Pt1

Ch1

It was all Tohru's fault, Kyou had decided this a month ago, but still couldn't find it in his heart to be truly mad at her. It wasn't completely her fault anyway and even in his anger over the situation he understood that. He supposed that he really shouldn't have run out on the class like he had, but if he hadn't left he was sure he would have done something he would have regretted more later. Besides, school was over, so it wasn't like he was cutting class or anything.

Right now he was sitting in a fairly secluded part of the local park. It was a nice little spot with a small pond and large trees that provided the perfect protection from prying eyes. He took a deep breath and relaxed letting the anger fade and rational thought take over. Tohru wasn't to blame; it was the stupid school board and those crazy girls in the class.

It had been announced that, as part of some sort of community service outreach program, the school would host a play for a children's hospital. Kyou wasn't sure of all the details, he hadn't cared enough to pay attention when the principal had first gone over it during assembly, but second year had been put in charge of the play itself. At first it was suggested that they do Romeo and Juliet, but it was quickly abandoned when someone mentioned that a play where the main cast dies horribly in the end might not be appreciated by children suffering life threatening illness.

Eventually and after much deliberation, they agreed on Alice in Wonderland. As the cast list was placed on the board, in roman alphabetical order no less, Kyou had groaned. He knew were this was headed and didn't like it. There had been more then one incident last year that had the rest linking him to cats, but before the group rep could even ask for volunteers Tohru had left her seat, hand raised and all but screaming to play the role of the Cheshire Cat.

Her enthusiasm had been so shocking to everyone that the group rep had froze for a moment before slowly turning and writing Tohru's name on the board next to the character. Kyou had actually thought he had dodged the bullet on that one until another girl suddenly suggested that they do role reversal for the play. More agreed and the boys, outnumbered by the girls, hadn't stood a chance. Even the teacher in charge thought it was a good idea.

Next thing Kyou had known roles were being assigned faster then the blink of an eye. Uotani and Hanajima were given the Mad Hatter and the March Hare and Yuki had been saddled with the role of the Queen of Hearts. Kyou had been snickering quietly to himself when the great Alice debate began. Who of the remaining male students would be best for the role? Much consideration had gone into it, they wanted someone who would work well with the already assembled cast, but who would be the perfect counter for Yuki's Queen or pull off frustrated the best around the Yankee's Hatter?

Kyou had instantly sunk as far down in his seat as he could, trying to be small and unnoticeable, but it was too late. Every occupant of the room was already staring in his direction. It was a little unnerving how they had all moved in sync like they had.

And that's why Kyou was now sitting in the park, two weeks later, wearing a pink dress, frilly apron, and an orange wig. It even had pantaloons. Pantaloons! As if the striped stockings and patent leather Mary Jane's weren't bad enough.

In his defense he had tried to refuse participation, but they had all ganged up on him. Eventually Yuki had made an insinuation that pushed him too far and tricked him into accepting the role. Kyou figured that it was some kind of revenge or spite over what had happened during first year's cultural festival. Personally, Kyou couldn't understand why the other boy should care if he took the part or not. But then, Yuki had a nasty habit of butting his nose into places it had no business being.

Kyou was trying to decide if he should just go home and change or head back to the school now that he had calmed down a bit when rustling drew his attention to the bushes surrounding the little pond. Someone was coming. He didn't think anyone from school had followed him. If they had they would have found him by now since he had skipped out on the rehearsal after the costume fitting.

Panic began to set in. He didn't want to go back to the school just yet and he didn't want to deal with the humiliation of Shigure seeing him like this. Kazuma's was completely out of the question; he might be able to slip by Shigure unnoticed, but Shishou would find him in an instant. That man always seemed to know when he was near. Before he could decide which was the least embarrassing route of escape the person approaching had come into view.

The young man looked at him, startled, just as Kyou was about to flee. Kyou froze as his face turned red. A stranger had seen him dressed like this. The boy blinked himself out of his bewilderment and smiled.

"Oh, hello. I didn't know anyone else knew about this place," he said slowly.

Kyou straightened and turned to leave before this new person started to asked questions.

"No, you don't have to leave. It's not like this is some secret place that I've claimed for myself. I didn't mean to sound like I was chasing you away. It's just, not many people come here, so I was a bit surprised," the boy smiled as he spoke, then gestured to the spot Kyou had just vacated, "Sorry if I disturbed you. Go ahead and sit back down miss. I don't mind sharing and the company would be nice."

Kyou became aware that the boy was expecting some kind of response. What should he do? This person obviously didn't know he was a boy, which meant he wouldn't have to deal with ridicule just yet, but if he spoke he'd give himself away. No matter how high he tried to make his voice there was no way anyone with even bad hearing would mistake it for being feminine. He didn't want to go just yet either, not until he was sure the other students had left and he could sneak into the school and get his clothes back unmolested.

Kyou must have given the poor boy a shifty look because he held his hands up; letting the bag he was carrying fall.

"I'm not going to try to rape you or anything, I swear. I'll stay over here if that would make you more comfortable." With that he sat down on the grass at his feet and began to rummage around in his case, occasionally looking up to see if Kyou was still there. His eyes looked desperate for human companionship and Kyou suddenly felt like he'd be a real jerk if he left. Well, he supposed he could stay for a little while longer. After all, he didn't actually have to talk back.

Kyou sat back down and let his gaze wonder around a bit before it shifted back to the boy who sat about ten feet away from him. He had taken out a large pad of paper and was scratching away at it with a small black pencil. He stopped and readjusted himself and the paper before starting up again. After a pause he flipped the page over and began anew. This went on for close to ten minutes before the curiosity got the better of Kyou and he leaned back slightly in an effort to see what the stranger was doing.

Unfortunately, he was to far away for that to work and he was forced to scoot a little closer. When that yielded less then positive results he gave up for the time being not wanting to attract the other boy's attention any more than he already had. He was thinking of getting up to leave. He would have to walk past the boy to follow the path out, so he could get a good look then. Before he could stand however, the boy turned to him and smiled.

"I'm Minoru, by the way. I didn't introduce myself before. Please forgive my rudeness. What's your name?" The boy said. They were almost nose to nose.

Kyou blinked and wondered how he had ended up so close as he quickly scooted away, his face must have been fire engine red by now. The boy continued to smile at him and Kyou finally registered the question. What was he suppose to do? He couldn't very well tell him. His discomfort must have shown on his face because the boy waved off the question with a lazy movement of his hand.

"That's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I appreciate the company even if you are to shy to talk back."

Kyou's tensed at the insinuation that he was timid and he opened his mouth to yell at the boy but somehow managed to catch himself before speaking. Instead an embarrassingly strangled sound left his throat and he turned away in a huff, arms crossed and a pout on his lips. Minoru chuckled at his back over the childish behavior.

"I see. I've upset you and my punishment is the silent treatment. I know this one well. My older sister used to punish my father in the same way whenever he made her angry. They'd go a whole week without speaking to one another before mother would…Mother." Minoru let out a deep sigh and put down the charcoal pencil he'd been sketching with. Kyou turned back to face him at the sudden stop. Not that he cared, he hadn't really been listening, but the sudden sadness had taken him by surprise.

"I'm sorry. I was rambling on. I haven't spoken to anyone like this in awhile."

Not knowing what to do, Kyou just shrugged his shoulders in response. It didn't really bother him any if this strange boy wanted to dump his problems on him. It wasn't like they'd see each other again any time soon. Kyou would just forget all about it by next week anyway, his own problems out weighting anyone else's. Apparently, Minoru took the shrug to mean that he could do as he pleased because he inched over a little closer, causing Kyou to tense again.

"You wanted to see, right? What do you think? Something is off but I don't know what and I can't seem to get it right," Minoru said. He held out the paper to Kyou as if he would be able to divine the answer to life, the universe, and everything upon Minoru. Kyou tilted his head as he looked at the drawing, confused at the sudden request and change of subject. Not that he minded the latter. The topic of mothers always made him uncomfortable, having had nothing but bad experiences with their kind.

The drawing was pretty, but Kyou couldn't tell that there was anything wrong with it. It wasn't like he was an artist himself. The best he could ever do was cartoon doodles in the margin of his notebook and those usually looked like nothing more then squiggle lines. He shook his head and raised his hands in defeat. Minoru sighed and flipped to a new page in the sketch book. Kyou relaxed again now that Minoru wasn't quite so far into his personal space. His heart had actually skipped a beat when the boy had leaned in close like he had.

"You know, it's actually been awhile since I was focused on a project. My inspiration has been lacking recently, my grades too. My teachers were beginning to worry. I guess taking a break from school and coming home has some good to it after all. The scenery here is quite rejuvenating, don't you agree?"

Kyou shrugged again and stared back out at the water. Baby dragonflies were buzzing around in the reeds, enjoying the last of the sun before it sank below the horizon for the evening. He had always had a vague fondness for the insects. He let his mind wonder off, lost to far away memories. They weren't the best things to remember, but they weren't the worst either.

When he had been little and stilled lived with his parents he had often played by the small wooded area not far from his house. When the rains came, they left puddles that the dragonflies would play around and he would chase after them for lack of anything else to do. He had even gotten good at catching them. It's wasn't like he could go home, his mother would lock the door after shooing him out, saying boys needed fresh air to grow big and strong. Some part of him had always known that what she was really saying was 'Stay away, I don't want you near me.'

He shook his head to clear away the feeling that had settled over him. He needed to do something besides sit there. There was a desperate need to capture onto some small elusive happiness that was mostly absent from the first years of his life.

"I just don't know what to do with her, she seems so static. I think the problem is that it's been so long since I drew just for the fun of it. You know what I mea…" Minoru stopped mid word as Kyou abruptly got up and walked to the edge of the pond. The movement startled the dragonflies and scattered them about in a small swarm. For his part, Kyou hadn't even heard Minoru speak. He was far too lost in his own world, letting his mind go blank as he simple felt.

Letting his mind go empty was the only escape he had. He freed his mind and for one brief moment became nothing.

X

Minoru watched mesmerized as his companion moved to the edge of the manmade pond. When he had first arrived here, he had been a little surprised to see someone already occupying the spot. He hadn't known anyone else came here or even knew about this little hide away place. He had played here often enough as a child to have seen others come or go.

He had decided to come to his childhood sanctuary after visiting his mother at the hospital. While Minoru would admit that he had wanted a break from college, he would have preferred different circumstances for sure. The pond, he figured, would help take his mind off of his problems and maybe get his creativity flowing again. The cute girl sitting by the Sakura tree, he hadn't been expecting. She had been antsy when he had first shown up, but after awhile seemed to calm.

Minoru had warmed to the idea of companionship outside of family right away. It was nice to have someone to talk to that didn't judge and the fact that she was so beautiful was an added bonus. Unfortunately, talk to was all she had allowed him, she had yet to actually speak and Minoru was beginning to wonder if she could when she had begun to scoot closer to him. That was when he realized that the sketch of the lake he had been working on had mutated into a girl. A girl that looked just a bit too much like the one five feet away from him.

He tried to engage her in conversion again, but she backed off so quickly he could have sworn his vision had tunneled. Just when he was stumped on his sketch, she was out on the pond. Her every step was fluid and graceful even though she upset the bugs that made their homes among the waters edge. Settling at the edge of the pond she became still as stone, arms stretched outward.

Shortly after, the dragonflies settled down once more and Minoru watched completely entranced as several came to settle on her person. The setting sun caught on her hair just right and she seemed to glow. Minoru's thoughts became fuzzy and his heart started to pound. His hand was moving furiously even as his eyes stayed on his target. That was it. The image he wanted. The mystery girl's eyes drifted open and for a split second Minoru could have sworn they had glowed. It was probably the sun reflecting off them. Either way, he didn't care. This one was defiantly going to canvas when he got back home.

He watched as she let her arms sag, releasing the small dragonflies from what ever spell she had just cast and she seemed to finally come back to herself. She turned to him with one of the most mesmerizing expressions he'd ever seen and started to head off away from the pond. She walked past him, gave a brief nod of her head and moved to the path that led out into the real world. He didn't know what possessed him, but his hand reached out to her.

"Wait, please don't go." Her whole body went stiff and Minoru realized he had seized her wrist in an almost desperate grip. The almost supernatural expression she wore vanished as a flash of fear replaced it. He released her and looked away ashamed.

"Sorry about that. Thank you for listening to me ramble and keeping me company. I enjoyed it. Maybe we'll see each other again someday."

She reclaimed her hand and shrugged her shoulder in acknowledgment of his apology before exiting the area, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He looked back to his sketch pad and smiled. He'd come back tomorrow and see if she was here again. Maybe he could even get her to speak, but right now he had a painting to get started on.

Author Commentary:

Okay, so I don't normally make a habit of posting unfinished work, hence why I have so few stories up, but in this case it's a little different since this story is broken up into two different parts and I only need to write three more chapters to finish part two. Since the first is finished and just needs touch ups on individual chapters, I'll start putting it up and see how you all like it. This is my first attempt at boy's love and romance, so letting me know how I did would be greatly appreciated. Also, I've pretty much edited and proofread it on my own, so there are likely to be some mistakes. I'm not too good with that sort of thing, but I try my best. If any really glaring errors are noticed, please inform me so I can fix them.

About the title. I looked up some information on homosexuality in Japan and found an interesting wiki article on the various words used to describe that type of relationship. One of them was wakashudo. Used mostly for stories involving samurai and their under aged apprentices, but I liked the sound of the direct translation of the word and thought that it fit the story in a broader sense. I don't know, I might change it later. The original title was going to be Kyou-chan in Wonderland, but I thought that was to campy.

I take a lot of liberties when writing and a lot of information that would have been nice to have for this piece doesn't exist for Fruits Basket or is really hard (read: impossible) to find. It's been a while since I read the series and I don't really intend to ever reread it for my own personal reasons, so a lot of stuff is based off my own memories, a little bit of mild research done to refresh said memories, and my own imagination took care of the rest. Oh well, altering events and details is what fanfiction is all about, right?

The last multi-chapter story I did I added mini stories at the end of the chapters, but for this one I decided to put up deleted or altered bits at the end of the relevant chapters. Like deleted scenes on a DVD. I find little extras like that fun and thought I'd share a little bit of the process I went through writing this. So be on the look out for them if you want.

Hope you all enjoy. -Spina