Chapter 2-
Shigure's POV-
Shigure sighed. He had been trying for the past hour to get some work done, ANY work done. He couldn't concentrate. Not when he knew Emiko was upstairs, laughing. He could hear her and Tohru's voices drifting down the stairs. He wanted to know what was making her laugh. He wanted to see it. He needed to see her. ~Oh, this is never going to work~ he thought, heading up the stairs, ~ I'll just tell Tohru I have to go see Hatori, and stay away for tonight~
The laughter coming from Tohru's room got louder until he knocked on the door.
There was a pause in the giggles, and then, "Come in!"
Emiko's POV-
"Come in!" Tohru struggled out. They hadn't gotten much studying done. At her house, Tohru became less inhibited, and had been telling her stories about when Yuki and Kyo got in fights. The reasons were typically ridiculous.
"Tohru, I'm going to see Hatori, so don't feel like you need to make dinner for me," Shigure said with a small smile. Emiko felt an intense wave of jealousy. ~Why does she get a smile?~ she thought. As if he heard her, Shigure turned to Emiko with a radiant smile. "Please have a good time tonight, Emiko-chan."
"N-no problem, Shigure-san," Emiko stuttered out. ~Oh my god, did I just stutter?~ thought Emiko in shock, ~There is no way that made a good impression..~ Shigure's smile grew, and he gently closed the door.
Turning back to Tohru, she said, "So, I guess it's time to get some actual studying done." Looking thoughtful, Tohru nodded.
After about fifteen minutes of working, Tohru looked up, "Emiko-chan…"
"Yes," she said, glancing up from her English homework.
"I want to ask you a question, but you don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable," Tohru said hesitantly.
"What?" asked Emiko.
The brunette hesitated, and then asked, "D-do you like Shigure-san?"
Playing it casual, she answered, "He seemed alright."
Tohru glared at her from across the table, "You know what I mean, Emiko."
With a sigh, she answered the question, "Yes, Tohru, I like Shigure-san." Then she turned a faint pink.
Tohru went back to her work, so Emiko did the same. After a few more minutes of silence, Tohru said, "I don't think you should tell Yuki or Kyo. They wouldn't be able to keep it a secret."
Shocked, Emiko looked up, "You're going to?"
Shooting a scowl her direction, Tohru stated, "I would never tell someone something you wanted me to keep a secret."
"Thank you," Emiko said.
Shigure's POV-
Shigure pulled up in front of Hatori's apartment building and parked. With a slow, sad walk, he entered the building and hit the up button on the elevator. The doors opened and he entered, hitting the button labeled eleven. After about a minute of cheesy elevator music, the doors opened on floor eleven. As he exited the elevator, a young couple exited the apartment across from Hatori's. The girl had a huge smile on her face, and the man looked faintly smug. Swinging their clutched hands, they passed him. ~I wish that was me…~ he thought sadly. He crossed to Hatori's door and knocked.
"Coming!" Hatori's voice echoed from within. The door burst open, and Hatori stated in shock, "Shigure, what are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see my best friend, is that a problem?" Shigure said defensively. Hatori crossed his arms over his chest.
"You only come and see me when you are either hurt, which you are not, or if you are running away from something. So what are you running away from, Shigure?"
"I'm not running away!" he denied hotly. Hatori raised one eyebrow. "Emiko. I'm running away from Emiko."
"Come inside," Hatori said, turning away and heading deeper into the apartment, "Shut the door behind you." Shigure stepped into the living room, closing the door gently. He took a couple of steps, and plopped into his favorite chair.
Hatori sat gently on the chair facing Shigure, "So, who is Emiko? And why are you running away from her? Did she find out the secret?"
"No, no, nothing like that. She is a friend of Tohru's from school. On Wednesdays they get together and study. She helps Tohru with her English in exchange for help in math. Typically, they study at her house."
"Typically? Why not today?" Hatori asked.
"Her parents are painting their apartment today. So, Tohru invited her over to our place to study. And since she didn't want to stay in the same hotel room as her parents tonight, Tohru told her that it would be fine if she stayed at the house," Shigure said.
"Why'd you run away, then? Tohru has friends over to your house all the time. In fact, I'm pretty sure that she's had Emiko over before," Hatori said, confusion in his voice, "What's the bid deal?"
"Well, I'd never met her before today, so I was totally unprepared for my reaction to her," Shigure blushed faintly and turned his head away from Hatori.
"How did you react, Shigure?" Hatori said, all amusement gone from his tone.
"I had this… well, this need. I wanted to mark her so that whenever someone looked at her they would know that she was mine. I wanted to make her and everybody else know that she would be mine for as long as either of us were alive. Hatori, people don't do that! They don't go around claiming people, and they definitely don't go around marking people for god's sake!" he exclaimed, "What's wrong with me?"
"Are you asking me as your friend, or your doctor?" Hatori questioned.
"Both," Shigure replied.
"As your friend, I'd say that you were in love. I don't believe in love at first sight, but this is what is seems to be. It's at least really strong attraction. As your doctor, I'd say that I'm not sure, but I do have a wild guess." Hatori told him.
"What's your guess?" Shigure asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Well, you are an animal from the zodiac. Dogs are descended from wolves, correct?" Hatori asked.
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" a confused Shigure asked.
"Wolves mate for life, Shigure," Hatori said.
"So?" asked Shigure.
Hatori sighed and rolled his eyes, "So maybe Emiko is your mate."
Shigure's eyes went wide, and then he burst out laughing, "That is the most ridiculous stuff I've ever heard!"
"I told you that it was a wild guess, Shigure," Hatori said, a scowl on his face.
Instantly contrite, Shigure apologized, "I'm sorry, Hatori. I'm just freaking out. I don't want to be away from Emiko."
Hatori raised an eyebrow, "So go back to your house. She's there."
"I can't. It's even worse when I can hear her. We don't know each other well enough to spend time together, and being close enough to hear her, but not a part of what she's talking about is torture." Shigure said with a sigh.
"The only way to get closer to her is to spend time with her, Shigure," Hatori said, rolling his eyes once again.
"You know, you're right!" Shigure said with a smile, "Now I just need an excuse to be around her the first time." Shigure looked at Hatori expectantly.
"Shigure, it's your house," Hatori looked at him in annoyance, "I don't care what your excuse is, but get out of here. Go home, Shigure."
"Fine, I'm going," he said, standing up. He walked to the door, and opened it. Turning back, he said, "Thanks, Hatori."
Emiko's POV-
She rolled over onto her side and looked at Tohru's clock. 11:43 Sighing, she rolled back over. She and Tohru had come upstairs to bed at ten o' clock. This meant that Emiko had been laying here for over an hour, unable to sleep.
~That's it. I'm going downstairs. I've got a book, I'll go into the living room and read.~ thought Emiko. Slowly, she eased out of bed, and tiptoed over to her bag. Feeling around, she groped blindly in her book bag for her book. ~Ah hah!~ she thought when she found it. She grabbed the book, and eased out of the room. Then she felt her way blindly down the stairs.
When she got to the living room, she turned the lamp on, and settled into the couch. She opened her book, and quickly became immersed in the story. She jumped back to reality when she heard the front door slide open. Quickly, she set the book down and walked over to the doorway to see who was entering the house.
"Emiko-chan!" Shigure said, rounding the corner to the living room, "What are you still doing up? Don't you have school in the morning?"
She felt her cheeks turn hot, "I couldn't sleep, Shigure-san."
He smiled, "So what were you doing, Emiko-chan?"
"Reading." Emiko replied.
"What were you reading?"
"The Blue Sword. It's one of my favorite books," she said with a big smile. She loved Robin McKinley.
"Mind if I join you? I was going to read for a little bit before going to sleep myself," Shigure asked, tilting his head to the side.
~Mind? Why on Earth would I mind?~ she thought, but said, "Nope. Feel free." Then she headed back to the couch, and picked up her book. They both settled on the couch and read. The only sound in the room was the turning of pages.
Slowly, the sound of faint sniffles entered the room. Emiko felt her eyes tear up, but she kept reading. Abruptly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her.
"Emiko! What's wrong? I've been trying to get your attention for almost five minutes," said Shigure with a worried frown.
"Sorry," Emiko said, "I was reading the scene where the two main characters confess their love. It makes me cry every time."
Shigure sighed, and smiled, "Well, warn a guy next time, I almost had a heart attack."
~Next time?~ she thought excitedly, but said in a playful tone, "What, were you worried Shigure-san?"
Still looking serious, he nodded. ~He was?~ she thought, as her heart started to pound. He smiled a faint smile, leaned forward, and kissed the top of her head.
"Yes, I was worried. We were fine one minute, and the next you were crying. I had no idea what was wrong," he said, pulling back a little bit.
"You actually were worried?" Emiko said, heart pounding even harder at his proximity, and the idea that he was worried about her.
He smiled an ironic smile, "Haven't I already answered that question?"
Emiko's face turned a shade of red to rival a tomato, and Shigure leaned a little closer, "But, yes, I was."
"Why?" Emiko said, as her face turned back to pink, and she leaned a little closer herself.
"Because I like you, Emiko-chan," Shigure said, closing in again.
"I like you, too, Shigure-san," Emiko said, leaning in again. There were only about two inches in between their lips now. Slowly, they both leaned toward each other…
Clup, clup, clup. As she heard the footsteps on the stairs, Emiko jumped away from Shigure, face bright red, and quickly held her book up.
"Emiko? What are you doing down here? I woke up and you were gone," Tohru said, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"I couldn't sleep, so I came down here to read," Emiko mumbled.
"Well, we should go back to sleep," Tohru said.
With a sigh, she stood up, "Goodnight, Shigure-san."
"Have nice dreams, Emiko-chan," Shigure said with a wink.
Tohru and Emiko walked upstairs, and lay back down in Tohru's bed. 12:27
~What did he even mean, nice dreams?~ Emiko thought as she fell asleep.