CHAPTER I:

AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you HAVE NOT read ALL of the mangas so far, there may contain SPOILERS. READ THE MANGAS BEFORE READING THIS. Or, you know, just spoil it for yourselves. That's what I'd do!

Tohru stands outside Kyo's bedroom door. She's been meaning to ask him this ever since she found out about the Cat's curse and destination of loneliness. But now, she hesitates, afraid of making him upset. She holds her breath and turns away, going into the kitchen to finish up the dinner for the three men she lives with. It's a shrimp yakisoba dish, one of Kyo's favorites. She stands, stirring the vegetables, in thought. What will happen when he goes away? Kyo-kun…! A tear drops into the steaming water. She hears a voice behind her.

"What are you crying about now?" She gasps and turns around to see the orange-haired boy drinking from a carton of milk just recently retrieved from the fridge.

"It's nothing… Well…Whatever it is, it will be okay!"

"What are you talking about?"

She sighs and smiles slightly. Even though his attitude is impatient, he cares. It's just his façade. Yuki comes in, saving her from having to respond. "Miss Honda, I thought you had to work after school."

She smiles at him. "Welcome home Souma-kun!"

"Why aren't you at work?" the rat asks.

"Oh! Momiji insisted on my taking a day off! So he took it over for me!"

"So why are you cooking? We could've just ordered out." The cat criticizes. Yuki ignores him.

"It's no problem! There's no way I could've let you starve!"

Kyo slumps in frustration of her not taking it easy and peeks in the vegetables. He sees a onion-like substance floating in the pot and his eyes get big. "LEEK?!"

"Ahh!" Tohru screams.

"I HATE LEEK!"

"I'm sorry! I thought you knew this is how I always make it!" she explains.

"You always make it like that?!"

"I'm sorry! I'll take it all out if you want!" She starts to drain it.

"Don't do that, you idiot! It's fine the way it is!"

"But—"

"I'll eat it!"

"Kyo-kun…" She says in surprise.

"Just make sure you don't do it again."

"Yes…" She becomes quiet, ashamed of herself for putting leek in the vegetables.

Yuki glares at Kyo. "Smart choice, stupid cat. I would have had to hurt you if you wouldn't have agreed to eat it."

"What's that supposed to mean you damn rat?!"

"You better appreciate Miss Honda's cooking."

"I appreciate it. Watch!" He turns to Tohru. "Thank you for cooking those damn leeks!"

She stammers. "That's it!" Yuki says. "You aren't going to say anything about her cooking!"

"Uh… guys?" Tohru tries to intervene in vain. "Guys?"

Shigure steps in from work in his suit. "Just try not to break the house this time. Good evening Tohru." He goes over and stands beside her.

"Shouldn't we—?"

"Don't worry about them. They're just doing things as usual." They look back to the argument.

"Say that again you damn rat!"

Shigure turns back to Tohru. "See?" She nods. He picks up the lid to the vegetables and peeks in. "Is dinner about ready?"

"Yes!"

"Why don't you go ahead and set the table?" He proposes.

"Ah! Yes! I'm on it!" She rushes out to set the table. Shigure turns to the boys.

"Now you two don't want Tohru to see you fighting, do you?" They stop. "I thought not. Dinner's almost done. Why don't you go help her?"

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The four sit and eat. "So Momiji took your shift for you, did he?" Shigure inquires.

"Yes! It was very thoughtful!"

"Indeed it was." He turns to Kyo. "So how are you enjoying the food?"

Kyo complains. "It has LEEK in it. What do you think?"

Shigure turns melodramatic. "After Tohru worked so hard on dinner! I can't believe you can't find something kind to say to her!"

"Why can't you ever shut up? It's okay, I guess. Just the stinking leek…"

"It's my fault…" Tohru suggests. "I wasn't paying attention when I made it."

Yuki pipes up. "You can't even tell there's leek in it."

"What are you talking about?! There's leek all over this thing!"

"You never noticed it before. Miss Honda always makes it this way."

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Kyo lays on top of the roof, like he does most nights after fighting with Yuki. He thinks about what he's going to do after high school. I'm not gonna do anything. I can't do anything right. Alls I ever do is fight with that damn Yuki. I don't know why I get my hopes up. Akito's just gonna put me away. He hears soft footsteps come up on him and ignores it. Tohru sits beside him and respects his silence. He finally breaks it like he usually does when she comes up there. "What do you want?"

"Kyo?" She asks quietly. "What do you think about?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you come up here. What do you think about?"

He sits up. "Lots of stuff. Could you leave it alone. I don't wanna talk about it."

She looks down. "Do you ever think about what will happen to you after you graduate?" She knows he's going to be in isolation after he graduates for the rest of his life. "Have you… really given up?"

"I don't see why it matters" he shrugs. "If it's gonna happen anyway, why get all your hopes up? They're just gonna get shot down."

Her eyes get big. "But you can't give up!"

"Why not?"

"It's like snow!"

"What?"

"Snow… even though it snows… it turns into Spring!"

"What are you talking about?"

"And when Spring comes… it's all okay!"

"Except Spring doesn't come for me"

"It always comes!" It always comes. "You'll see! One day… my wish… I want to break the curse." Don't ever give up. "And then… we'll be okay." Even though it snows. "I know it." We'll be okay.

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Tohru walks down the halls of the school the next day and sees Momiji running toward her in the girl's school uniform. "Tohru!"

"Momiji!" He barely stops before he runs into her, almost turning into the Rabbit that he is. "How was work last night, Momiji?"

"Great!" he leans closer, as if to whisper. "But I think they miss you."

"Ah…! Did you get to see Momo?"

"Yes! But mom was with her."

"Have you taught her anything on the violin yet?"

"No. I can't get outta the Souma house except for school." He whines.

"Oh." She looks around. "Have you seen Haru?"

"No. I think he's looking for Rin. She disappeared again."

"Maybe I should go looking for her, then."

"No. Haru gots it. He's just a little slow sometimes. So what are you doing for Valentine's Day?"

"Oh! I almost forgot! I don't know what I'm doing yet! I have to get things for everyone! How could I forget?"

"Don't worry about it, Tohru! We don't need anything!"

"No! Don't get me wrong! I want to!"

"Alright, Tohru! Do what you want!" he says cheerfully. "I gotta get to class!"

"You're coming over after school today, aren't you?"

"Of course!" he skips off. She walks to class to see Kyo surrounded by girls pestering him. He flies off the handle.

"WHY DON'T YOU PEOPLE EVER TAKE A BREAK?!?!"

One of the girls responds to him. "You really want us to take a break?! Kyo-kun cares about us!" The girls squeal. One twirls around and sees Tohru. She grabs the leader's attention and they disperse, noses in the air. Tohru goes to sit next to Kyo.

"Good morning, Kyo-kun!" she exclaims happily. Kyo glares at the girls, bristling.

"I hate girls!"

"Eh?!"

Kyo tries to smile to show he's sorry and didn't direct that toward her. "It's okay." He says. "I didn't mean that toward you."

"Ah…ah! Kyo-kun!" she gets in his face. "What did those girls want?"

"To annoy the hell outta me. Uo and Hanajma come in.

"When are you not annoyed?" Uo challenges.

"Shut the hell up!" he stands to his feet in defense.

"I see nothing's changed." Hanajima thinks out loud to Tohru.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"He hasn't changed. Not one bit…. Or maybe… Maybe he is."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That's Chapter One! Tell meh what cha think! Love to the readers! REVIEW!!!