Disclaimer: See chapter 2.

The rest if the meal passed without great incident, excluding when Shigure pretended to choke on his rice in an attempt to convince Tohru to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He seemed to have been miraculously cured when Hatsuharu selflessly offered to do it himself. The conversation was calm and controlled, yet there seemed to be an underlying tension just under the surface, constantly threatening to erupt. The casual words seemed so forced, so careful; the expressions on the faces of the Sohmas were pleasant enough, but appeared almost tight. Tohru pretended not to notice the frequent looks exchanged between her companions, but each glance was like a sharp, stabbing pain that lanced through her stomach. She wanted so much to scream out, You can trust me! Please talk to me! But...

She couldn't take this. Not anymore. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out, torn to pieces, stomped on. Why were they so afraid to talk to her? Didn't they trust her? She looked down at her half-full bowl and felt her eyes begin to prick with tears. No. She didn't want to cry. Not now. Not in front of them. She had to be stronger than this.

Tohru stood sharply, startling the others, who stared up at her in surprise. "Honda-san?" Yuki inquired curiously. "What's the matter?"

"Eh? Oh, um, nothing! I'm just going to go see if Kyo-kun is finished eating," she told him cheerily, her smile bright and sunny. Yuki watched her wordlessly as she turned and skipped out, her hands clutching tightly at her skirt. Even now... what did she know? He had wondered before. Was it really just the stress from school? If not, what else could it be? There was no way she could know.

Momiji let out a gusty sigh. He turned his eyes sharply at Yuki, wondering slightly if his perception of the situation was true or not. "Yuki." Yuki closed his violet eyes and remained silent. Hatsuharu reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Does she know?" he asked bluntly. Yuki looked up with startled eyes that quickly faded to denial.

"No. At least... I don't think so," he said quietly. "I haven't said anything to her." He glanced at Shigure, who slowly shook his head. "Shigure hasn't, and Kyo..." He broke off, trying to find the words to voice his feelings, but Hatsuharu interjected, "There's no way he would say anything. He wouldn't want her to worry unnecessarily." Momiji nodded solemnly.

Yuki tightened his fists in frustration. "Who's to say it isn't necessary? Doesn't she have the right to know? What's going to happen when she wakes up one day and finds out that the baka neko is gone?" he ranted, his voice getting louder, angrier, with each word. Haru rested his elbows calmly on the table. "Or you," he commented impassively. Yuki's eyes widened sharply. "He... he hasn't said anything... has he? Nothing's been decided yet, has it?" he asked hesitantly, looking desperately over at Shigure.

The older man let out a short, barking laugh. "Why ask me? I'm not exactly in Akito's good graces, if you remember," he chuckled. He scratched at his chest and added, "If I was, I would live at the main house, wouldn't I? And you, the would-be runaway, wouldn't be living with me." His eyes held a sly, devious glitter as he watched Yuki's face carefully. Yuki's face paled visibly, before his jaw tightened and his face flushed red in deadly fury.

"What was that?"

Even Shigure cringed at the icy menace in the boy's voice. Yuki's eyes flashed dangerously, daring him to continue. Haru shook his head and sighed. "Sensei. You really took it too far this time," he informed the novelist, but his eyes also glinted with the signs of early anger. Shigure merely smirked and leaned back, saying nothing.

Momiji struggled to diffuse the overwhelming pressure in the room by saying quietly, "I heard Ha'ri talking to someone on the phone." All eyes snapped immediately to the blond boy. Yuki clenched his fists shut tight, the knuckles white with tension. His eyes begged Momiji to continue, but his pupils contracted with desperate fear of what he would say. Momiji kept his gaze firmly on the table, avoiding their eyes as he went on. "It was just the other night. Ha'ri was talking to someone, and they started talking about you, Yuki, and Kyo. Ha'ri was really formal about it all, but... I've known him all my life. He's not happy about it. He's been really strained lately." Shigure stiffened and looked away. His long lashes brushed his cheek silently as he closed his eyes without a word.

Momiji's voice seemed to get ever so slightly deeper as he continued his narration, and he seemed extremely hesitant, his voice trailing off several times before returning as strong and controlled as ever.. "They talked about Kyo first. Akito... Akito's still planning to come for him. The day after graduation. Ha'ri said... he said something about Tohru. The other person answered, and Ha'ri replied, 'Yes, I think that's what Akito's intending, after all.'" Yuki's blood turned to ice as his muscles tensed and froze beneath his skin. His breath caught in his throat. He had wondered before what Akito had planned for her, but... If he admitted it to himself, he'd scarcely believed that Akito would actually hurt her. He wouldn't... would he?

Momiji finally lifted his eyes and glanced anxiously at Yuki. "Y-you don't think Akito would actually hurt Tohru... d-do you?" Momiji's voice... it trembled helplessly as he stared into Yuki's eyes desperately, pleading for the gift of hope. It was times like these that Yuki could scarcely believe that this was his cousin, Momiji. Momiji had always been slow to develop. He was a late talker, a late walker, and even into high school he acted and was in turn treated like child. When Momiji suddenly grew, he had matured so quickly. The sudden leap, which took most children several years, occurred in only a couple of months. He coped with it remarkably well, but everyone has his limits. Yuki smiled kindly at the younger boy and put an awkward, but comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I promise," he said solemnly, "that I... we would never let anything happen to Honda-san. Ever." Momiji sniffed slightly and swiped a hand over his eyes. "Yeah," he mumbled, accepting Yuki's words seriously. Now if only I can keep my promise, Yuki thought guiltily.

"Anyway..." Momiji quickly regained his composure and continued his narration, his voice level. "After that, Ha'ri talked about you. He said that Akito kept changing his mind. Sometimes he says that he wants Yuki to come to him immediately after graduation, but then the next day he says that Yuki should go to university first." Momiji simply shrugged helplessly. Yuki stared down at his hands. Either option was hopeless. Going to university would simply put off the inevitable. It wouldn't prevent it. "But..." Yuki looked up at Momiji's thoughtful face, startled. "You know... I think that Ha'ri might be trying to convince Akito to let you go to university first. I'm sure he'd at least try," Momiji said firmly. Yuki laughed quietly. "Even if he did... he cannot go against. Akito. None of us can," he said dryly. Momiji grimaced and Haru chuckled softly.

Shigure let out a heavy sigh. A small grin twisted his lips as he looked up at his young cousins through narrowed eyes. "It is no use worrying about it now, is it?" he commented lightly, ignoring the surprised and rather disapproving glares from the others. Laughing under his breath, he continued, "I would be more anxious about Tohru-kun if I were you. Do you really think that Akito will leave her alone, Yuki-kun?" Yuki clenched his teeth and seemed to be on the verge of leaping to his feet in anger. What was this damn dog doing? He glanced at Momiji, whose face had paled significantly and seemed to be biting his lip to prevent it's quivering. Shooting a deadly icy look at Shigure, he asked coldly, "You didn't mention this a few minutes ago, did you? We would never let Akito harm Honda-san." Shigure simply snickered quietly and stared frankly at Yuki, amusement clear in his eyes. "My, my, Yuki-kun. How brave of you," he smiled, his voice blatantly ironic. "Funny. Didn't you just say that none of us can go against Akito?" Yuki's lips tightened into a thin line. How dare that bastard throw his words back at him? Ignoring Yuki entirely, Shigure continued. "We must be prepared for the worst. I doubt that Akito would hurt her directly, though." Momiji seemed to visibly relax, but the words seemed to have the opposite effect on Hatsuharu; his eyes scanned Yuki thoughtfully, carefully taking in the tension and strain that coursed through his body. "Obviously, Akito could have her mind wiped. That would make all of the Juunishi suffer," Shigure mused. "But then, he could also refuse to let her forget and force her to live with the pain of loss. Whatever happens, I seriously doubt that Tohru-kun shall be allowed to stay with us for much longer."

Shigure fell silent, allowing the boys to mull things over in their own minds. He glanced up at the clock and rose sharply. "I'm afraid I have a meeting with my editor," he explained, in answer to their questioning looks. "Be good while I'm gone. Try not to destroy my house," he said cheerfully, loping quickly from the room to ready himself for his appointment.

Momiji looked helplessly to Yuki. "W-what do we do?"

Yuki avoided the younger boy's pleading eyes. What could he say? How could he comfort the boy when he himself suffered from so many misgivings?

-What do we do?-

Notes: Mmm. Hah. I halved the chapter once again. Again, I feel bad because this turns out to be such a short chapter. However, this takes care of some other placing issues I was worrying about, so... it works out. I promise, there will be some Kyoru fluff in the next chapter. ;;

Again, to my reviewers: thank you so much for your support!