Hey guys, I reposted this chapter after I read through it and fix a few errors, the next chapter should be up soon, so don't rush me.
The rest of the day seemed to sluggishly inch by, even though I tried hard to pay attention in class, most of the stuff went in one ear and out the other, except science, which was one of my best subjects, as well as the last class of the day. After furiously scrawling down notes in both Japanese and English for the last hour or so of school, I finally got out. After meeting with Tohru, Yuki and Kyo, we, as in Tohru and I, quickly decided to check on Jina-san, who was seemingly fine, if a bit crabby.
"My mother will be here as soon as she can find a chance to get out of work, but the restaurant is really busy today and she has a big catering order to work on," Jina-san said calmly to Uo-san as all four of us walked in, "and my father is in Hokkaido for business," She noticed us and glanced first at Tohru and I, then at Yuki and Kyo, smiling and nodding, "as I was saying I will be perfectly able to take care of myself until my mother can pick me up,"
"No, I am not leaving you alone for god-knows-how-long, Jina-san," Uo-san said stubbornly, "It could be hours, you said so yourself!"
"Why don't you walk home with Jina-san, Uo-san?" Tohru asked curiously, looking a bit confused.
"I screwed up my ankle when I fell off the bench," Jina-san explained, "And I refuse to allow Uo-san to carry me to my house, no matter what she says about me staying until my mother can pick me up and DRIVE me home," Jina said stubbornly, glaring at Uo-san from behind her glasses.
"Whatever, Jina-san," Uo-san muttered, both of them glaring at each other.
"They won't hurt each other, will they?" I asked nervously, "I mean, I'm sure Uo-san is just trying to protect Jina-san,"
"It'll be fine, Rotsu-san, Uo-san is very overprotective, but she would never hurt Jina-san," Tohru said happily, as if she knew from experience, which calmed my worries immensely, "So don't worry too much," I smiled nodded waving good-bye to Jina and walking outside to find it raining.
"Great, I didn't know it was going to rain," I muttered grumpily, even though I didn't mind walking back in the rain, I was wearing a white shirt.
"Just perfect," Kyo growled under his breath, pulling gout a dark blue umbrella, only to get it taken from him by Yuki-san, who handed it to me.
"Uh, wait what?" I mumbled dropping the umbrella into a rather large rain puddle, "I'm so sorry Kyo-san! I didn't mean to, I really am sorry!" I apologized repeatedly, picking up the umbrella; noting Kyo's glare was somehow directed at both Yuki and myself and was rapidly zeroing in on Yuki.
"Its fine, Rotsu-san," Yuki-san san said, in a gentle tone that once again made me lost any chance I had of apologizing anymore, "He can deal with a bit of rain,"
"Damn you Yuki! Wha…" Kyo looked down as a girl bumped into him, a she kept her head down, avoiding Kyo's gaze.
"Oh, excuse me, I didn't see you there" She muttered without looking up, continuing to walk, except for the fact that Kyo stopped her by putting his hand on her forehead. She instantly looked up, "Oh! Kyo-chan," She teased lightly, a slightly evil smile dancing across her face, "Tohru-chan, Yuki-san!" She said, setting her reddish gaze on me, "Who's that?"
"I'm-uh-Rotsu-uh-Miri," I stuttered, amazed at how she looked almost exactly like Kyo-san, except for the fact that she was a… she. "Yeah," I finished lamely.
"Rotsu-san, this is Sohma Emiko, a close relative of ours," Yuki said softly, making me jump.
"Please, uhm, call me Miri," I stammered, unable to say much else, seeing a Emiko-san had the same name as my real mother, Emiko Rotsu, and it sent my mind spinning.
"We're up second cousins or something like that," Kyo muttered, attempting to stay out of the rain, but Emiko just shrugged and nodded at me.
"I'm a Sohma, they're Sohmas and that's all that matters on this topic," She explained, smiling and punching Kyo in the arm, "You'd better get an umbrella, or you won't be too well later, idiot,"
"I can't, SOMEBODY dropped my umbrella in a puddle," Kyo muttered angrily, grabbing the umbrella from me and opening it, earning himself a glare from Yuki.
"Now, why did Miri-san have you're umbrella in the first place, stupid?" Emiko asked even though her smirk directed a Yuki showed that she already knew, "You really ought to be more careful Kyo-chan,"
"What don't you let me use yours then, Emiko?" Kyo reached towards Emiko's umbrella, but before he could grab it, Emiko had grabbed his arms and flipped him, smirking.
"Uh-hey, Kyo, Emiko, um, please, stop?" Tohru looked terrified at the fight that was quickly developing; at least it was, until Yuki-san thumped both Kyo and Emiko in the back of the head.
"What the…? I muttered, "But kinda cool too, I guess," I immediately got strange looks from everybody,probably trying to figure out what I was thinking.
"Cool…?" Emiko-san stared at me like I was insane, "I was about to beat the crap outta him and you say 'cool'?"
"Uh…Step-brothers, protection, uh, martial arts…" I muttered awkwardly, trying not to get mad at the condescending tone Emiko-san was using.
"Do you ever talking in complete sentences?" Kyo sneered, "Honestly,"
"KYO, be nice," Tohru admonished, glancing at me, not noticing how angry I had become, fighting was something I was used to, but insulting me was a different matter.
"At least I'M not scared of a little rain, Kyo Kyo," I muttered, sending a glare that could stop a rabid dog in its tracks, at least, that's what my little sister Rini says.
"Shaddup, you stupid brat!" He flared up in anger, "What I do is my own business, so keep out of it!"
"Until you bring everyone else down with you, stupid cat," Yuki muttered before I had a chance to start an argument, "Now, shall we leave or are we going to just sit here in the rain all day?" He asked coolly, seeming to irritate Kyo even more.
"This was al your fault in the first place, you damn rat!" Kyo yelled furiously, once again attempting to take Emiko's umbrella.
"No way!" Emiko dodged Kyo's attempt to take her umbrella and thumped him upside the head, causing Tohru to widen her eyes to the point I thought they were going to pop out of their sockets.
"Wh-why don't you two share the umbrella, Emiko-san, Kyo-san?" She stammered cautiously, stopping the two from pummeling each other again.
"The voice of reason, finally," I muttered, "Why could Kyo think of that, seeing as it would have saved him a lot of embarrassment on his part,"
"Why do you think, it's because he's an idiot," Emiko sniggered, easily dodging a punch from Kyo, "Now, I'm thinking about sharing my umbrella with you and you try to hurt me?" Emiko sniffed, grinning evilly.
"Uh, listen guys, my cousin is going to be worried, so can we get a move on?" I muttered impatiently, "Unlike SOMEONE, I don't need an umbrella," I added, wanting to get home to study.
"Please, take my umbrella, Rotsu-san, I will share with Tohru," Yuki said softly, handing me his umbrella before I had a chance to object, and I didn't drop it either, a fact I am pathetically proud of to this day.
"Are you, uh, sure?" I mumbled, even as Emiko and Tohru opened their umbrellas, sharing with Kyo and Yuki, respectively.
"Actually, you guys uh, probably know the way back to my place better than I do," I said awkwardly, mumbling the last part, earning myself a glare from both Emiko and Kyo.
"Wait, where are we going anyway?" Emiko asked suddenly, "and how did I get sucked into going with you guys?"
"Oh, I completely forgot to explain, Emiko-san," Yuki said, smiling as he and Tohru took the lead, "We're going to the bookstore because Honda-san needs new books,"
"My aunt owns the store, but she's on a cruise, so my cousin is taking care of the store for her, and I'm living with him," I added, trying to focus on where I was going so that I wouldn't get lost when I had to walk home by myself.
"Will you hurry up Miri," Kyo snapped impatiently. I hadn't noticed that they had passed me until Kyo had yelled at me.
"Sorry, Kyo-san," I mumbled, , running forward until I was even with the two redheads who were fighting over the pale orange umbrella.
"It's MY umbrella, I get to hold it!" Emiko scowled, yanking the umbrella out of Kyo's grasp.
"My umbrella got dropped into a mud puddle!" Kyo growled in reply, shaking the wet umbrella in Emiko's face, causing her give him a death glare and shoved him hard enough to forced him to step out from under the umbrella unless he wanted to fall flat on his face.
"Please stop fighting, Kyo-san, Emiko san," Tohru asked worriedly, looking back at the two.
"Sorry, Tohru-san," Kyo muttered, glaring at Emiko, who, in returned smiled impishly and continued walking, forcing Kyo to increase his pace in order to keep up with her.
"You speak Japanese very fluently, Miri-san," Yuki-san remarked as I matched my pace to his, walking next to him as the bookstore came into sight.
"As I said before, my real mother was…is, Japanese," It was always a painful correction I forced myself to make,"She moved to America to marry my father after she met him in Italy where he was working as a chef. My mom loved to travel and wanted me and my younger sister, Rini, to learn as much as possible and practically drilled the language into us, and to make sure we didn't get our English and Japanese screwed up, she would smack us upside the head when we did," I said, unconsciously rubbing the back of my head, smiling at the memories that flooded through my mind, there was more than a bit of sadness from thinking of my mother, and the fact that I may never see her again.
"No wonder you're so strange, your mother must have knocked something loose," Emiko muttered, not ready for the deadly glare I gave her as I whipped around.
"My mother disappeared when I was 13," I said, as everyone stopped and looked at me, "Her name was Emiko Kai Rotsu," There was a strange silence as this information sunk in.
"Oh," Emiko said softly, looking down as a few strands of her hair dfirted in front of her face, "I'm sorry," She added, even though I still felt tears welling up into my eyes.
"We're here," Yuki said gently, his strange purple eyes meeting mine. I tried to hold the gaze, searching for anything that would help me understand him, to understand everyone here a bit better, but I was forced to look away in order to close my umbrella as a familiar face opened the door.
"Heya Onee-chan, wassup?" My 14-year-old sister asked, smirking at the look of surprise on my face.