First off, I realized after my last posting that I've been asking for reviews and haven't thanked reviewers in awhile…Well…*hands certificate to all reviewers* Official Thank you for Reviewing "Falling Leaves." I'm working on one for people who just read it, too ^_~. Now, back to the story…

Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah

***

Thursday afternoon was ticking slowly away. Kyo sat, chin on hand, staring out the window as the teacher lectured on something or other. He didn't really care. What was bothering him was the fact that he hadn't seen Hatsuharu since Sunday. Not that he would ever admit it. The truth was that Kyo was worried he had hurt the cow's feelings in some way. All he could remember was hearing the rain and being carried up the stairs, and then… Kyo didn't know how to handle his current thoughts involving…liking someone. Before Tohru came into his life, he thought it would be impossible to like someone in that way, and now the idea of liking someone other than Tohru frightened him.

"Kyo what was the name of the ship that was sunk by the Germans and caused America to join World War One?"

"Huh?" Kyo looked up from his reverie to see Mr. Kajimata looking disdainfully down at him and all of his classmates turned around in their chairs staring at him. Kyo tried to remain cool.

"The…Titanic?"

Uncontrollable snickering was the response to this question. "Kyo Sohma, if you have no interest in paying attention in class, perhaps you should stand outside." Mr. Kajimata pointed at the door, and Kyo was forced to get up and walk out in front of the class. He glared at Yuki, who had an inevitable smirk on his face, and avoided looking at Tohru. The rest of the class didn't bother him, however. //Who the fuck cares what they think?//

Kyo stood outside the room for some time, expecting the teacher to let him back in. After a very long half an hour, the cat decided that he would skip the rest of the freakin' day. There wasn't much of school left anyway. He started walking nonchalantly down the hallway and towards the double doors of freedom. But when he had nearly reached them, they opened right in front of him. //Crap…gonna get caught!// To his surprise, however, it was…Haru!

Haru had his eyes focused on the ground, as if he were looking for something, and he didn't even notice Kyo.

"…Hey," Kyo decided to say after a few seconds of pointless staring.

"Wha?" Haru started and looked at Kyo. "…Hullo." Kyo thought Haru actually looked uncomfortable.

"What're you doing?" Kyo asked as Haru refocused his attention on the floor.

"Looking for something."

"What?"

"My map."

"Your map of freakin' what?!" This was getting ridiculous.

Hatsuharu took a stooping position in order to get a better view of the ground. "I got kicked out of my class, so I decided to cut class."

"Go *that* way to leave the school." Kyo pointed the way Haru had come in, while thinking //that sounds familiar//.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Momiji made a map for me about how to get to basic places, but I lost it."

"Is that why you haven't been over…"

Haru glanced up with an interested look. "It's been three days. Did you miss me?" he asked with a light sarcastic air.

"Look, jackass, I didn't mean…"

"It's interesting how you resort to cursing whenever you're uncomfortable." Haru walked closer to Kyo.

"Yeah, well you just pretend not to give a fuck about anything!"

"There you go again. Control your tongue, Kyo." By this time, Kyo had backed into the wall, and Haru continued his advance.

"…or maybe I should control it for you."

There was no space between the boys now, and Haru had his arms to the wall, effectively pinning Kyo in. Kyo couldn't decide whether to sock Haru (he was still stronger) or to see what was going to happen…

"HEY, KYO! MR. KAJIMATA WANTS YOU BACK IN CLASS ASAP!!"

Haru turned his head and looked at the upperclassmen walking down the hall shouting for Kyo. Kyo was paralyzed in embarrassment.

Haru leaned closer to Kyo's ear and whispered, "Looks like you have to get back to class." He immediately disengaged himself from Kyo and continued to search the hallway.

"Hey, Hatsuharu, have you seen Kyo?"

"Yeah, he was down the hall. Looks like he's trying to cut the rest of school."

"Goddamnit, Kyo, Mr. Kajimata's going to slaughter you!!"

Haru slipped down another corridor and quickened his pace. After all, he did have to find his map.

***

Momiji was tired of looking for Haru. After an hour of searching the school, he had given up on his chances of finding his best friend. Putting aside some mild annoyance, the rabbit started on his way home. The warm weather and other reasons persuaded Momiji to stop by the park. There were two reasons: one, it was one of his favorite places to sit and think, and two, Haru usually went there when he was cutting class.

These assumptions were proven correct when the rabbit spotted his white-haired friend sitting on a swing at the far end of the little park.

"Hey. Haru!!"

Haru looked up from whatever he was looking at while sitting on the swing.

"Hello."

"You said to meet you after school."

"Did I?"

"Do you have Alzheimer's? Is that why you can't ever remember how to get places?" Momiji sat on the swing next to Haru's.

"Maybe. I decided to cut."

"I realized that."

"Oh." There was a pause. "Hey, Momiji, do you think you could make me another map?" Haru held up the paper, which had a footprint on it. "Someone stepped on this one."

"Yeah sure." Momiji took the map and stuck it in his pocket to remind himself. He began to swing. "…So…talked to Kyo yet?"

Hatsuharu remained stationary in his swing. "You could say so."

Momiji dug his feet into the ground to stop and glared at Haru. "What did you do?" The cow briefly related his run in with Kyo to the rabbit.

"Jeez, and they say rabbits are the horny ones."

Haru looked at Momiji like he had swallowed some bad hay. "Momiji!"

"Seriously, Kyo's not going to be very happy." The swinging started up again.

"Huh?"

"Look, Kyo isn't used to *that* kind of stuff. I think the better road is to talk to him."

"Talking isn't my thing."

"Yeah, yeah, action is your thing."

"So you really think Kyo and I…"

Momiji stopped once again and looked at Haru questioningly. "Can I ask…when did you stop liking Yuki?"

Now Haru took up his swing's original purpose. He didn't like the way this conversation was going. "Who says I still don't like him?"

"Well, if you're playing Kyo…that's not very nice."

"I'm not." Haru was angered that Momiji would even say that. Playing with him?

"Then just talk to him already!!"

"Hey, I don't see you talking to Akito!"

Momiji flinched. "Ouch. Besides, my problem is a little different."

"I dunno, maybe you *like* Akito."

"That's disgusting, Haru."

"Maybe you have a thing for older guys."

"What are you talking about? And stop swinging. It's making me dizzy!"

Haru stopped moving his legs and let his momentum slow. "The way you ran to Shigure after talking to Hatori, which, by the way, you still haven't told me about... Maybe you were looking for a little more than consolation."

Momiji was shell-shocked. "Just because you're a pervert, don't start acting like everyone else is. God, sometimes I can't even talk to you without something lewd spewing out of your mouth!"

"Talk to someone else then. I don't need your nose in my business."

"Whatever, Haru." Momiji got up from his swing. As he was walking away, he added, "It's a good thing that I know sometimes you can't control what you say…"

"Fuck off" was the short response.

***

A couple of hours spent on the swing allowed Haru to cool off. Like most of his other slips into black Haru, he couldn't remember exactly what had happened or why he was sitting by himself in the park. He did remember his encounter with Kyo and was feeling slightly annoyed at himself for behaving like that. It was true that Haru had a habit of acting nonchalantly when uncomfortable in a situation. Not only that, but he tended to get even more flirtatious than regularly expected. Perhaps this state was a type of grey Haru, one not quite black but still worse than the placid white counterpart.

Now Haru was not only worried about his potential love life but the fact he was psychotic. Three personalities could not be normal.

Haru dug in his pocket to get Momiji's map. To his surprise, it wasn't there.

"Crap on a stick," he muttered. It looked like he was in for some wandering. Good thing he had his comfortable boots on.

He started out on the street and made some random turns. The trip to Shigure's house shouldn't be too difficult. There was business to take care of.

***

Kyo looked up at the stars from his rooftop perch once again. It was (obviously) dark out, and the roof remained one of Kyo's favorite places to be by himself. Well, actually any spot would've been a good spot to be by himself since Shigure's house had become remarkably empty, except for the cat. It was in times like these that Kyo felt especially lonely. Kyo didn't mind the fact that Shigure had gone to *visit* Ayame (in fact he didn't want to know what that meant), but his feelings of loneliness where worsened by the fact that Tohru had gone to a movie with Yuki. He had been invited along of course, but being a third wheel was not his idea of a good time. Not that Tohru was fawning over Yuki or anything, but Kyo felt there *might* be something starting there. And maybe he didn't mind so much…

Kyo suddenly heard some crunching noises below him. Someone was walking up to the house. He unhappily got up from his comfortable lying position to gaze over the side of the roof and see who it was. (He couldn't let the house get burgled or anything.) A quick glance over the side, however, was enough for Kyo to see the familiar white head walking down the path. Kyo deftly pulled himself back onto the roof and waited for Hatsuharu to leave. Soon, knocking was heard on the front door.

"Nobody's home," Kyo mumbled to himself, positioning himself on his back to look at the sky.

Back on the ground, Haru looked up at the roof questioningly. There was a good chance that Kyo was up there. Kyo wasn't known for his outgoing social habits, and the roof was his favorite spot.

"HEY, KYO! You up there?" Haru cupped his hands and yelled upwards.

Kyo cringed when he heard Haru. He could keep ignoring him…but, knowing the cow, he might stay there until someone got home. And then, Haru would inevitably tell them why he was there. Of course, in Kyo's mind, this involved something that would surely be embarrassing to the cat. Kyo sat up and edged to the side of the roof. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"CAN I COME IN?!"

"WHY?"

"I NEED TO USE YOUR PHONE!"

"Huh?" Kyo was confused. It hadn't occurred to him that perhaps Haru wasn't there to talk to him. Actually, Kyo was slightly bothered. Here he was thinking that Haru had come specifically to Shigure's to…talk to him. Even just to say *something* about today!! Kyo shook his head. It *was* just Haru. Nothing he did could ever be taken seriously. "YEAH SURE…whatever."

Kyo made his way down to the ground floor and let Haru in. "Thanks, Kyo."

"Why do you need the phone anyway?…Never mind, you got lost, right?" Kyo shook his head.

"Yup. You know me too well." Haru started walking towards the living room.

"Where are you going? Phone's that way." Kyo pointed towards the kitchen.

"Are you sure? I could've sworn it was in here…"

"Hey, come back! I think I know my own house better than you!" Kyo followed Haru into the living room. By the time he got in, Hatsuharu was already sitting at the table, cracking his knuckles.

"You said you needed to use the phone. Why are you making yourself all comfortable?!"

Haru continued to crack his knuckles. "Because I need to talk to you."

"What? Well, why didn't you just say that before?!"

"Because I wasn't sure if you would let me in or not."

Kyo sat down across from Haru and put his forehead on his hand (he was blushing slightly. ((He sure blushes a lot))). "What do you want?"

"Hey, where's Tohru and Yuki?"

The question stung a little. "They went out to a movie. If you came over to ask me about Yuki, then you're talking to the wrong person. Make an appointment with him, I'm sure he'll get back to you."

"No, it's not that." Haru waved his hands.

"Then what?!"

"You're sure making this difficult."

"*What* difficult?! Last time I checked, there was nothing…"

Haru reached across the table and put his fingertips over Kyo's mouth, effectively silencing him. "Before you get angry, I'd like to apologize for today."

Kyo pushed Haru's hand off his face. "Fine, forgotten. Is that all? I'll make sure to tell Yuki you called."

"God! I don't like Yuki!"

"Since when?" Kyo rolled his eyes.

Haru looked down at the table. "I make it a point not to like people who like other people."

"Oh, so since Yuki likes Tohru now, you've given up on him? Is that it? How do you know I don't like Tohru?"

"Who says I like you?"

"No one!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

The boys glared at each other for a second then looked away. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Are you black Haru yet?" Kyo mumbled staring at the shoji door.

"Huh?" Haru lifted his head (He had dropped it on the table in disgust. There was a red mark on his forehead.) -*-

"It's a lot easier to be angry with Black Haru. So if it is you, tell me, so I can kick your ass." Kyo looked at Haru out of the corner of his eye.

"Sorry, still White I think. We can have a go if you want…" he smiled softly.

"No, no." This idea was waved away, and Kyo stretched backwards and rested on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "…You didn't have to apologize for today."

"?" (questioning silence)

"You can't help it if you act that way sometimes…It's like me trying to apologize every time I lose my temper. I'd run out of breath…and if you did do something I didn't like I would just beat the crap out of you."

Kyo was lying next to the table, and Haru leaned over and looked down at the cat. "Are you saying…that you liked what I was doing?" He smirked.

//Fuck.// Kyo was in a pickle now. The previous argument had been won by both sides by having neither admit what they were actually thinking. Now Kyo had to speak up or lie… Perhaps silence was the best answer; he could just keep staring at the ceiling until Haru stopped looking down at him …

Without warning, Kyo reached up and pulled Haru down by his necklace. After a split second where the boys were nose to nose (Haru eyes wide in surprise and Kyo still holding his necklace), Kyo pushed himself up to touch his mouth to that of the white-haired boy.

The kiss lasted a second. It turned out to be more like a forced collision between the two (Kyo wasn't exactly sure what the hell he was doing), and Haru soon lost his precarious balance from being pulled off his vantage point on the low table. With a muffled 'uh-oh', Haru fell on top of Kyo once again. Both Kyo *and* Haru for once shared the same red flush.

"Uh…Hatsuharu?" Muffled sounds came from Haru's face, which was full of carpet. He turned his head to be able to speak.

"Yes?" he answered politely.

"You're crushing me."

"I'm quite comfortable, thank you."

"Seriously, get off."

"It seems we're in this position a lot."

"Hardy har har. I think you crushed my rib cage…and my spleen."

"Do you even know what a spleen is?" Haru asked as he carefully pushed himself up and pulled his feet down.

Haru was now sitting on the floor next to Kyo, who was rubbing his own stomach. "It's your own fault anyway." Haru muttered.

"What's my fault!?"

Haru leaned down and whispered in his ear. "It's your fault you're so hot. Can't help what I do."

Kyo rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Haru.

"Well, what would you like to do with that?"

The tongue was immediately retracted. "Now," Haru continued. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Kyo asked crossly.

"This." Haru leaned down and lightly brushed his lips over Kyo's. "You have a shorter memory than I do," he joked.

"Uhhh."

"Your ability to formulate words is so endearing, Kyo-Kyo."

Kyo once again took his favorite position of lying on his back and looking at the ceiling. It was the easiest way for him to clear his mind. He didn't have any idea *what* he was doing, and now it seemed like Haru was making a joke of it all. Kyo didn't appreciate that at all. He had kissed him! What was he thinking?? …But Haru had kissed him back…

"I can't read your mind, Kyo."

Kyo looked up at Haru, who was looking worriedly down at the cat. Haru didn't understand why Kyo was still acting strange now that they had practically admitted their feelings for one another. Did he need to be hit over the head with a frying pan to get information of this sort in his brain? "What's the matter?"

Kyo remained silent. Haru obviously still hadn't realized the repercussions of what was going on. "I don't think this is going to work," Kyo answered after a minute.

"What?"

"Us!!"

"Why not?"

"Because!"

"That's not a good answer."

Kyo desperately wanted to see what this relationship would be like. To have someone return his affections. But something kept nagging at the back of his mind. He had a bad feeling that this could be very difficult. "It's just going to be so hard…stuff like this never works out…"

"Well, that doesn't matter," Haru said matter of factly as he lay down and scooted up closer to the cat's side. "The whole point of something like this is to see…and you're the one who started this."

"What?! You practically assaulted me in the hall!!"

"If I had assaulted you," Haru said as he wrapped his arms around Kyo, "You would've known it."

Kyo sighed and let the back of his head rest against Haru's shoulder. "Besides, one thing you should've learned by now is never to worry about tomorrow. Only think of the now."

//Maybe I'll be able to do that someday.// The nagging feeling still resided in the bottom of his stomach, but Kyo remained in Haru's embrace. Haru was right. He had to be.

***

Like it?