Title: A Typical Day

Summary: Hisoka wasn't sure what problem he should deal with first. For one, he was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with the panic that was coming from Tohru. Secondly, the elevator was halted and Hisoka did not like being trapped in a small space. Thirdly, the CAT was TALKING. (FB/YnM crossover)

Notes: A Fruits Basket/Yami no Matsuei crossover just for the sake of writing a FB/YnM crossver. It was Chiriko-kun's idea. Supported by Jo-chan and my Inner-Kyou, who likes being written about but doesn't like admitting it. And I worry about Hisoka's characterization terribly, because I'm not certain if I got it right. Eheheh. But I like Snarky!Hisoka. And I really couldn't think of a way for him to react that wouldn't result in Kyou having to tell the family story. Meh. In any case, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I... am... on... CRACK. X.x;

A Typical Day

It was a typical day.

At least, it was typical day in the eyes of one Kyou Sohma. He had woken up to the prospect of eating breakfast with the stupid rat and decided against it, opting instead to go jogging before school started. Had arrived at school a little later than he would have liked, but he was refreshed and wasn't sweating, because Kyou wasn't an idiot and knew the importance of cooling down. Had attended classes, ate lunch with Tohru and her friends, attended more classes, and then gone off after school to work out at the dojo because Tohru had her part-time job today and he would be damned before walking home alone with the rat.

Okay, perhaps Kyou was a little too irritated for it to be a typical day. But he could feel a storm coming in his bones, and the feeling of oncoming lethargy was annoying. He hated it when it rained.

But now he was waiting on the top floor of Tohru's workplace, waiting for the aforementioned girl to finish. He didn't usually come to pick her up -- it was Yuki's job, if anyone's at all --, but the nights were coming earlier and no one in the household wanted Tohru to walk home alone. And Yuki couldn't make it because of some school function, not that Kyou kept track of the rat's social calender. So Kyou had offered to pick her up, much to Tohru's surprised embarrassment and Yuki's indifferent scorn, and the entire conversation had just annoyed Kyou more.

Kyou looked out the window onto the darkened street below, watching cars pass by. It was chilly outside and a storm threatened in the air, so Kyou had opted to wait inside. The lady at the front desk had informed him of Tohru's whereabouts, and Kyou thought it was just as easy to wait on the top floor as the bottom. Besides, he liked heights.

It wasn't long before he heard the sound of footsteps, and a surprised gasp, and a familiar voice saying, "Kyou-kun!"

"Oi," he grunted in greeting, continuing to stare at the cars below.

"You didn't need to meet me up here, Kyou-kun," Tohru continued, and Kyou tore his face away from the cars to look at his friend; she was smiling pleasantly, wearing her school uniform and carrying her bookbag, apparently ready to leave. She added, "But it was very nice of you to do so!"

Kyou simply muttered, "It's cold out." And he really wanted to go home. Even if that stupid rat would be there.

"Thank you very much for coming to pick me up, Kyou-kun," Tohru said, bowing politely to him. "I know Yuki-kun was busy tonight. Though I could have walked home on my own, I'm still happy you came."

Kyou blushed and looked away, unaccostomed to the praise. Eager to change the subject, he said, "Let's go, it's getting late." He gently touched her shoulder, marveling silently how used to touching a woman who wasn't a relative he had become, and steered her toward the elevator.

They waited in front of the elevator in a comfortable if impatient silence. All Kyou really wanted was to go home and lock himself in his room, probably reading his English textbook because he had a test on it the next day. The feeling of the storm was growing slowly, but it was a heavy presence in the back of his mind, and Kyou dreaded the slow laziness that he knew was coming.

"I hope Yuki-kun does well with his meeting tonight," Tohru said, fiddling with the strap on her backpack.

"Stop talking about the stupid rat," muttered Kyou. He didn't look at her, and instead stared at the numbers above the elevator as they slowly increase. Dammit, why did Tohru have to work in such a big building?

"Are you feeling okay, Kyou-kun?"

Kyou looked away from the numbers to see Tohru staring at him with a wide-eyed, concerned expression. He felt himself flush, abashed by fact that he was being so rude -- did she think he was mad at her? Tohru was too quick to blame herself -- and stammered, "N-no, it's just--"

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, and Kyou took that moment to usher Tohru onto the elevator, hoping to avoid the conversation. However, before the doors could shut, another person rushed on. He was about their age, with short sandy-blond hair and sharp green eyes. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater and looked rather aggrieved by something.

"Sorry," he muttered as he stopped the doors beginning to shut.

"Oh, it's no problem at all, Kurosaki-san," Tohru said, bowing to the boy and smiling politely. "We weren't in any hurry."

Kyou wanted to tell Tohru to speak for herself, but it was Tohru and there were things that he just did not say to her. Anything snarky in general made the list.

"Oh, Kyou-kun, this is my new co-worker, Kurosaki Hisoka," Tohru said, introducing them. "Kurosaki-san, this is Sohma Kyou, a good friend of mine. He's come to walk me home."

Kyou nodded briefly to Kurosaki, who did the same. Kyou was mildly appeased to see that Kurosaki didn't seem to feel the need to introduce himself further. He wasn't much in the mood for dealing with unfamiliar people.

Tohru, however, chattered pleasantly at Kurosaki, who regarded her with a bland, attentive stare. Kyou relaxed as he noticed it, because it was at least proper and not like some of the stares that Tohru got from other boys she spoke with. There were some boys that would watch Tohru with stares that were mocking or judgmental or intrigued, and this irritated Kyou to no end. Tohru was not someone to be lightly stared at. It was something that he and the stupid rat agreed on.

But Kurosaki was simply listening, appealing Tohru with an average expression, and Kyou felt comfortable to tune out their conversation, even if Tohru was talking with a boy he didn't know.

It was at that moment that the world went black and jerked abruptly, and Kyou suddenly found himself with Tohru in his arms--

POOF!

It was not Hisoka's fault that he was late to meet with Tsuzuki. His new boss had made him clean the bathrooms which, from Hisoka's perspective, had not been cleaned since they were built. The work had been exhausting and tedious, and Hisoka had passed the time by mentally cursing himself for dying at the age of sixteen. Tsuzuki always got the good jobs, such as in this case, where he was posing as an intern. Hisoka, however, was stuck on the cleaning crew, and spent most of the day following around cleaning ladies and subtly questioning them.

Hisoka really just wanted to find the lost soul that was supposedly haunting the building and get this case over with. It wasn't as if the soul was doing anything; Hisoka's queries hadn't gotten anywhere. None of the cleaning ladies had noticed anything amiss.

Perhaps Tsuzuki's questioning had gotten results, but Hisoka didn't think it would. The soul wasn't doing anything particularly haunting except for rearranging desk items and occasionally opening windows without provocation. This really should have been a one-day case, but the spirit was hiding itself very well.

Stupid soul. Stupid case. Hisoka couldn't bring himself to blame Tsuzuki just yet, which was a change.

But it was with these irritations in mind that Hisoka found himself on an elevator with a new co-worker of his named Tohru and her friend Kyou, who hadn't said anything. He could handle that, even if enclosed spaces tended to make his empathy tweak out a little more than usual. Tohru's emotions were pleasant and placid, and he couldn't feel Kyou's much at all.

It was then, in the middle of Tohru asking a question about where he went to school, that the elevator went black and shuddered to a halt, sending Hisoka careening into the closest wall. He heard a surprised "oh!" and a thump and then--

POOF!

Before Hisoka could contemplate exactly would make that sound, the lights flickered back on and lit up the elevator dimly. Briefly checking himself over -- he had a bruise that was already disappearing --, Hisoka turned to see if Tohru and Kyou were all right.

He blinked.

No, it wasn't a trick of the light.

There was a cat sitting next to Tohru, who was looking rather startled. The cat was orange and rather lean, and was partially covered in Kyou's clothing. It was also looking rather surprised itself, if it was possible for cats to register that emotion.

Tohru just then seemed to noticed the cat herself, but instead of screaming or fainting -- as Hisoka's experience with women told him they were prone to do -- she simply gasped and looked guilty.

"Oh, Kyou-kun, I am so sorry!" Tohru said simply, hands going to her face as she blushed brightly. "I didn't mean to run into you, really! Oh, I'm sorry, it was just so sudden--"

"Shut up," growled the cat.

Yes. The cat.

Hisoka wasn't sure what problem he should deal with first. For one, he was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with the panic that was coming from Tohru. Secondly, the elevator was halted and Hisoka did not like being trapped in a small space. Thirdly, the CAT was TALKING.

"Um--" he began.

Instantly, both Tohru and the cat turned to stare at him, both having apparently forgotten he was there. There was a moment of stunned silence wherein they both seemed to register his presence once again, and then Hisoka felt a rush of panic wash over him, emanating from both Tohru and the cat (whom Hisoka was suspecting very strongly was actually Kyou.)

"This -- this isn't --" Tohru began, stammering as she nervously clutched at her skirt. The cat seemed to be shrinking into his too-big clothes.

Hisoka wasn't sure what to say, as it wasn't every day that a human turned into a housecat in front of him, and so he decided he'd just wing it.

"Er--," he started. "Eh--" No, that wasn't it, either. What exactly did one say to a person who had just turned into a cat? (And wasn't Terezuma and therefore didn't have the excuse of a Shikigami. Or being dead.) "Aa--"

Perhaps it wasn't the best response, but Hisoka has never been a people person and he thought, for having just seen a teenager turn into a cat, he was doing fairly well.

But Hisoka really didn't know what to say. So he opted for the next best thing. He frowned and looked at the elevator doors, asking, "Why did the elevator just stop?"

"What?!" both Tohru and Kyou-kitty said.

Clearly, it was not the reaction they were expecting. Hisoka decided to go with it.

"Well, it wasn't raining," Hisoka said, falling rather rapidly into the pretending-nothing-is-at-all-wrong mode. "And I don't think the elevator is that old. But I bet we're gonna be stuck in here for awhile."

"N-no, probably not," Tohru replied, now looking between Hisoka and Kyou with wide eyes. Kyou was glaring at him as best a cat could. Hisoka could feel confusion and shock radiating from both of them.

"I'm going to call Security, okay? So they can get us out," Hisoka asked, gesturing toward the phone box on the wall. When neither of them said anything, Hisoka did just that, dialing the number listed and informing them of the break down. After a couple of minutes talking, Hisoka hung up the phone. He turned to Tohru and Kyou -- who was still in cat form -- and said, "They said they'll be able to get us down in about five minutes."

"O...kay," Tohru said, still watching him with surprise.

"You might want to transform back to human form if you can, Sohma-san," Hisoka suggested, finding the panic the two were going through rather amusing now that he had adjusted. "I don't think cats are allowed in the building."

Oh, yes. There was a certain sense of sadistic pleasure he was getting out of the cat's expression.

"You--," Kyou sputtered, and the image of a cat talking was even more disconcerting that it had been before. "Aren't you--" The cat would have gone on, but at that moment, there came a sound.

POOF!

And suddenly, through a cloud of colored smoke, there was a naked orange-haired boy sitting there. Tohru turned away, blushing brightly. Hisoka raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't I what?" Hisoka asked. He threw in an impish smile for good measure. Never mind the fact that he didn't usually smile. This was fun.

"Y--... but--... I--..."

"Yes?"

Clearly, Hisoka's calm demeanor was too much for the boy-turned-cat-turned-boy to handle, and he chose instead to pull on his clothes with seething confusion. Within a few moments, he was dressed. Tohru turned back around, still blushing but less so.

They both stared at Hisoka. He stared back. However, something was tugging on the back of his mind, distracting him, and Hisoka frowned slightly, trying to figure it out.

"Why didn't you--?" Kyou began, but just then, Hisoka understood.

"Shh," Hisoka murmured, holding up a hand to silence the orange-haired boy, and pulled an ofuda from his coat pocket. The soul was here, that's why the elevator had stopped. Hisoka could sense it inside the elevator, flitting silently from left to right to there! Hisoka snapped the paper out and onto the translucent forehead of the spirit.

For a few seconds, a hazy body appeared, revealing a middle-aged Japanese man with a pouch belly and large nose. Tohru and Kyou stepped back, looking shocked, and the man reached to touch the ofuda on his forehead with a vague expression of surprise on his face. Then, the fuda magic taking effect, the soul faded, having been sent forcefully into the afterlife.

Hisoka turned back to his elevator companions with a slight blush on his face, realizing that he'd probably have to explain himself. And he really didn't want to, because that would take energy and time and was rather against the rules.

"That--" Tohru said after a moment of shocked silence -- which Hisoka was getting really used to by now, what with the past five minutes and all --, "That was Jinpa-san! He used to work here, but died two months ago of a heart attack."

Well, there was no avoiding it now.

"I'm a Shinigami," Hisoka said simply, shrugging. "Jinpa Koushirou was refusing to move on, and my partner and I were sent to assist him." The silence continued. "We're leaving now that he's sent on, however." To himself Hisoka wondered why Jinpa's soul had been considered enough danger for them to actually pose as real people instead of just investigating silently, but assumed it was just an error. It happened sometimes. Still irritating, though.

"You're a Shinigami?!" Kyou asked, sounding accusing.

Hisoka gave him a look. "You turned into a cat."

More silence.

"Call it even?" Kyou suggested.

"Sounds good to me."

Abruptly, as if to signify the end of the conversation, the elevator started up again, heading down.

Tohru, who had fallen into a certain quietness that people who had no idea what was going on tended to do, suddenly turned to Hisoka and bowed deeply. She said, "It -- it was very nice making your acquaintance then, Shinigami-san! I'm sorry I won't get to see you at work any longer!"

"It was nice meeting you, too, Honda-san," Hisoka said, though he was a bit startled by the bow. "And you, Souma-san." Kyou nodded nervously, seeming to debate between looking at him and staring at the door.

Then the door opened onto the ground floor, and a couple building attendants were there to see if everyone was all right. Seeing nothing wrong, they let the three teens go, and it was then that Hisoka parted ways with the two strange people from the elevator.

Now all Hisoka had to worry about was whether or not mentioning them was necessary in his report.

All Kyou could think about on the way home was how much he really just wanted to go and hide in his room. Tohru kept glancing back at the building as if expecting Kurosaki to suddenly shriek and realize what he had seen, and asked Kyou once if they should tell anyone else about this.

Considering that Kurosaki was dead, Kyou didn't think it was necessary. Besides, who would believe them? No one. Kyou wasn't even sure he believed himself.

In fact, he had said to Tohru, it was best if they just forgot about it.

The Sohmas had enough troubles as it was without bringing angels of death into it.

"You mean we're done?" Tzusuki asked over a mountain of ice cream that made Hisoka shudder. Why had he agreed to meet in an ice cream shop? He knew that Tsuzuki would eat like this.

"Yes," Hisoka replied. "The soul moved on. It stopped the elevator with me in it and I caught it."

"Great!" Tsuzuki said, looking a little too pleased by that news. Hisoka raised an eyebrow and Tsuzuki explained, "Tatsumi gave us two days to get this case done! Let's stay in the hotel and sleep in tomorrow! And we can order pizza tonight!"

Hisoka sighed and rested his head in his hands. "Whatever," he muttered.

"Yay!"