Chapter 8 – Experiments

Stunned by the sudden dispersal of the Sohma curse, the members of the Zodiac, to which they still referred themselves only jokingly, came one by one to the main Sohma complex with their obedient Zodiac animal in tow to thank the two girls in person. Kagura immediately ran up to hug Kyo and his cat, which he let the Boar Woman keep with little argument. "Sure it's my zodiac, but I don't wanna have to take care of it! We're gonna have enough problems turning this place into a zoo anyway…" Kyo would hear no more from his 'lover.' Momiji greeted Tohru the same way, glad to be able to embrace Tohru as a human for once. "You did it! Thank you so much Tohru, you too Hana!" Momiji shifted and hugged Hana, who seemed a little surprised by the energetic boy. Smiling at the happy, if not strange scene in front of her, Tohru didn't notice someone coming up from behind and putting their arms around her waist.

"I want to thank you, too… Tohru…" Yuki said, clutching onto his unofficial girlfriend as if it were the last time he would. Tohru blushed as she felt Yuki's lips graze her cheek. 'Is he… he must feel so alive right now… everyone… I'm glad I could finally do something for you in return for all you've done for me… To able to hold the one he loves… must be indescribable. It is for me…' "Um… Yuki… you're welco-" Tohru began to ask, happy but taken aback by Yuki. "I just wanted to try it for once… and I have to say… it feels pretty good."

Kagura, walking over with her own copy of Kyo, noticed the Prince and the Savior together, and couldn't resist asking, as she wasn't there the night before during Akito's revelation. "Um… excuse me, but… are you two… going out?" Yuki let go of Tohru to put his hand on her shoulder while Tohru chuckled. "Heh heh… I suppose you could say that." Kagura nearly squealed and took her turn jumping into Tohru's arms. "EEHEE! That's just so cute!" Tohru and Hana continued accepting thanks from the Sohmas as they made their way out to the car outside to leave. Although the family left their Zodiac selves behind to make an exhibit inside the main complex, they seemed to miss their curse in a love-hate sort of way.

"Are you sure you didn't want to take Spot back? He looked so cute; it would have been nice to have him as a pet!" Tohru commented to Shigure in the driver's seat, who laughed. 'Why the hell are you still calling it that…?' Kyo thought to himself, remembering the shenanigans from the first sleepover with Uo and Hana. 'Hey wait a minute…' "Yo, Saki… are you gonna tell any of this to Arisa?" Hana gasped, since she found out about the curse, she had forgotten all about her. 'Well, I suppose I'll have to at some point… I hope that she can handle it all.' She thought to herself before responding. "I guess I will… but there'll be some hell to pay… she doesn't like it when we keep secrets." Nothing more was said until they got back home.

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Hana went straight to Tohru's room when they arrived; this concerned the otherwise optimistic Sohmas now living in the house, what with their curse now null and void. 'Why would she seem upset… we just broke the curse, what would she be worried about… it may not be my place, but…' The brunette immediately followed her friend, leaving the Sohmas in the back of her mind. Yuki lifted a hand to stop her, but lowered it soon after. 'This is their problem… I have no place in it.'

"Hana… are you all right?" Tohru asked her friend. "You seemed… depressed. Is there something wrong?" Hana wouldn't look back at her as she prepared her speech. "Tohru… that spirit… it called me… the dark one. Is that true? Am I really…" Tohru sat down next to her, interrupting her. "Hana… I won't lie to you… compared to others, yes… you are dark. But I believe… that darkness in often misunderstood. I think… that it's only evil if it's tainted… by something else. Darkness… is a good thing, like every other element in the world. Fire… Earth… Wind… Water… Light… each can relate to a person in some way… bringing color, personality to the world, including the dark. Otherwise… the world would be boring. No night would make the world go at a standstill… dull. You're my best friend, Hana… there's no way that you're… tainted." She finished her comforting speech, putting her arms around her.

'She always has something to relate to someone else…' Hana reminded herself, returning the hug.

"This is why I love you Tohru… you always know how to make someone happy, even when you don't realize it yourself." Tohru still didn't know how to respond to Hana's loving words, this time being interrupted by a knock at the door heard outside. Tohru's nature allowed her to reluctantly leave her friends' grasp to answer the door. The gothic teen followed her downstairs to the door and let out a gasp when she saw who it was.

"AHA! I knew it!"

Tohru gasped with an entirely different emotion than Hana's, she was happy to see Arisa Uotani standing at the door. For once, Uo pushed Tohru aside to interrogate Hana. "Hana, why did you trick me just to come here? You could have invited me too, you know!" Tohru's surprise was now replaced with confusion as she tried to find out why she was angry at Hana. "Um, wait… she said you… but then… um… what just happened?"

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After cornering the other two girls, Uo was able to coerce each and every bit of information that transpired during the weekend. She only seemed surprised by the parts dealing with the curse and the process of breaking it, seeing as she already knew about Hana's crush to some extent, and also predicted that either Yuki or Kyo would have shown feelings for her as well. "So… Tohru, you must feel a little overwhelmed right now, huh? Sorry, but I can't really give you any advice in that kind of area. Despite what little rumors about me may exist, I'm not popular enough to have a boyfriend yet, let alone trying to balance two other people…" Tohru shrugged off Uo's apology. "Oh, it's OK… you'll find someone sometime… but I never thought that… Hana would…"

Uo interrupted her this time. "Well… I have to be honest with you… I didn't think she'd come this far. But hey, I have an idea. You two go out tonight, see what happens, then compare it with ol' rat boy. What do you say?" Tohru blushed, waving her hands in protest to Uo's offer. "Well, I couldn't really date her; that would be wrong, people would…" Uo cut her off again, surprised to hear these words from her usually optimistic friend. "Since when have you cared what other people think of you? Outside of other friends, of course…"

'She is right... What does it matter what other people think… as long as we're together, I'm happy… we're happy. That's all I need.' Tohru thought to herself. "Well… OK, if you insist." Uo jumped up, striking a fist in the air in triumph. "All right! I'll help pay, then you two can get started on the road to love!" Both of the girls chuckled. "That's something I'd expect from Shigure, Arisa…" Hana added, making the three of them laugh together, pondering what the night would bring.

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"Tohru?"

Yuki walked toward the brunette and sat next to her on her bed. "Are you feeling OK?" Tohru, as always, shook her head. "Yes, I'm fine… I'm just… a little overwhelmed today…" Yuki smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "I can understand that… not only did you break our curse…" he paused to kiss Tohru on the cheek again, making her blush an even deeper shade of red. "…which I can't thank you enough for… but now you have this little… romance quandary… or words to that effect." The rat laid out the problem, still uneasy.

"What can I do…?" Tohru asked him. "I want… I want to make you both happy… but I have to choose one of you at some point… it just feels… so wrong." She turned around to fall into Yuki's comforting arms. "This day… it made me realize things… I never thought I knew about myself… I realized… I love you…" Yuki smiled, but was speechless. "But I… I love her too… both of you have always been there for me, and you've done so much to help me… what can I do?" she repeated, sobbing into her friend's chest. Yuki stroked her hair, trying to comfort her even more, even though he knew there was little he could do.

"I already know that… you have a sort of 'date' with her tonight… but I just… want to wish you luck." Tohru looked up at his face, not daring to believe what she heard. "If you're happy with her… I'll be able to give you up. I'll be OK. If I can only be a brother to you… I promise I'll be the best brother I can." Tohru tightened her hold on her unofficial boyfriend and, without thinking, leaned up and kissed him quickly on the lips. For those tiny few instants, Yuki was lost in the moment. Tears were present in Yuki's eyes as they broke apart. "Tohru… that was my… was it your… our…?" Yuki couldn't finish the sentence, as he was referring to the fact that that was their first kiss. The rice ball girl nodded slowly before getting up to leave with Hana.

'I hope I'm not going to regret that…' Tohru thought to herself.

(A/N: OK, I don't know why I promise things like fluff because I honestly do not know what 'fluff' even implies… but I digress. Next time… Hana's date, and well as a fresh new couple being introduced into the story! (well, my story anyway…) Stay tuned for some Kyo/Kagura behind the scenes of Tohru/Hana! You won't want to miss this one!)