At the beginning of the week, they had just been faint murmurs spoken by a few, but by the end, they had spread through the school like wildfire. The rumors about Tohru being pregnant were now the topic everyone was talking about. Apparently, one student had overheard Tohru talking to Uo and Hana about having a new uniform, and she had told her friends who were part of the Yuki Fan Club about it. This brought about the question of why Tohru would need a new uniform. Of course, a few gave Tohru the benefit of the doubt and settled with thinking Tohru tripped and ripped her old one, but someone pointed out how chubby Tohru looked. From there, a couple of students got most people to believe that a pregnancy was probably what made Tohru a bit rounder in the abdominal area.

The rest of the Yuki Fan Club, being the Tohru Honda haters they were, had already assumed Tohru was indeed pregnant and were maliciously twisting the story around, making Tohru seem like some sort of prostitute. By the end of the week, there wasn't a single person in the school who didn't think Tohru was pregnant, a whore, or both. Everywhere she went, the rumors came along except when Yuki was with her. When Yuki was beside her, the fan girls were too distracted by their prince to bother with the gossip. Because of this, Yuki was unaware of what Tohru was going through every day she came to school, and Tohru was too timid to tell him herself. In the end, there were just some places Yuki couldn't follow her to, like the girls' locker room where she was now.

Tohru was trying her best at this point to ignore what they were saying about her. They weren't even trying to keep her from realizing they were talking about her anymore. Girls a few steps away from her discussed it as if they didn't know she was three feet away from them. She clutched her school uniform tightly against her chest and squeezed her eyes shut in attempt to drone out the noise around her instead of changing out of her gym outfit. Tohru finally opened her eyes when she heard footsteps nearing her. She stared at the girl with short black hair in front of her; it was Mio, another member of the Yuki fan club.

"Hey, Honda-san, is it true? Are you really pregnant?"

"Eh?"

Tohru blinked with terror. She didn't mind it as much when they were talking about her behind her back or even when they were gossiping about her in front of her face, but what was she supposed to do when one confronted her about it like this? Tohru bit her lip as she looked around the locker room for some sort of sign to tell her what to do. Finding no such thing, Tohru found herself gazing down at her feet as she muttered some incoherent response that even she herself couldn't understand. Mio was about to ask her for clarification when Uo and Hana draped their arms around Tohru's shoulders.

"What kinda dumb ass question is that?" Uo demanded angrily.

"Yes, I must say that is quite a ridiculous remark. Does she look like a mother to you?" Hana added.

"I uh…"

It was Mio's turn to be the stammering idiot. She blushed faintly and decided to shake her head. If she wasn't the nicest member of the Yuki fan club, she probably would be pointing out every single thing about Tohru that led them to believe she was pregnant, but Mio didn't. She really wasn't a Tohru Honda hater like the rest of the Yuki fan club; she was just a Yuki admirer. The only reason she had asked that was because of her childlike curiosity.

"I swear, if any of you bother Tohru again, we'll kill you," Uo warned every girl in the locker room as she brandished her iron pipe.

Hana nodded in agreement with deadly looking electric waves radiating off of her body. Uo continued to wave her pipe around dangerously until all the girls in the room backed away into a corner and nodded. Even wearing only their underwear, Uo and Hana still looked malicious. The only reason they didn't hurt anyone and went back to changing was Tohru's arm flailing and pleas for them to stop. The potential threat on the lives of the gossipers disappeared, and everyone besides Uo and Hana uneasily went back to getting dressed.

Unlike the other jittery girls, Tohru was apprehensive for a different reason. She was thinking over Mio's question. If Uo and Hana hadn't stepped in, Tohru wasn't sure what she would have done. There wasn't any way for her to respond to Mio's question without confessing that she pregnant which she didn't want every student to know at the moment. She couldn't deny it either since she hated lying. She couldn't very well keep her stomach from growing without losing her baby. Everyone would discover the truth sooner or later, but she wanted them to be oblivious to her condition for as long as possible.

For now, Tohru decided to try her best not to pay any attention to the gossip. She knew that Uo and Hana's threat wouldn't keep the rumors down for too long. They'd continue soon enough like they had been doing all week. Some days, the mutterings and murmurs were too much for her to handle rationally. Sometimes, she wanted to go lock herself in a bathroom stall and cry. Tohru flashed her friends a smile after she put away her folded gym clothes to let them know she was going to meet them back in the classroom. In response, they simply nodded.

Outside, Tohru found Yuki leaning against the wall. His eyes lit up when he saw her, making it clear that he had been waiting for her. She walked over to him with a smile on her face. He returned her smile as a greeting and wordlessly took her books from her arms, an action that made every girl that passed insanely jealous. Tohru was grateful for his presence, not because he was carrying her things for her but because he unintentionally made everyone stop talking about her. It really wasn't her wish for him to do such a favor for her. In fact, she had offered to take her belongings back, but he was the one who declined.

"Yuki-kun, why were you waiting for me?" Tohru asked politely.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," Yuki replied with a smile.

Her mouth formed a small 'o' as every other mouth around them dropped from shock, envy, or both at Yuki's blunt answer. Tohru wasn't exactly sure what to do so she just followed him as he walked to her locker. Yuki stopped when they arrived at her locker and stood there as she opened it. He handed her each book and binder one at a time ignoring the looks everyone around them were giving him and Tohru. Tohru, on the other hand, was unable to keep acting natural. Not only were her cheeks the darkest shade of red, but her hands were also shaking. She dropped one of her notebooks, the dark green one with the picture of her mom in it.

She reached to grab it, but a nearby Yuki fan girl beat her to it. Tohru looked up at the fan girl she recognized as Minami. Forcing a smile onto her face, Tohru held out her hand for the notebook, but Minami made no attempt to give it back. Instead, Minami flipped through the pages. Her eyes widened when she came upon the photo of Tohru's mom. She pulled it out and held it out to Tohru with a disapproving frown. Tohru's brown orbs doubled in size when she saw her precious photo. Thinking Minami was giving it back to her, Tohru extended her hands out, but Minami held it out of her reach.

"Why do you carry around a photo of your mother?" she questioned.

"I umm…" Tohru stammered embarrassedly.

"It's childish and immature. You should carry around a picture of your boyfriend instead or something. You do have one, right?" Minami asked.

"I… I don't…" Tohru whispered.

Minami snorted, "Well at least leave this picture of your mommy at home. It's embarrassing, and I don't want to see you carrying this around again!"

Tohru looked down at her feet with a hurt expression. She couldn't bring herself to respond or even look Minami in the eye. Tohru didn't want to abandon her mother at home, but she couldn't say it. Yuki watched Tohru shift her weight from one foot to the other for a minute before deciding to step in. Originally, he didn't want to defend Tohru since that would probably make his fan club hate her more, but he couldn't stand to see that frown on her face any longer. He stepped forward and placed his hand on Tohru's shoulder.

"Why? I think it's cute that she carries around a picture of her mom," Yuki stated simply.

Minami, along with every other girl in the hall way (and a few guys) stared at Yuki with their cheeks flaring. Tohru glanced up at him shyly though appreciative for the support. He just beamed at her and removed his hand from her shoulder before anyone suspected anything of the gesture. Yuki and Tohru were both unaware of the effect of Yuki's words; that small comment would soon start a new trend within Kaibara High School. Now, if one didn't carry around a photograph of his mother, he wasn't cool.

"So if I carry around a picture of my mother, I get to be cute in Yuki-sama's eyes too?" Haru asked as he propped his arms around Yuki's neck.

Haru's voice startled the two of them and made Tohru jump about two feet away from Yuki with a red face.

"Ah! Hatsuharu-san!" Tohru chipped in with a polite smile.

Haru returned her smile and continued to cling to Yuki while everyone around wondered when and how Haru appeared. A few girls and a guy or two gaped at the sight before them with drool practically dripping out of their mouths. These people were obviously the yaoi fans and gay males. Tohru laughed nervously when she noticed the annoyed expression on Yuki's face. She could see his body tense up with irritancy. He looked about ready to fling the ox across the hall. Haru noticed as well, but he remained clingy.

"No, I was talking about Honda-san, not you," Yuki muttered curtly.

"Aww, but I wanna be cute too," Haru whined.

"I'm sure you're very adorable… in Rin's eyes..." Yuki said.

Haru was silent for a minute. He put his finger under his chin and nodded a few times as he thought about what Yuki said. Yuki took his silence to his advantage and yanked Haru's arms off of him and took a few steps away from Haru much to the dismay of some Yuki fan girls who were enjoying a bit of what they thought was homosexual affection between two gorgeous guys. Tohru continued to smile, simply glad that no one had been harmed. Haru made no attempt to reattach himself to Yuki, but instead, he turned his attention to Tohru who stared blankly back at him.

"So Honda-san, how is the ba-" Haru started to ask.

Before Haru could finish saying baby Yuki clamped both of his hands over Haru's mouth. Both Haru, who didn't understand what was wrong with asking Tohru how her pregnancy was coming along, and Tohru, who didn't know what Haru was going to ask, were confused by the rat's actions. Haru leaned his head back and looked up at Yuki with a perplexed expression that Yuki ignored. He placed his hands over Yuki and pried Yuki's hands off of his mouth with much effort. Yuki only released him once he was sure Haru wouldn't finish his question.

"What was that for? I was asking Honda-san a question, not you," Haru pointed out.

"Do you want to get Honda-san in trouble or something?" Yuki asked him.

"Trouble?" Tohru repeated as she cocked her head to the side.

Yuki nodded without really explaining. Tohru blinked still baffled. Before Haru or Tohru could question him any further, a loud, cheerful voice called for Tohru. Tohru jumped up from shock as a short, blonde boy came racing towards her with his arms stretched wide apart. He was an inch away from her as he tried to hug her, but both Haru and Yuki reached him first. Haru grabbed Momiji by his left arm, and Yuki held the small boy back by his right. Momiji dangled in the air as he flailed himself around kicking his legs wildly. Being quicker and stronger, both Yuki and Haru were able to keep a grip on the boy.

"I wanna hug Toooooooohru! Put me down!" Momiji demanded after he found that he couldn't escape Yuki and Haru.

"You can't," Yuki reminded him.

Haru, Momiji, and Tohru knew what Yuki meant by that. If Momiji hugged Tohru, he would turn into a rabbit, and the curse would be revealed, but to everyone else around who had heard what Yuki had said, he sounded like a possessive boyfriend. After looking around at all the people gathered around, Momiji looked down, deciding to give up at the moment. Feeling no further resistance from the rabbit, Haru and Yuki set him down. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Momiji bounded over to Tohru with a wide smile. Yuki's and Haru's eyes widened at Momiji's actions, but luckily for them, Momiji stopped in front of Tohru.

"I can come over then, right Tooooooohru?" Momiji asked.

"Umm…"

Before she could even fully answer Momiji pointed to the green notebook that was still in Minami's hands, "Isn't that Toooooohru's? Huh? Tohru? Why do you have Tohru's mutti's picture???"

"I uh…" Minami stuttered nervously.

"You should give it back!" Momiji exclaimed balling his fists up and giving what he thought was an angry expression though most people thought it was better described as cute than anything else. Minami, not sure what to do, handed the notebook back to Tohru who gratefully took it with a wide grin. She held it close to her chest with a relieved smile. Seeing Tohru happy again, Momiji grinned along with her. If Yuki and Haru weren't watching him so closely, he would have hugged Tohru already.

Many girls wanted to know why Tohru was so familiar with so many of the Sohmas, but before anyone could question her, the bell rang. Momiji quickly said goodbye to Tohru before skipping as he followed Haru back to their classroom. Tohru stood there waving to the two of them with a wide grin. She probably would have stayed there and continued to wave if it wasn't for Yuki who hadn't forgotten that class was starting. He took her hand and pulled her towards the classroom where an annoyed Kyo was waiting. Even Hana and Uo, who had left the locker room after Tohru, were there before the brunette.