Lost and Found

Author's Note: I'm sorry this is so short! Well...compared to the last chapters. I finally worked on and finished it last night when me and my girl were having some problems (nothing to worry about; lately I've been talking to her a lot, hence the lack of the will to work; everything is groovy now all over) and I was a little more than a little tired. I was going to make this longer...Did I already say that?...but I hope it's good anyways. I know you guys have been waiting, and I love all these great reviews I am getting, please leave a review! HaruKyo goodness will start a-coming next chapter, I promise! (Third chapter! Not months apart! Whoot!) There will be angst, but also plenty of fluff and a lemon later on. I don't own Furuba, although I wish I did, because Haru and Kyo...-drool- So yummy! Hatori has been claimed, however, sorry folks. "Lost and Found" is also a story by Chaotic Insomnia (sorry babe!) and my biggest fan and suckiest review-leaver is Kuramagirl44. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Chapter Three: Rebound

That Monday was the start of mid-year testing. As per usual, Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima had not studied at all, and they were as cool, calm, and casual as ever. Tohru Honda, on the opposite hand, had studied beyond studied and was even more nervous than a lamb in the wolf's den, albeit not irrationally. Yuki and Kyo had spent a lot of time locked up in their rooms, but Yuki hadn't been studying, which was most unlike his usual self; instead he had been laying there, as if asleep, with his eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling like a deadman or a porcelain doll. Kyo, who is also known for his ferocious study habits, however "secret" they may be, spent most of his time on the roof, which included sleeping; he only came down to eat and use the bathroom facilities, and he never brought his books up with him. Neither of them were very lively that morning, their eyes endless pits of vacant nothingness, their faces void of all expression and emotion. They didn't have it in them to argue with one another or even to smile at Tohru—which, of course, worried her, which was very bad for her nerves seeing as she isn't much of a test-taker to begin with.

Uo and Hana, of course, noticed how sad Tohru seemed, even if the onigiri denied it and tried to act cheerful for the sake of others, and they also immediately knew the reasons for Tohru's odd behavior; a few meaningful glances at one another, Tohru, and the boys held an entire conversation of figuring out the problem and discussing what to do to solve and/or compensate for it. In the end they decided that Uo was to take the problem into her own hands—Hana could do it herself, or at least help, but they decided that such treatment would almost be too cruel, seeing as how the boys seem genuinely upset about something. (This is their idea of being kind...Can you imagine? Poor nezumi, poorer neko...)

"Hey, boys," she said softly, like the rattler rattling before it struck, both to frighten her prey and refrain from alerting Tohru, whose attention was easily and completely occupied at by Hana-chan; this had the double pleasure of cheering her up and keeping her from witnessing the horrors Yuki and Kyo were about to face, or the unpleasantness about to be discussed. The rat and the cat looked up, their blank stares so empty and so unhappy that they almost unsettled Uo in their breathtaking gothic beauty and power—but only for a moment. In the end they just made her feel more resolved to do something. "I can't help but see that the two of you are acting oddly today. Didn't even bother to put up a facade for Tohru-chan over there. Something need fixing?"

Yuki blinked slowly for several long moments, then muttered, "No, Uotani-san."

Kyo shook his head, sullenly resting his chin on his knees.

"Not yet there isn't," she growled, lunging forward in a most unladylike way to grab the neko. Lucky for him Mayuko-chan-sensei walked in at that moment, all talking ceased, and testing began—no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

"Morning class," she announce-muttered. People had already begun to scramble for their rightful seats, shutting up mid-sentence as she spoke. By the time she had finished the word "class" she was standing before them all, and everyone was quiet, facing forward, eye intent and on her...Even Yuki and Kyo's. Mayuko noticed the unsettling emptiness and shivered in spite of herself. "Okay then. As you all know, today is testing day..."

The bell rang just as the test ended. Tohru scrambled to finish the last problem, letting out a relieved sigh as she and the others got up to leave. Uo was walking as if nothing was the matter with the world, casual and laid-back as always, smiling with heavy lids. Hana was as cold, dreary, and gothic as always, acting in a similar matter, as if nothing was any different from any other moment in her existence, back straight and exceedingly proper. Tohru was a bit nervous, but smiling, unsure of how she did but willing herself to be happy and move on, hoping for the best. Yuki and Kyo fell in stride behind them, hardly noticing the world around them, much less on one another; it was obvious that something was on the two bishounen's minds, and for that fact no fan girls worked up the courage to near them; not even the jealous head members of the Prince Yuki Fan Club.

Once outside they settled in under their favorite tree for lunch. Tohru was nearly back to her old self, laughing with Hana over something or the other. Uo, on the other hand, was watching Yuki and Kyo as they sat nearby, almost subconsciously close to Tohru. Something was exceedingly amiss; Yuki is never this upset over anything, and Kyo...well, he's known to brood, but this is taking even that a little too far.

Before she was allowed the chance to contemplate all that too deeply or too seriously, who else but the rest of their gang showed up—Hatsuharu and Momiji. Tohru's face fell as she looked up, obviously worried about how he would be only a few days after being dumped. Hana's gaze was slower in coming and more deliberate, cold, hard eyes boring into Hatsuharu's soul, studying him as if she had sensed something peculiar. Yuki neglected to notice the new arrivals, and Kyo only managed to stare almost longingly at the boy, hardly bothering to hide it, although no one seemed to notice.

"Hey, everybody!" Hatsuharu said, his voice oddly cheerful, his smile almost inhuman. No one could believe it; Uo and Hana could sense that something was wrong...well, anyone, even Tohru, could, but they could also tell that it somehow centered on him. And of course. Tohru knew about the break-up, Yuki had dished out the break-up, and Kyo hadn't been able to stop thinking about the break-up, so everyone was confused and either unable to believe he was in such a good mood or confused as to why the others were. (Am I making any sense here to anyone but Miss The-Subtle-Is-Obvious-And-Vice-Versa?)

Momiji radiated energy and looked as if he had to try really hard not to leap on and hug his favorite person in the whole wide world, Tohru. Hatsuharu was the first to sit down, near Tohru, a bit of a distance from Kyo with Uo sitting inbetween him and the two boys. Momiji sat next to Tohru, smiling as always. "Hi, Tohru!"

Tohru smiled at the rabbit sweetly. "Hi, Momiji-chan. How did testing go?"

He shrugged as if it was no big deal. "I've been studying a lot lately and nothing was that difficult for me anyway, so I think I did pretty well."

Tohru looked up and smiled shakily at Hatsuharu. A bit afraid of how he would react, she tentatively asked, "How about you, Haru-kun? How do you think you did on your tests?"

Hatsuharu looked up and met her sapphire gaze, so blank and dark for a moment that she caught her breath and unconsciously leaned back. Immediately that was gone, replaced with a cheerful smile...too cheerful. "I did well, Tohru-kun. How do you think you did?"

Relaxing only a very tiny bit, Tohru replied, "Oh, I don't know...I tried my best, but a lot of the questions were harder than I thought they would be..."

Hana placed a hand on Tohru's shoulder; anyone else would cringe or jump back from the cold shivers running down their spine like ice water, but Tohru relaxed under her hand, feeling only the warmth and love Hana feels for a very select few in this world. "And that is all that matters, Tohru-chan. You did your best, and those who try their best are always rewarded, even if it is not in the way they had expected or hoped for."

Her small smile at the end of her statement matched Tohru's, but the others froze, Hana's gaze sweeping over them when the onigiri wasn't looking. It was a threat, a challenge, and a warning, all at once. Yuki's mind began buzzing immediately, his expression and posture never changing, wondering what it is she meant by her words and her look; Kyo rose out of his stupor for a moment, wide-eyed and more than a bit frightened; Hatsuharu's cheerful facade faded for a split-second, shocked and guilty. Momiji remained just as oblivious as Tohru, and Uo studied the boys, narrow-eyed, trying to figure out what was going on. The Sohma men always held unspeakable secrets and sadness in their beautiful eyes, behind those glorious smiles, but until now Uo had never seen them so real and close to the surface.

"Thank you, Hana-chan," Tohru said sweetly, smiling in a way that was as bright and vibrant as the sun. "You don't have anything to worry about, of course. You and Hana-chan probably passed with flying colors."

Uo cocked her head to one side, making a dismissive and non-committal noise. "Nyeh, it was nothing. Tests aren't so hard..."

"Especially since we studied for this one," Hana added, back to her usual gothic, spine-tingling, stomach-upsetting, mind-altering tone of voice and rigid posture.

"Really? You guys actually studied?" Momiji inquired. Uo and Hana's study habits, or lack thereof, are schoolwide mini-legends of a sort, and so he wasn't the only one who was shocked and curious about this latest development.

"Oh, yeah," Uo said, somewhat distracted. Her words were directed at Momiji and the others, being Tohru and Hana who was sitting by her, while her gaze was on Hatsuharu. He was slowly moving toward Kyo in a way that was actually quite subtle, but she could tell Kyo noticed. His face was disappearing behind his knees to hide his blush, and Uo knew something was going on. The cruel sneer on her lips illustrated twisted pleasure. Kyo has a crush, Kyo has a crush... She looked up and smiled at the others. "We were bored is all," she said, passing it off.

"Hey," Hatsuharu's whispered voice said as he stopped half a foot from Kyo, eyes on the others. "Pssst, Kyo." Kyo appeared to be trying to disappear into his legs, curl up into a ball, or become invisible. "Kyo!" Hatsuharu grunted, and the cat could ignore him no longer.

"What is it?" he murmured moodily, somewhat like a disgruntled child.

Hatsuharu smiled in a manner that was almost a leer, looking at Kyo with dark eyes filled with something he couldn't place; no, didn't want to place, that reminded him oh-so-vividly of Black Haru in a way that made his insides burn up, although his voice was still completely White. "I want to talk to you. Can't a family member just want to talk to you? I'm hurt," he pouted, smiling maliciously, resembling an evil version of Ayame.

Kyo sighed and rolled his eyes, unable to stay mad at Hatsuharu when they were, in essence, all alone; and sitting so close to one another... "Yes, Haru?" he started over, much softer and submissive this time, still avoiding his gaze. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Hatsuharu placed two fingers under Kyo's chin and gently lifted his head up. Immediately Kyo began to stare blankly, dumbstruck, his mouth hanging open slightly. He told himself not to get excited, that it didn't mean anything, that it was just a friendly gesture...but he couldn't get himself to believe it. Of course, that's just because he wanted this to be real...The shivers it sent up his spine were all his doing, he told himself repeatedly. Now all the perfect moment needs is a kiss...which didn't come. Instead Hatsuharu said in his usual tone, "Nothing in particular," a playfully mean smile on his face.

Kyo rolled his eyes and shoved Hatsuharu's hand away, berating himself for getting so close to hopeful. He didn't sink back into his unhappiness, but he did fume some, holding back tears that have trouble coming in any case. "Figures, asshole," Kyo muttered, back to his old self.

Hatsuharu, however, was not. Instead of retaliate he rested his hands on his legs and sighed. "I'm sorry," he murmured. Immediately Kyo turned back. In a much softer and more miserable voice Hatsuharu went on; "I...I actually do want to talk to you. For a reason."

The ushi looked up, and the neko didn't know what to think.

He changed his attitude quickly. "Kyo...I don't know how to say this...But I want you to be my boyfriend."

XOXOXOXOXO

Kyo's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets they were so big and shocked and frozen.

"Wh...Wha...?" Kyo managed, weakly at best.

Hatsuharu leaned over to him, wrapping his arms around Kyo's shoulders and nuzzling the top of his arm. "I want you to be my boyfriend. Is that hard to understand? It's not too unpleasant a prospect I don't think. I don't know if you roll that way or not, but I was thinking we could work it out, or something." The cow leaned forward and whispered into the cat's ear, hot breath blowing and sending shivers up his spine; "Whaddya say?"

"I...I...I..." Kyo was at a loss for words, trying to regain his composure and failing miserably. He couldn't get his mind off of Hatsuharu's warmth, his strong, muscular arms wrapped around him, the other's lips so close to his own, hot breath filling his ear...

Finally he regained himself enough to swallow and push the other boy away, jumping up and grabbing the attention of all. Hatsuharu didn't care; he got himself up several seconds later, more composed and less flushed. "So feisty," he remarked calmly, as if making a statement about the weather.

Kyo's head was swimming. He wanted to agree—oh how he wanted to—but he knew Hatsuharu cared for Yuki, and they had just broken up! Hatsuharu's weird behavior, his sudden and unfounded interest...Nothing made any amount of sense in his poor overworked brain. This was not how he wanted to spend his meager lunch hour on Testing Day.

"So, yes or no?" Hatsuharu asked, calm and casual. All the others looked from him to Kyo, waiting silently.

"Uh..." Kyo didn't know what to say. And then the single most pivotal and insignificant action in all of his life occured; he turned his head slightly and focused in on Hatsuharu. The ushi was resting most of his weight on one hip, thumb hooked into his black pants as a little bit of his stomach showed below the rising white shirt. Muscles didn't bulge, but they were pleasantly present, kickass black steel-toed boots, elegant tattoos, and very cool jewelry completing Hatsuharu's look, hair wild and dangerous. A man to die for. Girls want him...as do guys, apparently.

"Sure," Kyo said, more than a little out of it.

Smiling sultrily Hatsuharu half-lunged, half-fell and landing somewhat on Kyo, arms wrapped around his torso pinning his arms to his chest, face snuggling up to his chest as his eyes closed. Kyo's face was as red as his hair, half-trying to pull away, half-trying to snuggle in closer. Tohru and Momiji were stunned speechless, Hana and Up mildly shocked.

What really caught Uo's attention, however, was the dark, smoldering look in Yuki's eyes seconds before the bell rang. An exchanged glance said that Hana saw it to. Alright...so what does it mean?