Chapter 9

TT: Hey all, guess whose back again? That's right, me! And I bring a new chapter- hopefully the sappiness will be a nice contrast to the angst in the last chapter. Might be just the smallest but of Yuki-bashing, sorry to those who don't like that- its not that Yuki's not a nice person, you see, so much as Kyo doesn't like him and Eris follows his lead.

I'm sure you all know the drill now, any advice you can give me, any ideas you might have- absolutely any at all- please share, I really do appreciate them. Read the chapter, and give me lots of feedback, okay? That's what I like.

Finally- w00t! The story has reached the 10000 word mark!

Three quiet knocks sounded on the door. Then three louder ones. Finally, after the door had nearly come off the hinges with the force of someone pounding on the other side, the door to Kyo's room slammed open.

Yuki's eyes glanced around the room, before resting on the huddled ball in the middle of the bed that was Kyo. He walked over and pulled the blankets off, shaking Kyo awake.

The cat opened one eyes sleepily, and then the other. He sat up, hearing the sound of rain on his window. His sight focused on Yuki, and he snorted, before muttering "Well, isn't this just a great way to wake up in the morning."

Yuki's eyes narrowed slightly, but didn't retaliate. Though he wouldn't admit it, even he was starting to get the slightest bit worried about the cat- even with the storm, it was very rare for Kyo to be up later than him. And, Yuki was sure he was imagining this bit, he could've sworn there were tear tracks on the cat's face, mostly concealed by the bleariness of sleep.

Yuki turned on a heel and began to walk back out of the room. He paused in the doorway- "If you want to get to school on time, and still have breakfast, you need to get ready now." And with that, he left.

Kyo stared at where Yuki had gone. Did the rat have a fever- he'd been almost nice to him, making sure he woke up on time. Another thought struck him, and he glared over at the window where Eris was, "Why didn't you wake me?"

Eris look sheepish, "I tried Kyo, I really did. But you wouldn't wake up, and I thought maybe I should let you sleep…" She didn't add the words 'after last night', but Kyo half-heard them anyhow.

Kyo pulled himself out of bed, and stumbled over to beside the ghost, slouching with a growl, "I hate the rain. It makes me so… tired…" His eyes dropped again.

"Kyo!" An icy feeling when through him as Eris gave him a nudge, "You have to get up! How about this- you take a shower and try to wake up, and I'll get your uniform out for you while you do it?"

The cat nodded, walking towards the door, "Alright, fine." And with that, stumbled towards the bathroom.

The walls of his room watched as clothes flew by themselves, spreading across the bed ready to be put on, and books from Kyo's desk floated into his schoolbag, before that itself moved towards the corridor.

But then, the walls of Kyo's room had seen many odd things lately, and didn't think about it.

There was thunder in the air, and Kyo couldn't keep himself slouching as the group of teenagers walked closer to school. Rain made him feel so weary, and it didn't help that this would be the first real storm of the season. Eris was walking next to him, humming a song the cat didn't know. Just ahead walked Yuki, Tohru and Haru- who had stayed the night.

Kyo felt drained, and not just by the rain. Last night seemed like a faint memory- faint, but so very important. When was the last time he had been comforted, really comforted? He couldn't remember, it must've been when he was young, and with Shishou, surely. And Eris had comforted him when he needed it. She hadn't tried to soothe him into making his tears stop, like he remembered in the past, she had encouraged him to let them flow, let them out. They hadn't spoken, not that he could remember, but he felt as if they'd shared all the secrets of the world. They must've been up nearly all night, no wonder he was tired.

And he felt empty of emotion, as if he'd let so much out there was nothing left inside him. It wasn't a painful feeling though, more of one being free, he'd let all of the pain out, and now he was simply to emotionally worn to feel anything for the time being. Peace would come later.

He had once read somewhere, 'A friend is someone who reaches for your hand, but touches your heart.' It seemed like, all of a sudden, he was beginning to understand what that meant. It was somewhere among Eris' ramblings as she tried to make him feel better in that moment.

"Look at it this way, Kyo- at least you'll get that chemistry test over and done with today, and you won't need to study as hard tonight… Well, maybe in maths."

The cat snorted, "Yeah, great."

"Oh, don't be so negative Kyo. Smile!" The ghost reach over, evidently trying to force Kyo's lips into a grin but not succeeding. The failure didn't seem to upset her the slightest though.

Instead, she gave him a look that was halfway between pouting, and halfway between sly. "Alright, what do I have to do to make you smile on a day like this?" It was almost a game that the two had made- whenever Kyo seemed to be in a particularly bad mood, or whenever the weather had gotten him down, Eris would have to pull some kind of stunt on the grounds that it would make the cat cheer up. Eris didn't seem to mind causing a little trouble the slightest- after all, she had once said, I'm named after an ancient goddess of chaos, may as well live up to the name.

Poor Yuki seemed to be a main target of these pranks, and judging by the gleam that appeared in Kyo's eye as he watched the rat's back, this time would be no exception. "Hmm…"

"Come on Kyo, hurry up and decide!" Eris' face suddenly appeared in front of his, as she hovered cross-legged in the air, hanging upside-down. Her face was full of anticipation, enjoying the thought of some harmless chaos.

15 minutes later, Yuki pushed himself out of yet another puddle. His fifth one, in fact. It was strange, because every time he walked past one, it was almost as if he was pushed, because he fell face-first into it, much to the cat's amusement.

Getting to his feet, Yuki looked at Tohru, hair dripping in his eyes, "I'm going home- I'll be at school when I managed to get cleaned up."

And with those words, turned and walked back the way they'd come. Three minutes later, they heard another splash, and a quiet groan of frustration.

Eris returned to Kyo's side, dusting off her hands. She poked Kyo's cheek, and the cat willingly allowed his grin to show for a moment, the smile fading before Tohru or Haru noticed. But it was enough to satisfy Eris, who went back to humming as she hovered beside him.

It was still raining. And the day still promised to be less than good. But with Eris around, it didn't seem quiet so bad after all.