Bonding

It had been exactly one week since that night. The night Yuki had found Akina, beaten and broken, hidden in the woods.

Yuki had been visiting her in hospital every day, often followed by Tohru and a reluctant Kyo, and once even Shigure and Hatori had accompanied him. Akina was expected to be leaving the hospital this afternoon, and Yuki had spent the entire day with her, helping her pack up the few belongings her family had dropped in for her through the week, and awaiting her families arrival to take her home.

Although Yuki had spent the majority of visiting hours with Akina, he was yet to see any of her family, and was beginning to wonder when exactly they had been coming. Akina assured him they had been visiting; they were just very busy people and didn't have the time to come during regular visiting hours. Yuki had felt a growing curiosity towards this issue, but had brushed it off. He some how felt almost responsible for Miss. Saito's current situation, which is why he had spent so much time at the hospital watching over her.

"You know Yuki; I want to thank you for all that you have done for me this past week. You have been a real help," said Akina quietly as she watched him putting the last of her books into her over-night bag.

"Really, it's nothing Miss. Saito. It is the very least I could do," he replied, blushing slightly. Akina smiled. She felt her own cheeks turn slightly red. "The Prince" the girls at school called him. He had fan clubs and crazy student stalkers. She had never really seen what all the fuss was about before, but now she realised, he really is like a Prince after all.

"Will your family be arriving soon?" Yuki asked, looking up at her from where he knelt, zipping up the bag.

"Oh," said Akina, returning from her thoughts. "I'm not sure really. Is there some where you need to be? You know you can go. I'll be fine. I'm sure they will be here soon." Yuki frowned.

"I'm not going to leave you Miss. Saito, I'll wait with you. I have no where I need to be, I am happy just to stay here, with you," said Yuki. Then realising how what he had said sounded, he added "Until your parents get here, that is." He coughed and got to his feet. Akina smiled.

"I think I'll go and get some tea, would you like some Miss. Saito?"

"Akina, and yes, I would love some thankyou." Yuki nodded and drew back the curtain to find Tohru standing there. He jumped back slightly in shock.

"Miss. Honda!"

"Oh, Yuki! I'm so sorry I scared you, I was just coming to see Akina before she went home." Yuki smiled and shook his head.

"Its fine," he pulled the curtain open further and stepped aside, allowing her to enter. Kyo sulked slowly behind her.

"What are you looking at, stupid rat?" he spat at Yuki.

"Nothing," he replied simply. He pushed past Kyo and began heading down the corridor towards the canteen.

"Hey!" yelled Kyo after him. "What was that? You can't just walk away!"

"This is a hospital Kyo, have you no shame?" Yuki replied. He glared at Kyo before continuing down the corridor. Tohru walked over to the chair beside Akina's bed and sat down.

"How are you feeling?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine Tohru; really, there was no need for you to come all the way down here." Kyo snorted and glared down the corridor, watching the corner Yuki had just turned down.

"Oh no I couldn't possibly not come and visit you on your last day in hospital! I would be such a terrible friend! No really I waned to come and see you and make sure you are okay. Oh, and I brought some snacks for you too just in case you were hungry." Tohru placed a plastic bag on her lap and pulled out some delicious looking food packed up in little plastic containers.

"Tohru, you shouldn't have!" said Akina, sitting up in her bed and adjusting her pillows.

"You know, Yuki has been spending a lot of time here, I was beginning to wonder if he wanted to come home at all," Tohru laughed, handing Akina the containers and some chopsticks.

"Really?" she asked, it was at that moment she realised how much she had been blushing this past week.

"You two must be really close friends now, huh?"

"Oh, well, yes. I guess so." Akina laughed awkwardly; inwardly wishing she could be left alone for a while. She then looked up to find Yuki entering her cubical, holding four cups of tea. He handed one to Tohru, Akina and then held out Kyo's. Kyo looked at it suspiciously for a few seconds, before snatching it from Yuki and splashing dots of tea onto the floor.

"Would you be more careful?" said Yuki irritably.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" asked Kyo, slamming him cup onto the nearest side table.

"Oh dear," said Tohru anxiously. "Please don't fight. What if some one hears you? You might get thrown out." Kyo glared at Yuki. It's all that dumb rats fault, he thought venomously. They all waited in silence for a few minutes before Akina decided to break the ice.

"So… um, awkward questions but I was just wondering. Kyo, are you a member of the zodiac too?" the minute the words left her mouth, she wished she hadn't said anything at all. All three of her friends turned and stared at her, with different expressions one ach of their faces.

"How the hell does she know?" Kyo yelled at Yuki, who looked as though he wished she had said nothing also.

"You know about the curse?" Tohru asked excitedly. Akina nodded. "Oh this is wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Now there's someone else that knows! I have some one else I can talk to about it without worrying I might accidentally tell some one about the Sohma secret." Tohru was practically beaming. "But… how did you find out?" she asked with a puzzled expression.

"Well, I, um…" Akina began nervously, looking over at Yuki, hoping he would cut in and save her. And he did.

"I told her," he said.

"You WHAT?" shouted Kyo. He was clearly furious, so much so Akina could almost see the veins in his neck pulsing.

"I –"

"I think it's time that you three went home," said a voice from behind the curtain. He slowly entered the room. It was Hatori. "I need to talk to Akina – alone," he added, looking over at Yuki, who looked horror-struck.

"You aren't going to –" he began, but Hatori cut him off.

"Yuki, leave." He held open the curtain and Kyo and Tohru exited. Yuki made for the gap in the curtain, but turned back to Akina just before he left. His eyes looked worried, and then he slowly turned away and walked out. Hatori closed the curtains and walked at snail's pace towards Akina. He then took the seat that had previously been occupied by Tohru.

"I'm not going to play games with you Miss. Saito. You know of the ongoing feud between Saito and Sohma house?" Akina was slightly surprised by Hatori's forwardness, but nodded nonetheless. "Well then, I must ask you, have you told any one in your family about the zodiac curse?" the cold stare in his eyes scared her. She shook her head slowly.

"No, I haven't," Akina said quietly.

"Is that the truth?" Hatori asked with such force it sent a shiver down her spine. She swallowed, breathing heavily.

"It is; I don't speak with my family." Hatori stared strait into Akina's eyes. She suddenly got the strange feeling that he was looking deep inside her, rather than at her, as though he was reading her every thought.

"Miss. Saito, I may have to erase your memory. We cannot risk you telling someone about the curse and having our secret exposed." There was a long pause.

"M-Mr. Sohma, I swear," Akina's eyes were big and pleading. "I will never tell a soul… but, it's okay, you can erase my memory… If you are worried about your secret, I understand. I'm just happy to have met such wonderful people. You saved my life, Mr. Sohma, and I will be forever grateful." Akina eyes filled with tears and she looked away.

"…But," she added no louder than a whisper. "If I forget, Yuki and the others… they won't forget me… will they? I don't want them too forget about me…" A small tear ran down her cheek. "Oh, but no, that's selfish… isn't it?" A wave of guilt suddenly flooded over Hatori. Here was this girl who had innocently stumbled across the curse. It was not her fault that she had found out, nor was it Yuki's. Hari suddenly had a flashback of something someone had once said to him. "It's okay; you can erase my memory, I guess I finally know the reason, I've been wondering why it was you never wanted to hold me. It's because you were afraid, is that it? You were afraid of what would happen if I found out. That's why you keep your distance from people, especially the ones you love. But you don't have to be afraid, not of me. Hatori, I'm so glad to have met you, and I'm even happier to have fallen in love with you. I want stay with you…" His memory slowly faded away, and with it, Hatori's determination to punish this girl. He got to his feet and walked towards the curtain. He pulled it back to find Yuki pacing anxiously outside. Yuki looked up at Hatori; he saw a mixture of anger and worry in Yuki's violet eyes.

"What have you done to her?" he asked furiously.

"Nothing," Hatori replied bluntly. He then turned and walked down the corridor, past Kyo and Tohru sitting together on one of the visitor benches, and pushed open the double doors; exiting the ward. Yuki sat at the foot of Akina's bed and looked at her. She felt his gaze burning and looked away.

"He didn't… He didn't do anything. He was going to… but he didn't." She chanced a look back at Yuki. He was now looking at the floor, he looked confused.

"Did he, or, did you say… anything…?" Yuki willed her to understand what he meant.

"I… um, I don't think so?" Akina frowned, trying to remember their conversation, and then it hit her. "Well… I told him I hadn't told my family, and that I don't speak with them anymore."

"You don't?" Yuki interjected. Akina shook her head and continued.

"He then said he may have to erase my memory. Then I swore I would never tell a soul, but it was okay, he could erase my memory, if he was worried about the secret. I was just happy to have met… such wonderful people." Yuki looked up into Akina's eyes. He saw that they were filling with tears that slowly spilled out down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away and laughed awkwardly. Yuki reached forward and took her hand.

"I think you're wonderful too," he added quietly, not meeting her eyes. His cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. Akina smiled and felt her heart warm. She took his hand in both of hers, and they stayed like that until the nurse arrived, telling them that they should be packed up and ready to go. Akina slowly climbed out of her bed, with Yuki's help, and picked up the overnight bag Yuki had packed for her earlier.

"Well I better get changed," she said, unzipping the bag. Yuki nodded and made for the curtain.

"Oh, I forgot to ask you," he said, turning back to face her. "If you aren't in contact with your family anymore, then, who brought all of your things? And, who is coming to pick you up?" Akina opened her mouth, but Yuki's question had just been answered when a tall slim blonde woman strutted into the cubical.

"You still aren't ready? Hurry up, I have some where to be." She spat before turning and walking to the nearest seat in the corridor.

"Well, I'll let you change," said Yuki quietly, pulling the curtains closed.

"She's my sister!" Akina called over the cubical.

"Your sister?" Yuki replied, more than a little shocked as he threw the curtains back open again. Akina nodded sadly.

"She doesn't talk to mother and father either, so she's my only option really…" Yuki nodded, and closed the curtains once more. He then turned and looked over at the woman sitting by the drinks machine. She was talking to someone angrily on her mobile phone. There was a nurse standing in front of her, trying to explain that mobiles were not allowed in hospitals, and pointing to a sign demonstrating such, but the woman just waved her away and continued her discussion. The nurse eventually gave up. How could they be related? Yuki thought, then he remember himself and Ayame. Yuki shook his head, now I know how…He watched the woman strut down the corridor and out of the ward; Akina emerged from the cubical and sighed. She looked up at Yuki, who found himself drawn to her outfit. She was wearing a short pleated shirt and a pretty blouse. Consciously she pulled her jacket around herself, and Yuki realised he had been staring. She walked over to him and stood there for a few seconds, before braving a kiss on the cheek (being careful not to get to close and cause him to transform) and a quick thankyou, before turning and quickly heading over to where Tohru and Kyo still waited. She gave Tohru a hug and gave a small wave to Kyo, who nodded and looked away uninterestedly. Akina turned back to Yuki one last time and waved shyly, before dashing down the remainder of the corridor and exiting the ward. Yuki still felt the spot where she had kissed him burn, but shook it off and walked over to Tohru.

"I'm so glad she's okay," she said happily. "But we better go now, I'll make some dinner, I bet you guys are starving!" It was then that Yuki realised just how hungry he really was.

"Come on, lets go," said Kyo, taking Tohru's hand and marching from the ward. Yuki followed, his head still swimming with thoughts. What a day, he thought, I never thought things could be this complicated…