XO'MagickMoon'OX
A/N: Thank you for clicking. Now enjoy!
---
---
---
I hefted Yuki onto my back and began my hurried trek down the trail to Shigure's house. It was then, for the first time in my life, that I noticed just how light Yuki was. For someone whom I knew to pack a punch that rivaled the strength of a cannon blast, he really did seem, at times, to be as fragile as a China doll. Especially now, in this weakened state. It always scared me when he had these attacks. I always felt so helpless, and if there was one thing I hated, it was to feel helpless.
It took way too long to reach Shigure's house. In situations like these, even five minutes can seem like an hour. Shigure was waiting at the door, leaning casually on the frame.
"Did you call him?" I asked breathlessly.
Shigure nodded. "Yup. He's on his way."
I pushed past the Dog. His voice followed me as I started up the stairs. "The girls have anything you need all ready," he said.
I slid Yuki's door open with my foot and stepped inside, seeing Uo, Hanajima, and Tohru standing around. There was water on the nightstand, and the bed was laden with extra blankets. I dropped Yuki onto his bed, and Tohru pulled the covers out from beneath his unconscious body, tucking him in while I sat down against the wall, catching my breath.
The minutes ticked by as we sat in a wordless silence, the only sounds those of the girls moving about.
Finally, someone spoke. "So, the Prince has asthma?" Uo leaned against the wall opposite the one I had my back to, arms folded across her chest. Hanajima and Tohru were beside Uo, Tohru sitting in a chair by Yuki's desk and Hanajima at her side, hand on her shoulder.
I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "Basically."
"Who would'a thought …" Uo glanced at Yuki's bed, where he was still passed out. Where the hell was Hatori?
It was silent for a moment, until Uo spoke again.
"So … is someone coming to check up on him?" She gestured towards Yuki.
"Yeah … uh, our … family doctor." I chose my words carefully.
"You have a family doctor?" Uo arched a sculpted eyebrow.
"Well … yeah …" Hmmm, Uo and Hanajima should probably leave before they learn something confidential that could potentially get them in trouble.
Tohru spoke up. "Do you remember at the school festival when we sold onigiri?"
Hanajima and Uo nodded.
"Do you remember the two people who … uh … showed up in the middle? One was Momiji," Tohru smiled fondly at the memory, "and the other was … the doctor who's coming check up on Yuki."
"I vaguely recall that …" Hanajima said in her usual, even tone.
"Yeah, same here." Uo gave a curt nod of her head. "Well, I remember Momiji, but the other guy … I only sorta remember him."
"Hm," Tohru sighed.
"Who is he in relation to these two?" Hanajima asked, gesturing towards me and Yuki.
"Our cousin," I answered, still from my position on the floor.
"My, you have many cousins." The psychic girl closed her eyes for a moment, looking thoughtful.
"You have no idea," I deadpanned. Tohru laughed nervously with an uneasy smile.
"Speaking of cousins," Uo inputted, "you know … it's not exactly … normal … for them to … do things, like …"
"Like making-out on the school roof?" I offered with a sarcastic smile.
Uo gave me a flat look. "Yeah."
I scowled. "Hn, well … 'normal' is a very relative term when you're a Sohma." The name left a bad taste on my tongue.
"A relative term?" Uo echoed.
"Yeah." And the award for Understatement of the Year goes to …
"Care to explain?"
Well, let's see … Kagura wants to marry me, Yuki was Haru's first love, and then there's Haru and Rin, Hiro and Kisa, and one would be led to believe that Ayame's in love with Hatori, while Ayame and Shigure also pretend to be lovers, and Hatori himself was engaged to Kana. And every one of the aforementioned people are related to each other by blood in one way or another.
And that wasn't even the half of it. Momiji's mother doesn't even know that he's her son. Ritsu is a walking disaster who feels the need to apologize for every misfortune that befalls the people around him and cross-dresses to hide his insecurities. Haru developed a split personality when he was younger because he grew up under the influence that his family thought he was "stupid". Ayame is just … strange beyond reason, even by a Sohma's standards. Hatori's almost blind in one eye because he fell in love and tried to get married. And all of that wasn't even the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We were just one fucked-up family, plain and simple. One fucked-up, cursed family.
"Kyo?"
I looked up, pulled from my mental ramblings.
"Care to explain?" Uo repeated her question.
"Well, uh—"
"He's right in here, Ha'ri," came Shigure's voice from the hallway. Perfect timing. I rose to my feet as Shigure and Hatori walked in.
Hatori froze upon sighting Uo and Hanajima and cut me an inquiring glance. "They were just leaving," I said.
"Huh?" Uo looked slightly offended. "But …"
"N-No, Kyo-kun's right," Tohru interrupted, smiling nervously. She stood and made for the door. "We should leave for a little and let Hatori-san look at Yuki-kun."
I nodded. Thank you, Tohru. If there was one person whom her friends would listen to, it was her. The three were gone a moment later, and Shigure followed, leaving Hatori and myself with an unconscious Yuki.
Without another word, I left, too. I needed to hit something.
---
"Shishou!" I called, toeing off my shoes as I stepped into the dojo.
"Ah, Kyo, what brings you here?" I saw Shishou attending to another student off to the side, while a couple more were sparring in the middle. He murmured something to the student and came over to me, looking concerned. "Hmm, shouldn't you be in school?"
Oh shit. I'd totally forgotten about school! … Ah, the hell with it. School would be over in another hour or so, anyway. "Yuki had an attack," I said.
"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why you're not in school."
Damn, he had a point. "I … I guess I'm just … too … too …" I stammered. I didn't know how to express myself, express what exactly it was that I was feeling. Hell, I don't think I even knew what I was feeling; how was I supposed to tell someone else?
"Worried?" Shishou offered.
I heaved a sigh. "Maybe that's it."
"Come." Shishou held out his arm and wrapped it around my shoulder, leading me further into the dojo.
Without warning, he spun on me and threw a punch at my shoulder. It landed with a sharp pang, but I didn't let that hinder me. I fought back. The other students gathered around to watch.
Jab—block. Kick—sidestep. Duck, punch, punch, punch, spin and back-fist. Kick. Jump and kick—block, block, and block. My arms were sore from deflecting his attacks and having him deflect mine, and I'm sure my shin would be sporting a large bruise come tomorrow, but we didn't stop our match. For that moment, I could forget about Yuki and just focus on this. Something familiar, something natural, something that didn't cause me stress but rather, relieved it.
I jumped back as another kick was thrown at my head, immediately diving back in with a burst of hand combinations. Back-fist, reverse-punch, block, block, punch: left, right, left, right, left, right, left, left—spinning side kick, reverse-punch. Each one blocked, except for my last move, which settled firmly on his stomach before my arm was knocked away, sending a sharp jolt up to my elbow. He kicked, again and again and again and again and then punched—high, low—followed by a round-kick that was launched with a burst of strength, knocking me to my feet.
I sat there, doubled over and catching my breath. Shishou waited for me, talking in the meantime "So, care to explain what's going on between you and Yuki?"
I nodded, still panting, before regaining my composure. I stood, taking my fighting stance. Shishou did the same, but this time it wouldn't be for sparring. I began a series of combinations, punches, back hands, ridge hands, palm strikes, side kicks, round kicks, hook kicks, crescent kicks, and the like, while he stood there, calmly blocking each technique. Just like when I was little and only beginning to dip into the sea of complexity that was martial arts. Except, back then, my reserve of knowledge when it came to techniques basically consisted of punch and kick.
The students that had been watching us went back to their own businesses as Shishou and I started to talk.
"Well," I began as my limbs went through the familiar motions, "you know how the story goes. Mice and cats—bitter enemies. The Rat of the Zodiac tricked the Cat, and the Cat's hated the Rat ever since."
"Mmhm."
"What if … the story changed, for some reason?" Crescent kick. Round kick. Punch. Punch.
The shadow of a smile made its way across Shishou's lips. "Have you and Yuki become friends?"
I flushed, and I hoped that I was too flushed already from the sparring for Shishou to notice. "Uh … I don't really think so."
"So … what are you trying to say?"
Jab. Cross. Hook. "Well … I don't think we're really friends, per se, but … something's changed, and I don't really know what the hell's going on."
Uppercut. Ridge hand. Overhand.
"What's changed?"
Palm strike. Palm strike. Kick. Kick. "Uh …" Oh, what had I gotten myself into? Was I really just going to lay it all out for him? I could feel the temperature in my face rise another few degrees. "Our relationship … has gotten very physical."
"Oh? How so?"
Back-fist. Reverse-punch. "Uh … well … erm …" My next punch was weak and poorly aimed as my mind began to fumble for an explanation that wouldn't totally freak out my martial arts master. But, at the same time, I wanted to be totally and completely honest with him. If I couldn't confide in Shishou, who could I confide in? I inhaled, taking the breath before the dive. "Hekissedme."
"Wha—agh!" He didn't block my side kick, as his ability to properly function had seemingly shutdown. He stumbled backwards, and I straightened, stepping out of my fighting stance. The dojo's floor suddenly seemed very fascinating. "What do you … What do you mean, he kissed you?" Shishou asked, his voice wavering. Whatever he'd expected me to say, it obviously had been far from this.
"Well … uh … you see … he was studying for a test …" Oh, here we go. This is going to be awkward. "And … I was being loud and he told me to shut-up but I wouldn't so he kissed me and left and then the next day I thought I'd get him back and kissed him but instead of freaking out and leaving me alone he kissed me back and things just sort of escalated from there and—"
"Kyo! Slow down!" Shishou gripped my shoulder as I took a deep breath, replacing the air I'd used in explaining. It had all been in vain, though, as I knew I'd have to explain again.
Shishou took my by the arm and led me out of the dojo. We sat on the steps, and I trained my gaze on my lap, tears pricking the corners of my eyes but refusing to fall. I heard Shishou take a deep breath before he said, "So, start from the part where Yuki was studying for a test."
My voice wavered as I spoke, making me want to run myself into the ground and disappear. "He was studying, and I interrupted him, making a lot of noise and doing what I do best."
"Which is?"
"Pissing him off. And so I challenged him to a fight, and … instead of hitting me … he …"
"Kissed you?"
"Yeah, that." I screwed my eyes shut. It was torture, relaying the story to someone else like this. Pure and utter humiliating torture.
"This is … strange," Shishou murmured. "But … was that all?"
"Um … no." I heard Shishou exhale a deep breath at this, and I knew that he was willing and waiting to listen. "So … the next day, after he kissed me, I … thought I could get revenge, and I cornered him. I … I don't know … I thought it was all some sort of battle, just another power struggle. If I couldn't beat him in the martial arts, I thought I could at least beat him at that. Dominate and break him. Something along those lines."
Shishou hummed thoughtfully. "Go on."
"Well, uh … so, I kissed him, and then he started kissing me back, and he took the upper hand again. So I retaliated, and when he came up to my room, I sort of …" Why was this happening to me? I'd never felt so ashamed and embarrassed in my life as I did now. But I needed to tell someone, I needed someone to listen to me, someone to understand. "I pinned him to the bed and … well … teased him. And then he got back at me by tying me to his bed."
Shishou turned to me then with something akin to concern in his eyes. "Kyo, you two didn't …"
"Ah … no …" I grit my teeth as a flame ignited in my cheeks again. "We didn't … no … we didn't do that." Then, softly, I added, "But we almost did."
Shishou sighed. "I see. Then what happened?"
"I … became really … confused. I'm still confused. Shishou, if this is all some stupid power struggle—just another battle—then why do I … feel things that I shouldn't?"
"Like?"
"Well … one night … I was so confused and so frustrated … I couldn't sleep. So I got out of bed and just … I went to Yuki's room, and I was crying, and I thought he was asleep, but he saw me and called me to him, and when I sat down with him … he … he just held me."
"Mmhm. So maybe you're not the only one who's … feeling things."
I looked up at Shishou, then, surprise flickering through my eyes. He was actually … helping me. Shishou wasn't disgusted (well, he might have been, but apparently not enough to turn me away and never speak to me again). He was helping me, and I couldn't help but feel tears bite anew at my eyes. "Shishou …" And this time, the tears fell. I drew my legs to my chest and buried my face in my knees, sobbing. "That night, we almost… we almost …" My voice was ragged and muffled. I felt Shishou's hand on my trembling shoulder. "But I couldn't do it," I sobbed. "I couldn't do it, and he understood! H-He understood! He told me it was okay, and I didn't know what to do. I don't know what to do! This can't be happening! I-I can't be feeling this way!"
"Shhhh, Kyo." Shishou began to rub my shoulder soothingly, but the tears wouldn't stop.
"I was scared," I continued, my voice still punctuated with my incessant sobs. "I pretended like it was all still a battle, nothing more, that I didn't feel anything for him beyond lust and loathing. And I think I hurt him. But I couldn't help it. I can't tell him how I feel! I don't even know how I feel! I just don't know, dammit!"
Shishou remained silent while I cried out my frustration until I was too exhausted to do much else but curl up against him. I don't think he knew what to say, because we were still sitting there as the sun began to set, and nothing more was spoken except for our farewells when I left for Shigure's house.
I vaguely wondered how Yuki was doing.
---
---
Psst … does anyone know what's coming next? I'll give you a hint.
LEMON!
But it might take me a little while to get it up. I'm in the middle of midterms, this weeks, so this might be my last update for another week or so. Hopefully you were all satisfied enough to wait!
Love to all. Until the next chapter!
---
---