Chapter 14

Silence remained in the house, and it was a bit awkward. A few moments later, Momiji and Shigure came back with the film in hand and two copies. "OOOOOOOO… GUSHY!" Shigure muttered as he drooled at the pictures.

Hiro sweat dropped as a large crowd began to gather around Shigure so they could look at the pictures. Surprisingly enough, Yuki was one of them.

Hiro leaned forward and placed his head in one hand, as he lightly petted Kisa with the other. "Baka..."

Kisa repeatedly began to hit her head against Hiro's leg. Tohru wandered over and noticed a picture of Kisa. "Kisa's so adorable!" she yelped as she snatched the picture.

Hiro just continued to be embarrassed as the conversation began to get louder.

"Oh, that's a real attractive picture of you, Momiji," Yuki said with a laugh, pointing out the one taken while Momiji was looking very shocked.

A few more minutes of chatter passed, and then suddenly everyone went quiet.

"Hey, it's that picture I took this morning!" Momiji said, pointing out the one with Hiro looking less than intelligent, and sitting naked on the bed, while Kisa was cowering on the ground.

Yuki looked away after a moment of looking at it.

Hiro was stiff as a board, and his breathing came in uneven, angry growls. "Baka... usagi..."

Kisa blushed even deeper to where it was actually showing up through her fur.

Shigure had his own entire copy of the pictures and was scanning through them. "I should create a photo album and give it to their mothers…" he muttered as he smiled.

"Oh no you don't!" Hiro said, moving to get up. He picked Kisa up, and set her to the side as he went after the little group looking at the pictures.

"But Hii-kun..." Momiji said, holding out the picture from that morning. "Look! It's so cute!"

Hiro turned bright red. "It is NOT!"

Kisa watched silently and curled up into a ball under the table, as if she was expecting to be trampled.

"All right then..." Momiji said, slipping past Hiro. "Kisa-chan! Come here!"

Kisa crawled awkwardly over to Momiji, curiosity getting her attention.

Momiji looked sooo innocent at the moment, smiling the way he was, and Hiro was wondering what the rabbit was up to.

"But don't you think it's cute?" Momiji asked, moving his hand.

Hiro suddenly remembered what picture Momiji was holding, and went to warn Kisa before...

Momiji held it in front of her. "Kawaii, da ne?"

Hiro turned a shade of red that not many could believe a human's face could turn.

Kisa froze in fear and took off as fast as her little paws could carry her, running out of the back door and outside, her entire body looking red.

Hiro clenched his fist, multiple throbbing veins appearing on both his head and clenched hand. He stalked up behind Momiji, and hit the rabbit hard enough to knock him over. "She already had enough of that this morning!"

Momiji felt his eyes watering. Hiro had tried to hurt him, he could tell, as he gingerly picked his face off the ground, and rubbed his nose, his hand coming away with some red.

Hiro glared once more at everyone before turning and running out the door after Kisa. "Kisa! Wait up!"

Tohru rushed to Momiji's side, handing him a towel for his nose as she watched Hiro race after Kisa.

Shigure sat there in shock.

Kisa was already pretty distant and almost to the town before her paws gave way, sending her crashing to the ground in pain. "I didn't need to see that again…" she muttered as she buried her head in her chest.

Hiro hugged her to him tightly, sighing. "Once again... I've managed to scar you for life..."

Momiji sat there in shocked silence, his eyes still full of water. He gingerly placed the towel over his bleeding nose, and turned back to Shigure. His voice sounded very nasal as he spoke. "That might have been a little too far... is Hari-san still here?"

Shigure shook his head and sighed. "He left last night…" he mumbled.

"Miji-kun scarred me…" she mumbled as her tail poofed up slightly.

Hiro laughed. "True, but he wasn't there the first time..." he stopped, and looked down for a moment before standing up, and heading back towards the house.

The tears in Momiji's eyes spilled over. "Now I have to go back to the main house..."

"No you don't Momiji… Cry baby…" Kyo grumbled. "Just call Hatori." He added.

"B... but if Hari-san keeps coming back and forth between the main house and here, Akito... Akito might suspect something..." Momiji said, wanting to sniffle, but knowing it would hurt too much. "Besides... I'm supposed to be living in the main house... Akito must've noticed my absence by now..."

Hiro sighed as he carried Kisa back, still lightly stroking her fur. "Stupid rabbit..."

Kyo huffed slightly. "Stupid rabbit… Go back, and hope that Akito doesn't throw your ass in the cage." He grumbled, feeling grumpy as he left for the roof.

Kisa fell asleep in Hiro's arms again, but she continued to have very distinctive images of Hiro in her mind.

Momiji began crying harder. "I don't wanna be in the cage... I don't wanna go in there..." He tried to blow his nose into the towel, but it made it hurt more. Which made the crying worse.

Hiro could hear the crying and he was easily twenty feet from the house. "What in the world... is that Momiji?"

Shigure sighed again. "Hiro… you overreacted…" he grumbled slightly.

Kisa soon heard the wailings and lifted her head silently, looking towards the house.

Momiji shook his head very slowly. "He didn't overreact... I did..." he sobbed softly into the towel.

Yuki couldn't figure out who was at fault for this incident.

Hiro walked quietly into the house, looking around and blushing slightly as he felt everyone's eyes on him. "What?"

Kisa looked around and then stuffed her head in Hiro's elbow, as if more nude pictures were going to be shown to her.

Hiro braced himself for it as well... that was, until he saw the apologetic look on Momiji's tear-stained face. The rabbit kept the towel pressed to his face, knowing that underneath was a bloody mess.

Hiro's jaw dropped slightly, and he managed to snap his jaw shut before he frowned. "What is...?"

Momiji ran as fast he could out of the room, and up the stairs to the bedroom.

Kisa instinctively hopped out of Hiro's arms and began to struggle to scale the stairs. Finally she managed to get up the last step and paw over to Momiji's room. "Momiji-kun…" she muttered, pawing at the door.

Hiro began to step forward to help Kisa up the stairs, but he was stopped by a word from Yuki. "Hiro..."

Hiro glared over at Yuki.

Yuki sighed. "Hiro, come over here and sit down. You'll talk to Momiji when it's your turn..."

"My what?" Hiro demanded, suddenly sounding very angry. He moved like he was going to take off again, but was grabbed by Yuki and pushed down by the table.

Hiro looked surprised, but he sat there sullenly.

Momiji tried to stop crying but he couldn't. He didn't want to see Kisa but... he stood up and opened the door a little before going back and collapsing on the bed.

Kisa padded in and pawed at the edge of the bed. "Momiji-kun… I'm sorry… and Hiro's sorry…" she muttered as she looked upwards and pawed at the bed again, trying to get up.

"I should apologize..." Momiji said softly, lifting his head off the bed and watching the blood from his nose mix with his tears and fall on the towel. "Taking all those pictures... I never stopped to think about what you were feeling..."

"No… You just were around Gure-san too much…" she growled softly as she laughed, trying not to sound like the laughing hurt her.

"But I was the one who took it to an extreme..." Momiji said softly, still looking at the towel. It would be quite unusable after this. And he wanted to sneeze.

He looked back at Kisa. "Kisa-chan... you're still in pain, aren't you?"

Kisa did not answer this question as she sat there, still looking up at Momiji. Now that her ribs were visible, there were two large lumps where her ribs had broken.

"Hari-san lied... he said you were fine..." Momiji commented, looking at the angry swell of her ribs. "He said things were only bruised... We need to call his lazy butt back here and tell him to act like a real doctor for once!" Momiji grabbed the towel and stalked out of the room angrily. He looked back at Kisa as he was at the door. "Don't move..."

Kisa did as was told and sat there, staying still. Gulping slightly, she layed down on her back, as not to agitate her ribs more.

Momiji walked down the stairs enough so he could look right at Shigure. "Gure-san, call Hari-san. My nose is broken, I know it. And so are Kisa-chan's ribs..."

Hiro drew back as if something had struck him. "What... he said they were... I... I broke them... and I..." he put his head in his hands.

Shigure nodded and walked over to the phone, calling Hatori.

Tohru kneeled by Hiro. "It's okay Hiro-kun…" she muttered as she looked at him closely.

Within a half hour, Hatori was there, again.

"No... it's not alright... I always ending up hurting her... hurting them..." Hiro muttered softly, several tear droplets falling from his nose to the ground. "Maybe... I should just stay away from everyone... is this because I defied God? I..." he walked, or rather staggered towards the door, swinging it open harshly before slamming it shut behind him.

Momiji winced as he took the towel away from his face so Hatori could inspect his nose.

Hatori sighed and looked at Momiji's nose, noting that it was in fact broken.

Tohru walked out of the door behind Hiro and hugged him. "Kisa needs you Hiro-kun…" she muttered.

"But I hurt her... and I hurt Miji-kun..." He muttered, now a sheep in Tohru's arms. "I just... this must be my divine punishment... I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up..." He continued to cry, almost harder this time.

Tohru continued to hold him to her chest, cradling him. "It's okay… Kisa has to go through this pain too. And if you leave her now, she will give up…" she muttered, speaking the truth.

Hatori wandered upstairs to find Kisa on her back still. Wandering over to her, he examined her more defined wounds carefully, noting that they were also in fact broken.

Momiji continued to hold the towel to his nose, and looked towards the door, where Yuki now stood watching Tohru and Hiro. Momiji wandered up to Yuki, and looked at the rat quizzically.

"He acts so mature... but he's... he's got such insecurities for a little kid," Yuki said, shaking his head.

"We all do, Yuki-kun... we all have more than we need to..." Momiji replied, continuing to watch.

"This... is what we get for going against the orders of God..." Hiro mumbled, still sobbing. "I should've never fallen in love..."

"Don't say that!" Tohru yelped as she could feel her throat becoming slightly swollen.

"Hiro-kun…" came a small voice as Kisa stood, still slightly wobbly at the door.

Hiro stiffened suddenly, before struggling against Tohru. "NO! I won't... I can't take this any more!! It hurts too much!!" He finally broke free and ran blindly into the woods. "I can't... I can't fight the pain anymore... I'm breaking... Akito-sama..." He collapsed, tired and exhausted after a long, hard run. "You win Akito-sama... I can't... I can't escape the pain... but I can't stop loving her..."

"Hiro-kun!" Kisa yelled after him as he disappeared. "H-Hiro-kun…" she whimpered softly as she padded forward and sat down on her haunches, tears filling the corners of her eyes.

Tohru stood there in shock and looked down at Kisa with sympathy. Shigure and Hatori did the same as they watched Kisa sit there. After the others went in, Kisa continued to sit there and wait…. And wait… and wait…..

Hiro finally managed to regain his breath, and he stood up shakily, tears still flowing down his face. He sat there looking miserable, until the bushes began to rustle around him. He didn't think anything of it, until they did it again, and a smell wafted to his nostrils.

Fox. And it was hungry.

He stood up quickly, and looked around, his hooves frozen in place. There was an eerie silence, and Hiro knew it was the fox getting ready to pounce. Heh, what a fitting end to a miserable life. I'm going to die like the scared little lamb I am... Hiro thought bitterly.

Kisa came charging at the fox with a loud growl and sank her fangs into the fox's hindquarters protectively.

"Kisa! Kisa, what are you doing?! You're injured!" Hiro yelled as he watched the fox yelp and run back for the bushes. "Kisa... don't do that... you're going to hurt yourself more..."

Kisa was dragged into the bushes with the fox and there were loud growls and hisses that continued for a small amount of time. Wobbling out of the bushes, Kisa collapsed next to Hiro, blood seeping from bite wounds and her muzzle.

Hiro immediately went over to her side, hurting more now on the inside than he had been before. "Kisa... no baka... you didn't have to do that..." he whispered softly, nuzzlng the side of her face.

Kisa smiled softly, tail swaying behind her. "It's all right… I felt that you were in trouble… And I guess I was right." She muttered with a smile. Slowly, she clambered to her paws. The blood on her muzzle wasn't hers, it was the fox's.

"What... did you do to that fox...?" Hiro said, looking towards the bushes.

"I scared it…" she mumbled as she smiled again. Her courage finally showed itself.

"Well... yeah you scared it, you scared me, too... anyone would be afraid of an angry tigress but... you didn't kill it?" Hiro asked quietly.

Kisa had a guilty look on her face, but she shook her head. "I wouldn't kill something…" she mumbled as she sighed, trying o wipe the blood off of her muzzle and onto the ground.

And suddenly Hiro felt it, from far away, the familiar rush of adrenaline. "Kisa... look awa-"

Poof!

And Hiro curled up into a little ball. "It's really cold out here..." he tried to cover himself, but his hands stayed on his chest. Instead he crossed his legs, and blushed, looking at the ground.

Kisa blushed deeply and closed her eyes tightly. She soon felt that writhing adrenaline swimming through her veins. "Don't look Hiro-kun…" she muttered as there was a popping noise and she covered herself the best that she could. So there they were… both naked.

"Oh great..." Hiro growled, his eyes squeezed shut to protect him from the image that was already swirling around in his mind. "How are we supposed to find our way back now? We're in a forest in the middle of nowhere, and we're naked."

"A-And what would Gure and Miji-kun think?" she asked as she sat with her back to him, not even daring herself to look back at him.

"I know exactly what they'd think," Hiro said bitterly, and made a very good impression of a camera clicking.

Kisa sneezed softly and shivered. "S-So… cold…" she muttered as she continued to shiver. "T-Too bad there aren't any t-tigers or s-sheep out here…" she muttered, teeth chattering slightly.

"Neither of which are in any way native to this area..." Hiro mumbled softly, shivering himself. He risked a peek and found her with her back to him. From the way she was shaking, he could tell she was as cold as him. "Oh what I wouldn't give for a farm right now..." Hiro said quietly.

Kisa continued to tremble as she sat there. "M-Maybe…. O-Onee-chan w-will l-look f-for us…" she muttered, now having a pretty bad stutter. Releasing quite a few sneezes, she closed her eyes, still trembling.

Hiro chattered his teeth now, as well, the cold starting to set in. "Yeah... she'll come for us... soon..." He took a deep breath before moving so he could kneel behind her. He squeezed his eyes shut as he suddenly grabbed her and pulled her up against him.

Yuki went to check on Kisa, and bring her in since it was almost obvious that Hiro hadn't returned yet. When he noticed nothing there, he looked back into the house. "Hey, has Kisa come back in already?" he called.

Kisa's eyes widened at the sudden movement, and she blushed deeply, but his warmth was comforting.

All of the Sohma's answered with a "No…"

Tohru looked out from the kitchen. "Kisa-chan is gone?" she asked.

Yuki nodded solemnly. "Yeah... and I now don't know where she went... and Hiro's not back either?"

Momiji looked afraid. "Should we look for them?"

"They're both in... animal form... so they're small and defenseless... I'd say so," Yuki said softly.

Hiro gripped Kisa just a little bit tighter, and rested his face on her shoulder so he wouldn't be tempted to look.

Kisa continued to blush and closed her eyes once again, curling slightly against him for more warmth.

Shigure soon gained ideas. "Or they could be transformed back into their human forms with no clothes… I should get the camera…" he mumbled.

Hiro sighed softly, and muttered, "What the hell is taking them so damn long..."

Yuki looked back at Shigure. "That's actually a possibility. We should bring some clothes with us in case that's the scenario..."

Momiji jumped up. "Ja!" he ran back to get the clothes, but was stopped by Yuki. "You wait here, Momiji, your nose is broken and heaven knows they might come back while we're gone."

Momiji sighed, but handed the clothes over to Yuki.

Yuki looked around. "So, who's coming?"

Tohru raised her hand. "It's pretty cold out there… I do hope Kisa is warm enough…" she muttered.

Kisa nodded and continued to tremble and soon began to cough lightly.

"You're gonna get sick again... hell, I'm gonna get sick again," Hiro whispered softly, moving so he sat with his legs on either side of her. "Damn it... it's really cold out here..."

Momiji waved at Yuki as the rat headed for the door. "So, everyone else is coming, right?"

Kyo stood there in silence. "I think it would be better if Shigure stayed behind. And I'll make sure these two perverts don't go out on their own hunt…" he grumbled.

Kisa turned her head and rested it against his chest, not even daring to look down.

Yuki looked around. "That only leaves two of us to go look..."

"I guess…" Tohru muttered as she looked outwards. "We need to go now…" she muttered in a worried tone as she hurried out of the door.

Yuki followed her out, and then remembered something. "They might be hibernating but..." he called for as many rats as he could, which happily enough, there were quite a few of them.

Kisa shivered again helplessly as she laid against Hiro,

"That will help!" Tohru stated as she smiled.

Yuki smiled back, and then leaned down to instruct the rats as to what was going on. "Momiji might have been kinda helpful, here, though. I know there's a lot of rabbits in this forest..." he paused, and looked around. "There's also a lot of foxes, let's hurry up..." he walked swiftly into the forest, the rats spreading out and going every direction but back towards the house, and the same direction that Yuki and Tohru were headed.

Hiro's teeth chattered, and he rubbed Kisa's arm quickly, trying to give warmth through the friction. "Any moment, that obnoxious rabbit or Yuki-kun or someone will come bursting through that bush, I know it..." he whispered into her ear, not trusting himself to speak out loud for fear of the doubt that might appear in his voice.

"H-Hiro-kun…. I-It's s-so cold…" she muttered softly as she trembled and began coughing again.

Tohru followed Yuki quickly, glancing around at every bush, noting a few holes that foxes could live in. A thought came quickly to her mind and she grimaced, thinking about it. What if Hiro and Kisa were eaten?

Hiro growled through his chattering teeth. "I know... I'm as naked as you are..." the thought made him blush deeply, but he had to continue. "This is the best I could think of for keeping warm, else we might have both caught pneumonia by now."

Yuki kept walking through the cold forest, looking around for a sheep and a tiger, but also for two humans, though it would be easier to spot humans than a sheep and a tiger.

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around him, forgetting about her bare chest. Hugging him tightly, she didn't even care for her broken ribs.

Hiro tried not to huge her back too tightly, fearing for her injuries, but he did allow his hands to rub her back, trying to get some more warmth through there. "W-w-would they hu... hurry up?" he chattered, shivering violently.

Kisa continued to tremble as she coughed lightly. Looking up into the sky, she noticed white flakes beginning to fall again.

Hiro looked up with her and swore softly. "It's snowing again... freakin' awesome..."

Suddenly, Kisa fell slightly limp in his arms, for she had fell into unconsciousness. It was because of her open bite wounds.

"K... Kisa?" Hiro asked, breaking his silent mantra and looking down at her. He could see everything, but he didn't care at the moment a he lightly shook her. "Kisa... wake up... Kisa..." He began to panic, and looked out into the forest. "Hey!! If there's someone looking for us, we're over here, dammit!!! We're here..." he looked at Kisa, and not for the first time that day, tears sprang up in his eyes. "Kisa... they're coming, hold on..."