A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but here's the new chapter, hope you like it!
Chapter 7: Memories
Shigure waited by the door, a huge smile on his face, expecting to greet the kids as they came home from school. What he was not expecting was a very distraught looking Kia to run past him followed by angry looking Kyo and Haru, confused looking Yuki and Tohru, and a serene, smiling Kami. After careful analysis of the situation (two seconds worth of thought) Shigure decided that Kia needed his help the most.
He found her sitting on the back porch, hugging her knees to her chest, her long, orange hair spilling down her back and on to the leaf-cluttered wood.
"Tough day?" Shigure asked as he sat down next to her. Kia looked up at him, and to his surprise, her large, scarlet eyes were gleaming with unshed tears.
"I…I don't know what to do" she said in a choked voice.
"About Haru?" Shigure asked. Kia nodded her head miserably.
"Well do you love him?" Shigure asked. Kia sighed and turned away.
"That's the problem, Shi, I don't know if I loved him" Kia wailed.
"Well you did six years ago" Shigure pointed.
"Yes, but I was ten, I didn't know what love was, neither of us did. I thought about it when I was in China, but it just made me more confused." Kia cried, "How can you tell you're in love, Shi?"
Shigure's eyes glazed over, and a small whisper of a smile spread across his lips.
"Being in love is complicated, but it is easy to recognize. It goes beyond just thinking of the person all the time. You feel as though you would give up everything, anything, just to see her smile. You feel as though you would go through a thousand lives of being cursed just to hear her laugh, die a thousand deaths just to take away her pain. That's when you know" Shigure said, happy with the pearl of wisdom that he just produced. He made a mental note to use that line in one of his future books.
"I don't feel that, I've never felt that, I…I've never loved" Kia said startled by this new revelation, "I've never loved!"
"Sure you have, you love Kyo don't you? You just have never loved somebody in the I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you type of way." Shigure said.
"Yes, but somehow I feel as though I have, Shi. I feel as though I have loved somebody in that kind of way, maybe not as deep as you described, but still a kind of sweet, innocent love. How else can you tell if you love somebody?" Kia asked softly.
"Well, kiss them" Shigure said plainly.
"And how in the world is that going to tell you anything" Kia asked.
"Well if you kiss them and you feel it, then you know you love them" Shigure said with a shrug.
"It?" Kia asked, confused.
"Yes, it, it is hard to describe, but you'll know it when you feel it" Shigure said, managing to confuse Kia, and himself, even more.
"But how would I know what is it and what isn't" Kia asked, knowing that this whole conversation was a bit strange.
"Well, if you kissed me you wouldn't feel it, because you are not in love with me" Shigure answered.
"But what is it!" Kia cried in frustration.
"Not this" Shigure said, and without warning, he swept down and kissed Kia right on the lips.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"
Kia and Shigure immediately looked up to find a very, very angry looking Kyo. On either side of him were Yuki, Haru, Tohru, Kami, and (for some reason) Mojimi. Haru was looking down at Kia and Shigure with disbelief, but Yuki, well let's just say Yuki wasn't the calmest he had ever been.
Kia blushed furiously, and Shigure looked as indifferent as ever.
"Shigure, what were you doing?" Yuki asked, trying to act Calm but not succeeding. He didn't know quite why he was so mad, but he was.
"Um, kissing Kia" Shigure said, giving Yuki the are-you-blind look.
"Well I could have figured that out myself!" Kyo yelled. Haru just walked up to Kia and knelt down in front of her.
"Do…do you like him Kia?" he asked in a pained voice.
"Oh, I think they make a cute couple, the cat and the dog!" Tohru squealed before Kia could answer.
"Yes, I am detecting a sort of sexual attraction between them" Kami said smiling.
"A WHAT!" Yuki hissed, turning his rage on Kami.
"Ja, they are very cute! Wait until Akito-san hears, he has always loved both Kia and Shigure-san!" Mojimi said, beaming.
"Akito will NOT hear ONE WORD of this" Shigure growled, turning to Mojimi angrily.
Haru, on the other hand, was still waiting for Kia to talk.
"LISTEN EVERYBODY, I am NOT in love with Shigure in any way whatsoever" Kia said.
"Then why were you two kissing like that?" Kyo asked. Yuki and Haru nodded.
"That would be my fault. Kia just looked so adorable I couldn't help it" Shigure said. "Hahaha, just joking" headed quickly after receiving death glares from Kyo, Yuki, and Haru.
"That's our Shigure, always telling jokes at the most inappropriate times" Kami said fondly.
"No, no, Kia asked me how does one know when their in love, and after failing to tell her that, I was trying to show what it felt like to not be in love" Shigure said.
"Tell them the whole conversation while you're at it" Kia said turning a most violent shade of crimson.
"Well are you?" Haru asked
"Am I what?" Kia asked
"In love?" he answered.
"I don't know" Kia said, turning away from him
That is when it hit Yuki, Kia and Haru were in love! That is why they used to spend so much time together. Suddenly, Yuki felt a strange, burning anger course through him, directed at Haru. This anger was so new, so strange to him, that he felt screed. Why did he feel like this, where did all this anger come from?
"What are you doing here Momiji?"
Shigure's voice cut through Yuki's thoughts, bring his back to reality.
"Oh I came here to deliver a message. Akito-san wants to see Kia tomorrow; she said you may come to Shigure. I also had to come to see Kia myself! Momiji said with a huge smile.
"I am really glad you came, Momi, I wanted to see you too" Kia said, smiling her first real smile.
"Well, let's all come in and I'll make tea" Tohru said lightly.
As Kia got up, Tohru noticed how thin and frail Kia really was. Usually she was so full of life and energy, no one noticed, but now in a state of distress, Kia looked like a delicate porcelain doll that would snap under any pressure.
"Kia-san, you look sick!" Tohru shrieked. Haru turned towards Kia and nodded. She looked very sickly indeed.
"We must lie her down" Mojimi cried as he ushered Kia in the house. Everybody except Yuki and Kami followed. Kami was examining the flower garden Shigure had planted, and Yuki was slouched on the porch, lost in his thoughts.
Why was all of the sudden he feeling so different. He had never before felt this great of an attraction to anyone. Kia had just always been Akito's "other favorite", the one he would talk to in secret, when he thought no one was listening. She was the one that was very stubborn, but also frail, a strong soul trapped in a weak body, but she always made the best of it, and for that Yuki admired her. Admired her and loved her. The more he thought about it the more he realized that in fact, he had always loved her. Being Akito's other favorite they had bonded; forming a sort of makeshift connection, and Yuki had grown to love her, from her fiery personality, to the way she always stood up for him, even though, physically, she was weaker than him, He remembered the time, when she had loved him too, the day when Akito finally lost his temper with Yuki.
Flashback
"You, you worthless rat, you are filth, fit for nothing, no one will like you, everybody thinks that you are a weak, disgusting little rodent" Akito spat. Yuki looked up at him, his big eyes filled with fear.
"You should be thankful that at least I accept you. More than thankful in fact!" Akito continued. "Bow down to me, you varmint!"
Yuki was about to bow when he felt a small hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"He will not bow to you!" Yuki looked down to see Kia, a furious look on her face.
"And who are you to tell me what to do?" Akito hissed.
"He is not you slave, and he is not disgusting or pathetic" Kia said angrily.
"Do not meddle in things that do not concern you Kia" Akito said softly, icily.
"This does concern me, Yuki is my friend and I will not let you keep on saying those things to him!" said Kia, holding her ground.
"Do not tell me what not to do. You are just a sickly little girl, and a cat at that" Akito snarled.
"Well, Yuki doesn't deserve to be treated like this and I am sick of seeing you pick on him. He is no different from you and me" Kia cried.
"Why are you helping him, why do you always help him, that creature no one loves" Akito asked.
"That's not true! I love him!" Kia yelled.
"I love him…I love him" Even now, ten years later those words still played in Yuki's head. He doubted Kai remembered she had ever said that, but he still cherished the memory, it was the first, and last time anybody had ever said that about him, and to Akito no less. But now, now she was probably in love with Haru, and Yuki knew that he would do anything to win her back. But what could he do?
All of the sudden Kami walked up to him and whispered "You will think of something Yuki, win her over, I'm rooting for you." With a little wink, she walked inside. Yuki was left, staring at her receding back, wondering if she had psychic powers. Just as he turned back and was deep in thought did he feel a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Tohru smiling at him.
"Come inside Sohma-san, I made tea!" she said brightly. Yuki smiled and followed her, still lost in thought.
A/N: Okay, so how as it? It was a bit more serious than past chapters, but don't worry, there will still be funny, light chapters in the future, now I just have a story line playing in. So what will happen next? Review if you want to find out!