I don't own anybody. Except Caleb! Mine!

"Hana-chan, Uo-chan do you want to come to our house after school?" asked Tohru holding the door for her friends.

"Yes, Tohru, that would be wonderful." Hana-chan wrapped her arms around Tohru's waist. "Don't you agree Uo-chan?"

"Yeah," Uo-chan slung her arm across Tohru's shoulders. "When we get there we can annoy the hell out of Carrot-top."

"STOP CALLING ME CARROT-TOP!" Kyo yelled his face turning a bright shade of pink. Tohru poorly held in a bubble of giggles. Kyo crossed his arms and muttered things under his breath.

Shigure was walking on the opposite side of to road, heading home. Tohru spotted him near a crosswalk and waved him over.

"Hello, Shigure! Where's Caleb?" Tohru asked staring at Shigure with the innocence of a small child.

"Well, he had to go do…something on his own. Uh…like passports. Where is dear Yuki?" Shigure said uncomfortably changing the subject.

"He said he had a student council meeting today." Kyo said thrusting his hands into his pockets. Shigure raised his eyebrow as he opened the door to the Sohma house. Caleb was heard in the kitchen most likely making tea for the rest to the Sohmas and Tohru.

"Welcome home!" Caleb said as he carried a tray into the living room. "I made tea and it seems your friends have multiplied since yesterday." Tohru slid off her shoes and ran to hug her older brother.

"Brother, these are my best friends Hana-chan and Uo-chan." Tohru said leading her friends to the dining room with her brother. "How was your day Caleb?"

"I had a wonderful time with Shigure walking to all of the different places. Tokyo is even more fascinating than in the books I had read." Caleb handed a cup of tea to each of Tohru's friends and Shigure. "Tohru, I was wondering if you wanted to come to England and meet my mother."

Tohru was at a loss for words. Her gut told her to stay in Tokyo where she knew everything, but her life was so jumbled up she didn't know what to do or who to trust. "I'd love to!"

"Great, in a few days I was planning on returning to England. We can catch a plane to London and meet my mother." Caleb stole a glance at Shigure who was frowning and hadn't touched his tea. "Shigure, don't you like it? It's the way mother used to make it, at least when she was healthy. Now she can barely hold a kettle and that's when it's empty. The doctors are afraid for the next month."

"What'll happen in the next month?" Uo-chan asked her eyes wide.

"Well, if she gets stronger in the slightest she'll live for now, but if she gets worse she may be dead by Christmas." Caleb hung his head as if he was close to tears. Tohru was already crying her nose was sniffling and her eyes were getting red. "Don't cry Tohru, she'll get better. Everything will be okay."

"Tohru, lets go upstairs and finish our homework." Suggested Hana-chan. Tohru nodded and blew her nose in a handy tissue from her pocket. "Will you excuse us." Uo-chan and Hana-chan lead Tohru upstairs. Kyo followed carrying their book bags.

"Why are you doing this?" Shigure asked setting his cup of tea on the table. "What have you to gain from taking Tohru to England?" Shigure's frown increased when Caleb laughed.

"You have no idea what we've been through. What I've done to be here. We have a reputation to up hold and you Sohmas have screwed it up. You've already scarred her for life and she may never be the same. What have you to gain from her staying here?" Caleb stood and took the tray into the kitchen.

"So what do you guys think of him?" Tohru asked her face returning to normal after the sudden crying.

Hana-chan stared at the floor. "Tohru, I sense bad waves emanating from that man. His waves aren't like Kyo's or Shigure's waves. They are pure and untouched by darkness, but his are a dreary grey." Hana-chan said almost ashamed of what she had admitted. "I-I don't like the look of him." Hana-chan knelt on the floor by Tohru's bed and sat there looking at the floor mentally punishing her self from the pain she knew she would cause Tohru.

"You must be mistaken. Caleb is a good person. He would never hurt me." Tohru said her bright smile toning down a little. "Let's finish our homework. Kyo will you help me with Math?"

"Sure, but Yuki's better than me. Are you sure you don't want to wait for him to get home?" Kyo said unloading the books from his bag.

"No, I'd rather have my homework finished soon. I have to do the laundry. I've also got to go to work today." Tohru took out a pencil and they got to work on problem number one.

Yuki stood inside the main Sohma house by the window. He looked out onto the lawn and listened to the voice that caused him to whimper when he was younger. "Am I not good enough?"

"No, you're too good for her. You don't need them. You don't need any of them. Forget them they will cause you no more pain." There was a gentle hand laid on Yuki's shoulder. He looked to where the person should have been. No one was there.

"Why are they doing this to me?" Yuki whispered to the unknown presence in the room.

"Don't worry, I have a plan to bring her to her senses and for you to see her as devious little sadist that she is. My plan is already being put into action as we speak." Yuki looked out the window again and this time saw Akito's reflection behind his own.

"Tohru!" called Momiji when Tohru finally showed up at the Sohma building she cleaned. "Tohru, how are you feeling?"

"I am fine. Thank you for asking." Tohru flashed Momiji one of her famous smiles and checked her card in. "How are you doing?" Momiji didn't answer; instead he pulled Tohru into an empty storage room and gave her a hug around the waist. In a flash Tohru was holding onto a soft white bunny.

"Haru told me not to hug you at school because there would not be any reason for a rabbit on school grounds. I think he wanted to hug you too, but a cow on school grounds would be even more unexplainable than a rabbit." Momiji-rabbit waved the little fuzzy tail on his backside and smiled up at Tohru.

"I don't really want to be in here when you transform." Tohru said blushing. "Is it okay if I…" The rabbit nodded and Tohru left the storage closet.

In minutes there was a white and gold cloud flowing underneath the door and a fully clothed Sohma exited. Momiji smiled and waved as Tohru went to change from her school clothes into her work uniform. All throughout the time Tohru was working Momiji kept her company. Soon it was the end of Tohru's shift and she told Momiji goodbye. Tohru changed and went outside.

Unknown to Momiji their encounter only reminded Tohru of how she couldn't hug Kyo. How they couldn't sit under a tree and hold each other under a sunset. How they couldn't hug each other when they were happy or fling themselves into each other's arms. Tohru couldn't stop the tears as they slid down her cheeks.

She wobbled on her feet as she reached the spot where Yuki picked her up and walked her home. Yuki wasn't there yet. Tohru couldn't stand any longer. She slumped to the ground and sobbed until her throat was raw. The plastic glow-in-the-dark watch on her wrist warned her that she had been there for almost half an hour. She wiped her eyes with her sleeves and blew her nose in one of her tissues.

Tohru heard huffing behind her and a thumping of feet on the pavement. She quick turned around. Kyo was leaning on his knees and he was out of breath. The street light above them cast a yellow glow against Kyo's features giving him a slightly shadowed look.

"Yuki…didn't come…home so I came…to get you." Kyo gasped. After a minute he regained his breath and stood up. "Why were you on the ground?"

Tohru quickly searched her brain for a legitimate excuse. "I fell." Tohru gave a weak smile. "I'm all right. Shall we go home." Tohru was heading in the direction of the Sohma house when Kyo's arm stopped her.

"You only give that particular smile after you've been crying. You cry a lot when your emotions get the better of you. Were you crying?" The way Kyo was standing made the shadows cast over his face reveal a weary and sad expression. Tohru tilted her face to the ground.

"Kyo, I just don't understand what's happening to me." Tohru whispered. She leaned her head against his chest and wished that he would be able to hold her. Kyo kept his hands to his sides, but kissed the top of Tohru's head and she felt the tingle all the way down to her toes. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

"No, I would never blame you." Kyo stroked Tohru's hair with his fingers, but kept his other hand from wrapping itself around Tohru's back. Kyo felt Tohru's hot tears of sorrow through the soft cloth of his T-shirt and mentally damned Akito to hell. When Tohru's tears stopped she pulled out of Kyo's grip.

"I'm fine, let's go home." Tohru said to Kyo. He nodded not wanting to make Tohru cry again. She walked sadly in the direction of their house and Kyo followed her. They walked in silence until they reached the front path.

"Let's go around back." Kyo said pulling Tohru's arm. Tohru followed him around and into the forest. When they came to the area of forest behind the house Kyo grasped Tohru and affectionately kissed her. "I love you and would never blame you for anything." Then he gently caught her lips in a much more passionate kiss that caused them to be crushed against the trunk of an oak tree.

"We should go inside." Tohru said. She had goose bumps despite the heat of the kiss. Tohru stumbled over a root as she walked into the light that fell across the lawn from the house. The sun had set a long time age and the stars were all out when Kyo and Tohru finally reached the house.

"My you two were out late." Shigure said slyly as Kyo and Tohru walked through the back door. Shigure's knowing smile made Kyo shiver with fear. If he knew what they were doing they would never hear the end of it.

"Yuki didn't pick Tohru up so I had to. We stopped for some coffee on the way home." Kyo said gruffly leading Tohru past the novelist and into the living room. Caleb was sitting there checking the flight schedules for London. He looked up and smiled. Caleb was wearing a pair of glasses and it magnified his violet eyes.

"Kyo, would you come here?" called Shigure from his study. Kyo left Tohru with her brother to go to the room by the kitchen. Inside Shigure sat in his swivel chair with his back to the doorway. "Kyo do you like Caleb?" asked Shigure turning around.

"He's okay, kind of like Tohru in a sense. Hana-chan doesn't like his waves. She says that they are bad for Tohru. He's kind of getting on my nerves." Kyo said leaning against the door frame. "Why do you want to know."

"Caleb plans to keep Tohru in London." Kyo gave Shigure a dense look with one of his eyebrows raised. "That means Tohru will be living in London as in moving there. He told me we have no right to keep her here after what happened at the main house."

"He can't do that. She didn't want to live with her grandfather and her other family. She won't live with him up there." Kyo said his angry face on.

"She already is visiting his mother, her stepmother. When she gets up there Caleb will probably get her to stay by saying something about how he couldn't live alone much longer without going insane. For all we know he left London because his mother died and came to make Tohru live with him." Shigure took off his glasses and shook his head.

"We can't do anything to stop her. Tohru came back because she wanted to. If he made up a clever plot to make her stay there she won't want to come back." For the first time Shigure was acting his mature age. "Besides she isn't related to us we can not tell her what to do." Kyo was so angry he could burst but Yuki wasn't here for him to punch. Instead he ran upstairs o his room and beat the hell out of his pillow.

Tohru came upstairs to find out what happened to Kyo and what made him run upstairs. She found feathers everywhere on the floor of Kyo's room and saw him breathing heavily on his bed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Kyo said huffily turning his head away from Tohru's direction. Tohru frowned and stepped forward.

Yuki walked through the door and shed his shoes by the door. He hung his jacket on the hook by the door and walked upstairs. In his room he dropped his book bag on his desk and flopped onto his bed. On his way to the bathroom he looked into Kyo's room and saw something. Tohru was sitting on Kyo's bed next to Kyo and both were lip-locked. Unspeakable emotions clashed within Yuki and he just snapped.

Without grabbing his coat or his shoes Yuki ran back toward the Sohma main house.

Tohru left Kyo in his room to go do the laundry although they both hated to be apart. As soon as Tohru finished folding a load Kyo was there to put them away. Kyo suggested that they stay off the roof that night and Tohru smiled at the memory.

Knowing he was helpless against getting Tohru to stay in Japan when it came time for Tohru to leave he decided to persuade her to come back. He would follow if he had to, but he didn't want Tohru to leave.

Yuki was sitting in the dark room with Akito's voice drowning out his common sense. Akito related his plans to Yuki even though he wasn't really listening.

"Dear Yuki, don't you miss me?" Akito voiced smiling wickedly at Yuki's reflection. "I'm feeling all alone. You remember what happened when I felt alone don't you." Yuki winced and stared into the eyes of the man who had caused him pain in his earlier years in life.

"I'm sorry." Yuki said drawing his knees to his chest.

"Don't apologize, it's all that ugly wretch's fault. If she had never chosen Kyo instead of you this wouldn't have happened. If she just died like she was supposed to then none of this would have happened." Akito caressed Yuki's cheek. "But soon she will be on her way to 'London' where she will meet her end."

"Are you going to hurt her?" Asked Yuki his eyes troubled with the thought of Tohru dying.

"She will go where she belongs, away from my beautiful Sohmas. Besides it will only hurt for a minute." Akito watched over Yuki until he fell asleep and then deserted Yuki's mind and fled to another.

"Did you sleep well?" questioned Haru who was standing over Yuki. Yuki was sprawled on the floor with sleep still in his eyes and dreams of Tohru slipping away.

"Where am I?" asked Yuki staring at Haru. Yuki shielded his eyes against the light that had suddenly been turned on.

"Sohma main house. Where did you think you were? Why are you here anyway?" Haru said looking at Yuki in a wondering way. "I thought you hated the rest of the Sohmas and never wanted to come back here."

"I thought I was home." Yuki became fully alert. "Is Honda-san out of the hospital!" Yuki almost screamed.

"Is she in there again? After the Akito incident she came out and has been going to school with you since the day after yesterday. Are you okay?" Haru bent to help Yuki to his feet. Yuki was a little unsure of his footing and nearly fell over backwards had Haru not been holding onto him.

"I can't remember much since I left Kyo and Honda-san alone in the hospital." Yuki rubbed his head and eyes. "What happened since then?" Haru filled Yuki in about the last few days and helped him to his room. Yuki flopped on Haru's bed and Haru called for Hatori.

"What did you mean by lover-boy?" Haru said remembering what Yuki said not but a few days ago.

"Lover-boy?" Hatori walked into the room. He was in his usual suit with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. Yuki told them what he saw earlier in Kyo's room and what happened at the hospital. "So Tohru and Kyo are dating?" Hatori said while checking Yuki's breathing.

"No, more like obsessed with each other." Yuki said his emotions switching from anger to sorrow.

"Too bad. I was going to ask her out." Haru said pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "She's so cute I don't know why you didn't sooner." Haru said to Yuki.

"Leave my love-life out of this." Yuki said blushing.

Hatori shook his head. "Stop talking about Tohru. His heart rate keeps going up." That remark made Yuki's blush deepen and Haru to smile.

"Yuki and Tohru sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First-" sang Momiji from the doorway. Yuki threw a pillow at him. The pillow was dodged and Momiji ran up to Yuki with an angry face on. "Yuki, where were you tonight? You left Tohru all alone outside for almost an hour after work. I'm not aloud outside and couldn't keep her company."

"What are you talking about?" Yuki said fixing his shirt as Hatori put his stethoscope back around his neck.

"Today Tohru went to work and Kyo had to pick her up. Tohru fell outside and stayed there until Kyo came. You made Tohru sad." Momiji frowned at Yuki and put his hands on his hips. "I think you made her cry."

Yuki put his head in his hands and shook his head. "Haru, can I borrow some shoes?" Haru lent Yuki a pair of red sneakers with cows on them. Momiji had gotten everyone a pair of shoes with their animal on them. Yuki's were hidden at the back of his closet. Yuki ran home as fast as he could and was breathless when he opened the front door.

The first thing he saw when he collapsed in the doorway was Tohru coming to see who was at the door. Her hair was in a pair of braids and she had changed out of her school uniform. Yuki sat there gasping for breath and Tohru helped him into the living room with a worried look on her face.

"Are you okay?" Tohru asked settling him on the couch.

"I'm fine." Yuki gasped leaning his head onto the back of the couch. He closed his eyes and concentrated on slowing his breathing. Slowly he opened his eyes. Tohru's small face filled his vision. She was biting her lip.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Yuki saw he still had his shoes on. He reached down and untied the white laces. Tohru was there in an instant sliding off the sneakers and then she went to go put them by the door. She came back and smiled.

"Guess what. I'm going to England to meet my stepmother. Caleb is taking me back with him." Yuki smiled as she said this. Her eyes had finally started to regain their happiness that Akito had drained from them.

"That's good to hear. Be sure to meet the queen while you're there." Yuki said. Tohru's mouth fell open.

"There's a queen of England?" Yuki laughed and then Tohru joined in.

"What are you two laughing about?" Kyo said coming into the living room. He was carrying a load of clean laundry. Yuki and Tohru burst into another round of laughter. Angered, Kyo dumped the pile of clothes on them. "Yo, fold them." Kyo left leaving the basket on Yuki head.

"Akito, be reasonable. You can't expect me to kill her at the main house." Caleb stared at the image of Akito while he was outside. Caleb stood with his back to the woods behind the Sohma household.

"Well, you are going to have to. I need a body to come back to and mine isn't available yet. When the next New Year rolls around Akito will be back and better than ever. He will also be ready to punish Kyo for hurting my poor Yuki." Akito watched Caleb carefully. "That was clever of you."

"What do you mean? I'm just a loving brother taking my dear sister back to England to meet my mother." Caleb said with a smile.

"Don't lie to me. Your mother killed herself when she found out her ex-husband had a wife and a baby girl. I know everything. You wanted to get revenge on that family for ruining yours. Your plan was to take Tohru from her home and torture her until she felt the pain that you went through." Akito said floating in the air like a ghost.

"You're right. I wanted her to ultimately feel the pain I had endured and I wanted to torture her stupid mother too. I was going to get my father and tell him how much he hurt my family at what he did. Then I was going to kill his family in front of him." Caleb said. He looked toward the ground like he was ashamed.

"What's the matter? Having second thoughts?" Akito whispered. "Are you too scared to cause pain to the one who was responsible for your mother's death?"

"No. I came here with death in my mind but now that I've met her I don't know how I could cause her pain. She welcomed me into her home and she loved me even though I was going to hurt her. I hated her for the longest time and now…I love my little sister." Caleb stared at Akito as a single tear slid down his cheek. "I heard about what you did to her. I will do anything to keep you from coming back."

"Why so hostile? A minute ago you were going to bring her to me and now you are defending her poor and useless life." Akito stared at Caleb with hate in his eyes. "That ugly little child is ruining what I've done for the Sohmas. They don't deserve the kindness they're getting. They are useless, stupid, and different than the others. They need to be punished."

"Caleb! Come inside. We're making muffins!" Tohru called from the door. Akito glared at Tohru even though she couldn't see him.

"Coming!" called Caleb turning away from Akito. "I will never help you."

Akito just smiled and laughed. "I love minds unsure of what they want. So easy to take over." The wisp of Akito's shattered spirit wafted toward Caleb. "I'll save you for later." with that Akito floated off in the direction of the main house only to discover Yuki had gone and that he was no longer able to control Yuki's mind.

Inside the Sohma house Yuki, Kyo, and Caleb helped Tohru gather the ingredients for the chocolate chip muffins. Shigure watched as Yuki started a flour fight with Kyo and mumbled about how they were going to clean that up. Tohru laughed and wiped flour from her hair. Caleb watched and wondered how he could ever have wanted to hurt Tohru.

"I am the muffin queen. Bow down to my golden-brown goodness and authority." Tohru exclamed after the first batch was done. Yuki humored her and gave her and elaborate bow.

"You call that a bow?" Kyo asked showing Yuki how to bow the right way.

"Only the cat whose had so much practice at bowing would know the right way." Yuki said rolling his eyes.

"Damn Rat! I'm gonna kill you!" Kyo yelled chasing Yuki from one end of the house to the other. "Hold still so I can kill you!"

"In all of the movies the rat always beats the cat. If only you were as smart as the rat. Maybe you'd get good grades." Yuki sighed and there was a crash as Kyo ran into a wall.

Caleb looked to Tohru. "Are they always like this?"

"Yeah, I think Yuki is going easy on him. Usually somethings broken by now."

At this point in the fight Yuki had been dodging punches and now Kyo was lying facefirst in the dirt after being throw through the door. Shigure rushed out of his office and stared at the two boys.

"Why are you going through that door all the time?" Shigure said rubbing his temples. "One of you is going to pay for it."

"Do they always call each other rat and cat?" asked Caleb pulling the second batch of muffins from the oven.

"Yuki's the rat, Kyo's the cat, Shigure's the dog, and I'm the princess who saves them all." Tohru said with a smile.

"Did you come up with that all by yourself?"

"Just last part."

"Brillant. I'm not in a house I'm in a zoo." Tohru laughed and set out the muffins on a plate.

Suddenly Haru poked his head in the open door. "I want muffins."

"Where the hell did you come from?" yelled Kyo who was wrestling with Yuki over a pillow.

"Hi!" Momiji said popping up beside Haru.

"They're multiplying!" Kyo said slumping against the wall. Tohru just laughed and then went to make more muffins for all the new Sohmas.

Tanka to all my reviewer peeps. You know I luv you! New reviewers! 

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