The next morning, Kyo, stretching lazily from his sixty-minute morning warm-up, jumped up the roof of the house to watch the sun rise. It had been his daily ritual – jogging, stretching, and doing air punches, then after which, watching the sunrise in all her glory.
He lied down blissfully on the roof, enjoying the cold sensation of the tiled roof against his heavily perspiring back. He was already in a good mood.
"Isn't it a little too early for sunbathing?" asked a familiar voice from below.
He got up and looked down, only to find the smirking Uo looking up at him, while holding up the garden hose and a rag. "Good morning, Boss! The Prince told me that you should be in the office within an hour, so I'm cleaning the car already. Just a subtle reminder for you to do the same to," she said.
"Are you telling me to take a bath?" he yelled, his good mood dissolving. He didn't like to be bossed around; he was used to doing things on his own instinct and not because someone else says so, especially NOT a female creature.
"I thought so," she muttered, smirk widening.
"And what do you mean by that?!?" he demanded.
She looked at her fingers, eyes half-closed. "Well…I heard cats do not like water, so…"
"Look, I am not a cat…I'm a human being," he said as he jumped down from the roof gracefully. "The cat is just a part of my Juunishi form-"
"So you're not afraid of baths?"
"Of course I'm not!" he boomed.
"Good." And with that, she unceremoniously blasted the garden hose on him.
"Achoo!" Kyo reached for the tissue paper in the car compartment. "This is all your fault, you stupid woman! If I contact a fever, I'll…I'll…"
"…stay in bed, too sick and weak to kill your driver," she finished, her eyes glancing at the car mirror to give him her trademark smirk. "But if I didn't do that, we would still be in your house, arguing about what time you'll take a bath."
He looked at the car clock. "The goddam mouse will be happy, because we'll arrive there earlier than he ordered." He groaned. "And making that damn mouse happy is the last thing on my mind."
"You're just crazy about your cousin, aren't you?" she asked sarcastically.
"Hmp." Kyo turned outside the car window. "The epitome of perfection, Sohma Yuki. The guy who can never be wrong and will always be right. The only time he was wrong was when he thought he was wrong."
"I sense bitterness."
"You're imagining things."
"Ah, phoey! I'm majoring Psychology, don't you know?"
He looked surprised. "You are?" He then scowled. "And you are using me as your guinea pig."
"A pig you are, Boss." She turned left. "We're here."
Kyo reached for the coat hung at the back of the car. "Great. It's back to classes for me too."
Uo tossed him a bottle of perfume. "Here. This will come in handy when you suddenly feel the urge to jog and the Prince will come and check on you in five minutes."
He looked at the perfume. "Don't tell me it's yours." He looked at the brand of the popular male cologne.
"No, I borrowed it from Grandma," she said, rolling her eyes. "Now put some of it on, and go. Impress everyone in there by being punctual and presentable at the same time."
He did as told, and then fixed his necktie. He could feel Uo's steady gaze at him, and he had to admit that he was starting to feel self-conscious. "What?!?" he yelled.
She shrugged. "Never thought that I would see the day that you would be donning that kind of outfit. It's…freaky."
"Shut up," he muttered. "As if having a male perfume is not freaky…"
"I happen to like male scent more," she said casually. "It's not annoyingly heavy, like those other women perfumes. It's more natural and cool."
"It is?" he echoed, somewhat dumbly.
She slapped his shoulder. "Ah, why are you stalling time by talking about perfumes? Hurry up before I get a tape recorder and record your priceless chitchat on colognes. Shigure-san will enjoy that, for sure."
Kyo combed his hair again, but to his dismay, his hair wouldn't cooperate.
"Idiot," she muttered before taking her own comb to fix his unruly hair. "Do you know that there is this amazing little wonder we call 'shampoo', or you've never heard of it?"
"Go to hell!"
"Hah! Even the devil knows what a shampoo is!"
"Damn!"
"I am astounded," said Yuki, his voice carefully moderated. Kyo noticed that being the clan head was becoming of his hated cousin. There was this grudging respect he could feel for the calm authoritative aura that he exudes, even in tight situations.
He remembered Shigure then telling him something about Yuki.
"He loses his grip on his emotion when it comes to three people only: to Ayame, to Akito, and to Tohru-kun. Of the said people, it was only Tohru-kun who wasn't aware that he was doing so, because she's so innocent and naïve. If she only knew what havoc she wreaks on dear Yuki-chan's very neat and orderly system of existence…how she broke down his organization and made him feel what it is like to live…"
"You came early, and you came to the office looking like a civilized person," continued the CEO as his eyes ran through the dark blue coat and tie outfit approvingly. "But next time, please remember that you should not wear rubber shoes with it. It ruins your statement."
"I was in a hurry," he said through gritted teeth. "Your stupid driver made me hurry like hell to go here."
"And you obeyed her?" This time, Yuki did not bother to hide his surprise. "Why, she's better than I thought!"
Kyo was about to attack Yuki when the door opened. In came Tohru, holding two cups of coffee. "Ohayou!" She turned to Kyo. "Why, Kyo-kun! What a pleasant surprise! You came here early!" She handed him one of the cups. "This is for Hatori-sensei, but I'll just fix him another one."
His face mellowed. "Thanks, Tohru." He took the cup and sipped from it.
"Here, Yuki-kun!" Tohru placed the cup down his table.
"Thank you," he said, smiling genuinely. "Honda-san, did you take your breakfast already?"
"Later, Yuki-kun. I'll just fix these letters you want me to type," she said.
"The documents can wait. Honda-san must take her breakfast, or I will demand that she resigns on the spot," he said lightly.
She laughed. "Very well, since you are blackmailing me already…" She shut the door gently.
If she only knew… the words echoed in Kyo's mind again when he saw his cousin smile unconsciously at the closed door, eyes twinkling.
"From the top…now, if you recall, after these books are balanced and audited, they will be needing your signature," repeated Hatori wearily as Kyo yawned carelessly. "Make sure that you have reviewed all the figures, and you must ensure that the money is justly liquidated in the statements, or you shall be the one at fault when an anomaly happens. Do you understand?"
"Yup, I understand perfectly that my job here is to sign autographs. Now, can I go home?" he asked.
The vice-president for marketing groaned. "Very well. We'll see each other on the day after tomorrow."
The neko smirked. It was his day off tomorrow.
Kyo arrived in the parking lot just in time to see Uo seated inside the car, surrounded by books. She was obliviously reading her notes, and wasn't aware of his presence. If the passenger door didn't open, she wouldn't have noticed him at all.
"How long have you waited?" he asked as she started the car.
"I don't know," she said. "Maybe four or five hours. Why?"
"What are you doing when you're here, waiting for me?" he wanted to know.
"I listen to my discman, then I study."
"Which explains why you suddenly made the car a mobile library," he said wryly. He looked at the cover of the prominently thick book at the back seat. Psychological Nature of a Human, Revised Edition.
She was telling the truth when she told him her course.
She started to unpark the car. "Where to, Boss?"
He looked at the car clock. "To the basketball court. I'm going to shoot some hoops."
"You don't have to go to the basketball court to do that. You can play with your balls even in your own bedroom, provided it's locked, that is," she said, smirking.
He rolled his eyes. "Your speech is so vulgar! Geez!"
"My, you're squeamish! That's unbecoming of a Sohma Kyo, right?" she teased. "Besides, you have to lock the door when you play ball in your room; you might hit someone with it by accident."
Kyo watched as the ball cleanly swooped down the basket. "Counted!" he said, raising his fists in triumph. His eyes then went to his inactive audience. "Hey!" he complained. "Will you put that book down?"
Uo looked at him, eyebrow raised. "You want me to watch you, Boss?"
"No." He threw her the ball. "Let's play one-on-one."
She looked at the ball, then at the challenging neko. She tossed him the ball back. "No thanks, I think I'll pass."
"You're scared?"
"No. I can't afford to have a crying boy throw a tantrum here after I wipe the ground clean with his face."
This made Kyo angry. "Hey!" He marched over towards her, snatched the Psychological Nature of a Human, Revised Edition, and threw it out towards the bushes like a Frisbee. "Let's see whose face will end up on the ground."
Uo rolled the sleeves of her driver uniform up. "Pray that the ground will be marble, because you'll spend a lot of time getting intimate with the ground."
Uo ducked to the left, then made a fade away shot.
Sploosh!
"Counted!" she cried happily.
"Hah! You're just two points ahead," he said, dribbling the ball between his legs. He had to admit, but his driver was good not only with car driving. She was also a mean driver to the basket, and it was next to impossible to block her lay-ups.
It was kinda cool, in a somewhat freaky way.
She then glanced at the sky, which was turning black already. "Oh man, what time is it?"
He shrugged.
"I-I better go." She hurried towards the bushes and went down on her knees, looking for the book he threw away ago.
"Do you have a curfew or something?" he asked, frowning. He was still enjoying the game.
"I live alone." She groaned. "Great! Where did you put the book, you idiotic orange cat?"
He flared up. "Why you-"
"Ah, never mind!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Let's go home, Boss. I'll drive you there as fast as I can."
His forehead creased. "Why the rush?"
"Because I have a test in Psy 1 in 10 minutes," she said, heading for the car.
So that's why she was studying. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He may be the reason why she would not be able to take her test.
"Tell you what," he said, tossing the ball on air. "I continue playing here, and you take the car. You can still make it to your class."
She blinked.
"Hurry!" he hissed.
"R-Right." She went towards the car, and then glanced at him. "Boss, are you sure you want to wait?"
"I still like to play anyway," he said, turning towards the basket and aiming the ball at it.
"Alright. Thanks, idiotic orange cat." With that, she lashed out into the road like a madman.
He turned to the car, quietly watching it for a second. He then reached for his penlight.
Uo arrived after twenty minutes, panting. "Boss, are you still there?"
She found Kyo sitting on the bench, absorbed in reading a book. To her surprise, it was her Psy 1 book!
"Boss?"
He looked up. "H-Hey!" He tried to hide the book, but the puzzled look on his driver's face shows that he wasn't quick enough to do so. "That's the shortest class I've ever known."
"Our professor is sick," she explained. "My only class in night sked is cancelled." She looked at his book. "You found it?"
"Obviously," he said sarcastically. He didn't mention anymore about how he groped like crazy in the dark bushes, and how passersby were giving him a you-are-a-psycho-don't-come-near-me look because he was kneeling and pushing and groaning while he was feeling the bushes, searching for the book and groaning when thorns accidentally prick him. "You still need it, right?"
She managed a quick grin. "Y-Yeah. Thanks."
He looked at her, feeling a small fascination grow within him.
She's sorta cool. When she's not making me look like a dunce, she can be really cool.
She flipped through the folded pages in her book. "Oh, you were reading about the sexual natures of people, weren't you, huh?"
He scowled. "Get lost."
Kyo jumped out of the passenger seat. "You won't fetch me tomorrow. It's my day-off," he informed her.
"So you finally accepted me as your driver," she teased.
He glared at her. "Let's just say you can entertain me."
"Oh, the feeling is mutual!" she said, laughing. "I never knew what bliss ignorance is until I met you."
His face turned dark. "I abhor you, stupid female." He marched back into his house, not noticing that his driver's smirk has softened into a fond smile.
"Idiot," she muttered smilingly before starting the car again.
tsuzuku