2nd Promptember fic, and my first public Furuba fic! and you know I had to write about my OT3 to rule all OT3s, no matter how silly it was.
Still haven't decided if it's an alternate post-curse thing or a no-curse AU...
The pairing: KyoxTohruxYuki, or as I like to call it, Yukyoru. I am probably the only person who ships it.
The prompt: Person B has written a song for Person A on the ukulele. Person B plays it to Person C just to get C's opinion on it. Turns out that the song is horrible. When B goes up to A with ukulele in hand and starts strumming the song, C swoops in and smashes the ukulele right before B has a chance to sing it. C tells B: "Just take 'em on a date."
"I'm not a very good singer, but…"
"I'll survive."
Yuki gave a quiet laugh, raking a hand through his hair. "Good to know."
He sat cross-legged at the end of Kyo's bed, a ukulele in his lap. Currently he was looking at it as though it might bite him. Kyo lay on his side on top of the bedsheets, knees tucked to his chest.
It was a summer morning, and they were both up early. This was unusual for Yuki, who normally did a spot-on zombie impression before his first cup of coffee. This morning, however, his fretful thoughts had him awake as the sun rose.
Kyo, on the other hand, was a naturally early riser, at least during the warmer months. He hadn't made it out of his room this morning because Yuki had showed up in his doorway and asked him for help.
So there they sat, Yuki now staring vaguely in Kyo's direction, Kyo fiddling with a loose thread on his pillowcase.
"Are you gonna play or are you just gonna sit there?"
"You closed your eyes. I thought you fell asleep."
"M'not. I listen better with my eyes closed." Aside from stretching one leg out to rest his foot against Yuki's knee, Kyo didn't move. "Go ahead."
"Okay…" Yuki cleared his throat, adjusted the ukulele, and began to play a simple, jaunty tune. Or it would be jaunty, if he could stay on key.
He's nervous. He'll work it out.
When he started to sing after the opening chords, his voice was thin and shaky. He gained confidence as he continued, enough to say he was decent. It wasn't a long song, however, which Kyo thought was for the best.
"So. What do you think? And please, Kyo, be honest."
Kyo made a contemplative noise, eyes still closed. "What degree of honesty are we talking about?"
He scrambled to sit up when a pillow hit him in the face. "Aah, okay, I'll be honest! Jeez…" Shooting a half-hearted glare at Yuki in response to his chuckles, he continued, "You can hold a tune. Just practice playing some more; there were a lot of wrong notes."
Yuki nodded, chewing on his lower lip. "Were the words all right?"
"Uh." Kyo studied the bedspread. "They were…" Cheesy? Mushy? Cliched? "Listen, Tohru will like it," he said, looking at Yuki. "I know she will. It'll be fine as long as you're confident."
Yuki smiled, a small one. "Thank you for listening."
"Yeah, sure."
"I'm going to make some tea, I think," said Yuki, getting off the bed, ukelele in hand. "Would you like some?"
Kyo shrugged.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Over tea, Kyo asked, "When are you gonna play it for her?"
"After she comes back from visiting with Arisa-san and Saki-san. I thought it could be a sort of 'welcome home' song as well."
Kyo took a drink of tea while he attempted to keep his filter activated. "Sounds like as good a plan as any."
Yuki shook his head, gazing fondly at him. "Thank you for the vote of confidence."
"Ah, you know what I mean," he said into his mug.
"I do."
#####
Tohru made her way up the path, purse swinging at her side as she walked lightly along. "Yuki-kun!" she called, spotting him on the porch. She broke into a run and met him in front of the porch steps, half-leaping to hug him.
"Yuki-kun, you're hiding something," she said with a smile at his one-armed hug.
He smiled back, nervously "How did you know?" He moved his other arm from behind his back, revealing the ukulele in his hand.
She regarded it with wide-eyed interest. "Aah… A uku– yuki– um."
"Well…" Taking her hand, he led her onto the porch. "It's for you." He let go her hand, adjusted the ukulele, and started playing.
A smile grew on Tohru's face. Over Yuki's shoulder, she saw a flash of orange hair, and her smile grew wider.
"Kyo-"
Yuki opened his mouth, ready to sing, when suddenly the ukulele left his hands.
He turned to watch Kyo crack the ukulele over the porch railing, then drop the ruined instrument into the bushes.
"–kun…"
Yuki's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Tohru's weren't much smaller.
Kyo gave a deep sigh, dusting off his hands, and said to Yuki, "Just take her on a date."
"Eh?!" she squeaked, looking from him to still-stunned Yuki. "Kyo-kun, what's going on?"
"This guy–" pointing at Yuki– "was gonna serenade you to ask you out. Only thing is, he can't write songs to save his life." He plucked the sunhat from her head to ruffle her hair.
"Like you could do any better!" Yuki stalked over to him, grabbing for his shoulder. "You said it wasn't–" Kyo's hand planted on his forehead silenced him. He gave a defeated sigh
"So here's the deal," he continued, hand still on Yuki's forehead. "Since I had to listen to it, he's taking me on the date too."
"B-b-but, you, I mean we, Yuki… Uhh…" Tohru, face flushing rapidly, took a few steps back. "Yuki-kun, I'm so happy you wanted to write a song for me!" she said after a deep breath, and tugged at Kyo to let his arm down.
Yuki was also blushing, and didn't move when her sunhat landed on his head, courtesy of Kyo.
"Of course I'd like to go on a date with you." She grabbed his hand in both of hers. "But… you're okay with Kyo-kun coming along?"
He nodded.
"I figured," Kyo muttered, face slightly pink, "that we'd all do something at some point. I'm just taking my reward for listening to that tripe."
Yuki started to laugh quietly. "You… you could have just–" He gripped Kyo's arm with one hand and Tohru's shoulder with the other as laughter took over.
Tohru started giggling too, and Kyo cracked a smile.
"You didn't need to spare my feelings," Yuki said, gasping, as he wiped his eyes.
"But you have this face you make," Kyo protested. "How could I tell you it sucked?"
"What face?" He blinked at Kyo with wide eyes and a slight pout.
"Not that face, stop. Okay, fine, it's just your face." He groaned and plunked his forehead on top of Tohru's head, putting his arms around her. "You have no idea what he's put me through while you were away."
"Kyo-kun…!" She wiggled away, laughing, and grabbed her hat off Yuki's head (Kyo placed it on his own head). "Let's go inside. I need to see what mess there is."
"Ah, not much," Kyo said, taking her hand as she took Yuki's.
"Only because I kept after him," said Yuki, leading the way.
"You've learned so well, Yuki-kun."
"Thanks to you." Kyo squeezed her hand, and Yuki nodded.
As they crossed the threshold, Tohru paused, tugging them to a stop with her. "Wait. I forgot something." Standing on tiptoe, she kissed Yuki's cheek, then Kyo's."I'm home."
Kyo smiled and pulled her into a hug, taking Yuki's hand and pulling him in too. "Welcome home."
With one arm around Tohru, the other around Kyo, Yuki echoed him. "Welcome home, Tohru."