Eyes Of the Cat: Christmas Special

TT: Just as the title says, this is the Christmas Special based on my fanfiction 'Eyes of the Cat', and if you don't read at least the first few chapters you may find yourself confused. To my regulars, this story comes in before chapter 17 ('Talking'), so no one but Kyo knows about Eris.

Anyone who has any requests of what they want in the EOTC story, you can put them in your reviews if you so wish. Otherwise, enjoy the story, and I hope everyone has a very happy Christmas with everyone they care about.

It was a slow morning waking, and Kyo wasn't even sure why he'd woken up just then.

The first thing that he was aware of was feeling warm, the covers draped over him heavily, and the soft pillow underneath his head.

The second sense to return was smell – he could smell the scent of snow – something he'd always been forced to compare to the taste of tin – fresh snow outside, and probably with frost crawling up his windows. It made him glad he was in here, where it was warm.

Then, and only then, did his hearing come back to him. Someone was shaking a set of bells – the kind that you always picture being worn by reindeer, thanks to all those cheesy Christmas shows.

The bells were being shaking to the tune of 'Jingle Bells'. And it occurred to Kyo, that he only knew one person that would somehow be able to get their hands on that particular kind of bells simply to shake them to the tune on Jingle Bells…

Well, he knew several people who would do that – but there was only one person who would play them in his room while he was asleep, to wake him up.

Kyo opened his eyes and sat up – a cat that had been curled up next to him meowed in protest before stealing his pillow. Sure enough, Eris sat on the end of his bed, shaking the bells and humming quietly. She stopped when he sat up, instead giving him one of her bright grins (grins that, often, had caused many problems for Yuki), "Good MORNING NeKyo! Merry Christmas!"

A little blearily, Kyo looked at the darkness outside his window – "Its not this morning, its still last night. The sun isn't even up!"

"It is too! Sunrise was five minutes ago – I should know, I watched it from the roof."

Kyo stared at her in disbelief for a moment, before he let out a small groan and fell back onto his pillow – once again unsteadying the cat – and pulls the blankets over his head, "Go back to sleep!"

"But I don't sleep!" Eris pulled the covers away from Kyo's face, but the cat stubbornly kept his eyes closed. Eris began poking him on the nose, "C'mon! NeKyo – NeKyo – NeKyo – NeKyo – NeKyo – Ne-"

"Stop that!" Kyo sat up again, this time in frustration, swatting Eris' hand away, "I'm up already!" He growled, getting out of bed, "I know its Christmas, but no one's going to be up for another hour, at the earliest! What's with you?"

"You told Tohru she could sleep in, and you'd make breakfast today – remember?"

Kyo paused, before his memory caught up with him – Tohru cooked for them all year, so he insisted that she be able to sleep in on Christmas, and seeing as he was the only other one who could cook…

"Let's make pancakes! Or maybe some omelets? I hear omelets are supposed to be a breakfast food, but its weird, I've only ever seen them being served as lunch or dinner. Anyway – pancakes! And because NeKyo's cooking, I can get one as well! Can I? Can I? Can I?"

Kyo gave her a suspicious look, "Have you been into the candy canes again?"

"Uh, maybe?"

Kyo sighed and shook his head, "Terrific – Eris on a Christmas sugar high." He grabbed some clothes and walked towards the door, pausing to glance back at his friend, "I'll have a shower – you get out all we need for the pancakes, deal?"

"Right!" Eris saluted, before sinking through the floor. Kyo shook his head, and headed towards the bathroom. Hopefully Eris would be sane again by the time he was done.

"These are delicious, Kyo!" Tohru complimented the cat; oblivious to the fact that Eris' head was following the movements of the pancake she had on her fork.

"Tohru's right! I had no idea you could cook so well, Kyo! I'll have to remember that next time Tohru goes to visit her family for a few days."

Kyo didn't answer, focusing on his own food. His lips didn't seem to move, but he did mutter to Eris out of the corner of his mouth, "Yours are in the kitchen."

The ghost grinned and hugged the cat, "You're the best Kyo!" Before dashing off to devour her own food.

Only five minutes later, the door burst open, and Yuki's brother was suddenly pulling the grey-haired teenager into a hug.

"Yuki! Oh, you're speechless with joy over the fact that your dear, sweet, loving brother took the time to come and visit you on Christmas, when he could be doing so much else! But what else could I possibly want to do but spend the day with you?" The snake of the zodiac paused, taking Yuki's forkful of pancake and putting it into his own mouth.

Eris appeared beside Kyo, making the cat jump, "I'm gone for one minute, and then everything starts to get interesting! Kyo, did you do that on purpose?" She grinned to let the cat know she was joking, before turning back to watch as Yuki growled and violently shoved his brother away, "And here come the water works…"

Somewhere amidst the confusion, Momiji managed to tackle-hug Tohru, and the room was filled with smoke.

"And this gift is for my dear brother Yuki!" Ayame thrust the slim package into the rat's hands before drawing his hands to his heart, "Oh, look, he's touched by the generosity and thoughtfulness of his darling big brother!"

With a great amount of caution, Yuki unwrapped the paper, lifting up a framed picture of Ayame. The rat scowled slightly, putting it to the side.

"Oh, you're so overcome that you can't speak! I knew you would love it Yuki – a reminder of your dear big brother when I'm not here!" Before Yuki had time to dodge, the snake had him in yet another hug.

"Hey, Kyo, if this is how he acts all the time, can you imagine what snake-guy will act like once the pervert-dog gets out the eggnog?"

The cat gave Eris a horrified glance out of the corner of his eye, and shuddered.

Tohru smiled hesitantly, before taking up another package addressed to the rat, "The tag says this one's from Kyo."

At once, everyone's eyes looked over at the cat with surprise, causing him to scowl heavily. "Just open it, already!"

Obediently, Yuki opened up the small package, eyes widened slightly before darkening, and he rewrapped the gift, putting it to the side and glaring at the cat, not breaking up the festives for a fight only for Tohru's sake.

Eris grinned at Kyo, "Told you that he'd love the mousetrap."

Kyo smirked at Eris, ignoring Yuki's glare, and continued to watch as the rest of the presents were handed out. He wasn't surprised to find the only one who had given him a gift was Tohru. He shrugged indifferently when Tohru mentioned it sympathetically, instead choosing to distract her by tossing a gift addressed to her – from Momiji – at her.

Once the presents were opened, Tohru got up to get the Christmas dinner ready, Kyo grudging following – as he was perhaps the only other one who had any talent in the kitchen. Shigure called something out, causing them both to stop and look back at him.

The dog grinned in a slightly learcherous fashion, motioning above their heads. Obediently, Kyo looked up. Eris, hovering so close to the ceiling it looked as if she'd go through at any stage, was holding a piece of mistletoe over the heads of him and…

Utterly embarrassed, Kyo's eyes flickered towards Tohru, was blushing even harder than him. Overhead, Eris continued to grin, and stuck her tongue out at Kyo, "C'mon Kyo, you have to!"

"Surely you two aren't going to break the tradition, are you?" Shigure suddenly waved at his face with his hand, "Oh, Kyo's afraid that he'll loose control of himself!"

Kyo didn't answer, instead glaring up at the mistletoe – or rather, just to the left of the mistletoe, at Eris. His eyes widened slightly, and his cheeks turned even redder when Tohru, embarrassed beyond words, leaned over to give him the smallest peck on the cheek, before scurrying off towards the kitchen.

Eris floated back down so that she was hovering beside the cat, "So, was that a good present?"

Kyo gave her a dark glare, one that easily said 'I'll deal with you later' (Yuki was giving Kyo a similar look) before leaving the room, before the blood stopped pumping so heavily in his ears and he could actually make out what Shigure and Ayame were saying.

Shigure watched as Kyo, yet again, reached over to the roast potatoes on the table, "If you're not careful, Kyo, you're going to get fat."

Kyo grunted in reply, discreetly moving some of his food to the edge of his plate, where it would then disappear. Eris might not have had her own place at the table, but she seemed more than content sharing the cat's. "Hey, NeKyo, how about some more salt?"

Rolling his eyes slightly, Kyo shifted the salt closer with an elbow as he reached for the roast, muttering quietly, "Are you sure you didn't die from too much of this stuff?"

"You know I didn't. I can't help it if I'm a salt-aholic… and a chocoholic… and an ice-cream addict…" The ghost trailed off, mentally ticking off her other food obsessions.

Kyo didn't answer, instead focusing on his plate. He and Tohru hadn't spoken since the mistletoe incident. Once dinner was finished, he got up, helping Tohru to carry the plates to the kitchen – much to everyone's surprise.

Kyo was about to put the plates down when a cup from the top of the pile fell; Kyo tensed and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable crash – which didn't come.

He opened his eyes, and saw Eris, cup in hand, and gave her a smirk, "Thanks."

"Are you still mad at me, Kyo?" The ghost gave him a sad, puppyish look.

For a moment, Kyo actually had to think it over, "No, I'm not." He didn't think he could stay mad at Eris for long – not when she simply continued to act the way she always did, not retaliating to his anger with anger.

Eris smiled, and took some of the plates from Kyo, putting them in the sink, "Good… So, does that mean you liked it?"

Kyo felt ice run down his arm when his fist flew straight through the ghost. In retaliation, she abruptly shoved her hand into his head, between his eyes. Kyo winced, grabbing his head and the brain freeze hit him hard.

"Hey, when you get over that, can we go look at all the Christmas lights and all the decorated trees? Pretty please?"

Still gripping his head, Kyo glared, "Why the heck would I do something as stupid as that?"

Eris looked thoughtful for a minute, before grinning at him cheekily, "Because I asked you?"

"I still say no."

Eris snapped her fingers, "Drat! Alright, how about – because I'm going anyway, but it's just more Christmassy when you go with friends?"

"…We. Are. Not – under any circumstances – Singing. Carols."

"Aww, fine. Party-pooper… Can we go now?"

Kyo looked back into the other room, where Yuki was visibly attempting to restrain himself from choking Ayame while the snake hugged him, Haru seemed to be looking for the mistletoe Eris had used, Shigure was playing with his camera, and Momiji was sucking a candy cane – leaving an unspoken promise of a sugar-high yet to come. He couldn't see what the others were doing from that angle, but he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Yeah, lets go – before they decided to invite themselves along."

"Okay, lets go!" the door slammed close behind Kyo, Eris floating through the door as she followed the cat, humming old and forgotten Christmas carols all the while.

It was close to midnight when Kyo was next spotted – though how long he'd been on the roof watching the stars, no one could say. The Sohma's shouted their goodbyes to him when Hatori finally managed to drag Ayame – nearly unconscious after an eggnog-drinking competition with Shigure – to the van he had used to bring them all their. For the first time since Shigure had first woken up that morning, the entire house was peaceful and quiet.

Eris was still quietly singing carols Kyo didn't know, and who's name he didn't recognize, but Eris was always humming or singing, it was a background noise that Kyo would have dearly missed if she stopped.

But that didn't mean that specific parts didn't get irritating, "If you sing that 'Gloria in exelsis deo' line again, I will hurt you."

Eris stuck her tongue out at him again, "Well I happen to like it." Nonetheless, her singing died away, back to a quiet humming. Kyo didn't stop her, content with the change.

"Hey, Eris?"

"Mmm?"

"Thanks for your present – I really do like it."

"Eh?" Eris grinned slyly, poking Kyo, "You mean the mistletoe thing?"

"No, I mean this." He held up his left wrist. Among the black and white beads, almost unnoticeable, was a small, silver charm, shaped and carved into a cat's head, his name engraved on the other side. Had anyone else given it to him, he would've been unbelievably offended, and have probably hated them for the rest of his life. But Eris had given it to him, and that was enough reason for him to grow fond of it.

He wondered when his bond with the ghost had gotten this strong.

Eris smiled, nudging the tag; "I didn't think you'd notice, I put it on last night when you were asleep. I carved the name on the back, in case you were wondering – now I'm not sure why I got it for you, but I'm glad you like it."

Kyo smirked, lying back on the roof once more, hands behind his head, "As for the mistletoe, well, I'm thanking you in advance – for not doing it next year!"

Eris grinned her patent, mischievous grin, "Nah, next year I'm going to get you to go caroling."