Disclaimer: I hate writing this every time, but I don't want to break my famous pattern. No, I don't own Fruits Basket.

A/N: So... tired... (collapse). I just got back from a ten-day trip to India and I'm exhausted and jetlagged. I slept from when I got home from school until now... which is 11:30 PM. JetLAG.


The next day at breakfast, others (besides Kyo, Ayame, and Hatori) began to notice something was wrong. Yuki had shown up to breakfast without Machi, looking fairly beaten up, and neither Machi nor Manabe had shown up at all. Tohru glanced worriedly at Yuki's wounds, thinking about the strange noises she had heard from his room. But she had told herself she wouldn't get involved in all that this time. It was none of her business.

Kimi and Momiji, however, seemed to have other plans.

"Yuki looks really sad..." Momiji commented.

"Kimi doesn't like it when Yun-Yun, Machi, and Kakeru are sad..." Kimi said quietly.

"Should we... meddle...?" Momiji gave her a sidelong glance.

Kimi grinned. "Kimi DOES want to see them getting along again. Kimi misses Yun-Yun and Machi's lovey-dovey fluffy moments that make the fangirls squeal!"

"Then operation YU-MA-RU BEGINS!" Momiji yelled, striking a pose on the table.

This attracted a few stares.

"Eh... sorry... I'll get off the table now..."


"Okay, here's the plan." Momiji whispered to Kimi after breakfast, when everyone but Tohru and Kyo had left the dining hall. Of course, those two were too conscious of each other to notice Kimi and Momiji. "Since we can't get through to them ourselves, we have to find someone who's close to them to help... I'd say for Yuki, I'll ask Haru to talk to him."

"Got it!" Kimi replied with a smirk. "Hm... I think Kimi will ask... Ari-chan!"

"Perfect!" The two high-fived and split up.

First Momiji took care of Haru. "Hey Haru?"

"Hm?"

"Did you notice Yuki's been kind of sad lately?" Momiji aked casually, padding down the hall by Haru's side.

"Yes... I did notice him being a bit down... same with Kuragi-san and Manabe-san..."

"Do you think something happened between them?"

"A mystery..." Haru said wistfully, looking off into the distance.

"That you're going to solve! I don't like seeing Yuki sad, so find out what's wrong!" Momiji insisted, curling his hand into a fist.

"...Okay..." Haru replied non-chalantly, not letting it show on his face that he was as worried as Momiji.

Momiji watched Haru go, and then waved to the empty hallway, in which Kimi emerged. "Is Kimi going to spy?"

"Yep!"

The two scampered down the hallway to stand together at the crack of Yuki's door. Yuki was sitting down at the far end of the room, leaning against the glass sliding doors. After a moment of staring at Yuki, Haru crouched by his side. "You want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Yuki responded quietly, knowing he wasn't decieving Haru one bit.

"It's fine if you don't want to... but... I've been worried about you... so has Momiji... and Tohru's probably having an annuerism by now." This got a chuckle out of Yuki before his face turned serious.

"I did something... terrible..." Yuki hugged his knees to his chest. "I did something horribly filthy..." he repeated, burying his head in his hands.

"What... did you do?" Haru asked, leaning closer now, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I did... IT..."

Kimi and Momiji almost fell over in surprise.

"You mean... it it?" Haru asked raising an eyebrow. Yuki nodded. Haru almost laughed. "That's all?" Yuki looked up, surprised, and saw Haru smirking. "You and Machi just got a little intimate? God, you're hilarious Yuki. Do you have any idea how many time Rin and I have done it?" Kimi and Momiji watched with wide eyes from outside as Haru continued. "It doesn't matter, as long as you did it for the right reasons. Why did you do it?"

"Because... I love her..." Yuki said quietly, blushing slightly.

"Then there's nothing to be ashamed of." Haru concluded.

"But Kakeru... I feel like I betrayed his trust..." Yuki said, running his fingers through his hair.

"Don't worry about him. Kakeru's like an overprotective father. He'll come around eventually." Haru replied with finality.

Yuki looked up at Haru and smiled. "Thank you Haru..."

Haru shrugged. "My pleasure." His face suddenly turned serious. "If you won't have me, the least I could do was make sure you're happy."

Yuki laughed. "You never get tired of that, do you?"

Haru grinned. "Never."

Kimi and Momiji scampered off, still shocked from the knowledge they had gained, and knowing there work there was done. As they were walking down the hallway, they bumped in to Rin.

"Hey, Isuzu-san?" Kimi asked.

"What?" Rin growled.

"How many times have you and Haru done it?"

Rin turned bright red. "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU ASK SOMETHING LIKE THAT! IT'S PERSONAL, LAY OFF!" She exploded, before storming off down the hallway.

"Kimi takes it that that means too many times to count." Kimi concluded.

Momiji nodded in agreement. "I walked in on them once."

Kimi giggled. "Anyway, I'm going to ask Ari-chan about Kakeru."


"You want me to talk to Manabe about what's bothering him?" Uotani aksed with raised eyebrows.

"Well, aren't you worried about him too? Kimi doesn't think Manabe will listen to her, so she wants Ari-chan to ask in Kimi's place."

"Why would I be worried about him?" Uotani denied, crossing her arms. Truthfully, it had been bothering her that Manabe hadn't been as loud and obnoxious as usual.

"Because you're his good friend! Kimi just KNOWS you're worried!" Kimi insisted. "Please?" She finally begged.

"Oh, all right." Uotani sighed before walking off towards the direction of Kyo and Haru's room, where Manabe had escaped to.

Kimi and Momiji found a hiding place in some bushes in the backyard as Uotani came out and sat next to Manabe on the porch.

"So, what's eating you? You're not as annoying as usual." Uotani asked casually.

"Yuki." Manabe replied. Unlike Yuki, he didn't have a hard time coming out with it.

"Did you guys have a fight?" She asked.

"Duh. He took advantage of my sister!" Manabe replied with a scowl. "And she doesn't even realize what she's getting herself into."

Uotani snorted. "I knew somehing fishy was going on when I passed Yuki's room that day. Judging by the noises I heard, I'd have to say that Machi wasn't exactly being raped, if you know what I mean."

Manabe's expression didn't change. "She says she loves him, but she doesn't know anything about him. Neither do I. I just know that he's hiding something... hiding something big."

Uotani sighed. "I think we all get that feeling about him. Him and the others Sohma's too. They're so mysterious... But... you have to learn to trust them. I get a feeling that Tohru knows what they're hiding, and she loves them all just the same. If I know one thing, Tohru's an excellent judge of character. So, if she can trust him, you can too, right?"

Manabe sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right... but still... I can't escape this feeling... that somehing bad will happen to them if they keep this up... I'm really worried..."

Uotani sighed and ran her fingers through her hair briefly, before leaning forward onto her knees and putting her arms around Manabe's neck. Manabe's eyes snapped open in surprise. "Sometimes bad things happen when you fall in love." Uotani said quietly. "When you grasp the rose, you have to deal with the thorns too. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that everything doesn't seem as bad when you love each other, and you're with each other. It's when you're apart that it hurts the most. You know that too, right Manabe?"

"Ari-chan... you're apart from the one you love too, aren't you? And it hurts you a lot, doesn't it? Ari-chan... are you... okay?" Manabe realized his shoulder was becoming damp with her tears. Uotani didn't say anything, but squeezed him tighter. Manabe wrapped his arms around her waist in turn and hugged her tight. "Okay, I'll forgive them... But... only if you keep smiling, even if you are away from the one you love. Because... you have friends here too, who care about you too, and don't like it when you cry. I'm sure Tohru-san would be worried if she knew. Hanajima-san, too."

Uotani held him a moment more before pulling back and roughly wiping her tears.

"Hey, Ari-chan, would that count as cheating on my girlfriend?" Manabe asked seriously.

Uotani laughed. "Of course not, idiot."

Kimi and Momiji gave each other smiles and nodded, before sneaking away to stand on the porch between their rooms.

"Mission accomplished!" Kimi exclaimed, raising her hand in the air for a high five. Momiji grinned and leaned over to slap her hand, but tripped, sending the two falling onto the porch. Momiji caught himself with his hands right before their chests touched. He sighed inwardlly with relief before looking down. Kimi was trapped, lying on the porch below between his arms and legs. Both of them were frozen, blushing, their hearts thudding a mile a minute. Kimi shivered as Momiji's fingers brushed the bare skin of her arm, and for the first time felt exposed in the spaghetti-strapped tank top and short skirt. Momiji looked down at Kimi, stiff underneath him, getting an urge he had never felt before.

"Momiji-cha--" Kimi's words were cut off by Momiji's lips and her eyes closed at the two held the kiss for a long moment. When they broke off, they looked at each other for a moment, before realizing what had been done. Momiji jumped off Kimi, who jerked to a sitting position. The two leaned on the wall, blushing wildly. They looked at each other briefly, and then looked away again, still bright red. Momiji's hand crept over to cover Kimi's and she leaned on his shoulder in response. Both closed their eyes, and small smiles crept up their lips.


Hanajima walked into Kimi and Machi's room to find Machi curled up on her disarray of a futon, eyes half open. The room was dark, the curtains of the sliding glass door drawn letting only a limited amount of light in through the cracks.

"Your waves called me here." Hanajima said quietly. "Did something happen between you, Yuki, and Manabe?"

Machi nodded.

"He's forgiven you... I can sense it..."

Machi sat up, looking at her questioningly. "You mean... Kakeru?" She asked quietly.

Hanajima nodded.

"And... Yuki? What of him?"

"He... still feels nothing but undying love towards you. That and a strong sense of protection. No harm will come of you when he is around." Hanajima replied, looking at her black nails. "Now the question is, will you be okay?" Her eyes fell on Machi, who looked down. Hanajima stood up, looking around. "It's so dark and lonely in here..."

Machi stood up as well, metally taking a note on how odd that sounded coming out of her.

Hanajima stepped over to the back of the room and threw open the curtains letting the brightness flow freely into the room. Hanajima turned around and smiled. "Sometimes it's okay to let in a little bit of sunlight."

Machi squinted into the light to see Hanajima with the sun haloed around her thin frame, her hair flowing freely around her body. Despite her black gothic clothes, Machi thought she looked like an angel. "Do you like the sunlight, or would you rather stay in the dark?" Hanajima asked.

Machi could feel tears pricking her eyes "I like... the sunlight."

"Then... would you like to come with me?" Hanajima held out her hand.

"Yes..." Machi replied, taking it.


"I hope Yuki's okay..." Tohru told Kyo worriedly. "He, Kuragi-san, and Manabe-san seem a little depressed. I hope something didn't happen."

Kyo scowled. "I'm sure he's fine. Why do you always have to bother yourself worrying about that prick anyway? He doesn't need your worry, he has Kuragi-san..." Kyo grumbled.

"But... I worry about you, so..."

Kyo blushed. "That... you... idiot!"

Tohru giggled. "Is Kyo-kun jealous?"

Kyo blushed harder. "Of what?"

Tohru grinned before throwing her arms around Kyo.

"What--!" Kyo instantlly turned into a cat, his clothes dropping around him. Tohru sat, knelt on her futon, hugging the blushing Kyo-neko to her chest. "What are you doing!" Kyo asked. His eyes darted to the door, but thankfully, it was closed.

"I don't know." Tohru replied with a laugh, falling back to lie on her futon, holding Kyo above her before putting him down next to her hand hugging him. "I just felt like hugging Kyo. And I really love cats too!" She snuggled him tighter, innocently not knowing how dirty this could all be. Her eyes closed. "Let's just stay like this... for a bit... o... kay...?"

"Fine, but just for a bit." Kyo grumbled, not admitting that he was thoroughly enjoying this. "Hey, Tohru? Tohru?" He looked up to see her face calm, her eyes closed. She was asleep, and Kyo was trapped here in her arms. "Now what?" He sighed. "Oh well..." His eyes closed as well, and he fell asleep, leaning against Tohru.


Machi was just leaving her room, hand-in-hand with Hanajima, when she bumped into Yuki.

"Machi..." Yuki said quietly.

Machi turned to Hanajima, but she had already disappeared somewhere. She looked up at Yuki to see him running his fingers nervously through his hair.

"About the other day... I'm sorry if I hurt you... or anything... or if I pushed you to it too much."

Machi shook her head and took his hand, squeezing it. "It's okay..." She smiled. "It's okay... because you love me... and I love you... so... it's all right..."

Yuki smiled. Just then Manabe came down the hall. He and Yuki looked at each other for a moment, before they both bowed to each other at the same time. "I'm sorry." They looked up at each other in surprise and straightened.

"I guess... I forgive you guys... but only because... you love each other... so I guess... it's all right then."

Yuki and Machi smiled. "Thank you..."

Manabe's face changed, and he lifted a finger. "But next time, do use protection. We wouldn't want Machi getting pregnant, now would we?"

Both turned bright red. "KAKERU!"

Just then a shriek erupted through the halls. It was coming from Tohru's room. The three quickly rushed down the hall.

Tohru and Kyo jerked awake to look at the source of the scream, which was Kisa, standing wide-eyed at the doorway to her and Tohru's room. At this point, just about everyone in the house was crowded at the doorway to their room behind her, mouths hanging open.

Tohru and Kyo looked at each other to see that they were sitting side-by-side on Tohru's futon... Kyo completely naked. They realized what had happened and turned b bright red, quickly turning painckedly towards the crowd of gaping people.

"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"


lol, i liked the ending. this was a very friendship-y chapter... and kimi/momiji fluff! a preview for the next chapter: OMG, WHAT? Tohru's pregnant!