Shigure followed his companions into the big high school, wondering absently as he passed a fleet of lockers which one was Tohru's. Hatori plowed on ahead, and Shigure followed, leaving his curiosity behind.
"My, such a big school," Ayame observed. "But the design and architecture...I shudder to meet such a drag person! Where are the colors? The life? A building should be able to tell its own tale from how it is designed! From all this...I get absolutely nothing!"
"Hush, Ayame. This is not another personal style quest of yours," Hatori replied, casting a glance at the snake Zodiac as he entered a room marked 'office'.
Even with the school in its after hours phase, a receptionist was typing away at her computer, absently picking up papers to double check herself, and then typing quicker. Hatori cleared his throat, and the overworked woman looked up with a quick smile.
"Mr. Sohma, I presume?" she asked, standing up. "I'm Kita Toyo, we spoke on the phone."
"It's a pleasure to meet such a beautiful young lady," Shigure jumped in, taking Kita's hand and kissing it gallantly. Kita carefully extracted herself from the hands-on Sohma.
"And who, might I ask, are you?" she asked calmly, looking at the odd dressed man with hidden disdain.
"Why, I'm Mr. Sohma!"
"Excuse him, I am the Mr. Sohma you spoke with on the phone," Hatori broke in.
"Well I'm a Mr. Sohma..." Shigure grumbled, pouting.
Hatori resisted the urge to hit Shigure.
"He has no manners, please ignore his inexcusable behavior," Hatori sighed, trying to get on the woman's good side.
"I think I can do that," Kita suppressed a smirk. "On the phone you asked for a student's records, and before I can give you anything regarding Miss Toyota I need you to verify you were legally responsible for her."
"I was not the one legally responsible for Miss Honda," Hatori replied, avoiding the name test easily. Kita gave a small smile at that. "But Shigure here was. Shigure, the paperwork please."
The kimono clad man pulled a couple of papers out of his sleeve, handing them over to Hatori who passed them to the receptionist lady.
Kita sat down in her seat, wordlessly checking everything out. It wasn't everyday that someone came wanting to know a particular student's transfer and academic records, and she would never reveal sensitive information like that to just anyone. The first test was simple, messing up Tohru Honda's name and seeing if the strangers would go with it. The second test was the paperwork. It was actually pretty easy to forge documents in this day and age, and Kita just had to double check everything.
So far, everything looked good.
Kita looked up at the three waiting men, and smiled politely.
"Everything seems to be in order, but one last question. If you gave up your rights as guardians, why should you be privy to this information?"
The men cast a glance in each other's direction. Finally, the one called Shigure spoke.
"We had no choice in the matter," he began. "Tohru never belonged to us, as a guardianship would lead most to believe. She found us, and made us better people."
Kita smiled, she knew Tohru always brightened peoples days.
"But then she left," Shigure continued. "She just left a note, and moved on. Her grandfather was the one who allowed her to stay with us, even gave us temporary guardianship for Tohru. But when Tohru decided to leave us one fateful day, her grandfather revoked our privileges into Tohru's life. We had no idea where she went, and her grandfather wouldn't say. It isn't easy to watch someone so important just walk out of your life, and so when I came upon her here, in your fair city, I knew I had been given another opportunity to be part of her life.
"I know that all this must seem odd, especially since we just showed up out of the blue. But you've met Tohru, and I'm sure you know that her impact on a person's spirit is extraordinary. I wouldn't ask that you give us her records unless we were truly desperate, especially considering the fact that we aren't even aware who signed the papers for Tohru's transfer from Kaibara High. We simply want to be able to know who did the paperwork that enrolled Miss Honda here at Tottori High. I'm asking, no, pleading, with you to allow us to discover who transferred her here. We only want to know that Tohru is in safe hands."
Kita almost reconsidered her opinion on Shigure right then and there. He might not be a total idiot after all...
"Tohru definitely is something else," Kita Toyo agreed, handing back the paperwork. She clicked a few buttons on her keyboard, and the sound of a printer whirring entered the office area. Kita got up and moved to the printer, carefully straightening all the edges out as she walked back to the waiting men.
She handed them the papers wordlessly, a simple nod was all.
"Thank you, Miss Toyo, you're an angel," Ayame murmured.
"You truly care for her, don't you?" Kita asked, knowing that Tohru might actually have been God-sent.
"She's extraordinary, and has touched my family in ways you could not possibly imagine," Hatori replied. "In many ways we were broken, and she helped put us back together."
"I'll miss her," Kita lamented.
"What?" Shigure asked startled.
"You're obviously taking her back with you," Kita shrugged. "Take care of her, and make sure she gets a boyfriend that absolutely adores her. Hojo is okay, but I've seen him follow another female student around like a puppy!"
"We'll see to it," Shigure replied, tight lipped. He couldn't help but take offense at the 'puppy' comment.
"It was nice meeting all of you, take care," Kita smiled, and watched them leave the offense. She was pretty sure the third member of their group was grumbling about 'the ugly mustard walls' and 'had they no shame?'
Sometimes, she really wondered what kind of odd balls came through her door...
~(0)~
"Hm," Hatori mused, sitting in the front seat of their vehicle. "Tatsuo Suzuki...I've heard the name, but never met the man."
"He's a big business man, doesn't step into the fashion world though. Pity, I'm sure I could help him out. His wardrobe is atrocious!" Ayame spoke up.
"Hm," Hatori mused again, pulling out his cell phone. A minute later he was patched through to the Suzuki head, Hatori thinking how nice it was having connections.
"Hello?"
"Is this Tatsuo Suzuki?"
"Who else could it possibly be? And who are you anyway?" Tatsuo barked.
"I am Hatori Sohma, I'm calling concerning a girl you had transferred to Tottori High School."
"The boondock girl?" Tatsuo asked, trying to remember.
"Tohru Honda is not a 'boondock' girl, I assure you," Hatori replied coolly.
"Whatever. What do you want anyway?"
Hatori's eyes narrowed. He did not like this Suzuki person, and considered calling in a favor owed to him by someone high up in the business world just to put Tatsuo Suzuki in his place...
"I was wondering why you transferred her."
"My daughter didn't like her," Tatsuo replied, like it was obvious.
"And that's all that it took?"
"I don't think you know who I am, mister," Tatsuo snorted. "I fire people for looking at me wrong. If my girl's not happy, then I make her happy. She didn't like your boondock girl, so I fixed things. Besides, she had evidence on your little Tohru Honda that could've ruined her reputation. And we both know how essential a clean reputation is in our world."
"What did she know?" Hatori pressed, dreading the answer. It would've had to be pretty bad to make Tohru desert them.
"How am I supposed to know?" Tatsuo scoffed. "That girl switches emotions before you could even blink!"
"Thank you for your time," Hatori said, hanging up on the Suzuki person. "Idiot."
"Well?"
"One more phone call," Hatori replied.