Disclaimer: Fruits Basket does not belong to me.

Likewise

His pencil scrapped the surface of the lined paper vigorously as he worked out one of the math problems from the given homework. His answer did not match the one in the answer key at the back of the text and it was beginning to annoy him. He erased the work that lead him to his wrong answer and began to punch in numbers forcefully in his calculator. Mentally grumbling about the evils of math and fractions, his ears picked up a familiar sound. It was the sound of tires coming to a halt against gravel and an engine being turned off. This could only mean one thing.

"Tohru!" a vibrant annoying voice cheered.

Momiji was here.

He sighed already knowing that the boy would surely make one of his vital veins pop before the night was over. He stood up, leaving his homework behind, and made his way downstairs.

"Hi Kyo!"

The young boy ran up and embraced him. This was not well received as the cat dug his knuckles in the blonde's soft hair.

"I swear every time you open your mouth!" he growled.

"Waahh! Kyo is picking on me!"

"Kyo be nice." Shigure said in a mock motherly tone from his sitting position at the table.

"Momiji, you wanted to ask Tohru something am I correct?" Hatori looked tired and Kyo could only guess that the dragon was not getting any rest from his profession.

"Oh yeah," Momiji said quickly sobering up as if Kyo's abuse had never happened.

He went to Tohru who was standing next to Yuki and took her by the hand. His golden eyes shimmered with much eagerness.

"I want you to come to the hot spring again!"

"WHAT?" Kyo and Yuki managed to say at the same time.

Kyo didn't like the idea very much after memories of the last trip surfaced. The trip had been everything but relaxing. Being beaten by Yuki at every game they played and keeping Momiji out of Tohru's arms (and not to mention room) were not things he considered to be filed under 'fun time'.

"Oh no, I shouldn't go again. I mean once was enough and I am very grateful that I was invited the first time. Oh I couldn't go. I have to cook and clean and make sure that Shigure, Yuki and Kyo are comfortable. I mean they are letting me stay here for free but I want to earn my keep…"

Great, she was babbling again. She always did that when she was nervous. Her cheeks would always flush a bit and she would tremble with her words a bit fumbling with her fingers trying to twiddle away the nervousness in the air. It got on his nerves most of the time but today he found her to be rather cute when she did it.

"But I want you to have fun! You deserve it."

"Well I …" she looked around towards anyone who would like to finish her sentence.

"Who would want to go to the stupid springs again anyway?" he said putting his hands behind his back saving her from the awkwardness that hung in the air.

"No one invited you, you stupid cat." Yuki said glaring at him. Kyo quickly got into a defensive stance and with a clenched fist turned towards Yuki.

"You damned rat I don't see an invitation for you either!"

This did not phase the amethyst-eyed youth as he simply crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm sure your friends would enjoy going with you Tohru." Shigure brought up. He placed his head on his hand lazily.

"After all a girl like yourself shouldn't just go alone, you should enjoy it with your friends as you all giggle, play together and most importantly explore each other's bodi--­"

SMACK.

He was hit with a flying magazine in his mouth.

"Shut up." Kyo said with a menacing gaze.

"Hatori! You see! Evidence of abuse!" he wailed going towards the dragon for protection.

Hatori sighed and shook his head. From the simple jester Kyo knew what the doctor was thinking. Just who is the adult in this house?

"Umm… am I missing something?" Tohru asked.

"Just ignore him Miss Honda, and to reiterate what he said" Yuki turned his gaze to the dog who shrank a little behind Hatori. "Inviting your friends would make the trip a bit more enjoyable for you."

"Well if that's ok with you," she said to Momiji.

"Yes! As long as you come I'm sure everyone will have fun!"

"Is that even a smart idea to bring them to the main house? Won't Akito find out?" Kyo asked. If they accidentally found out about the curse then surely Akito would erase all of their memories including Tohru's. This was a risk that he was not willing to take since everyone would be hurt by it.

"It shouldn't matter! It's part of the business." Momiji stated.

"That is true, as long as they don't venture into the main quarters where he is likely to see them then I'm sure everything would be fine." Hatori said

"So it's settled!" Momiji beamed. "Yuki will you come with us?"

"Of course." He said smiling lightly. He looked towards Tohru and she lightly blushed. Kyo chose to ignore this and looked away sharply. As he turned his gaze met with the face of the eccentric blonde. Momiji smiled and opened his mouth.

"Don't even ask." Kyo said cutting him off.

Momiji took a hold of the bottom of Kyo's shirt and began to pull on it.

"But Kyo! You should come with us, it'll be fun! Please! Kyo! Kyo! Please? It's only the hot springs. Kyo! Kyo!"

"Fine I'll go! Just stop being annoying!" he yelled.

Momiji let go and smiled. He began to parade around in triumph.

"Yay! Kyo is coming! Kyo is coming!"

Kyo growled, grabbed Momiji and dug his knuckles in the blonde's hair again.

"Every freaking time!"

"Waahh! Kyo is picking on me!"

The warmth of the water easily melted away the tension he usually carried in his muscles. He relaxed his head back as he sank deeper into the pool. The trip to the springs was everything but enjoyable. In the company of Uo and Hana, he became the center of attention to any abuse that was mustered by the damned Yankee. Being the butt of jokes and countless losses over card games had given the cat enough reason to hater her with every fiber of his being. And to top it off, anytime he got too carried away he got a warning shock from the creepy wave girl. All in all, Kyo was not fond of either of Tohru's friends but for her sake he decided that he should at least try to tolerate them. But for now he didn't have to deal with them and the only thing that mattered at the moment was relaxation and silence.

Splash.

Crimson eyes snapped open.

"That was fun! I'm going to do it again!"

He could feel his anger build up at the back of his throat as the young boy's annoyance began to ring in his ears.

"Oh no you don't!" he barked.

He stood up, feeling the warm water trickle down his body as his skin built a resistance of goosebumps to the sudden change in temperature, and grabbed Momiji before he took another dive off the edge.

"Waahh! Yuki! Kyo is picking on me!"

"Leave him alone," Yuki said standing up angrily and as annoyed as Kyo.

"He's being annoying!" Kyo yelled letting Momiji go.

"Right now you're being annoying,"

"Oh yeah!"

He made his way towards the rat and drove a fist towards his head. Yuki (who was twice as graceful and quick in the water) easily dodged the attack and let Kyo fall into the water face first.

"Stupid cat." He snorted.

"I'm going to make you eat those words!"

"Come and try."

Kyo jumped back up delivering high kicks and punches all the while Yuki dodged them. The youths locked in on each other as they stood in a stiff stance. Their hands, which were clasped in a never ending struggle to show who administered the largest strength, were now shaking from the awkward position they were in. Each teen too stubborn to give way to the other.

"Let go you stupid cat"

"Yeah right. Fat chance you idiot rat." He said glaring at the dark violet orbs.

The hate was so thick in the air that it threaten to choke his senses but he wasn't going to give in. He was going to be Yuki no matter what.

However his murderous thoughts fell out as the sounds of female laughter and splashing broke the tension. He noticed Yuki's eyes widen as he too noticed the change in the air. There was a sound that startled them both from their current position (a giggle that was obviously not female) as they tried to get out of the water with out dropping their towels.

"MOMIJI!"

The boys made their way to the other side quickly. Yuki first with Kyo behind cursing a slew of colorful words as his towel seemed to neglect his waist. When Kyo looked up after stopping and putting his towel into place, he saw that Yuki was gone. He rounded the corner, past the girls' room and into the hot spring where he was met with a blast of water in his face. He put up his hands trying to block out any more water from going up his nose. When the sound of laughter followed, he opened his eyes to see Uo with a water gun. His blood boiled seeing her cocky grin.

"What the hell was that for?" he yelled with balled fists.

"Calm down carrot top, it's only water, the way you get riled up anyone could swear you were a cat," she said with a hand on her hip.

His muscles stiffened at her comparison. He looked towards Yuki who paled.

Tohru laughed nervously standing up from the water.

"Hm…Uo brings up a good point." Hana said from behind Tohru.

Kyo hadn't even seen Hana and her sudden presence made her creepier than usual.

"Well-I don't see it at all," Tohru said trying to save the situation. Uo raised an eyebrow and aimed at Kyo's face, shooting more water. It was obvious she wanted to prove Tohru wrong.

"Would you stop doing that!" he yelled.

Uo laughed and he fumed. He did not come to the springs just to be the source of her amusement. He was going to show her all right, she was going to regret ever playing with him. But as his brain began to work out a way to humiliate her she threw her towel at him. Blocking it and grabbing it, his brain informed him of her bold move and quickly his cheeks became pink with heat. He looked up to see that she was wearing a bathing suit.

"Don't even thing about it, I came prepared."

"Who said I was going to do that you perverted Yankee!" He said with the blush never leaving his cheeks.

"Am I the perverted one? You're the one who seems to be blushing Kyo-Kyo." She taunted.

"That's it!" he moved to tackle her forgetting about the curse for a millisecond but he was stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Be careful you stupid cat, now is not the time to transform."

The group proceeded to have a large water fight (with pain staking caution from the boys, not so much from Momiji) and they were all armed with water guns. Kyo would never admit that it was fun, but getting the Yankee a couple of times in the mouth was amusing. He kept his complaints to a minimum since he was in such a better mood than before. He sensed someone was missing but pushed those thoughts aside when Uo was coming near. He turned around ready to fire when a familiar sold of a soft 'puff' caught his ear.

His senses were quickly on alert as he turned towards Tohru who was holding a yellow rabbit. His pace quickened as panic began to settle in.

"Hey time out! Where's blondie?" Uo asked noting that the giggles and squeals of the young boy were absent from the air. Her head turned towards Tohru who tried desperately to cover Momiji. She raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak.

Kyo, thinking quickly and not wanting Uo to question why Tohru held a yellow rabbit, blasted his gun at her. His finger, which was still on the trigger after all the water escaped, did not move. Uo turned sharply towards the red head who took a step back. A tight scowl on her face only meant one thing. Uo was pissed. His eyes briefly left her face to see that Yuki was helping Momiji and Tohru out of the spring, the distraction that he was providing was working. His eyes went back to Uo but before he could even blink, he was knocked out on his back. He mentally sighed and growled.

He sacrificed some of his manhood just to protect the family secret.

He walked along the Sohma estate aimlessly with his hands behind his head, just letting his feet tire themselves out a bit before turning in officially. The trip to Kyo was not turning out to be the "sweet surrender" that was promised in the Sohma Springs brochure. What made it the trip sour (besides the fact that Uo and Hana were there) was that after Momiji transformed, Yuki decided that it was best that they all stopped and played some games inside. Bad idea. After playing many fruitless games of pin-pong against Uo, he immediately exploded accusing the Yankee of cheating. But as always no one was on his side and he ended up sulking in the corner alone while everyone else attempted to have fun without trying to get sucked into his misery cloud.

But now he wasn't as miserable as before since the cool night air seemed to give him some reassurance as it brushed against his face. He placed his hands into his pockets as he made a turn towards the large pond that resided on the center of the estate. There was a small over it and the moonlight created the shadow of two figures upon it. He blinked a couple of times trying to clear the false image but when it didn't leave and he walked a bit closer. The shadows were Tohru and Yuki.

His mouth quickly became a scowl as he saw the rat's fingers gently run through Tohru's hair, picking up one of the yellow strings tied to her ribbon. The stopped breathing as he saw Yuki bring the lace to his lips. Her cheeks reddened and Kyo felt his heart beat aggressively. His mudded brain signals caused his legs to tremble in confusion as the electrical messages sent to his legs to run were mixed up with the message to stay and watch.

Yuki leaned forward and suddenly it was getting harder to see as a light layer of water began to cloud his eyes. He dared not to blink because if he did he was afraid the water would take on the form of the thing he feared most…pain. Their lips met and he could only stand there and imagine how soft her lips would have felt. He touched his own lips feeling them to be rough and wet with a salty solution. He couldn't take it anymore.

He did the only thing he knew he could do.

He ran.

He stopped when he couldn't go on any longer. He was on the other side of the estate, where a small river, which was connected to the pond, ran a calm course down the bank. He rested his head against the bark of a near by tree as his lungs burned with a gluttonous need for air.

It wasn't fair.

The rise of heated anger rose from his stomach and into his throat, threatening to come out in the form of a vibrant rant. Instead, he pushed himself off the tree and narrowing his gaze on a certain spot, began to slam his fist repeatedly. He wanted that pain, wanted to feel the stinging sensation as his skin was peeled away against the gruff wood. That pain was better to control, unlike the pain that slowly began to spread into the chambers of his heart.

"You're going to break your hand," a monotonous voice interjected.

His concentration broke as he sharply looked up to see Hana. Startled at seeing her form, his body lost its balance and he ended up face down onto the grass. He didn't move a muscle as he noticed the tears streaming down his cheeks.

Light footsteps caught his ears and soon black slippers were in his view. He looked up to see her pale hand out. He snorted. He wasn't going for any pity and to showcase that he got up and plotted himself at the base of the tree with a scowl on his face. He hoped that his fowl mood sent the message of 'leave me the hell alone'.

Hana sat next to him.

"What troubles you Kyo?" she asked ignoring any signs that he was not fond of her company.

"Nothing!" he snapped.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!" he blinked a couple of times clearing away any more tears that wanted to escape. "Boys don't cry, they aren't meant to!" he looked away and quickly wiped away the trails of any tears to prove his point.

She was silent, looking at the calm river in front of them. For a moment Kyo thought that his outburst had finally delivered his message.

He saw Hana walk up to the bank. She stood there, with her head down a bit looking into the water. Curious as to what she was up to, Kyo stood up and walked slowly towards her. He paled at what he saw staring back at him from the water. It was his other form. Sharp teeth, violet eyes, and grotesque skin all stared at him. His knees trembled as they threatened to buckle.

"Are you fine Kyo?"

He covered his face and counted to ten. Did she see it? Does she know? Oh god he hoped not.

He peeked through his fingers. It was still there. Why didn't she scream? Why didn't she run? It was so obvious that it was in the water. She's a physic, who can sense and see things. Why isn't she freaked at seeing his reflection?

"Kyo, does your reflection bother you so? I see nothing wrong."

He dropped his hands and confronted his reflection. He took a breath of relief when he saw his human form.

She bent down and touched the water, her fingertips creating ripples that distorted their images. He raised an eyebrow as she stood back up.

"Did you see that?" she asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"Look again,"

In her hand was a pebble, which she threw into the water. The tiny rock crushed against the water's surface, distorting their reflections, before sinking down to the bottom.

"Is there a point?" he asked aggravated. She sighed as if she was annoyed with him.

"Our reflections, although they were unmoving on the water's surface, were blurred once I threw in the pebble. After it sank, they became clear again." she said pointing at the water.

He knew she was trying to communicate something with him but he was trying to ignore it. She was always saying weird things, why did it seem to matter now? He looked at her and gave a casual shrug as he focused his attention on the water.

"In other words, no matter how many times the image gets distorted, it can be repaired, just like you, not matter how many times you think you may break you can always get back together."

It hit him, just like the pain after watching Tohru and Yuki. Knowing now that someone else saw them made the situation all the more real. It wasn't like he thought he saw them kiss, they actually did.

"You saw them too." He whispered.

"Yes." She whispered back keeping the secret.

They were silent for a second. She looked up at the sky, gazing at the stars while he stood looking at his reflection wondering how it got violet eyes all of a sudden.

"I know what I said may not change the way you feel, but it may help if you believed in it a little,"

"It was a stupid thing to say," he said crossing his arms.

"It may be so, but I am living proof of its success."

He snorted and shook his head.

"Do I scare you Kyo?"

The question caught him off guard and he looked confused for a moment, then it dawned on him that he was in the presence of Saki Hanajima, the girl that kept Yuki's fan girls in check with her denpa talent.

He felt a sharp sting on his nose and he grabbed it quickly. She raised an eyebrow and he felt his ears twitch with electricity. It wasn't enough to hurt him but it was enough to make him aware. He didn't like being toyed with.

"Fine!" he growled. "But I'm not scared of you; if you want to know the truth I think you aren't human. You sneak up on people; you don't say normal things, and the thing you do with waves freaking creeps me out!"

He was breathing heavily and when he made eye contact with her he saw that her deadpan eyes didn't look as mundane as they usually were. Was it some sort of emotion?

"I see."

He quickly regretted it and cursed his abrupt loose of his anger. He always did it to Tohru and found it hard to apologize. Now that he did this to Hana he found his cheek quickly flushing with heat as his lips tried to form an almost impossible apology.

"I wasn't always like this, in fact." She averted her gaze from his and looked up towards the sky. "I was a monster."

He cleared his throat, not really wanting to voice that she should continue. He was curious but he didn't think she needed to know that.

"I didn't ask for this, but nonetheless I can read denpa and with it I can tell you a person's emotions and turmoil if they aren't careful enough to guard them."

He flinched when he felt an odd chill run down his spine.

"A witch they called me and I was so young that I believed it too. It was hard enough not having someone but it was worse after the incident. No one wanted to be near me. They had every right to believe I was a monster; I almost killed a classmate. So I wore black, not because I liked the style, I wore it to scare them away, to protect them from me."

She looked down at the water and he could have sworn he saw her lips curve at one edge from her reflection.

"It's been a while since then. I tried to move on, ignoring my curse. But I couldn't get away from the monster they labeled me to be. The more I tried to push others away, the more trouble I had controlling my denpa. My family grew fearful of me so I had to do something before I lost them."

She looked at him, her eyes almost glowing against the night.

"I had to learn to accept it. I had to accept that I was a danger, that I was capable of taking another life if I indeed found it necessary but most importantly I had to accept the fact that whether or not I enjoyed it, that I have this curse flowing inside of me. Denying myself from others will not change my past. And although it takes time for acceptance I find that I can now control my denpa pretty well and I've grown fond of this gothic style." She said touching her necklace that was decorated with silver beads and tiny skulls.

He stared at her trying to find something to say, something that would tell her that he knew first hand what she was talking about. He tore away his gaze and looked at the water. His reflection stared back at him with a scowl, bending down he slapped his hand onto the surface, wincing when the cool liquid made contact with his wounded hand. His reflection blurred and he stood back up watching his image come back as a mudded mixture between his human form and his other cursed form. His human form was trying to over power the grotesque cat. The same form Tohru accepted, the same form he was so ashamed of, the same form he desperately wanted to get rid of.

He frowned.

It was a part of the Sohma curse and a part of his soul. Yet everyone in the family besides Akito accepted him. If they could, then why couldn't he?

He squeezed his eyes shut, as the question required too much brainpower.

"You're bleeding."

He opened his eyes and looked at his hand. It dripped with blood.

"Yeah, I am." he said looking at it with a bit of embarrassment. He watched as her pale hand covered his wound with a black scarf. Carefully, she wrapped his hand, making sure that the material wasn't tight against his scrapped skin. He noticed that her hands were warm and soft despite how pale and cold they looked. He felt a bit of heat flush his cheeks at how she massaged the surface of his covered hand, drawing soft circles with her fingertips.

"I think you should get proper medical help for it, I fear my cloth isn't enough."

The distance between them was small and the fact that he could transform if she got any closer escaped him. He was dizzy with her scent that rose from her dark locks. A sweet smell of lavender, which was soft, and tickled his nose with its mystery.

"Are you coming?" her voiced asked.

He snapped out of the hypnotic trance and noticed that she was far. How did she do that? He gave up after a second. It was Hana after all.

"Where?" he said walking up to her careful of not putting his wounded hand in his pocket.

"I'm afraid that I will lose my way back and seeing how you are familiar with the grounds"

"Then who told you to leave!" he asked annoyed.

"Am I a prisoner?"

"No, but if you knew you were going take a walk then you should have brought someone with you, this is not exactly a place you want to explore."

"What's life with out risks?" she said nonchalantly and walked a few steps

"Hey! Come back here, where are you going?" he asked making his way towards her.

"Back to Tohru and Uo."

He sighed.

"That's the wrong way, come on," he took her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. "I'll walk you back." he mumbled.

He avoided looking at her and made sure that she didn't see the light blush that covered his cheeks. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze as they passed the bridge where Tohru and Yuki kissed.

He knew that if anyone saw them, they would be flabbergasted. He, a passionate yet fiery cat with a hunger for acceptance, was in the company of Hana, a calm collected denpa reader who continued to bemuse the best of them for amusement and distance. They were complete opposites.

Yet after tonight he discovered that they weren't so different after all.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Were they very OCC? I think I didn't do well on their characters. I may continue it if I get more ideas and a plot but so far I think it will stand as a one-shot for now. Positive comments and criticism would be great in a form of a review. Thanks for reading!