Conversation: Contest

Part Eleven- Contagious Concepts- A concept for my each of my favorite Furuba pairings. They take place after the reception of Tohru and Kyo's wedding (they're 22, it took him awhile to get the guts to ask her...). It's a moonlit night and there is something contagious in the air.

I'll be posting them as separate one-shots, because the ratings will change between them.

If you enjoy this one, please read my Kakeru x Komaki fic called 'Conference', my Arisa x Kureno fic called 'Content', Yuki x Machi fic called 'Confident', my Kisa x Hiro fic called 'Confess', my Hana x Kazuma fic called 'Congratulations', my Hatori x May fic called 'Concern', my Akito x Shigure fic called 'Conquer', my Ritsu x Mitsuru fic called 'Contender', my Nao x Kimi fic called "Conversation: Conceit", my Momiji fic called "Conversation: Concentric", my Aaya x Mine fic called 'Congruent', and my Rin x Haru fic called 'Confront'.

Disclaimer- Furuba isn't mine.

R&R! I'd love to know what you think. No flames please, flames hurt. But kind criticism is appreciated. And this is my interpretation, so if we interpret differently, let's not fight, okay?

This is the last of my little drabble-thingys that I'm writing before I finish up with Kyo and Tohru.

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"You're an athlete. You shouldn't smoke." The words didn't really come out right but she didn't care. She was too busy hating the silence that surrounded the two of them leaning against the side wall of the ryokan. The party inside was getting too much for her head.

Honestly. She'd been there first. He didn't have to look at her like she was being bitchy. Was she being bitchy? What was going on? She felt confused. Nothing made sense.

He was looking at her, his eyes the same color as his terrible haircut and she was tempted to ridicule him for that too. Nothing clever came to mind. Why was she trying to pick a fight with him anyways? She was smarter than this. Her mouth felt gross and the urge to spit was nearly overwhelming. Imagining toughness coming off her skin like sun's rays she looked back, perceiving herself as very indignant. She overshot her dramatic turn and stumbled.

"You work with children. You shouldn't drink until you can't walk." She was a bit too far under to be as ashamed as she would normally be. He was right, of course, and she really wished she could imagine a smirk hanging from his lips like the cigarette so she could punch him but it wasn't meant to be. He took another drag and spit the smoke in her face until she was coughing.

"I just can't seem to quit. It's just one of those things from the old days."

She grunted. "Old days? Whaddya mean?" She flinched, listening to her speech slur. What was she thinking, getting screaming drunk at a wedding like some fat old uncle? It was beyond undignified.

"Didn't Kazuma ever tell you? I used to be somewhat of a tough guy. Karate cleaned me up good though, but I doubt I'll ever kick the habit." Kunimitsu smiled nostalgically, remembering days on a motorcycle and nights picking clumsy fistfights in back alleys.

Kagura frowned and shook her head. No, Shihan never mentioned anything like that, but he wasn't the type of guy to define people by their pasts. She couldn't be surprised. But Kunimitsu? Organized, polite-talking, 4-year-old-white-belt-teaching, actually-renews-his-CPR-training-card-Kunimitsu-Tomoda a tough guy? She almost laughed.

"Yeah right. And…" She swayed, suddenly dizzy. "…Kyo is in love with…" Her muscles felt unnaturally rubbery like cheap octopus. Her feet weren't doing what she wanted them to do to get her balance back. "…me." Her sarcastic comment was lost in the sound of her thud as she was caught by two hard-muscled arms. The deceptively straight-laced martial artist had plenty of time to read her downward spiral and position himself in such a way that she wouldn't hit the dirt.

"Is that what this is about? Kyo?" They were standing side by side after she'd recovered slightly and she was wearing his warm suit jacket. It puzzled her.

"Why are you wearing a suit if this is a traditional wedding and you always wear…" She stopped, realizing she'd never seen him in a kimono either. He didn't look too bad in the suit at all but she got the amusing image of the over-eager karate-boy being some kind of yakuza in his dark outfit.

"Eh? I don't own anything nice enough besides this. We don't have to talk about Kyo if you don't want to. Are you sure you don't want to go inside?"

She declined his offer. She needed the air, though it was not as cool as she wanted it to be. He seemed to think she was colder than she felt- very warm in fact, the alcohol had taken care of that. She didn't remember how many, or what, she'd had. Sake? Beer? Champagne? She couldn't complain. Now if only she could stop being so drunk…

"Y'think there'll be a full moon tonight?" She didn't really know what she was saying. "I lost my virginity on a night with a full moon." She'd been drunk then, too. "Wanna hear 'bout it?" She giggled to herself. He seemed shocked.

"Um. No thanks." Her face fell. That was all she'd thought of. She didn't want him to go away and leave her here because then she'd have to give him his nice warm coat back and be all by herself to wonder why she was upset enough to go get roaring drunk in the first place.

"Fine. You tell me a story then."

He murmured an assent, though it may have been a protest. Her ears felt full of cotton. There was a pause as he considered, his cigarette turning to ash between his fingers.

"Once upon a time…"

"There lived an old man and old woman…" She continued for him, rewarded with a glare.

"Listen, if you don't want me to-"

"No, no, I'll stop." Her mouth mushed everything together and closed up tight.

"Once upon a time there lived a little girl whose parents liked to fight." She scrunched up her face. She didn't like this story. "But they still loved her. However, her frustrations grew until she had an uncontrollable temper and no outlet for her youthful energy. So, her family sent her with all the little boys in her family to learn how to fight with her hands."

Kagura nodded sleepily. She could relate. She wanted Kunimitsu to say something about how she felt left out, being the only girl.

"She was good at it, very strong and stubborn and it was then that she fell in love. Unfortunately, the little boy was destined to fall in love with another, and she grew up, forcing herself to believe he could love her back."

"I don't like this story." She mumbled as she swayed. He pulled her down on the ground to sit beside him, their backs resting against the wooden panels of the ryokan wall. Kagura felt so sleepy, her mind fuzzed by the alcohol and the stress and the relief and the melancholy. Inside and out, she was nothing but exhausted and it drew her head down to the warm shoulder next to her. She didn't notice Kunimitsu's tiny freeze. He was taking pity on her.

"S'fine. Go on."

"She told herself she was over him. She told anyone who would listen that she was over him. It was easy to do because she couldn't bring herself to hate the girl he was destined to fall in love with. Learning from her mistakes, she went into the world to find out who she really was, but her heart broke quietly as she had to give away her first love- without a fight, without a sound, with a happy face." His words got quieter and quieter as he noticed her eyes sliding shut, closing down and her breathing slowing to a peaceful, if alcohol-induced, sleep.

One tear dripped from the peak of her nose to the shoulder seam of his white button-down shirt. Kunimitsu peered at her from the corner of his eye, not turning his head so she wouldn't be disturbed, despite the fact she was drunk enough to be asleep for a good 15 hours. When next he spoke, he whispered nearly imperceptibly.

"But her mistake wasn't that she fell in love with him, or loved him too much. There just couldn't be any contest. It was that she never looked twice at any other guy. Not her classmates, not her coworkers…"

He ground his dying cigarette into the gravel by his foot.

"Or an ex-delinquent martial artist."

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My gosh it's almost over! What'll I do then?

So-- Kyo and Tohru are next with a little surprise featuring two of my favorite characters at the very end to wrap things up. And I'm a bit nervous. I'm tempted to try my hand at writing a lemon- I've written about that kind of stuff but I've never written a full-fledged one. I don't intend to make it pointless, but I'm worried I'll mess it up! Thoughts on this?

How did you like this story? Does everybody remember Kunimitsu? R&R please!