All of the things that I wanna say

Just aren't coming out right

I'm tripping on words

You've got my head spinning

I don't know where to go from here

- Lifehouse -

"You and Me"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 9 -

Yuki coughed.
It was a rather chilly evening in late November, and he was beginning to close up the shop with his young, nervous assistant. He coughed a little more, covering his mouth with his elbow.
"Isshin-kun, you can go home now," he said, smiling a little at the young man sweeping up. "I'll finish up and close, okay?"
Isshin nodded, took off his apron and put on his coat.
"Goodbye, Boss-san!" he called, going out into the chilly night. Yuki waved at him, finished sweeping up the various clippings on the floor, and locked up the shop, driving back home. He was feeling unbelievably tired, and was more than happy to see the lights on in his home as he pulled the car into the drive.

"Good evening, Yuki! Welcome home!" Tohru said.

"Evening, Tohru...I'm going to bed..." he said tiredly, sloughing off his shoes and getting his slippers on.
"Oh, is something the matter?" she asked, poking her head out of the kitchen.

"I'm not feeling so well, you can save dinner for me, if you'd like..." he said sleepily, and crawled up the stairs.
"All right," Tohru replied, smiling. "Go get your rest, I'll save dinner for you."

With a thankful smile, he reached his room, changed into his pajamas, and buried himself in the blankets.

The next morning, Tohru woke up to his rough coughing, and got out of bed to check on him. Yuki was huddled under the blankets, his face slightly flushed. She put her hand on his forehead worriedly.
"Aww, Yuki, you have a fever," she said. "You not feeling very well?"
Yuki shook his head and coughed.

"You want to stay home today? I can call your assistant and tell him you're sick," Tohru offered. Yuki nodded.
"Yeah I'll...stay home today...call Isshin and..." he said, coughing between his words, before stopping altogether.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything, you just need to rest," Tohru said comfortingly. "I'll make you some breakfast and call your assistant."

"Thanks..." Yuki said, and coughed some more. With a smile, Tohru left the room, and he promptly transformed into a rat; he had been holding out for as long as he could, since he was so weak, he couldn't quite control himself. He sighed and coughed a little, wiggling out of his pajamas, thankful he was able to hold out for that long, but it presented a small problem; Tohru could be distracted with breakfast and calling Isshin, but what would he do if she came up with his breakfast and he hadn't changed back yet? He listened closely and heard her comforting his assistant over the phone; well, he had some time left, he supposed, and snuggled up against his pillow, coughing and waiting to change back. However, when he heard her footsteps coming prematurely up the stairs, he panicked. What was he going to do?

In an act of desperation, he jumped out of the bed and scampered to her feet, trying hopefully to scare her.

"Ah!" Tohru yelped, and Yuki began to scurry away, hoping to find a place to hide. However, he found himself scooped up into Tohru's hands.
"Wait, wait, mouse-san! I don't want to hurt you!" she said worriedly. "Please hold on, don't run away!"

Stopping himself, he propped himself up on his hind paws and looked at her. She smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," she said again. "You must be a pet of Yuki's! I've never seen such clean wild mice, anyways...would you like a cracker?"

Yuki was slightly astonished at her behavior; from her normal personality, she would have run away in fright, and he'd have to sprint for his life to get back into the bed. Maybe...just maybe...
She began to take him to the kitchen, and set him on the counter.
"You stay here now, and don't poo on the counters!" she instructed, and reached into the cupboard, getting a few saltine crackers and placing them in front of him.

"There, now you can eat those while I work, okay?" she said, smiling. Yuki, trying to be as mouseish as possible, held one of the crackers in his front paws and prayed desperately that he wouldn't transform there.

"I think it's nice to have a little friend to talk to," Tohru smiled, rinsing some leeks in the sink after putting some rice in the pot of water, once it began to boil. "You must be a domesticated mouse; I figured Yuki would be the sort of person to have a small animal like a mouse or a bird as a pet."
Yuki smiled inside, while nibbling on his cracker, and Tohru began to chop up the leeks.
"I'm a little worried about Yuki, you know," she said. "His cough was rather severe-sounding...I should check his temperature when I go upstairs, shouldn't I?"
Yuki looked at her as if to say "Yes, you should," and Tohru laughed.
"You certainly seem to understand me, mouse-san," she said, placing the chopped leeks into a bowl. "Do you like the crackers?"
Yuki gave her a cheerful look, and she smiled, laughing a little.

"You're so cute!" she said. "You know, in a way, you remind me of Yuki. Your fur is the exact same color as his hair."
Yuki got a little nervous at this statement and went back to nibbling on his cracker.
"Oh, but Yuki's not a mouse; he's sleeping upstairs," Tohru laughed, dumping the leeks into the rice porridge; Yuki almost sighed in relief, but stopped himself, since he knew that his voice was fully audible in this state.

"Just a few more minutes..." she said, stirring the porridge and putting the cover on. "Funny, I could almost swear that someone made me rice porridge when I was sick during my second-year exams, but who? My grandfather can't cook at all..."

Yuki looked at her, slightly astonished; could it be she was remembering the day Kyo made her the rice porridge? (Kyo, at that moment, sneezed in his room).

"Oh, I must be imagining things," she said, and smiled at Yuki. "You're a cute little mouse, aren't you? Very tame, too."

Yuki just continued to eat the crackers, thinking. A timer went off.

"Oh, it's done! Time to go upstairs!" she said cheerily, and went in search of the oven mitts. As Tohru's back was turned, he jumped off the counter and ran upstairs, into his room.
"Mouse-san? Where did you go?" he heard her call, as he took hold of the blankets and hoisted himself onto the bed. Immediately, he transformed back.
"Tohru...what's going...on...?" he said, beginning to cough once more.

"Oh, nothing! Did you wake up, Yuki?" she replied, her voice coming up the stairs.
"Yes, I'm awake," he said, and coughed some more. "Did you find a mouse or something? I heard you scream a little."
"I found a mouse, do you have one as a pet?" she said, showing up in his doorway.
"Somewhat; it's a tame mouse that lives here," he replied, and Tohru began to blush. "What's wrong?"
"Did you...did you take off...your clothes...?" she said sheepishly.
"Oh!" Yuki exclaimed, momentarily forgetting his condition. "Yes, I got a little too hot."

"You should put them back on; I'll put your porridge right here and get the thermometer..." she said, turning around and scuttling out of the way. Yuki laughed a little, then coughed while he put his pajamas back on, thinking a little bit on the encounter that had just happened; Tohru seemed so comfortable in his prescence as a mouse, and her personality would normally have her screaming and trying to avoid it. Could it be that she remembered him this way?
As she came up with the thermometer, he thought for a moment whether or not to tell her his secret. He sat there in his bed, eating the dish of porridge, and decided that it was a thing he should reveal to her, but not for some time.