Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Drunk

For the next few weeks, Yuki continually avoided Kakeru to the point where even an onlooker would notice. Even Machi, his air-headed girlfriend, noticed. She didn't say anything about his avoiding-Kakeru or even that he was a bit skittish around her though; she had just concluded that he was rather strange. (After all, he did just start crying in the middle of nowhere during their date once for no reason at all.)

Even if she didn't say anything about it, she still was concern. She really did love him.

But Yuki wasn't the type to just say it – to admit what he's feeling or how he's feeling.

Their relationship strained however, when both started to drift from their norms. Machi, who usually didn't speak much, and Yuki, who normally spoke for both, now did not speak with the same carefree air as he did before.

After realizing the status of their relationship, Machi went to Tohru Honda for help.

After all, Tohru knew Yuki well. She did live with him for many years.

"Yuki-kun? He's not feeling well?" Tohru had asked, frowning from her chore of washing the dishes.

Machi gave a solemn nod. "Ah, he hasn't been talking as much."

Tohru frowned even more. "Maybe he's… sad about something. Or something's happened and he's busy thinking about that."

"Like a huge event?" Machi asked, casting her mind around to find something to connect it with.

"Maybe…" Tohru murmured, rubbing the sponge on the plate, "there's an English holiday – Christmas – that's coming up. Maybe he's thinking about that."

This time, it was Machi's turn to frown. "Christmas? What is that?"

"Hm… It's where friends and family gather on the 25th of December to celebrate their lives, to celebrate that they're together and exchange gifts," Tohru explained, rinsing several pairs of chopsticks.

"It sounds like a wonderful holiday."

But on Christmas day, Yuki didn't say anything. He was still the same, unresponsive boy. It was as if he had become his old self – his self before Tohru.

Machi hated that self. She found she hated that Yuki didn't tell her how he felt or anything at all.

That same day, she dragged him to a bar to have a meal. And try to coax him to speak.

To her surprise, he ordered a bottle of wine.

To her surprise, he started drinking in shots, continuously.

Within minutes, he was drunk and blabbing incoherently away.

For a brief moment, she thought to herself as she watched her boyfriend wallow himself in misery, she felt a stab of pity, and shame.

Why couldn't she save him from this? Why didn't he tell her?

There were many questions such as those floating around in her head.

And then, she discovered the truth. Amidst the chattering customers, the busy waiters, bartenders, and such, Yuki sat there, hunched, and muttering:

"I kissed him…"

At first, Machi hadn't realized that that was what he was all hung up over. As he continued to babble, "Why did I like it? Why Kakeru? He's my friend… Do I like him? Can't be…" and such, she learned that she could not win.

That night, as she led him to his room in their shared apartment, she went back to her own room, and packed her bags.

She would set him free then; let him go. Untie the knots, unlock the cage.

The next morning, Yuki woke with a pounding headache and a tear-streaked note taped on his forehead.

He swore he felt lips touch his forehead just minutes before he woke.

-unbetaed-