A/N:

Er… this is a challenge fic I wrote.

Merry early Christmas, HanaTohruShipperMorgan!

NOTE: Yes, the curse is broken in this fic.

Puddle Jumper

It wasn't the most pleasant day outside. In fact, it appeared the big, wide, open world had opened the sky just to spite him; he'd really wanted to go into the yard and train, but it looked as if someone higher up had better plans for the ex-Cat.

'Ugh,'

Kyo couldn't remember a time when he actually liked the rain, or any water. If you want to get technical, the orange-haired teen didn't even like taking showers that much. Maybe that's why when Tohru covers her nose and urges him to shower, he often is smelling like shit-,

"KYO!"

Tohru's high-pitched holler pulled Kyo out of his boring self-talk. He lazily sat up and looked out the window, but was not greeted with the usual sense of dizziness that frequently occurred when he was confronted with rain. Come to think of it, this would have to be the first time he'd had to endure the wet droplets since the curse was lifted.

'That's weird,'

"Kyo! Come downstairs! I made your favourite!"

Upon hearing the word 'favourite', an intoxicating smell of cod and rice passed his nostrils. Kyo sighed, 'Tohru must have figured I wasn't feeling well because of the rain,'

"I'm coming, calm down," it took a lot of effort for the ex-Cat to heave himself off his bed and into a standing position; when the curse had been lifted, many of Kyo's cat-like abilities had been taken from him. It was mainly his reflexes and his ability to jump from rather high up and land, unharmed.

Oh yes, Kyo had learned the hard way about that one.

'Damn third-story window,' he pushed the door open and wandered down the stairs. Yuki appeared to be staring at him, but he did his best to ignore it. 'How was I supposed to know I couldn't jump from it anymore?'

"Kyo, are you alright?" Shigure commented, "What are you looking at?"

The teen hadn't even realised he'd stop dead in his tracks in the middle of the room. He hadn't even realised he was staring through the partially opened door with a passion, a longing to be out there.

'Just to try it,' he told himself, 'I don't know what its like to go in water and enjoy it… unless it's a shower…'

Kyo's mind faulted completely as he picked up his feet and roamed outdoors. Nervously, he outstretched his hand and allowed it to become completely soaked by the heavy down pour that was now raging in front of his eyes.

"Ah, K-Kyo!" Tohru went to rush to his aid, but a hand on her shoulder made her stop. "Yuki, please! He might catch a cold out there!"

"Let him be, Miss Honda," the ex-Rat knew how it felt to try new things after the curse had been lifted. It was an awkward and new experience for Kyo, and Yuki wished for him to complete it. "Besides, I've already started filming; no point in ending it here."

"Oh…" was the soft reply he received. Tohru gradually sat down, using the umbrella in her hands to tap her leg slightly.

Back with Kyo, it wasn't long before he withdrew his hand and replaced it with his whole body. The cool droplets of water drenched the teen quickly, but he expected that. He began to walk in circles, tipping his head back and allowing the rain to splatter across his face.

"Tohru," the brunette was surprised to find Kyo staring at her from outside, pointing at the umbrella in her hand. "I'm wet."

Tohru stood up quickly and leant against the doorframe, reaching her hand out so she didn't get wet like Kyo. Indeed, he was. So wet, in fact, from the range between Tohru's eyes and Kyo's chest, she could see through his t-shirt. She blushes and looked up instead, meeting Kyo's eyes with a smile.

"H-Here you go," she handed it to him and he nodded.

Kyo opened the umbrella and, to everyone's surprise, didn't use it. Instead, he began to twirl it in his hand, throwing it up in the air as he did a little bit of a shimmy.

"Dear Lord," the ex-Dog could barely contain the laughter. "What has this world come to?"

"Shut up, Shigure," Yuki muttered. "All I can hear in this video is you. If Kyo does something crazy and ridiculous, I want to hear that, not your loud mouth."

"Ah, yes, it is a special occasion, isn't it?" Shigure realised, as Kyo began to skip around. "I think all that water has gone to his head."

"Tohru," she hadn't moved from her spot on the doorframe. She was silently watching him move around, but hearing her name snapped her out of it. "Come and make mud cakes with me."

"W-What!?" she began to flail, her eyes spinning. "I c-couldn't do that! I might catch a cold or bump into you!"

Upon hearing refusal, the ex-Cat grabbed Tohru and tugged her into the rain, her feet squelching in the mud as she landed.

"Kyo, please-!" he grabbed on to her waist, earning a 'squee!' of surprise. "I don't think this is a good idea!"

He shoved her slightly, just enough for her to land on her knees.

"C'mon. I never got to do this as a kid," he began to pile mud into a mountain shape, the feeling of brown ooze squashing through his fingers sent a chill up his spine.

Yuki adjusted his cell phone, zooming the camera in on the priceless look on Kyo's face at this point in time.

"Oh… well… it wouldn't hurt," Tohru smiled, also gathering mud into small piles. "I'm already soaking wet anyway."

'If only she knew how dirty that sounded,' Kyo collected a large ball in his hand and stood up, walking towards the house. He had noticed quite a while ago that Yuki was filming him and decided to get him back.

"Eat mud, dammit!" Kyo shouted, before hurling the goop towards the Prince's perfect portrait. "Right on target,"

It was true. The mud ball had smacked Yuki right in the face. "Uugh, yuk!"

As Yuki stormed off, Kyo made his way back out to a stunned Tohru. He simply smirked at her, knowing all too well she wanted to go and see if he was alright.

"Go," he shooed her, "It's okay."

By the time she had walked away, Shigure had also followed, leaving Kyo to sing and dance all he liked in his now-muddy surroundings. Despite all this, Kyo opted to jump in puddles.

.xxx.

Later that night, Kyo could be found wrapped deep within his blanket. They'd had to call Hatori after his feet started to turn purple and he couldn't stop sneezing.

"It seems that despite the fact the curse has been lifted, Kyo's sense of moral indecency hasn't." Yuki was still a little sour about getting mud to his face, as you can probably tell.

"Shut your mouth!" Kyo muttered angrily, curling deeper into his blanket cocoon.

"How unfortunate," Tohru sighed sadly, "Trying something for the first time and getting sick…"

"And the last time!" The ex-Cat snapped, before having a wheezing attack. "Someone remind me NEVER to go in the rain again!"

Everyone sweat dropped; 'Since when did normal people go and stand in the pouring rain, anyway?'

And he never did.

A/N:

Yay!

The ending was pretty crappy, I thought.

But that's okay, I guess.

Hope you liked it, HanaTohruShipperMorgan…