Disclaimer:I don't own any of these characters, legally.

A/N:Well, here we go, I hope you like it!

oO0 0Oo

With his shoulder pack on his back, shoes on his feet, and an energy bar in his hand he started off for school. As he walked he breathed in the morning air, letting the coolness fill his lungs. The path to school, although rough and bumpy, was actually quite scenic, in it's rustic beauty. The air was unusually calm, making the woods seem tense. But he didn't mind, he liked the peace and quiet, it gave him time to think.

It was early May, and life was crazy. He had been up all weekend, not by choice either. He was sore and had an ugly bruise on his back. Remembering the weekend only made him ache more. Tohru had finally found out one of the deepest, ugliest secrets of the whole Sohma family: Kyo's evil form.

Thinking about Tohru made him smile, blushing slightly. She was what made everything worth it. All the pain, sadness, any problem was gone the moment she was near. Ever since she had come into their lives, the Sohma family has been changed. But after she had learned about Kyo, she was a little shaken up and needed some time to herself, so she spent the night at Uo's. Her absence made the previous night boring and devoid of any interest or life.

"Ow!" he said, rubbing his head. He hadn't been paying attention and had run into a tree branch, scratching his cheek. He could feel the blood drip down his cheek. He took out a Kleenex and dabbed at the cut, trying to stop the blood flow.

'What a great way to start the day' he thought, 'now everyone is going to ask how I got this cut on my face, and the story is too embarrassing to tell.' If people knew he had run into a tree branch because he was thinking about Tohru Honda and not paying attention…

He turned the corner and could see his school looming ahead.

With one last deep breath he headed for the main entrance and merged with the crowd, which is harder than you think. For any normal person it's hard enough not to get trampled, but for a Sohma, it was especially dangerous. By this age, though, he had mastered the art of "crowd dodging," and was an expert at walking in the most crowded of places and not touching a single person.

Momiji on the other hand, had no grace. He plundered through the crowd, barreling towards him, barely missing some first year girls. He had his arms wide open and was heading straight for him. He tried to swerve out of his sight, but it was two late. Contact would be made in three.

Two.

One.

"Yuki!" Momiji yelled as he tackled his cousin to the ground.

"Hello, Momiji, how are you?" Yuki said, dusting off his robes.

"Good! How are you? Have you seen – Tohru!"

"I'm afraid I haven't seen Ms. Honda today," Yuki said, pushing the hair out of his eyes. He realized Mimiji wasn't even listening to him anymore but had run off to greet Tohru.

He had tried to give her a hug and Kyo was holding him back, making Momiji cry out loudly (and like a 2 year old) "Waaa! Kyo's picking on me!"

Tohru just smiled, said hello, and walked into the school. She hadn't see Yuki, and he was glad. By the way she looked, he figured she probably still needed some time away from them.

She wasn't her normal self . She was less peppy, more serious, and surprisingly less ditsy: not a good sign.

Yuki began to worry that she'd never be the same again, and that the Sohma family curse had once again ruined another person's life. The thought of erasing her memory was too awful. She was too important to him, to his family.

The warning bell rang and he came back to his senses.

"YUKI!!!!" he heard his name called behind him, and his heart stopped.

"Oh no, they've found me," he said under his breath.

He ran into the building and quickly made himself busy with the student body president talking about the next year. He could see his faithful followers out of the corner of his eyes and sighed with relief as he saw them look disappointed then slowly walk away, not wanting to interrupt him. Wherever he went, those 4 girls always seemed to be right there. It kind of creeped him out, but he tried to think of it as some sort of eerie coincidence, and that they really wanted to be his friends.

As the day started, and progressed, all he could think about was Tohru. A growing fear picked away at the back of his mind. 'What if she decides to stay away for good? What if she goes to Hitori and wants her mind erased? What if Kyo's form was too much for her and now she's disgusted with us?'

He sighed with frustration, he couldn't concentrate on anything, he was too stressed out.

When the final bell rang, he gathered his things and headed to the woods as fast as he could. His mind was racing, he had a growing headache, he hurt, and his lack of sleep was dragging him down. 'I just need a vacation at the hot springs for a few days to calm down.' He thought.

When he got to the woods he took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists, trying to calm down. He took one step but stopped.

"Yuki," a small voice behind him said.

Slowly he turned to see Tohru standing there, holding her books tightly.

He smiled a little. "Ms. Honda, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Yuki," she stared intently at the ground, not meeting his eyes. "How are you? I mean, since…" she trailed off.

"I'm okay."

"Oh, good." She said, her eyes darting to his for a second.

They stood there in silence for a few seconds before she spoke again, "Yuki, I – I'm sorry for, all the trouble I've caused your family. And you. Thank you for being so kind to me,"

He started to protest, but she stopped him. "Please, I need to say this now, or I don't think I'll ever be able to. You all mean so much to me, and I don't want that to go away. I know your life is far from perfect, and I know I don't belong in it. But I want to be. I don't want to leave you all. I don't want to have to forget. But I also don't want to be a thorn in your side, or more appropriately, Akito's side. So, I guess what I want to say is that I want to help you, but I don't want to bring you pain anymore. But I just don't know how…" A tear trickled down her cheek.

Yuki walked up to her and whipped her tear away. She trembled from crying and sank to the ground, sobbing into her hands.

Yuki didn't know what to do, what to say. He couldn't comfort her, or he'd turn into a rat, and he didn't know what to tell her that would make her feel better, so he just sat there, watching her cry, and dying inside from it.

Finally she calmed, and whipped her eyes on her sleeve.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"I'm the one who should be sorry," Yuki said, clenching his fists around dirt, "All you've ever done for us is accept us. You've been wonderful, and I don't know why we deserve someone like you. But I don't want to see you keep on getting hurt by us and our stupid curse. It's too much. But, I also don't want you to forget; I don't want to have to forget you either because I know that would be impossible." His head hurt.

He sat there with her, frustrated by the situation and his lack of solutions.

Finally he got up, and lowered a hand to help Tohru up too.

She took it, her hand small and smooth in his. He blushed.

"I think it would be best if I spent the night at Uo's again, she said I could stay as long as I wanted. If it's okay with you, I'd like to come back someday, but right now…it's too much."

He nodded, relieved she wanted to come back at all.

"You're always welcome at our house," he smiled.

Suddenly she noticed to cut on his cheek and gasped, "What happened, are you okay? Is that from last night?" worry filled her eyes

She reached up and touched his cheek, too concerned for the size of cut it was.

"I'm fine, just a scratch," he said, "but I should probably get back home. Would you like me to walk you to Uo's?"

"Oh no, that's fine, you need to get home anyway. I'll be fine!"

She turned abruptly and left.

Yuki stared to walk home, not quite sure what had just happened, but feeling somewhat relieved.

oO0 0Oo

His cheek still tingled from where she had touched it, when he went to bed late that night.

oO0 0Oo

A/N: I know, kinda confusing. But it's a starter chapter, and those are always confusing and weird.

And yes, you aren't supposed to know it's Yuki in the very beginning. I did that on purpose, I'm not just an oblivious writer. (most of the time)

It will get better and less confusing eventually, just give it time!