They stayed their first night at Kaori's. Kyo absolutely refused to share a bed with Kagura and decided to sleep on the roof. That's when Kagura begged Tohru to stay the night with her to help her not feel so lonely. Yuki of course didn't like the idea, but Tohru just smiled and stayed the night with Kagura.

"So what exactly has our little Akito been doing that's made you four risk coming here?" Kaori asked wrapping her hands around her morning coffee. Both boys barely heard her question. Kaori was in a purple morning robe with her hair twisted up; the boys couldn't help but linger with lust for her. Kagura was getting a little annoyed by this.

Tohru decided to speak up since the boys were off in their little minds (boys will be boys), "Well I'm sure you've noticed that I'm not apart of the Sohma family and well it was real hard for Akito to allow me to keep the Sohma secret. Last week I jeopardized everything and he had us move in with him. That's when he started attacking me, nearly killing me. So we just got fed up and decided to run away."

Kaori listened to Tohru's story with one of those 'adult' faces, truth be told Kaori hardly ever did look like an adult. "I see. I'm sorry you had to be exposed to him. He's a pompous bastard, I'll give him that. Well I doubt he'll find you four here."

"That's what we're hoping," Yuki said finally crawling out of his trance.

Kaori flashed a grand smile that stayed a little too long and then spoke, "I have some chores to do today. They all involve stuff to do with the mountain, so I won't be home until dark. Would you kids mind looking after the place while I'm gone?"

Kagura jumped at this opportunity to get rid of the sexy siren, "Of course! I'll make dinner, clean, and everything! You just go off and have a good time!"

Everyone looked at her like she was crazy. Tohru knew why Kagura was so anxious, she couldn't blame her.

Kaori finished her coffee and vanished into the morning sun.

"Ok!" shouted Kagura as soon as the door shut, "Tohru we should really get this place shaped up! I can't let my Kyo living in this mess!"

Tohru looked around herself, the home really wasn't bad at all; it looked simply clean and neat.

But Kagura, always adding to much effort, scrubbed the floors so clean and shiny that felt like you were walking on glass floors. Tohru tried her best to keep up with Kagura's vigorous movements but was released once Kagura said she felt Tohru was holding her back. A little rude, but Tohru didn't mind.

Tohru walked outside of the quant little cottage the fresh sun balancing on her face. For a long time everything was still, calm. She felt like she was living back at Shigure's. I seemed a century since then.

"Tohru…" Kyo walked up behind her, softly speaking. "I know you're still struggling with your feelings…I'm sorry I haven't been much help with that. Kagura is trying all my patience; I haven't really had time to talk to you."

Tohru turned around to face the gentle orange haired boy, "I know. It's all right really."

"It's just, I really do love you Tohru and nothing will change that, ever," his eyes filled with such serene, they reminded her of her mother's eyes, always calm and soothing.

She smiled at him filling him with warmth, "Kyo I know how you feel. I wish things were not as complicated as they are."

Kyo gave a little frown, "Yeah, things have been messed up lately."

Tohru nodded, "Well we can't worry about those things. I think I'm going to go talk a little walk."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Kyo asked with eager in his tone.

"No, I think I need a little time to listen to my thoughts and get some fresh air," she smiled once again. "I'll be back in time to make lunch for everyone."

She left Kyo to himself and trudged off into the family of trees. Bushes and twigs nipped at her skirt as she maneuvered herself around all the plants.

The morning air was crisp, giving it a healthy feel as she breathed it in. The light breeze brushed through her hair, making it wisp about her face.

She thought about how horrible things had gone in a week. She touched her throat; it felt foreign to her now. It was still bruised and sore, it hurt to raise her voice or swallow still. Her eyes got hot with forming tears just thinking about how she got those bruises.

Akito's maniacal face glowering at her stained her mind. She shook off the feeling of terror and wished her hardest until his face submerged back into her psyche.

She leaned against a tree taking sharp breaths; putting herself back together.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of Tohru's neck stood on end. Something was stalking her. She turned around to meet the stalker's golden beaded eyes.

"Where's Tohru? She said she'd be back by now!" Kyo said pacing the room.

"So you just let her go walk around alone! The forest is dangerous!" Yuki shouted.

"You said we would be safe on this side of the mountain!" Kyo yelled back. He felt stupid now for not going after Tohru.

"Well that is if we stayed in one spot. I didn't expect anyone to seriously go walking around! There are dangerous things in the forest!" Yuki and Kyo were inches apart, both getting red in the face. Kagura just watched them from afar.

Suddenly they heard a distant scream.

Both boys looked in the direction the scream had come from, "Tohru."

They broke into a fast pace, running fast as they can. They knew that scream belonged to Tohru. Worry filled their bodies as the pushed themselves to run even faster.

They came upon a small clearing; Tohru was cowering, cornered by a mountain lion.

The lion's fangs hissed at her, toying with her. Its stance was square and parallel with Tohru's.

"Tohru!" Kyo shouted. The lion became aware of the boys, but didn't turn away from Tohru.

Tohru's eyes were full in fear as she played prey to the lion. Her body shook and her hands were clasped tightly around herself, holding on for dear life.

Yuki sat breathing rather hard staring at the scene. Weakly his said Tohru's name and collapsed.

"Yuki!" Tohru shouted seeing the rat fall to the ground.

Kyo ignored Yuki, thought he was pathetic. Kyo leapt in front of the lion challenging it. The lion roared and slashed his paw against the ground.

Kyo quickly made his move and kicked the lion in the jaw. The lion whipped its head around in pain and made a large growl of hatred. Kyo wasn't as scared as he thought he would be. This was feline against feline. Kyo knew he just had the upper hand.

Kyo jumped over the lion, confusing it somewhat and got around to kicking it in the stomach. More protest from the lion was heard. It turned around and slashed Kyo's arm. Red lines began to show up against his skin. Blood.

"Kyo!" Tohru exclaimed now filled with even more terror.

"I'm fine. Tohru go on and get out of here," Kyo said as he round kicked the lion in the face once again.

Tohru scrambled to her feet. She refused to leave the scene, but she knew she had to attend to Yuki.

"Yuki…" she went to his side. He was flat in the dirt breathing heavily. She lifted him onto her lap and she brushed his bangs away from his face. "Yuki please be alright."

Yuki's eyes were slightly open as he tried to mouth Tohru's name.

Kyo had gotten a few more scratches by then, but none of them were painful, they just numbed the skin.

The lion was bleeding from its nose and mouth; it's growling had gotten hoarse.

"This is it…" Kyo said and landed a final blow on the lion. The lion squealed like a little kitten and snapped at Kyo. It squealed again. A few of its ribs were bruised and it made it hard for the lion to attack. It glared long and hard at Kyo before deciding to retreat back into the forest.

Kyo smirked in victory looking over to where he saw Tohru go. He frowned when he saw Yuki in her lap being babied. He rolled his eyes and walked over, "Is he all right?"

Tohru's eyes were filled with tears, "I don't know! We need to get him back to the cottage."

Kyo nodded and placed Yuki over his shoulder. God he weighed a lot.

Tohru walked next to Kyo, looking worried over Yuki. Kyo felt a little upset that his heroics effort went unnoticed.

They got back to the cottage. Kagura screamed when she saw her scraped up Kyo. Finally, some recognition.

Kyo laid Yuki down in his bed, Tohru stuck to his side like glue. She was patting Yuki down with a wet rag, tears still spilling out. Yuki lay there, sweating and breathing quickly.

Kagura dragged Kyo away so she could tend to his wounds. Kagura began to cry as she was bandaging.

"Why are you crying?" Kyo asked surprised by her sudden burst of tears.

"Kyo I can't stand to see you hurt like this," she whimpered a little as she finished. She wrapped her arms around Kyo, making him wince a little.

Kyo hesitated not sure what he was supposed to do while she cried into his chest. He sighed and laid his arm around her. "Kagura, why do you care so much." His voice was soft and gentle.

She looked up at him, her eyes glossy and puffy, "I love you Kyo. I love you so much it hurts. Some nights I can't even sleep. I've tried to not love you, I really have! But there's no denying it, I love you Kyo and I always will."

The words sounded painful and true. What Kagura felt for Kyo was what he felt for Tohru. There seemed no end to this cycle.

For some reason, Kyo didn't feel anger or frustration towards Kagura. For the first time he felt exactly how she felt. To love someone so much it drives you insane. Kyo finally was able to be on Kagura's level and he felt some what a mutual connection with her.

He allowed her to cling to him until her sobbing would cease.

Tohru waited over Yuki's body. She didn't know what she could do. Yuki had a horrible condition that engaged only when he would strain himself. If Tohru never had went out on a walk this would have never happened, she felt horrible when realizing this.

"Please don't die Yuki," Tohru cradled his hand in hers. Yuki coughed every so often and shuddered when his breathing was at its peak.

Tohru slide his hand against the side of her face. Clinging to it like a teddy bear.

She didn't know how to handle the situation. Hatori would be able to help him but they couldn't risk calling him. Tohru's felt once again helpless.

"Tohru…" whispered a tiny voice. Tohru looked to see Yuki's eyes slightly aware of her.

"Yuki, please don't speak. You need to focus on breathing," she clutched his hand tighter.

Yuki shook his head and motioned his hand toward his suitcase.

"Yuki what's in your suitcase? Is it something to make you better?" Tohru prayed that's what it was.

Yuki nodded and mouthed 'medicine bottle'.

Tohru quickly rummaged through Yuki's bag until she found a white bottled labeled with a prescription from Hatori.

She ran back to Yuki, "This?" Yuki nodded. Tohru opened the bottle and took out two pills like the prescription said to do. She got a glass of water from the kitchen and helped Yuki swallow his two pills.

It took about ten minutes before Yuki's breathing returned to normal.

"Thanks Tohru," he said as he still lay in bed.

Tohru smiled, happy tears streaming down her face. She embraced Yuki from the side, "I'm so glad you're going to be all right."

Yuki smiled, "Me to."

Kyo leaned against the door frame, "Ok, it's dinner time. Since Yuki's all right now, Tohru would you mind helping Kagura in the kitchen. I don't trust her any where near food."

Tohru giggled and went to help Kagura. Kyo stayed behind and stared at Yuki.

"What are you staring at?" Yuki asked sitting up in bed.

Kyo smirked, "I can't believe you collapsed back there. How'd do you expect to keep Tohru safe when you're a complete mess?"

Yuki gripped the bed sheets, "Shut up! You stupid bastard."

Kyo rolled his eyes, satisfied with angering the rat and left him alone.

Yuki sadly knew that Kyo was right. How did he ever expect to keep Tohru safe when he has one of his attacks? If Kyo hadn't been there, Tohru would have been hurt, or worse killed.

"I'm sorry I went off alone everyone," Tohru said as the four sat at the table eating dinner.

"It's all right. Just don't do it again," Kyo said stuffing rice into his mouth. Yuki didn't say anything; he concentrated hard on his food. He felt like such a disgrace. Tohru was beginning to worry about him.

The cottage door opened and Kaori walked in. She cutely sniffed the air and smiled, "Something smells good."

She helped herself to a plate of what was made and sat down with the kids.

"What happened to you?" Kaori said looking at Kyo's bandages.

They explained about the day they had.

"You're lucky. Those mountain lions are evil little things. Last week one of them almost got my leg; got it right between the eyes though. I wouldn't recommend walking off into the forest again without me. It's dangerous," Kaori said. The kids gave her a look that read 'no duh'.

Dinner ended and Kaori decided to light a fire. She explained how the nights could get cold sometime this day of year.

"So Kaori," Tohru began, "would you mind explaining why Akito had you exiled?"

Kaori smiled, "That story is something I'll have to share with you another time."

Tohru was going to ask why but decided not to.

Kaori put out the fire and said it was late. So everyone decided to go to bed.

Kyo growled, "Great. It's raining." He had no other choice but to sleep inside tonight. He didn't quite feel like being rained on.

Kagura smile and cheered, happy that she got to spend the night with Kyo.

Yuki was happy as well, that meant that Tohru would be sleeping with him tonight. Tohru was a little nervous still about sharing a bed with Yuki. She's only slept in the same bed with Uo and Hana and that was about it. But there's a first time for everything.

An hour passed after everyone had gone to bed. Kagura was asleep real quick, clinging onto the Kyo's body as she slept. Kyo couldn't sleep thought.

He observed the girl that clung to him; she looked so peaceful sleeping. He couldn't help put gently pat her head. He didn't exactly know why, but he was starting to actually feel something for Kagura. It didn't know exactly what feelings they were but he wasn't scared of them at all.

Tohru couldn't sleep at all. She stared into the dark room hoping that something would make her fall asleep. Yuki was as well awake. He felt Tohru's uneasiness beside him. He wanted to ask why she was giving weird vibes but didn't.

Tohru wasn't sure whether or not Yuki was asleep; she wasn't going to find out either. She just simply tried her best to feel comfortable, but to no avail. She turned to her side facing Yuki's back. It was dark, but she could tell that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

This made a little color bloom in her cheeks. She made a little giggling, it was childish. She'd seen Yuki topless plenty times before, but those were accidents. This time, it was like he was served on a plate. This didn't sneak up on her at all, he was purposely laying there without a shirt on and it made Tohru feel entranced.

Yuki heard Tohru's giggle and turned to face her, which rather surprised her. "Tohru…are you all right?"

Tohru bit her lip a bit, "Yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking of something."

"Oh…can you not get to bed either?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No, this is a little awkward."

He agreed, "Would you be able to fall asleep if I slept on the floor?"

"Oh no, I can't let you do that. I'll manage to fall asleep, this is just new. I'll get use to it," Tohru smiled genuinely.

Akito smiled back. "All right…" he moved a little and kissed his on her forehead, "Night." He turned back on his side.

Tohru blushed even more and turned back to her side. Her body was jittery with feelings of lust. She pushed it all away though and finally her body subdued her mind into sleep.

A/N:

Ok well I updated! Yay! Not much really to say about this chapter. Kyo's feelings are acting up again….oo-la-la. Thanks for comments everyone, see you next chapter!