Thank you so much for all of your reviews! They were so so so so so incredibly kind! (They also really motivated me to keep writing - it was an effort to make this chapter as long as it is.) anyway, part of the reason this took a littl elong was that I just got Fruist Baskets Five! (WOO HOO!!!) so obviously I had to read it right away. i wasn't expecting it to come out for antoher two weeks or so, but when I went to the book store WAMO!!! there it was on the shelf. Anyway, let me know what you think of this. If i screwed up anything just tell me. I'm a-feared that Tohru is a little OOC so any feedback would be really really appriciated!

Thanks to : Dark-Hooded Eriol the Mag , Atlanta Enchanted , DrStrangelove007 , Nightfall2525 , monsnite , Daine-Wildemage , gummy ducks , AozoroMika , Bass Star Cardians Webmis

I Love you guys!

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Chapter 2 - Whispers in the Night

Tohru sighed as she slid herself into her seat in class. She was completely exhausted. Yuki hadn't slept well through his fever. She had stayed by his side holding his hand as he passed through numerous fits and nightmares. Only when he hadn't stirred for over an hour had she drifted off next to his bed.

Tohru bit her lip, feeling awful. She had fallen asleep while watching over Yuki. How could she let herself do that? He had been sick – with a high fever - and if he had woken up confused and disoriented he could have hurt himself in a panic! How could she have been so selfish and indulged in sleep? She would have to apologize later.

Yuki would say she shouldn't have even stayed by his side past 10:00. He would say he was ok – but she knew better.

Yuki had ... spoken ... in his nightmares. At first he would only toss and turn, moaning a little. After a few hours, however, he began to mumble words in his fits. With each fit they had become clearer and clearer. She had managed to string together a meaning to them. She closed her eyes, remembering the pain in his voice.

"NO! NO! Akito – please! NO! HELP! Not the dark room! Akito please, don't put me back in there! NO AKITO! AKITO! AKITO, LET ME OUT!"

She shivered slightly in her school uniform. His voice had been laced with terror, cold barren and helpless. She had never heard him sound like that before. It had unnerved her and chilled her heart.

Tohru couldn't imagine what Akito had done to cause Yuki so much pain. With her brief encounter with him, he had scarred her, yes, but Yuki had been so ... broken. She hadn't even imagined that one person could cause such chaos in another, because that had been Yuki's state: complete chaos and confusion.

She was sure that Akito was the cause of Yuki's trauma. "Akito" had been the first word Yuki had mumbled that she was able to understand, and he had repeated it the most often. But what exactly had Akito done? Yuki had mentioned a room ... a dark room, but what that was she could only begin to guess.

Tohru sighed again, trying to ignore the ache inside of her. She wanted to help Yuki so badly, to heal the mental wounds Akito had lashed into his mind, yet she didn't want to pry into the personal life of the Sohmas. 'What should I do, mom? I care about Yuki, so, so much but I don't want to be rude. How can I help him when I don't even know what's wrong? I feel empty when I see him suffer and can't do anything about it, like I have nothing left. Mom, what should I do?'

Suddenly Hanajima appeared at Tohru's shoulder. "Tohru-kun, your aura is confused and helpless. Is there anything wrong?"

"Nope! I'm fine!" she said, fixing her face with a smile. How could she explain her predicament to her friends? It was Yuki who was confused and helpless, not her.

Hanajima gave her a very unconvinced look, but didn't push the subject further. Uo wondered over in their direction.

"What's gong on, you guys?" she asked. "You both look cheerful." She added sarcastically, noting Tohru's watery eyes and Hanajima's normal stern expression. "Did someone die, or something? Tell me it was Orangey – then I wont have to beat him at cards anymore."

"Everything's fine, Uo-chan! I'm just a little sleepy."

Tohru felt her attention wan as Hanajima and Uo began to talk about other things. Her gaze shifted to Yuki who was bent over, reading some papers on his desk. She didn't know why but Yuki had touched her. From the time she had first seen him smile in his garden, his first real smile, she had – fallen in love with him. Yuki made her feel new and alive. He made her feel safe. His presence alone made her feel as if all her doubts, all her worries didn't exist. He believed in her as a person and allowed her to believe in herself. She had never admitted it to anyone else, and she rarely admitted it to herself, but she hoped that by helping Yuki, she could give to him what he gave to her.

She sat up and shook herself mentally. 'But of course, Yuki would never be interested in me.' She thought. 'He is after all, the prince of our school. I'm just glad I am able to be friends with him.'

Tohru smiled to herself as the teacher walked in the room and everyone sat down. 'I'm so glad I get to spend so much time with him.' She thought.

'I need to spend time with him.'

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So what do you think? I'll try to post another chapter soon!

-Orangellama