I could hear Tohru's soft voice as I passed her room on my way downstairs. She was talking to herself, and thought I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on her like this, I couldn't help myself. Everything about her seemed to draw me in. Her personality, her smile, her voice…

"Perhaps I should just ignore these feeling welling up inside me. It's obvious he doesn't feel that way about me, too." I heard her sigh.

Argh! Damn that Yuki! He's so full of himself, and he doesn't care about the way he's making Tohru feel! I felt the anger intensify inside me as I made my hands into fists and pounded my way down the stairs.

My hand curled around the strap of my backpack and I hurled it over my shoulder in one fluid movement, cursing the damn rat every step of the way. How could he even stomach the thought of making her feel that way?!

I rushed out of the door and stormed towards the direction of my high school without a backward glance.

-x-

The day passed slowly, a complete drag. I often wondered why I even bothered staying in the stuffy classrooms to listen to some old goof drone on about educational crap. I mean, really, what is the point?

There is none.

And it didn't help that Tohru's usually bright and cheerful – yet ditzy – expression was shrouded with a distant, far-off look. It didn't suit her at all, so my attention was easily diverted from the class and focussed on her.

She never moved, never spoke, never smiled…Just stared off into space.

Uotani and Hanajima had also seemed to pick up on her remote aura, much to their distaste. At least this time it's all that damn Yuki's fault, so they have no reason to blame me, I thought with a grunt.

-x-

When the bell finally went for the day's end, everyone piled out of the classroom quickly, eager to escape the world of schooling. Soon, the six of us – Hanajima, Uotani, Tohru, that damn rat and I, along with some tough-looking guy who I've never seen before – were the only ones left in the otherwise deserted room. It seemed even our sensei wanted to escape.

"Tohru…" Hanajima began.

"Who are and what have you done with the Tohru we all know and love?" demanded Uotani, staring Tohru down.

She only shrugged indifferently in reply. "I am Tohru, you guys. You know… me." Then she forced a smile. For that moment, she looked like her old self again, but returned to the isolated wall she had been before.

"DAMMIT TOHRU!" Uotani wailed in exasperation. I watched from the other side of the room as I packed away my books. Yuki seemed puzzled by it all.

"Maybe it's because of one of them," Hanajima accused in her monotone voice, eyes only on me. I knew this would happen. Why me?

I scoffed at her accusation and shrugged. "Don't look at me. The little prince over there is the one you should be after, Saki."

Yuki stared at me with wide eyes, in bewilderment. "Excuse me? Do you know something I don't, baka neko?"

"You know full well what's going on here, you damn rat!"

"I do?"

"Of course you do! You know exactly what's going on here, but you have too much fun toying with me to admit the truth!"

Both Yuki and Uotani held their foreheads in their hands. "You never learn, do you?" Yuki muttered.

"Will someone please just tell us what the hell is going on here?!" Uotani almost begged.

"This seems interesting," murmured Hanajima. Tohru said nothing and watched.

"This guy—" I pointed accusingly at Yuki before continuing, "—knows exactly how much she—" my finger moved in line of Tohru instead, "—loves him, and yet he ignores it all and lets her suffer!"

Tohru's eyes widened this time. "Me… and Sohma-kun…? Kyo-kun, what are you talking about?"

"I said—WAIT. Does that mean you don't love him?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"I… I couldn't love Sohma-kun that way…" Her eyes turned to him. "Gomen-nasai," she bowed.

Yuki shook his head. "No, not at all. I can hardly blame you," he chuckled.

Tohru looked flustered. "N-No! I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry if I offended you!" Again, she bowed toward him.

Yuki smiled, "Of course you didn't, Honda-san. Don't worry."

"Y-Yes, Sohma-kun…" She returned the smile.

"Aw, that was cute," Uotani smiled for a split second at Tohru, before turning to me with a cold stare. "Now what the hell was all that crap you said about?" She raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"I…" I thought for a moment, but not a single decent reply came to me. "I… don't know…" I sighed. "I guess I got mixed up…"

"Hell yeah you did. Now, Tohru, what's the matter?" She and Hanajima fussed over Tohru while Yuki fixed his eyes on me, but I took no notice. I was too caught up in my own thoughts.

"So… Who were you talking about this morning?"

Tohru looked at me questioningly. "This morning…?"

"Yeah, I walked past your room and you said something about a guy…"

She almost gasped. "Uh… It was… It was nothing! I was just copying a line from a movie! Yeah, that's it!"

Okay, so she's an even worse liar than I am… Didn't I already know that anyway?

Yuki sighed. I translated that as, best not to ask. She obviously doesn't want to talk about it.

Yeah, state the obvious, rat boy… You could see it in her eyes that she was touchy about the subject, should it come up again.

We all picked up our bags and were about to leave when the guy – who I'd completely forgotten was still in the room – spoke to Tohru. "Um, Honda-san, may I speak to you for a moment?"
Tohru spun around to look at him in confusion, but nodded. We all left them in the room, alone.

"Orange-top!" Uotani yelled at me.

"What?" I muttered.

"Run to the cafeteria and get a glass!"

"What the hell fo—?"

"JUST DO IT!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" I raced down the corridors in case she got angry and wanted to use violence. That wouldn't be pretty…

I ran in, grabbed a few glasses and ran back to where the others stood, ears pressed against the door. "Makes sense…" I muttered to myself.

I handed the glasses out and we all pressed them to the door, trying to hear the conversation taking place inside.

"Well, I know I've never really spoken to you before, but maybe this could be our chance to get to know each other better!"

"Huh? What are you say—!"

I glanced up at the window in the centre of the door when Tohru stopped talking in mid-sentence.

The sight made me feel sick to my stomach. His lips were pressed to hers… And I didn't even know the guy's name! Tohru's face was quickly turning scarlet.

The others saw it too. They all groaned in distaste, and I could tell Uotani and I were both trying to contain our anger. Then he pulled away from Tohru and we returned to the glasses.

"Tohru, will you go out with me…?"

Now, where's the punch-line when you need it?