A Clean Break
by Katie
Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Natsuki Takaya and affiliated. I'm just a dinky little fangirl.
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Kyo's belly gave an appreciative rumble as he stepped into the house and his nose picked up the smell of Tohru's delicious cooking. He strolled through the hall and popped his head into the kitchen.
"So when's lunch going to be ready?"
Tohru turned around and smiled brightly at him. As if drawn, he then stepped fully inside, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
"Any minute now," the girl responded. "I'm just waiting for the rice to finish cooking."
Kyo nodded, and watched as Tohru turned away and began getting out the dishware and utensils.
"Ooohooohooo!" Kyo yelped as Shigure appeared in the doorway, fanning himself and smirking in that aggravating way of his. "What is this I see? A lover's tete-a-tete? Sweet nothings being whispered in an environment of savory aromas?"
"What the hell?" Kyo snapped. "We're across the room from each other!"
Shigure ignored him, dramatically placing his hand across his forehead.
"But what of poor Yuki-kun?" he moaned. "Is he, the Sohma family's shining star, to be the loser in love? Oh, the tragedy! The agony! The pathos!"
"Will you shut the hell up!" Kyo shouted, whacking Shigure across the head.
Shigure didn't even yelp in pain; before Kyo knew it, the dog had swooped to Tohru's side, catching the girl completely by surprise.
"Tell me, Tohru-kun," he said pleadingly, "is Kyo-kun really your choice? Why him? Are you positively sure that he's the one?"
Kyo growled and, grabbing Shigure by his kimono, dragged the dog out of the room as he cried: "THE FATE OF THE SOHMA FAMILY RESTS IN YOUR HANDS, TOHRU-KUN! CHOOSE WISELY!"
Kyo stomped through the halls, Shigure whimpering the entire way, and then tossed the older man into his office.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" The cat roared.
All traces of Shigure's previous pitifulness had vanished; the man dusting himself off before Kyo was infuriatingly placid.
"Why, Kyo-kun, whatever do you mean?" he asked.
"You know what I mean!" Kyo hissed. "These past few weeks it's been all, 'Tohru-kun, are you in love with Yuki?' 'Tohru-kun, are you in love with Kyo-kun?' 'Which one is it, Tohru-kun?'" Kyo let out a huge breath, expelling the fury with the air. He sagged against the wall, wrapping a protective arm around himself. "Why are you trying to make her choose?"
"Are you afraid of losing?" Shigure asked.
"I'm afraid of winning," Kyo responded quietly. "No matter which way her heart is drawn, there's gonna be a lot of hurt feelings. Why are you trying so hard to create the break sooner?"
Shigure leaned back onto his hands, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.
"It will be a cleaner break that way," he said. "The sooner she makes her choice, the more time all our hearts have to recover."
Kyo snorted softly.
"It's too late for anything resembling 'clean,'" he said. "And the Sohma aren't exactly known for recovering well from heartbreak."
"That was before Tohru-kun," Shigure pointed out. He smiled at Kyo's torn expression and stood. "Maaa, Kyo-kun, you are too young to have a look of such existential woe on your face. It hardly suits your girlish figure."
"Girlish?" Kyo's angry energy returned full force, banishing the angst. "Whaddya mean, girlish? I ain't like that stupid Yuki! HE'S the girly one!"
"Perhaps, perhaps," Shigure replied airily.
"Why you stupid—"
"LUNCH!"
Kyo gave Shigure one last speechless glare, then stomped off to join Tohru in the dining room. Shigure smiled and chuckled softly. Yes, it would indeed be a messy business.
But they'd come out all right somehow.
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Fin