Sorry this chapter took so long to update! I've been super busy with other fanfic's- goodness I've got so many I'm planning on writing I'll never get done *laugh*
Anyways hope you enjoy it and please review!
Oh yeah and I apologize if I slip in some first-person narrative- that's how I'm writing my other fanfiction, so I'm used to writing that way.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket, but I DO own Ana and the part of the Zodiac legend I made up.
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"Come on." Kyo urged Ana, who was standing in the doorway. She raised her head and sniffed the air, her eyes narrowing. "He's in there." She growled. "Just come on." Kyo rolled his eyes. After a moment's hesitation she took a cautious, wary step inside, her eyes flickering around the room.
Kyo led her to the kitchen, thanking his lucky stars no one was up yet, since it was Saturday, but was surprised when he found Tohru in the kitchen.
"Good morning!" She greeted him cheerfully. "Er... morning." He muttered, a slight flush creeping up his cheeks. "Who's your friend?" She asked curiously as she turned on the rice cooker.
"This is Ana." Kyo said gruffly; he didn't like the fact that Tohru was glancing between the two of them, a smile spreading across her face.
"Are you two together?" She asked. "ARE YOU INSANE I JUST MET HER!" Kyo roared, his short fuse blowing at the thought of being with someone other then Tohru.
"I-I-I'm sorry! I just thought..." Tohru stammered out an apology and Kyo rolled his eyes. "Forget it. You didn't know." He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away.
"Well, since you're here would you like something to eat Ana-san?" Tohru asked kindly, turning to Ana. She nodded once, looking uncomfortable.
"I'll make it." Kyo brushed past Tohru, who shrank back at his presence, her frightened eyes flashing to his bracelet. Pain flashed through Kyo's eyes; she would always get so scared when he got too close, like he was going to hurt her.
Again.
"O-ok! I'll go.. um... somewhere." She dashed out of the room, calling apologies over her shoulder as she ran. Kyo watched her go, his shoulders sagging.
"You really care about her." Ana murmured. It wasn't a question; it was a direct statement. Kyo nodded once. She put a hand on his shoulder, her eyes understanding.
"So she's seen your form?" She asked quietly. Kyo looked away. "I know how you feel." Ana's voice was almost inaudible, her eyes glossing over, lost in memories.
Kyo shrugged her hand off and returned to cooking while Ana leaned against the wall, watching his every move with a blank expression.
"Good morning everyone! What a lovely day!" Kyo and Ana both stiffened when Shigure danced into the kitchen. He froze when he saw Ana.
"Aw, did Kyo sneak a girl into his room last night?" He gushed and a vein on Kyo's forehead throbbed. "Shut up, stupid Dog!" He snapped. Ana's eyes flashed at the word "Dog."
"Dog?" She repeated, her eyes narrowing. "Ah, that's just my nickname!" Shigure said quickly. "Relax. She knows." Kyo rolled his eyes.
"Ah! Are you a Sohma?" He asked. In response, Ana closed her eyes for a moment. There was a pink explosion and before them stood Ana in her wolf form, her fur bristling and teeth bared.
"You!" Shigure spat, glowering at her. "Yes, it's me, fleabag." Ana growled. "Fleabag? If anyone here is a fleabag it's you, mutt." Shigure replied calmly.
"Lap dog!"
"Mangy beast!"
Ana snorted. "If anyone around here's mangy, it's you. When was the last time you brushed your hair?" Ana sneered, brushing past him. At her brief touch Shigure began scratching himself everywhere.
"Oh no! I think I have fleas!" He cried dramatically. Kyo rolled his eyes, not bothering to respond, and just picked up the two plates and Ana's clothes, going off to find her.
"Not bad." Ana remarked, having changed back as she put down her chopsticks. Kyo, who was only half way through, raised his eyebrows.
"I see where they got 'wolfing your food down' from." He remarked. Ana laughed. "Yeah, I guess that is." She grinned, leaning back on her hands.
The two of them were sitting on the roof, as far away from the others as they could get. Ana tilted her head back and peered up at the sky.
"Don't you hate the Rat like I hate the Dog?" She asked suddenly. "Probably more." Kyo replied. Ana nodded. "Well, I'd hate him too, if I were in your position." She added. Kyo blinked in surprise. No one had ever understood his undying hatred of Yuki before, let alone say they would have felt the same way.
They sat in silence, both trying to think of something to say. Neither came up with anything; Kyo was terrible at small talk.
"How's your injury?" Kyo asked suddenly. Ana blinked, her hand going to her hip. "It's a bit sore, but I can deal." She shrugged. "How did you get it, anyway?" He asked, setting his plate down, peering at her curiously.
"I stole a chicken from a farmer." She admitted. "I know it sounds bad, but what would you do if you hadn't had a good meal for almost two weeks?" She added, her eyes daring him to pry. Kyo said nothing, merely waiting for her to continue.
"Needless to say, he was a bit ticked, and he caught me as I left, and well, you know the rest." She waved a hand, like getting shot was no big deal.
"But how did you get here?" Kyo asked, resting his elbows on his knees, interested. "I just kept walking; it stopped hurting after a while, so it wasn't too bad." She shrugged. Kyo felt a tinge of admiration for her strength; it must have taken a lot to keep walking that night.
"And thank you, again, for helping me." She added. "It was no problem." Kyo mumbled, flushing slightly. He hated being thanked- it was embarrassing. Still, he had to admit he was pleased- he couldn't remember the last time anyone had thanked him.
"Apparently I owe my life to you now." She laughed, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around him. She placed her chin on her knees and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, a slight smile on her face.
"So what must I do for you, O' Master?" She teased and Kyo smiled faintly. "But do you mind if I stick around for a while? At least, until I'm completely healed." She added quickly. "Don't worry about it." Kyo said. "You can stay as long as you want." Ana blushed lightly, turning her head away while Kyo ducked his head to hide his own blush.
OoOoOoO
Kyo slipped out the door early Monday morning; he never walked to school with Yuki and Tohru anymore. Before he had suffered through being with Yuki for those few precious minutes with Tohru; but now there was no point, so he left before they had even finished breakfast.
No one said goodbye, or wished him a good day; but he was used to that. Just like he was used to coming home to silence.
But as he walked along down the dirt path, he noticed a movement in the trees. He paused and looked, seeing a pair of brown eyes looking back at him.
Ana trotted out of the woods, in wolf form as usual. She stepped up to him and looked up at him, her tongue lolling, as though she had been running recently.
"Are you going to school?" She asked. Kyo nodded. "Yeah." He replied, setting off again. Ana walked beside him, and Kyo glanced down at her in surprise.
"Why are you still here?" He asked, confused. "I'm walking with you to school, of course." Ana replied matter of factly.
"But... why?" Kyo said, unable to wrap his mind around the fact someone actually wanted to be with him.
"Because you're my friend Kyo-san. Friends walk to school together. Don't they?" She looked suddenly frightened. "I guess." Kyo muttered, looking away.
"OK good. I'm new to this whole... people thing." Ana admitted. Kyo glanced back at her, his eyes confused. "I've lived in the wild for the main part of my life; I can barely remember being a little kid at the Main House." She explained.
"Why did you come to live out there, then?" Kyo asked, growing more and more interested. "Because no one was there to take care of me anymore." She replied mysteriously. Her eyes grew sad, so Kyo didn't press for details.
They walked along in silence until they could begin to hear people and the town became visible. "This is my stop, I guess." Ana said, halting.
"See you." Kyo kept walking. "Kyo-san!" Kyo turned when she called him. "Have a good day at school." Ana said. She waved her tail in farewell before bounding into the trees.
Kyo shuffled along the path back home, annoyed that he'd been kept after school for detention. Again.
He'd talked back to the teacher (again) and ended up being kept after school for an extra two hours (again).
He was walking along in the fading dusk light when something heavy knocked into his chest. The air flew out of his lungs with a great whoosh as he hit the ground, a heavy thing on his chest.
"Where have you been?!" Ana greeted him excitedly, licking his face and looking down at him, her nose an inch from his face. Kyo flushed slightly at her closeness. "Detention." He mumbled.
"Oh. Well, at least you're back." She licked him again and jumped off his chest, wagging her tail.
Kyo rubbed the slobber off his cheek with the back of his hand, glowering at Ana. He didn't yell at her though, like he normally would have- he knew he had to start working on his temper if he actually wanted to keep Ana around.
"How was school? Other then detention, I mean." Ana asked, trotting alongside him. "Fine." Kyo was a bit taken aback by her asking about his day.
"Mine's been boring. I got to torture Shigure a bit though- that was fun." She added. "Really? How?" Kyo asked, a slight smile creeping up his cheeks at the thought of Shigure getting a taste of his own medicine.
"I kept sneaking into his office and unplugging the computer whenever he left. That way he lost almost all of his progress." Ana snickered.
"Nice." Kyo said. He couldn't help but think it would work to Shigure's advantage- he could torture his publishing agent even more if he had a legitimate excuse for not having any work done.
Kyo's eyes traveled to the sky, realizing that night had fallen. He looked at the full moon with surprise, then glanced over at Ana.
"Don't wolves howl at the moon?" He asked curiously and Ana snorted.
"OK, that's racist on so many levels." She rolled her eyes.
"Well, do you?" Kyo asked. "No." She sighed. "We howl to communicate; that is, when we're hunting, we need to know where everyone is at all times, so we howl to keep tags on each other." She explained. "But there's no other wolves around here, so it's pointless for me to howl. Besides, I'd scare all the prey away." She added.
"Don't they something about wolves and full moons too?" Kyo wondered aloud. "It's not a full moon." Ana said, glancing up at it. "Almost. It'll be completely full tomorrow." She added. Kyo squinted up at the glowing white orb floating in the sky. It looked full enough to him.
"How do you know?" Kyo asked, tilting his head curiously.
"Call it a sixth sense." Ana said, her tongue lolling out in a comic manner. Kyo smiled slightly and glanced up, realizing they were nearly home.
"OK, well I'm gonna let you go home now. Good night Kyo-san." Ana licked his hand and darted away, flicking her tail at him as she disappeared into the shadows.
OK I know this wasn't as serious as I'm trying to make this story, but I felt we needed a bit of fluff... no storie's complete without fluff! *laugh*
Anyways don't forget to review! :D
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