A/N: YAY! Thank you for the reviews! And someone pointed out (thank you!) that I was spelling Manabe's first name wrong (it was spelled Kakeru). I shall fix this, I promise.

This chapter doesn't have much Yuki/Machi stuff except for the beginning. But next chapter we'll see Machi again.

Ayame-San

"Yuki-kun, are you all right?" Tohru looked at him with some concern as she set the table for dinner.

"Yeah – yeah, I guess I'm all right," he told her, running his hands over his face, wearily, but managed to smile up at her. 'Thank you for your concern, Honda-san."

Despite his words, Tohru noticed the worried expression didn't leave Yuki-kun's face.

He didn't talk much during dinner with the family either. "I think I'm going to bed now," he announced, and rose from the table.

Kyo looked at Tohru in wonder. "What's up with him?"

Tohru looked down sadly, "I don't know. He was like this since he came home."

"Oh, it's probably the moroseness of graduating catching up with him," Shigure sighed nostalgically. "The memories…"

Kyo looked at Shigure, half grumpy, half annoyed. "The hell -? It's not like you're graduating!" He bellowed.

"Yes, but the thought of you three doing so brings back so many fond memories," Shigure sighed, dramatically. "Like when Ayame and I would run through the girl's locker room -"

"Augh! HELL no! Not one of your damn high school stories!"

"Kyo, how very cruel! But Tohru would like to hear them, wouldn't you Tohru?"

"I – eh, that is, eh!"

"Don't drag her into this, you damn dog!"

"But I'm not a dog any more, remember Kyo-kitchni!"

"You sure as hell act like one though! AND DON'T CALL ME THAT! Stupid Ayame and his nicknames!"

As this fight was going on, however, it was all background noise to Yuki, who lay down in his bed, thinking.

Why couldn't he stop worrying about Machi? Was she alright? She seemed so faint when he helped her up and took her outside. Why did this have to happen the on the day before the weekend? If they'd only gone to the movies during the middle of the week, he would have seen her at school the next day to make sure she was okay.

The weekend never had managed to seem so long. He had been tempted to call her, go to her house. But he couldn't do that. He could have called Kakeru and ask him, but he thought of how annoying that phone call would go, and wasn't in the mood to put up with, which made that out of the question.

So the best thing – make that, the only thing – Yuki could do was wait agitatedly until Monday came around.


Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending how you look at it, the weekend didn't pass by uneventfully.

"Ayame!" Shigure-san greeted his long-time best friend as he walked in the doorway.

"Alas, Shigure, my love. I have not a moment to lose – and every second in your company makes me more reluctant to leave you. But I must see my brother Yuki this instant! Yuki, it's your brother!"

Yuki opened his room door sleepily, and was met with a sight that made him want to go back to bed.

Too late.

"Yuki, your elder brother is here!" Ayame came up to him, and in one bound hugged his brother. "I know how tragic the long weeks and months since I talked to you has been, but I'm here now! Not to worry, I shall never part from you once again, you poor soul!"

"Megh Goh," Yuki murmured angrily, while Ayame held on to him tight.

"Eh? What was that, Yuki?" he pulled his brother away at arm's length.

"I said, 'Let go'," Yuki glowered.

Ayame dropped his arms from Yuki, but only to say, "Thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried about you! I didn't know how many sunrises and sunsets have passed until I could see you again!"

"Augh!" Yuki said in frustration, "I saw you only two weeks ago, and you live not even five miles from here! You could see me any time you wanted!" Even though Yuki wished that he wouldn't – visit him any time, that is. "So why'd you come to see me?" he sighed, surrendering.

"Ah yes!" Ayame smiled happily, he began walking around in the room. "It has come to my notice that you, dearest Yuki, are going to graduate soon. Why, I remember when I was about to graduate high school: Haa-san, Shigure, and I had so much fun. Why – the party we threw at the end of graduation was an urban legend for years to come! I –"

"Is there a point to all of this?" Yuki interrupted him.

"What? Oh. Ah yes!" Ayame recollected. "And so, I know that you haven't decided yet what you are planning on doing after high school, so I decided for you," he rummaged through the bag he was carrying, and pulled out from the bag he had next to him a blue jacket. "Ta-da!" The back of the jacket was embroidered lavishly with the words, "Apprentice".

Yuki could only stare at gift, annoyed. "What is it?" he asked, but thought, do I really want to know?

"It's you're new Apprentice jacket! Which you will wear of course while you work along side your brother in his store, sewing and creating, and learning the pure wonder of my art!" he announced, tears in his eyes.

Yuki nearly fell over at this speech.

"Wah – You told you I wanted to be your apprentice!" Yuki shouted angrily.

Then he saw Shigure passing, whistling, innocently.

"Don't blame Shii-san," Ayame put his arm around Yuki, who was still shooting daggers at the direction Shigure disappeared to. "It was I who protested you wouldn't like it, but Shii-san convinced me that you should like to have something to preoccupy you while you are still deciding what you want to do in life."

Yuki stopped, and blinked in surprise at Shigure's thoughtfulness.

"Of course he also said that once you moved out, he wanted to turn your bedroom into his new fitness lounge."

"Of course he did," Yuki muttered, knowing he shouldn't have expected anything close to kindness from Shigure, without a double motive in it.

"Very well, Yuki. I have to go. Mine can't watch the store all by her self, you know. Good-bye, sweet Yuki," he gave his brother another suffocating hug, and then released him. "Until we meet again!"

And Ayame was out the door.

Yuki sat down to digest what just happened. There was no way he was going to be his brother's apprentice, that one thing was for sure. But he thought about it.

It could be a way to spend more time with his brother. But that also had its pit falls. Yuki didn't know if he could take being in his brother's presence for more than six hours a day, five days a week.

"Ah, Yuki-kun!" Tohru came rushing inside. "Was Ayame-san just here? Shigure said he was."

"Yes," Yuki smiled kindly at her. "But he left already; you just missed him."

"Oh," she frowned. "Why was he here? Maybe he would have liked something to eat?"

"No, he seemed in a hurry," Yuki told her, and then showed Honda-san the shirt, and told her what his brother wanted him to do.

"How wonderful!" Tohru smiled excitedly at Yuki. "That seems like so much fun!"

"I don't know," Yuki said thoughtfully. "I don't know if I would like it."

"You said you wanted to try new things," Tohru smiled. "Maybe here's another chance?"

Yuki smiled, nodded, and told her he'd think about it, and Tohru seemed happy with that.