Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, I never have owned Fruits Basket, and I probably never will own Fruits Basket, though that remains to be seen. I am merely a dedicated fan, in love with the world, story, characters coughYUKIcough and possibilities therein, so anything you recognize from the anime doesn't belong to me. So don't sue me. I'm a poor college student, so I have no money, anyway.

Enjoy, and please leave a review when you're done! Arigato!

Chapter Four: Guess Who's Coming To Dinner OR The Whole Damn Peanut Gallery Just Had To Show Up

Yuki was sitting at the dinning room table watching a little bit of the news. The blanket from the table was draped across his legs and the heater was only going at a low setting. That day had been comfortably warm and the heater was just coming on as the sun set.

The news was uninteresting. Oil prices were up. The NASDAQ was down. Some German Scientist had published the results of his stem cell research and announced that great progress had been made. War in the Middle East was escalating.

Flipping rapidly through the channels, Yuki let his mind slip into a daze. Cooking, PPV, sitcom, MXC, subbed movie, home improvement… What was wrong with Akito? How was Kikyo able to help him? Does she have magical powers? Like Hanajima? Creepy… Kikyo… She's amazing. Why do I feel this way? What's wrong with me? It's like I can feel my heart beating harder than usual. Unless… it's her heart I feel beating. Subconsciously his free hand drifted to the shoulder she had tended. The bruise wasn't sore at all. He slipped his hand inside his shirt and ran his fingers across the skin of his shoulder. His skin felt hypersensitive; everywhere Kikyo had touched him it seemed to tingle in memory. Even when he removed his hand the trails she'd left on his skin still felt like they were glowing. He pulled his hand out of his shirt and let it drop into his lap, closing his eyes to concentrate more fully on his thoughts. What has she done to me? I can't stop thinking about her. What if she really is a sorceress? His eyes popped open at this disturbing thought. Somehow that thought of being seduced by magic, like a character in some fantasy novel, was both frightening and strangely appealing.

He glanced at the TV and was alarmed to see that he had stopped clicking in the middle of a steamy love scene from some American movie. Blushing furiously he stabbed the channel button repeatedly and didn't stop until he'd reached the same news program he'd started with. Apparently the weather was going to get nasty and turn absolutely atrocious later that evening as a direct result of Typhoon Sareno which was going to hit Taiwan head on. Thankful that the typhoon hadn't turned north as some weathermen had predicted, Yuki sighed and set the remote aside to lean forward on his elbows and relax. He rested his head on his forearms and closed his eyes.

Some time later, he wasn't sure if he had dozed off or not, someone entered the room and spoke to him.

"Yuki, dinner's almost ready."

Not really awake but not really sleeping, Yuki didn't register the words.

"Yuki?"

It was a girl's voice.

"Yuki, are you alright?"

She touched his shoulder gently to wake him. He let out a sigh that was half moan. He did not want to wake up. He'd been in the middle of a lovely half-dream in which he was at a dance club dancing with girls and not transforming into a rat. Kikyo had been there, so had Tohru. He doubted either of them would dance like that, though.

"Yuki, it's time for dinner. You need to wake up so we can set the table."

"Uhhhh. Five more minutes, Tohru. That's all." He groaned.

Laughter. "It's not Tohru, it's Kikyo. And these plates aren't exactly lightweight."

That woke him up like a bucket of ice water down the pants. He sat up blinking and staring wide-eyed at the girl next to him.

Kikyo had on some of Tohru's clothes which suited her very well, though the skirt was a tad short and showed a considerable amount of smooth, lightly tanned, lean thigh. The blouse fit well and the pleated empire waistline accentuated her bust and narrow waist. Her hair fell around her face in a curtain of dark red silk and her eyes caught the light in such a way as to make them glow.

Caught quite out of sorts, all Yuki could do was blink at her stupidly with his mouth open.

With a jokingly harried expression Kikyo sighed and smiled and moved around behind and past him to set the table around him. He watched her with wide, unblinking eyes. Finally she was only holding one place setting, and he hadn't moved yet, merely sat there staring at her as she worked.

She sank down onto her knees next to him with a tiny worried frown. "Yuki, are you okay?"

"Nnnn." He stated eloquently.

Kikyo very carefully laid aside the place setting in her hands and moved toward him. It was a shocking sensation to have her hands touching his face and he felt his cheeks flame up. She stared deeply into his eyes and he marveled at the unbelievable variation in tones of greens in her irises. Her hands went from cool to almost uncomfortably hot as she brushed back his hair and settled her hands along his cheeks and jaw. Several moments passed and Yuki wildly thought that she was going to kiss him.

She sat back on her heels however and smiled slightly at him. "You're a very deep sleeper."

He blinked. "Wha?"

Her smile grew. "You had me worried for a moment, I thought you were ill, but you'd just fallen asleep and you're a very deep sleeper. You don't wake easily and when you do wake you're not lucid for some time. You just move around your house in a daze, like a zombie."

"How…?"

She chuckled and a light blush came to her cheeks. "Looking into your eyes told me as much." She averted hers.

Reality began to flow back to him and he was suddenly very uncomfortable. Kikyo was sitting very close to him and the possibility of his transforming came sharply to the front of his mind. He cleared his throat and scooted back slightly so that he could rise to his feet. She rose with him and gathered up the things to set the place he'd been occupying. He moved around to the far side of the table to turn off the TV, though he kept Kikyo in the corner of his eye.

So she knew I was a heavy sleeper just by looking into my eyes. She must have magic powers. Or at least spiritual ones. Yuki thought.

Kikyo left the room to head back into the kitchen and Yuki followed her. Tohru and Kyou were tag-teaming to finish dinner; Kyou was packing small rice balls and Tohru was standing at his side laying thin cuts of fish and shrimp across the tops of them as he finished each one. Yuki thought they looked very natural standing so close together, and despite his wishes a small twinge of jealousy stabbed him in the gut. Foolish though it was, given that they obviously liked each other very much and Yuki had discovered that he had no romantic feelings for Tohru anymore, it still hurt somehow.

Kikyo moved to the stove and brushed past him on her way to the dinning room carrying a large pot of delicately scented, pale miso soup. It looked and smelled wonderful and Yuki felt his mouth begin to water.

"What is that heavenly aroma?" Shigure asked as he stepped into the kitchen. "I feel as though I haven't eaten in days. The smell of gourmet cooking is practically torture."

Tohru immediately looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. I guess I should have made something more substantial for lunch, or perhaps set out a snack. It has been a long time since our last meal."

"No, Dear Tohru, do not apologize. I did not mean for that to sound like a complaint. I merely meant that the delicious smell of the food prepared by you and your cousin, the lovely Kikyo, has activated my salivary glands and tricked my mind into feeling undernourished." Shigure alliterated. He smiled at her, ignoring the way Kyou's knuckles popped as he clenched his fists around a ball of rice, and shrugged casually. "In other words, the food smells great, Tohru."

"Oh." Tohru smiled sheepishly. "Well, thank you. But you should really be thanking Kikyo. She did most of the work. I'm not very good at making the fancy things, really only homey-foods."

"Nonsense, Tohru." Kikyo stated as she walked back through the room to accept the platter of sashimi from Tohru. "You did wonderfully and you're a very quick learner."

"Thanks." Tohru blushed.

"Everything's ready, so come on in and take a seat." Kikyo informed them. She led them into the dining room and set down the last dish of food. What waited for them was a meal of surpassing loveliness and mouthwatering aromas. Everything was set up like art and appeared very professional and beautiful.

They were just sitting down to dinner when the phone rang.

"Don't worry, I'll get it." Shigure said. He stood and moved into the hall while the four teens listened from the dining room. "Hello… Hi Ha'ri! What's up? … Of course not… Well, yeah… H-How many? … I'm not sure… Why don't you just… don't worry about it, it'll be fine… Bai-bai."

He wandered back into the dining room and sat down again, making himself comfortable.

Irritated at the lack of explanation Kyou burst out. "Well? What the hell's going on? What did Hatori want?"

"Ha'ri just wanted to let us know that he was going to be stopping by in a while and he was bringing a few people with him." Shigure said. "Ladies this looks positively scrumptious. Let's dig in."

"Shigure, how long was it going to be?" Yuki demanded quietly.

Shigure cast him a slightly uneasy look. "Soon."

"How soon?"

The door bell rang. "Soon soon."

"Dammit, Shigure!" Kyou yelled, leaping to his feet. "We didn't make enough food for the whole damn Peanut Gallery! What are we going to feed them?"

"Oh dear!" Tohru was worrying about the same thing. "I have to go see what we have to serve." She rushed into the kitchen leaving the others in the dining room.

"You've made Miss Honda worry, Shigure." Yuki said softly, threateningly. "I should hurt you for that."

Looking slightly panicky Shigure scrambled to his feet. "Someone has to answer the door."

Kikyo was already at the door to the hall. "Don't worry. I'll get it. You gentlemen can resolve your differences." She cast a slightly sly smile back over her shoulder then ducked into the hall, leaving Shigure with the two looming teens, though they both watched her leave.

Yuki turned to Kyou. "She's really quite different from Tohru, isn't she?"

Kyou shrugged. "I don't know. They're a lot alike in some ways, but totally different in others. Kikyo isn't as… innocent as Tohru is."

A tick started in a muscle under Yuki's right eye. "What does that mean?"

Catching the threatening glare from the Rat, Kyou threw up defensive hands. "Nothing, just that she's worldlier, I dunno! Back off!"

"Not until you tell me what you meant." Yuki growled. He cast a glare at Shigure that pinned him where he was trying to army crawl into the kitchen and safety. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh…"

"Stay there."

"Okay."

"Now, what did you mean?"

A/N: Wow. It sure did take me forever, but here it is. I appologize for the delay, but you must understand that I can only write when the muse descends. If I write when I'm not inspired it comes out as crap. Anyway, enjoy!

Rae :D