I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!

Anyway… this is the chapter where we learn about the pink pills. It's also the beginning of the end of the story!

Um… I have two possible endings, so if you consider yourself a Fruits Basket smartie pants, and you have an account, put it in your review and I'll message you with my ideas and let you vote or give me your ideas or whatever.

Yay me!

Um… yeah.

It's so fricken hot. Like 106 degrees. I died walking home from work the other day.

OH!

I was at work, right? I work in a hospital. So all of a sudden I look up and see this group of four sixty year old men in mini skirts, tank tops, and high heels. Two of them had breasts, and one had this really bad wig. I turned to this guy who works with me, Vic, and was like 'wtf?' and he just hid under the desk and laughed.

Don't get me wrong, I love gay people (well, nice ones anyway. There's this kid Chris that I… well that's another story. But he's a baaaadddd gay), and if you believe you're a woman, born in a man's body, good for you. But honestly, not even real women dress up that much TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL.

Although there's this older woman who is always in like silk and jewels. I was like 'Who is she?' to my best friend the Security Guard Alejandro, and he's like 'oh, that's the coroner.'

I was like 0.o

So I guess the morale of the story is that people are strange sometimes.

Coming from the girl with the tattoo, whose hair is purple on top, blue in the middle, and black on the bottom.

It took forever to get it that way, but it looks mad cool.

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There's Beauty in the Breakdown

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"Ugh… only one more." Mahiru dropped her bag heavily in the kitchen, ignoring it and staggering to her room, where she took a quick shower and fell into bed. The Callback had lasted unbearably long, and she had been forced to do a partner dance with a guy who had a huge zit, right between his eyebrows. She had been unable to look away from it, and had spent most of the time trying not to gag. She looked at the clock and groaned. It was almost one in the morning.

She dozed, idly wondering why the owner of the Transcends wanted to keep himself up that late, even if he wanted to torture her.

Mahiru sighed and rolled over, unable to find the source of an annoying beeping in her ear. She really had to get some sleep; she had school in the morning…

She looked up, to find her alarm clock buzzing away. It was almost 7:30, in the morning. Mahiru shrieked and raced to find a bra. She was out the door in four minutes, although it didn't keep her from missing half of her first class, and then falling asleep during lunch.

"Today is not my day." She mumbled into her math book during the last five minutes of the final period.

"We've noticed." Takara retorted, not too quietly. She glared at the teacher who turned to look reprovingly at her. "Last callback. Then you'll be home free."

"Then I'll have to go to rehearsals." Mahiru shoved her head deeper into the book. "Sleepy sleepy sleepy sleepy…."

"Yeah, she's lost it." Hisa shoved her with her pen. When Mahiru fell out of her desk and curled up on the floor, starting to snore, the teacher snapped.

"EXCUSE ME, LADIES!" He warbled, pointing his ever-so-deadly pointer at them.

"You're excused." Replied Takara.

"Says the stripper." Some guy in the front row hooted.

"To her best customer." Rini retorted. Both the boy and the teacher turned scarlet as the bell rang.

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The callback had been considerably shorter than her others. Mahiru dragged herself into the Main House before the sun had even finished setting. She collapsed at the kitchen counter, downing four glasses of water and then stumbling to the bathroom. She abandoned her bag in the kitchen and was about to just go into her room and flop down on the bed when she heard a thump. Turning her head, she realized with a start that she was standing outside of Akito's room. Even more startling, she hadn't seen him in two days. Mahiru rapped on the door as she entered, not waiting for an answer. She found the God sprawled on the floor in front of his shoji doors, Pear Bear held carelessly in his right arm. Mahiru sat down next to him and waited, trying to find what it was that he was staring at so intently. She shifted, clearing her throat. Akito ignored her. Deciding she didn't have time to play 'Let's Ignore Each Other!' Mahiru stood. She felt a tugging on pants and looked down. The God was holding one of her pants-legs firmly, still not looking at her. Mahiru sat down again. "Hi." She said.

He stared intently at the wall.

"So… long time no see."

He ignored her more.

"Okay, yeah, that's kinda my fault. But that was my last callback. Now they tell me what I am, and then I go to rehearsals. We want our ballet to be good." Mahiru had the feeling she was talking to someone who wasn't-all-there. Maybe even a child. She stroked his hair. "Akito?"

He didn't respond.

"Akito?" she asked again, leaning down and speaking directly into his ear. Still no reaction. She poked his shoulder. His body rocked slightly from the force, but otherwise he was un-responsive. He wasn't even staring at the wall anymore, his eyes glazed and unfocused.

"Akito!"

She called his name a few more times before running for Hatori.

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"Haa-san!" She found the doctor in his office, sleeping. He jerked awake at her yelling.

"What?" he asked groggily, putting on his glasses hastily.

"There's something wrong with Akito!" Mahiru grabbed his hand and tried to pull him from behind his desk.

"Well, yeah, that's a given." Where had she been for the last few months?

"NO! Well, yeah. But no! It's something different." Mahiru successfully dragged the doctor out of the room and down the hall, into Akito's room, where the God lay, still in his comatose position. Hatori knelt by the God's side, checking his vitals. He turned to Mahiru.

"This is something I can't fix, and it's going to be happening quite often." When Mahiru opened her mouth, he held up a hand for silence. "Let me finish." She obediently closed it. "Akito takes lots of medications, yes?" She nodded. "There's one that I can't make him take. As a Doctor, I can usually override his decision to not take the medicine." Another nod. "But there's one treatment I can't give him without his consent."

"But what-" again Hatori silenced her.

"It's… how do I explain this?" he thought for a moment. "Okay, all the pills he takes helps his body function. But there's simply so much stuff in his system that his brain has problems functioning with all the clutter everywhere. Got it so far?" Mahiru nodded. "So, once every six months or so I try to make him take those." Hatori motioned to the two large, pinkish pills still lying on Akito's night stand. "They balance out his brain function. His mind can't work well while it's being over stimulated and constantly battered by everything we give him, so those kind of protect him."

"And… he won't take them?" Mahiru distractedly stroked the God's hair.

"Right." Hatori looked absentmindedly away. "And since it's not a physical illness, I can't make him do anything."

"And he won't take them why?"

Hatori grimaced and stood. "That's another reason I can't force him to take them. They have side effects. Vomiting, abdominal pain, chest pain, excessive bleeding, and shortness of breath… but the list goes on. It's a dangerous drug, but Akito doesn't realize what danger he's in by not taking it, particularly because whenever it's presented to him that means that the effects of his last dose are wearing off. He doesn't think he's acting strangely, he doesn't think there's anything wrong with him mentally, so why should he take a medicine that hurts him?" Hatori leaned down and took the God in his arms as one would a baby, one arm around his shoulders and the other around his knees. "This is what happens periodically when there's too much." Hatori carefully placed his young charge in bed. Mahiru followed with Pear Bear, sticking him next to Akito. She turned to leave. "You can stay if you want." Hatori said. "He'll wake up and wonder how he got in bed."

Mahiru flopped into the armchair. "Anything else I should know?"

Hatori paused at the door. "Well, Akito's going to have some trouble with his short-term memory. He's mentally deteriorating. He should be harmless, but if not, scream. Loudly." He left.

Mahiru sighed and turned her attention back to Akito and jumped slightly. He was sitting up in his bed, staring intently at her.

"Where have you been?" he hissed at her.

"…" Mahiru took a second to get her brain back on track. He couldn't remember things… "Right here."

The God looked at her in confusion.

"How did you get in your bed?" she asked him, testing. He started and shoved the covers away, snatching up Pear. "Exactly…" she leaned back in the chair. Akito turned his attention back to the spot on the wall he had been staring at earlier. "Akito?"

"Hm?" he replied, leaning forward to look at the spot closer.

"What are you looking at?" Mahiru followed his line of sight, only seeing the wooden paneling of the wall.

"See it?" he asked fervently. He swung his legs off his bed, heaving himself to a standing position, using the headboard of his bed as a lever. Mahiru jumped up as he walked unsteadily to the shoji doors, where he collapsed against them, staring straight up.

"…Akito?" She went to him and placed a hand on his thin shoulder. It was trembling. "Akito!"

He spun to face her and grasped the front of her shirt, his hands balling into weak fists. "See it?" he hissed and spun again, Mahiru going with him.

"It's very pretty… wood." She gave up.

Akito sank to his knees and then slid down with a thump until he was lying on the floor. Mahiru had the feeling that he had done the same thing when she had been outside his room, and he had been rational only a few minutes before she had come into his room. She sat next to him. He looked like he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

"See it?" He mumbled sleepily.

"Yup." She lied, still unsure what it was.

"Good." He let his eyes close. She shook him awake.

"Get to bed before you fall asleep." She helped him up, but he shoved her away as he staggered to his bed, where he fell down.

"Isn't it beautiful?" he asked her, his eyes still trained on the spot.

"Sure is." She agreed, tucking Pear under his arm.

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You know what's really good? Chocolate covered cheesecake. I also like carrot cake. For some reason, I like carrot and spice a lot more than vanilla. My favorite cake is pumpkin spice cheesecake.

Doesn't that sound yummy?