TT: Hello everyone- I'm really glad you like my story. And thank you for all the suggestions- they're all great ideas, have no doubt that I'll consider them in great detail.
As it happens, all your ideas gave me some (or maybe just one…) of my own, so now there's a new chapter for you all to read- I hope you enjoy it!
As for the nickname Eris gives Kyo- you go ahead and guess where she got it from. I'll tell you if your right next chapter.
Please review, and I welcome any suggestions or advice you might have- no matter how silly or small it may seem. I want to write the best possible story for you all, so feedback is important!
Disclaimer: I have 65 cents- can I buy Fruit Baskets with that?
For some time, Kyo was successful in keeping his secrets from Eris- she'd hang out with him late at night on the roof, disappear when h went to be, reappear about halfway through breakfast, then follow him around for the majority of the day, occasionally making comments or causing mischief. Sometimes, when she went through him and the feeling of cold made him completely numb, she seemed… thicker, than the air around her- as if she could almost touch him, but never quite get there.
At home, she wandered around, shifting thing either in or out of sight depending on her mood and who was looking for the item in question. She'd sit on the punching bag he attacked when he was training at the dojo, cheering him on. Creative replies to Yuki's insults were supplied whenever needed- she had a surprisingly fast tongue at times. When he and Yuki fought, Eris was completely silent, as if knowing he needed all the focus he could get. But the moment the fight was over, she was hovering over him, asking how many fingers she was holding up or something similar. In school, she'd hover at his shoulder, giving him advice in chemistry, and occasionally running icy fingers down Yuki's spine, with much persuasion from Kyo.
This went on for about a week, and Kyo grew used to her presence, as did the others, though unknowingly- Tohru, for example, had taken to wearing a long-sleeved jumper more often than not.
Reflecting back, Kyo realized that it really would've only been so long before she would've found out.
Kyo had gotten roped into helping Tohru cook that evening- being the only other one in the else who could without setting the entire kitchen alit. Eris had been sitting on the bench, watching as Kyo helped the other brunette, occasionally calling out a piece of advice to the girl that couldn't here it.
"No! Don't mix in the stock yet! You have to let the meat cook first, then you mix it when it simmers, otherwise it'll go all clumpy when the water starts to evaporate." Eris groaned when Tohru put it in anyhow, and floated over to where Kyo was chopping the vegetables- Tohru had already cut her finger once that evening while doing so. "Kyo, tell her!"
The orange-haired teen shook his head silently, focusing on the vegetables in front of him. At least there weren't any leeks, thank goodness for small miracles.
"Yuki's come in." Kyo's shoulder tensed ever-so-slightly at Eris' warning, and the next moment Yuki appeared beside him- Kyo is cousin had wanted him to jump and yell at him for popping up out of nowhere.
"Your going to slow- your keeping Tohru waiting."
Kyo scowled, "This is coming from the one who can't cook?"
"Your chopping vegetables, a toddler could do that."
Kyo opened his mouth to snap, but Eris whispered a better reply in his ear, "Well, why don't you do them, then? You have the intellect of a toddler."
Yuki scowled, but then took the knife, muttering about how all cats were lazy fleabags, before bringing the blade down on a carrot.
Or, he would have- except that he missed. Yuki's brows furrowed, and lined up the carrot again, holding it in one hand, before taking another attempt.
He missed again. Behind him, Kyo smirked as Eris, once again, shifted the carrot ever-so slightly, the blade moving harmlessly through her hand instead. Confused and flustered, because he knew Tohru was also watching, tried once more, and failed to cut the vegetable.
Kyo snorted with amusement, "I thought you said a toddler could do it." He smirked as Eris, once again, shifted the carrot ever-so slightly, the blade moving harmlessly through her hand instead.
Annoyed, Yuki spun around and punched Kyo in the chest. It didn't have its usual force behind it, but there was still enough to make the cat stumble-
-Right into Tohru, who was standing beside him.
It seemed that time stood still for a single moment, before the burst of smoke can, and Kyo was gone. From the pile of clothes, a half-grown orange tomcat forced his head and shoulders up, bearing an expression of extreme annoyance. In Kyo's voice, it muttered "Damn rat!" before looking up.
Into the hazel eyes of Eris, who was crouched on the floor, staring with her mouth open in shock. Her lips moved- no sound came out- but the cat could read her lips well enough, 'Kyo?'
For a moment, the cat was silent, staring back; before- with a half-hearted swipe at Yuki's ankles- he dashed upstairs into his room, leaving Eris downstairs in a shocked stupor.
Kyo deliberately avoided going to the roof that night.
That had been three days ago now- three days and counting. It suddenly seemed emptier in his room- Eris may have been dead, but she made up for it by radiating her personality until it was more tangible than her. He began to slip in chemistry again, and had a harder time getting his head around Moles. Mealtimes seemed just a little duller. There was suddenly a need for something more than just the stars on the roof.
Eris may have befriended Kyo because there was no one else to keep the loneliness at bay, but she'd found a worthy friend in him, and Kyo had found one in her. And now she was… gone. She'd found out his secret, and now she thought he was a monster! Why else would she leave?
Kyo ignored the little voice in his head that kept reminding him that he was the one who'd gone and hid.
Kyo was wandering the streets aimlessly. He'd skipped school that day- it wasn't quite so entertaining now. He'd found a best friend in someone who was dead, no matter how incompatible their two personalities had seemed from time to time, and now it was as if she'd just died.
A cat-bell suddenly jingled, and a tortoiseshell leapt onto his shoulder. He turned to look at her- the cat tag read 'Kit-Kat'.
"You know, you shouldn't miss school, no matter how much you don't like it. There's really very little you can do with your life if you don't get a good education."
Kyo froze, and looked up. Eris looked hesitant, staring down at her off-white and purple sneakers, which were hovering just off the ground.
Kyo managed to speak first. He explained all of it, the curse, being the cat, his own personal curse- all of it. He was not quite sure why he did so before she asked, other than it seemed like the right thing to do. "So, now you know why I can see you." Eris nodded, "You think I'm a monster, you hate me- just like everyone else." It wasn't a question.
Eris's head shot up so fast that it was a mere blur, and then she was right in his face, eyes wide with sincerity, "No! I couldn't hate you- you're the best friend I can remember having! And I don't think you're a monster- I couldn't! Heck, I'm a ghost! I'm more of a monster than you'll ever be- everyone knows that about ghosts, we're just a few steps better than the other undead at most!"
Red eyes blinked as Kyo tried to decipher the sudden, impossibly fast speech. Apparently there were advantages to not having to stop to breathe. Finally, Kyo said the only thing he felt he could, "…But you disappeared."
"You ran off- I thought you didn't want to see me again, or that you wanted some time to yourself, or… something like that." She waited as this turned over in his mind, then spoke in a much smaller voice, "Are we still friends?"
For a moment, Kyo only looked at her, and Eris feared the worst. Then, rolling his eyes, Kyo scratched Kit-Kat behind the ear, making her purr, "Yeah, still friends- it's boring without you to team up on Yuki with me."
Eris's face slowly broke into the bright, wide grin that Kyo had grown familiar with. She nudged him in the shoulder- it made the entire area seem 10 degrees colder, but for once Kyo didn't mind. "I'm glad, NeKyo, because the afterlife's been really boring since I left!"
Kyo gaped, and then scowled slightly, "What did you just call me!"
A middle-aged woman, walking on the other side of the street, gave Kyo a disturbed look, before hurrying along at a faster pace, but Kyo didn't care. And, as she disappeared around the corner, the woman could have sworn that, in the corner of her eye, there were two teenagers instead of one...