Sohma Residence

Himeko was dreaming of her parents, a dream she had every time her eyes closed for an attempt at peaceful slumber, it was always the same one; her mother was in the kitchen cooking breakfast, eggs sunny side up and crisp bacon, Himeko's favorite. Himeko's father was sitting at the table, lips pressed tightly together as he read the daily newspaper and sipped at his coffee. Five year old Himeko was getting ready due to it being her first day of school. She ran downstairs and ate breakfast with her parents, everything was peaceful, they ate and talked about their plans for the weekend, then everything turned ugly..the house was burnt, Himeko was standing there crying her eyes out in it's remains, her hello kitty backpack on the ground as she yelled in hopes of it bringing her dead parents back to her.

Himeko stirred in her sleep and jumped as she felt a hand softly move some of her hair and she jumped nervously, blinking at him obliviously, "What?" she asked in a soft tone, it was audiable, just a little groggy, "It'd do the family a favor if I got some weird infection anyway, besides..I don't like doctors." she stated in a slightly louder, but still relatively soft voice with a light blush upon her features. She blushed only because she was embarrassed that someone actually registered she was hurt.

"You're the monkey right?" she inquired with a small smile daring upon her features, her outgoing appearance contrasting against her shy nature and tone, "I'm not an idiot..by the way..I just didn't really think it looked that bad nor did I think anyone would notice." she said with a sheepish grin, dropping her stubborn and rude remarks, "No one really notices me, unless they're yelling, I'm actually suprised you didn't."

Sotto looked Kimchi over, noting that he seemed rather fragile. He stayed quiet as the boy began to ramble, but he seemed to catch himself before it got out of hand. He wasn't quite sure how to react to him, so he remained silent for just another moment until he was sure that Kimchi was done talking.

"Ah... that's..." Sotto took the bag, somewhat awkwardly, "nice of you, Kimchi." A small smile found it's way onto Sotto's lips. Kimchi was... likeable. "Thank you," he added.

Glancing down at the bag, Sotto was quiet for another moment. He didn't really feel like eating... to be honest, he rarely felt like eating. It usually didn't seem worth the effort of leaving his room. He let his gaze drift back to Kimchi.

"Ne, Kimchi... um... do you want to eat with me?"

Naoki did her best to not flush up like a beetroot as she approached Sogo as calmly and neutrally as her pounding heart and absolute mortification could allow. She kept her eyes down as she walked, but raised them to look the older, pervy player right in the eye and gently took the piece of paper from his fingers.

“This isn’t mine.” The brunette said, hoping her voice was only wavering in her head. “It belongs to a friend from school. She has very strict parents, you see, who tends to go through her things without her permission and… She wanted me to keep this safe for her.”

Lowering her gaze, Naoki began to fold the paper into two, then four, then eight, her fingers shaking slightly from anxiety of being seen right through. The Sohma physician had a very uncanny ability of doing that to her. Slipping the extract into her hot pant pockets, she looked at Sogo again, trying not to sneer at his smarmy smile. Being disgusted by his behaviour just seemed to make him worse.

“Thank you for retrieving it for me.” And with that, Naoki forced out the nicest smile she could manage at that moment and moved to slide past him.

"Sure," Kimchi smiled in response. "If you don't mind me being here?" He wasn't the sort of kid to hang around when no one wanted him, and since Sotto was so recluse, it's hard to tell sometimes what or who he wanted around. He leaned against the wall near the door and waited for an instruction or so on where to sit.


"You know," Hebihito mused. "You don't have to take on all the responsibilities of the house onto your shoulders. There are other big kids around here to lighten the load." She liked Koga, a strong and responsible sort without being too cold. Very rare to find a man with a head for business and a heart for... well to handle children.

(sorry it's so short)

Sogo's smile turned into a smirk at her reaction and watched her as she tucked the paper into her pants. He couldn't help but roll his eyes, disbelieving her explanation. Any idiot could have seen through her act and how many times has he heard that story? He glanced upwards to see her moving away; just as Naoki was about to pass him, he gracefully moved to the side and blocked her pathway. Sogo placed one hand on his hip and leaned to the side, staring at her intensely. "Work on your acting, little girl," he commented bluntly, grasping the damp cigarette and throwing it to the ground. Out of habit, he stomped on the unlit cigarette. Sogo narrowed his eyes, "A young girl like you shouldn't be writing those kinds of stories, you know?"

Zero grabbed his left hand with his right, as if his hand transmitted some kind of disease. Himeko's reaction towards his touch had startled him and, though he refused to show it, her reaction saddened him as well. It was the same reaction his Aunt had shown towards him, the type of jumpy movement that showed her fear of his curse. The fear and disgust had been clear upon the woman's face, despite his father and mother's protests that Zero was not some type of monster. Shaking his thoughts away, he sighed. Why did she have to be so damn jumpy? Listening to her remark about the family, he rolled his eyes. "Don't be a fool. The least you could've done was go to Sogo. He's not even an actual doctor, so it should be ok." He stated, noticing a blush enter her features. Cocking his eyebrow, he began to take genuine interest in the conversation at hand.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm the monkey." He said, returning her small smile with a smirk. For now, Zero would entertain the Cat. . .at least, until he grew bored. "Refusing medical attention makes you an idiot in my book." He stated nonchalantly, noticing her notorious rude and stubborn exterior fading away. "Obviously I'd notice you. You disturbed my nap, besides someone can't just ignore these wounds." He pointed at them, as if trying to show her just how badly they appeared to him.

Naoki gasped at Sogo's suddenly movement, taking a step back inside they collided. If she turned into her animal form now, and then turned back completely naked in front of Sogo, she would never live it down. Not even smutty writing being shown up in front of the whole family could compare to that kind of humilation. Regaining her composure, she glared at him, speaking slowly and with a tone dripping with poison.

"I'm over the age of consent, Sogo. Therefore, writing stuff like this shouldn't mean anything, so don't talk to me like you're my father. Unlike you, I only go around writing this stuff, not performing it, and what I write is my business. So back off."

Himeko's golden eyes softened as she realized what his actions meant, and she turned her head away from him quickly, " Oh..S-sorry." She whispered softly, smiling a bit, understanding his reaction. without even having to see into it completely, "It's my first reaction around people..yet I guess it's my fault." she replied trying to laugh it off, blinking at him dumbfoundedly, "Uhm..Go see who?" Himeko asked, she turned her head to face him, her golden eyes staring at Zero as if he had said something completely unheard of, "Which one is that?" she asked sincerely. Himeko turned her head away again as she felt her face turning a darker shade of red at her own stupidity, "Alright I'm stupid, we've established that, anything else?" she mumbled back.

"That's cool." she replied with a giggle, "You act more like a mother hen however, I didn't exactly refuse medical attention, I just didn't seek it." she mumbled softly to herself, accepting his point obviosuly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It doesn't hurt. Really." she stated blinking down at the dried blood, "It just looks bad." she stated with a strong smile, despite her slightly present blush