Chapter 4: Fear

Kaiyo awoke early the next day, still too excited. She dressed for the day and paced her room. She ate breakfast and returned to her room. It was still too early to be picked up. 'What can I do to pass the time?' It came to her: draw.

A knock brought her out of her reverie. "Yes?"

"Miss Kaiyo," Yuki slowly opened the door and entered her room.

Kyo followed shortly behind him, "we're here to pick you up."

A blush crept across her face, "just a minute." She got up quickly and put her drawing away. She had been sketching her idea of what the Sohma family looked like now. She had seen Yuki, Kyo, and Hatori; but she was guessing on everyone else.

"Are you ready yet?" the impatient Kyo questioned her.

"Yes!" Kaiyo responded, a little out of breath. She got up and led the boys out of her room and down the stairs. "I'm going out."

The trio left the house before they heard a response. Kaiyo looked around for a car or some type of transportation, but nothing was there. "How…"

"We walked," Yuki answered her question before she could finish her question.

"Walked?" she looked around, "do you live nearby?"

"Yea, we only live two blocks from you," Kyo pointed forward.

"Wow!" Kaiyo was shocked and surprised, "what a coincidence."

"Should we get going?" Yuki questioned them. The three of them started walking towards the Sohma's new home.

The walk was nice. It was the middle of winter, but it wasn't too cold out. There was a nice coverage of snow over everyone's lawns, but the sidewalk was clear. Kaiyo clutched her jacket a bit closer to herself.

"Are you cold, Miss Kaiyo?" Yuki asked, concerned.

"No, but aren't you two?"

"Naw, remember it gets colder than this back in Japan." Kyo pointed out.

They made it to the large house after a twenty minute walk. Before the trio could even approach the house, a group of kids and teens came out the front door.

The group immediately surrounded the trio, with everyone talking at once. Kaiyo turned around in circles, trying to take it all in. She recognized a few of them, but others she couldn't put her finger on who was who. "Hello everyone." She greeted the group.

"Let's not all talk at once." A voice called from outside the circle.

The circle broke and Kaiyo was able to see who she feared it was: Akito.

"Hello Kaiyo," he called to her.

"A...Ak…Akito?" Her frame was shaking. Every cell in her body was screaming to run, but her body was frozen in its place.

"Yes, Kaiyo," He walked closer to her as he spoke, "it was been awhile, hasn't it?"

The rest of the Sohmas took a step back towards the house. Kaiyo didn't move an inch because she couldn't.

Akito placed his hand on her cheek, "This time, I will make sure that you are mine."

Kaiyo's frame shook even harder as she closed her eyes. Silent tears started leaking down her cheeks as she tried to numb herself to the oncoming pain.

She could feel the hostility from the people around her, Akito felt it too. He inched closer to whisper in her ear, "soon." He retracted his hand, turned around, and started walking back down the street.

Kaiyo's body couldn't support her any longer. Her legs gave out as she fell to the snowy lawn. It took a minute for the Sohmas to register what had just happened. Once Kaiyo wasn't moving, they all started acting at once.

"Someone get Hatori!" Kyo shouted.

"I'll go," Hatsuharu said tonelessly as he ran into the house.

"Is she okay?" Kisa questioned.

"Why don't the rest of you go off to your rooms to, umm, tidy up?" Shigure suggested. Kisa, Hiro, Momiji, and Kagura all reentered the house. Shigure knelt next to the passed out Kaiyo. "We need to bring her inside."

"I'll do it." Kyo picked Kaiyo up bridal-style and brought her into the house, followed closely behind by Yuki and Shigure.