Disclaimer: you know the drill

Author's note: Hooray! I can't tell you how happy I am to get such wonderful reviews, and I thank you all for giving suggestions about what should happen next. It really helped clear my mind and inspire me to write more. So, without further ado, Chapter six!

CHAPTER SIX: To Be Alone

After he had broken the news to her, and she had convinced him to leave, Jennifer locked the door behind him, breathing fast.

I can't believe it...My parents are dead...Mom…Dad…. They're dead! They died, and here I am all the way across the world! I'll never get to see them again1 I'll never hear their voices…ever again! I…I'm…an orphan…What will I do? What will become of me? Does this mean I have to go home? Where will I stay now that they're gone? Stephen is in college- he can't take me in…I don't even remember any of my grandparents…How could this have happened? Mom was so worried about me getting hurt and now…. I'm all alone…What does this mean? What do I do now? What can I do…now that my parents are dead?

"I'm worried about her," Tohru said, eating the takeout that was for dinner.

"Me too," Shigure sighed, "It must be so hard on her, to lose both of her parents while she's so far away."

"Well, Shigure," Yuki asked, "What happens now? Will Maiso-san be staying here, or going back to America?"

"I'm not sure," he answered, "They said on the phone that they notified the exchange program about the incident, and that the program should be sending us some information soon. However, I'm more concerned about Jeni-kun getting something to eat. Has she come out at all?"

"No," replied Yuki, "she hasn't. I even went up there to check on her, but I couldn't hear a single noise coming from her room. Honda-san, why don't you try to talk to her?"

"I've already tried- the door was locked, and she wouldn't let me in…Jeni-kun is probably in so much pain- I feel so bad for her…I know the pain of losing your parents…I wouldn't wish that on anybody…Not even my worst enemy…"Tohru said thoughtfully.

Kyo, however, said nothing while he picked at his food. He had lost his appetite. Later that night, lying in bed he thought over everything, replaying the memory of telling Jennifer that her parents were dead over and over like a movie reel. She had no clue what he was going to have to say to her when she opened the door. After he had told her, she had blinked a few times, and asked, "What?".

Kyo sighed, turning over on his futon.

"I'm sorry," was all he said in response. I'm so stupid! He thought angrily into the dark, I should have said something more! Something meaningful! Her parents died, and all I could say was "I'm sorry"!

He could still see that look on her face- the way her eyes grew wider and wider until she turned away, her back facing him.

"Please, go…" she had told him softly.

"Are you…all right?" he had asked- Another stupid thing to say! Kyo said to himself in his mind, Of course she wouldn't be okay! Man, she must really think I'm a total idiot. Why can't I say anything nice to her?

"I'm fine…really…please-go…"she said, her voice quiet but steady, and that was the last thing he had heard her say before he went out the door and left her alone.

Jeez- everything seems to happen to this family, Kyo pondered, I hope she really is okay…I mean, none of us has heard a peep from her room since then…But I'm sure the door is still locked…I want to see her! I want to know that she is all right!

Kyo threw the covers off of him, stood up, and made his way to his bedroom door. Opening it and shutting it softly behind him, his feet padded softly on the floor of the hall as he made his way. It was very late, and the house was still. Kyo went down the stairs through the kitchen, and out the back door, into the back yard. After walking around to the side of the house, he climbed the ladder up to the roof, and went silently over to Jennifer's skylight. Trying to be as silent as possible, Kyo laid himself on his stomach and peered down through the glass, and into Jenny's room.

There she was, lying across her bed asleep. She was on top of the covers, and she was still wearing her uniform, so Kyo guessed she had probably drifted off sometime that evening. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep, and Kyo was glad that she was okay, but he made no move to return to his own bed. Instead, he settled himself more comfortably on the roof, and continued to look down at Jennifer.

Hm- Tohru was right- she does look sort of cool in the guy's uniform, ...I guess….But I'll probably never get to see her wear it again…What's with her, anyway? ...She's always stepping in- like when rat boy and I were fighting, or when we saw that little girl. ...She didn't even care what other people thought about her ...or what she was doing!... I guess she just likes saving the day…

And with that thought, Kyo drifted off to sleep as well, right next to Jennifer's skylight.

The next morning, Kyo woke up, scrambled off the roof, and hurried in the house, hoping he wasn't late for school. Luckily, he found a nice breakfast in the kitchen, being kept warm on the stove and spreading pleasant scents throughout the house. Kyo heard footsteps coming down the hallway and turned around to see Shigure, who yawned a "Good Morning" before smiling widely.

"Ah, what a pleasant surprise, Kyo-kun!" Shigure complimented, getting a bowl out of the cupboard, "You've decided to grace us with your cooking! You'll make a very good housewife, someday!"

"Shut up! I didn't cook this!" Kyo yelled angrily.

"What's going on?" a voice behind him said- It was Yuki.

"Really, it's much too early for your nonsense," the silver-haired boy continued, "At least Honda-san cooked us breakfast."

Tohru, who had come in after Yuki, looked puzzled, and said, "I didn't cook this. I just woke up. I thought it was Kyo-kun."

"Then who…?" Shigure and Yuki asked.

Tohru gasped, then ran up the stairs, calling out, "Jeni-kun! Where are you?"

"Look here," Yuki told them, picking up a piece of paper from the countertop, "It's a note from Maiso-san. It says, 'I went to school early, hope you don't mind, Jennifer Maiso.'"

Yuki placed the note back on the counter, looking at Shigure and Kyo. "Do you think she is really at school?"

"You mean do we think she ran away?" Shigure clarified, "It's a possibility I suppose."

Tohru came back into the kitchen looking worried, "Jeni-kun isn't in her room, and her bag is gone!"

Kyo ran down the hall and into his room to hurry up and change into his uniform. Once he was dressed, he slung his bag over his shoulder, and the three companions hurried to school. They got there a few minutes before the bell, but they didn't see her in front of the school with everyone else, and when they asked Hanajima and Uotani, they said they hadn't seen her either. Before they could continue searching, the bell rang, and they had to go inside for class, though Kyo was sorely tempted to skip class and keep looking. But he soon found that was not necessary. Walking into math class, he spotted Jennifer sitting in her desk, gazing placidly out of the window, and she did not seem to notice as he took his seat in his desk next to hers.

Once the sensei got absorbed in his lesson plan, and Kyo was fairly sure he was not looking, Kyo folded up a note and tossed it across the aisle, onto Jennifer's desk. That caught her attention, and she opened the paper, making sure to stifle the noise.

What happened this morning? The note read, You really shouldn't disappear like that, you know! Yuki almost threw a fit, and he dragged me and Tohru here to find you.

Jennifer gave a small smile that quickly faded, and wrote underneath

I'm sorry if I worried you, but I had to see the counselor to get my schedule approved. Besides, I wanted to be alone. I needed some time to think, and sort some things out. It's not a big deal, okay?

And when the sensei turned around to write something on the chalkboard, Jenny passed the note back to Kyo. Kyo read it, sighed, wrote something, and folded it up, waiting to give it to her until the sensei wasn't looking. The opportunity came when the sensei ducked behind his desk to retrieve a fallen paper, and Kyo flicked the note onto Jenny's desk. Jenny opened it again. Underneath her practiced handwriting, was Kyo's reply:

Yes, it IS a big deal. Look- the Jennifer Maiso I know wouldn't just cave in. She's the girl who wears the boy's uniform to school with such confidence that people call her "chic" and "independent". She's the girl who does what's right and doesn't care who knows it. She's the girl who's not afraid to send a certain orange-haired guy to the ground if it means he'll respect her. What happened to that girl?

I'm just saying that from what I've seen, this isn't you. You're better than that and you know it. I know that you're scared and sad and stuff, but you can't let that get to you. Besides, no matter how much you want to be alone, there's no way any of us will let you be all by yourself. We're going to be here for you, whether you like it or not, so you better get used to it. We won't let you go through this alone, and that's not what you want anyway, is it? To be alone?

Just trust us, okay? Everything will work out fine.

Jenny smiled at the note, then folded it up, and put it in her pocket. During the rest of her classes, and through lunch, she acted completely normal. That note had considerably cheered her up, and she felt as if a huge weight had been removed from her shoulders. After the last class of the day, Jenny went to her locker to find Kyo standing there.

"There you are," he said when she approached, "I was waiting for you. Get you stuff and let's go."

"Okay!" Jenny agreed with a smile, and she started to get the books she needed, "Hey-um…Sohma-bocchan?"

"Huh?" Kyo said, confused at the odd title.

"Thank you," Jenny told him, shutting her locker.

"For what?" he asked, as they headed towards the exit.

"For telling me that my parents were dead."

"What?" Kyo didn't understand. Was this her idea of a joke?

"It really meant a lot to me that you told me that they were dead. I'm glad that you were the one to tell me, instead of finding out through a letter or from a phone call. I know that was probably hard- it's always hard to be the bearer of bad news. But you told me anyway. I just wanted to thank you for doing that for me."

Kyo just shrugged, though he blushed a bit, "No problem."

And the two walked home together, in a comfortable silence that neither of them wanted to break.

My Two Cents: Oh, now I'm getting all teary-eyed! Wasn't that nice of our little Kyonkichi? Well- be sure to review, and since I didn't get as many suggestions as I had hoped, please tell me where you think the plot should go. And in order to motivate you, I shall keep our beloved Kyon-chan bound and gagged and store him in my closet, and I won't let him out until I get at least THREE reviews! Mwahahahaha!