"We're back!" Tohru slipped through the door and pulled off her shoes, then set them on a low shelf by the wall. Yuki and Kyo followed suit behind her.

"Welcome home, you three," Shigure Sohma, cousin of Yuki and Kyo, greeted. He was dressed in a grey kimono, black bangs hanging a bit in his face. Shigure is handsome, thought Tohru, just like all the Sohma. He set his newspaper on the low table.

"Did you all have a spectacular day at school today?"

Yuki froze, Kyo grimaced, and Tohru looked rather surprised. A look of recognition crossed their faces in unison.

"Was… that…" Kyo and Yuki muttered together. Instantly, as if cued by fanfare and joyous shouts, a tall and thin man, with long, flowing silver hair, pushed open the door to the guest room. He smiled smugly, poised with a great air of self-satisfaction, and quickly fluttered over to greet the students.

"And how are you, little brother? Are you well?" Ayame pouted and primly stood before Yuki, in a way a very egotistical mother might (if egotistical mothers considered themselves to be handsome kings). Yuki did not budge, and Tohru thought his face was a bit sallow.

Ayame turned to Tohru and batted his eyelashes. "What about the princess? I haven't seen you for quite some time! Hohoho!" He gently put his arm around Tohru's shoulders and gave her an affectionate look, causing Tohru to turn scarlet. Yuki and Kyo each slapped him on the head, anger brewing. They turned to Shigure.

"Why… Did…. You… Let him… In here?" they fumed, each boy shaking slightly in an intimidating rage.

Shigure replied nervously, unconsciously stepping back a little, "Eheh, well… You see…"

"The door was open, so I let myself in. Shigure-kun wasn't even home yet," explained Ayame. "But that doesn't matter! We're all here now, so let's do something fun!" At this, Kyo ran upstairs to change, and to escape the tiring mess of mass that were his relatives.

"Nii-san, we just got home! I'm sure Honda-san would like to change, and—" Yuki stopped short, for Ayame was ignoring him and instead chatting with Tohru.

"So, Tohru-kun, what's the latest news with you? Any newfound romance that blossoms like the sweet buds of the cherry tree?"

Tohru stood, dazed by the poetic words. "Eh? Uh… The school dance is next Friday."

"Ah! High school romance at its finest! How I long to go with you, Tohru-san, and be a part of this spectacular event! Surely the princess has a date already, though?" Ayame exclaimed, excitedly bouncing up and down with each syllable.

"Oh. Y-yuki-kun asked me to go with him." She spoke rather shyly, wringing her hands, and started to blush once again.

"EH!" Ayame practically pounced on Yuki with the most exuberance Tohru had ever seen in a man. "We must have a celebration for Yuki's new-found romantic fantasy!" He began to clap and skip around and looked to Yuki like a drunken fairy of some sort. Tohru began to sway a bit from watching him, but Yuki clobbered him over the head, eye twitching slightly, and stopped him.

"Owie.." Ayame collapsed on the ground. Recovering briskly, he hopped to his feet and declared, "Yuki, I'm happy for you. And now I must use the phone!" He withdrew a cellular phone from the gold-trimmed pocket of his fur-lined trench coat and pressed a few buttons, then held the device to his ear with a smile so large it could only be painful.

"Hatori-kun, h—"

Before he could even finish his greeting, Yuki pried the phone from his grasp and shouted, "Stop reporting every little thing to Hatori!" He was seriously angered now.

"Y-yuki-kun…" Tohru said, dazed, while trying to calm the bickering siblings.

Kyo warily came down the stairs and spotted Tohru trying to calm them. "It's no use, y'know…" He said, approaching her. "That damn rat… What got him so riled, anyhow?" The orange-haired boy folded his arms across his chest.

Ayame overheard Kyo and Tohru's conversation, and drifted over. "Kyonkichi! You must celebrate with us!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Kyo, utterly irked.

"The new romance of the prince and princess!" Ayame twirled around him and clapped. Kyo was more frustrated than ever now, and Ayame earned himself another fist to the skull.

"Hey, Tohru." Kyo regained his nerve and glanced down at her, not paying any of his precious attention to the blabbering Ayame on the ground at his feet.

"Eh?"

"What's he going on about?" Kyo's eyes darted suspiciously around the room.

"Oh.. Um…" Tohru stared down at her feet. "Yuki-kun asked me to be his… d-date to the dance." She looked into Kyo's auburn eyes with a very concerned expression. "Will Kyo-kun be alright? I never did get to ask you what you were panning, so maybe it was unfair to agree so suddenly… Um…" Her gaze drifted away from him again.

"Huh? Yuki and you?" Kyo peered at her, surprised, but hastily looked away . "I'll be fine. I don't want to go with a place full of all those screaming girls, anyhow, so I wasn't planning on going."

"O..oh…" Tohru recovered quickly and stammered, "I-I'll make dinner for you and Shigure-san before we leave. What would you like?" She smiled apologetically. She couldn't help feeling badly for deserting him.

"You don't have to."

"N-no! It's my pleasure!" she assured him, face growing redder by the second.

"Fine. What about… Something simple, like curry or miso soup?" Kyo kept avoided eye contact with her. He was still so unused to be doted on, even if Tohru had been living with him for months.

"Okay." She grinned at him. Kyo smiled back as he shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets.

Meanwhile, Yuki and Ayame were still battling it out as Shigure sat at the table reading the paper and drinking some piping hot, green tea…