More bored than he thought possible, Yuki was staring out the window. Twirling around his pencil between his forefinger and thumb, he was tempted to chuck the writing utensil at Kyo who was currently sleeping. Deciding to let the cat rest, he sighed and rested his cheek on the palm of his hand as he went back to doodling inside his notebook –where he was supposedly taking down detailed notes about the lecture. His fingers dragged the pencil across the paper, leaving aimless scribbles and lines, not exactly a masterpiece of any kind, but it kept the boredom from suffocating him.

His eyes flickered up at the sound of the classroom door sliding open. As soon as his eyes settled on the mop of white hair by the door, his pencil slid out of his fingers and landed on top of his scribbles with a thud. His jaw slid open halfway, and he raised his eyebrows incredulously. As Haru's blank brown eyes met his, Yuki shook his head. With that one look, Haru had just confirmed Yuki's assumptions. The ox had gotten lost on a venture to the bathroom, and by the looks of it, he had been searching for quite a while.

Regardless of his personal needs at the moment, Haru's eyes lit up with excitement. He strolled over to Yuki, despite the teacher's protests and shouting. Haru stopped before Yuki's desk and opened his mouth to speak, but he stopped as soon as he spotted Yuki's notebook. Haru slid the notebook out from under Yuki's elbows, took one look at the unidentifiable pictures, and let out a chuckle. He pointed at the graphite covered page with a grin, "Nice notes. They'll come in handy when you're studying."

Yuki rolled his eyes and snatched the notebook back before Mayu spotted the wordless 'notes' he had and gave him another detention. He already had to stay after school most school days because of his student council meetings, and he didn't need another reason to have to remain in this building past school hours. He had better and more important things to do at home like help Tohru. She tended to work too hard for a pregnant woman, only taking a break if he insisted she did. He looked over at the girl who he was currently thinking about, finding her peering back at him with a curious expression. He could tell she was wondering why Haru was here by her periodic glances at the ox. Yuki gave her a slight shrug in response to her thoughts before deciding to get the answer to her unspoken question.

"What do you want, Haru? I'm not showing you the way to the bathroom again. I've already shown you twice and drawn you a map," Yuki stated firmly.

"Yuki, should I remind you that you kinda suck at drawing?" Haru tilted his head to the side innocently as he gestured to Yuki's notebook.

Yuki ignored Haru's comment, but he did lean forward in his seat a bit to cover his 'notes' from the views of his fellow classmates. Maybe they'd stop asking him if they could borrow his notes now. He hadn't been lying to them when he told them he was a bad note taker –not a single one of his notebooks had a single piece of information relevant to school written inside. He hardly even managed to listen to the lectures. What made them think he had the patience to write important points down?

"What do you want? I'm sure your teacher thinks you've been kidnapped by now."

"Oh… She's used to it by now… I came here to tell you that as I was leaving the main house, I saw your mother," Haru started uneasily.

"Your point?" Yuki sighed. He hardly wanted to hear something about his mother. Whether Haru had seen her or not couldn't have mattered less to him. Haru lived at the main house and so did Yuki's mother. It hardly shocked him to hear that Haru had seen her on his way to school.

"Well, apparently, she heard about Tohru, and she's paying you a visit," Haru paused, "Did you know her face turns red when she's angry?"

Comprehension struck Yuki with full force. His mouth slid open as horror seeped into his body. Maybe he wouldn't have been so terrified if it was just him who was going to see his mother, but now that Tohru lived at Shigure's house as well, there wasn't any good excuse he could come up with to keep Tohru from going home, and home was the last place he wanted Tohru as long as his mother would be there. His mother wasn't a nice person, and if she found out that Tohru was pregnant with his child, that ounce of kindness she possessed would disappear entirely, and she'd be as lethal as cyanide if not more destructive. He could already imagine what his mother would say when she met Tohru, and it wouldn't be remotely friendly.

Why must god torment him so? Was his inability to confess to Tohru not enough of a nuisance for him?

"…Shit… Crap… Shit… I forgot all about her… Crap…"

"Yuki, stop spewing profanities out of your mouth. You're scaring the children."

Mayu glowered at her top student who wasn't even listening to her and was currently acting more like Kyo than himself. She was more shocked to hear her model student swear than angry like every other occupant of the room, but she couldn't let swearing in her classroom go unpunished. Not a single soul heard her words though. Uo, Hana, and the rest of their classmates were turned around in their seats watching the exchange between Haru and Yuki with bemused expressions, obviously finding it to their interests. Anything was more interesting than a lecture about electron configurations.

"I'm going to die… This is bad… You're not kidding, are you? Because if this is a joke, I'm going to rip your head off," Yuki warned.

"Why would I kid about that?" Haru asked, feigning hurt.

"Shit…"

Yuki dropped his head onto his desk, losing all hope for seeing the next sunrise. If he was lucky he might live to see the sun set, and if he was very lucky, Tohru might come out unscathed. He knew better than anyone how his mother was when she was angry even if he didn't see her very often. Actually, he couldn't remember a time in his life that he had seen her when she was happy. She was always yelling and striking him verbally and physically. You only needed to do so much to a young child to scar him for life, and his mother had done more than that. She had done enough vicious things to him to make herself the star of his nightmares.

"Sohma! Shut your mouth this moment unless you want another detention! Other Sohma, back to your own classroom!" Mayu ordered, annoyed now.

"I'll take the detention. I'll stay after today," Yuki suggested, desperate for any way to keep himself from having to confront his mother.

Mayu made a face and shook her head. Who wanted to assign a detention to someone who was willing to come?

"Aww… Yuki, your mom's not that bad," Haru tried to reason with him.

"Says you. Your mom didn't sell you to some evil, malevolent person… Crap… I'm not going home today..."

The classroom hushed down abruptly as if someone had hit the mute button. There were a few motions but no sound whatsoever. Not a single person even asked if he had really heard Yuki accurately even though it sounded ludicrous. Hearing about parents selling their children was only a phenomenon decades ago, but that supposedly didn't happen anymore. Besides, weren't children who had been sold by their parents usually slaves or servants? Yuki was neither as far as they knew. A few exchanged unnecessary glances. Everyone was thinking about the same thing. Even Mayu had stopped her lecture to listen.

"Yuki, calm down."

"I can't. Is Akito coming too? Is he angry I ditched New Years?"

Haru shrugged, "I doubt he knows. He was too ill to get out of bed that day. Hatori didn't let him out of his room."

"Thank god…" Yuki let out a short breath of relief before panicking again, "And mother? What did I do this time…?"

"If you had said 'who', I would have said Tohru…" Haru cracked a smile, but Yuki didn't find Haru's sense of humor entertaining at all. His face contorted with anger, clearly displaying how amused he was by Haru at the moment. Yuki stood up, clenching the edge of his desk to restrain himself from doing anything violent, but it turned out to be nearly impossible. Hearing Haru use Tohru's name in such a vile sentence made his blood boil. He didn't like anyone, not even his family or her own for that matter, insulting Tohru. Before he did hurt the ox, he spun Haru around and shoved him towards the door.

"Just leave."

"But I want to say my goodbyes before your death," Haru said seriously.

"Thank you… But you're still leaving."

Yuki sat back down in his seat, laying his head down on his arms. Tohru stared at the forlorn boy with wide chocolate eyes, fear clearly splattered across her now white face. He hadn't even told her about what his mother might do to her, and she was already scared. It was easy, however, to worry more about someone you loved than your own wellbeing. She struggled with the task of opening her mouth and twisting words around in her head to form something coherent before managing to speak.

"D-death?" Tohru squeaked.

"He's kidding… Er… Never mind. Yes, death. I'm going to die tonight," Yuki nodded, not turning to face her or Haru as he spoke, "Thanks Haru… Maybe I'll leave you something in my will…"

"Sohma, Hatsuharu, if you don't leave at this moment I will personally escort you to the principal's office, and Sohma, Yuki, if you wish to continue being so melodramatic you may join him in the office," Mayu offered.

"No thank you," both boys replied at once.

Haru immediately started for the exit but froze when he reached the door, "Don't forget to include me in your will, Yuki."

Yuki didn't respond. He just continued to lie there, ignoring the numerous eyes that were fixated upon him. Death really wasn't what scared him most. Dying was something he had thought about frequently ever since he had first met Akito. The whole process of eradication fascinated Akito, and he had filled Yuki's young mind with over a hundred different ways a person's life could end. Murder was Akito's favorite topic. Seeing as most of his life had been spent with this malevolent person, his own death didn't scare him as much as it used to. What sent shivers down his spine was the thought about afterwards. Not his own afterlife, but Tohru's life after he ceased to exist.

Who would protect her when he wasn't alive anymore?

He slowly turned his head so he was facing Tohru. He couldn't bear to think about her having to suffer. So many people held resentment towards the poor brunette. Half of the female population in this school alone wanted her dead. If that wasn't enough, his mother probably did too and so did Akito. Akito… That dreadful name repeated itself inside of Yuki's head a few times before he shuddered. He, more than anyone else, would be most likely to follow through with his plans to exterminate Tohru Honda.

With Akito, there was no doubt in his mind that torture would be involved if he was going to kill Tohru. His mind was already conjuring up images of Tohru dying a prolonged death, and the worst part was that no matter how many times she cried out his name, he couldn't help her because he'd already be dead. He cringed, shoving those pictures out of his head before he went overboard and ran away with Tohru to keep her safe. He tried to convince himself that that wouldn't be necessary, but it wasn't working. Being so familiar with Akito and his mother, he found it difficult to even consider a happy ending to this ordeal.

Haru, believing Yuki had just shivered out of fear for his life, tried to assure Yuki that he was in no danger, "Yuki, your mom isn't going to kill you, and you know that, right?"

"You're right… Killing me wouldn't advance her socially or get her any more money. No reason for her to waste her time doing that when she could be at home admiring her piles of cash," Yuki spat out bitterly.

Mayu glared at Haru, making him finally retreat out the door, and went back to teaching her lesson, unfazed by the fact that her star student was clearly not even close to listening. She had gotten used to the lack of attention she received from Yuki since he was a first year. Tohru, on the other hand, was extremely bothered by Yuki's attitude. She chewed the eraser of her pencil as she watched him. Mortified by the wave of agony drifting off of him, Tohru touched his shoulder to get his attention. She had to apologize. He was going to die –yes, she honestly believed that-, and it was all her fault.

"Yuki-kun? I'm sorry…"

Yuki lifted his head, giving her a perplexed look, "For what?"

"Well… Um… Hatsuharu-san said that you're in trouble with your mom because of me… Maybe I should talk to her?"

"Don't! She's irrational and a bit crazed. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she did anything that harmed you in any way. Maybe, it'd be best if you didn't go home either," Yuki nodded to himself.

Tohru flinched backwards slightly, realizing for the first time that what Yuki was worried about wasn't his own life but hers. She angled her chair towards him, her eyes wide enough to pass as saucers. Yuki couldn't tell if her expression was due to shock, fear, or a combination of the two, but he didn't like that look either way. He lowered his eyes, staring at nothing in particular before him as he began speaking to her, trying to distract her from what was awaiting them at home. He wasn't entirely sure why he chose such a gloomy subject though, but it probably had something to do with his visitor.

"Tohru, you never had any problems with your mother, but can you possibly understand the resentment I hold against mine? Can you imagine what it's like to not only be rejected by your own mother but sold to some vile man or how it feels to be six years old and forced to play with someone you just met who yells at you for coughing –which you can't help because you have asthma? Do you have any idea what it's like to be locked in a room about the size of a goddamn bathroom painted black and be mentally tortured as well as physically? Then, could you even grasp what it'd be like to find your brother, reach out for help, and be rejected?" he whispered to her.

Tohru's mouth hung open. She had no idea how to respond. It was true that she had always been curious about his childhood. His past was the only one she didn't know much about out of all her friends, and yet, it was also the one she was most eager to learn about. She was too polite to question him about it and too shy to get the information out of others, but it had always been something that nagged her. Sometimes, she'd see a traumatic look cross his face at the mention of Akito's name or his mother's, and she'd wonder what could have possibly happened to cause him to fear them that much. Now she was finally hearing his story, and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear anymore. It was beyond heartbreaking, and he was only just beginning.

"Do you really know what it's like to be lonely? The only time I ever got to go out was to go to this stupid prestigious school. I remember getting a ride there and staring out the windows, wishing I was going to the same elementary school as Kyo, Haru, Kagura, and Momiji. Do you know what it's like to have people who you want to befriend treat you like poison and tell you they hate you? I do. I experienced that twice. And let's pretend you got out one day, feeling like maybe everyone's life would be better if you just disappeared, and you actually got to help a little girl return home. You'd feel better about yourself, wouldn't you? I know I did… until I got home… You know, I never really knew what life really was like not being locked in some room like an animal until a couple of years ago actually."

Wait… Did she just hear him correctly? He had helped some little girl find her home, and when she was a little girl, a young boy had led her back home when she was lost one day. She was too shocked to ask him about it, not that he paused long enough to let her ask questions anyways.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be the new kid at school? Everyone knows each other, but you don't know a single person. And to make matters worse, everyone stares at you like you're some freak, and you're watching them too. They're laughing and smiling, and suddenly, you realize you have no idea how to do those things…"

Tohru could feel the water shoving their way down her cheeks. She remembered the first time she had seen him; she had mentally criticized him for giving a girl who clearly had a crush on him a false smile. Back then, she had naturally assumed he was just being rude to the poor girl. She had no idea that that might have been the first time he had smiled in a long time. Tohru reached forward to grasp one of his larger hands in her little ones. She clutched it tightly with her fingers as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Sorry… Don't cry… I think I got carried away…" Yuki murmured to her, lifting his hand out of hers to dry the tears that were streaking down her face.

She struggled to recompose herself. Tohru rubbed her eyes against the sleeves of her uniform and sniffled a few times to wipe the signs of crying off of her face. She had managed to stop bawling, but she looked ready to break down any minute. How she had forced herself to smile when she felt this miserable was beyond her comprehension, but she did it. It was what Yuki wanted. He pushed one side of his mouth upward, giving her half of a smile. He didn't say anything for a minute. It was quiet, too quiet. The silence seemed to be echoing off the walls, drowning out the faint murmur of Mayu's lesson. All eyes were on still on Yuki, and all ears had been straining to catch every word that slipped out of his mouth, but the only ones he was focused on were Tohru's.

"I never told you, did I?"

She shook her head slowly to the side.

"Well, you can see why, can't you? I don't like talking about it. I never told anyone until now. It's humiliating…" he muttered.

"It's not-"

"Just forget about it," he cut her off, "I don't want pity."

Especially, not from you.

The bell rung a second after Yuki stopped speaking, rousing Kyo from his slumber. Yuki stood up abruptly, shoved his things away, and stormed out of the room before anyone else. He didn't want to hear a single comment anyone had about his past. Tohru was the second to leave, rushing after Yuki. Tohru darted down the hallways eager to catch up with him to make sure that he was alright, but by the time she was close enough to call out to him, he entered a classroom. Tohru halted to a stop before the door with a frown across her face. He had a student council meeting today, how could she forget? Tohru shook her head and sat down against the wall, deciding she'd wait for him to finish his meeting.

She gathered her knees up against her chest and folded her arms across them. Tohru sighed as she plopped her head down on top of her knees. She had no idea how long this meeting would take. She could already hear Yuki speaking to the others. His voice didn't hold a bit of grief, but after all those years of pretending that he was normal and happy, she could guess that he could make himself sound relatively joyous even in his darkest hour. She just hoped he wasn't depressed anymore, but who was she kidding? If she were him, she'd still be pessimistic. His past wasn't something that sounded like it'd be easy to get over. She stopped thinking and listened to the conversation within the room for any hints to tell her how Yuki was really feeling.

"Is it true that Tohru is pregnant?" a voice she recognized as Manabe's asked.

"Yes, now shut up before I kill you," Yuki breathed venomously.

"Kill me or impregnate me?"

There was a loud crash that made Tohru flinch before Yuki spoke again.

"Shall we start the meeting now?"

His words gave her the impression that he was alright, but that didn't give her enough reassurance that let her feel like she could leave. There wasn't a cell inside of her that even considered leaving him to fend for himself now. His mother was waiting for him at Shigure's house, and even though she wasn't very strong or smart, she wanted to let him know that she'd try her best to protect him or just be with him as he faced his fears. Tohru shut her eyes, choosing to rest her eyes as she waited for Yuki, but she didn't mean to fall asleep. The sound of the door opening woke her up almost an hour later.

"Tohru?"

Tohru peered up at Yuki, still partially asleep. She blinked in confusion a few times before it occurred to her that she had been sleeping in the middle of the hallway. Tohru jolted up and hopped to her feet. She didn't dare to steal a glance at Yuki until after she ran her arm across her face to get rid of any drool that might have dried on her face during her nap. Finding none, she mentally let out a sigh of relief before she remembered she had just been caught in a rather embarrassing situation by the boy she loved.

"Why are you still at school, Tohru?"

"I… I um…" Tohru stuttered, shuffling her feet awkwardly.

"Were you waiting for me?"

Tohru meekly nodded her head.

"You didn't have to… But I'm glad you didn't go home yet… I'd rather you be with me if you must see my mother," Yuki said, a smile tainting his voice.

Tohru instantly flushed. She was sure even Yuki could feel the heat radiating off of her cheeks from where he was standing. She couldn't even move from where she was standing until the classroom door slid open again and someone bumped into her. Tohru's eyes widened as she was sent whirling towards the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut, and her hands shot out in front of her to break her fall, but it they weren't needed. Yuki's hands caught hold of her shoulders before her feet left the ground.

"Why don't you watch were you're going?" Yuki glared at Manabe.

"Why? Don't you like playing the part of the hero?" Manabe grinned.

Yuki rolled his eyes, "Not if you're going to be such a lame villain."

Manabe snorted, "That's because I'm a way better hero than bad guy."

"Well, maybe it's about time you got to the part in the book where you find out that nobody really cares," Yuki muttered as he turned his attention back to Tohru.

Somehow, he managed to block out the rest of Manabe's ramblings about being a hero as he helped Tohru back into a vertical position. She was still blushing and unable to look up at him when she thanked him. He really sounded like a normal teenager at the moment, but she knew better than to believe this façade of his. Deep down somewhere inside of him, she knew he was suffering and still searching for the key that'd free him from his misery.

"Are you ready to go meet my mother?" Yuki asked her softly, almost hoping she'd shake her head no so he'd have a reason to keep her from his destructive mother, but his hopes were shot down as her head bobbed up and down in affirmation. He stared at her with a gentle smile, trying to let her know that it was alright if she didn't want to go, but she was oblivious to any secret meaning behind his smile and just beamed back at him. Yuki sighed, giving up on trying to tell her anything tacitly.

He laced his fingers through hers and tugged her down the hallways, ignoring Manabe's continued cries about some nonexistent protagonist. She embarrassedly followed after Yuki. Ducking her head every time a student or teacher who had stayed after school passed them, she tried to pretend she had no idea what they were thinking, but their expressions made their thoughts so accessible. To them, she and Yuki were the experiencedcouple. Too bad they were unaware of the small fact that they weren't even dating despite the fact that they both loved each other. Sometimes, having two relatively shy people in love wasn't the best idea.

Yuki walked tediously slow down the sidewalk, dreading introducing Tohru to his mother more by each passing second. Just being in the same room with his mother for even a minute would probably corrupt his sweet Tohru. He just hoped that whatever damage his mother might do to Tohru wouldn't be permanent. He walked slow enough to make Tohru notice, but she didn't comment. His grip tightened around her fingers as they stepped onto the path through the forest that would bring them to Shigure's house in a matter of minutes. He glanced down at Tohru's cheerful face, starting to doubt that she grasped how terrifying his mother was.

"Tohru, are you sure you want to see my mother? I'll be honest with you… She won't be very happy to see you…" Yuki trailed off.

At this, Tohru looked down at her feet. Yuki almost smiled, starting to believe that she really didn't want to see his mother anymore. Sadly, he misinterpreted her actions.

"I deserve it…" she mumbled softly.

Yuki could have fallen over right then and there at what she said. He practically did, but he steadied himself, not wanting to drag her down too since his hand was still intertwined with hers. She fell down enough on her own. Pausing, he shook his head at her with an exasperated look. Tohru cocked her head to the side, not understanding his gesture. Had she done something to annoy him? He usually only gave Kyo and Shigure that expression. He had always treated her with more care.

"If you're going to keep taking the blame for everything, you're not going to set a foot inside Shigure's house while my mother is there. I'll tie you to a tree or something like that if I have to," Yuki warned seriously, although slight humor dangled in the depths of his eyes.

"Eh?"

Tohru's eyes widened bigger than he had ever seen them before. Yuki burst into hysteria there, lowering his head in laughter. He loosely hugged her with his long arms making a large circle around her thin shoulders and placed his forehead on her shoulder as he laughed. Tohru's cheeks still burned red even though there was at least a foot of space between their torsos. After a minute or two, he peeled himself off of her and placed his hands on either side of her head, gazing into her eyes with a wide smile across his face.

"Did you honestly think I'd do that?"

"I… I um… I…" Tohru stammered, at a loss for words.

He let out another chuckle before wrapping his fingers around hers again and starting for the house once more. Tohru obediently followed, keeping her mouth shut and head down.

"I think… I must be going crazy… I'm sorry," he apologized.

Tohru raised her head, about to deny that when her eyes locked with a pair of dangerous ones down the road. The piercing eyes belonged to a slender woman dressed in a formal suit standing on Shigure's porch steps. Tohru swallowed nervously, instantly recognizing this woman as Yuki's mother from the brief glimpse she had received during parent teacher conferences. She peered up at Yuki to gauge to his reaction, but she could only see shock scattered across his flawless features. His silver eyes were dilated, and his mouth drooped open slightly. Tohru gave his hand a soft, reassuring squeeze before tugging him down the rest of the few feet to the front porch.

"Yuki, I've been waiting well over an hour for you. Where have you been?" his mother seethed, her annoyance evident in her tone.

"At a student council meeting."

The placid tone of his voice surprised Tohru. He sounded more calm and at ease than he had appeared a second ago. She glanced at him. There were no visible emotions or thoughts on his face, no traces of the previous humor or shock she had witnessed under a minute ago. Tohru switched her gaze back to his mother. Similarly, her lips were fanned out in a straight line, giving no emotion away, but Tohru could feel the anger fuming out of her. Tohru hadn't been around his mother for more than a minute or two, but already she was beginning to understand Yuki's fear of his own mother.

"And the girl?"

"She was with me."

"But she's not on the student council…?"

"No she isn't, but I don't see the relevance there."

Yuki's fingers tightened around hers, her only indication that he wasn't feeling as composed as he seemed to be. Tohru bit her lip, shutting her eyes momentarily to pray that everything would turn out alright. She really didn't want Yuki to get into trouble because of her. When her eyes opened, she found herself joining the staring contest being held between Yuki and his mother –or more like glaring contest. Tohru covered her lips with a couple of her fingers, now worried. Her small movements brought his mother's attention over to her, or more like to her hand which was still trapped inside of Yuki's. Acting more out of embarrassment than anything else, Tohru yanked her hand out of Yuki's and looked back down at the dirt under her feet.

Somehow, Tohru could tell that Yuki's mother's lips had just curved upwards just now even though her eyes were still firmly lowered. She twisted the end of her skirt nervously searching for something she could use to change the topic before his mother could mention the handholding. Tohru bounced up as an idea struck her.

"Has Shigure-san served you tea yet? Why don't you come inside, and I'll go make you a cup of tea?" Tohru suggested.

Neither Yuki nor his mother could say a thing before Tohru bounded around his mother and into the house. Yuki quickly followed after her, hoping walking that fast wouldn't make Tohru fall. Relieved, he found her still standing in the kitchen when he got inside. He looked around the house, not surprised to find nobody in sight. His mother grudgingly came in after him, seating herself at the table. Yuki cautiously sat across from her, waiting for Tohru to return. He tentatively observed his mother, searching his mother for any hostile intent, but so far, he found none.

It didn't take Tohru long to come back into the room with a tray full of teacups. She set one in front of his mother first, then she gave Yuki one, and saved the last one for herself. Yuki's mother warily slid the cup toward herself, took a small sip of the tea, and handed the cup back to Tohru with a dissatisfied look on her face. Dumbfounded, Tohru held onto the cup, not sure what Yuki's mother wanted her to do with it other than hold onto it.

"This brand is much too cheap for my tastes," she commented, not trying to conceal the smug look across her face.

"Oh… I'm sorry… I haven't had the time to go to the store and buy any other tea bags… Can I get you anything else to drink or eat?" Tohru offered politely.

She shook her head, "I doubt anything you have will suit me."

Yuki clenched his teeth together, "Mother… There is nothing wrong with the tea Honda-san made. Don't make her feel bad. Just drink it."

She shot Yuki a deadly look but took the cup back, angrily taking another sip, "Fine. Torture your poor mother to death."

The conversation ended with that statement. Tohru cradled her own cup in her hands, wishing she was anywhere else but at this table. She kept her eyes on the green ceramic cup to avoid the silent war raging between son and mother. She shifted awkwardly, repositioning her legs under the table. Silence had never scared her more than it did now. She usually preferred stillness to noise, but she'd beg right now for them to yell. At least then she could follow their words and do more to help than just sit here.

Yuki broke the silence, "Why are you here, mother?"

"I'm here because you clearly don't know how to lead a good life."

"What's that supposed to mean? I think I have quite a decent life."

"A decent life? Sleeping with some stupid, fat, ugly girl with nothing to her name and getting her pregnant is what you consider a good life?!! Have you considered what a child does to your future?! What do you think you're doing with yourself?! Have you considered what you having a child out of wedlock does to my life? Did it ever cross your mind that you're not only screwing up your life but mine as well? Think about others! What kind of son have I been raising?!"

"What about you?! Listen to yourself! There's more than your life involved in this situation. Don't you know your granddaughter is in there?" Yuki demanded, pointing at Tohru's rounding belly, "Don't you even care about that? There's going to be a little baby girl around soon enough with some of your genes. Doesn't that make you happy at all? I know it makes me happy, but if you're going to act like this, I'd rather not have my daughter ever meet her only living grandmother. I'd rather her not have any of your goddamn genes. Maybe then she could grow up to be a somewhat decent person who can actually think about someone other than herself!"

"She'll be an illegitimate child!" his mother screeched.

Yuki took a deep breath to calm himself down. He shut his eyes momentarily to relax. There was no need to be irrational and destructive. He could tell the shouting was already worrying Tohru. Yuki didn't have to turn his head to see that her eyebrows were twisted with concern for him. He slid his hand under the table and grasped her hand, holding it tightly. Her hand was frigid. He rubbed her hand with his fingers. There was no need for her to fret, he'd never let anyone place any harm upon her as long as he was around.

"That doesn't make her any less of a person or Tohru and I any worse of parents. Everyone makes mistakes in life, mother, but having a child with Tohru isn't one of mine. At least, I can guarantee I won't sell my child," Yuki retorted slowly.

His mother stood up, slamming her hands against the table furiously. All three cups of tea were knocked over, sending tea flowing across the tabletop and cascading down the edges, staining pillows and scorching skin. She glared at her son for a brief moment before tossing her purse over her shoulder and stomping out of the door, cursing under her breath the whole time. She hated losing a fight. She despised not seeing her son cower away with fear at her presence. Since when had she lost all authority over him? She was positive that what had caused him to stop listening to her was that girl with him, and she'd never forgive her for that. She'd never forgive Tohru for stealing away her son.

Yuki didn't move until she was out the door and had slammed it shut. Immediately, his hands had found Tohru's lifting them to his face to search for any signs of a burn, but they were perfectly dry, unlike his own. He couldn't have cared less about the hot liquid that had burned his own fingers. Yuki couldn't even feel his own pain. He was too concerned about the chance that Tohru had gotten hurt. His eyes drifted down to her school uniform top where a dark tea stain covered her abdominal area. He jumped up with alert and pulled her over to the kitchen, set her on the counter, and had a cloth drenched with cold water covering her belly before she even blinked.

As she slowly realized that her shirt was lifted, though not enough to reveal anything more than her stomach, Tohru flushed. Flustered, she pushed his hands and the towel away and yanked her shirt down. Tohru could feel her heart try to lurch out of her chest. She wasn't sure whether or not her body could continue handling this infatuation she had with Yuki.

"I'm fine!" she insisted.

"It doesn't look fine. Your stomach is pretty red…" Yuki stated.

"It's not r-red! It's just a little p-pink! I'm n-not burned!" Tohru stuttered, lifting her shirt a little bit to show him the pink blemish across her midriff.

Yuki peered at the pink blotch for a second. Maybe he had overreacted. He smiled at her before leaning forward and planting a kiss just above her belly button. Yuki withdrew before she shoved her shirt back down and accidentally hit him in the face. At the moment, Tohru's cheeks appeared to be redder than her midriff was. He leaned towards her, gazing into her eyes, attempting to distract her from her humiliation, but all he seemed to be doing was making her cheeks darken some more for some reason unknown to him.

"All better now?" he asked.

Tohru nodded quickly and hopped off the kitchen counter, eager to dart to her room and die of embarrassment. To make matters worse, she could swear that she heard Shigure giggling in the background and mutter something about a new story idea he had about two oblivious teenagers who were in love with each other but were too shy to tell the other. Sure, she had no clue to what had brought around that idea, but it was embarrassing nonetheless. The only comforting piece of information she had was that Yuki had faced his mother and came through unharmed in any way.

"You might want to change though…" Yuki made a hand motion towards her top.

Tohru began to nod again, but she froze when she noticed the red tint to his pale hands. She snatched one of them before he could hide them from her. They were warmer than they usually were, but at least he didn't wince out of pain as her fingers grazed the tender skin. Regardless, she was still worried. She peered up at him fretfully, still clutching his hand.

"Your hands-"

"Are fine. They're just a little pink," he mimicked her words and tone with a smile.

Tohru turned her head downwards, seemingly interested in his hand. She ran her finger across every line etched into his palm, tracing designs with her thumbs. Fiddling with his fingers, she didn't say a word for a while and neither did Yuki. Hastily, she released his hand, giving it back to him.

She felt compelled to spill her heart to him though she wasn't sure why. Maybe, it was because she had recently heard him tell her about how he had always been alone and wanted him to know that he wasn't, or maybe, keeping her feelings to herself was beginning to be too much of a burden for her. Either way, she wanted him to know even though she was aware of the possibility of rejection. Tohru wasn't sure that she'd be able to get the words out, but she had to try. She drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. She made herself look in his eyes, which were full of confusion.

"Yuki-kun… I think… I think I l-lov- I think I should go get you some ointment for your hands!" Tohru exclaimed, backing out in the last second.

Her stomach did flip-flops at how close she had come to telling him how she felt. She was disappointed that he still didn't know how she felt after she had come this far, but in a way, she was relieved. Tohru wasn't sure if she was ready for his reaction yet. Her mind had painted numerous situations for her that might follow her confession, but none of them ever ended with him telling her he loved her as well. Not a single one of them ended happily ever after, but that never surprised her. Her self-image wasn't very pretty, not compared to him. There was no way he could feel about her the same way she felt about him. It just didn't make sense.

"I think you should stop worrying about me and just change your outfit before we need to buy you another new school uniform," Yuki smiled at her, having no idea what she had almost said.

Tohru nodded and raced upstairs and into the bathroom before a stain formed on her uniform. She'd hate to have to buy yet another school uniform. It'd be such a waste. Quickly, she tore off the blue sailor top and placed it under the faucet. Adding some soap to the running water as she scrubbed, the brown spot easily vanished. She smiled and hung her blouse, which held no traces of the previous damage, on a hanger to dry.

Contrary to the painless process of washing the tea off of her shirt, the streak across her heart wouldn't fade so simply. There was an invisible imprint on her heart that would forever mark it as his and no one else's.

What if… he really likes me… What if… he loves me…

She sighed, setting her hand on her forehead tiredly. If she hadn't stopped her own confession, maybe she wouldn't be standing here dwelling upon what ifs. She could have been less depressed if she knew that if she had just removed the first two words of both statements, she'd be left with the truth she had been searching for all along...

And the moral of this chapter? Don't tell your life story in the classroom! It's distracting : ) Especially if you're the school prince. -sigh- I'm dissatisfied with the end, but I've twisted the words around enough. Correct my mistakes! I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving.