1Chapter 7

Hiro grumbled and stood up, realizing he had slipped on something, not been knocked over. He picked up the dusty object from the ground near his foot and looked at it. He turned bright red, and looked away. It was a very naked picture of a woman... someone that looked familiar, but he didn't want to look again to find out how.

He held the picture out towards Shigure. "Would you please take care of this filth, you dirty old man?"

Momiji laughed, as he had seen the entire thing from in the living room. He ran up to Hiro before Shigure could get to the picture, and stole it from Hiro's hand. "Filthy? What do you mean?"

He looked very nonchalantly at it, which made Hiro blush even brighter, and look to the side, where his eyes met Kisa's. He just couldn't catch a break today.

Momiji suddenly looked thoughtful, and turned back to Shigure. "Gure-san, why does this lady look so much like Akito-san? Don't tell me it's a new trend..."

Hiro's jaw dropped as he looked at Momiji. Yuki looked surprised beyond belief.

Kisa stood up, eyes widened. "W-What?" Kisa asked as she hobbled over to Shigure and looked at him in the eyes.

Kyo hopped down the stares and stared at Shigure just like Kisa did. "Spill it..." he growled.

Shigure sweat dropped largely as he looked at the two in his face. "It's a friend I met... That's not Akito! How dare you!" he growled as he lied and hid the picture in his shirt.

Yuki crossed his arms in front of him, and gave Shigure a most unbelieving glare. "I don't believe you, Shigure."

Momiji hmphed like a little child and stared at Shigure harder. "Yeah, neither do I!"

Hiro glared once at Shigure before walking over to Kisa, about to inquisite her about her foot as soon as Shigure spilled it.

Shigure told them the most secretive secret of the Sohmas... "Akito... is a girl... Not a high school girl, or I would c-" he muttered but was cut off by Kyo hitting him on top of the head with a vein on his forehead.

Kisa looked at Hiro and absentmindedly stood on her injured foot, making her fall forward into Hiro.

Yuki's eyes went wide suddenly, and he looked a little faint, leaning back into the doorway next to him. He covered his forehead with his hand, and sighed. "That would explain much... I had my theories on this, too... this confirms them..."

Momiji looked really shocked for a moment, and then grinned. "So that's why sometimes she's so angry! Time o' the month! That explains some things..." Momiji paused for a moment, and then his eyes welled up and he began to cry pathetically. "I saw her naked..." He sobbed.

Hiro looked utterly shocked at Shigure, until he felt something fall into him. He turned around quickly, and caught her lightly, leaning back heavily to do so. He began to blush heavily, partly because he too had seen the head of the family naked, but more so because he was now holding Kisa.

Kisa had her head in his chest and was blushing deeply. Pulling backwards, she stood there, looking down at the ground nervously, standing on one leg. "S-Sorry..."

Shigure sighed at their reactions and placed a hand against his forehead. "This didn't turn out well..." he mumbled as he turned his gaze towards Hiro and Kisa and smiled softly.

Hiro looked to the side. "No... it's alright..." Hiro said softly.

Yuki finally managed to regain his composure, and walked up to the others. "I didn't think a man could be that cruel..."

Momiji glared at Yuki. "Hey, that's sexist!"

Yuki, in a show of being very out-of-character, smirked back at Momiji. "Oh, and like your comment wasn't?"

Meanwhile, Hiro was ignoring the bickering of his relatives. He looked back up at Kisa, and blushed again lightly. "I... have something I want to show you... but... you can't see it until tomorrow morning," he whispered, not wanting to be heard by anyone but her in all the commotion. With the way Momiji was complaining now, he didn't have anything to worry about.

Kisa looked at Hiro in a confused manner and smiled softly. "All right Hiro-kun..." she mumbled as she blushed and closed her eyes, listening to her stomach growl loudly. A small sweat drop formed on the side of her head.

The growl interrupted Momiji's rantings, and everyone stopped and sweat dropped, then looked at Kisa.

"I guess she's hungry," Momiji said, pointing out the obvious. Of which Hiro pounced upon.

"Well, obviously, or did you think that her tiger had somehow managed to transfer itself into her stomach?" Hiro grumbled turning to look at Momiji. At least some things never changed.

Kisa smiled softly and sweat dropped again as she limped off into the kitchen, knowing there was nothing else to step on. Cautiously, she entered the kitchen and looked around curiously, never having explored the kitchen before, and not knowing where anything was.

Yuki looked up at Shigure seriously. "You, sir, have a lot of explaining to do. And the least of your worries will be why you have a naked picture of Akito," he said warningly.

Hiro sighed softly, releasing his embarrassment at being so close to Kisa in one motion.

Momiji walked in the kitchen with Kisa. He had an idea where some things were, but he really needed Tohru for everything. Kisa reached up high to get a plate and when she finally did, it tipped over and crashed onto the ground loudly, Kisa jumping back. When Kisa landed, she landed on her injured foot, which sent her fumbling onto the ground. Tohru came rushing into the kitchen when she heard the loud crash and looked at Kisa, who was trying not to cry.

Hiro and Yuki both peeked into the kitchen from around the door, wondering what was going on. The first thing Hiro noticed was Kisa on the ground, and looking a bit like she was in pain. He rushed up to her, kneeling down next to her, not caring about the broken plate on the ground. "Are you alright?" he placed a hand on her shoulder, and looked her in the eye.

Yuki walked in slowly, shaking his head, while Momiji, who had jumped and yelped at the plate crashing down, turned around and looked at her.

"What in the world was that?" Yuki asked softly, before seeing the broken plate.

Momiji sighed. "Kisa... please, please... ask for someone's help who is taller than you before doing that. Please. Danke."

Kisa nodded to Hiro and looked over at Momiji with teary eyes. "I-I'm sorry Momiji-kun..." she said nervously as she looked down at the plate and then up at Tohru.

Momiji shook his head softly, and shrugged. "Especially not with a foot like yours."

Hiro sighed softly, and noticing her foot, looked back at her face. "What did you do to your foot, Kisa?"

"I stepped in the kitchen..." she muttered, looking over at the large pile of broken glass, plates and whatnot. Her foot was bandaged, but the blood began to leak through the bandage due to her using it so suddenly like that.

Tohru sighed and went to go get the broom, but when she got back, Kisa was already picking up the large chunks apologetically.

Hiro, in an odd moment of cooperativeness, decided to help pick up, too. He was close to the floor as it was, and the second closest one to the mess anyway. He gathered some of the larger and smaller chunks together, and looked at Tohru. "Bring the trashcan over here." He shifted his hand, and winced when he realized he had cut himself on one of the plate shards. Sure enough, there was a crimson streak along the sharp edge of one particularly large fragment. For some reason, when Hiro pricked himself, Kisa wanted to kiss his wound. Just the thought of it made her blush deeply. Absentmindedly, she cut the palm of her hand and winced, looking at it as if it was cool.

Tohru brought over the trashcan and Kisa put the chunks in, still looking at her hand. Tohru noticed the two and their injuries and began to panic. "Wah! Kisa-chan, Hiro-kun... You're both cut!"

Hiro snorted. "We'll be just fine... it's nothing but a scratch." He clenched his hand, and felt it wet with blood. "Besides, it's not like I don't know how to put a Band-Aid on myself." He put the shards in the trashcan, careful not to cut himself again.

He looked over at Kisa, and frowned slightly in concern.

Instinctively, Kisa began to suck on the palm of her hand, tasting the metal taste of it. Shigure, Tohru, and Kyo all sweat dropped.

"Kisa's turned into a vampire..." Shigure muttered.

"What!" Yelped Tohru as she looked at Kisa, taking the comment seriously.

Hiro sighed and placed his uninjured hand on his forehead. "No, she's just a tiger. They're predators," he said, trying to add a scary tone to the sarcasm in his voice. "That's why I'm not licking my hand." He held out his injured hand, and the nasty cut in the middle of it, the blood smeared on his fingers from where he had clenched his fist. The blood was already starting to dry from the areas not close to the cut, and his hand was really sticky.

Tohru felt faint and wobbled backwards, bumping into Kyo and then Yuki as they both transformed. Kyo sat there in his cat form, surrounded by his clothes. "Stupid..." he muttered as he glared at Hiro.

Kisa laughed softly and looked over at Hiro, smiling.

Hiro smiled back softly, before walking over to the sink and rinsing his hand off. He drew a sharp breath as the water stung on his injury, but soon his hand was clean.

Momiji, who had been looking away and feeling slightly nauseous, looked back at Hiro and glared slightly. "That's not true, you know!"

Hiro smirked his usual smart-ass expression back at Momiji. "She apparently doesn't know that." He looked pointedly at Tohru.

Yuki sighed and looked Tohru over, moving around her as a rat.

Kisa yawned softly and plopped onto her back, looking up at the ceiling in silence. Shigure watched her in silence.

"Are you all right?" he asked as he walked over to her and looked down at her curiously. Kisa nodded slightly and remained on the floor, enjoying the coldness of the floor.

Hiro dried his hand off quietly with a paper towel, not wanting to ruin any towels that might have survived Akito's wrath. He looked over at Kisa, then up at the ceiling. "What's so fascinating on the ceiling?"

"Nothing..." Kisa muttered as her cheeks were flushed slightly due to a small fever coming back.

Hiro walked over to her, and offered his uninjured hand. "Well, you're going to have to wash that hand soon..."

Momiji raised his hand like an overexcited schoolgirl. "I'll go get the bandages!" he scurried out of the room, feeling even more nauseated now that he'd seen Hiro's hand.

Kisa took Hiro's hand silently and hobbled over to the sink. Washing out her deep cut, she continued to stare at it in an odd way. Looking over at Hiro's injured hand, she grabbed it lightly and inspected it closely, making sure there was nothing left. She sure was acting strange at the moment.

Hiro gave her an inquisitive look, and cocked his head to the side slightly. "Kisa? What are you doing?"

Kisa kissed his hand lightly and smiled at him, releasing his hand quietly.

Hiro's eyes went wide suddenly, and he blushed brightly. He managed a weak smile through the redness of his face, and let his hand drop in a slow, languid gesture.

Momiji walked in with the First-Aid Kit in his hands to find everyone staring at Hiro and Kisa. "What'd I miss?" he asked, looking around.

Kisa blushed lightly and smiled at Momiji. "Nothing..." she answered as she smiled again. Tohru's eyes got chibi-like as she stared at the two.

Momiji sighed. "I always miss the good part..." he held out the kit. Hiro walked over and snatched it from Momiji's hands, blushing as well. He walked back to Kisa, and set the box on the counter, where he began pawing at its contents, looking for the right thing.

Yuki sighed as a loud POOF! Filled the room, and he grabbed his clothes and hurried off before anyone could see him.

Kisa smiled again at Momiji and heard the poofing noise, turning away quietly. And yet again there was another poofing noise as Kyo transformed back and scurried off to his room, Tohru blushing deeply and closing her eyes.

"I hope she didn't see anything..." Momiji said, making a slightly disgusted face. Hiro laughed, and nearly knocked the first aid kit off the countertop.

"Ah, here we go!" Hiro said, pulling out a large bandage. He held it up in front of Kisa, and waved it back and forth.

Kisa laughed softly at Momiji's comment and looked over at Hiro with a small smile. Snatching the Bandage wrapping from him, she gently took his injured hand and sloppily wrapped it. But she did try her best.

Hiro turned bright red, and looked away, only to find Momiji giving him a most interesting look. He glared fiercely at the rabbit, but Momiji merely stuck his tongue out at Hiro and laughed.

Yuki walked back in, his face once again holding a surprised element to it. The look was becoming quite commonplace today.

Kisa finally finished and smiled proudly at her job. Looking over at Yuki, she gave him the most curious looking face.

Yuki smiled softly, and shook his head. "I guess it really shouldn't surprise me at all..."

Momiji giggled softly, and closed his eyes, still smiling like an idiot, at least that's what Hiro would say.

Hiro went back to pawing around in the first aid kit for a smaller bandage for her hand, still trying to beat off the redness of his face. But everyone could still tell he was embarrassed, his ears turned color, too.

Kisa smiled at Hiro's blushing and glanced around in every direction, as if she was looking for something. Standing there silently, she stifled a yawn and coughed in the meanwhile.

Momiji frowned slightly, then herded everyone out of the kitchen, flailing his arms about and motioning for them to go sit back down in the main room.

Hiro pulled out a bandage, and grabbed Kisa's hand, pulling it up se he could see the cut. He put the unwrapped bandage next to it and frowned, no, too big. He threw the bandage back in the first-aid kit haphazardly and searched around for another one, not letting go of her hand. Finally he found one just the right size, and unwrapped it. A self-sticking one, great!

He lined it up neatly, and pressed it on gently, not wanting to aggravate the injury farther. He looked back up at her and smiled softly.

Kisa smiled softly still and blushed slightly as he continued to hold her hand. "Thank you Hiro-kun..." she mumbled as se smiled again and closed her eyes.

Hiro's smile widened as he moved his hand enough that he could lace his fingers through hers. "You're welcome, Kisa..."

Momiji was squirming in his seat, trying to resist the urge to look. Now that he had left them alone to their own devices, he was starting to regret it.

Yuki shook his head at Momiji. "It was your idea..."

Smiling softly, Kisa slumped against Hiro, happily. She had longed to see him, more than anyone else when she was in the cage. Thinking about the cage, she shivered slightly.

Shigure looked over at Yuki and Momiji. "I hope he doesn't take away her virginity today..." he grumbled.

Hiro looked once more to make sure no one was watching, and finally wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back fiercely, almost possessively.

Momiji and Yuki both sweat dropped. Momiji flailed his arms about and whined. "Don't talk about Hii-kun and Kisa that way!"

Yuki stood up and thumped Shigure on the head. "That was vulgar, hentai inu."

"What! You never know what they're up to... maybe she's already lost her virginity to him." Shigure joked as he laughed.

Kisa's eyes widened at first, but she was getting used to this kind of embrace from him. Smiling softly, she wrapped her arms around him loosely and closed her eyes, taking in his scent.

Momiji covered his face and faux-sobbed into them. "That's so baaad!"

Yuki nodded and glared at Shigure. "Don't you think they're a little young for being in one of those dirty girl books you write, Shigure?"

Hiro sighed softly, trying not to let the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes spill down. It almost hurt finally being near her after what seemed like an eternity not even being to see her. Akito could screw himself... er... herself. Whatever.

Kisa accidentally fell into a light sleep, leaning against him, which meant that all her weight was applied. All she wanted to do was be with him and take in his simple scent.

Hiro sweat dropped slightly when he felt her breathing pattern change against him. "Kisa..." He said softly, taking a slightly wider stance to support the extra weight. She didn't weigh that much, but still. He shook her gently, and called her name again.

Momiji sweat dropped back in the kitchen. "It sure is taking a long time..."

Yuki glared back at Momiji lightly, and thumped him on the head. "You need to stop hanging out with Shigure. Forever."

Kisa slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him in silence. "Wha..?" she asked sleepily as she stood up on one leg and looked at him with eyes half open.

Hiro smiled softly, a sweet, yet ever so slightly scornful look. "You fell asleep, Kisa."

Momiji peeked around the corner at the last word, and then leaned back, covering his face with his hands as he shook with laughter at the innuendo he had made in his mind. "He made her fall asleep..." he rasped softly and fell to his knees laughing.

Shigure covered his mouth. "Ohohohoho..." he laughed in his odd way and sighed in relief. "If he can entrance her like that... hmmmm..." he muttered as he sighed.

Kisa shook her head to wake herself up. "Sorry..." she muttered as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Don't be getting any perverted ideas, hentai!" Yuki growled warningly and shot a disapproving look at Momiji, who was still trying to recover from laughing.

Hiro shrugged. "It's alright... it's just a little odd..."

Kisa smiled softly and rested her cheek against his chest slightly, closing her eyes again. "Sorry Hiro-kun..."

Hiro swallowed hard, and lightly touched her hair. "Y- you should probably take a nap, Kisa..." his voice was oddly nervous, and he found himself almost at a loss for words. He had finally realized their position, and the meaning had settled.

"I... I don't want to be left alone..." she muttered, reminding herself of the cage and shivering again.

Well, that provided a problem. "But you seem like you need some sleep... it has been an awfully rough day on all of us..."

"Please don't leave me Hiro-kun..." she muttered as she gripped the hem of his shirt lightly.

Hiro looked at her slightly confused at her actions, but shrugged it off. "I won't I don't think I could... not after what you've been through..."

Kisa looked up at him with sad eyes and sighed slightly. "All right... I'll go to bed..." she muttered as she pulled away from him and wobbled forward slightly, leaning against the wall for support.

He checked the hem of his shirt, wondering why she had gripped it, before remembering about her hurt foot. "Wait, Kisa!"

He walked around in front of her, and sighed. "A thing you shouldn't do is walk on that foot..."

Kisa looked up at him silently and stood up straight. "I'm okay..." she muttered, glancing towards the living room silently.

"You're limping and can hardly stand on your own," Hiro said pointedly, looking at her obvious avoidance of one foot. He sighed, and turned his back to her, and kneeled down. "Hop on..." he sounded almost like it was a routine for him to do it.

"B-But..." she muttered as she looked at him in silence. Silently, she climbed onto his back, wondering if he would be able to pick her up.

With a slight grunt and a little swaying when he stood up to get his balance, Hiro managed to carry her easily out of the kitchen and back towards the bedrooms, which earned him an interesting look from Momiji, and an amused smile from Yuki.

Kisa rested her head against his back with her eyes closed.

"Hmmm.. I wonder what he's going to do with her..." Shigure muttered as he laughed in his perverted way again.

Momiji giggled at Shigure's comment, and Yuki looked in absolute horror at his other two cousins. "I swear..." He grumbled.

Hiro managed to open the door with his foot, as it had not been closed all the way. The interior of the room had either avoided Akito's rage, or been very thoroughly cleaned. He turned around at the side of the bed, and set her down. "There, see? And no hobbling to get here, and aggravating the injury."

Kisa sighed and released her loose grip around his neck. "Thank you Hiro-kun..." she muttered as she flopped over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

Hiro made a move to the door. "You're welcome... have a good rest." He smiled softly at her again, the kind of smile that would melt a diamond. Something that was very rare out of him.

Kisa looked at him sadly and gripped lightly onto his shirt. "P-please..?"

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "Please what?"

"Stay..." she muttered.

He turned slightly pink. "While you sleep? That's a little odd..."