Getting dressed

The next morning, kyo woke up naked in tohru's bed. he looked at rika, who was still sleeping of course. he didn't admit that he thought she was really cute in the morning. as threateningly grumpy as she got, it was adorable to see how her messy hair would be flopped, and how her pajama set hugged her slim body. he almost considered starting his morning training late, so that he could spend more time watching her asleep. but that was unheard of. so he pushed the hair out of her face, and leaned to kiss her forehead. he was greeted to a quick slap on the side of the head.

"what the hell woman!?" he looked down at rika. rika looked annoyed, with
eyes slightly open.
"nnnn..." she mumbled, then fell asleep.
'damn' he thought. tohru wasn't joking. she doesn't like to be disturbed for anything when she's sleeping. so he gave up and got out of bed. he found his clothes on the floor and put them on until he could walk into his room and get fresh clothes.

later on in the day, rika was getting ready to leave for sound checks and last minute rehearsal. she had just brushed her teeth and walked into tohru's room to grab her guitar.

"are you going there by yourself?" she spun around to see kyo standing at the doorway. she nodded her head. kyo walked in and stood next to her, planting akiss on the top of her head.
"i figure, you guys are coming later anyways. no need for you all to wait around and get bored."
"how long is it?" rika shrugged.
"eh...maybe like 2 or 3 hours."
"i'll walk you there. you shouldn't really walk by yourself anyways." rika smiled.

"oooh. yeah. and i'm gonna need a big strong man to protect me..." she teased. kyo smiled.
"damn right you do."

they walked past the living room and out the door. before leaving rika yelled behind her,
"hey guys i'm heading to sound check and rehearsal! i'll be back later, kyo's walkin me there!" tohru yuki and shigure looked up. shigure smiled to himself.

once they were about a half mile away, kyo had the courage to take rika's hand. it surprised rika, but she liked it. she walked closer to him to rest her head on his shoulder. finally, they started to reach downtown. kyo shuddered as they passed by ayame's shop. what he ddin't know was that mine had seen kyo walk by. she yelled to the backroom,

"ayame! i see your cousin kyo outside! he's with some girl...." she said deviously. ayame rushed out the backroom and looked out the window as well. kyo was standing outside of the club a few doors down. he was holding a girl's hand. ayame noticed that she had a fair sense of style, not necessarily sexy, but still sexy. and it wasn't girly either, it was... well it wasn't preppy. 'very nice choice, neko.' mine squealed when kyo shyly decided to plant a kiss on the girl's lips. his cheeks turned crimson, before rika decided to kiss him back.

"awww! its so cute! i wish my brother was outgoing enough to get action like that...i mean, what if my brother goes through life never getting laid! oh...what a failure i would be as older brother...."

'mmm'... rika thought to herself.
"well um...did u want me to pick you up in 2 hours then?"
"it works." rika flashed kyo a genuine smile, making his ears turn red. kami, she loved when his ears did that.

"alright then, i'll see you later!" she waved as she walked in.

The clubhouse had two floors; the ground level was a bar and such. there were small tables set up, and a music system. below, in the basement, was where the stage was witha large floor for dancing. and standing on a chair, looking out the basement window, was mikki staring at the two outside the club. he grinded his teeth in jealousy.

kyo happily sighed. he was really liking this,having a.....well... she wasn't his girlfriend. but what was she then? he didn't know. he decided it wasn't important anyways. whatever happens, happens. he didn't wanna have to walk home and come back... he decided to walk around downtown for a bit. however, he didn't get very far when the hebi popped out of his shop and pulled him in.

"HEY! what the hell!?" ayame laughed at his cousin.
"i saw kyo kyo with a girl!!!" he jumped happily.
"well duh! did ya think i was gay or something?"
"so tell me, who is the lucky lady?"
"lucky lady?"
"stupid kyo. the girl with the blue hair! which by the way, she's pretty hot." kyo was starting to feel really irritated.
"you were SPYING on me?"
"well, if i recall, that looked like a public display of affection. meaning out in public. where people can see."
"shut up stupid hebi!" ayame ignored kyo.

"so tell me, how's yuki?"
"how should i know? i don't follow that damn nezumi around or nothin. only tohru would want to." he grumbled.
"ah yes... you know... i'm just waiting until the day that they get together." this time kyo laughed. hard.

"HAHAHA! you TOTALLY missed that day! they're already together!" kyo was really laughing...really hard. ayame, however, had a face of shock mixed with delight.
"YUKI AND TOHRU ARE TOGETHER???? AND GURE' NEVER BOTHERED TO CALL AND TELL ME?!?!OOOOOHH..." he said excitedly yet upset.

"MINE! CLOSE THE SHOP! I'M GOING TO SHIGURE'S!" and with that ayame left kyo still laughing. kyo finally wiped a tear from his eye. he didn't even know why that was so funny. 'sigh. ... that's kinda awesome. boy, yuki will be so mad when he finds out i told his brother about tohru and him.' kyo didn't care; it would be another reason to start a fight.

while waiting for rika, kyo decided he'd try for the first time....to buy a girl presents. he walked into a flower shop. he looked around... wondering which one he should buy. was there even a difference? roses. girls like roses, right? so he bought a dozen of the red ones and walked out. he then walked next door rinto the little toy shop. he knew what he wanted to buy.

rika started putting her guitar back in its case. she got up as a pair of hands closed over her eyes.
"kyo?"
"what? no! its mikki!" she spun around to see the 21 year old , looking deadly serious.

"who's kyo?" rika stammered,
"uh....my friend. i was just thinking he came in. or something. he walked me here." then she added, with her usual atitude,
"he lives at the house. i would THINK you'd remember him, seeing as we introduced everyone."
"is that all? a friend?" rika was feeling uncomfortable.
"um. no. he's my boyfriend." she said this in hopes that mikki would finally leave her alone. mikki stared back at her, oddly annoyed yet intrigued. ' rika's moved on, eh? and with someone in that household....'

"rika?" rika looked towards the stairs. kyo was walking down, hands behind his back. she ran over to him, giving him a kiss on the lips. kyo's eyes widened in surprise. mikki stared at the two, more annoyed than before. who did this guy think he was? rika, knowing that mikki was watching, continued.

"did ya miss me hun?" kyo looked at her confused. she didn't wait for an answer.
"whattaya got behind your back?" embarrassed, kyo pulled out the roses from behind his back. rika squealed; this was a good touch to her show.

"aww! roses! that's so sweet!" she grabbed the roses and smelled them.
"mmm..." kyo gave a sheepish smile. he really hated this. it was hard enough trying to be affectionate in private, what was she doing tryin to be all lovey dovey in public? then it hit him, she was tryin to make mikki jealous or something. his face twitched as he tried not to make himself blow up.

"look, rika, let's just go," he tried to say without yelling. rika just nodded, grabbing her guitar and practically running out the door with kyo.

"i'll see the rest of you guys tonight!" she yelled behind her.

they walked silently home. rika clutched her roses and guitar case, while kyo walked with his hands in his pockets. she looked at him.

"any reason you're not being very talkative?" kyo's temper finally got the best of him.
"I KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TRYING TO DO BACK THERE! YOU WERE TRYING TO MAKE MIKKI
JEALOUS!" his face was red. rika stopped.
"no i didn't! i swear!"
"don't give me that shit! you were trying to be all lovey with me, specifically in front of mikki. don't even deny it. i can't believe you'd use me like that!" rika sighed. kyo was practically huffing.

"you're right." she said quietly. "i did try being all lovey with you. in front of mikki. but it wasn't to make him jealous. it was to make him leave me alone." kyo stopped walking.
"he really really wants me still," she continued. "i...well... i thought if i told him i was taken already , then he'd finally leave me alone." kyo just looked at her in surprise.

"so...you told her i was your boyfriend?" rika nodded. the way she looked, so guilty, so sad, it reminded kyo of tohru. he sighed.

"its ok. i'm sorry."
"thank you!" she ran to him and planted a kiss on his lips. he responded, deepening the kiss alittle.

"wow. you told him i was your boyfriend eh?" rika looked at him.
"don't let your head get all big. i might have to stab it to deflate it."
"you know, you're really violent."
"yes, that's what they say." she grinned, and he leaned down to kiss her again. he then stood up and fumbled for something in his pocket.

"um...here. i thought you would like this." he handed her a box. she looked at him, truely surprised.

"..you bought me a present?"
"do you want it or not!? cuz i CAN get a refund..."
"no! present! mine!" she pretended to whine childishly as she opened the box. a gasp left her lips.

it was a kitty pendant. it was tiny, but with lots of detail. it was on a delicate silver chain. kyo held his breath, wondering what the girl thought about it.

"omg kyo... you got this for me?" for once, rika had nothing smart to say.
kyo shuffled uncomfortably, not knowing what to say.

"um...well uh... do you at least like it?" she wrapped her arms around his neck, accidentally turning him into a cat.
"I LOVE IT!" she kissed the little cat on the top of his head. even though he was a cat, it looked like kyo was blushing.

"um...would you mind letting me go? i'd rather talk to you when i'm not furry." rika set him down and put his clothes behind a bush. he walked over to the bush, and got there before POOF he was a human again. she waited until he got back into his clothes. he walked out from the bush and walked over to her, taking her hands.

"there's a bench somewhere a little ahead. let's walk over there." she nodded, and they kept walking. eventually, they reached the bench and say down. kyo shifted nervously in the bench.

"dude. chill. spit it out." she said bluntly.
"..uh..ok. well. um.. yeah. i got it for ya, cuz like...i saw it and i just ... thought you'd like it. and so that, when you leave, after um... i guess getting on your feet an all, i guess its so you don't forget me. cuz... i really just wanna say that. um. i'm...gonna miss you when you leave." rika looked at him. there was a sincerity in his eyes. those eyes, so serious, so concentrated, those eyes that she loved so much.

"i don't see how i could ever forget you carrot top." she kissed his nose, and leaned against his shoulder.
he felt her warmth next to him, and felt so angry. angry at the curse. he wanted to hug her, and hold her so badly. he wanted to enjoy the warmth for longer than a second. it was nice when she held him as a cat, yeah. but he was just a cuddly cat then. he wasn't strong manly kyo, the one he wanted to be for her. someone who could protect her. all he could do as a cat was cough up hairballs. rika held up the necklace for kyo to put around her neck. she turned around , and he clasped it around her neck. the flesh behind her neck looked so inviting. he had to lean foward and plant a kiss in the corner where her neck met her chin. rika tingled under his kiss, and then slightly jumped when kyo had the instinct to nip it lightly. she jokingly turned around and tapped kyo on the nose.

"bad kitty. didn't anyone ever teach you no biting?" he looked at her with the cute grin that drove her crazy.
"hmm. sorry. can't say i was ever really trained or anything. no behavior school, nada." she laughed, and then saying seductively,

"hmm... we may have to do a bit of discipline then, won't we?"

they walked into the house, holding hands again with rika resting her head on his shoulder. when they walked in, they heard the hebi's loud voice in the living room.

"OH! I STILL CAN' T BELIEVE MY LITTLE BROTHER...IS IN LOVE!!!" yuki and tohru were sitting there furiously blushing. shigure was just looking amused by it all. kyo and rika entered the living room. yuki was glaring at kyo.

"oh! and who is this gorgeous lady by the way? nobody's bothered to introduce me to her!" immediately he was by rika's side. kyo was glaring at him jealously.

"uh..hey. i'm muyo-rika. tohru's my cousin." he picked up her hand and kissed it. his golden eyes flickered at rika. rika smiled to herself. 'this cousin's more flirty than shigure. and he's apparently better at it, too. its prolly making carrot top green with envy.' she turned to her neko, seeing him get red. she took it as her cue to make sure kyo didn't blow up. luckily for her , shigure interuppted.

"our beautiful aya has told us something interesting. have we got two more lovebirds in my nest? aww.... its so cute..." shigure pretended to weep. aya
rushed to his side,
"oh dear shigure! so not weep! your sadness hurts me!"
"no, i could never feel sorrow around you, precious aya!" rika had to laugh.

"please tell me they're just joking."
"kami this is embarassing." yuki shook his head.
"nezumi, you should REALLY get your brother out of here...." yuki's eyes flashed angrily at kyo.

"why don't you? you're the one who had to tell him about tohru and i. otherwise he wouldn't have come rushing over here!"

"but yuki! a budding love should be something you should announce to the world!" ayame kept talking loudly. yuki angrily left the room to go to his. shigure followed, trying to bring him back. kyo and rika just looked at the hebi and onigiri, and walked upstairs as well.

"i gotta start getting ready for the show tonight!" and with that they left. it left aya and tohru alone.
"so tohru! please, tell me details! i wanna know all about my little
brother's lovelife. so, is he good? did you like it? how big is it?" tohru blushed. instead, she changed the topic.

"aya...actually, i've been planning on talking to you about something..."

kyo and rika entered tohru's room. they saw shigure in the hallway, begging yuki to come out of his room.

"cmon yuki!" no answer. shigure had an idea.

"oh well...i guess since kyo and rika have come upstairs as well, tohru will be ALL alone with aya...." shigure smiled to himself as yuki bolted out his door. rika and kyo, hearing all this from tohru's room, started laughing. kyo leaned foward to get a kiss from rika.
"mmm..." he heard. he smiled, pulling away.

"i'll leave ya alone while you get ready. i'll be on the roof." he turned around and left.

downstairs, yuki saw tohru in the kitchen putting things away. ayame was nowhere is sight.

"where'd the hebi go?" tohru looked at him as he approached her by the sink.
"he went back to his shop. i told him about rika's concert tonight, so he's dying to go. he was pretty excited." she didn't bother to mention to yuki the real reason he had been excited. he leaned in and kissed her.

"he's gone then? good." he kissed tohru again. "so um... tohru...are we supposed to wear...uh..something in particular there? and um... how exactly do we go to a tightly packed place without transforming?" tohru dropped the platter she was rinsing.

"oh! i hadn't even thought of it! i have nothing to wear! and rika has no idea about you guys! oh....i don't wanna tell her, but i also don't wanna tell her you all can't go...maybe there's a way you guys won't transform...i'll talk to her later! but don't worry," she added, seeing yuki start to worry,
"i won't tell her." yuki smiled.

when tohru was finished with dishes, she scurried to the phone. dialing uo's, she asked her and hana to come over. then she walked upstairs to her room, where rika was getting ready.

"rika?"
"hey cuz! sup?"
"i had a question...um...uh..." she didn't know how to ask without telling rika the family secret.

"uh...well. so how are we gonna, get in the club? like...through the front...with lots of people...?" rika laughed. she knew tohru had been worried about the boys transforming. luckily, rika had already thought about that while at sound checks.

"ah! well, you all are my V.I.P's! you guys go through the back entrance. its less crowded and stuff...so that you all won't be disturbed. and i placed you guys in a taped off VIP section...its got a table for all of you, and its actually on like..a mini platform. there's another mini platform on the opposite side of the basement, that's for other vip's." tohru's face showed her relaxing.

"VIP's? that sounds wonderful! thank you!" rika looked at her cousin.
"no prob cuz. so yeah, go get ready!" just then the doorbell rang. hana and uo were already there.

a couple minutes later, the psychic and the yankee appeared.

Uo and Hana examined the girl with blue hair. She was wearing a SUPER blue strapless top that showd a little of her stomach, over it, a white, fishnet, zip-up hoodie, a black hat with a visor, and black, slightly baggy pant's with bondages and white trimming, she also had on blue street shoes, just as
blue as her top, she was also wearing a cute little pendant with a kitty on it.

"rika, i'd like you two meet my two best friends! this is Outani-Arisa, and Hanajima-Saki"

Rika examined the two as well, the one with blonde hair had on a black wrap shirt that had quarter cut sleeves and white cuffs, it bared most of her stomach; she had on white capri pants with black pin stripes, a sliver chain belt, black high heeled shoes. she also had on silver hoop earings, and many thin silver bracelets.

the othe girl was obviously goth. her hair was very long, black and wavy. she wore a black dress with straps that dropped on her shoulders, it was trimmed with purple lace. the skirt of it went out, she had a purple peticoat underneath it, she had on fishnet stockings, and black ankle boots.

"hey."
"hey," replied Uo.
"yes, hello." Hana followed.

"that's a hot outfit!" Uo complemented
"hey thanks! you two are lookin pretty good yourselves!" Rika went back.the three then looked at tohru, she looked back. she folded her arms then stared at the ground...' i hope i can find something cool to wear.... other wise i'll feel so much more out of place....' tohru thought.

"we gotta dress you like that... i'm thinking red..." rika looked up and smiled.
"serious? i was thinkin the same thing!" and with that, they started working on tohru's outfit.
later on, kyo stretched and hopped off the roof. he had spent awhile up there thinking about him n rika. tonight was her night, he thought.... 'but...it also means her days here are numbered...' he couldn't believe it, but for the first time, he hurt thinking about having to leave someone he loved so much. love? did he really think that? that he loved her? i mean...he liked her no doubt...but love? they barely knew each other, and yet, it seemed as though they were meant for each other. like tohru, she was able to keep his temper under control for the most part. he felt like it was ok to be a mushy sap around her...and that it was ok to be intimate. he had never been able to know intimacy before, his curse wouldn't allow that. then again, she had never seen his other form. what would she think? he shuddered, but then reminded himself that she'd never find out anyways, she 'd be leaving any day now. all this thinking was giving him a headache, so he went to check on rika. there was a bunch of giggles coming from tohru's room.
"what's goin on here?" he said, looking in. he was stopped by rika, who stood in front of him with her outfit on, minus the white mesh hoodie. he was pleased to see the kitty necklace across her bare neck and shoulders. she looked sexy.
"uh uh no peeking. we're making tohru over!" kyo tried to peer past her, but with no luck.
"stop being nosy carrot top." kyo's face turned red, hearing the yankee.
"aww man, i can't believe SHE'S here."
"SHE is a pretty cool chick." rika argued.
"why thanks rika!"
"no prob." kyo looked at her. rika smugly smiled back, and kissed his nose.
"just give us a little longer, ok? you should go wait with the guys or something. we're almost done with tohru..."
"was that a smooch i heard?!?!" rika ignored uo. the girls behind her giggled. it made kyo's ear turn red again. he began to walk away, and then stopped and turned around.

"you... you look really great."
"cmon jus say it carrot top! i look SEXY!" kyo's ears turned another shade of red while rika laughed.
"you don't gotta say it like that!"
"yes i do, cuz apparently you're not gonna have the balls to say it yourself!"
"i swear...sometimes...you're so ... woman...i don't understand you sometimes..." he smiled , regardless, and walked away again, calling over his shoulder,
"you look good. and that' sall i'm gonna say."

it was already 7:20, the gig was at 8:00. they were all ready, ou had finished up tohru. Arisa and Saki came down the steps and met yuki, kyo, and shigure at the bottom.

Shigure was wearing a suit(a/n: shigure looks so hot in a suit btw!)
Kyo in black cargos, a black and dark-green fitted t-shirt and black
chucks...(a/n: so hot....)

Yuki wore long black slacks. and a black chinese style shirt that had no arm
sleeves, so you see his bare toned arms...(a/n: this is hott too....)

Arisa spoke, " they'll be down in a minute, Tohru just HAS to make an entrance... and she looks GOOD man... brace yourself yuki!" she smiled, Yuki blushed.

soon rika came to the top of the steps, Kyo looked at stared at her... she was looking really hott... Rika looked at him and giggled...
"hah, you can stop drooling now you idiot! besides, you haven't seen anything yet!" she said grabbing tohrus hand, tohru still hiding behind her. she was
nervous of what everyone would think. Rika led her down the steps and let go of her hand, moving out of the way so everyone could see...

Tohru in a black tanktop with very thin straps, a cherry red mini skirt with a studded belt, and black knee high boots. she had on a red scarf on her head, tied on so that her could fall out loosly; which i did in soft waves. she had on a red necklace and a chunky red jewled braclet to match it.
(a/n: so sexy! lol)

Tohru was blushing and looking at the ground, her arms crossed in insecurity. all the men stared in shock; even shigure couldn't joke about it. Yuki eyed her up and down. Still looking at the floor, she spoke,

"so Yuki... how- how does it look?"
"....."

Tohru looked up to see his face, he looked so flustered.

"Tohru, you look so beautiful," he finally answerd.

he walked over and kissed her.

"HOLD IT!!!! WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!! since when the hell are you too all kissy kissy???" Arisa spat.
"huh? ah! that's right!" tohru blushed furiously. "
"so um.. me and Yuki are together now... i guess i never told you two..."
"well why not? i'm mean really, me and Hana have been waiting forever for this to happen, then it finally does and you don't even tell us???"
"well, it was recently and all. that and i haven't seen you since school ended..."
"oh well... " she sighed, "but like i said... it's about time dammit...."

they all began to laugh..

"well i guess its about time we get going... just let me grab my guitar
and we'll go ok?" Rika said.
"ok, "they all answered watching as she went back up the stairs. Kyo raced up the stairs after her.
"lemme get that for you," offered kyo as he grabbed her guitar case.
"hmm...i should dress sexy more often. it makes u chivalrous" she flirted.
"trust me, you look hot all the time," he said in contentment as rika linked her arm with his.
"i'm glad you like my outfit," she sighed. kyo's other hand quickly brushed the necklace around her neck. they both smiled and rika returned to her position on kyo's shoulder.they headed back downstairs, with eyes staring at their linked arms and rika's head on his shoulder, smiles on the inside.

they all went out the door and headed down town.

ahh.... so lazy... sob sob.... i don't feel like writing much... but i will... i seriously don't feel like ending the story anytime soon ) so i hope that makes you all happy too! i'm going for at least... 23 chapters... that sound good? well it better be! besides! you don't get a say! i'm the writer dammit! lol sike sike... imma go now... need a nap... sleepy...

.... love it? hate it? watever, Review it!