Chapter 14 - Au Revoir Dear Tohru

The following morning there was no life in the kitchen. No breakfast, no singing, nothing. It felt as if the fire had gone out.

Tohru sat on a chair in the great hall wearing a cotton, powder blue dress that was given to her as a present. Mine insisted on her keeping it and thew in a bonnet that Tohru prefered not to wear at the moment.

"Tohru-san, the car is ready," Hatori called to her while putting his coat on. "Do you have your things ready?

"Yes, Hatori-san."

"Very well, we have the car waiting and there will be an escort at the airport to assist you. Come."

"Oh, okay!" She stood up and picked up her single brown suit case, walking over to Hatori. She looked around to see that none of the other Sohma's were around. "Where is everyone?" She asked as Hatori opened the front door for her.

As soon as Hatori opened the door the front garden was a thrilling scene. There they were, all of the Host Club members standing in a calculated pose, which Ayame most likely set up, just like the first time she ever met them. They all stood with half-hearted smiles trying to be as happy as they could for their friend.

Hatori ushered her forward when she didn't move and she gave him a nervous smile before approaching the group. Suddenly Ayame stepped forward to give her a white carnation. She looked at it for a moment and then back up at Ayame.

"It's for you, Tohru. Please take it." She reached out and accepted the single flower. Then, suddenly as if on cue, one by one each member extended a single carnation of multipe colors for her to have. She thanked each one of them personally as she held a beautiful bouquet of carnations. Momiji finally came up to her with his yellow flower and tied an orange ribbon around the entire bouquet. He stepped back while staring at his feet.

"We'll miss you..." he said not looking up at her.

Tohru smiled and faced all of them, now looking quite gloomy. "Thank you for everything. It means so much to me!"

Ritsu was already crying. "But Tohru-san, you said you didn't want to leave!" He burst out.

She tiled her head and only kept smiling. "I think you'll all do fine. Your curse is completely lifted, everyone seems to get along well..." She looked down at the flowers thinking how there was one member of the club that was not outside this morning. "You don't need me anymore..." she whispered for no one to hear. She looked up with a cheery smile. She didn't want their final good bye to be so sad. "So! I'll be going now! I promise to write every now and then. I think I can find a place to stay now that I've earned enough money. Please don't worry about me."

She waved and turned to go to the car. How she wished to say good bye to Kyo, but it might hurt if she saw him again. She didn't want to see the pain in his eyes. She knew if she just closed her eyes, she would always be able to see Kyo. She couldn't fathom how much she was going to miss all of them.

She jumped when a hand reached out to stop her. She paused in her step hoping it was who she thought it was holding her back. Carefully she turned around.

Yuki stood there holding her hand. He raised it to his lips and gently kissed her hand. "Please take care of yourself Hon- I ah mean... Tohru-san."

Tohru was a little disappointed it wasn't Kyo but was touched all the same. Yuki was like a brother to her, always watching out for her when she was staying with them. She promised to never forget him. "Please do that same for yourself, Yuki-kun."

She looked up at a certain window and only turned away. She'd hate to leave without saying good bye to him but...

She smiled wide and got into the car. "Good bye everyone! Take care!"

"Au revoir! Good bye!" Everyone chanted collectively.

Everyone waved to her as the car started rolling away. Shigure, Ayame, Momiji, and Yuki all ran to the gates to continue waving at her down the street as the black car disappeared, the girl driving further and further away.

Shigure stopped waving and put his hand down with a slight smile. "She's really gone now."

The yard was silent for a moment when suddenly the door slammed open to reveal Kyo scaring everyone (especially Ritsu to say the least) out of their skin.

"Did she leave?" Kyo asked already short of breath. Hatori glared at the boy.

"You're in no condition to get out of bed yet! You might fall faint."

"Did she leave yet?" Kyo only repeated.

Haru nodded. "She left like twenty-three seconds ago."

Hiro crossed his arms looking another direction. "That's exaggerated."

"No really. She left twenty-three seconds ago, that's how long it took to read from 'Everyone waved to her as the call started rolling away,' moment till now. I timed it."

"Freak."

Kyo ignore them and went around to the side of the house. He pulled out Haru's bicycle and mounted it.

"Where are you going?" Shigure asked watching Kyo get up on the bike. Hatori grabbed the bike by it's handles, stopping Kyo from moving any further.

"Do not leave, Kyo."

Kyo jiggled the handles to get Hatori off of it. "Leave me alone, Hatori." He growled while peddling, nearly running Hatori over.

"You can't catch up to her now!"

"I've gotta... I've gotta say bye to her at least!" He yelled behind him as he peddled out of the main gates. "And don't try to stop me!" He yelled as an afterthought.

Ayame snorted and flicked hair of his shoulder. "Sometimes I wonder if he remembers we're rich or not? We do have an extensive number of cars you know."

Shigure laughed. "Well running after the girl of your dreams on a bicycle is a bit more ah how would you put it? Dramatic in a sentimental way."

Hatori began walking back into the house. "I call it stupid."

Hiro started walking in Hatori's path as well. "I give him ten minutes before he passes out."

"Fifteen." Yuki argued as everyone started walking into the house.

"You're on, Nezumi."

"Can a bike even catch up to a car in real life?" Momiji wondered as he closed the door.

----

Kyo peddled down the streets in search of the car he'd seen from his window. When he woke up that morning his head was still spinning. Slowly he went to the bathroom to wash his face when the thought hit him. Tohru! She was going to leave today! He ran to the window to see her already getting into the car when he dashed down to the front of the house to catch her before she went.

"She can't go yet! She can't!" He muttered as he jumped on the stair railing and slid down the banisters. He got outside to see everyone staring at him in shock. When he saw that the car was gone he decided to go after her. No matter what happened.

He turned a sharp corner and went full speed down the road weaving in and out of traffic, people on the side walk yelling at him to slow down but he didn't care. He had to catch up to her!

Suddenly in his view he caught the same car that Tohru left in. He looked down at the bike's handles to see a bell. Silently he wondered why Haru even had a sissy bell on his bike to begin with. He started ringing it frantically and waved a hand in the air. Maybe she would see him.

On the other hand, in the car, Tohru was watching out the window as people passed by when a ringing noise repeated over and over in her ear. She looked around and didn't see anything. She got up out of her seat and turned to look out the back window to see Kyo on a bike waving at her! She gasped in surprise thinking of Kyo riding his bike at top speed in his condition and immediately turned to the driver.

"Mr. Driver! Wait please stop the car!"

"Oh man, this is my jam!" The driver had his music high as he sang to the tune blasting on the radio.

"Get low, Get low
Get low, Get low"

"Mr Driver!" Tohru called again. She watched as the driver took a hand off the wheel and waved it from right to left.

"To the window, to the wall, (to dat wall)
To the sweat drop down and fall (fall)
To all these females crawl (crawl)
To all skeet skeet skeet skeet skeet skeet"

"Mr. Driver Sir!"

"All skeet skeet, got, I got what?"

"DRIVER!"

The driver was startled at Tohru's scream and turned down the radio. "What is it, lil' missy?"

"Just stop the car please! There's a person...!"

Just outside, Kyo's legs were burning as he was getting closer to the car. Maybe if he got close enough he could yell out her name to get her attention. He peddled faster. 'Almost there...!'

To his utter horror the car stopped dead and it was impossible to put his breaks on soon enough. He ran right into the bumper of the car, smacking himself into the back windshield. From inside the car Tohru was screaming bloody murder as a flat faced Kyo was smashed all over the window. Kyo slowly slid down the window and fell off the trunk of the car in a heap.

The passenger door swung open and Tohru ran out frantically falling to his side. "Oh, Kyo-kun!"

"Oh, shoot man... damnit that hurts!" He moaned on the floor while covering his manhood.

"Here let me help you up..."

"Ah, don't touch my arm, it stings!"

"Well I'll lift you..."

"Ow Ow..."

Tohru backed up. "Okay okay, just stay calm... stay calm...!" She wasn't so sure if she was saying this to relieve herself or Kyo.

The driver also came out walking quickly to the scene. "Oh my Gosh! Oh my Gosh!"

Tohru looked at him. "I know! Help me get him into the--!"

"My car! My baby car! Did he put a dent in my baby?" The driver went around to inspect the back end of the car and was relieved there was not a scratch. He breathed on the car and rubbed it with the inside of his coat to see it shine.

Tohru's eyes swirled a little. "Ah, Driver-san, can you help him into the car?"

The driver turned around. "Oh! Oh yeah, sure. Sorry about that, son, you shouldn't be ridin' a bike like that around town, you know?"

"I'll keep that in mind." Kyo growled out about to chew the driver's head off for nearly getting him killed.

Tohru and the driver got Kyo into the back seat and the bike hauled on top of the car. Tohru closed the door to sit next to Kyo. She leaned over to inspect Kyo as he felt his entire body tense up at their closeness. "You have a bump on your head! Oh, this is all my fault! Ah, hospital! Where's the closest hospital?"

"D-don't worry about it. I'm okay." He said as he watched her tears come fourth. The pair stared at each other for a moment longer before Tohru looked away. Kyo watched her sadden and then brighten up while speaking to the driver.

"Um, can you please turn around and take us back home, Driver-san?" Kyo stared at Tohru. "I'm sorry to cause you inconvenience."

"Hey, hey!" The driver turned around with a crooked smile. "Any friend of Master Ayame is a friend of mine." The driver made a fast illegal U-turn making both young adults feel slightly sick. "LET'S ROCK!"

----

As soon as they got home Hatori led Kyo back to his room while Tohru followed anxiously. In the background there was an exchange of money between Hiro and Yuki but Tohru didn't figure it concerned her at the moment.

Kyo, dispite ramming Haru's bike into a car, was fine. It was a miracle really. Hatori bopped Kyo on the head. "Stop doing such reckless things. It is unbecoming of a man who won't admit his feelings."

"W-what!" Kyo barked, but Hatori already left the room, leaving the door open. Tohru turned to Kyo and held his hand.

"Are you sure you're okay? You ran into that car pretty hard."

"No thanks to that looney bastard of a driver." Kyo muttered. Tohru squeezed his hand tighter and he looked up to see her worried eyes. He turned away. "I'm fine, really."

She let go and nodded her head. She was glad he wasn't really hurt. She smiled trying to make him feel good. "Okay."

'I thought I'd never see him again...'

Kyo snuck a glance at her. "Why'd you come back? Aren't you going to miss your plane?"

'I couldn't just watch her walk away...'

There was a long silence making every movement seem very loud and the tension build just slightly.

She smiled at Kyo, making his heart flutter. He thought he'd never see her smile again. "Of course I'd come back if you were willing to ride a bike all the way down town after me! And I had to make sure you were okay..." Suddenly she felt Kyo touch her face making the girl freeze on the spot. His hands were rather rough but warm to the touch.

"I'm glad... you came back..." he said softly. He realized her face blush and he instantly pulled his hand away.

Secretly, Tohru never imagined hearing those words from Kyo. In fact she didn't think she'd even get to see him before she left. He really looked so happy to see her. She felt like she was in one of those old films. He asked her before, what was there to go back to if she left the Sohmas, but now she understood something. Going back to the Sohma house was so much easier than leaving because there was someone to go back to here. She stared at Kyo, the fuzzy feelings never dying down within her.

'There was someone to go back to here...'

"You know... maybe it will be okay..." Tohru started off. "If I stay a little longer... here." She looked up at the ceiling. "I mean, there really isn't anywhere for me to go right now, and I'll send a letter to my grandpa telling him I'm fine. And maybe... maybe I'm just not ready to leave yet.

"Thinking in the car I realized I really never had much of a family. I think that the Sohmas are the closest thing I've ever had to it." She turned to Kyo with a bright grin. "I'd hate to impose but I'f you're willing, I'd love to work here again. I'll do all the house work in return for my borading. And I don't want any money...!"

"OF COURSE YOU CAN STAY!"

Tohru nearly jumped onto Kyo's lap as Ayame appeared behind the couple holding both by their shoulders.

"Damnit, Ayame, can't you freakin' knock on the door?" Kyo shouted obviously angry for being snuck up on like that.

"It was open! Ha ha ha!" Ayame grabbed Tohru's hands into his larger ones. "I thought you'd never ask to stay longer. Stay here as long as you like, Tohru. I want you to spend the rest of your days here in utter happiness!"

"Oh get off her you sicko." Kyo muttered.

Tohru smiled. "You never know when I might have to leave though, if that's okay."

"Of course not! Please, we want you to stay with us as long as you like!" Ayame raised his hand toward the window while propped one foot up on the bed side. "For infinity and beyond!"

Kyo crossed his arms. "I think it's 'to infinity and beyond'."

"Well, whatever."

Tohru clasped her hands as she watched Ayame and Kyo squabble. Turning around she saw the rest of the members watching from the door way with rather happy smiles. She guessed she found a new home here with the Sohmas. The only thing she could think of was, 'I'm home.'

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