Disclaimer- I do not own Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya does. Enjoy

Chapter 1. Decision one or Decision Two

Kyo slouched against his assigned desk in the nice secluded corner. His bag had been haphazardly hooked as it hung against the strong iron frame nailed across his desk by only a thinning shoulder strap. It was finally fourth period - his history class as well as his dozing class.

He didn't waste any time getting to it either - he even ditched lunch early just so he could have a few more minutes of rest. He was feeling exhausted after a huge banter with Yuki in the morning and then an unfortunate encounter with the chatty rabbit during passing period and then enduring lunch which consisted of continuous jabs for fights from Haru. There was so much of his cousins he could take before he crumbled under their individual attributes of narcissism, loud-mouthed annoyingness, and just plain lewd aggressiveness.

Kyo could already feel his breath smoothing out into that ethereal like slumber. Only a few more moments of silence and he would have fallen through into the land of unconsciousness; sadly, those few moments were breached.

"Hey, Kyo!" The door slid across the olden frame and a pair of footsteps came in. "You sure are early today."

Cracking one eye open, Kyo saw two of his classmates enter. "Shut up, Kangta. I want to sleep."

The cat proceeded to close his eyes and hoped that his classmates would get the gist.

There was a good-natured laugh that passed through the air before there was a sound of metal scraping against the floor.

Trying to ignore the feeling of being watched, Kyo tried to fall back into a light doze. A few moments ticked by and he still felt it. Grumbling, Kyo snapped his feral eyes open. His two male classmates' smiles widen at the sight of his lucidness.

It seemed in the time that Kyo had his eyes closed, they had managed to pull up two chairs close to his desk and were now straddling it backwards with both of their elbows propped lightly against Kyo's desk.

"What?" Kyo snapped.

"Ah, come on, Kyo." Sato patted Kyo's arm lightly. "Class hasn't even started yet and you're already trying to sleep."

"I'm tired. Go away."

They smiled- probably amused at Kyo's un-shameful lack of tact and bluntness.

"Come on, Kyo. Don't be so cold." Kangta teased. Kangta slightly reminded Kyo of Shigure. Great, another attribute of another cousin that he had to bare today. This was worse though. Here was the characteristic of his cousin without the physical embodiment of his cousin here but instead it was enthralled on somebody else. Kyo sighed heavily at the notion.

"Besides," Kangta continued. "We probably won't see each other a lot next semester."

"What do you mean?" Kyo quirked his eyebrows up in curiosity.

Sato gave Kyo a funny look. "Semester is about to end, remember? Haven't you picked your class schedule yet?"

"Shit." Even with that said, Kyo did not budge from his seat to find the nearest computer. He was annoyed with being late but he wasn't too worried. He had completed almost all the required courses and he was quite sure that those seats were still open. He could sign up later. He just needed a few electives and Kyo was quite confident those wouldn't be too hard to find.

Kangta and Sato laughed.

"I'll just do it later."

"Well Kangta and I are going to do Office Aid."

Kyo smirked. "Somebody's delivery boy."

Sato sighed. "Yeah but we already have three off periods so we needed something. Besides, the office is so filled up with other Aids that most of the time you just sit on your ass and watch."

Kangta nodded happily at Sato's words. Kangta was not up to being an Office Aid either but after hearing multiple lax stories from upperclassman on how they didn't do much but just sit and watch, he had wholeheartedly signed up. Kangta was quite the lazy bum at heart and was proud of it.

"Really?" Kyo was still skeptical. He did not want to go in there believing that he wasn't going to do anything but end up as somebody's messenger boy.

"I ain't shitting you, Kyo." Sato gave Kyo a lusty wink. "So, you going to do it with us or what?"

"Fine. But if I end up as somebody's mail boy I'll personally break your legs."

Sato smiled.

"Whatever about school." Kangta drew out a pack of old cards from his pants pocket. "Let's play some cards. I'll definitely beat you this time, Kyo."

Finally rising into an appropriate position, Kyo was feeling slightly rejuvenated at the sound of a match. "You're on."

He dealt the cards.

The chair in the counselor office's squeaked as the owner of the said chair leaned against it heavily. It was that time of the year, again - approving schedules, setting appointments, signing waivers forms, crossing out and rejecting classes for students.

He really hated this time of year. It was such a tedious job that he, as counselor, had to do. He swiveled his chair away from the scattered paper on his desk before crowning his head up in the head rest and massaging his strained eyes.

Opening his eyes again, he found himself staring at his strong trophy case that bore down upon him. Without meaning to, he found his eyes glazing over and reminiscing about his famous day as a swim coach at this high school. With his strict régime with the kids, he had brought them to nationals on multiple occasions. Of course, he had worked with a strong batch of hard-working kids.

Over the years, most of the children here seem to be more interested on land sports like soccer, football, basketball, and volleyball. Because of it, their swimming team had dwindled miserably. And the ones there weren't all that great, no matter how hard the current coach roughed them. Needlessly to say, the current coach, Kenji, wasn't all that great but he personally saw to it to improve his coaching style.

Kenzo found himself absentmindedly rubbing his bald head. He was getting old and if he had a choice he would be coaching until he croaked but his dear wife was quite adamant about him taking on a less strenuous job after she received his skyrocketed blood pressure results.

A couple of months ago, the principal had waltzed in his office complaining how their swimming team was going down the drain. He knew that was the Principal's subtle way into asking him to coach again. Kenzo shook his head but smiled. Though he couldn't do it anymore, it was nice to still be prided over.

There was a dinging sound from his computer that was quickly followed up by a window popping up. It was another email from a student asking for a schedule change. He sighed. Another problematic email to his already cluttered inbox.

Popping his knuckles, he picked up his pen and clicked it open. He had only approved ten schedules before he was interrupted with a knock.

"Mr. Higa." His assistant walked in clad with two manila envelope.

"Ah, Ms. Sanijia." He put his pen down, glad for a small distraction. "How may I help you?"

"Two new students were added to the Office Aid List."

"Two?" Kenzo frowned at that number. "I thought all the spots for Office Aids were closed. I believe I accepted the last two the other day."

Ms. Sanijia stood firm and pushed up her glasses professionally. "It seems that something went wrong with the system. It did not close automatically when all the seats filled up."

"That's quite problematic." Kenzo leaned back in his chair again. It really wasn't all that problematic - he just wanted to cover up the gaping silence.

"It would be wrong for us to reject them after the system accepted them."

"Well, I guess we can accept one more." Kenzo pursed his lips. The school had recently cut back the number of Office Aids after numerous complaints from other counselors that the Aids didn't do anything but take up space and play amongst each other. The sudden cut in Aids must have been too fast for the system to monitor.

"Which one?"

He waved his hand in a lazed motion. "Whoever signed up first."

Ms. Sanijia took out the envelopes and examined the time print of when each schedule was submitted.

"Oh, it seems that Kyo Sohma will be our last Office Aid then." Ms. Sanijia said as she read the name in the top corner.

Kenzo quickly sat back up as he heard the name. "Who? Kyo Sohma?"

"Yes." She gave him peculiar look at why he was so suddenly interested. He immediately made a gesture for her to hand the paper over to him. He scanned the paper and true to her words, in black print was the name 'Kyo Sohma.'

"What other elective classes are open, Ms. Sanijia?"

"Dance and swimming."

"That's excellent!" Kenzo was now very excited. Like any great counselor, he knew some of the students' prowess quite well. The Sohmas were quite notorious for their expertise in sports. My, it was only about a year ago when there was a huge commotion on how fast Yuki and Kyo Sohma ran during one of their outdoor marathon. As far as he knew, they had rejected all the pulls into track.

He didn't think much about it then. But after a while, especially after Kyo entered the school, there were always hushed words of zeal, jealousy, and awe about how the Sohmas boys performed in gym - whether it is soccer, football, or tennis. It seems they were capable in every sport.

Though they did not do swimming in gym class, Kenzo was quite confident that with Kyo's excellent record with sports, he would be an excellent swimmer, as well. The principal's words from earlier this month came to his now one tracked mind.

It's a shame, Kenzo. We're doing well in all our sports but swimming… we haven't even gone to nationals for swimming in over a decade! It's a shame, really. When you were coaching, it was golden. Kenji is working hard, but some of those kids, I hate to say, lack talent. If only we could get Kenji a talented bunch to work with. My, I really would like another trophy from the swim team. Shame, shame.

"Mr. Higa?"

"Oh." He had forgotten himself there. "Who's the other student?"

Ms. Sanijia pulled out the second envelope. "Sakura Miyagi."

"Let her be the Office Aid."

"What?" Ms. Sanijia faltered her professional exterior at the sudden turn. "But what about Kyo Sohma? He was first."

"Ms. Sanijia, I would like you to schedule an appointment for me with Kyo Sohma."

"Yes, sir." She quickly gathered her things and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Ms. Sanijia," She paused at the doorway. "If anybody ever asks, Sakura Miyagi signed up earlier than Kyo Sohma. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good."

She left.

He reclined back in his chair and stared up at his trophy set.

He would really like another trophy up there, too.

It was in math class, the last class for the day, when he was called. He was doodling along the edge of his notebook. He was finishing the last touches of a small rat trapped under a candy jar. Atop of the clear jar was a cat, licking its paw contently.

There was a knock on the door, but he didn't bother looking up. He was shocked out of his musing when the teacher called his name. After the first week here, his math teacher had stopped trying to call on him to embarrass him for not paying attention. Why? Well, Kyo was not easily fazed with embarrassment so there was a loss of fun. Two, Kyo was able to answer all the questions quite easily. Contrary to what the rat believes, the cat was quite smart.

So, when Kyo craned his neck to look at his teacher, he was expecting to wipe the smugness off his teacher's face by answering another question but there was no question scrawled on the board.

"Sohma." His teacher stuck his hand out which contained a small yellow slip. "Go to the counselor's office."

What the hell did I do this time?

Kyo ambled awkwardly toward Mr. Higa's room. He paused in front of the door as his rifled through his memories. After a thorough examination over the past week, he still couldn't figure out what he had done wrong.

"Whatever." Kyo snorted. He knocked the door three times for good measure and paused for a vocal answer.

The door opened with a loud swoosh and presented a very happy looking Mr. Higa.

"Sohma! Welcome."

"Uhh...hi." Kyo was startled at the happiness. Am I in trouble? What's with the happy attitude?

He patted Kyo on the back before leading him into his office and shutting the door behind them.

Kenzo gestured for Kyo to sit before taking a seat himself.

Kyo took his seat stiffly. Unconsciously, he balled his fist.

Kenzo pointed to a jar of peppermint. "Would you like some?"

"I don't like those." Kyo regretted saying that as soon as he said it. Damn, I should have just taken some.

Kenzo wasn't phase by the words. He just nodded and smiled. "You must be wondering why you're here."

Kyo opted to remain quiet this time.

"You signed up for Office Aid, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Unfortunately, all the spots were taken so you need to choose another class."

"What? But the system let me in." Kyo grumbled defiantly.

Kenzo shook his head. "There was a glitch in the system, Sohma. I'm sorry but you need to pick another elective."

"Can't I just get another off period?"

"You already have three next semester - we can't give you more than that."

Forgetting his manners, Kyo sighed before slouching in his seat. Annoyed, and knowing that he couldn't pour his frustration on the counselor without getting in trouble, he started to pluck roughly on the small black button that hung on his sleeve. "Now what?"

"We have Dancing for Beginners open."

Kyo's eyes bulged in disbelief. "Dancing? I hate dancing!"

"Yes, many students do." Kenzo was very pleased with the reaction. If Kyo hated dance as much as he claimed then hopefully he'll accept his next offer. Kenzo leaned across the table and in a hush voice said, "And I don't blame them."

"What?" Kyo was surprised with the sudden divulge in truth and from a counselor of this school no less. Shouldn't he be advocating it?

Kenzo shook his head. "The dance instructor makes them do such ridiculous routines. It's kind of embarrassing. And our nurse is always complaining about how she always gets so many students injured from dance class."

"Students?" Kyo swallowed. "This is coed dancing, right?"

"Yes, but it's dreadful."

Crap. Dancing is one thing but dancing with girls is even worst. What if I transform? Shit, shit, shit.

"You really can't give me another off period? It's my last year anyway."

"We can't. You're required by the law to be in school for a certain amount of hours."

"I just can't take this class though!" In his bout of persistent passion, Kyo had ripped the black button out of his uniform without meaning too. They both watched it slip from his grip and roll a few feet away from them.

"Sorry." Kyo got out of his chair and went to retrieve it.

As Kenzo watched Kyo bend to get the button distractedly, he asked a very vital question. "Sohma, can you swim?"

"Yeah." Kyo replied without much thought before he processed what he just said. Kyo snapped up straight so fast that Kenzo was surprised he didn't get whiplash. "Why?"

"We have a swimming class."

Button forgotten on the floor, Kyo went back to his previous chair. "Swimming? I can't do that either! I hate water!"

That was not a reply Kenzo was looking for. This was going to be harder than he thought. Without much ado, Kenzo quickly pulled out Kyo's schedule from one of his drawers.

"Listen, Sohma," Kenzo clicked his pen several times before writing two course names on Kyo's schedule. The first course was dance and the second was swimming. "You need to pick between the two. These are the only classes left. Pick wisely."

Kyo groaned before flinging himself against the back of his chair. His head thunked loudly against the metal frame of the chair. Kyo stared up at the ceiling and noted that there were hundreds of thousands of little circles in it.

"Sohma, if I were you, I would pick swimming. We have a great swim team. We've even won nationals before!"

Kyo remained unresponsive to Kenzo's boast.

"We have never had a student complain about the swimming class. It's enjoyable."

Without taking his eyes off the ceiling, Kyo asked, "Is it a coed swimming pool?"

Kenzo found it quite odd that Kyo kept asking whether or not it was coed.

"No. The girls and boys swim team are kept separate."

Kyo's brows furrowed.

"The nurse told me this one time that somebody broke their foot in dance. She said it wasn't the first time this has happened though, she..."

Kyo drowned out Kenzo's bashing as he tried to collect himself and think this decision through. Which one weighed heavier? He either chose dance and risk getting their curse discovered and then face Akito's fiery or pick swimming and face that horrid thing that he hated most. In Kyo's opinion, that was quite a hard choice.

"And the Principal was so proud when we brought that swimming trophy home. He even said..."

Kyo gazed at the hundreds of thousands of holes. There was one hole in peculiar that had an odd shape compared to the others. Maybe a termite had gotten into it and chewed it out. He sighed.

"And when it counted most, the girl slipped and the pyramid crashed. The dance instructor had to call the ambulance and..."

Out of all the students that went to Kaibara High, why did he have to be the one stuck with this sucky ultimatum?

There were three clicks produced by Kenzo's hefty pen.

"So, which one will it be, Sohma?" Kenzo's pen hovered over the two courses evenly as he waited for an answer. "One dance or two swimming."

One class had girls in it and the other one didn't. One option had Akito's fiery in it and the other one probably didn't. One option had a dreadful swimming pool and the other one didn't. Which one? Which one?

"Sohma." Kenzo prompted.

Never in his life would he do this willingly. He hated this damn school more than ever now and this is just when he was starting to have a touch of liking with the place.

The shit I do for this damn family and this damn curse.

"What's your decision?"

Kyo shut his eyes and exhaled tightly.

"Do I have to wear speedos?"

Kenzo smiled.

The second course was circled.

A/N: Well, that didn't really come out how I wanted it too. But none of my writing never comes out as planned. *Sigh.*

So, what do you think? You like? You hate? Want to vomit?

So, this might come out as a yaoi. I'm not sure yet. Tell me if you want Yaoi!

Oh, also. I'm not trying to offend anyone in dance or anything. I think dancing is totally cool! ^^

So, who likes the title of this story? Would do you think about it? Did it catch your attention? Initially, I was going to call it "Sexy Uniform", then I changed it to "In the Nude", but then I changed it to "Topless" but changed it again and again. Personally, I'm not too sure about the title for this but I'll just leave it for now. I might change it later though.

Review, favorite, follow and I might continue if I feel like it or I might just drop the story.

Anyway, please R&R. Reviews inspire me and make me happy. No flames please. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

12/23/2013