A/N: Fourth chapter! This one is longer than the rest. Not much else to say. OH! Except—AUDLEY. I LOVE THE BEATLES. XD So I do know who they are. No generation gap with me!

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Natsuki Takaya! Such an awesome girl. AND she's left-handed! Like me! Er. Not that it matters…

You guys! You're too nice! My smile grows twice its normal size when I read your reviews. Thirty for only three chapters! That's like…ten a chapter! Thanks guys! You make me all warm 'n' stuff inside! Hearts to you all!

What Can Come of Cooking

"Tohru! Tohru! Dammit, just come out!" Kyo jumped over a fallen tree just in time, landing on the ground again smoothly. He stopped momentarily, panting heavily. He had been running through the trees for what seemed like the whole afternoon. The sky was starting to lose its sunny afternoon blue it had been holding the rest of the time. The air was becoming colder as night drew nearer. Kyo sighed heavily, resting against a tree to catch his breath. She had led him through a maze of trees, logs, weeds, and overgrown plants that scratched his skin. He could feel nettles poking through his clothes all over. He scratched absently at his left arm, trying to think of where Tohru could have run. And at that thought, why had she run? What had Kyo done? He didn't really remember, but it really, really annoyed him.

"TOHRU!" he cried suddenly, sick of running through the trees. "IF YOU DON'T COME OUT, I'M GOING BACK HOME!" he bellowed, the frustration clearly echoing in his words. Nothing answered. Kyo counted slowly to twenty to stop himself from smashing the tree closest to him to the ground. He wasn't going to go home. He knew that much. He'd search for the rest of his life if he had to. "Geez, that even sounded cheesy in my head," Kyo muttered, beginning to walk through the forest carefully, stepping around thorns and over large, rotten logs.

Tohru sat at the base of a large oak, sniffing away the last of her tears. She had been sitting there for who knows how long, but she hadn't heard any other noise except for the birds up in the branches of the trees, cheeping and tittering away. Tohru had been hoping, somewhere deep in her embarrassed, confused, heart, that Kyo would chase her through the trees and arrive, breathless, and wrap her in a huge hug and a romantic kiss that would sweep her off her feet.

"It's Kyo-kun," she muttered under her breath. "Not some Prince Charming." She giggled sadly at her words. "The Prince Yuki Club would definitely agree with me—they would insist Yuki-kun is a Prince Charming."

Tohru had been talking to herself for a while now, just so she wasn't completely enveloped in silence. The worst of it was, she had no idea where she was. She had begun to find her way through these woods, since she walked through them everyday to and from school, and then went on some evening walks through them. So it was a bit embarrassing for her not to have any clue where she was. She had been searching for a path so maybe she could find her way back, but no such thing showed up.

She shivered suddenly. The cold of the evening was arriving. Deep in her stomach Tohru felt something like fear take over. Kyo didn't seem to be chasing after her, she had lost her way, and now night was coming. The sky was even beginning to darken. Would she be stuck here for the night? "What are they going to eat for supper?" Tohru suddenly mused. With a little gasp and a giggle, she realized how stupid she was being. The question was more like what would she have for supper?

Tohru's ears perked up when she heard something in the distance, off in the trees. When she didn't hear any more crashes or thumps, she realized it had probably been an animal. The word bear popped into her head, and she began to feel her heart hammer in her chest. Another word floated across her head—Jason.

"Oh no! It's Jason! It followed us here from the summer home!" Tohru leaped up, running up to the oak tree and grabbing the lowest branch, scrambling around to try and climb up. Tohru had never been much of a tree climber, and the evidence showed itself in the way she failed miserably. She began to panic as her feet fumbled to find a grip. Jason is going to eat me, I just know it! I bet they like raw meat more than anything! Oh, why can't Kyo save me? No! Wait! It's okay! I can do this!

"Just…just one foot right there, between those two holes," she said to herself, speaking loudly in hopes of scaring Jason off. More crashes. "THEN THIS LEG UP!" she cried, knowing bears didn't like noise. "THEN I LIFT MYSELF UP WITH MY ARMS! LIKE THIS!" She tried to do as she had instructed, but her elbows buckled under her weight and she collapsed onto the ground, her hands grasping for the branch once more, but only receiving cuts and scrapes.

On the ground, Tohru inspected her hands. They were bleeding now. "Nothing good comes of climbing trees," she said, poking a palm with a finger. Searing pain worked its way up her arm. "Ouch! Okay, okay, I'll stop…"

Something like a thud and then a yelp brought Tohru to her senses. "Wha--?" she mumbled, standing up and looking through the trees. She saw a shape, far off in the trees, coming closer. Tohru felt her heart begin to beat again. Visions of a huge bear attacking her from the trees…

There was a loud crash. "DAMMIT!" a familiar voice cried in pain. "STUPID TREE!"

Tohru felt her heart flutter. Was that…? "Kyo-kun?" she asked hesitantly. Her voice must have been too quiet for him to hear though. He continued to yell at the tree, and from his harsh words Tohru gathered he had tripped and fell over a fallen tree. He continued to scream at the dead thing.

"Kyo-kun!" Tohru yelled louder, hoping he would hear. His voice did quiet somewhat. "KYO-KUN!" she cried again, a bubble of hope filling her body all the way from her toes to her head. He had come! He had searched for her! Tohru looked down quickly at what she wore. Her shorts were cut and had grass stains on them. Her blue t-shirt was ripped and torn in the sleeves and the stomach area, and more stains littered her shirt. Bits of bark and leaf clung to her clothes, and she knew her hair and face must look worse.

But when Kyo crashed through the trees to the small area of grass that surrounded Tohru, she realized he didn't look much better. His clothes, too, were torn and ripped, stained from the forest, and dirt seemed to have found its way onto his face. His hair was tousled and bits of bark and leaves clung to it. But she didn't care. Her heart swelled with happiness at his sudden appearance.

"Tohru!" he cried first, and without warning, rushed at her and grabbed her waist, sending both of them spinning. Tohru laughed as she gripped onto his hands. "Kyo-kun! Stop! I'm going to be sick!" she laughed. Kyo grinned and set her down, moving his hands to her shoulders. He bent down to inspect her face.

"Where were you?" he asked suddenly, standing up and brushing leaves out of her hair. Tohru grinned sheepishly.

"Here."

"By this tree?"

"…Yes."

"Did you know I've been searching for you all afternoon?" he asked, the edge of his voice sharp with annoyance. Tohru hung her head, and she realized Kyo's hands were on his hips now in what was clearly an I'm-annoyed-with-you-so-you-better-explain-yourself pose.

"I thought I knew these woods," she began, her voice trembling for a reason she didn't know, "I thought I would be able to find my way back when I wanted to. But…I can't. I have no idea where we are!"

Kyo's answer was silent. Finally he said, "Why did you run away, though?" The quiet tone of his question nearly sent Tohru into tears. She wiped at her eyes hurriedly.

"Because—Because you don't want to be seen in public with me!" Tohru finally burst, feeling her words tumble out before she could stop them. "You don't want to tell anyone about us because you probably think I would ruin your image, right? I know I'm not a model or anything, but I was hoping that didn't matter! I just want you to be happy though, so if you really don't want to be seen with me, I don't—"

"WHERE do you come up with this stuff?" Kyo cut in, his voice exasperated. "Really!"

Tohru looked up at him hesitantly. "What?"

"When did I ever say I never wanted to be seen with you? When did I ever say I wanted a model? When did I ever say I care about some image?"

Tohru was forced to look into his cat-like eyes, and once again she felt like he was seeing through her. "I—I'm sorry," she mumbled, digging the toe of her shoe into the grass. "I guess I just…"

"You assumed. You guessed. You thought you knew something about me, but it's not even real! Tohru, you don't have to think everything is your fault all the time, okay?"

Tohru only nodded meekly in response. Kyo sighed again, and she felt smaller and smaller each time he used that tone.

"Okay, how about this," Kyo said suddenly, placing a hand on Tohru's shoulder so she looked up. His eyes looked more worried than angry now. "I don't need an image. I don't need a model, wherever that came from. I need—I need you, okay? You. I want to be seen with you in public. I want people to know we're together. Okay?"

Tohru felt her heart swell again at his words. She knew emotional things like this were hard for Kyo. She was surprised he hadn't truly snapped at her yet. "Okay," she agreed, smiling at him. Kyo smiled tentatively back.

A silence followed this sudden conversation. Tohru dug the toe of her shoe in the grass again, searching for something to say. She felt stupid…immature. She should have trusted Kyo, rather than jumping to conclusions. Sometimes she just got ahead of herself.

"Hey," Kyo said suddenly, grabbing her left arm. Tohru looked up at him.

"What?"

"Your arm…it's bleeding," he said quietly, rolling up the sleeve of her t-shirt to show a deep cut near her shoulder. Tohru blushed at the touch of his hands.

"Oh, I didn't notice. It must be from when I was trying to climb the tree."

Kyo, who seemed to be inspecting the cut for signs of infection, let out a chuckle. "You were trying to climb a tree? Why?"

Tohru's blush became redder. "Well—because—because a bear was coming!" Then it dawned on her. "Oh! Wait! YOU were the bear!"

Kyo smirked. "Bears don't live in this forest. At the most, you might meet a couple of angry squirrels."

Tohru grinned, embarrassed. "I was just nervous, because I didn't know where I was…"

Kyo rolled her sleeve back down. "It's a pretty bad cut," he said finally. He seemed to be thinking.

"Oh, I'll be fine!" Tohru said hurriedly, rolling up her sleeve to check the cut. She grimaced at the deep gash and the blood that was slowly oozing out. "It was a big tree."

She didn't notice at first, but suddenly she heard a huge ripping noise. She glanced over at Kyo, whose sweater sleeve now missed a chunk from the front. He had ripped off a part of his sleeve to make a bandage.

"Oh! Kyo-kun! You didn't have to do that! I ruined your sweater now…"

Kyo only ignored her, and instead grabbed her arm again. Tohru was surprised at how gentle his hands were as he wrapped the sweater bandage around her cut. Normally you'd think someone like him would never be able to have gentle hands. She scolded herself for thinking thoughts like that. How pathetic!

"It's just a sweater," Kyo said, his voice cutting through Tohru's thoughts like a knife. "There. Now, let's go back home."

Tohru gasped. "You know the way home?"

Kyo chuckled. "Well, it's really not that hard. There's a path to your left, about five minutes through the trees." Tohru gazed down at her shoes.

"Well, I feel stupid."
Kyo's hand bopped her on the head. "Well, now you know. Let's go back, I'm starving."

Tohru giggled and caught up with him, feeling warm and glowy inside. It was strange, how much Kyo could change Tohru. "We also need to clean up," Tohru said.

Kyo nodded as they began to make their way through the trees. "Yes. I absolutely hate thorns, and they got all over my clothes."

"Then I'll do laundry too! And make supper." She sighed. "I'm glad to be going home." At her words, she gasped. Kyo looked back at her.

"What?"

Tohru's stomach felt strange. "I—I called Shigure-san's house…home."

Kyo shrugged. "Yea. So?"

Tohru shook her head. "Nevermind," she mumbled, following him through the forest. She shook her head again as she thought. It had happened. Shigure-san's house was no longer just the Sohma house. It was home.

Tohru was out on the balcony doing laundry. She had made a quick supper, cleaned up, and was now hanging the washed clothes and towels to dry, even though it was night. A breeze was blowing, so she thought they could dry with that.

"You forgot the sweater," a voice said from behind.

"What?" Tohru asked, turning around to face the door back into the house. Before she could react her view was covered by something warm and black. She sputtered, ripping it off. She looked down to see she was holding a sweater. She looked up again at Kyo, who was smirking. He had thrown the sweater in her face.

"You're going to freeze," he said pointedly. Tohru smiled gratefully at him.

"Well, it is getting chilly," she decided, slipping the sweater on. It felt comfortable and warm. She didn't even think to realize Kyo must have gone into her room to take the sweater. It had been sitting on her bed, nicely folded.

A tap on her shoulder made her look up from the laundry again. Kyo was now standing beside her, looking out onto the tops of the trees.

"What's wrong?" she asked, grabbing another towel and clipping it onto the string. Kyo shook his head.

"Nothing."

"Something is," Tohru said casually. "I can tell." It was her turn to poke his shoulder. "What's wrong?" she asked again. Kyo's hand brushed her bangs away from her eyes suddenly. She looked up to see he was smiling down at her somewhat tenderly. She felt warm again inside.

"Nothing's wrong," he replied again. "I just wanted to come see you."

Tohru's face broke out in a silent, but large smile. Kyo's hand ruffled her hair.

"Something funny?" he asked teasingly.

"No," Tohru replied seriously. "Nothing at all."

Kyo leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead. Tohru smiled at him as he pulled away, but some voice deep in her body cried "What? That's it? I'm not little anymore!"

Kyo turned to go back into the house. "Wait!" Tohru cried instinctively, grabbing his sleeve. Kyo turned back around to give her a questioning glance.

"I'm waiting," he informed her dryly. Tohru bit her bottom lip, quickly calculating the outcome of what she was about to say.

"Kyo-kun…can you, well, will you…that is…" Tohru realized immediately she couldn't say it. She looked down at her slippered feet, blushing furiously.

A hand cupped her chin and forced her face up. Kyo was close. So close Tohru felt her whole body shiver. With a smirk, he leaned forward and kissed her softly, gently, on the lips. Tohru felt her heartbeat speed up.

"HONDA-SAN!"

The two leapt apart from each other as if they had caught fire. Tohru's head whirled to the doorway, shame filling all of her features.

"Is my shirt dry?" Yuki asked, walking up. He was inspecting something on his sleeve, and Tohru gave him a quizzical look. She looked nervously over at Kyo, who looked just as confused as she did. He decided to shrug helplessly. Maybe Yuki didn't see anything. He seems to be looking at his shirt rather intently, she thought. Tohru decided to see.

"Oh, um, no, not yet. I—er—forgot earlier." Yuki looked up see to see a blushing, stuttering Tohru and a Kyo who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but that balcony. Tohru noticed something like annoyance flash across Yuki's face. But a second later it was gone.

"Really? Oh, that's too bad. I guess I'll come back in the morning." He waved at Tohru, completely ignoring Kyo. "Good night, Honda-san."

"G-Good…" Tohru's voice trailed away as Yuki disappeared behind the corner of the hallway. A heavy silence descended upon the two.

"Well that was interesting," Kyo sarcastically remarked. Tohru felt her whole body quivering.

"If he had seen…without me telling him…he would have had a huge fit." Tohru rocked back and forth on her heels. Kyo grabbed her arm and dragged her back into the house.

"Kyo-kun—what?"

He stopped dragging her at her bedroom door. "Go. Get some sleep," he ordered. "Stop worrying so much about everything. The time will come when you think it's right to tell him. Okay?"

Tohru nodded numbly. "Okay."

"Good." A hand reached out and pushed her bangs away. Tohru trembled again, but not because she was nervous. "Good night, Tohru."

"Good night…Kyo-kun." She looked up just to see him casually disappear behind the corner. And then, for the second time that day, felt her body give up on her and slide to the floor. She really needed a day away to soothe her frazzled nerves.

A picture of Kyo popped into her head. She smiled sleepily. Or…would she need a day away? She didn't think so. Not with Kyo there.