Chapter 2: Dance, Dance

She says she's no good with words but I'm worse/Barely stuttered out "A joke of a romantic,"/or just stuck to my tongue/Weighed down with words too over-dramatic/Tonight it's 'it can't get much worse' vs. 'No one should ever feel like...' Dance, Dance, by Fall Out Boy

As it turns out, when Machi ran for help, it came at a run in the form of Kakeru, Tohru, and Kyo. She had found Kakeru napping in a utility closet on the second floor, and she wouldn't say where she found Kyo and Tohru, but judging from Kyo's mussed hair and Tohru's swollen lips, not to mention the fact that Tohru's tie was no longer tied and Kyo's shirt was on inside-out, it wasn't hard to guess.

Kakeru had arrived and in a moment's instant assessed the situation and decided the best way to handle the problem was to throw himself on Yuki and hold him down while yelling things like, "Bad Yun-Yun! Don't pound on people's faces! It's not nice!" and, when Yuki told him to get the hell off, "Why do you threaten me, Yun-Yun? I'm only trying to help you and Machi-chan work through these problems in your dirty, sweaty, love-hate relationship!" and then, because that seemed to upset Yuki so much that he began bucking and wrenching to get out of Kakeru's surprisingly firm grip, "Stop wriggling! We're pressed together in places that straight and narrow men such as ourselves should not be pressed in, but you are just so pretty that I might just say 'the hell with it!' and give in to temptation!" and after that Yuki held very still until Kakeru let him go.

Now they were standing around in an awkward silence, as Tohru applied band-aids to Haru's face as Kyo stood there and looked on to make sure Haru didn't try anything and Yuki fumed but kept a wary eye on Kakeru, who was preening because he had been the Mysterious Man-In-Black who saved the day, which irritated Machi to the point where she told him sharply to cut the crap, which made Yuki snarl "Like you're one to talk," right back at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kakeru cried out, suddenly alert.

"Yeah Yuki," Haru sneered loudly, gently brushing off Tohru's anxious attempts to bandage him aside. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you never should have kissed her!" Yuki burst out, his cheeks flushed.

Everything was suddenly very surreal to him; he couldn't believe this was happening; why was this happening? He felt as though the floor had dropped out from under him and he couldn't catch it again, couldn't get his feet on it again to stand up straight and take charge of this situation; where was Cool, Calm, and Collected Yuki? He couldn't make heads or tails of which was up or down, or what was wrong or right, and it was making him sick to his stomach. There was something stirring from the depths, something he wouldn't look at; something he refused to admit was there. Everyone was staring at him, completely floored. Except Haru. Haru looked...pained? His eyes unwillingly slid over to Machi. Her face was blank but Yuki could see something struggling to come forth in her eyes; he could see that what was happening was finally catching up to her too but he felt no vindication that she was probably just as freaked out as he was.

Haru was talking again. "Why not, Yuki?" he was saying, and it sounded like it was coming from a long way off. "Why shouldn't I kiss her?"

"Because—" Yuki was vaguely aware that he had no idea was he was about to say and was almost thankful when Machi spoke for the first time, cutting him off.

"Your cousin didn't kiss me," she told him flatly. "I kissed him."

Yuki came back to his body so fast that it hurt. He stared at her, completely shocked. She met his gaze boldly, her eyes swimming with an emotion he couldn't name; what did she want from him?

Yuki looked at Haru instead. Haru was staring at him impatiently. Come on Yuki, he seemed to be saying. Don't you get it? No, Yuki didn't get it. There was something bubbling in his chest now, some unnamed emotion threatening to spill over and Yuki had a feeling it had to do with the urgent look on Haru's face and the look in Machi's eyes and the way she had kissed Haru so desperately.

"So," he said, instead of confronting the elephant in the room.

"So," Haru replied.

"She kissed you."

"She kissed me."

Yuki realized he had nothing more to add to the conversation and instead swung around to stare at Machi accusingly.

"So," he said.

Machi glared at him.

"Why did you kiss him?" Yuki asked bluntly. Machi looked confused. She stared down at her hands, which were trembling.

"I don't know," she whispered. Then, louder, "I don't know. He was just...there and he looked...I thought he looked...nice. So I kissed...him." Her words were halting and bewildered, as if she wasn't really sure what she was saying.

"Nice," Yuki repeated incredulously. "You thought he looked nice so you kissed him."

Machi nodded dumbly, her cheeks crimson with humiliation. She looked perplexed.

"Hey," Haru interrupted. "I can't help it if I'm attractive to women."

"And you just had to respond so enthusiastically because...?"

Haru shrugged nonchalantly. "She's a cute girl. I can't help but react positively when a cute girl throws herself on me. Like I said, I'm just attractive to—"

"What about Rin?" Yuki interrupted. Haru flinched. "Is she no longer...attracted to you? Is that why you feel the need to jump at any chance you can get for some action?" Yuki went on mercilessly. "Did it have to be Machi specifically? Or could it have been any cute girl?"

Haru shrugged again, his features blank. "I don't know. Why does it bother you so much that it was Machi?"

"He has a point, you know," Kakeru said thoughtfully. Yuki looked at him, startled. So far he, Kyo, and Tohru had been absolutely silent. "If it had been anyone else, would it have been as big a deal?"

"I—" Yuki started to say.

Kakeru ignored him. "Like, what if it had been Honda?" He jerked a thumb at Tohru, who blushed a furious shade of red. Kyo suddenly began paying much more attention to the conversation. Yuki blinked in surprise.

"What if you had caught him making out with her?" Kakeru continued. "Would you be as mad then?" Kyo glared ferociously at Kakeru for suggesting it, then at Haru, daring him to just try it.

Yuki opened his mouth. Nothing came out. He had no idea what to say. What was Kakeru talking about anyway? What were any of them talking out? What was happening?

Haru's voice brought Yuki back to his senses

"Tohru and Kyo..." Haru paused. "They love each other. Kyo would kill to defend her." Both Tohru and Kyo blushed but Kyo didn't relax his guard. "So I wouldn't kiss her," he finished with a shrug, looking bored. Kyo relaxed somewhat, but Tohru turned an even darker shade of red and hid behind him.

"Why not?" Yuki heard himself ask in a despairing sort of voice. "Why me?"

The silence in the courtyard was deafening. Then Tohru peered at Yuki from around Kyo's shoulder. "Yuki-kun?" she asked, wide-eyed in wonder. "Are you jealous?"

You can trust me not to think/And not to sleep around/And if you don't expect too much from me/You might not be let down/'Cause all I really want is to be with you/Feeling like I matter too/If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago/I might be here with you/You're the best I've ever had/Hey jealousy/Hey jealousy Hey Jealousy, by Gin Blossoms


Author's Notes: Well, I hope you like it so far. I did my best to pick the music appropriately...Oh, yeah, and most of the verses aren't in order—I just sort of picked out my favorite parts of each song and wrote them, so don't take my lyrics as the actual lyrics, you know?

Thanks so much for the reviews, by the way! Hope you review again!