Author's Note: I don't know when Tohru's b-day is. I only know that she's a Taurus so I made up her b-day. AND IT'S A YUKIRU MOMENT THAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! (reviews at bottom of the chapter for today)

Enjoy!

Chapter 14

--Unexpected Predicament—

"OMG! I just remembered something!" Uo woke up in the middle of the night shouting.

"Ah! What is it Uo-chan? Is there a robber?" Tohru panicked, quivering under the covers.

"No. No. I remembered that today is your birthday," Uo said calmly.

"What? My birthday's on April 24th. Today's not April 24th," Tohru defended.

"Tohru-kun, you've already forgotten the days," Hana smiled as she looked at the clock, which also told the date.

"So it really is my birthday," Tohru said astounded.

"Our Tohru-kun is going to be 20. D---it! We can't spend time with you," Uo cursed. "Do you think Yuki would really care if we interrupted your date and maybe tie him up a bit?" Uo thought out loud.

"Uo-chan!" Tohru hissed.

"Alright, we won't tie him up, but we'll still crashing your date," Uo made up her mind.

"Uo-chan, that wouldn't be fair for him. I had a date alone with the other guys, why can't I with Sohma-kun?" Tohru scolded.

"Uo, let Tohru-kun spend time with him. We can spend Tuesday to Thursday with her, a girls night out except with just the three of us. She wants to spend her birthday with Yuki, right Tohru-kun?" Hana's grinned widened.

"Wah…? You know that I want to spend my birthday with…with…you guys. I…I…don't know what you're talking about," Tohru defended, but her flushed face told all.

"All right. You better not make plans on Tuesday through Thursday," Uo complied.

After the long discussion, the three fell back into their slumber.

Three down, two to go. Two more days until the brunette young women would have to make her decision on the final two. So far, she only had two to worry about since Daisuke confessed to her about his feelings.

Tohru remembered the day when the top five were announced and how strange Yuki was acting. She really would like to get to know him better. There was something about him that made him mysterious, and she was going to try and figure it out today.

After the rain yesterday, the weatherman said there was only going to be a thirty- percent chance of rain. The rain had made the day cooler than usual for a spring weather.

Today, Tohru wore a white knee-length skirt with a pink top that had a white flower sticking out on the top. She had matching pink sandals and ribbon in her hair.

Hana and Uo were already awake and waiting to meet Yuki in the lobby. When they got caught yesterday, both young women were reluctant to follow Tohru because if she saw them again, she would know something was up.

Unlike Ryo, Yuki was on time. He was waiting patiently for Tohru. He had never really been on a date before so wasn't sure what to do or where to take her, but that was the least of his problem.

The thought of what Akito had talked to him about last week was repeating itself over and over in his head. Should he tell Tohru about the curse? What if he disgusted her? He wanted them to be friends if they couldn't be together, but how would she react with the curse? Hatori could erase her memories of the curse, but what if Akito made him erased memories of him?

So many thoughts were rooming his head that he didn't notice that Tohru, Uo, and Hana were already there and was right in front of him.

"Yo, Yuki!" Uo shouted for the third time.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was thinking about stuff," he said, getting his attention on the three young women. "You look very pretty."

Tohru blushed. "Thank you. You look don't look too bad either," she complimented his outfit.

Today, he wore a black Chinese shirt with white pants.

"So are you ready for our date?" Tohru asked.

"Sure, but I'm new at this. I've never been on a date like this before," Yuki told her as his face turned pink.

"Really?" Tohru's eyes widen. "I mean, you're so handsome, I would think that you would've gone out with lots of girls," she blurted out by accident and quickly covered her mouth.

Yuki's face turned red. "Well, what about you, Honda-san? I'm sure someone famous and pretty like you has had many boyfriends."

It was Tohru's turn to turn pink. "Actually, no. The reason Uo-chan and Hana-chan did this contest was for me to find someone," she whispered.

Uo and Hana were still standing there amused. They hadn't seen Tohru fluster in awhile, and it was an entertaining sight.

The two were oblivious to notice that Uo and Hana were still there, and that neither of them was talking.

"Well, I'm sure you two would like to start on your date," Hana broke the silence.

"Huh? Oh, right. Let's go, Honda-san," Yuki said, as they walked out of the hotel.

"Bye Tohru-kun. Happy Birthday!" Uo and Hana said before pretending to leave.

"Huh? It's your birthday?" Yuki asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Tohru said without a care.

"But then why are you going with me? I'd thought you'd like to spend your birthday with your friends," Yuki asked, confused.

"I always spend my birthday with them, but I guess sometimes we need a change," Tohru said, giving him a light smile.

Yuki's heart skipped a beat. Had his ears deceived him or did he really hear that Tohru would rather go on their date than with her friends on her birthday? Somehow it made him happy, and he wanted to grab her and kiss her.

"So do we need to limo?" Tohru asked as her limo drove up.

"I don't know. I'm not sure where to take you unless you have a place in mind," Yuki told her.

"Nope. I'll go anywhere you take me. I don't mind. I just really want to get to know you better," Tohru said with a smile.

"In that case," the rat started, "I'll show you to my secret base," he said with a gleam in his eyes as he grabbed Tohru's wrist and led her. Both were blushing.

Behind them were Uo and Hana, walking on the other side of the street. Unknowing to them, Motoko was in a disguised, dressed as a guy and following the couple building to building.

Motoko wanted to run toward them and rip his hand off her wrist, but she would break one of the Prince Yuki Fan Club rules.

"Did you say a secret base, Sohma-kun?" she asked.

Yuki turned his head and nodded.

"Wow! Really? I've never been to a secret base. When I was little, all the boys would stay away from me and wouldn't let me play with them during recess. They said no girls were allowed, but now I'm allowed. I'm so happy," Tohru said excitedly as she was jumping up and down like a little kid.

Yuki chuckled. "It's not what you think it might be."

Walking took them longer to get to his 'secret base', but it was worth it. He didn't want anyone else to find out about the base except for Tohru. It was going to be like their own little special spot even though it wasn't romantic.

What was he thinking? It wasn't like he could ever be with Tohru. Today is a one-time thing. 'It's not like she'll ever remember me, much less this spot,' Yuki thought.

"And we're here," he whispered.

"Oh wow! A garden! Did you grow these yourself, Sohma-kun?" Tohru shouted eagerly as she bent down to take a closer look.

"Yes. I haven't had time to tend to it this week so I thought you could help me," Yuki said as he pulled at a watering can, some gloves, and small shovels.

"Can I water them?" Tohru asked.

Yuki nodded as he began checking on the plants.

"So is there anything ready?" the singer asked once she finished watering the plants.

"The strawberries are almost ready. Just a few more days should do it," Yuki stated.

"Yum! I love strawberries. Oh, but I'm probably not going to be able to taste them, am I?" Tohru said sadly.

"Don't worry. I promise I'll save some for you. I'll bring you some on Friday since that's probably the last time we'll see each other," Yuki grieved.

"Thank you so much, Sohma-kun! But how do you know that Friday is that last time we'll see each other?" Tohru asked.

Yuki blushed. "I mean, I told you that I can't continue, and I can't tell you why because you'd be disgusted. I'm not normal," he whispered.

Then the memory of when the top five were announced refreshed her memory. She remembered how vulnerable he was. He said something about being disgusting and not normal. She was determined to find out whatever he meant.

"So where to next?" Tohru asked.

"I don't know about you, but how would an early lunch sound?" Yuki glanced at his watch.

"OK."

Yuki led her to a nice French bistro. Yuki led her to an outside table with an umbrella hovering above them.

Being a gentleman, Yuki seated Tohru, and they waited for a waitress or waiter.

Uo and Hana were sitting in a back table inside the bistro, watching them intensely. They had changed into something different in the bathroom since the couple was going to eat there. It was plenty of time for them to change and was lucky that Tohru never came in.

Motoko was pretending to walk back and forth on the sidewalk. Tohru and Yuki had picked a table that was next to the sidewalk so it was going to be easy for her to play the tape to Tohru when he left. All she had to do was wait. He was going to have to leave to the bathroom sooner or later.

"Hello! My name's Georgia, and I'll be your waitress today," a cheerful voice perked up. "So what would you like to drink?"

"Water is fine," Yuki told her. "And you, Honda-san?"

"Umm…I guess water's fine," she replied.

"Would you like to hear today's lunch special?" Georgia asked after scribbling something down.

Both nodded their head.

"OK. Today we have the tuna special. If you don't like tuna, we have salmon. If you don't like either, then maybe some type of meat will fit you. It's pretty much the same except for the cost. We have other selections if you don't like the special," the waitress chattered on.

"What would you like, Honda-san?" Yuki asked.

"Errr…I can't make up my mind. I like both tuna and salmon, but I think I'll get the…salmon" Tohru scratched her head, trying to make up her mind.

"In that case, I'll get the tuna, and we can split if you don't mind," Yuki suggested.

"Are you sure?" Tohru asked shyly.

Yuki nodded. "The tuna and salmon special, please."

"All righty! Two specials coming up!" Georgia left and came back a few minutes with their drinks.

"I was wondering why all of the people here didn't jump on you and ask for your autograph." Yuki casually started a conversation.

"Yeah, Uo-chan and Hana-chan were on the news once and threatened everyone," Tohru smiled, not finding it weird.

"Since today's your birthday, is there any place you'd like to go?" Yuki changed the subject, taking sip from his drink.

"Anywhere but the arboretum and amusement park is fine," Tohru chirped.

"I guess we could walk around the city and window shop," Yuki said. "Ah, but you probably don't want to do that. It's probably too boring, huh? I'm still new at this. How about a movie?" Yuki rambled on with ideas.

Tohru just nodded along, but she wasn't really soaking the information in. She was thinking how handsome he was when he was unsure of things.

"And I need to get you something for your birthday too," Yuki added, but Tohru still wasn't paying attention until Georgia came back with their food.

"One salmon and tuna special," she said, placing them in their respective places.

"If you need something else, feel free to call me," she added before leaving them to their meal.

The special consisted of a grilled fish with other appetizers.

Tohru was the first to take a bite of the salmon dish, and then Yuki took a bite of his tuna.

"Uh…" Yuki made a face. "This tuna is really salty."

"Huh? Let me try," she said, taking a piece of tuna. She made a gagging noise. "It's not that salty," she gave a weak smile.

"What kind of cook is he/she?" Yuki wondered out loud.

"If you want, we can share my salmon one," Tohru offered.

"No, it's your food, Honda-san. I think I'll manage…" he grunted, taking another bite.

After a few bites, Yuki starting gulping down his water. After about five minutes, the waiter was getting annoyed on the refills.

"Umm…Sohma-kun, I really don't think I can finish this," Tohru started. "We can share it, and you won't have to eat the tuna," she blushed.

"That's very kind of you, Honda-san, but…" Yuki was interrupted when Tohru stuck her chopsticks in his mouth.

Both their faces turned into fifty different shades of pink and red.

"Gomen (sorry)," Tohru whispered, taking the chopsticks out of his mouth as he started chewing the piece of salmon.

"It's OK," he mumbled through his food. "This is pretty good, but why couldn't the chef do that to that to the tuna?"

"So we'll share?"

"Fine, but first I have to go to the men's room," Yuki said briskly. "Stupid salty fish," he mummered on his way to the restroom.

Hana and Uo were nerve-racking when they saw Yuki stand up and walk toward the restroom. They were afraid that they were going to get caught again so they ducked under the table.

"Ahum," someone coughed.

Uo and Hana looked up to find a very angry person.

"Listen, if you two aren't going to buy anything then leave," the manager growled.

"Fine, fine. We'll order two Coke," Uo told him as they got up from the table.

They heard him grumble something under his breath when he left.

During the time Yuki was in the restroom, Motoko used that chance to intervene. True she was the one who poured salt in his tuna, but how else was she going to get a chance? She couldn't believe that the stupid chef fell for her fake phone call.

"Excuse me, Tohru Honda?" Motoko asked, dressed in her man disguised.

"Yes?" Tohru replied politely, answering a 'man' dressed in a light brown trench coat and hat with khaki pants. Big dark sunglasses covered 'his' eyes.

"I know about your contest, and I thought you might want to know this." Motoko took the tape recorder out and gave it to Tohru. Doing as Akito told her, she quickly left with a smirk.

Tohru was confused, but pressed play.

"Yuki-san!"

"Hello Minagawa-san. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Fancy meeting you here, eh? I heard that you're in the contest trying to win Tohru Honda's heart. I never thought of you like that going after a girl."

"My cousin entered me. I only went because of him."

"So you don't like her?"

"….No."

Tohru gasped when she heard this. "Wah…what?" Tohru exclaimed. "Is…is this true? He doesn't like me…?" Tohru wailed as tears started to form.

The brunette looked at the doorway where Yuki was standing.

He just got out of the bathroom and heard the last two sentences and what came out of Tohru's mouth.

Tohru cried and ran past Yuki and out of the bistro. She didn't know her way around the city, but she just picked a direction and ran that way.

Yuki was still shocked, but when Tohru past him, his head clicked. The rat quickly pulled out some bills and placed it on the table. He probably did pay a tad too much, but all he really cared about was getting to Tohru. He ran outside the shop and looked at every direction.

Fortunately for him, Tohru wasn't really running that fast, and he could see her head bouncy up and down. The bad part was that it was lunchtime, and the streets were getting crowded.

Yuki made sure he still had an eye on her and ran in that direction.

Just as a waiter was coming with Uo's and Hana's drink. They both saw Yuki leave, but didn't see Tohru. The two figured that following Yuki would lead them to Tohru so they chased him.

"Hey! You didn't pay for your drinks!" the waiter shouted, but the two ignored him.

"Whatever he did to her, I'm gonna make sure he pays!" Uo cursed under her breath. "Now where did he go? Hana, do you think your waves can track down his?"

Hana nodded. "But there's so many people, it makes things harder."

"Great."

"Why don't we split up and call each other when we find her?" Hana suggested.

"Fine."

By that time, Yuki was catching up to Tohru. He tried shouting her name, but she would still run and cry.

Tohru wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. She just wanted to ignore Yuki. The words kept on repeating it over and over.

"So you don't like her?"

"….No."

Tohru was careful not to run into people, but one caught her by surprised. She bumped into someone and lost her balance. She as she thought she was about to fall, someone caught her for a split second, and a poof was heard. She was sure that she heard a poof when she had crashed into the first person.

Tohru quickly examined her surrounding, but all she could see were smoke, and people looking at her strangely.

Tohru felt a tuck on her skirt and saw a gray rat and silver snake.

"If you don't mind, could you please pick up our clothes and go into my shop?" the snake asked, being serious for once.

Tohru rubbed her eyes. Did that snake just talk to her?

"Please Honda-san. I'll explain everything to you, but please hurry," the rat spoke.

"…Yuki?"

The smoke was clearing soon, and if she didn't hurry, people would probably start to talk about her. That wouldn't be good for business.

Tohru obeyed and grabbed the clothes and opened the door of the shop that she had crashed in front of. The rat and snake quickly ran/slithered in.

"Miine, please lock up the store!" the snake yelled.

"Boss? I thought…" she started until she saw Ayame and Yuki in their animal form. She gave a quick glance at Tohru and knew what had happened. "I think I'll get some tea."

Miine was a brown pigtail hair and brown-eyed young woman. Her glasses brought out her intelligence. She was wearing a nurse's outfit, but it wasn't your usual color.

"My dear, Tohru-san, won't you be kind as to carry us to the living room? It's just right up those stairs," Ayame pointed with his head.

Tohru had now completely forgotten about her being angry with Yuki. She was too concerned with the talking snake and rat, which were supposed to be Ayame and Yuki. Tohru obeyed and took them to the living room.

"This is awkward," Ayame commented. "I guess she knows about the curse now. I guess we'll have to tell her," he said nonchalantly.

"Onii-chan!" Yuki snapped.

"What? She bound to find out sooner or later if she's to be your bride."

The two started blushing. "ONII-CHAN! How dare you say such ridiculous things?" Yuki spat.

"Now, I'm sure you're probably wonder about this," Ayame ignored his brother. "The Sohma family has been cursed with the spirits of the Chinese Zodiac," he started.

"Oh, you mean like the snake, rat, dog, etc?"

Yuki nodded and said with disgust, "We also have a cat. The Sohma's you met at Momiji's restaurant after auditions are all cursed ones."

"Really?" Tohru said happily. "My mom's told me about the legend of it and how the cat was left out."

"Yes, well, we transform every time we're hugged by the opposite sex or when our body is weak," Ayame continued.

Two poofs were heard after the snake finished his sentence. Miine had just gotten there with the tea. A small 'oh' escaped her mouth as she carefully placed the tea on the table and forced Tohru to spin around.

"When they transform back, they don't have anything on," Miine whispered to Tohru.

Tohru blushed even though she didn't see them naked. She heard them rustling to get their clothes on and was waiting patiently to turn around.

"OK, you two can turn around now," Ayame shouted.

Miine quickly turned around while Tohru took her time. She wasn't used to people turning into animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

Then something hit her. "So this is what you meant by being disgusting and not normal," Tohru gasped.

Yuki nodded and explained to her, "Only few people know about our curse besides the cursed ones. Some of our family do and Miine is the only outside person that knows…well…besides you now."

"Wow! I can't believe I found out about your family's curse," Tohru said, still shock.

"You're…you're not appalled by us?" Yuki asked, his eyes wide open.

Tohru shook his head. "You're still Sohma-kun no matter what form you're in."

"As much as I would like to be happy, well you see Tohru-san, you have to keep our secret. As in, you can not tell anyone," the snake said sternly.

"Years ago, when I was in second grade, a girl ran into me at the park. You can probably figure out what happened next, and everyone there, kids to adults, where sickened by me. They didn't want anything to do with me," Yuki started as his eyes wandered toward the ground.

Ayame gave Yuki a sympathetic look and continued the story. "Hatori had to intervene. He suppressed or erased everyone's memory there. It took sometime to track them down, but Akito's orders are orders that can not be disregard."

"A…kito?" Tohru questioned.

"Akito is our head. He is the one who commands the Sohma family. A few years ago, he mysteriously left and left us do whatever we what and just to be careful not to let anyone find out about the curse," Yuki explained, still looking at the ground. "But now that he's back, he's taking back his control. That's why I must leave the contest."

"Because of Akito you have to leave? Are you sure?" Tohru said as anger built up. She pulled the tape that Motoko had given to her and pressed play.

"Yuki-san!"

"Hello Minagawa-san. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Fancy meeting you here, eh? I heard that you're in the contest trying to win Tohru Honda's heart. I never thought of you like that going after a girl."

"My cousin entered me. I only went because of him."

"So you don't like her?"

"….No."

"You don't even like me," Tohru snapped.

"No, you've got it all wrong. Hon…Tohru, I love you!" Yuki burst out.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Author's Note: This date was longer than I thought it would be so I'm gonna make it two parts. I hope you like the Yukiru moment, but don't think it's going to be a happy ending yet.

I am willing to post the next chapter on Friday if I get 15 reviews for this chapter (by then anyways). If I get 10, then I'll post it on Saturday or Sunday, but if I get less, I might just post the next chapter in TWO weeks. It's your call my dear readers. Review or wait!

Reviews:

keepoath: I'm glad that you like it! I bet you loved this chapter! Gotta wait for the next chapter to find out what happens next!

renyun: Yeah, I've heard rumors, but haven't seen the actually book/translation/summary or whatever. I won't like Kyoru, but I can pretend its Yuki. LOL Kyo's too rude and obnoxious for sweet, innocent Tohru. YUKIRU 4EVER! Thanks for the review!

Pearl Dragon: Julian Smith is last so don't worry. I haven't forgotten him. Don't worry. I don't get mad easily. ) Thanks for the review! (BTW, I got the e-mail that you sent me with the dogs and cats. It was so cute, and I sent it to my friends, but for some reason, it wouldn't send to pplz who have AOL. Weird, but I don't know why. I guess you're not the only one, but we can still talk on AIM)

furubafanatic749: You really don't have to write 'UPDATE' so much. I'll update until this story is finish. Thanks!

Aria's Star: No promises, but there'll be some UoKureno hintings. I'm not sure about dates and what not 'cux I wasn't really planning that. I think they make a good couple. (I don't know about you, but Kureno is kinda hot, but I feel so bad for him. Have you read book 10? Akito doesn't even let him say hi to the others.)

?(asterisk): (Sorry, but FF doesn't show asterisks for some reason) Anyway, thanks for the review! Makes me very happy to know that you like it.

readingangel105: Wow, thanks. I'm glad to know that you like it. I guess if people want to sequel then maybe…but I guess I'll have to see how the story ends first, but mostly likely no. Sorry!