Lost Without You

Chapter 2: New face in the crowd

"Tohru!" Uo called out, waving a hand to Tohru as she walked into the classroom.

"I trust you had a good weekend?" Hana spoke in quieter tones than her Yankee friend, a small smile on her face as the two advanced towards Tohru. Hana and Uo hadn't mentioned the night when they had found Tohru distraught by her mother's grave… 'Poor Tohru has been through enough' Hana had explained to Uo a while back, 'She doesn't need us prying into her life… she's in one piece now, right?'

Tohru was glad that they hadn't pursued the matter. Not only was it a touchy subject, but it'd be hard to explain, too, without giving the Soma family secret away. She still shivered when she thought of Kyo's darker side… it was scary… but she was allowed to be scared, right? Hadn't Kyo said so himself… she shook her head, dismissing her thoughts, then nodded putting a large smile on her face,

"Mm, thank you! I did… and yourselves?"

Kyo and Yuki trailed in after her, Yuki smirking slightly at Kyo, Kyo still glaring daggers at him for this morning's cold shower.

A few minutes later, the teacher walked in, placing their books on the table, facing the class. The students took their seats, talk silencing. When there was quiet the teacher cleared their throat, "I know this is very unorthodox… but a new student is joining our class."

On cue, a boy walked into the class. He was good looking in the kind of casual, nonchalant way. He had deep, indigo blue eyes and black hair, small parts falling in his eyes. He stood next to the teacher and bowed, "Pleased to meet you. I am Saito Sasuke."

"He's cute!" Tohru heard another girl in the class whisper. Apparently, the girl wasn't the only one to think that. A lot of the girls in the class had taken a much greater interest in the new student. Tohru zoned back into the lesson, the new guy taking a seat two spaces away from hers. She could have sworn he flashed a smile at her… but she shrugged it off and turned back to the teacher.

Kyo, too, turned his eyes back to the teacher, a frown on his face, muttering, "Damn pretty boy…"

The bell, chiming the Big Ben tune, meant relief for the class. Uo stretched, grinning, "Geeze… these classes seem to get longer and longer… So many notes…"

"Yes… I hope I manage to pass my exams at the end of the year…" One could have sworn there was a smirk on the lips of Hana.

Uo took out a pack of cards from her bag, smirking at Hana, "So, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She turned to Sasuke, "Hey! New guy! Are you any good at cards?"

Sasuke turned to her, blinking innocently, completely oblivious to the small group of girls behind him, already having a small fan club, "Me? Well… I'm okay, I suppose."

"Great! Pull up a chair!" Uo grinned. She turned to Yuki and Kyo, flicking the cards with her hands, "You two in?"

Yuki smiled softly, "No, I'm sorry… I have a meeting to attend to," he spoke, standing up as he spoke, his satchel in his hand.

"How about you, carrot top?"

Kyo blinked, then frowned, "No… you always cheat."

"What! I don't cheat! You just always lose!" She grinned, turning back to Hana, Tohru and Sasuke, "Oh well… looks like it's just us…"

Sasuke had pulled up a chair next to Tohru, giving her a sideways glance, a small smile on his face. Kyo frowned still, eyeing the new guy cautiously. He'd better not try anything on Tohru… or he'd give him the beating of his life… who knew? He might be some axe murderer or… or something… Kyo gave a small growl, glancing back down at his desk.

"Hey! You're not too bad!" Uo grinned, placing down another card on the pile.

Sasuke smiled, putting a card down after her, "Thank you. I've played it one or twice… but I'm not very good…"

He went to pick up the group of cards that had been played, Tohru moving to do the same at the same time. His hand brushed against hers, Tohru quickly snapping her hand back, blushing in embarrassment, "I'm sorry!"

Sasuke blushed too, smiling sheepishly, "No, I'm sorry… it wasn't my turn to deal."

"Aww… ain't that sweet," Uo smirked, speaking in a teasing way, "Isn't that cute, Hana?"

Hana smiled her small smile, "Oh no… we can't let anyone take our dear Tohru away now, can we?"

Uo laughed a loud laugh, taking the cards and shuffling them.

Kyo growled a louder growl. He had seen the whole thing… that damn new guy thought he was so cool… who did he think he was, anyway! It was only his first day at school and already he was getting too close to Tohru… and… and it hurt too… only a little! Infact, it didn't hurt at all! Kyo tried to convince himself, clenching a fist. There was nothing between him and Tohru… He paused, then sighed, relaxing his hand, head drooping.

"I… I lost…" Tohru sniffed, placing down her last card.

Uo placed an arm around her, "Aw… c'mon! It's only one game of cards, don't worry about it!"

"Yes… it's not as though there was anything at stake." Hana spoke in calm, comforting tones.

"I suppose you're right…" Tohru smiled sheepishly.

Sasuke smiled, patting the cards into a straight stack, "Besides… I just got lucky, is all…," He placed them into their box, his smile softening, "Thanks… I had fun…" He glanced up at Tohru, a small blush on his face. She was kinda' cute… in that innocent way… and she was so sweet, too…

Tohru stood, packing her books up. Finally! It was the end of the day. She slung her bag over her back, bidding her farewells to Hana and Uo as they left the classroom. She turned to see Sasuke smiling at her,

"Hi, Tohru… um… are you busy this afternoon? I'm new to this area… would it be okay if you showed me around?"

Tohru opened her mouth, about to speak, "She's busy!" Kyo spoke, suddenly appearing next to her, a dark look on his face, his eyes following Sasuke's, "C'mon Tohru… lets go."

Tohru looked from Kyo to Sasuke and smiled sheepishly at him, "Um… I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Sasuke?"

Sasuke blinked, then smiled in return, "Yeah, okay… see you later."

The walk home was tense, Kyo rigid and frustrated. Tohru looked a little upset. She wasn't sure what was exactly wrong with Kyo… he was awfully angry… he hadn't been this angry in a while… like… truly angry.

"Um… Kyo?" Tohru spoke timidly, glancing up at him.

"Yeah! What is it?" He spoke, glancing back at her, sounding a little more frustrated than needed.

"Oh! Um… nothing…" Tohru mumbled, watching the ground, blushing quietly.

Kyo's glance turned more into a stare, his eyes softening, "No… I'm sorry… just, just say what you want to say…" His words were spoken in his sorry, yet slightly tense way.

"Well… um… why are you so angry?"

Kyo blushed, looking away, "No reason… I'm just angry!" the last part of his sentence was more of a yell before the conversation lulled, an awkward silence dropped over them. Yuki frowned, breaking the silence,

"You don't have to get angry at Tohru, you know…" He spoke in his quiet tones.

"I'm not angry at Tohru! It's that new guy! He thinks he's so great…" Kyo growled, clenching a fist.

There was another pause before the silence was broken again, this time by Shigure as they approached their home, "Yoo-hoo! Hello over there! Did you have a good day at school?" He called, waving at them with a goofy grin.

"Yeah… bundles of fun…" Kyo muttered sarcastically, kicking his shoes off as he went inside,

Shigure raised a brow at Tohru, "Oh! Well… there was this new guy in our class, you see, and… well… Kyo doesn't exactly like him…" She bowed her head, frowning slightly.

Yuki smiled at her, "I wouldn't worry about it, Ms. Honda…"

Shigure nodded, "Yuki's right, I'm sure Kyo'll get over it and in time I'm sure they'll learn to be the best of friends! So… what did this new person do to upset Kyo?"

Tohru lowered her head further, "I'm… not exactly sure… Sasuke didn't exactly do anything to Kyo…"

"Ahh, I see…" Shigure pondered, thinking for a moment. "Well, don't worry… I'll talk to him…"

Tohru looked up, smiling her sweet smile at Shigure, "Would you? Thanks, Shigure!"

"Anything for you, sweet Tohru." He bowed.

Yuki sweat dropped, "Stupid dog…"

Kyo lay on his bed, staring at his ceiling , frown on his face.

Stupid Sasuke… thinks he's so big…

Maybe he was going overboard… maybe Sasuke wasn't interested in Tohru… maybe it was all in his head… or maybe that's what Sasuke wanted him to think! He gave a growl, tossing over to his side, eyes narrowed. Why Tohru! Why not any other girl in the damned class!

He had to admit… he felt a lot differently towards Tohru after she had seen his monster form… she hadn't been like his mother… she hadn't pretended to not notice his monster form… though… she was still scared of him… there was no way she'd like him after what she'd seen… they'd always just be friends… but now, now that wasn't enough…

He gave an annoyed cry and tossed over to his other side, burying his head under his pillow. Why did this have to crop up after everything that had happened between them!

He took a deep breath, trying to calm down, removing the pillow. He wouldn't panic… after all… today could have meant nothing… if anything else happened, then he'd worry… then he'd stop that damned Sasuke from getting anywhere near her…

I know I changed the plot, but I had a brainwave. Besides, I thought this might be more interesting seeing as no one's done it before (Either that or I haven't read it.) So... yeah! Here it goes! Please read and review! I'll get the next chapter up soon!

Anoynmous Aardvark