Next chappy! We have a lot more than this but we need to update gradually we feel instead of putting it all on a t once, but, then we get lazy and forget to update so, two more chapters are coming after this. It only gets better, folks, twists and turns are everywhere - EVERYWHERE! x.x
KS:
The next morning Kyo and Kaye were the first to rise, eagerly awaiting the new day. They both went downstairs, fought over the milk, and then went to go change into something other than pajama's.
Kaye changed into her sweat-shorts and a tank top, despite the fierce cold she felt as she stepped outside Shigure's house. She shivered, but quickly got into stretching and started on some forms. She sliced her hands through the air, her eyes closed the entire time.
She sighed, a half-hour later. Tohru shouted that breakfast was ready and that school would start in a while. Kaye smirked and ran inside to eat some food. She was ready to start the day the healthy way, by kicking someone's ass.
"Wow Kaye, you sure are eating a lot today!" Tohru said, glad that Kaye was eating. Kaye nodded and continued to inhale her food.
"Kaye! Please slow down! I don't want you to choke- Ha'ri would kill me!" Shigure said, watching the girl carefully.
Kaye flapped her hands at the worried dog and continued to eat, but a little slower. Kyo let out a breath, he had been watching her readily too. A smirk crossed Kaye's face and she ran upstairs to take a quick bath.
"Wow, she seems totally energetic today!" Tohru said, refilling her plate.
"You thought she was kidding last night?" Kyo asked, pointing at Tohru with his chopsticks.
"Well, of course! She wouldn't really murder him, would she?"
"Ah, young Tohru! So naïve." Shigure said as Yuki and Kyo's eyes darkened.
"Oh man, remember that one time when that kid made fun of her hair?" Yuki reminisced.
Kyo nodded and added to the story, "He was in the hospital for a week, coupla broken bones and some burns."
Tohru was shocked enough at the fact that Kyo and Yuki were not fighting, but to add to that, Kaye's past was divulged.
She gulped. "Burns?" she ventured, not sure if she truly wanted to know.
The others didn't answer and she was left to her own conclusions. Kaye came tumbling down the stairs, right on cue.
"What are you guys talkin' about? Y'all all look so gloomy!" she said, grabbing an apple and chomping into it.
"You're still hungry!" Kyo said, poking his sister. She screeched and fell to the floor, covering her sides.
"KYO!" she shouted, looking ready to murder. Kyo looked deathly afraid in relation to Kaye's murderous looks.
Kyo recalled her sides being her most ticklish spots and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry?"
"Hn," Kaye said, glaring daggers at her brother.
"Oh yes! That's right!" Shigure said, earning himself a glare from Kaye, "Umn… never mind…"
"Not a word, Yuki!" she threatened. "If word gets out, Axle would know my weakness!" She looked around, shifty eyed.
They all mushroom-sighed, and Tohru looked on blankly. Kyo tried to finish what it was he was going to say before he poked Kaye.
"Ahem. Well, if you keep eating so much… who's to tell what could happen?" he said shiftily, looking mischievously at his sister.
"Ne? What are you doing Kyo? What are you talking about?" she was totally clueless.
They all sighed once more and headed for the door, fully clad in their uniforms. Kaye had her headphones in her ears, ready to hack down any tree that decided to attack her. She sang with her favorite Matchbox 20 song:
"All day,
Starin' at the ceiling making
Friends with shadows on my wall.
All night,
I'm hearin' voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good
For something.
Hold on,
I feel like I'm headin' for a
Breakdown
I don't know why.
I'm not crazy,
I'm just a little unwell,
I know, right now you can't tell.
But stay a while and maybe then you'll see,
A different side of me.
I'm not crazy,
I'm just a little impaired,
I know, right now you don't care.
But soon enough, you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be.
See me.
Talkin' to myself in public,
And dodging glances on the train.
I know
I know they've all been talkin' 'bout me
I can hear them whisper,
And it makes me think that something's wrong
With me.
Out of all the hours thinking,
Somehow,
I've lost my mind.
I'm not crazy,
I'm just a little unwell,
I know, right now you can't tell.
But stay a while and maybe then you'll see,
A different side of me.
I'm not crazy,
I'm just a little impaired,
I know, right now you don't care.
But soon enough, you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be.
Talkin' in my sleep,
Pretty soon they'll come to get me.
They'll be taking me
Away."
She was walking ahead and singing loudly so it was easy to hear her. "I wonder what's got her so happy today?" Yuki mused and Kyo smirked.
"Obviously you don't know about Axle and Tohru." Kyo stuck out his tongue at the rat and laughed.
"Actually, she told me right after she got home. We went to our secret base and she told me all about it." Yuki said.
Kyo was agape. "What- you- how- WHAT!"
Kaye suddenly stopped and dropped her backpack. She leaped with great ease up into a tree nearing the street the four were walking upon.
Kyo and Yuki stopped their squabbling to watch Kaye's ascent. They looked towards where Kaye was last and saw exactly whom they wished never to see. Axle. And Kira, but she just wasn't as important.
Kyo and Yuki glared at the boy, and Tohru looked sheepishly away. Kaye watched the scene from her heightened haven in the tree, waiting for Axle to near her trap.
He walked under her, and with a yell she pounced.
"ARGH! What the hell?" Axle shouted as Kaye fell to the ground in front of him and kicked up with the ball of her foot, her other leg bent under her to support her weight.
He put his hands in front of his face protectively and blocked her kick by accident. She back-flipped and got into a fighting stance, both hands ready to break whatever they came into contact with.
Kaye leaped at the boy and punched at his face, slamming her fist into his cheekbone. He fell backwards, startled. Kira jumped in to see if he was okay, and glared at Kaye as she was restrained by Yuki and Kyo.
"What the hell is your problem you stupid kid!" Axle shouted, nursing his cheek.
"Like hell I'm a kid! I'm the same age as you, you freaking-first-kiss-stealing-bastard!" Kaye shouted, shaking her fist at her newly acclaimed rival.
Axle looked shocked, as did his sister, but both for different reasons; "You kissed that trash!" Kira shouted and Axle just looked partially bemused.
IS:
Yuki, Kaye, and Kyo all turned to look sharply at Kira, their eyes shadowed over. Kyo was the one who advanced. "Who're you calling trash you damn snob!" he said in his lowest, scariest voice. Kira shrank back ever-so-slightly in a way that suggested she knew her dignity was being challenged; she just didn't really care much. She muttered something about well-I-don't-know-quite-possibly-the-girl-who-I'm-sure-only-owns-one-outfit-to-her-name-which-was-probably-paid-for-by-her-school-tuition, but, it was not loud enough for anyone to really be sure.
Axle leapt up from the ground, the hand that had been rubbing the sore spot on his cheek clenched into a fist at his side. "Hey, back off. The only one allowed to call my sister a snob is me."
Kyo leapt and swung a leg out to greet Axle's chest, sending him flying back down. "Get back down and stay there you son of a bitch; it might hurt less if you do," he shouted, glaring intensely.
"I can't see how you could defend that bitch anyway," Kaye shouted, eyeing Kira disgustedly.
Tohru stood on the side-lines looking very vulnerable and near tears, overwhelmed by the situation for several reasons. Hurt by Kira's remarks, touched by her friend's support and protection, tainted by Axle's own stares for back up.
"Tohru, come on," Axle called, still on the ground from the second blow. "It couldn't have been so terrible. I thought you liked me."
Tohru, unable to speak, found she didn't have to. Kaye was her voice, yet, in a harsher sense she had to admit. "She never asked for your attentions, numb-nuts," Kaye shouted coldly. "You just made yourself think she did." 'And who wouldn't want to?' Kaye thought, eyeing Tohru. Her personality, her looks, her over-all frailty… it was definitely something to ponder.
While Kaye gave her side Yuki had moved over to Tohru and attempted to lead her away from the scene by the hand but she had merely smiled weakly and shaken her head. "Kaye," she said quietly, "you're very good at speaking for me, you know."
Kaye looked a bit sheepish and put a hand behind her head out of habit. "I'm sorry Tohru, I guess I got a little carried away," she said, glaring at Axle. He still seemed to not fully understand what he had done wrong.
Tohru shook her head. "No, no, like I said, you're very good at it." Kaye smirked and nodded slightly. "I'm sorry Axle," she whispered, staring at the ground, "but my heart belongs to those I can trust." Axle stared blankly, blinked a few times and then watched as she passed by him to enter the school. He quickly stood and hurried after her. Kyo and Yuki pursued.
"Tohru wait, let's talk about this," he shouted, grabbing her arm and pulling her around to look at him. Both Sohmas who had followed sped up but Yuki got there fastest. He back-handed him and Axle staggered a bit and then, while off his guard Yuki gave him another shot to the face, this time getting him in the eye. That hit and the one Kaye had inflicted blended together so that a good part of his face was red.
"Don't you touch her," Yuki growled. Tohru, as well as the others, were shocked. It was unheard of for the student council president to lay a hand on another student, but, then again, Yuki Sohma was his own leader.
Kyo and Yuki each put a hand on Tohru's back to ease her forward as they continued towards the school. Just because she could Kaye gave Kira a shot to the ankle and while she was bent over clutching it she hip-checked her and Kira kissed pavement with negative grace. Shaking her head Kaye laughed sinisterly. "I'd wear longer skirts if I were you," she called as she backed away toward Kyo and the others, "It could save you a little more embarrassment than you have to face." Then she ran to catch up with the rest just as the school bells started to chime.
"Note to self," Axle sighed laying flat on his back in the dirt. "Japan is not America and girls here don't like the don't-make-me-wait approach."
"I could have told you that you bleeding-heart," Kira shouted, hurriedly standing and adjusting her clothes. "I see your choice in girls is as poor as ever."
"Yeah, whateva guy," Axle said hurriedly in a Bostonian accent, watching carefully as the three Sohmas and Tohru continued to walk away without so much as a glance backward. "This is far from over."
After school that day Tohru felt the need to cook. After the fiasco that morning and the burning sensation of knowing Axle's eyes upon her she felt she needed to calm. She was just going to make a simple afternoon snack but ended up making a meal with the potential to be dinner.
"Tohru, I know you're upset, but, we're going to spoil dinner like this," Shigure said, not really minding.
Tohru looked down. "I know, I know…"
"Hey, the earlier you eat the better the food digests," Kaye said, trying to brighten the conversation.
"That's a myth," Yuki said between bites.
"I must say Tohru, as sad as your trauma is it makes for great inspiration," Shigure said out the corner of his mouth as he chewed. "Since last night and all day today I've gotten over fifty pages done," he finished proudly. Propped up with his hands behind him Shigure leaned back and looked at the ceiling with interest. "Though, I did think either Yuki or Kyo would be the one to steal your first bit of innocence away."
Both boys attacked instantly. Kaye snorted into her rice and looked up in shock. "You make it sound as though the bastard RAPED her for crying out loud." Movement ceased, everyone thinking on what a sensitive subject this was with Kaye around, but she was chuckling at Shigure's lack of tact.
"Heh, is that what it sounded like?" Shigure half-laughed nervously. "Must still be the novel talking, sorry Tohru." Yuki and Kyo settled once again, thinking in unison, 'Damn Shigure…'
Hana and Uo hadn't, by far, taken the news lightly either. Uo made a habit of threatening Axle every time she saw him even glance at Tohru, which was often, seeing as they sat together in Lit. class. Hana could normally scare him off when he came up to talk to Tohru in the hallways with her cold stares, but it never seemed like enough to her.
"I was going to have Megumi curse him," she said darkly as she sent him on his way again, "but I think with your little guard system following you he's got enough trouble on his hands just trying to talk to you."
"I suppose…" Tohru said, sighing absently. She hadn't wished this for Axle. She didn't trust him and she was flattered by what her friends were doing to help her, but she really couldn't help but feel bad because she was just like that. It was just a Tohru quality. Still, the fact that she didn't really know what she would do to change it had an effect on her actions.
By next Tuesday Axle was going insane. Since Thursday he had drawn several portraits of Tohru, one turning her into an American girl in a dark, graffiti-filled alley wearing a black trench coat and dark sunglasses pushed down to reveal drown-worthy eyes. That one he decided he would put in his gallery. The others would go where all of his other obsessions went; in the leftmost drawer of his desk.
He had continually tried to get her to talk with him in the classes where they were near each other, but she would only talk to him if required. In Lit. class he could spend damn near the whole class staring at her and she wouldn't look back, only blush. He knew that wasn't really the way to win her attentions, but he was running out of ideas. He couldn't get near her in the halls or at lunch and after school those Sohmas stuck to her like glue. And, to make matters worse, Kira was trying to 'help'.
Kira had attempted to set him up with more girls in the past four days then he could have thought possible and he had blown all of them off. She had set it up like an assembly line, lining her friends up and modeling off good qualities in their living room, mike and all. Most of this ludicrous behavior had happened over the weekend but on Monday Kira had had a few new girlfriends tag along back to the house. Once they had all left Axle had asked Kira why she was doing this. Her answer was cold.
"I can't have my older brother stuck on a pauper. That girl is such a goody-two-shoes; you'd walk all over the poor thing! Your reputation proceeds you, Axle," she had said, smirking. Axle shook his head, remembering his ex girlfriend Teresa back in Boston, and retreated to his room. He needed to discuss tactics with himself.