Author's Note: I'm sorry Chapter 8 took a while. I guess I still had some of my writer's block from Chapter 7. Anyways, I thank you for being patient, and your reward for being patient is the 8th chapter of my story! Not much of a reward, but I can't think of anything else. I'm sorry... Plus, this chapter isn't long at all. You guys are probably pissed at me, now. But I didn't want to put any more than I wanted in this chapter into the chapter. And sorry to say, but the next chapter might not be too long either. But it will be longer than this one! Anyways, don't shoot me for having a short chapter, and on with Chapter 8!

Chapter 8

Kyo was once again on his annual visit home to his family. He was currently sitting in the kitchen of Shigure's home. Kyo had decided to change his visiting schedule, saving his visit to Tohru for last, to avoid the breakdown of last time, and so he could just leave if things got bad again. He had also changed one other thing with this visit. Kyo had brought Tani with him. He had thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for everyone to meet her.

But when Kyo had introduced Tani to Shigure, he instantly knew it wasn't the right time by the look the author gave him.

It was a subtle look, but Kyo still got the message. The look was approving, yet disproving at the same time. It said, "If you had only waited a little while longer..." Kyo wondered what Shigure had meant by that and was contemplating the many things the man could have meant as Shigure prepared tea.

The author poured each of them a cup of tea, glancing up at Tani and Kyo as if looking for something. As soon as Shigure had finished pouring, he handed out the cups and sat down.

"So, Kyo told me about you the last time he was here, Tani," Shigure said, beginning a conversation. "He said you were very beautiful. He wasn't lying." He laughed to himself.

"Thank you. He's told me a lot about you, as well," Tani responded, smiling sweetly. Kyo could tell that Tani was hiding her annoyance towards the man and couldn't help but smirk. He knew that if Shigure didn't keep off feminist subjects, he was in for it.

"What did he tell you of me?" Shigure asked, playfully.

"Well, he told me that you were a no good pervert," Tani said, maintaining the same sweet voice she'd had earlier. If you hadn't listened to the words, you would have thought what she'd said had been a compliment.

"Real-" Shigure began. He then realized what Tani had said. He turned to Kyo. "Now why would you tell her something like that?" he asked pathetically.

"Because it's completely and utterly true," Kyo explained.

"Aww, come now. You know I'm not a bad man," Shigure replied.

"I guess you're right," Kyo responded. "You're a terrible man."

Shigure sighed and shook his head. He knew he couldn't win and kept his mouth shut about the subject. Instead, he changed the topic to other matters. "So how have things been for you two in Nagasaki?"

"It's good. Although our colleagues could butt out of our personal lives a bit," Kyo said.

"Juro doesn't do anything, though," Tani said, defending the man.

"Not openly," Kyo said to her. "A few weeks after we started dating, Katsuro and Miles found out. As I walked away from them, I heard that they all had taken bets on when we would get together." Tani nodded, waiting for him to tell her what Juro had to do with it. "Turns out, Juro won the bet."

"And I thought he was the only one who didn't pry," Tani replied, slightly disappointed.

"Well, they all do," Kyo responded. "And I bet Mr. Randall is the entire reason we're together. I mean, he conveniently made us roommates when I could have easily shared the house with Juro. I mean, Juro didn't have to have his own apartment. And he also made our work hours the same. There is no way he would have done that without some ulterior motive."

"Then I guess I should thank Koji when we get back," Tani said, looking up at Kyo.

"I guess we should," Kyo replied, leaning over and kissing her softly. They heard a small cough and pulled away, remembering that Shigure was in the room.

"Sorry, Shigure," Tani apologized. There was a short silence in which they all sat awkwardly. In the midst of the quiet, Tani got up to excuse herself to the bathroom. Shigure pointed out the way, and she left the two men alone.

"She's very nice," Shigure said, looking at Kyo with interest.

Kyo looked at the man suspiciously. "What are you getting at?" he asked. "I know you didn't want me to bring Tani. Why?"

"What makes you think I didn't want you to bring her?"

"That look you gave me when I introduced her. And you kept on looking at us while you were pouring the tea like I had made a mistake," Kyo explained. "Why didn't you want me to bring her, Shigure?"

The author was quiet for a moment, the look on his face changing from that of playful to solemn. Shigure took a long sip of tea, and sat his cup down slowly, drawing out what he had to say. He looked straight into Kyo's eyes and said, "Yuki and Tohru are..." He didn't finish what he was saying.

"What?" Kyo asked impatiently. "What about Yuki and Tohru?"

"They are no longer together..." Shigure said, trailing off as to let the effect of his words sink in.

Kyo felt his stomach sink. No... He knew that they were only fighting in the first place because of him. No... Now they had officially called it quits, and he knew it was basically his fault. No...

"You okay, Kyo?" Shigure asked as his guest hung his head.

"It's my fault," Kyo muttered, keeping his head down. Shigure looked at him quizzically.

"How so?"

"They were only arguing in the first place because Tohru remembered what happened the day I decided to leave," Kyo explained, still not raising his head. "Yuki knew why she was unhappy, and no matter how hard he tried to fix things, I think that, deep down, Tohru didn't want things to be fixed. That's probably why they split up. Tohru didn't try to keep things together. Even though I told her to move on." When Kyo was done talking, he looked up to see Shigure's reaction to what he'd said.

The man was quiet for a little while. "I knew that you had something to do with this. That's why I figured it wasn't such a good thing to bring Tani along. If Tohru saw you with someone else before she was ready to, I don't think that would be the best thing for her. I mean, she divorced her husband for you."

Shigure's last sentence stung Kyo painfully. He brought his legs up and hugged them to his chest. He almost began to cry, but he remembered that Tani was still in the bathroom and would be returning shortly. So he held in his tears and placed his feet back on the ground just as Tani walked in and sat down again.

Kyo sat their, trying to keep his composure as Tani looked from her boyfriend to Shigure, wondering what they had talked about while she had been in the lavatory. She knew that it was something painful as Kyo, who had been in good spirits before she'd left, was now sitting stiffly, trying without success to look like he wasn't hurt.

"It's nothing, Tani," Shigure said, realizing that she was concerned for Kyo. "I just gave him some bad news, and he's having a little trouble digesting it."

"What's the bad news?" she asked, wanting to know what had caused Kyo harm.

Shigure looked to Kyo for an okay to tell Tani what was bothering him. Kyo gave a slight nod, and the author wasn't sure if he'd nodded or if it was shaking from strain, but he took it as a yes. "Has Kyo told you of Tohru Honda?"

Tani nodded. She knew how much Kyo had cared for the girl in mention, and wondered what had happened to turn him rigid like he was.

Shigure then explained to Tani about Tohru and Kyo's relationship up until Kyo's visit the year before. He explained the night Kyo confessed his feelings, and how Tohru had turned him down as she had already promised herself to Yuki. Shigure told of how Kyo left to avoid Tohru, and before leaving to Nagasaki, said that he still loved Tohru. He explained the fighting between Tohru and Yuki after Yuki found out Tohru still harbored feelings for Kyo. "This brings me to why he is upset." Shigure said, pausing and letting Tani take in the new info she'd learned about her boyfriend. "Miss Honda and Yuki have divorced."

"Why?" Tani asked.

"Because they were arguing about Kyo," Shigure said. "Yuki knew that Tohru had feelings for Kyo, and since Yuki was naturally competitive towards Kyo, Yuki was jealous of his wife's feelings. So, initially, despite his efforts to stop a divorce between Yuki and Tohru, Kyo caused the divorce. Kyo even told Tohru to move on and work things out with Yuki, but she didn't listen."

"I see..." Tani replied. She began to wonder if Kyo was upset because he caused the divorce. Or if it was because the woman he loved was now free, but he had someone binding him down. Tani really hoped it was the first one, but she suspected the second one. She loved Kyo, but she didn't want him to be unhappy because he couldn't have his first choice. Yet she didn't want him to leave her.

"Let's go," Kyo said quietly, standing up. "I promised other people I'd meet them today."

Shigure nodded, understanding what he meant. Tani stood up and followed him out the door. Kyo then showed Tani to Kazuma, Haru and Rin, and Kagura.

Haru and Rin (More so, Haru, who had to persuade Rin not to kick both of them out) welcomed both Kyo and Tani into their homes, and caught up on current times. Haru even got out a camera to 'commemorate that Kyo had been there.' Kagura seemed disappointed and disbelieving when Kyo introduced Tani. She almost attacked Kyo, but hit her own wall instead. Kazuma acted just like any father would around his son's new girlfriend. He gave questions (rather personal questions, at that) and tried to find out everything he could about Tani. Kyo enjoyed himself, as did Tani. She had gotten to meat Kyo's adoptive father, who shared some rather interesting stories of when Kyo was younger, and found him a very nice person.

But, throughout the entire time, Kyo acted as if nothing had happened at Shigure's house. Tani guessed it was to make sure people didn't worry about him. If this was how he was going to act around the other members of his family, she was very curious to see how Kyo was going to act around Tohru...

And a special thanks to my reviewers!

Fallen Angel: Yeah, that was fun. I am responding to my reviews at 1:00am, just now watching the tape you recorded for me (all of it), after staying up the entire night before. I don't think that's healthy...

Aria's Star: lol. I'm glad you like my story, and thank you for always reviewing. I no longer ask for reviews, and it makes me happy that I still have people who will review for every chapter.

KittySand Katie: So that's why Community Service hasn't been updated much (Great story by the way. Yes I read it. I quite enjoy it, even if I'm not a huge supporter of KB. Not a flame, just stating an opinion. I still love the story, and the KB isn't a bad couple the way you write it). Yup, the current pairing won't stay a couple, though. So you have nothing to worry about. Anyways, thanks for always reviewing.

Audley: Eek! I made a reviewer unhappy! Oh no! I am so sorry! Please, I beg your forgiveness! But, this is not the end of the story, and it will be a Kyoru in the end. I can't tell you how, but I can say that Kyo and Tani don't stay together. And I will get to the Kyoru. I just have to get to that part of the story. I wanted this story to be at least 10 chapters, so I had to have something get in the way. But need not worry any further, Audley, because I will fix it in the end.

Evilinupunk: You'll see in the end. Thank you for finding the time to read my story and for reviewing!

PTDM: Yeah, I didn't have much to say about that chapter, either. Personally, I thought I could have done it a little better than I did, but I couldn't think of any other way to say what I needed to. Anyways, thanks for reviewing, even if it was short.

Alicia: I'm glad you like it! Lately I have had some bad writer's block, so the chapters are coming rather slowly. Like once a week, and I feel bad for not updating as often as I used to. But I will continue on as long as I have reviewers!

Felflowne: Yeah, I know. Bad grammar is the worst. I blame my 7th grade block teacher. She would make you redo an assignment if you made one little mistake. Anyways, thanks for the compliment, and I'll be sure to try and update sooner than I have been.

Unchained3011: I just realized that you used to review under the name of Melody. I can't believe I didn't realize it before. All of the time, I would wait for my review from Melody, but it didn't come, and now I know that you got an account. Wow, I feel pretty stupid. Anyways, again I'm sorry your parents split. And you figured it out! Most people wouldn't get that she wasn't to comfortable in her relationship with Kyo. Glad you did!

Furubaluver: Glad you're so enthusiastic about it. You seem to really like my story, for which I am glad. Thanks for reviewing!

LilsHrImP tHinGy: Nope, it's not the end. At least a few more chapters. I wish I could write a longer story, but alas, I can't. Although I do have some other stories I'm working on...

Escapade08: Yup, I liked that part, although I wish I could have fine-tuned that chapter a bit more. Updating might take a while, and for that I am sorry, but writer's block is pulling me down. I'm glad that mine is one of your favourite stories. I'm so flattered!

Cassie: Thanks for the compliments. It was Kyo's cousin, so yeah it was Shigure Sohma.

Sushigurl: I'm glad you like it. I can't give away anything, because that wouldn't be fair to everyone else who's asked. All I can say is that they will end up together. I just can't tell you how. Samantha will handle it to the best of a 5 year old's ability. You will see how in the next chapter. And that is all I can say.

Karen: This is a Kyoru. It's okay. I have had several people give me outbursts like yours. But the fic isn't over. At least two more chapters. I hope for more, but I don't know how much I can write without dragging it on forever and making it boring. But I can guarantee you that by the end of the story, Kyo and Tohru will live happily ever after.

Deathwaitsfornoone: Yeah, well, I had to. If I had alternated between pupil and student, you would have told me I used both words too much. And in some places, the word pupil just sounds funny. There is just no pleasing you. lol. Anyways, I think the initial idea for that 14 year old came from him, but I'm not sure.