Shigure let a river of tears roll down his cheeks. "Aaaah....our little
flower is going to leave us to become a bride!"

"Ano.." Tooru blushed as she started to clear the dishes. Shigure had
teased and pouted about Tooru's secret admirer all through dinner. The story
had come out when Tooru had explained the reason for Uotani and Hanajima
visiting later that night.

"Stop being an idiot Shigure!" Kyou huffed, carrying his plates to the
sink. He felt like the back of his neck had been put in a vise it was so
tight. Every time that idiot dog mentioned the letter Kyou felt himself
tense a little more. It was pissing him off all this talk.

"Kyou-kun-"

"WHAT?" Kyou immediately regretted his burst. He hadn't meant to yell, it
just happened. He looked down into Tooru's surprised eyes. "W-what?"

"Do you feel alright?" She looked up at him concerned, hands soapy as she
washed the dinner dishes. "Kyou-kun didn't eat much dinner. Wasn't it good?"

Kyou was caught up in the look of concern on her face. No one ever looked
at him that way. "Aha..."

"It was fine." Yuki said placing his dishes in the sink and taking up a
towel to dry the dishes Tooru had already washed. He smiled at her,
"Honda-san's cooking is always delicious."

"I just wasn't hungry." Kyou's stomach tumbled around and he suddenly felt
like the kitchen was too close. Glaring at Yuki he left the kitchen and went
outside closing the door with a slam. Damn interfering mouse, always sucking
up to Tooru. He stopped dead in front of the house.

"Yo!" Arisa smiled, looks like they'd walking into something interesting.
She still wasn't too sure about these two, Orange Head and the Prince. That
they had helped Tooru when she needed it, for that they had her
appreciation. But the Prince was too stiff and Orange Head too rough. And
they were both idiots. But then, weren't all boys?

Hanajima nodded to Kyou as they passed and stepped through the door. The
unusual waves she felt when ever she entered this house, they seemed to be
even stronger tonight. Tooru was a precious friend, that she should be in
such an environment was a good thing of that she was sure. But any situation
could change, and she would be watching. She smiled as Tooru came forward to
greet them. Yes, she would be watching closely.

Kyou felt a shiver down his spine as he climbed up the ladder to the roof.
It was like someone walking over his grave. He sighed and looked up at the
moon. Why did he feel so pissed off!

* * *

After snacks had been procured and Shigure had been scared off by Saki the
girls settled in Tooru's room. Arisa lay on the bed, kicking her feet back
and forth while Tooru had her hair styled by Saki.

"I still say you have to make this room more like a girls. If not a make-up
table, you should get some cute pillows. Some nice flowers to decorate the
wall, or a poster."

Tooru smiled at her friend, careful not to turn her head under Hanajima's
hands. "Oh, no! I couldn't ask for anything else. I'd be punished. Yuki-kun,
Kyou-kun, and Shigure-san have done so much for me already."

"You could buy something with your part time money. Now that you live with
the Souma's your expenses should be less." Hana-chan twirled another ringlet
into Tooru's hair.

Tooru made a dissenting noise, "I have to save, someday I'll have to live
on my own. I want to start preparing now."

Uo-chan gave her a sideways look, "Ha-hah! Maybe you're new admirer will
shower you with gifts. Some nice cute dolls or stuffed animals."

"Eh-he-heh." Tooru blushed.

"Ah, yes, the letter." Hanajima released Tooru's hair, now a riot of curls.
"We should read it now."

Arisa got up and walked to the window. She opened it and enjoyed the cool
breeze that washed over her. She pushed herself up on the sill. "Yeah, the
letter. We still have to find out if this person is deserving of our Tooru."

Yuki looked up in surprise at his window. Uotani's words were muffled but
easily understandable. He walked to the window to close it. He shouldn't be
listening in.

"Here, hand it to me and I'll read it aloud for us."

Yuki's hand paused on the sill. He shouldn't be listening in. He leaned
against the wall next to the window sighing. He allowed himself to slide
down it to sit below the window. He hid his head in his arms. He shouldn't
be listening in.

A rustle of paper was heard and Kyou shivered. He should let them know he
was on the roof somehow. If he moved around the roof beams would creak and
they'd know to close the window. He rolled on his side, closer to the wall
with the window.

"Ah, his handwriting is neat, who ever he is."

Kyou held his breath and kept himself very still. He squeezed his eyes
shut, hating himself but unable to make himself reveal his presence.

"'I don't know how to start this letter.' Che! What kind of opening is
that?" Uotani gave a typically unladylike snort. "'Dear doesn't sound quite
right, even though you are dear to me.' Smoooth!" crowed Arisa.

"Yes, very clever." Hanajima agreed.

"'I know you don't know who I am. You've never seemed to take any notice of
me though we've been in the same class for a long time.' Geh, it's a boy in
our class."

Kyou's eyes narrowed. He ran the faces of male population of his class
through his mind. His insides twisted at the thought of one of them writing
this letter.

"'You're always smiling even though I know you've been through a lot.
Sometimes when I've had a bad day, I'd see you laughing and smiling with
your friends and some how I find myself smiling in return. You lift my
spirits just by being you. Honda-san is amazing. Someday I hope that you
will smile because of me. I hope you are pleased to know that you are
admired. I'm afraid I'm a little bit of a coward. I can't make myself sign
this letter. But I wanted to you to know that someone is thinking of you and
thinks you are special. It takes all my courage to send this letter to you,
but I hope you don't mind if I write again. Sincerely, An Admirer.'
'Sincerely'! He should have signed it 'love'!" Arisa folded up the letter
with regret. It was a good letter; someone obviously saw something of what
she did in Tooru.

"No, 'sincerely' is perfect." Hanajima disagreed, "'love' would be too
forward. He doesn't really know Tooru-kun yet."

"Ah, yes, you're right."

Yuki stared at the wall in the dark. Someone from his class had written
this letter? How could he not have noticed someone watching Honda-san? He
felt chilled. How could he have been so oblivious? On the roof Kyou clenched
and unclenched his fist. His mind had gone through much of the same line of
thought. Had that person *dared* to write 'love'-! He couldn't even finish
the thought. He didn't stop to think about what he would have done if it had
ended that way.

"Tooru..." Yuki's eyes opened at Hanajima's soft voice, "...you've not said
what you think of the letter."

"Eh-heh-heh." Tooru's laugh was nervous. "To be admired...I think is a good
thing. Mother said that to admire someone is to make your heart more open.
That when you see qualities to admire in another person that it is your
heart learning to be a better person. But...I don't think I'm anyone that
special."

"Mmmn?" Arisa sounded reflective. "I wonder...this person says you've been
in the same class for a long time. I wonder who he could be."

"Perhaps..." Hanajima sighed, "...that boy from that time in the past?"

"A~ah!" Arisa laughed, "Wouldn't that be something? To have been admired
since childhood, and him turning out to be her childhood savior."

Tooru gave a little happy sigh, "It couldn't be! Such a thing would be too
amazing."

Yuki stood and slid the window shut. He shouldn't be listening in.

* * *
Breakfast the next morning was tense. Uotani and Hanajima had left without
eating; Uotani had had to go to her part time job at the convenience store.
She and Hanajima decided to get something to eat on the way. Kyou didn't
appear at all for breakfast, leaving Tooru, Yuki and Shigure to themselves.
Yuki was silent, but Shigure couldn't help but continue to tease. This
opportunity was too good to miss.

"Tooru-kun did your letter ask you out on a date? I'll chaperone if you
want me to." Shigure smiled and watched Yuki tense. The boy was trying hard
to look like he was unaffected by all this. If Tooru-kun hadn't been
absolutely terrible at reading people it would have been laughable. As it
was, because Tooru-kun was absolutely terrible at reading people it was
still laughable.

Tooru flushed and looked into her bowl of rice. "No, the letter was just to
let me know I was admired."

Trying to sound casual, Yuki asked, "Do you know who it could be?" He saw
his older cousin smirking at him and glared. Catching Tooru's worried look,
he smiled and ate a bit of his breakfast. In truth his stomach was clenched
tight and each bite was difficult to swallow.

Tooru shook her head and move the dish of pickled radishes closer to
Shigure who'd been trying to reach them across the table. "The thought is so
surprising, that someone might admire me. I don't know who it could be." Her
face pinked again. "He-he said he was in our class."

"A class-mate rival!" Shigure sing-songed. His eyes narrowed as he looked
at his cousin staring helplessly down at his breakfast. He couldn't resist
twisting the knife a little further. "What will Yuki do?"

Yuki looked up and glared at Shigure. Time to change the subject. "Where is
that baka neko this morning? He's missing breakfast."

"Kyou-kun left early this morning. He said he wanted to visit the dojo for
some extra training." Tooru explained starting to clear the dishes. She bit
her lip as she thought about his morning farewell. She'd been sleepily
entering the kitchen when she looked up at clatter by the fridge. Kyou stood
drinking milk from the carton, already in his workout clothes. A towel
draped around his neck showed that he'd been up for some time and had
already gone through is morning routine. She smiled at him a little taken
aback by his start of surprise at her entrance.

"Kyou-kun is up early." She moved to the cupboards and started to pull out
the fixings for breakfast.

"Un, yeah." Kyou looked away from her and put the carton back in the
fridge. He looked at the closed fridge door for a moment then turned to
leave. "Don't bother making breakfast for me-" He started but stopped when
he looked up to see Tooru staring at him in concern.

"Kyou-kun still doesn't feel well?" Tooru stepped forward and raised a hand
as if to touch his forehead.

Kyou took a quick step back and cursed himself for doing so when Tooru's
worried look deepened. "That's not it. I'm fine. I'm just going to the dojo
early and don't want to eat till after."

"Ah, Kyou-kun trains hard." Tooru smiled and clasped her hands together.
"Kyou-kun is so admirable!"

'Someday I hope that you will smile because of me.'

Kyou's face darkened as the line chased through his mind. "There's nothing
to admire about it. I train because I still haven't beaten that damn Yuki.
There is nothing to admire about a failure." She shouldn't be smiling
because of him. Cursing himself, he quickly left the room careful not to
look at her.

Tooru sighed and finished washing up the dishes. Everything had been so odd
these past few days. Yuki and Kyou were both so tense. She looked up as she
heard the screen door open. Yuki held his trowel in his hand and was about
to step out. Smiling Tooru walked to the kitchen doorway, towel in hand.

"Visiting the secret base?" she asked brightly. "I'm almost done with the
dishes if Yuki-kun would like some help."

"Ah, Honda-san." Yuki turned with a smile. "That's not necessary. I'm just
going to turn the earth so that it's ready for planting. I won't be long."
He walked out sliding the door behind him. He needed to get away; to be
alone for a while.

Tooru's smile faltered. Yuki's smile...it had not been a true smile. Yuki
and Kyou...she sighed. "Mother," she thought, "I don't know how to make
things right." The letter she received...had not been from them. She went
back to her dishes. She didn't hear the door slide shut from Shigure's
office where he'd been peeping, but then she never had been very observant.

* * *