AN: Okay, I've been having a little breather from this for a while, while writing some chapters for "Obedience", but hopefully now the hols are up and coming I'll be able to update more on ALL of my storys - so keep checking out.

So yeah, please check out all my stories, as well as my poll on my profile if you want a quicker update to my stories; all of them are on there...

Also, If you have any free time, please check out my forum: "The Outsiders", which you can create a character on and use them in a story, which I shall post up once I have some more entries, so please please check it out and join in the fun. (you can find it on the second page in the forums thing)

So please enjoy, read and review.

^_^

Kaytii/

Hatsuyuki Shinderera

Kyo's POV

I sat at my computer, waiting impatiently. It was gone 2 in the morning, but I had promised that I would be on when she arrived, and no matter how tired I felt, I wouldn't abandon her…

*Hatsuyuki has just signed in*

Finally. I had been waiting for hours for her to log on… but then again, it always took her ages to get on… she was never on before midnight…

Hatsuyuki: Hiya Iri.

Iri: You're on later than usual…

What?

Why are you all staring at me as if I'm crazy?!?

It was all true! She was almost TWO hours later than usual… and she was never late…

Unless…

Hatsuyuki: Yeah… I had some… family problems…

Iri: Can you be more specific…?

Hatsuyuki: Oh "Iri" you know I can't tell you about my problems in detail… family rules and that…

What she didn't say was that she would be punished if she told anyone anything…

And so that was why she never told me anything about her life… I mean, I knew she was a girl … but even when she told me about her past… or about what was happening wherever she was… she still didn't say anything…

… Although she talked all the time, she never said anything personal about her…

… And she knew all about me – and I didn't even know "Hatsuyuki's" name…

… And yet still I knew I loved her, loved all the mystery about her…

… Because I did have my suspicions about her; she had told me that she was from a reclusive family and of high school age… and there was only one person that I had seen that could fit that description…

… The girl I saw at the main estate…

… How could it be anyone else…?

… I was in love with her, that girl, Hatsuyuki…

Hatsuyuki: Kyo…? You're spacing out again…

Iri: Oh… sorry… so who caused the problems…? Him…?

Of course, I didn't know for certain who "he" was… she never said… but I had my suspicions on who he was… because there was only one Sohma that I knew could install such fear in a person… and I had a feeling that she was a Sohma…

… But if she was, then she was just one that I had never met before…

… So it seemed unlikely… but it was all I had to go on…

Hatsuyuki: Yeah… he was in a bad mood today… and… I received mail…

Iri: Mail? What's so bad about Mail…?

Hatsuyuki: I never get mail… It could have been sent to someone else in the family… but it had been put in my pigeon hole… and so… he burnt it…

That was strange… the only person who had had an invitation sent to that resided in the main house was…

Yuki.

Iri: Damn rat…

Hatsuyuki: What?

Iri: Oh! Sorry, sorry! I was just thinking and must have typed it!!!

Hatsuyuki: And what were you thinking about Kyo?

Iri: Just… well… Shishou sent an invitation to the main house… to a classmate… that must be the one that you received… Damn rat, always getting in the way, getting innocent people hurt!

Hatsuyuki: You know, Yuki isn't really that bad… you could get to know him better.

She was always like that, so forgiving… but how could she expect me to be the same… so kind…?

I wasn't perfect, I was a monster… and yet she still had a glimmer of hope within her that I could be like her…

… And strangely enough, I wish that I could be more like her as well…

… But how did she know that I was talking about Yuki just by saying 'damn rat'…

… Unless she knew about the curse as well…

Iri: That won't happen 'Hatsuyuki'… he's the rat, I'm the cat. That's all there is to it, and all that there will EVER be to it.

Hatsuyuki: I wish it weren't…

When she said that, I could almost hear the sadness in her… it was strange how she was always like this…

… It was almost as if she really cared about me and the damn Nezumi being friends…

Iri: I'm sorry Hatsuyuki… anyway; let's talk about something more… interesting…

Of course, she instantly knew what I was talking about…

Hatsuyuki: Kyo! You know I can't tell you… no…

Iri: No, I'm not going to ask you your name… at least not directly… Let me have three questions… please…?

Hatsuyuki: …

Iri: Please…?

Hatsuyuki: Fine. Three Questions. But that's it, okay?

Iri: k… just let me think…

Hatsuyuki: Okay…

What should I ask her…?

There was so much I wanted to know, and here she would answer me…

So I'd ask the simplest ones, without making her uncomfortable…

Iri: Are you a Sohma…?

Hatsuyuki: …

Iri: Are you…?

Hatsuyuki: Not one that you would have met...

What did she mean by that…? But at least I knew that she was a Sohma…

… So I knew who it was that was hurting her…

… The same person who hurt all of us, all of the time…

Hatsuyuki: Question 2?

Iri: Have I ever seen you before?

Hatsuyuki: … Yeah… you have… You probably wouldn't recognise me when you did though…

So she knew that I had seen her…

Had I seen her on a special occasion… or at New Years and just ignored her…?

Have I known her for a long time and just turned a blind eye to her suffering…?

Hatsuyuki: And question 3?

Evidently it was a topic that she didn't really want to talk about… so I wouldn't mention it anymore, if it hurt her to mention it…

I only had one question left to ask… and I knew exactly what I would ask her.

Iri: Hatsuyuki… will you meet me sometime…?

Hatsuyuki: …

Iri: Before you answer please let me explain!

Hatsuyuki: …okay…

Iri: It's my birthday soon… on Saturday… I was wondering… well could you come… Shishou won't mind… and he can always get you out if necessary…

Hatsuyuki: … I doubt Kazuma could get me out…

How did she know Shishou well enough to use his first name…? Could I ask him about her…?

Hatsuyuki: … but… if he could, then… yeah, I'd love to ge;orhis

What had happened?

Iri: Hatsuyuki?

Iri: Hatsuyuki?

And there was no response…

What had happened…?

Had she been caught…?

*You have lost connection with Hatsuyuki. Please check your internet server*