A/N: Well, what can I say? Chapter nine is finally here, and we're finally gonna talk to Sakura. Gosh I've been busy; I'm taking AP English this year, which is literally the hardest course in out school. I just wrote a big paper on Crime and Punishment, which I really enjoyed (the novel, not the paper). Raskolnikov is such a fascinating character, ne? Well, so is my Yukito, I hope. Enjoy & review, pretty please!

The Dance by chibi-hikaru

Chapter 9: The Admission

Today is Tuesday, and I'm walking home after school with Touya. We've decided to try talking to Sakura today; after all, she got quite a nasty shock when she walked in on her crush kissing her brother! I'm still not sure I'm ready, though. "To-ya, do you really think she'll take it well? I don't want to hurt her again..."

"I'm sure she'll be fine, don't worry-" he looks around quickly, before planting a soft kiss into my hair and finishing, "-sweety." He flushes and looks away, apparently very interested in a squirrel clambering up a tree after its mate. I allow myself a grin; he can be so cute when he's embarrassed.

I'm still bothered. "But what if she takes it badly? What if she's angry, or depressed for weeks?"

He looks me right in the eye, a smile showing at the corners of his mouth. "Think about it. Does what you just said sound like Sakura at all?" I have to concede that it didn't. "Listen, Yuki, she'll be just fine."

I sure hope she will. We've already arrived at Touya's house. "Come on," he says, exasperated, "it won't be that bad." Yeah, that's what you think. You're not the one she's apparently in love with. He opens the door and holds it for me until I've stepped in and taken off my shoes. We walk into the kitchen just like on any normal day I come over to visit, ready to grab a snack. There is one difference though; on any normal day, Sakura's eyes would not have gone wide as soon as she spotted us, and she certainly wouldn't spin around and start to run upstairs, leaving the plate of cookies she'd made to sit there on the counter. Me being a hungry pragmatist and glad for the brief respite, I go straight for the cookies and already have three in hand and one in mouth by the time Touya yells after her, "Sakura! Come down here, we want to talk to you." I hear a door slam upstairs as I begin to munch another cookie, and Touya turns to me. "I'm gonna go and get her. Try to talk some sense into her, get her to just listen to us. Meet me up in my bedroom with the cookies."

"Mmmphmm." I nod, gulp down the cookie in my mouth and head for the refrigerator to get some milk. Touya heads up the stairs to talk to Sakura. I hope he'll start to explain to her what had happened, so I wouldn't have to be so nervous about breaking it to her face. Once I gather up the plate, milk, and three glasses, I too go upstairs into Touya's room. He and Sakura aren't there yet, so I sit on his bed and look around. For the first time, I notice just how many pictures there are of me in his room: him and me; Sakura and me; Sakura, him, Fujitaka, and me. But even more surprising are the large amount of pictures of me, only me. I don't know how I'd never before noticed. The one that most catches my attention is my most recent school picture on his bedside table in a simple silver frame with a thin gold trim. I never knew I merited a bedside-table position. Curiously, I pick it up. I'm smiling pleasantly in the frame, with the light from the lamp above glinting off its shiny surface…

Soon I hear the door open, and Touya walks in, holding a reluctant Sakura's hand. I quickly place the frame back down on the table where I'd found it, and turn to face the door. Touya picks Sakura up under her arms and lifts her lightly onto him bed beside me, then sits down on her other side. She looks up at him, then at me. "Touya… Yukito…" then her head lowers and I can see her shaking, trying hard not to cry. "I-- I saw you… kissing…"

Touya puts an arm around her and smiles down, gently running a hand through her soft hair. "Yeah, you did," he tells her candidly.

"But--" she gulps, "but why?"

Touya squeezes my hand behind her back, as though to let me know it was going to be all right. I give him a look over the top of Sakura's head; I was going to try to handle some of this. "Well, um, Sakura," I begin. She looks up at me, and I can see pain in her eyes, the pure pain of unrequited love. I recognize it because of how often during those days I secretly loved Touya I would see that very look in my own eyes. "To-ya knows-- or so he's told me-- he thinks you love me." A long pause. I try to sound gentle. "Do you?" Her lips stretch tightly, and I know she doesn't trust her voice to work, because she simply nods. I continue, with Touya giving me a 'what-on-earth-are-you-doing' look over her head. "Sakura," I tilt her head so she's looking at me, "How does that make you feel?"

She blushes and her eyes look away. "It-- it feels like everything good all at once whenever I see you. And even if you're not right there, thinking of you makes me feel really happy." She stopped, unsure whether to go on or not, but I smiled at her so she continued. "You make me feel all bright, and happy, and kinda floaty inside." He smiles up at me, but the corners of her small mouth are quivering slightly, and her eyes are a little wet.

I lean over and whisper in her ear, but loudly enough so Touya can hear, "Well, that's how I feel about Touya." I can see his eyes smiling. She looks happier, but confused. She brushes a sleeve across her eyes to dry them.

"Is that like when Syaoran loved Yukito?"

Touya snorts, and I can't tell whether he's laughing or angry. At first I'm not sure what she's talking about, but then I realize she means the fact that we're both boys. "Yeah," I laugh, "it's kind of like that."

"Oh," she says, starting to accept. But she still can't seem to say what she wants so say. Instead of asking me another question, she turns to her brother. "Oniichan, do you love Yukito?"

He blushes, before finally muttering, "…Yeah."

She smiles wider, but it still looks just as sad. "I guess you guys love each other a lot." We both nod. "…I'm glad." Another long pause. "Yukito?"

"What, Sakura?"

She looks down at her feet, which are wiggling agitatedly. Then I hear her mutter quickly, "C-cooyouhomitay?"

"What?"

She looks up, wiping her eyes again. "Yukito, could you… just hold me a little? Hold me tight, just one more time?"

With that look on her face, how on earth could I not? I lean over and wrap both my arms around her, squeezing her as close to me as I could. Brushing aside her hair, I kiss her gently on the cheek, and she snuggles deep into me before finally letting go. "Thanks," she forces, "You guys should be really happy," before running out of the room. Touya and I sit and let her go.

"Well, it didn't go that badly, now did it?" he asked conversationally. I shook my head sadly, looking over at the cookies and milk still sitting on the bedspread. She hadn't touched a single one.