Author: merrow - G - English - Drama/Romance - Reviews: 38
Shigure let a river of tears roll down his cheeks. "Aaaah....our little flower is going to leave us to become a bride!"
"Ano.." Tooru blushed as she started to clear the dishes. Shigure had teased and pouted about Tooru's secret admirer all through dinner. The story had come out when Tooru had explained the reason for Uotani and Hanajima visiting later that night.
"Stop being an idiot Shigure!" Kyou huffed, carrying his plates to the sink. He felt like the back of his neck had been put in a vise it was so tight. Every time that idiot dog mentioned the letter Kyou felt himself tense a little more. It was pissing him off all this talk.
"Kyou-kun-"
"WHAT?" Kyou immediately regretted his burst. He hadn't meant to yell, it just happened. He looked down into Tooru's surprised eyes. "W-what?"
"Do you feel alright?" She looked up at him concerned, hands soapy as she washed the dinner dishes. "Kyou-kun didn't eat much dinner. Wasn't it good?"
Kyou was caught up in the look of concern on her face. No one ever looked at him that way. "Aha..."
"It was fine." Yuki said placing his dishes in the sink and taking up a towel to dry the dishes Tooru had already washed. He smiled at her, "Honda-san's cooking is always delicious."
"I just wasn't hungry." Kyou's stomach tumbled around and he suddenly felt like the kitchen was too close. Glaring at Yuki he left the kitchen and went outside closing the door with a slam. Damn interfering mouse, always sucking up to Tooru. He stopped dead in front of the house.
"Yo!" Arisa smiled, looks like they'd walking into something interesting. She still wasn't too sure about these two, Orange Head and the Prince. That they had helped Tooru when she needed it, for that they had her appreciation. But the Prince was too stiff and Orange Head too rough. And they were both idiots. But then, weren't all boys?
Hanajima nodded to Kyou as they passed and stepped through the door. The unusual waves she felt when ever she entered this house, they seemed to be even stronger tonight. Tooru was a precious friend, that she should be in such an environment was a good thing of that she was sure. But any situation could change, and she would be watching. She smiled as Tooru came forward to greet them. Yes, she would be watching closely.
Kyou felt a shiver down his spine as he climbed up the ladder to the roof. It was like someone walking over his grave. He sighed and looked up at the moon. Why did he feel so pissed off!
* * *
After snacks had been procured and Shigure had been scared off by Saki the girls settled in Tooru's room. Arisa lay on the bed, kicking her feet back and forth while Tooru had her hair styled by Saki.
"I still say you have to make this room more like a girls. If not a make-up table, you should get some cute pillows. Some nice flowers to decorate the wall, or a poster."
Tooru smiled at her friend, careful not to turn her head under Hanajima's hands. "Oh, no! I couldn't ask for anything else. I'd be punished. Yuki-kun, Kyou-kun, and Shigure-san have done so much for me already."
"You could buy something with your part time money. Now that you live with the Souma's your expenses should be less." Hana-chan twirled another ringlet into Tooru's hair.
Tooru made a dissenting noise, "I have to save, someday I'll have to live on my own. I want to start preparing now."
Uo-chan gave her a sideways look, "Ha-hah! Maybe you're new admirer will shower you with gifts. Some nice cute dolls or stuffed animals."
"Eh-he-heh." Tooru blushed.
"Ah, yes, the letter." Hanajima released Tooru's hair, now a riot of curls. "We should read it now."
Arisa got up and walked to the window. She opened it and enjoyed the cool breeze that washed over her. She pushed herself up on the sill. "Yeah, the letter. We still have to find out if this person is deserving of our Tooru."
Yuki looked up in surprise at his window. Uotani's words were muffled but easily understandable. He walked to the window to close it. He shouldn't be listening in.
"Here, hand it to me and I'll read it aloud for us."
Yuki's hand paused on the sill. He shouldn't be listening in. He leaned against the wall next to the window sighing. He allowed himself to slide down it to sit below the window. He hid his head in his arms. He shouldn't be listening in.
A rustle of paper was heard and Kyou shivered. He should let them know he was on the roof somehow. If he moved around the roof beams would creak and they'd know to close the window. He rolled on his side, closer to the wall with the window.
"Ah, his handwriting is neat, who ever he is."
Kyou held his breath and kept himself very still. He squeezed his eyes shut, hating himself but unable to make himself reveal his presence.
"'I don't know how to start this letter.' Che! What kind of opening is that?" Uotani gave a typically unladylike snort. "'Dear doesn't sound quite right, even though you are dear to me.' Smoooth!" crowed Arisa.
"Yes, very clever." Hanajima agreed.
"'I know you don't know who I am. You've never seemed to take any notice of me though we've been in the same class for a long time.' Geh, it's a boy in our class."
Kyou's eyes narrowed. He ran the faces of male population of his class through his mind. His insides twisted at the thought of one of them writing this letter.
"'You're always smiling even though I know you've been through a lot. Sometimes when I've had a bad day, I'd see you laughing and smiling with your friends and some how I find myself smiling in return. You lift my spirits just by being you. Honda-san is amazing. Someday I hope that you will smile because of me. I hope you are pleased to know that you are admired. I'm afraid I'm a little bit of a coward. I can't make myself sign this letter. But I wanted to you to know that someone is thinking of you and thinks you are special. It takes all my courage to send this letter to you, but I hope you don't mind if I write again. Sincerely, An Admirer.' 'Sincerely'! He should have signed it 'love'!" Arisa folded up the letter with regret. It was a good letter; someone obviously saw something of what she did in Tooru.
"No, 'sincerely' is perfect." Hanajima disagreed, "'love' would be too forward. He doesn't really know Tooru-kun yet."
"Ah, yes, you're right."
Yuki stared at the wall in the dark. Someone from his class had written this letter? How could he not have noticed someone watching Honda-san? He felt chilled. How could he have been so oblivious? On the roof Kyou clenched and unclenched his fist. His mind had gone through much of the same line of thought. Had that person *dared* to write 'love'-! He couldn't even finish the thought. He didn't stop to think about what he would have done if it had ended that way.
"Tooru..." Yuki's eyes opened at Hanajima's soft voice, "...you've not said what you think of the letter."
"Eh-heh-heh." Tooru's laugh was nervous. "To be admired...I think is a good thing. Mother said that to admire someone is to make your heart more open. That when you see qualities to admire in another person that it is your heart learning to be a better person. But...I don't think I'm anyone that special."
"Mmmn?" Arisa sounded reflective. "I wonder...this person says you've been in the same class for a long time. I wonder who he could be."
"Perhaps..." Hanajima sighed, "...that boy from that time in the past?"
"A~ah!" Arisa laughed, "Wouldn't that be something? To have been admired since childhood, and him turning out to be her childhood savior."
Tooru gave a little happy sigh, "It couldn't be! Such a thing would be too amazing."
Yuki stood and slid the window shut. He shouldn't be listening in.
* * * Breakfast the next morning was tense. Uotani and Hanajima had left without eating; Uotani had had to go to her part time job at the convenience store. She and Hanajima decided to get something to eat on the way. Kyou didn't appear at all for breakfast, leaving Tooru, Yuki and Shigure to themselves. Yuki was silent, but Shigure couldn't help but continue to tease. This opportunity was too good to miss.
"Tooru-kun did your letter ask you out on a date? I'll chaperone if you want me to." Shigure smiled and watched Yuki tense. The boy was trying hard to look like he was unaffected by all this. If Tooru-kun hadn't been absolutely terrible at reading people it would have been laughable. As it was, because Tooru-kun was absolutely terrible at reading people it was still laughable.
Tooru flushed and looked into her bowl of rice. "No, the letter was just to let me know I was admired."
Trying to sound casual, Yuki asked, "Do you know who it could be?" He saw his older cousin smirking at him and glared. Catching Tooru's worried look, he smiled and ate a bit of his breakfast. In truth his stomach was clenched tight and each bite was difficult to swallow.
Tooru shook her head and move the dish of pickled radishes closer to Shigure who'd been trying to reach them across the table. "The thought is so surprising, that someone might admire me. I don't know who it could be." Her face pinked again. "He-he said he was in our class."
"A class-mate rival!" Shigure sing-songed. His eyes narrowed as he looked at his cousin staring helplessly down at his breakfast. He couldn't resist twisting the knife a little further. "What will Yuki do?"
Yuki looked up and glared at Shigure. Time to change the subject. "Where is that baka neko this morning? He's missing breakfast."
"Kyou-kun left early this morning. He said he wanted to visit the dojo for some extra training." Tooru explained starting to clear the dishes. She bit her lip as she thought about his morning farewell. She'd been sleepily entering the kitchen when she looked up at clatter by the fridge. Kyou stood drinking milk from the carton, already in his workout clothes. A towel draped around his neck showed that he'd been up for some time and had already gone through is morning routine. She smiled at him a little taken aback by his start of surprise at her entrance.
"Kyou-kun is up early." She moved to the cupboards and started to pull out the fixings for breakfast.
"Un, yeah." Kyou looked away from her and put the carton back in the fridge. He looked at the closed fridge door for a moment then turned to leave. "Don't bother making breakfast for me-" He started but stopped when he looked up to see Tooru staring at him in concern.
"Kyou-kun still doesn't feel well?" Tooru stepped forward and raised a hand as if to touch his forehead.
Kyou took a quick step back and cursed himself for doing so when Tooru's worried look deepened. "That's not it. I'm fine. I'm just going to the dojo early and don't want to eat till after."
"Ah, Kyou-kun trains hard." Tooru smiled and clasped her hands together. "Kyou-kun is so admirable!"
'Someday I hope that you will smile because of me.'
Kyou's face darkened as the line chased through his mind. "There's nothing to admire about it. I train because I still haven't beaten that damn Yuki. There is nothing to admire about a failure." She shouldn't be smiling because of him. Cursing himself, he quickly left the room careful not to look at her.
Tooru sighed and finished washing up the dishes. Everything had been so odd these past few days. Yuki and Kyou were both so tense. She looked up as she heard the screen door open. Yuki held his trowel in his hand and was about to step out. Smiling Tooru walked to the kitchen doorway, towel in hand.
"Visiting the secret base?" she asked brightly. "I'm almost done with the dishes if Yuki-kun would like some help."
"Ah, Honda-san." Yuki turned with a smile. "That's not necessary. I'm just going to turn the earth so that it's ready for planting. I won't be long." He walked out sliding the door behind him. He needed to get away; to be alone for a while.
Tooru's smile faltered. Yuki's smile...it had not been a true smile. Yuki and Kyou...she sighed. "Mother," she thought, "I don't know how to make things right." The letter she received...had not been from them. She went back to her dishes. She didn't hear the door slide shut from Shigure's office where he'd been peeping, but then she never had been very observant.
