A/N: Hurrah, another chapter! Not much to say. Pretty short. Emotional turmoil, man.
Disclaimer: The only thing that belongs to me is the plot and teenage angst. Heh.
Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! You all make me so incredibly happy! If smiley faces worked on fanfic, I'd show about ten million of them!
What Can Come of Cooking
Tohru was walking home from school with Yuki. The sun was hidden behind gray clouds, threatening rain. Kyo was off at the dojo, so it was just the two walking home. Tohru knew it was probably the perfect chance to tell him, but she still hated to think of what he would say.
"Y-Yuki-kun…"
He turned to look at her, a pleasant expression on his face. "Yes?"
"…" Tohru picked at a loose thread on her uniform sleeve, thinking of what she could say. She had practiced it many times in her bedroom, in front of the mirror, but when the real Yuki stood in front of her, the thought of hurting his feelings made her so depressed. "Nevermind," she mumbled, cursing herself silently at her words.
Yuki didn't answer. He continued to walk beside Tohru, but his eyes were questioning, worried. Tohru looked away from him, closing her eyes briefly as they walked down the street, trying to collect her courage. She would just have to start again.
Right when she opened her mouth, a huge gust blew past the two, sending Tohru stumbling out onto the road. A car was coming up, going too fast for the speed limit…
"HONDA-SAN!"
Yuki's hand shot out and grabbed Tohru's arm, pulling her back onto the sidewalk and safety. Tohru breathed heavily, blinking into the wind that now continued to blow past them. She could barely remember what had happened.
"T-Thanks, Yuki-kin…"
Yuki smiled. "No problem. Are you okay?"
Tohru nodded hurriedly, stepping away from him and walking down the street. "Yes, yes, I'm fine…"
Yuki hurried to catch up with Tohru. "Honda-san, what's wrong?"
Tohru could tell she was on the verge of tears. She felt the familiar prick underneath her eyelids. That last save, that movement of Yuki's, was what had made Tohru decide to tell him now. She couldn't keep letting him believe that she…that she might…
"Yuki-kun," she began slowly, stopping on the street. Yuki stopped too, turning around to look at her. Tohru forced herself to look up into Yuki's big eyes.
"Yes?"
"…I…I…" She shook her head, realizing that was the wrong way to start off. "Me and—um—well…that is…"
"Honda-san, it's okay. You don't have to be afraid to tell me," Yuki said soothingly, gripping onto her shoulder. Tohru bit her bottom lip.
"YUKI," she yelled, clenching her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to see his expression, "I'M WITH SOMEONE ELSE!"
Yuki's reaction was slow. "What?" he asked, blinking three times. Tohru opened one eye. "What do you mean…with?"
Tohru felt his hand flop uselessly to his side. Tohru rubbed at her eyes. "Oh Yuki-kun…I've been meaning to tell you for a long time…"
"What do you mean, with?" Yuki repeated, his voice shaking. Tohru let out a small gasp.
"You know…boyfriend, girlfriend, kind of thing…" Tohru's voice was now a whisper, as she noticed Yuki's hands clench and unclench numerous times. He hung his head, hiding his face with his hair.
"Oh…"
"Yuki-kun, please, just understand…"
"No, no, I get it."
"Yuki-kun, don't do this!"
"Do what? Understand?" he asked through gritted teeth. Tohru took a step back. He had never used that tone before.
"Yuki…"
"Who is he?"
Tohru's stomach rolled. She had been hoping to avoid that part of the question.
"W-What?" she asked, playing stupid.
"Who are you with?" He said the last part so acidly that Tohru felt herself answering without hesitation.
"Kyo-kun."
She heard Yuki let out a gasp. Or was it a sigh? She couldn't tell. She reached a hand out for his arm. "Yuki-kun, just please listen…"
"No, no," Yuki said, taking a step back so he was out of her reach. He lifted his head a bit, so Tohru could see his eyes were narrowed dangerously. "I'm listening. I get it. I understand. Kyo is better. He's not as strange as me, not as stupid. Not as boring," Yuki said, his voice low. "I knew he would be the one to have it better than me…I knew I wouldn't stand a chance!" He yelled, standing up straight. Tohru felt her eyes water.
"Yuki-kun, can't we just…just live normally?"
"How can I?" Yuki asked quietly. "I can't…not anymore."
He took off down the street, turning a sharp left ahead of Tohru. "NO! YUKI-KUN! YOU CAN'T!" She knew what he was going to do. She used the wind to help push her along, so she ran fast enough to keep Yuki in sight. "IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!" DON'T TAKE IT OUT ON HIM!"
But Yuki wasn't listening. Tohru knew something like this was happening. Without missing a beat, she ran across the street, causing vehicles to honk and screech to a stop in protest. Tohru jumped over a little fence, taking a shortcut Momiji had shown her the day she had chased after Hiro.
She had to get to the dojo…and fast.
"K-K-Kyo-k-kun!" Tohru burst through the open door, panting heavily. She crumpled to the hardwood floor, closing her eyes in brief gratitude for the cold floor. The weather outside was chilly, but that didn't stop her body from heating up when she ran all that way.
"Tohru?" A shocked Kyo broke apart from the other students, running, barefoot, over to Tohru. He rolled her so she was on her back. "Tohru, what happened?" he asked, his voice full of genuine concern.
"I-I told…him…"
Kyo's face paled slightly, but he wouldn't let Tohru know. "Did he do anything to you?" he asked sharply, inspecting her face for cuts or bruises. Tohru shook her head slowly, trying hard to catch her breath.
"No…coming…here…"
Kyo shook his head. "I don't understand. What's going on?"
The two didn't realize it, but the group of students had gathered together, behind Kyo and Tohru so the two couldn't see them. Even Kazuma had inched closer to hear their conversation.
"He's coming h-here!" Tohru finally managed to say, gripping onto his hand tightly. "He's going t-to fight you!"
Kyo snorted. "So? Let him fight me!"
"No…he's…angry," Tohru whispered, opening her eyes to see Kyo looking down on her anxiously. "He's really angry, Kyo-kun! I don't want you—or him—to get hurt!"
Before Kyo could reply, a voice interrupted their supposed private conversation. "No one is going to fight like that in my dojo while I'm in charge, Tohru-san. So please, don't worry."
Tohru and Kyo looked over to Kazuma, who was smiling pleasantly at them.
"You were LISTENING?" Kyo cried, jumping up and glaring at Kazuma. "Geez, can't two people have a private conver—"
"Kyo."
Kyo stopped his ranting to turn around to the front door to see Yuki. Kyo noticed he did look strange. If not strange, definitely different. His hair was masking his eyes, but his body gave off such waves of anger Kyo was officially annoyed. Who said he could get so mad over not having Tohru? After all, it wasn't as if she were an object, or anything.
"Yuki," he replied, taking two steps over so he was standing beside Tohru, was now shakily sitting up.
"We need to fight."
Kyo snorted. "Oh, look who's simple NOW! I'm not going to fight you just because you're jealous, just because you were too slow! You just sat there, thinking everything could come nicely wrapped to you. Well it doesn't work like that! So just buzz off, okay?" Kyo ground his teeth together angrily. Kazuma, against what he had said earlier, did nothing to stop the fight. Instead, he shuffled over to the other students and began shooing them outside.
"Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun, please don't fight!" Tohru begged, standing up on wobbly legs. Both of them looked over at her, startled. "I couldn't stand it if one of you were to get hurt, because of me…"
"One of us? You mean Kyo?" Yuki spat.
"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" Kyo yelled, taking a step closer to him. "It's not her fault!"
"It's not yours either, Kyo-kun!" Tohru cried, the tension piling down on her so much she felt like she could collapse. "It's no one's fault! Please, STOP!" Tohru went to stand between them, tears welling up in her eyes again. "Just STOP! No one has to fight! You two haven't fought in so long, and it's made me so happy! Please, Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, don't do this!"
"Yea, listen to her, you stupid cat," taunted Yuki, something like a crazy smile on his face. "Stupid cat, stupid cat, stupid, stupid, stupid!"
Kyo's face grew red faster than you could say zodiac. "Kyo-kun! Don't listen—"
Kyo strode around Tohru. "Wanna say that again, you damn rat?" Kyo growled. "'Cause that's what you are. Just a stupid rat that's going to be lonely for the rest of his life."
"Shut up," Yuki muttered, his tone filled with venom.
"Well it's true," Kyo said, taunting him. "You only want to make yourself feel better because you were too slow. Gee, I guess cats ARE better than rats!"
"SHUT UP!" Yuki yelled, throwing a punch at Kyo's face. Kyo took it, staggering back and clutching onto his face. Tohru let out a gasp.
"Heh, gee, I'm so scared," Kyo complained. "I didn't know the rat was so tough! Hah! Having to fight because he's so sad. Crying like a little baby, aren't you, Yuki?"
Kyo managed to duck a kick, throwing a punch at Yuki's face. Tohru moaned.
"STOP YOU TWO! STOP!" Tohru threw herself between the two, just when Yuki was going to kick at Kyo. Kyo grabbed Tohru and dove to the side, the two tumbling away from Yuki. Kyo kept his hand on Tohru's back to keep her down. Tohru muttered something like, "Stop!"
"You almost hit her! Are you THAT stupid?" Kyo yelled.
"If I remember correctly, YOU hit her with a table!" Yuki yelled back.
"Yea, but don't you love her? Why would you hurt someone you love?"
"She hurt me! " Yuki cried back. At his words, Tohru's eyes welled up with tears.
"Oh, stop your whining!" Kyo cried, kneeling down so he could keep his weight on Tohru so she wouldn't jump back up. "She's one person, she can't make the whole damn world happy!"
Yuki didn't reply. He stood there in a crouched position, both his hands clenched into fists. His breathing was heavy, but at least he wasn't yelling. Tohru managed to wiggle out of Kyo's grip, standing up so she could look at Yuki. When she did that, Yuki looked back at the ground. Tohru knew he was probably embarrassed…hurt…angry…
"Yuki-kun, I don't want you to feel like this because of me. You don't deserve this pain."
He didn't reply. Kyo sat patiently, a vein pulsing in his forehead. Seeing those two so close…
"Yuki-kun, don't be angry with Kyo-kun. He didn't do anything. It was me. It's me that's making you feel like this, isn't it?"
"So?" Yuki replied quietly, his face still hidden by his hair. "It's not like your feelings are going to change."
"They aren't," Tohru told him firmly. "I'm sorry…and I guess that's all I can say right now." She felt the tears silently stream down her face. "If you can't accept an apology…you'll—you'll never be able to accept the truth!" Tohru cried, her voice pleading. Yuki didn't answer. Instead, he turned around and marched out of the dojo, slamming the door behind him.
Tohru stood in the same position for several minutes, the tears continuing to fall. Finally, she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Kyo, who was looking down at her nervously. "You okay?" he asked quietly.
Tohru shook her head. "N-No! I'm not o-okay!" She let out a loud wail, allowing her head to fall against his chest. She knew she would feel no comforting arms around her. If that happened, he would become a cat. Tohru let out another sob, feeling her tears stream down into Kyo's clothes.
"Tohru…" he began softly.
"No," she replied, clutching onto the material of his shirt. "Just…just let me c-cry, okay?"
There was no answer at first. Then a heavy sigh. "All right, Tohru," Kyo replied softly. "But I hate seeing you cry. Especially because of that damn ra—"
"Stop. Just d-don't. It's not his f-fault either…" Tohru let out another sob. "I knew this would happen! I knew it!"
There was no reply. They had both known it would happen. And neither, even Kyo, liked the anger that Yuki was giving off. He was not one to let his emotions take over.
"D-do you think everything will b-b-be okay, Kyo-k-kun?"
"…Yes," Kyo replied, awkwardly patting the top of her head. "I'm sure of it."