The following week Yuki was not waiting for Tohru when she arrived at the Estate. She went to the bench, then to the main lounge, before returning to the bench. There she waited, feeling disappointed.

Yuki was thinking of her. Akito had taken him to lunch with a business partner in the small lounge, which was for more select guests. He was anxious and scared though his mask was calm and composed. It doesn't matter how you feel, it only matters how you seem. That was how you survived in this world. He had been taught well... but he had broken the most important rule a week ago when he cried in front of a client. He prayed Akito wouldn't find out. Yuki ate and laughed and conversed with the man while Akito looked on.

Tohru had been waiting for a short while when Haru wandered into the garden.

"Oh Tohru, is it Wednesday? Where's Yuki?" Tohru said that he hadn't come yet, trying to hide the sadness from her voice.

When their lunch was finished and the deal signed Yuki escorted the client to his car. Akito walked a short way behind, watching every movement.

When they had seen the client's car sweep out of the drive they turned and walked back.

"Good job Yuki. That will be a useful partnership for us." Yuki nodded into the silence, feeling he was expected to respond but unable to.

"I've said before that you would make a great business partner Yuki. I want to give you that. To give you half of the company... but you put up these walls between us, you're always so distant..."

Yuki's breathing hitched. He knew this was where he ought to apologise; if it was a client he already would have... but Akito had always seemed able to tell what he was thinking so there was no point in lying. With Akito lying made everything worse. He said nothing.

Akito sighed, "Well I can see you're not going to commit anytime soon. Such a stubborn gutter rat. I'm finished work for the day, lets just go to bed."

No, no. He wanted to go to Tohru. He couldn't go to bed with Akito. He was completely sober and everything was raw and painful; un-cushioned by any numbness.

Akito surely sensed Yuki's resistance, knowing his thoughts as he always did, for he took Yuki's hand and pulled him along. They were heading to Akito's quarters, which would mean they would have to cross the garden... where Tohru was. Yuki stopped suddenly. He couldn't let Akito find Tohru.

"Wait! Could I get something to drink first? Just a coffee?" he pleaded, "That client was boring." Akito gave him a measured look before nodding.

"Certainly my sweet." He changed direction, pulling Yuki instead towards the small dining room. Yuki breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't get to be with Tohru, but Akito wouldn't be with her either, and that was enough.

When he entered the dining room Akito stopped suddenly. Following his gaze with increasing alarm, Yuki did likewise.

Tohru and Momiji were talking animatedly at the end of the room, apparently examining a small potted plant. Kyo lounged in a chair at the table, laughing, while Haru stood at the counter making coffees.

All talk ceased the instant the door closed behind them. Yuki couldn't believe what he was seeing. What the hell were they doing? Tohru was here. Here. In the dining room. And Akito was here. The very thing he hadn't wanted.

Haru was quickest to recover. "Afternoon Akito," he said confidently, "Sorry, just getting coffees for a client."

Akito strode to the counter, leaving Yuki standing frozen at the door. Akito pushed Haru aside dismissively. He took one of the coffees Haru had made and returned to Yuki, thrusting the cup at him.

He muttered in an undertone. "Come on Yuki. Lets leave the rats to their games and have our own fun." His voice changed into its elegant sophisticated purr: "So sorry to intrude Madam." He raised his eyes Tohru for the first time.

He stopped.

And Yuki was sure his heart stopped too. They had been so close.

Akito took a step forward. "Ahh but we've met before? You were Yuki's sweet afternoon client." Akito's smile was sickly sweet which Yuki knew was dangerous. Tohru nodded slightly, unable to speak. Haru, Kyo and Momij were still. It was as though all the air had been sucked from the room.

"But then.. I had Yuki today... so who are you with now then?" Akito's voice was light and casual, as though this were merely an unimportant inquiry. They all knew it wasn't.

Yuki's chest was tight. Was this it? He had fucked up now. He just hoped Tohru would be alright. He wanted to speak, to explain, to distract Akito, anything... but the words died in his throat.

Akito took another step forward, his eyes boring into Tohru. Yuki's head spun.

"She's with me."

The words came out of nowhere, like a miraculous slap which allowed Yuki to breathe again. Kyo.

He was staring defiantly up at Akito from where he sat. And from the way his body curved protectively towards Akito, Yuki thought it seemed believable.

"She's with you?"

Kyo nodded. Tohru nodded. Haru resumed making coffees. Momiji poured some water on the small plant. The moment passed, time had paused for a moment... and it now resumed at its normal rate. Yuki breathed deeply.

"Quite a drop from Yuki to you." Akito muttered with a smirk, too quietly for Tohru and Momiji to hear. Yuki saw Kyo's ears colour in anger or embarrassment.

"I'm cheap and temporary." Kyo confirmed. Yuki could almost feel the effort it cost him to say this. But that was what cinched it. Akito nodded in understanding.

"It's true you are worth less than any of my other members." He smiled warmly at Kyo before leading Yuki from the room.

There was silence for a long moment after the door closed. Then Kyo sprang to his feet and kicked a chair over.

"That damn rat, he owes me! I could have landed in serious shit for that!" He knocked over a glass of water on the table and watched the water spread and drip onto the floor.

"It's only cause he took the blame for breaking that bloody ugly vase!"

Haru turned to look at the small group. Kyo said he had done that because he owed Yuki, but Haru saw the way he glanced at Tohru to check she was alright. He saw the way his anger subsided when she talked to him. He saw Momiji offering Tohru one of his special biscuits, saw him telling her about the plant. And he felt himself handing Tohru her coffee with a gentle smile, telling her it was going to be alright.

They didn't get attached, they didn't get close... they couldn't. They would be free when they were twenty-one and then they could do anything, but now... now they had to put up walls, to wrap themselves in armor, to feel nothing...

And yet this girl, this ordinary, extraordinary girl had burst into their midst like the summer sun, and their defenses were melting. Haru thought of Yuki, who wouldn't be free at twenty-one, but who had completely lowered his defenses to Tohru. He was weak now, vulnerable. He felt everything, every night... Haru had thought he was a fool... but now he understood. Tohru was so warm she could thaw the frostiest act. And in Yuki she had.

For Haru, the world was freedom. For Yuki, Tohru was the world.

.

On Sunday Tohru came to the Estate. She couldn't wait until Wednesday to see Yuki again so she apologised and told her grandfather she was going to visit friends. He didn't mind, saying she did too much for him anyway.

Her feet carried her to the Estate on their own, so well did she know the way now. She wondered if she was doing the right thing. What would her mum do? What would she say of what Tohru was doing?

A member of staff showed Tohru into the main lounge and Kisa asked if she wanted anything to drink. She politely declined, asking if Yuki was around. The young girl shook her head and told Tohru she would check the dining room and small lounge.

She returned a minute later with Haru, who grinned when he saw Tohru.

"I hoped it'd be you," he said when Kisa had left them, "I haven't seen Yuki, but lets go get him." He grinned and led Tohru from the lounge and across the garden to the sliding French doors of Akito's bedroom. Tohru had never been this far and was anxious.

"Should we be here?" she asked.

Haru pretended to think for a moment. "No" he said simply, smirking and shrugging. They peered in the glass and saw Yuki. He was curled asleep in the armchair by the window. Tohru noticed how his whole body was small and slim enough to fit in the tiny space. He twitched occasionally and his face twisted in pain. Bad dreams. He shivered in just a thin t-shirt and shorts.

"He doesn't sleep well," Haru said sadly, as though reading her mind, "He never has really, but some nights are better, and some are much worse." They watched together as Yuki flinched violently. Tohru wanted desperately to go to him. She glanced at Haru and he understood.

"Well the lazy buggers slept long enough, lets go wake him. He'll be happy to see you." Haru slid the door open and stepped into the room. Tohru followed him. The room was grand and spacious, luxuriously furnished. The main feature of the room was the high imposing bed. It was fancy and looked comfortable, though Yuki chose to sleep in a tiny armchair... Tohru didn't want to think about why this was.

Haru grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at Yuki's head.

"Yo shitface, your girlfriends here!" He grinned devilishly at Tohru's shocked expression, laughed at Yuki's groggy noises, and jogged away.

Tohru began apologising immediately, saying she hadn't known Haru was going to do that, that she hoped it was alright she was here, that she was sorry she had woken him... Yuki silenced her by drawing her into a tight hug. His body was still warm from sleep and the gesture was so strangely intimate that Tohru was speechless.

Yuki drew back a moment later. "I'm sorry, I have to shower. I can't- can't be near you, after being with a client. I need to be clean..." his words faltered to an embarrassed stop.

She sat in the bedroom while he showered, talking to each other through the open door. They went outside afterwards, wandering into the gardens automatically. Yuki's hair was damp and smelled of shampoo. When he talked to her he was lively, animated, excited she had come to see him unexpectedly, but in the moments of silence he seemed to be far away.

She had noticed this often in her visits to the Estate. There were good days and bad days, as Haru had said. Some days Yuki would be quiet and withdrawn. Sometimes he was nervous and would wince when she touched him, flinching at sudden noises or movements. Often he was tired, though he made a valiant effort to disguise this. She noticed also the way he twitched and rubbed his temples by late afternoon and she thought he was craving alcohol.

It was the same with the others... some days Haru wouldn't come at all, and sometimes when he did he was tired, sore. Sometimes he was angry and irritable. Kyo was usually angry, so the unusual case for him was when he was quiet and pensive...that's when she knew he'd had a bad night...

They talked a lot that day, not practicing Yuki's reading or writing at all, and it reminded Tohru of the first day she had come to the Estate when they had sat in the lounge and shared their hearts.

She wanted to make him laugh, for him to smile that beautiful and pure smile of his which was so rare. He asked about Buster and she was delighted he had remembered the dog he had met so many months before.

They talked for hours, drinking their way through several orange juices. They ate risotto and ended up flicking peas at each other. Tohru checked her watch as the darkness drew in. Yuki noticed and sighed.

"I don't want you to go" he said, "It gets harder every time we say goodbye." Tohru was touched; Yuki didn't usually share his feelings like this. She agreed.

"I think... can I kiss you?" he asked, his nerves clearly evident in his voice.

By way of an answer Tohru lent towards him. Their lips met in a rush of warmth and feeling. He held her face tenderly in his and Tohru was sure this was the safest she had felt since her mum died. It was short and sweet, and perfect.

When they broke apart they were both smiling.

"Lets not say goodbye then, lets say see you soon." He nodded in agreement.

They walked happily to the gates of the Estate, all smiles and shy glances.

The dark eyes narrowed... a cruel smile twisted the face... and Shigure went to find Akito...

.

Akito did nothing. He waited, watching and waiting, until Wednesday. Then he would see for himself if there was any truth in the absurd story Shigure had spun. Yuki, his Yuki... and a client. That wretched girl he kept seeing no less. She came every week Shigure said... she was teaching Yuki to read... he loved her... Shigure even suspected that they had met outside the Estate, but that was impossible.

His Yuki wouldn't disobey him like that. He was too weak, too cowardly, too scared...

Akito knew Shigure was hoping for gratitude; his new book wasn't selling well and he hoped to be releasd from the debt he owed the Sohma Estate. If this information was sound... Akito supposed he would be obliged to release the sneaky man from his contract two years early. He wasn't one of the most popular anyway. If the information was false... he would have to find a way to keep Shigure as his gutter rat for many more years.

It was all about who you knew, which deals you had, what secrets you knew... and in the currency of secrets Akito was very wealthy. He was a very powerful young man. He could definitely punish Shigure adequately if he was lying...

But what if he wasn't?

Akito watched Yuki carefully that week. On Sunday night he heard the whimpers which escaped the thin form as he clutched a pillow in his sleep. On Monday morning he watched as Yuki vigorously scrubbed himself clean in the shower. On Monday evening he watched as Yuki mingled with the clients, his eyes promising and lustful. He observed as he worked his charm on the clients at the bar, being rewarded with many drinks which he rapidly consumed. On the early hours of Tuesday Akito watched as Yuki crept into the garden. Several hours later he was back, stealthily sneaking to his room before curling up in the armchair.

Quite impulsively on Tuesday night Akito entered Yuki's tiny room which was only the size of a walk-in wardrobe. It was a place he never went, for he had no desire or need to. A clothes rail held several shirts, jackets and suit trousers; Yuki's work clothes. Other clothes were scattered on the floor. A half-finished coffee sat against a wall, perhaps Yuki had been drinking it when Akito called him to go to the lounge. An empty bottle of gin lay on its side. Akito had suspected Haru was providing Yuki with drink and hadn't cared. Now however, seeing the disrespectful way Yuki treated the room Akito provided him with, he was suddenly angry.

He went to the cabinet and wrenched the doors open.

That damn stupid tin was there, which contained Yuki's crap. Yuki was weak, Akito thought, to attach such sentiment to mere objects, and objects no less, which he could mangle or destroy. Foolish.

A half-empty packet of cigarettes and box of matches sat next to this. Several empty bottles lay on the shelves. And at the back... something had been showed behind the bottles... a book?

Akito drew forth the notebook, workbook and a newspaper from several days ago.

He flipped through the notebook and sank to the floor in shock. Every page was filled, filled... with words. She was teaching him to read. His Yuki.

He stared at the words for a long time, at the evidence of Yuki's hard work. So Shigure was right about something then... What else was he right about?

He carefully replaced the items and left Yuki's room. He sat in the armchair by the window where Yuki so often sat.

Did he sit here when he schemed about lying to me? Did he plot how to sneak and deceive and betray?

Akito reeled at these thoughts. Did Yuki think of her when he was in bed with him? After everything he had done for him...

He thought of the notebook and his anger frothed, black and acidic.

Tomorrow was Wednesday... tomorrow he would find out the truth.

He was still awake when Yuki returned at four in the morning.

Akito fucked him hard that night, forcing his face into the pillow and relishing every sob and shout and curse that he wrung from the boy.

It quenched his anger some, and when he heard Yuki gasping for air in the morning, his weak body struggling to breathe as it sometimes did, he felt vindicated.

Tomorrow... he would confirm everything. And Yuki would regret his ungratefulness.

.