A/N: This was just a little something I had to write, a little long for a drabble but too short for a story. It was after I read this Kyuki fic that I thought was really cute and all, only Kyo wasn't hot-headed enough and Yuki was shamefully, SHAMEFULLY out of character. So I decided to do my best with their characters, and though I think Kyo had some difficulties and Yuki did, too (mainly him—Yuki's not easy to write!), it turned out pretty short and sweet.

…

Oh, gee.

Rain.

I groaned again, leaning against a tree and trying to catch my breath. It's really pathetic, how a little rain can put me out of commission. And it gets particularly horrible if I lose my bracelet, like that one time. Just thinking about it makes me want to train harder, but at the same time I really don't want to move or do anything. It takes everything I've got just to keep going.

And Shigure sent me to the store for leeks. Figure that one out.

Under normal circumstances, I would've told him to stuff it and gone out to the roof. But Kagura was supposed to come over later, and I really, really didn't want to be around when she did. Now the rain would probably slow her up—wouldn't make her cancel, though, I knew her too well even to hope—so I regretted the decision bitterly, pushing against the tree and trying to balance before moving on. There was always the chance that I would get lost and pass out and then maybe I'd go missing for several days, and that wouldn't be so bad in comparison. That damn rat'd probably just think I went to wrestle bears or something stupid like that. But I was more concerned about transforming—especially since I had groceries to get home, not to mention I was very fond of these pants.

"Are you tired out already?"

My head snapped up, eyes narrowing automatically in recognition. That voice! "WELL WHAT THE HELL'RE YOUuuuuu…" Like I said. Pathetic. On bad days like this one, I couldn't even yell at the damn guy without getting fatigued. "Aren't you supposed to be protecting your…whatever…" I managed in a much fainter, more subdued tone. It didn't come out at all the way I wanted to, and didn't really sound like a question, but I was too tired to care.

Yuki made a soft sound of dismissal, and I heard his clothes shift as he pulled a gray strand behind his ear. "I've already taken care of it. As long as the tarp is down, it should be okay."

Maybe it was something in his voice, but it made me look up and straighten a little. Something didn't seem right. It wasn't like Yuki to leave his "secret base" (whatever the hell that was supposed to be), even if he thought it was safe. He'd spent whole days out there before, and I know it doesn't take that long to put tarp down. "Why're you here?" I pressed. I knew it was rude, but it wasn't like I cared around him, of all people.

"Shigure said you were bringing the groceries, and you've been taking a long time to do it," he said pointedly, crossing his arms. The rain swept his hair back in what looked like shimmering gray ripples, and the occasional flash of lightning turned his eyes silver in the darkness. I thought in passing that he was beautiful, but it was gone before I fully realized it was there. I held out the bag of groceries.

The Yuki I knew would take the bag and start right along back home. He'd ignore me, and he probably wouldn't give a shit if I followed or stayed behind until the storm passed. And that's what I expected—what I didn't expect was for him to take my other arm and pull it around his shoulders, shifting so he could support me. "Wha—WHAT THE HELL ARE YOu doing…" I was switching moods faster than Kagura on PMS (which is a scary thought by itself).

"It's getting late," he said simply by way of explanation. "You don't want to get stuck out here in the dark, do you?"

"Well, no, bu—"

"Then don't yell about it."

I fumed and glared at him even as we started towards the house, the grocery bag swinging limply in my other hand. Who did he think he was? That he could go all noble just because I was being a little weak? I didn't need his help, I really didn't—I could make it on my own, and he knew that. So why did he help me?

"You know, it's kind of funny," he said after some time, and I could tell he was about to go into something he'd been thinking about for a while. "I tend to get the best of you most of the time," (I opened my mouth to dispute that) "but in reality, I'm hiding. I used to know what I was hiding from, but…now I'm not so sure anymore."

I started to say, "Well, you're a rat, you should hide!" and go into one of my rants about beating him, but something stopped me. Maybe it was because it tasted old; a mantra repeated too many times, growing foul-flavored and crusty around the edges. "Maybe you're hiding from Tohru," I said instead, not really sure why I did. The fiery hatred wasn't burning, quenched by the rain, perhaps—or maybe it was the way he looked so open just then, so honest. At the same time, though, I knew I was wrong. Yuki's a quiet one, but if he feels he needs to go for it, he does. It's one of those things I've always kind of respected about him, because I can't do that. As tough as I am—or pretend to be, sometimes—I can't come out that easily.

He laughed at the suggestion, a simple gesture that brought all the hatred rushing back—but then he shook his head, and that seemed to dispel it. "No, I don't think it's her. You don't have to hide from Tohru."

That was all too true. But my thoughts strayed from her almost immediately, returning to how dramatically my hatred for him kept fluctuating. It seemed like, with one turn of his head, he could make me hate him more than anything, but in the next moment, I simply couldn't hate him. I could see the house in the distance now, and I knew I could make it from here. "I got it," I told him dismissively, trying to pull away.

He, though, had my hand in a vise-like grip. With those large violet eyes of his still locked on the house below, he drew a little closer. I could smell the rain on him, a kind of salty smell, like tears or seawater. His skin looked unusually pale in the darkness and the faint moonlight, and yet it seemed to glow somehow, as though flushed somewhere invisible to the human eye. "It was Tohru, though," he said quietly, "who taught me that I don't have to hide. And that's why I won't hide from you, Kyo," he added.

I couldn't remember the last time he'd said my name. Whenever it was, he certainly hadn't said it like that—soft, almost tender. It was kind of nice, I thought briefly, but tried to get rid of the thought as soon as it crossed my mind. There was nothing nice about Yuki, there had never been anything nice about Yuki, and there would never be anything nice about him.

My arm slid heavily to my side when he released, and I wavered a bit before getting used to standing on my own again. He didn't move for a time, and I thought he was just going to walk away. But then he turned, seizing my chin in an unusually strong grip for those slender fingers. Yuki was so pale and thin that he looked almost breakable, and yet he was always somehow strong.

I wasn't entirely sure what happened next, but it seemed like he pressed his lips to mine. His were cold and wet from the rain, and I had no doubt mine were as well, but the touch was fleeting. It was gone before I fully realized it was there.

"Stupid cat," he whispered in my ear.

Then I watched his curiously graceful stride as he disappeared down the road to the house. It took me awhile to come back to real life, to realize that it really had just happened. But why had it happened? That was the question that exploded in my mind, over and over. It was too confusing, and I liked things simple. Shaking my head, I looked up to realize he was almost at the door. "Damn rat!" I shouted, barely audible above the sound of the rain.

He turned around, looking at me in what seemed to be amusement. Then he gave me the finger.

That struck me as funny for some insane reason, and I couldn't help but chuckle a bit as I started to follow. Above me, the rain slowed to a stop and the clouds opened up, sunlight streaming onto the wet leeks as I felt strength and vigor returning.

Perfect timing.

…

A/N: Before anyone asks, no, I don't intend to continue. In fact, I'm probably going to take this down sooner or later, since it's not that great and I don't think it deserves much attention. Besides, if I do continue, I'll probably never finish—and there's a very skeletal plot to start with, so there's not much I have to go on. I'll probably be doing more Kyuki in the future, it's just that I haven't been hit with any sort of plot just yet, and I know so little of the continuum that it's almost hopeless. XP