Author's Note: It's Valentine's Day! Nothing else to say about that. Read.

Chapter 12 (The Tease Game)

"How can you wake up so damn early?" Kita asked groggily, as she slid into the chair at the table next to Kureno, who was calmly sipping tea, fully awake. Kita had never been much of a morning person and in recent times, she has absolutely hated waking up before one in the afternoon but Kureno was always up with the sun seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

Kureno shrugged his shoulders. "I've always gotten up early."

Kita made a groaning noise and threw her head over the back of the chair. Even when she was younger, she had a hard time getting up. It wasn't waking that bothered her; it was the physical action of leaving the comforts of her warm, soft bed for something as unpredictable as real life that she found difficult.

Then Kita remembered something Hatsuharu had said to her when she had asked him what he knew about Kureno. It was before Kureno had opened up and shared much with her so she had still been really curious about what hid behind his stoic facade.

"I-is it true that you're the r-rooster?" she asked bluntly but nervously.

Kureno chuckled dryly. It had been a long time since someone had asked him that. Even though Kita is a Sohma, there's still a lot she doesn't know.

"I used to be." he answered simply, opening up Kita's mind to a million new questions.

"Used to be?" Kita asked suspiciously, lifting her head up. No one used to be a Zodiac member unless they're dead.

"My curse has been lifted." Kureno answered. His answer was still vague and Kita continued to look at him like he had two heads so he wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug to prove his statement. "See?"

"But...how?" Kita asked stunned, letting go of him.

"No idea. I don't think anyone knows but that's why Akito keeps me on such a short leash. I technically have no more ties to him so he's afraid I'll leave."

If someone could figure out how his curse was lifted, than everyone's curse could be lifted, Kita thought. Maybe that's what that Honda girl is expected to do for them. And that last comment Kureno made was just way too close to my situation. But wait, why does Akito want him around so desperately? Isn't the head of the family just supposed to watch over the Sohmas? And what does he mean 'ties'?

Kita shook her head trying to make all the new questions go away. It was too early for deep thinking.

"Oh, before I forget. Here Kureno." Kita said, handing him a wrapped box she pulled out of her schoolbag. Kureno gave her a bewildered look.

"What's that for?" He asked, inspecting the box.

Kita gave him a strange look. "Um, Valentine's Day. Did you forget?" she asked.

Kureno sighed. "I never really remember that sort of thing. It's not too important to me. In fact, this is the first time I've gotten anything for Valentine's Day in a long time."

Kita gave him a sad look. Being so isolated from everyone clearly doesn't allow relationships, of any kind, to form. Surely he must have had some reason to celebrate Valentine's Day when he was younger though. Holidays are always a topic for discussion in school. And if not in school, before his curse was lifted.

"Do you know what it's like to be in love, Kureno?" she asked curiously. Kureno raised his eyebrows.

"Kita, do you love someone?" he asked nervously. "Is it that Raidon boy?" She would be in so much trouble with Akito if she has fallen for that boy.

"No, no." Kita replied, shaking her head. "I was just wondering if you've ever fallen in love because if you had, you probably would have remembered Valentine's Day. What about a girlfriend? Have you really been so cloistered that you've never had a girlfriend?"

Kureno stared down at his hands. Should I tell her about meeting that girl in the convenience store? Would she tell Akito about it?

"Is it a secret?" Kita asked, gently. "I swear I won't tell anyone, especially not..." She glanced towards Akito's door. "If you don't believe me, I could share one of my secrets too, just to make it even."

Kureno thought about it for a second and realized that he probably shouldn't have been worried to tell her in the first place. He just has a hard time opening up to people no matter how trustworthy they inevitably are. She didn't seem to be one for giving away other people's secrets, even if she does lie. She'd probably lie about them having a secret so no one would ask.

He leaned in close to her as if he was afraid someone would overhear. "I met this girl in a convenience store a while ago. Her name's Arisa and she's a year younger than you. We went out once but I could never see her again."

"Why not?" Kita asked, looking at him sympathetically. "Wait, never mind. I know why. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Kureno replied, his emotionless disposition returning.

"Okay, my half of the deal." Kita said, realizing that she would have to get walking soon, especially since she wanted to drop off Hatori's chocolates before school. "My last year of middle school, 'that Raidon boy' and I dated. There weren't any real romantic feelings between us though. Either way if Akito were to find out, I'd be afraid what he would do to me and him."

Kureno nodded and took a sip of his tea. He could certainly relate.

"Well, I have to go but before I do.." Kita reached into her bag and pulled out another wrapped box similar to the one she had given to Kureno. "Do you think you could get this to Shigure? I would go over there myself but it would take a while and I don't really want to irritate Akito by disappearing to deliver candy to other men."

"Yes, I think I could." Kureno said, taking the package from her and mentally planning a way to leave without Akito finding out.

"Thanks a lot. See you later." she said, waving at him over her shoulder.

On her way out the door, Kita stopped in front of Akito's room and placed the box of dark chocolates in front of his door with a little, mildly generic note to him.

Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you're feeling better. I'll see you when I get home. -Kita.

Kita quickly made her way through the Sohma estate. The air was getting increasingly colder as a brisk breeze blew past Kita, sending her hair flying in all directions. Just when the weather starts to get nice again, it comes back with a drastic drop in temperature. She was glad to finally get to Hatori's door. Her fingers were frozen.

"Hello? Hatori? Special delivery." she shouted, tapping on his door and trying to at least rally up a little enthusiasm in her voice.

Hatori slid open the door wearing his long, white lab coat, a cigarette dangling from between his lips. Kita weakly held out the box to him as she stepped into his house.

"Valentine's Day chocolate. A little less addictive and a lot better for you than those," she said, motioning to the cigarette in his mouth.

Hatori took the box from her and actually smiled. There was something about her sullen mood that made everyone want to cheer her up.

"Thank you. How are you?" he asked, stubbing out the tobacco-filled stick in a nearby ashtray.

"I'm okay." Kita said instantly, the words sounding so rehearsed and meaningless. "And you?"

"Busy." he said plainly. Kita nodded. She had been seeing him go in and out of Akito's room for weeks but they never actually got the chance to stop and talk.

"Speaking of which," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "I have school but we should catch up soon. I feel like I see you all the time without ever actually seeing you."

"I'll try to clear my schedule." he answered dryly, even though he knew he'd have time to talk to her in spite of his work. His work was Akito and she was Akito's.

Kita rolled her eyes. That's Hatori for you.

"Thank God. It's a frickin' half day." Hoshiko announced loudly in homeroom, practically asking the teacher to throw her out. Again. "Hello? It's Valentine's Day. Some of us have plans!"

She had been complaining since she first set foot in school and it looked like an all day rant was ahead of them. She would have ditched school completely but her boyfriend of the month, or week, had a full day so she decided to just go. And her parents made her because she had been skipping so much.

"So, who's the guy?" Raidon asked reluctantly. The last time he had shown any interest in her love life, she had gone into unnecessarily explicit detail.

"His name is Taro. He's really hot. He's a first year over at...oh jeez...I always forget where. That school on the other side of town..."

Kita and Raidon exchanged glances. Leave to Hoshi to forget where her new boyfriend goes to school. Not to mention the fact that there are a lot of schools on the other side of town.

"Whatever. Either way, we have plans." she said with a wink. Kita and Raidon shook their heads. As far as either of them knew Hoshiko had never actually had sex with anyone but she does have quite a bit of experience, and with experience comes a reputation.

"I have candy for you two by the way." Kita said, trying to change the topic. She pulled out the two packages for Raidon and Hoshiko and gave them the sweets, trying to at least seem happy as she did it.

"Thanks." Rai said, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the Reverse Pocky sticks. He practically tore into the package, relishing in the chocolatey goodness but taking a quick break from his feast of gluttony to offer some to Hoshi and Kita.

"I have gifts too!" Hoshi said brightly, offering the variety box of chocolate to Rai and handing a perfectly square wrapped box to Kita.

"Oh man, I love this holiday!" Raidon said, sampling something from Hoshi's box. Hoshi swatted his hand away but he popped the orange cream into his mouth before she could get it back. Leave it to chocolate to turn Raidon from the quiet kid in the back to a caffeinated candy thief.

Kita tore off the paper on her gift and was surprised to find a simple chocolate heart. Like Kita, Hoshi puts a lot of thought into giving presents so she was expecting something less generic and more meaningful.

"Inside the heart, there are all these weird little fruity candies." Hoshiko explained. "It reminded me of you because sometimes what you see on the outside is not the same as what's going on inside."

I stand corrected Kita thought, giving Hoshi a hug of thanks, the hidden message in the candy not at all lost on her.

"Thank you, Kita!" Momiji exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement. "There's even a rabbit on the box! You're so funny." He opened up the package and popped a few of the colorful candies into his mouth, giving her a wide grin.

"I try." Kita said, without even a trace of humor.

"Yes, thank you very much." Haru said, trying one of the two-toned chocolates.

"You're welcome. I've got to go so I'll see you guys later." Kita said, walking up the steps of the main house.

"Bye!" Momiji shouted. Haru gave Kita a cool wave and he and Momiji continued walking to their own houses.

Once inside the warmth of the main house, Kita slipped off her navy blue ballet slipper-like shoes and walked down the hallway towards Akito's room. She wasn't really sure what to expect of him today. Yesterday he wasn't really sick, he just had a headache so he was still acting kind of worn down but not in the disheartening way he was a few days ago.

She was about to open the door to his room when she heard someone say her name.

"Kita..."

The almost whisper was barely audible but in such a somber house, a pin could drop and everyone would turn their heads to look.

The voice sounded unlike any voice she had ever heard before. It had a falsely friendly, slightly sinister tone to it and there was a certain quality about it, most likely the octave at which her name was spoken, that made her believe it was a woman's voice. She didn't even know of any women who visited the main house. Of the Zodiac members, the only girls were Kagura, Haru's ex who Kita had never met, Rin, and the girl who followed Kita's mother as the tiger, whose name she had yet to discover.

Kita whipped her head around and looked up and down the hall only to find that there was no one there.

She was about to answer the strange address when the door to Akito's room slid open and she was abruptly pulled backwards into the room like something out of a horror movie.

The long-fingered hands on her shoulders forced her to turn around and she was actually relieved that her yellow-green eyes were met with the haunting stare of Akito's dark ones. His content facial expression showed that he seemed to be in a better mood today. Not happy, of course, just satisfied.

She was about to ask him about the voice but couldn't as she found her lips being pressed against his. It can wait, she thought, as she felt herself being pulled down onto the floor so she was now laying on top of his slender body. He placed one of his hands on the small of her back and the other quickly entwined with her soft, purple-tinted hair, pushing her face towards his. He was being surprisingly gentle, a feeling Kita welcomed.

Surprising Akito, she moved away from his mouth and buried her face in his shoulder, placing tiny kisses on his neck and moving down to his protruding collarbone and the visible part of his chest. He was hard to resist when he acted so lovingly towards her.

Kita's kisses became lighter and lighter until she stopped altogether and rested her head on his chest, willing herself not to fall asleep. She was so tired that even his bony physique made such a good pillow that if she were to allow her eyes to shut, she would probably drift off right away.

He slowly sat up, crossing his legs and allowing her head to roll into his lap. She smiled up at him, actually smiled. And Kita thought she had lost the ability to really smile. It's probably just a result of how sleepy I am, she thought.

Akito reached somewhere out of Kita's eyeshot and when his hand came back into focus, he was holding a small chocolate in his skeletal fingers. He held the treat in front of her closed mouth like he was going to feed it to her so she parted her lips slightly but he took the sweet away and popped it into his own mouth with a smirk of self-satisfaction. Kita didn't really mind the cruel joke, not that she could say anything anyway.

He pulled out another chocolate and held it to her mouth so that it was touching her lips. This time, Kita realized that he wanted her to work for it so she stuck out her tongue, licking the chocolate and trying to pry it out of his fingers without the use of her hands, the taste of bitter sweet candy and salt from his flesh mixing together like a perfect contradiction. Despite her efforts, he pulled the candy away from her again and ate it in one bite. Kita pouted slightly, just enough to show him that she was now upset by his little game. He, on the other hand, was enthralled by how frustrated she was. It was like a cat with a yarn ball only this game was a lot more fun.

"Oh, Kita, do you want one?" he asked with mock surprise.

Kita nodded, partly because she knew he wanted her to and partly because now she really did want one.

Akito slipped a chocolate into her mouth and she devoured it hungrily. It was clearly one of the chocolates she had given him, dark chocolate on the outside but with creamy caramel on the inside, something she wasn't expecting but it tasted so good together.

"Mmm." she said, relishing in the rich flavor. She turned her attention towards him as one of her restless hands began to fiddle with the opening to his yukata, not really thinking about how he would view the action. She was just trying to stay awake after a long day.

The sound emanating from her mouth combined with the fact that her head was laying between his legs and her hand seemed to be asking for trouble, caused Akito's mind to fill with lewd thoughts.

Thankfully for Kita, Kureno walked into the room unannounced, causing Akito's previous thoughts to get pushed to the back of his mind for later and causing Kita to get a little embarrassed.

"Akito, I have a very important matter to discuss with you in private." Kureno said, gravely. Kita sat up and checked Akito's reaction to the news. He looked furious.

"I'll leave." Kita said quickly, bowing at the two men and inching towards the door.

"I'll send for someone when we're done. Dinner's almost ready I think." Kureno told her.

"Okay." Kita said, slipping out of the room, knowing it was only a matter of seconds before Akito flipped out.

Sure enough, once she was back in her own room, she heard Akito yell out in anger followed by a rational-sounding remark from Kureno.

What was so private that I couldn't hear it? she wondered.