Kitty-Boy
A/N I am TOO easily distracted! I am in the middle of, like, a bazillion-trillion other fanfics, and now I'm starting ANOTHER one. Well, this ones a oneshot at least. It doesn't have much of a plot, but is more of just sort of a snippet of Kyou and Kyoko being bffs. I started a new years Glee fic like a bit less than a week before new years, and I wanted to post it at midnight 2010, but then it ended up NOT being a one shot and now I'm still not done… I don't know how I'm going to end this story. Well, I do but… I dunno. Now I shall keep writing and TRY to get this posted by the end of today.
It had been a month since their first meeting. A month since the day he had been wandering and the curse, as it so often did, attracted unwanted attention to him via the ever-present mop of oddly bright, orange hair. And it had been just about a week since he had started feeling comfortable enough at home to go straight back after school, but continued to take detours that were, though he would never say it, for the single purpose of meeting the woman who he had come to consider a friend.
Today was unusual. The day itself, perhaps, was, in fact, about as ordinary as any ordinary day tended to be, until Kyou found himself bored, which was, similarly to the day, quite usual, and then wandered down the street. Kyou was very independent. He loved Shishou, but never liked to feel or be reliant on him, which was established in their relationship early on; perhaps before it even really began. So he felt no need to announce his exiting or returning, and felt free to roam as he pleased. Today, he pleased to wander to the roof of a house, not much caring who it belonged to, and decided to take a nap. He spread out, basking in the sun in a cat-like manner, and dozed off quickly.
When he awoke, he found something surprising beside him. In fact, the presence of an object beside him that wasn't a bird or a leaf or some trash blown up hear by the wind was surprising in and of itself. But this object was a plate (an orange plate) that bore three tuna onigiris. These, Kyou decided, had absolutely no business on this roof, laid out beside him in such a matter-of-fact way. That did not change the fact that he was hungry, and quite fond of tuna. And onigiris, for that matter. He considered them for a brief moment, before deciding that poisoning someone for napping on your roof would be a bit extreme, and that making home-made onigiris would certainly not be the most efficient way of going about it, were this house the property of someone who happened to make a habit of doing extreme things.
As he ate, it crossed his mind that the owner of this house was either some sort of psychic, which the boy—the cursed cat-boy—did not believe in, or knew him well enough to know that his favorite food was tuna and that his favorite color was orange… and that he meant no harm by napping on their roof. Or, he reasoned, cleaning his hand of the remnants of fish with his tongue—a habit he couldn't resist when no one was watching—they could simply have an uncanny knack for guessing random preferences of strangers. If that were the case, he thought, they would be very stupid. Who actually leaves a snack for a kid on their roof? Morons. He licked the last of it off his hands, enjoying both the taste and the lack of food on his clean hands, just in time to hear a giggle. He stiffened instantly, alert, the hair on the back of his neck standing up slightly. He turned around with quick reflexes, and immediately recognized the smiling face peering up at him over the edge of her roof. It was Kyoko. Of course. He glared at her.
"What are you laughing at?" he snapped.
"You looked like a kitty cat when you did that, Orangey," she said smiling.
"No I didn't! Don't ever say that again! I hate those things!"
"Well they like you," she said, pointing behind him to where two or three cats had just appeared and curled up behind him, one nuzzling into his side.
"NO!" he shouted, flailing around in a quick, sharp motion that successfully sent each cat flying off the roof in a different direction. One or two hisses and shrieks of protest were heard, but Kyou knew that the little creatures were more than capable of surviving such a throw. It probably hadn't even phased them. Kyoko wore a blank expression for a moment, nonplussed that this child had actually just thrown three kittens from a roof, but shook it off, reminding herself that this boy wasn't like other children.
Kyou looked at her, glaring. He now knew why she knew so much about him. He had mentioned tuna the other day, and she didn't know his favorite color. She was simply mocking him yet again for his hair color. He was okay with it.
"Why did you leave me food?" he asked, not stopping his cold look.
"I was dropping Tohru-chan off at her grandfathers. I noticed you as I left. I figured that, since you were asleep by the time I got back, you might be hungry." She smiled warmly at him.
"… Thanks," muttered Kyou, his glare faltering. He really didn't get this woman, but she was pleasant enough. And she wasn't like other people. She was like Shishou. She was too kind and far too carefree at times, but she wasn't an idiot, like so many others of that description. She was quite the opposite. She knew that behind her mother complex that irritated him at the same time as it intrigued him, was a person who had seen hardships; someone who could relate to him and wouldn't judge him by his hair color or his age. She didn't think his frustration was out of his place, and that it was merely his insolence and lack of gratitude for the life he had been given. She listened to him.
They sat in silence for a while, Kyou shifting uncomfortably while Kyoko watched the sky, leaning back on her arms with her legs crossed at the ankle. Her hair, dyed light, blew behind her head gracefully in the breeze, as she smiled fondly up at the clouds as though perceiving an old friend. She really did confuse him. He couldn't understand how someone could seem so happy for no reason other than to be sitting in te summer breeze. It was an optimism he couldn't quite grasp. Without something specifically good happening, she still managed to be in a good mood.
"What's Tohru doing at her grandfathers?" he asked, his voice emotionless except for the telltale hesitance of having just broken a silence for the sake of needing words to be spoken.
"He's taken her shopping," replied Kyoko, not moving except for a shift in her eyes so she was now focused on the small red-head beside her.
"Where?" he continued, not knowing what he was supposed to ask other than just that.
"The super market and then a toy store. He spoils her. She's going to help him cook dinner and then she's going to come home later tonight after they eat—such a good girl. She loves to cook, and I'm not much good at it. She said she'd like to make him something in return for taking her to buy a toy—such a sweet child. I think I did an okay job with her, eh?" she said, winking down at the boy who often wondered if Tohru was really as caring as Kyoko said. From what he could guess of Tohru, she sounded to be the kind of carefree that was stupid. But the way Kyoko phrased it, it became one of the traits he admired in the girl he had never met, rather than something that made him judge her. He thought her innocence was an amazing thing, and a luxury he had never had, always presented with horror and trauma in his life. Though he supposed she was no different than any other common, carefree fool, seeing that sort of person in a different light, through the voice of a loving mother, made him imagine her in a completely way. He doubted his mother had ever spoken well of him to others, if at all.
He shook himself from his sad thoughts, and answered back with a harsh answer. "How would I know? I've never met her…"
"She'd like you quite a lot, you know. You could come over and meet her some time," said Kyoko, lying back now, her arms crossed on her stomach, rising and falling as she breathed in the sweet summer air. "Do you have friends?" she asked. It could have been offensive, but Kyou was actually surprised that she had just asked it now.
"No. I have family, but they all hate me. I don't need them and they don't need me."
"That's too bad. You must have someone."
Kyou snorted. "Kagura," he spat, as though the name was poison. "She says she loves me. I don't believe her."
"Sounds better than the rest of them, though," reasoned Kyoko.
Again, Kyou let out a mirthless laugh of sorts, and shot back "Worse. Much worse."
"She means well," said Kyoko, shrugging.
"I guess," said a begrudging Kyou.
They sat in silence for a few moments before Kyou realized that he had still yet to get mad at her for mocking his hair.
"You're a real smartass, you know," he snapped, making Kyoko laugh out loud.
"You're one to talk," she shot back, grinning, and ruffling the kid's hair fondly.
"I bet you thought that plate was really clever, didn't you?" he asked, glaring though he wasn't that mad.
"Yeah, I kinda did," she admitted, chuckling a bit. "I like you, Orangey," she said, ruffling the hair again, which had been established recently as the only physical show of affection to which he wouldn't react violently. "Do you have to go home?" she asked. Kyou glared at her, but shook his head. He never had to be anywhere. "Wanna hang out and come with me to get Tohru later?" He shrugged.
"Kay," he elaborated, when she didn't say anything.
"C'mon. Let's go inside before it gets dark."
Kyou looked up and, sure enough, the blazing sun was sinking, very slowly, toward the trees and rooftops. He watched as she climbed slowly down the ladder she had set up. When she reached the ground, he leapt off the roof, landing on all fours on the grass below. Kyoko let out a surprised noise, but looked impressed after a moment.
"Geeze, nice jump, Kiddo," she said, laughing a bit, and she high fived him. He smiled with a surge of pride.
"That was nothing. Once my dad was yelling at me, so I jumped right out the window and landed on the ground three floors below!"
"Nice, just don't kill yourself," said Kyoko in a nervous voice. "But I'd expect nothing less from such a masterful warrior!" she announced in a manly voice.
"I am a good fighter! You wanna take me on!? I will BEAT YOU!" he shouted passionately, now smiling for the first time since he had left his house.
"I don't know what poor little Tohru would do if I got taken down in battle," said Kyoko in a melodramatic, if slightly sarcastic voice.
"I'll go easy on you," challenged Kyou, a fire in his eyes that wouldn't be extinguished.
"No thanks, Orangey. Karate's not really my style anyway," she said, winking as she held open the door for her young friend. He smiled back, remembering her tales of her gang days. It was true that she had told him before that they hadn't exactly been martial artists. She had fought, though. A lot.
Kyou spent the next few hours following Kyoko around. He had his angry mood swings as always, but felt less actually angry, and more just occasional twinges of annoyance. He felt oddly content with this woman. He wondered for a long time if this was what it was like to have a real mother, but came to the conclusion that Kyoko was no mother figure to him. This was what it was like to have a friend.
He got the grand tour of the house. It was a modest house, not too big for it's too occupants, but obviously something they were proud of. It was relatively tidy, but here and there lay a few signs of the young girl living there, including small sweaters lying around, crayons, and an abundance of photographs lining most walls and resting upon every surface. Everywhere he looked, Kyou met the eyes of some combination of Kyoko, Tohru and Katsuya Honda. Some even had an elderly man who he could only assume was the man taking care of Tohru at that moment. One particular picture caught his eye. It was one of all three members of the family, and must've been taken when Tohru was nearly three. It must've been shortly before Katsuya's death. Tohru, her hair shorter than in the pictures Kyou had seen before, was sitting atop her father's shoulders, eyes closed and her mouth open in a joyous giggle. Kyoko, looking younger, and with shorter hair as well, had her arm around her beloved husband's waist, and was leaning up to kiss Tohru on the cheek. Kyou stared at it, smiling in spite of himself. They all looked so happy.
He even got to look into Tohru's room. It was very pink, and not at all to his taste, but it was sweet, modest, and had a homey feel to it. It was kept very neat, and he was sure this was Tohru's own doing. At his old home he had had a maid, but Shishou told him doing chores was 'character-building.' Kyou was okay with it. All kyou had to do most of the time was cook, since Shishou couldn't do that to save his life, so he did most of the cleaning.
At around 6, the two had dinner, and the nature of it gave Kyou the idea that Kyoko was very similar to Shishou in her cooking skill-level. It was a microwave meal, which Kyou was quite used to from when he first started living with his master, before they had established their current system and his mentor was still attempting to put edible food on the table. (a/n omg! It was just 11:11:11! It was awesome! And now its 11:21:58. I took a wee little break.)
"Well, it's just about time," said Kyoko, tossing her car keys in the air and catching them in her hand again with a small, jingling noise. Kyou looked up from where he was washing his own dish, and set it down by the sink.
The two of them stepped into the car, Kyou sitting in the front seat, despite his small size. Looking behind him, he saw some hints that the backseat was usually Tohru's domain. It had a small book lying on the floor, a pink scarf strewn across the seat, and a plush doll of a cat.
"She likes cats too!" said Kyoko, seeing Kyou looking back. She smirked, knowing that this would anger the boy, though for no apparent reason.
"I hate cats!" he shouted.
"Okay… Kitty Boy!"
"SHUT UP!"
"What? You still wont tell me your name, so I think I have the right to nickname you as I please," replied Kyoko, smiling at the riled boy.
The pair bickered in a way that would've seemed to an outsider to be Kyoko being cruel and Kyou being a brat, for the rest of the car ride, but were actually just having fun. Kyoko, more than Kyou.
When they arrived, Kyoko stepped out of the car. Kyou followed, but stopped at the gate as Kyoko went on. She stood at the door for a while, conversing with an elderly man in an amiable manner for a moment, when a small girl stepped out beside him. Her mother let out an audible squeal and scooped the child into her arms, taking the bag from her daughter's hands as she did so. The girl's face was visable to Kyou, and their eyes met for a brief second. She gazed a millosecond, still smiling into the hug, before Kyou lost his nerve. There was too much family; too much love; too much joy. He ran.
"Mamma, who was the boy who just ran away?" asked Tohru.
Kyoko looked, and smiled fondly at her friend's shyness. "What boy?" she asked, giggling a little. Tohru just looked confused, but questioned no further. "Come on, Tohru-chan. Let's go home."
A/N lovely, no? absolutely no point whatsoever, but who really cares? REVIEW PLEAAAAAAASE! :D