Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great… (grin)

Okay, okay, I'll stop singing. But technically I'm not, 'cause I can't and my throat hurts and I've got a horrible cold so I have to stay home from school but I'm happy 'cause I'm listening to the CD my pal Saz burnt me!! Woohoo!! Anyway, last Saturday I started being sick except that was the flu, and now I've just got a bad cold… yep, last Saturday, emichii dragged her sickly half-dead body from the couch where she was being stranded on and was reading DEATHNOTE to the computer so she could update her weekly two chapters for the two fics she was workin' on. Well… My readers are important, aren't they?!?

I don't own Fruits Basket. And forgive me, Fallout Boy, for ripping off a sentence from your song!!

Please read and review!!

Twelfth Chapter: The beginning of a heavy storm

So the Festival was over and everyone went back to their daily humdrum lives at school. The after-school clubs were excited and happy about how well the Festival went and everyone had thought the Confession Tree had been a big hit! It had brought together people and even Hana had to admit that Tohru and Kyo looked really happy together.

Uo shrugged, "Huh, I guess Carrot-head's not such a wimp after all,"

"Huh? You mean you didn't know?" Hana tilted her head toward Uo.

"Know what?"

"Kyo wasn't the one who confessed his feelings; it was our little Tohru-chan who did it under the Confession Tree,"

Uo's eyes widened. "Really?!?"

"Yep."

The Yankee and the psychic leant against the wall in the corridor and watched people walk past them.

Uo ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Well, yeah, I guess it could only be expected. Hmm… come to think of it, I wonder how the prince coped with all his fangirls."

Hana thought for a while. "I'm not sure. The Prince Yuki Fanclub seemed to have broken up before the Festival, so now that it's over, maybe they'll get together again? I think that they had a fight or something…"

Hana continued, "But I wouldn't worry about that. There's a lot more to worry about. I think we're all in for a storm, because I can see the storm clouds."

"Storm clouds? There isn't a cloud in the sky!!" Uo cried.

"Yeah, but this is different. I have… a feeling that things are on shaky ground and hell is coming, for some unlucky individuals. And his highness Sohma. I'm sure Yuki will be in for a heavy storm very soon; and not just him, but him and all of his Student council members too."

Minami peeked through the doorway of the classroom where President Motoko and the others had always gathered for their weekly Prince Yuki Fanclub meetings. Gosh, she missed them a lot. Yeah, the Prince Yuki Fanclub had gone through a lot recently. They had broken up; messed up each other's plans; tried to fix/wreck the Festival; and tried to protect the prince from any possible lovers; or for Motoko, tried to pursue the Prince himself.

Minami knew that the Fanclub was on shaky ground but as she gazed around the empty classroom, she remembered all the things she and the others had done. There were stupid things and embarrassing things, but they had done them all willingly for the sake of their dear prince.

Now she even remembered times when she, Mio and Motoko had laughed and joked about them and even enjoyed themselves. It was weird, but for the Prince Yuki Fanclub, even if they seemed to be a club full of eccentric arrogant girls, Minami had to admit, there were times she had really loved this club and it was as though the three of them were like… that word was so weird… almost sacred, but still… maybe, it was an odd sort of a friendship, but that's what they were like… friends.

Minami sighed and started to turn away and then saw the black-haired girl who had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"HAH?!?" Minami cried.

The girl hardly noticed, and she didn't even flinch when she heard Minami's shout.

The younger unruly ex-Prince Yuki Fanclub girl stood silently and thoughtfully besides her, staring into the very empty classroom.

Mio Yamagishi didn't say anything, but she let her thoughts drift around her. She had done a lot to make things difficult for the prince. She had tried to sabotage the Festival, all so that the Prince wouldn't be able to confess to anybody. But she realized now, that what she had done had been such a selfish thing. Because she still loved the prince so, she wasn't ready to give him up to anyone else.

Mio shook her head slowly, as if to agree with those guilty thoughts in her head. She was the youngest ex-member. She had always been given the brunt of the work; and she had always been bossed around the most by Minagawa-sempai, but… Mio was shocked that a tear appeared in her eye. Yeah… she too had missed the club.

"Mio…?" Minami said slowly.

Mio stared down at the ground, feeling very sad. "Yeah, I… miss the Prince Yuki Fanclub too…"

It was a very awkward time in the Student Council Room. It was because Yuki and Machi weren't talking to each other, or looking at each other, and they were trying to avoid each other totally. And it was quiet for a change, because Kakeru was too busy being suspicious and peering through two narrow slits at Yuki. And Kimi had no-one to talk to!! And Nao had no-one to shout at!!

Nao would've thought it was perfect and peaceful but to his shock-horror, instead, he was very worried!! Why wasn't the disastrous horde being the disastrous horde? What had happened???!?

When it was near to the end of the Student Council work that day, Yuki finally confronted Machi. She was very surprised and she immediately grew nervous.

She was standing in the corner with the folders full of papers. Nao was grumbling to himself about something and tidying up the desk. Kimi was nowhere to be seen. She had probable left early for a date of something.

"Machi, I, uh, need to talk to you about something. Could you please…" Yuki's heart beat faster as he thought about the horrible possibility that Machi wouldn't even listen to him. "…just hear me out?"

"Um…" Machi seemed to find it hard to look at Yuki's face.

Yuki took a deep breath. He was sure it was his fault. And he knew it was definitely his fault that he'd stolen a kiss from her at the Festival. "I'm… really sorry about the... you know… It's hard to explain but,"

Machi shook her head hard. Her voice was very soft. "Uh… that is, um, why did you… change so much?" She raised her head and stared him straight in the eyes with a piercing gaze and shattered him.

The way she spoke was as though her feelings had been really hurt. But Yuki didn't know why. That was because he had never noticed the feelings Machi had developed for him before he encountered his dreadful alter ego.

"Because… uh, Yuki, before you started to act so… different, I actually…" Machi paused and she frowned delicately as she lowered her head again, because the next words were really hard to say. "I actually… really liked you…!"

ARGH!!! Yuki's eyeballs practically fell out of his head and his head started spinning really, really fast. WHAT?!? She did?!? Then he sobered up and gripped the reality of what she was saying.

Machi bowed her head really low. Her voice grew softer and softer barely above a whisper. "I thought… maybe there was a different person under… all that prince stuff and I thought I got… to maybe know you better… and then I… fell for the you I thought you were. But I guess… maybe that's just me being stupid… Sohma, you really are… so much more like a prince than I thought… you're just like the princely person everyone talks about. You really are… perfect… I'm sorry for all this trouble… it was my fault. I'm very sorry."

She bowed and clutching the folders and papers to her chest and carefully staring straight ahead, she left the room as quickly as possible without meeting anyone's eye.

Yuki felt as though he'd been ripped in two. Everything from under his feet seemed to give way and he felt as though he was falling, falling, falling. Everything had disappeared from his grip and he was spinning in a direction he could no longer control.

His feelings… his emotions… Bad Yuki who still resided in his head… Everything was going… they were all leaving him and he was alone and stunned.

"You really are… perfect… I'm sorry for all this trouble… it was my fault. I'm very sorry."

It wasn't your fault!! Machi, it wasn't your fault!! It was mine!! I was just so damn stupid- me and the other Yuki, we… were the ones who caused you so much grief!! Crap, Machi, please… just… Yuki's heart fell, remembering the way she left the room so abruptly. Just please don't… hate me forever!!

I am not perfect! I'm not like the person you think I am!! I'm me! I'm real!! I'm a real person, just like you, Machi!! But… the fact that you feel so hurt and confused right now, is because you feel betrayed. Because you actually saw more beyond my always-perfect appearance.

And that… for you to have seen the real me… and to have really cared for me like that… is proof that you have really looked inside my complicated depths to see who I really am.

It was pain that was making Yuki's heart break. And he stood there, feeling so confused and horribly guilty. He stood there in a daze, until suddenly

BAM!!

Yuki jumped five feet into the air.

Kakeru looked so angry. His hand was in a fist and twitching uncontrollable. He had punched the table as hard as he could, and now Kakeru was seething in anger, something that was rarely ever seen. But Yuki knew enough so that he could tell that an Angry Kakeru was something you never ever wanted to see in your lifetime.

The normally happy-go-lucky vice-president's eyes were unreadable, but his actions showed that he was incredibly cross. His messy black hair hung over his eyes as he glared with huge animosity at Yuki.

"What did you do to Machi?!??" he shouted.

Thanks for reading chapter twelve!! Please read and review!!