Chapter 9

The next few days, Anzu was driven to school by Hatori. He said Akito was busy, but she knew because of the incident, distance was needed. The female would wear jackets to hide her bandage and continued her tutoring sessions, however she avoided outside people in case Akito happened to pop up. By the time she realized what she was doing, she could barely recognize herself. No matter what, Akito's harsh words from dinner still seemed to circle her brain.

Anzu had been laying under the covers in her bed for a while. Other than surrendering to her urge to get up and use the bathroom, she hadn't left the perimeters of her bedroom. There had been a couple knocks on the front door, however she couldn't find the energy or the will to see who it was. Time seemed to play a different tune so she didn't know how long she'd been laying there. but all she wanted to do was go back to America and start over.

"Anzu… Are you in here?"

Realizing who's voice it was, the crimsonette pushed her blankets away to see Tohru standing in the doorway. There was someone else standing behind her - a young girl with golden yellow hair and amber colored eyes.

"Who is that?" Anzu asked, eyeing the newcomer. The girl peeked around Tohru's frame and studied her features, including the bandage on her right arm. When she caught her staring at it, Anzu immediately used the blanket to try and hide it.

Tohru smiled as she walked in. "Oh, I didn't know you've never met her before. This is Kisa Sohma and she's the tiger of the zodiac. I ran into her when Momiji was walking me here."

"…There are other girls in the zodiac?"

"Yes." Kisa's voice was very soft and delicate. It was honestly very soothing to hear.

Tohru sat down on the edge of the bed and faced Anzu seriously. She was concerned about her, but that was nothing compared to the male in the other room. "Momiji's really worried about you. He said he tried to come by a few times but you never answered. You can talk to me if something happened."

Anzu's eyes welled with tears but her mouth couldn't seem to formulate the words caught in her throat. Cradling her right arm, she laid back down and turned her back to Tohru. So much happened… Where could she even begin? Honestly, she never wanted the female to see her like this though. Tohru told Kisa to get her some tissue and once the female was gone, she turned her attention back to the crimsonette.

"If you prefer to be quiet, that's o-"

"I want my mom."

Tohru's eyes widened as she heard Anzu begin to sob uncontrollably. She kept repeating the same sentence over and over again. Feeling her chest tighten with emotion, Tohru let her cry and laid down with her, wrapping her arms around the girl to comfort her. This she could truly empathize with. In the end, Anzu cried herself to sleep in Tohru's arms.

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"Are you sure you still want to go?" Hatori asked as he pulled into the parking lot of Kaibara Municipal High School. "I can take you back home."

"I want to go." Anzu replied, zipping her jacket up. Today was the day of the school trip and she wasn't going to let her opportunity pass by. Watching the other second years board the buses, she let out a deep breath before moving to get out the car and grab her bag.

"You don't need to push yourself, Anzu." Haru reminded her. "You can-"

"I got it." Anzu smiled at him as she grabbed her overnight bag. "Thanks for helping me. I'll see you when I come back."

Stuffing her bag under the bus with everyone else's, Anzu glanced around at the other students who were talking and laughing with their friends. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that maybe she hadn't made the best decision, but she didn't want Hatori to be right so she boarded the bus.

"Well, well, well… Looks like the princess has decided to hang with the paupers, everyone." One of the girls announced as soon as Anzu stepped foot in the aisle. "What's the matter? No five star limousine service available?"

"That sounds like something I heard in a movie…" Anzu thought for a moment. "Also, I've never heard someone insult themselves while complimenting someone else…"

"Excuse me?!"

"It's nice that you think of me as a princess, but I wouldn't describe any of you as a pauper. Also, I've never ridden in a limousine in my life…" The redhead explained, being very straightforward. "I'm actually nowhere close to a princess, nor do I have any imperial… blood…" She began to quiet down as everyone on the bus started to stare at her.

"What a dork."

Everyone started to laugh and Anzu nervously fiddled with her fingers as she feverishly tried to find an empty seat on the bus. Letting out a sigh, she silently reprimanded herself; this wasn't how she wanted her first interaction with her peers to go.

"Everyone shut the hell up. It's too damn early in the morning to be listening to some egoistic hypocrites cackling over shit that ain't funny."

Anzu turned around to see Haru making his way down the aisle. Sitting down in the seat across from her, he crossed his legs and arms. Everyone immediately listened to him and went back to what they were doing before. The girl from earlier rolled her eyes at Anzu before whispering to her friends.

"Thank you, Haru, if it's okay for me to call you that." Anzu glanced over at him despite how agitated he looked. He didn't seem like that the other times she'd seen him hanging around Momiji.

"Of course you can call him that! Everyone calls Haru-chan Haru-chan!" Momiji appeared out of nowhere and plopped down in the empty seat next to the crimsonette. As the bus took its leave, the excitement started to settle down as everyone prepared for the trip to the beachside.

Anzu looked out the window as most of the students drifted off to sleep for the ride. She hadn't been able to enjoy any of the scenery of Japan since she slept through her entire entry train ride. She promised herself she was going to make the most of this trip and- Anzu's thoughts were interrupted as she felt a weight on her shoulder. Turning her head, she noticed Momiji leaning against her with his eyes closed. A light blush came over her cheeks as she watched him sleep.

Suddenly, Momiji's eyes opened and he smiled teasingly at Anzu as their eyes met. "I surprised you, didn't I?"

Anzu's face grew more red and she immediately averted her eyes. "Yes it was sudden, but I didn't mind…"

"Why didn't you tell me you were going on this trip?"

Anzu turned back to see a more serious look on Momiji's face. He didn't look mad, more so disappointed. The female frowned at this, not wanting him to be upset.

"I'm sorry."

Momiji immediately sat up. "No, I didn't want you to feel bad, Lola. I'm really happy that you're here."

"But I'm really sorry for not talking to you lately." She faced him. "You've been nothing but there for me all this time and I just shut everyone out. I really appreciated the letter."

The blond immediately grinned at this. "It's okay. I told you I'd do my best to make sure you're happy." Laying his head on her shoulder again, his mischievous side came out again. "You can make it up to me by being my pillow."

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The second years finally made it to the beach and settled into the hotel they'd be staying at overnight. Haru offered to carry Anzu's bag, seeming like a totally different person, however Momiji grabbed it quickly. As they talked, Anzu found out that there were two different versions of Hatsuharu and it was best that she was on the good side of both.

There was a community service project the students had to do before they could enjoy any free time and they had to work together with their roommates to get it done. It involved cleaning up the nearby area for environmental preservation. As Anzu finished looking around the hotel room, her roommate walked in the door.

"Hi… I'm Anzu." The redhead smiled and held out her hand. "Looks like we'll be cleaning partners."

The girl had dark grey hair and grayish eyes. She stared at Anzu's outstretched hand before ignoring it and placing her bag on her bed. "Machi."

"Oh, that's a pretty name." Anzu awkwardly put her hand down as she still maintained her smile. "I hope we can get along well…"

The two went around and completed their community service. Machi did the bare minimum and disappeared immediately afterwards. They didn't talk much and Anzu got the feeling that she didn't want to be friends, which disappointed her. That disappointment was pushed towards the back of her head once she went out to the beachfront with Momiji and Haru.

"I'm going to get in the water." Haru left out first as Anzu sat on her beach towel under an umbrella. She put on the bathing suit she brought, however she covered herself with a jacket so no one would see her bandage. Momiji sat down next to her and watched as everyone swam around and had fun.

"You don't have to sit here with me. Go enjoy yourself." Anzu smiled. "I can watch our stuff."

"I'm fine here with you." Momiji shrugged. "Besides, Haru-chan won't play with me anyway. Once your arm heals, we can come back and swim together."

"Can we bring everyone else along too? I think it'd be really fun to be with Kisa and Tohru, along with the others."

"We can bring anyone you want!"

Anzu hugged her knees to her chest as she felt the heat radiating around them. It was very hot and the jacket she had on wasn't helping her case. The longer she sat, the more uncomfortable and tired she felt - like something was very wrong. Momiji turned to her once he heard her start panting and reached out to her in concern.

"Lola, you don't look too good. Bist du krank?" He looked so concerned, but she was too tired to answer him. Thinking she was too hot, he was going to take off her jacket, however he was beaten out by a large puff of smoke as she transformed.

Haru, who had noticed Momiji immediately run away from the beach carrying something in his arms, got out of the water and followed him back into the hotel. Luckily no one was paying much attention to them so they wouldn't have to get Hatori too involved. He walked into their hotel room where Momiji was frantically trying to help the hen he laid on the bed.

"Why don't you just call Hatori?"

Momiji immediately grabbed his cellphone. "Das stimmt!" The moment Hatori answered the phone, Momiji spewed out the story. "Harii! Something happened to Anzu!"

Once Hatori figured out the important details from Momiji's drawn out explanation, he told them to give her some water and make sure the room was cool. Apparently she gets stressed in hot weather, just like Ayame. Even though she was in some shade, the jacket made her go overboard. Once they got her temperature under control, Anzu transformed back and was currently resting, so Haru went out to get her a small snack while Momiji stayed in the room.

"Sorry again." Anzu murmured as she opened her eyes. "Seems like I'm still causing trouble…"

"You're not." Momiji smiled. "Ayame transforms like this too. He's the Snake and Yuki-chan's older brother. Kyo -chan doesn't feel good when it rains a lot. I'm saying this so you know you aren't alone."

"Does anything make you transform?"

Momiji sat on the edge of the bed and thought to himself. "Well… I don't know about transform, but really loud noises like construction sites stress me out. What really sucks is super strong smells like perfume. It makes my head spin."

"I don't really like loud noises either so that's okay." Anzu smiled. "And I don't wear perfume."

"Ich weiss, Lola."

Anzu giggled which caused Momiji to laugh himself. They enjoyed each other's company for a moment and Momiji figured this was finally his chance. Looking at how carefree Anzu seemed, he smiled to himself and leaned down so their faces were mere inches from each other. Forgoing his hesitation, he pressed his lips against hers.