Author's Note: H'llo all. Welcome to another chapter of my Touya fic. I know you're all thrilled to be here because, well, it's Touya. I don't have any delusions that you're here for me. ~laughs~ Oh, and trust me when I say I can't blame you. (I know you're not here just because I'm the one writing, otherwise you'd all be reading and reviewing my original stories too. Hehe)

So, Touya would like to thank Kira, Peacewish, Atom, Kazune Kikenshi, and Moonchild for being his fans. ~laughs~ Okay, okay, thank you one and all for reading his story from my twisted idea of him. ~grins~ I hope you continue to enjoy this!

Shades of Discovery

Friends and Enemies

He was laying across my bed, head hanging upside down as he looked at me, listening.

"And that day she ran away from her home, leaving everything behind including the Amamia name, forever. Here, that picture shows the wedding."

"Wow, there's hardly anyone there!"

"I know. That lady there, that's my mom's cousin."

"The one that looks like she just swallowed a bug?"

I laughed. That was Sonomi all right. Mom had shown me these pictures, telling me stories about how wonderful her cousin was and how loving and protective she was, but to me Amamia Sonomi would always be the lady that looked like she was being forced to do the worst thing she could imagine. Like eating a bug. "Yeah, that's the one."

He examined the picture for a while longer and I watched him, amused. His glasses were slowly slipping up the bridge of his nose and his hair nearly brushed the floor, away from his face completely for the first time I could remember. It made him look so much more open, despite the illusion of openness he projected by being so expressive. That illusion of being open fooled most people, but this was an illusion on top of that. It made his expressions harder to decipher though, his face was just at a strange angle that made me see him differently enough. I had to pay more attention. It was starting to get slightly disconcerting actually and I considered moving.

That's when he rolled over and propped himself up on his elbows, handing me the picture back. Everything shifted back to the way it should be, bringing another of those involuntary smiles back to my face as I put the picture away. I didn't know why, but I just...I liked watching him. Especially in such unguarded moments. He made me smile more than I had in a long time. Possibly more than even when I was with--

"So, that's the story in a nutshell. I was born in due time, then Sakura, and when Sakura was three Mom died. Like I told you the other night." I kept my emotions out of it this time, rushing through it. I'd opened up more than I had planned on. That was enough for now.

"Your mom loved birthdays?"

I shoved the box of pictures back in the top of my closet, closing the door with an abrupt motion that surprised even me. "Yeah, birthdays were very important to her. She would always write each one down, even though she really didn't need a reminder."

He just nodded, ignoring the sharp look I was giving him. "What do you think of birthdays then?"

I shrugged. "I try not to, actually."

"Oh, that's too bad. I already wrote down your birthday and Sakura-chan's birthday so I don't forget next year."

"Yuki, I don't have a birthday next year."

He just smiled as if I had said the funniest thing in the world. "If you say so. Do you prefer to celebrate it on the day before or the day after when it would be?"

"I don't."

"Good, we'll celebrate it both days. More time to spread out the fun."

"I'm not going to win this one, am I?"

His smile clearly said, 'get used to it.' He would never say something like that out loud, but I knew that's what he would have said if he said things like that.

"When I find out when your birthday is, I'll celebrate it an entire week, just to see how you like it."

"Really, To-ya? That would be wonderful! It's December 25th. I won't let you forget, thank you."

I groaned and put my head in my hands. "Why me?"

He just laughed, bringing me into it too. He was too much fun to be truly exasperated with, no matter how much I tried.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Yuki laughed again.

"I'm serious. You think I'm not going to beat him up after he tried to set my sleeve on fire?"

"Look, To-ya. There aren't even any marks, see?" He brushed against my sleeve to emphasize his point.

"The only reason you're not mad is because he gave you chocolates."

"They're good too, are you sure you don't want one?"

I just gave him the look, and he laughed as he always did. Dammit, this wasn't a laughing matter! That kid had threatened my Sakura, and would have beat her up if I hadn't jumped the fence when I did. And now he was hanging out around her, and giving things to my Yuki? Inexcusable.

But I couldn't explain it to Yuki like that. First of all, when had he become mine? I was thrown off balance when I realized I had been thinking of him like that in the first place. How would he react? Second of all, he delighted in teasing me about how protective I was of Sakura.

Sister complex. Ha! That wasn't even funny. Yet, he had said it again just a few minutes ago as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"So give me one of the chocolates Sakura gave you instead. I trust the kaijuu much more than I would that gaki, even if the chocolates are still in the box."

"To-ya," he said reprovingly, with big eyes and that slight frown. I could never tell if he meant it, or if he was on the verge of laughing at me.

So I wiggled my eyebrows at him and snatched the bag of chocolates away from him with a teasing grin. He looked shocked as I looked inside. "Oh, it pays to have someone like the kaijuu have a crush on you. It's a nice assortment. Good quality. She must have spent half her allowance on these." I pulled one out. "Oh look, my favorite too!" My smile was reaching wicked proportions he had never really seen before as I held up the prize.

That was nothing.

I stepped closer to him, ignoring the scandalized look he was giving me as I pretended to examine the chocolate further...and then held it right in front of his mouth. "Bite," I commanded with what I hoped was a sinister edge to my teasing. His mouth opened in shock and I took advantage of that, putting half of the candy in his mouth and waiting.

He was a bit flustered, but he bit it in half, teeth gently grazing the tips of my fingers. That was a bit unexpected--okay, a lot unexpected. I didn't want to consider even in the darkest depths of my mind if I found the sensation pleasant though. I just pulled my hand away, waiting for his reaction.

"Oh, I see why this is your favorite kind!" His smile was of pure delight.

I nodded with a smile of my own, then popped the rest of the piece in my own mouth. Utterly delicious. Milk chocolate with caramel cream filling. It said something about what my sister thought of him if she would give him these chocolates. Well, it seemed everyone loved my best friend these days. I absently licked the remaining chocolate from my fingers as I handed the bag back.

"You've never teased me like this before, To-ya. Of course, you realize, I'm going to have to pay you back for this." His own smile had taken on a wicked quality that made my heart skip a beat. Yuki could look wicked?

"Sure, sure, plot against me all you want." I grinned indulgently at him, never dreaming he would be able to get me back tenfold without losing his air of innocence for a heartbeat.

~~~~~@~~~~~

It was the yards and yards of pink taffeta that did it. Why was I doing this again? Oh yeah, because I didn't have a choice. I was surrounded by the entire female aspect of the drama club, each of them crooning about how cute I'd be in that damned pink monstrosity.

And Yuki just stood off to the side, looking at the simple components of his own costume with a smirk.

Okay, okay, it wasn't a smirk. It was that same smile he always wore. Dammit, it felt like he was smirking at me though. Then he laughed along with everyone else, stepping closer with Yoko by his side.

Yoko just walked up to me, shaking her head. "That dress will have to be taken in, but at least it's long enough. Maybe a few ribbons. Kumiko-chan, do we have any clip-on earrings in that shade of pink?"

At least she was all business about this. It was humiliating! And she made it slightly less mortifying with her no nonsense attitude. I kept looking over at Yuki and squirming inside. He was enjoying everything about this play too much.

"Does it have to be pink?" I grumbled, but no one paid any attention to me.

"Okay, now we need to find a tattered dress with patches to fit you for the first act. Oh, and everyone listen up! Tsukishiro-san has come up with some unique ideas for his roll, so we'll be doing a rewrite after the costume fitting!"

That's when I took a real look at the bits of costume he held. "You got out of it?"

He nodded with a smile. "I convinced her that my idea would be more funny."

"Hey, can we rewrite the Cinderella part too?"

Everyone just laughed, then went back to searching through the costumes for an old dress that would fit me. The older and more ragged the better. I couldn't believe he was getting away with this. "So, what are you supposed to be now, instead of a fairy godmother?"

"A magic can of mackerel."

I groaned. My one consolation had been thinking that my best friend at least would be stuck wearing something as ridiculously girlish as me. I could picture him wearing something appropriate for the roll...something in white with maybe some light blue highlights...and from there my imagination went somewhere else. Wings, huge and snowy white. Long hair, flowing for forever into the dark of night, glowing like the moon until it didn't even look like him anymore....

I realized I was staring and shook my head. I had no idea what prompted that train of thoughts, but it just wasn't like me and I wouldn't put up with it.

Traitorous mind.

"You've got a strange sense of humor, Yuki."

He just shrugged. "It made Yoko-san laugh, so we're using it. Besides, it's not as if you're the only one that will be dressed up."

"True, true. I still don't see how I got the lead roll though. I don't like acting."

He smiled.

I frowned a bit, but shrugged it off. "We have that exam tomorrow. You still coming over tonight?"

"If you're not too mad at me about all this," he teased.

"Dad took the day off because he's doing a presentation at Sakura's school, so I don't have to fix supper. We'll get plenty of study time in."

He was about to say something when Yoko, head of the drama club, broke in with an announcement. "We have two weeks until our first dress rehearsal, then the play will be put on three days after that! I'll have the new script for everyone tomorrow after exams, and I'd like it if your lines are memorized before the dress rehearsal. I need volunteers to help adjust a few of these costumes, but that is all."

"I'll help with the sewing," I volunteered. This was greeted with sighs and squeals from all the girls that I tried to just ignore. Well, I was good at it, and it was something I didn't mind doing, so why not. A few of the guys, still clutching their dresses, looked like they were about to laugh. A glare set them straight...just because I could sew didn't mean I couldn't beat any other guy in school in a fight, and they'd be well advised to remember it.

"Wow, you really can do anything, To-ya."

I was flattered despite myself. "Not so much," I denied, warmth rising to my cheeks. It was a silly thing, but... "Come on, let's just go."