Little Tiger

The Sohma secret

Callie seemed to get the message immediately that she was unwelcome. It was a result of all the talking we did about the estate. I couldn't find the words to explain myself and, even if I could, it would be no use. Hatori knew exactly what was going on, and he knew he had to end it. He was in his bathrobe and there was a towel around his neck to collect the droplets of water falling from his hair. I imagined he had heard voices in the house and immediately left the bathroom to make sure we weren't burglars or something. 

"Who is this?" he asked me. His tone showed that he didn't actually care to know, he just wanted her gone. 

"Friend from school," I said, taking a step behind me. "Her name's Callie." 

 Hatori's eyebrow twitched, but his expression was unreadable. He put his hands on his hips and regarded me briefly then looked at Callie. 

"Hello," he said pleasantly. "I'm Hatori." He put his hand out in front of her. 

Callie nodded at him. All of the color had washed out of her face and she was shaking slightly as she extended her hand to him. 

"Why are you here?" I asked, aghast. 

Hatori furrowed his eyebrows. "Showering, obviously, and looking over some medical records," he answered. "The real question is why are you here?" He was not looking at me. 

Callie met Hatori's eyes. "Ko and I have a class project," she explained. Like I said before, she was good at lying. 

Hatori shot me a surprised glance when he heard my nickname coming from Callie. "We don't normally have visitors," he explained calmly to Callie, almost mockingly. 

"Tori," I cut in sharply. I didn't want Hatori looking at Callie like that just as much as I didn't like Callie looking at Akari's picture. "Let's talk, just us." I grabbed his arm and led him upstairs into his room. It was dangerous to leave Callie alone downstairs because Akari could have been coming home any minute, but there were more important matters at hand. 

"Please," I begged as soon as the door shut. "Don't tell anyone." 

Hatori glared at me, folding his arms. "You've caught me on a horrible day, Ko. I'm absolutely exhausted and I just received some horrible news." 

I wanted to ask about the 'horrible news' but I didn't think distracting him from talking about Callie would do any good. 

"Then get some sleep, I'll just take her back home. You won't see her again. She doesn't even know--" 

"Yes, she does, Koharu," he retorted, interrupting me just as I was starting to sound hysterical. "She wouldn't be in this house if she didn't." 

I sighed, dropping my shoulders in defeat. We stared at each other for a long time. Neither of us could do anything to change the other person's mind. 

"She's my only--" 

"Ko." He walked towards me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Go to the main house. I don't think you want to be here for this." 

The world stopped turning as blood pulsed in my ears. I felt my palms sweat. I didn't move from the closed door even in Hatori's attempt to force me away. 

"Don't, please, Tori," I begged him again, pressing my back against the door firmly. "I've never asked you for anything. She's harmless, she'll never tell a soul, trust me, please, I would never lie to you." In the midst of what I was saying, I realized just how stupid I was acting. No, Callie didn't pose a direct threat to the Sohma family's secret, but it was as if I had forgotten the browbeating discussion we had just moments ago. I wondered if she was worth all of this effort.