Midterms were on Friday. It was Monday. I was in the middle of forcing myself to study, against my protesting head's wishes. I knew I'd be okay on the language test, and I was pretty good at math, although my trigonometry needed some work, but I couldn't seem to wrap my head around the Biology material. I absently nibbled on my Kasugai as I tapped my pencil on the desk with my other hand.
I looked over at the bowl full of the small colored candies that I'd brought in from the kitchen (if the rat caught me I'd be dead). I reached in and grabbed a yellow one, popping it into my mouth. I've always been really particular when it comes to colored candies. I have my own pattern of eating them. I reached blindly into the bowl, turning back to my notebook. I peered into my hand to see what colors I'd gotten. Red, yellow, orange. All warm colors. I shoved them into my mouth. I reached in again. Brown, blue, and orange. I frowned. I picked out the one brown one and ate it. Cool color. I then picked out the two orange ones and ate them together. Warm color. I placed the blue one back in the bowl.
So I went on like that. Only eating either all warm colors or cool colors at a time, placing the blue ones back in the bowl. One time Kagura asked me why I separate out the blue ones and not the orange ones. It was actually a hard question to answer. "I don't separate out the blue ones because they relate to me," I had told her, "I separate them out because I like them better. I know they all taste the same, but blue is just a better color. It's calm and intelligent. Besides, I don't even think orange is my color. It's my hair color, yeah, but, I don't think it's really me. Me is more like brown or red, I think."
She'd said that it was the longest she'd ever heard me talk about something. I turned my full attention back to my work, knowing that there was nothing left but blue in the bowl. I read over the requirements put in place to classify an organism as in the kingdom Animalia.
"Damn it, then what kind of tissue variations do sponges have?" I burst. I was not grasping what other students thought were easy concepts. What was the point of learning taxonomy anyway? Whoever the hell invented it (Linnaeus) obviously had it out for high school students. I let my head drop to the desk with a decisive 'thud'.
"Kyo-kun?" Tohru's voice rang through my door, not helping my headache at all, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it," I told her, lifting my head off the desk.
"I made dinner, if you'd like some," she offered.
Of course I'd like some, I've been at it for hours. I need a break.
"Yeah, be down in a second," I stated, stretching my spine over the back of my swivel chair. I picked a blue out of the bowl and popped it in my mouth, savoring the flavor more than I did with the other colors, knowing full well that it tasted exactly the same as the rest of them. Rubbing angrily at the pounding spot on my forehead, I made my way to my door, the way that it creaked increasing the pain in my temple, and went downstairs.
"I do not want to talk about this," Yuki's stern voice echoed up the staircase.
"I feel like we have to talk about this," that was Shigure.
"Talk about what?" I asked, entering the sitting room.
"Oh, Kyo-kun!" Tohru smiled at me as if she'd never seen my face outside my bedroom, "Shigure-san was just talking to Sohma-kun about New Years."
"Which is after midterms, am I right?" Yuki said pointedly, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.
"Yes, but it's not something you should put off," Shigure argued.
"Damn, the last thing we need is something to distract us from studying," I pointed out.
"At least some of us are studying," Yuki muttered.
"I was just studying two seconds ago!"
"Funny how you don't seem to be improving."
"Damn it, I just -" I stopped. I wasn't about to admit I was having trouble understanding the material, least of all to him.
"You what?" he turned to me smirking like he actually gave a damn, "You don't get it?"
I fumed.
"Once a stupid cat, always a stupid cat, I suppose."
"Damn it!" I sure as hell was saying that a lot. I took a swing at his head, he dodged, and he landed a firm kick to my stomach, sending me flying into the counter in the kitchen.
"Don't break my house!" Shigure wailed. I rubbed the back of my head, cursing my headache that was causing my vision to go spotty. It wasn't hurting in just one place anymore. Or two places. More like fifty. A wave of nausea hit me ten ton truck.
"Kyo-kun! Are you okay?"
God, her voice was so loud. I blindly clutched at my head, trying to block out the noise, the bright florescent lights above me. I felt like my head was trying to explode.
"Shut up, shut up!"
"Don't talk to Honda-san that way!"
"Be quiet!"
"I do believe our dear little Kyo-kun has a migraine."
"A migraine?" Tohru asked.
"An extremely bad headache," Yuki offered.
"Be quiet…" I all but whimpered.
"Oh, and, if you're going to throw up, to it in the bathroom," Shigure told me.
"I…!" I didn't finish my thought, burying my face in my knees. The lights were so bright, I couldn't stand it.
"K- Kyo-kun…"
"Shhh…"
Was that Shigure?
"Shigure, would you get him upstairs?" Yuki asked casually. Like he was talking about the goddamn weather.
"I can…" I tried to stand on my feet, promptly clapping my hand over my mouth and falling down again. I couldn't see what I was doing anyway. Neon light's were flashing in front of my face.
"And here I thought cats were supposed to be graceful."
"Damn rat!"
"Stupid cat."
"I don't want him to throw up on me!" Shigure whined.
"I'm not going to…"
"But what if you did?"
Why did he have to sing-song everything?
"Shh!"
Yuki is the one telling them to be quiet?
"Here," Yuki said quietly.
'Here' what? I can't see!
I felt a soft hand with slender fingers grip my wrist and pull me onto my feet. I involuntarily leaned against his side to keep myself from falling over. He supported my weight with a hand on my side, necessary due to the good three inches I had on him.
"Damn rat."
"Stupid cat."
"Will he be alright?" Tohru asked.
"He'll be fine, Honda-san. Don't worry yourself," Yuki said, just loud enough for her to hear him. With that, he led me out of the kitchen. I lifted my feet higher off the ground than I normally would have, due to my blindness.
"Can you not see?" he asked me.
"Not really," I admitted, trying to hide how weird I found it to simply talk with him. He stopped.
"We're at the stairs," he informed me. I extended my foot, searching blindly until I felt the unpolished wood of the first stair under my bare toes. Yuki lifted me onto the step and I balanced myself lightly on the pads of my feet. He paused a moment to let me get my bearings, to the extent that I could. I nodded blankly, and he helped me onto the next step. We did that all the way up the stairs, remaining silent, preventing my ego from undergoing any further beating. He led me along the hallway, and then stopped again. I heard the familiar noise of wood against wood as he opened the shoji to my room. He led me in and turned me around so I was facing him and sat me down on what I could only assume was my bed.
"Stay there."
I heard his footsteps lightly padding out of the room. I assumed that he wasn't coming back, so I felt around until I located my pillow and lay my head on it. I allowed my eyelids to fall shut, marveling at the vibrant colors that still flashed in front of me, even with my eyed closed. Needless to say, I practically jumped out of my skin when I felt a cold washcloth being placed on my forehead.
"It's just me, stupid cat," Yuki's voice penetrated into my mind, "Although it looks like you really were studying."
"Don't look at my desk," I said half-heartedly.
"These are all just the kingdoms," he observed, "The test is on Friday."
"I know," I spat at him, noticing the spots in my vision clearing up.
"I was just refreshing my memory," I lied.
"I see," he didn't sound convinced.
"Go tell Tohru I'm okay," I instructed him. He sighed, and I heard the legs of my desk chair scraping against the floor as he stood up. I didn't hear his footsteps leave the room.
"Why only blues?" he asked.
He's looking at the Kasugai.
"I like the color blue," I said shortly, "I save them for last."
"Hm."
With that, he left the room.
Well… that was weird.
Author's Note: Well, I said I wouldn't do this story until after I'd finished my LxLight ones... But I guess I lied. This was just burning at the inside of my skull, pleading to be put on the internet, so now it is. Please review, as it makes me happy. I'll probably be posting the next chapter today as well, so be on the lookout for that. Oh, and for those of you who are reading Aftermath, I'm still working on it, no worries. I just broke my laptop... because I'm a total clumsy ass... But I'm still writing, see? WORDS!