Never Give Up

By Ginta and Hakakku Fangirl

Disclaimer: As much as I wish that I did, I do not own Furuba. Hmm…I wonder if I could sue Natsuki Takaya, and get the rights to Fruits Basket instead of money. A Fangirl can dream, can't she??? Lol, just kidding.

A/N: Um, I think that it's finally time to bring in some more characters…And I get the feeling that this is something that a lot of you have been waiting for, even if you haven't said it yet. Um, enjoy! If at all possible. I know my writing sucks.

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Chapter Fifteen: A Few Surprises and a Kiss

Kyo sighed. He really didn't like this new arrangement. Not that he didn't like staying with Kazuma. But right now, he just wanted to be with Tohru. But his dad and that damned Dog wouldn't let him. But at least he was able to stay with Tohru during the week, now that school had started up again. But unfortunately…

Shigure and Kazuma, and even Hatori had been warning him constantly of Akito's "promise." It was really starting to freak Kyo out. And so, he stayed away. He stayed away from Tohru. He found excuses to stay with Kazuma through the week, saying that his master needed help at the dojo. When he stayed at home with Shigure, he spent most of his time in his room, studying, or out in the yard training, despite the January weather. And he barely spoke to anyone. It was killing him, having to stay away from Tohru. Especially when he could see how much it seemed to hurt her. And since the last time they had shared a bed, he hadn't been able to have a single decent conversation with the young woman who was now officially six months pregnant with his child. It was now almost February. And Kyo hated to think about the possibility that somebody else might find out about the baby…Not that most of the school didn't know that Tohru was expecting now, and that he was the father. It had been kind of obvious. Ayame and Mine had made Tohru a new uniform for school, as her old one was now much too small; Tohru hadn't been quite big enough to arouse any suspicions from her classmates when they had left for their winter break, but now she was big enough for it to be obvious that her weight gain hadn't been a result caused solely by her highly increased appetite…Not to mention the fact that three of the four Sohma boys stayed at her side constantly, as well as Hana and Uo--not to mention that Kyo nearly always be seen watching Tohru closely, sometimes with a slight smile on his face. Well, that and the fact that the Prince Yuki Fangirls had seen Kyo pull Tohru to him and gently kissed her eyelids, her nose, her temple, and then finally her lips, before letting her continue towards her friends, both of who were waiting patiently, although Uo didn't seem to be quite as uncomplaining as Hana.

But this not being able to stay with Tohru was beginning to wear on his nerves. Kyo had gone to Hatori with a long list of questions: about how Tohru had found out; how everyone had taken the news; Akito's reaction when he had found out from Shigure; how all of Tohru's checkups had gone and how bad her pregnancy symptoms had been. And what he could do for her. That was one issue that Kyo had been very keen to know about. Kyo wanted to know how he could help Tohru.

Unfortunately, there wasn't all that much that he could do, now that he was trying his hardest to keep Akito from having any excuse to take his continuous anger out on Tohru. So, for now, Kyo was just going to stay away from Tohru at home. He could live with sweet little moments at school when no one was watching. Kami knew it was driving him insane, not being able to touch Tohru, especially as the baby's kicks had now become strong enough that Tohru wasn't the only one who could feel them (Kyo had heard Hatori and a very relieved Shigure talking about how Hatori had been afraid that the baby would be too weak, that Tohru may miscarry, a thought that had scared the hell out of him. The baby's kicking hard enough to feel through Tohru's abdomen should have started long before). It was bad enough that Kyo had to withstand the thought and the guilt of having missed the first half of Tohru's pregnancy. But now he had to endure not being able to feel his own baby kicking, but he also had to know and see the others in the Sohma family being able to feel the baby kicking through Tohru's--his Tohru's--stomach. It was pissing him off to no end.

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Tohru giggled slightly; Hana and Uo smiled at her. Yuki had just opened his locker. And in it…Only one box of Valentine's chocolates.

"Cuckoo chicks again, huh Hana?" Uo asked with a laugh as Saki turned towards the trashcan and calmly began to empty it of the chocolates that Prince Yuki Fangirls had been throwing out all morning, so that theirs would be the only box in Yuki's locker.

"Yes, and I am still the hawk that swoops down to capture the falling bird's from their nest," Hana said softly; Yuki just watched her stacking the boxes on the bench with a slightly bemused look on his face, eyebrows raised. He seemed to be at a complete loss of words.

After a slight hesitation, he just shook his head and, gathering his books into his bag, he took Tohru's bag from her and left to go to their classroom.

Hana laughed.

"They do this every year!" she said. "I wonder how bad it's going to going to be for Prince Charming when he goes to the University."

Tohru giggled again.

It was a month later, February, and Valentine's Day at that. Tohru just smiled at the thought of Yuki at the University. If he stayed in a dorm on the University's campus, it would be his room that had only one box in it instead of his locker, and the hallway filled with discarded chocolates, not the trashcan.

"Hey, Tohru?"

"Huh!?" Tohru gasped and spun around; Kyo leaned through the doorway and smiled at her.

"I have something for you," he whispered.

"Uh, we'll be right back," Uo said, grabbing Hana by the arm and leading her out of the room. "Good luck, Orange Top," she added in a hiss to Kyo. For once, he grinned at Arisa instead of starting an argument.

"So, um…heh…" After the two girls had left, Kyo gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head and scuffing his shoe on the floor.

"What is it?" Tohru asked.

"Well…Um…" Kyo blushed, and pulled a slim package out of his pocket. "I, uh, went to see your grandfather."

"My grandfather?"

"Yeah. And I persuaded him to give me this. I hope you like it," Kyo said with a blush as Tohru untied the bow and let the heart-strewn pink paper fall to the floor.

"Oh, Kyo!" she breathed. She fingered the gold-framed portrait of her mother and father on their wedding day, smiling in front of the alter.

Kyo grinned, before turning to his locker and pulling out his jacket. Wrapping it around Tohru, he immediately wrapped his arms around her.

"Ahh! Kyo, don't, you'll--"

"Shh…" Kyo whispered; Tohru relaxed. He hadn't transformed. And he wasn't going to. With his thick coat between them, there just wasn't enough real physical contact between the two to cause the Curse to activate.

After a few moments of a sweet embrace, Kyo pulled back a little. With a slight smile, he moved the coat aside, revealing Tohru's uniform clad abdomen. Gently, he placed a hand on her stomach. His grin broke full out as he felt the gentle fluttering feeling against his hand.

"Tohru,' he whispered, leaning down to capture her lips with hers. But before he could fully close the gap between them, a voice rang out that made Kyo flinch and his stomach churn.

"Kyo! Where are you?"

"Ahh, no! Kagura!" Momiji's voice could now be heard. "I don't think that seeing Kyo right now is a very good--"

"Kagura, why don't we go--" Hatsuharu called.

"Kyo!"

"Kagura--"

"Yuki, stop interrupting me, I won't be able to hear Kyo answer me!"

Kyo groaned.

"Gotta run!" he muttered to Tohru; he placed a quick kiss on her lips before taking off out the door and down the hall--in the opposite direction of Kagura's voice.

Tohru frowned, and bit her lip. It was hard to believe that Kagura still didn't know about the baby, even though she was now six and a half months pregnant. Did Kagura really not know? Or was she just pretending until she could finally get her hands on Kyo?

Hana and Uo came back through the door.

"Hey, we just saw Orange Top come racing through the hallways like Death was after him," Uo said, looking confused before she started to laugh. "He looked like a cat with it's tail on fire!"

The corner of Hana's mouth twitch.

"I thought that you might say something like that, Arisa," she said. Then she looked over at Tohru and continued. "I sensed some nervous waves coming off of Kyo when he ran, and also the waves from the Sohma girl, the one who wears a backpack like a cat."

"Kagura," Tohru said.

"Yes, Kagura," Hana said. "She seems to be looking for him."

"Um, yes…" Tohru trailed off, looking troubled. Uo took note of it.

"Hey, um, do you want me to go get Orange Top or something?" she asked. "I can--"

"Kagura still doesn't know about the baby," Tohru whispered.

"What?"

"I don't think that Kagura really knows about the baby yet," Tohru said.

"TOHRU!!!"

Tohru jumped as she heard Hatsuharu yelling her name.

"Tohru!!!" Hatsuharu came running into the room and slid to a halt in front of Tohru, Hana, and Uo.

"Haru!!!" Isuzu came running into the room as well. "Hurry up! Here's her bag!"

Tohru stared at the Ox and the Horse, wide eyed, as Isuzu tossed her schoolbag to Hatsuharu; Isuzu turned to Tohru.

"Come on, we've got to go."

"What? Why?" Tohru asked as Isuzu took her by her arm and began to gently but insistently pull her from the room and towards the doors. "Is it because of Kagura?"

"No, I told Kagura last night," Isuzu said, gripping Tohru's arm tighter. "I suspect that right about now she's giving his 'punishment' for cheating on her, not telling her he was cheating, getting someone pregnant, and then not telling her that his first child isn't inside her belly. Oh, and also for not telling her that he was back, she's probably already done beating him up for being gone for so long."

Tohru laughed, then frowned as Isuzu pulled still more insistently at her arm.

"But what-?"

"Rin!" Haru caught up with them, Tohru's bag thrown over his shoulder. "Is the car still out front?"

"Yeah!"

"What is going on?" Tohru asked. She was really starting to get worried. Hatsuharu and Isuzu really seemed to be nervous, and Hatsuharu was starting to look angry.

"Good!" Hatsuharu glanced down at Tohru. "Akito is here."

"Akito!" Tohru's eyes darkened with worry. "Is he here for Kyo?"

"No."

"Tohru," Isuzu said with a forced calm, "he's here for you."

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Tohru sighed worriedly. Isuzu and Hatsuharu had managed to get her into Isuzu's car before anyone had noticed she was missing, and she had driven Tohru to Hatori's office, where Hatori was waiting for her. Hatsuharu had told Akito that Tohru had an appointment for that day with the Dragon, and Yuki had said the same to their teacher.

It wasn't really a lie, although the appointment really had been for that afternoon. Not that Tohru really minded. This time, Hatori had made prints of the ultrasound for her to give to Kyo, and had even made a tape of the baby's heartbeat.

Presently, Tohru was in Ayame's shop, sitting next to Mine, who glanced over at her with a small smile.

"I'm sure that Kyo will be fine," she said. "I know that Kagura can be, well…more than a little rough. But I think that Kyo can handle her!"

Tohru laughed.

"I guess so," she agreed. "But it really is hard to believe that Kagura only just found out about the baby last night."

Mine nodded before changing the thread in her bobbin. Glancing up, she started to smile.

"What is it?" Tohru asked, bewildered, before she heard Ayame's unmistakable voice.

"Oh, Tohru!!!" he sang. Tohru turned towards the door just in time for her to see Ayame coming into the back room where he and Mine worked, long silver hair sliding off his shoulders.

"For the beautiful princess!" he said, sweeping into a low bow and depositing a huge bouquet of large, bright pink roses onto Tohru's lap.

"Oh, Ayame!" she gasped. "Their beautiful!"

"And that's not all!" The snake grinned. "Your friends asked me to tell me that they have a surprise planned for you!"

"What?"

Ayame grinned and handed Tohru an invitation--an invitation to a baby shower.

Tohru just stared at it before laughing in delight.

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