Kyo had left the house to go to the gardens; he needed some time to think about his current situation,
Shigure was reading a book (quietly for once), and Yuki was leaning on the coffee table, his head propped up on his hand, staring into space.
"Shigure?"
"Yeah." Shigure looked up from his book.
Yuki sighed again and cocked his head to one side.
"What age were you when you had your first kiss?"
Shigure took off his reading glasses and looked out the window, as if thinking hard about something.
"I'd say I was probably… seven. Or eight, maybe." He paused. "Any particular reason you asked me, of all people?"
"I dunno. You seem like a kinda sentimental guy, you seemed like the kind of person who'd remember something like that."
"Ah… Well, I told you, why don't you tell me?"
"I was six. At least I'm pretty sure I was six." He paused and thought for a moment. "Yeah, I was six." He stopped again.
Silence for a little while.
"Shigure?"
"Yes?"
"Who was it with?"
Shigure chuckled and leaned back in his chair.
"Keep in mind, Yuki, if I tell you, you'll have to tell me."
Yuki hesitated, squirming uncomfortably, before speaking again.
"Deal, but this doesn't leave the room, okay?"
"Sure."
"It was with…" He squirmed again. This was not the sort of thing he imagined he'd be discussing with Shigure.
"If it makes you more comfortable, I'll go first." volunteered Shigure.
Yuki nodded and leaned forward expectantly.
"This never leaves the room, right?"
"Never."
"You promise?"
"Promise."
"You swear?"
"I swear."
"You pinky swear?"
"Shigure quit stalling!"
"Alright, I'll tell you." He looked out the window. "It was Hatori."
"Aaya!"
"Gure!"
The two best friends embraced, then pulled apart.
"Oh congratulations Aaya! I never imagined you'd be getting married so soon!"
"Oh well, you know Gure, neither did I, but I proposed, my darling Naoko accepted, we were both positively dying to get married, so the moment we found the right dress…" he gestured grandly around him. "KABOOM! We got ready and here we are!"
They were in Ayame's garden, which was filled with chairs and about ten other children from their class in elementary school. There was a rough aisle between the two groups of chairs. Girls sat on one half, boys on the other.
"Well then, Ha'ri, Gure, take your seats! The ceremony begins soon!"
And so the crude 'wedding' commenced.
After the ceremony (which involved two plastic rings from a vending machine at the grocery store nearby), everyone crowded over to a folding table at one end of the garden, where everyone helped themselves to snacks.
Everyone, that is, except Hatori, who had slipped out of Ayame's garden and into the Sohma compound when no one was looking, or so he thought.
Shigure had seen him slink out through the gate, supposedly un-noticed, out of the corner of his eye, and being the curious child he was, immediately followed him.
He had been making for the Sohma gardens when Shigure caught him by surprise, hugging him from behind.
"What's wrong Ha'ri? Don't you like weddings?"
Hatori sighed, detached Shigure's arms from his waist and continued walking through the gardens.
"Weddings I can manage, but large groups of hyper-active girls aren't my idea of fun."
He sat down under a cherry blossom tree, and Shigure joined him.
"Then what is your idea of fun, Ha'ri?"
He hesitated. "I dunno."
Hatori looked around the empty garden.
"This is pretty nice, though."
Shigure leaned on his shoulder and closed his eyes.
"Yeah…" he replied quietly. Hatori rested his head on top of Shigure's.
"This is pretty nice."
They sat for a while in comfortable silence.
"I'm glad I'm here with you, Ha'ri," said Shigure, looking up at his slightly taller friend.
Hatori gave a tiny smile.
"Me too, Shigure."
Next thing Shigure knew, he had pressed his lips to Hatori's. He pulled away after a couple of seconds, and looked into Hatori's eyes.
"Sh-Shigure…"
Shigure put a finger to the dragon's lips.
"Don't spoil it," he said, resting on his friend's shoulder again.
Yuki's jaw dropped.
"Hatori? You kissed Hatori?"
Shigure nodded.
"I most certainly did. Now, Yuki, it's your turn. Who?"
Yuki fidgeted timidly.
"Now, now, Yuki, I told you, so go on, tell me who you shared your first kiss with."
"Um… it was… I don't remember." he finished lamely.
Shigure rolled his eyes. "You didn't expect me to believe that, now, did you?"
Yuki shook his head, looking ashamed. "Not really. Sorry." he looked up at Shigure. "You have to promise not to tell."
"I solemnly swear I will not reveal the identity of the person who stole your first kiss," he said, putting a hand on his heart. "Now tell me who it was!"
"It was…"
Yuki looked outside. It was pouring rain. It made him feel safe to be warm and dry and comfortable.
"It was Kyo."
Yuki found the little hole in the wall one day when it was raining, and had dived in to avoid getting wet… and had dived directly into him.
He had bright orange hair, and beautiful shining crimson eyes, and Yuki immediately took a strong liking to him, though he didn't seem to like Yuki very much at all.
Of course it probably didn't help that the first time they met, Yuki had dived into his hiding place, knocking him against the wall.
"Ow! What was that for?" he had said, rubbing the back of his head, and glaring at the other child.
"I-I'm sorry," mumbled Yuki quietly. "I-I didn't mean to…"
He trailed off and looked at his feet.
Kyo had sat up and shook his head.
"It's okay. It's not your fault you're a stupid girl."
Yuki blushed. From the way he said 'girl', he knew he didn't mean it as an insult.
"I'm… I'm not…"
He had started intending to say 'a girl' but ended up finishing "I'm not stupid."
"I guess." he had answered.
They sat for a while not saying anything.
"So, um, what's your name?"
"Kyo Sohma. You?"
"Yuki."
Kyo shuddered.
"What's wrong, Kyo?"
"Just… someone I know." He looked outside. "Just someone I don't particularly like."
Yuki tilted his head to one side.
"Who?"
"Just this kid. See he's the year of the…" he paused. "Um, what would you say you know about the zodiac?"
"All there is to know. And you?" answered Yuki, following the code put into action by those who knew about the zodiac.
"Just as much as you. So you know? This is so cool! I didn't know there was anyone my age who knew except for Haru and that brat Momiji," answered Kyo eagerly. "How did you find out?"
"My brother is the snake." replied Yuki honestly. "How about you?"
"The snake… never met him. Oh, I'm the cat."
Yuki blushed.
"What is it?" Kyo looked puzzled.
"Nothing, I-I just should have known. I heard someone say the cat had orange hair."
"Oh, okay. What was I saying before? Oh yeah, this kid, he's the rat, y'see, and he's just… he's the scheming rat and I hate him! He ruined everything! It's all his fault that everyone hates me! He's the stinking twisted rat and I hate him and he hates me!" Kyo was livid by the time he finished.
"You've met him?" asked Yuki, pretending to be curious.
"Well, no but…"
"Then how do you know you hate him? How do you know he hates you?" Yuki had started getting angry himself. "He doesn't hate you, Kyo, okay? In fact, all he wants is to be your friend! He's made enough enemies just by being alive! He hates the fact that people don't like him because he's the rat, but he certainly doesn't hate you! He likes you, Kyo! He really likes you!" He was close to tears at this point.
Kyo was silent and looking at the floor.
"So you're that Yuki."
Yuki nodded.
They sat and listened to the rain for a moment.
"You… you don't hate me?" Kyo looked up.
Yuki stared into his eyes, marvelling at their beautiful shine, and shook his head bravely.
Kyo broke eye contact and scrambled out into the now heavy rain. Yuki immediately took after him, but Kyo had gotten a head start, and soon he had been left behind.
"I don't hate you Kyo!" he yelled into the downpour. "And I want to know if you hate me!"
"Of course I do." Said a voice from in front of him, and shortly Kyo appeared. "You're the cat and I'm the rat. The cat hates the rat and the rat hates the cat. It's been decided."
Tears merged with rain on Yuki's pale cheeks.
"By who? Who decided who hates me? I don't like being hated Kyo. I hate it. But I don't hate you. Who decided I hate you? They were wrong, Kyo. I don't hate you at all." he said softly.
Kyo looked away, anything not to look into the violet eyes of the boy he had upset so greatly.
Yuki took a step towards him. Then another, and another. Yuki pushed Kyo's cheek gently so that they were nose to nose.
"Why do you hate me Kyo? You don't know me. But I want to know you. I want to be your friend." Yuki whispered.
He leaned forward a little and kissed Kyo. His crimson eyes widened in surprise and he pushed Yuki away.
"What the hell!" he yelled, stepping backwards.
Yuki looked hurt, almost confused.
"I… I don't know…" he turned and ran off.
"Kyo! Your first kiss was with your enemy?" said Shigure, shocked. "I am without a doubt changing the names and publishing this."
"We're not enemies…" mumbled Yuki, embarrassed that Shigure had assumed they still were.
"Oh? Really? What are you then?" he said, grinning impishly.
"I don't know. I wish I did, but I don't." Yuki chose to ignore the look Shigure was giving him, a mix of curiosity and concern.
"Well, you'd be surprised how people feel about you, Yuki."
Yuki stood up purposefully.
"Do you know where Kyo went?"
"I think he went to the main house. Why do you ask?" asked Shigure innocently.
But Yuki was already gone.
Dear Reader(s)
Ooooohhh… exciting, no?
Naoko will not be mentioned again, by the way, I just needed a name, and it's from a manga I'm reading.
This is soooooo long compared to my other chapters! and a half pages on MS word!
There is possibly a kiss in the next chapter, depending on how it works out. Just keep reading! The reason this was so quick is cause I had almost all of it written when I posted Chapt. 7, cause I knew what was going to happen almost at the very beginning!
And here's a little spoiler for the next chappie: it's SAD! Muahahahahahaha!
It makes me cry. tear
Thanks for caring!
Thinking of you,
Sammy!