Standard disclaimers apply.

Okay, it's been a while. But I've had serious writer's block. Please show me some support and review! Anything--constructive criticism, plot bunnies, things you think you've spotted...love it all!

Dedication: To all of my faithful reviewers and readers who have encouraged me in writing by reading and reviewing. I love you all.

Tohru sat by Hana's bed holding her friend's hand. The black-eyed girl slept as she had for three days: unmoving and without a sound. Tohru stroked Hana's hand absently, wondering what had happened that had caused her friend to enter such a state. Something horrible had happened. Tohru could feel it. Something had happened that was so horrible that Hana didn't want to wake up anymore. She just wanted to keep lying there, sleeping, so she wouldn't have to face what had frightened her so badly.

In the park, they had thought that Hana was going to die. After falling unconscious she had gone into convulsions and started screaming. Tohru shivered. Hana's screams hadn't been normal screams. They had sounded as if Hana were screaming underwater. They were warped, gurgling screams filled with liquid. Tohru's hand pressed down more tightly on Hana's. She couldn't bear to hear her friend scream like that. She didn't want to hear anyone scream like that. Hana had been so upset, so frightened.

Sensei and Uo had tried to calm Hana down and bring her back to consciousness. They had tried everything. When ordinary methods failed, they had taken her to the emergency room. But the doctors hadn't been able to do anything either. They had only talked quietly with each other, hiding in their long white coats and cold expressions, and said that there was nothing that they could do. She had gone into shock, they said, and wouldn't come out until she was ready.

Tohru didn't understand why Hana wouldn't come out. Didn't she see that she was safe now, that she was with them? Whatever had scared her couldn't get her anymore; she was safe. Hana's family, Uotani, sensei, and Tohru all stayed with her around the clock. Hana had one of her friends or family members at her side at all times. So why was Hana still too frightened to wake up? It made Tohru worried and afraid. She loved Hana. She didn't want her to be hurt like this.

Uo wasn't happy about it either. She had stalked around the hospital room, growling that she was going to hurt whoever had done this to Hana. Tohru knew that Uo thought that the Sohmas had hurt Hana. Uo was already angry with the Sohmas—she didn't know them as well as Tohru did. She thought they might be capable of doing something like this. But they weren't!

Tohru knew they weren't.

Rukia tapped her manicured fingers on her desk and frowned at the small orange-haired girl sitting quietly in a desk three rows from the front. Sohma Kisa. The brown-eyed child was deceptively quiet. Rukia snorted to herself. The apparent softness didn't fool her. Sohma Kisa was a disruption in the classroom and a menace to ordinary students trying to achieve their academic goals. Rukia's frown deepened. Sohma played the quiet, genteel little girl to perfection. She might as well be the ideal of Japanese womanhood in chibi form.

What no one but Rukia realized was that the girl was a harmful influence on the other students. Look at the hair, for goodness' sakes! It was bright orange! If that wasn't a dye job, Rukia had never seen one. And of all the colors to pick! Orange was such a hostile, aggressive color. If the child must dye her hair, why not pick a gentle auburn? Or softly glowing blue-black? But no—she had to pick a rebellious tint. And at such a tender age, too! Her parents were doing a terrible job of raising her. Allowing rebellion now, before the teen years even began, was setting up for future failure.

The incident several months ago was just an example. The child had refused to speak for months, frightening her parents and distracting her classmates. Who did the child think she was, to do such a thing? She had eventually left school, and Rukia had had to send a letter to get her to come back. Rukia smiled to herself. Her letter had done quite a bit of good with the child. Telling her that she had to accept herself before anyone else would accept her…superb. She had always had excellent insights concerning such things.

Thinking about the letter made Rukia feel good about Kisa, and she smiled at the child as the girl stepped up to the front of the classroom to give her presentation. She had done so much good for the child. She would be grateful when she was older.

"What do you have to show us today, Kisa?" Rukia asked in her sweetest teacher voice. The girl blinked and then smiled shyly at her teacher.

"My family."

Rukia paused. "Your family?"

"Yes." Kisa smiled, and a little of the shyness disappeared.

"But…you were supposed to show us something new, Kisa. Something different."

Kisa smiled. The shyness was now completely gone from her face. In its place was a slight chill, and almost imperceptible calculative air. "They are new. And very different."

Rukia sighed. "Very well."

Kisa straightened. "Come in!"

The door to the classroom slid open. Rukia looked up, trying to restrain her displeasure. Her eyebrow quirked in surprise. Kisa's parents were not there—instead, a slim orange-haired teenage boy stood in the doorway. He glided into the room, his movement impossibly smooth. A silver-haired boy came directly after him, followed by a black-haired man wearing a kimono, a brown-haired man in a doctor's coat, and a beautiful man with long white hair wearing Chinese robes. Following them came a group of children and young adults, with one more man in their midst, this one with dark auburn hair.

Rukia stared. She had seen none of these people before. Were they really related to Kisa? She could see some familial resemblance, but they were all so…beautiful. Almost unnaturally so. She had never seen such a large group of beautiful people in one room before. And their hair colors…very exotic. She stared at the auburn haired man. Absolutely gorgeous.

Her attention was brought back to the presentation by Kisa clapping her hands. The orange-haired youth had his hand on her shoulder, with the others gathered behind him, and was looking about the room with a strangely commanding, almost possessive, air. As she watched, Rukia saw his tongue come out from between his teeth and slide over his lips. A shiver went down her spine.

"This is my family." Kisa said, gesturing to the people behind her and smiling that eerily calm smile. "They love me very much and want me to be happy." She stared at her classmates. "Not like you."

"Sohma Kisa!" Rukia snapped. "That was uncalled for!"

The orange-haired youth turned his head in a snakelike motion and stared at her. Rukia felt her mind go blank. Ice flowed into her thoughts, freezing them in motion. She couldn't think. She felt herself being removed from her body, sliding out of it like a silk robe. It was painless, really, didn't hurt at all as she had imagined it would…but what had she been imagining? What was happening to her? She felt panic grip her as she began to see her body from outside herself, viewing it as an observer. Hovering a few feet outside of herself, she saw her body began to move as if she was there…but she wasn't there! She was out here! She was out here! Rukia began to beat with furious hands upon her body, trying to get it to stop moving. The orange-haired teen looked at her, and a small smile curved his lips.

Good-bye.

Rukia felt herself driven away from her own body and being forced farther and farther away from it, almost out of the room. Dazed, she heard Sohma Kisa speak once more, sweetly.

"I'm sorry. But I don't like you very much. So you will be the first ones."

The orange-haired teen looked at the class and Rukia watched, horrified, as the children began to be forced out of themselves as she had been. She screamed, trying to move to stop it. This time, the white-haired man looked at her, and Rukia felt herself freeze, being pushed out of the room and into oblivion.

Tohru wiped Hana's brow with a cool cloth. Her friend had started sweating and making small moaning noises a few minutes ago. Tohru bit her lower lip. The doctors said it was a change for the better, but Hana looked as if she was in a lot of pain. Small tears slipped from the corners of Tohru's eyes as she watched her friend whimper and toss on the bed. This shouldn't be happening. She had to fix it.

She had to fix it somehow.