Tohru sighed. It had been such a long, tiring day, and Yuki hadn't even picked her up from work. She wondered if their meetings every evening had inconvenienced him somehow.
'Oh, I hope I didn't trouble him,' she thought. She made a promise that as soon as she arrived home she would apologize to him and then collapse on her soft, warm bed. Tohru rubbed her eyes and gave a yawn. Both the women at her job had taken the day off, so Tohru had taken it upon herself to do their share of work.
'Finally, home sweet home,' she thought happily as she reached Shigure's house and gave a tired grin. A loud crash startled her and she dashed inside.
"DAMMIT, I'M REALLY GONNA KILL YOU THIS TIME, RAT!" came from the kitchen. There, Kyo was attempting (and failing) to sock Yuki a hard blow to the face. Food was splattered on the walls and the table had been turned on its side. Kyo lunged at Yuki again but the ever-clever rat gracefully dodged him, causing Kyo to crash through the door.
"Ahhhhhhh, Kyo-chan! Not again!" Shigure cried, and Tohru noticed he had been huddling behind the overturned table.
"SHUT IT, YOU STUPID DOG!" Kyo shouted as he threw himself at Yuki again.
"Oh no," Tohru grimaced. She recognized Yuki's pose; that certain stance that meant Yuki was tiring of this fighting and he would end it-painfully.
She was right; as soon as Kyo was within grasp, Yuki thrust his knee forward so fast it was a blur. Tohru heard the sickening sound as Yuki's kneecap connected with the lower portion of Kyo's face. She covered her face with her hands as Kyo flew backwards through the air and finally, through another door.
"Stupid cat," Yuki muttered. Shigure finally came out of hiding and began to weep over a ruined, overturned bowl of delicious soba noodles. Tohru, however, seemed unaffected by the disaster-zone kitchen and walked cautiously over to the place where Kyo had landed.
"Ah, uh, um, Ky-Kyo-kun?" Tohru said as she stepped over the splintered wood of the now broken door, "are you alright, Kyo-kun?"
"What do YOU think?!" Kyo spat, and Tohru realized he was huddled in the corner, not facing her.
"Kyo-kun…" Tohru began nervously.
"What is it?!" Kyo spun on his heels, a horribly angry expression on his face. Tohru gasped; his mouth was bleeding and he had a big shiner under his left eye. She knelt down, pulled a cloth from her skirt pocket and started dabbing his face. Kyo grumbled, but his face gave away a noticeable blush.
"Oh, Tohru-kun, Tohru-kun!" Shigure said from behind her, "I'm so glad you're here! I was so scared!"
"Don't be so dramatic, Shigure," Yuki said, giving him a thwack on the head. Shigure whimpered pitifully and retreated to the kitchen. "I'm very sorry you had to see that, Honda-san," Yuki told her.
"That doesn't mean I'm apologizing to you, stupid cat," he shot calmly at Kyo.
"Why you little-" Kyo started to say but Tohru pressed her cloth down over his mouth, blotting at the blood.
"I'll go start cleaning up in the kitchen," Yuki said with a smile and left Tohru mending Kyo. As soon as she was finished Kyo bolted; probably heading for the roof, she figured. Shigure came back into the room and filled in the details.
Around 6:00 Shigure had heated up dinner. Kyo, discovering it was one of his favorite foods (salmon) had showed excitement and paced eagerly near the stove as Shigure heated it up. Yuki, of course wanting to ruin Kyo's delight over some stupid fish dinner had gone to his secret base and pulled out a few leeks.
Later, as Yuki set out the food on the table, he elegantly and casually added a few sprinkles of his finest leek shreds on Kyo's salmon. He had shredded the leeks to disguise them as a decorative bit of parsley.
Kyo, after tasting some of his dinner realized his salmon had been tainted with the dreaded and disgusting vegetable known as a leek. Knowing Tohru could never betray him like this (and after much cursing), it didn't take long for Kyo to find out that Yuki had been the culprit.
"It was funny at first, but once food went flying I got frightened," Shigure said, "Those two were really at it. I'm sorry they ruined the kitchen."
"That's okay. I'll go help Yuki-kun, if you don't mind," Tohru said with a smile. She entered the kitchen and noticed Yuki hadn't gotten very far with cleaning. He also wasn't putting anything back in its proper place. Tohru giggled and helped tidy up.
………………………………………………………………………………
After they were finally finished, Yuki noticed that Tohru was literally falling asleep on her feet. "Uh, Honda-san…?" he started but didn't finish.
She was falling forwards before his eyes and without thinking he tried to catch her. Tohru awoke on the floor when she heard a small boom. She couldn't see; there was puffy, gray smoke surrounding her. Realization hit her.
"Yuki-kun?!" she panicked. In his small rat form, he could get hurt if he fell from a big height.
"Here, Honda-san," a muffled voice said from under her. Tohru got into sitting position and looked at Yuki in his tiny form. She could have hurt him! "Oh, I'm so sorry, Yuki-kun! Are you hurt at all? I'm so stupid! I fell asleep and I could have hurt you! And I realize now that picking me up from work must really trouble you. I-I should have realized sooner!" she apologized.
'Why does she think that?' Yuki pondered, but quickly understood. "Honda-san, don't worry. I'm not hurt at all. And I always look forward to picking you up after your job. The reason I didn't come today was because of the stupid cat." Yuki explained.
'It's the only time I get to spend with you alone,' he thought rather dreamily. He looked up at her again only to find out her head was drooping. She had fallen asleep again.
"Shigure!" Yuki whispered just loud enough for Shigure to hear.
"Yuki-kun," Shigure said as he entered the room, "how'd you transform? Are you stressed?"
"No, Honda-san fell asleep and I tried to catch her," Yuki said as he gestured to Tohru.
"Hmm…this could be problematic. We have to get her upstairs to her bed somehow without waking her up or transforming us," Shigure thought aloud. "I'll get Kyo-kun to see if he has any ideas."
As Shigure went outside, Yuki scampered into the next room so if he changed back he wouldn't waken the sleeping Tohru, even though he had wanted to stay near her and just…stare at her.
"Oh crap, how are we gonna do this?" Yuki heard Kyo exclaim in the next room. Yuki was suddenly enveloped in smoke and a whoosh of air tousled his shaggy hair. He ran upstairs quickly to get a change of clothes.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Shigure and Kyo were still thinking up ways to get Tohru upstairs. "Maybe we could put together a sort of catapulting system from household objects!" Shigure suggested excitedly. Kyo just gave him a death glare, making Shigure slink across the room.
"Well, you being a cat, Kyo-kun, you could carry her upstairs, right? Cats are quick and nimble, although you're not exactly swift and graceful, are you?" Shigure ignored Kyo's second glare and went on. "You'd just have to keep her away from your body." Kyo looked at Tohru, then back at Shigure, then again at Tohru. He gulped as he thought of carrying her. He felt the heated blush spread its way across his face and turned away from Shigure. Kyo felt so many feelings when he thought of Tohru and each one made him feel nervous and made his stomach go into knots.
"No way! I might drop her or she'll get too close and I'll transform. How about I put her arm around my shoulder, and I can just, sort of drag her up there if she leans against my side," Kyo said.
"That's a grand idea, Kyo-chan!" Shigure teased, flashing him a thumbs-up.
"If you even think of retelling this to that damn Yuki, I swear I'll toss you out the nearest window and-"
"Okay, okay, Kyo-kun, you'll kill me, I got it. Now would you kindly bring my future wife up to her bed so she can rest?" Shigure said with an impish grin.
"Sick bastard," Kyo muttered as he bent to pick up Tohru. He noticed she was very light as he carefully positioned her to stand. He took her wrist and gently draped it across his shoulder. Kyo then lightly placed his hand on her waist to keep her steady, although doing so made him blush.
Shigure was keeling over with silent laughter, thinking of how he'd relay this incident to Hatori and Aaya. Kyo had told him not to say a word to Yuki, but Hatori and Ayame weren't banned from hearing this.
Kyo practically jumped from step to step, trying and failing to ignore the small person sleeping against his shoulder. He finally reached her room and gently laid her down on the bed. He pulled the covers over her.
'Hmm…,'he thought, 'She could catch a cold with the sheets so loose around her.' So Kyo tucked Tohru's frilly pink covers tightly around her and made sure she was warm. When he was finished, however, he realized how embarrassing his actions were.
'WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?' he thought angrily and jumped nearly to the ceiling, 'I'M TUCKING HER IN?! WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING-' Kyo didn't get to finish his thought. His shock had gotten him so worked up that he fell forward onto the bed. Tohru rubbed her eyes and looked into a cat's face.
"Ah ha ha ha! Kyo-kun!" Tohru squealed with delight and grabbed Kyo to her. He realized she was barely conscious, meaning if she kept him in her grip the whole night he would stay in his furry state until morning. Tohru holding him for several hours…the thought made him blush like mad. Could cats even blush?
Kyo tried squirming around, but that only made Tohru hug him tighter. Suddenly, a head popped up in the doorway. It belonged to Yuki. As he stepped into Tohru's room, he noticed how peaceful she was. But what was that she was holding?
"You idiot! What are you doing?" Yuki whispered angrily to Kyo.
"Just shut up and help me! She's squeezing my lungs!" Kyo whispered back. Yuki hated seeing Tohru and Kyo like this. It made his stomach go into tight knots.
He fumbled with Tohru's fingers for a minute or two, and Kyo was free. He dashed out of the room on his four paws, leaving Yuki simmering beside Tohru's bed.
'What happened? How did he transform? And how did Tohru end up in her bed? They better not have woken her. Shigure probably came up with some stupid idea.' Yuki's head buzzed with thoughts until he glanced at Tohru's clock.
Great, it was 1:30 in the morning and he had a student council meeting that day. He didn't think he could handle Kakeru's behavior or anyone for that matter if he was drowsy. He sighed and went off to bed.
………………………………………………………………………………
The next morning dawned rainy and windy. Not to mention it was 40 degrees outside. For once, Yuki was up before Kyo, probably because of the weather.
"Ah! Good morning, Yuki-kun! Did you sleep well?" Tohru asked Yuki as she was making breakfast.
"Yes, very well, Honda-san. Thank you." Yuki lied. He had been stressed last night about the student council meeting and with the events of the evening. Shigure came into the kitchen yawning. His jet-black hair was tousled and he looked as if he had slept on nails.
"Oh, I must be getting old. The cold made my bones all achy last night," Shigure whined. "But I'll feel better after I get some of Tohru-kun's delicious, home-made breakfast. And of course, Aaya's coming over tonight for dinner!"
"WHAT?!" Tohru and Yuki both shouted in unison.
"Ayame-san's coming for dinner? Shigure-san, you should have told me sooner so I could have found a recipe he likes!" Tohru said.
"Nii-san will be here?! I'm staying late at my student council meeting then!" Yuki exclaimed loudly. He grabbed Shigure by his collar. "Why-didn't-you-tell-me-he-would-be-coming?!" he said through gritted teeth.
Shigure starting crying fake tears and whined, "Ahh! Tohru-kun, Yuki-kun is threatening me!" Yuki did look rather scary. Even Kyo noticed the swirling anger as he walked downstairs.
"What's the matter?" Kyo snickered, "You ran out of pretty-boy hair gel this morning?" Without letting go of Shigure, Yuki punched Kyo with his free fist.
"You wanna start something, RAT-BOY?!" Kyo yelled and got ready to pounce.
"P-please, you two! Don't fight!" Tohru pleaded. All three males glanced at her. Tohru was wearing that flustered/worried look. Both Yuki and Kyo thought she looked cute that way.
"Our Tohru-kun knows best," said Shigure, snapping them both out of their thoughts. "So, Yuki-kun, could you kindly obey Tohru-kun and let me go?" Yuki released Shigure from his grip and stalked out of the house. Tohru watched him go and bit her lip. She didn't like it when Yuki was upset. It seemed to unsettle everything.
"Sheesh, what the hell got him so worked up?" Kyo said.
"Maybe it's because," Shigure grinned, "Aaya's coming over for dinner tonight."
"WHAT?! Kyo sounded like Tohru and Yuki had earlier, except much angrier. "THAT IDIOT IS COMING OVER HERE?! WHO THE HELL DECIDED THIS?!"
Shigure sniggered, "Me!" He instantly regretted admitting this, for Kyo was on him in a second.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Kyo whacked Shigure sharply over the head.
"Ah, Tohru-kun-" Shigure started.
"DON'T YOU GO COMPLAINING HER!!" Kyo roared and in his rage, chopped the table cleanly in two.
"Ah! Kyo-kun! Er, Shigure-san! The table, the um, what should I do?! Tohru stammered.
"Kyo-kun! Why do you keep abusing my house? You're going to pay for a new table! And fix the doors when you get home after school!" Shigure said. In response, Kyo kicked down another door and stomped off to school.
'This doesn't look good," Tohru thought. 'Both Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun went to school in bad moods.'
She sighed and told Shigure goodbye. On the way to school, she tried to cheer herself up. 'I just have to be positive like mother!' she thought and smiled as the rain stopped.
