Welcome to chapter seventeen!

Bwahahahhah! Is it the last chapter? Is it the second to last? Is this only the middle of the story? Who knows! Seriously, I don't know. I have a horrible habit of ending things way past their time. Jokes no longer become funny. Stories go dry. It's terrible! I need the input of the people who read it. Maybe any continuations will just be funny little "what happens next" mini chapters. Does that sound good? Seriously, guys, whip me into shape here!

All I know is that I'm putting chapter 17 up on the 17th of February. That's what happens when you update everyday I guess.

According to Microsoft Word, my story is 69 pages long. When I think back, that's rather short. That makes me sad… I couldn't even hit 100 pages? That's not right. ;-;

Seriously, I don't know if this is it or not. It could be but, I still have more ideas. I hope this chapter isn't too corny… but, then again, most romance is corny.

Anyways, I am going to start working on my Fruits Basket fan fic, Lost Answers again. Anybody who likes Fruits Basket please read it!

If I could draw well I'd probably make comics for the rest of this story. But I can't so, oh well. I did add a Hisoka picture to my deviant art site that turned out rather well. Check it out at if you want to.

What's in a name? The title for this story is something that just sort of came out of nowhere. Before I came up with a title I had about six chapters done. In that time, Hisoka and Tsuzuki had spent their first kiss under the moonlight in the balcony. I thought I'd make the moon their only witness but, I guess there were other people spying on them as well. Also, right after I read the manga Only the Ring Finger Knows is when I started to write this story. So, since it was kind of an inspirational piece for the story, I felt it only right to play off of the title. It is a great shounen-ai manga. Albeit short, it is cute.

Anyways, without further ado, here is Only the Moonlight Knows.

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Chapter Seventeen: When Sakura no Longer Blooms

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"December in the park is so nice…" Mitsuki smiled. She and Hisoka sat on a tree limb of the tallest tree in the park. They looked up at the night sky in silence. Finally Mitsuki turned to Hisoka. "You're eighteen now. You have the right to do whatever you want."

"If you're talking about Tsuzuki, he made it clear he wants me to forget him, so I will. It'd just hurt more to track him down just to find out he moved on." Hisoka pulled his hair from its hair tie.

"I don't believe that for a second." Mitsuki twirled a piece of his hair around one of her fingers. "Hisoka, kiss me. If you don't think of sensei at all, then I'll accept that you've moved on."

Hisoka hesitated then leaned forward, closed his eyes, and placed his lips to hers. After a moment he sat back, eyes still closed.

"Well?" Mitsuki waited for him to open his eyes. She smiled sadly when he did. "As much as I love you, there's someone out there who loves you more. It would be selfish of me to keep you from him."

"Aki…" Hisoka turned to her. "I thought that, if I could hear somebody say they loved me, that I could eventually love them back; and that if I did that, I'd forget about Tsuzuki. That was selfish wasn't it?"

Mitsuki wrapped her arms around Hisoka. "Be quiet… Let's just enjoy this last night. Tomorrow I want you to find him. Promise me that you'll find him."

Hisoka smiled. "I promise."

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"So, today's the day?" Hana walked up to Hisoka. He was putting his sparse amount of belongings in his backpack. Hisoka stood and nodded. She smiled and handed him an envelope. "I know you said you wanted to do this all yourself but, please take this money. You're a pretty boy and traveling alone is dangerous. Take a train or at least get a hotel room at night."

"Thank you. If the worst happens and there's no place for me in Kyoto…"

"Don't talk like that." Hana ruffled his hair. "I know it was against the rules but, I contacted Tsuzuki-san multiple times. I can tell he thinks of you every day."

"I hope you're right." Hisoka smiled and slipped the envelope into his bag. "Where's Haruko-chan?"

"In her room. She's getting ready for school."

Hisoka picked up his bag and walked from the room. He turned the corner and knocked on the first door. "Haruko-chan?"

"I don't hear anybody talking." Haruko's voice yelled.

Hisoka pushed open the door. "Haruko-chan, you were right. I broke a promise and I'm sorry but, now I'm going to make it right."

Haruko turned. "You're going away?"

Hisoka nodded. "I'll go find him just like the promise."

Haruko smiled and ran up to him. "I knew you would!"

"So you forgive me?"

"Hmm… No!" Haruko huffed. "You have to call me a princess! Then I'll forgive you."

Hisoka smirked. "Okay, Haruko-hime."

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Hisoka took one last look around the large yard and back at the house. He saw Haruko running across the yard from the house.

"Hisoka-niichan!" Haruko ran up to him and grabbed his leg. "After I get back from school, do you want to go to the park and play with me?"

Hisoka smiled sadly at the girl. He knelt down and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Haruko-hime, I'm going to be leaving today and I don't know when I'll be back. It may be a while."

Haruko nodded. "Then when you get back I want to play with you and the person you love."

"You'll be the first person to meet him." Hisoka smiled.

"I'll be waiting!" Haruko hugged him. "Bye-bye, Hisoka-niichan!" She ran to her father's side and waved. Hisoka waved back.

Hana walked up to him. "Do you have everything you need?"

"I packed everything I own in this backpack." Hisoka picked the bag up off the ground

"Well then, good luck. Don't forget, I want to see the man who is special enough to make you break up with that nice young girl." Hana stroked Hisoka's hair.

He turned and started down the sidewalk. "Say goodbye to Kei-san and Hoshi-chan for me."

"Not goodbye, just see you soon." Hana waved as Hisoka began down the street.

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"Heeeeey, Marie-san, Marie-san!" Tsuzuki waved.

Marie handed the student their book and walked from behind the counter. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

"Just wondered what you were doing for Christmas." Tsuzuki waved towards the calendar. It was December 20.

"Sleep in as always." Marie smirked. "Why?"

"Well, I figured that… both of us would be alone anyways so why don't we spend it together? I even got you a gift."

"Shame I didn't get you anything." Marie smiled. She looked over at the clock and raised an eyebrow. "Um… Don't you have class like… now?"

"What! Geeze!" Tsuzuki huffed. "A job totally ruins the flirt schedule."

"Funny. Go teach your class. If you don't hurry I may just smack you." Marie shoved Tsuzuki out the door.

Tsuzuki steadied himself and started down the sidewalk. He waved at a group of female students who were gathered around a boy. The girls giggled and half of them follow Tsuzuki down the sidewalk towards his lecture hall.

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"Oh, my gosh! Look! Isn't he adorable?" A girl squealed and ran up to Hisoka. She was followed by six more. The huddled around him; giggling and squealing.

"Are you a freshman? You're so tiny!" One of the girls squeaked. Another group of girls rushed over.

"Eh?" Hisoka looked around. He had been walking on the same sidewalk for the entire day and somehow got lost inside a congested area of buildings. "Uh… do any of you know someone named…"

"Oh! There's sensei! We have to go to class." One of the girls waved. A group of them ran after a man in a dark suit.

"Ooooh! No fair! It's time for literature." The rest of the girls pouted. They took turns messing with Hisoka's hair and ran off.

Hisoka plopped down on a bench and let out a tired sigh. The last thing he expected was to get lost and attacked by random women. He thought finding Tsuzuki would be a lot easier but, he had thrown out the address and phone number that Hana had given him on his birthday and hadn't asked for it again. "I'm so stupid." Hisoka sighed and tugged on the lip of his baseball cap. He had wandered Kyoto for a week to no avail.

"Are you okay?" Hisoka looked up. A red haired girl was standing in front of him. "Are you a freshman? It's easy to get lost here. I can show you around if you want."

Hisoka blinked. "Freshman?" He looked around. Sure enough, he had somehow happened across a college.

The girl pulled Hisoka's hat off and giggled. "You're cute! Are you a high school student? You look so young!"

Hisoka grabbed his hat back and shoved it on his head. "I'm eighteen." He huffed.

"Oh, my, I'm sorry." The girl smiled. "My name is Mitsuki Kana. I'd be glad to help you find your way around."

"So this is really a college?" Hisoka hadn't realized the woman's name. He stood and adjusted his hat. "Is there a teacher here by the name of Tsuzuki Asato? Most likely he is a history teacher."

"Oh, yes, I know him." Kana nodded and began walking down the sidewalk. "He has a lecture right now. You can sit in on it until he's done though. He doesn't mind."

Hisoka's heart skipped a beat. Tsuzuki was on this campus. He ran up to Kana and walked with her towards a large building.

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"And that's why I'm going to start giving you tests every day." Tsuzuki smirked. "Anymore smartass questions?"

"No…" The class groaned.

Tsuzuki turned back to the board and stared at the chalk shelf disdainfully. "This is why I like whiteboards. Chalk goes way too fast."

"If you can't give us notes, you can't give us a test, right?" One of the boys spoke up cheerfully.

"Oh, I'll find a way to make your life miserable." Tsuzuki smirked.

"Man, I liked the depressed sensei better than the happy version." Another boy whined.

"How about if I go angst just for you, then? I'll even be suicidal." Tsuzuki huffed.

"At least then we wouldn't have tests." The boy replied. The class laughed and Tsuzuki smiled.

"Since the chalk is somehow missing…" Tsuzuki paused and shot a glance at the boy. "You'll just have to copy notes as I talk. Now, where was I…?" As Tsuzuki flipped through his notes, the lecture room door opened. "Tardy, tardy… You know I don't appreciate tardiness."

"Perhaps you should take your own example, sensei." Kana waved. "Besides, I'm not in this class. This freshman just wanted to see your lecture."

Tsuzuki looked over at the boy as he and Kana walked down the stairs. He felt a vague familiarity with him but, wasn't sure why. The boy was looking at the ground with a hat turned down over his eyes. "Just take a seat wherever there's a free one." He looked back down at his notes.

"Hey, sensei, you seem perky this morning. Usually you get really depressed around holidays." One of the boys in the front row remarked.

"Well, most holidays I don't have a date. This time I won't be spending it alone and that makes it a lot better." Tsuzuki smiled.

Hisoka trembled. Did Tsuzuki know it was him… or was there another reason?"

"Wait, wait! Is that why you're at the library so much?" The boy questioned. "No way! Tsuzuki-sensei is gonna score on our hot librarian!"

The boys in the class began to boo and Tsuzuki began to shush them. However, Hisoka didn't hear any of it. His mind reeled and he began to shake. He jumped from his seat and ran from the room.

"Eh? What happened to your freshman, Kana?" Tsuzuki blinked.

"I don't know. Toilet, maybe?" Kana turned towards the door. "I'll go try and find him."

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"I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid!" Hisoka ran across the campus. Of course Tsuzuki moved on. He wouldn't tell Hisoka to move on unless he was seriously going to himself. As he rounded the corner around a building, he slammed into a woman's back. Hisoka's hat flew off and the woman's books tumbled to the ground.

"Oh, no!" The woman squealed. "Serves me right for trying to take that many in one trip." She bent down and grabbed Hisoka's hat as it was being carried by the wind. "I'm sorry about that. Here." She handed it down to him.

"No… It's my fault…" He took the hat and looked up. The woman was holding a hand out to help him up. He stood without her help.

The woman stared at him for a moment, and then gasped. "No way! Are you really him?" She looked over him again and clapped her hands together. "It is you! That's wonderful! But why were you running this way? Asato's class is back that way."

"Huh?" Hisoka returned his hat to his head and began picking up the woman's books.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She began to help. "My name is Smithe Marie. I'm the librarian here."

"I'm…" Hisoka started.

"Kurosaki Hisoka-kun!" Marie finished with a sad smile. "As selfish as it is, I was sort of hoping you wouldn't show up."
"Well, I'm leaving now anyways." Hisoka stopped and did a double-take. "How did you know my name?"

"You're all Asato ever talks about! He even has your pictures in his house. You are just as adorable as the pictures!"

"Pictures?" Hisoka fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a crumpled picture. He flattened it out and pointed. "Does he have the other piece of this picture?"

Marie examined the image. It was torn on one end and part of Tsuzuki's arm was missing. "Oh, yes! That's sitting by his bed. The other is from your birthday. That's on his television."

"But he said he had a date this year…" His stared down at the picture. Even though he had just seen him, the Tsuzuki in the image seemed foreign.

"Oh, my… Were you listening to him talk to his class?" Marie sighed. "Yes, the date would be my fault. We are both alone every holiday so he asked if I wanted to spend this Christmas with him."

"So you and Tsuzuki…" Hisoka returned the picture to his pocket.

"Oh, my, no!" Marie waved her hand. "He is trying to make me believe he moved on but, a woman can tell these things. He still has as strong of feelings for you as when I first met him. I won't be second best to anybody, no matter how much I want to be near them." Marie smiled and grabbed Hisoka's hand. "Now let's go reunite you two!"

Hisoka smiled. Her excited emotions were passing onto him and his fears melted away. Marie set the books on the sidewalk and they both ran towards the lecture hall.

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"There you are!" Kana stomped towards Hisoka and Marie. They stopped and looked at her. "You just run out of Tsuzuki-sensei's room without explaining?" Kana looked over at Marie. "Thank you for returning him. These freshman never learn."

"Is his lecture almost over?" Hisoka slowly began catching his breath.

"Uh…" Kana blinked.

"You're Kana-chan, right?" Marie smiled. "Then you should know that this is Hisoka-kun."

Kana thought for a moment then jumped forward. "Hisoka-kun! The Hisoka-kun?" Kana sniffled. "You broke up with my sister to return to sensei's side?"

"Your sister?" The girls name finally sunk in. "Mitsuki Aki?"

Kana nodded. "Well, let's not let my sister's sacrifice go to waste, shall we?" Kana smiled and took Hisoka's hand. Marie took his other hand and pulled him into the lecture hall.

"Excuse me, Asato-san!" Marie waved and pulled Hisoka and Kana down the aisle.

"Oh, you found the freshman?" Tsuzuki smiled. Again he felt the strange familiarity with the boy.

"Sensei, remember that story you told me class about when you were separated from someone special to you?" Kana smiled. "What did he say when he was taken away?"

Tsuzuki blinked. "Uh… he said he'd go to the ends of the earth to find me. No matter how long it took." Tsuzuki's smile turned sad. "But, that doesn't matter now…"

"Eh? Tsuzuki-sensei is gay?" The boy in the front row blinked.

"Nuh uh, he's obviously bi!" One of the girls next to him slapped him.

"Anyways, why did you want to know that?" Tsuzuki eyes locked on the boy in the hat as he looked up.

"Because I finally came through on my promise." Hisoka removed his hat and stepped around Marie. Tsuzuki stood stunned then quickly ran from behind his podium and up the stairs. Hisoka ran up to Tsuzuki and wrapped his arms tightly around him. "I'm home… Asato…"

Tsuzuki smiled. "Welcome home…"