Author's Note: Sorry for taking abit to update, I was tied up with relatives visiting, sharing my computer; meaning less time to write. But I didn't give up on you guys and anxiously wrote every time I had the chance. Hopefully no more interruptions will happen again soon. Thank you all for your patience.

xMommiya Ichigox: Oh my *faints and turns beet red* You're too kind lol and no I promise I won't take eternity but I can't promise exactly how fast these chapters will come out. I try to proofread, and write the best I can before posting a chapter for all my reader's enjoyment and that sometimes time varies.

Pri-chan 1410: Yes thank you for noticing. He is kind in his own way in this fic. The poor thing just had a horrible childhood, and that is a true fact both in the actual anime and manga. Thanks for reviewing :)

smcandy: I'm doing great actually, how are you girl :)

Yes I inserted abortion since as I said that was out of pure shock, but the actual pure nature of Tohru would never do such a thing, which gladly Akito made her come to her senses in time thankfully. Also I'm trying to insert as much development as possible but then again a whole chapter can't go in just the two of them in a room conversing or doing romantic things. I thought to make it realistic I had to show more movement in other areas, but yes definitely there will still more scenes with the both of them together in the next chapter. Lastly hehe I'm glad you noticed those signs of Akito changing; jealousy and overprotectivness. I was trying to make that a key point.

LeiftheLucky: Thank you so much. I agree with you all the way on my viewpoint, but since other people view it differently I can't hate on them because of that, it's their POV.

.furuba: Yay for squeeling! Yes I tend to do that too many times, it's reflex I call it hehe Thank you for liking my idea of Akito's upbringing, as well as past I wanted for it to make people feel that way, so I'm glad it worked.

The spirit of the dragon: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you like my story so far

DramaQueen: Thank you for agreeing with me; as well much thxs for reviewing

CutieCat: Lol Thxs fot the review and the sciencey stuff :) Yeah I did realize that but it has its reasons, and you'll find out later on in future chapters.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FRUITS BASKET IT RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO NATSUKI TAKAYA; I'M JUST A FAN AS ANY OTHER.

CHAPTER 6

The next morning after her usual morning routine of tidying up her bed and washing up herself, she was greeted by Reina who sent her quickly to the main entrance. Once Tohru arrived there, she met what was to be her tutor. A stern looking older woman with her silver grey hair tied up in a top- bun, and a black yukata that made her look even more serious. She was tall, and her posture was as straight as a instructor's would be.

Her grey eyes landed on Tohru and without a smile said. "Tohru Honda, are you the one who I was ordered to instruct on the elements of a prestigious society."

Tohru frowned a bit puzzled. "Well...umm... I suppose I don't need much tutoring of anything prestigious, I'm not one of the Sohmas, or from any high class-"

"You will be tutored to learn how to live and co inside in a society of high class such as the Sohmas. The Sohma family is a blue-blood family with wealth and prosperity. Even if you are a poor street rat with no etiquette whatsoever you will have to be taught what is needed in order to live here, just as the rest of the staff; even more due to your rare position of being the personal aid to the Head of the Estate himself.

You are indeed the only one who communicates the closest to Dr. Sohma, Kureno and Akito-sama am I right?" The woman interrupted her.

"Yes maim." Tohru said calmly with a quick bow.

"Very well then, consider yourself very fortunate to receive what you outsiders would call it opportunity. There is no such way a young girl as yourself would ever receive such a education of high standards. I am Fujiko but you must refer to me as sensei understood."

"Yes sensei"

That was the beginning of Tohru's new tutoring. From that point onwards, she hardly had time to do her cleaning duties due to her studies. She was always practicing how to prepare tea elegantly, how to write properly, how to sit properly.

She was taught things she never even heard of before, so much that the subjects she used to learn at school seemed minor in comparison. By the end of each day she was so exhausted she would fall asleep almost instantly. She didn't complain once though, in fact she was proud her mother raised her with at least some form of proper etiquette; language was still her best subject.

At first doing all these things though tiring were no problem for Tohru, as time passed along with her torso expanding however she got more fatigue and exhaustion frequently; along with some morning queasiness.

Hatori had noticed Tohru's absence and worried about her current state. Giving her a checkup was first on his list this coming morning. As he walked towards Akito's bedroom, he heard a dish shatter, and sobs coming from the room followed by a loud "GET OUT" that definitely was Akito's.

Once he arrived at the door, a maid rushed out in tears. Taking a deep breath of hesitation, he entered the room of the young Sohma head, to find him out on the veranda gazing at something. Taking a few steps closer, Hatori looked in the direction Akito was looking at, to find it was Tohru under a cherry blossom tree writing down on what seemed to be a textbook.

She had what looked like a flower in her hair. Its pale pink color matched perfectly with her white yukata, and made her cheeks look rosy in color. Hatori glanced back at Akito, whose glance hadn't move in it's gaze. Hatori didn't have the slightest clue why he was openly staring at her, coming from Akito's standards though it gave him a chill of worry for the young girl.

As he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by Akito himself. "It appears you seem to have a question for me Hatori?" He said calmly in his cold tone as he turned away from his stance and looked at Hatori now, his expression clearly being that of annoyed and disturbed.

Hatori cleared his throat. "Do you not like your new maid. I thought we agreed on leaving Tohru alone while she was on her studies, and during her pregnancy; she is afterall nearing her sixth month, and studying her senior year."

After the day Tohru affirmed with Hatori that she had decided to go through with the pregnancy, Hatori convinced Akito to leave her on her own for the time being. Much to Hatori's surprise Akito agreed without much complaint, which made him curious as to why Akito seemed relieved with the idea instead of insulted.

"I remember quite well what I decided on, that doesn't however mean that I'm service I'm getting while our weak little mother of ours is too busy being educated; although I wouldn't want a complete undereducated staying at the Honke either. However even if Fujiko is the one that's being her tutor, I still will have to judge her myself in the end; you are aware of that, right Hatori?"

Akito's ending answer made Hatori feel uneasy, but he couldn't complain. Despite Akito being moody and cranky these past months, he had indeed stayed away from Tohru. He couldn't complain, and simply nodded in response.

"I have been keeping up medically with Tohru, giving her the prenatal vitamins, checkups. As for the preparation she seems pretty excited, I never thought I'd see a young mother nearly cry at the sight of a package of diapers, and..." Hatori stopped himself from further speaking about it. He knew Akito of all people would care less about a soon to be born baby.

He was surprised by the response Akito gave him. "and...and what else? What else have you given her Hatori? Don't try and tell me that all you've given her is a pack of diapers, and medications. You seem to be getting pretty comfortable with her lately. She's a worthless outsider; a pregnant outsider carrying the offspring of my zodiac, I won't allow it! You are to report to me on your duties in regards to her, otherwise...SLAP"

Akito lifted his hand suddenly in the midst of his outburst, and slapped Hatori across the cheek in rage.

"Stay away from her, and leave her to me. Don't you forget your under my power not hers." He added as he walked towards his futon and sat on it, his head facing downwards towards the floor.

Hatori was a bit stunned, not by Akito's slap but by his outburst. Out of all the outbursts that came out of his mouth, this was the strangest one. He couldn't tell if Akito was acting violently overprotective of his role of a god and his bond with his zodiacs, or the unimaginable. Jealous.

Jealousy was the last feeling Hatori would put to Akito. Infact he perfectly understood Akito expressing rage, anger, betrayal or any other emotion close to darkness except for jealousy. He quickly tossed the thought aside, assuming he was just imagining things, and started giving Akito his morning checkup.

Meanwhile Tohru continued scribbling away in her textbook of ancient history. Asides from literature and language arts this was the only other subject she was modestly good at. As she glanced to the side eyeing her economics, calculus and physics textbooks she gave a long sigh. She was behind on those dreadful subjects, and deep down she wished she still had Yuki there to tutor her.

As she closed her textbook, she inhaled the scent of the cherry blossoms above her as she imagined herself in the ancient periods of time she was studying about. When she opened her eyes again, she looked down and felt around her expanding torso; smiling.

"I got an idea, how about we go pick some new flowers for our room? The pink carnations we have are starting to wilt." She said, as she started off towards the garden. She had gotten the habit to talk to her unborn child as any other person standing right by her. Although to some it may seem odd, but it kept her from feeling down on those days she felt lonely or downhearted.

As she walked into the garden she passed by some familiar orange flowers. She stopped and gazed at them for a few minutes. Ever since that day Akito gave her those flowers and made her realize what she was thinking on doing; she had started reading more about flowers and their meanings. She would eagerly place a new set of flowers in her room, when the others wilted. Daisies, Buttercups and recently Carnations; a true mothers flower.

Now she was looking for another small bouquet to fill the vase in her room once more. Looking through the garden for her next pick, she spotted some nice looking flowers that reminded her of lilies, and of the flower Akito had placed in her hair that day. Ever since then she tried looking for another of those particular flowers, but never found any of that sort in the garden.

Tohru sighed. "Oh well, this one will have to do." She said as she removed the pink carnation from her hair and placed the lily in. "I wonder though, which flower is this?"

"That's a day lily, a mother's flower." A voice spoke up suddenly startling her. He quickly bowed and apologized. "Sorry I didn't mean to startle you, I was just going to check up on inventory, when I heard you."

Tohru smiled in relief. "Oh...Kureno is it? Wow you know about flowers too." Ever since Tohru started living at the Honke, she rarely saw Kureno around. He was mostly with Akito, Hatori or somewhere around the grounds. She still felt a bit nervous around him, now that they were alone.

Kureno smiled, and then turned serious again. "When you're around Akito as much as I am, some of his attributes rub of on you. So I guess I know more then the average Sohma, but still not as much as the masters or Akito."

Tohru looked down at the flowers below her; lost in thought. The few times she saw Kureno he was always so mysterious, and serious. She never saw him actually smile, or laugh. The thought of it made her think of Yuki; maybe Kureno had something buried inside him too.

"Oh Kureno, do you know if there are any other flowers growing around here besides these?" She asked hoping to talk more with the silent Sohma.

"Hmm not that I know. The person that knows best about the garden here is Akito, but he's not really the best person to ask those questions."

Tohru nodded, and bowed in thanks. As she walked back to the building, she realized Kureno didn't have his neck brace on that he had months before. She was relieved that he was healed, but the thought alone came to her on how he got such an injury in the first place.

With freshly picked Zinnia flowers in her hands, she couldn't wait to place them in her room. Although she wouldn't dare say it aloud, but just by having flowers that held the meaning of "thoughts of absence of friends" would surely put her sad thoughts, and memories at ease. The past six months there were many times she had Yuki, Kyo, and of course her friends Uo and Hana on her mind. She frequently wondered what were they currently doing; were they getting ready for prom soon, or their applications for college?

When she thought about these things, she felt as if she was in another world, far away and her old life no longer mattered. It was when she realized and at times thought that was why Akito was the way he was. Being cursed by the god of the zodiac meant being here at the Honke, sick and waiting to die, while the outside world had nothing to do with him.

Alive you call this being alive

After these six months she understood what Akito had meant with those words. She couldn't even imagine living his whole life this way. Twenty years alone, and isolated. She didn't know everything of Akito's childhood yet, but from what she saw of his life now; it was a lonely one.

Tohru hadn't seen or heard of Akito much after she started her classes. She couldn't say exactly that she missed him, but somehow she found it odd not seeing him this long.

It was when she arrived at the veranda that she found it odd to find her shoji bedroom back door open. Assuming it was a new maid that Reina forgot to instruct, she entered the room expecting to find the newcomer; however there was no one in the room, the wilted carnations were gone and in their place were freshly cut yellow flowers along with others in the assortment.

Tohru quickly placed the Zinnias on her futon, and quickly went to grab the book she kept on her dresser that was all about floral meanings and types; the book though wasn't in it's natural place. A voice broke her out of her confusion.

"Zinnias. Carnations, Daisies, even the childish Buttercups I allow but Zinnias, just what do you suppose you're getting by. Six months you've been allowed to stay here in my grounds amongst my zodiac and I, and it seems you've forgotten how the curse legend goes. The ones cursed with the zodiac belong to me, I'm the one cursed with the spirit of the emperor god not you. You're carrying a Sohma within you and yet you're against me.

What makes you think you have a right to make a fool out of me?" Akito who happened to be against the wall behind her and temporary out of her view, the question he finished with sounded more like a demand.

Tohru was clueless to Akito's behavior. Despite she knew he was unpredictable and moody, but after not seeing much of him for nearly six months she wondered why he seemed so upset and what the reason for his claims was.

She spoke out softly stuttering a bit. "Akito-san I didn't realize you were in here. I..I don't understand I wouldn't make a fool out of you ev-"

"Ever. Were you about to say ever. Lies, all lies. Admit it, you're crazy to go back to Yuki and that monster aren't you. Say it." Akito bellowed as his eyes turned venomous as a cobra about to attack it's prey. He walked towards her into a wall corner. His fists tightening; making his knuckles lose the bit of color they had.

Tohru usually would have closed her eyes, and wait for whatever was going to come for her. This time however, at the mere mention of Kyo being called a monster; something in her cut loose, and made her feel riled up.

"You're wrong; Kyo's not a monster Akito!" She shouted out, her eyes sharp. It only took a second afterwards for her to realize her sudden outburst, and her face turned beet red. Before she could apologize herself she was taken aback by Akito's next move. Before she knew it she was pushed forcibly against the wall by her shoulders with Akito's strong grip. She winced slightly as she felt his long nails dig into her skin.

"Silence, enough I don't want to hear you say another word about that cretin. You are on my grounds, you turned yourself to me. Do you really think I'd let you just prance in here, and back out whenever you please. You belong to me!" He said in a low, menacing tone that cause Tohru's spine to quiver, as he leaned closer towards her, feeling his warm breath on her face's side.

She had no idea what Akito was planning on doing, but she knew that she in fact did agree to stay here at the Honke. As she thought of her thoughts of him before first unofficially moving into the Honke; they were of pity, sadness and wanting get to know more about the young mysterious head of the Sohma; to help him.

Thinking on her actions now, she realized speaking of Yuki and Kyo, or at least hinting about missing them, would indeed make the temperamental god uneasy; let alone she defending Kyo against him.

That was when she fell into realization. 'Could it be that Akito felt hurt in a way; taken advantage of?' Tohru thought, as she opened her eyes again. Her heart sunk, she never meant to hurt anyone, her mother always taught her to avoid hurting others at all costs if possible. How could she hurt Akito after he opened up the Honke to her in her current state?

"I'm sorry Akito-san I never meant to hurt you, but I wouldn't leave here unless you wanted me to. I would have been in a tent somewhere if you hadn't given me a job here, I am grateful; truly I am."

Akito's eyes popped open. Was she actually apologizing? By now he had gotten used to the usual clumsy apology of hers, but this time it was different; like a confession.

I'm sorry Mother, I didn't-

Get out! It's your fault, it's all your fault. I never should have listened to him, and destroyed you when I had the chance.

The return of the memory, left him feeling uneasy, restless, cringing while as the place he was currently in made him feel lightheaded, hot and sweaty. Never before had he felt such a full range of emotional turmoil at once, besides the usual hatred he always felt. His grip on her shoulders loosened, as he backed away from her side; his long bangs obscuring his eyes.

"Why? Why do you even bother to care?"

"Because you bothered to care for me, and no one did so for you in return. Everyone deserves the chance to be cared for in that way no matter who they are, they just have to care for others in return. At least that's what my mom always told me."

Akito slowly released his hands from Tohru's shoulders as they glided down her yukata's sleeves. He stopped once he reached against her protruding stomach area, and remained silent.

Tohru observed this, but couldn't find a word to say. No one yet, besides Hatori has gone nowhere near her pregnant stomach. Many times in her memory when she was out with Uo and Hana at stores, she would see a happy pregnant woman either with her husband or family and friends; all gushing with happiness and feeling for the baby's movements. That experience which seemed timeless to Tohru, hadn't happened in her case.

Yet now someone asides from herself and Hatori was actually close to doing the latter, but never in her mind would she have thought it to be Akito the one. Him being the person doing so, made her a bit restless, and uneasy for some reason and she quickly clasped her arms around herself. Her heart raced, Akito's sudden silence was nerve-wracking, making the room feel as tense as it could get.

What she least expected though, happened. He simply turned around, and walked a few steps away.

"For the past few months, Hatori hasn't taken the liberty to inform me of any progress. Tell me, since I do infact know he's been the one checking you. What has he done?" He said in a mono-tone voice.

Tohru blinked twice at the fact that Akito was actually interested in knowing about it. Of course she did know it was probably mostly due to his role as the head, and god of the zodiac; still that didn't make her any less surprised.

"W-well...um...Hatori says so far everything seems good and normal. That he seems healthy, and thriving with no apparent complications, but he's told me he's still trying to figure out exactly how was it that the pregnancy came out positive so early on in the term."

"So it's confirmed already that it's a male." Akito blurted out, interrupting Tohru in mid sentence.

Tohru heard his sudden tone, and nodded back nervously. "Yes I've been thinking of what to name him, but I still have no idea."

"Hmph are you sure you're telling me that's all Hatori has done? He isn't planning on turning fatherly now, and helping out choosing a name as well?" Akito said with spite in his tone.

Tohru quickly noticed Akito's now sour mood leaning towards Hatori, and quickly tried to change it. "No Akito, Hatori-san has always treated me as professional as any doctor would, nothing more. He's a great doctor actually, I'm sure that's why you get treated so well by him."

"Well I should have known the puny dragon is too much of a coward now to try anything sneaky against me, he knows better. However..." Akito slowly turned around to face her once more. He reached into his yukata sleeve and took out the same mysterious flower that he had given her before.

"Instead of putting away a wilted peach blossom, in photo album you have under your desk, you should have a fresh one."

Tohru's eyes lit up when she caught sight of the flower once again. Peach Blossom. She finally found out the name of the nameless flower. She still wondered however why she hadn't found it in the garden herself.

"Akito-san what does it mean?" She asked eagerly.

He walked again towards her, and picked out the day lily from her hair placing the peach blossom in it's place. "It means you are my captive."

Tohru blushed deeply, as she watched Akito's serious face. Usually before those deep silver eyes of his made her take her breath away with the terror they struck with pure malice. Now however these weren't those same eyes, these eyes struck her as something different, a whole other different feeling evoked. She couldn't tell if it was still some sort of fear, but all she knew this time she couldn't look away.

The space between them got smaller and smaller, as Akito leaned closer towards her until their foreheads almost touched. Tohru's heart was pounding against her chest as she felt blazing hot in the otherwise cool, breezy autumn season. The last of the flowers were in bloom, before the trees lost their foliage and winter would sink in.

As the breeze from the shoji door that was still open hit the pair, and tousled Akito's midnight locks against Tohru's face; in a daze with the cooling breeze she hadn't noticed Akito's face moving from staring at her, to nestle in her moving locks inhaling deep breaths. It was a sudden movement of fabric sliding to the floor that snapped her out of it into realization.

She was against the wall, yukata now off, with Akito lavishing her mocha tresses. Though pregnant, she still hadn't let male no matter what age see her wearing just her under apparel, and she wasn't about to. Forgetting completely her fears, she started to struggle and panic; pushing and shoving away her predator as much as she could.

"Akito please stop! Let me go!" No matter how hard it seemed she tried to escape, Akito seemed to pin her harder against the wall, and tighten his hold on her. With her mother's yankee blood suddenly running through her along with her father's tenacity she did what she never thought even enter her mind.

Meanhwile high up in the mountains, a bus dropped off one of it's passengers. A tall buxom girl about in her late teen years with long dirty blond hair. She was wearing a white mask over her mouth, that along with the attitude she gave the driver gave her a overall non-feminine appearance. She was greeted by a ginger haired teen who was shocked at seeing the girl there.

"Yankee what the heck are you doing here?"

"If it isn't orange-top, I strictly remember Tohru mentioning you used to go here, I wouldn't think you still were here." The girl sarcastically as she pulled more her tote bag over her shoulder. "Can you tell me who I'm supposed to report to in this place."

The boy growled at the girl's response. "Listen if you weren't a girl I would kick your-"

"Ah you must be Arisa Uotani, forgive me for my son's behavior, but come I'll show you to your quarters. My name is Kazuma Sohma and I see you already know Kyo. Kagura is meant to be more your section's leader, but she's not here right now and is off competing. In the meantime, feel welcome to ask me if you have any questions. Welcome." A tall man in about his thirties with grey hair greeted her.

As the girl settled down in her bunk inside the girls cabin, she didn't bothered meeting the rest of her new roommates Instead she went off on her own, to nowhere in particular. On her way out of the cabin she passed a door with the plate that read "Kagura Sohma." She assumed since this Kagura was a fellow Sohma like the owner of the training school Kazuma, of course this girl she hadn't meant would be considered higher rank then the rest of the girls staying here.

Once stepping outside the cabin, and being caught in the mountain breeze, she continued walking around the grounds. She never planned on joining anything other then normal public school, but she kept remembering how Tohru always told her that she should be doing something more with her life, have a goal in mind.

Ever since Tohru disappeared, she made a new vow, to do something with herself. The only thing she considered herself ever good at was fighting; next thing she knew she was enrolling in a new dojo training prep school for professional fighting careers. She had heard it from the Prince, but she had no idea the orange-head went here as well.

"Oh well as long as the girls are separate from the guys, I guess it won't hurt. I'll do it for both of you; Kyoko and Tohru I miss you both, I hope you're ok Tohru wherever you are." Uo said softly as she stood admiring the dense mountainside, and the large school grounds. Sure to her being up in the mountains training sounded ridiculous at first, but still she grinned and put her heart into it.

SLAM

A loud sudden slam of multiple doors drove Uo to her immediate alert. Turning towards the noise, she continued to hear more coming from inside another small building; including to what sounded like two people arguing.

"I can't believe it, here I am up on Kazuma's dojo of all places to see you and what do you pay me with. Do you know what I had to cancel to come here. I'm not just saying work; there was a whole photo shoot scheduled in Europe, and I cancelled out of it. How could you? Don't you have anything to say to me, you've been stuck up here ever since that Honda girl disappeared; anyone would say you were in love with her."

A muffled voice shout out that sounded that of a girl's. At the mere mention of the words Honda and disappearedpeaked Uo's attention, and she walked slowly closer to the building.

After a brief silence, there was a slight chuckle followed by the girl's continued rant. "Huh I can't believe it, are you in love with her then. Tell me the truth."

There was another pause followed by a reply that came from a male's voice. " Rin I know you, you're always trying to trick people into telling false stories that you want to hear. I'm not falling for it and while we're on the subject, it's considered impolite to speak harshly of ill-fated or otherwise missing people. I would think despite being the foxy little thing you are, you would at least have some manners."

"Arrgh, Shigure I know what you're trying to do, and pushing me away isn't going to cut it only for me. If it's a vacation you want, then why not come with me alone to-"

"That's enough Rin, I'm not going alone with you anywhere I'm sor-SLAP"

Uo heard the familiar sound of a strong slap against another's cheek, and placed her ear closer towards the building entrance door. She heard faint sobs on the other end, until the door suddenly burst open knocking her down. Before she was about to complain, she saw a tall long legged girl about her age with extra long raven black hair. She looked like a pin-up magazine model, especially in the clothing she was wearing or at least half wearing.

She had a long feminine black trench coat buttoned open to reveal a sheer lingerie-styled bra, along with some low-rise skin tight black leggings and stiletto heels. Uo wasn't much of a girly-girl to know what was in style, or what was brand named. All she knew was the girl in front of her was definitely a model of some sort, having a beauty that herself can't even measure-up halfway. It was the first time she had ever stared so long at another girl, she usually ignored prissy clothed girls on the spot. It was then she noticed the girl was the one who was crying.

"I'm won't give up on you, I'm not going to let you ruin your whole life thanks to that old hag." The girl cried as pushed past Uo. "And you, stay out of it." She stopped in mid sentence and looked straight at Uo, then continued on her way.

Taken aback by the girl having taken notice of her, she didn't get a chance to shout any bitter remark back. As she watched the girl walk away towards the front building, she remembered her conversation including the name "Honda". She walked towards the room to where the girl stormed out of, to find the other person involved. She didn't however expect to see him though.

"Hey, you're that writer that owned the house Tohru used to live at!" Uo shouted at her revelation. She quickly realized his change of appearance. Despite still wearing a yukata, his black hair was past shoulder length and his right arm was bonded in a cast. He had a tense look on his face, but it quickly softened to it's normal charm at Uo's remark.

"You mean ex-writer; with this arm still unhealed I think I'll enter early retirement." He joked, while sipping on some herbal tea.

Uo quickly entered the room, and sat across from him at the low tea table. "Who was that girl just now?"

Shigure smiled while swallowing his drunken tea. "My my, aren't you the nosy one. I also remember you as the ex-yankee with the past, so I can guess why you're here. Tohru would've been happy to see you make these changes."

"Quit talking about Tohru, as if she's dead. Tohru is one of the main reasons I came to this place, and that's none of your business." Uo spat back at him defensively.

"Well then that makes Rin none of your business too, am I right?" He replied with a sly grin.

"Fine, I'll find out myself." She got up and started to head for the door.

"If you're going to try and question Rin, good luck to you. She hardly ever speaks to anyone else besides her colleagues, or some of the fellow Sohmas. She's not going to say much about Tohru either way, she doesn't know anything about her asides from her name, and the fact that she lived at my house. She's never even met her once." He added, stopping Uo in place.

"Then why?" Uo asked looking back at him.

"Too put it simply Rin is the jealous type, she's always had a girlish crush on me ever since childhood, and hasn't gotten over it. So you can guess the best person for her to blame it on is Tohru."

"Hmph, little wrench." Uo uttered under her breath, as she left the room. Wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn't notice the person in front of her until she bumped straight into him.

"Hey don't you hear me, we're going up the trail in twos, and thanks to you not being with the rest of the girls I'm stuck with you."

Uo looked up at the familiar voice, and groaned. "The words trail and you just don't mix with me orange-head."

"Get used to it yankee, you were wasting your time asking Shigure about Tohru you know. He's been here before she disappeared. Don't even bother with Rin either, all she ever cares about is herself, and her obsession with that idiot you talked to. She'll never take no for an answer, and admit that he doesn't feel anything for her. She's worse then Kagura." Kyo said as he compared in his mind the two.

"Kagura? You mean the Kagura that's going to be the girl's section leader?" Uo asked remembering the name.

"Yeah she's not so bad of a person like Rin is. Just annoying when it comes to me." Kyo remarked as he grew silent. "You know sometimes I can't believe she's hasn't been found yet. I should've known that night something was up with her, but she seemed normal at the party."

Uo quickly knew he was now speaking in regards to Tohru, and frowned sadly. "Not even Hana can find her wave signals, I hope whoever took her, pays for it. Winter is soon coming; it's going to be hard to pass new years without Tohru."

Kyo frowned at the memory of the past new years where he and Yuki spent it with Tohru instead of going to the estate. Life indeed was going to change without Tohru in it, especially for him. "Well Uo, we're here because of Tohru so she's never really left.

Uo noticed the change of name. Ever since she first met him, he'd never call her anything asides from yankee. She was about to protest against it, but recalled what he had just said, and simply smiled. "You know...Sohma that's the first time I think you ever said anything worth saying."

Kyo realized the new name. Sure it was weird hearing the word Sohma come out of her, but he liked it much better then the usual orange-head.

Back in the city, inside a doctor's office that resided in a large estate, a doctor was drinking some headache pills for the new dilemma that presented him.

"Akito, tell me how did you get your ear swollen this way. Did you happen to drink anything, fall down perhaps?" Hatori wiped and disinfected the young head's left ear which was bright red moments ago.

"Aren't you the doctor Hatori, you should know." Akito quickly answered him rudely.

Hatori took the impatient attitude of the young head as normal temper until he noticed Akito's neck when his yukata slide off his shoulder a bit. Bright red streak marks were imprinted on his neck that rose Hatori's suspicions even more when he thought he saw Akito's face flushed pink, his heart was racing, and seemed to be too wrapped in his thoughts to even notice Hatori was just sitting there staring at him.

"Akito."

Quickly snapping out of his daze, he looked at Hatori with a glare. "Enough with the questions just do the useless checkup and get on with it; I have better things to do then just have you bask in my presence."

Hatori remained silent, but thought he was going half deaf instead of blind. Never had Akito refused to take up time of his zodiacs, even if he got annoyed by checkups; Akito would still find a way to torture him, instead of rushing him out. As for the words I have better things to do, they just didn't seem like something Akito would have normally had said.

Hatori quickly recalled bright red marks on Tohru's hands when he saw her rushing to catch up with one of the maids earlier. He decided despite finding Akito's actions odd, to finish up with Akito's checkup, and have a look at Tohru instead.

"Can't you just sit down; relax. As much as I would like you to do my job, I seriously don't wish to hear it from Hatori that you had a miscarriage due to it." The savvy maid told her as she grabbed the laundry basket from the other girl's hands. She rolled her eyes at the girl's awfully nice disposition. Sure she rather hear from her, then Akito's whining all day, but at times Tohru's over the top humility drove her off the edge.

She huffed out a deep breath, flinging her long black braid off her shoulder; as she pushed the maid's cart down the hall. It was near time for her break, and she was parched. After making sure all was in order, she then headed down to get her meal; with Tohru following behind, this caused glances and a few stares from the other staff. It was no longer a secret that Tohru was indeed carrying a child; it was now noticeable to all though with Tohru's protruding pregnant belly.

Tohru cautiously followed Reina, feeling the daggers of eyes from the others stabbing her everywhere. She knew what she must have looked like to them, a pregnant teenager was always the juiciest gossip anywhere. Now though, that she was the center of it, she felt trapped and desperate to escape. It was Reina that caught her attention.

"Hey you, Honda come on this way." She called out opening a exit door, to which Tohru immediately responded to.

Once outside in the fresh air again, Tohru felt a great sense of relief, as she let out a deep sigh; causing Reina to glance at her quickly.

The maid shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "If you ask me, that back room seemed to get smaller by the minute. It seems they just love to gossip, not that they don't have enough reason to. Face it, you're Akito's personal servant, you wind up pregnant out of nowhere. Even if Akito isn't the father, due to actual fact being held secret; people are bound to come up with their own conclusions." Reina said as she opened her lunch bag, and started eating.

A while back Tohru got the courage to tell Reina the truth, but made her promise to keep it a secret. That resulted however in the rest of the staff to pass rumors amongst themselves on Tohru's current state. Tohru was glad she at least had found one other person besides Hatori to talk to. Despite Reina had her own moody atitude; Tohru had gotten used to being around her, and her blunt straight-to-the-point advice helped Tohru at times.

Tohru looked down at the green grass below them; they were seated on a concrete outdoor seats and table enjoying the fall breeze. She would've been more at ease, if the current situation wasn't present.

"Alright, you're never this quiet; what happened, tell me." Reina continued, furrowing her brow. She knew Tohru normally would at this point either smile or cry; silence was never a option for her.

Tohru quickly looked up nervously. "W-what do you mean?"

Reina grabbed Tohru's wrist, and held it up in the air. "You're not talking, you're nervous, and you have marks on your wrists. Don't play me as naive, I know something happened."

Tohru bit her bottom lip, as she remembered what happened earlier.

As she pleaded for him to let her go, his response was only tightening his grip on her wrists and pinning them against the wall. She was scared, and was feeling something inside about to scream; she did something she never thought would enter her mind.

With Akito's head in reach to grab, it all happened in a spilt second. She bit down hard, pulled him away, and ran out of the room; grabbing her yukata on the way.

Reina's eyes widened and her lips started to quiver. "Let me get this straight. You started argueing, and then after it all seemed to calm down he attacked you. You...you then... bit his ear, and scratched him." Reina said as she burst out in laughter. "Sounds thrilling, what's next you leave him give you a love bite; although I have no idea Akito would even know what the words lust, and desire mean."

Tohru quickly looked at the laughing maid in front of her clueless. "N-no he doesn't love me, it's my fault I hugged him before; he probably was just doing the same thing in his own way." Tohru said quickly blushing slightly. "A-and I bit him because I got scared, not because I love him...that is... I had no idea biting meant I love someone, if I would have known I wouldn't have; honest."

Reina lifted her brow and held back another laugh at Tohru's naive and clueless state. "Sure you do, still if Akito was only hugging you like you know he was, why then did you get so scared? Did something else happen?"

Tohru shook her head quickly. She didn't mention that her yukata had fallen off, or the fact that Akito had given her a flower meaning something like "you are my captive" . She was embarrassed enough already, but as she recalled it over and over in her mind, somehow she just couldn't blame Akito. After all she was the first one to hug him back then. If there was someone that was to blame it was herself.

"I hope Akito-sama is ok." Tohru quickly worried.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure he's more then fine." Reina said smiling coyly. "If there is any bit of man left in him, and the fact he's left you alone afterwards; then you have nothing to worry about."

Tohru stared again at the woman across from her. Sure she was an adult, but with the way she spoke of Akito so casually; it struck her as odd. "Umm...Reina just asking. Why do you refer to Akito-sama as simply his first name? You're the only staff member that refers to him like that. Not even the elder servants with higher seniority do so."

Reina's expression suddenly staled a bit, and looked down quickly. "The one who has to be worried about formalities here is you." She turned her gaze towards Tohru, her eyebrows furrowing.

Tohru froze, she had known Reina to have her moods; this however was the first time she had recieved such a glare from the young maid in a while. This time she did it, it not only made Tohru uneasy; it reminded her of someone, that gaze.

"Dr. Hatori's calling for you Miss, he's waiting in his office." Another staff employee interrupted the tense moment.

As she walked down one of the halls heading towards Hatori's office, she spotted Akito reading what looked like a novel in one of the passing sitting rooms. Despite knowing Akito had a high level of prestigious education, and no doubt was intelligent; she still hadn't seen him actually sitting down and reading since she arrived at the Honke.

Without moving the slightest bit his gaze, he suddenly closed the book; revealing a certain picture frame in his hand.

"A little bird told me you celebrate your mother's death-date by going to her tombstone every year."

Tohru taken aback by Akito's knowledge of her presence, she took a deep breath and nodded. " Y-yes I did, my friends always went after school to have a picnic on her grave; it's something my mom would enjoy doing." She still didn't have the slightest clue how Akito had her mother's picture; she hadn't seen it in the past months. Her best guess was she must have left it carelessly in his room, a place she hadn't stepped in ever since her pregnancy was revealed.

After a brief moment of silence, he stood up and handed out the frame. Tohru took it with caution, attentive that Akito didn't make any quick movements. "As long as you don't place anymore flowers like Zinnias then you're permitted to have this frame. For now those yellow Hyacinths and China Asters would do." He said in a monotone voice as he passed Tohru with out giving her second glance, heading towards his room.

Tohru hugged her mother's picture, and sighed smiling. Humming happily, seemingly forgetting her tense encounter with Akito previously, she entered her room eager to add her mother's frame on her dresser in front of the vase filled with yellow floral.

She encountered a catalog of a company she never heard of before, but the name alone appeared to be of one only the wealthy would side with. Paging through it she realised it was filled with beautiful nursery items she thought would only exist in a fantasy. She quickly wondered how such a catalog got to her room, when she had never seen it before.

There was then a knock on her door, and a muffled reply that belonged to Hatori. "Tohru, with no intention to rush you; but do you feel well enough for a checkup. We can do it later if you wish."

Tohru quickly beamed, immediately knowing it was Hatori's good will and concern that placed the catalog in her room. "No Hatori-san, I'll be right out." She said as she took one last look at the front page of the catalog, until something caught her eye. At the bottom of the page on the mailing label, instead of reading Hatori Sohma, there in bold letters read

Akito Sohma

Puzzeled as to why Akito would go through the trouble of sending for such a catalog, she looked at the vased yellow flowers. Remembering what Akito had told her earlier, she quickly looked up the flowers in her floristry textbook; eager to know the meaning.

When she came upon Hyacinths, and China Asters she widened her eyes; dropping the book in revelation of these new floral meanings.

Jealousy

Author's Note: For any of you readers that are disappointed that I skipped a couple of months forward in this chapter; I apologize. I wanted to move the timeline quicker, without rushing Akito and Tohru's relationship uncharastically. So please don't think I did this for I can rush their romance in the next chapters, no the actual reason was to move the timeline forward closer towards New Years, and Kyoko's anni.

This chapter featured the appearance of Rin, although personally in the manga I hated her character to shreds, I'm changing her whole motives in this story, but still keeping her manga personality so in my fic I guess I've grown to like using her lol

Anyways as usual

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