CHAPTER 9:Lovely Mistakes

The whole gang walked the streets of New York. Well, Momiji skipped joyfully and Haru and Yuki were sort of dragging along, but they still all were walking.

"Tohhru-chann! Sing a song with mee!" Momiji yelped out as he held Tohru's hand and smiled at her. She smiled back.

"What would you like to sing, Momiji-kun?" She asked him. He looked up to the bright blue skies and seemed to think for a bit.

"Maybe we should sing an English song, because we're in New York!" Momiji exclaimed. Tohru giggled.

" I have a good English song!" Momiji told her. He then cleared his throat and began to sing softly.

" : Twinkle, twinkle little star! How I wonn-der, where youu areee… Up above the cloud so highhh… Like a diamond in the skyyy… : " Momiji slowed down and looked up at Tohru. She seemed a bit lost.

"Why aren't you singing, Tohru-chan?" Momiji asked.

"Oh… I don't know that song, Momiji-kun… Sorry…" She said, looking down. Momiji perked up.

"No no, Tohru-kun! It's okay!" He was about to jump on her to give her a great big hug when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't, stupid rabbit! It's bad enough that you do it at home in Japan, don't let me catch you being seen by someone in another country!" Kyo said as he lifted Momiji. He then "kindly" placed him back to the ground and Momiji snuffled a couple of times. Then, he became his cheery self and ran back to speak with Tohru.

Yuki watched her. He couldn't help but smile when he saw Tohru happy like that, just because of those more simple things. Haru looked at Yuki's face.

"Yuki. Why won't you just tell her already." He asked. Yuki, who was daydreaming, blushed because this surprised him. He was about to give Haru some lame excuse, but he then realized that Haru probably knew him better than he even knew himself. His expression became dark.

"Because… I know she doesn't feel the same way and… Our friendship would probably be affected…" He replied coldly. Haru smiled a warm smile.

"Well… If you really want to keep lying to yourself and live long, long years while you're near her, then go ahead and keep saying that. But you and I both know that your heart won't be at ease until you tell her." Haru told him. Yuki swallowed.

'Stupid Haru. He shouldn't be allowed to know me this well.'

"So you're right. No one can tell though if my heart isn't at ease, so why does it matter…" Yuki said, brushing his cheeks to try to lessen the reddening.

"Tohru can tell. Easily. I can tell. Momiji won't say it, but he can tell. Heck, even Kyo can tell, but he doesn't really care. My point is, you think no one likes you, Yuki. Everyone cares, whether you believe it or not. Stop letting Akito's… Idiocies ruin you." Haru softened that last part. Yuki looked down. His pupils widened and he found himself gasping for air.

"Yuki-kun. Take deep breaths… I'm sorry, I didn't mean for…" Haru told him, reaching out for his face. Yuki shook his head, still having trouble breathing. He patted Haru's shoulder and forced a smile.

"It's okay Haru. It's just me, I'm so weak…" Yuki began.

"It hurts you. I'm sorry." Haru said.

"Can we… Slow down… A little… Haru…" Yuki puffed out as he fell against Haru, who caught him.

"Everyone, can we take a break? Yuki is having a little asthma attack." Haru shouted out. Everone turned around fast to see what was going on.

"YUKI-KUN!" Tohru gasped as she ran towards Yuki. He smiled despite his difficulty to breathe, because he was certain that that would have been Tohru's reaction.

"We were walking too fast, right? Sorryyy Yuki…" Tohru told Yuki, who was lightly chuckling. Tohru's expression changed, as if she was wondering what was going on. He looked into her eyes.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I knew you would react like this… Hehe…" Yuki grasped his chest in pain. Tohru looked concerned and reached out to try to help him. He got a good look at her.

"You look nice. Blue suits you…" He said, eyeing her blue dress. She blushed.

"Yuki-kun… Umm… I ahh…" She tried to formulate a coherent sentence. He chuckled. Haru watched this with his arms crossed. He liked it when Yuki was happy like he was now.

"Haru. You're too nice." Rin informed Haru. They were sitting on a bench, because everyone decided to take their break there.

"Hmm? Come again?" He asked. She sighed.

"You're too nice." She repeated. He looked out in front of him as he stretched his arms high.

"Mmmk…" Haru told her nonchalantly. She looked at him and closed her eyes tightly. They had all bought pretzels from a vendor on the streets, and Rin carefully nibbled hers. She then slowly licked her lips. She sighed.

"Don't you get it, Haru? I don't need you anymore! I just don't get why…" Rin began, in a most frustrated tone. Haru had an angered look on his face.

"Rin, if you don't want to be with me anymore, that's fine. I would just really appreciate it if you would stop lying about it..." Haru told her. She looked up at him, saddened.

"What do you mean." Rin said.

"You know what I mean." Haru replied. A silence followed.

"Haru… I don't…"Rin began. Haru angrily placed his hand on her thigh and looked into her eyes, which were confused.

"Rin, don't pretend like you don't know, okay? It's not like one day we're fine, you're in the hospital and then you break up with me. I don't think it has much to do with you not needing me. In fact, I know you still do need me, so there's no need to lie…" Haru said this in a low growl. Rin's eyes were glazed with moist.

"And besides Rin… When I'm without you… I'm not complete." Haru began, as he blushed.

"I need you." Haru finished. Rin looked away from Haru for a moment, as tears stung in her eyes. A single tear fell to the ground as she leaned down on the chair.

"A…Aki…To…" Rin stuttered, flushing a darker shade. Haru looked down at her face.

"I knew it… The little…" Haru began, a terrible frown spreading across his face. She looked up, terrified. She grabbed his sleeve and looked at him with those teary eyes.

"Haru! You… You can't do… Please, you…" She began, as she burst into tears and lay on her thighs. Her body shook hard every time she gasped for air between sobs. Haru looked down at her again. He slowly rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. He then placed his lips near Rin's ear.

"Rin… Don't try to do everything on your own… I don't care if Akito hurts me. What really hurts is… Me not having you. Me not seeing you. Seeing you being… Sad, Alone… Or even worse… Thinking of you… Being with some other guy… Who won't treat you as well… Who won't care as much…" Haru whispered softly. He sweetly kissed the corner of Rin's lips and she blushed.

'So… I was just hurting him more…' Rin thought. This made her depressed.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier on…" Rin asked calmly. Haru smiled sympathetically.

"Because you were so caught up in not talking to me, avoiding me… Resisting me, that you wouldn't even listen to what I had to say." Haru informed her. She noticed Haru's warm embrace closing in on her. It wasn't something she disliked… At all. In fact, she loved it so much, she let herself rest in it and tucked herself in it even deeper.

"Haru… I know… How much I love you… I don't care what happens anymore… I just want to be with you… Always…" She said, sobbing quietly. Haru smiled at his lover, although she could not see it. He softly kissed the top of her head, and looked to that blue, clear sky, thanking it for whatever had changed in Rin to make her realize… How much she was worth to him…

'Thank you… So very much…'

"Ah! Everyone, Kyo-kun and I will be going to eat now… So can we meet you at the hotel later on?" Tohru told the group, enthused. Momiji was near Tohru, Haru and Rin were on the bench, in a tight embrace (Tohru wondered if something bad happened?), Yuki-kun was lying on the bench, trying to relax and Kyo-kun was standing next to her, timidly. She quickly ran up to Yuki.

"Yuki-kun… Kyo-kun, maybe we should stay…" Tohru suggested, as she looked down upon Yuki.

In normal circumstances, Yuki would have made Tohru stay with him, firstly because he wanted-no, needed- her warm kindness near him when he was unwell and secondly, because it was that idiot cat she was going to go out with… But he felt extremely sick…

'Also, I have… A lot of respect… For Kyo in the sense that… He was brave enough to at least try to reveal a part of his feelings for Tohru to her… And for that, because I have not yet had that kind of courage… I will allow it.' Yuki thought. He then plastered a fake smile on his face and chuckled lightly.

"I'll be fine Tohru. Momiji-kun and Haru-kun will take good care of me. Have fun with that idiot. Make sure he pays, okay? And buy whatever you want to eat… Try to make it something expensive, hmm?" Yuki told Tohru. She had the dizzy look on.

"STUPID RAT! Of course I was going to pay, anyway…" Kyo shouted.

"Well, that's surprising. You're not as dumb as I thought, then." Yuki replied.

"Aghh… YOU PISS ME OFF SO MUCH!" Kyo screamed, as he stomped off to a tree. He leaned himself against it and crossed his arms. His face was red with anger and embarrassment. Tohru seemed confused. Yuki patted her back and smiled strangely.

"Go. Have fun." He told her, still wearing the strange expression. Toru tried to decode it, but smiled it return instead and nodded her head. She ran off to Kyo when suddenly, she realized what the expression was…

Jealousy.

Before she could reflect any more, she bumped into a tree and dropped to the ground. Kyo came running.

"Tohru-kun! Don't be stupid! Watch where you're going next time!" He yelled. Tohru jumped up quickly.

"Yes!" She shouted.

"And… You don't have to do that 'yes!' thing all the time…"Kyo added. Tohru thought about this for some time.

"Yeeeahhhhh…" Was her reply. Kyo slapped his forehead.

"Oh nevermind… I'm just being… Silly…" Kyo told her, blushing. She blinked.

"So uhmm Tohru… What do you want to eat?" Kyo asked her. She thought.

"Do they have any takoyaki in America?" Tohru asked him.

"I'm… Not… Certain…" Kyo replied, unsurely. She did a thumbs up to him, smiling, and walked up to a businesswoman walking the street.

": Umm… Excuse me… Do you… Takoyaki:" Tohru asked, embarrassed. The businesswoman simply sneered at her and walked away. Tohru's English, after all, was not all that good…

"Tohru, is everything okay?" Kyo asked, as he walked up.

"Ermm… The lady ran away…" She said. Kyo laughed.

"Then, let's assume there's no takoyaki in America. Why don't we just go there?" He pointed to a quiet looking restaurant. Tohru liked it immediately.

"Okay Kyo-kun! Looks good!" Tohru said, as she skipped towards the restaurant.

"So Tohru-kun… Ahmm… Have you ahhh… I mean… Umm… What is your favorite food?" Kyo said, loudly. He blushed deeply. Tohru giggled.

"My favorite food? Hmm… I suppose I like onigiri very much!" Tohru smiled.

"What food does Kyo-kun love?" She asked him, leaning her chin on her fingers. He sighed.

"Well… Anything you cook is delicious… So ahmm…" He wasn't sure what to say. Luckily, someone interrupted him before he could continue his ramblings.

" : Can I take your order: " Tohru gasped.

" : Stephen-san: "

Takoyaki: (Shigures power food, by the way. I believe it's also Ritsu's favorite.) A sort of pastry filled with octopus. Supposedly, it's very good.

Onigiri: Well, if you REALLY don't know, it's a riceball. Sometimes it has a strip of seaweed on it, not always.

YOOOOHOOO

chapter fiiiniiished! I think it was long… Oh well!

This chapter… Part of it is for Viv, my dear reviewer who wanted more Haru/Rin scenes. Well, here they are!;) Hoped all you reviewers (whom I heart, by the way) enjoyed this chapter! Thanks so much for reviewing and sorry this chapter was late!

Until next time (Ja ne!)