I live once more. To Caer: How do I do it? It's called having no life to speak of. I send it to school so I can work on it in class time, then send it home for modifications at night.
To Yamatoforever: How do you do it? You just seem to know what's gonna be in the chapter before I even write it… Creepy.
A great big 'thank thee' to all the other reviewers I've had. You guys rock an' stuff.
insert disclaimer here
I lie in my bed and stare at the ceiling. The sun has only just decided to rise, sending pale, pre-dawn light through my curtains and casting itself over my still form.
I don't know if I can avoid him anymore; just try to pretend that nothing ever happened. I doubt that I can go back to the thinking of mere weeks ago, that he was the Rat, I was the Cat, and that was that. It feels more like months than days.
What's happening with Yuki doesn't seem to rile on my nerves as it had before, it seems almost like an inevitable, inexorable process, this changing of feelings and outlooks. I'm not (ever) going to talk about destiny or some shit like that, but this all seems too casual, like it's just something that happens. That's what pisses me off.
I try to circumvent and deny it more out of denying its sake, and therefore subconsciously, my own stupidity annoys me.
It's amazing what seems clear when you're still in that Zen-like state of half alertness. I raise one of my hands above my head, then run it through my hair, and reality snaps back into place with an involuntary groan.
Just because I know that I shouldn't avoid it doesn't mean I know what I should actually do about it.
Staying in bed seems like a good idea today; just keeping both the curtains and my eyes closed.
"Kyo-kun?" my eyes snap back open to full light when my door slides open slightly, and Tohru pokes her head in. "Will you eat, or should I put the breakfast things away?"
My face buried in the crook of my arm, which is flung over my face to block out the light, I mutter a muffled "I'll be down soon,"
I guess Tohru nods or something, because the door clicks shut again, and I wonder briefly why my curtains are so thin before swinging my feet to the floor in one movement, then compensating for my lurching head.
I blearily rub my eyes, and then shuffle downstairs to the kitchen table. I plop down in the chair opposite Haru and blink stupidly at my lap until a bowl of hot soup is placed in front of me. I could do with some milk, but really don't feel like moving. Movement requires too much effort.
I haven't felt this wiped out for ages, not since New Years and I had to stay up virtually all night in a family ceremony/party.
My carton of milk lands next to me, and I turn around to thank Tohru.
Haru's look is incredulous as I once again enter deer-caught-in-headlights mode, staring up at violet eyes as they stare back into mine. Okay, so it wasn't Tohru.
Blushing unintentionally, I look away, suddenly finding a piece of onion in my soup fascinating.
Haru sighed wearily, and mutters "So you two still haven't sorted out your shit?"
Before either of us can snarl a reply, as it looks like both of us want to (surprisingly enough), Haru shoves back his chair, places his bowl in the sink, thanks Tohru, and saunters out of the kitchen
The room is silent for a moment, and then blushing, Tohru excuses herself as well.
They're all against me.
Yuki moves around the table, one of his hands trailing lightly from my forearm to a place in front of where he stops, and he sits down opposite me in Haru's vacated seat.
"Do you hate me, Kyo?"
There is silence while I consider the weight of this question.
"Sometimes. But I don't understand you more frequently. You, you're so different to myself, I don't understand why you do things; the way you think. It's all a mystery to me."
Yuki nods, his fingers twisting together on the tabletop. His usual calm demeanour is gone, and both of us are stuck in unknown territory. "I understand."
"Do you?" I answer sharply, staring up at my cousin.
"Yes," he replies, bordering on quiet, "You're the same way to me."
Wow, the almighty prince of icy-ness is confused by little old me. I start feeling… I don't think you could call it sympathetic, more like empathy toward him.
"If it makes you feel better… They say mysteries are half the fun of life…"
Yuki smiles slightly. "Eat your soup. I saw your body last night, you're not eating enough."
"Why were you paying that much attention to my body?!" I snarl, blushing again.
"Because," Yuki stated, like it was the most simple thing in the world, "you don't seem to."
"Hey, I clean it, I groom it, I feed it occasionally," I list, ignoring Yuki's snort, "what more can a person want?" I ask, waving my spoon around.
Yuki looks like he's going to say something, then he shuts his mouth once more.
I shovel the lukewarm soup into my mouth while Yuki sits in silence, and I swallow before continuing.
"What were you…"
Before I can finish my sentence, there is a piercing shriek from upstairs. Something heavy drops into the pit of my stomach, as I realise that I haven't checked the water cabinet this morning.
"Oh shit…"
"You think Shigure knows?" Yuki asks me drolly, and I shoot him a venomous look before walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs to meet my fate.
I am met by Shigure on the stairs, wringing his hands with tears streaming down his face. "I…bath… water… coooooold… ice…. INJUSTICE… noooooo…"
"I… guess you'll just have to wait for it to melt…"
Shigure gives me a highly offended look, then shoves dramatically by me to scamper down the stairs and into his room, his door slamming as best it can behind him, then bouncing open again. The thudding footsteps stop, turn around, then slam the door again, this time with cursing.
"If he commits suicide, we're blaming you, baka neko."
"What?! How is this my fault!" I pause, "Wait, don't answer that question…"
I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose.
"So," Yuki asks quietly, "Do we want to try and get the ice off, or find whatever did it first?"
"Let's go kick some Elemental butt. I need a shower."
*~*~*~*
25.10.03 9.42 AM
Tell me again why we're doing this?
I want someone to tell me in reasonable terms, why I am standing in the middle of a frosty forest during the middle of autumn?
I hate the cold. I should be wrapped up in bed at home right now, or at least somewhere with a heater. Possibly both. Nyah… Yuki's sitting on a fallen tree a few feet away from me, his gloved hands clasped together in front of him, and expression pensive. Does he have any nerves whatsoever? Does he feel the freezy-ness of the temperature at all?
My breath is a mist in front of my face that is pretty, but somewhat annoying.
I feel like the only thing stopping me from freezing in place is my pen moving across this page.
*~*~*~*
I shove my pen into the pocket of my jacket, then turn to Yuki.
"Hey Yuki?"
"mmm?"
"Why are we here?"
Yuki turns from his contemplation to face me. "I could ask you the same question."
"Does this count as using yourself as bait?"
"Sort of," Yuki murmurs, his eyes focused on the area near my feet, "Kyo, I suggest you move."
"What?"
"Move your feet, baka."
I try to shift my feet slightly, then stare down at my ice-covered boots. "Oh, god!" I manage to choke out.
"Take off your boots," Yuki tells me in a deadly calm voice, and I comply, my fingers fumbling with the half-frozen laces. "Now step out of them, and come over here."
I left my sock-covered feet out of my shoes, and scamper across the cold ground to where Shimo now stands, his tawny eyes watching the sheet of ice that follows.
When I come in reach of him, Shimo's arms shoot out and grab me around the waist. He tugs me towards him, and his huge wings open, pushing us off the ground.
A ragged pillar of ice shoots off the ground and tries to follow us, but (even while screaming at the top of my lungs) I manage to rouse Tempest enough to strike it with a bolt of lightning. The pillar shudders then explodes into needlepoints of ice, which glitter as they spray over the surrounding area.
Tempest's true form bursts from the clouds above us, and wraps it's long body around another column that shoots up to where we fly, high above the treetops.
Inside me, I can feel the rest of my Elementals fighting to get free themselves and fight as well. I loosen my hold on Breeze, and her form unravels slowly into the air in front of me, then shoots off towards where Tempest fights.
The 'breeze' that follows its path is little short of a gale, and Shimo and I are tossed ungracefully through the air like a child's play toy.
"Shimo, let go!"
Shimo obeys, and I fall straight through the tree tops to land crouched on the ground, buffering myself with breezes and magic.
A finger of ice reaches through the forest towards me, and I fend it off with wind, blowing it sideways and off course. The sky overhead rumbles, then a flash of lightning reaches out of the sky and wraps around it.
The ice trembles, then explodes, and I only just get my hands up in time to cover my eyes before the rest of my body is covered in tiny, paper-cut like slits that all, predictably, sting like bastards.
Shimo's red-nailed feet land next to my head, and he crouches down next to me.
"Kyo! Are you okay?"
I uncurl slightly. "GodDAMNIT!"
The sky seems to tear itself apart with my anger, and the largest fork of lightning that I've ever seen rears out of the sky, and hits the centre of the ice field.
The ice rips through the trees like bullets, and the only reason that I am not shredded by the end of it, is because of Shimo. He unfolds smoothly to his feet and raises a hand.
The ice hits the air around us bounces off a bubble of what appears to be solid air.
"Now, Kyo. While it's weak."
I stumble to my feet and shakily gather my energy together. "ICY! Come here NOW!"
The ice pieces almost seem to stop, then start struggling in mid-air. A wind kicks up and blows them towards me, and they swirl for a moment, before settling into a solid form.
What forms is almost like the abominable snowman, but it's more like an abominable iceman. It roars as me, clearly hostile with it's ape-like face set in a mask of fury.
"Icy, you will not do that again, unless I tell you to." I order, trying to seem strong though my whole body throbs and the blood dry on my skin makes me want to instinctively reach up and wipe my face. "You are dismissed."
I think Icy enjoys causing me pain because I black out the next instant, as Icy comes into me.
I chip at the mostly melted ice around the hot-water cylinder with a slightly bent fork, trying to rid it of the wet shell that is around it.
Yuk is kneeling next to me, collecting up the pieces that I have managed to hew off and placing them into a bowl.
My eyes scanning over it, spot a slight air bubble, and attack that. There is a cracking noise, then half the casing dislodges, and falls wetly into me.
"Bleargh! Yuck!" I shake the fragments out of my hair, then pull off my sodden jumper before turning to my sniggering cousin. "You think this is funny, huh?"
"I know its funny." He tells me, smiling.
"Screw you, man."
"Is that a challenge?"
I 'eep' as he crawls across the floor towards me, and runs a damp hand down the side of my face. He closes the space between us, leaning over where I sprawl to press his soft lips against mine.
I reach an arm up to hook around his neck and prop myself up on my other elbow as our kiss, or longest so far, becomes more intense.
"Ah!"
There is an exclamation behind us, and I tip my hand back to spy a starry-eyed Shigure.
"Inspiration!" he cries, then scurries off again.
I turn to a pale Yuki, who is still leaning over me. "That doesn't sound promising."
He moves away, then runs a hand through his hair. "No, it doesn't. If we see a book of his called 'Sojourn in the Linen Closet', we're going to have to kill him."
"Agreed."
"Help me with this, would you?" Yuk asks me, lifting one half of the ice chunk only to have it break again into smaller pieces on his lap.
"Now you know how I feel," I laugh.
"Just help me, baka neko." He growls in reply.
Well, forgive me for a bit of artistic lisence, but I figure if he can jump out his classroom window and keep running, Kyo can drop through the trees unscathed.
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