Chapter 12:

"Tohru-kun, what do you want to eat?" Uo asked, pulling her eyes off of Kureno just long enough to ask a question, his eyes were glued to her as well.

"Hmm…" she said thinking, Kyo gave a sideways look at Yuki. So much for healthy and nice! Hana had chosen a steak restaurant that used more lard and fat combined then ever thought possible.

"Why here?" Kureno groaned quietly. He hated watching people eat chicken, none the less order chicken wings.

"Are you all ready to order?" a waitress asked them, too happy to be natural, even for Tohru's standards.

"I think so," Yuki said, "Ladies first."

Uo jumped at this opportunity, "I'll have the chicken basket with a side order of French fries!" Kureno looked like he was going to choke, but managed to keep his cool.

"I'll have the ribs," Tohru said pleasantly.

"I'm going to have the ribs with the extra barbeque sauce." Hana answered, handing the lady the menus. The guys placed their orders and they bought an appetizer, as they waited things were…interesting.

"So Kyo," Kureno asked intently, "How is it that you mustered up the courage to ask Tohru to the dance?"

"Well…" he started, "I just kind of asked her. Right, Tohru-chan?"

"Yes!" she replied happily, Yuki twitched.

Tohru held hands with Kyo under the table while Hana had Yuki's arm wrapped around her. Hana would've been able to fly if he'd wanted her to. She felt like she was going to be sick in a good way, like there was something floating in her stomach, bubbles almost, dancing around. She wasn't really hungry, but the ribs here were great. Yuki on the other hand felt like he wanted to crawl under a rock, he hadn't expected Kyo and Tohru to actually come along, what with Kyo and his stubbornness. No, they decided to "tag" along, and it made him nervous to see Kyo in such high spirits.

"Earth to Yuki!" Uo was saying, he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Eh?"

"How did you and Hana hook up?" Kureno asked patiently.

"For someone with a very active social life, you sure want to know a lot about my minuscule one," Yuki commented, "It's not that hard when I think about it…"

"What he means is that it was an accident." Hana said for him. Yuki gave her a grateful look and kissed her cheek, making her blush furiously.

"An accident?" Kyo asked.

Yuki glared at him, "Well, yes, what happened was-"

He was rudely interrupted by a heavy sigh from in front of the table. There was the Prince Yuki Fan Club, standing next to Hana, glaring at her when Yuki acknowledged them.

"Who're you?" one asked. Tohru looked at them, wondering if it really was their intent to stalk him everywhere.

"I'm-"

"She's my girlfriend." Yuki said, cutting Hana off.

They all gasped and narrowed their eyes at her, "And why are you dating the freak?" It sounded like it was more than one syllable when that person said it.

"Look," Uo said getting up from her chair, "If you want a fight, come and get it. I'm not backing down from anyone of you."

"Heh, heh…" they said simultaneously, and shuffled away, hissing at Hana as they left.

"That was weird." Tohru commented quietly, thinking back to the night when they kept on calling.

"Can't they leave me alone for one bloody night?" Yuki exclaimed.

"No need to swear here," Kureno said, "They're just admirers."

"Right… do you even know what they do during school?" Kyo said, "I can't get a quick fight with him without all of them crowding around him and doing their stupid dance and song!"

"In short Kureno," Hana said, "They're psychotic."

"Thank you Hana-chan." Yuki said pulling her closer. Hana had to resist the urge to hug him in public, it was a horrible temptation, but if she did, Yuki couldn't trust her; and his trust was very important. Hana felt the waves of everyone around her; Uo's was a little too overwhelming. It felt like a thousand birds were singing in her head, and like a mighty river was washing away the tough girl inside. Kureno was doing some serious damage to her.

Uo was looking at the desert menu when dinner arrived. The appetizer had been good, but she wanted more food. The waitress put an enormous basket of fried chicken breast in front of her and Uo breathed in its fatty and greasy aroma.

"Mmm…" she said as she waited for everyone to get what he or she'd ordered.

Tohru's pate was enormous, but smelled great! The pile of ribs nearly hid her face and she was looking around it to talk to people. Hana's was just as high with an even more enticing smell. Kureno looked on with horror as Uo ate the basket of chicken without a thought as to what was in it. Hana realized why Kureno wasn't eating his food and pulled her aside.

"Uo-chan," Hana told her, "do you know what you're eating?"

"Chicken." She shrugged.

"What animal in Kureno?"

"The rooster."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What is a chicken?" Hana asked.

"A bird."

"No! What is it a relative to? What is a male chicken?"

"A rooster…" Uo said, "Oh." It suddenly clicked that she was eating the very animal that he turned into. How uncomfortable must that be? -To watch your girlfriend eat your relatives?

"Now, what are you going to do when you return?" Hana asked.

"Umm… eat my French fries?"

"Very good, and then?"

"Then… I'll become vegetarian!" Uo exclaimed. The word resounded out through the restaurant and no one moved; all was silent. "What?"

"You just said the 'V' word in the biggest steak place in the world." Hana told her, sidestepping her back to the table and trying to settle in without being noticed by the others. After that, the service was a lot slower and a lot ruder. The lady completely ignored her when she ordered the cherry pie, and then when she brought out the food, in fact, she hadn't even brought it out for her! Uo wasn't complaining though, since Kureno was more than willing to share his lemon icebox pie.