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Chapter VIIII - Reborn

They both collapsed into fits of laughter after their little scream fest and Tohru plopped herself down onto a nearby swing, still laughing a little. She turned her head slightly to see Kyo hunched over, laughing silently while standing near a pole. She tilted her head curiously and asked him,

"Don't you feel so much better?"

Kyo smirked at her and answered,

"Maybe a little..."

Tohru smiled back and took a deep breath of the fresh air that entered her lungs. She pushed her feet up and swung gently, letting the soft breeze tousle her chestnut hair. She leaned her head back, letting out a soft sigh of satisfaction and said nostalgically with a small smile playing on her lips,

"I love the feel of the wind blowing like this while swinging; it makes me feel like I'm three all over again… it reminds me of the better times when my mother used to take me to the park when I was little and push me on these very swings. Those were some wonderful moments… Kyo-kun, do you have any moments that you treasure?"

Kyo looked at her in surprise and then looked down at the black pavement, racking his brain desperately, but he couldn't seem to remember a clear time when he had been truly happy when he was a child. His childhood hadn't been exactly fun and games…he was quite a sad child. When she saw his down turned lips she immediately felt an enormous amount of guilt weigh her down, realizing that she had asked such a personal question. She bit her lower lip and apologized for being inconsiderate,

"I'm sorry for asking such a personal question."

Kyo sighed and slowly shook his head at her, then said,

"What did I say about apologizin' all the time? You don't have to be so polite around me you know..."

Tohru's cheeks burned and she obediently nodded. Then she gripped the metal chains of the swings and her swinging motion began to slow down as she asked,

"Ano... then can I ask you something else?"

Kyo rolled his eyes and sighed, thinking about how she was never going to change and told her lazily,

"You don't have to get my permission to ask me something, just ask it."

"Y-Yes!"

Tohru cleared her throat loudly and continued,

"Okay, well...do you remember the night when you gave me your black bandana?"

Of course I do...

"Yea..."

She had now come to a complete stop on the swings and her knuckles were actually white from how hard she was gripping the chains. She gulped and glanced at him for a second before averting her eyes back to the pattern on her skirt,

"Um...well...I was just wondering if it...if it...meant anything to you."

Of course it did! ...But whenever I think about the kiss, I start to get a feeling of guilt in my heart...

He leaned on the pole nearby and stared up at the gray moon that stared back at him with glowing eyes. He braced himself and said with a low voice,

"I...um... I guess I was just in the moment, you know what I mean? Didn't mean anything..."

She nodded, looking straight ahead into nothing, lost in her own world of thoughts, and whispered out,

"I see..."

Kyo glanced at her blank expression and asked,

"Are... you okay?"

In an instant, Tohru's expression changed from a once blank one into cheerful exterior when she faced him again,

"Of course! I think its better that we're friends anyway."

Kyo forced on a small smile and said softly,

"...Yea...me too."

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"There will be a new student joining us today,"

announced the teacher at the front of Tohru's classroom. He pointed at a scrawny type kid with thick brown glasses and shaking hands cringing at the front of the classroom, hunching back a little from the weight of his enormous backpack. The teacher smiled and encouraged him to speak,

"Now, please introduce yourself."

The boy looked around nervously and looked like he was about to hurl as he stuttered out his name,

"M-My name is H-Haruno Mitsuki."

There were a few scattered snickers that were heard throughout the classroom which made Mitsuki cringe and flush into a tomato red color. He looked like he was about to cry and hurl at the same time when he rushed to the nearest empty seat in the back of the room, which was right behind Tohru. She heard him sigh with relief when he sunk into his seat. She turned around from her seat, with a smile, and introduced herself,

"Hello! My name is Honda Tohru, nice to meet you."

He began to sweat even more now that a girl was talking to him. He gulped silently and suddenly felt very dehydrated. Uo snickered from the seat next to Tohru and looked at the strange kid sitting behind Tohru. She raised an arched eyebrow and asked jokingly,

"Are ya mute or something?"

He sank lower into his chair but Tohru just kept on smiling at him. She pointed at Uo and said kindly,

"This is Arisa Uotani, she is my friend; she didn't mean anything by what she said. Anyway, it must be hard being the new kid right? I understand because I was once one too. Well, if you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask either of us."

Mitsuki blinked at the girl's kindness and felt himself slowly beginning to fall for Tohru. He lifted his lips up into a awkward grin and said greatfully,

"T-Thank you."

Tohru smiled and turned back around in her seat, letting Mitsuki stare dreamily at the back of her head. After school Mitsuki tagged along with Tohru and asked her with a lovesick voice,

"Would you like to grab a bite to eat right now?"

Tohru's eyebrows drew down and she said with disappointment,

"I wish I could, but I have to go to work. I work at the bakery down a few blocks; you can come by if you want."

Mitsuki sighed with happiness and you could nearly see the little hearts spilling out from his eyes. He asked with a overly sweet voice,

"May I accompany you to the bakery?"

Tohru nodded happily, completely oblivious to his feelings towards her, and thought to herself,

This is wonderful! I've made another new friend. I'm so happy.

From behind the school Kyo was smoking at the usual brick wall and spotted Tohru and a creepy kid on the other side of the fence walking together.

Who's the creepy kid? Hmph...Probably just some classmate I guess, I'll ask her about that later.

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After work Tohru stretched her arms out and stepped outside to see Kyo leaning outside on the wall of the bakery, like he always did, and she felt her lips stretch in an upward stroke for no exact reason. She felt feelings of happiness flutter throughout her body, but her brain ordered those happy feelings to disappear because she couldn't allow any of these non-friend related feelings creep up on her. She walked up to him and then they both began to walk up the road to her house. Kyo glanced at her and then looked back straight ahead, asking,

"So, I saw you walking with this creepy lookin kid after school, anyone you know?"

Tohru giggled a little and said laughingly,

"Oh, that was just the new student Haruno Mitsuki! He was just dropping by at the bakery to pick up some bread, a very kind boy he was."

Kyo nodded curtly and gritted his teeth together, pushing the jealous thoughts out of his system, and said simply,

"Oh."

Tohru saw his face tighten and asked with concern,

"Is everything alright?"

Kyo snapped back into reality and gave her a reassuring nod,

"Huh? Oh, yea."

"So how was everything at school?"

Kyo shrugged and put his hands into his pocket,

"Eh... just the same ol' usual yelling from teachers and such."

"Do the teachers always yell at you?"

Kyo chuckled under his breath and said with a mischievous grin on his face,

"Yea, its a hobby of theirs."

Tohru nodded and asked,

"So, what are you planning to do after graduation anyway?"

Kyo looked up at the darkening sky and blew out a sigh and said,

"Eh...I wasn't really planning on going to college or anything. I don't have the grades or the money to get into anything."

"Do you regret that decision?"

"To tell you the truth, sometimes I do... but I can't go back in time and change my life."

Tohru tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ears and hugged herself to keep from the cold,

"I don't think that I want to go to college either... I mean I do, but I just don't have the money."

Kyo suddenly felt a strange sense of sympathy wash over him. He felt so sorry that a person so pure hearted, and kind had to give up on her future just like that. He bit his lower lip and said for once without his signature bitter voice,

"I'm sure that you will succeed in whatever you want... because people like you are meant to have a future."

She felt her heart rate speed up and in that moment she forgot about not having different feelings for him. She gave him a heartfelt smile that made his heart turn in twenty different directions and she whispered breathlessly,

"Thank you."

Kyo licked his dry lips and replied in a cracked voice,

"No problem."

Tohru's eyes sparkled as she held up her fist and told him with a voice of encouragement,

"I think that you are a person that is meant to have a great future too! I'm sure of it!"

Kyo nearly laughed out loud at the thought of actually having a wonderful future ahead of him. He had always pictured himself as being one of those disheveled men outside on the streets pegging people for money and picking up pennies on the road. He chuckled under his breath and said,

"Feh...me? Meant to have a future? That's a funny thought."

Tohru pouted and said with her never ending hope,

"Nothing is impossible..."

Kyo blushed slightly, then broke into a smile,

"You know, you're really optimistic."

Tohru felt herself smile back and she replied simply,

"That's the way I am."

"…I like that."

Tohru's eyes widened and her heart felt like it was on flames as it thumped loudly in her chest. They stopped at the front of her apartment and she looked up into his maroon colored eyes with shyness,

"Thank you for walking me home Kyo-kun, good night."

Kyo took his left hand out from his pocket and gave her a little wave,

"Good night."

Tohru gave him one last smile and he watched her as she went into the building, wondering if maybe his future wouldn't be all that bad.

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The next morning at school, Mitsuki watched as Tohru walked into the classroom with Uo standing next to her and he rushed up to her with a bouquet of flowers gripped in his small sweaty hands. Her eyes widened as he stuffed the flowers right under her nose and Uo let out a snort from her laughter and crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the little scene play out. A little sweat drop formed at the top of Tohru's forehead and she asked apprehensively,

"A-Ah, what is this for?"

She took the flowers from him gingerly and saw his blushing cheeks. That's when it finally hit her in the head like a large brick.

How could I have not noticed before??

Mitsuki squared his bony shoulders and put his feet together in a nervous manner. He even began to shake a little causing Uo to snicker and whisper in Tohru's ear,

"I think that he's going to faint or something..."

Tohru stared at Mitsuki with concern and asked,

"Are you okay Mitsuki-san?"

Mitsuki nodded and finally blurted out his confession,

"I'm in love with you!"

Tohru froze and Uo's eyes widened with amusement,

"W-what?"

Mitsuki watched as the shock registered across her face and waited for her reply with crossed his fingers for an affirmative answer. However, the next two words that fell from her mouth were,

"I'm sorry..."

His hopes soared down and he felt his world crumble apart. Tohru saw his devastated look and waved her hands in the air frantically,

"I'm so sorry, but I must be honest with you... I see you as just a friend and I always will."

Mitsuki held back his tears and nodded strongly at her,

"You are such a kind person Honda-san. Any other girl would have turned me down once they looked at me, but you accepted me...and talked to me without even knowing me... I want to thank you for that."

He gave her a little bow and she smiled warmly at him, thankful that they were still friends.

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Kyo watched Tohru step out of the bakery with a bouquet of roses in her hands and immediately felt a wave of jealousy pass through him. He felt his muscles tense and he eyed the flowers angrily and asked,

"So who are those from?"

Tohru smiled and said casually, not noticing his jealousy,

"These were from Mitsuki-san."

Kyo gritted his teeth together and held back his jealousy from bursting out. He just nodded shortly and walked her the rest of the way home with a bad mood. When he got home he felt worse than ever. He flopped down on his bed and groaned with frustration,

Why can't I stop being such a jealous pig?? You're the one that ruined the chances right?

Kyo took a few deep breaths to calm down and his eye caught onto a dusty picture frame sitting on top of the table next to his bed. He sat up and took the picture off from the table, touching the photo with his fingertips, wiping off the surface of dust that had layered on top of the photograph. It was a picture of Ayumi and him, hugging each other, but the picture had a noticeable crack going right down the middle now. He felt his eyes fill with moisture when he thought about the day of her death. They had been walking home from their three year anniversary and out of nowhere, right in the middle of the streets of Tokyo, she was hit by a speeding car. The doctors had said that there was no hope for her and that they were truly sorry for his loss. He remembered the heart wrenching pain he had gone through after that, he had been devastated since he had lost his parents first and then his first love. He had been completely isolated. Now he found Tohru, and he knew that he loved her but he still insisted on pushing her away... was it a defense mechanism that he had?

I've got to end this madness...

He shoved the picture frame underneath his bed and decided that he wanted to start a new life. Up until now, he had been leading a life full of regrets ever since her death. He had started failing in life, taking up bad habits, and pushing away from the people he cared about... but now it was the time to stop. Reality had hit him smack in the face today and he was going to take charge of this. He was going to change his life. Start over. 

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Back at the bakery Tohru was wiping the counters clean when a tall, handsome boy that looked not much older than Tohru entered the bakery. He had jet black hair with a touch of brown tinting the roots and he had eyes that were like pools of water. He walked over to the table and Tohru said with a smile on her face,

"I'm sorry, but we're closed right now."

He gave her a charming smile and said with a suave voice,

"I'm not here to buy anything, I'm here to be your partner."

Tohru gave him a funny look and asked with confusion,

"Wh-what?"

The boy chuckled and said apologetically,

"I'm so sorry, I'm Aito Hikaru, I was hired to work here yesterday because I applied a few days ago... so I guess we'll be working partners from now on."

He extended out his hand and kept his charming smile pasted to his face. She felt her lips turn up, feeling happy that she could become friends with another new person. She placed her small hand into his, shaking his hands earnestly and said,

"Nice to meet you Aito-san, my name is Honda Tohru."

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