Prettyinpinkgal: Chapter Fourteen! Yay! Thanks to those who have put this story in their favorites/alerts, but some reviews would also be appreciated ;)

1) Purikura: commonly used shortening of the phrase purinto kurabu, the Japanese pronunciation of "print club". Essentially, they are photo booths. They are used for passports and other official things, but are often used for entertainment purposes. From what I understand, the pictures can be the strips of pictures like how they come out in the U.S. photo booths, or they can be stickers to put on your cell phone and so on. They're much more popular in Japan than in the U.S.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

TROUBLED LOVE

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: FIRST DATE?

"Thank you for taking care of this, Sohma-kun," the teacher said to Yuki, handing him the files for student council.

"Don't mention it," he replied with a serene smile. He glanced out the window, then did a double-take. There was no mistaking that orange hair. That was Kyo, walking with...Tohru.

He was on the first floor, so he could see their expressions more clearly. Kyo's awkward smile, Tohru's embarrassed laughter, could only mean one thing.

Kyo had realized he still had a shot with her.

And Tohru, judging by the way she was fidgeting, was not opposed to letting him have this shot.

Yuki frowned, feeling his heart become crushed under the weight of the various emotions which now bubbled up within him. As the pair faded from view, he turned away, attempting to focus on his duties for the student council.


"Where do you wanna go?" Kyo asked the obviously flustered girl next to him. The extreme embarrassment evident on her face suggested she was possibly considering this as a date, even though he knew that as of yet, she did not love him back. Still, there was the possibility of tomorrow, and that made him optimistic.

Tohru's rubbed off on me, he mused, glancing with barely concealed affection at her.

"Um, anywhere's fine."

Kyo nodded.

Tohru, meanwhile, was fairly certain she would die early from a heart attack. Th-this can't be healthy! she cried mentally. Had she been so nervous for her date with Hikaru? A memory of her mother telling her to calm down and helping her get ready, then a memory of her mother leaving the bedroom to go threaten Hikaru by saying if he did so much as harm a hair on Tohru's precious head, with God as her witness she would hunt him down as show why the Red Butterfly was so greatly feared in the yanki world, came to her, and she felt herself breathe a laugh.

She then cast these memories aside. It seemed very rude to think of a date with one boy when she was on a sort-of date with another.

But was this the right thing? Tohru felt a bit of guilt grip her heart. Part of her didn't want to do this, even if she considered it just spending time with a friend. She still had feelings for Hikaru, and out of loyalty to him and the special time they shared together, she wanted to get out of this.

However, she noticed with a start that she wasn't quite as in love with Hikaru as she had been. And she noticed that she was not as averse to dating Kyo as she once would have been.

"Are you hungry?" he asked presently.

"Eh? Uh, a little."

They went to a taiyaki stand, where Kyo grabbed a bag of the fish-shaped pastries. Tohru smiled and thanked him, taking one out as they continued on their way.

The irony occurred to her, and she giggled.

"What?" he asked, but not unkindly, only curiously.

"You're--you were--the cat, and we're eating taiyaki," she explained, laughing lightly.

He could not help but smile slightly. "It's not that funny."

She only smiled more. "How do you eat taiyaki?"

"Tail first."

"I like eating the face first. It's..." Her face darkened. "It seems like I'm being kinder to just eat its head right away."

Kyo felt his lips quiver as he attempted in vain to keep a straight face.

"It's not funny!" she cried, her brow crinkled in concern for the poor fish pastry, unconsciously stroking the taiyaki as if to soothe it.

That did it. Kyo looked away as he leaned forward, laughing hard.

Tohru started, then relaxed and started laughing as well. She tried thinking of a time when Kyo had laughed so freely and found she had no memories of such a thing.

They neared a purikura (1). Tohru's eyes darted towards it, then thought of what would happen to them if the pictures fell in the wrong hands.

Her face must have mirrored her concern, for Kyo said in an annoyed voice, "Come on. We might as well."

He took her hand, and both blushed deeply. "Come on," he repeated gruffly, pulling her towards the purikura.

"Yes, yes, go right ahead," a voice said, causing them to freeze.

They slowly turned to face the speaker, who was dressed in a suit. He smiled, cold and heartless with rage burning in his eyes.

"After all, I already know."

Prettyinpinkgal: Ack! The shortness! But at least it's another new chapter, right? Right? You guys can complain about the shortness in your reviews, okay? Hint, hint. XP