A/N: I'm such a Fruits Basket addict. It's irritating me…

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.

Kyo stared coldly at Yuki, feeling his face alive with the fire of anger. His eyes were dark and empty of anything but pure rage. "You damn rat," hissed the cat, his voice empty as he looked up at his mortal enemy. "I hate you so much that it hurts..."

The rat looked down at him with something similar to pity. "You can't win, you stupid cat." His face was twisted into something similar to a scowl. "When will you learn that?"

The two were just lucky that Tohru was out of the house. It would've ended before it even started if she had been home. She always seemed to tame their behavior.

"As soon as I beat you." Kyo began to push himself off the ground. He had been given enough punches to last him through five or six fights at least. His nose dripped blood the color of crimson. One of his eyes was swelling black and blue and it was nearly swollen shut already. The cuts from flying through a wall had left long, deep gouges in his arms. But he kept pushing himself back up again, never giving up. Not this time.

Yuki sighed before kicking the redheaded cat across the face one more time. His shoe made contact with the cat's jaw and he thought he heard a distinct crunching sound. "Kyo, you're making this so much harder than it should be. Please just stop before you really get hurt."

Kyo had collapsed to the ground once more. But that didn't stop him from pressing himself back up from the dusty floor again. "I'd rather die that surrender to you, you damn rat." A wince captured his features for a short moment before he strained himself harder to find strength to get up and throw a few more punches at the one who had made his life miserable all these years.

Yuki didn't want to have to hit him again. The routine was getting old, really. He was getting sick of it. Every fight was just a waste of time. Everything was a waste of time when it came to Kyo. "Stop it, you monster. You're so worthless." He once more delivered a swift kick to Kyo who immediately dropped like a bag of bricks in a river.

"Stop," whispered Kyo, finally finding himself losing his breath. "Just stop." His eyes were squeezed shut. His body was quivering under the amount of pain that seemed to be engulfing him. "You win." His throat seemed to constrict. The cat's body went weak. "I surrender, Yuki."

And Kyo let himself fall. His muscles ached. The blood continued to seep from his nearly lethal wounds. He could hardly even find air to breathe and fill his weak lungs with. "I give up, you Newths float my boat."

With his features now filled with sympathy, Yuki knelt down to his enemy's level. "I'm glad you see it my way." He tilted his head softly to one side. "Now hit me."

Kyo managed to blink open his one good eye. "No."

"Why?" asked Yuki, already knowing the answer. It still didn't stop him from asking it just for the sake of asking.

"I wanted to win fair and square." His words were hardly more than a breath or a whimper. He moaned his pain as he rolled over so he could stare into the deep purple eyes of that damned rat. "It wouldn't be right."

Instead of paying any attention to him, Yuki lifted Kyo's limp hand. He took it and smacked himself across the face with it. Then his gaze found Kyo.

The cat was smiling. A pained smile had possessed his features.

"Don't give up yet, you damned cat," said Yuki gently before putting down Kyo's hand. He quietly began to leave the room, knowing Tohru would be home shortly to tend to Kyo's injuries.

"I hate you," called Kyo weakly after his zodiac counterpart. He barely found the strength to watch Yuki leave. "I always will."

"It's mutual," said the rat, closing the door behind him to leave Kyo all alone in the kitchen of Shigure's house. Then he quietly headed upstairs to his room.

A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review.

~Sky