Ryoki, a childhood friend of Tohru, suddenly arrived and is on a mission to win her heart! What will the Sohmas do?

NOTES: Thank you for the reviews! Sorry I couldn't reply to all of you individually! I keep forgetting! Well, here's Chapter 7. We'll find out more about Ryoki and his apartment. However, hot on their trail are Yuki and Kyo. Now we know this two don't get along well, so what's going to happen now?

Chapter 7: Ryoki's Apartment

"You're really stupid." Yuki calmly said as he caught up to Kyo with little effort.

Kyo growled and replied hotly, "Shut up, rat face! Why are you here? Go away!"

"I'm here to stop you from doing stupid things, stupid."

"Stop calling me 'stupid', stupid!"

Yuki gave a sigh and slowed down as he spotted Tohru and Ryoki. "By this rate, all of Japan will know we're stalking them."

Kyo opened his mouth, and then shut it. He glared at Yuki and shoved his hands inside his sweater's pockets. "It's not 'stalking'. It's 'SUR-VEIL-LANCE." He grounded out.

Yuki gave him a wry smile. "I never thought you would be clever enough to come up with something like that."

"What! Why you little…" Kyo raised his fist. Yuki stopped and then said, "Shut up and go behind that tree."

"Wha…?"

"I said, shut up and go behind that tree!" Yuki shoved him towards the tree looming in front of them. Kyo stumbled and hit the tree with his face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kyo demanded.

"Be quiet." His cousin ordered. Yuki peeked out from the tree and motioned to Kyo. "Look, they stopped in front of that building."

Kyo looked and indeed, he saw Tohru and Ryoki entering one of the tallest buildings he'd ever seen in his whole entire life. The building was at least 30 stories high, surrounded by 2 huge oak trees at the front and a small garden filled with different colors of flowers, and there's even a bellboy waiting in front of the entrance. There were valets milling around, and huge, expensive cars were stopping in front of them and well-dressed people were stepping out of the cars.

"What is this? A hotel or an apartment?" Kyo muttered.

"Well… it looks like Honda-san's friend is pretty wealthy." Said Yuki.

"Wealthy? You mean filthy rich!" Kyo replied with resent in his voice.

"I don't know why you're complaining. You're the one who gets money in his bank account from the main house every month without breaking a sweat. Unlike Honda-san who works hard for hers."

"So do you! So you shouldn't talk!"

"At least I wasn't being a hypocrite about it."

"What, you think I was!"

"You know, we're never going to accomplish anything if we keep arguing like this. Besides, you're embarrassing me." Yuki straightened himself from the tree, and looked at him. "OK, we saw Ryoki-san's apartment, we know he lives in a safe building, and I'm pretty sure he's not going to do anything to Honda-san, so let's go."

"No way in heaven or hell am I leaving this place. I haven't even gone inside yet! You can go! I don't need you here!"

Suddenly, a phone rang. It was Yuki's cellphone.

"What the? Since when did you get a cellphone?" Kyo stared at him.

Yuki ignored him and answered it. "Hello?" He paused for a while, and then replied. "Oh… um, we're really sorry about that. OK, we'll be right there."

He shut his phone and turned towards the other Sohma.

"What?" Kyo demanded.

Yuki paused, and then gave him a hard look. "They know."

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"I'm actually not that rich."

Ryoki said as he poured tea in three cups. He handed one cup to Tohru, then the remaining two to Yuki and Kyo.

"My godfather owns this place, and he doesn't live here anyways, since he's all the way in America, so he rented it to me. Not bad, huh?"

Kyo gave him a glare and Yuki curtly nodded.

Ryoki grinned and turned towards Tohru. "I think they're pissed that we found out they were following us."

Tohru sweatdropped and then began to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun! We didn't mean to pretend that we didn't know you were there! I wanted to say hi…"

"Oh, don't blame Tohru-chan." Ryoki happily interrupted. "We could hear you people arguing practically a mile away. I was the one who wanted to surprise you guys." He laughed. "Like I said before, not bad, huh?"

Both Kyo and Yuki gave him a glare and both thought of the same thing: I hate this guy.

Tohru felt the tension in the air and panicked. What… what am I going to do? She didn't mean to make fun of Kyo and Yuki. She really was going to say hi to them when she and Ryoki heard them arguing.

"Shut up, rat face!" Kyo's voice rang out loud and clear and both Tohru and Ryoki turned around.

"Oh! It's Kyo-kun! Let's say hi!" Tohru was about to run towards them when Ryoki placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's not. I think they're following us, Tohru-chan. Let's say hi later when I invite them to my place."

Tohru looked confused. "A-are you sure?"

Ryoki grinned. "Don't you trust me, Tohru-chan?"

Tohru blushed and then hurriedly replied, "Of course, I do!"

"OK, then, let's go."

…

"Wow! Your apartment is so nice, Ryoki-chan!" Tohru exclaimed as she looked around. There was a huge plasma screen TV smacked in the middle of the wall in the living room, with two huge couches surrounding a wooden table. The living room itself was twice the size of Tohru's room, and there was even a dining table in its own dining room with its own kitchen beside the living room. Paintings of popular artists decorated the apartment's walls, and the apartment was painted in blue and gray. It definitely looked like a wealthy bachelor's pad.

"Well, it's really not my apartment. It's my godfather's." Ryoki grinned as he took out his phone.

"He must be really wealthy!"

"He is. He owns businesses here in Japan and in America. I think he has at least one apartment in every continent of the world. Anyways, what's the Sohma's cellphone number, Tohru-chan? I'm going to tell them to come up now."

Tohru gave him the number and he dialed.

'Hello?' Yuki answered.

'Oh, Yuki-san. Listen, it's me, Ryoki. I know you guys are outside my apartment. Come on up.'

There was a pause. 'Oh… um, we're really sorry about that.'

'It's OK, just come up.'

'OK, we'll be right there.'

Tohru glanced worriedly at Yuki and Kyo. Kyo wasn't saying anything, ignoring his tea, and Yuki was quietly sipping his own.

"So what brought you guys here?" Ryoki casually asked them.

"W-we weren't stalking you, if that's what you meant." Kyo hotly replied.

Ryoki shook his head. "I understand you're concerned for Tohru-chan, but like I said, I love her. Why should I harm her?"

"Look," Yuki said. "It's not that we don't trust you. It's just that both my cousin and I care a lot for Honda-san that we want her to be safe at all times. We just met you and we don't know you really well, despite Honda-san knowing you since you were little. It has been years since you've seen each other, Ryoki-san."

Ryoki grinned and looked at Tohru. "I should be angry and kick them out from my apartment, but I know they're only looking out for you." He laughed. "They're like a bunch of mother hens, to be honest."

Both Tohru and Yuki sweatdropped, and Kyo sprung up from his seat. "What did you say?"

"Please calm down, Kyo-san. Don't get too riled up." Ryoki motioned to his seat. "Please sit."

Tohru desperately looked around. She was happy to find out that Kyo and Yuki cared enough to be looking out for her, but she felt that the more time they spend talking about her; the more tension will increase in the room.

"S-say, Ryoki-chan… Aren't your parents worried about you staying all by yourself here?" she asked.

Ryoki frowned. "I'm sure they won't be worrying about me, Tohru-chan. They have enough things to worry about besides their eldest son moving back to Tokyo."

"What do you mean by that?" His guests frowned back at him.

Their host grinned at them and shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it."

Suddenly, something growled. Everyone gave a start and turned towards the noise. At Tohru.

She blushed hard. "O-oops… I-I must be hungry."

"No kidding." Kyo sarcastically replied. "Didn't you eat breakfast today? Come on, Tohru. If you were going to work today, you could've at least eaten something to fuel your energy."

Tohru felt embarrassed. She distracted herself by looking at the coffee table in which Ryoki served their tea, and realized there weren't any snacks at all. She smiled and then turned towards Ryoki.

"Ryoki-chan? May I use your kitchen to get some snacks?"

"Oh, no, I'm so sorry Tohru-chan. I forgot about the snacks. It's OK, I'll do it." Ryoki started to get up when she stopped him.

"No, it's OK, Ryoki-chan! Since you've invited me to your wonderful apartment, it only makes sense that I help out with the snacks. It's no trouble at all!" She beamed a smile at him and Ryoki relented. She got up and walked towards the kitchen.

Kyo stared after her, and then looked back at the other two boys. "I'll help you, Tohru." He also got up.

"Thank you very much, Kyo-kun!"

Yuki and Ryoki were left at the living room staring after them. Then Ryoki released a breath and smiled at Yuki. "She's one of a kind, huh?"

Yuki replied, "Yes, she is."

"So…" Ryoki drawled. "Why is it that everytime I see you, you're always arguing with orange-head there?"

Yuki looked at him. "We are cousins, but I'm not close to him and neither would I want to be in the future. We don't get along well." (A/N: That's the understatement of the year, LOL)

Ryoki cocked his head on the side and thought deeply. "It just reminded me of the times I fought with my younger brother. It's like, I love the kid but sometimes I just want to kill him."

Yuki smirked. "Trust me. I have no feelings of any family love for Kyo, Ryoki-san. We just hate each other's guts."

"I guess…" Ryoki shrugged.

There was an awkward pause as they listened to the sounds of laughter and scolding coming from the kitchen.

"Oy, Tohru! Watch what you're doing!"

"Sorry, Kyo-kun!"

Ryoki frowned as he listened to them. His eyes narrowed and he turned towards Yuki. "That orange boy doesn't love Tohru, does he?"

Yuki didn't bat an eyelash. "I don't know… But I do know this, Ryoki-san. Don't do anything to hurt Tohru-chan, and you won't have to face the consequences from him or from me."

"You?" Ryoki laughed. "What can you do to me? No offence, but you look like a girl. All frail-looking and soft. I bet that's why you're the Prince of the school, or so I've heard today."

Yuki just gave him a tiny smile. "You really shouldn't underestimate people, Ryoki-san."

Ryoki grinned. "I don't. I actually love surprises."

They stayed in silence after that. Yuki watched Ryoki and frowned to himself. Who is this guy? What's his purpose in coming back here?

"Ryoki-chan! Yuki-kun! We got the snacks ready!"

Tohru called out as she carried a tray towards them with Kyo in tow carrying another tray.

"Kyo-kun and I found some curry in your cupboard, Ryoki-chan. We cooked up some curry for our food." Tohru smiled as she handed out their bowls. "I hope you would like it."

Ryoki brought the curry close to his face. "It smells good, Tohru-chan. Thank you."

Kyo sat down and handed a bowl to Tohru. "Now eat up before you faint."

"Thank you, Kyo-kun." She smiled at him, and he blushed slightly and turned away.

Yuki smiled at Tohru. "You're really good, Tohru-kun, at finding out ways on how to cook delicious food."

Tohru blushed happily. "T-thank you. Thank you very much, Yuki-kun. I try to."

They took their chopsticks and said in unison, "Thank you for the food!"

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"In the end, I didn't find out anything from him. Why he left, and what is he really doing here. All I got was that he has a little brother and a huge apartment in a prestigious place."

Yuki said as he watched TV with Shigure and Kyo that night. Tohru was already in her bed, exhausted from her trip today.

"Idiot." Kyo replied. "I left you guys alone so you could dig up some information from him. Looks like that plan failed."

Yuki threw a book at him. "Shut up. You only thought of that now. You're not that clever."

"OW! THAT HURT, STUPID!" Kyo yelled

Shigure sighed. "Maybe he doesn't want anyone to know his business."

"Who cares? He's involved with Tohru!" Kyo hotly replied.

Shigure shrugged. "So he is. Maybe he's escaping from something?"

"How would we know? I'm getting the feeling he's more than what he appears at the moment." Said Yuki.

Their older cousin shook his head. "You boys don't know how to properly stalk someone. When you do that, you're not supposed to be arguing or yelling at your partner."

"WE WERE NOT STALKING!" Kyo cried out.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Shigure shrugged. "I'm just saying, if you want to find out more about him, there are ways you know."

"Like what?" The boys blinked at him.

Shigure sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, man, and here I thought I was old. Ever heard of the Internet, boys?"

Kyo scoffed. "Of course."

Yuki frowned at him. "You're not suggesting…"

"Yes, I am suggesting."

"That's going too far, Shigure."

"Well, where else can you find out more about him? Go back to where he lives and start asking his family what happened? Now that's going too far. What I'm saying is go on the Internet and find out what he's been up to in school or in any extracurricular clubs or something. Something that will give you both a peace of mind." Shigure sighed again.

Both boys sat in silence. They looked up at each other and then turned towards him.

"OK."

"O-OK? From both of you?" Shigure asked.

"Yes." Kyo replied.

"If you do it." Said Yuki.

"Shoot." Shigure sweatdropped. My goodness, more work… my stupid big mouth…

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NOTES: Hmm… this chapter took on a surprising twist. I was going for another way, but suddenly my fingers just started to type this out. I don't know. Is it good? Please review!

Dum-dum-dum-dum. Will Shigure get off his lazy bum out from the couch and do the Internet search about Ryoki? Will Ryoki tell them what he's REALLY doing in Tokyo? Do you even care? Hehe, stay tuned for the next chapter:)