Would it be appropraite to post this chapter on the actual holiday or will I get murdered fo rdelaying it that long? Probably the latter. Right, so I finally updated my Dnangel story and now I can update this one. Next is my Naruto Shippuden, since its been awhile since the 2 chapter. Sorry for the constant delay everyone. I'm working two -almost three jobs now and its time consuming. Needs that money! Times is hard!

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! Please enjoy!

(c) Natsuki Takaya

I was so happy when you smiled

Your smile breaks through the clouds of grey

Far from the sunny days that lie in sleep

Waiting with patience for the spring

When the flowers can bloom, renewed again

Knowing there's more beyond the pain~ of today

Although the scares of yesterday remain

You can go on living as much as your heart believes~

You can't be born again, although you can change

Let's stay together always

Chapter

10: Happy Valentine's Day!

Uo opened Yuki's locker and looked inside. "What the hell?"

There's only one," Hana said disappointed, taking out a bag of chocolate out of his locker.

"Weird," I crossed my arms, "I thought for sure Yuki's locker would've been the best place to try it."

"Try for what, exactly?" Yuki asked, sounding very confused.

"You know that thing in the cartoons. When you open the door and all the stuff comes pouring out?"

"So why do you think that would happen here?" He asked us.

"Ah, now I get it. The girls who visited this locker were all cuckoo chicks." Hana observed.

"Cuckoo?"

"Cuckoo chicks push other birds' eggs out of the nest; these girls threw out any chocolates that were already here to ensure that their chocolates would get more attention. The proof is in that garbage can over there." She pointed to the near by garbage full of chocolates.

"Wow! That's a lot of chocolate!"

"Damn, they messed up our locker trick," Uo cursed.

"And I am the hawk who swoops down to catch the eggs pushed from the nest," Hana started to unwrap the chocolate.

"Alright, you go, girl."

"But, that belongs to Yuki."

"It could be poisoned."

"No, that's alright," Yuki said tiredly, as if just thinking about all of this exhausted him.

-0-

The first thing we saw when we entered the classroom were the Prince Yuki Fan Club girls. They looked even scarier than they usually did with their evil-looking grins and determined glints in their eyes.

"Lovely Prince Yuki..."

"Lovely chocolates..."

"Chocolates for Prince Yuki..."

"Wow, those fan club girls look scary today."

"Yeah, they're either about to mug him or eat him, I can't tell which," Uo said.

We both laughed.

Tohru and I had figured that Valentine's was a stressful day for members of the Zodiac, with so many girls trying to give them presents and candy and all. I'm more worried about Momiji on Valentine's Day, with girls giving him chocolate; he might get excited and accidently hug a girl.

"Oh yeah!" Tohru produced three colorful boxes of chocolate and gave them to Uo, Hana, and me, "These are for all of you."

We gratefully accepted them. Between the four of us, we didn't care if we were only supposed to give chocolates to boys; we gave chocolates to each other…even though Uo stills owe us for last year.

"Kyo-Kyo..." We looked over to see a girl holding out a present for Kyo, "Here, I got you some chocolates."

"Kyo's got an admirer," I sang.

"How about that?" Uo chuckled, "Kyo-Kyo's a stud."

Kyo looked at the girl, fear suddenly filling his eyes. "Wait...is today...Valentine's-I'm going home!" He decided suddenly as he stood up from his seat abruptly.

"Eh?"

"No, wait. Home's dangerous, too." Everyone looked at him curiously…Yuki looked at him boredly. "A journey... Yeah, I'll just...go far away where no one will find me!" And with that, he tore out of the room, leaving a trail of dust.

The five of us went to the window to see where he was going. He ran down the front path toward the gate, but screeched to a stop before he reached it.

I opened up the window and saw that a certain someone had come back for Valentine's Day.

"K-Kyo?" she said softly, as if in disbelief that he was standing in front of her.

Kyo tried to turn and run, but it was he was moving in slow-motion.

"Kyo!" Kagura sang twirling around in her own imaginary world, of glitter and flowers.

Kyo continue to turn his body in slow motion, hoping to run away before she got any closer; however time resumed to its normal pace when Kagura howled his name, "Kyo!"

She charged after him. "Kyo! MY LOVE!" she shouted in her demon voice.

"Aw, hell! She's here!" Kyo yelled as she ran after him.

-0-

Kagura followed us home from school, despite Kyo's efforts to lose her. It wasn't like she didn't know where he lived.

"I came for Valentine's, silly," she said when we were back at the house, seated around the table. "It's an important day for lovers to be together."

"You're not gonna find any lover in this house," Kyo muttered.

I stifled my laughter.

"Kyo, behave please," Shigure said dryly, "I don't want the house getting, you know, smashed."

"Dammit!" Kyo cursed, "I should've left on that journey sooner. How was I supposed to know today was Valentine's?"

"It's called a calendar," Yuki answered in a tired tone.

"So," Shigure said, looking at Kagura, "did you give him chocolates?"

"Well...I tried," she said meekly. "But for some reason, he wouldn't take them from me. Watch." She pulled a big chocolate heart out of her bag. "Happy Valentine's Day, Kyo!" she cried happily. "A chocolate heart stuffed full of my love! All for you!"

"Keep it!" Kyo shot back, standing. "What man in his right mind would eat that girly, sugary crap?"

'Oh…' I thought to myself a little disappointed. Before school today I had went out and bought chocolates for everyone along with Tohru. 'I guess I should've thought it out more and asked if any of them liked chocolates…'

"I'm sorry, but...do you... Do you really not like chocolate, Kyo?" Tohru asked coming back into the room with a brown bag filled with out chocolates.

"No! I hate it!"

Kagura jumped up in his face. "Shut up and eat it!" she threatened. "Did you hear me? ! I said eat, damn you!"

"No means no, woman!"

"Eat it!"

"No!"

"EAT IT!"

"You'll have to kill me first!"

Shigure looked at us as Kyo and Kagura's fight went on. "Excuse me, girls, but that wouldn't happen to be a bag of chocolates you're hiding down there?"

Kagura and Kyo froze, Kagura trying to shove her chocolate heart into Kyo's mouth.

"Oh, um, yes," Tohru said, setting the bag that had been sitting in front of us on the table. "We got chocolates for everyone."

"But I guess we should've asked if everyone liked chocolates first." I glanced at Kyo.

Kyo stayed on the floor on his stomach, a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.

"Ladies," Yuki interrupted, gaining our attention, "I would love some chocolate."

Tohru smiled widely and produced a box for him. "These one's yours."

"Thank you very much," Yuki replied, smiling taking two boxes from her.

"And two for Shigure," I said, handing it to him.

"Oh, for me?"

"It's not much, but thanks for everything you've done for us," I said.

"Oh, no, no," Shigure said almost crying, "I should be the one thanking you girls. Still, I'm touched! The girls' Valentine's chocolates- how they warm the heart and lift the soul!"

"Oh, and Kagura," I said, digging through the bag. "There's one for you, too."

She gasped and jumped up. "One for me?" she cried in happy disbelief. She threw her arms around me. "Thank you!"

"And there's some for Momiji and Hatori and Haru," Tohru said, setting them out on the table. "We didn't know if we'd see them today, but if there were some way we could get them to them..."

"You really did mean everyone, didn't you?" Yuki asked incredulously.

"Of course!" I glanced at Kyo again, "But I guess we should've asked to see if they even like chocolate..."

"Oh, don't let what Kyo said bother you," Shigure said. "He thinks he's being manly, but, really, he doesn't have a clue what true manliness is. A real man would've eaten the chocolates with all of this fuss."

"Shut up..." Kyo mutter.

"To refuse a gift," Shigure continued, "…to trample on another person's heart like that... It falls short of being a human being, let alone a man."

"Uh...no, really," I said. "We should've known to get something besides chocolate."

Kyo grunted and we all looked at him. "Fine, I just gotta eat it?" He stood and grabbed Kagura's chocolate heart. "So, I'll eat it!" He started downing that thing like his life depended on it.

"Goody!" Kagura cheered a huge smile on her face. "Look! Kyo's eating my chocolate!"

"Um, are you alright?" I asked Kyo.

When Kyo was done devouring the heart, he held his hand out to me.

I looked at the chocolate around his mouth and the little blush on his cheeks. I couldn't help but smile and place the chocolates I bought for him in his awaiting hand. Giggling, I pointed to the side of my mouth and wiped with my sleeve. Realizing what I meant, he wiped the chocolate from around his mouth with the back of his hand.

-0-

(And this part from the manga! Just a little bonus)

"Don't worry," Kagura said to Kyo, standing out on the porch, holding one of his hands in both of hers. "I'll see you soon."

Kyo snatched his hand back. "Who's worried?" he snapped.

She smiled at him. "You know, Haru said that you and Yuki are starting to get along a little better. He said if you two keep getting to know each other, you might actually become friends one day."

Kyo stared at her in shock.

She smiled and looked at the ground. "I would be very happy...if that came true." She smiled and him again and laughed a little. "Bye-bye!"

Kyo stood there for a moment, staring at the space where she had been. 'Me and that damn rat? Friends? Like hell we would be!'

"Ah, Haru..." Shigure mused. "He is certainly wise beyond his years. People must learn to compromise."

'What's he talking about?' I hid behind a divider, barely peeking out, listening.

Kyo was silent for a moment, staring outside the door. "What are you trying to say?" he asked, not looking at Shigure. "Don't even think that we're gonna be best friends just 'cause you guys have some dumb ideas." He laughed once, no humor in the sound, turning to look at Shigure. "'Get to know each other'? What a load of crap! It sucks hanging out with him all the time! I hate Yuki!" He was shouting now. "And I like hating him!"

Silence for a moment.

Shigure smiled a little. "I wonder why? You say it like you're obligated to hate him."

Kyo glanced at him, then looked away.

"But your eyes...your eyes tell a different story. They tell me...that you're afraid to find out."

Fear and shock filled Kyo's eyes. He clenched his hands into fists at his sides, and ran out of the house.

"Kyo?" He was gone. "Kyo!" I ran after him.

-0-

I shivered and folded my arms over my chest as I walked further into the forest.

"Kyo?" I called, not raising my voice to its highest volume. "Where are you?"

'Kyo... He really did look scared. I wonder what Shigure said made him look so afraid.

"I like hating him!" I don't understand it. I don't understand it at all.'

I stopped when I spotted a clearing...and a familiar orange head wearing a red thin short sleeved top crouching down in that clearing.

I walked closer, dead leaves rustling beneath my shoes. I stopped just behind him.

His arms were wrapped around himself. It was as if he protecting himself…

"Kyo?" I asked quietly.

He didn't look up at me. He didn't even move a muscle. I've never seen him so…vulnerable...broken…

"Forget it."

I looked at him as he spoke.

"What happened back there…just forget it. It has nothing to do with you. Leave me alone, alright?"

I let out a small sigh. 'You would want that, wouldn't you? To leave you alone to face your inner monsters by yourself…I bet you had to do that for a long time…you had no one to confine in…no one to lend you a shoulder…not me, Kyo…I'm not going to let you shoulder all your problems anymore. I want you to confine in me. It's not pity or sympathy…I want to be there with you…'

I knelt down next to him, trying to see his face. But his forehead was almost touching his knees. 'I know that no matter what I say, I won't be able to fix it. I may not even be able to cheer him up, but...' "You... You don't have to like each other. You don't have to get along. It's okay. I do want you two to get along, but...but if you don't want to…its okay. We won't force you. If you hate him that much, then it's okay…"

He raised his head a little, but he was still looking down. His cheeks flushed, but I assumed it was because of the cold.

He closed his eyes and nodded a little. "Yeah...Yeah."

'Kyo's heart is so delicate…it's as though it will break if I touch it. I don't want that to happen. I want to help, but I don't want to cause more pain than there was before I came along. I'll try to hold it in my hands as gently as I can….I'll try not to cross the line between help and hindrance…but they hold onto all their suffering, pain, and anxiety...just like I used to. Maybe I still do, sometimes, except now it's all muddled in with everyone else's…' I gently, hesitantly put my hand on Kyo's, 'Just as Tohru was there for me in my time of need; I want to be there for you when you need me…'

He looked up at me. I could see surprise in his eyes, but I saw something else, too. Memories...the past...longing and fear... All of it rolled into one confused, almost grateful expression.

'I hope, someday, I can help to wipe all the fears away, just like they did for us. Because...I just want them to be happy. They deserve happiness.'

Kyo looked at me for another long moment, then hung his head and stood up. He stood there for a moment, hands in his pockets, looking off into the forest.

I looked up at him, another frozen breeze blowing past us.

Kyo exhaled, then looked down at me. He took one hand out of his pocket and extended it down to me.

I looked at it for a moment, surprised, and then took it, standing from the cold grass.

His hand was warm from being in his pocket. I treasured the warm tingling feeling that his hand brought me before he released my hand and we started back toward the house.

'I'll try hard giving you happiness…I'll give you all of my support to show you that I'm a friend.'

I gently tugged his hand out of his pocket and took his hand in mine.

I could feel his muscles tense by the sudden gentle contact, but he didn't pull away. He loosely held my hand. A few moments into our walk back, Kyo eventually tightened his grip on my hand.

-0-

"Welcome home," Shigure said when we walked through the door. "You didn't do anything...untoward to our dear Zakura, did you?"

"Of course not!" Kyo shouted, glaring at Shigure. "I'm not like you!"

Kyo and Yuki don't have to like each other. If they like hating each other, that's fine with me. Maybe, over time, that can change. All I can do is hope and do my best.

And just like that, Valentine's Day came and went. Actually, so did the whole next month! And before we knew it, we'd finished our final exams! Thank goodness!

"Well, ladies, how did it go?" Yuki asked coming over to Tohru's desk.

"Great!" Tohru exclaimed happily, "I knew a lot more of the answers than I thought I would! Thank you so much for helping me study!"

He smiled shyly at her, a little embarrassed by the praise, "Oh, I... I don't know about that..."

Some of the guys thought that Hana had aced her tests, since she was psychic, but she brushed off their comments, saying she had to take remedial lessons and that her parents cried for days.

This was followed by several moments of stunned, awkward, unsure silence.

"Don't get too down on yourself," Uo comforted her gloomy friend, "I'll bet there's an even bigger dummy around here somewhere."

"Hey!"

We all looked at Kyo.

"You sure as hell better not be talking about me."

"What? Who else would she be talking about?"

"Oh, yeah? Well no one's ever had to call my parents to tell 'em my grades sucked!" Kyo snapped.

"Aw, does Kyo-Kyo study like a good little boy?" one of the guys asked.

"Don't call me Kyo-Kyo!"

"Please, you couldn't study to save your life."

"You are so full of it!" Kyo shouted at Uo.

Uo continued to tease him, "Uh-huh. Let me guess, you're the kinda guy who crams at the last minute. Then you get to school and freak out 'cause you studied for the wrong test."

"Okay, that does it...!"

"He has been shutting himself up in his room," I said. "Maybe he really has been studying."

"So it would seem," Yuki said, clearly not believing that Kyo had actually studied.

"Out in the hall, right now!"

"I'll grind you into dust, Orange-top!"

'I believe that Kyo can study if he wanted to…' I pictured Kyo sitting at his desk with his notebooks and text books, studying hard under his desk lamp.

"Uh, Miss Honda? Miss Kojima?" our teacher asked. "A word please?"

We were a little nervous when the teacher called us out into the hall. The last time that happened was when they told us about the accident Tohru's mom was in.

"Y-yes, sir."

Thankfully teacher simply told us that Tohru hadn't paid this month's dues towards the school trip and I was told mom didn't pay my tuition debt…again. We instantly bowed our heads and apologized for the trouble we caused and he simply brushed aside our apologizes, kindly asking us to fix the problems as soon as possible.

"Is something wrong?" Yuki asked when we came back in.

"Uh...no...not at all," Tohru lied shyly poking her index fingers together.

"We just...have to work hard!" I declared with determination, clenching my fists, "Part-time job, here we come!"

They looked at us unsurely, but they didn't press the matter.

-0-

I worked triple time later that evening. I laid out fabrics, patterns, sewing material, and everything else I would need. "Yosh! Time to get to work!" I rolled up my sleeves, tied my hair into a high pony-tail and got to work.

"Ah, Zakura! Welcome back!" Ayame exclaimed, bursting into my work room, "Have you finished those dreadful exams?"

"Yeah, I can finally get back to work on finishing these costumes!" I frantically cut all the fabric quickly and efficiently, "I'm going to finish 15 costumes today and at least 12 wigs to make up for lost time!" I grabbed the pieces of fabric and ran over to my sewing machine.

"Very good! Be sure to finish post haste!" He laughed before prancing out the door.

-0- few hours later -0-

For the first time in a while Tohru and I walked home together, completely exhausted. We burned all of our energy at work. All I want now is something to eat, bathe, and go to bed. I wasn't even in the mood to watch Yuki and Kyo fight.

Tohru reached the front door first and laid her head against it.

"Tohru! Zakura!" A familiar little blonde exclaimed, opening the front door.

"Ah!" we yelped and jumped. "Momiji!"

"I just got here, too!" He grabbed our hand. "Come on, come on! This way! This way!"

"Where does that boy get all of his energy?" Shigure wondered aloud.

"This is my first time to Shigure's house. Isn't it exciting?"

Yuki looked up as we walked in.

"Hello there!" Momiji sang, bright and cheery.

"Hey, we're home from work," Tohru greeted a little tired.

"Welcome back," Yuki said with a smile.

"Great," Kyo groaned, standing in the doorway, drying his hair with a towel. "The annoying little brat's here."

"Ah, someone just got out of the bath!" Momiji said. "Kyo!"

Kyo grabbed Momiji and started digging his fist into the side of his head. "I swear! It bugs me every time you open your mouth!"

"Wahhhh!" Momiji cried. "Kyo's picking on meeee!"

"Momiji, we got you a snack, if you're hungry," I said coming out of the kitchen with a small tray with a slice of cake and orange juice.

He smiled widely. "Oh, I am! Thank you!"

"You see?" Kyo said, pulling Momiji back into his grip. "Like I said! Everytime!"

"Waaahhhh!"

"Kyo..." I said quietly.

-0-

We sat down at the table, Momiji eating his snack. I felt ready to pass out after a long shift at work, but I figured that would be impolite when there was a guest over.

"Momiji?" Shigure asked as Momiji finished swallowing a bite. "Have you told us to what we owe the pleasure of your company this evening?"

"Mm-mm," Momiji said, shaking his head. "Not yet." He turned to us. "I have a question for you two!"

"Yes?"

"What's tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow..."

"March 14th, right?"

"Yep!" Momiji said. "It's White Day! And I'm giving you a present! It's a trip to a hot spring!"

We smiled nervously.

"I call it, 'Me and Tohru's and Zakura's Super-Relaxing Hot Spring Steam Trip'!"

"You really don't have to name it," Shigure said, smiling, a little unsure.

"A hot spring?" Yuki asked curiously, "Which one?"

"Oh, you know, there's that one the Sohma's run."

"Oh, yes," Yuki said.

"Um…" Tohru stuttered to say, "We don't know…an invitation to an expensive-sounding place like a hot spring? It really is too much."

"You know, girls, it's just a hot spring. He's not flying you off toParisor anything. It would be a real shame to turn it down. You should go. It'll be a good chance to get away from it all, relax." Shigure said to us.

"I'm sorry," Momiji apologized, placing a comforting hand on Tohru's, "I thought you'd be happy to go..."

"Oh, no, we are," I assured him, "In fact, we'd love to go, Momiji. We could use a break."

"Yay!" he cheered. "Yuki and Kyo are coming too!"

"Hey! Why don't you try asking before you start making plans for people?" Kyo snapped.

"Aw!" Momiji whined, tugging on Kyo's shirt. "Go with us! Go with us!"

"Forget it! And whining like that isn't gonna change my mind!"

"Yuki..." Momiji said carefully. "Will you come?"

Yuki smiled at him. "Of course. I wouldn't miss it."

"Yay! Yay!" Momiji cheered again.

"Okay, now I really don't wanna go."

"Why not? You don't have to worry about money. I've been saving my allowance!"

"That's not the problem," Kyo grumbled.

Shigure suddenly looked up, as if he'd just remembered something. "Oh, speaking of money...I hear you still haven't paid last months dues toward your class field trip fund, girls…" Tohru and I flinched when our little secret was revealed. "I got a call from your grandfather, Tohru. Seems someone at the school called him about it and he said he'd pay for you all, if you need it. You as well, Zakura."

"No, no, no!" She cried. "I can't ask him to do that!"

"It would be too much trouble!" I added, "Last month there was just a lot going on, but we can catch up with the money we earn this month."

"We're sorry you had to hear about it," Tohru apologized, embarrassed.

"But, girls," Shigure said. "You worked a pretty fair amount last month. Wha-"

Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure froze for a moment. There was a tense moment of silence before Momiji struck up a conversation with us.

"So you're going on a class trip? Where to?"

"Oh, we don't know yet."

"Wha-!" Kyo began to yell before slapping his hands on the table.

Tohru and I flinched when he suddenly raised his voice at us and we mentally braced ourselves and waited for him to explode at us.

Surprisingly though, he slowly began to lose the red in his face before he slowly turned back to his normal skin tone. With a tight grin he pointed to the hall door that led upstairs, "Water. Hot bath. You go."

"You mean the two of us?" I hesitantly asked, not wanting to set off his temper.

"Just go!" Kyo snapped.

"Right!" Tohru and I cried as we scrambled out the door to escape Kyo's wrath.

(And now words of wisdom from our rabbit sponsor – Momiji)

"Impressive. You're learning self-control. But at any rate... Chocolate doesn't exactly fall from the sky. The girls had to have paid for it out of their own pockets."

"So how is it we didn't realize that at the time?" Yuki asked.

Kyo banged his fist against the table. "It's 'cause they were so damn happy about it! How could we know they were broke? They didn't have to get that stuff for us!" Momiji just sat silently, quietly chewing on his snack. "But, hey, they thought it'd be fun to spend all their money! They could've bought themselves new clothes or paid for their class trip, or somethin'!" He ranted, "Talk about stupid! I mean, what were they thinking? All they're doing is making things harder on themselves!"

"Oh, hey, you know what? There's this kid in my class who reads a lot," Momiji said randomly causing them to look at him oddly.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, so, he just got this new book and he brought it with him yesterday. It was called 'A Guide to the World's Greatest Fools'. He's always bringing funny books like that. This one time, he brought one called 'The Universe of Stew'."

"...Did you have a point in there somewhere?" Yuki asked.

"Oh, right," Momiji giggled, "So anyway, a bunch of us sat down and read this book together. There was this one story in it, I remember. It was called 'The Most Foolish Traveler in the World.'…"

(Get comfortable kiddies, its story time!)

"You see, once upon a time, there was this foolish traveler who had gone on a journey. Why was he foolish? Well, because he was fooled by everyone he met! Everywhere he went, people made up all kinds of sad stories to tell him, and the traveler fell for every one of them. Pretty soon, his money, his clothes, even his shoes had been cheated away from him. But the foolish traveler was always glad to help. And he always told people the same thing. He said, 'I wish you happiness.' "But by this point, though, the traveler was completely naked, and with nothing left to cover himself, he left the main road and traveled through the dense forest, where no one could see him. But soon he was discovered by the goblins that lived in the woods. They wanted to eat the traveler's body, so they begged and pleaded, and they used kind words to try and trick him. Of course, the traveler was fooled. "First he let the goblins eat one of his legs…then an arm…then more and more. Before it was over, all that the traveler had left was his head. He'd even given his eyes away to the last of the goblins. And as that last goblin was eating the traveler's eyes, he said, 'Thank you, traveler…in return, I give you this present.' What the goblin left was a slip of paper with the word 'fool' written on it…The traveler couldn't see it. He didn't know what it was. Even so, tears began to flow down his face. 'Thank you,' he said. 'This is the first present anyone has ever given me. I'm so happy. I'm so happy. Thank you.'

"Even without his eyes, he cried and cried, great tears of joy. Then the traveler died with the smile still on his face."

(*sniff* Story touched my heart when I first read the story in the manga, really did change my outlook on life.)

Yuki, Shigure, and Kyo stared at Momiji as he finished the story. "Right after we heard that yesterday, all of the other kids in my class started making fun of the traveler. But while they did that, I closed my eyes and thought about him a little bit longer. I thought about how he had given everything away, until all he had left was his head and how at the end, he still cried for joy as he said thank you. And I realized...I feel so sorry for him."

Yuki and Kyo were lost in their own thoughts, but they were beginning to understand what Momiji was feeling as he told the story.

"Loss, hardship, things like that? You can't only focus on them. The traveler didn't. He never thought about his own troubles at all."

They thought about the two girls upstairs.

"I imagine that it probably does sound really foolish to some people. But not to me. I don't think he's foolish at all. Even though other people probably think he was being tricked? I don't think he was. I think he did exactly what he wanted to do. I think, more than anything, he just wanted to make other people happy." He looked at Kyo and Yuki. "What about you, Yuki? Kyo? What do you think?" He questioned, "Really? Is that foolish? When you close your eyes and think about it, is that what it is?"

Yuki and Kyo both thought of Tohru and Zakura.

It's not foolish to want to make other people happy even if it makes life harder on yourself. It's not foolish…not at all…

-0-

The next morning, I went outside to hang some laundry out to dry while Tohru was in the kitchen making breakfast. It was such a nice morning out that I didn't mind at all.

"I'm going for you."

I was startled when I saw Kyo leaning against the laundry pole, "O-oh, good morning. How'd you sleep?"

"The hot spring?" He reminded me, "I'm going. For you."

I had to blink hard at least twice to confirm that this wasn't a dream.

"I didn't get you anything for White Day. So instead, I'll put up with that damn Yuki and I'll go to the hot spring for you." He gruffly explained.

"F-for me?" My heart rate picked up a bit. Kyo was doing something sweet…for me…!

His cheeks flushed a little, "Maybe you don't care either way...you know, whether I go or not...but..." His face was even redder now.

I smiled widely and moved closer.

He looked at me, surprised by the sudden decrease in distance between us.

"No, no! That's awesome! It'll be much more fun if you're there, too! I'm so happy right now!" Words of gratitude were tumbling out of my mouth. I couldn't find any other way to show how much it means to me that he's going, "Thank you so much! I'm so happy! Thank you!"

He looked at me for a moment. "You know, y-" Then I saw something that I hadn't seen in a long while, Kyo smiling. The small at ease one that reached all the way up to his beautiful red eyes. "You really are somethin'...you know that?"

I felt my face get very hot as I looked at him, 'I'm something...?'

"Kyo's got the hots this morning!" Momiji sang, coming up behind Kyo.

"I do not!" he yelled at Momiji.

Momiji giggled. "He's got the hots!"

"Shut up!" He dug his fists on the sides of Momiji's head.

"Waahhhh!"

'This is going to be so fun! Our first trip to a hot spring!'