Disclaimers: I wish I owned Fruits Basket, but I don’t.

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Karing for Kisa

Chapter One: Found: One tiger

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Hatsuharu Sohma walked along the rainy street, concentrating on making it home without getting lost. He walked by the hedges planted in the wall surrounding someone’s house, and heard a rustling sound. Thinking he had caught himself on one of the prickly branches, he turned around to free his sleeve. But, no, he hadn’t been caught on the bush. He heard rustling again, and looked closer at the bushes. He saw a glimpse of soft orange, striped with black. What the…? Hatsuharu walked closer to the hedges, and reached into them. He felt something furry and wet from the rain that had been cascading down for the last few hours. Haru gently tugged it out into the open.

A tiger! What the heck is a tiger doing out here! The poor little beast gave him no resistance as he picked it up and hugged it to his chest. He shrugged out of his long coat and wrapped it carefully around the shivering animal. He resumed walking, not quite sure what he was going to do with it.

XXXXX

Haru found himself walking in the direction of Shigure’s house. Maybe one of them will know what to do.

Yuki and Tohru were standing on the front porch as he approached.

“Ah. Yuki. You’re here.”

“Hatsuharu-san!”

“Haru…”

“You’re drenched! You wouldn’t happen to be lost again, would you?” Tohru asked, worried because he was actually getting better at finding his way from school to the main house by himself.

“No. I was going home, but I decided to come here.”

“Why? Is something wrong?” Yuki asked, hoping desperately that it wasn’t anything to do with Akito.

“Nothing’s wrong. I found something, but I don’t know what to do with it. I thought one of you guys would know what to do.” Haru was able to explain without any more interruptions.

“How would I know what you should do –“ Yuki started to ask, before he was cut off by Tohru’s curiosity.

“What did you find, Hatsuharu-san?” Tohru asked as she came closer to see what was hidden under Haru’s coat. He pulled back a layer and exposed the young tiger.

“Oh… What a cute kitty!” Tohru squealed, reaching out to pet it.

CHOMP!

The kitten…er, tiger bit down on the girl’s gentle hand, causing it to bleed.

“AHHH! IT BIT ME! AHH!” Tohru screamed, before fainting away on the wooden porch. Yuki picked her up off the ground, and half carried – half dragged her inside, the dead weight of her a little too much for him. Hatsuharu followed them, still wondering what to do with his new pet.

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Tohru woke up, and they sat at the table so Haru could bandage her hand. Shigure came in, followed by Kyo.

“Did I hear screaming? Is everything all right?” Shigure asked, disturbed from his writing. “Tohru-kun! What happened to your hand?”

“Just a small accident. A tiger bit her.” Yuki calmly explained to the newcomers.

“A tiger! Where did a tiger come from!” Kyo asked.

“I found it when I was walking home from school.” Hatsuharu told them. “I don’t know how it got there.”

“Poor little thing! It must be half starved! I’ll go get some fish for it.” Tohru said, and got up and went to search the refrigerator, her hand now protected from infection.

“Poor little thing! How can you say that after it viciously attacked you! You’re so dumb!” Kyo shouted at her.

“Don’t be silly, Kyo-kun. I just scared it. I’m sure it’s perfectly docile under normal conditions.”

“You have lost your mind! It’s a TIGER! It would eat you if it was big enough!”

But Tohru just ignored Kyo’s mad ravings, and got a fish out of the fridge for the ‘poor little thing’.

“Tigers do not eat people, baka neko.” Yuki informed his hated enemy.

“I am not an idiot!”

“Coulda fooled me.”

“If you two are going to fight, take it outside. We have other problems to deal with than Kyo-kun’s stupidity.” Shigure admonished the both of them.

Tohru came back with some tuna she had found and Haru carefully fed the cat, watchful of his fingers.

“I’m not sure what you can do with it, Haru.” Shigure told his younger cousin.

“Her. It’s a her.” He corrected.

“How do you know?” Kyo asked

Haru stared at him as if he had just said the stupidest thing ever. “How else do you check the gender of a cat?”

Kyo blushed as red as his hair, and stammered an “Oh.”

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Tohru busied herself with making dinner while the others played with their new friend. Haru had his gloved hand stuck in her mouth, and she was shaking her head, trying to get through the tough leather. Giving up, she dropped the hand, and curled up in his lap, purring in happy contentment. Kyo, who could understand her as perfectly as if she were speaking a human tongue, sat down across from his cousin, and now they were speaking to each other in their own language of purrs and meows.

“What’s she saying?” Haru finally asked after listening to their ‘conversation’ for 10 minutes.

“Nothing really. She likes to chase butterflies in the park. She doesn’t like the rain we’ve been having lately, because it makes her cold and wet, which is how you found her in the bushes.”

“Oh. Does she have a name?”

“No. She doesn’t really know anything about herself.”

“She doesn’t know anything about herself? That’s a bit odd.” Yuki said.

“I think something really traumatized her when she was younger.” Kyo was interrupted by a mewl from the tiger. “She thinks that she’s about four years old.”

“Don’t get too attached, Haru.” Shigure warned, watching as he interacted with the little cub. “You can’t take care of a tiger, we’ll probably take her to a zoo tomorrow”

“I know.’ The ox murmured, bending his head closer to the striped one of the tiger and rubbing his hand behind her soft ears.

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Tohru re-entered, carrying a platter filled with their dinner, which, as usual, managed to contain some form of leeks. Kyo, like usual, burst into a fit of complaints.

“Why are we always having leeks! Doesn’t that damn Yuki grow anything else in that stupid secret base of his?”

“No. I only plant leeks, just to bother you.”

Kyo huffed and started moving the disgusting vegetable to the side of his plate. It seemed that the tiger – who still lacked a name – liked leeks as much as Kyo hated them. She put her paws up on the table and ate them right off his plate while he sulked.

They were all discussing the various events of their day as they ate, when there was another disturbance at the front door. They all turned their heads to witness Ayame fighting with his umbrella, trying to shut it and walk in at the same time. Shigure sighed, and got up to help his koi. Really, sometimes he was such a ditz.

Haru shook his head, and went back to eating. He finished, turned to the tiger, ready to resume their play from earlier.

But a tiger cub no longer slept the deep sleep of exhaustion beside him. A little girl had replaced the tiger.

“Ack!”

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Chapter Two: It’s a WHAT!

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“Ack!” Kyo screamed, in both surprise and fright.

“What’s wrong Kyo-kun?” Tohru asked worrying about what had made the cat scream like that.

“I-It…it’s not a tiger anymore!” He shouted, pointing a shaking finger at the sleeping girl, who was starting to awake due to all the yelling. Kyo scrambled to move away while he was still sitting. He bumped into Yuki who hit him upside the head.

“You’re afraid of a little girl?” Yuki asked snidely, “What’s she going to do, hug you to death? You’re such a wimp.”

“I am not! It just surprised me!” Kyo yelled.

Tohru looked at Kyo and tsked, “Really Kyo-kun, you’re hurting her feelings.”

And indeed he was. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she was looking at Kyo with the saddest look in the world. Kyo felt his heart sink at that pitiful look, feeling incredibly guilty for being the cause of her renewed pain.

Tohru tsked at him again, and picked up the little girl, who, of course, was naked, taking her to find some clothing.

Haru looked at Shigure, who had come back from helping Aaya, and had seen the little girl that had left with Tohru. “There isn’t a tiger in the Juunishi right now, is there?”

“No, there’s not. If there was, we would all know. I’m going to call Haa-san and tell him about this. Maybe he’ll know something.” Shigure replied. He walked out of the room to go make his phone call.

Hatsuharu stood up from his place at the table, “I’m going to go see how she’s doing.” Yuki just nodded in response, and remained lost in thought where he was.

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It had surprised him to discover her sitting there. No one had known that she was also a part of the cursed Zodiac.

The door to Tohru’s room stood open a bit, and he knocked before pushing it wider. The tiger-girl- She really needed a name – stood in the middle of the floor, wrapped in a fluffy towel and dripping onto the boards. Tohru was rummaging through her closet, trying to find something for the girl to wear.

She emerged holding a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She saw Haru and paused for a second. “Oh. Is everything alright downstairs?” She asked, before continuing with her previous task.

“Everything is fine. I just wanted to see if she was okay.”

She stopped rubbing the little one dry; hands paused on the small shoulders. “That’s very nice of you, Hatsuharu-san. Just wait outside a minute while I put some clothing on her.”

Haru nodded, and went out the door, shutting it behind himself.

A few minutes later, Tohru called him back into the room. The girl was dressed, the wide collar of Tohru’s t-shirt sliding down over her shoulder, the shorts hanging down past her knees. She stood there for a few seconds, seeming to be very shy of him. He sat down on Tohru’s bed, not wanting to frighten her. She cautiously crept closer to him.

“Are you okay?” He asked her, “I’m sorry Kyo scared you like that. I think you surprised him.” He smiled, showing that he was neither frightened nor mad at her. She nodded that she was fine, and the look of worry that had clouded her eyes disappeared.

“Good. I’m going to leave you here with Tohru, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

She nodded again and offered him a brief smile. The older girl came over then and picked her up, tucking her into the large bed. The ox made to stand up, but was stopped when he felt the little arms wrap around his waist. He looked down at her, and then gently returned the hug. He could almost hear her thoughts.

Thank You

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Haru went back downstairs, wondering what Hatori-san had said about the tiger/girl. He found Shigure and Yuki talking in the living room. They looked up as he entered, pausing in their conversation.

“Haru. Yuki and I were just discussing our plans for tomorrow.”

“Plans? Why do we have to have a plan?”

“Hatori-san says that this is a very serious matter and we have to go…” Here Yuki stopped, unable to voice the last of his thought.

“We have to go see Akito.” Haru finished for his older cousin.

Shigure nodded. “Afraid so. All of us have to go including Yuki and Tohru.”

“Why? I’m the one that found her.”

I know. But this affects the whole family, especially us, because you brought her here and we all witnessed the transformation. Well, except Aaya. He missed everything.”

Haru just rolled his eyes and sat down on the arm of Yuki’s chair. “So what are we going to do then?”

“Haa-san says it would be best if we came early to see him. We have a meeting scheduled for 10:00, but I want us to be there earlier in case something happens.”

At that moment, Tohru came down to tell them that the girl was fine and was asleep. Shigure explained again what they would be doing the next day.

She was surprised that she was actually being included in this family meeting, but supposed that it was for the best, seeing as someone needed to be there to help her. Akito was a terrify person, and there was no telling what he might do to the innocent child.

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The next morning saw the whole household – plus it’s two guests – up early in the day, worry over the upcoming meeting with the head of the Soma’s, keeping them all from a restful sleep.

Tohru had explained what would be happening that day, as she served the girl her breakfast. She immediately became anxious and fearful. She’s so young. Tohru thought. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen to her. Just when she thought she would finally be safe, something like this happens that could take it all away. But no matter what, I must be strong for the both of us, and take care of her, no matter what Akito decides to do with her!

The clock on the wall chimed the ninth hour of the day, and they all looked at it with varying degrees of fear. It was time.

“Alright everyone. We’d better go.” Shigure told them, stifling his own nervous thoughts.

Ayame saw them out, and wished them luck, giving the little one a tight, squishy hug, tears forming in his eyes.

She’s so young. So innocent. Was the shared thought of the somber group that departed from the house.

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Chapter 3: The Naming

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The anxious group waited outside the door to Akito’s rooms, each of them displaying various nervous habits. Tohru fussed over the girl, worry evident in her every action. Yuki stood staring out the window at the end of the long hallway, attempting to battle the fear of the head of the Sohma family that crept and lingered in his mind. Shigure paced a wide path, thinking of ways to convince Akito not to harm the child and let them care for her; he’d even begun to nibble on his fingernails idly, deep in thought. It wasonly Haru and Kyo whoappeared to be unaffected by their surroundings because, in truth, Kyo was freaking confused as to why exactly he was there; he hadn’t been the one to find the kid. The only reason he could muster was that he had seen her transform from one form to the next. Haru, on the other hand was worried about what was going to happen to the girl. In Haru’s mind there wasn’t really anything that she had done wrong, so the only possible danger he could think of was that Akito might take her away; and he definitely couldn’t let that happen.

The door clicked open, and everyone turned as one to see Hatori emerge from the darkened room, pushing the door from his way as he did so.

“You can go in now.” At this, the group moved nearly as one in the direction of the darkened room, but was halted as Hatori held his hand up in protest and added hastily “I must warn you though, he may not act the way you expect him to. I have started… medicating … him to try and control him more.” His voice lingered for a moment on the word ‘medicating’, then continued; “They are mostly sedatives, and we’ve concealed the matter well enough so that he is not aware of the medication that hones his temper to a more controllable state. In his mind, the medication is to subdue an incurable disease.” Hatori explained to them, and placed his hands into his pockets after having used them to explain his small speech.

About time they started drugging the bastard. Kyo thought as he followed Shigure into what he considered to be the equivalent of hell for most Sohma family members, or really anyone, for that matter.

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Akito sat looking quite like a king on his throne, gazing listlessly out at the sakura trees that lined the pathways. Usually coldly assessing and calculating dark eyes seemed to be glazed over with a less frightening emotion as he turned his gaze to the entering group.“Show me the child.” He requested in a voice that noticeably lacked harshness.

Still fearful of this new Akito, Tohru obeyed, drawing the girl nearer to the fierce looking man. Bright eyes looked bravely into Akito’s, a tiny hand clutching the older girl’s for safety.

“Hatsuharu, you found her as a tiger?” Spoke Akito in his regular coldness.

“Yes. She transformed into a human after dinner last night.” Haru responded.

“And you all saw her as both a tiger and a human?”

“Yes.” Shigure was the one that answered this question. “I left the room to help Ayame-san with something, and was alerted to the change by Kyo-kun’s shouts of surprise.”

“Does she have a name?”

“Kisa.” Haru responded, naming her quickly. The others turned to look at him in surprise; they all knew that she didn’t have a name.

“Did she tell you that this was her name?”

“No, she can’t speak. ” Haru hesitated, and then continued. “But she needed a name, so I gave her one.” Haru said, knowing he should defend his actions.

“I see. Kisa it is then.” Akito snapped his fingers. “Hatori.” The dragon stepped out of the shadows near by the door. “Search her memories. Tell me how old she is.”

Tohru interrupted before Hatori could begin. “She said that she thinks she’s four years old.”

Akito’s eyes turned sharply to Tohru “She said? I was told that she couldn’t speak.”

“I spoke with her while she was still a tiger. Both of us being from the cat family, we could understand each other’s…meows.” Kyo spoke up. There was no need to suddenly have an angry Akito on their hands when everything was going so well.

“That would make sense. You may continue now, Hatori.”

“This won’t hurt.” He told the newly named Kisa to comfort her as well as the group around her. He put a hand on her forehead and closed his eyes. A tense moment later he reopened his eyes slowly. “She’s four years old. She was correct in guessing that. I couldn’t pick up a birth date, though.” He reported to Akito.

“Four years? Hmm. We will have to do some checking to determine which of the Sohma’s are her parents. Or just parent.” Akito turned his eyes to Shigure. “Shigure, you are to take her in for now. If things change, we will find a different guardian.”

Hatsuharu stepped forward, taking Kisa’s other hand in his own. “I want to be the one responsible for her care.” He announced to the ‘leader’ of the family. Akito’s gazed seemed to be one of amazement as he looked at Hatsuharu, but considering the medicine he took, the troop of people couldn’t be sure.

“You wish to care for a child when you are still one yourself? That might not be wise on your part, Hatsuharu-kun.”

“I take full responsibility for my actions. I am the one that found her, I thought to name her when no one else did, I want to make sure that she is safe at all times. I will care for her as if she were my own child. I won’t abandon her when she needs someone to be her strength, I will protect her at all costs, and I will offer her the unconditional love that every child needs, wants, and deserves.” He replied with determination, never taking his eyes off of Akito throughout the entire speech.

The room was silent at his proclamation. Tohru was gazing at the two of them with tears spilling from her eyes. Shigure looked as if he might also cry at any moment. Even Kyo was silently agreeing to everything his cousin said, amazed at the utter determination that could be heard in the ox’s voice. Tears were also silently running down Yuki’s face. He wished that someone had shown him that much love and affection when he had been younger; even if it had only been for a short while, it would have given him something to cling to in the worst moments.

Akito could only blink with astonishment at his relative. He wasn’t used to being stood up too, and if he had been any where near his normal self, he would have had the teen dealt with,

“All right.I can see that you will not be swayed in your decision. I believe that leaving her in your care will be the best thing for her.” He turned his attention back to the Dragon. “Hatori, she will need a birth certificate, and all other necessary provisions. Make sure to handle it." He said, clearly his parting words to the guests.

They all bowed formally in respect and filed out of the room. Yuki gave a huge sigh of relief as they left the room and walked down the stairs heading for the dragon’s office. He hadn’t even needed to speak and Akito had actually ignored his presence in the room. Haru turned back to look at Yuki, knowing what the sigh was for. “I like him better drugged too.” He said with a small grin.

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Hatori entered his office, the troop following slowly, and began searching through filing cabinets for the appropriate forms.

“You’ll just have to tell me what you do know about her. We can make up a birthday for her.” He took a seat behind his large, neatly organized desk, and grabbed a pen. “Name?”

“Sohma Kisa.” Haru answered.

“Ah. Date of birth?”

“Um. April? Or maybe June?” Haru wondered.

“I got the impression that she might have been born around then. April is a nice month.”

“Yeah. April 22 sounds good.” Haru said picking a random date. He looked down at Kisa, who had decided to perch on his lap. “What do you think? Would you like your birthday to be in April?”

Tilting her head to the side, she thought about it, before looking into his eyes and nodding ‘yes.’

“Okay. April 22, 2001. Hair colour?”

“Honey Brown.”

“Eye Colour?”

“Brown.”

“Blood type? Hmm. I’ll have to take samples, test for diseases, we’ll find out blood type then.” He paused to look at the rest of the chart.

“Height. Might as well measure you now.” Hatori stood to his feet and lifted Kisa off of the ox’s lap. “Stand here against the wall please.” Kisa did as she was directed and waited while Hatori measured her. Making a notation of her height on her chart, he then told her to: “Step onto the scale, please.” He moved the weights, checked the balance and the numbers before making another note. Helping her up onto his exam table, the doctor then proceeded to do all thatwas procedure in a usual check-up with a doctor checking her eyes, ears, throat, reflexes (very sharp), etc. Then he pulled out a needle.

Looking with fear at the sharp object held in the dragon’s hand, Kisa let out a small whimper.

“Nothing to fear. I’ll be very careful not to hurt you. Hatsuharu, come hold her hand.” Haru moved to do so.

Biting her lip and squeezing Haru’s hand as hard as she could, Kisa tried to ignore the needle piercing her baby soft flesh. When she noticed her dark crimson blood filling the tube, she hid her face in Haru’s strong chest. He brought his free arm up around her back and stroked the light strands of her hair, making gentle shushing noises into the top of her head. In a few seconds it was all over.

“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Kisa shook her head quickly in enthusiastic disagreement with her family’s doctor. She never wanted to have to do that again.

XXXXX

Ayame greeted them at the door, glad to see that the tiger was still with them. “So, how did it go?”

“It went much better than we expected it too. Hatori has started drugging Akito to control his evilness.” Shigure answered, giving his lover a kiss on the cheek as he walked into the house.

“And Haru now has custody of Kisa.” Tohru informed the snake.

“Really? That’s great! And what a pretty name! You named her did you?”

“Yes.” Haru answered. “I feel like this is the best thing to do. Ensure she is safe and cared for by doing it myself.”

“Ah, so young and yet so mature!” Ayame praised with a warm smile.

Kyo, Haru and Yuki just gave him odd looks, before ignoring the stupidity on display and went to find out what Tohru was making in the kitchen, her little shadow by her side.

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Chapter 4: Ayame… BABYSITTING!

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Haru opened sleep-glazed eyes and sat up. After letting out a long yawn, Haru stretched out all of the kinks in his muscles. Getting up from his futon, he looked over to his still sleeping cousin. Strands of flaming orange hair were all that could be seen from beneath a large blanket. Smirking, Haru pulled a black tee over his head and groggily strode to the bathroom.

On his way downstairs, he passed Tohru's room, and quietly opened the door, sticking his head through the space. Kisa was still sleeping on one side of Tohru's large bed. The older girl was nowhere to be seen, so Haru crept into Tohru’s room and gazed down at the angelic face. Slowly, he brought his hand to her forehead and brushed aside a few honey bangs to make room for him to plant a soft kiss. It was hard to believe that it had been nearly a month and an half since he had taken on the responsibility of being the tiger's father, and anyone could see him beaming like any other proud father.

Leaving the room as silently as he entered, he went down to the kitchen, his nose catching the scent of Tohru’s delicious miso soup wafting in his direction

“Good morning, Haru-kun. You’re up early.” Tohru said brightly as she finished cooking and placed the food on the table.

“G‘Mornin’.” Haru replied. “Um. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind taking care of Kisa for me for a little while after school - I have to talk to the councilor about what I’mtaking next year.”

“Oh! I would love too, but I was going to go visit mom after school today, and then Uo-chan wanted me to go over to her place afterwards. I could reschedule it for tomorrow…”

“No, don’t. I can find someone else to watch her. There are enough people living here.”

“That’s true!” Tohru giggled. With seven people living under the small roof, they could easily find another person to watch the little tiger. “Shigure has that writer’s conference that we finally convinced him to go to. His editor was so happy that he was going that I thought she would have a heart attack. We couldn’t possibly cancel it.”

“I think Kyo mentioned something about going to the dojo after school and spending the night. I don’t want to ask him, because that’s so important to him.”

“Yes, I think it’s managed to calm him more. He doesn’t fly off the handle so easily. I believe Yuki was going to check out some new school he has been waiting to enroll in. Somehow even if he wasn’t, I don’t think he’d do it for you.”

“Yeah. He’s been acting strange lately. I think he wants to move out of here soon.”

“Hmm…yes, I think you’re right. He has been more closed off than usual.”

They both mentally re-checked each member of the household and their possible activities for the day.The two sat there for a few minutes, trying to think of a solution to their problem. Haru felt like he was forgetting someone.

At that moment the sound of gentle laughter met their ears.

“Ayame!” Tohru and Haru exclaimed as one. The snake gracefully entered the kitchen area, beaming at the two of them, Shigure following in his wake. “Good morning! Isn’t it a beautiful day?”

“Yes it is, Ayame-san, are you going to be busy today?” Tohru replied, smiling at the natural happiness that Ayame seemed to exude.

“No, Thursday is always slow at the shop.” The snake replied to her question.

“Can you do me a favor, Ayame-san?” Haru asked, hoping he would have his participation.

“Anything for you Haa-kun! What would you like? A new outfit for Tohru perhaps?”

Tohru turned bright red and stuttered a bit, trying to find the words to tell the Ayaa that she and Haru were not a couple.

“No, nothing like that. I’m not sure Tohru would like that anyway.” Ayame pouted, upset that he wouldn’t have the chance to dress up Tohru again. “I want you to baby sit Kisa for me today,” the ox requested.

Shigure’s initial reaction was a wide-eyed expression, but once he realized that they were indeed serious with their request, his second reaction involved the tea that was in his mouth to shoot from his mouth. Luckily, no one was sitting across from the dog. As he was choking and sputtering, Tohru patted him on the back, trying to help him out, only making it worse. Finally, he gasped in a breath and said: “You want AYAA to baby sit her! Is that a good idea?”

Ayame hit his lover on the arm. “I resent that Gure-san.”

“I’m sorry, Ayaa, but I can’t see you taking care of a child even if it is just for a day.”

“There’s no one else. Everyone else is busy today, or will be away overnight.” Haru informed them.

“I’ll do it! I’ll take her to the shop, and Mine can dress her up! We’ll have so much fun!” Ayame statedenthusiastically, clapping his hands joyously.

“Thank you so much. I’ll make it up to you somehow.” Haru promised.

“Don’t worry! We’ll have an excellent day together!”

That problem finally solved, the members of the family that had already assembled in the kitchen began their morning meal. A few minutes later, Kyo stumbled down into the kitchen, holding Kisa by the hand.

“Ohayo, Kyo-kun, Kisa-chan. How did you sleep?” Tohru asked, setting empty bowls down in front of them.

“Fine.” Kyo’s sleep roughened voice spoke. “Kisa’s was good also.” In the month that Kisa had been living with her new found family, she had slowly made progress; speaking softly in simple sentences, and was painfully shy. She had developed a strong attachment to nearly everyone in the family, the exception being Yuki. Not even the soft gentleness that Kisa had (practically mirroring Tohru’s attitude), could break through the stoic teen.

Sitting down at the low table, Kyo served Kisa, and then made up a bowl for himself. “Mmmm… looks good. Right Kisa?” The little girl just nodded her head, and gave Tohru a small smile, her mind still a little blurry from sleep.

“Kisa.” Haru said, making sure thathe had her attention. “Oji Shigure-san (1) won’t be able to watch you today while I’m at school, so I’ve asked oji Ayame-san if he would mind taking you to the shop with him today.”

Kisa looked at him than at Ayame with wide eyes. He was sitting beside Shigure and saying something to Tohru that made her turn a funny shade of red. She liked Ayaa’s bouncy happiness, but wasn’t sure if he should be the one to care for her. She looked back at Haru, apprehension plainly visible in her light brown gaze.

“It’s all right. Mine will be there too. You’ll be fine.” Haru reassured her. “There’s nothing for you to be worried about.”

Kisa looked back at the snake one last time; he had stopped teasing Tohru, and was finishing off his breakfast in a civilized manner. She turned to the ox again, and saw that he trusted Ayaa, so she figured she could too, and nodded her head. “Okay.” She whispered bashfully behind her arm.

“Great. I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun.” Haru smiled at her, and got up to take his dishes over to the sink. “I have to go now. I’ll see you later.” Bending down, he hugged Kisa, gave her a small kiss on the top her head, then left for school.

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Kisa walked into the shop with Ayame and looked around, curious to know what sort of things he sold. It was like a little girl’s dress up box dream come true. There were racks upon racks of frilly dresses and costumes, each in different colours. Pink, blue, red, green, white, black… all the colors of the rainbow and more! And, all of the colours were in lots of different shades and textures. Lace, velvet, fur, ribbons, fringe and beading all decorated the luxurious fabrics, making each piece more attractive and eye pleasing than the last.

Going up to a soft pink dress, she ran a small hand over the satiny smooth fabric. It had short sleeves that ended at lace cuffs, pink ribbon perfectly matched to the dress threaded through the loops in the lace and tied in a tiny bow. More ribbon and lace went around the neckline and hem.

“Isn’t that pretty?” Ayame asked her. “It was a special order for a customer.”

Kisa could only nod, eyes still attached to the shiny-ness, her hand caressing the dress softly, as though she was petting it Reluctantly drawing back her hand, she wandered around the rest of the shop. There were lots of wedding dresses and school girl uniforms. ‘What a strange store,’ the little tiger thought.

“Come to the back and meet Mine. She’ll just love you,” Ayame said cheerily, walking towards the other room. Kisa followed, and was greeted by the sight of even more costumes, some of which were still in the process of being made. It seemed all of the necessary odds and ends were being attached as the finishing touches of a few as she passed through the aisle behind Ayame.

A young woman in a maid’s outfit turned upon hearing them enter. “Ohayo Sohma-sama!” She cheerfully greeted her boss. “Oh! And who is this dear little creature?” She asked, catching sight of Kisa.

“This is my cousin, Kisa Sohma. I’m watching her today for her…father.” Ayame explained. It was a bit difficult seeing as Haru was both her cousin and now her father, but he couldn’t tell Mine all that.

“That’s wonderful! It’ll be lots of fun having her around!” Mine said going over to the young girl. “Hello. My name is Mine, and I work here at Sohma-sama’s shop.”

“Did you make all of these?” Kisa asked softly, wonderment overpowering her shyness.

“Oh no! These are all your cousin’s creations! I just help put them together.”

“I like it here, oji-Ayame. It’s pretty.” Kisa told the older Sohma.

He laughed, “I’m glad you like it! Mine, do we have anything she could wear?” he asked his assistant.

“Hmm...Someone returned a number of dresses from a wedding that was cancelled. I think the flower girls dress was one of them. Remember the one where the bride ran off with the best man a month before; and the groom turned around and proposed to the maid of honor, whom he had been having an affair with since the beginning?”

“Ah yes. I remember that. We don’t usually do that sort of thing, but if I recall correctly, both the father of the bride and the father of the groom were excellent customers – still are actually.” Ayame laughed, and tossed his long silver hair over one shoulder.

She went over to one of the many racks and started searching through it. Near the end of the long line, she found what she was looking for; it was a beautiful white dress, with lots of lace and little flowers of pale pink adorning it. (2)

“Here it is! Come over here and let’s see if it fits.” She took the dress and Kisa’s hand and led her over to a dressing room. Mine helped her into the lacy confection, and then turned her around so she could see it in the mirror.

Kisa’s large honey eyes widened in surprise as she took in her reflection. That couldn’t be her, could it? It fit like it was made for her and the colors were pure and simple – just like her.

Going out into the main part of the shop, she stood there with a delicate red flush on her cheeks as Ayame and Mine gushed on and on about how cute she looked. Suddenly noticing the time, Ayaa clapped his hands together and announced “Time to get to work ladies!”

Mine and Ayaa bustled around the shop, making sure everything looked perfect for their customers, while Kisa trailed after, lending a hand where she could. After about half an hour they received their first customer for the day. Hewas a man of medium height and came in and looked around, as if he was afraid of getting caught there by someone.

“Welcome!” Mine greeted, “Is there anything I could help you with?”

The man looked around nervously before clearing his throat. “I-I…Ahem. I’m looking for something for…my anniversary. My wife, she…she likes to, ah, dress up.”

“I’m sure we can find something that both of you will like. Let me show you the uniforms over here.” The assistant said as she led him away.

Ten minutes later, the man had found what he was looking for and a little redder in the face than when he had walked in; he left with his beautifully wrapped nurse’s uniform.

“One of our biggest sellers,” Ayame was telling Kisa when their next customer walked in. “Of course, it can’t compare to the school girl uniforms. At certain times of the year, they just fly off the shelves, and people put their names down on a waiting list! That’s how popular they are.”

Kisa just nodded at this strange bit of information, and went to see what Mine was helping their customer with.

This man was much younger, wearing all black and had green hair in short spikes all over his head. That wasn’t the only spiky thing though. What looked like a dog collar was around his neck, and Kisa wondered if he ever accidentally stabbed himself with the sharp spikes. Curiosity overrode her shyness once again, and she decided to interrupt the debate he was having with Mine over whether or not leather or fur handcuffs were best for first timers.

“Do they hurt?” She asked, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention.

Looking down, the man was surprised to see a little girl in this sort of shop. “Does what hurt, sweetie?” He asked in response.

“The spikes on your necklace. Don’t they ever stab you?” She clarified.

Laughing, he bent down to her level. “No. Here, feel them. They just look sharp. They don’t stab me at all.”

Reaching out, she felt the end of one with the tip of her finger. He was right. They weren’t all that sharp. “Oh.” She said, seeming almost disappointed. Ayame came over then. “I’m sorry. She’s not bothering you is she?” He apologized.

“Not all. She’s a cute kid. Yours?” The green haired man asked, standing back up to his full height.

“Oh, no. She’s not mine. Kisa is my cousin. I’m watching her today for her father. Who’s also my younger cousin.” He explained, glad that the customer wasn’t finding it a problem that she was there. You could never tell who would make a fuss and who wouldn’t.

“I think it’s great that you would do something like this.” The other man told Ayaa.

Fifteen minutes later, an exchange of names and phone numbers, and promises to convince their lovers that it would be fun, the spiked man left with his leather handcuffs and strawberry kiwi lube.

XXXXX

Customers came and went all day, including the man who had ordered the pink dress Kisa had first admired that morning. She trailed along after Mine, lending a hand or suggesting which color she liked best to customers who couldn’t decide – they usually went with her choice – or helping Ayaa as he chose colors and materials for his next magnificent creation.

Waving goodbye to Mine as they locked up the shop, Ayame and Kisa walked home, her old clothes in a bag as she wanted to show off her new dress to everyone.

Entering the house and discovering that neither Haru or Yuki were back yet, the others being away until tomorrow, Ayaa decided he should order take away for them. Leaving the choice up to Kisa, the tiger picked one of the best restaurants in town, knowing that they made excellent Niratama – her favorite dish (3). Kyo phoned them then and told the snake that he would be home for dinner because he had school tomorrow, and couldn’t stay over at the dojo. They ordered, making sure they got something without leeks for Kyo, on Kisa’s insistence, and went up stairs so she could change into something less formal for dinner. Coming back down, she heard the door opening, dashed down the rest of the stairs, and threw herself into Haru’s arms.

“Whoa! Hey, nice to see you too!” He laughed as he stumbled back with the girl in his arms. “Did you have a good time with oji-Ayame today?”

“Yeah! It was so much fun! Guess what?” She burbled excitedly.

“What?” Haru asked, smiling at her enthusiasm. She was usually so shy and quiet; this was quite a change – especially for just one day.

“Okay. I met Mine, she’s oji-Ayame’s assistant, and she said I was just like a little doll. And I got a new dress, and they said I could keep it. Is that okay?” She asked, continuing when Haru nodded that it was. “And then there was this man, and he had green hair and spikes on his necklace, but they weren’t sharp, cause he let me touch them. And I got to help Mine when she was with the customers and I helped oji-Ayame pick out colors and stuff for the next costume he was gonna make, and it was so much fun!” She ended, a little out of breath in her excitement.

“That sounds like a really great day.” He said, smiling as she grabbed his hand.

“Yeah. Can I go back tomorrow?” She asked hopefully, turning her best pair of doe eyes up at Haru.

“I don’t think tomorrow is good, but you can go another day.” Haru told her with a smirk.

“Okay.” She replied, looking a little upset.

Before he could reassure her, there was a knock at the door. Dinner had arrived, followed closely by Kyo.

“Kyo-kun! Guess what I did today?” Kisa said, once again ready to tell her tale.

“Hey. Can you wait to tell me? I need to shower before dinner, I probably smell bad.” The teen said.

“Yeah, you do smell funny.” She told him, stepping back out of the hug.

Laughing, the cat went upstairs for his shower, and Ayame got Kisa to help him set up everything for dinner. In a few minutes, everyone was sitting down around the table, listening to Kisa talk about how much fun Ayame’s shop was, and how she couldn’t wait until she could go back. Kyo told them about the sparring matches he’d had after school at the dojo, and Haru told them about something that had happened at school during lunch, involving several silly girls, exploding bathrooms, and lots of water.

Later, they found a movie to watch and before long Kisa was curled up against Haru’s side, honey brown head resting on his lap, fast asleep. Kyo, sitting on her other side, noticed and gently picked her up, carrying her to the room she shared with Tohru. Haru followed, stripping her of her clothes, making her more comfortable in her undershirt and shorts.

They stood there watching the little angel sleep, until it became tense and uncomfortable after a bit. Kyo stared at his cousin for a moment, looking at him strangely, then quickly turned away and after a moment, Haru heard him vault onto the roof. Shaking his head at the usual odd behavior, he only briefly wondered what had gotten into him before going back downstairs to finish the movie with Ayaa.

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(1) In the last chapter of vol.5, Kisa uses ‘oji’ when she’s referring to Hatori. I put it in here when she’s talking to Ayame mostly, and the mention of Shigure.

(2) For a visual reference to the dress I’m talking about, it’s in volume 5. I think it’s the chapter divider right before the part when Haru brings her that letter from her teacher and Yuki’s all nice to her. Anyway, it has Kisa in this really pretty dress and Haru’s sitting behind her.

(3) I couldn’t remember what it said in the book about her favorite dish, so I Googled ‘Japanese recipes using leeks’ and found a site that said nira was a type of leek. That made me think it was Niratama, which sounds really familiar. I tried an online dictionary, and typed ‘tama’ and got: soul, spirit, ball, sphere, bullet, shot and shell. So unless it’s a ball of leeks, I’m very wrong. Oh well, can’t say I didn’t try.