What Now?

"Kyo, watch out!" I exclaimed as I stumbled over my own two feet yet again and toppled down three-and-a-half steps, landing on Kyo and causing us both to collapse. "I'm so sorry, Kyo!" I said. "Would you like me to get you a saucer of milk or something?" He hissed at me. "Okay, I get it! Sorry!"

Poof. I shrieked and turned away from the bright orange fog that shielded the naked Kyo from anyone who could potentially be watching. I suppose that was I sort of defense mechanism nature had given all the Sohma members of the Chinese Zodiac, plus the cat, of course. Whenever they turned into their respective animals, they were cloaked in dense mist, therefore allowing them to have a chance to escape before any mere mortals such as myself could see that they'd turned into animals. And the same happened when they changed back into humans.

"Jeez, Tohru," said Kyo irritably, fully dressed, standing, and stretching his arms high up to the ceiling. "Watch where you're goin', will ya? I don't want that to happen anymore." He didn't want to transform the way he had whenever I hugged him over the past few years, is what he meant. We only had a month before our high school graduation, Kyo hadn't beaten Yuki in a fight yet, and he was still technically the Cat in the Zodiac. I had figured out how to free most of the Sohmas from the curse, but there was a slightly different solution for each person, depending on their animal and personality. The only people who were still left were Kyo, Yuki, Shigure, and Hatori. I had almost figured out Hatori and Shigure's special saying, but with Yuki and Kyo it was still hopeless.

That's what the remedy was. If the member of the Zodiac heard a certain phrase uttered by someone they truly cared about, they would be free from the curse. Akito always sensed when one of her slaves was released, and she got ANGRY. So much so that the Sohmas finally had her locked up in a psych ward. It was the only way they were able to stop her from going on a killing spree, looking for me. But if I didn't save Kyo within four weeks, it was going to be too late. Akito had been behaving quit nicely for a while, and there was a date set for her release if she was still good: The day of graduation.

I was so scared, and not even for me, but for what was going to happen to everyone else. Or at least the people who were still under Akito's control. She would be able to do horrible things to them and get away with it. I could walk away from the Sohma household any time I liked and disappear, never to be seen again by any of them. But I wasn't going to do that. They were all my friends. I could never do that to them, just like I could never do it to Hana or Uo.

"Sorry," I apologized again. "I suppose I just tripped over my own two feet."

"Yeah, again." Kyo chuckled, and before we knew it we were engaged in a laughing fit that could rival any other on the planet.

"What are you two doing up so early?" Yuki mumbled a bit incoherently, stumbling down the stairs and nearly falling on top of me, almost causing another fiasco.

Kyo and I looked at each other, and then at Yuki, still clad in his pajamas. "We're getting ready for school, rat." Kyo was the one who finally spoke up. (Could you tell?) "What about you? You're usually the first one ready. Why aren't you today?" he sneered.

In the blink of an eye, Yuki's fist shot out and hit Kyo square in the jaw, sending him reeling to the floor. Kyo immediately jumped up and tensed for battle, but Yuki was already half-asleep again.

I did want to know why Yuki was still in his PJs—which were really adorable, by the way. They had tiny little mice all over them, dressed in bright red soldier's uniforms and banging on drums— so I asked him, "Yuki, why are you dressed like that? You look like you want to go straight back up to bed!"

"I do, and I am!" he told me. Then he addressed Kyo. "Today is Saturday, you stupid cat. You didn't wake Miss Honda up and make her get ready for school for no reason, did you? Idiot."

"No, I didn't WAKE her UP! She was down here long before I was, so shut your pie hole, you damn rat!" Kyo hollered.

Yuki just put his "Whatever" face on and sleepily ascended the stairs, presumably back to his room so he could sleep some more.

"Kyo, would you like me to make you some breakfast?" I asked cheerily, hoping to distract him so he would go after Yuki in a murderous rage. I could imagine smoke coming out of his ears, making his head look like a big ball of flames. I giggled at the mental image.

"What are you laughin' at?" Kyo glared at me. Now he looked like a human who grew cat ears. Come to think of it, he looks like that a lot when he's mad. And he's made most of the time.

"Nothing." I laughed one last little time before starting to (try to) shove him into the kitchen. "Come on, I'll make us a nice, healthy, delicious, nutritious meal!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay."

He sat down at the table and fiddled around with his thumbs while I ran around the kitchen, toasting this and buttering that. "Hey, Tohru," he finally said. "You know, the whole time we've been living here together, I never really found out some little things about you. I guess I'd like to know them now."

I smiled softly at him. "What kinds of little things, Kyo?"

"Oh, I dunno." He leaned back in his chair and rested his head in his hands with his feet on the table. "What kind of music do you like? What's your favorite subject in school? What do you like to do in your spare time?"

I was happy he was finally taking an interest in me other that just as that girl that he protects all the time. Kyo always made me feel safe. "Well, I like almost all kinds of music, especially pop. My favorite subject is art because I can express myself. And what I do in my spare time…. Well, you'll have to figure that one out for yourself, Kyo. You know me, so it shouldn't be too hard."

I set a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of him and then fixed my own plate. I also brought out the carton of milk and two glasses. I knew he would want more anyways, so rather than rush between the table and the refrigerator five times in the course of ten minutes, I would leave it out.

Surprisingly, Kyo didn't push me to tell him what I had meant or what it really was that I did in my spare time. Truthfully, I spent any extra time I could with him. Kyo's smile—when it actually shows up—is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. He had so many of the same qualities as my mother: Strength, bravery, kindness, and neither of them had ever been afraid of speaking their minds. Not to mention that their hair color was almost exactly the same!

We polished off our breakfasts pretty quickly, with Kyo draining the rest of the milk. But we always had at least three cartons on hand, so it was no big deal. We looked at each other and realized that we had a whole day to do whatever we wanted. But we had no idea what we wanted to do!

I knew that I wanted to do it together though. I grinned at him impishly and said, "So. What now?"