Author's Note: That's right. I started *another* story. I'd better not hear any complaints though, 'cause I think I've done a pretty dern good job of keeping all of them up. ~grins~ I've been working on this one a while though actually. So, trust me when I say it won't effect the other stories. Actually, the way I overcome writer's block is to turn to another story. That would explain why I've got so many going on at once, ne? And...yes, this is heavily influenced by Scattered Blossoms by Peacewish, but this is entirely my own story. Still, if you like this, you might want to check out that one. Scattered Blossoms takes place before Yuki, but please don't let that chase you away. (Just look under my list of favorite stories to find it...)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the setting. I'm playing in CLAMP's toybox, and I put all the toys back where I found them at the end of the day. So, please don't sue me. Thank you.

Warning: This fic contains shounen ai/yaoi. A lot of it. If the thought of a guy falling for another guy squicks you, run away now. Do not press review, do not collect $200.

That is all.

Shades of Discovery

The First Day

I pedaled faster, pushing myself to my limit. I left her in the dust, skating as fast as she could, but she could not catch up to me. I felt a small pang of guilt, but it couldn't hold me back.

"Touya! Wait!"

With a sigh I slowed down. It wasn't her fault after all. I wasn't trying to run away from her. I was running from memories, and that just wasn't her fault. Still, I didn't stop. I couldn't stop, not today. Today something was going to happen, and the last time I had felt that was when we had moved here and I met her.

"Oi, kaijuu, hurry up. You'd think a monster like you could keep up with me better!"

"I am not a monster, that's why I can't keep up!"

She was panting as she finally pulled up beside me. The air was cold, so I worried for a moment about pushing her so hard, but I knew she never got sick.

I turned my face ahead so she wouldn't see the fond smile that appeared on my face. It happened. I just didn't want to encourage her by letting her know that.

That feeling was catching up with me again. I tried not to speed up, but I needed wind in my face and speed to push me along. She kept up, so I must not have given in to the feeling too much, but we were at the gate of her school too soon, and there wasn't enough distance between the elementary school and the high school to build up any satisfying amount of speed. I sighed, waving absently in the direction of my little sister. Did she even look? I don't know, but I sure didn't look. I just shot ahead and tried to avoid hitting people who seemed determined to block my path, slowing me down further.

I locked my bike up and headed for class, feeling jumpy. I could feel it in the air, something was going to happen. It was like a hum in my fingertips and an incessant whisper in the back of my mind--and as soon as I sat in my seat the feeling was gone. I looked around, confused, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. The usual people talking, everyone gathering in their seats...nothing unusual. I pulled out my homework, double checking my answers absently while I waited for the day to start. I wasn't feeling sociable in the least, so I used the paper as shield against the world and an excuse not to look up. I had mastered that art a long time ago.

Finally class started and I looked up. In walked a new student, and I knew, just knew that he was the reason for that feeling. I slumped into my seat. It was so late in the school year, unusual for new students to start now. I glanced over at the empty desk beside mine, knowing before it was announced that this would be the new seat of Tsukishiro Yukito. I groaned silently.

Kaho's words echoed in my mind, "There is no coincidence, Touya. We met, we fell in love, we're together because it is inevitable."

I had thought those words were sweetly romantic at the time. We had been fated to be together. She just forgot the part about telling me we were fated to be separated too. At this point in life I had had it up to here with things being fated and inevitable in my life.

Yet--it wasn't his fault. I remembered what it was like to be the new guy in school. If I was fated to be his friend, if he had to be a part of my life, it wouldn't do much good to fight it and it would probably hurt his feelings anyway. He didn't deserve that. So I sighed, raised my hand when instructed so this new guy knew where to sit, and welcomed him to the classroom. Heck, I even almost smiled when I saw the huge grin on his face. I nodded, meaning nearly the same thing, and he somehow knew it.

Inevitable. Right. With a weary sigh I pulled out pen and paper to take notes and tried not to dwell.

~~~~~@~~~~~

"Can I eat lunch with you?"

I wasn't surprised to hear him ask that. I shrugged, still putting away my books. "I don't eat with a group of people or anything, so if you want to hang out with the popular kids I'm not your way in."

"That's fine."

"I brought my lunch today, and I was planning on sitting outside. It's still chilly out."

"I brought my lunch too, and cold doesn't bother me. But, if you're trying to discourage me I'll go eat by myself."

He smiled when he said that. I could tell without looking up. "No, just wanted to be up front. I'm used to sitting alone. I wouldn't mind some company though." It was better than just keeping an eye on Sakura in the adjacent playground. I've had company at lunch before, but no one lasted long. They didn't understand why I sat in the same spot every day watching the "little kids", even when I said I was keeping an eye on my sister.

So I looked over at him to give him a wry grin...and found myself staring at him instead. I was looking at him for the first time...really looking. He was shorter than me, thin, pale, wore glasses, and had hair the color of storm clouds. I didn't want to think of it as gray because that made me think of old people and he didn't look old at all. Beneath the surface though...that's what caused me to stare. He was--

"Are you okay?"

I shrugged, smiling slightly. "Yeah, fine."

And he smiled and accepted it at face value. Huh. We had both brought a lunch with us today, so we sat outside in the warming afternoon and I found myself staring once again. He kept pulling out food, and more food, and more food, and finally more food, then he hid it somewhere while it looked to all outward appearances that he ate it. Finally I shook my head and just started eating my own food.

"So, what brings you to this corner of the world so late in the school year?"

"Moving in with my grandparents."

I waited for a few minutes, but he returned to eating. I could think of a few reasons someone would be moving in with their grandparents, and I wouldn't want to talk about it to a total stranger either, no matter how friendly that stranger was. I shrugged, then packed away my lunch supplies quietly. The weather was cooling off again as clouds gathered overhead.

He was still eating. I stared off into space, leaning against the trunk of the tree we sat under. I kept stealing looks at the enigma in the shape of a boy beside me. What exactly had I seen when I looked at him earlier? It was nothing I had ever seen before. He had secrets, and the feeling that had haunted me earlier today surely had something to do with those secrets. Well, I had secrets too. It would make us two peas in a pod. Or something.

I sighed and ran a frustrated hand through my hair. The truth was, I just wanted to know those secrets. Why was I drawn to him? Why was he more than he looked. Even Kaho hadn't shone so brightly to my mind's eye, glowing like the full moon when I closed my eyes. Was that is? Did he have magic too? If that's what he didn't want to talk about I'd have to gain his trust. I knew how lonely it could be to see things and know things others didn't. Maybe I could help.

I checked my watch. The bell was about to ring and he was just finishing and packing up. I wanted to say something, but I had no idea what I'd say. I wanted to get to know him better, but I never exactly practiced trying to make friends.

"This was nice," he said, standing up. "It was great to be able to sit here and just eat and not be stuck by myself, or stuck around a bunch of people that just can't shut up, I mean, I didn't feel like I had to say anything, but it was nice and quiet, and I feel like I'm babbling and that's why I was glad we were just eating because I knew I'd start babbling I'm sorry, I'll shut up now...."

I chuckled. His face was slightly flushed with embarrassment. I just shook my head, surprised that he got me to smile so easily. "Don't worry about it. In fact, I'm not sure where you were in your last school, but you've been looking a little lost in some places and bored in others. We could study together if you want."

He turned on me with an almost lethal smile. It must have been the magic because that smile made my heart beat faster and my breath catch. "That would be great."

As simple as that, we were friends. Rallying against fate, complaining about the inevitable, grumbling about how I would never let myself be pulled like a puppet on strings since that fateful day last summer when she left. Yet, here I was, accepting the hand dealt to me as if I didn't know better. Dammit.

~~~~~@~~~~~

"My grandparents usually take a walk in the afternoons, so I'll just leave them a note."

I nodded absently. There was something wrong about the house I just couldn't put my finger on. Hadn't I ridden my bike past here before? I couldn't remember passing this house, but it was a side street I hardly ever took. There had been something here, obviously, but it hadn't looked like this. Had it?

"There, shall we go to your house?"

I shook my head, dismissing my thoughts. It wasn't important. If I was mistaken I was being foolish. If I was right, it still didn't matter. I already knew he wasn't what he seemed.

"Sure." I shrugged, sure that my distraction showed on my face. He still didn't seem to notice, but that had to be wrong. His face was a mask of clear and bright emotions, but there was a depth to him, and despite the open and honest smile I felt a penetrating gaze that somehow didn't reach his eyes.

That didn't make sense.

Where the heck was my mind going these days?

"So, what about you?"

I blinked, barely catching the question and trying to rewind the conversation for some context. It was no use. "What?"

There was that laugh, that smile.... "Your mind was wandering, wasn't it?"

"Maybe. A little."

"What about?

Why did he ask that? It was a little personal for someone I had barely met, but he looked like it was nothing to ask something like that. "I was...just thinking we should hurry. My little sister gets home from school before me and gets worried if I'm late without warning." That much was true, even if it hadn't been what was on my mind.

"I'm sorry, I'm holding you back because I don't have a bicycle...." His face fell tragically and I almost laughed when I saw it. Why would he be upset over such a small thing?

I just walked the bicycle beside me and didn't bother to reply. "You know, if you did have a bicycle we could meet on the way to school in the morning. We pass this corner every morning on the way to school, it's not too far from our house."

He went from a tragic figure to sheer joy so fast I felt slightly dizzy. "I'll be sure to ask my grandparents to get me a bike. Though, I've never ridden one. I hope it's not hard." The concern was written clearly on his face...too clearly. Didn't he hide anything? Or was it all an act?

With an abrupt motion I pushed my bike at him. "It's not ideal since I'm taller than you, but it should be close enough. Get on."

"What?"

Now I smiled. "You heard me. It's easy. The pedals move you forward, the brakes are here, and keep your balance."

"No, that's okay. It's your bike, and your sister will be worried as it is...."

He didn't know it, but he had just challenged my stubborn streak.

"The worst that will happen is she'll eat my pudding as an after school snack. She might scold me a little. No big deal. We're really not that far away though, so just get on."

His brow furrowed. "It's not very nice to leave your sister alone to worry about you, especially a younger sister. I'd hate to be left home alone and wonder where someone was, even for a little while."

"It's not like I do it all the time. A little worry once in a while won't hurt her. Get on the bike."

"But wouldn't that make her worry all the more because she doesn't expect you to be late?"

"You don't have any brothers or sisters at all, do you." It was not a question at this point.

"Well, no."

"Tsukishiro-san, it is my job as her big brother to keep her safe, guard her honor, help her learn things, and be a thorn in her side every step of the way. That's just the way things are between siblings. She irritates me, I irritate her, it all balances out. I owe her a little aggravation right now, trust me."

Why was I defending myself like this, turning this into a speech?

"Yukito-kun."

I blinked. "What?"

"You called me 'Tsukishiro-san', but I'd like it if we were friends, so call me Yukito."

I blinked a few more times. On his face I saw that open friendliness, but there were subtle hints of loneliness, hope, and a hint of fear of being rejected. How did I start reading "subtle hints" in a guy I had just met?

Damn fate.

"Okay," I nodded with a hint of a smile. "So, Yukito-kun, riding a bike is easy once you know how...." My words drifted off as I realized where we were. Almost in front of the house. "That, however, will have to wait for another day. We're here."

How had he done that? I've never had anyone distract me so easily! It wouldn't happen again. I was more stubborn than he could imagine, and no one had won in a battle of wills against me in a long time.

Okay, no one except her, but since she was overseas it didn't count. She had been stubborn in her own way, subtle but determined.

It clicked in my mind, and I shot Yukito a startled look. He had just done the same thing to me that she had always done. Except...for some reason it didn't bother me that he did it.

"So, this is your house, To-ya?"

The way he said my name...and that hopeful smile he had while he said it.... I found a hint of a smile resting on my lips as I nodded and put my bike away. I'd be really irritated right now with anyone else in the world.

"That's right, Yuki." I didn't miss the shocked look on his face before it was replaced by a huge smile. "Oh, and there's the kaijuu now. Sakura."

She had come storming out of the front of the house as we walked up to the door. She looked like she was going to scream at me for at least an hour for worrying her sick by being a whole fifteen minutes late. She stopped short though as she saw I wasn't alone.

"Oi, kaijuu, this is my friend, Tsukishiro Yukito. He just transferred here."

"I'm not a monster," she protested, but it was weaker than her usual growled response. She couldn't tear her eyes off of him as he bent to her level with a smile.

"Yuki, this is Sakura, my little sister."

"Pleased to meet you, Sakura-chan."

I let out a long-suffering sigh as I felt the irritating feeling that I had just put another piece into fate's puzzle.

Of course, my sigh of irritation was nothing next to the dreamy sigh Sakura let out as we walked inside. Suddenly she was kind, offering to fix a snack and help me fix supper later, and had totally forgotten that I had been late at all. It was amusing to watch since she usually wouldn't dream of being this nice where I could witness it. She didn't threaten me once the entire afternoon, no matter how mercilessly I teased her.

I hid a wicked grin as we finally headed upstairs to my room to get some actual studying done. If he could make Sakura act that nice all the time, I'd just have to invite him over a lot. It didn't matter if it was fated or not. And who knows, maybe this time fate wouldn't stab me in the back while my guard was down.

~~~~~@~~~~~