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Chapter 5

At last they met with a poor little girl in the kitchen, who said, "Oh, yes, I know the nightingale quite well; indeed, she can sing. Every evening I have permission to take home to my poor sick mother the scraps from the table; she lives down by the sea-shore, and as I come back I feel tired, and I sit down in the wood to rest, and listen to the nightingale's song. Then the tears come into my eyes, and it is just as if my mother kissed me."

"Little maiden," said the lord-in-waiting, "I will obtain for you constant employment in the kitchen if you will lead us to the nightingale; for she is invited for this evening to the palace." So she went into the wood where the nightingale sang, and half the court followed her.


As Tohru approached Shigure's house with Kyo, and Yuki, she couldn't help but notice the dark aura that had settled over her grey-haired companion. Even Kyo seemed a little more subdued than usual.

What's bothering them so much? She thought, concerned for her two friends. She racked her brain, trying to figure out what had upset them. Suddenly it struck her. The only other time she had seen Yuki so distraught: the day Akito came to their school.

The small group had arrived at Shigure's front porch when Tohru reached out to ask her friend directly. "Yuki…" she began, unsure of what she was going to say. For a second, it seemed as if his dark cloud lightened, but just as he began to turn they were abruptly interrupted by Shigure who had come outside to greet them.

"I'm so glad to see my little flower home from school. Did anything interesting happen today?"

With that Yuki's foul mood returned and he shoved past Shigure into the house. From the front door the others could hear him quickly ascend the stairs before the slam of his bedroom door echoed throughout the house.

"…Was it something I said?"

Kyo just sighed, moving through the door and upstairs to his own bedroom. There was a moment of silence before Shigure spoke up again. "Well that seemed particularly out of character for both of them." He turned back to Tohru. "Perhaps you could come inside and make us some tea before explaining to me what exactly happened and why they are behaving so strangely?" Tohru gazed after her friends for a moment. She turned to Shigure and nodded, offering him a small smile as she stepped into the house and walked to the kitchen to prepare the tea.


"Shigure," Tohru began, pouring two cups of the hot beverage, "do you know a girl named Aikame Sohma?" Shigure froze; his teacup suspended just a few inches from his lips. "How do you know that name?" he asked quietly.

"You asked if anything happened to us today... Well, we ran into her on our way home. After that is when Yuki and Kyo started acting weirdly." Tohru paused, "Shigure, who is she?" Shigure sighed and set down his teacup. "I'm not sure if I should tell you this. You see it's not something we really talk about, even amongst the family." He gazed out across the yard as he and Tohru sat on the front porch.

"I daresay that by now you should be familiar with how Akito treats those of us who are under the curse. You saw the way Yuki responded when he showed up at your school. He demands our respect and we are obligated to give it to him, but we can still live our lives the way we want to as long as we are not directly disobeying him.

"For now, all you need to know is that she and Akito are very closely linked." Shigure paused as if in thought, "and it might not be such a bad thing if you were to befriend her. She hasn't had much experience with people and I think it would be good for her to spend some time around people her own age."

Tohru nursed her cup, the warmth of it leaking into her hands. She seemed deeply reflective. "She has such a lovely voice." At this Shigure couldn't help but let out a chuckle, lightening the mood immediately. "Well she is the nightingale so I would expect nothing less." He paused slightly as if wanting to say more.

"Oh, and Tohru, one last thing." Shigure picked up his cup again, bringing it to his mouth before taking a deep draught. "Perhaps it would be for the best if Yuki and Kyo maintained their distance from Aikame in the future. I wouldn't trust their temperaments around her, at least for now." Tohru nodded once to show her understanding.

This girl was her new friend, and she would do everything in her power to ensure that she sang happy songs in the future.


A/N: *'~'* I am so sorry. I am such a horrible person. This really shouldn't have taken me as long as I did. I shall now proceed to leave this here as a gift for those of you who actually enjoy my work.

Also, no chapter song this time. I was tossing around a couple of ideas, but nothing seemed to fit just right :\

...and I'm dog tired.

So goodnight to all of you lovely people out there who have liked my story enough to make it this far in the text ^.^ You guys are the reason why I force myself to write sometimes!