Here's chapter 4 of Innocence. This story isn't getting as many reviews as my other one but oh well. I'll just have to put more action into the chapters and more interaction with Hatori and Yukiko. I might have a friend of mine draw a picture of Yukiko for you guys, if i can find out how to get it in my profile. Hope you like this chapter!

Thanks Joflower for reviewing. I do think that Hatori would be a better father also. lol. Well let's just hope he'll be able to handle her in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruit's Basket but I do own Yukiko.

Innocence
Chapter 4
Little Dragon

Hatori looked over at his daughter standing shyly beside Shigure. She was wearing an off-white dress that came a little above her knees with a light pink coat over it that reminded him of Yuki's. She had on matching boots that went halfway up her calves and went with her dress. In her hands, she had a bag like Shigure's that he guessed held some Valentine's presents but he wasn't sure.

Yukiko smiled at her father's surprise at seeing her. She watched him reach his arm out and grab her wrist before pulling her inside. She turned around in time to see him shutting the door without letting Shigure in. Trying her hardest not to laugh, Yukiko saw Shigure open the door slowly crying.

"Don't hate me… I was kidding! They're from Tohru… can I come in?" Shigure asked leaving the door halfway open. Yukiko could see the stress mark on her father's forehead as Kagura popped up behind Shigure.

"We brought chocolates for everybody!" Kagura said pulling up another bag.

--

After sharing the chocolates with Hatori, Shigure and Kagura left to go find Haru and Momiji. Yukiko had asked them to give the chocolates meant for Haru to him since she wanted time with her father. Hatori and Yukiko were left alone in his office and they had no clue what to say to each other. Yukiko walked over to Hatori and pulled out a small box. She handed it to him carefully and watched him inspect it.

"It's a Valentine's Day present for you," said Yukiko. Hatori looked up at her then opened the box to find a gold key. "Um… there's a small trunk that I brought with me here and it's for you. That's the key to open it. The trunk though, is still at Shigure's. It was too heavy to wrap or carry so I brought you the key."

"Thank you," said Hatori silently wondering what was in the trunk. "I'll come by later and pick up the trunk."

"Okay… um, can I call you…" trailed off Yukiko embarrassed.

"It's alright, you can call me whatever you want," said Hatori. "We need to talk about some important matters right now though. I want you to know that if it was possible right now, I would love to have you live with me. The problem is, Akito doesn't know you exist and I don't think he would react very well to the news."

"It's okay, I understand. I like living with Shigure and the others so far. They're really nice and I'd like to get to know them better," Yukiko said not upset in the least. She wanted to tell him something else, but she didn't know if he would get mad or not.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" asked Hatori noticing her wanting to say something. Yukiko just nodded and walked up to him. He looked down at her before she gave him a hug. Realizing what she was doing, Hatori waited for the inevitable poof signifying his transformation.

"Um… there is something that you need to know," said Yukiko letting go of her father. She saw that he had his eyes closed and was flinched back after she touched him.

Hatori heard her but he didn't comprehend it until after he opened his eyes. Wait, he was still taller than her and standing! Confused, Hatori noticed that he hadn't transformed into his zodiac animal. He observed Yukiko looking anxious and waited for her to finish whatever she was going to tell him.

"You see, I've never been able to hug anyone else up until I met the Sohmas. The only person I ever hugged was my mum and when I did, something happened that she couldn't really explain," Yukiko tried to explain but the puzzled expression on her father's face made her more nervous than ever. "I turned into a dragon." Yukiko rushed out instead of waiting.

Hatori couldn't believe what she just said. There was no possible way that she could turn into a dragon. "What are you talking about?" he finally asked her.

"Well, please don't be mad, but it's true. Whenever I was hugged by my mum, that's what I turned into. Actually, it was more of a sea horse, but my mom always called it a dragon. She said that it involved the zodiac and my father," Yukiko clarified.

"How did this happen? There's never been two zodiac members that were the same animal at the same time. But, one of the zodiac has never had a child also," Hatori rambled on trying to figure out what was happening. "Zodiac members can hug a member of the same sex, yet you can't… Yukiko, Shigure should be leaving about now. I'll be over there as promised tomorrow night and we'll talk about this with Shigure."

"Um… alright," Yukiko agreed, giving her father another hug before jogging out the door. She found Shigure on his way out of the main estate and ran to catch up with him.

"So, how did the visit with your father go?" asked Shigure smiling down at Yukiko.

"It was okay. Where's Kagura?" Yukiko wondered, not seeing the overly cheery girl anywhere.

"She went back home, but Momiji will be coming over later and you can meet him then," said Shigure watching Yukiko nod at the information. After talking a while about each of their visits, Yukiko and Shigure arrived home laughing to themselves like old friends. Kyo and Yuki looked at the two like they were crazy before leaving to go to their rooms.

--

"Tohru! You're home!" Yukiko heard as she came downstairs from her room. Once they got home earlier, Yukiko had decided to go rest in her room until Tohru arrived back. Yukiko walked into the room, to hear Tohru's surprised voice.

"Oh! Momiji!" Yukiko sat down by Yuki at the table as the person she thought was Momiji walked in dragging Tohru.

"I just got here too! Come on, come on! Let's go in! This way! This way!" Momiji said excitedly. "This is my first time to Shigure's house. Isn't it exciting! Hello there!" Yukiko turned and watched as Momiji, Tohru, and Shigure came into view as the door was pushed aside.

"Hi, I'm home from my job!" Tohru said smiling at everyone in the room.

"Welcome back," said Yuki turning towards them. Yukiko got up and ran over to Tohru to greet her.

"Hi, Tohru," Yukiko said grabbing the girl's arm and pulling Tohru over to sit with her at the table.

"Great… The annoying little brat's here," Kyo said walking into the room rubbing his hair with a towel.

"Ah! Someone just got out of the bath!" said the blonde boy that Yukiko was never introduced to. "Kyo-oh!"

"I swear!" Kyo yelled as he started rubbing his knuckles into the younger boy's head. "It bugs me every time you open your mouth!" Yukiko ignored them and turned to Tohru.

"How was your job today, Tohru?" she asked sweetly with a smile on her face.

"It was fine Yukiko. Thank you so much for asking!" Tohru replied just as charming before leaving to get a snack from the kitchen.

"Waah! Kyo's picking on me-e-e!" said the unknown boy as he pretended to cry. Yukiko saw Tohru pop back into the room with a try and snacks on it.

"Momiji… I made a snack, if you're hungry," Tohru said wanting to stop them from bickering.

"Oh, I am!" Momiji said brightly turning towards the girl. Tohru brought the snacks over to the table as Kyo started to pick on Momiji again.

--

"Momiji? Have you told us to what we owe the pleasure of your company this evening?" Shigure asked after the fighting stopped and everyone had a snack.

"Mm-mm, not yet," Momiji said before noticing the unfamiliar face. They hadn't been introduced yet with all the commotion going about, no one remembered. "Is this Hatori's daughter!" Momiji was excited, he had heard about the girl from Kagura and wanted to meet her for himself.

"Oh, yes Momiji. This is Yukiko, and this is Momiji," Shigure said introducing the two. Momiji jumped up and ran over to Yukiko.

"Wow, she's cute!" Momiji exclaimed giving the girl a hug without thinking.

"Wait!" Kyo tried unsuccessfully to stop Momiji in time but the boy was already cooing over the new face. After several seconds, Momiji stopped his actions before he scared the poor girl. He then realized that he was hugging her and he wasn't a bunny like he was supposed to be. Everyone stared in shock, except for Yuki and Shigure who already knew.

"Um… I can explain," tried Yukiko seeing everyone's expressions.

"I'll tell them," Shigure interrupted before Yukiko could say anything about herself. "Hatori called me earlier, Yukiko, and told me what happened when you were over there. You see, Yukiko here is Hatori's daughter. Not one of the other zodiac members have ever had one. I think this may be a reaction to the curse. Yukiko seems to be able to hug other Sohmas, but when she used to hug her mom, she transformed into a smaller version of Hatori, of course. The problem is, this happens when she hugs a member of the same sex, which of course is different than our curse. It may be because she's a daughter of one of the zodiac. Hatori will be looking more into it, but for now, just watch out for anyone other than a Sohma," Shigure said directing his last statement at Yukiko.

"Well, that's definitely different," said Yuki as they all processed this new information.

"I have a question for Tohru!" Momiji announced after deciding to break the silence.

"Uh… Yes?" asked Tohru.

"I'll bet you don't know what day it is tomorrow!" Momiji said.

"Let's see, tomorrow… um, it's March 14th, right?" inquired Tohru.

"Bingo!" replied Momiji raising a finger. "And March 14th is White Day! So tomorrow, I'm giving you a present… It's a trip to a Hot Spring! I call it, 'Me and Tohru's and Yukiko's Super-Relaxing Hot Spring Steam Trip!'" Yukiko's eyes widened as he added her and barely noticed Tohru also freaking out.

"Me? But we just met, I can't let you do that for me," Yukiko stuttered.

"But I want to, we're friends now!" Momiji exclaimed happily hugging her, just because he could now.

"I don't think you have to name it," Shigure muttered.

"A hot spring? Which one?" asked Yuki after Momiji finished cheerfully squeezing poor Yukiko.

"You know, there's that one place the Sohma's run, right?" stated Momiji.

"Ah, I see," Yuki replied understanding.

"I don't know… An invitation to an expensive sounding place like a hot spring? It's too much! I couldn't accept! I'd just be asking for it," said Tohru finally coming back to earth.

"Uh, you know, Tohru, it's just a hot spring," Shigure said trying to calm the girl down. "It's not like he's flying you off to Paris, or anything like that. It would be a real shame to turn it down. You should go. It'll be a good chance to get away from it all, relax…"

"Yeah, Tohru. If I go, then you must come too or else it wouldn't be the same," Yukiko said desperately trying to get Tohru to agree.

"I'm sorry, I thought you'd be happy to go…" Momiji said after agreeing with Yukiko's statement.

"No, I am happy… Thank you so much," Tohru said finally accepting.

"Yuki and Kyo are coming too! And Yukiko!" Momiji said pleased.

"Why don't you try asking before you start making plans for everyone!" Kyo screamed at Momiji.

"Aa-www, go with us, go with us!" Momiji begged pulling on Kyo's shirt. Momiji's bunny ears appeared and flopped over.

"Forget it! And whining like that isn't gonna change my mind!" Kyo screamed, his own cat ears popping out.

"Yuki… will you come?" asked Momiji with a saddened expression on his face.

"Of course… I wouldn't miss it," he replied. Momiji cheered at hearing his answer.

"Okay, now I really don't wanna go," Kyo mumbled.

"Why not? You don't have to worry about money… I've been saving up my allowance," Momiji said.

"That's not the problem," Kyo argued as a stress mark appeared on his head.

"Oh, speaking of money, Yukiko. Hatori said to come to either me or him if you wanted anything. Reasonable, of course. His way of showing he cares for now. And Tohru, I hear you still haven't paid last month's dues toward your class field trip fund," Shigure said turning from one to the other. "I got a call from your grandfather. Apparently, someone from the school called him. He said he'd pay for you if you needed."

"No, no, no! I can't ask him to do that!" Tohru cried jumping up. "It would be too much trouble! He can't! Last month there was just… a lot going on… but I'll be able to catch up with the money I earn at my job this month, so it's all right. I already explained everything to the teacher in charge… So… I'm sorry… I'm sorry you had to hear about it."

"But, Tohru… You worked a pretty fair amount last month… So how is it-" Shigure said before coming to the conclusion that she used the money for all the valentines she bought.

"So, hey! You're gonna go on a class trip, huh?" asked Momiji.

"Oh… I don't know…" Tohru said.

"Wha--!" yelled Kyo.

"Y-Yes?" asked Tohru shocked from when Kyo popped right into their faces.

"Water… hot bath… you go…" Kyo stuttered trying not to stay angry.

"Uh… O—kay?" wondered Tohru. "Yukiko, do you want to take a bath too?"

"Sure!" said Yukiko jumping up and running out of the room, pulling Tohru behind her.

--

"You know… You really are somethin'… You know that?" Was all Yukiko heard before she was dragged out from behind the sheets with Momiji.

"Kyo's got the hots this morning!" Momiji said latching himself onto Kyo's arm. Yukiko giggled at the sight as Kyo tried to pry Momiji off.

"I do not!" Kyo screamed. Momiji turned to the tittering Yukiko and laughed with her.

"He's got the hots!" Momiji said.

"Shut up!" Yukiko heard Kyo scream as she turned to Yuki who looked like he just woke up.

"Waah-haah!" she heard Momiji cry aloud.

"What's going on?" questioned Yuki. Tohru came over to stand by Yukiko and Yuki.

"Ah! You're up just in time! Kyo just told me that he's decided to come to the hot spring with us!" Tohru announced ignoring Kyo beating up Momiji.

"Well… I suppose we'll survive," Yuki said before hearing Yukiko giggle and hug him happily. He looked down at her laughing away with Tohru, before he joined them and smiled at her cheerfulness this morning.

--

Well, there we have it. The beautiful chapter 4! I must say that I had fun writing this chapter and I can't wait to write more. Yukiko's secret will be explained more later. She's beginning to open up more and she's becoming good friends with Shigure, Tohru, and Yuki. I might end up changing how her visit with her father went. He seems cold only because they don't know each other that well and they haven't spent that much time together. Trust me, they'll eventually warm up to each other. Next chapter – Hot Springs! Please review and let me know what you think of my story!

Love, Archer