Why was he angry?" Yuki stared at the ceiling. It wasn't like he cared about Ayame's affairs. He just didn't want to walk in on them. But then, he had to admit that that wasn't the only reason he was upset. He couldn't get the image out of his mind, and he hated that stupid cat!

How long had this all been going on? They'd done so well to hide it from him… Those days that Kyo missed at school, and then Ayame would coincidentally be visiting from the main house…

Who all knew? Was he the only one that didn't know? Perhaps Ayame didn't trust him to keep the secret from Akito…

He flushed. What am I, Jealous? He scolded himelf. What did he care what Ayame did or who he told? And what did he care about Kyo? If that's the way he wanted to live his life then fine! He could be every bit the freak that everyone said he was! And if they were going to be so careless about it, then maybe they deserved Akito's punishment!

Yuki's eyes went wide. What had he been thinking? No one deserved that… His cheeks colored with shame.

A soft knock at the door startled him out of his thoughts. "Yuki-kun?" It was Tohru. "Supper is ready… if… that is, if you want it."

He yanked the door open.

"Eep!" she jumped.

"Oh! I didn't mean to startle you." He apologized. "I… I just didn't want you to think I wouldn't be coming down."

She flushed. "No, no! It's my fault! I shouldn't have been standing so close to the door."

They exchanged several profuse apologies before finally getting so confused as to who was apologizing for what that the entire ordeal was dismissed.

Outside of the dining room, Tohru tugged gently on Yuki's sleeve. "Um… Yuki…" she began tentatively. "I know it's none of my business, but… Aaya-san… he really does care about you, you know… so even though the two of you are fighting… maybe you could… try to remember that?" she finished meekly.

Yuki sighed. "We're not fighting." He finally replied. "We're just… having a disagreement."

That answer seemed satisfactory, for moments later; they were gathered around the low table, partaking of Tohru's excellent cooking.

"Um… it's been really nice weather lately…" Tohru attempted, trying to break the tension that seemed to have taken tangible form in the room.

Kyo was staring at his plate, Yuki was glaring at Kyo and Aaya seemed to be preoccupied with his fingernails.

Just then, the paper slat slammed open and Shigure allowed himself into the room. "Ah! I've returned in time! My dear Tohru-kun, I was sooo afraid that I'd be missing your delectable cooking. There is enough for me, isn't there?" he almost pleaded.

"Oh, yes!" Tohru leaped up to retrieve another bowl from the kitchen, glad for the excuse to leave. "I made enough for everyone… I think." She added as an afterthought.

"Ah, the sweetness of youth." Shigure babbled, and then paused, looking around the table. "Did someone die?" he asked. "You're all looking rather solemn."

"I'm done!" Kyo slammed his bowl down. "And I'm going to bed! No one better wake me up or else!" With that, he stormed from the room, slamming the paper slat behind him.

"Hmmm…" Shigure mused. "Kyo-kun seems upset. Did you two have a lovers quarrel, Yuki?"

"I'll kill you." Yuki seethed, shoveling the rest of his dinner into his mouth, making a hasty exit before he felt compelled to make good on his threat.

Shigure paused, then turned to Aaya, who was still studying his fingers intently.

"Aaya-chan…" Shigure began. "You wouldn't know why my household is so upset, would you?"

Aaya glanced away, refusing to meet Shigure's eyes. "It's awful of you to accuse me so, Gure-san…" he replied guiltily.

"I'm sorry; I couldn't find a clean bowel so I washed this one for you- ah!" Tohru had returned. "Where… where did everyone go?"

"Early to bed, early to rise." Shigure replied. "The boys seem to have been a bit tired."

"Oh…" she nodded, a bit awkwardly. "Um… I guess I'll go and study for awhile then…"

Shigure nodded. "As you like, Tohru-kun. Thank you for this delicious meal."

"I'm glad you like it." She replied. "Just tell me when you're done and I can finish the dishes for you."

He nodded again, not taking his gaze from Aaya. "Thank you very much. I'll let you know." He waited to hear her footsteps on the stairs before continuing. "Aaya… what did you do?"

Aaya finally sighed, hanging his head. "Gure-san, you know me too well. I fear I have one again driven a wedge in the brotherly bonding of myself and Yuki."

"Well, my fine friend," Shigure replied. "That's nothing out of the ordinary, but why then is Kyo-kun so upset as well?"

Aaya finally met Shigure's gaze. "Because I told him no one would find out." He replied.

"Find out?" Shigure asked.

"About our love affair." Aaya replied nonchalantly.

"Be serious." Shigure scolded.

"I am."

"Psychology, Biology, Physics and… Math." Tohru reviewed as she walked down the hall towards her room. "So I guess I have done all of my homework!" She smiled to herself. "Oh my, that's unusual! Hm?" Kyo's door was open and he was laying on his futon, a very wary look on his face.

"Kyo-kun…" she stopped outside of his door.

He looked up.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" she apologized with a bow, hitting her head on the doorframe.

"Ah!" Kyo jumped up. "Watch what you're doing!"

"Sorry!" she apologized, rubbing her head. "You just looked so worried; I thought that you could maybe use someone to talk to. Oh! But if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay!" she panicked. "I don't want to seem pushy!"

Kyo sighed. It was hard to stay mad when she was around. "I'm fine." He replied, but really he wasn't. "But you can come in if you want to."

Tohru smiled, accepting the invitation and Kyo closed the door behind them.

"Nothing's wrong." He said again, defensively.

"Oh, well that's good." She replied, sitting down beside him. "I'm glad."

There was silence.

"And I'm not hiding anything so don't try 'an pry into my business."

"Okay." She continued to smile. "I won't. I promise."

The silence continued.

"Well, what!" he demanded. "Are you just going to sit there!"

"Oh! Should I be doing something else?" She flushed. "Maybe you want help cleaning your room? Or I could bring you a snack!"

"That's not what I meant…" he groaned. "I just… you mean, you don't care at all why I was angry?"

"Oh! I do care!" she replied kindly. "But you said nothing was wrong, so I thought we'd talk about something else."

She'd cornered him. He sunk back to the floor. "What would you think if… I had a terrible secret?" he asked.

She blinked. "Something terrible?"

"Yes." He replied. "But not like… not like my true form, something that… something that was my fault, something that I could control if I wanted to…"

Tohru was silent. She was staring at him, contemplating. "Kyo-kun…" she asked in a trembling voice.

He froze. What did she already know?

"Are you… did you…"

He swallowed hard. Here it came.

"Did you get red marks for missing so much school?"

He stared at her. "Red… marks?" He blinked. "NO I DID NOT GET RED MARKS! I SAID IT WAS A TERRIBLE SECRET!"

"Oh…" she blinked a few times. "I think it would be terrible to get red marks…"

"Well it's NOT red marks." He growled, sliding back down into a sitting position. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

More silence ensued.

"I would be your friend anyway." She replied. "And try to help you if I could… if you had a terrible secret."

Kyo opened his eyes to look at her.

"My mom told me when I was little that everybody is hiding some terrible secret, something so horrible that they think no one will ever love them if they find out, but, she said, the thing that most people don't understand is that the only reason their secret is so terrible… is because they have to carry it alone."

Kyo stared at her. She was probably right, but… he doubted Kyoko had been talking about him when she'd said it.

"Kyo…" Tohru began again. "I just want you to know that… you can tell me anything that's bothering you. The important things will never change. I'm Tohru and you're Kyo, and I care about you, and that will never change."

"Tohru… I'm-"

"So that would explain why Yuki was being so touchy." Shigure nodded. "You know it has to be quite embarrassing for him." He grinned.

"You letch." Aaya teased. "You're thinking about your next book."

Shigure grinned, then cleared his throat. "Seriously though…you do understand what a big deal all of this is, don't you?" he asked.

"Well it wouldn't be if everyone didn't make such a fuss of it." Aaya pouted.

"Have you thought about Akito?" Shigure asked.

Aaya fell silent. "I've thought… about it."

"And?"

"And… if he should find out… then I don't mind being punished for it."

Shigure paused, formulating his next sentence carefully. "It might not be you he chooses to punish, Aaya-chan… have you thought of that?"

There was a long moment in which Aaya did not reply. "Can I call Hattori?" he asked, sounding like a child.

Shigure grinned. "Fine, call him. Maybe he'll talk some sense into you."