A/N: Hellooooo there. It's been a while, hasn't it? I apologise! I'm really sorry. I had school? Not kidding I did. I had exams. Those were scary. I passed them all...which was nice :D But that's not really an excuse. I actually had the first scene of this typed down fairly quickly, then I just left it for weeks because um it was sunny and I live for magazines even if they're obnoxious and have NO IDEA about high fashion.

That's not the point. (I think.)

Anyway I'm here to deliver a hot day, some hot guys, a hot guy interacting quickly nicely with a pretty girl and some other stuff. It was going to be delivered like a week ago but then I thought to myself, 'Maybe I should get this beta-ed to make sure it's not insane and check for errors' ('cause remember my last A/N and the mistakes that followed? Yeah...that was awkward) and enlisted my dearest Anonymous Human for the task! A wonderful person who currently has no known gender, so that's why it's an it. You rock, dude! Babe! idk. Just... Just go to its profile and check it out. And its stories. THEY RAWK. Plus I semi-beta-ed Cheshire so it's obvs amazing.

Aaaand...here it is! Have fun! Don't freak out! (I can easily do that for you.)

To all my wonderful reviewers and their heartwarming reviews...thank you soooo much! I enjoy writing in Kyo's POV CAUSE i LOVE HIM SO MUCH MY DARLING. But this chapter his sadly Kyo-POV free. I know it upsets me too. For the suggestion of Shigure's POV, even if that was a joke (was it?)...it's still really possible. I like Shigure, but I think writing his way would be a mix of playful and twisted and I'm not entirely sure how I'd do it. Somehow. Maybe.

HUGS!

It was hot. Annoyingly so. She was sprawled in a most unladylike manner across the grass, staring into the cloudy sky. How could it be so warm and yet look so ugly? The answer, however, evaded her, and the heat made it difficult to think. Already, she had stripped to her petticoats and chemise, and was now seriously considering a dip in the lake that was spread beyond her. There was no soft breeze to uplift the choking warmth, and it made her lethargic, struggling to pay attention to the conversation of the girls around her. The food was finished, the drinks all gone, and she was hoping she had just heard Tohru ask a maid to bring out some more.

Arisa was not tired, merely roasting hot. Her limbs were scorching to touch, she knew, and her cheeks rosy with the sun. Glancing to her left, she found Saki with her black hosiery pulled off and left in a heap with her buckled shoes, seated at the edge of the lake, submerging her calves in what Arisa imagined as gloriously cool water. She placed her hands by her side and sat herself up, shutting her eyes against the wave of dizziness that hit her head, before opening them and smiling at the scene before her. Tohru was smiling, conversing cheerfully with the young girl named Kisa. Miss Kagura was watching the scene with a soft tilt of the lips, looking somewhat content, yet after watching for a moment more, Arisa found that she could detect a hint of fear in the woman's eyes as she glanced around the gardens, as if making sure there were no suspicious lingerers. After several rounds of this, Miss Kagura seemed to realise she was being watched, and her head whirled down in worry only to meet Arisa's confused eyes with her own now indignant ones. More than a little embarrassed, Arisa turned away, hoping to pass her red cheeks off as burning from the sun.

"Care for a dip, Arisa?" Saki asked her, drfting her fingers across the surface of the lake.

"Mmm?" Arisa murmured. "I don't see why not."

"B-but Uo!" Tohru gasped. "Hana! Are we not outside? You could be seen!"

"I care not for what other people think," Arisa said crassly. "You should know that by now."

"O-of course."

Arisa rolled her eyes and smiled to herself, a little dreamily, as she ridded herself of the unnecessary clothing, leaving her in her near-transparent white shirt, long enough to cover her body to mid-thigh. She wore no corset - she had no need for such silly things - and wore no rouge upon her lips, so there would be no ruining of her complexion. She turned to Saki, who was wearing all layers but the dark dress she had been on, folded carefully beside her shoes.

Arisa tried not to grin at her friend's stubbornness, and held a hand out. "Together?" she asked.

"One moment," Saki replied, turning to the other staring girls. "Do any of you have a ribbon to tie my hair back with?"

Little Kisa nodded, pulling one end of the rose ribbon in her hair to undo the bow, before daintily standing up and giving it to Saki. The latter preceded to tie back her hair with nimble fingers, turning to Arisa when she was finished and taking her hand.

"Count of three?"

"Hm."

Saki never waited for three to come as Arisa counted, pulling them both forward into the lake just as a young boy-man appeared with a silver-plated tray of sparkling drinks. The boy-man stared at the two women in the lake with a childlike look of bewilderment, curiosity, and shock. He was quickly shooed away by a chortling Miss Kagura, however, after setting the drinks down on the blanket that had been set down upon the grass for them to sit prettily upon.

Arisa sighed in contentedness, the water cooling her skin and clearing her mind. She dunked herself beneath the surface, wetting her face and hair, before kicking herself back up and shaking her head, her hair whipping through the air. Saki was lolling around in the water, on her back, her feet kicking lightly as she moved herself further out.

"Oh, please, make sure you don't go to far out!" Tohru called out anxiously as Arisa began to swim away from the small group (her now deceased uncle, from America, had taught her when she was five years old).

"It becomes rather deep nearer the centre, you know," Miss Kagura added, sounding a little less worried. Arisa chose to ignore this, and swam out until she could no longer hear their voices, and was free to dwell. It must have been a half hour earlier that she had seen Mr Kyo retreat from his fight with Mr Hatsuharu. From where she had been sitting, Mr Kyo had moved with the sense that he had already been in a fight, and Tohru and Miss Kagura recalled finding Mr Yuki and Mr Kyo fighting - or, really, Mr Kyo being defeated by Mr Yuki - earlier. Against Mr Haru, however, the redhead had seemed strong - a little weaker that what he may have been, but strong. And then he had stopped Mr Haru from falling - though Arisa was far below the two of them, she had seen the blood on both. Saki had disappeared for a moment to see how the two were, and reported back that they were merely cleaning themselves up. She had returned with the air of a woman in doubt of her own actions, but after Arisa made sure she was okay, she seemed to become more sure of herself.

Why had there been so much brawling? Were the Sohma men just naturally violent? Or were there more internal frustrations brewing within the Sohma compound? Frustrations that, in all honesty, Arisa had no part of?

Except...

Except there would always be Mr Kureno Sohma. She hadn't heard from him since the last letter, hadn't seen him anywhere, and the rumour mill was oddly absent of gossip containing him, his whereabouts, or why he had even left. However, Arisa couldn't let her heart forget about him, and it would seem it didn't want to. She longed for his hair, to see his eyes, listen to his wonderfully musical voice once, twice, a dozen times more...

Such wistfulness she kept inside of herself. She didn't want to burden another - especially Tohru - with her feelings, too weighty to be let out with words, too insignificant to be told with dreams. She wondered what he could possibly be doing at this moment in time, if he was even thinking of her, or if he was consumed in another matter entirely... If he even remembered her name. She remembered his.

Kureno Sohma. How she missed him. Was it not entirely silly? Such a...preposterous an emotion, such a large age gap, such a...such brief meetings, at balls or when she happened to see him in town, the feel of her name on his tongue and the way he danced, his hands clumsy but his feet graceful, his palms refreshingly cool and dry as he moved with her in almost stubbornness.

To think and feel and dream of one person so much - how could anyone stand it? Was this what Hana felt about Lord Kazuma? Or how Tohru had felt about Mr Yuki? How could she possibly part with him in such circumstances if she did? Or perhaps her case wasn't quite so severe as Arisa's own? Or perhaps such a feeling was now being directed towards Mr Kyo? It was unlikely, but possible. In such smothering heat and such volatile men involved, in seemed that quite nearly anything was possible. How lovely. How destructive.

Perhaps more destructive than lovely at the moment it would seem, if the earlier few fights were to go by.

Opening her eyes - unaware that she had even shut them - and straightening her body, she realised that her toes could no longer touch the stone-covered bottom. Looking round, she found herself further from shore than she had previously thought, squinting her eyes against the flat light to see Tohru standing, waving frantically, motioning for her to return to the picnic. Arisa looked further and found Saki still lolling on the surface of the water, and Arisa was sure her eyes were shut but not dreaming, and she wondered, vaguely, what it was like to live in sound. Dismissing such useless thoughts, however, she turned so she was floating on her stomach and begant to kick through the water, swiping her arms as she gained a little momentum, pushing through the lake to make it to safer waters.

As she moved towards the shallower area, she allowed her eyes to wander past the murkey bluish white of lake and towards the actual estate - it was beautiful architecture, built in a time long gone and recently refurbished before the current generation had moved in. It was built of golden sandstone and dark slate roofs, with balconies and bay windows and high ceilings. Standing atop one of these balconies, Arisa noted, must be Mr Kyo - she could notice his distinctive hair from a mile off, and, if she squinted, the tiny red dots that were his irises. Such eye colouring was wildly unnatural, but then again the Sohmas were a rather...eccentric family. Mr Hatsuharu had black and white hair, whilst she was certain that Lord Hatori had lilac eyes. It had been around for so long that most people ignored it these days - the elders in the society would sometimes comment on how unusual the Sohma colourings had been when they were young, or what their parents had told them about the earlier Sohmas - blues, green, whites, reds - every colour of the rainbow - and here Arisa was, blonde with brown eyes, as though such normality could ever ben noticeable for someone like Lord Kureno's standards.

She was so foolish...yet when she heard old spinsters speaking together in crowded tearooms, they had always made foolishness sound so appealing.

Then again, there was a reason they were spinsters. And it was terribly disrespectful of Arisa to think of them like that, but more often than not she was a terribly disrespectful person. Or she had been. Tohru had changed that, a little.

"Arisa?" Saki's voice was soft but not unwelcome in Arisa's torrid thoughts. "You're swimming much too quickly."

Slowing, Arisa realised she must have been splashing water everywhere, and moved a little less violently towards Saki, who was still on her back, staring into the sky with her large, dark eyes.

"Sorry. I...didn't realise."

"No, I suppose you wouldn't." Saki's eyes slid shut for a moment and she sighed, barely noticeably, before opening them again. "Shall we return to dear Tohru? I'm almost certain she deeply misses our glorious company."

"Yes," Arisa quickly agreed. "Although I cannot bear this heat at all without the water."

"I'm sure we'll get by with a heavy lot of cool drinks and perhaps a bucket of ice or two."

"How lovely."

"Lovely indeed."

Still lying upon her back, Saki kicked herself further inshore, whilst Arisa swam, a little more slowly this time, by her, until they reached where water met land and climbed out. Arisa wandered the few metres to the blankets and promptly fell upon them, already overcome with the sheer heat as her soaking clothing clung to her. She would have to change at some point, but the warmth combined with her cold clothes was overwhelming even as Tohru offered to get them some more drinks.

"Just find a maid to get them, Tohru," Arisa advised, keeping her eyes shut.

"Oh no, it would be much quicker if I just went and got some myself! Besides, then I can make your favourites the way you like them, instead of the way the cooks think they should be done, and maybe I could get some food too and perhaps even find people to join us-"

"Enough, Tohru," Miss Kagura laughed. "I'm sure the cook will hardly mind if you decide to make the drinks yourself. I doubt they would be inconvenienced in any way, nor the maids."

"Most likely they shall thank you, dear Tohru," Saki quickly supported Miss Kagura, her voice soft.

Arisa strained not to roll her eyes. "You only say that so that she can make you her special iced tea with five ice cubes and honey."

"Mmm, honey," Saki murmured. "It has been far too long."

Tohru had leaped up, in the most ladylike way, instantly. "I'll be going, then, no worries!"

"Miss Tohru! Miss Tohru, wait," little Miss Kisa quickly called out before Tohru went inside.

"Hm? Yes?"

"You shouldn't... Lady Akito would not be happy with you in the kitchens, so I...think you should try to...avoid being seen there by her." Miss Kisa looked so worried, her brows creasing as she gazed at Tohru with her large eyes.

"Oh, well, of course then," Tohru said. "I shall try! I shall be back soon!"

"Don't forget the iced tea, Tohru," Arisa said.

"Nor the honey," Saki added.

"I shall not!" Tohru beamed at them before bustling towards the back entrance of the estate, her sillouhette being swallowed by shade before she was inside.

Opening her eyes and lowering her gaze to the estate, Arisa was not surprised to see that the dots of orange that had been Mr Kyo were now gone, leaving nicked golden behind. Shutting her eyes again, Arisa let her head fall back to the blanket, aware only vaguely of the light chatter that had now commenced between Miss Kagura and Miss Kisa, with Saki joining in if she felt so inclined. Instead, she allowed her thoughts to drift once more, and did not restrain herself when they again turned to Lord Kureno. For now, she felt like she could dream of him forever, and perhaps that may even be okay. How lovely.

Tohru managed to slip through the estate for the most part without being seen by anyone at all. She thought she had glimpsed Mr Yuki very briefly, but at the turn of the head and the shut of a door he was gone, and, though worried and a little bewildered, Tohru continued on, taking passages that she felt Lady Akito would be least likely to wander. The picnic had gone mostly quite nicely, with the exception of watching Mr Hatsuharu and Kyo brawling with each other like dogs. Her worry for Kyo managed not to overshadow lunch, although now she was apart from the others it grew, manifested, until she could not help but wonder - is he bleeding? Is he injured? Are he and Mr Hatsuharu still friends? Saki had told her that he was quite alright, but having not checked herself she couldn't feel completely at ease...

However, she was inside to make drinks, not to dwell on possibilities that Saku had already assured her were non-existent.

That was when she heard the shouting.

She immediately froze, detected where it was coming from, and followed the sound until she came across Lady Akito and Lady Isuzu in a drawing room, the former standing whilst the latter sat, her head bowed but her eyes on Lady Akito's face, narrowed in...anger? Or...or hatred? Tohru wasn't sure, so she lingered just out of sight of the two, against the wall by the door. It was terrible rude to listen, but Tohru's worry was now due to whatever words were being shouted at Lady Isuzu. She decided she would wait till it was over and see if Lady Isuzu was alright.

Lady Akito's voice sounded scratchy yet loud, her words whispered in fury in such a way that they filled the whole room. A peek through the door showed the lady's face, contorted with ugly rage, her delicate hands balled into fists, her whole stature tense, as if it was all ready to blow at any second. Tohru shivered to think of herself facing such a...intimidating woman herself. She would most likely keel over with apologies. Another peek found Lady Isuzu merely listening to the other's rant, her features disinterested, yet her shoulders trembled and her fingers were clasped tightly in her lap, turning the tips white with pressure.

Not looking away, Tohru watched as the tongues stopped for a moment and all communication silenced. The quiet was chilling to the bone and almost penetrating. Tohru would have withdrawn from the door and continued her quest to make drinks if her curiosity - and her worry - had not been so strong. Lady Isuzu intrigued with her beguiling looks and cold demeanour, and seeing her shake in such fear of Lady Akito left Tohru wanting to know, for to know was to understand, and to understand was to be able to comunicate with Lady Isuzu directly, to care for her, to perhaps even...be her confidante.

"This is ridiculous!" Akito finally snapped, seething. "You must know better! Such a silly girl like you... You simply cannot walk out of balls like that with no notice, direction, discretion...! Do you not understand how important your presence there is?" Silence. "You answer me, girl, when I am speaking to you! Do you not understand the consequences of this? Your utter defiance will not be tolerated any longer! One more...slip up, and I will not hesitate to send you out of the country! Or perhaps..." Lady Akito paused, eyeing Lady Isuzu with a smug smile, glittering irises surrounding dark pupils. "Perhaps," she continued, her voice quivering slightly, her breathing more shallow, "you would like to see the Cat's Room."

Lady Isuzu had listened to the tirade rather politely, until she unlatched her fingers and held them to her eyes, inspecting her nails, fidgeting every so slightly. Lady Akito's words had stilled her - her fingers, long and pale, froze for but a second, before her hands dropped uselessly to her side. Her eyes widened in shock and terror, her lips gaping over.

"I thought so." Lady Akito's voice was chilling and slithery like the snakes men talked of to scare women. "Dismissed. If anyone asks, which they should, tell them I have retired to my chambers for a rest. I find the sun terribly hot. Do make sure a maid fetches me some drinks." With this, Lady Akito withdrew from the room using the French doors leading to the her private garden, striding to the left, passing the one Tohru was hiding behind without a passing glance, and she gave a sigh of relief even as her mind reeled. Did Lady Akito treat all her relatives this way? If Lady Isuzu wished to retire from a ball early, what was wrong with that? What other slip ups had Lady Isuzu committed? Telling Tohru of the curse? This wasn't- was this Tohru's fault? What was the Cat's Room? Something Tohru most likely wished not to know of, judging by Lady Isuzu's reaction - but now the subject had arisen, her inquenchable curiousity had grown and now itched badly inside Tohru's throat. Lady Isuzu was still sitting in the room. Perhaps she could-

Inquenchable...

She almost slapped herself. Drinks. She was meant to be making drinks for everyone, not prying into Lady Isuzu's private life! If Lady Akito wanted Tohru to know of this Cat's Room, she would tell her. However, such a conversation had not taken place, so Tohru would remain unknowledgeable - but ever-wondering - of this room. She would fetch the drinks, and return to her friends as though nothing had happened.

Just as she made this resolution, she looked up, past the still statuesque Lady Isuzu to see Kyo standing behind the door opposite her's, his expression a less intense version of Lady Isuzu's at the mention of the Cat's Room. As she met his eyes, they darted from her and he turned away, gone before she could blink.

Before someone else could catch her, Tohru hurried to the kitchens, almost getting lost several times, her mind too filled with other things as her hands moved mindlessly through the motions of making drinks. The chefs had, of course, protested at first, but once Tohru had asked them to make tea for Lady Akito, they had gone about their duty without fuss.

The kitchen was wondrous, and ever would it be, Tohru hoped. A high ceiling, a small, impressive fireplace with its own chimney if there should ever be need for it. The floor was a cold, smooth cyan, the walls tiled white and marked with the grub of grease and hot soot, not yet cleaned off by the never-idle maids. There were gleaming countertops beneath the haze of steam and the vapour was almost visible when the sun slanted just right, as it did now, through the large windows, pouring its wealth upon the dark stove, the pantry, the sizable sink brimming with bubbles. The light provided such a natural warmth that coated Tohru in sweet honey syrup, and she was content to dwell on colder matters if she could return to the security of such heat.

If Lady Isuzu leaving a ball early was constituted as wrong, then what else would be named as such? Was Lady Akito really so strict? Were these ancient rules of the Sohma? Or perhaps Lady Akito had been searching for a beau for Lady Isuzu, and the latter leaving early gave off a rather uninterested impression? Yet didn't Lady Isuzu rather like Mr Hatsuharu? Well...'rather like' was quite the understatement, wasn't it? Was this why Lady Akito disliked Lady Isuzu? Had Lady Isuzu comitted transgressions in the past? Were all the Sohma treated so severely? Or was it just those who lived within the estate? What about the Three Lords? Did they have a say in anything? It seemed so, yet there was a respect - and a little resentment - that emanated from them in Lady Akito's company. Why was she so important? She hadn't married, yet a had a child. She had no greater knowledge and offered no wise words. She - was a she. In this society, that was enough reason for men to do anything to them. Had a man - or men, as it could be - done anything to Lady Akito? Were the Lords caring for her? Did she need the control of putting people down, to survive? Or would she be too lost in her thoughts the rest of the time, the way Tohru was now?

Not that Tohru realised this until a chef patted her shoulder and disturbed her from her series of unending questions. She'd been stirring her special iced tea with five ice cubes and honey for several minutes now without even noticing, and quickly set them onto a coated iron tray. Then, remembering mid-afternoon hunger and the promise of ice and food, Tohru scoured around for some treats and loaded some buckets with ice, and was standing, puzzling over how to take everything outside, when glinting golden and a cheerful smile appeared in front of her.

"Miss Tohru!" the owner of these exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in the longest time!"

"Mr Momiji, it is lovely to see you again! Why, we met only last night at the ball!" They both laughed, sweetly. "And please, call me Tohru."

"Then call me Momiji," he beamed back. "Where are you going? Who's all this for?"

"Some of the girls and I were having a picnic outside," Tohru informed him. "Would you care to join us?"

"Am I allowed into a female-only picnic?" Momiji asked. Tohru nodded eagerly. "Yay! I would love to join you then. Would you like me to carry anything?"

"Would you? How kind! Could you possibly take the buckets of ice then, please? It is deliriously hot outside, my friends are going mad from the heat and requested them." Momiji was only several years younger than her - three, if she remembered correctly - and already quite the gentlemen, bending down to pick up the buckets with ease, a smile on his face the whole time.

"Anything for Tohru!" he replied, beginning to skip his way out.

Tohru grinned back, carefully balancing the food and drink on the tray and holding it steadily as she followed him back out to the gardens, taking a much shorter way than her prolonged one. Once outside she could easily spot her friends sitting down on their blankets, but she found two extra heads that she had not been expecting - one bright white one, the other vibrant orange.

Her heart plunged to somewhere around the area of her stomach as joy took hold of her mouth, and concern over her mind.

Kyo and Mr Hatsuharu had been fighting previously - were they okay now? What had compelled them to join the picnic?

"Kyo! Haru!" Momiji shouted. "Were you invited too?" Aside to Tohru he added, "I thought this was girls-only!"

"Perhaps Lady Kagura asked them to join?" Tohru mused. It took only seconds for them to make their way to the group, and Tohru knelt slowly next to Arisa - who was still only in her chemise - and carefully deposited the tray upon the blanket. "I'm afraid I only brought food and drink for five," she told the three boys. "Would you like me to go back for more?"

"I'm fine, Tohru!" Momiji said.

"No need, Miss Tohru," Mr Hatusharu said. "We can all share."

"Yes," Tohru agreed. "Yes, exactly!"

"You honestly brought out some ice?" Arisa suddenly demanded. "Tohru, I truly have no other way to say this, but I really rather envy Mr Kyo for being able to have you. If I were a man, I would make you my wife."

Miss Kisa burst into giggles and Momiji piped up: "I do too!"

Kyo glared at him, though Tohru was much too flustered to notice.

"Oh, Arisa, I was just doing what friends should do for each other! You asked for ice, so I merely consented to get some."

"Thank you Tohru. At this rate I should think I owe you my life."

"Really, you need owe no such thing!"

"And I too, Tohru," Saki added.

"We love you, Tohru."

"I... I love you both, too."

They converged in the centre of the picnic, Tohru's eyes already trickling too-emotional tears as the three hugged each other tightly.

"Wow, Kyo. This really reminds me of you and Momiji back in the good old days," Mr Hatsuharu interupted the loving silence.

"Momiji and I were never like that," Kyo asserted as the girls returned to their previous positions, Arisa throwing an arm over her eyes, Saki watching the scene whilst scoffing a scone, and Tohru's eyes wide as the thought of Momiji and Kyo ever being such close friends.

"I think you were," Haru replied, a knowing smirk lighting his eyes.

"We were, we were! We would always talk at New Year's, remember? And you always called me annoying and I always thought you were so cool even though you're the Cat!" Momiji enthused.

Except no one replied and Tohru's memory perked up - the Cat's Room. Did that room have something to do with Kyo?

"What-?" she began to ask as Kyo's features went blank and Kagura's jaw ticked.

"It's just a family joke," Mr Hatsuharu explained. "Because Kyo's hair is so similar to a cat's, see?"

Tohru saw, but she wasn't sure if she believed. She could tell by the critical look in Saki's eyes that she didn't either.

"They call me a cow, because of my hair," Mr Hatsuharu continued. "And Rin is the horse, because she runs so fast, and Momiji's the rabbit because he's so nice and cute. Hatori's the dragon, because he's always trying to protect everyone. Yes?"

A cat, cow, horse, rabbit, dragon. They sounded familiar, but in her worry she could not figure it out. "Yes," she replied, if a little uncertainly. A thought sprung to her mind, and she quickly asked, "What is Akito?"

Mr Hatsuharu chuckled, low and almost dark. Kyo's face was similarly twisted and Lady Kagura's contorted - little Lady Kisa was verging on confusion, though knowing lurked in her eyes, whilst Momiji's smile was that tad duller that brought confusion to the forefront of Tohru's emotions again.

"We like to call that hag our 'god'," Mr Hatsuharu declared, "because she makes all the rules."

And Tohru was at once raging in curiousity and quelled in understanding.

"Or perhaps," Saki's quiet voice begun, "because your entire existence depends upon her?"

"That's one way to look at it," Lady Kagura cut in a little savagely. "But does a family joke require such analyzing?"

"I was only wondering," Saki said.

The silence was overpowering for seconds, and Tohru gulped down her iced tea in an effort to relieve it when Momiji said, "The sky is so blue today! I don't think I've ever seen it so blue. I hope the sky is clear tonight, so we can see the stars! Tohru, have you ever made a wish upon a star?"

She had, the night before the ball in which she had kissed Yuki. How long ago did it seem now? She had wished- well, it seemed a little silly now. For her and Yuki to become closer, and it had come true, but, oh-! It made everything much more complicated. They had become closer when they were to be torn apart.

"Yes," she finally answered.

"Did it ever come true?"

"...Yes," she admitted.

"Mine too! I wished I would meet a beautiful, fun lady and then I met you!" Momiji was certainly charming, and his words forced bubbles of laughter to escape Tohru's lips.

"Keep saying things like that, Momiji, and you'll have this guy to deal with," Mr Hatsuharu warned jokingly, tilting his head to a scowling Kyo.

Momiji's eyes lit up. "Is Kyo jealous? Is he upset that I'm talking to his fiancee?" His words almost sounded like taunts.

"I'm not jealous," Kyo stated, his voice low and bristling with unsaid words - or swears, more likely.

"No," Mr Hatsuharu agreed. "He only wishes that he could be so sweet and poetic to Tohru like you are."

Kyo grunted, irritated.

Tohru found that her heart was still floundering around belly, and her palms, already sticky with the heat, were slick with nerves.

She was incredibly happy at Mr Hatsuharu's words, and stubborn Kyo made her smile so much that she got to her feet and tripped her way to him, landing lightly next to him to tell him he need not be as cloying with his words as Momiji, for his own were just fine.

Kyo, who had been staring straight ahead, turned his head towards her, resting it upon her shoulder in thanks.

The contact made her dizzy with joy and she found her desire for more moving her hand to take Kyo's in her own. He was stiff for a second, unresponsive - but then his fingers were steel and wrapped round her own, holding tight. He looked scared, and worried, and such emotions looked so out of place on him that smoothing his hair was the only thing she could think of to alleviate it.

Somewhere out of sight and out of mind, Kagura snorted and Momiji watched with the air of a man who had lost something before he'd even realised he'd wanted it.

Conversation wavered briefly before returning easily. Kyo's head did not lift from Tohru's shoulder and she found she rather liked it that way, nor did his hand release her own. He stayed relatively quiet, and his thumb would run down her hand whenever she laughed, like he was encouraging her to keep doing it.

So she did. It wasn't terribly difficult - Mr Hatsuharu had the gift of entertainment and had his own rakish tales that were available for telling, with his own touch of flat wit. Momiji would inject his own bubbles of joy, and Arisa seemed very content with this talk, her gift of banter allowing her easy back-and-forth with Mr Hatsuharu. Tohru was immune to the fact that, whilst Saki was aware of conversation and inserted her own dry words in every now and then, her eyes remained quite fixed on herself and Kyo.

No one asked why she was staring, which was usually perceived as the height of rudeness, so Tohru soon drew the conclusion that either her friends were too afraid of Hana to call her out on it, or were longing to do the same.

On occasion she could also feel Lady Kagura's eyes burning holes in her, but she tried to ignore it because she understood that there was some kind of past with her and Kyo and it really was quite rude of her to flounce their friend- relation- ship in her inherently lovely face.

Yet Tohru was at no pains to rid herself of the contact with Kyo. It was- strange, and she quite honestly had no words to describe the curious longing she had for him. She'd grown quite fond of Kyo as the days passed by, and really, if they were going to be married it would be nice to at least be friendly with her partner.

Several minutes of merry chatter passed by Tohru in a haze of amusement, moments washed in bliss that she'd forget within days, and it was not until Kyo stiffened next to her that she was revived from the conversation and took on some awareness of what was going on around her.

Kyo had just jumped up when Lady Kagura called out, "Kazuma! Join us!"

Tohru paused in her act of turning round to look for herself when she stopped in surprise of Lady Kagura's familiarity with the lord, before quickly deciding that they must have met each other before.

"Come on, Kazuma!" Mr Hatsuharu also requested.

"Kazuma, Kazuma! Have some food! Tohru just made us some iced tea and it tastes lovely, you should try some!"

"Why, Momiji, I'd be honoured," Lord Kazuma answered, Kyo at his side, tugging him down as Kyo sat next to Tohru. He reached for the glass Momiji was handing over, before glancing at Tohru and asking, "May I?"

"Go ahead," she encouraged. "It's really not as nice as Momiji makes it sound."

"It is, it is!" Momiji protested. "Even Kyo thinks so!"

At which point the said man nodded stoicly next to his master.

Lord Kazuma grinned at her, raised the glass, then tipped it back for a sip.

"Truly delicious," he concurred.

Tohru beamed in pride.

"Isn't it?" Saki asked, her eyes finally moving from the couple to the elder man. "Tohru is such a wonder in the kitchen. I am so overjoyed that she is such a close friend of mine."

Lord Kazuma smiled back. "It would seem so. A fitting choice of a lady for Kyo, I think. There may even be the possibilty of her actually making him happy."

"Difficult to do, I imagine."

"I go to such agonies to make him so."

"I do of course understand the desire to make someone happy," Saki stated, leaning a little further in, her dark eyes locked on Lord Kazuma's.

Kyo twitched next to Tohru, and she stifled a giggle. She turned to Arisa, quirking her head towards the talking two. Arisa nodded, her eyes a little calculating as they bounced between the two.

"I thought you would," Lord Kazuma was saying. "You're very comprehensive for a woman of your age."

Tohru shifted a little closer to Kyo so that she could whisper into his ear, "Lord Kazuma and Saki seem to be getting on very well, don't they?"

Kyo did not respond.

Tohru tried again. "You don't think Saki...well...likes Lord Kazuma, do you? And he seems quite intrigued by her, don't you agree?"

"Absolutely not," Kyo declared, not bothering to keep his voice down. "I refuse that prospect entirely."

Tohru frowned. "Why?" she asked, her voice considerably lower than Kyo's, trying to hint at him to stay a little quieter.

"Because- because then she'd- I don't want her to be- I mean-!" Kyo spluttered, still not quieting down.

And Tohru remembered. "Ah! You think of Lord Kazuma as a father figure! So Saki would be a mother figure!" She tried not to grin...

...yet within seconds she was rolling round in the hilarity of it all.

"It's not funny!" Kyo hissed. "This is completely serious! What if- what if they start going out for tea and he dances with her at balls and he courts her and proposes and they get married and then I'll be her son! God knows what people will think! A mother two years older than her son! Even if it is just in-laws!"

"Don't be so blasphemous!" she whispered, still chortling. "I think Saki would be a wonderful mother."

"I bloody well don't."

"Kyo!"

"What?"

"You're being rude!"

"And...when am I not?"

"Sometimes, Kyo, I think you're forgetting you can be rather sweet to me."

"Yes, well...you're you."

That almost sidetracked Tohru - see, how sweet? - but she merely smiled before saying, "I'm sure you can be lovely to Saki, too."

"With great difficulty."

"That'll be enough for Saki!"

"I don't want it to be enough for her. I don't want her to marry him. I don't want a bloody mother!"

"Kyo," she shushed. "You need to stop swearing. Don't you value your master's happinness? Even if it is found with Saki?"

Kyo scowled. She could envisage the answer, quite clearly: Not at the expense of mine, thank you very much. Instead, he replied grumpily, "Can't he be happy without her?"

Tohru struggled with an answer for but a moment until she captured Mr Hatusharu, not participating in any conversation, staring gloomily to the ground. "Imagine Mr Hatsuharu without Lady Isuzu."

And this seemed to effectively get the point across, as Kyo quietened down, and frowned, his eyes taking on a faraway look as if he was working out an algebra equation.

Finally, Kyo managed out, "But he doesn't like her that much." He paused. "Or...or does he?"

Tohru cast a glance over the two - deep in conversation, and even deeper in each other's eyes.

"Perhaps in the future. I...it's a possibility. Have you not seen them dancing together at balls previously?"

Tohru watched as Kyo racked his brains for an image that might help him with this. No such luck, Tohru could see.

"Perhaps you were outside," she suggested, "or playing snooker." She didn't say the name of the room a snooker table would be situated in, but Kyo got it anyway.

"I'm not a gambler," he muttered. "And I'm no good at snooker anyway." The frown appeared. "I was most likely outside." He looked back at the two, still talking. "Did they...dance often?"

"Almost every ball attended that they were both at, or so I've heard."

Kyo cursed. "For how long?"

"Since he got back, of course."

"They didn't know each other before, did they?"

"Not as far as I'm aware..." She fixed her gaze back on Kyo. "Perhaps they knew each other in passing?"

"He never mentioned her to me."

"Nor her to me."

"...Then again, why would he?" Kyo drove his head back into his hand. "God dammit."

She leaned down to speak to him. "Kyo," she murmured, "why is it such a problem?"

"It's not a problem!" he insisted. "It's just-"

"-and what are you two talking about?" Lord Kazuma interrupted them, Tohru's head jerking up as she saw the rest of the group smirking to each other.

"Whispering together," Arisa observed, grinning. "Care to share?"

"Not in the slightest," Kyo replied testily.

"Kyo and Tohru were telling each other secrets, of course!" Momiji exclaimed. "Tell me too?"

Kyo didn't even care to give this one a reply. Smiling at Momiji, Tohru said, "We were just discussing how much nicer the picnic is now that Lord Kazuma is eating with us!" Perhaps her smile was a little too manic - she never liked lying - but Momiji either already knew or didn't care as he bobbed his head.

"And I'm afraid I'm eating everything up!" Lord Kazuma inserted, even though he was doing nothing of the sort. "Would you like me to get some more food?"

"That is really not necessary, though thank you for offering," Tohru immediately replied. "I just got some-"

"What a wonderful idea, Kazuma," Saki smiled, standing. "I'll come with you."

They smiled, Lord Kazuma ruffled Kyo's hair, and the pair sauntered back inside.

Kyo sprawled out, clutching his head and repeating, "Why oh why oh why oh why," until it was slurrred into one big, "Whyohwhyohwhy."

Tohru smiled sympathetically.

Mr Hatsuharu, roused from his previous musings, wandered over and patted Kyo's head. "Fight on," he advised.

Kyo peeled his hands from his eyes and grabbed onto Mr Hatsuharu's shoulders. "Help me," he requested. "Help me get rid of her before she steals Master from me!"

Mr Hatsuharu surveyed Kyo for a moment, before concluding, "I think Kazuma will be very happy with Miss Hanajima."

At this, Kyo tore his hands from Mr Hatsuharu and decided that was some reason it would be a good idea to start pummeling the ground with his fists.

"Kyo!" Tohru gasped. "Stop!"

"Kyo," Lady Kagura sighed, "when will you learn?"

Kyo paid no heed to them.

"Kyo?" little Lady Kisa raised her voice. "Kazuma won't be very happy if he sees you like this."

It was probably the most Tohru had ever heard Lady Kisa say to Kyo.

Her remaining friends seemed to be in a similar state of shock, even Kyo, who had now frozen and turned over onto his back, slowly sitting up, rubbing his forehead.

"Ugh."

"We know," Mr Hatsuharu supplied.

"You should be happier for Kazuma for finding his one great love!" Momiji cried.

"I simply refuse."

"Beggars can't be choosers," Arisa drawled.

"I'm not exactly begging."

"Kyo, keep acting like that and you won't see the forest for the trees," Lady Kagura pointed out.

"Good."

"Kyo," Tohru tried, "Kazuma will still be yours even if he does marry Saki."

Kyo frowned at this, and Tohru watched as his eyes flashed, a battle commencing within them. Tohru adored to watch - were his eyes not the most sensational shade of red? She really could not describe it even if she tried, so she didn't.

She wished she could.

"Well," Kyo struggled out. "Well, then, he's just not going to marry her then, is he? I don't- I won't- it's not fair!"

"What's not fair?" someone asked cheerfully.

"Why it's so warm but there's no sun!" Momiji offered easily. "I love sun! It's so beautiful, don't you think?"

"Of course I do," Lord Kazuma agreed, setting down a platter of treats whilst Saki pottered over to Arisa and sat down, looking rather pleased with herself. Arisa turned to her, and they conferred quietly for a moment, before Saki returned her attention to Lord Kazuma and Arisa gave Tohru a meaningful look.

Tohru wondered exactly what happened, but she stayed quiet, not wishing to aggravate Kyo further. She understood why Saki's and Lord Kazuma's possible relationship bothered him, so now all she needed to do was remedy this. Perhaps she should explain to him all that it meant for them to be together? That in a world where so few people married for love, it would be cruel for Kyo to deny them that? Or perchance it was possible for him to see their love blossom and grow himself? If there was love, of course - but it seemed very likely, and Tohru envied her friend for finding love so easily.

Although, of course, it was a different thing to find love and then to be with that love. Age would most likely be the main obstacle for Saki and Lord Kazuma - it wasn't necessary for Saki to marry some higher-up, for she was rather independantly wealthy and she had a younger brother to carry on the Hanajima name - and whilst Saki's family were odd in the way they were very accepting, society was very predictable in the way it would gossip about such a relationship - eighteen years, oh my! - in disgust.

Not that Saki would be very bothered about such a thing, and Lord Kazuma seemed to ignore most of society's dictations anyway.

So...so it was likely that Kyo would be the main problem himself, and Tohru - oh, how, strangely, she longed for Kyo's happiness, but also her dear friend's so how could she make this work?

"Miss Tohru?" Lord Kazuma's pulled her from her thoughts. "A scone?"

She beamed. "That would be lovely, thank you." He sliced it in two and set it on a plate, offering her jam and butter with a charming smile. Yes, she concluded, the age gap was rather large, but he was such a lovely man, and Saki was clearly very fond of him, so why should they not be together?

She quickly buttered the scone and spread some strawberry jam on it, before tearing a piece off and handing it to Kyo. "Does it taste good?" she asked as he chewed.

He nodded mutely.

She took a bite, her eyes almost fluttering shut as strawberry burst in her mouth. Delicious. She really must commend the cooks more often.

"They're very good, aren't they?" Lord Kazuma asked Tohru as various other conversations started up between the others.

"Marvelous," Tohru agreed. "The cooks must spend much time perfecting their recipes. Wouldn't you say so, Kyo?"

He blinked. "I suppose."

"You absolutely must try one of these," Saki told them, gesturning to the fluffy brown cake slice on her plate, half-eaten. "Heaven."

"I'll be certain to try one after," Lord Kazuma replied.

Tohru could tell that Kyo was incensed by the way he interrupted, almost childishly, "Master! We have hardly spoken about last night!"

"Never mind last night," Lord Kazuma replied, his brow furrowing in concern, "what happened this morning? Surely you didn't get into another fight with Yuki?"

Tohru didn't miss Kyo's downward tug of the mouth when Lord Kazuma mentioned Yuki.

"He did," Saki answered instead. "And with Mr Hatsuharu, on the roof."

Mr Hatsuharu perked up as Kyo scowled at Tohru's friend. "I didn't mean to," Kyo defended himself. "I was only walking back to my room to change when Yuki just started...being himself." Lord Kazuma did not seem impressed. "I did not start it! I don't even understand why he wanted to! I was doing nothing wrong."

"Then why proceed to fight with Haru?" Lord Kazuma asked.

Unaware that Mr Hatsuharu was listening, Kyo answered, "He needed a fight. He needed a distraction. He mopes about Rin too much. I just thought..." Kyo shrugged. "...that maybe fighting would stop him from thinking about her."

It sounded the most honest Kyo had been around Tohru, ever. She found she was rather upset at that fact, but then again, rather moved by how raw, how kind Kyo could be, in that way.

"So that's why," Mr Hatsuharu breathed as Lady Kagura shook her head next to him. "I was wondering...you put up a good front."

Kyo jerked round to see Mr Hatsuharu watching him and stared for a moment.

Then he turned back around and demanded, "Did you ask that just so Haru could hear the answer? He wasn't meant to know!"

Lord Kazuma raised his hands. "I knew not he was listening."

"Well, neither did I," Kyo muttered grouchily.

"In Kyo's defense," Lady Kagura interjected, "Yuki did start the fight. From what I heard, he was being rather unreasonable."

"Oh?"

"Names. The usual, of course - but very vicious, violent. Yuki was punching down at Kyo when we - Tohru and I - found them. Kyo was bleeding, naturally. I think Akito had been dealing with Yuki beforehand, though." Kyo hid his face with a hand in embarrassment.

"Ah," Lord Kazuma sighed.

"Yes."

"That makes some slight sense now," Lord Kazuma decided. "Akito must have been rough - has anyone spoken to Yuki since?"

Silence amongst the entire group - everyone was listening now.

"Would you like me to-?" Mr Hatsuharu and Momiji both offered at the same time.

"No, no," Lord Kazuma waved them off. "Kisa, would you mind seeing Yuki? I'm sure he'll respond much better to you. He has a soft spot for you."

Kisa inclined her head, standing with an elegance above and beyond her age. "Of course. Would you like me to tell him anything?"

Lord Kazuma paused. "Just that I'll see him later. Yes?"

"Yes. Thank you Miss Tohru, for the picnic," Kisa smiled. "It was very lovely. I'll see you soon?"

"Of course!" Tohru beamed. "Thank you for joining us!"

Kisa waved, and stepped inside.

"Kyo."

Kyo didn't move.

"Kyo," Lord Kazuma repeated more sternly.

"What?"

"Don't be so provocative. Of course Yuki will fight you if you act like that."

"What-?" Kyo exploded in fury. "I didn't provoke anything! He just started yelling at me! And he calls me uncivilised!"

"Kyo." Lord Kazuma pinned Kyo down with his stare. "No doubt you baited him somehow."

For this, Kyo had no answer.

Once conversation has picked up and Saki has successfully engaged Lord Kazuma in some topic or another again, Kyo flopped back onto the warm grass and through his arm over his eyes.

Tohru moved a little closer and asked, "Did you bait Mr Yuki?"

"No! I didn't say anything!" Tohru did not believe it, and she knew Kyo could tell. "Well, not much," he clarified. "I just...asked about last night."

"What did he say?"

"Not much," Kyo rolled his eyes. "He was rather avoidant on the issue - that's the only reason I pursued it! It's not my fault if he couldn't catch them! He didn't need to hit me! And then he started talk about you!" In his anger, Kyo had pulled his arm from his eyes, allowing his gaze to be concentrated on her. It burned. "I don't even know why! It was-" - he threw a fist to the ground - "-ridiculous! Completely unnecessary! And then I didn't even-!" Kyo's voice became more quiet, more bitter. "I didn't even beat him. And I should've, for you, for the way he talked about you- But I didn't."

"You didn't need to."

"I did."

"I don't like you two fighting, especially not for me."

"He makes it so difficult!"

"Kyo. Try and be kinder. Try not to fight with him."

His eyes were on hers the whole time, so she was certain when she saw them flicker in doubt with his next few words: "I despise that rat."

"Don't despise him. He's not a rat."

"Isn't he?"

And she remembered Mr Hatsuharu's words from earlier - "They call me a cow, because of my hair," - except no one called Mr Hatsuharu a cow. Kyo the cat, Mr Hatsuharu the cow, Lady Isuzu the horse, Momiji the rabbit and Lord Hatori the dragon. Lady Akito the god. And now Mr Yuki, the rat.

Yet did that...did that make sense?

"Forget it," Kyo muttered. "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does!" Tohru gasped. "I don't want you to be unhappy. I don't want you to hate Yuki."

This made Kyo smile bitterly. "Of course. No one wants anyone to hate Yuki."

Tohru despaired. "That's not what I-"

"It's fine," Kyo spoke over her, returning his arm back over his eyes. "I'm going to sleep."

"Wait, but I don't mean- it's only three o'clock- and I care about- but it's so hot to sleep- I-!" She had completely lost her train of thought and silenced herself. Kyo showed no signs of responding anyway. As she reached for a cake, she began to really think. Lord Shigure always seemed so sweet and fun, playful and willing to do whatever you wish if only you asked...rather like a dog. Right? So perhaps...

By the end of the picnic, Tohru was full of ideas, and if these were proven correct...she was rather worried about the consequences for everyone.

A/N: Oh hello I'm back with more chat that vaguely rhymes. Woo.

So. Thoughts? Kind of gagging for feedback on pace/POVs/cohesiveness/and...briefly-mentioned potential subplots/storylines I have hinted at elsewhere that you want more of? It's a bit of a mix-and-match. I choose which ones to emphasise depending on my mood...that's why it can be a little weird. SO help on that s'il vous plait!

And reviews make the world go round... KIDDING Caleb Turman does. But reviews help. If Caleb's the world...then reviews are its moon. Or sun. Or stars...

See you in the next instalment in possible several years! Kidding! Kind of! 8D