A Collection of Random bits and pieces of writing C: Sorry. Not as cute as SilverYouko300's :c

Title: Sneaking Past the Curse from Behind

Summary: Tohru has an idea of how to get an embrace from the Prince without a transformation.

Genre: Romance / Friendship

Rating: K

Word Count: 1,425

Tohru cautiously peeked out from behind the paper door, barely showing her large blue eyes as she stole a glance at her silver haired housemate. She ducked back before he even realized she was there. She got the indication that he knew he was being watched by his frequent fidgets and looks over his shoulder, but he must have dismissed it as harmless, seeing as he made no move to inspect. He continued with the assignment he had laid out on the table, staring at his textbook with distant eyes as he tried to focus on studying for their test on Monday. Tohru was supposed to be sitting there with him, since he was supposedly helping her with her homework, but she had been unable to sit still beside him since this morning, when that idea had struck her.

It was supposed to be a harmless suggestion that she had already convinced herself was to help him, not to let her indulge in the warm feeling of having his arms around her… without his transformation into a mouse.

She had meant to bring it up innocently at breakfast. Really. But… it was too embarrassing, and now she couldn't even look him in the eye without flushing and running away to hide her embarrassment. Currently, she was on a "bathroom break" and had been on one for the past ten minutes. She knew he was worried by how the creases across his forehead deepened with each passing minute, but she couldn't bring herself to show herself. Nope. Definitely not with his frequent inquiries about her health, specifically concerning what seemed like her permanently red stained skin.

"Honda-san, are you feeling all right? You've been in… there for quite some time now," Yuki called out vaguely, trying not to humiliate her.

Great. Now he thought she was sick for another reason.

"Ah! No! I'm fine! Don't worry, Yuki-kun!" she cried as she scrambled out of her hiding place in what she hoped was a graceful fashion.

This time he did peer behind him as she scurried unceremoniously back to her spot at the dining room table beside him. Upon reaching her seat, she just had to slip on the cushion and topple on top of him with her arms flailing and her mouth gaping. Whether out of instinct or concern she never knew but he stuck out his arms to catch her, letting their torsos touch as he caught her, only to remember the curse and poof into a mouse a second later, buried under his clothes and a fallen Tohru beside him.

After he had dug himself out of the snare of his clothes, Yuki crawled over to Tohru, full of concern. She seemed fine, but she appeared to have grazed her cheek against the table. Her skin was darkening, sure to bruise later. Yuki crept up to her, almost shyly, placing his paws on her outstretched arm. She didn't stir. Worriedly, he climbed up her arm, making his way up until he was close to her face. Tohru twitched, mumbling something incoherent before flipping over and nearly crushing him. Yuki took a deep breath before approaching the girl warily.

"Honda-san! Honda-san!" he called anxiously.

"Uhhh…" she groaned momentarily before she sat up and rubbed her eyes as if she had just awoken from a deep slumber, "Yuki-kun? Where are you?"

"Right here, Honda-san," Yuki announced, pressing his nose against her hand to get her attention.

Tohru blinked, staring at the light gray mouse before her with curious eyes before blushing and scooping him up in her hands apologetically. She lifted him up towards her face, stroking the top of his head gently. The most heartwarming smile crossed her face, and Yuki was immediately grateful his silver fur hid the pink tint he was sure had just flooded his face. Tohru slowly sat back up, cradling him carefully in her hands before setting him on table edge in fear she'd drop the poor rat. She kept her index finger extended towards him and leaned in close to him.

"Sorry, Yuki-kun! I didn't mean to," she murmured sadly.

"It's all right. Don't worry about it… But more importantly, are you hurt at all, Honda-san?" he asked, placing his paws ever so gingerly on her injured cheek.

"Yes! I'm perfectly fine! Not injured at all!" she tried to laugh it off.

She only managed to get out a couple of awkward chuckles before a strangled scream escaped her lips as a second poof sounded and gray smoke filled the room. Tohru whirled around as quickly as she could, winding up sprawled across the floor again with her eyes squeezed tightly shut while Yuki rapidly gathered his clothes and slipped into them as quickly as he could. As he finished buttoning up his shirt, Yuki could tell his cheeks were still inflamed, but hopefully now he could pass it off as humiliation over his transformation.

Glancing back at Tohru, he realized he didn't even need to fuss over that. Tohru wasn't even paying attention to him. She was seated with her head in between her knees, trying unsuccessfully to hide the scarlet tone across her face as she mumbled unintelligible words to herself. Completely absorbed in her task, Tohru was completely unaware of him as he approached her, tilted his head to the side, and watched her. She didn't even move until he had placed his hand on her shoulder, and then, she jumped up and nearly broke his jaw with her head.

"Yuki-kun!!!" she exclaimed, startled, before recomposing herself, "Um… Let's get back to work!"

Yuki nodded, reaching out his hand to touch her cheek that was currently turning purple but dropped it last minute, too timid to act. Shyly, the couple sat down in their previous spots at the table, both staring at the thick text book, and neither making any sense of the text they were both pretending to be absorbed in. Tohru was the first to let her gaze drift from the boring equations in the book. She peered at him for a while, an action that unnerved him, regardless of his unbroken, stoic pose, before she dared to bring up the idea from this morning.

"Ummm… Yuki-kun?" she started uncertainly.

"Yes?" he replied, a bit nervously.

"You transform when your chest touches the chest of a female, right?"

Yuki nodded, "I thought you knew that already…? And you just had a perfect demonstration."

Tohru looked away meekly with a sheepish smile before sucking in a deep breath and continuing.

"Can I try something?" she asked.

"Sure…?" he answered questioningly.

"You might transform," she warned.

He stared at her, unfazed but confused. She took this as a sign of approval. Nervously, she bunched the edge of her shirt up in her fists before eyeing him with a look of determination. She gave a soft huff before gesturing to him to turn around. He obeyed willingly but did glance over his shoulder to give her a quizzical look that she brushed off timidly. For the first few minutes, all she could manage to do was stare at his back. Then, ever so slowly, she hesitantly put her hand against his back. She could feel a shiver run down his back.

Taking a deep breath, she pressed forward, drawing herself closer to him as her arms slid around his midriff. She locked her hands around his abdomen loosely, keeping her torso a few inches from his back before she squeezed her eyes shut and closed the distance between them. Tohru squeezed her arms tightly around him, ready to catch a mouse if he transformed, but after she counted to five and nothing happened, she let out a breath of relief.

"It worked!" she gasped, unable to mask any of her shock or delight.

She nearly hopped up in pure joy to go do some embarrassing dance, but his hands had caught hold of her wrists, holding her there as his arms slowly covered hers. Tohru leaned against his back with a grin, holding him contently as his warm fingers gratefully grazed her skin.

"… So this is a hug… Backwards… But nevertheless… It's quite n-nice," he fumbled for words awkwardly.

"Honda-san… Thank you…" he finished with a faint smile.

Tohru nodded with tears nearly brimming in her eyes, embracing him jubilantly.

Well… While she was feeling courageous… There was still that confession she could get to…

I'm not dead C: AND I KNOW TORSO CAN INCLUDE BACK D: But shhh :c