They reached their classroom in the nick of time, sitting down quickly. Both Tooru and Kyou were subjected to hostile glares from Yuki's fanclub. They tried to ignore it as best as they could, looking straight ahead at the board. The teacher walked in, silencing any remaining conversations with a stern glare. It was the last class of the day - everyone was longing deeply for the day to end, inexorably causing the time to feel as if it was passing slower than a snail. As the teacher began his lesson on English orthography, the students slowly, but unfailingly, began to drift off, staring blankly at the teacher as he taught. Tooru glanced curiously at Kyou - she was still in disbelief. Although she was very optimistic that one day Yuki and Kyou would become friends, it seemed very unlikely - even to her - that Kyou would submit to Yuki, in even the slightest way, in any competition. It seemed sometimes that Kyou lived solely for his competition with Yuki. 'What came over him?' she wondered to herself. Suddenly, she felt the eyes of the class on her. She looked up to find the teacher staring at her expectantly.
"Well, Honda, what is the answer?' the teacher said irritably, gesturing at the words he had written on the board.
"Um...um.." She was lost - she had not been paying attention.
"Pay attention from now on!" he remonstrated frustratedly. He then presented the question to the other students in the class, securing the answer he wanted from one of Yuki's fangirls. Tooru sighed in relief, glad that she had not been punished for her inattentiveness. The rest of the hour went uneventfully - the teacher assigned some short questions from the textbook. The bell rang soon after. Tooru ran up to Yuki as the students were filing out of the class. "Hey, Souma-kun!' she said ebulliently, smiling at him.
"Hello, Honda-san," he replied, returning her smile. He packed up his books, and they began to walk out of the classroom together. "Honda-san, did you ask Kyou to suggest that to the head teacher?" he asked. Tooru blinked in surprise.
"No! It was Kyou-kun's idea!"
"Really..." Yuki looked unconvinced.
"It really was!" Tooru said earnestly.
"Hmmm,' he said, a glimmer of doubt still flickering across his features. "I guess he did then."
"He did. It's surprising, isn't it?" Tooru replied; Yuki nodded, appearing to be deep in thought.
When they arrived home, they found the house rather quiet. 'Tadaima kaerimashita!' Tooru called out, Yuki following with 'Tadaima!' They heard the faint voice of Shigure reply, 'Okaeri!' It sounded as if he was in his study. 'I suppose we shouldn't bother him, since he's probably writing?" Tooru queried cheerfully.
"Yeah - although he may not be writing," Yuki replied, suspiciously. Although Tooru suspected the best of everyone - including the lecherous Shigure - Yuki had a more cynical view of his cousin
"Oh, ok," she replied, not inferring anything from Yuki's reply. "I should go put away my things. I have to get to work soon!"
Yuki nodded; Tooru ran up the stairs to her room, Yuki looking after her until she disappeared from sight. He sighed, and walked to the TV room. He wondered when Kyou would be home. He wanted to talk to him - something he never thought he would desire. He slid under the kotatsu, placing his elbows on the table, holding his face in his hands. All Yuki could contemplate were Kyou's motives for seeking out an amicable solution to their quandary, rather than fighting Yuki persistently until the end, as was his usual inclination. Did he deem this competition inconsequential, since it would not garner him acknowledgment from the Souma family? Did he wish to put Yuki off his guard with this gesture? Or was he trying to improve himself for Tooru? Yuki racked his brains for answers, none of them seeming that plausible to him. 'Of course,' he though, sardonically, 'perhaps Kyou does things without strategy, the way he fights.' Yuki was broken from his reverie by the sound of the shoji being opened forcefully. 'Must be Kyou,' he thought, sighing and getting up from the kotatsu. He walked out of the room and saw Kyou standing by the shoji, removing his shoes and donning his slippers. Yuki could faintly hear him muttering something along the lines of, 'Damn fangirls, wont leave me alone,' under his breath, as he grimaced, apparently recalling the memory of his legion fans. "Hey,' Yuki called gently, anticipating a rude reply from Kyou.
"Hey,' Kyou replied, absentmindedly, walking past Yuki to the kotatsu.
Yuki was shocked by this mild reaction. "Kyou, there's something I want to discuss," Yuki began, tentatively.
"You sound like a chick," Kyou replied brusquely. Now that was more like Kyou.
Yuki ignored this comment, getting straight ot the point. "Why did you suggest that they halve the scholarship?"
Kyou looked at him carefully for a moment, and then responded, "I just wanted it out of the way. It was interferring with my training."
Yuki stared at Kyou with equal focus. "I don't think that's all. You never willingly give up to a competitor, even when you're sure to lose," Yuki replied. "So, forgive me for wondering why this time you chose to do just that."
Kyou looked away, wondering if Yuki did know the real reason for his submission; if he didn't, he sure wasn't going to tell him. "None of your business, you damn rat!" he yelled, tiring of maintaining such precarious composure.
Yuki sighed, bringing a delicate hand to his forehead. "You never quit do you, baka neko."
"Neither do you, you damn rat! Why the hell do you care why I did that? Huh?" Kyou snarled in return.
"Because even you do things for a reason," Yuki returned, his voice beginning to raise his voice.
"Oh, that's it, rat, you're going down!" Kyou got up suddenly from the kotatsu, jumping at Yuki, aiming a fierce kick at his head. Yuki caught his foot in his hand, throwing him to the side, trying not to hurl Kyou into the TV or the kotatsu; Kyou ended up flying through the fragile shoji, leaving a gigantic hole in his wake. Yuki shook his head, and sighed. "Baka neko. I was just trying to get you to talk. It always has to end up in a fight with you." Kyou glared at Yuki as he lay on the floor, his cheeks flushed with rage.
"SHUT UP!" he roared, leaping to his feet and running off, presumably to sulk on the roof.
Tooru and Shigure suddenly walked up beside Yuki, and he immediately felt regret about the altercation, knowing how it pained Shigure to see his house demolished time and time again; and knowing how their quarrels upset Tooru. .
"Is Kyou-kun ok?" she asked, concerned.
"More importantly, is my house okay?" Shigure interjected, frustratedly.
"He's fine," Yuki replied, 'and don't worry about your house; I'll fix the shoji."
"That's good," Tooru replied, smiling slightly. "I have to go to work now." It was then that Yuki noticed that she had changed into her uniform.
"Ah, have a good night, Tooru-kun," Shigure replied, switching from disconcertment to joviality in an instant.
"Ah, of course," Yuki said, grinning. "I'll come to walk you home after work."
"Oh, you don't have to-" She stopped, realizing that Yuki would not allow her to refuse his offer. "That's ever so nice of you, Souma-kun. I'd better be going now. Itte kimasu!"
"Itte rasshai!" Yuki and Shigure replied in unision, watching as she left the house.
A few moments later, she came running back. "I forgot to tell you," she said, breathlessly, 'that dinner's in the oven. All you have to do is heat it up! I left instructions!"
Yuki smiled, loving Tooru's ditzy manner; and her altruism. "Thank you, Honda-san,' he replied sincerely. "I'll make sure to heat it up; I don't want to let Shigure near the oven," he finished, giving Shigure a doubting look, which Shigure ignored.
She laughed lightly, and waved good-by, leaving the house for the second time.
"Better get to work, Yuki-kun," Shigure said gleefully, gesturing towards thes shoji and laughing as he returned to his study. Yuki grimaced at his retreating back, resigning himself to several hours of painstaking work of shoji reparation. 'At least it should take my mind off baka neko,' he thought ruefully, as he began to work on the shoji.
