AAAAHHHH!!! I'M SOOOOOO VEEERRRYY EXXXXTTTRREEEMLY SORRY FOR MAKING YOU ALL WAIT FOR SO LONG. THANKS FOR BEING PATIENT AND I HOPE THIS CHAPTER DOESN'T DISSAPOINT YOU!!!

P.S. HEY EVERYONE!!! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS!!! I HAVE 50 SO FAR SO KEEP EM COMING!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!!

SHout OUt: To my boyfriend for helping me a lot with this fic!!! love ya, Ern!!!


Chapter 12. Akward Silence and Hateful Glares.

Sohma place was eerily still and quiet when Tohru and Yuki walked through the tall, heavy wooden entrance gate. It was a big change from when they had gone before Akito's funeral. It was even more peculiar that no one seemed to be around, not even the usual servants that tended the main house.

Ignoring all this, they eagerly walked over to Hatori's house and knocked softly on the door.

There was no answer.

Tohru knocked again, eager this time. "Do you think he went out?" she asked with a worried look.

"I'm not sure. Let me check through his window in the back," said Yuki as he went to a gate at the side of Hatori's house. He opened it carefully and disappeared behind the fence.

Oh please be home, Hatori. We have a lot to ask you.

Within a few minutes Yuki returned with a dreaded look on his face.

"No, he's not here," he said even before she opened her mouth to question him, "and I think we forgot about something he said to us earlier this week," he added.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He's moved out already…remember when we came by before Akito's funeral he was already packing?" Yuki asked; frustration was etched into his handsome features.

"Yuki, we've missed him. Now how are we going to find out about the curse that was put on me?" she asked miserably.

"I'm not sure Tohru. I'm really not sure. Maybe we can just wait until Shigure comes back…or we could just call Hatori when he finally settles down in Osaka," he said hopefully.

She looked at Yuki sadly and replied disappointedly, "I think it's time we went for Toshiru…"

Yuki walked over to where she stood at the porch. He held his hand out to her and she took it gratefully.

"I think we've had enough for today. Let's go pick up our son and go home." Yuki smiled. His smile made her heart flutter.

She smiled back and allowed Yuki to lead her out of the front gates; they didn't seem to notice a pair of eyes watching them from one of the houses.

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They drove to Kagura's house, which was a long way from where they were at the moment.

They listened to the radio and talked about their high school years until Yuki's cell phone began to ring.

Yuki answered it, glancing apologetically at Tohru. She looked at him understandingly then leaned her head on the door so she could stare out the window.

"Yes, good morning Mr. Takahashi," said Yuki in his usual droned politeness. She couldn't help but notice how different his voice sounded when he was talking to her. It held more interest with her then with anyone else, or so she thought. "You'll need a shipment in by this Monday? In Tokyo?... Uh huh, I see…." He said, nodding his head. He glanced again at Tohru with a disapproving look captured on his face. As the conversation continued on, Tohru's heart fell. She didn't want Yuki to leave, but that was selfish of her; he had a life before she came alone, what made her think she could just take all his time away now?

"May I ask why this meeting is necessary, Mr. Takahashi?" he asked with a hint of annoyance, "….ah yes…. I understand quite well. I'll be arriving tommorow afternoon….yes…Thank you very much. Good day." On that note, he hung up the phone.

Tohru didn't want to look at him. He would have to be leaving town tomorrow, which meant she would have to go back home sooner than she had wanted to.

"Tohru."

"Yes, Yuki?" she said, her voice sounding very small.

"You remember how I said that I travel a lot, right?"

"Yes. Toshi and I will be sure to leave tonight," she said saddly without even thinking.

He chuckled at her reply. The sound caught of his laughter caught her off guard; she turned her head to look at him and saw a smile creep onto his lips.

"Tohru, how would you like it if you and Toshiru joined me on a trip to Tokyo?"

Tohru gasped. She hadn't expected such an offer.

"Yuki! Are you sure?!" she asked excitedly, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

"Of course. I told you that I would take the two of you one of these days. I guess it looks like it's sooner than expected," he said happily, still driving down a long country road to Kyo and Kagura's house.

Tohru's face radiated with joy.

"So would you like to go?" he asked eagerly.

Without a second thought she replied "YES!"

Yuki laughed at her enthusiasm. "I guess tomorrow morning we'll be off to Tokyo." He gave her a loving glance, taking one of her hands in his to place a gently kiss on it. "And I'm so glad that I won't be going alone."

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"Hey you two! Have a good time last night?" Kagura greeted excitedly from the porch of hers and Kyo's house. It was a small and humble one story home, but it was everything that Tohru had dreamed of. There was a small garden on either side of the porch, and the yard was surrounded by huge and beautiful trees that were barely beginning to bloom. There were no neighbors around, so it must have been peaceful during the night. Calm and relaxing.

They're so lucky to have such a beautiful house, thought Tohru as she closed the car door behind her.

Tohru looked around the yard to find Toshiru, and his twin cousins, Momimi and Atsushi running in the yard chasing a bright red ball.

"We had a wonderful time, Kagura! Thanks for watching Toshi for the night. I hope he wasn't too much trouble," said Tohru as she walked toward the porch. Yuki followed not too far behind.

"Oh Tohru, it was no problem at all," replied Kagura happily, "and Iru is such a sweet boy…actually I wish my two were as well behaved as him, but what can I say?" Kagura shrugged.

Tohru giggled, letting Kagura know that she understood completely. Just then something small rammed into her legs, catching her off guard. She looked down to see her son holding onto her, a sweet smile placed clearly across his adorable face.

"Mommy!" he cried out with joy.

Tohru smiled and knelt down to give him a hug. "How was your stay with Aunt Kagura and Uncle Kyo? Did you have a good time with the twins?" she asked after letting go of their embrace.

"Yes, Mamma. Uncle Kyo was so fun and did you know that he can fly?!" Toshiru exclaimed.

Tohru looked at her son curiously. Kyo could fly? Was that even possible? "What do you mean by that Toshi?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"Heh, it's kinda funny he mentioned that," Kagura interrupted in a soft whisper. Tohru's attention went to the ex-boar standing near her. "Kyo accidentally threw the red ball up on the roof last night and instead of using a latter to climb down he just jumped off and landed on his feet."

"Ah ok." Tohru nodded; she knew all too well how agile and acrobatic Kyo could be. She had once seen Kyo jump off the third floor of a building, and just as Kagura had described, he landed right on his feet. It was one of the few gifts that he had been given by the zodiac curse and apparently he still had that it even after the curse had left.

"Oh! And Aunt Kagura bought us some ice cream and everything," the little boy said quickly. He paused for a while and then continued, "Mommy, I think I want to come over more often. I liked being here," he said earnestly.

Tohru looked down at her son with gentle and loving eyes, "I'm glad you had a great time Toshi. I'm very glad."

After giving his mother a quick hug, Toshiru ran off to continue playing with his cousins.

"Tohru, would you and Yuki like to stay for lunch? It'll be ready in a while," Kagura said.

"Oh uh, I'm not sure," said Tohru, glancing at Yuki uncertainly. "We wouldn't want to be a hassle and you've already done so much for us, Kagura."

"Not at all. Come on, I made more then enough! Join me inside," Kagura insisted, taking Tohru's hand and dragging her through the front door.

"Um, alright, if you insist," said Tohru, perplexed.

Within a matter of minutes, Tohru, Yuki, and Kagura settled around the dinning room table, drinking a relaxing cup tea.

"So, where has Kyo run off to today?" Tohru asked after letting the soothing liquid run down her throat.

"Oh, he's at work teaching a class at Master Kazuma's dojo. He should be coming home for lunch any minute now," said Kagura as she too sipped on her tea.

"I see," replied Tohru. She felt a weird twinge in her chest at the mention of Kyo coming over for lunch. She had wanted to speak with him about the other day, and how he seemed to be upset about something.

They continued the small talk, with Kagura getting up from the table now and then to check on the food.

Tohru took a big whiff of the delicious aroma in the kitchen, making her stomach growl with hunger.

"So how was Momiji's concert?" Kagura asked, stirring something in a large pot.

"It was wonderful! Momiji is a great performer," exclaimed Tohru.

"Aw, I know, I think I cried the first time I saw him on stage," replied Kagura.

"Yes, I cried too. It was just all so beautiful," Tohru said softly; she had taken hold of Yuki's hand in hers as a way of showing gratitude.

Yuki seemed to be off in a daze, looking out the window to the yard where the children still played together.

She squeezed his had a bit to catch his attention. He was quickly thrown out of his stupor, with his attention directed at Tohru. Kagura glanced at the two happily and mentioned that she needed to put clothes in the laundry room. She then left without another word.

"Are you ok?" she asked in a whispered voice.

"Tohru, do you think we should ask Kagura if she knows anything about the curse?" Yuki suddenly asked, his eyes showing a great deal of confusion.

Tohru frowned. "I'm not sure, Yuki. What do you think?"

Yuki looked befuddled, staring down at their hands that were clasped together.

He thought for moment and then answered his own question. "No, because then we'll have to explain what happened to make your scar go away, and I don't want to tell her about that." Yuki whispered, blushing slightly.

Tohru blushed as well but not too noticeably.

"Then we won't tell her."

He nodded and went back to staring out the window.

Just at that moment, a car door was heard and soon loud cheers. Tohru jumped up from her seat and was about to run out the door to check on her son when a sweaty Kyo came in carrying a twin between both arms and Toshiru hanging off his back.

"Hey, Kagura! The squirts attacked me when I got out of the car. Do you think you could gimme a hand?" Kyo said with a smile as he walked through the kitchen door way. He looked to the where the stove was but found that Kagura wasn't there. He was wearing his white karate uniform with a black belt, his hair dripped with beads of sweat and was sticking up in all places.

"Hello, Kyo," said Yuki, holding onto Tohru's hand tightly. Tohru found this odd but let it slip from her mind.

Kyo turned with the children still on him, and looked to the table where Tohru and Yuki were sitting; stopping dead in his tracks, his eyes caught Tohru's for a split second. "Oh, hey," Kyo replied weakly. His face fell into a slight frown, making Tohru feel as if he didn't want to see them at the moment.

"Hi Kyo. Thanks for watching Toshiru. I really appreciate it," she said, her voice not sounding quite right to her.

Kyo set the kids down gently before replying, still in that weak voice. "Yeah, it's no problem. He's not as bad as my two." There was an awkward silence before it was abruptly interrupted.

"Hey, Kyo! Food's ready for you. And look, I convinced Yuki and Tohru to eat with us," said Kagura as she walked into the room, just as the children ran past her and into the living room.

"Yeah, I figured that," said Kyo, his expression changed quickly as Kagura walked up to him to place a chaste kiss on the lips and give him in loving embrace.

Tohru looked away quickly, glancing over to the window outside. A small feeling of awkwardness hit her. Why did she feel so weird at the moment? And why was Yuki holding her hand so tightly, as if he thought she was going to run away?

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"How was your morning lesson, Kyo?" Kagura asked as she bustled around the kitchen, placing and array of plates and bowls on the table, each containing an assortment of hot to cold food.

"Ah, it went well," said Kyo, helping Kagura set up the table. "My students really seem to be doing pretty great." He said a little proudly.

Yuki watched with wonder at how well Kagura and Kyo worked together. They talked as they set up the table, and there were even times when one of them would finish the other's sentence. It actually seemed as if they were reading each other's mind.

Yuki looked over to Tohru, who seemed to be marveling in the two as well. He was still holding her hand, just barely remembering how tight he was grasping it.

He didn't know if it was just him, but she seemed to have looked at Kyo oddly when he first arrived, and it made him nervous…he didn't want to lose Tohru after all these years to the cat…to Kyo.

Stop thinking like that, Yuki. Kyo's married to Kagura—he wouldn't try to take Tohru away from me. He thought, trying to rationalize his feelings.

Slowly he eased off the tightness around Tohru's hand and relaxed as much as he could.

"Alright everybody! Eat up!!" said Kagura excitedly as she settled down next to Kyo and Atshushi, with Momimi sitting next to her brother and cousin while Tohru sat in between Yuki and Toshiru.

They all began to eat. Yuki hadn't noticed how hungry he was until he bit into a nice big rice ball with a pickled plum in it. He hadn't noticed how much better Kagura's cooking had gotten since she married Kyo.

The rest of their lunch went well and soon the children left to continue playing, leaving the adults to finish up their meal.

"So Tohru, you never told us where you live now," said Kagura. Yuki noticed that Kyo had barley said five words to Tohru and him since he'd arrived.

"I live in a small town outside of the city. It's quite nice there," she replied happily.

"And you said the other day that you're a day care teacher, right?"

Tohru nodded. "Yup, that's correct."

There was a small pause and then Tohru spoke again. "Kyo, how long have you been teaching at Master Kazuma's dojo?" she asked apprehensively.

"I've been working there for about two years now," he said plainly.

"Aw, Kyo, go ahead and tell them more about your job! Tell them how you finally beat Master during a match and how you've been going to competitions!" Kagura said encouragingly. But Kyo really didn't look like he wanted to talk much.

"Yeah well that's basically it, what else is there to say?" he mumbled under his breath. Kagura looked at him questioningly, but he seemed to ignore the look.

Kagura shook her head disapprovingly, and then looked back at Tohru. "So what do you plan to do for tomorrow? Maybe we can get together again to let the kids play."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but we can't. Yuki just invited Toshi and I on a trip to Tokyo!" said Tohru happily.

"Wow, that's fantastic! I've been to Tokyo a couple of times. I'm sure the three of you will have a blast!" Kagura assured. "Oh, and doesn't Haru live there now?" she added.

At the mention of Tohru going to Tokyo with Yuki, Kyo shot a fierce look at the grey haired and violet eyed man sitting in front of him.

Yuki felt uneasy. He didn't feel very welcomed by Kyo—not that he ever was— and was beginning to think that Tohru was feeling the same way.

While in high school, Yuki remembered how often he and Kyo fought over Tohru, but he'd forgotten how close Tohru and Kyo had gotten before Yuki asked her out. Tohru and Kyo were practically best friends, but that was something he didn't want to think about at the moment. There was more to the story than he could tolerate, and now wasn't a good time to bring it up in his head.

Yuki looked down at his plate, his stomach twisted in knots at just the slightest thought of what would have happened had he not asked Tohru out before Kyo. He suddenly began to feel sick.

"Yuki, are you alright?" asked Tohru as she took his hand in hers.

"Yeah, I'm fine…I think I might have eaten too much though," he said uncomfortably, forcing a small smile.

He looked across the table to see Kyo glaring at him with hostility.

Yuki didn't want to be there anymore. He wanted to leave as soon as possible, but he and Tohru couldn't just run off so quickly. That was bad manners, and it especially would not be a nice thing to do to Kagura. But he could sense the anger that was building up in the ex-cat, even though his outer appearance seemed cool and controlled; spending so much time training in karate really seemed to have helped him manage himself better. Like Yuki had said before, there were just some things that would never change, and there was something especially that had made Kyo dislike Yuki more…

"You two boys have been quiet for quite a while," commented Kagura, finishing her plate of food.

"Yeah well, I think I'm going to take a shower now…thanks for lunch, Kagura," said Kyo grudgingly. He immediately kissed Kagura on the cheek, said a quick, and almost inaudible good-bye to Tohru and Yuki and left without another word.

Next to him, Yuki could feel Tohru's body tense up, and as he looked at her, her face fell into a frown at Kyo's departure.

"I dunno what's gotten into him. I'm sorry about that," said Kagura after a while, looking very unpleased.

"Oh um, it's alright, Kagura. I suppose we should be on our way though," said Tohru shortly after.

Kagura tried to convince them to stay longer but this time Tohru was insistent that they leave. Yuki thanked Kagura once again and he, Tohru and Toshiru left to his apartment, where they soon began to pack for their trip to Tokyo.


whew, ok, i'm done with that one...i was stuck for a long time writting this chap, and everytime i would read it, it got me upset that i couldn't think of anything better. anyway, now Yuki, Tohru and Toshiru are finally going on a family trip together!!! cool, eh? i hope it will turn out the way i want. ok well gimme some feed back everyone!! laters!!!!

Elie