Title: Ripples by the Pond

Author: Gia

Website: sbborg(dot)webs(dot)com

Rating: PG

Pairing: None

Time: 90's. During the Mabudachi Trio's high school time.

Summary: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

Disclaimer: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Hakusensha or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The manga belongs to Natsuki Takaya and the plot belongs to me.

Author Notes: I just realized I'm just now including the weather into my descriptions. I'd been writing under the assumption that it's cold, hence why Yuki and Hatori were in the cafeteria in chapter twelve…but I never made it clear descriptively. I want to do so now but I'm also aware that it seems out of the blue. So for those who actually read these author notes, I apologize at the abrupt insertions of weather and whatnot. I'll try to be more thorough next time.

Yuki heard footsteps first before a plain sheet of paper slid in front of him. He eyed Shigure's hand, which still lingered on the sheet, but made no movement until the hand retracted and Shigure walked quietly away. Yuki felt the urge to turn around to see how the others took his silent treatment of them, but he knew if he did, it might signal his desire to reconcile with them.

That was the last thing he wanted to do. After speaking with Akio, Yuki needed to group himself together and think about what to do now. To go back to the way things were was no longer an option. If he planned on confronting them, he needed to be completely prepared for the consequences. Maybe it would be the first real step towards getting back to his time.

It was both thrilling and frightening to imagine telling the truth. Akio wouldn't be the only person who knew. But would they believe him?

Sighing to himself, Yuki finally looked down at the paper. A neat address was written in Shigure's handwriting, presumably where they could meet to complete the tutoring schedule Yabe-sensei wanted the students to hold together. It seemed Shigure may be able to pretend nothing had changed, if only to keep up anything school-related. Yuki could deal with math, but if Shigure brought up what was weighing heavily on his mind—and their minds too, Yuki's mind interjected—then he would have to tell Yabe-sensei that he needed a new partner.

"Makoto, pay attention!" roared Yabe-sensei, his narrowed eyes pinning Makoto in his seat.

Yuki winced.

'Or maybe I'll come up with my own solution. One that doesn't involve speaking with Yabe-sensei.'

Ripples by the Pond

By Gia

Chapter Fourteen: Determination

Yuki clasped the water bottle in one hand, the other preoccupied with twisting the cap, while he stared outside. The weather was getting colder by the day but rather than look forward to the oncoming sight, Yuki saw it as a distinct marker of how long he'd been stuck in the past.

"Why so glum?"

Nearly upsetting the water bottle and making a rather unfortunate spill on his lap, Yuki thanked his fast reflexes before turning to regard the intruder.

Okita smiled gently, though her eyes conveyed concern when she looked at him.

"Where is Hatori, or Shigure and Ayame? I usually see them around you."

Yuki shrugged, placing his drink on one of the empty desks. He didn't want to be around anyone for lunch, which is why he chose this classroom, but while he planned on avoiding students, he didn't imagine having to avoid teachers as well.

"A fight perhaps?" she nudged, smiling patiently.

"Perhaps," Yuki echoed, refusing to be goaded into speaking with her.

"I find that friends who argue, grow stronger because of it."

Yuki could not keep the disbelieving look from appearing on his face. Rather than get offended, Okita laughed and continued, "It's easy to get angry, but it is hard to forgive. Being able to do that is a good show of friendship."

It was wise words, but they couldn't apply to the situation he was in, as much as Yuki would've liked to hear a solution.

"Thank you, Okita-sensei, I understand." Yuki did his best to send a reassuring smile her way, a small attempt at showing that he was fine now. Okita could easily tell Yuki's reluctance to speak about it but she appreciated his concern to not let her worry. 'Such a kind, young boy this Yuki Suyama.'

"Very well, I hope things are sorted out with you and your friends."

Yuki bowed until he could no longer her footsteps. When he straightened, Yuki picked up his water bottle, casting one more look out the window. It had only been two days since the incident and time only seemed to drag since then. He wanted to avoid confrontations for as long as he could, especially this particular one. The situation he found himself in, it wasn't on the same level as Hatori's admission to having the power to erase memories. As fantastical as that seemed, admitting to them that he, Yuki, was actually Ayame's brother and from the far future...

Yuki could not continue that line of thought; the fear that gripped him was too strong to put into words. He had to be truthful, to himself if no one else. It was no longer about just keeping the normality he had gained in the past months.

He could no longer disregard the fact that he cared what they would think. In the present time, it was easier to take no notice of their words or actions. Shigure was an unorthodox guardian who gave Yuki freedom but not the stability of a real guardian, Hatori was an uneasy reminder of his childhood, maintaining polite but distant conversation whenever Yuki needed to have medical attention, and as for his brother?

All of Ayame's attempts to woo him over—Yuki wasn't blind. He just couldn't figure out whether his brother was sincere. More importantly, why Ayame would care then and not when he was younger and needed him most. Perhaps Okita was right, it was easier to be angry. Yuki had held on to that feeling of abandonment, keeping it till it grew from resentment to anger, then to indifference. Life was just easier without his brother; in some small way, his new attitude allowed him to cast Ayame aside like Ayame had cast him aside so long ago.

But in the face of spending time with them, Yuki was able to learn more about their character than he was able to learn when he was back at the present. Given what he knew now, he should be able to trust them.

Still, that small seed of doubt remained.

What if they didn't believe him? Didn't give him a chance to explain?

As much as it pained him to admit, Yuki didn't know how could cope if his attempt to be completely truthful was met with disbelief.

'When did I begin to care?'

His only answer was the lunch bell signaling the end of lunch and his musings. With heavy thoughts weighing him down, Yuki headed to his next class.

Yuki stared unseeingly at his locker. Robotically switching his shoes and limply carrying the bag at his side, he realized he had spent the rest of the day in a daze. The weather had suddenly taken a turn for the worst with graying skies and a chilling breeze. Whereas earlier the thought of snow was still far off, given the look of the sky now, maybe snow would be arriving sooner than Yuki thought.

He stepped outside, squinting up into the clouds and wondering when snow would fall. A particularly cold wind swept by, ruffling his uniform and hair and prompting a small sneeze to escape.

"Uh oh, looks like you're getting a cold!" a voice teased.

Yuki whipped around, coming face-to-face with Shigure. The other boy winked, surprised to see Shigure suddenly sporting a jacket and scarf.

Sooner than Yuki could ask where the two items came from, Shigure was unwrapping his scarf and putting it around Yuki's neck before Yuki could protest.

"Aya and I store some emergency winter clothes with the designs Aya does in class. We can't always predict the weather changes so it's best to be prepared." Shigure ended the last statement by snugly pulling the scarf around Yuki's neck, the wide grin on his face only widening at Yuki's averted eyes and heavily flushed cheeks.

"Is it time to fulfill your wish for a scarf kiss?" Shigure joked, leaning closer and secretly delighting in the deepening flush.

Yuki, forgetting his past two days of silent treatment, stuttered out a "W-w-wha-a-t…?" before taking a large step backward.

"Scarf kiss? I don't even want to know what that is!"

Shigure's expression went from pleased, to surprised, until it settled into a fairly devilish expression.

"Yuki," Shigure crooned, "I can show you."

Yuki shot him a scandalized look, still maintaining the distance between them. Shigure winked at him, though his face seemed more subdued. There was no doubt as to what would cause the quiet, but Yuki wasn't quite ready to ask the reason for Shigure's somberness.

"I wanted to show you where I thought we could study." Shigure paused.

Yuki inclined his head, silently urging him to continue.

"It's a cake shop, but they have large tables in the front where we can sit."

Yuki didn't exactly think a cake shop would be conducive to tutoring but the place would be public, which is something Yuki preferred, especially if Shigure meant to ask him questions about his supposed amnesia.

"Alright," he began simply, "let's go."

Yuki silently followed, walking closely but not beside Shigure. If he was nervous, Shigure never let on, at least not anything Yuki could discern. He didn't mind the silence, but it did almost make him want to whistle a tune or do something to dispel the silence hanging above them.

They passed by a group of girls clutching their school bags. Yuki ignored the ogling and giggling as he passed them, though he wasn't surprised when Shigure sent a teasing wink at them. Giggling even more, the girls hurried past them.

"The one in the back was especially cute, wasn't she?"

"I didn't see," Yuki shrugged, "doesn't really matter to me."

"Why Yuki, that's no way to treat the fair beauties passing you by on this winter afternoon!"

The harmless needling continued until they reached the cake shop. The area was suspiciously empty of any customers but the two walked up to the door.

"'Closed'! But it's supposed to be open at this time," Shigure pressed his face against the glass, eying the cakes put on display, "This is a travesty!"

Yuki sighed, "Any other places in mind? We're wasting our time standing here."

"…my place."

It was said nonchalantly but Yuki froze at those words. Shigure's place meant the Sohma Estate. Was it a ploy to get him cornered?

"It's quiet," Shigure continued, "and we can stay there for as long as you'd like."

The words were spoken so plainly, Yuki couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at his paranoia. If it came to cornering him, he didn't think they'd be the type to force a confession out of him. Besides that, maybe going back to the Sohma Estate would give him a sign as to what to do about divulging his secret to the three of them.

"What about your parents?"

"Dad works late."

Yuki didn't probe further when Shigure made no mention of his mother. He figured that in Shigure's case, perhaps his mother chose the path of leaving the family because she couldn't bear not being able to touch her son. If it was any other reason, Yuki wouldn't investigate.

"Alright, lead the way."

They walked further in companionable silence, although Shigure seemed compelled to throw out a sentence or two.

"There's a path I like to take on the way home. It's a little longer to get back, but it is well worth the extra minutes."

"The scenic route, I take it."

"You could say that I suppose," Shigure mused, "there's a tiny crosswalk over a small stream. You may find it, what's the word, aesthetically pleasing?"

Yuki gave no reply, though he did incline his head to show he heard. What was important now was that his feet were taking him closer and closer to the Sohma Estate.

"Thanks for your hard work," Ayame bowed quickly, waving to the other students outside the room. Once the classroom door slid shut, he stretched his arms above him.

"Ah, that was a long meeting, right Ha-san?"

"Hm," Hatori sighed, "longer than I expected. Shigure probably left already."

"Eh? Gure-san left early?"

Hatori nodded while grabbing his bag, and motioned for the two of them to begin heading out. They stopped by their lockers, switching out shoes and grabbing their respective things. Hatori pulled out a pair of woolen gloves, and a matching scarf. A surprised sound from behind him reflexively made him turn around.

"Ehh! Hatori, since when did you bring those with you?"

"I brought them just in case. The weather is getting colder." Hatori held out his scarf. "Did you not bring anything? Need to borrow mine?"

"Ara, Ha-san, is that an invitation?" cooed Ayame, happily scooting closer and bumping his shoulder against Hatori's. "Shall we have our first scarf kiss?"

Hatori's face betrayed no emotion, "No thanks."

"Mou, when will Ha-san ever join in on the fun," Ayame moaned, "well, it doesn't matter. I won't need Ha-san's scarf, I'm always prepared!"

The sight of the pink scarf and matching gloves almost shook Hatori's normal reserve, but such outrageous things were normal when it came to Ayame and his choice of clothing.

"Like it? It's soft, and well-stitched as if from the graceful hands of a lovesick high school student?" Ayame laughed triumphantly, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.

Hatori shook his head, amused more than anything, "Let's go. We should see Shigure and talk about certain things."

The casual but vague phrase sobered Ayame immediately.

"Aa, we should."

The two slowly made their way outside and began their trek home.

"Okay Shigure, does that make a little more sense now?"

Shigure nodded emphatically, holding up several sheets of paper that were covered in writing. "Integrals are a little troublesome, eh?"

Yuki hummed in reply, shuffling the rest of his notes into a neat stack. The two of them were seated in Shigure's room. As Yuki predicted, he saw no sight of a woman that could be Shigure's mother. The home was modest, neat and without clutter. No lights were left on, explained away by Shigure's mention that his father hadn't returned him yet.

"Want anything to drink, Yuki?"

"Water is fine, thanks."

Shigure excused himself, uncharacteristically quiet as he walked out of his room. Yuki took the chance to better examine the bedroom he was in. Shigure's futon was rolled up and pushed against the corner of the room. A medium-sized closet was placed directly next to a small desk. The small bookshelf carried a number of manga, as well as, to Yuki's surprise, several large books on photography. He couldn't recall Shigure ever mentioning an interest in the subject, but perhaps he didn't know Shigure well enough yet to guess.

Shigure returned a moment later with a chilled water bottle in his hand. "Hope you don't mind the bottle," Shigure apologized, revealing another one in his hand for himself.

"It doesn't matter to me," Yuki opened his bottle, sipping slowly. He didn't know what to make of this turn of events. Shigure made no attempt to bring up what had happened the other day. In fact, he didn't even seem nervous to have Yuki in his own home. Yuki resisted the belief that Shigure and the others were finally respecting his space and choosing to let Yuki come to them when he felt he could. However, a small seed of doubt remained in his mind.

Yuki set the bottle down by his feet. "We can do one more problem, Shigure, and I think we can call it a night. This time, I won't help you, alright?"

"Alright! I'll surprise you with my skills!"

Yuki kept a silent watch as Shigure slowly scribbled on a piece of scratch paper. After only a little bit of tutoring, Yuki concluded that Shigure wasn't in such bad conditions as he thought he was.

'I probably don't have to tutor him as much as I thought,' Yuki mused, keeping a watch on the numbers Shigure was writing down, 'Better off that way, I can minimize my interaction with them until I figure out how to explain myself.'

"Done!"

"I'll check it."

Shigure slid the scratch paper to him, beaming confidently. Yuki glanced down at his work, noting the steps and the circled answer.

"Correct."

Shigure grinned, "What did I say? I'm a master. Well, now I am after your tutoring."

Yuki shrugged, "You're not bad at math. I think you'll do fine in Yabe-sensei's class."

"Ah, words of encouragement, they are like soothing balm to the soul!"

Before Yuki could make a bland reply, the sound of a loud knock was heard from outside.

"Gure-san! It's me Aya and Ha-san! We just got back, my love!"

Yuki and Shigure both froze. Shigure stood up, glancing down at him. A very serious expression was on his face.

"Yuki," Shigure paused, unsure how to continue.

Yuki quickly stood up, feeling his own heartbeat speed up. This was exactly what he was hoping to avoid. Now it looked as if he was unwillingly cornered.

"Yuki, I," Shigure glanced back upon hearing more insistent knocking, "I can let you out the back. If you want."

Yuki would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised at Shigure's unexpected proposal of aid. He could take him up on this offer right now and avoid the confrontation. However, was this an opportunity to finally come clean?

"Shigure? Hello, are you taking a nap!" The knocking continued.

Yuki bowed his head. 'I'm not ready yet.'

"Sorry Shigure, but," Yuki hastily grabbed his bag, "please show me the way out."

Shigure wasted no time, urging with a finger to his lips for Yuki to remain quiet. There was a door in the kitchen, which swung silently open into the night.

"Just follow this stone path, it'll lead you to a side gate. You'll recognize the street from there."

Yuki stepped out of the house, taking a moment to turn back and face Shigure. Yuki couldn't decipher the expression on the other's face, but he felt compelled to say something else.

"Shigure… thank you."

Shigure nodded once, and shut the door behind himself.

Yuki sighed, and hurried away. He managed to escape this time, but the next encounter may not be so lucky.

Yuki clutched the cheap bread he purchased from the lunch center to his chest as he bypassed the cafeteria and took the stairs. He didn't feel like being surrounded by many people, and the peace and quiet the roof provided would be a great chance for him to clear his head.

After Shigure's surprising help, Yuki still felt indebted to him. He couldn't understand what reasons the other boy would have to help him out. A sense of honor? Or was there an ulterior motive to it all? Yuki highly doubted that Shigure was valuing the extra math tutoring to protect Yuki away from their probing questions.

'What reason am I missing?'

Yuki finally reached the door opening to the roof of the school. It was chilly, but the coat Akio lent him did kept the worst of it away. He sat on the floor, leaning next to the door to unwrap his bread. The taste of the sweet filling barely registered as he mulled over the past days. Even though Shigure helped him out once, he couldn't expect him to do the same again. It could have been a one time opportunity for all Yuki knew.

'Does Shigure expect something in return?'

It was a thought that hadn't occurred to him before. It was mostly due to the fact that Shigure didn't try to contact him afterwards. The morning classes were also conducted without any interruptions. It was as if, for Shigure, nothing of importance happened.

Beginning to get frustrated, Yuki bit into his bread with more energy. The best thing to do now, Yuki surmised, was to figure out a way to explain himself to his relatives.

Chewing slowly, Yuki titled his head back till it gently bumped against the wall.

'One doesn't walk up to someone and start talking about how he traveled from the future. They already believe that I knew them before I had met them. I could start from there…'

Yuki looked down at his nearly finished lunch, taking smaller bites as various scenarios ran through his mind.

'That means, I would tell Ayame I'm…' Yuki paused, 'I'm his brother.'

Yuki let the thought sink into his mind, finally allowing the gravity of the statement to hit him. Confessing his blood relation to them, Yuki couldn't imagine how the days would be like following such a declaration. Talking about time traveling and blood relations, two ridiculous notions by themselves, together would either render Yuki a lunatic or something supernatural.

'I have no guarantee that they will believe me either.'

He already had nightmares imagining what Akio would be like if Yuki told him that he had come from the future. Just because that situation turned out alright in the end, Yuki couldn't risk it and assume that the same could be said in this case. There were too many variables he had no control over.

A loud bang from the rooftop door being kicked open shook Yuki from his thoughts. He quickly stood up, greeting Saizo Makoto's smiling face.

"Yuki, just the man I was looking for!"

"Makoto, what do you want?"

"Here let me take that," Makoto grinned wider, taking the empty wrapper of Yuki's finished lunch from his hand, "I have a couple of questions for you!"

Yuki crossed his arms, "What about exactly?"

"You're impressive martial arts skills, of course."

Makoto stepped closer, throwing a friendly arm over Yuki's shoulders.

"What say you teach me a little of your moves, eh?"

Yuki shook his head, ducking underneath Makoto's arm and turning to face him.

"I don't think so."

"I knew you would say that so," Makoto reached into his pocket and pulled out money, "I can pay for the lessons."

"I'm not an instructor Makoto, nor do I want to teach anyone."

"Whaaa—b-b-but I can pay you!"

"I don't need money," Yuki reached out, gently closing Makoto's fingers over the money, "and I really can't teach anyone."

Makoto's confident posture immediately deflated, his entire body seeming to sag under his disappointment. Bewildered at the swift change in behavior, Yuki struggled to come up with something to say.

"Why do you want to learn all of a sudden?"

Makoto tensed, but he looked up at Yuki with an earnest determination.

"It's not to start fights or anything! It's…" Makoto paused, looking away.

'Fights?' Yuki mentally chuckled, 'That didn't even occur to me.'

Makoto's hands visibly curled into fists. He strode forward, almost but not quite in Yuki's personal space. For the briefest moment, Yuki wondered if he would take a swing at him. Instead, to Yuki's complete surprise, Makoto grabbed his shoulders.

"I need to learn," his grip tightened, "for my kid brother!"

Yuki bowed his head in apology after he slipped into homeroom ten minutes late. Akio sent him a worried glance but nodded to indicate that he would let the tardiness pass. Yuki hastily snuck into his seat, glad that most of the attention was on Ayame who was standing in front of the class.

"We need volunteers," Ayame continued, "for decorating set, designing the program, and of course with costumes!"

Ayame lifted his hands, imploring dramatically, "To truly honor the hard work of Shigure, our class should help show it to the best of our abilities. We will dazzle the minds of everyone in the audience!"

Boys cheered, while the rest of the students clapped, swept up in Ayame's bold statements.

Ayame smiled widely, taking his seat at Akio's urging.

"Well," Akio clapped his hands together, "As Ayame said it, let's do our best to put on the best spring play for the visitors. I expect everyone in the class to be involved in something!"

The class all yelled their agreement, eyes drawn to the clock which we would signal the end of homeroom. Akio chuckled to himself, aware of their longing to head home. His eyes searched for Yuki's spot, and he frowned in worry when he noticed that Yuki's uniform sleeves were rolled up. The slight alteration in uniform was unlike Yuki, but there was no reason to worry unduly.

The school bell sounded and interrupted Akio's musings. He smiled at the students as they headed out, casually noting how the Mabudachi Trio trickled out with only a small glance at Yuki. For his part, he was still sitting down at his desk as if he hadn't heard the bell.

"Ready to go, Yuki?"

Yuki visibly startled and looked up.

"Sorry, what was that Akio-san?"

"You seem distracted Yuki," Akio commented lightly, turning around to gather his things, "I asked if you were ready to go. Unless you have certain things to do?"

Yuki laughed, "Are you trying to ask something specific Akio-san?"

"Me? Oh no," Akio tutted, "Just wondering. Young men these days can be busy with things."

Yuki shrugged, "There is one thing, actually. Could you drop me off near Kogen Park? I'm meeting a friend there."

"Oh?" Akio's voice was tinged with curiosity, "You're not meeting who I think you're meeting are you?"

"No, I'm not meeting those three just yet."

Akio was tempted to continue that questioning but he was piqued by Yuki's wording of 'just yet'.

"So you'll be meeting the three of them soon. Especially since practices for the play should be starting soon."

To his credit, Yuki didn't even flinch at the mention of his brother's play.

"Rehearsals don't begin until next week," Yuki abruptly stood up, his bag already clutched in his hand. "I won't have to worry about it until then."

"The topic to discuss is quite serious," Akio trailed off thoughtfully.

"I," Yuki followed Akio-san out of the classroom, "will take care of that soon enough."

The two of them made their way to the lockers, Akio waiting patiently for Yuki to switch out his shoes. They clutched their respective coats closer to their bodies as the chill wind picked up. Yuki kept his eyes on the ground as he followed Akio to his vehicle. Even though he claimed he would take care of it, Yuki still had to contend with the fact that he had no idea how to tell the others about himself.

He couldn't write a script for himself and expect the others to follow it. If he were braver, he would be tempted to just speak to them directly and follow the flow of the conversation from there. As it was now, how could he try something like that now?

"Ah, Akio-san," Yuki began, raising his eyes to seek his mentor's back, "Maybe it's too soon to begin talking with them."

"You may not have to worry about that," came Akio's wry response, "ahem."

Raising an eyebrow, Yuki stepped closer to Akio.

"Why did you stop walking?"

At another 'ahem,' Yuki looked from Akio to what he was subtly pointing at. Yuki's eyes immediately widened.

"Uh," Shigure grinned sheepishly, "Greetings Akio-san, Yuki! We thought we could nab Yuki for a bit to talk."

Akio's eyes darted between the group and Yuki's startled face. "I believe Yuki has plans for meeting one of his classmates," he trailed off, sneaking a wink at Yuki when the boy turned his surprised eyes towards him.

Hatori stepped forward, "We can walk with him there, if," he glanced at Yuki, "Yuki would allow us to."

Yuki grimaced, feeling the atmosphere thick with the awkwardness of the situation. Another opportunity to speak with them already presenting itself—it was much sooner than Yuki expected. Perhaps it was the trade-off for Shigure helping him escape the night before.

'Will things be revealed now?,' echoed in Yuki's mind as he grudgingly nodded his agreement.

They chose a bench but only Yuki and Hatori sat down. Shigure and Ayame remained standing in front of the two. All three pairs of eyes were trained on Yuki. For his part, he kept his attention entirely focused on his hands. They were clasped together tightly.

Ayame bent down to peer up at Yuki's expression. "Yuki, please look at us."

Shigure bent down as well, laying a hand over Yuki's clenched ones. "We're right, aren't we? You don't have amnesia."

Hatori shifted closer. "You can tell us. You already know about me."

If he could, Yuki would melt back into the bench if he could get away from this situation. Just when he was starting to feel more confident about talking to them, they suddenly appear and what courage he had vanished in that moment. He remained silent.

Shigure cleared his throat, glancing at both Ayame and Hatori before turning his attention back to Yuki. "I know we asked this before, and we assume this now. But we want to ask again. Do you know who we are?"

It was a simple question.

And yet it wasn't.

Yuki would swear that his heartbeat was loud enough for human hearing.

"I thought you had given up on asking me for awhile," he blurted out, finally looking up.

"We wanted to give you space." Those were Hatori's words.

"Please, Yuki, dragging this out isn't accomplishing anything is it? Rehearsals for Shigure's play are next week," Ayame sighed, "Just talk to us."

"Did you really know who we were?" Shigure asked again.

Yuki bit his lip.

"Yuki," Hatori patiently waited until the other boy looked directly at him, "is Suyama your real name?"

Yuki averted his eyes until he met Ayame's own.

"Are you a… Sohma?"

It was too late to stop the soft gasp that escaped him. To hear that question so suddenly was a complete shock.

"It's true," Shigure breathed, staring at Yuki's face. "You, but how is that possible? We've met every Sohma in the family."

Yuki pulled his hands from Shigure's.

"I—this isn't how I meant for it to happen."

"What do you mean, Yuki?"

"Stop trying to ambush me for starters," Yuki pointed out, looking at each boy in the eye. "I'm reluctant for a reason and I need the chance to organize my thoughts."

Surprised at this change in attitude, the three could only share silent glances before looking back at him.

"I can't talk about this now," Yuki began, raising his hand to halt Ayame's movement to speak, "I really do have to meet someone. It's important."

"Then when?" Hatori asked

"Tomorrow," Yuki spoke firmly, "we can finally discuss this. Since its Saturday, we can have all the time we need to talk."

It looked as if Shigure and Ayame were struggling to hold back from what they had on their minds. Yuki took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. But it has to be tomorrow."

The sound of footsteps to their left had the four of them looking up. Saizo Makoto walked closer, curiosity on his face despite his sheepish grin.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Yuki spoke first, standing up and neatly stepping around the three of them, "we're done."

Sensing Yuki's need to leave, Makoto nodded to the three before leading Yuki away.

The three of them stared at the two boys' backs before they disappeared from view. Silence descended over the three of them as Shigure and Ayame took a seat next to Hatori.

"So he really is a Sohma?" Ayame was the first to speak.

"He's related to us alright."

Ayame pursed his lips. "I've gone over everything you've discussed. But it still doesn't answer the question, if he really is one of us, how could we not have known?"

"A cover-up perhaps?" Shigure asked, "Maybe there was a scandal."

"We would've heard about it!"

Shigure shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But his reaction certainly points in that direction. Any mention of Sohma brings some negative reaction from him."

"I still haven't forgotten about that incident when he was still new to the school."

Ayame frowned, "You had to go home really quickly after that."

Hatori nodded, still disturbed at the memory of what he had to do to the friends of Ayame's little brother.

"Whatever happened that caused Yuki to slow down like that…" Shigure tapered off, deep in thought.

Ayame stilled. "It coincides with what happened to, to my little brother." The slight hitch in his speech didn't go unnoticed to the other two.

"There's some connection then?"

"But what, is the question."

Hatori abruptly pushed off from his seat. "We should head back. We can talk about this there. If this really is some Sohma scandal, we shouldn't be talking about it in the open."

The other two stared up at Hatori. After a moment, they nodded and began a quiet walk back. A pensive look laid over each of their faces, until Ayame to a quick halt.

"Aya, what's wrong?"

Ayame tilted his head, lips moving as he mumbled to himself. His eyes widened and he spun around to look at Hatori and Shigure.

"Wait, why was Yuki meeting Makoto?"

Hatori and Shigure blinked. Neither had quested the interruption because of the serious topic. Nonetheless, once the previous tension was forgotten, they both realized how strange the run-in had been.

"Perhaps he is helping tutor Makoto too," Hatori mused aloud.

Shigure tapped a finger to his chin, wondering at the possible reasons of the two meeting together.

"A clandestine affair," Shigure concluded, "between two unlikely individuals."

"Oh," Ayame began, a wide beginning to break through, "are you getting some ideas Shigure?"

"Who knows," Shigure winked.

Hatori sighed, bemused at the quick change in their attitudes. While Makoto's appearance was intriguing, Hatori still couldn't help but wonder how tomorrow would work out. Yuki said he would explain himself, but what his explanation actually entailed could be quite serious. Hatori learned early on that any secrerts involving the Sohmas usually meant something unfortunate.

"Let's go home," Hatori advised.

The other two nodded and together, they made their way back home still consumed with the mystery surrounding their friend Yuki.

AN: Honestly, I'm too preoccupied with grad school, but I've taken this up again because it's a great break from all the studying. I'll go ahead and say that I don't know when the next chapter will come out (hopefully within this month). It's been such a long time since my last update so I imagine a good number will have to read the previous chapters to refresh their minds (at least the ones willing to re-read! My apologies.).

It's around the same length as last chapter so I hope that was a tiny consolation for the wait. But the next chapter, whenever it comes out, is going to be a doozy to write. Answers will be given, but who's to say what the response will be. Anyway, I hope you all still enjoyed reading!