Chapter 4
Concerns
Shigure leaned back, arms behind his head, and let out a low wolf whistle. "Now, that was a woman!"
Yuki sighed. "Shigure, do you really have to be so crude?"
Shigure thought about that for about two seconds, then said, "Yes!" with a big smile on his face.
"Someone was unable to reach past the infantile stage of his development," Hatori quipped, his hazel eyes disproving.
"Ok, if you're all done maligning my appreciation of the beauty of the feminine form…" Shigure began.
"No, we're not done," Yuki and Kyo said at the same time, then glared at each other.
"What did you think of Tsuru?" Tohru asked, looking around at her friends. "And please, be honest. I don't want to make any of you feel uncomfortable with her around or anything."
"I say she's welcome back anytime, more often if she likes," Shigure said.
"How did we know you were going to say that?" Kyo asked sarcastically.
Momiji jumped to his feet, a wide grin on his face. "I really liked her!" he said. "She's really smart and sweet and just a nice person!" His face drooped slightly. "I wish I could hug her, but then she'd find out about the curse, and I guess we can't have her find out, can we?"
"I liked her too," said Kisa softly. "She reminded me of you, Sissy. Only taller."
Tohru smiled. "I'm glad you like her so much, Kisa. I think she really likes you too. She seems like the kind of person who's good with children and likes to be around them."
"I have to agree with that, Miss Honda," said Yuki. "Miss Odoriko was very polite and elegant, and she didn't seem to want to hide anything from us."
"Kyo, what about you?" asked Tohru.
The red-eyed boy ran his fingers through his orange hair in a nervous gesture. "She seemed ok, I guess," he said slowly, "pretty honest and straightforward. But something about her seemed…I don't know…dangerous. Like a hidden dagger."
"You just didn't like her shrewd guesses about you being protective of Tohru," Momiji retorted.
"No, that's not it!" yelled Kyo, turning beet red.
"You're such an idiot," muttered Yuki.
"Hatori? What about you? What do you think?" asked Tohru. The others looked at the somber Sohma doctor expectantly.
For a long moment, Hatori was silent, arms folded across his chest, head down and eyes closed in thought. When he looked up and spoke, his face was shuttered, giving no hint to his thoughts. "I think that we should be careful around Miss Odoriko," said Hatori. "Very careful."
Shigure looked at his friend. "Oh come on, Hari. You shouldn't be so distrustful."
"The more people who enter this house, the greater the risk," Hatori retorted. "Perhaps you have forgotten about the curse, Shigure, but I have not."
Watching Hatori's still, hard face, Tohru thought, I think I understand why Hatori is acting so cold. He's worried. He knows that if Tsuru finds out about the curse, her memories will be erased, like Kana. Just like when he was trying to help me so I wouldn't get hurt if Akito decided I shouldn't know about the Zodiac curse.
"Um…Hatori? Shigure?" Tohru said tentatively.
The two men paused in their argument and looked at the young girl.
"Really, it's ok if you don't want Tsuru here," she said. "I understand it would make things harder for all of you, so that's why I wanted to know what you thought of her." She looked down at her hands. "I like Tsuru. She seems like a very sweet person, she saved my life, and I'd like to stay friends with her. And I'd like to be able to go visit her, even if I can't invite her here." Tohru looked back up at Shigure and Hatori. "So…is it ok…if I still visit her and everything?" she asked. "I promise that I haven't told her anything about the curse and I won't ever tell, but…can she still be my friend?"
Hatori stared at Tohru, her face a mixture of hope and worry, but also understanding. She wants us to say yes, to say that she can be friends with Tsuru, but, at the same time, she's willing to give up that friendship if it would put us in danger.
Truly, an amazing girl, Shigure thought, a rueful smile on his face. Don't know how she does it and still smiles.
Hatori's expression softened slightly. "I'm not saying that you should stop being friends with Tsuru," he said gently, "but I am saying that we do have to be careful because of the curse."
Tohru nodded with a look of determination on her face. "Of course! I understand completely and I promise to not let Tsuru find out about the Zodiac. I promise!"
"Alright then," said Hatori, nodding. "As long as we all understand," he added, shooting a sharp look at Momiji, who rolled his eyes, but sighed out his agreement as well.
Tohru's smile nearly took in her ears as she clasped her hands together in gratitude. I'm so happy, she thought. I really do have the best and most understanding friends. I can't wait to tell Tsuru the good news, that we can be friends!
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Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short, hard to find time to work on this. I keep wanting to write chapters that come later and getting from Point A to Point B can be a hassle. Keeping everyone in character is worse.
I also decided to change the timeline a little bit to follow the manga order of events, simply because it flows better. So, the story still takes place in early June through July, Tohru knows about Kyo (think manga, not anime, I didn't like how the anime handled that) and she's met Ritsu, but not Rin or Kureno. They won't show up in this story, so I apologize in advance to their respective fan-bases. Enjoy!