" She sounded amused. "Would you carry me if I couldn't?"

That would be disastrous. "Maybe we should take a taxi."

"I'm fine."

The silence stretched again, but it was tightly wound and uncomfortable. "What happened?"

"To me? Oh," She smiled dreamily at the dirty streets. "I tried to kill myself."

The roar of a bus as it drove past.