Disclaimer: Nope, I own nothin'.

Note: Argh! Sorry for the major delay! Guess I've ruined my updating schedule already! Sorry, minna!; I got stuck by writer's block though, so I guess that's my excuse. I'm back, however! I've got a good start on Chapter 9, so hopefully it'll be up sometime this weekend! Thing's are winding down, we're on the home stretch! And this concludes you random authoress' excuse!

"Summer Rains"

Chapter 8

"Kyo-kun…?"

Opening my eyes, I found Tohru standing above me. The sky was dark, the stars were out, and I was just about to go to sleep.

"Sorry to wake you," she said, "but you've been up here all day and I thought you might be hungry."

"You didn't wake me. I was just going to go to sleep, but I hadn't yet. I'm okay, though." I told her, even though that was far from the truth. Hm…Far from the truth. I must be turning into Yuki. Great, another wonderful and much-needed problem.

"Well, maybe in terms of being hungry. But really, you're not okay at all, are you, Kyo-kun?" Tohru asked me, sitting beside me on the roof.

"Not at all." I said with a sigh.

"Do you want to talk with me about it? Whenever I talked about my problems or fears with Mom, it always made me feel better afterwards."

So I told her what had happened when I went to see Kagura to apologize yesterday and the scene with Yuki when I got back, along with everything I had, and currently, felt. She let me finish talking before she said anything.

"That's why Sohma-kun seemed distracted," she said, glancing off at the horizon thoughtfully, "he must have been wondering as to why you turned down a fight with him."

"Yea, guess so. Hah, I wish I could have seen the look on his face…"

"He still had it this morning," Tohru said, "like this!"

She made an imitation of Yuki's expression, her eyes opened wide in surprise and her mouth slightly open. We both broke into laughter at her imitation then fell silent as our laughter slowly trailed off. We both glanced up at the stars, thinking our own thoughts.

"I'm glad I could make you feel better, Kyo-kun." she told me, favoring me with that beautiful smile of hers.

"I can't help but be happy around you," I said, "your optimistic happiness is contagious."

"That's what Hana-chan says too, but she's still not too cheerful, is she?" Tohru asked with a giggle.

"Hah, yea. That's true."

"Hm…Kyo-kun?"

"What?"

"Um, you know…Well, why did you turn down a chance to fight Sohma-kun?"

"Well, at the time, I blamed it on being tired and upset over what happened with Kagura, but now that I think of it…" I paused a minute and she waited patiently while I gathered my thoughts. "Now I think even if I had been perfectly fine I would still have declined."

"Does this mean Haru-san was right?"

Tohru said it to herself mostly, but when she saw the curious look on my face, she explained.

"Do you remember when I first met Haru-san? The day Sohma-kun got sick?"

"Yea, I do. Hatsuharu transformed so we could get Yuki home and Shigure had a field day with how ridiculous we all looked walking like that."

Tohru laughed at the memory, "We did look odd. Well anyway, Haru-san said he noticed you and Sohma-kun fought less, like there was less tension between you and Sohma-kun or something. He thought it was because of my influence that you'd become more tolerant of each other."

"I guess that could explain it. But what I really want to know is why he's being such a jerk. I think it has to do with more than just jealousy."

"That's what Hatori-san said!"

"Hatori? When'd you talk to him?"

"Oh! Sometime this afternoon. Kagura called me and asked me to come over because "there's just some things ever Tori-chan doesn't get." And I talked to him on my way home, because he offered to walk me home, even though I told him he didn't have to."

"Oh."

"Kyo-kun."

"What, Tohru?"

"Um, Kagura-chan said that you shouldn't be sad for her. She said she's really glad you could be so honest with her and trust her to understand."

"It was what I should have done in the first place…"

I should have told Kagura sooner rather than add insult to injury by waiting until she was already upset by Yuki and I. Tohru touched my arm lightly, in a gesture to both get me to look up at her and comfort me.

"Kyo-kun, she doesn't care if you should have done it sooner or later, or even at all. What she does care about is whether or not you did, and you did! That's all that matters."

"Tohru?"

"Huh?"

"Thanks."

She returned my smile warmly.

"No problem."

Tohru told me that she was going to talk to Yuki and see if she could get him to tell her what was wrong. I wished her luck, but really, I doubted she needed it. He may resist at first, but eventually he will break down and tell her. He trusts her unwaveringly, and he feels comfortable telling her about how he feels. Some people, even if you hardly know them, you feel as if you can trust them; that they are sincere. Tohru is one of those people; she's easy to trust.

Along with her plans of getting Yuki to tell her what was wrong, Tohru also informed me Kagura had asked her to come over again, might I want to come?

I told her I didn't think I should, it'd be too awkward.

"But tell Kagura I'm sorry. I don't want her to think I'm turning into Yuki."

"I'll explain the situation completely, Kyo-kun! Don't worry about it!" Tohru assured me with a smile.

Yuki finally cornered me (or maybe I cornered him) that afternoon. He walked into the kitchen behind me, asking where Tohru had disappeared to. Today was supposed to be her day off of work.

"She's off talking with Kagura at the main house, unlike some people."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I went to apologize to Kagura that night too, rat-boy. But Hatori and Kagura both said they hadn't seen you at all. So tell me, Yuki, where were you?"

"That's not really any of your business, now is it?"

"I'm sure even if Kagura doesn't ask, Hatori will. And he won't stop annoying you until he gets an answer, since he actually cares about Kagura, unlike you. Save yourself the trouble."

"How dare you tell me who I do and don't care for!"

"Well, so now you care about Kagura? Why the hell did you lie then! Why are you so intent on pushing people that care about you away!"

He stared back at me coldly, a sudden fury had been reawakened in him, and he was planning on giving me a piece of his mind. He didn't appreciate me telling him who he did and didn't care about.

"Okay, fine," he said a conversational tone, but then his voice grew cold. "I'm a damn jerk and a hypocrite and I love pushing people away while complaining--at the same time!-- that no one's there for me. Okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

A deadly silence hung in the air, and things were made even more tense by his harsh sarcasm. I wouldn't have been surprised if one of us had thrown a punch, but we both just stood there staring each other down. Keeping my voice as even as I could I answered him.

"Well, Yuki, that's great. Too bad it's not an apology. Why would I want to hear that? Shouldn't you be saying that to the ones you've been pushing away?"

The look in his eyes was something beyond hatred. He knew that I was right, and he couldn't accept that. He hated it when I proved him wrong, but now, with something this serious, me proving him wrong just got even worse. An even harder blow to his ego.

"You sure harp on me a lot for pushing people away when you're the same," he said with a smirk, "I wonder how many you've hurt?"

The silence came back with a vengeance as soon as it had left. I tried not to let my rage take control. He knew he'd hit the right spot by comparing me to who I hated most, him. He knew it and that condescending smirk on his face told me so. How do you like that, baka neko?

"At least I'm not too much of a coward to admit it. Unlike some people."

"You have everything and don't even know it!" he hissed suddenly with venom-coated words, "People will accept you, and they're attracted to you, you have Honda-san's love, and you're free enough to do what you want because you're not considered part of the family. But you want more! You're always declaring you'll beat me and join the Sohmas, but what for? To become trapped in the cage? That hateful place? Why do you think I've tried to leave? You're so damn selfish!"

He might as well have hit me, because I was reeling in shock. He really was jealous of me…and he's right, I guess. I have a lot of things to be thankful for that I'm not, and I want to join the family just because I'm sick of being left out of everything. I can't stand it when he proves me wrong.

Just then, Shigure came through the front door, who knows where he'd been (probably annoying Hatori with Ayame). The tense feel in the air dissipated as Yuki and put on false attitudes and acted like we weren't about to rip each other's throats out. He greeted us, we greeted him back. He informed us he'd just came from the main house (as I suspected) and that Tohru had said she'd be home in about an hour to cook dinner. I let Yuki have the last words and went (partly as an excuse to get away from Yuki, I regret to admit) to go walk Tohru home. If I took the long way there, I'd get there just in time.

When I got there, I found out Shigure had told me what Tohru had said because he knew as a fact I'd go after her. Kagura and Tohru were standing outside the entry gate waiting for me, and as soon as I got within distance, Kagura tackled me.

"Kyo-kun! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Oi, Kagura."

"Tohru-chan said you were afraid to come back! Why?"

"Well…because…"

"Tell me, Kyo-kun! You know you can tell me."

"I didn't want to hurt you anymore, Kagura…"

I felt kind of awkward telling her this, I don't know why. Maybe it was because I'd seen Hatori watching us from the other side of the gate, but I don't think that was the reason. Kagura's expression softened a little.

"But it's okay, Kyo-kun!"

"It's okay?" I echoed, somewhat surprised. She seemed to have recovered so quickly, already telling me she forgave me.

"Didn't Tohru-chan explain to you? I asked her to…"

"She did," I confirmed, "but…"

"But nothing, Kyo-kun!" Kagura exclaimed, grabbing me in a headlock, "Just 'cause I can't be with you doesn't mean I don't want to see you never ever ever again! I thought you knew me better…"

"Well," I answered, "so did I, but you change so much, Kagura! It's nearly impossible to understand you!"

Tohru and Kagura giggled, and I laughed, feeling good for the first time in quite a while. I felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and it had; the weight of the guilt over Kagura. I felt more at ease, happier, in better spirits and whatever, and I think the girls did too, as we laughed together under the azure sky.