It's strange how one single kiss could change everything. Suddenly, awkwardness fills the void that comfort used to occupy, and blushes never seem to fade. It's odd how total relationships could be rewound after just a confession and a kiss. A kiss was a simple gesture, really. Just the quick contact between two pairs of lips, but that brief touch cannot be underestimated because it is omnipotent. It has the power to destroy or to create. Tohru just hoped, in her case, it would bring her and Yuki closer one day when she was able to profess her feelings to him in a manner that couldn't be misinterpreted.

This is what she was pondering over as she lay in her bed, counting the kicks of the baby. She had been instructed to do so by her obstetrician and was being an obedient patient. She didn't want a single thing to go wrong with her pregnancy. Her baby had to come out safely, and she would do everything in her power to make sure that happened, including counting her daughter's kicks once everyday to make sure she was all right. She was around seven when she heard her door open.

"Tohruuuuuu!" Momiji hollered, storming into Tohru's room unannounced.

Tohru shrieked and shot up in bed. She stared at Momiji with wide eyes for a moment, breathing heavily, before managing to relax. It had been quiet all morning. Momiji's sudden entrance surprised her with all the commotion he had made, but Momiji seemed upset over the fact that she had screamed in response to his greeting. His grin had faded, and his mouth was slowly turning downwards at the edges. She flushed, apologizing for getting scared. She hadn't meant to give Momiji the impression that he was scary.

"Momji, I think you're going to give her a heart attack," Haru stated calmly, stepping into the room beside Momiji.

"How's Yukiru-chan?" Momiji asked Tohru excitedly, ignoring Haru completely.

"Y-Yukiru?" Tohru asked, confused.

"The baby! Yuki plus Tohru equals Yukiru!" Momiji explained.

Tohru smiled at the little nickname Momiji had given her daughter. It was very endearing and sweet, and it reminded her that she and Yuki had yet to name their daughter. They hadn't discussed it yet. Actually they hadn't talked much about anything in the past week. He still helped her with her homework, of course, but any conversation there not related to their studies had ceased to exist. It was like she had just met him and was struggling to gain his trust again, except now she knew he loved her, and he was pretending he didn't for her sake. In his head, she still didn't love him romantically.

"Oh… She's doing well. She's eleven inches now and almost two pounds! Yuki-kun came with me to the doctor today," Tohru smiled, touching her stomach gingerly.

"Wow!" Momiji exclaimed, "She kicks lots now, right?"

As soon as Tohru nodded Momiji flew down to her side and pressed his cheek right against Tohru's belly only to have a tiny foot kick him directly in the head. Tohru's brown eyes widened in shock after the little bulge retreated. Her hands flew to her abdomen, and she scowled at her midriff, as if her baby could see and would learn her lesson for kicking Momiji. Unlike Tohru, Momiji wasn't bothered by this at all. He fell back onto the floor in a fit of laughter and rolled around on the carpet for a moment, still in hysterics when he regained his balance.

"I'm sorry, Momiji-kun! Are you o-okay?" Tohru squeaked worriedly.

"Yep!" Momiji laughed, "It didn't hurt at all!"

"She's fussy around now…" Tohru murmured, keeping her hands locked around her stomach warily. Knowing firsthand what it was like to be kicked, she didn't want anyone else to get attacked by her daughter. Tohru didn't even want to count how many times her baby hit her in a day, but she could never blame her daughter for that. It wasn't her fault that she was stuck in Tohru's uterus and had no room to squirm about. Tohru winced slightly as the baby struck her lung. It relieved her to see that her daughter was active, meaning she was healthy, but her organs were suffering from the beatings. They were already squished by the presence of the baby, so she didn't need them to be harmed as well.

Momiji waved off Tohru's guilty look and changed the topic eagerly, "So what's going on between you and Yuki?"

Tohru frowned, "Nothing."

"What do you mean by that, Tohru? Didn't Yuki tell you he loves you last week? That's what I heard! But I couldn't see because I was sick!" Momiji whined.

"And I ditched that day, but I heard all about it. Everyone was talking about it for a while, but I'm sure you already knew that. We didn't know what to believe, so we decided to come ask you," Haru continued with a nod.

Tohru's cheeks flushed. Of course she had heard the rumors. About every girl at school was accusing her of witchcraft nowadays, or they suspected that Yuki had gone insane, not that that troubled him at all. It bothered her to hear the insults directed at Yuki though. The gossip about her didn't affect her too much anymore. She was used to it, but before last week, she had only heard students say positive things about Yuki, except for that time when Yuki had confessed to being the father of her child -people were split then. However, most girls still loved Yuki, regardless of his feelings for her. They just simply decided to hate Tohru more. She was even sure there was a club dedicated to the hatred of her now.

"Umm… He did…" Tohru admitted softly.

"Don't you love him?"

Tohru nodded shyly. She hated discussing this. Everybody had been questioning her feelings for Yuki a lot lately, and she didn't like it. She hadn't minded answering her friends' questions at first, but after a couple of days of nonstop pestering, she found herself more and more reluctant to answer. Her feelings were her own business and also Yuki's, but he was still convinced that she didn't truly love him. This subject shouldn't have to be broadcasted across the school everyday.

"Then why is nothing going on…?"

She sighed. She hated explaining this part the most, but luckily most people knew this side of the story already. So far, this was her third time explaining her mistake, which wasn't nearly as high as her count for the questioning of her affection for Yuki. Only Shigure and Ayame had asked her about this before Momiji and Haru. Nevertheless, with all this experience with telling this tale, it never seemed to get any easier. She fiddled with her fingers, prolonging the silence shortly before sighing and looking up at the two curious teenagers in her room.

"Because I told him I'm glad we're still friends… He thinks I love him like a brother…. Didn't you hear that too?" Tohru inquired disappointedly.

"Nope. I don't think anyone could get over what Yuki said…. A lot of girls were crying…" Haru replied.

"Aren't you going to correct him?" Momiji asked.

Tohru shook her head, "Not now. I'm scared."

"But he kissed you…. And you know he loves you. Why are you scared, Tohru?" Momiji asked, cocking his head to the side.

Tohru didn't respond. Honestly, she wasn't sure how to explain her fear. She knew to everyone else her confession seemed to be too easy. All she had to do was tell him three small words, right? But she did try that approach, and it didn't blow over well at all. It would be too easy for her, being the klutz she was, to make a fool of herself and fail in an attempt to clear this up for the second time. She had already messed up her confession more than once, and she didn't feel compelled to set the record for most misunderstood confessions. This time, she wanted to think things through and carefully set up a plan to make sure he actually understood her feelings instead of assuming her love for him was familial love.

"He kissed you and you didn't tell him how you feel?" Haru questioned in disbelief.

"I tried, but he didn't believe me. He thought I was trying to make him feel better," Tohru said, wrinkling her nose in frustration.

"Maybe you need to try a different approach."

She looked up curiously at Haru. Tohru was eager to hear a new perspective on how to go about convincing Yuki of her feelings, seeing as she was failing at coming up with a better plan on her own. Peering at Haru, she got the feeling that she had just missed the meaning of his words. He was looking back at her expectantly, awaiting her approval.

"What do you mean?" Tohru pressed.

"He kissed you…. So why don't you return the favor?" Haru suggested.

Tohru's eyes bulged, ready to jump out of their sockets. She shook her head vehemently. She couldn't believe Haru had seriously suggested that to her, the most bashful girl in the entire universe. Just the thought sent blood rushing to her cheeks. Yuki was a good kisser, and she had enjoyed the kiss from last week very much, but she doubted she could pull it off. She'd probably trip over his foot or something and break her nose. Besides, she had a feeling Yuki just might interpret her kiss as another action of pity. She didn't think she could do it anyways.

"I can't do that!" Tohru squealed.

"You can't or you don't want to?"

"I c-can't. K-Kiss Yuki-kun? I mean… Yuki-kun? I can't do that…" Tohru repeated shyly.

"Sure you can. All you have to do is press your lips against his," Haru urged her, leaning close to her as if to demonstrate.

Flushing, Tohru leaned away from Haru in embarrassment.

"I ca-can't!"

"Why not? You already know he'll like it. He already told you he loves you, and he kissed you. He wouldn't have kissed you if he didn't want to, now would he?"

"Yuki-kun is sleeping!" Tohru choked out a last minute resort.

At least, Yuki was sleeping the last time she had checked. He had awoken at six in the morning to go with her to the doctor even though she had insisted that he didn't have to go. He went anyways, telling her something about wanting to go with her. She should have known better than to have argued with him. Tohru appreciated his presence there. He made the visits to the obstetrician less terrifying, although she'd never tell him. She didn't want to make him feel obligated to come, but she had a feeling he knew anyways. He went with her to every appointment, regardless of how early –though he tended to sleep in the waiting room.

Apparently, Yuki's rest wasn't a good enough excuse to delay her confession.

"It's three in the afternoon, Tohru. Go wake him."

"B-but -"

"You both are getting on my nerves. Go do it now. You've already made him wait a week," Haru reminded her.

"Hatsuharu-san, I-I-" Tohru stuttered.

"He told you that he loved you in front of the whole school, I think you should be able to tell him…" he glanced over at Momiji's excited face before adding, "in front of just me and Momiji."

Both he and Momiji stood up at that moment and dragged her off the bed. Forcibly, they took her to Yuki's room, opened the door, threw her in, and shut the door behind her. Tohru stumbled inside, partially disappointed to find Yuki awake. She had been hoping he was still napping, so she wouldn't have to do anything, but he was clearly awake, working on something at his desk. He immediately turned to face her with a curious smile. Tohru averted his eyes and hesitated by the door, leaning against it for support as she attempted to find her voice.

"Tohru? Do you need something?" Yuki asked politely.

"I-I-" Tohru stammered embarrassedly.

"Are you all right, Tohru? You didn't scream because someone hurt you earlier, right? I thought Momiji scared you, so I didn't find it necessary to disturb you… You're not feeling ill, are you?" Yuki inquired worriedly.

"N-No… I…I j-just wanted you to k-know that I l-lov- I…" Tohru stuttered, failing miserably to get the rest of her words out.

Yuki stood up, concern splattered across his face. Tohru nervously played with the hem of her shirt for a minute and bit the bottom of her lip. They were both silent for a moment as Tohru tried to straighten out her scattered thoughts. With a determined huff, she balled her hands into fists and forced her face upwards to look at Yuki. Her steps started out strong and filled with courage, but as they progressed and she got closer to Yuki, the shakier her walking grew. Tohru was trembling by the time she stood before him, still at a loss for words. She swallowed apprehensively but managed to open her mouth. Petrified silent, Tohru stared at him, her mouth still hanging open as she struggled to say something.

After a minute of no success, she shut her mouth and stared at her feet. She had failed already. Either way, she was sure he wouldn't have believed her like last time. Peeking up at Yuki, Haru's advice struck her. Why don't you return the favor? It had seemed like such a good solution to her vocal issues at the moment that she hardly thought through what it'd involve until after she had got on the tips of her toes and brushed her lips against his. A second later, she gasped and dropped back down on her heels, flustered and embarrassed. Yuki subconsciously leaned forward a bit, craving for more, but he managed to stop before he made contact with her.

"What was that for…?" Yuki breathed, bewildered by her actions.

"I-Iloveyoutoo!" Tohru blurted out in a rush.

Yuki peered incredulously at her. It took him a second to decipher the statement and separate it back into the three words it was supposed to come out as. She loved him?

"W-What?" Yuki asked, not sure if he had decoded her words correctly.

"I… I love you too…" Tohru repeated a bit slower than before. She sucked in a deep breath, praying he would understand this time. She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle another misunderstanding.

Yuki compared the confession with her rosy cheeks, wondering why she was embarrassed. She had already told him that twice if he recalled correctly. That was surely enough to make him understand her feelings. He knew she felt some affection towards him, just in a familial manner, but that kiss didn't coincide with her feelings nor was it what he had expected from her. Tohru wouldn't be able to do something like that if her life depended on it. She must have been extremely desperate to cheer him up, which meant he was failing at upholding his masquerade of happiness. He thought he had been feigning satisfaction well, but maybe she had seen through his false smiles all along.

He took another look at her red face. That kiss and her blush didn't make sense. There was no reason for her timidity. Unless she was actually in love with him. His cheeks darkened ever so slightly, contrasting with his usually pale skin, at the thought. It didn't take much time for a surge of happiness to flood his body as her confession repeated itself in his head for a moment. His heart thumped excitedly, lurching rapidly, easily accepting her words, but his brain, on the other hand, felt compelled to remain skeptical. If she loved him as she claimed, then why had she insisted they were friends after telling him the exact same words a week ago?

"Wait… You love me as in you want to be my girlfriend or-"

"Gi-Girlfriend?" Tohru sputtered, interrupting him as she stared in shock.

"Guess not. Never mind."

"No! I mean… I- Your girlfriend? B-But I'm not…"

He put his fingers over her lips, "Just say yes or no. Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Yuki anxiously removed his fingers from her lips, terrified to hear her answer. Yuki stared into her large brown eyes, praying for acceptance. He wasn't sure he would be able to handle a declination from her. He hadn't meant to, but he had been hoping each second of the past week that she'd change her mind about their state as friends, but she never did, and disappointment ate away at him slowly, letting hope heal him each time before striking again. It was an endless process, and he hadn't gotten the chance to mend his heart this time. A refusal would hurt him beyond repair.

"Ye-Yes!" Tohru squeaked.

He grinned, more relieved than he thought possible. His heart raced triumphantly as the rest of his dubious thoughts faded, replaced by an unfathomable amount of euphoria. Too ecstatic to contain himself, he instantly swept her into his arms, disregarding her squeals of embarrassment as he crushed her against his chest. Tohru giggled, clutching him tightly as he pressed his face against her neck. He kissed her there a couple of times before he set her back on her feet, still beaming.

"You're happy about that?" she inquired in disbelief.

"Of course."

Yuki cupped her chin in his fingers, pulling her lips back to his. Tohru wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on the tips of her toes and holding herself as close to him as she could with her growing belly. She shut her eyes, letting him ravish her lips with gentle kisses. He broke the kiss after a minute, letting them both breathe. Yuki smiled, watching her face light up with a scarlet taint as he planted a kiss on the tip of her nose.

"You're so red. I don't think that's very healthy," Yuki laughed, touching her cheek with the back of his hand.

She looked down, slipping out of his embrace timidly. Her heart pounded loudly, an obvious enough clue as to how bashful she was. Tohru could only imagine how close to crimson the shade of red across her cheeks was. She didn't dare take a peek at the small mirror Yuki had in his room. She felt she'd be better off not knowing how closely she resembled a tomato. Regardless, with one look in his eyes, she could tell he was enjoying the broad color range of her cheeks a lot more than she was. She'd much rather be the collected one. He seemed to having more fun than she was at the moment. Tohru covered her cheeks with both her hands, seeing as he refused to look away to let her cheeks return to their normal color.

"Don't be embarrassed. It's adorable."

Yuki wrapped his fingers around her wrists, sliding them off of her face. He chuckled as she fought to keep her hands where they were. She was unsuccessful and quickly gave up, grimacing slightly as her hands left her cheeks. Tohru was positive her skin was even darker than before, if that was possible. He laughed softly, leaning forward to give her another kiss, but he froze when he heard soft shuffling outside of his door. Yuki shifted his eyes over to his shut door suspiciously. Confused, Tohru blinked, following his gaze although not quite sure what she was looking at.

Suddenly, Momiji's laughter flooded the room.

"Momiji! Shut up! They're going to hear you!" Haru hissed angrily.

"No! They're going to hear you!" Momiji retorted.

"You're yelling!"

Yuki and Tohru both stared at the door, both equally humiliated to find that everything they had just said that was meant only for each other's ears had been heard by two others. Tohru gazed helplessly at Yuki with a horrified expression, praying she was hearing things, but he peered back at her with an irritated look that confirmed what she thought she had heard. Tohru gripped Yuki's fingers tightly as the quarrel between Momiji and Haru continued. She should have known Haru and Momiji would have been standing out there with their ears pressed against the door. They had told her she should be able to confess to Yuki in front of them after all.

"We can hear both of you," Yuki announced to them.

Yuki rolled his eyes at the door, tempted to open it and kick both of his cousins for eavesdropping, but that'd ruin his perfectly pleasant mood. He squeezed Tohru's hands, waiting to hear their retreating steps. He could see Tohru felt terrible at the moment. Hints of guilt resided in the back of her eyes, sitting next to humiliation. There was a speck of happiness, incomparable to the amount he had seen a minute ago though. Yuki caressed her cheek with the tips of his fingers, making her feel a little bit more comforted but not enough to please him. He tugged at her hand, getting her to take a seat on his bed with him. Playing with her fingers, he was silent for a second, thinking of ways to take her mind off of what Haru and Momiji probably heard.

Settling with the idea of asking a question, he inquired, "How long have you loved me?"

"A long time…" Tohru breathed shyly.

"Before this?" he asked, putting his hand on her belly.

Tohru nodded, "Long before that…"

"Me too… Can I ask you something?"

"Of course! What is it?"

Yuki lifted his legs onto his bed, sitting cross legged and facing her directly now. He paused, gazing in her eyes seriously. Tohru shifted in her spot, suddenly self-conscious. Nervously, she raked her fingers through her brown locks, idly twisting the strands around her fingers as she awaited his question. His silence was making her anxious. She couldn't even handle looking in his eyes anymore. Chewing on her bottom lip, she peeked up at him, worried to see his face downcast and forlorn. She wrapped her tiny hands around his in attempt to cheer him up in vain.

"Why didn't you tell me how you felt earlier if you knew you loved me too? Why did you wait a week before telling me?" he questioned in a quiet voice.

Tohru looked down shyly, afraid of how he'd react to how silly her reasoning was. The delay probably seemed pointless to him, but she had needed the time to gather her scattered thoughts and steady her overjoyed heart. Neither of which she wanted him to know. It would only exemplify the effect he had on her. He didn't need to know it had practically taken her a week to stop secretly jumping up and down out of joy in her room because he had confessed to her. The first few days, she had even considered it having been a dream, but her friends made an effort to bring it up every time she saw them. She had definitely needed the past week to actually accept the fact that he loved her and to start acting rationally again.

"Y-You never listened to me… A-And I was sc-scared," Tohru finally told him.

"Of what? I don't bite you. I'm not mean to you, am I?"

"No, no! Not at all! I-I just… I was e-embarrassed. I couldn't d-do it."

"So you wouldn't have said a thing and let me be sad for the rest of my life if Haru and Momiji hadn't made you do it?"

"N-No! I would have… I would have told you… It just may have taken a little longer…" Tohru admitted.

Yuki buried his face in his hands and shook his head at her. Tohru gasped softly, wondering what she had said wrong. She put her hand on his shoulder fretfully, praying he wasn't mad at her. He let out a low groan before he looked up at her and shot her a disbelieving look, raising his eyebrows at her incredulously. Yuki wasn't sure what he would have done if she had actually taken longer to profess her feelings to him. He had been completely miserable the past week, convinced he had ruined the friendship they had already established. Yuki had moped around most of the time he was awake, and she had considered taking longer than she did.

"Don't tell me that," he frowned, "Seven days was already too long to bear…. But I forgive you since I bet you can't even imagine how happy you've made me."

"Is it anywhere close to how happy I am?" Tohru asked.

"Definitely not!" he scoffed with a smile, "You're nowhere close to how ecstatic I am."

Tohru beamed as he enveloped her in his arms, embracing her tightly in his hold. She closed her eyes, resting her face on his chest, completely at peace. She missed being held like this. Yuki had carefully avoided touching her very much the whole past week, not wanting to cross the boundaries between friend and lover, she assumed, but she wanted him to hold her like this more than anything. It was a bit awkward, she'd admit, with the baby sitting in her stomach between them, but she didn't mind until their daughter decided now was the perfect time to start kicking again. She was sure Yuki could feel it. Tohru glanced up at Yuki's grinning face before peering down at her belly, where her belligerent daughter was now resting motionlessly. He chuckled, drawing her back into his arms and pressing his lips against her cheeks.

Abruptly, the door swung open with a thud, loudly hitting the wall. Shigure stood in the doorway, slapping his hands over his cheeks as he gasped, "Just because my little flower admits to liking you doesn't mean you can violate her and get away with it!"

Yuki grimaced, seething angrily, "Get. Out. Of. My. Room. Shigure."

Yuki glared at Shigure, emphasizing each word separately. He pointed at the door stiffly, demanding that Shigure leave. There were three people Yuki wanted dead at the moment. Shigure, for disrupting Tohru and him, Momiji, and Haru, both of which probably were the ones who informed Shigure of the fact that Tohru had even told him that she loved him. As if they could hear his thoughts, Momiji and Haru stuck both of their heads into the doorway, both smiling sheepishly. Yuki reached for the nearest object –which turned out to be a textbook lying on his bed- and flung it at the door, missing their heads by a millimeter. They both gave him apologetic looks before fleeing down the hallway to save themselves from some bruises.

Not even bothering to see who Yuki had just thrown his book at, Shigure grinned wickedly, "Oh right. Never mind. You already violated my little flower."

Tohru flushed, burying her face in Yuki's shirt embarrassedly. She didn't understand why Shigure felt obligated to bring that up every day. She found it completely unnecessary and just a source of humiliation, but then again, Shigure had a strange fascination with toying with her emotions. Yuki gingerly stroked her back in a soothing manner, getting her to relax a bit as he glowered malevolently at Shigure. In response, Shigure simply started to snicker.

"Shigure… Just so you know, I'm going to poison your food today or choke you to death later," Yuki warned with an innocent smile, releasing Tohru for a minute only to shove Shigure out of his room.

He immediately slid back into Tohru's embrace, "Can I kill them, please? Pretty please? Promise me you won't get mad? It'll be a lot quieter without them around. Please?"

Tohru laughed and shook her head back and forth in refusal, "Don't."