Family Structure

Haru-Tohru-Kisa (brother-sister-sister)

Hakufu + Oubasan aunt + uncle

Mom + dad DEAD!

Dedicated to Lirael Black! For reasons I told her! .

Yuki sat across from Tohru at a diner table. Their meeting again was completely unexpected, but he couldn't say he didn't come to town half hoping that she'd be out today. Nor could he say that was the only reason he left, the other was of course his dearly beloved older brother. Ayame was slowly driving Yuki insane with his absurd ideas of strengthening their brotherly bond. To stay away from Ayame Yuki had slipped out of the palace for some peace and quiet. He shook his head frowning slightly at the thought of Ayame.

Tohru watched Yuki for a while wondering why he was frowning. She instantly assumed he probably upset to see her again. She didn't want to force him to stay here if he didn't want to be here.That wasn't the right thing to do even if she wanted to keep him here. He had a life too and probably had other things to do other than keeping her company. She shouldn't be greedy and make him remain here. In her head she knew she should tell him he could go, but her mouth wouldn't cooperate with her.

They were at a small restaurant close to where he had just saved her. Yuki and Tohru were seated at a booth in the corner of the place. Only a few people were here besides them at the moment. Neither of them seemed to mind since that did keep prying eyes away from them. They hadn't spoken since they got in here, and that small fact was starting to worry Tohru a lot. She didn't want to be such a loathsome bother to him.

"He DID ask me here though…" she tried to reassure herself.

She wondered if she had done something wrong, until she realized that he wasn't exactly focusing on her. Tohru cocked her head to the side trying to find out what he was concentrating on. She couldn't find anything interesting that would make him stare at it; the place was rather simple. To her it seemed like he was staring out into space. He rested his chin on both of his hands, deep in thought. Yuki didn't look like the type of person to space out so his actions conjured up some more worry in Tohru.

A waitress walked up to their table with a small notepad and pen asking, "May I take your order?"

She had curly blond hair that was tied up behind her head. The uniform she wore seemed to be altered to show more skin then it was supposed to. Her eyes were focused on Yuki watching him intently, obviously interested until she saw Tohru. He shook his head and looked up at the waitress disoriented, as if taken back from another world. Yuki cleared his throat and peered at Tohru ignoring the waitress's distaste of Tohru. Tohru stared back at him innocently happy to know that he was back. She had no idea that the waitress wasn't fond of her.

"Do you want anything?" Yuki politely offered to her.

"Eh?"

Tohru looked back down at the menu in front of her indecisively. Her eyes scanned the lists of dishes and appetizers. Yuki watched her eye brows furrow as she tried to make a decision before he lost his patience. She had hardly eaten out before so she didn't recognize any of the choices on the menu. It was a new experience for her, making her excited but all the dishes sounded so foreign to her. He was as clueless as her but had a better way of hiding it.

"How about we start out with drinks if that helps?" The waitress suggested.

"I'll just have a cup of tea…. How about you Tohru-san? Feel free to have whatever you like," Yuki told her with a sweet smile.

"Umm… I'll have tea as well…" Tohru added softly.

The waitress scribbled down their orders and left to get them the drinks. Yuki glanced at Tohru who seemed slightly uncomfortable. She squirmed in her seat feeling a little nervous around him. She hardly knew him yet she wanted to make a good impression so badly. Tohru was clueless in the area of approaching men though and had no idea what to do. He smiled and touched the side of hand. She jumped in her seat too lost in her thoughts to remember where she was.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern coating his words.

She blushed nodding furiously. He withdrew his hand half wondering if she was repulsed by his presence. But if she was, why did she eagerly agree to go eat with him? It was Yuki's turn to be worried about how she felt around him. Tohru bit her lip not noticing that he was watching her. In her head she was trying to figure out why a simple touch from his hand made her so embarrassed and thrilled at the same time.

"Then relax Tohru-san. I won't bite you," Yuki teased her trying to get her to look at him.

"I'm sorry!" She cried apologetically.

As soon as her eyes met his they shot back down to the menu timidly. She hid her face behind the menu. Tohru peeked at him from the side of the booklet dreading that he would get fed up with her and leave. He just leaned to the side and raised his eyebrows at her. Her timid actions reminded him of a child, but at the same time he thought they were cute. His bangs slipped down covering the tops of his eyes. Her cheeks darkened feeling subconscious about how she appeared today.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Order anything you want. I'll treat you today," Yuki told her generously.

"Ah no! I couldn't possibly do that!!!!" She exclaimed.

Yuki just sat there, not sure how to respond to that. He didn't mind paying; he had more money than he could spend in two lifetimes. She didn't want to waste his money and take advantage of his kindness though. He had already done more than enough for her. Before either of them could say anything else or state their perspectives the waitress came back setting the drinks in front of them. She stood in front of them holding up the notepad once again.

"Still undecided? May I recommend something?"

"Yeah… Sure…"

"The special breakfast entries for today are the sweet rolls. They're real delicious. Would you like them?" She suggested with a crooked grin.

Yuki just nodded, noticing that the rolls were also the most expensive thing on the menu. He remained silent though not bothering to say anything about that. Tohru probably would be even more frantic if she knew that. From what he knew about her so far she would insist against him paying even more than she was now. She was currently looking over the menu trying to find the price of the sweet rolls with no success.

"Is that okay with you Tohru-san?"

She nodded weakly not sure what else to get. It'd be rude of her to refuse after she had agreed to come here. She still felt the need to repay his acts of kindness whether with cash or not. The waitress took the menus from them and left their table once again. There was nothing left for her to hide behind. Tohru picked her napkin up in her hands twisting it around on her lap nervously.

"So…. How are you doing today?" Yuki asked in attempt to calm her down.

"I'm well! How have you been?"

"Alright… How did your sister like the earrings?"

Tohru was startled that he remembered that it was Kisa's birthday let alone what she had gotten for her. Her face softened, settling down. She seemed touched, her face shining warmly. He beamed, glad that he had finally found a topic that made her ease up. So far she seemed pretty simple to please which was convenient for him since he was starting to like to see her happy more than anything.

"She loved them. Thank you…" She breathed happily.

"I'm glad…" Yuki murmured.

A blush rested across her face. She looked away at him down at the table embarrassedly. He was beautiful, kind, generous, and incredibly thoughtful. Tohru couldn't believe he was all of these things. Now she wanted to discover new sides to him, new things she didn't know about him as of now. She wanted to learn about his hobbies, his preferences, dislikes, his pet peeves, and even his faults. She could tell already that faults would be hard to find in someone who appeared so perfect and flawless.

----

Back at the castle Kisa was pacing back and forth across the hallway. She paused in front of Tohru's door. Her hand rose about to knock, she froze shook her head and went back to walking. Haru leaned against the wall, watching the small girl intently. She had gone through the process of pacing, raising her hand to knock, lowering it down, and pacing again ten times already. He had been watching her from her fifth round curious to know what it was that she was doing.

"What are you doing, Kisa?"

"Nii-san! You scared me!" Kisa cried, jumping up in shock.

"What are you doing? So absorbed that you didn't notice me standing here," Haru smiled.

Haru walked over to her waiting for an answer. She looked up at him with large child like eyes not sure what to say. He stood there patiently giving her time to think through her thoughts. Kisa sighed deciding to tell him everything, "I was worried about Onee-chan … She's usually awake and eating breakfast at this time. But she hasn't even left her room yet…"

"Why don't you wake her up?"

"She's been so restless lately. I don't want to ruin her rest if she is sleeping," Kisa answered with a thoughtful smile.

"Just wake her… I'm sure Oubasan will wake her soon anyways. She'll probably give Tohru a lecture about how indecent it is to be asleep at this hour," Haru reminded Kisa.

"Right!"

She hesitantly knocked softly on the large double doors. There was no answer. She knocked louder but the only sound was the quiet echo of her knocks in an empty room. The small girl's bottom lip quivered, her worried eyes fixed on Haru for a solution, but he gave her no further options. His face remained expressionless not showing what he was thinking. He wasn't sure which way they should go around this problem, but he wanted to know why Tohru wasn't in her room as much as Kisa did.

"Just open it…" Haru advised.

"But… She may want her privacy…"

"I have a feeling we should," Haru stated calmly.

Reluctantly she agreed and turned the door knob, finding it carelessly unlocked. She slowly pushed the door in a little afraid to see no one inside. Kisa didn't want to find her sister gone. If she did then there was nothing left to make her believe Tohru didn't have any secrets. Her disappearance would confirm that Tohru did indeed keep things from her. Kisa didn't want to doubt Tohru or question her honesty. That wasn't what sisters and best friends did.

"Onee-chan?" Kisa called as she entered the dark room.

All the windows were covered by the curtains except for the one by her bed, which was left wide open. The brightly colored curtain fluttered from the cool breeze drifting into the bedroom. A square of sunlight streamed through the otherwise black room. Kisa's eyes ran across the neat room widening as she saw the empty bed. Haru followed her inside, but unlike Kisa his face showed none of his feelings or thoughts.

"Like I thought… She's not here…" Haru muttered.

"Where do you think she is? Do you think she was kidnapped???? I have to tell Hakufu and Oubasan!" Kisa cried.

Haru held onto Kisa's thin shoulder not letting her leave the room. Her bright orange eyes peered up at Haru in surprise. He pulled her towards the window and pointed at the rope. She glanced from the rope to Haru's expressionless face not understanding the situation. Kisa hadn't even seen the rope which was partially hidden behind the curtain. It was knotted to a leg of Tohru's bed. Kisa looked shocked that Haru had seen that and she hadn't when she was in the room longer than him.

"Kisa, calm down. See this rope? She snuck out," Haru concluded.

"But…. Why would she sneak out?"

"I don't know but we can ask her about it when she comes back. For now we'll help her by keeping it a secret," Haru added.

Kisa looked at the rope again before agreeing with Haru. She'd do anything for Tohru, even if she was keeping something from her. She had to believe that Tohru had a reason for wanting to keep it a secret. Until Tohru confided in them with the reason she'd do all she could to help even if all she could do was keep silent about her disappearance. Kisa just hoped that Tohru would one day tell her what this was all about.

"Okay… If you say so…"

----

"It was good, wasn't it?" Yuki asked pushing aside his empty plate.

Tohru nodded and breathed in. It was good she had to admit, but now that they were done eating there wasn't really anything else keeping him from leaving now. She chewed her bottom lip fumbling with the edge of the table cloth. She didn't want him to go until she was sure there was a way for her to contact him. Slowly she glanced up at him, her nervousness showing once again in her eyes. Yuki gazed at her, genuinely concerned, "Tohru are you-."

"YukicanIseeyouagain?" Tohru asked in one breath.

Yuki started to laugh. Her face grew darker with every passing second. She didn't want him to laugh let alone refuse. Tohru's brows furrowed with sadness as he laid his head over his arms in a fit of laughter. Was he laughing at her because he thought the idea was ridiculous? Yuki gazed up at her apologizing for laughing at her. He tried to stop laughing so he could explain what he thought before he offended her.

"I'm sorry… You just looked so serious…. And honestly… I was about to ask you if you were available this weekend," he choked out as he attempted to stifle his laughter.

Tohru looked down blushing darkly. He took a deep breath and straightened out his shirt creases. Yuki brushed a few of his bangs aside calmly facing her again. She could barely face him yet she had just asked him to see her again. Tohru swallowed with much effort and tried to regain her composure before she made a fool out of herself again. He looked at her with a smile glad to hear she wanted to see him as much as he wanted to see her.

"Do you have a cell phone?" he asked.

"Yes… Why?" she replied.

"Can I see it?"

She pulled out the small phone from her back pocket and gave it to him. He took it from her flipping it open and scanning the contents of the front screen. It appeared to be a picture of her and her siblings. Tohru looked extremely happy between the two people. He grinned; everything from the pink phone to the screen of the phone suited her personality perfectly. Tohru faced her hands, starting to think her phone was rather childish.

"Have you ever set up your speed dial?"

"Ah…. No…"

He nodded and fiddled with the buttons and pulled out a similar black phone, pressing a few buttons on it as well. She watched him carefully during the whole process wondering what he was doing. Yuki smiled and handed the phone back to her. She cradled it in her palm curious to know what he did. He slipped the phone back into his pocket happy to know that now they both had each other's phone numbers.

"Press one and you can reach me."

"Thank you Yuki-san!" Tohru exclaimed happily.

He grinned; she was twice as beautiful when she smiled like that. That was something he took note of. The smile he'd grow to adore and cherish to the point when he would be willing to do anything to see it again. Yuki wished he had brought a camera now so that he could capture her bright and joyful face. Maybe then, he'd get enough of that delightful smile. But even with that smile on her face, something about what she said bothered him.

"You don't have to be so formal Tohru-san. No need to call me Yuki-san."

Being royal came with the highest respect. But all the formality did get tiring over time. The people he cared about should at least be able to talk at ease with him, right? At least later she'd become the one he cared for most. But to get to the point, she couldn't treat him as everyone else did. He didn't want her thrown in with everyone else; she stood out from the rest to him so she should call him with some sense of familiarity.

"Yuki-kun?" she tried shyly.

"Nn?"

"If I call you Yuki then will you call me Tohru?"

"If that is your desire Tohru…" Yuki responded awkwardly.

Tohru beamed happily adding, "I feel like we just became closer friends!"

"I agree…"

Friends? Something about that term didn't quite seem to fit what either of them felt. Was that even a possibility when sparks ignited between them? He didn't like the sound of that term to describe them yet he didn't know why he detested it. He kept a smile on his face though. If that's what she wanted, then he would be fine with it, as long as she continued to smile. That's what mattered right? That she was happy, he'd be content just as long as she was smiling and around him regardless of what she made of their relationship.

rnnnnnnnnnnnng rnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng

"I'm sorry…" Yuki mouthed to her.

Yuki pulled out his cell phone. He looked at her with apologetic eyes after listening to whatever the caller had to say and mumbling into the receiver, "Yes…. I'll be there soon…. Well you can distract her for half an hour can't you...? Thanks Nii-san…"

It was obvious without him even having to tell her directly that he had to leave. But he said it anyways. Perhaps… If he did, then time would stop and he could stay there with her forever or at least a little while longer. Time didn't stop though… Love didn't work that way, at least not yet. The world didn't cut them any slack, it continued to move, people going on with their lives not caring that true love was being formed between the couple.

"I have to go… I'm sorry…" He breathed, a hint of sadness smothering his words.

"It's no problem! I'm just glad I got to see you again! Umm… This is last minute so it's my fault!" Tohru rambled embarrassedly.

"I'll pay and I'll call you later… Bye..."

Yuki gave her a quick smile and pulled out several bills. He tossed them on a table and stood there for a brief second before giving her a short bow. In a flash he was gone. Tohru sat there for a minute before standing up slightly depressed. She was with him a second ago but now it seemed so far away… The waitress waltzed over and almost fell backwards on her heels when she saw the money. Tohru glanced up at her slightly confused.

"Is something the matter?" Tohru asked.

"Miss… He paid way too much for this…" the waitress spoke in disbelief.

Tohru peered at the table for the first time looking at the money. Yuki had indeed paid more then necessary. More then triple how much the meal had actually cost. He must have been in such a hurry that he didn't realize. She bit her lip in worry; it was all her fault that he had left so much extra money. If she hadn't agreed to go eat with him, then he'd still have the money. She was responsible and now needed to get the cash back to him.

"Umm… Let me call him…" Tohru muttered taken aback.

Shakily she pulled out her phone remembering what he had told her before and pressed one. Tohru took a deep breath a bit flustered to be calling him for the first time only minutes after he gave her his number. She hoped he picked up; she wouldn't know what to do with the money otherwise. The phone rang three times before a breathless Yuki picked up the phone answering with a surprised voice, "Hello Tohru?"

"Yuki-kun, you paid too much for the meal!" she informed him almost embarrassedly.

"Oh… Is that so? I didn't know. How much did I leave?" He asked curiously.

"More then triple the price of the meal…" Tohru murmured.

"Well… I'll let you decide what to do… You can keep it or give it to the waitress as an extra large tip… I don't mind. You may do what you wish but I have to go," he quickly told her before hanging up.

Tohru paused for a second before pushing the money to the waitress. He didn't seem to worry much about money. Who was he? She didn't have to worry about paying for things because she was a princess, but what about him? This made her realize how little she actually knew about him. She wanted to know more about this mysterious Yuki until she was bursting with information about him.

"Think of it as a tip… Thank you!" Tohru bowed briskly before rushing out of the restaurant and back home. She snuck back in without drawing much attention to herself besides tripping over the last step of the stairs. Maybe with more outings she'd get better at getting in and out without so much noise and pain. Tohru sat up on top of the stairs rubbing her knees hating her clumsiness, but at least no one noticed. She clamored nosily to her room, bumping into tables and walls before she finally reached her bed and fell asleep.

Tohru woke up groggily to the ringing of her cell phone. She hadn't even realized that she had fallen asleep until she had awakened. She grabbed her cell phone from her nightstand and greeted the caller tiredly, not bothering to check who it was. Glancing around her now dark room she realized it was pretty late. Nobody ever called her; her cell phone was for emergencies like when she got lost. Who'd be calling her this late?

"Hello…?" she started sleep evident in her voice.

"Hello Tohru… I'm sorry… Were you sleeping?" Yuki apologized earnestly.

"It's alright Yuki-kun…"

"I just wanted to make sure you got back safely."

She perked up. Yuki was already such a perfect guy yet now he was considerate enough to check up on her. Tohru sat up on her bed grateful that she had the chance to know him. Most guys wouldn't even remember to call back the next day. But here he was on the phone with her before the day was over. Tohru grinned widely happy to hear his voice for the third time today.

"Oh I'm fine!"

"That's good to hear… I'm sorry I couldn't walk you back home…"

"No! It's no problem at all!"

He was just like a prince. Sweet, caring and gentle… She hadn't even thought about the possibility of having him walk her home. Nobody beside a guard did that. But then again she didn't have much experience with men. Tohru sat upright feeling like a schoolgirl who was madly in love. She could imagine him as her boyfriend, and she could picture herself sitting by her phone for hours anxiously awaiting a call from him. Being his girlfriend would be a dream come true.

"If you're alright then I can't talk for much longer…"

"Okay… I wouldn't want to keep you waiting… Can you call me back later when you're not busy?" Tohru requested hopefully.

"Of course… If you want me to…"

"I do…"

"Then I'll call you as soon as I can…"

"Thank you…"

Tohru hit the end key and flopped back down on her bed. Half of her wanted to jump up and down screaming out of joy but she contained herself. Haru and Kisa most definitely would think she was crazy. Instead she hugged her pillow tightly against her chest. Not only had she gotten to see Yuki again but she had gotten his number. She couldn't help but hide her face in the soft white feathered mass and scream letting the pillow muffle the noise.

"I'll pay and I'll call you alter!" my lil typo that I found rather interesting….