"The ninth thing of Christmas that's such a pain to me...finding parking spaces!"

Hatori groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head. While the headache had subsided somewhat, it was still painful. But the increased noise, as well as the smell of something burning, did add to his discomfort.

Huh, something was burning. He knew having Yuki cook dinner was a bad idea.

Yet, despite his current headache, he felt well enough to drive, and the nap did help him tremendously. Perhaps he could go home and escape from all this chaos.

He was just rising up from the couch when he heard a phone ring. At first, he thought nothing of it until he realized that it was his phone in his back pocket that was ringing.

With a frown, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Noticing who the caller was, he frowned once more and did not answer it.

He had no time to deal with Shigure's antics.

He rubbed his head as he walked towards the door where Tohru had neatly left his coat. As he was shrugging his coat on, his phone rang again, yet he still did not answer it.

'Whatever fix you've gotten yourself into, Shigure', he thought, 'you can handle it yourself.'

Outside, he winced at the glare of the sun and raised his hand to shield himself from such an onslaught. He grimaced once more when his phone alerted him of a text. With a sigh, he glanced at his phone and read the text.

Shigure: At hospitaol. Need help. Major pain. Owwwwww...

Hatori could only stare at the text message he had gotten from his cousin, his brow drawing in. He also noted how Shigure had misspelled 'hospital.' For an author, Shigure certainly did not have any respect for proper grammar or spelling when it counted.

With a tired sigh, he slipped into his car and started the engine. Picking up the phone once more, he dialed his cousin's number.

"Shigure," he said when the phone was picked up. "Where are you?"

"Hatori!" Shigure exclaimed happily. "It is such a pleasure to hear the sound of your voice!"

"Where are you?" the Dragon bit out as he drove down the road.

"At the hospital," came the simple response.

"Which one?" he growled, irritated with the dodging question.

"Oh! Well, to be specific, it is right down the road from where that library is. You know, the one Mayuko works at? I'm thinking of dropping in and wishing her a Merry Christmas!"

Hatori sighed once more. "What happened?"

"I got a minor concussion while Ayame fainted. Details as to why and how it happened doesn't really matter right now. But the nice fellow customers wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with us and sent us to the hospital right away. Wasn't that nice?"

"If only it could be that easy for me," Hatori muttered.

"What was that, Tori?" Shigure asked.

"Nothing," Hatori answered. "I'll be there in five minutes. Do try to stay out of trouble, if you are even capable of such a feat."

"Aw, but Tori!" Shigure whined. "You ask too much of us!"

"Consider it your Christmas present to me," he answered back. With that, he hung up his phone and tossed it aside. He could feel his headache coming on once more, and he reached for an aspirin, despite the fact that he had already had one. He stopped when he realized he had no pills.

"The stupid things I do for you idiots," he muttered as he gripped the wheel.

It took him another ten minutes to get to the hospital because of the traffic. Hatori took in deep breaths as his headache increased with the lighting and the noise of the road.

He was all too relieved when he pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, yet he was faced with another, different kind of headache.

Finding parking spaces.

Hatori let out an annoyed growl as he circled the parking lot three more times, trying in vain to find a parking space. Finally, he settled for stalking a certain patient, hoping that that patient would leave and given him a empty space.

He impatiently sat in his car as the person checked their phone for another five minutes before taking another seven to pull out. Finally, Hatori parked his car in the parking space, allowing himself to breath.

It was only until he entered the building did he realize he should have held his breath.

He pulled his coat around himself closer as he pushed the doors to the hospital open. Approaching the desk, he was filled with dread, knowing what a handful his cousins could be. The nurses and doctors looked relieved once they realized why he was there.

Just as he had signed his name, Ayame came bursting through the doors in all his glory.

"Tori!" the Snake exclaimed as he bounded over to Hatori who felt his headache increase. "You have come to rescue us! Here, you'll need this." With that, Ayame flipped a piece of paper at Hatori.

Hatori frowned as he glanced at the note. "What is this for?"

"The little brat who made me bald!" Ayame shrieked, as if it were obvious. "We can sue him for all the trauma he has put me through!"

Hatori blinked. "Little bra-What?" He glanced at Ayame's full head of hair. "And bald?"

"It looks horrendous, wouldn't you say?" Shigure commented as he approached them with a bandage on his head. "But we will all pitch in to buy extensions for Ayame."

Hatori sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Ayame," he said slowly and with forced calmness. "You are not bald. There's nothing wrong with your hair." Aside from the fact that it needed to be trimmed, but Hatori kept that to himself.

Ayame sniffed. "Why, thank you so much Hatori for trying to make me feel better in my hour of need. But do not try to sugarcoat it! Now, as soon as we get home, I am suing that brat!"

Hatori could only resign himself to a long car ride home and wish that the traffic would be lax.

He should have wished harder, or prayed for that matter.

Hatori closed his eyes as he listened to the endless babble going on between Ayame and Shigure in the backseat. When there finally was silence, Hatori took great pleasure in the sweet, quiet bliss for a full minute.

By two minutes, his suspicions came in full force.

He then heard what could only be the sound of his voice through what could be described as a recording, and his eyes widened as he whirled around in his seat to see Shigure and Ayame giggling happily.

"What is that?" Hatori demanded, his voice rough.

Ayame and Shigure glanced at him before bursting out laughing, not bothering to give him an answer.

"Delete that video," Hatori growled, his tone rising as his voice grew steely.

"But you don't even know what it is about!" Shigure protested.

"I wasn't a blackout drunk," Hatori muttered. "Just tipsy enough to get a hangover. Now delete that video."

The sound of cars honking caught his attention, but he did not look away from his two cousins.

"Um, Hatori," Ayame said, blinking. "The light is green."

"Delete the video!" Hatori ordered.

Shigure frowned. "Oh alright." But before he deleted the video, he sent it to Ayame who sent him a secretive thumbs up.

Hatori let out a sigh of relief when they finally pulled up on Shigure's driveway. Ayame and Shigure both scrambled out of the car, and Hatori took a moment to try and gather his wits as he felt worn and tired, despite already taking a nap for the day.

His phone buzzed once more, and he glanced down at it to see the number. With another tired sigh, he answered it. "Momiji," he said. He listened to his younger cousin babble on, his gaze thoughtful. He finally nodded when he could get a word in. "Very well. I will be there soon."

He sat in the car, contemplating for a moment. In the stillness of the silence, he could hear the sudden noise coming from the house, courtesy of Ayame and Shigure.

With a sigh, Hatori put the car in reverse and set out for the destination Momiji had told him where they would need picking up. Apparently, Tohru had bought too much stuff for them to carry, and they needed someone to pick them up and drive them back to the house. Hatori was all too happy to offer them a ride, as it meant he could park the car and rest until they were ready.

"The cookies have to be just perfect," Kagura said as she gently placed the cookie dough on the tray. After ordering takeout, Kagura had decided to make a batch of cookies to warm up the house and create the impression that she and Yuki had in fact been cooking.

Yuki nodded, his hands shaking as he tried to add the right amount of cookie dough.

"NO!" Kagura shrieked suddenly, causing him to jump and drop the spoon. "You added too much batter! Now that cookie is going to be a big, deformed glop!"

Yuki frowned. "Does it really matter?"

"It matters on how they look!" she exclaimed. "You eat with your eyes first, and your cookies are going to look disgusting as they will be too big or too small! If they are too big, they will spread out and ruin the other cookies around it!"

"Who cares?" Kyo stated, coming in and sticking his finger in the bowl of dough, tasting it. "As long as it tastes good, I could care less how the sweets look."

"I WANT PERFECTION!" Kagura shrieked, punching Kyo and sending him flying out of the kitchen.

"Don't hit the Christmas-!" Yuki started.

CRASH!

"Tree," he finished weakly. The sounds of Kyo swearing and cursing the tree he had been sent flying into could be heard throughout the house, along with Kagura's constant demands for 'perfect' cookies.

Yuki had to agree with Kyo, as reluctant as he was to admit it. As long as the cookies tasted fine, he could care less what they looked like. And didn't everyone like big cookies anyway?

So focused was Yuki in getting the amount of dough on the tray right, he did not notice the sudden, unpleasant arrival of a fellow cursed family member.

"Yo ho ho!" Ayame sang as he burst through the door. "Sending Christmas cards!"

Yuki froze while Kagura scowled. "Get out of the kitchen!" she ordered. "We are baking here!"

Shigure came in, following his nose. "Mmm, something smells good." He frowned. "But you're baking? What about cooking dinner?" He let out a yelp when Kagura threw something at him.

"OUT!" she shrieked, chasing the two males out with frying pans and knives.

Ayame frowned, shivering suddenly. "Why is it so cold?" Then, with wide eyes and a puff of smoke, the fragile Sohma transformed.

"Who turned my heating off?" Shigure demanded, ignoring the Snake that was struggling in the pile of clothes.

"We are rationing to help with the bills," Kyo answered as he fought with the tree.

Shigure blinked. "Bills? What bills?"

"Aren't we rich?" Ayame asked as he wiggled out from under his clothes, his snake eyes blinking.

"That's what I said!" Kyo grunted as he finally managed to get the tree up right.

Hatori circled around the parking lot, his impatience growing with every circled. Was every parking space filled?!

Maybe he should consider parking in the handicap section.

But he quickly dismissed that idea when he saw a car up ahead mercifully pull out of a parking space. He stepped on the gas and swerved around just as he noticed another car try to claim that space.

With the screeching of tires, Hatori just narrowly missed crashing into the other car. With a smug grin, he parked his car and pulled the keys out.

He sighed, resting his head on the wheel before leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes.

He would rest until Tohru and the others got here. Until then, it was a perfect moment for him to rest and get some decent sleep.