Thank you to Janie27-27, BigMouth BakaNeko, Khandalis, invisiblelace, fan girl 666, LightningStar 0.o, roomofangels, Lazy Gaga, Samsal, cat2772, Haaaaaa, teddibear16, nara317, Sarah32138 and A lilmatchgirl for reviewing chapter seven. Thanks also to everyone who's read or added Tactics to their faves and alerts! =)

Gah. Sorry for the exceptionally long wait for this chapter, as well as its slightly short-ish length and poor quality. I wasn't as fastidious proof-reading this as I normally am, so please forgive me if the quality is lower than usual. I've been quite sick and unable to type much or get online... anyway, I'll quit making excuses and let you get on with the reading.

This chapter is dedicated to teddibear16, who suggested that they trip while dancing.

DISCLAIMER- I do not own Fruits Basket.

CHAPTER EIGHT


There was something different about this dream. This time, he knew he was dreaming – sometimes it felt so real that he couldn't tell. In this instance, he was clearly aware of the fact. There was another thing odd about the dream as well... although, as in all the other ones, he was kneeling in a dark room before Akito... this time, there was someone else next to him.

I wonder... is it possible to wake myself up? He attempted to force his eyes – his real world eyes – to open, but to no avail. Turning his head, he frowned as the figure next to him became clear.

Great, Yuki thought as he stared at Kyo, who was kneeling beside him and staring down at the floor. As if it isn't bad enough that I can't stop thinking about him when I'm awake... now he's intruding in my dreams as well!

The sound of a foot tapping made him look up to see Akito standing over him, a frown on the god's face. "Yuki... why didn't you come to visit me?"

It was one of those bizarre things Akito always said or asked him in these nightmares, reminding him of something he'd forgotten or never been told to do, chastising him, punishing him. Not sure whether or not he was meant to speak (half the time he was accused of interrupting Akito, but whenever he kept his mouth shut the god would think he was ignoring him), he settled for keeping his head down, staring at Akito's feet.

Toenails, Yuki promptly thought randomly, feeling more confident for some reason, probably because he knew that he would wake up any minute. What time did I set my alarm clock? Did I even set it at all?

All confidence washed out of him, however, when Akito gripped his hair and jerked his head up. Although it didn't hurt, being a dream and all, the fear that gripped him at the sight of the god's face was worse than any pain.

Akito's face was contorted with rage, eyes narrowed into dark slits, brow furrowed, teeth bared slightly. It was a face Yuki remembered from his childhood, one he'd seen every time something upset Akito and the god decided to use the rat as a means of venting his anger.

Flinching slightly, he knelt, frozen, as Akito glowered at him, mouthing venomous words that Yuki couldn't hear over the roaring in his ears.

"Crap!"

He heard that alright. Akito's hold on him slowly loosened as they both turned to stare at Kyo. The cat was on his hands and knees, beads spilling around him as he clutched at his broken bracelet, trying in vain to hold it together.

A laugh burst from Akito, a harsh, humorless sound. "Stupid creature. You broke the only thing that was keeping you in this form. I guess now you'll be staying as a true monster... permanently."

And it was at that point that the dream became truly outlandish, and turned into a blur of dead birds raining from the sky, Yuki trying desperately to pick up all the beads while Kyo choked on something in the corner, and Akito running in circles laughing like a maniac.


Yuki's eyes opened slowly and found himself staring at his bedroom wall. Half of his bedcover was twisted around him and his pillow was on the floor. Quickly adjusting everything and shifting to lie on his back, he sighed and attempted to go back to sleep.

He found that he couldn't.

Hm... odd. Normally it's waking up I have trouble with in the mornings.

Glancing at the alarm clock on the bedside table, he found that it was quarter-to seven. Being the weekend, he could probably stay in bed for another hour, or longer. Slumping back against the pillows, he reflected on the strange dream he'd just woken up from.

Ridiculous, he concluded, after a moment's contemplation. But at least it wasn't as bad as some of the other nightmares I've had.

The sound of someone moving about downstairs made him turn his head, listening. Doesn't sound like Tohru... probably that stupid cat. Well, I have no desire to go down and run into him. Encountering him in the middle of the night, twice, is already far too much.

Sitting up, he yawned and ruefully left his warm bed to go sit at the desk, deciding that since he was awake, he may as well study. Dragging his textbook towards him, he flicked it to the page he'd last been working on.

...ew. Yuki wrinkled his nose as he noticed flecks of rubber dust caught between the pages. He wasn't sure if they were from his own eraser, of if they'd flown from Kyo's mouth as the cat choked. He quickly shook them onto the floor, not particularly wanting to touch something that had been in Kyo's mouth.

Once this had been accomplished, he set about working.


"I am going to buy a heater!" Shigure proclaimed dramatically, posing in the doorway with one hand on his hip and a glass of water flourished in the other.

The other three occupants of the house glanced up from where they sat at the table, books laid out in front of them as they studied.

"About time," Kyo grunted, before turning back to his work. Immediately after breakfast, the three of them had begun their studies, all choosing to work downstairs instead of up in their rooms, which were a bit stuffy at this time of day and in this weather. Tohru sat between the two boys, murmuring to herself every time she encountered a difficult question.

"In fact, I'm going out to buy one right now!" Shigure drained his glass and set it aside. "Would anyone like to come with me?"

"Umm..." Tohru looked up, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "Maybe I should get the grocery shopping out of the way while it's still early... it might be hard to get to the store during rush hour."

"An excellent plan!" Shigure beamed. Kyo frowned as Tohru packed up her things and followed Shigure to the door. Great. I'll be alone with the damn rat.

"We'll be back later! Don't do anything naughty while we're gone!" Shigure chuckled, waving. Kyo scowled as the door slammed shut behind them.

A few moments passed in silence as the boys worked. Kyo continued to frown, unable to concentrate on the words in the textbook for more than a few minutes at a time. Why... why aren't Yuki and I fighting? How come we're able to sit here and study together? We were never able to do this before!

He glared at the rat, who didn't notice. Either we're starting to get along, or... we've both become exceptionally good at ignoring one another.

He'd always preferred picking fights with the rat to ignoring him, though. As for getting along... Kyo's fist tightened around his pen as he considered this. I can't. Get along with him, that is. Gah! I should hate him! I have to hate him! If we stop fighting... well, there'll be no point to the bet, and... he almost dragged his mind away from that train of thought, but forced himself to think it over.

I need to beat Yuki in a fight, or I'll lose the bet. I can't beat him if I'm being all friendly-friendly with him, he thought grimly, shooting his cousin a dark look. I need to hate him! It's getting angry at him, loathing him, that makes me stronger when I fight! So... why the hell have I been finding it hard to hate him? This isn't good, this isn't good at all!

His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white, the pen trembling in his grip as he attempted to muster up his old, familiar hatred for the rat.

It wasn't working.


Yuki shook his cramped hand out as he finished another line of writing, pleased with how his studies were going. Glancing over at Kyo, he frowned slightly. The cat was hunched over, fists clenched tightly and looking down, face screwed into a glare. He looked so downcast and angry that Yuki was tempted to ask what was wrong.

Pffft. Like he'd tell me, anyway. Picking up his pen again, Yuki started a new paragraph, but found his gaze wandering back over to his cousin. He started as Kyo furiously bit his lip, a bead of blood rolling down the cat's chin.

"Hey," Yuki said, feeling as though he should say something. Not that I really care what he's doing. And here I go, feeling as though I'm denying something again! I really hate my screwed up emotions.

"...don't talk to me, damn rat!" Kyo spat suddenly, licking the blood from his lip and glowering at Yuki. "I don't want to hear whatever it is you have to say!"

Yuki couldn't help feeling slightly hurt, although he masked it with a cold glare. See? Why did I even bother? He hates me, that much is obvious. And I should hate him back... life is much easier when the feeling is mutual.

The two boys were still sitting, glaring silently at one another, when the front door slid open and Haru entered, walking into the room towards them then coming to a halt, taking in the situation.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Kyo snapped finally, breaking his gaze away from Yuki and turning to glare at the ox instead.

Haru shrugged. "I did knock. Guess you didn't hear me."

"Whatever." the cat pushed away from the table and snatched up his books, striding out of the room and up the stairs. Yuki watched him leave before half-heartedly picking up his pen and scribbling idly in the margin of his exercise book.

"What was that all about?" Haru asked, sitting down opposite the rat.

Yuki shrugged. "Just Kyo being stupid, as usual."

"Hmm..." Haru raised his eyebrows, and Yuki shifted slightly uncomfortably under the ox's appraising stare. After a moment, the cow asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Puzzled, Yuki gave up his attempts at studying and sat back, giving Haru a quizzical look. "Why?"

"I'm not sure," Haru said slowly, glancing towards the staircase. "Is Kyo okay?"

"I don't know. And I don't really care," Yuki replied, looking down and fiddling with his pencil case. After a moment, he looked back up to find Haru watching him with a smirk. "What?"

"Heh." Haru shook his head, still smirking. "Do you really?"

"Do I really what?" Yuki asked, confused and slightly irritated. What's up with Haru? He's acting... strange.

"Do you really not care?" Haru questioned, an odd glint in his eye as he leaned forward on his elbows.

"...of course," Yuki replied. Haru's eyebrows just rose even further and he continued to give Yuki a distinct 'oh, really?' look. The rat frowned at him and decided to ignore him, picking up a highlighter and underlining key words in his study notes.

After a few moments, Haru cleared his throat and spoke again. "You know... he's been pretty down lately."

"Hm?" Yuki didn't bother looking up at the ox, starting to wish that Haru would just go away. What's with all the questions? Is he deliberately trying to get on my nerves?

"Kyo. He's been pretty down lately," Haru repeated.

"I know," Yuki said flatly, putting the lid back on the highlighter and looking around for something else to occupy his hands while he attempted to ignore Haru. Why does he keep going on about Kyo? Why does everyone keep going on about Kyo?

"Don't you think that's a cause for concern?" Haru picked up Yuki's pencil case and turned it over in his hands, fiddling with the zip.

Yuki was getting rather annoyed now. "Maybe, but I'm not concerned! Now, if you've quite finished interrogating me, I should get back to studying."

"He's your cousin," Haru commented, throwing the pencil case back down on the table and folding his arms.

Yuki glared, clasping his hands tightly in his lap. "The fact that he's my cousin has nothing to do with anything! It's never stopped us fighting before, it's never stopped him from hating me, or me from hating him! I really couldn't care less about the stupid cat, and I'm sure the feeling is mutual!"

A moment of tense silence followed this declaration.

"Pfft! Denial!" Haru said mildly, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head. "You think I haven't noticed the way you two have been interacting recently? Sure, you've been bickering, but you both seem to be acting differently."

"I don't feel like having this conversation," Yuki said coldly, snapping his book shut. "If you just came here to annoy me, you've succeeded. You can go now."

"Yuki..." The expression in Haru's eyes hardened and became more grave, his posture straightening. "You look like you haven't been sleeping properly. Something's bothering you."

"Yes, you."

"You know what I mean," Haru replied seriously. "It's something to do with Kyo, isn't it? You'll never come to term with your feelings if you keep up this mask of hatred all the time."

"Mask of hatred? I can assure you, my hatred for that stupid cat is perfectly real," Yuki scoffed, secretly a little alarmed at how close to home Haru was hitting. How does he know all this...? And just when did he become so intuitive? "My sleeping problems have nothing to do with him, either."

"Okay then, look me in the eye and tell me honestly that you hate him. And use his name, too," Haru challenged, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward. "Prove to me that you're not just lying to yourself."

Lying to myself? Every time I think of that stupid cat I feel like I'm lying to myself. Yuki glared up at Haru, his eyes meeting the ox's. "I..."

"Say it. 'I hate Kyo'," Haru prompted, an almost taunting edge in his voice.

Yuki's mouth felt suddenly dry. He cleared his throat a few times, his tongue feeling uncomfortably like a large, dead fish. For crying out loud, there must be something seriously wrong with me. If I just say three simple words, I can prove to Haru – and to myself – that all these strange feelings I've been having lately don't mean anything. Then everything can go back to the way it was before. That's good, right?

"I..."

Haru's eyes glinted, a slight smirk tugging at the edges of his mouth. Yuki stared defiantly at him, trying to work up the will to force the words out of his mouth. Why can't I...?

"I... gah!" he slumped back, eyes darting over the surface of the table, surprised to find that his hands were shaking. I... I hate this!

"Yuki..." A warm hand set down on his shoulder as Haru crossed to the other side of the table, sitting down next to him. "Are you okay? I... shouldn't have done that. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

"I..." Maybe it wouldn't be so bad telling Haru... I don't think Tohru really understood what I was trying to say... Interlocking his fingers in a vain attempt to stop them trembling, he turned and looked up at Haru, who expression was pitifully contrite. "I'm not sure."

"Well... if you two are starting to get along, there's no reason to hide it," Haru said slowly.

Yuki shook his head, slightly exasperated. Getting along... why does everyone always say that? It's far more complicated than simply getting along... "We're not really... that is, yesterday... we... ah, it's hard to explain."

"You might as well try and explain it anyway," Haru mused, crossing his legs. "Putting it into words might make it less confusing for you."

"Yes..." Yuki frowned slightly, before launching into an attempted explanation of his feelings: how he was feeling more companionship towards the cat but wasn't sure why, how he and Kyo had seemed close to 'getting along' yesterday, but now Kyo seemed as angry with him as always, and above all, how he was finding it hard to hate Kyo.

"Well now," Haru said eventually, scratching his chin. "I can identify with that."

"You can?"

"Yeah," Haru said mildly. "You know... that sounds like almost exactly what I went through when I realized that I didn't hate you anymore."

Wait, what? Yuki's mind furiously backtracked as he thought back to he and Haru's childhood. Haru used to hate me because I was the rat... then he decided that he was... in love with me?

"Maybe you've got a crush on him," Haru suggested, ignoring Yuki's mortified look at his words. "There's a thin line between love and hate, and all that."

"Haru, you obviously weren't listening to a word I was saying!" Yuki hissed, feeling his face growing hot. A crush? I think not! I would never... "I just thought that maybe... we could stop being enemies! That's what I was getting at! I don't know where you get these ideas! In case you haven't realized, we're both male! Male cousins! Have you been spending too much time around Shigure?"

"Calm down," Haru chuckled. "It's perfectly natural for a male to be attracted to another male. I'm not accusing you of wanting to marry him or anything like that. A crush is... a brief infatuation with another person. There's no rule saying they have to be of the same gender."

"Let's stop talking about this," Yuki growled. Why did I even bother telling Haru about this...? It's obvious he doesn't understand! I certainly do not like Kyo in that way! And even... even if I did, I should hope I wouldn't be so fickle as to have merely a 'brief infatuation'...

"Well... have you ever thought about kissing him?"

"That's enough, Haru!" Yuki stood up from the table, sweeping his books into a pile and picking them up. The ox sniggered for a moment, then sobered, standing up and coming towards Yuki.

"Yuki... okay, maybe I shouldn't have said that. I'm only trying to help, you know," Haru said softly. "If you do happen to have a crush on him... it really is better not to deny it. Trust me on that."

"I don't have a crush on him," Yuki said shortly. "I'm not denying anything. I may... I may not hate Kyo any more, but I am attracted to him in a strictly platonic manner!" He glanced at the ox's remorseful expression and softened a little. "Look... thanks for listening, anyway."

"Any time." Haru looked briefly towards the stairs as though considering going up to find Kyo, then shrugged. "I'll get going, then. See you at school... I hope things work out for you."

"Yeah. See you," Yuki walked with Haru to the door and watched him saunter off, hoping he wouldn't get lost and end up wandering around for days. Once the ox was out of sight, he closed the door and stood in front of the table, not particularly wanting to study but at a loss as to what else to do.

With a sigh, he sat down on the couch, pondering what Haru had told him. A crush... keh. He means well, but he's completely wrong.


Kyo turned over on his bed and glared at the wastebasket, which had been moved to the other side of the room. He could faintly hear the murmur of Haru and Yuki's voices downstairs, but couldn't make out the words. Not that I have any interest in eavesdropping. I'm sure whatever they're talking about is boring as hell and completely not worth listening to.

Shifting to lie on his back, he stared at the ceiling, bored – he couldn't be bothered studying, he didn't want to have to walk past Haru and Yuki to get to the television, and he'd already read the few books he kept in his room. Nothing else to really do, then.

"I guess I could clean up a bit," he said to himself, glancing about the bedroom. Although it was mostly bare, his desk and bedside table were getting a bit cluttered. Unwilling to move from his position on the bed, he sat up slightly and fumbled on the bedside table, straightening his alarm clock and picking up the folded pieces of paper littering the surface.

"What are these... notes from school. Okay, rubbish." Taking aim, he scrunched them into a ball and pelted it at the wastebasket. It fell short and missed by a clean meter, bouncing along the floor and coming to rest in the corner. "Oops. Crap throw."

Finally hauling himself off the bed, he sat down at his desk and picked up all his books, placing them in a neat pile. Organizing his study notes, sorting out his stationary and throwing everything else at the bin (he ended up with a hit:miss ratio of 7:2) only took about fifteen minutes.

Then he was bored again.

He realized that the house had gone quiet some time while he was cleaning, and sat back down on the bed. I guess Haru's gone, then...? So I'm alone with that damn rat again.

Kyo clenched his teeth. Although his usual method of dealing with things that were bothering him was to either a) not think about them and hope they'd go away, or b) beat them up, he was quite sure that neither method would work this time.

I can't... okay, let's think this through in an orderly manner, he thought grimly. Yesterday, while I was dancing with that damn rat... I mean, Yuki. In order for this to remain completely objective, I must use names. While I was dancing with Yuki, I... well, I dare say we were having fun. He shook his head, confused. Having fun with the damn rat? I mean Yuki? Since when were we able to do that?

And... this is something that must not be tolerated! If I allow myself to start... 'getting along' with him, the next thing I know, we'll be becoming friends. Then I'll... I won't be able to get mad at him and get into a fight and beat him. So... that's what I want! The thing I want the most should be to beat the damn rat and win the bet! So why the hell do I find myself wanting to... well, I dunno, not-hate him, if that's a word.

What's the opposite of hate?

Kyo felt his face flushing as the answer to that popped into his head, wishing that there was some way to erase thoughts. Shit. I did not mean that the way it came out... I mean, the opposite of hate can also be like. Like, as in, 'not-mind-and-sort-of-get-along-with'...

My mind is retarded, he decided, slumping back on the bed. And I've thought about Yuki enough for one day. If I'm gonna think about this any more, I'll do it tomorrow. Or the day after. For now I'll just concentrate on studying, and after the exams I can get back to... hating him. As soon as we have another fight, I'll find it easier to hate him, anyway.

He studiously ignored the fact that the last few times he'd had a fight with Yuki, it hadn't helped. Raising one arm over his face, he peeled back his sleeve to check the bandages, as had become habit over the last few days.

No blood... that can only be a good thing. Maybe they've healed...? Carefully undoing one end of the bandage, he unwound it a little ways and pulled a face. There was only a faint stain of blood on the inside of the bandages, and the wounds appeared to be healing quite well. Nevertheless, the scars looked pretty awful, standing out starkly against his skin.

I'll never wear short sleeves again... he thought rather ruefully, redoing the bandages. The sight of the scars made him feel slightly ill, a strange feeling gnawing at the pit of his stomach. Guilt? Shame, perhaps? Although looking at what he had done to himself made him nauseated, part of the ill feeling came from the disturbing knowledge that, someplace in the back of his mind, he felt he could quite easily do it again.

It makes me feel better, he intoned, closing his eyes. And, being the cat, anything that makes me feel better is a good thing in my books. ...now I'm just confusing myself. Better not to think about anything.

Although Kyo had always been one to live in the moment, thoughts of his impending caging haunted him. As long as there's a chance that I can be free... I have to take it. Which means, no more of this nonsensical 'almost-friendship' with Yuki. We hate each other, and that's the way it should be.

Good plan, said his brain, while his heart screamed: Denial.


"I think you just stick that in there."

"What, just like that?"

"Well... that's what it says here..." Tohru frowned as she peered at the paper manual that had come with their new heater. "The diagram's aren't very clear, but... um, maybe it's not a good idea to fiddle around with all those parts. I think you should just put the cord in, then plug it in."

"Righto then!" Shigure adjusted the cord attached to the heater, then pushed the plug into the socket. There was a slight flash of electricity around the powerpoint as it connected, then the heater's light blinked on.

"It doesn't seem that hot," Shigure commented, running his hand over the top of the heater. "Maybe it needs time to warm up."

Yuki sighed as he watched them from where he sat on the couch, notes spread out around him. Shigure glanced over at him and laughed.

"All three of you are practically swimming in papers and textbooks these days!" the dog chuckled, grinning at Kyo, who sat at the table studying and proving Shigure's point. "There's hardly a moment when I see one of you without some sort of study material."

"Well, the exams are coming up so soon..." Tohru folded the manual and put it down on the table. "Um, I'll go and get started on lunch."

"Thank you, my little flower!" Shigure gave the heater one last nudge before beaming at it. "There! Now you lot can't complain about it being so cold anymore! Well, I'm off to do some work! Happy studying!"

Yuki adjusted his grip on his pen and continued hitting the books. After about ten minutes, the heater had made the room comfortably warm, and Yuki shrugged off his jacket, neatly folding it and placing it to the side. He glanced up at Kyo, frowning – the cat was still wearing long sleeves, and seemed in no hurry to change into something cooler.

He must be sweltering, Yuki thought, before pushing the thought away. Well, that's his problem – if he wants to boil, I shan't interfere.

Shigure chose that moment to stride back into the room, a notepad in his hand and a pen stuck behind his ear. He walked right up to the heater and stood so close to it that his clothes were in danger of setting alight, holding his hands over the grill to warm them.

"Heat, glorious heat!" the dog proclaimed, then, as though reading Yuki's mind, glanced towards Kyo. "You look a little hot over there, Kyo. You wanna go change into a t-shirt or something?"

Kyo gave Shigure a pointed stare. After a moment, the dog's face dawned with a look of realization, before he said, a little too loudly, "Well, don't blame me if you spontaneously combust!"

Yuki, silently observing this exchange, was more puzzled than ever. There's obviously something going on between the two of them... well, I knew that already, but I haven't the faintest idea what it could be... The curiosity was starting to really bug him.

"Lunch!" Tohru chimed, breaking the silence that had settled over the room.


"I hate literacy," Kyo muttered as he threw his books down onto the roof, sitting down next to them. After lunch, the heat downstairs had become simply too much to bear, and the cat had decided to retreat to the roof. It was quieter up here as well – Shigure had offered to clean the dishes so that Tohru could spend time studying, but the dog seemed to find it necessary to sing while doing the chore. The sound of breaking china every now and then only added to the racket.

Kyo glared at his books, not particularly inspired by any of them. "I hate Shakespeare... I hate maths... I hate parabola... I hate quadratic equations..." I hate my life, something whispered in the back of his mind, but he quickly buried the thought under mathematical formulas. The last thing I need while trying to study is return-of-the-I-hate-my-life-fullness. Area = pi x r-squared.

Shifting to lie on his stomach, his books spread out in front of him, he began working on one of the exercises in his maths book, but was quickly distracted by a piece of seaweed stuck between his back molars.

Gah! This isn't getting me anywhere! Slamming his pen down in frustration, he stood up and climbed down the ladder back into the house. I need a break. I've been studying all day. Well, most of the day. Whatever.

Walking into the main room, he was hit with a wave of heat, and had to resist the urge to take off his jacket or roll up his sleeves. "Shigure, turn the damn heater off!"

The dog looked up from where he sat beside Yuki on the couch. "Hm? But Kyo, you guys are always complaining about how cold it is! Now it's toasty warm!"

"It's cold at night. We don't need it on in the middle of the day!" Kyo marched to the fridge and pulled it open, pausing a moment to enjoy the cold air that wafted out as he grabbed the milk carton.

"Should you be studying?" Shigure commented, pausing in his doodling as Kyo returned to the room. "I thought you were on the roof, working."

"I was. Now I'm having a break," Kyo said, switching off the heater and ignoring Shigure's protests at the action.

"Hmmph. Well, maybe Yuki should take a break as well!" Shigure peered over the rat's shoulder. "Look how much work he's done! You two can take a break together and practice some more of your beautiful dancing!"

Kyo glanced over at Yuki, their eyes meeting for a moment. The cat scowled and looked away, trying to fight back the part of him that thought dancing with Yuki was fun. This whole dancing business is... it should just be another excuse to fight. I don't want to start liking it. Enjoying anything to do with the damn rat is just wrong. I'm meant to hate everything about him.

"We did a lot of practice yesterday," Yuki said, his expression unreadable.

Shigure raised his eyebrows. "Practice makes perfect! Well if you don't want to practice, what else will you do? The devil finds work for idle hands! Ooh, I have an idea! You can help me with my latest novel! I'm a little stuck for ideas... I could do with some inspiration."

"...uh." Well if it's a choice between dancing with the damn rat or spending time with that perverted dog... dancing is preferable. Kyo glanced at Yuki a second time, and the rat shrugged, getting up and heading for the door. Kyo followed, ignoring Shigure's giggles as they went outside, shutting the door behind them.


Standing on the porch together, Yuki was surprised to find that he didn't feel as awkward holding Kyo as he usually did at school. The cat's hand on his shoulder didn't feel as out of place as it normally did, and putting his own hand on Kyo's waist wasn't as uncomfortable.

We're getting used to it, perhaps? He mused to himself as they began the steps. Getting used to touching one another in a way other than fighting? I never thought that would happen.

He couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. He didn't have much time to think on it, however, as Kyo promptly blundered and stepped on his foot. Okay. Maybe we're doing okay with the cha-cha, but this dance definitely needs more practice.

"I thought you'd memorized the steps," he commented. "Surely you haven't forgotten them again?"

"I've kind of being concentrating on revising for the exams," Kyo snapped back. "Dance steps aren't the first thing on my mind."

Sighing, Yuki proceeded to remind his cousin of what they were doing, before they danced through the routine slowly. Well... this isn't so bad. It beats sitting around with Shigure, anyway. Out loud, he suggested, "Do you think you know the steps well enough to try it a bit faster?"

"Yeah yeah," Kyo growled. "Let's do it already."

"Alright..." Yuki picked up the pace, counting under his breath as he moved faster. Kyo huffed in annoyance as he struggled to keep up, occasionally skipping a step in order to stay in time with Yuki.

What occurred next happened so fast that it was almost a blur to Yuki.

One moment, he was putting his foot forward to do the next step. Kyo took a step in the wrong direction, they got in one another's way, and the next thing he knew, his ankle was entangled around Kyo's leg, somehow. The cat rather foolishly pulled his foot backwards, Yuki's knee was jerked forward, and they tumbled over.

Yuki instinctively flung his arms out to stop his fall, grazing his palms on the hard surface of the porch as they landed in a most compromising position. Kyo was flat on his back, head having rebounded off the ground with a rather ominous cracking sound. Yuki had managed to catch himself before he ended up sprawled on top of the cat, but he now straddled Kyo's waist, hands planted on the flooring either side of his cousin's head, their faces far too close together for comfort.

He felt his face flushing at the awkward situation, still in too much shock to recover his wits and stand up. Kyo's eyes were equally wide, and he looked a little dazed. As if this wasn't bad enough, Haru's words from earlier that afternoon chose that inconvenient moment to pop back into Yuki's head.

'Have you ever thought about kissing him...?'

Mortified, Yuki quickly disentangled himself from Kyo and got to his feet, turning his head away to hide the blush he was certain was spreading along his cheeks. Of all the stupid things that could have happened...

Glancing back at Kyo, he found the cat standing up, rubbing the back of his head and wincing. Their eyes met for a brief second before they both looked away, turning their backs on one another. Yuki tugged at the collar of his shirt, which suddenly seemed too tight.

"D-damn rat!" Kyo stuttered finally, embarrassment evident in his voice. "You tripped me!"

"On the contrary, you tripped me," Yuki replied, although he found it hard to muster venom into his voice.

Kyo didn't reply, and there was a tense moment of silence. After a while, Yuki cleared his throat. "I think... that's enough practice for today."

"Yeah," Kyo said. They slowly to turned to face one another, an unspoken agreement forming to never speak of this incident again.

"...I'm going back to my room to study," Yuki muttered, and quickly headed back into the house, gathering his books from the couch and hurrying upstairs.

Once the door was shut behind him, however, all thoughts of studying fled. He dropped his books on the desk and sank down onto his bed, the tripping-and-falling incident replaying over and over in his mind.

I was close enough to... he shook his head firmly, dispelling all thoughts of kisses and whatnot. I'm overreacting! It was an innocent accident!

And I certainly do not have a 'brief infatuation'.


So, how was it? Did this chapter move along too fast? Sorry if they're a bit OOC. Anyone who gave me a suggestion last chapter, that I didn't use in this one... I'm planning how to incorporate it, and I'll probably use it in a later chapter. Thank you!

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated, as usual. I've got quite a few ideas for the next chapter, but I've also got exams coming up, so... we'll see how fast I can update XP

Thanks again!