Thank you for your wonderful reviews… sigh I really missed writing… Keep on reading, ok?
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Tohru end up at the hospital bed thirty minutes after her fall from the stage.
Yuki found her conscious in bed, smiling widely as usual. "Yuki-kun!" she called.
"Honda-san…" he slowly approached her and held her hand. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Sorry if I ruined such perfect moment."
"No, Honda-san… it happens all the time… once per graduation." He assured. She laughed heartily at his cheer-up joke. He felt the same. But deep down, he felt the heavy burden that Tohru should carry.
5 minutes ago, before he saw Tohru lying on her bed, Hatori approached him sadly. "We have a problem."
---
Hatori drove Yuki and Tohru back to the main house. It was nearly 6:00 in the morning and the chilly air blew softly as they got out the car. Tohru was still wobbling a bit from her sleep, so Yuki cautiously held her up with getting too close to her.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Hatori asked.
Yuki glanced at the driver's seat. "No worries. Just make sure you find the antidote."
"But Yuki, there's no---"
"Find one." Yuki said firmly before he headed to the main house with Tohru.
Hatori sighed heavily. He had been busy during the day and all awake during the night. Now, he'll be busy finding the antidote for Tohru.
"What a life." He murmured.
-------
Kyou enjoyed the feeling of the morning air on his face, the view from the horizon, and stillness of the surroundings. He sat back and yawned. It was indeed a very good day.
"Honda-san… hold still--" he heard from below.
He quickly but quietly walked to the edge to the roof and took a peek from above.
Yuki just passed by the walkway… with Tohru on Yuki's grip.
You got to be kidding me! He thought angrily. What the hell is that rat doing with her?!
He climbed down from the roof and ran quickly to Tohru's
room. There must be something wrong with--
To his surprise, the room was empty.
----
Shigure checked the morning papers and found a very interesting article. He called up his editor and greeted hello.
"Are you bothering me?" she asked
"Mit-chan, da-a-arling! Good MO-O-ORNING!" Shigure greeted happily. "I was wondering if you checked the morning papers."
The line was quiet.
"Hello?"
"You called me because of THAT?!"
"DO you remember my co-author?" Shigure hissed while crumpling the newspaper. "The one that I dismissed because of his… unfortunate works with me?"
"Yeah… the good looking one---"
"HE HAS AN ARTICLE IN THE PAPER!" the inu yelled. "And guessed what? He's destructively criticizing my BOOK!"
"Ooh, really? That's nice." Mit-chan laughed. "He's a critic now. I heard that he earns a lot more than you do."
Shigure stared at the paper. "If I get my hands on him, I'll---"
"Honestly," the editor calmly said, "I think you're just jealous because most people are in favor of him--"
"NO I'M NOT!!!"
----
"How are you feeling?" Yuki asked as he wiped her forehead with a cold cloth.
"I'm fine…" Her hands were a bit shaking and she kept on jerking whenever the cloth touches her head. Slowly, tears fell from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I must have… kept you up all night."
"It's okay, Tohru-san…" he smiled.
"… I fell down the steps again." She said sadly. "What happening to me?!" More tears fell, and Yuki was rubbing her shoulders intensely.
He could just say it, everything that he knew, everything that he kept from her, everything that Hatori told him that day when Tohru fell on her very graduation.
But he can't. "You won't understand."
"Huh?" she looked at him innocently.
"You're just tired." He assured. "You've been going home past midnight. You've been working all day from the hospital to the agency."
"Really?" she thought. "Yeah, maybe I WAS exhausted."
"Yeah… yeah, you were exhausted." He nodded. "Don't do that again, okay? Overdoing things is not good for you."
"Ok." She smiled. "I'll talk it over to my boss."
"Good." He smiled. "Besides, you did fell down the steps, but at least there's no crowd."
Tohru laughed again happily. Yuki giggled with her but still deep down, he felt the heavy burden on his chest.
He carried her burden for her to be happy.
He felt like crying, but he was so tired.
"You should get some sleep, Yuki-kun." She said. "I already got mine."
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It was an hour after Tohru's graduation.
"What do you mean she's sick?!" Kyou gripped on Yuki's collar. Ayame tried to pull him away while the other watched their cousins. The hospital attendants were also watching in horror.
"She can't be sick! She can't be! She's… she's …" Kyou yelled. "She's Tohru!"
"That's what I first said to Hatori when he told me about it." Yuki replied softly.
"AND?!"
"… I can't change what happened." Yuki looked away. Kyou let him go and moved away from him.
"This can't be happening…" Kagura shook her head.
"Her sickness is serious." Yuki explained. "Hatori's fellow colleges couldn't explain it. Somehow, they'll find a way out it. Hatori won't let Tohru die."
Kisa tugged his sleeve. "Ne-san will be cured, right?"
"Yes… she will be…"
"Let's confirm this from Hari-san himself!" Ayame declared.
---
"Hey, have you seen that damn nezumi?!" Kyou yelled at Shigure, who was inside his new-well fixed office.
"Where are your manners, child?" Shigure smirked.
"WHAT ARE YOU---"
"Temper, temper…" the inu laughed. "He didn't pass here, sorry." He went on on his typing.
Kyou went on to his room (amazingly) when Yuki was at the end of the hallway.
"KUSO NEZUMI!!!" he called out angrily. Before he would even pummel his cousin, Yuki stared at him blankly.
"It's getting worse."
Kyou stopped moving. "What?"
"She's getting worse." Yuki repeated. "She passed out near the agency. Hatori found her luckily. That's why I went home with her… if that's what you wanted to know."
Kyou lowered his fist and stared at his cousin. For the first time in his life, he forgot to punch his rival. "Do you think we should tell her?"
"Tell her what?"
"Everything…" the neko explained. "I mean… EVERYTHING?"
Yuki thought for a moment. To ease the pain. To let go of the burden that I carried for almost a year. To… make her worry. "Not yet."
"What's wrong with you?!" Kyou yelled. "DO you think she would want that? All those memories she was forced to forget? All these months that she suffered and our only reason was that she's tired?"
"It's better than telling somebody that they're going to die in a month." He pressed.
-----------
"Do… do I have to?" she gazed at him. He looked at her sadly.
"I'm sorry, Tohru… but I need to do this." He assured her before he tucked her under the thick hospital blanket sheets. "It's for your own good. I don't want you to feel… too much pain."
She looked away. "Can you please tell Yuki that… I love him?"
He bit his lower lip. This should not happen. "Of course… I will."
Hatori woke up from his desk. He was sweating all over and his heart was pumping wildly. He felt the sense of guilt that he didn't fulfilled Tohru's wishes.
"There must be a way to cure her." He got up from his chair and rushed out of his office.
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Author's Notes: Yehey! The second chapter! I had a hard time thinking though. I'm studying for a college entrance exam (but that's in 2 months). I've been challenging my brother for the computer and… I think I'm suffering from writer's block! Yuki-sama, help me!!!!