by Haruka

Fish Eye swallowed and glanced at Michiru, who looked pretty nervous herself. Their mothers and Zoisite had just finished explaining how their stories and Haruka's didn't gel. Nuriko had a look in his maroon eyes that Fish Eye recognized and it wasn't good news for him. Things were so tense that Tiger Eye and the Quartet had stopped what they were doing and were watching from across the yard.
"Fish Eye," Nuriko said evenly, "I want the truth and I want it now. What were you doing last night?"
There was nothing else he could do. If he kept lying now, it would only go worse later, if that were even possible. "I ...," he started to say, then took a deep breath before trying again. "I was on a date, Mama."
Nuriko sat back and studied him. "With who?"
Tiger Eye came over, no longer concerned with the dirt on his hands. The Quartet quickly followed. "Mama, is something wrong?" Tiger Eye asked.
"I just learned that your brother lied and was actually on a date last night." Nuriko gave him a sideways glance. "Which means that you all lied about what you and Hawk Eye were doing, too."
"Uh ... Ah ...," caught off-guard, Tiger Eye didn't know what to say. He looked frantically at Fish Eye, whose defeated expression gave him his answer.
"All of you look like you know the truth," Nuriko said. "Care to enlighten us? Who was Fish Eye's date and what do all of you have to do with it?"
"One of my co-workers asked me out," Fish Eye answered. "His name is Seiya Kou, and he was a perfect gentleman."
"Seiya is one of Apricot's children," Setsuna said.
"He _is_ a nice boy, Nuriko," Zoisite said. "Although Haruka doesn't like him."
"Haruka saw Seiya as a rival," Michiru said. "But she'll come around now that he's dated Fish Eye."
"The next question is, if this kid is so nice, why didn't you just tell us the truth instead of lying and covering it up?" Nuriko asked Fish Eye.
The blue-haired boy glanced at his cousins. "I thought it would be too cruel to subject Seiya to that. Hawk Eye and Tiger Eye didn't trust him already because of what Haruka had said, and I was afraid the girls would give him a hard time just for the fun of it."
"Aw, it was more fun following you both on the date!" Palla Palla grinned.
The other girls groaned while Fish Eye stared.
"You did _what_?!" he cried. "You little snoops!"
"Hey, they did it, too!" Jun Jun pointed at Tiger Eye. "That's what he and Hawk Eye were _really_ doing!"
"And Seiya's brothers, too!" Cere Cere added.
"All _eight_ of you were following us?!" Fish Eye exclaimed. "I don't believe this!"
"Time to start at the beginning," Nuriko said firmly, looking around at all the kids. "Fish Eye, you start. The rest of you, feel free to add information where necessary. By the time you're finished, I expect to know the whole story."
Fish Eye glared at his brother. "So do I!"
Tiger Eye swallowed.

The phone rang in the Kou household and Yaten picked it up. "Yeah?"
"Yaten, is that any way to answer the phone?" Setsuna said through the receiver.
Yaten shrugged. "It's my way. You want my mom?"
"Yes, please."
He covered the mouthpiece and yelled, "Hey, Mama! Phone's for you! It's Setsuna!"
Apricot took the receiver from him, giving him a dark look. "You're not supposed to be answering the phone, Yaten. You're being punished, remember?"
"Right, sorry," Yaten replied and wandered away.
"And get busy cleaning my car!" she called after him. Shaking her head, she spoke into the receiver, "Hello?"
"Apricot, it's Setsuna. How are you?"
"Not great, Set," she answered. "Yaten and Taiki came home late last night with my car a filthy mess. Da Cider interfered before I could punish them and I never even found out exactly what happened. All I know is there was an 'accident'."
"Well, I just came from Nuriko's and I _can_ tell you exactly what happened."

"Finally, a break." Seiya leaned against the counter and grinned at Taiki. "I'll bet Yaten almost wishes he were working today - he gets to stay home and deal with Mama's mood."
"He also probably has to clean up her car all by himself," Taiki sighed, "which means he won't be too happy with _me_."
"Ah, a little physical labour won't hurt him for a change. The only time he ever works is when he's here, and then he only does as much as he has to."
The door of the restaurant opened and Haruka and Hawk Eye came in. "Hey, where is everybody?" Haruka looked around. "All your customers desert you?"
"They cleared out about five minutes ago," Taiki said. "I'm sure you guys could see all the cars parked here from where you were."
"Yeah, I'm just teasing you, Taiki," Haruka replied.
Hawk Eye could tell by the twinkle in her eyes that Haruka was dying to say something about the fiasco of the previous night, so he quickly intervened. "So Yaten's not working today?"
"No, he's off," Seiya answered. "So I'll be making your tacos today, if that's what you're having."
"Probably, but I wanted to say something first," Haruka told him.
"Haruka!" Hawk Eye cried.
"What?" She looked at him. "I just want to apologize to Seiya for my attitude lately."
"Oh." Hawk Eye blushed, glancing at Taiki and wishing he hadn't just made himself look foolish.
"Well, thanks Haruka." Seiya grinned.
She smiled and shrugged. "I guess Fish Eye had a really good time with you last night. We're trying to arrange a party at his house so we can all get reacquainted and start over." She extended a hand. "I'm sorry."
Seiya shook her hand firmly. "I didn't help matters myself. I'm sorry, too. I hope we can be friends now."
The phone rang and Taiki picked it up. "Good afternoon, Captain Chicken/Tacoz, Taiki speaking, how may I help you?"
"You guys have to say all that every time the phone rings?" Haruka asked.
"Supposedly," Seiya replied. "Except for Yaten, who usually just says 'Whaddya want, we're busy here!'"
Hawk Eye was watching Taiki as he listened on the phone and noticed he was getting pale. Fear had entered the lavender eyes, and that frightened Hawk Eye, as well. "Taiki, what's wrong?" he interrupted.
Haruka and Seiya both looked at Taiki, who held up a finger and said into the receiver, "Okay, thanks for the warning. Bye." He hung up, looking depressed.
"What happened?" Seiya asked.
"That was Ves Ves," he said. "She tried calling you at the garage first, Hawk Eye, but they said you were over here on break."
"What did _she_ want?" Hawk Eye asked.
"Our parents," Taiki said slowly, then took a deep breath. "Your mothers and Michiru's got together and somehow figured everything out. They're telling our mom, too. Fish Eye is in serious trouble and the rest of us aren't much better off."
"Fish Eye got caught? Oh no!" Seiya gasped, then hesitated. "But ... what does that have to do with any of you?" He looked at his brother for an explanation. "Taiki?"
The tall redhead swallowed and decided Yaten was lucky to be at home, after all.

I'm too young to die, Fish Eye thought miserably. His mother had called his father home, and it was a foregone conclusion that he would soon feel the business end of the belt. Differing emotions were coming at him so quickly he could barely sort them out. He was scared of being punished, but he also hated seeing the look of disappointment in his mother's eyes. He was furious at his brothers for tailing him on his date, and yet he knew they did it out of genuine concern for him. He was annoyed with the Quartet, who went along for the ride, and he felt very guilty that Haruka and Michiru were in trouble with their own parents because of him. Then there was Seiya.
Fish Eye sighed. What would Seiya think of him now? Would he even want to talk to him anymore? Setsuna had promised Nuriko that she'd tell Seiya's mother about the date and everything that happened. He didn't know if Seiya would be in trouble or not, but Yaten and Taiki would. They'd probably hate him, and he wasn't at all sure how Seiya would feel about his brothers spying on them. Would he be mad at them, or at Fish Eye, for starting all the sneaking around to begin with?
"How did I manage to completely botch everything up?" he wondered out loud.
"You had help, Fishie."
He looked up at Tiger Eye standing in his bedroom doorway. "I don't know if I've forgiven you or not," Fish Eye said.
"Fair enough," Tiger Eye said, walking over to sit beside him. "But I can still keep you company, can't I?"
"I wish they'd just get it over with," Fish Eye sighed. "Waiting for it is worse."
"I wouldn't be in such a hurry, if I were you," Tiger Eye told him. "And since I might _be_ you in a little while, I can assure you I'm not in any rush."
"Don't worry, Tigger, they won't whip you," Fish Eye said. "Secretly, they're probably glad you followed us, since I was out with a boy they didn't know."
"Maybe, but I know they're not big on the lying stuff." Tiger Eye examined his perfectly-manicured nails.
"If they whip you and Hawk Eye, they'll have to whip the girls, too, since they were sneaking around and lying, too." Fish Eye smiled wanly. "I don't think they have it in them to deliver seven beatings in one day."
"I don't know. Maybe if they traded off turns ...."
Sanosuke appeared in the bedroom doorway, holding a doubled belt in his hand. "Tiger Eye, would you please go downstairs?"
The blonde Changechild looked like he wanted to protest, but knew that doing so would make things worse for Fishie. He gave his sibling a sympathetic look and left the room, nearly tripping over the Quartet who had swarmed outside the door.
"Okay, you girls, come down with me," he told them.
"We want to stay," Palla Palla pouted.
"Go down with him!" Sanosuke ordered from within the bedroom.
"I guess we'll go down with you," Jun Jun said dryly.

"Wait up, Haruka!"
"Forget it, she doesn't know how to slow down."
Hawk Eye shook his head and pumped his legs harder in an effort to catch up to the blonde bullet as she tore down the street half a block ahead of them. Seiya ran alongside him, his long ponytail flying. He couldn't believe they'd all run out on their jobs. Taiki had promised to look after things for Seiya, but who would man the gas pumps at the station with both he and Haruka gone?
"Seiya," he said as he ran, "I know why you're going and I know why I'm going, but why is Haruka going?"
"Same reason, different person," Seiya answered.
"We're worried about Fish Eye getting whipped - she doesn't seriously think the same thing will happen to Michiru for one little white lie, does she?"
"It doesn't matter. All that matters to her is Michiru is in trouble, so she has to be there. Case closed."
Hawk Eye briefly envisioned himself running to Taiki's side in a situation like this and realized he was getting ahead of himself. They hadn't even gone out yet. He'd better take care of that soon.
Good grief, he thought, what am I doing? Thinking about Taiki with Fishie in so much trouble?
They reached their street, and the boys saw Haruka dart up Michiru's driveway, not even pausing to say goodbye to them. She hadn't gotten as far as the porch steps when across the street, Kunzite came out of the house and bellowed, "HARUKA!"
_That_ made her stop. Hawk Eye and Seiya saw her hesitate and turn to look over her shoulder at her father.
"Come here," he said.
There was another moment's pause and then she smiled and waved. "I'll be right there! I've got something to do here first."
She disappeared into Michiru's house, and Hawk Eye didn't even look over to see Kunzite's expression. He was nervous enough as it was.

Haruka walked through the foyer and stopped in the living room doorway. "Um, hi," she said to Michiru and her parents, who were seated in the room.
"What took you so long?" Setsuna remarked with a hint of humour. "We're almost through talking to her."
"Sorry I'm late," Haruka said in all seriousness, looking apologetically at Michiru. "I only just found out."
"You shouldn't have left work," Michiru told her. "You'll get in trouble."
"She's already in trouble," Kenshin said. "Haruka, I think you should go home."
"Can I at least try to plead Michi's case?"
"She's done perfectly well at pleading her own," Setsuna told her. "And as appreciative as we are of loyalty in friendship, we told her that she's really not helping herself or Fish Eye when she lies for him."
"Just like you aren't helping Michiru when you lie for _her_," Kenshin added.
"Haruka only did it because I asked her to," Michiru said.
"Then you shouldn't ask her to do such things," her mother said. "Your punishment stands - you're grounded for a week."
Michiru sighed and looked at Haruka with regret.
The front door opened and Kunzite strode into the room. He nodded to the adults. "Excuse me, Setsuna, Kenshin, I came to retrieve something of mine." He swept Haruka up over his shoulder.
"HEY!" she protested.
He swatted her upraised bottom. "Save it for home," he advised and headed for the door. "Talk to you folks later."
"Bye Kunzite," Kenshin said.
Michiru waved sadly and Haruka cast her one last yearning look as she was transported bodily from the house.

Nuriko, Tiger Eye and the Quartet looked up as Hawk Eye burst into the house with Seiya. Both boys came to a skidding stop in the living room.
"Hello, Hawk Eye," Nuriko said. "From the look on your face, you know what's going on here." He gave Seiya a curious glance. "Who's this?"
The black-haired boy stepped forward. "I'm Seiya Kou, sir. I was Fish Eye's date last night."
"My name is Nuriko. I'm glad to finally meet you, but the timing isn't good, so perhaps you should go home for now."
"Where's Fishie?" Hawk Eye looked at his blonde brother.
"Up in his room with Papa," Tiger Eye answered.
Seiya sprinted for the stairs.
"Hey!" Nuriko protested.
"First door on the right!" Hawk Eye yelled after him.

"Papa, I'm sorry!" Fish Eye cried, backing away from his father. "I know it was wrong to lie, but if you'll just give me a moment to explain - "
"Your mother says you already explained to him and he thinks punishment would be justified," Sanosuke said. "Come on, Fish Eye, must we go through a chase scene every time you do something wrong?"
"Only if you're chasing me with _that_!" Fish Eye nodded at the belt and jumped over the bed to land on the other side. Sanosuke was starting around it when the bedroom door opened and a boy he'd never seen before ran in.
"Seiya!" Fish Eye gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"This is the boy you were dating last night?" Sanosuke eyed Seiya suspiciously.
The newcomer nodded. "Yes sir, I'm Seiya Kou. I'd like to respectfully request that you not punish Fish Eye too harshly - it wasn't his fault alone."
"Excuse me, young man, but this isn't any of your business," Sano told him. "Please go home - Fish Eye will talk to you another time."
"It _is_ my business, Sagara-san, because if Fish Eye hadn't wanted to go out with me, he wouldn't have felt the need to lie, which he was doing because he thought he was protecting me."
"And because he was afraid we'd say no," Sano added wryly.
"Just the same, I feel at least half responsible, so it wouldn't be fair to take it all out on Fish Eye." Seiya glanced at the belt in Sano's hand then looked him in the eyes. "I'd rather you punish me instead."
"Seiya, are you crazy?!" Fish Eye exclaimed. "Papa, don't listen to him!"
"Fish Eye, do you honestly think I would punish a stranger's child?" Sano turned to Seiya, infusing patience into his tone, "Your name is Seiya? Well, Seiya, as noble and heroic as your actions may be, I think even your own parents would tell you that it's unwise to interfere in another family's domestic matters."
"I don't know about that, they're both pretty pushy, too." Seiya grinned.
Fish Eye couldn't help giggling, but was silenced by a warning look from his father.
"All kidding aside, sir," Seiya added soberly. "I'm very serious about this. If you have to make a point, I'd rather you made it on me than Fish Eye. He'll still learn from it - I just don't want him to be hurt."
"Are you suggesting I'm wrong to whip my son when he lies to me?" Sano asked.
"No," Seiya admitted. "My mother would do the same. But in this case, Fish Eye was under pressure from me to go out with me, and from his siblings NOT to. He was also aware that his cousins might cause trouble. He made an error in judgement by not explaining all this to you ahead of time, and against my own better judgement, I didn't come over to meet you first." He took a deep breath. "So you see, it's _not_ just his fault."
Sanosuke held his gaze for a long time before finally tucking the belt under his arm, shaking his head. "I can't say that I understand all your logic, Seiya, but your determination has to count for something." He looked at his blue-haired son. "Fish Eye, this boy just saved your hide. I hope you appreciate it."
"I'm grateful for what he did," Fish Eye said and hugged his father. "But it's _you_ who made the final decision. Thank you, Papa."
"I love you, kid." Sano squeezed him tightly. "I just worry about you. You're too damned pretty for your own good and for my peace of mind. If I'm strict with you, that's why."
"I know," Fish Eye said. "I'll try not to do anything like this again."
"Try?" Sano laughed. "You'd be smart to do more than try, because next time I won't be so generous. And don't think you're getting off scot-free, either - there's going to be _some_ punishment here or I'll be a totally neglectful parent. Your mother and I will discuss it." He gave Seiya a stern look. "Young man, you got lucky this time. I could just as easily have resented this intrusion and Fish Eye might have been even worse off."
Seiya nodded. "I know, sir. I'm glad that didn't happen."
"I want to meet your parents and learn more about you, too. If you're going this far to help him out, I'm assuming you'll want to date Fish Eye again?"
Seiya smiled warmly at Fish Eye. "If he'll have me."
"Then we'll be talking soon. In the meantime, I'm going downstairs. Fish Eye, you've got two minutes to say whatever you two want to say and then Seiya is out the door, understand?"
"Yes, Papa."
The kids watched Sanosuke make a point of pushing the bedroom door wide open on his way out.
Seiya breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close, huh?"
"I don't know whether to thank you or punch you," Fish Eye told him. "How do you think I'd have felt if he _had_ punished you instead of me?"
"I didn't have much time to plan strategy on the way over here, I'm sorry." Seiya smiled. "All I knew was what Hawk Eye told me was probably going on, and this was all I could think of that might get his attention."
"Papa's not a fool - he allowed you to talk him out of it," Fish Eye said, then smiled. "I'm still grateful, though. If you hadn't come at all, I'd have had it."
Seiya grinned. "So you're still willing to go out with me again?"
"I should be asking _you_ that - I'm the one who caused all the trouble," Fish Eye replied. "But yeah, I'd still like to see you again."
"I guess you might get grounded," Seiya said. "But I'll see you at work, right?"
"Right," Fish Eye assured him, then gave him a quizzical look. "How did you and Hawk Eye find out what was happening, anyway?"
"One of your cousins called the restaurant. Hey, do you know what they and our brothers were doing last night?"
"Yes!" Fish Eye growled. "I can't believe they were all spying on us like that!"
"I didn't have time to do more than get a confession out of Taiki, but I'll get all the details out of he and Yaten later." He gasped suddenly and covered his mouth. "Yaten! Oh man, he's at home alone with Mama who probably knows the truth by now!"
"Yes, Setsuna said she'd be calling your mother. I'm sorry."
"Neighborhood grapevine," Seiya sighed. "All the mothers are kind of like a little spy network - keeping each other up on what we kids are doing. Guess I can't blame them, since the kids are doing the same thing!"
Fish Eye laughed. "My mother is going to love it here."
Seiya put his hands on Fish Eye's shoulders and looked into his blue eyes. "I hope you will, too."
"I already do," Fish Eye told him sincerely.

End of chapter 11

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