Disclaimer: As always, I do not own FruitsBasket (Fuburu). I do not own any rights associated with these characters, except the right of free speech. Since I earn nothing from it, this IS free speech (er…writing). These characters are the brain children of Natsuki Takaya.

Chapter 12: The thin line…

Yuki and Kyo were figuratively licking their wounds when Saki found them. She crouched down and laid a comforting hand on each of their shoulders. "I'm very sorry. I did not mean to hurt you."

Kyo hissed and backed away from her touch, but Yuki froze. "You did this to us?" She nodded. "How?"

"Denpa-waves." She looked ashamedly at her feet.

"Why Bitch? What did I do to you?" Kyo was furiously standing over her and she could see both anger and hurt swirling around his ever-present chaotic aura.

"You hurt Tohru-kun."

He kicked a clod of dirt with his foot. "Oh."

Looking up, she met his eyes with a steady gaze. "I didn't know you would be affected when I did it. I thought Shigure was the only one who would be harmed."

Yuki rose, causing the tension between the other two to be broken. He held a hand out to Saki, helping her to her feet. As the two boys started walking, they almost missed the rest. "I had no idea you and Hatori-san would be affected."

Both boys stopped in the tracks, turning to stare at the overly composed lady walking on without them. She'd gone about ten feet when she stopped and looked back. "What?"

Yuki was the first to tamp down his emotions. "You spoke with Hatori-san?"

"Yes, and Tohru-kun. He took her to a retreat in order to protect her from you."

Both boys looked worriedly at each other, then Yuki turned back. "Was she safe?" She nodded. "And happy?"

"Worried. Hatori-sama received a significant dosage of electro-waves." Her gaze passed back to the redhead. "He told me you would have received a much greater dosage than either himself or Shigure because you had hurt her worse than either of them."

Kyo smiled painfully. "I hope so, it hurt like hell!" Suddenly a horrible thought entered his head. He looked at Yuki who was suddenly staring back at him. "Akito!"

By the time they had fully recovered and reassured Hana-chan, Yuki had put together a game plan. Smiling at Kyo, he turned and the two boys went in different directions, each to their own part of the plan.

sssss

Hatsuharu was having a tough time finding his way home. Although Momiji had given him a GPS for Christmas, his horrible sense of direction had helped him lose it. What frustrated him most was that although he had eidetic memory and never needed to bring books home to study, he couldn't remember that Chou's Bakery was two-doors down from Zang's Grocery. Frustrated, he sat on the ground and hung his arms over his knees.

"You look lost."

He looked up and saw two arms crossed just below firm breasts. Lush lips and smirking eyes topped it off. "Well hello Uo-chan."

"Did I give you permission to address me so informally?"

He blinked at her. "No."

"I didn't think so. What are you doing sitting on the ground in front of the shoe repair store?" He blushed lightly and Uo had a hard time putting black Haru and white Haru together since she was unaware of the split personality.

"I'm lost."

"Spiritually, emotionally, or physically?"

Haru blinked. "Well, a little of all of the above I guess. But mostly…I'm lost."

Uo held out a hand and Haru used it to pull himself onto his feet. "Before I can help you, I need to know where you are headed."

Haru could think of at least ten very embarrassing trials that he'd willingly face instead of telling her the truth.

"Well? You gonna tell me, or do I need to pop a cap on your ass?" She chewed her gum noisily, cocking a hip and looking very much like an active member of 'The Ladies'.

"Home." She intimidated him when she went all Yakuza on him.

"Eh?"

"Home." He looked at his feet. "I'm trying to find my way home."

"Really?" Uo did NOT believe him.

"Yeh. I have a horrible sense of direction."

"Okay, not exactly sure why you're acting like a fruit now, when earlier you were all bad-ass; but I'll play."

"I have a very bad temper. Makes me lose all sense of self. Almost like a split personality."

And I like the other 'you' better. "Oh." She smiled slightly. "And where is this home?"

"The Sohma Manor."

"Eh? Really?" He nodded. "Ok."

When they reached the gate, Uo turned to leave. "Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Oh no, not until I reward you for bringing me home."

"Oh!" Arisa was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't ditching her as soon as he reached his destination. It was rare to find people that returned favors in her world. She'd made a life-promise to Kyoko-san to watch over Tohru-kun as a favor for the time she saved Uo from a gang beating; but she knew this was not the norm.

Haru showed her around the compound, making sure to stay clear of Akito. After he had shown her everything, he thanked her and offered to walk her home.

Uo laughed heartily. "You got lost coming to your own home today. I'll take my chances alone." Haru scratched his head again, humbled by his pathetic sense of direction.

"Ok, thank you Uotani-chan."

She ruffled his hair, making him feel two years old. "You're welcome." She headed to the door before turning back. "Thank you for the tour."

He just grinned and watched her leave.

Someone else was watching her leave. Black hair swung gently over deep pools of malignant jealousy. When Haru looked up, the sight that greeted him was too calm and gentle. "What's going on here? Have we suddenly become a tourist sight for Americans?"

Haru smiled and walked over to the doorway. "Can I come in?"

Akito opened the door and ushered the cow in. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

Haru cut a glance over at Akito, not sure of the ulterior motive. Deciding to go ahead and jump in, Haru sat and looked at Akito. "The girl you saw with me is a classmate of mine. I got lost today and she just walked me home. I showed her around the compound to thank her."

"So she's not a fuck-buddy?"

"No!" He stood suddenly, towering over Akito. "Why does everything I do have to be associated with getting laid?"

Akito smirked. "Because with you it inevitably leads there." He stood and walked over, laying a hand on Haru's cheek. "Just remember that the closer you get to that girl, the closer she comes to her own death."

"Akito, you act like such a bitch sometimes!" Haru stomped out, slamming the shoji behind him.

Akito's laugh followed him. "If only you knew," he muttered, turning to look forlornly out the window.

Haru slammed out of the gate, not caring if the door shut properly or not. Stomping down the street, he paid no attention to where he was going or who was around him. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of a run-down apartment building in a seedy part of town. Breathing hard, he looked around for something to hit.

"Hey, what are you doing on our turf?" A tall scraggly college-aged guy with dark hair hanging over Ray-ban® glasses and sporting a leather bomber walked up to him. Checking out his leather pants, half unbuttoned shirt, and ear full of earrings, the yakuza member took him for a rival.

"I'm just walking. Don't mess with me. I'm in a VERY bad mood." He kept walking.

The dark-headed guy slapped his fists together and got in Haru's face. "Bring it on, I can take you!"

The next thing Haru knew, he was fighting in the middle of the street. There was blood on his cheek where the guy's ring had cut it, and Haru had caused at least one broken rib. The guy was in at least as bad of shape, mostly because Haru was angrier. Haru certainly wasn't the better fighter. He could tell the other guy was just about to give up and walk off when two of his buddies walked around the corner.

"Hey Tusa!" They looked over. "What the fuck!"

Suddenly Haru found himself surrounded by two fresh bodies. He knew there was no way to win, but he was too angry to care. What happened next surprised everyone involved. As Haru turned to block a kick, there was a tall woman with a pipe in her hand guarding his back. Together they fought off the thugs. Realizing they were going to be defeated, the gang finally abandoned the fight and retreated.

A/N: Hello All! I hope each of you has had a great week!

I was expecting hate mail for not updating yesterday, but I did promise either Wed. or Thur. All I have to say is that…work SUX! Major suckage this week. 60hrs already and I STILL have 1 more scheduled day (oh and I'm salaried, so I only get paid for 40 of it). I usually don't mind the OT, but this is the 3rd week of it.

If it wasn't for fanfics, I really think I would have lost it this month. If you write, keep writing. If you review, that's a glimmer in my week, thank you. And if you just read, let all of us out there know of good ones. I've been catching up on "Tales from the House of the Moon" by Resmiranda. If you know InuYasha and like stories about Kagome and Sesshomaru, this one is very good. All of us Single Spark fans are hoping for some Hentai moments, but we're somewhat patiently waiting.

Speaking of Hentai moments…I believe next chapter has some of them. If you are not of age (and that means 18, not 8 going on 20), DO NOT read the parts between the bolded stars. Let's not get Twik kicked off of FF because people can't follow directions and unhappy parents find out their precious children have been reading things they shouldn't read.

BTW, if anyone noticed something suspicious about my reference to one of the characters, remember that I'm writing this as of Chapter 41. I know the ending, but I'm writing as if I don't know the ending, so I would never intentionally give the ending away. -TK

For the reviewer who stated "Very Interesting…" Would you be willing to elaborate a little for me? Was it good interesting, or bad interesting? I don't flame my reviewers, I just ask when they review they tell me what they think without cussing (because reviews aren't privy to the rating system of K, T, M, etc). If I can improve, let me know how. I very much enjoy hearing that people like my stories, I also very much enjoy being told of ways I can improve. Thank you!