D/C: I don't own Fruits Basket…and I seriously wish I didn't have to repeat that every single time!

Hi, people! I'm back with my third chapter! Before I let you get one with it, I want to say thank you for all your nice reviews! I couldn't believe my story actually got some attention…so, thank you!

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 3:

'Is it good? It's not too salty, is it?'

Kyo filled a spoonful of the soup Tohru had just served him and took a sip out of it. He swallowed. He could feel Tohru's eyes on him, so he looked up, grinned and gave her a thumbs-up sign. Tohru sighed, apparently relieved.

'C'mon, you don't have to worry about how your food tastes,' he told her. 'You're a really good cook…whatever you cook is bound to taste great!'

Tohru blushed. 'Thank you, Kyo-kun!' she said happily.

Kyo nodded and returned to finishing his soup. Tohru sat silently next to him, not even touching her bowl. Kyo glanced worriedly at her, and saw that she had this faraway look upon her face. He let his spoon drop back into the bowl with a small splash. She immediately looked up.

'What's wrong, Kyo-kun? Is something wrong with the soup?' she asked, sounding anxious.

'No, but I was going to ask you the same question,' he told her. Tohru looked confused, and Kyo pointed to her own bowl. 'You haven't even touched yours…and you look like something's weighing on your mind.'

Tohru shook her head. 'Oh no, it's nothing important!' she said quickly. She picked up her spoon. 'See? I'm eating!'

Kyo watched her stuff spoonfuls of soup into her mouth for a moment. 'You can tell me, y'know…about what's bothering you, I mean,' he said quietly.

Tohru paused, and then she slowly put down her spoon. 'Well, I was feeling worried about Hatsuharu-san,' she murmured, and Kyo was taken by surprise; he certainly didn't see that coming. 'He was so upset about Yuki-san, and I'm worried he might do something to hurt himself…because Yuki-san seems really important to him.'

Kyo was speechless for a moment, but he quickly managed to recompose himself. 'Uh…you shouldn't worry about Haru,' he told her. 'He's always like that; he'll cool down after a while. He won't hurt himself.'

Tohru managed a small smile. 'Thank goodness for that,' she said, relieved. 'Um…Kyo-kun? If you don't mind me asking, who's Yuki-san? Hatsuharu-san's brother?'

'No, he's not Haru's brother,' Kyo replied, fumbling for words. 'He's just…a good friend of his.'

'Oh,' said Tohru, nodding. 'You know, it's strange, but I feel like I've heard the name Yuki-san before.'

'Well…a lot of people are named Yuki,' Kyo said hastily.

'I know, but I feel like I've heard of a Yuki Sohma-san before,' she told him, sounding eager.

Kyo frowned. 'I never told you Yuki was a Sohma,' he said quietly.

Tohru faltered. 'You didn't?' she asked, and he shook his head. 'Um…well, I guess I just assumed he was a Sohma, since you all seemed to know him. Is he a Sohma?'

'Yeah, he is,' Kyo muttered, wondering if it was right letting her know all this.

'Really?' she exclaimed. 'Can I meet him? He seems like such an interesting person, and I would really like to meet him!'

Kyo paused. 'Well, you see…' he started.

Tohru gasped. 'Oh, I'm sorry!' she exclaimed, clasping her hands together, and he frowned at her. 'He's dead, isn't he? That's why Hatsuharu-san was so upset, wasn't he? Because Yuki-san died, right? Oh, I'm so stupid!'

'Whoa! Hold it!' he exclaimed, holding up his hands to stop her. 'First of all, Yuki's not dead! Second of all, the reason you can't meet him is because…well…he left the country.' God! I couldn't have come up with a better lie, eh?

'Oh,' she murmured, looking disappointed.

It pained Kyo to look at her. It also pained him to hear her talk about Yuki like she didn't know him. He didn't know why, but it just did. 'Hey, Tohru,' he said softly. 'If this is any help, I'm sure he would've really liked to meet you, too.'

Tohru looked positively happy about that.

-

The door slid open and some one stepped into the room. Akito looked up, a frown on his face, wondering who had dared come into his room at this time, and had not even bothered to knock. 'What are you doing here?' he demanded, narrowing his eyes at his visitor.

Ayame held his arms open. 'What? Not even a good evening, my dear Akito-san?' he asked, and Akito could hear a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

He scowled. 'What are you doing here?' he repeated, more sharply this time. 'If you've came to waste my time, then I suggest you leave at once.'

'Oh, no, I wouldn't dare waste your time, Akito-san,' Ayame said in a somewhat horrified tone. He sat down on the floor before Akito. He smiled at him. 'Unless you consider the topic of my brother as a waste of time.'

Akito glared at him. 'If you've come to talk to me about Yuki, then you might as well get out!' he snapped.

Ayame smiled and nodded. 'I knew you would say that, and that's why I brought…' he said, and paused while he reached for something inside his pocket. '…this along with me.'

Akito stared down at the revolver Ayame was holding, and immediately felt beads of sweat forming at his forehead. He felt uneasy just looking at it. 'You wouldn't dare,' he said hoarsely.

Ayame smiled pleasantly. 'Let me rephrase your sentence, Akito-san,' he replied. 'I wouldn't have to use it if you just sit and listen to what I have to say, alright? It's not like me to walk around with a gun, but when it comes to Yuki, I'm afraid I may take extremely drastic measures.'

'Your parents didn't do a thing about that fool, why should you bother about him?' Akito demanded. 'It's not like you ever took care of him before.'

'You said it, Akito, that was before,' Ayame replied. 'I'm different now. I don't care if you don't believe me, but I actually love Yuki.'

Akito snorted. 'Well, what have you got to say about your beloved brother, Ayame?' he asked, doing his best to sound casual.

'I'm going to cut straight to the point, because as Yuki says, it's a waste of time to play around the words,' he said. 'I want you to release Yuki.'

Akito stared at him for a moment, and then he burst out laughing. 'Are you serious? You want me to release Yuki?' he wheezed. 'I thought you were crazy before, but now I'm absolutely sure! What makes you think I'm going to release that stupid rat?'

'Because I said so,' Ayame said confidently. He pointed the nuzzle of the revolver at Akito and placed his finger over the trigger. 'Now, where were we?'

'You…' Akito seethed. 'What makes you think you're going to get away with this? I could send you to jail in a matter of hours.'

'Oh, but I'm not worried about that,' Ayame replied. 'You see, the difference between you and others is that no one cares about you. No one gives a damn if you fall ill or you die…they just look after you because it's their job. I doubt anyone will shed a tear, or even feel sad about you if you die…I don't think they're even going to bother searching for whoever killed you; they'll just assume that you probably killed yourself because you felt ashamed at your mere existence…and I think they'll secretly thank me for ridding them of you.'

Akito drew in a sharp intake of breath. 'You're just lying…' he started.

'Are you sure?' Ayame asked. He smiled. 'I'm not going to kill you, Akito-san…at least, that's what I'm going to do if you release Yuki…but if you don't…' Ayame smiled even more widely and let his voice trail off.

Akito didn't say anything. Much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Ayame was right in what he was saying. Nobody cared about him. No one would give a damn if he died. He'd be bluffing to say that Ayame's words hadn't affected him. He slowly reached inside his pocket and pulled out a single key, which he handed silently over to Ayame.

'Why, thank you, Akito-san,' Ayame said brightly. 'I knew we'd finally reach to an understanding!'

Akito didn't reply. But he didn't look up when Ayame got to his feet and left the revolver lying on the floor in place of him.

'Yes, let's just keep this one lying here, alright?' Ayame said softly, before turning around and heading to the door. He stopped in the doorway. 'And if I ever hear that you have bothered Yuki again…well, let's just say there's a lot more where the gun came from.'

-

Yuki heard the key turn in the lock, and he steeled himself for another meeting with Akito. But he was quite surprised when he saw Ayame walking into the room, squinting into the darkness while he searched for something…or some one…

Yuki scrambled up to his feet. 'Nii-san…' he called out.

Ayame saw him and he broke into a smile. 'Ah! Yuki!' he exclaimed. 'I'm really glad I found you!'

He rushed forward to hug him, but Yuki moved out of his reach. Ayame looked hurt, but Yuki didn't care about that for the moment. 'What the hell are you doing here?' he demanded. 'If Akito catches you here, he won't rest until he punishes you!'

Ayame smiled in a mysterious kind of way. 'Let's not worry about Akito now, shall we?' he said. 'Not when you're about to leave your little prison here.'

Yuki stared at him. 'What do you mean? I can't get out of here,' he said. 'Even if I did, Akito will track me down and throw me back in this room.'

'Ah, but I don't think he will,' Ayame replied. 'You see, he was the one who decided that you can leave this room and go back to your old life.'

Yuki looked stunned. 'What? No way!' he exclaimed after a moment. 'Nii-san, how did you…?'

'Can we talk about that later?' Ayame asked. 'I think we'd better get you out of here quickly before Akito gets the chance to…um…change his mind.'

Yuki just couldn't believe what was happening with him. He was getting out. He was going back to his old life. To Shigure's house. To Tohru. Tohru…oh, how he missed her…how he missed her beautiful face, her sweet voice, her kind words…

'Yes, let's,' he said softly, and allowed his brother to lead him out of the darkness of his room.

-

A/N: That was a bit fast, wasn't it? But I didn't want Yuki to remain stuck in that room for a long time. Five days is definitely enough. And Ayame was kinda OOC, wasn't he? Ah, well…I don't mind because I really liked him this way.

Anyway, please review, and wait for my next chapter, which, if I may say, is going to be last one!

- S. N. B.