Fragrant aromas overwhelmed Miya as she placed violets with peacock feathers. She slid the blue vase away from her, grabbed a Tuscan case, and started working on the next flower arrangement. Tsuki stood a few feet away, spraying the flowers with a special water formula. This type of work relaxed her and made her feel useful. No one would think she knew lilies from roses by looking at her, with her black jeans and wife-beater, but she knew all about flowers and gardening from her mother. When she was little, she would help her mother plant flowers and herb gardens by the kitchen window. It was a special activity between them, before her untimely demise.

A vase in each arm, she walked over to a counter that held numerous other arrangements and gently put them down away from the edge. A bell ring caught her attention.

"Welcome to Hana no Yumi. How may I help…you?" Nobody could miss that smug smirk. "What are you doing here, Akito?"

"I just wanted to buy some flowers. Is that so wrong?"

"Yes. I can't imagine you coming all this way just to buy flowers. How did you get here and what do you want?"

"Miya, you blockhead! Be courteous to our customers!" Tsuki yelled from half-way across the store.

"But-"

"No buts!" She continued spraying the flowers.

"How may I help you, sir?" A low chuckle on his part.

"My room has been gloomy as of late and I wanted some flowers to brighten it up."

"You have that orchid on that gold plate, don't you?"

"Yes, but I want something brighter and more colorful. I want to put it with the orchid."

"I know where you can put them, you no-good damn-"

"Ahem." Miya looked over to Tsuki. She tapped her foot with her hands on her hips. Miya sighed.

"Follow me. I think sunflowers and hyacinths might do the trick."

She led Akito toward the back shelves displaying pots of sunflowers and hyacinths. All the aromas were getting to Akito. He kept rubbing his nose and glaring at the flowers as he passed them. He looked so obscure. His dark clothing contrasted the bright, various velvet petals.

"Here we are. Do you know how many you want?"

"Miya, I'm going on my lunch break! Watch over the shop!" Tsuki waddled out of the shop.

"So how many? Akito?" She flicked a couple of petals. His hair shrouded his eyes.

"You forgot." He raised his head up.

"What?"

"You forgot to tell me."

"Tell you what?" He walked up to her.

"Whenever you leave, wherever you go, it has to be brought to my attention. If I don't want you going somewhere, you won't go. Is that clear?" Miya turned back to the flowers.

"I don't think you remember me telling you that you don't own me. I will do as I please." Akito leaned toward her ear and whispered:

"We'll see about that."

"Akito." Miya and Akito turned around to see Hatori walking towards them.

"Hello, Hatori."

"Good afternoon, Miya. I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to leave. Akito has an appointment with me soon."

"It makes me want to cry, the way you care about me so much, Hatori. We'll finish this later." With one last grunt, he walked to Hatori and they both left the shop.

Four hours later, Miya exited the shop and walked "home." Thoughts about her new house filled her head. Earlier, she spent most of the day trying to memorize the layout of the main house. It would take more hours trying to remember the enormous estate. Miya was able to remember where the kitchen, living room, and, of course, Akito's bedroom were located. Tonight, she would look in the other rooms, or at least talk to someone who knew which rooms were which.

Miya flopped down face first on the bed and let the covers underneath sooth her aching legs. The past two days had been tiresome. She spent the first day arranging the room to how she wanted it to look. The walls were a dark purple while her bed was four-post and black-iron with white sheets. She had a black desk next to the bed and a black dresser across from them. An oval mirror hung above the dresser. Pictures hung on all the walls, including a red Japanese fan. Today consisted of plain work at the shop and then walking home. Not having a car was a problem. She'd have to talk to Shigure or Hatori about that. Her stomach rumbled. Sighing, Miya got up and walked out of her room…only to fall flat on the floor.

"Ow." She rubbed the side of her sore behind.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you all right?" a high voice said.

Miya looked up to see a blonde boy over her. He looked so young and almost like a girl. He held out his hand to her and she gladly grabbed it.

"I'm sorry about that!"

"It's fine. I'm not hurt."

"Are you sure?" his concerned voice said. Miya giggled. He was just too cute for words.

"Yes. What's your name?"

"I'm Momiji."

"Nice to meet you, Momiji. I'm Miya."

"You're Miya! Tohru told me all about you. I'm so glad you're staying here at the main house. And guess what? I'm a zodiac member too!"

"You are? Really?"

"Yup! Can you guess which one I am?"

"Uh, not really."

"That's okay. You'll know soon." Miya's stomach rumbled again. Her cheeks flushed a light pink.

"You're hungry. Follow me. We'll eat together." He grabbed her hand and hauled off to the kitchen.

It was a mystery to Miya how Momiji could be so hyper. They zipped past rooms to the kitchen, Momiji humming the whole way. Once there, he let go of her hand and pushed her down onto the floor.

"Stay here. I want to make you something to eat."

"You don't have to do that."

"Don't be silly. I want to! I want to do this for my new friend." He smiled and ran into the kitchen.

Miya laughed at how happy he was just making something for a friend. She rested her arms on the pine table. For once, she didn't feel weird being there. Momiji was the first member of the household that she met and he was a hell of a lot different than Akito and Hatori. He reminded Miya of Shigure and his care-free attitude. He made the main house brighter and Miya was thankful for that. She rested her head on her arms while she waited for Momiji. She didn't even notice Momiji standing in front of her with a plate in his hands or the figure entering the room.

"Hello, Hatsuharu!" Quickly, Miya raised her head. She almost wanted to laugh. His white hair somehow made him look younger than he looked. He had ear piercings, wore black, and leaned against the wall.

"Momiji, who is that?" he asked.

"Oh! That's-"

"I'm Miya," she interrupted. "The new member of the household."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miya." He bowed.

"Likewise." She did the same.

"Oh, yeah. Here's your food." Momiji set the plate down in front of her. The steaming rice and chicken filled her nose. "It's leftovers from yesterday. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." She picked up the chopsticks and dug in. "Mmm. It's very good. Thank you, Momiji." His smile could go well past his ears.

"He offered to make you something?" Miya nodded. "Momiji has always been the type to want to please."

"I noticed."

"You're the hot topic of the family, you know. Everyone wants to know what an outsider is doing here in the first place and if she knows about us."

"I do."

"Good."

"Hey, Miya. Can you guess which zodiac animal Hatsuharu is?" Momiji asked. She shook her head. How was anyone supposed to figure it out just by looking at both of them?

"That stinks. Oh, well! You'll find out later." Miya stuffed the last piece of chicken into her mouth and pushed the plate away.

"I'm full. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we go to Shigure's house?"

"Yay! That'll be so much fun. I haven't seen Tohru or Yuki in so long. Oh, wait. We have to ask Akito before we go."

"I'm not. I don't need his permission." She got up. "Hatsuharu?"

"Why not? I miss Yuki, anyway."

"But you guys-"

"I'll take the blame, Momiji. Now let's go."

Meanwhile, the gang was eating dinner. Yuki and Tohru were talking while Kyo pretended not to listen and Shigure sometimes joined in. A loud knock interrupted them.

"Who could that be?" Tohru said, getting up. She walked over to the door and opened it.

"Tohru!" she heard before feeling two arms wrap around her and hearing a boom.

"Momiji," Hatsuharu said. "Stop attacking her with your hugs."

Hatsuharu and Miya stepped into the house. The slight haze cleared. A yellow bunny was resting in Tohru's arms, gladly rubbing his head against her.

"Momiji, you're a bunny! That's so cute!" Miya exclaimed. She walked up to him and patted his head. "It fits you." Tohru smiled.

"We decided to come and visit. Where is everyone?" Hatsuharu asked.

"They're in the living room. We just sat down to eat. Won't you join us?"

"Sure," Miya said.

They followed Tohru into the dining room.

"Look who's here, everyone!"

"Hello, Momiji. Hatsuharu. Miya," Shigure said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kyo asked, obviously not pleased.

"We came to visit," Miya said. She sat down next to Kyo while Hatsuharu sat at the other end of the table and Momiji was still in Tohru's arms.

"I'll go get some plates for you," Tohru stated.

"That's okay, Tohru. I won't be eating," Miya claimed.

"Neither will I," Hatsuharu agreed. She nodded and sat back down.

All of them talked and laughed for the rest of the night. Momiji eventually changed back and Hatsuharu stayed close to Yuki. This was where Miya felt most comfortable, where she could be herself and feel at home.

Momiji, Miya, and Hatsuharu went home at around nine. She bid them goodnight before entering her room, to which she got a nice surprise.

"Akito." He looked up. His haori hung loosely around his small frame. "Nice to see you…in my room. Why are you in my room?" He got up.

"Follow me. I want to talk to you."

They walked the familiar path to his room, except he didn't stop there. He walked past it until he came to another door. Opening it, Miya was hit with a gust of air. Akito walked outside into the garden he stared out at for so many days. Not a cloud covered the shining sky. Stars winked while the moon cast a serene glow on everything it touched. He stopped beside a patch of iris.

"Where were you tonight? I tried to find you."

"Shigure's, with Momiji and Hatsuharu. We wanted to say hello."

"That's sweet. Making sure they're all right without you. I'm touched"

"I'm glad."

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

"It didn't cross my mind at the time. I don't have to tell you where I go all the time. And I'm not having another fight with you about that."

"I tell you for your own good, Miya." He stepped closer to her.

"Yeah, right. You're a control freak. You control the lives of others because you can't, or couldn't control your own. That's why you want everyone to obey you."

Hints of red tinted his pale face. Miya knew she hit a soft spot, his vulnerable spot. Miya knew from the guys that Akito hated being reminded of his own curse. The color fled as soon as it had come. Instead, Akito smiled.

"That attitude of yours, so fiery. I can't wait until the day that it stops helping you. Until that day, I'll just have to put with it."

She backed away from him in a second and looked at him like she did on that first day.

"What's the matter?"

"Something's up. You hate my 'attitude.' Now all of a sudden, you're being nice? What are you up to?"

"Nothing at all. I decided to stop wasting my time arguing with you and see if you're worth getting to know now that you are living here."

"I still think you're up to something and I'll find out what it is sooner or later."

"In the meantime, we're taking a little trip tomorrow." Akito started walking toward the door. Miya turned around.

"Trip? What trip?"

"You'll have to wait and see." With one last smirk, he entered the house.

In his room, Akito could see Miya from the window, still in the garden walking around. It's only right that she should suspect him after that charade. She's no fool. He knew that. He had to be smart…or cruel. Either way, it had to work. He got up and settled into bed. Akito hoped for pleasant dreams filled with her tears and whimpers.