The Tiger and the Sheep

"Hiro, go to bed," Kyou commanded, noting that it was almost ten o'clock at night.

"No. I'll stay up as late as you guys do. I mean, you high school students will stay up until midnight if you want. If that's considered responsible and mature, then I'll..."

Kisa interrupted Hiro's speech with a yawn.

"Goodnight. C'mon, Kisa," Hiro offered his hand. Kisa gave him a soft, warm smile and took his hand, allowing herself to be led to the guest room the pair shared during their stay at the summerhouse. Of course, Tohru slept in the bed with Kisa, and Hiro was sent out of the room anytime the girls needed him out, but they did share the same room.

"Why does that brat never listen to any of us, but he's basically Kisa's bitch?" Kyou growled, obviously annoyed that Hiro wouldn't listen to him, but would listen to a girl his own age.

"Kyou-kun!" Tohru gasped out, shocked at Kyou's choice of words.

"Don't bother, Honda-san. Kyou is a rude and annoying boy, and that's all he'll ever be," Yuki added.

As if to stop an argument from developing and upsetting Tohru further, Haru jumped in. "Hiro listens to Kisa because she's the only one that doesn't try to force him to do anything."

Kyou stared blankly at him for a few seconds, as did Tohru. Momiji, Yuki, and Haru could practically see the wheels turning in their heads, working hard and fast to process the information.

"What you mean is that, because Kisa only suggests things, Hiro will do them because he doesn't think of them as orders?" Momiji asked for 'clarification', but he had already completely figured out what Haru meant by his statement.

"Right," Haru nodded. They all glanced at the slightly slow pair, and were glad that the explanation allowed the two of them to realize what Haru had meant.

"So, because Hiro cares for Kisa so much, he'll do whatever she wants him to, as long as she doesn't really expect anything?" Kyou asked.

"Well, I think she's realized that she has power over him by now..." Yuki mused. "Kisa is a smart girl. By now, she would have realized that anything she would even slightly suggest he'd do for her. She basically spoils herself—kind of. She never asks for anything outrageous, just things that Hiro is being unreasonable about," Yuki paused. "Like, just now, I'm pretty sure she faked the yawn," Yuki added as an afterthought.

"It's like they are perfect together. I mean, Hiro never lets anybody step on him at all, to the point where it seems like he's going to ruin his life by not taking into account the little things like lack of sleep being bad for you. And Kisa, who would always let people stomp all over her, now has Hiro to protect her. And really, Kisa keeps Hiro in line," Momiji commented.

"Heh, their personalities fit each other's animals more than they fit their own. The gentle, obedient sheep and the proud, fierce tiger... It's like they were made for each other!" Tohru added with a giggle.

"I feel bad for Kisa, if that's the case," Kyou muttered.

Meanwhile, Kisa and Hiro were at the door of their room, listening intently on their conversation. Kisa had wondered earlier what the group of older students were talking about so late at night, and after the last few statements, she felt a blush creep on her face. Hiro simply wore a smirk.

"Th-they certainly like talking about us..." Kisa muttered, feeling somehow embarrassed.

"What? You don't think they're telling the truth?" Hiro asked, his trademark smirk still shining brightly on his pre-adolescent face.

"W-well... Maybe a little..." Kisa muttered, her face going an even brighter red.

"Just a little?" Hiro's face fell, though he wasn't really sad. He was only trying to get the truth out of Kisa.

"T-they do make a good point..." Kisa added, leaning forward and cradling her arms against her chest as if to protect herself.

"Goodnight, Kisa," Hiro hugged her quickly and kissed the top of her head before walking over to his own bed and crawling under the covers. Kisa almost automatically replied, before a thought occurred to her. When exactly had they dropped the name suffixes?

Hiro was beginning to drift off as Kisa finally crawled into her and Tohru's bed. She switched off the lamp before trying out saying Hiro's name without the suffix as well. "Goodnight, Hiro."