Hi. Chap number 4… I wasn't sure what this chap was going to be like, so I'm doing a time change. SKIP AHEAD! Powering through!

I'm sorry about all my spazzy ANs last time, they were a little odd. I'll try not to write so many. Unless you like them, that is…

First Rain

Chapter 4:

The days passed by like minutes. Tohru spent hours with the Princes, talking, laughing, generally getting to know each other. Every evening she would go and open Yuki's window for him, and she'd try to exlain as much as she could. When she ran out of things in that view to show him, she started describing things instead. She talked about rivers and the sea, the sun, the stars… It was a strange feeling to be teaching something that should have been drilled into a person's mind when they were a child. But she carried on nonetheless, and Yuki was getting to know more and more about the world every day.

What worried her though, was that she kept walking in on him trying to catch a glimpse through his window. She'd told him that he should never look unless she was there, or he'd get into huge trouble, but quite naturally, the temptation was getting harder and harder for him to resist. Even though now he'd seen the view from that window quite a few times, he was still fascinated by it.

Tohru was with Yuki once again, and they were again talking. She had become very good friends with him. Every now and then he'd get confused or upset, and it seemed like she was the only thing that would cheer him up. Sometimes they'd be silent, both waiting for the other to say something, and he would occasionally steal a glance at her. Almost every time he did it, she caught him from the corner of her eye, and could sense him smiling afterwards. She could hardly blame him though. She kept doing the same thing.

"Yuki?" Haru had poked his head round the door. He occasionally came in to see them while Yuki was being tutored. Momiji was sometimes asked to make sure no-one was coming, but he usually ran off to do something else.

Momiji's head appeared underneath Haru's. It actually looked quite funny…

"We have a surprise for you." Said Haru, smiling. Tohru blinked. Yuki did the same.

The two heads disappeared, and they closed the door. Tohru and Yuki looked at each other and blinked. Then they both looked back at the door, to see it open.

A figure walked through the door. Tohru would have noted what his face was like if she had been able to see past the glare of his orange hair.

"KYO!" Yuki yelled, running into the arms of his brother/cousin. Ah… So this is the married one… Kyo smiled when they separated. He looked in Tohru's direction. She thought he was about to say something to her, but he saw the window was open.

"Y-your window is open…" He said, pointing at it as if no-one had realised.

"I've seen it." Whispered Yuki. Kyo looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"What the hell? They let you-"

"No! That's why I'm trying to whisper…Dumbass."

"Ah…" Kyo sat down on Yuki's bed, and was joined by Momiji, who sat on Yuki's pillow. "So you finally took a peak, did you? I always told you that you should just open the damn thing and look."

Technically it wasn't him who looked out." Said Haru, closing the door so no-one could hear them talking. Tohru blushed, anticipating her name popping up in the near future. "Tohru-san opened it for him."

"You mean, you opened his window?" Kyo stood up. He looked kind of angry. "Don't you realise what you could have done?"

Yuki looked panicked. "Kyo…."

"I… I didn't-"

"It wasn't her fault Kyo. She didn't know about any of it." Haru said, standing up with his arms raised in a peace making fashion. "She did it completely by accident."

"Are you sure?" Kyo said, sitting back down but looking at Tohru shiftily. "She could be a spy."

"Oh don't be ridiculous!" Haru almost laughed. Tohru was still a little dumbstruck. "If anyone wanted Yuki dead they could just shoot him or something." He lay back on Yuki's bed, resting his head on his arms which he folded behind him.

"Sh-shoot me?" Yuki wore a horrified expression. "Why would anyone-"

"Relax Yuki. Nobody wants you dead." Said Momiji. " Kyo is just being paranoid."

"I am not!" Kyo yelled.

"Sshh!" Haru hit him on the side of the head. "Shut up…! Not so loud! Now I remember why I was celebrating on your wedding day. No more headaches."

"Why are you back, Kyo?" Yuki said, leaning against his bed. Tohru noticed that his eyes were glowing. It was probably a very rare thing to have all four Princes in the same room. Mainly because there was only one room they could all go in. "And how's Kagura ne-chan?"

"She's fine… Not sure she's too happy with me though… I tried to leg it again."

"What? Oh for goodness sake." Haru laughed. "Why does she put up with you?" She has to… thought Kyo. But he smiled. "Wait, is that why you're here? You're running away again?"

"No. Actually I came because I needed to tell you all something. I was going to send a letter but Kagura said it was something that I needed to say in person."

The room went silent. The three other boys knew that Kyo would have had to come overseas to get from the city he lived in with Kagura. So the news would be pretty important. Tohru knew none of this. She simply sat on the floor, wondering what was going on.

"Dad's missing." The words shot through the air like a bullet. Kyo stayed silent for a few seconds after, just to let the words sink in. "You know he was going to come over and see how things were going with me and Kagura? Well, he never made it. There was a storm, his ship got lost and there's been no word. I was half hoping I'd find him here and he just couldn't get a message to me... But I can tell from the look on your faces that's not gonna happen, huh?"

They formed a silence that lasted for a minute or two. Yuki broke it. "Wh-what happens now?"

"That's the thing. We don't know. It says if Dad's dead, you take the throne and get married or whatever. But we don't know where he is. So, until we get some notion as to well the hell he's gone to, I guess things'll stay the same."

"What if they don't… What if he doesn't come back?" Said Yuki.

Kyo looked at him. "I dunno."

There was another long silence. Once again, it was broken, this time by Momiji crying.

They all looked up at him. He covered his face with one hand and tried to wave them all away with the other. Haru put his arm around him, and Momiji buried his head into Haru's side. "Daddy…" Haru started sniffing.

"Oh come on… You're not six anymore Momiji. And Haru, you're worse! You're supposed to be the reasonable one! I'm... The one who had to come… All the way… Here… And…. Tell…" He faded off, trying to stop himself from breaking into sobs. "Aw damn it I hate you guys!" He hugged Haru as well. "We're…Men…"

Tohru started crying next. "It's so… Sad…." When she started to sob Haru somehow forced his arm out of the mass of sobbing royalty to beckon her over. He hugged her too. There wasn't really a point in it, but a small part of her said that he was taking the opportunity.

"You mean, I might never get out?" Yuki said shakily. "And we'll never see Dad…." He broke off too. Haru managed to fit his arms around all four of them, and they all cried for a bit. By the time they were done, the still open window was sending the only light into the room.

"Well, I better go and tell the officials I guess." Kyo wiped his eyes. "We are so pathetic. He'll come back. We'll just have to wait."

"I'll go tell the dudes." Haru forced a smile. " You and Yuki have some catching up to do."

Momiji stood up. "Tohru? You'd better come with us."

Tohru stood up. She took a last look at Kyo. He didn't meet her eyes. There was something about him… She could tell he didn't trust her. "I'm coming." Momiji took her by the hand and let her out with Haru.

Kyo and Yuki sat opposite on another on the bed, but neither of them smiled.

"You're not as pale." Kyo said. "You've always been ale. Tell me. What's changed."

Yuki looked down at the floor. "It's her Kyo. Ever since she came in… I don't know. Ever since she walked through that door, everything's been different. She opened my window. She's been opening it all the time. She's been showing me everything and teaching me about everything I've missed. And she's… really… really pretty. I think I might be… Falling in love with her."

Kyo stayed silent. They looked at each other again. "She's a spy. No doubt. Or she's being used. There's no doubt about it Yuki. You said she opens your window? All the time? She's trying to get you discreetly killed. And teaching you? How are you supposed to act when you get to go outside for the first time? Surprised. It's like someone telling you about your surprise party and having to fake shock. It'll never look sincere. You'll never pull it off. You said she's pretty. Of course she is. That's what they want you to think. You always trust the ones who look like you should trust them. And what do they do? Stab you in the back."Yuki let Kyo's words sink in.

"But-"

"You said you're in love with her."

"I-"

"That's what they want. They want you to fall in love with her so you'll do whatever she says. Don't you see it? She's planned this whole thing out."

"I… I don't think she's a spy, Kyo. She's too… Perfect."

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Trust you to fall in love with the first girl you see."

"I've seen girls before."

"Its an expression." Said Kyo. Yuki sighed, and leaned over so his fore head touched the bed. "Look, I don't want you to stay away from her. Just be careful. You're my brother, you know? I have to… Keep an eye on you."

"I'm not exactly going anywhere." Came the muffled reply. "And I'm your half brother actually."

"Oh shut up." Yuki sat up and leant back on the headboard. Kyo tilted his head forward a little. "You know, we haven't actually discussed why you're less pale. It's physical, and it's not because of all this lovey-dovey crap you have over this girl."

"Her name's Tohru. And… I don't really know. Do I look different?"

"Yup. You have a healthy glow." Kyo suddenly got it. "How much time do you spend looking out of that window, anyway?"

"Well… She comes to see me in the evenings… And we look out then."

"Don't give me that crap. There's no sun in winter evenings. You'll have to have looked in the daytime too."

Yuki looked at the bed again. "Well… I do look every now and then, but only for a second!" He panicked, as Kyo's expression grew dark. Before Yuki could say anything, Kyo exploded.

"You idiot? What are you trying to do, kill yourself? If anyone sees you you'll be a dead man! How could you be so… Aw man…" Kyo sighed and leant back on the bed. "If I was here all the time, I could watch over you better than the others."

Yuki sighed too. He turned around and lay back on the bed next to Kyo. "I wouldn't regret it."

"What?"

"If I got caught. I'd rather die than live life without seeing."

Kyo laughed. "That's so like you, you dork."

"Shut up!" Yuki yelled, smiling. "… Doofus."

"Twerp."

"Idiot."

"Antidisestablishmentarian."

"Oohoo… Using big words now, are we?"Yuki laughed. Kyo nudged him hard in the ribs. "Ow! Why you little-"

The two of them started wrestling on the bed, until everything was completely and totally askew. They ended up in a heap on the floor, hysterically laughing. They were playing like little kids again.

"So… How're you doing with Kagura?" Said Yuki, panting to catch his breath. "Still trying to escape? Has she put an electric fence round the castle yet?" They both laughed.

"No… Actually, when I said I ran away again… I was lying." Said Kyo, his face still flushed from their little tussle. "She's… Starting to grow on me."

"Really? No way… Who woulda thunk it?"

They laughed again. "I just hope she's not scarred from my previous attempts to flee from her clutches!" Kyo burst out laughing as soon as he finished speaking, and Yuki was already in hysteria.

"Kagura… Clutches? Don't you mean death grip?" They laughed again. "If she could hear us now she'd be sharpening her knives…!"

They laughed for at least five minutes imagining the concept.

"Seriously though…" Said Yuki, catching his breath again with his hand on his chest.

"Seriously Nah…"

"Come on! I'm being serious. Are you really… Happy?"

"Yeah. She's great, really. I think I was just freaking out because she was so scary when we were kids. I don't think you were there…. No you can't have been, duh!" He hit himself on the forehead and Yuki sniggered. "Well, when she came to the palace for the first time, neither of us knew about the engagement. She chased me round the gardens and kept jumping at me with a giant rock in her hand. Freaked me way out. Then… Dad told us we were betrothed, and I remember, she went crazy. Hugging me and stuff. I was like…. Dead."

Yuki laughed. "I can imagine!" He smiled. "But, things are good now, right?"

"Yeah. Things are more than good, if you know what I mean…"

Yuki thought for a second. "Eeeeeww…. You mean there'll be little Kyoguras on the way?"

"Yep."

Yuki stopped. "Seriously? Man, I was kidding. She's really pregnant?"

"Uh-huh. It's so funny, she's like, billowed out." They laughed again.

"I had no idea you were that enthusiastic. Why didn't you say in your letters?"

"She only told me a little before I found out about Dad and decided to come and see you. Besides, it's a helluva lot easier to make Kagura jokes in person!"

The conversation changed direction many times, and the worry and anxiety they had both been feeling vanished. Kyo talked about his new life, and Yuki talked about his. Tohru came up bout as much as Kagura, but no matter what Yuki said, Kyo was still convinced she was a discreet assassin.

They stayed on the floor and talked to each other with exactly the same enthusiasm as they'd had since they became friends. All the resentment and hatred Kyo had once felt for Yuki was completely irrelevant. Yuki had moved on, and so had he. There were far more important things to be discussed than a little childhood remorse. And some far more humorous things too.

AN: I hope I didn't make Kyo OOC… I just imagine that he would have matured after spending a lot of time in the company of the supposedly' ultra serious Yuki, and Yuki would probably loosen up thanks to Kyo. But that's just my opinion. If you don't like it, Flame away! It's pretty cold here in the South of Britain, so a nice warm flame would do very nicely!

AN2: Kyoguras. I just thought, is that the name used for Kyo X Kagura fics? Meh… I shall refer to Kyo's 'offspring' with that title. I imagine what Kyo and Kagura's kiddies would look like…? A cross between a cat and a boar…. Eeeew… That's nasty… My imagination can do some pretty twisted things… Like writing this fic for example.

AN3: Kyo and Yuki playing! Who would imagine? I just had to put that in somewhere. I've been considering a lot of Kyo X Yuki fics lately, and I love the pairing. (Please don't flame me for liking shounen, it's just so sweet!)

AN4: Hmmm… I LIKE ANS! –Sorry, I'm a bit of an AN spack.

AN5: Chap 5 may be later than the first 4 have been, but I shall try my hardest! Remember that all this is coming from a girl who is thinking up the storyline on the spot and can't touch-type! Plus my computer is beginning to eat my files and software so I have to be quick and upload stuff before it crumples and dies!