Author's Note:

Oof! I am so sorry for not updating the way I should about a few days ago, but I was really caught up with work in school. What with the tests and the loads of assignments that I had to do – you do notice that I live in a country where they like to stress the hell out of their students. So there… Gomenasai!

Chapter 6(i)

Chika and Kyou walked up to the black Honda car. Chika looked at Kyou while the sound of keys unlocked the car doors, "Get in," He said and the both of them did and closed the doors at the very same time. Hesitating, he looked at his cell phone and dialed for Tohru. Chika pretended to look unconcerned as she looked out of the window, whilst perking up her ears to listen to what Kyou had to say to her rival in love. He remained silent but the answering machine came on. With a heavy heart, he hung up and looked over at Chika. "She's not at home," He said. Chika sat up, "Do you think she might have gone to a friend's house?"

Kyou thought for a while, "Impossible… she never leaves the house without calling me first," Kyou frowned. Chika kept quiet, letting his thoughts go wild for a minute, "Ah… well, shall we get going?"

"Oh yes, where do you live?"

Chika gave him her address and he nodded while he started the car. While on the way, they chatted a lot and laughed a lot. When Kyou stopped outside her apartment block, Kyou wind down the window while Chika looked in and smiled, "Thanks Kyou, I had a great time with you, I hope we meet up some other time again, take care now, I hope everything works out best for the both of you," Chika winked at him and waved. He waved at her back and started the car as he made a U-turn. Clutching his chest with his free hand, he tried to breathe properly. He hadn't realized that his heart was thumping very quickly and no matter how hard he tried, his heart could not stop.

Had he started taking an interest in Chika?

It was not a surprise though, she was beautiful and smart. She worked as a senior executive in a large corporate business company. She was attractive and had a very amazing smile. Both of them had a lot of common interests between each other. I mean… What the hell?

Had he really… fallen for her?

Kyou pressed the brakes really hard and parked in the garage. He sat there for quite some time, recalling what had happened in the day. How could he have fallen for her in just a day? He must be thinking too much. He got out of the car and made a mental note not to see Chika again, before he starts losing his mind.

"Tohru?" He opened the door with anticipation, hoping she is still at home. There she was, very deep in sleep while her head rests on her arms, she was bent over the table. That's no wonder she didn't pick up the phone just now...And all over the table, as Kyou had seen with a pang of guilt in his gut, were plates of his favourite food, all garnished beautifully. Kyou looked over at Tohru sleeping soundfully and smiled softly. He brushed a strand of hair aside from her face, a strong sense of guilt washing over him.

He could tell she had spent the whole afternoon shopping for the best and freshest ingredients. He could imagine her smiling at the food while she shopped. He could imagine her in the kitchen, putting in her best effort to create an attractive and delicious plate of food. But he could not think of a special reason why she did so.

He could imagine her waiting for him to come back and join her for dinner. And imagine her disappointment.

Kyou had the sudden urge to punch himself. He had forgotten to tell her that he was going out to meet Chika for lunch and may not be able to come back for dinner. As it was a long way back home from Chika's place, it was already 8 at night. And she was already exhausted from all the work she spent in the kitchen.

As full as he was, he heated up the plates of food and made sure he finished them before washing them up. Tohru blinked and rubbed her eyes as she awoke from a familiar scent, "Kyou-kun?" Kyou placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and kissed her on the forehead, "Hmm… I just ate, your meals are great!" She beamed happily. Perhaps the meeting with Chika made Kyou feel obligated to offer Tohru more attention? Isn't that supposed to be… a good thing?

Tohru yawned and tears gathered in her eyes. Kyou grinned and flicked away the tears threatening to fall. Tohru smiled and looked at Kyou as he wordlessly held her hand. "Are you tired?" He spoke softly as if there were other people here listening in on them. Tohru shook her head slightly and Kyou punched her lightly on the head. "Silly head, I think you should go sleep," Tohru shook her head again.

"I want to spend more time with you, Kyou-kun!"

Another pang of guilt.

Kyou held her hand tightly and gave it a squeeze. While holding her hand, he dragged her to bed and the both of them went under covers. "There, this way, you can be with me however long you want and when you're tired, you can just fall right to sleep," Tohru bit her lip and nodded. She inched forward and closer to him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and the both of them stayed in each other's embrace for a very long time. "I wish we could stay like this forever…" Tohru said dreamily and drifted off into sleep, feeling ultimately secure and comfortable.

Kyou leaned in to her and took in a whiff of her. The smell of lavender and a little hint of orange, he could never get sick of that wonderful fragrance... he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep too. The very last thought coming into his head before he slept and couldn't remember the very next day:

I wish we could too… we'd be so happy together.