Kyou had only ever had two best friends. By this stage in his life he could very well claim that he had many good friends, even some pleasant acquaintances. But the sacred title of 'best friend' had only ever been given out to two people, and they were very different from each other.

One was, not surprisingly, Tohru Honda. She had been the first, and so far the only girl to ever see beyond the monster that rested inside of him. At first he had not been very fond of her. She was an outsider, and most outsiders were unable to understand him. Plus, she was a girl, and girls were a completely different species he was unsure how to react around. He had never tried to befriend girls when he was young. His mother had never let him near one, if she ever let him out of the house at all, for fear he could transform. She thought that one might develop some kind of crush on him and try to hug him in order to show their affection. Or worse, they could take off his beads in an innocent attempt to see how the bracelet looked on their delicate wrists. That left him completely unprepared to handle life with Tohru.

He thought she would be like the few girls he hadever come into contact with. And if Kagura was any indication of how bad a girl could be, he had no desire to meet anymore. But Tohru was different. She was warm and kind, gentle and patient, caring and loving. She was everything he had never expected in a woman. He had never experienced such tender affection from a girl before, and after dealing with Kagura's special brand of 'love and compassion' for years on end, he had never expected to. It had thrown him off guard. He wasn't used to it. It felt foreign to him and anything foreign was usually bad news. On instinct he pushed her away. He had wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. Looking back on it now he realized how cruel he had been.

But she had been patient with him. She had continued to show him the good in her, he doubted that she had any bad in her to begin with, and waited for him to respond. When he did, he somehow knew that he had reacted the wrong way. Sometimes the look in her eyes would tell him so, or sometimes that damn rat would put in his two cents to ensure that Kyou knew he had made yet anothermistake. Tohru never minded though. She took his temper in good strides and guided him to where he needed to be when dealing with people. In time he was able to treat her the way she deserved to be treated. Like a tender creature with a kind soul.

He remembered the first time he told her that she was his best friend. She had been so amazed, so honored by his decision, that her face had all but lit on fire. It was almost as if it was he who had picked her and not the other way around. He liked the smile on her face when he told her what such a title meant to him. She told him it made her feel special, so he had mentioned that only one other person had ever been given that title. That just seemed to make her happier, made her seem like she was one of the elite. She was one of the only souls ever to become close to Kyou Sohma.

And yet, she wondered who the other one was. Who was this second individual who held a place in his heart? Did she know them?

Kyou had been feeling awfully good that night, probably because Yuki had fallen ill and was lying miserably in his bed, so he had told her what she wanted to know.

He began at the very beginning, back to a time before his mother had met an unfortunate end. She had never allowed him to go outside. The kids around his neighborhood knew never to approach his house, and no other adults besides Akito ever came to visit. Kyou spent most of his days in his attic looking out at the outside world from the small circular window.

Nothing but the weather ever changed. Day in and day out all the young cat ever saw was the same view of his backyard. Nothing was ever different. Until one day, when the vision of the old backyard he had looked at for years was obstructed. Obstructed by one little boy dressed in a blue jacket over a black shirt and a pair of khaki pants.

Kyou had been surprised at first. His home, he recalled, had basically been in the middle of nowhere. Not even most Sohma's knew the location of the small abode. Akito and Hattori were the only ones who visited regularly enough to know the way, and this boy could never be mistaken for one of them. He was too young, around Kyou's age maybe, to be the head of the Sohma family or the doctor that took care of them. Which left the young zodiac member wondering, who was he?

He kept his gaze focused on the stranger. The boy on the ground seemed to be looking for something. Something important if the way he was fanatically searching was any indication. But it soon became obvious that whatever he was searching for was nowhere in the area. So with what looked like a disappointed sigh, the boy left on the same path he had used to come in.

Kyou had stared at the backyard for a moment longer, almost opening the window when he thought that the boy might have just turned to look at him, when he heard his mother called for dinner. Without looking back he turned around and made his way downstairs to another cold meeting at the dinner table. But the boy stayed on his mind until he had lost consciousness and had fallen asleep.

The next morning had been the same as most others, and as the day went on Kyou found himself thinking that the day before had just been a dream. Something his lonely mind had concocted to give him some type of hope. There had been no wandering little boy walking in his backyard. Just his own imagination playing cruel tricks on him.

So when he went back to the attic that afternoon he had no hope of seeing anything but the shrubs in his backyard, and by the time he reached out for the doorknob he had already convinced himself that the day before did not matter. He had gotten used to crushing his hopes over the past few years, and by now he considered himself a pro. So he was a little disappointed. He could handle it by now.

But when he looked out the window, like he did every single day, he saw something that he had not expected.

Young Kyou braced his hands on the window pain, blinking constantly at the figure down on the ground. The figure below, a boy around his age, possessed a gaze that matched the boy's in the attic. He was blinking just as constantly as Kyou was.

After a second of constant looking and blinking, the boy held up his hand as a sign of peace. Kyou did the same. Kyou blinked once more and held up his index and middle finger in the form of a peace sign. The boy below copied him. The boy below made a funny face, tugging his cheeks and sticking out his tongue. Kyou laughed before he repeated the action with his face pressed up against the window.

The young Sohma momentarily wondered if the two of them were playing some kind of game. Something similar to Simon Says where the two of them took turns being Simon.

His thoughts were interrupted when the boy outside jumped up and down. Kyou followed the action without another thought, only to accidently fall down in the process. In an effort to keep his dignity Kyou quickly stood up and waved awkwardly to the worried youth. He had every intention of continuing their little game when he suddenly heard the panicked footsteps coming from the stairs.

He would later on swear that his heart had stopped when there was a knock on the door, his mother asking him if he was alright.

Frantically he had turned his attention back to the window, and tried desperately to send the other boy off. There was no telling what his mother would do if she knew he had been playing, and yes he did consider copying each other playing, with another child. After a few minutes of worried glances the boy down on the ground hurried off before Kyou's mother had a chance to enter the room.

Kyou had been dragged off to bed after a few questions and the routine check of his wrist. His mother had determined that he had hurt himself from the fall in the attic and needed immediate bed rest. She had failed to see the boy running as far away from the house as he could manage.

Kyou should have been satisfied. He had been granted one blessed day of play with another human being, another human being who did not look at him in disgust or mistrust. One day was more than he had ever imagined. He should have just been happy with that. But, just like clockwork, he returned to the attic window the next day the same time as the day before, hoping to see the figure that had interacted with him. And surprisingly, just like the day before, he was given yet another wonderful surprise.

Kyou could not help the small shriek of surprise that left his mouth at the odd sight before him. Hanging upside down, from the roof directly above his window, was the boy he had seen in his yard yesterday. That same boy, who had played an odd version of Simon Says with the cursed cat, was smiling from his awkward bat like position. Kyou could do nothing more than gape. The boy gently tapped at the window, silently asking for entrance inside.

Kyou recalled numbly unlocking the old window and pulling it in towards himself.

The boy then jubilantly flipped over into the attic, landing almost effortlessly inside on rickety floors. A puff of smoke raised up to meet to meet the upper air, and both boys found themselves sneezing at the same time.

Kyou was left to shyly gaze up at the stranger who was gazing just as shyly back at him. The room was silent. Kyou took that time to look over his new guest. He was right in assuming that this boy was his age. No younger than seven, at the most he was eight. His hair was an almost chocolate brown that must have been painstakingly taken care of to be so neat. Kyou's favorite part was the small portion of it sticking out in the back. The boy's eyes were a bright shimmering blue. Deep and mysterious, yet playful and knowing, like the waves of a large ocean.

The boy before him was no doubt doing the same as Kyou was. The young Sohma would be the first to admit that his hair, orange as the setting sun's skyline, and his eyes, red as deep as a burning fire, were not hereditary traits you'd seen every day. He wondered if the boy in front of him would think he was strange.

But instead of scowling, or some other kind of negative response, the boy smiled. "My name's Shinichi, Shinichi Kudo." He said at last. "What's yours?"

Kyou had been too stunned to answer for a moment. "Huh?"

Shinichi, a nice name Kyou found himself thinking, chuckled a little bit. "Your name, what is it?"

"Oh…Oh!" The young boy straightened out. "I'm Kyou Sohma." Awkwardly he stuck out his hand. He was ecstatic when the other accepted it.

Shinichi then took a look around the attic, blue eyes analyzing everything they caught sight of. "What are you doing up here?"

"Huh?" Kyou felt like he was making an idiot out of himself. "I mean, I don't know?" That might have sounded worse than huh.

But Shinichi continued to smile. It was different from the cold looks he often got from the rest of his family, or the creepy smiles he got from Kagura. This one was gentle, genuine, and pure, just a simple gesture of kindness. It was like nothing Kyou had ever experienced.

"Is this your room?"

Kyou had the presence of mind to scowl. "No. My room's a floor down. This is the attic."

"Then what are you doing up here?"

Kyou had no idea how to answer that. "Huh?"

Shinichi smiled. "Huh?"

It took Kyou a moment to realize that he was being teased. It was different from the taunts he received from others in his family. Those were normally cruel and a jab at his lack of importance in the zodiac. This was light, playful, he kind of liked it.

"Where are you from Shinichi?"

"Beika province. My parents bought a here house to hide from my dad's editor."

Kyou blinked. Shigure had one of those. He liked to make her panic and run around the house like a headless chicken. "Is your dad a writer?"

Shinichi nodded. "He writes mystery novels." He then jabbed his thumb towards his chest. "I'm a detective."

"A detective?" He saw the other nod. "But you're so young."

Shinichi's left eye twitched. "That doesn't matter!"

Kyou quickly covered his mouth. "Shhh." He listened for the footsteps he was sure would approach. He was relieved when he heard nothing. "We have to be quiet." He whispered once he had Shinichi's attention again. "My mom might hear us."

Shinichi frowned. "Why would that be a bad thing?" He whispered softly. "Would you get in trouble for letting me in?"

"Uh-huh. She'd get really upset."

"Can't you just say I'm a friend from school or something?"

As much as Kyou would love to mention that, "I don't have any friends. She'd know I was lying."

"No friends?" The frown seemed to deepen. "How come?"

"My mom won't let me have any."

The frown turned into a scowl. "That's not fair!"

Kyou shushed him again. "Shinichi be quiet."

"But it's not fair." The brunette said softly. "What kind of mom does that?"

"My mom's a bit of a weirdo okay? Let's just leave it at that."

Shinichi seemed to want to argue, but something inside him clicked a second later. "My mom's kind of weird too. Only she wants me to have too many friends."

"Is your mom a writer too?"

That managed to get Shinichi smiling again. "Naw, she'd never like something so mundane."

Kyou didn't know what mundane meant, but since Shinichi had said it sarcastically, with the use of air quotes, he figured it must have been insulting. "Does she stay at home then?"

"Pfft. Momma hates staying home. She thinks it's boring."

The young carrot top could not help but think that their mothers were complete opposites. He wondered if the same could be said for the two of them. "Then what is she?"

"An actress."

That was odd. He didn't seem too thrilled about that. "Is your family rich?"

Shinichi seemed uncomfortable with the question. "We're okay." His eyes darted around the room for some kind of distraction. He pointed to the first thing he could see. "What's that?"

Kyou blinked at the object in question, and then turned to Shinichi with a teasing grin. "That's a rubber duck."

Shinichi's face turned about as red as a tomato. "Shut up!"

"No it's okay. Most people have never seen one." He said in a sugary sweet tone. "You're perfectly normal."

As an added affect he ran over to grab his old bath toy from the top of the box it resided in. He placed it in his open palm and stuck out his hand for Shinichi's viewing pleasure.

"This, my dear Shinichi, is what we like to call a rubber duck. It is a bath toy children bring into the tub to play with. It can come in a number of colors but the favorite seems to be yellow. Beats me why, but my favorite color is red. It happens to float nicely on the surface of water and best of all," He gave the toy a squeeze which produced a small squeak. "It squeaks. This causes most babies to giggle."

Sometime during the explanation Shinichi's eye had started to twitch. The motion had only intensified as the impromptu lesson went on. "Anything else you want to say, Kyou Sensei?"

Kyou placed his hand over his chin in deep thought. "No that will be all." But his index finger rose in the air as if to imply a command. "But I hoped you paid attention because there will be a pop quiz. If you pass, we'll move on to toy submarines. Yay!"

Shinichi just about lost it at the yay portion of the speech. With a good amount of his childhood strength, not all because he didn't want to hurt his new friend, he jumped at Kyou. The rubber duck fell to the floor as the two boys began wrestling amongst old knick knacks and forgotten household items. And yet the soft punches, the held back kicks, the gentle tugs or hair, were not malicious. They were playful, harmless, and just a joke between friends.

Kyou had started laughing lightly minutes later. Shinichi had succeeded in pinning him down to the floor, hands firmly, but gently, grasping Kyou's wrists on either side of his head. The young detective sat triumphantly over his spot on the young Sohma's hips, and Kyou could not bring himself to mind the defeat he had suffered. Both were panting with tired smiles, each holding the happy gaze of the other.

Little Kyou found himself admiring those fine blue eyes, those shimmering iris's that stared at him with such kindness and acceptance. That smile, that twinkle, that happiness aimed solely on him, it was all to good to be true.

"I like your eyes." He said at last. "They're pretty."

Shinichi's cheeks went rosy, and for a second Kyou thought he did something wrong. But Shinichi brought his face closer to Kyou's, breaths of the two children intermingling, as two opposite set of eyes never wavered from the other.

"I like yours too." The brunette admitted. "They're…" He seemed hesitant to finish. "Beautiful."

"Really? You're not afraid of them?"

Shinichi blinked. The other had obviously said something that confused him. "What do you mean?"

"They're red. Most people think of fire when they see them." Fire to most people was bad, and a lot of people he came into contact with would shy away from him because of his eyes.

Shinichi only came closer. "Fire can be beautiful too. The trick is to not try to control it. Just work with it and you'll be fine."

"Are you going to work with me?"

Shinichi nodded."For as long as you'll let me."

By this point in the story Tohru had started yawning, and it took a moment to realize that the tale had taken hours to recant. Kyou had never meant to speak for that long and he was surprised his friend had not shut him up earlier. As if she ever would.

He sent the girl off to bed, telling her it was late and the two of them had school in the morning. He promised he would tell her the rest of the story later when they had the time and stamina to stay awake through it all. Tohru seemed excited with the idea that he had more of the story to tell, and he spent the better half of the trip to her room (he needed to make sure she didn't collapse of exhaustion on her way there) listening to her openly wonder how much more there was to be heard.

Smiling, the zodiac cat mentioned that he had quite the list of fond memories to narrate. Two years worth of childhood stories, and he would tell them to her all in the morning.

After all it was only fair he tell his latest best friend about the first and most precious person that had ever walked into his life.

AN: I've been thinking about this pairing for a while now. It's a mix of one of my favorite anime guys, and one of Mistress's. I happen to think it turned out rather nicely, since I believe it to the first of it's kind, so I didn't have very much to study from. Well, tell me what you think.