Chapter 11

Tsukiko's POV

Akina stopped in front of my apartment. Her eyes looked at me, the orbs full of concern in front of my sight. "I thought you wanted to talk to one of Uotani's friends. Did something come up Tsukiko?" I took a deep breath and opened my bag. The leather shuffled around for a few moments.

"Kind of, but it's better that I let it out to Toki." She smiled at me for a moment, stopping her car. "You sure you can spare the rest of the day for my class?"

"Of course, besides...my class is mostly on a field trip." She turned towards me, hugging me as tightly as she could. "I'll be right there in the hospital when you have your surgery. I won't leave you all alone, I promise." I put my arms slowly around her, she was something to look forward to. The way that Tohru Honda had looked at me though...

Arisa's POV

I dropped my sandwhich, it's contents fell to the ground. The news I had just heard...it had been meant for me. "Are you sure Tsukiko-chan said that, Tohru? She could have been speaking about someone else."

"I'm sure! She said that she wanted me to tell you, she had wanted...to say..." Yuki began to move towards her, almost embracing her. However, I had never seen any sort of full embrace from Prince Charming or Anger Management. Hanajima often mentioned that they were weird, but this was one of the most obvious things that I found weird. It was so obvious they liked Tohru. I was getting off topic on myself. "I left before she could finish what she was saying...I couldn't stand to hear anymore of it."

"It's okay Honda-san, I'm sure that she'll still be in class." His face was so much more different than before, almost as if he could see something we didn't. Hanajima and I knew that Tohru used this cheerfullness to often hide some of her emotions. Had the mention of death remind her of Kyoko?

Tsukiko's POV

I opened the door to my apartment, placing my flats off near the door. A small square of wood kept my shoes and a few other pairs of shoes some traditional space. I slipped into the simple worn clogs that I wore around the house. The brown cloth slowly snuggled my feet with some sort of welcome. I moved towards the table, looking in cabinets for a tea pot. I found a used iron one and filled it with water. I then placed it on a warming stove. I pulled out two chipped and not very expensive tea cups to the table. "Uotani-san, don't you understand...I..." I felt as if she was looking at me with some sort of hate, I don't understand why. She wasn't even in this room. "I'm doing this to be around you..."

Arisa's POV

I entered the classroom with a calmer and less faking Tohru. I had expected to see Tsukiko-chan by her desk, almost as if to say what she was saying to Tohru. However, the woman sitting at her desk wasn't Tsukiko-chan. "Everyone take your seats." The woman was almost completely strained, it was as if she knew something was wrong. I took my seat and kept feeling as if the woman herself was looking at me. "Some of you may know me from class 2-B, my name is Akina Mikuri. As you have been informed, Yasu-san had been planning a leave. Her leave was to start tomorrow, but she had intended a early leave this morning. This is going to be a study hall, since she had no plan of starting a new math lesson. A substitute has all the lessons planned, so tomorrow will start the official leave. Please use your time constructively." She sat down, and she was grading our class term papers. I had no idea that this would be a problem for this woman, who was she to Tsukiko-chan?

Tsukiko's POV

Three minutes after hearing the tea kettle finish the heating of the water, Toki's knock came at the door. "Come in." The door opened, swinging a little before he entered. He pulled off his shoes and placed on a pair of black leather slippers. His attire looked completely proffessional, yet he looked absolutely stressed out. "You look...more stressed than I would have expected to see you."

"I was just checking the statistics on the surgery, considering it just moved a few months ago from expiramental to approvable use." He moved to the seat next to mine, looking at the tea cup. "I have a question."

"Yes?"

"For all those years it was expiramental, you told me no. What changed your mind about the surgery?"

"It was Uotani, her caring so much for me...was not expected. I realized that even though I had told her I couldn't fix my heart completely, I could do something to try to fix it." I remembered the day I had been sick, and all the days after. Spending so much time with her...made me realize...I wanted...to live to the fullest. "I want to be around her, even if it may cost me more than I can give. I want her to be happy."

"Well, what was the other problem you were having?"

"I told her friend about it, to tell her. I couldn't stand to see her unhappy for a reason that I wanted her to be happy. If I could fix my heart, even a little, I would take a chance." This was all to help my life, and her to be happy. "I couldn't finish what I wanted to say, and I couldn't stand to face her friend or Uotani after she had...ran off." He put a hand on my shoulder, and I answered by placing my head on his shoulder. I then began to cry. Tears of pain, sorrow, fear, anything you could thing of. "I'm afraid...that I'll never see her again!" My chair fell beneath me, Toki's arms catching me and letting me cry into his fairly expensive suit. Salty droplets of water stained the white suit shirt, the dark green blazer, and his neck. His hands didn't move, just held me tightly. How could I have...cried like a five year old on him? I didn't know, but it felt so...relieveing.

Uotani's POV

Hanajima and I had accompanied Tohru to be with her. I had to be sure she was okay as well, the words she had heard were hard on someone like herself. She was sitting at the table, with some sweet snacks around us. A few of the other school Sohma's were around as well, I think they were Hatsuharu and Momiji. Tohru's face was almost completely adorned in dripping happiness. We all knew it was fake, and had to cheer her up. A knock on the door made the authour go to the door, opening it to reveal Toki. "I'm sorry to bother your company, but I heard Arisa Uotani was among them."

"No problem, she's right in the living room at the moment." He came through the hall, following the authour to the room we were all in.

"I require a word with you, Uotani-san."

"You have done enough, filling Tsukiko-chan's head with the ideas of some surgery that could kill her!" Anger, it was in my vains. This had made Tohru sad, and it made me as angry at the doctor than I had when I first met him. His face didn't look angry at me, more like worn out with worry. He moved to a corner of the room, and the Sohma's along with Tohru had silenced. However, he looked so still and filled with worry that I probably couldn't imagine.

"I can't argue with you, not when Tsukiko is one of the people in the world in pain. She knew that you would object to her surgery, and didn't want it at first. However, this was before she came to know who you had become." I was silenced, and I felt almost as if the world had gone completely to a halt on me. "I am sorry, Tohru. She had expected a much easier time doing it indirectly with you, to tell. However, telling it to you, Uotani-san...was something she couldn't seem to do."

"Then tell me what you..."

"She's doing this because of you." I was again silenced, I could feel as if Toki himself wanted to cry in return. "When I first met her, she was a woman looking to fulfill something. She often would tell me of some girl who braved death to leave a gang she had been in. When she learned of her condition, her attitude was only to find and fulfill a life she desired. When she met you, after all the time she had been offered the surgery...she had said no. After spending some time with you, and after her days spending time alone getting to know you and your friends...she wanted it. She is doing this for you, to be around you. She is braving death to be around you, and to fix her heart only a little, if not all. What she didn't have a chance to tell Tohru Honda, was that she wanted you to be by her side." He placed a file down near me, I didn't touch it. "It's the details of the surgery, good day." He then left, and I couldn't think straight. All of this...for me?

TBC...