The next day Yuki tried a new strategy. He made excuses as student body president to walk in on every home economics class he possibly could- to the delight of all the girls. Yuki hadn't counted on causing such a stir. In every class giggling girls circled around him, begging him to sample their projects. They were working on cake decorating that day, but each class became a "feed Sohma-kun bites of cake" fest as soon as he walked in the door. Yuki actually wasn't very fond of sweets, but he also had no desire to hurt any of the girls' feelings. Between bites of cake, Yuki tried to question the girls about a boy being a member of the class. "Excuse me," Yuki began after the first swallow, "do you know anything about", "Here Yuki, try mine", a blushing girl shoved another mouthful of cake at him. "Vank woo", Yuki said swallowing again, "please tell me, is there", "Sohma-kun, try this! Mine is chocolate!" Another girl hovered over him like a mother bird feeding her baby. Yuki sighed and opened his mouth dutifully. All the girls giggled at this and the game was on. "Try this one, Yuki", one girl blushed, "and this one", and don't forget about mine." "But I made it just for you" some begged. All the while Yuki could be heard saying things like "is there a, mmmph, bwoh in this, mmmph, cwus?" Finally, Yuki escaped. Just before he thought he would burst from all the sugar-coated attention, the teacher had intervened. Yuki was feeling a little queasy now as he stepped into the hall wiping frosting off his chin. "Maybe I can make myself throw up" he thought, and turned towards the men's restroom. As Yuki approached, Haru stepped out of the bathroom. "Hey, Yuki", Haru said in his low, dry voice; "hmm, imagine meeting you here- a mystery". Haru threw his arm around Yuki's shoulders. "Why does he always have to do that?" Yuki thought, but "Hello Haru" is what he said. "You have frosting on your nose, Yuki" Haru studied him for a moment, then reached up and brushed it away with a finger tip. "You look a little green too, are you feeling alright?" Haru queried. "I'm fine Haru. The girls are making cake in Home Ec. today that's all. What are you doing out here?" "I had to take a leak" Haru said, unflustered. "Cake, huh. Sounds fun", Haru turned to go. "Gotta get to class, Yuki, see you around", Haru turned and sauntered slowly down the hallway where Yuki had come from. "That's odd", thought Yuki. "Since when has Haru been in any hurry to get to class?" He shook off the thought, and walked away in the opposite direction.
Yuki repeated the same scene in the Home Ec. classes throughout the school day with much the same results; lots of cake, no information. By the time he got home that evening he thought he was going to barf. "I don't care if I ever see another piece of cake again" he muttered to himself as he slipped off his shoes. His guilty conscience told him he deserved every bit of what he had received. He should probably stay out of Tohru's business. "Welcome home, Yuki!" Tohru chirped from the kitchen. "I have a surprise for you!" Yuki turned to see a beaming Tohru holding out a beautifully decorated cake to him. Yuki thought his face was going to turn green from the sight of it. "Do you like it?" Tohru asked proudly. "I made it for you" she beamed. "It's great", Yuki said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. "I'm going to need a stomach pump" is what he was thinking, but what he said was "Thank you Honda-san, you shouldn't have".
Yuki was unable to uncover anything about the student named T-Bone for the rest of that week. He had, despite his reservations, even resorted to asking Hanna and Uo about him. It was difficult to catch the girls alone- without Tohru. They were always together it seemed. When his chance came, Yuki knew he could not hesitate, or the moment would be lost. "Miss Hannajima, Miss Uotani, um, I was wondering", "Oh, hey there prince, what brings you out to talk to us lay people?" Uo teased. "The fan girls aren't giving you enough action?" She smiled wryly at him. "What can we do for the prince?" Hanna offered in her disengaged monotone. Yuki shuddered inside. Why did it seem Hanna was always looking through him, not at him. "Well", Yuki swallowed nervously, "I was wondering, do you know anything about a home economics student called T-Bone"? Yuki tried to act casual about the question, but he sensed that Hanna wasn't going to be fooled by his charade. "T-Bone?", isn't he that guy Tohru's been chatting with online?" Uo gave Yuki a sideways look. "Well, uh, yes, but", Yuki stammered. He was caught. "Why don't you just go ask Tohru about him?" Uo countered. Then it dawned on her, "Oh, I get it!", she practically shouted, to Yuki's horror. "You're jealous!" and Uo burst into loud guffaws at the thought. Yuki's face turned bright red, but he persevered. "I'm just concerned about her. After all, we don't know anything about this guy, and Tohru is, well, very naive." All the while Yuki spoke, Hanna held him in a hypnotic stare. This added to Yuki's discomfort considerably. He glanced nervously between the two, not sure which he should be more wary of. "There is no need for undue concern, Sohma, Yuki" Hanna spoke in faraway tones which matched the look in her eye. Uo stopped laughing long enough to tune in to Hanna's wave report. Yuki felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. "This incident will be resolved soon, and all will be made clear". Then Hanna turned her gaze on him. "This turmoil you feel is unnecessary" she offered. This was said in almost a caring manner, and she gave a flicker of a knowing smile. Yuki thanked them and quickly turned to leave. He could hear Uo interrogating Hanna as he walked away. "I was right, wasn't I? He's jealous! Ha, ha! Go Tohru! You knock some sense into him! It's about time he got off his throne and did something about his feelings for her", Uo continued to make other loud, embarrassing comments. Yuki tried to shut out her voice, and hoped the other students around them would too. He was so engrossed in this effort he almost walked straight into Tohru in the hallway. "Oh!" she exclaimed, "Yuki! That was close!", and she laughed nervously as she thought of what would have happened if they had collided. Yuki caught his breath, and greeted her, perhaps in a less collected manner than he hoped. He felt like he had been caught doing something he shouldn't. And maybe he was, after all, wasn't he spying on her in a sense? And what if she had heard what Uo had been spouting? What if her friends informed her all about his inquiry? "Honda-san, hi", he managed a smile. "I will be a little late tonight because of meetings," Yuki spoke hurriedly. He didn't really want to see her right then. "But I think I should be there by dinner. See you later". Yuki ducked away quickly and was gone. Tohru couldn't help but feel funny about their encounter. She felt brushed aside somehow, and it left her with a tinge of worry for Yuki in the back of her mind.
That night after dinner, Yuki held his regular vigil outside of Shigure's office while Tohru was chatting on the computer with T-Bone. Kyo and Shigure watched television in the common room while Yuki tried to study in the kitchen. Well, he tried to appear as if he was studying. He was actually hoping to catch snippets of the conversation going on in the room behind him. This was difficult since it was rather cryptic in nature; mostly giggles punctuated with an occasional "Oh!" or "Ah!". Yuki felt like a fool, and had almost resigned himself to taking Hanna's advice when he heard Tohru exclaim from the other room and emerge through the doorway. She was blushing brightly, a sight Yuki was normally very fond of, but at this moment it made him do a slow boil. "Are you alright Honda-san?", Yuki asked, sure the tension in his voice would betray him. "Ah, yes, I'm fine!" Tohru answered quickly, obviously flustered. "T-Bone just said something to me that was very shocking!" she continued, placing her hands on her cheeks as she became aware of the color she was turning. "Would you like to share it"? Yuki queried. He knew he was being rude, but he didn't care. He was enraged now. Probably that reprobate had been lewd to her. The pervert! Yuki began to think up all the things he would do to this T-Bone when he got a hold of him. "Oh, no!", Tohru protested. "I promised I wouldn't tell!" she exclaimed. This only confirmed for Yuki that he was right, and he clenched his fists in anger. "No, it's a secret!" she continued, and backed away from Yuki quickly and into the living room. "Did she act a little afraid of me just now?", Yuki thought. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had done it now. He had pushed too hard, and now Tohru was avoiding him. What had her friends said to her? Yuki felt awful, but not as awful as he would a moment later. He heard Tohru's voice from the living room. "Shigure, may I go out tomorrow afternoon?" Kyo's head snapped to attention at this. He didn't really like having Tohru gone at all- ever. Shigure was always taken a back when Tohru made requests for days off as well. It didn't happen very often. She was very conscientious about taking care of the family. "Certainly Tohru, are you going out with some of your high school friends?", he asked. "Why not bring them by the house afterward? I would love to visit with them". A visit from high school girls would make his afternoon very enjoyable. "Well, I'm not exactly going with friends" Tohru hesitated. "T-Bone asked me to meet him finally. We are going out to lunch, and to a movie." Kyo felt his cat ears stand on end, and Yuki, who had wandered in from the kitchen grew wide eyed. They both looked at each other, to confer feelings about this, and then turned quickly away as they each realized it was their rival they were collaborating with. Tohru thanked him, giggled, shot a look at Yuki, giggled again, and then toddled off to her room. "What was that about?" Yuki thought. "Is she laughing at me?" "Oy, Rat boy!", Kyo called to him, breaking his thought pattern. "What you starin' at?" Kyo challenged. Yuki realized his eyes had followed Tohru up the stairs. He frowned hard at Kyo, and then went back to the kitchen to sulk. Kyo turned his gaze back to the TV.
On Sunday morning, Yuki was awake early, at least for him. He had thought long and hard about it, and decided the best plan of action for him at this point was to back off. He didn't own Tohru, and what she did in her free time was none of his business. This was especially evident after the way Tohru had acted towards him the night before. Yes, ignoring the whole situation was the best course of action for Yuki to take, but that was not the course Yuki had chosen. He was going to follow Tohru, and watch over the whole date. There was no way he was going to back down and leave her prey to this perverted, gangster, home economics student. Yuki had decided to stay at his base for the morning. He could watch from there for when Tohru left the house, and then follow her from a distance.
