1Chapter 10

Kisa awoke silently and looked over towards Hiro. Remembering yesterday, she smiled softly and blushed at the mere thought of it. Looking back at Hiro, she squirmed slightly, still on top of his stomach.

Movement on his stomach woke Hiro up, and he yawned, looking back down at Kisa. "Comfy?"

Kisa gave a small grin and rested her head back in-between her paws. But yet another loud growl came from her stomach. She had not eaten in a long while. Lifting her head, she glanced around and leapt off of Hiro's stomach and wandered over to the door, pawing at it.

Hiro stood up and stretched, walking towards the door. "Breakfast time already?" He yawned again before opening the door, and walking out towards the main area.

Kisa padded out of the door and peaked her head around strangely. As soon as Hiro got a little ways away, she raced after him and stuck to his left leg like glue, which was an odd sight.

Tohru had already cooked breakfast, but there was a lot left. Shigure had already eaten his full and Kyo had as well.

Yuki sat at the table, sipping tea once again. He regarded the two new additions with a quiet nod. Momiji smiled at them and waved enthusiastically.

Hiro snorted softly. At least the rabbit was acting like normal again. Something about cameras and Momiji didn't mix. He sat down quietly at the table next to the grinning rabbit, and looked pointedly at Tohru. "Well, where's my food?"

Yuki sighed. At least Hiro was back to normal.

"H-Hiro-kun... be nice to onee-chan..." Kisa uttered like she always did.

Tohru peaked around the corner and spotted Kisa in her tiger form. S-so cute! she thought as she tried not to yell. "Y-Yes Hiro-kun..." she muttered as she bowed her head and raced into the kitchen to warm up what was left.

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Brat..." he told Hiro as he stared at him, then glanced at Kisa.

Shigure sighed and shook his head slightly, remembering the incident all too well. Now almost everyone was informed of Akito's secret.

Hiro just looked back from the kitchen, and back down to Kisa.

Momiji wanted to giggle at the cuteness. It was like the two youngest Sohmas were glued together or something.

Yuki merely took another sip of tea.

Tohru rushed out with tea, juice, and breakfast. Setting it down, she glanced at Kisa again, her eyes filling up with that struggle to hold back and snatched Kisa up into her arms, huggling her. "O-Onee-chan... c-can't b-breathe..." she squeaked.

Tohru noticed this and smiled, placing Kisa back next to Hiro.

Hiro ate slowly, watching Tohru out of the corner of his eye. Sure, Kisa had said she wouldn't leave... but he couldn't help but still feel jealous towards Tohru.

Momiji finally giggled, trying hard to hide it behind a hand, but failing quite miserably.

Yuki still sipped his tea.

Kisa sighed and turned to a plate that had some bacon on it. Sniffing it first, she finally sunk her fangs into it and chewed on it hungrily. This was quite unlike her, but she hadn't eaten for a while.

Momiji continued to giggle as Hiro ate his breakfast. There was another moment of not uncomfortable silence until Momiji couldn't hold in the comment any longer.

"Hii-kun's picked up a pet tiger somewhere!" he burst out, laughing.

Yuki raised an eyebrow.

Momiji continued to giggle until he felt the cold, hard weight of an empty plate collide with the side of his head. It bounced off and landed on the floor with a loud thunk, but didn't break. He sniffled and held his head, tears in his eyes as a large, throbbing red bump appeared on the point of impact.

Kyo "hmphed". "At least you can't blame me..." he grumbled.

Kisa looked at shock at Momiji, and turned back to Hiro with the same look.

Shigure sweat dropped. "Don't be breaking my dishes..."

"It didn't break," Hiro said, eyes closed, enjoying his meal. He finished, and set the plate out of the way of everyone else.

Momiji continued to hold his head and cry comically.

Yuki sighed, and shook his head. It was far too early for him to deal with this

Kisa shook her head slightly and another loud POOF occurred, sending Kisa racing back to her room quickly.

Momiji recovered quickly from his injury to watch the clear space where Kisa had once been sitting.

Hiro leaned his head forward, resting his head in his arms, trying to hide his red face.

Yuki looked at him inquisitively, but otherwise said nothing.

Kisa walked back out of her room in pajamas again, her eyes toward the ground and her face deep red. Bowing her head, Kisa continued to blush.

Tohru resisted the urge to hug her and clenched her fists. Rushing over to the table, Tohru grabbed the plates and cup and hurried back to the kitchen, washing the dishes.

Hiro took a deep breath, leaned back, and stretched, trying to look nonchalant about the still fading pink tinge to his cheeks.

Yuki simply went back to his tea. He was being quiet, he knew, but there wasn't much to say right now.

Momiji caught the slight tinge still on Hiro's cheeks, and pounced. "Why're ya blushing, Hii-kun?"

Hiro glared at Momiji. "Mind your own business, rabbit."

Kisa scuttled over to Hiro's side and sat down, lips pursed and blush streaks going away completely already. Playing with her hands in silence, she looked around and noticed Yuki still sitting there in silence. Her eyes scanned the room, which seemed less full due to Akito. Sighing softly, she looked towards the ground again. It's my fault... She thought.

Hiro moved his hand without looking like he did, and stilled her writhing hands with his own. He tried not to let it make him blush anymore, as he leaned to the side, and whispered in her ear. "What's the matter?"

Momiji, for once didn't say a thing. He just looked away with a small smile on his lips.

Yuki excused himself and headed outside, going for his garden. The plants needed a check-up anyway. He called for Tohru before he left. "Tohru, wanna come with me?"

Tohru raised her hand as an answer and rushed towards him. "Secret base?" she asked with a smile.

"I-It's all my fault... Gure-san's house..." Kisa muttered in a soft tone.

Yuki nodded and smiled back at her. "Yeah, secret base. I've been long overdue."

Hiro gave her a soft glare. "If I can't blame myself for what happened to you, then you can't blame yourself for the house. Everything in here is replaceable." He kept his voice low so as not to alert too much attention.

Momiji simply tried not to grin, and instead got up, heading for the kitchen and something more to drink than tea. He wanted juice of some sort

Kisa held her head low still and closed her eyes. "B-But..." she muttered softly as she looked up at him in silence, eyes only a quarter of the way open.

"But what? I'm not letting you get away with it if I can't" Hiro said, sounding a bit like the stubborn little kid he really was. "As soon as you let me blame myself for what happened to you, I'll let you take the blame for Shigure's house."

Kisa held her gripped his hand a little and shook her head violently again, her orange hair brushing Hiro's face lightly.

Hiro twitched his nose at the sensation, and tried not to sneeze. It tickled a little and made him laugh once. He stopped her head with his free hand, and leaned a little closer. "Then it's not your fault, Kisa."

Kisa looked up into his eyes. "And it's not your fault either for me being in the cage..." she muttered as she trembled slightly, thinking about the cage.

Hiro shot one last warning glare at Shigure before smiling at Kisa warmly, and pressing his lips into hers again lightly. He withdrew after but a few seconds, and touched his forehead to hers. "Then let's both stop blaming ourselves, alright?"

Shigure's eyes nearly melted. Luckily, he had a camera with him and caught a moment of that kiss. "OHOHOHOHOHO!" He laughed as he got up and raced into the kitchen after Momiji.

Kisa blushed deeply and nodded, her forehead rolling along with his.

Momiji spun around, looking at Shigure. "What'ya get?"

Hiro turned around, a vein popping out on the side of his head as he shook his fist at Shigure's retreating form. He sighed and relaxed before looking back at Kisa. "Maybe now they'll leave us alone."

"I doubt it..." she muttered as she laughed softly and sighed. "Gure-san is weird..."

Hiro had to laugh at that. "Yes he is..." He shot a disapproving glare at the kitchen before deciding he was bored. "So, what do you wanna do now?"

"Go back to our secret base..." Kisa uttered as she smiled. "But please don't push me off..."

Hiro laughed softly, and looked back at the door. "Alright, I won't. Just no more mud in my hand..." He held out his hand and flexed his fingers at her like he was going to grab her face.

Kisa absentmindedly stuck her tongue out at him. "I can't make that promise..." she muttered as she smiled.

Hiro laughed and stood up, stretching. "Alright then, let's go there."

Kisa stood up and wobbled slightly at first, falling against Hiro. "G-Gomen..."

Hiro hugged her lightly as he caught her, trying to make it seem like he didn't, before letting her go, and shaking his head. "It's fine." He spread his arm out towards the door. "Shall we go?"

Kisa nodded and smiled softly as she grabbed his hand and opened the door, letting the breeze blow against her face.

"You might want to change out of your pajamas!" came Shigure's voice.

Blushing deeply, she looked at herself and ran off to her room quickly in an embarrassed way.

Hiro laughed, he hadn't even noticed that she was still wearing her pajamas. He put his fingers lightly on his forehead and continued to chuckle as he stood by the door, waiting for her to return

Kisa returned in shorts that were a little too big for her and a T-shirt that hung down farther than the shorts.

Hiro laughed hard, trying at first to cover it up, but quickly failing. He wiped a tear from his eye and looked at her. "I think one of my shirts would fit you better than that, too bad I don't have any of my stuff here." He shrugged, still chuckling before motioning outside. "Alright, let's go..."

Kisa nodded silently and blushed deeper as she put on her shoes and followed after him.

Hiro walked quietly alongside her through the restless forest. It seemed everything was very busy today, quite contrary to the slow pace at which he was walking. About halfway to the cliff, he finally broke the silence. "So, why'd you want to come here?"

"Because... I like it... and... because I like being with you..." she muttered as she blushed.

Hiro looked up at the giant mound of dirt that formed the path to the top of the cliff, and then back at Kisa. "But besides talking and bird-watching there's not much we can do..."

He began climbing up it, slowly picking his way to the top.

Kisa smiled. Taking a large clump of dirt into her hands, she threw it at Hiro, but not hard.

Hiro froze when he felt the dirt collide and explode all over his back. He turned back to Kisa, frowning. "Ah huh. You want to take a trip back down the cliff, don't you?"

"I'm already down the cliff!" she yelled as she threw another ball of mud at him and slipped, landing flat on her back in a mud puddle, but the puddle was mainly mud.

Hiro managed to dodge the second ball of mud. When she slipped, he laughed, and sat down on a rock lodged in the loose dirt. He placed his chin in his hand, and rested his elbow on his knee. "You're not a pig, you're a tiger, so get out of the mud and leave that to Kagura."

Kisa picked up another chunk of mud and threw it at him from her position in the mud.

Hiro just dodged that piece as well. "Well, are you coming up here, or am I going to have to go down there, pick you up, and then have to explain to Shigure later as to why we're tracking mud all over in his house?"

Kisa shook her head from side to side and attempted again to hit him with a mud ball. She was already covered completely in mud.

Hiro spread his feet apart, and the mud ball landed harmlessly between them. He gazed at the sky, rolling his eyes in a prolonged gesture. "You throw like a girl. Don't expect to hit me like that."

Kisa's ears, even though they weren't tiger ears, twitched and she sent a large mud ball as hard as she could at his face while he let his guard down.

Hiro put a hand up while his head was still sideways. The aim was true, but his hand was faster. The mudball impacted with it, and sent little flecks of mud everywhere. Some of it hit him, and he grinned down the slope at her. "That was better... I guess you should get something for that..."

He stood up, and dragged his feet along the ground like he was trying to wipe something off the bottoms of them. Or like a ram pawing the ground before charging...

Which is exactly what he did as he lowered his head slightly, and made a run down the slope, focused directly on her.

He slid to a stop in the mud squatting down, legs on either side of her, almost as if he was going to sit on her, and he looked her directly in the eye. "Let's stop this, shall we?"

He grabbed her arms and held them firmly. "I really hate mud..."

Kisa slipped one hand away and tossed a bunch of mud at him quickly, trying to get him muddy.

Hiro stiffened up when he felt the mud impact the side of his face, as his face twisted into a look of displeasure. He silently let Kisa go and stood up, walking back towards Shigure's house. He carefully wrapped himself in a veil of angry silence so as not to be bothered on the way back. "I hate mud... and I hate those stupid kiddy games more..." he growled, safely out of earshot.

Kisa watched him walk off and sat there silently in the mud, and continued to sit there. Finally, after he had well disappeared from sight for about a half an hour, Kisa stood. Making her way back towards the house, or where she thought towards the house was. "H-Hiro-kun?" she asked in a small voice.

Hiro walked into Shigure's house slowly, his shoes already outside. His whole right half was covered in mud, and he looked miserable.

He stepped into the house, and froze for a moment. There, sitting at the table, was Haru.

The ox looked up at him, and raised an eyebrow. "You're awfully dirty..."

Hiro growled and walked into the house, lifting one pant leg so it wouldn't drag on the floor and get it muddy. He saw two duffle bags sitting by a wall.

"I figured you guys'll probably be staying at Shigure's house for a while, so I snuck out some stuff for you, Kisa, and Momiji. The green bag's yours." Haru said, watching Hiro walk past closely.

Hiro looked at him, and only managed a half-hearted "Thanks..."

Haru wondered about that, but shrugged and went back to his drink. "Go take a shower, I know how much you hate mud."

Hiro grumbled but obliged. Momiji leaned his head down from upstairs, and watched Hiro walk quietly into the bathroom. "What's the matter with him?"

Kisa, meanwhile, was still lost in the forest. Walking back to where she started from, she sat next to the puddle and decided to wait for Hiro to come back. If Hiro would come back.

Tohru looked around. "Kisa? Kiiiiisa?" she called as she looked around the house. Stopping by Haru and Momiji, she asked, "Have either of you seen Kisa-chan?"

Hiro stepped into the scalding hot water, and watched the stream of dirt disappear down the drain. His mind idly wandered to thinking if Kisa made it back to the house or not. He never really showed her the way back...

Momiji shook his head. "No, I haven't seen her yet, Hiro just walked in alone..."

Haru frowned, and looked at Momiji. So that was what was out of place. Hiro wasn't velcroed to Kisa's side like he usually was.

Tohru looked around once again. "Hmmm..." she muttered.

Shigure looked over at Momiji. "Do you think they got into a fight?" he asked.

Kisa continued to sit there patiently, strange noises around her making her jump every now and then.

Momiji shrugged, looking towards the bathroom door. "That would make the most sense... but... somehow not, considering how they were acting before they left..."

Haru frowned at Momiji. "And how was that...?"

Momiji, not thinking, just blurted it out. "Well, he kissed her right in front of Shigure..." Momiji suddenly realized a moment too late what he had done, and clamped a hand over his mouth. He looked at Haru and shook his head.

Haru glared at Momiji. "That little fluffball did what?"

Hiro continued to stare at the trail of water as it made its way towards the drain. His vision kept slipping in and out of focus, and the water seemed cooler than it was supposed to. He shook his head, and finished up cleaning.

Tohru blushed slightly at the thought of Hiro kissing Kisa.

"We should have Hiro go after her... unless any of you volunteer?" Shigure inquired as he looked over at Haru.

Haru was about to volunteer going himself, but closed his mouth with an audible clack of his teeth when the more sensible part of his brain told him that Hiro would probably know better where to find her. He walked over to the bathroom door, and pounded on it. "Oi, Hiro! Hurry up, you're going to go get Kisa!"

Hiro glared at the door, but got dressed quickly anyway, stepping out of the bathroom with an apprehensive glare at Haru.

Haru returned the glare. "You have to go find her, Hiro."

Hiro looked confused for a moment. "You mean she hasn't come back yet?" at Haru's slow head shake, Hiro stalked quickly to the door, uttering a loud curse as he got to it and slipped into his half-dry shoes.

Momiji looked at Tohru. "Did you see that?"

Tohru thought for a moment. "See what?" she asked, not knowing what she was supposed to see.

Kisa remained sitting there, tears swelling in her eyes. The mud on her was drying and turning her a completely different color. You couldn't see any of her actually, she looked like a mud man...

Momiji stared at the door, looking really lost. "I think Hiro caught her flu..."

Haru snorted. "Serves him right-"

"For hanging around her so long?" Yuki interrupted. Haru visibly stiffened.

Hiro ran through the forest, his cheeks a bright pink color that had nothing to do with being embarrassed. He was tiring quickly, though, and only barely made it to where Kisa was without having to stop. He looked at her in mock scorn. "Kisa... baka..."

Kisa managed to open her eyes sleepily and look up at him. Soon after she looked up, she looked down and remained sitting there on the ground.

Hiro, still out of breath, furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What's the matter...? He wanted to hit her on top of the head, but seeing the mud puddle, he decided against it. "Come on, let's go back to Shigure's. You need... to get cleaned up anyway... there'll be time for apologies later." He sighed, not wanting to say this, but hoped it would cheer her up. "Haru's there..."

Kisa pretended to be excited, but she really didn't know what she was doing. Standing up, she walked a couple feet away from Hiro at all times.

Hiro led them both back to the house in silence. He opened the door for her, and then sagged against the doorframe. He was still out of breath, and once again his vision kept shifting in and out of focus.

Haru, upon hearing the door open up immediately cheered up, but he frowned and finally laughed when he saw Kisa walk through. "Well, someone's been playing in the mud. I'd hug you, but you're just a touch too muddy."

Kisa looked up at Haru with sad and a little bit of red in her eyes and scurried off quickly to the shower before anyone could see her cry.

Tohru went to Kisa's bag and slid it inside the bathroom for Kisa.

Haru looked after her, slightly confused, then looked at Momiji. The rabbit shrugged, and shook his head.

Haru then turned his gaze on Hiro. But the youngest Sohma wasn't paying attention, he was leaning against a wall, his breathing shallow and his gaze unfocused or concentrated, his cheeks a darker red color.

Hiro squeezed his eyes shut against the pain that suddenly came with all light and sound, and his senses seemed really sharp for no reason.

Kisa wandered over from out of the showers, wearing Capri's and a pink shirt. Walking over by Tohru's side, she looked over at Hiro in silence and then looked down slightly.

Hiro wasn't paying attention as he clutched his forehead against the pain, and found it to be really hot. He stood up away from the wall, and used only his arm to support him. "Yeah yeah, I know... I'm the evil one. I left her in the fore...st..." He took a step forward, and then went to take another step, leaning as if he was still moving. But his legs didn't follow him and he fell forward.