Prettyinpinkgal: Hello, anyone who is still reading this story! Please forgive my long absence. As you know from my last author's note, I had moved shortly after the last chapter was posted. Soon after that, I entered high school, my obsession with Furuba faded (yes, you may virtually shoot me in your reviews for this), and I then was occupied with mainly my Howl's Moving Castle fanfiction, "Destiny", and a couple of other stories which have been very popular. There's also the big factor of simply not knowing where to go with this fanfiction. However, I'm determined to trudge through it, and I'll start it now.

I think this story might just have a few chapters more, just so that it's an enjoyable read but nothing too huge plot-wise. I'm sorry to those who were expecting a better comeback.

So, for those who don't want to reread the entire story thus far, Tohru was confessed to by Yuki and Kyo, but she was still concerned about her lost love from middle school, who died because of a love triangle. Yuki and Kyo got into a fight over her and ended up badly injured, which caused Akito to order Tohru to stay away from the Sohma family. She knew they would not let her go if they knew of the deal, so she left a note and disappeared from their lives without saying goodbye in person. She was adopted by the Sunatani family, and she changed her appearance to seem like a kogal. She then was transferred to Kaibara again for a semester. Tohru, aka Tsuki Nekono, befriended the Sohmas all over again, only to discover their curse had vanished while she would turn into a duck! After an encounter with Akito, Tohru finds out that even he has no idea what's going on!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

TROUBLED LOVE

CHAPTER ELEVEN: AN EVENTFUL EVENING

"The-then...eh?" asked a bewildered Tohru. "This doesn't make any sense! I mean, I always wished everyone's curses would be lifted, but..."

"Still, it should have been impossible. And I would have known if you had triggered the end of the curse," Akito muttered, more to himself than to Tohru.

The two pondered. Akito then stated, "Our curse...It has a will of its own, as generations before had noticed. So perhaps it decided on its own to transfer itself onto you? But it rarely does anything on its own... It's as though you've been accepted into the Sohma family, which would explain why you didn't turn into an animal when you bumped into Yuki earlier, since, as you know by now, Sohmas can't turn other Sohmas into their respective creatures. But more than that, you're the only 'Sohma' cursed. How peculiar."

"Do...you think the curse will return to its normal state?"

Akito paused. With great bitterness, he said, "No. It will never return to the true Sohma family."

Akito and Tohru returned to the Shigure's house soon after, lacking anything else to say. Akito then took his leave, allowing the five remaining Sohmas to question Tohru relentlessly.

"What happened?"

"Are you alright?"

"Did he hurt you?"

Tsuki forced a laugh. "I'm completely fine! You guys act like he's some sort of monster! All he did was ask me of how I came to know you guys, that's all. Jeez, chillax."

The group scrutinized her for a moment, leaving Tohru very grateful that the red mark from the slap had faded. They seemed to accept her explanation, although Kyo and Yuki still seemed wary. However, as the evening progressed, and Tohru's act was flawless as ever, they seemed to relax.

Finally, Tsuki announced she had to go home. Kyo and Yuki offered to walk her to the bus stop, but she declined, wanting to focus on her thoughts instead of worrying about her acting skills.

A stick cracked behind her when she got a few hundred feet away from the Sohma house. Immediately, Tohru recalled that night Kyo had apologized to her. And she had thought he was a pervert! Tohru couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought. After glancing behind her and believing the sound to have only been from some animal, she could not keep the memories from flowing freely in her mind.

I had such a good time with everyone, she thought miserably, trying her best to keep her tears at bay. Why did it turn out like this?

There was again a crackling sound behind her. Tohru whirled around again, but saw only inky darkness. She picked up the pace to be on the safe side, although she continued to assure herself that it was only an owl, or a squirrel, or some other cute creature.

The Sohma house was now long out of sight. The only choice now was to keep going. I-I know martial arts now, so I'm fine! she told herself. Fight!

On reflex, she stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a sound. It was...someone chuckling?

"Eep," she squeaked, taking off in a sprint.

Of course! she thought, now near tears for an entirely different reason. Of course I run into some real perverts this time! Mom! Kyo-kun! Yuki-kun!

She glanced up and slid to a stop. Four young men, probably in their early twenties, stood in front of her with frightening grins on their faces.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" one asked, who she assumed was the leader.

"A cute kogal, that's who," another answered.

"Why don't you come with us, sweetheart?"

The leader stepped forward, reaching out a large hand.

"N-no!" Tohru screamed, kicking him where it hurt.

"You'll pay for that!" a blonde said, charging at her as another grabbed her from behind.

More and more appeared. Tohru knew, even with all her training, she could not face so many on her own. The blonde grabbed her chin roughly and slowly lowered his face towards hers, enjoying the fear in her eyes and the terrible anticipation.

She shut her eyes then, terrified, trying to think of something--anything--that would at least mentally take her away from what was about to occur.

"Get your -censored- hands off her!"

Her eyes shot open again as the hand which had held her in chin in such an iron grip was ripped away, and its owner's body crumpled to the ground. Then the hands which had held her still were gone, and she was shoved towards one of the trees along the edge of the path. Tohru's body shook terribly as she sunk to the ground, too shaken up to even consider running while she could.

The sounds of fists meeting noses, of yells of pain and anger, echoed in Tohru's ears, despite her attempts to block out the noise. After deciding that it was better to know what was happening rather than be in terrible ignorance, she slowly looked up and saw Kyo facing down all twenty of the gang members. She felt tears stream down her cheeks as she witnessed Kyo beating up others and being beaten himself.

Carefully, she stood, and slapping her face a few times in an attempt to pull herself together, she barged over there, trying to push all timidness aside.

"Hey, you jerks! Over here!" she screamed, charging and throwing a perfect kick at someone's head, barely avoiding Kyo. "S-sorry," she quickly apologized to him as she punched another one right in the stomach.

He quickly got over his surprise and shouted, "Are you crazy?! Get out of here!"

"Not until I get back at these guys!" I don't want you to be hurt too. I don't want anyone else I care about to get hurt!

"Screw this!" one of the guys yelled. "The girl's not even that pretty!" He struggled to stand and then ran down the path as fast as possible.

"W-wait for me!" one of his friends screamed, touching his nose, glancing at the blood on his hand, and then running away.

Soon, all the attackers were gone, and Kyo and Tohru sunk to the ground in exhaustion. "You okay?" he asked, breathless.

She nodded.

He managed a short laugh. "We gave them one heck of a fight, didn't we?"

She nodded again.

Kyo glanced at her, managing a small smile. "This isn't like you. You're never this quiet."

Again, a nod.

He sighed. "Nekono, say something."

"...H...How did you find me?"

Kyo's eyes widened. Perhaps it was only his mind playing tricks on him, but her voice sounded surprisingly like that girl who had been closest to his heart. "Oh, well, I had this bad feeling soon after you left, and I figured it was probably nothing. But I decided it wouldn't hurt to follow you to make sure you were safe."

Tsuki muttered something, but he couldn't make out what it was. Something about "last time"? But that didn't make sense.

He hesitated. What was he supposed to do in a situation like this? Despite all her talk and her being trained in martial arts, she was still obviously shook up. Should he put a hand on her shoulder? Bring her back to Shigure's house? Walk her back to her house?

His mind reeling, he decided to talk. "Uh, so. You're pretty good."

Silence.

"How long have you been taking lessons?"

The crickets chirped around them.

He ran his hand through his hair, trying to make out what he should do or say to comfort her. But she was a girl, and the only girl he had ever talked to--really talked to--was...

"You're acting like your old self again," Tsuki whispered, barely audible.

"What do you mean?"

"The you from before."

"Before what?" he demanded, believing that she certainly couldn't be talking about before that.

"...Sorry."

Suddenly, her small frame began trembling from the sobs which now came forth. "I'm so sorry!" she cried. "Why? Why is it that I always do this to those I care about?! I always hurt everyone! It's not fair! Oh, Kyo-kun, I'm sorry! I'm so, so, so sorry! You even got beat up because of me! You easily could have been--!" Her voice failed her as she completely gave in to the tears she had held back. "The only thing good about meeting me," she hiccuped a minute later, a minute after Kyo had begun helplessly patting her head, "is that I've managed to bear the burden of your curse. You're free from that now, at least."

His hand froze in midair. "Curse?" he repeated.

He stared at the girl before him. She was the same size as her. She had her eyes, her lips, her cheeks, and sometimes even her smile. And there was something sad, so sad, in those eyes now, something that had always been almost perfectly veiled.

"Tohru," he breathed.

Her head whipped up, her hands covering her mouth in horror. She now shook her head, her dyed hair brushing against her cheeks. "I-I'm not her."

"Like heck you're not!" he growled. "What's happened to you?! Why did you leave? Why this?" he asked, referring to her blonde hair and knee socks. "You had us worried sick!"

"I-I'm not her!" she cried, tears streaming down her face again.

Kyo's glare subsided. "You idiot," he said tensely, but softly. "Why won't you be yourself? Why are you acting like this?"

"You don't know anything," she told him. Kyo's glare momentarily returned, but it faded again as soon as he realized that he wasn't insulting him, only ordering him. "You don't know the whereabouts of Tohru Honda, and you haven't seen her since the day she left. Right?"

He eyed her. "Right," he finally said.

"Not a word of this to anyone," she told him.

"But they--"

"Not to anyone."

He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. "Fine, fine. But since I know about you being, you know, you, could you at least tell me what's going on? And what was that stuff about the curse?"

She glanced around. "Not here."

He paused. "There's a McDonald's near here."

"Okay."


"Here."

Tohru glanced up to see Kyo with her chocolate milkshake. "Thank you," she said softly, taking it.

"So tell me everything," he said impatiently.

And she did. Every terrible detail, every not-so-bad occurrence, was told, and Kyo left his fries untouched as he listened to her tale.

She finished, ending with what she and Akito had discussed earlier that day. Her companion almost forgot to speak.

"And you went through all that by yourself?" he managed to ask. "You had to change everything about yourself because Akito forced you to?"

"I didn't want to risk running into any of you. Not as Tohru Honda, anyway. I'm sorry for lying."

Kyo sighed. "Nah, it's fine. I don't like it, but I understand. It's not your fault anyway. It's mine."

Tohru blinked. "What?"

"I'm the one who confessed. I'm the one who got into that fight. If I hadn't... Keep your mouth shut, Tohru. Despite whatever Akito's drilled into your head, it's not your fault."

Tohru glanced down for a moment, then met his eyes again. "How about a truce? It's no one's fault."

"Except Akito's."

"But I can sort of understand his reasoning," she said. Upon receiving Kyo's stern look, she relented and agreed. "Okay, so I guess it is his fault." She paused, then, with a horrified expression, asked, "Have I gotten mean? I mean, meaner than I usually am?"

"If that's what you call mean, then I hate to hear what you'd call me," Kyo replied, chuckling for the first time in a long while.

Tohru noticed this, and could not help but beam. "You're very nice, though, Kyo-kun!"

He stopped laughing, and his cheeks turned slightly pink as he glanced away.

"What is it?" Tohru asked.

"It's just..." His face turned a darker shade. "I missed that. Hearing you say my name."

Tohru blushed as well, trying to cool down her face by drinking her milkshake.

"By the way," Kyo continued hurriedly, "what did you mean when you said you always hurt everyone?"

Tohru froze, and because of this Kyo knew she was keeping one last secret.

"Besides my mom.... There was another person I know who was hurt. Who was killed." Her fists clenched under the table. "I...I was involved in a love triangle before. I was, am, in love with my senpai, Hikaru-kun."

Kyo managed to keep his face calm. "Okay."

"And, another guy from school, he, well, confessed to me after I started dating Hikaru-kun. H-he told me that if he couldn't have me, nobody would. And so he pulled out a gun."

"What?!"

Tohru put a finger to her lips, bobbing her head in apology to the other customers. Turning to Kyo, she said, "Yes, so he took out a gun, and Hikaru-kun pushed me out of the way. Hikaru-kun...he got shot. He died that night."

All the jealousy Kyo had been feeling vanished. "Tohru," he said softly. "I...I don't know what to say."

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything."

Her phone went off. "Do you mind if I answer this?" she asked.

"Uh, go ahead."

"Okay, thanks. Ah, I think I hit speaker phone! Uh, how do you turn it off-- Ah, she'll hang up! Hello?"

"Tsuki-chan, is that you? Why are you talking so formally?"

Tohru looked at Kyo with such a panicked expression that he had to turn away to avoid laughing. "Uh, 'cuz I'm talking someone who speaks really formally and I guess it rubbed off! Hahaha!"

'Speaks formally'? Kyo snorted. Tohru waved at him to be quiet.

"Oh? Well, could you come home now, Tsuki? It's getting near your curfew."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Ah, that is.... Fine, fine. I'm coming."

"Haha! That's the Tsuki we know. Okay, I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye."

She hung up, sighing. "That was strange."

"Nice lying."

"Thank you. Well, I have to go." Tohru opened her mouth to say something else, but then shut it.

Kyo smiled. "Got it. I'll keep my mouth shut. And if we're alone, I can talk to you like you're Tohru instead of Tsuki, right?"

Tohru smiled. "You've gotten like Hana-chan. You knew when I was in trouble, and now you can tell what I'm thinking. And yes, I'd like that."

Ten minutes later, he walked her to the bus stop, waving back when she gave a small, shy wave of her own. He stared after her long after the bus had faded from sight.

Prettyinpinkgal: So the writing sucks. Believe me, I know. I'll try to get it to improve later on. But I hope you like this chapter's twist of events! Please review so I know that people are still reading!