Disclaimer: I don't own any of them, yet…BWA HA HA HA HA!

A/N: Hello! Thank you for your reviews! You're all my favorite. I'll hush up and write now…

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'Okay, I can do this. Number one is C. No… Wait… Maybe it's B…. I'm gonna fail!' She dropped her pencil on the desk, followed closely by her arm, and then her head. 'Why can't I get this?'

"Ms. Honda? Are you okay?" she peered up at the figure standing before her. For a moment she thought it was Yuki; her memory flashed back and she remembered how much she missed him.

Alas, it was only her teacher, looking less than pleased.

She grabbed her pencil and started frantically writing down answers, muttering an apology.

He raised an eyebrow skeptically, but walked away.

Her head hurt from thinking too hard. She hadn't slept well the past couple of nights. In fact, she hadn't slept at all. Too many thoughts and emotions were racing through her, it was hopeless to even try to rest. Tohru didn't know how to respond the the Sohma famly. She didn't know how to feel about them, or how to sort out her feelings. She felt like she was trapped in a blender.

When the bell rang she trudged out of the classroom and miserably walked to her locker. Half way there she remembered she had forgotten her book. Waving a quick goodbye and a hurried, "I'll see you later tonight," to Uo, she headed back for the room.

When Tohru had retrieved her book and was making the trec to her locker for the second time, she ran smack into Kyo. He poofed into his cat form and the two of them sat startled on the hard linoleum floor for a few seconds before they realized what had happened.

"Are you okay?" she finally managed to ask, her cheeks blushing tremendously.

He didn't respond, making the silence louder. 'What can I say to her?' he was angry at himself, for taking her for granted. He never knew how much he appreciated her and cared about her, until she was gone.

"Yeah… How…are you doing?" He stammered, wanting to do anything but scare her away again.

"I'm okay," she said, starting to get up.

'I knew it,' he thought, 'She's disgusted by me. She thinks I'm a monster! Maybe she's right… That's all I'll ever be in her eyes…'

Then she reached down and touched his ear.

He was frozen. He wanted just once to hug her, but he didn't want to move for fear that she'd run away again.

"Kyo," she said softly, he waited for her to go on. "I – I'm sorry for everything, but I just can't…" she trailed off, tears brimming her eyelids. She stood up slowly, took in a deep breath, then hurried down the hall.

He watched her go. It was the second time he had watched her walk away crying, and it hurt as much as the first.

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Yuki flopped on his back on his bed, landing with an, "umph."

He stared at his ceiling for awhile until his eyes stared to cross, then he slowly sat up.

He was bored.

Yesterday, he had come home to Shigure eating chips and wailing annoyingly at Tohru's absence. Today Shigure was gone to Akito's, Momiji was at a friend's, and even Kyo wasn't there to annoy Yuki. He'd rather listen to Kyo's yelling, than the silence that suffocated him.

He stretched and decided to go work on his garden.

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When he got there, he stopped. Blinking a couple times, he squinted through the sunlight to see Tohru siting there, pruning the leeks.

He hid behind some bushes and watched her. She took such care in handling the veggitables. He could see she was crying.

Slowly he made his way towards her, not wanting to scare her away. He reminded himself of a rabbit hunter, trying to catch the elusive rabbit, but not scare it.

"Hello Ms. Honda," he whispered, trying to smile at her.

She jumped, but didn't look back, she just kept pruning the leeks. "Hello Yuki."

He didn't say anymore, he just kneeled down and started helping her work.

They gardened in silence for awhile before she spoke.

"Yuki, I've had a lot of time to think lately, and I think I know what's wrong with me."

She paused, working out a particularly stubborn weed.

He didn't say anything.

"I think the reason I'm so scared is because I don't want anything to happen to you. To any of you. I'm afraid that if I let myself get too close to someone, they'll be taken away, like my mom was. The other night, I realized just how close I am to all of you. First of all to know your secret, and second of all to know your darker secrets. I know that's something that probably not even all of the Sohma's know. I'm just scared of losing you, Yuki." Her hair hid her face, but her body shook with sobs.

He didn't know what to do. He ached to comfort her, to put his arms around her and just hold her. But he couldn't, he'd never be able to, ever. And that was something he'd have to realize.

Slowly he reached out and put his hand on hers. She rotated her hand up to hold his, squeezing it tightly.

"Ms. Honda, I'm not going anywhere, none of us are. Don't be afraid to let yourself be happy. It's not a crime. Please…" he trailed off. Every fiber of his ached to hold her, just once.

Even the birds seemed to stop chirping.

"Yuki," she whispered, sniffling, "if it's not too much trouble, do you think I could work for you again, cooking and cleaning? I promise I won't get in the way…"

For the first time in a week he smiled, and truly meant it. She smiled back, looking him in the eyes.

He blushed before he popped into his rat form.

She gasped in surprise. "Yuki what's wrong?"

"Oh, it must be cold out…" he mumbled off, silently cursing his emotions.

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A/N: I know this was a relatively short chapter, but I'll have a longer one coming soon! Thank you for all of your reviews!