Title: Councilmen
Universe: Fruits Basket
Theme/Topic: Christmas gift-fic for Skye
Rating: G
Pairing/Character/s: slightly KakeruxYuki
Warning/s: Spoilers for Fruits Basket Vol 9
Word Count: 1,828
Time: Like, 2 hours. --;;
Summary: Yuki gets accustomed to his new vice-president.
Dedication: Skye- I need to get you hooked on Bleach so it's easier to write you gift fic. XD
A/N: Yeah, I shouldn't ever write FB again. Ever. But it's a fandom Skye and I have in common, so I'm cheap and use it as a fallback all the time. Yesh. Also, I know I usually write HaruxYuki, but reading the manga and meeting Kakeru just made me his fan instantly and I think he's one of those stupidly honest guys that angst buckets like Yuki need. Also, I um, haven't read BEYOND vol 9 so I don't know what happens beyond there. Just thought everyone should know that. Er. Yeah. So. Here we go.
Disclaimer: Not mine, though I wish constantly.
Distribution: Just lemme know.

"This is black to pink, requesting…"

"Don't call me pink."

"But I'm telling you, you just aren't red at all…"

"And don't just call me when I'm in the next room."

"But…"

CLICK.

Yuki sighed and tucked his phone back into his pocket, glaring at the closet momentarily before returning to his work.

Predictably, the door swung open and Manabe ambled out, looking somehow, both sleepy and hurt.

"But we have the same plan, so our calls to each other are unlimited, Yuki-chan!"

Three weeks with the new vice-president and Yuki was already beginning to wonder if he would make it through the year with his sanity intact. The fact that after Kakeru had learned that they used the same service provider for their cell phones and called him every few minutes with a request or a question or just to say hello was part of it, though Yuki was certain that the majority of his annoyance stemmed from Manabe's constant napping in the storage closet of the student council room when he was supposed to be working.

That and the whole Power Ranger fixation.

Yuki was not pink.

"It doesn't matter if we have the same plan, Manabe-san. Please refrain from napping when there's work to be done. You know you have to organize the budget plans for…"

"Already did it," Kakeru assured him with a broad smile and a placating little wave of his hand. "Really, Mr. President, there's no need to worry so much about little things, ne?"

Yuki frowned. "Already? Didn't you just get it yesterday?"

"My job at the library is really very boring," the dark-haired boy stated by way of explanation. "So I did it in-between checking-in books and napping and surfing the web." He grinned and pumped an arm. "This is the power of black!"

Yuki felt a headache coming on. "Did you double-check…"

"No need, no need!" Kakeru declared, laughing confidently. "I'm good at math."

"You didn't double-check it?"

"Nope."

Yuki pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where's the file?"

"I even handed it in too! Sensei was very pleased at having it so early."

Yuki stared.

"No need for your thanks, I am a member of the School Defense Force just like you, after all." He beamed, waiting for Yuki's praise anyway.

Yuki sighed and decided that if Manabe had already handed it in, there was nothing he could do about it now. "I see."

Kakeru pouted. "You don't sound terribly pleased, pink."

"Please stop calling me that."

Manabe grinned. "But Yuki-chan is so pretty and…"

The grey-haired boy's eyes narrowed. "I…"

Kakeru laughed. "Sorry, sorry," he quickly apologized, holding his hands up in surrender. "I just like seeing the different expressions on Mr. President's face every once in a while."

Yuki blinked, tirade forgotten. "Excuse me?"

"It's because Yuki-san is always so cool looking to everyone," Kakeru admitted, stretching lazily. "But I like it when you react more, personally." He grinned "It's interesting."

Not that again. Yuki made to very politely explain to the vice-president why that wasn't a very good idea in the way of getting them to work well with one another in the future, except the other boy's attention was already elsewhere, down on the papers Yuki was currently going over. "Mmm…" he murmured, looking thoughtful.

Bewildered at the sudden change in focus, Yuki's brow furrowed. "What?"

"That isn't due for another three weeks," Kakeru declared, turning back to the president appraisingly.

Yuki was honestly surprised that the other boy knew any of the deadlines to their applications. "Yes," he said, simply.

Kakeru whistled. "Already halfway done, huh?"

Yuki wondered where Manabe was going with this sudden interest in council affairs. "Yes."

"And everything else is done already too, huh?"

"Well, everything that's due before it," Yuki admitted.

Another whistle. "Impressive." And then, a smile. "Hey, you know what this means, huh, pink?"

"Don't call me…"

"Leaving early!" Manabe finished, ignoring Yuki's protests at the embarrassing moniker. "That means I have a whole 'nother hour before I need to be at work! Man, that's refreshing."

Yuki blinked. "Just because nothing's due immediately doesn't mean that we should…"

"Sure it does! C'mon, let's go see what some of the other clubs are doing, eh, Mr. President?"

"What? Why would…"

"Just c'mon. I'm bored, and it's two weeks too early to be working on that!"

Before he could protest again, Kakeru had grabbed Yuki's hand and was pulling him out of his chair, looking livelier about the prospect of skipping their work than he ever had while doing any of it. "Oi, Machi! Clean up, wouldja? Mr. President and I are going to survey our domain. Hahaha!"

That said, he dragged Yuki out the door, laughing heartily at his clever take on things and wondering if they should go watch the girls' volleyball practice or step in on the home economics club and get a taste-test of whatever it is they were making today.

"Ne, are you hungry, Mr. President?"

"No, I…"

"Well good, half of that stuff probably won't be edible anyway. C'mon."

Yuki wasn't sure why he let Manabe pull him all the way to the home economics classroom. He supposed it was out of some desire to keep the other boy out of the trouble he would invariably get himself into with an hour to spare on campus and other clubs still in session.

When they reached the classroom where the cooking club met, Manabe opened the door and stuck his head in without so much as a knock. Standing in the hallway, Yuki noticed that the noise and the chatter from inside stopped immediately.

"Ne, ladies… your venerable student council is here to visit you!" Kakeru announced cheerfully, before stepping into the room, tugging Yuki in with him.

He heard everyone take a collective breath, and regaining his composure quickly, the president of the student council greeted the home economics club. "Hello," he said, smiling.

The girls all blushed. "H-hello!" they greeted in return.

"Ah… whatever you're making smells wonderful," Yuki said honestly, if a part of him was slightly irritated at having to make an appearance here in the first place.

"T-they're almost done, Sohma-kun!" one girl said, smiling shyly. "We would be honored if you and Manabe-kun would have the first taste!"

"Yes! Today we made gingersnaps!"

"We'd love for you to take some home with you as well!"

Manabe grinned. "Ladies, we would love to take some of this wonderful smelling food off of your hands," he agreed, pouring on the charm.

The whole room laughed, sounding delighted by his enthusiasm.

Yuki smiled and felt an overwhelming urge to kill Kakeru for putting him in this situation. But he bore it with his usual calm and grace, causing several young ladies to go speechless in front of him when they handed him their treats and several others to blush and stammer when he smiled at them and thanked them for their hard work and their generosity.

It wasn't for a good thirty minutes before they were able to excuse themselves from the adoring young bakers, and by then, Yuki and Kakeru both had impressive armfuls of the warm, wrapped treats.

Once in the hallway, Manabe opened up one of the bags and began munching again, like he hadn't just eaten four or five people's worth of cookies while inside the room with the girls. "Some are definitely better than others," he said to Yuki conversationally as they walked. "Ne, but you surprised me, Mr. President. That was quite a show you put on in there."

Yuki paused. "What do you mean, show? I was only being polite after you so unceremoniously barged into their session without so much as a 'may we'. It was all I could do to preserve the reputation of the Student Council as a whole."

Kakeru looked at him skeptically. "Maybe. But I was saying I was impressed with how quickly you could turn on the charm, is all. You really are a pretty impressive guy."

The grey-haired boy frowned. "Are you making fun of me?" he asked, glaring.

Manabe grinned and bit into another cookie. "No, I'm just saying. I didn't make you mad again, did I?"

Yuki felt his annoyance fall away into something more like exhaustion. "I don't understand you, Manabe-san."

The vice-president chuckled. "It's okay, it's because I'm an idiot sometimes, remember?"

Yuki politely refrained from saying anything.

"Well, in any case, I think I like you better like this," Kakeru announced after he'd finished off one bag whole bag of cookies.

Yuki blinked. "Like what?"

"When you're not understanding me. It's much more interesting than how you were back in that roomful of girls."

Yuki stopped. "What do you mean?" he asked, voice slightly stricken.

Manabe looked over his shoulder, slowing to a standstill himself. "I just think it's more fun when you don't know how you're supposed to act," the black-haired boy admitted, smiling genuinely. "Then I get to see all sorts of expressions on your face!"

Yuki's cheeks turned pink, not quite knowing what to say to that, not knowing how to explain the fact that sometimes he just acted the way he did automatically. "I…"

And then Kakeru said, "I think I like the angry face you make the best! Because there's this funny little 'V' right in the middle of your forehead when you do it. It definitely makes you look more red than pink then!" He laughed at the memory.

Yuki's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You are making fun of me."

The other councilmember grinned. "Maybe a little."

In a rare moment of frustration—the kind Ayame was supposed to be the only one capable of igniting within him-- Yuki was tempted to throw his gingersnaps at the black-haired boy's head. Except he'd promised to take them home and share them with his family already.

"Manabe…" he started, voice dangerously low.

The only thing that saved the vice-president's life was the fact that his cell phone alarm went off at that exact moment. "Aah! I have to get going to work or I'll be late!" he exclaimed upon seeing the time. And then turning, he smiled at Yuki like nothing had happened at all and said, "Today was fun, pink! Let's hang out together again soon, okay?" before jogging off without waiting for a response, trying not to drop his bags of cookies in the process.

Yuki watched him go with a mixture of annoyance and bewilderment.

And then blinked when Kakeru paused in the middle of the hallway some twenty feet away, before turning around and running back.

"Almost forgot… here!" the vice-president exclaimed, tossing another bag of cookies on top of the grotesque pile already in Yuki's arms. "These are Hamada-chan's… they're really good!" he explained with a little wave before whirling around and taking off again.

Speechless, Yuki just stared after him.

And then sighed.

It was going to be a long school year.

END