Ripple Three

[Chapter 5. Kagura's first appearance.]

In Kyo's opinion, that Sunday began as an unmitigated disaster. First had been the dish that Tohru had produced so proudly: liver and chives. As part of his cat nature, he hated any relative of the onion family, perhaps because of the strong scent; a better word, he thought would be 'odor', or perhaps, 'reek'.

While the girl had quickly apologized and offered to prepare something more to his liking, Yucky Yuki had grabbed hold of him and forced his mouth full of the disgusting slimy things, pinching his nose closed as he did. That damn Shigure finally convinced the rat to let him breathe.

As he lay back, sucking in air, he considered that Yuki had become protective of Tohru in the past few weeks. Well, he thought, I really ought to think before I speak my first thoughts to her. After all, she offered me friendship even though all I'd been to her was rude and nasty. But before he could phrase an apology (which took some doing, since he wasn't used to that activity), there had been a knock on the door, and, of all people, it had been Kagura! Kagura, who had tormented him since early childhood, with her delusions of romance between them.

If he hadn't still been near death from suffocation, he would have made a swift retreat. Instead, after the overly affectionate greeting she had immediately reverted to her alternate personality and began beating him for ignoring her. Hell, he had ignored everyone during his months of training—it was nothing personal! Not that she was capable of listening to reason, even after she came to her senses and wailed about his demolished physical condition.

The others had merely watched, Shigure and Yuki leaning out of her way as she leapt across the table after heaving him through the recently repaired door. He noticed that the rat made sure that Tohru was kept out of the line of fire. Of course, the bastard made no attempt to come to his defense, although he would have been quick to reject the offer.

And then she had to announce their engagement. Not that Kyo considered himself bound, since it had been under duress that he had agreed while a preschooler. For some reason Tohru was over the moon with joy at the match, and Kagura had quickly demonstrated that the zodiac Sohmas did not transform when hugged by a zodiac member of the opposite gender. Shigure was in the process of making an off-color comment about how useful that fact was when it came to sex, but Yuki smacked him in the face with a plate before he could complete the sure-to-be-vulgar sentence. As a young man, Kyo was full of hormones, but not for Kagura. Goodness knows, if she didn't kill him, one of her animal followers would.

And then she was just about to mention the most hated part of being the 'cat' when he lost it. He smacked a hand over her mouth and threatened...well, he didn't particularly remember what, but he was sure it wasn't nice. After that he had made a quick retreat to the roof. High places always soothed him, and he relaxed in the solitude.

Even though his stomach had growled, he refused to return to the cozy living area for more abuse. He was startled when the ladder rattled. "Who's there?" He jumped as he feared that the boar had tracked him down.

Luckily it was Tohru, who brought him his share of the meal without chives. Bless the girl, she must have picked them out from the dish one by one. "What were you thinking about up here all by yourself, Kyo-kun?"

"Just remembering how much fun I had in the mountains," he replied around a mouthful of food.

"Oh, the waterfalls and bears." She nodded knowingly. "Sohma-san told us all about that."

"That mongrel!" he spat. "No, my Master was with me, and he was training me."

"'Master'?"

"Of martial arts." He ducked his head. "He sorta raised me after my mother died."

"Oh." Tohru, sensing an even greater kinship, hugged his arm. "Then you must love him very much."

Kyo blushed. "Love? Well, we don't talk about that, you know, seeing as we're men and all."

"Oh, but you'll need to learn how, Kyo-kun!" She appeared distressed. "Kagura will expect it."

"I ain't marrying Kagura!" he shouted. "No matter what kind of nonsense she spews, we're not engaged! I'm gonna stay with my Master and learn from him so that one day I'll be able to defeat that rat bastard!" He shook a defiant fist at the sky.

"Beat Sohma-kun? But why are you so determined?" she wailed.

"From the old story. The rat is the biggest insider of the zodiac and the one responsible for the cat being the outsider. Once I defeat him, I'll become a member of the zodiac and belong somewhere!"

"But don't you belong with your Master?"

"Yes, but… he catches a lot of grief from taking in the cursed cat. If I can prove that I'm a worthy member of the family, then it will make up to him for all the years that people have talked about how misguided he was."

Tohru sat and thought for several minutes. "If your Master loves you like you love him, Kyo-kun, then I don't think that will matter to him. I bet he thinks of you as a worthy member of his family already."

"But—"

"And, remember, being an outsider isn't so bad." She gave him a smile. "You can meet more interesting people that way. I much prefer having Hana and Uo as friends instead of those crazy fan-club girls."

Kyo snickered. "Yeah. I don't envy the rat for them! Talk about loony!" He cleared his throat. "Those two are lucky having you for a friend."

"Have you forgotten?" She nudged him with her elbow. "I'm your friend too. We should make a club. 'The Outsiders Club'." Her eyes grew dreamy with plans.

"Hold on, now! I ain't the joining type, so don't get any fancy ideas."

"I guess not." Her face fell then brightened suddenly. "I know! I'll adopt you!"

"What?" His voice rose an octave.

"Sure. I was raised by my mom and you were raised by your Master-Dad. So you'll be my big brother."

"Big brother, huh? You going to call me 'Onii-chan'?"

"Onii-chan." She tried it out then shook her head. "I guess not. Silly idea, huh?"

"Ah, not too much. But as an adoptive big brother, maybe I ought to ask Yucky Yuki what his intentions are about you."

Tohru's fluttering hands revealed her flustered state. "What are you talking about? Intentions? Where did this come from?"

Kyo smiled lazily at her. "Never mind. Just a weird thought I had."

"Good!" She scolded, "I'm trying to get you two to not fight as often, not start new ones!"

The only one Kyo was in the mood for fighting with the following morning was Kagura, who was hanging all over him. He would have skipped breakfast entirely if he had known Shigure had let her sleep over. Thank goodness she left early, although not without making a dramatic exit by colliding with the tardy newspaper delivery man. Only Yuki had the presence of mind to hide the transformation by getting between him and the small boar squatted on discarded clothing. He grudgingly thought that his cousin deserved some thanks, but from Kagura, not him.

As Kyo stalked away towards school, he heard the rat moan about Kagura causing such commotion that he didn't have a chance to work in the garden. When Tohru asked him if he was planning on planting something new, he said, "Strawberries."

Tohru squealed that she loved strawberries, and the besotted rat said he thought she might.

Kyo snorted. Yeah, that was the work of a genius. What with her having strawberry hand towels and a strawberry pocketbook and strawberry hair ornaments, it was a no-brainer. Still, it made him wonder how he felt about his destined enemy falling for the girl who had decided that she was his kid sister.