"Tohru-chan, do you know that boy over there?" I thought she might know, since she was living with Shigure-san, Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun. We were sitting outside on a bench after school. "Oh yes, I do!" She said with a smile. "That's Hatsuharu Sohma! He's a member of the Zodiac. I thought you knew that, (your name)-chan." "That's what I get for not opening my mouth for six years." I said. "What Zodiac spirit is he?" I asked her. "He's the cow!" She said, smiling again. "Explains why Momiji-chan gets along so well with him." "Do you want to come to my house with me today, (your name)-chan?" "Sure." I replied. We got up off the bench, and started towards Shigure-kun's house. When we arrived, we could hear noises coming from inside. "I think Ayame's over today..." Tohru said, then giggled. She opened the front door, and we stepped in, only to be greeted by an angry Yuki holding a snake by the tail. He looked ready to throw the thing into an oven and cook it... "Now look here, you little ba-" Yuki just then noticed us. "Oh hello, Tohru-kun, (your name)-san, how are you today?" He said, smiling sweetly. We said hi, and then walked to the kitchen, where my cousin Shigure was sitting, reading a novel. The cover showed a lady in a revealing dress. "Oh hello, girls! Looking quite pretty today, if I do say so myself! He turned back to his novel, but I could still sense him staring at us every couple seconds. He then got up, and walked off to he hallway, quietly singing his theme song, "High school girls, high school girls, all for me, high school girls!" He's quite perverted, if you haven't already noticed.
We went up to Tohru's room, where we chatted for a while. "So, why did you ask about Hatsuharu today, (your name)-chan?" She asked me. "Well... When I was little, and I used to get bullied, there was one day, where some of the boys from my class chased me outside, and were throwing sticks and rocks at me. They had all thrown their makeshift weapons, but they never hit me. Hatsuharu had jumped in front of me, and they hit him instead. The kids took off running, and he left too. Ever since then, I had wanted to say something to him, but I could never find the courage to tell him. "Oh, (your name)-chan, I had no idea something like that happened! Let's find Hatsuharu right now!" She said smiling. "No, no, no! Tohru, I'd rather not. Not now, at least." I said, lowering my head. "Okay... Then let's talk about what we're going to do for the Cultural Festival!" She said, brightly. I smiled a little. "I think we should do the surprise Onigiri like last year. They were really good! We could even get started on them now!" I said, happier. "Sure!" We ran down the steps, and Tohru found everything necessary for the Onigiri itself, and I looked around for the surprise ingredients to put inside them. I pulled out some salmon from the freezer, a bag of plums from the fridge, some green tea paste, a bit of squid, seaweed, papaya, and strawberries. She made the Onigiri and I stuffed them, and pretty soon, we had filled three platters with them. Yuki walked in, and saw them. He gasped. "Oh, Tohru-kun, (your name)-san, didn't I tell you? Another group of kids are already doing an onigiri stand!" He said. "Oh." Tohru said, disappointedly. "Well, what are we going to do with all these then?" I said, frowning. "Well, we could have Kagura and Hatori over and we could eat them for dinner. Not Ayame though, he just left and won't be coming back for a while." Yuki suggested. "Sure! I'll call them now!" Tohru said, excitedly. She ran over to the phone, and quickly called them. They were both going to come over. "Let's set the table, Tohru." I said. She nodded, smiling. She pulled seven forks and knives from a drawer, and I grabbed seven plates from the cupboard. We set them on the table, but we had to move the placemats around a bit, since instead of four, there was going to be seven, obviously. We set the three platters on the table, and the doorbell rang. Hatori and Kagura walked in. "Kyoooooo-kuuuuuun!" Well, that couldn't have been Kagura. Kyo was walking down the steps, whistling, when Kagura threw herself on top of him. He yelled at her, "GET OFF OF ME, YOU DAMN PIG!" "But Kyo-kun, I love you!" She blurted and pouted. "WELL THAT'S TOO BAD, 'CAUSE I DON'T REALLY CARE!" He retorted. "Waaaaaah! Shigure, Kyo hurt my feelings!" She cried. "God dammit, Kagura!" He said, getting up off the floor. "Dinner's ready!" Tohru called out. We all sat around the table, on the floor. Each of us took a couple rice balls, and chowed down. Shigure burped, and stretched his arms out, leaning against the wall behind him. Hatori picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth, and Yuki took a sip of his water. The rest of us sat quietly.
"Why don't we play a card game?" Tohru suggested. "That would be a lovely idea, Miss Honda." Yuki agreed. Tohru mounted the steps to her room, and came back with a deck of cards. "I have The Old Maid!" She announced. She handed the cards to Hatori, who dealt them and handed them out. I looked at my cards, and found a scuba diver, two artists, a cook, a singer, and a baker. "I have a pair." I said quietly. "I've got one too!" Tohru said cheerfully. "Aha! I have two!" Kyo said, excitedly. "So do I." Yuki replied. "I don't have any..." Shigure and Kagura said at the same time. "I have one." Hatori said. "Since Hatori dealt, that means Kagura goes first, since she's to his left. Kagura chose to take a card from Shigure. It was Yuki's turn next. He took one from Tohru. "Another pair." He said. Now he only had one card left. My turn next. I pulled one slowly from Hatori's stack. It was a carpenter. Now I have five cards. Tohru's turn. She took one from Kagura. She frowned when she looked at the card. She must have taken the Old Maid card. It was Kyo's turn. He took one from me. He took my singer. "Hell yeah, another pair!" He said pumping his fist in the air. Shigure's turn. He took one from Kagura too. "Oh, yes! My first pair!" He exclaimed, in complete joy. Now it was Hatori's turn. He took one from Tohru, and frowned slightly at it. Back to Kagura. She took one from me, and got my scuba diver. "Oh poo, I still don't have any pairs!" She pouted. Yuki's turn again. He took one from Shigure. "Aha! You have helped me, dear cousin!" Shigure exclaimed. It was my turn again. I took one from Kagura, to help her a bit. I got a carpenter. "Second pair." I murmured. I set the cards down in my little pile and it was Tohru's turn. She took one from Kagura too. "My turn!" Kyo said. He pulled one out of my hand, and yelled. "Hell yeah! I win! Hey, you damn rat! I WON!" He was yelling. A lot. And I wished he'd shut up. "I have to go now, Tohru-chan. Thank you. Goodbye, Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun, Shigure-san, Hatori-san, Kagura-chan. See you later." I said, and walked to the front door. As I opened it, I heard a noise. I moved the door, and saw the boy. The white-haired one. He looked at me. "Sorry." He mumbled. He pushed past me and went into the house. I walked away, along a forested path. It took me a while to get home. I should have taken a bus. I walked up the steps and entered my house.