A/N. The fourth chapter has arrived! Ta da!

Disclaimer: You should know what I'm going to say by now. I don't own any of Fruits Basket's characters, names, titles, plots etc.

Warnings: Exactly the same stuff I warned you about three times already: boy on boy (aka Yaoi) and mentions of past child abuse, very mild and infrequent bad language.


**Chapter Four**

His plan had been to avoid Haru as much as possible; to just let his little irrational crush slowly die out, and focus primarily on school and studying for his final exams. But over the fortnight after the incident on the rooftop, Yuki found that sometimes things really were easier said than done.

Every school day he saw Haru at recess and lunch, and every recess and lunch he always had to sit right next to Haru, because the ox persisted in being as close to Yuki as possible, no matter how many times the rat shuffled away.

And then there were the days that Momiji and Tohru would insist upon everyone joining in for some kind of 'fun' group activity of their choice, where Yuki would be forced to spend more time with Haru and put up with the intimacy that the younger teen always created by staying so close to Yuki.

It was becoming agonising for Yuki. Because now that he had realised his feelings for Haru existed, the thought was constantly running through his head, whether it was what he was actively pondering at the time or it was lingering in the back of his mind. And so every time Haru's hand brushed Yuki's as he passed him something, Yuki noticed the way the nerves in his skin would begin to tingle. And every time Haru smiled directly at him, Yuki would notice the way his heart seemed to skip a beat. Although if he was honest with himself those things had been happening for a little while now, but he had been ignoring them all until recently.

And Yuki could not help but notice the way Hana kept glancing at him and smiling in a knowing way when any of those things happened, and it was beginning to make him feel more and more anxious.

After that fortnight had passed Yuki didn't think his crush would become any more intense, and he figured that it would begin to fade soon enough as long as he continued to ignore it. In fact, he was just reminding himself of that as he, Tohru and Kyo made their way to the school badminton court to meet Hana, Uo, Momiji and Haru. It was a Saturday and the court was open to the public.

Several days earlier four of the teens had gotten into a rather heated match; Yuki and Uo versus Haru and Kyo. Uo and Haru had been unable to stay long enough for a winner to be declared, so they had all agreed to a rematch on the weekend. Momiji, Hana and Tohru were going to be social and to watch what would most likely be an interesting game.

By the time the trio arrived, Uo and Hana were already there waiting for them. As soon as they got close enough, Uo immediately began winding Kyo up. She had learnt that a game where 'Orange Top' was edgy and aggravated tended to be more entertaining for her.

It wasn't much longer until Haru and Momiji arrived; the rabbit carrying a bag of lollipops in his arms that he had brought to share with everyone.

No one bothered with proper lengthy greetings, by now Uo and Kyo were overly eager to get into the game, both convinced that they would beat the other. Kyo was especially driven to win, as it would mean a victory against both Uo and his rival the rat. So at their impatient insistence, Yuki and Haru joined the competitive pair on the court and the game began.

For a while the match ran smoothly, or as smoothly as a game where Kyo was pitched against both Yuki and Uo could be. Yuki was putting all of his concentration into the game, not even allowing himself to look at Haru unless he was forced too. And he was successful in doing so, until Haru decided that it was just too hot to remain fully clothed.

He didn't even take anything off completely, all Haru did was undo the buttons on his shirt. But still, now that his shirt was hanging open, Yuki couldn't help but stare. All of his attention immediately went to the suddenly exposed curves that defined the toned muscles of Haru's chest and abdomen. He looked gorgeous. And as far as Yuki was concerned, he looked a bit sexy too. He had the strongest urge to just run over there and touch those muscles with his own bare hands. All of his attention was now centered on Haru and most definitely not on the badminton match.

In fact the teen was so caught up in admiring his cousin's able-bodied physique that he hadn't even realised the game was being continued and that Kyo had already served the shuttlecock to him.

"Hey, Prince!" Yuki was snapped back into reality by the sound of Uo calling to him, "Heads up!"

Yuki looked up just in time to see the shuttlecock heading straight towards him, slowly realising that he was required to hit it back or else it would be the other team's point. He attempted to leap forward and hit the shuttlecock, but unfortunately his mind was still a million miles away, thinking of things that were completely irrelevant to badminton and he was not paying proper attention to exactly what he was doing. Thus, Yuki managed to stumble and trip over the perfectly flat surface of the badminton court.

For a moment Yuki didn't fully register that he was falling, but then he realised that he was indeed on a collision course headed straight towards the ground. He dropped his racquet, threw his hands out, closed his eyes and braced himself for the fall. But when he was only halfway to the ground, Yuki felt something, or rather someone, grab onto his shoulders. He opened his eyes to see that Haru had abandoned his side of the court and his racquet and was making a futile attempt to catch him.

Unfortunately Haru had not been quick enough and Yuki just fell straight into him, instinctively grabbing onto the younger teen and consequently pulling him down too. Realising that he was still falling, Yuki closed his eyes again and clutched Haru tightly without even thinking about what he was doing.

With a thud accompanied by a grunt of pain from Haru and a gasp from Yuki, the pair hit the ground together.

"Huh," Uo huffed, "I guess the Prince isn't so graceful after all,"

"Yuki! Hatsuharu!" Tohru cried as she ran over to the boys, "Are you alright?"

Yuki heard the voices of his friends somewhere in the background, but he didn't quite comprehend what they were saying. He was far too distracted by his current situation and the sight that was before him.

At some point during their rapid descent to the ground, Haru had managed to position himself so that he would take the full force of the fall and give Yuki something soft to land on: himself. This meant that Yuki was now lying on top of a half shirtless Haru. Lying on top of him with his arms wrapped around his bare, hard chest…

All his feelings for Haru that he had kept locked away came surging up all at once; even stronger than before; now accompanied by a strong feeling of lust. He couldn't help himself. The flesh that was being bared right in front of him was too flawless, too inviting for Yuki to ignore. Acting on impulse, he tightened his grip on Haru and brought his face closer to his cousin's chest…

"Yuki, Are you alri-Ah!" Haru's words were lost in the sudden in take of breath he took when he felt Yuki's lips press against his chest. If Haru didn't know better, he would say that it was almost as though the older boy was… kissing his chest… Although he dismissed such wishful thinking immediately because he knew his cousin would never do something like that. But no matter what it was that Yuki was doing exactly, Haru had to admit, it really felt quite nice.

However, the moan that came from Yuki broke the temporary bliss Haru had been enjoying at the feeling of his first love pressed up against his own body, even though the back of his head throbbed where it had collided with the ground.

"Yuki!" Haru sat up and gripped the older teen's shoulders, hoisting him up so that he could see if he was at all injured, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Yuki slowly and hesitantly looked up at Haru and the ox was taken aback by his expression. There was something in his face that he had never seen the rat display before. It was so unlike Yuki that Haru couldn't be sure, but he could almost swear that the emotion that was etched into his beautiful features was lust. Stranger still was the way Yuki was looking at Haru, it was as though the sight of the white haired boy was causing him both pain and joy simultaneously.

"What the hell are you doing, girly-boy?" Kyo suddenly spat, causing Yuki and Haru to flinch. Both boys had somewhat forgotten that they weren't alone together.

As if he had been woken from a trance of some sort, Yuki suddenly gasped and stood up abruptly, taking several steps backs; like he was trying to get away from Haru.

"Are you both alright?" Tohru exclaimed, carefully helping Haru get to his feet, "Hatsuharu, did you hit your head?"

"Yeah, I'm fine though," Haru mumbled as he rubbed the sore spot on his head, "No blood,"

"I'm not so sure it's him you oughta be worrying about, Tohru," Uo said, "The Prince looks likes he's about to either throw up or pass out…"

All eyes went to Yuki again.

He was standing very still, staring at a fixed point on the ground, his face slightly pale and his hands curled into fists at his sides.

"Yeah…" Momiji said, his bag of lollipops long since forgotten, "Yuki? Are you hurt?"

Haru watched as Yuki took one long, deep breath before turning to answer Momiji, "No, Momiji. I'm fine," his eyes flitted up to Haru's for a split second, then he snapped them back to the ground again, "But I don't feel like playing badminton anymore I'm afraid, I think I'll just go home…" Yuki's voice had a wistful, faraway tone to it; like he was there, but somewhere else completely.

"What!" Kyo's loud voice penetrated the silence in the air, "Like Hell you will! We've got a game to finish here!"

Perhaps what shocked everyone the most that day was the way Yuki responded to Kyo. He didn't strike him, or insult him, or even retaliate with a witty comeback, he just walked away and sighed, "I'm sorry Kyo, some other time perhaps..." as though he just didn't have the energy to quarrel with his hot headed cousin.

For a moment, everyone just stood still in a state of confusion as Yuki walked away from the badminton court. He had actually apologised to Kyo, and it hadn't sounded at all sarcastic… Something was wrong, and Haru was worried about him.

The ox began to walk after the rat, but he had barely taken three steps when an eerily calm voice came from behind them all, "Hatsuharu, it would probably be best if you did not attempt to follow Yuki. Your presence would only further disturb him at the moment," it was Hana.

Up until that point she had been so quiet, sitting on the sidelines and observing everything that the others had almost forgotten she was even there.

Haru began to protest, "But he-"

"Trust me, it's best that we all give him some space, he needs time to think," she stood up smoothly but abruptly, "Well, now that the fun is over I suppose I should leave now as well, I will see you all at school on Monday," and without another word, she left.

"Time to think…?" Haru mused aloud to himself.

Time to think about what?


A/N. Opinions please! This is another chapter that just seemed to work out better in my mind… Blah. I want to hear what you guys think! Thank you for the reviews from:

Tuliharja- Hmm? Are you asking how old I am or something? If so, that's written on my profile! If that's not what you meant… Then I'm just confused! Ha, yeah there are a lot of fics like that. Maybe because it seems likely that if Yuki did discover that he had such feelings, he really would start panicking (whether Haru was his cousin or not). Yes indeed, life in the Zodiac is hard!

tazatiger1995- Glad you like it! Haha, yes she does! She and her psychic powers of awesome! XD

Pheonix09- Thanks! Happy to hear you're enjoying it then.

Salamander1701- Thank you very much! I'll keep updating as long as you guys keep reviewing!

mousecat- Indeed she does! Haha! I agree with you! Haru most definitely wouldn't mind! XD

yukixharuyaoi- Woo! Yay you're back! Haha, glad to hear you're enjoying the story that I'm writing mostly for you! You're not crazy! You're just a Yaoi Fangirl! XD

Reviews please! Should I continue? Should I abandon all hope and discontinue this story? Lemme know! Especially since I go back to school next week, so if no one wants this story to be continued I shan't bother taking the time to write it when I could be doing my homework. Homework... Bleaugh! Something I certainly have not missed over the 8 week holiday...

Thanks for reading! ^.^