"Yes, I'll be over as soon as possible. Don't move him. Keep Kyo away from him." The phone clicked as Hattori hung up. Yuki was unconscious and bleeding, Shigure had told him, though Shigure sounded entirely too pleased given the direness of the situation. Shigure did enjoy this sort of drama.

Hattori was thinking hard. Could it be that Kyo had finally won a fight? No, that was impossible. Something much more serious must have happened that morning. But if Kyo had won a fight, that would mean Kyo wouldn't be locked up in the cat's room...

"Hattori, where are you going?" Akito said from her room as Hattori passed by.

"Yuki's been hurt badly. He's unconscious," Hattori said curtly, then left without another word.

Tohru ran to the front door, tears streaming down her face. "Hattori-san! Hattori-san! Help!" She said. She had flung open the door as soon as she saw Hattori coming.

Hattori remained calm and came inside without asking any questions. There was blood on the floor in the dining room. Kyo wasn't in the room, which struck Hattori as suspicious. Shigure was feeling Yuki's cold, clammy forehead and face. Yuki had broken into a cold sweat while unconscious. Hattori knelt down beside Yuki, gently turned him onto his side, and began to wipe the blood off of Yuki's face while inspecting his nose. It was still gushing blood.

"Broken," Hattori announced. "I'm going to snap it back into place while he's still unconscious. He might wake up."

Tohru covered her face with her hands and violently shook her head.

SNAP! The bleeding subsided. Tohru let out a shriek, but Yuki still did not wake up. Hattori looked in Yuki's mouth with a flashlight, nodded with satisfaction, and then put a bandage over Yuki's nose. He gently prodded Yuki's stomach, nodded again, then picked Yuki up and carried him upstairs along with some ice from the kitchen. Tohru and Shigure followed anxiously. Hattori set Yuki down on his bed upstairs and turned to Shigure and Tohru.

"Yuki's nose should heal in a few weeks. Meanwhile, make sure he doesn't get into any fights with Kyo. Luckily, nothing's ruptured in his stomach, and he doesn't have any severe head injuries. For now it's best to let him lie in bed; he appears to need the rest. Call me again when he wakes up, Shigure. Tohru-kun, if you could stay with him until he wakes up, put this ice on his nose," Hattori said. "How did this happen?" he added as an afterthought.

Shigure and Tohru exchanged glances.

"Kyo-kun finally won a fight," Shigure said. Hattori's eyes widened. Tohru wondered if she was dreaming after all.

"I suppose there's no way around it. I'll have to inform Akito-san. Call me," Hattori said, then gathered his things and left. Shigure and Tohru sat in silence in Yuki's room, Tohru holding ice on Yuki's nose. Her eyes were still filled with tears. Her mind worked furiously. Yuki-kun was hurt, and she felt absolutely dreadful, but at the same time she felt that she had to go talk to Kyo-kun. He had stormed off without a word after Shigure decided to call Hattori, and Tohru hadn't seen him since. He was probably on the roof again, or maybe he had gone out somewhere. Either way, he seemed just as shocked as Shigure and herself. But wasn't this good news? Now Kyo-kun wouldn't be locked up in the cat's room, and maybe Tohru would live with Kyo-kun for just a while longer, and even talk to him when they finished high school. Still, what Kyo-kun did to Yuki-kun wasn't good at all... What would Tohru do now? When would Kyo-kun come back?

Hours passed as Tohru fretted over Kyo and Yuki. Shigure's stomach grumbled, awakening Tohru from her thoughtful stupor.

"A-ano-san, there should be some left over unagi in the freezer. Would you mind heating them up for yourself if you're hungry? I c-can't leave Sohma-kun," Tohru said.

"Of course. I won't be long. Tell me if he wakes up," Shigure said. He left Yuki and Tohru alone.

Tohru shifted slightly in her seat, and she moved the ice from one hand to the other as she did so. "Sohma-kun..." she sighed.

Yuki moaned and opened his eyes. "Honda-san! What happened?" As soon as he asked, he remembered exactly what happened.

"Eh-to..." Tohru murmured.

"Where's Kyo?" Yuki asked.

"I don't know. He left after- after-" Tohru couldn't get the words out.

"Oh," Yuki said. "I see. Why didn't you go after him?"

"I- you're hurt!" Tohru stammered. "Your nose-!"

Yuki's hand immediately touched his nose, and he flinched.

"It's broken," Tohru said. "You don't look so good. Y-you were really pale and sweating. You've been unconscious for hours."

"Really? What time is it?"

"Three o'clock in the afternoon."

"Ah! Really!" Yuki sat up quickly.

"No! Please rest. We have to call Hattori. He told us to call as soon as you woke up,"

Tohru said. She gently pushed Yuki back down, and got up to leave.

"Wait- Tohru-kun..." Yuki stammered.

Tohru sat back down, staring at Yuki. This was the first time he had called her by her name.

"I'm sorry about this morning... and I need to tell you something," Yuki said. "I- I really like you."

Tohru flushed. "Yuki-kun... I- I have to go tell Shigure... I have to find... have to find Kyo..." She ran out of the room. Yuki didn't know exactly how he was feeling right now, but he did know that he wanted to tell Tohru how he felt about her and he hoped she would understand what he had done. He felt like this was the one thing he might never be able to explain to her. In that respect, he knew Kyo would always be closer to her. He was jealous of Kyo for that. He wanted so badly to be able to confide in Tohru about this, just like everything else. Then, for no reason in particular, or for a whole slew of combined reasons, Yuki started to cry.

Tohru ran downstairs. Shigure looked up from his unagi. "Is he awake?"

Tohru nodded, then ran out the front door. It was cloudy outside, but it didn't look like it would rain just yet. Tohru climbed up the ladder by the side of the house to see if Kyo was there, but he wasn't. She hurried back down the ladder and she started running to the school. She wasn't sure why, she just did.

When Tohru finally reached her high school, Kyo was sitting on the roof, easily recognizable by his orange hair. Tohru climbed onto the roof as she had done many times before when following Kyo. She was breathless and crying a bit when she reached the top.

"Kyo-kun..." she breathed.

He started and got up, ready to run off again. Then he calmed himself slightly and gazed at Tohru in disbelief. "How did you find me?"

"I had a feeling... you'd be here," Tohru said between breaths. "Kyo-kun... Kyo-kun... does this mean you won't be locked up?"

Kyo looked away from her. "That depends on whether Akito will keep his promise. Tohru-kun, I- I'm sorry..."

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I've caused you trouble. You didn't have to get involved. And now Yuki's hurt... keh. Damn rat. It's his own damn fault." Kyo said.

"No! I wanted to get involved! I-... Kyo-kun, Yuki-kun's ok. His nose is broken, but he'll be fine. But Kyo-kun, I didn't want you to be locked up! Because..." Tohru paused for several seconds. Kyo looked back at her.

"What is it?" Kyo said, a little too violently.

"Nothing. Please come back to the house. Even Yuki-kun asked where you were," Tohru said. She would be disregarding Yuki's feelings too much if she told Kyo how she felt about him now. She needed time to think.

Kyo sighed. He looked a little disappointed. "Ok. Let's go back to the house."

Back at the house, Hattori had come over again. Shigure had left Yuki and Hattori alone because Hattori had expressed concern and wanted to ask Yuki some questions. Yuki knew Hattori wasn't stupid enough to fall for his trick, and he knew he must look terrible today after not sleeping much at all the night before. No, Hattori would have to be told. Or Yuki would have to think of a lie, and quickly.

"You should rest for the rest of the day at least. And maybe even a few more days. You seem to have taken a real beating. Is it true that Kyo won?" Hattori said.

"Mm. Kyo won," Yuki said.

"I wonder what Akito will think. Yuki, did you lose on purpose? Did you stay up all night or take anything that would have impaired your judgment?" Hattori asked. He stared at Yuki. Aside from appearing extremely pale and having dark rings under his eyes, it seemed that Yuki had been crying– something Yuki hadn't done for many years. Something was going on.

Yuki flinched at Hattori's directness and looked up. It was too late to make up an excuse for his slowness and his poor condition. "I may have lost some sleep last night. I overheard something about Kyo being locked up. And I may have taken some sleeping pills..."

"I see."

"But he did win, it was fair! I really wasn't expecting him to fight like that..." Yuki said pensively.

Hattori merely stared at Yuki.

"I- I never wanted to be stuck in the Sohma house. I never knew Kyo faced being locked up for the rest of his life unless he didn't win a fight. So I could relate to him just this once... Are you going to tell Akito-san?" Yuki asked anxiously.

"No. I think this needs to be a secret. But I also think you should tell Tohru, if not now then at some point," Hattori said.

Yuki didn't answer. How could he tell Tohru? Impossible.

Hattori gathered his things, said "Get some rest," and left. Yuki was left alone, feeling lonelier than he had felt in a very long time. "Tohru," he sighed.

Kyo and Tohru walked back in the rain. The two of them quickly became drenched in lukewarm water. Kyo grumbled. He knew he would transform soon. He hadn't been feeling too well since that morning, and he hadn't eaten anything all day. Tohru chanced a glance at him, clearly concerned. Kyo pretended to ignore her, and they continued to walk in silence. As they walked down a deserted side street, Kyo finally stumbled and transformed into a cat.

"Kyo-kun!" Tohru said. She immediately picked him up. Kyo did not allow her to pick him up in the past, but they had become closer lately, so he climbed into her arms without complaint. "Kyo-kun! Are you ok? Have you eaten anything today? Maybe you should sleep."

"I guess I forgot to eat, with everything that's going on. Let's just go back home," Kyo said.

"Ok. Will you be ok?" Tohru asked.

"Yeah, I should be fine," Kyo said.

Tohru hurried back to the house and burst in the front door. Shigure looked a little surprised, and also a little anxious, which wasn't like him at all.

"Tadaima," Tohru said.

"O-okairi," Shigure said.

"Shigure-san, I'm going to make some dinner. Kyo-kun's not feeling well," Tohru said.

"Hai," Shigure said. Tohru hurried into the kitchen.

The phone rang. Shigure picked it up. "Hai? Mushimushi?" He paused, looking intent.

"Akito," he said.

Disclaimer: We do not own Fruits Basket or its characters. This is a fan fiction based on the manga by Takaya Natsuki.