CHAPTER 10: The Storm After the Calm

"Stephen-san!" Tohru yelped as she stared at her waiter. There he was, that cute boy that helped her in the hotel lobby. What was he doing in a place like this? He also seemed surprised. His face lit up as he suddenly caught on.

"Ahh… You're Mr. Sohma's guest, aren't you…" He asked. Kyo looked kind of confused, but thought better than to ask anything.

'Great. I knew I should have told her sooner. Another guy's already after her.' He thought crossly. Tohru turned to Kyo.

"Kyo-kun, this is Stephen-san! I met him at the hotel; he was kind enough to help me and the girls out… We weren't sure which room we were in!" She giggled. Kyo snorted out some air, and looked into Stephen's eyes.

"And who're you?" Stephen asked, mischievously. Kyo looked away.

"I'm Kyo Sohma." He told him, curtly. Stephen smirked. He looked back at Tohru.

"So what's your name, hmm?" Stephen asked the cute girl sitting below him.

"I'm Honda Tohru! Pleased to meet you… Again!" She laughed a little there. Stephen nodded his head.

"And how are you related to the Sohmas?" Stephen asked politely. Tohru smiled brightly.

"Oh! Well, I've been living with them" She began, before being interrupted by Kyo.

"I really don't think that's any of your business." Kyo told Stephen, looking straight into his eyes. Tohru seemed confused, but the two men knew exactly what was going on. Invisible daggers flew through the air separating the two. Stephen suddenly put on an innocent expression and raised his hands so his palms faced the two teenagers.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to offend anyone!" He told them.

"You didn't…" Tohru mumbled, confused.

"Can we just order now, please?" Kyo asked, annoyed. Tohru felt very uneasy, she felt some sort of a tension between the two boys… Stephen smiled.

"Sure. That's what I'm here for." The couple placed their order and waited silently. Tohru broke it.

"Is… Is Kyo-kun angry with… Stephen-san…" Tohru suggested shyly.

"NO! ahem… I mean no… I'm not…" Kyo replied loudly. He sighed.

"Are you mad… At me?" Tohru asked once again.

"Of course not, Tohru-kun." Kyo replied distantly. Tohru felt embarrassed… She knew something was up, but she wasn't exactly certain of what…

'What is… Kyo-kun thinking right now, I wonder…' Tohru's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the wafting smell of food. It was coming closer to their table. She shook Kyo's shoulder.

"Look Kyo-kun!" She said, as she pointed excitedly at the food. Kyo looked bored.

"Don't get so excited, Tohru. It's just a pile of… Crappy American food…" He told her calmly. After hearing this, she pulled back her finger and sat back quietly in her chair. Kyo sort of regretted that comment, she seemed sort of hurt.

"Lunch is served." Stephen said, as he set a bowl of spaghetti in front of Kyo and grilled chicken marinated in a sweet sauce in front of Tohru. They both looked impressed.

"This looks amazing!" Tohru said, gasping. Stephen laughed.

"You shouldn't get so worked up. These are both very normal meals here in America." Stephen informed them.

"I'm not worked up." Kyo told Stephen in a very straightforward way. Stephen smiled.

"Of course you aren't. Well Miss Honda, Mr. Sohma, I hope to be seeing you soon… Remember, if you need any help in the hotel…" Stephen replied quickly to Kyo, who simply grumbled. Tohru finished Stephen's affirmation.

"I'll ask for you, Stephen! Thanks again!" Tohru said, cheerily. Stephen smiled.

"Well, I'd better get back to work. Bye guys." Stephen told them. Kyo seemed angry and Tohru didn't understand why. She waved goodbye to Stephen and he smiled at her. She turned to Kyo. She seemed worried. Kyo looked into her eyes and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry Tohru… I'm just being an idiot. I'm not mad at you, it has nothing to do with you…" Kyo told her. She seemed relieved.

"Well… Can you talk to me about it?" Tohru said, as she remembered that dark, rainy night when she saw Kyo-kun's true form. She pleaded that they suffer together, that they solve their problems together… It was important for her to hear about his problems.

"I… I just want to know… What's on your mind…" Tohru asked. Kyo saw that was worried, and simply wanted to know if she could help him. He couldn't help but smile, she was so cute when she was worried…

"Well, it… It doesn't matter. Let's talk about it later, okay? I… I promise." He told her. Tohru felt better knowing that he could someday be able to talk about it. She smiled at him.

"Okay! We can talk about it when you're ready." She told him. He smiled down at her.

'Tohru… All I think about is you, whether we're together or apart… Can't you see that the only thing I will ever need or desire is you?'

": Jesus, Stephen! You're gonna lose your job again! You know you shouldn't flirt up customers…:" a concerned coworker told him as he vigorously scrubbed a dish in the kitchen. Stephen smirked.

":Whatever. Did you see that though:" Stephen said as he leaned against the counter. The coworker looked up at him, and went back to his work angrily.

":Some people here can't afford to lose their job, okay:" The coworker told him. Stephen laughed.

": Even if you didn't work, you'd still be the hardest working person in this dump.:" Stephen told him, as he cupped some dish soap bubbles and blew them onto his coworker's face. The coworker brushed them off. Stephen continued.

": It would be so easy to get that girl, dude. And do you know how funny it would be? Did you see how that guy's totally in love with her but won't do anything about it? Pretty hilarious, if you ask me.:" Stephen confided. The coworker sighed.

":Stephen, we're not all as daring as you, alright:" The coworker told him.

":Well gee, last time I checked, dying your hair orange was something I'd call daring. This kid is just a retard, and even he knows it.:" Stephen said with a smirk. The coworker did not reply.

": Stephen! We pay you for a reason! Get your butt over here, we need these orders to be at table 12 in about three seconds or you're fired:" Someone screamed in the background. Stephen sighed and jogged to the area where he was needed. The coworker simply shook his head.

"Yuki-kunnn… This is boring!" Momiji moaned as he tugged on Yuki's sleeve. The gang (minus Kyo and Tohru) had decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art of NYC. It had all kinds of interesting Greek art, but Momiji didn't seem to be interested. Everyone looked around to see the boy that was talking so loudly in the exhibit. Hanajima shocked some of the people that tried to get near to see Momiji.

"Momiji-kun! You're not supposed to speak loud like that in a museum!" Yuki whispered as he held Momiji's face. Momiji looked up at him innocently. He nodded.

"Okay. I'll try to be more careful, Yun-kun." Momiji told him. Yuki blushed.

"Where…. Where on earth did you get that nickname?" Yuki asked embarrassed. Momiji smiled and giggled.

"Kagura-chan!"Momiji yelled loudly. Yuki grabbed Momiji by the waist and told him that he really had to be quieter in these types of places.

"Oi. Yuki." Haru told him, as Yuki spun around with surprised Momiji in his arms.

"Oh. What is it, Haru?" Yuki asked simply. Haru looked at Rin, and she nodded.

"I need to speak with you." Haru told him. Yuki looked confused, but nodded and walked over to Haru, leaving Momiji with Rin. Haru brushed some hair away from Rin's left ear, and whispered something in it. He leaned close. She listened attentively, and nodded afterwards. Yuki and Haru walked off. Rin was left with Momiji. He knelt down to tie his shoelace.

"What are they going to talk about?" Momiji asked loudly. Everyone looked at Momiji to try to hush him, because he had once again forgotten they were in an art museum. Rin didn't much seem to mind and never replied to Momiji's question. She simply kept staring at the place where Haru disappeared, as if she were in shock or paralyzed.

"Yuki…" Haru said softly. They had gone outside. The boys had already been sitting on the stairs for a long time, without saying a word. Yuki had buried his face in his knees and Haru was sitting near him. Yuki did not move.

"What." was the muffled word that came from Yuki's hidden face.

"You know what I want to speak of with you, right?" Haru said, very smoothly once again. Yuki did not reply and Haru took this as a yes.

"I cannot bear to see you suffer like this. I simply cannot." Haru simply said and rested his chin on his knees. Yuki's eyes popped up from where they were hiding.

"He beat me to her. The stupid cat." Yuki said. They stayed in silence for a while. It was a painful silence, that gave them both time to reflect. Haru decided to reply.

"How did he beat you? Just because he asked her out, doesn't mean he 'won' anything! I'm really sick of this, Yuki," Haru said this as he got up. He continued, "if you're going to keep hurting yourself like this, I will kill you now. Because hey, what is the point in living if you're always being hurt, hmm? It's not fair that someone's always hurting you, and that you pretend like you don't care because you think no one cares. I tried to express my concern last time, but I don't think you quite got the seriousness of it at all. Everyone's worried, Yuki. It's not fair that" Yuki suddenly cut off Haru in the middle of his sentence. He got up to stand, so he could be face to face with Haru.

"Haru, do you think anything about my life has been fair? Do you think it was fair that Akito beat me and left me to rot in that room? Do you think it was fair that my mother didn't really care, and that she just abandoned me? Do you think it was fair that Ayame never helped me before, that he never cared either? Do you think it was fair that Hatori erased all my friends' memories of me? If all my life has been unfair, and I've always been hurting, then yeah, I'm wondering why I haven't killed myself yet either! It doesn't make sense that no one cared before and that now they're all over me! You're just a kid; I doubt you'd understand anything I'm saying! Because everyday of my life, I am hurting… Because there is nothing I can do… For Honda-san…" Yuki said. The screaming was liberating, and tears spilled out of Yuki's eyes. He sobbed harshly, and sat down to try and grasp control of everything. Haru sat down beside him. Haru patted Yuki's back. Yuki looked at Haru.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean you were just a child. You're actually incredibly mature and…" Yuki struggled. Haru came closer to his ear.

"Do things at your own pace, alright Yuki? Just talk to me. We'll take it slowly, and you can tell me everything. And we can figure everything out." Haru told him confidentially. Yuki nodded, and cried a little more.

'Honda-san… You have made me happy. You've made me able to live in a better environment… I wish I could someday make you happy…Something just foryou.'

DONEEE! Sorry it took so long. This chapter is sort of short, so I'm sorry. Really, I have been working on my new story, "Cosplay Heroes". If you like cosplay, you should check it out! (although I've only done 1 chapter, haha…)

By the way, don't worry. Yun-yun doesn't get worked up for any little old thing! There will be a good reason for all this.

Anyway… There isn't much to say. Sorry I haven't updated in so long. Thanks again to all my lovely readers, I have 38 reviews thanks to you! I truly love you. Thank you.

Please review if you can(and are willing to...)! Arigato!

Until next time.