Yay! Another chapter is up! Ms. Drey strikes again! Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: The lyrics at the beginning are 'A Man and a Woman' by U2 (heh heh, the irony of that song title is killing me)


You can run from love
And if it's really love it will find you
Catch you by the heel
But you can't be numb for love
The only pain is to feel nothing at all
How can I hurt when I'm holding you?
Kyo stood rooted to the spot on the drive. Did Yuki just-? No there's no way he did. No. Freakin'. Way.

"I must be dreaming or, like, hallucinating," muttered Kyo. He kinda hoped he wasn't, though. He pinched himself on the arm, hard, and winced. Nope. Not dreaming. Kyo stood there, dazed.

Just then, Shigure opened the front door and called cheerily, "Come on Kyo! You can't just stand out there all day! What is this, Afternoon of the Living Dead or something? You look like a zombie." No response. "Hurry up, it looks like rain."

That got Kyo moving. The thought of getting wet made him twitch. He brought the shopping bags inside just as a huge clap of thunder rattled the shutters and heralded the arrival of the downpour. Kyo had been planning to put he bags in a corner of the dining room, but looking in he saw Yuki there, sipping a steaming sup of tea and staring blankly out the window.

He looks just as shocked as I feel! Thought Kyo as he scurried past the dining room and up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He didn't really feel like taking the chance of experiencing another dose of Yuki's unpredictable behavior. Not that he hadn't enjoyed the kiss. It was just that he was pretty sure the shock of another similar encounter right now would send him into cardiac arrest.

Upon reaching his room, Kyo lit a stick of incense, sat cross-legged on his bed and gazed out at the rain. Incense always helped him gather his thoughts and reminded him of when he'd stayed with Shishou. Whenever Shishou was worried, he'd light some incense. Kyo had once asked why and he'd shrugged and said, "It helps me clear my mind."

"Are you sure you don't just secretly enjoy burning things?" Kyo remembered asking. The memory made him smile.

Kyo rested his head against the glass and sighed, trying to figure things out. Yuki had kissed him. Where in hell had that come from? Was he merely grateful to Kyo for rescuing him? Weird way to show it, he thought.

So did that mean Yuki liked him? He had been unusually friendly lately and Kyo's heart leapt at the thought. But in the next instant, he was unsure again. Yuki could have been toying with him or making some sick joke out of it. Kyo knew he should ask Yuki about all this, but couldn't think of a way to go about it or even bring up the topic without making a fool of himself. One thought kept coming back to Kyo. Sure, Yuki was being uncharacteristically kind to him, but one fact remained – Yuki hates me!

-------

Yuki, meanwhile, was still staring out the window. The rain was falling fast and the wind tore at the trees. Yuki thought idly that Kyo must have already crashed somewhere and was now curled up fast asleep.

His brows knit together. "Why can't I stop thinking about him?"

"About who?" Yuki turned and saw Tohru enter the room.

Yuki almost said, 'no one' but stopped. Perhaps Tohru could help him figure out why in the world he'd kissed Kyo like that.

"Miss Honda?" he began, "Have you ever had a person who, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't stop thinking about?"

Tohru looked confused for a moment, peered intently at Yuki and then gave a knowing smile. "Why, yes I have. And on more than one occasion. It was always someone I cared about very much."

Yuki gulped. He'd been afraid of this, but had seen it coming nonetheless. "Always?"

"Always." She smiled encouragingly at Yuki and left him to mull things over.

How much does she know? Wondered Yuki. Does she know I like Kyo? Wait. Hold it right there. I like Kyo? He chuckled quietly to himself.

"Yes, I guess I do."

-------

Kyo was startled from his nap by a light knock on his bedroom door. Rolling out of bed, he noticed that the rain had stopped and that the sun was shining once again. The cat opened the door to find himself face to face with Yuki.

"Oh I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?" Yuki asked as he noticed Kyo's rumpled clothes, tousled hair and sleepy expression. "The sun's been out for about an hour, so I thought…"

Yuki trailed off, for he was finding it hard to concentrate on what he was trying to say. Kyo looked so sexy when he was half asleep. Yuki blushed as this thought crossed his mind. He wasn't used to thinking about another boy that way, especially if that boy was Kyo.

"Meh, it's all right. I'm up. So what did you want to talk to me about?" Kyo asked, more alert by this time.

"Well, I was thinking we could start our research for the report. This project is going to be time consuming, so we should start as early as possible," said the ever-sensible rat.

"Let the fun begin," said Kyo unenthusiastically.

"Don't get too excited," Yuki said with a smirk.

The two boys walked downstairs to the dining room and Yuki spread the books he'd checked out from the school's library out on the table.

"I've already divided up the subtopics evenly, so you can pick which list you want to research. Here, start with these," Yuki shoved a stack of books towards Kyo.

"Are you always this prepared?" demanded Kyo. He prided his organizational skills, but Yuki had officially reached a higher level where this project was concerned. Kyo scanned the two lists and picked the one that appeared to include the least distressing topics.

"Well, somebody had to take initiative," responded Yuki, looking pointedly over at Kyo.

Both boys sat and began to read and jot down notes about each topic. Kyo wasn't really focusing on what he was doing. This was probably a good thing, or else Yuki would have had to put up with quite a few disgusted outbursts. Instead, Kyo's thoughts kept drifting away from stomach walls and eardrums until his mind settled on Yuki instead.

Yuki's always hated me, so there's no way he'd start liking me randomly out of the blue now. But I wonder why he's been so nice lately? And then there was that kiss…

Kyo was jolted briefly out of his reverie by Yuki's voice saying, "I'm going to make some more tea."

"You can make tea? I thought you couldn't cook!" Kyo could have punched himself for sounding so stupid.

Yuki rolled his eyes. "Making tea is hardly considered cooking, idiot. Anyway, would you like some?"

"Yeah, sure." Kyo was curious as to how Yuki's tea would turn out.

But as soon as Yuki left the room, Kyo's thoughts returned to their old course.

"Yuki hates me," he told himself softly.

Kyo felt someone's arms encircling his waist from behind and gasped in surprise. Yuki! His heart stopped beating, gave an odd little lurch and started up again at twice its normal speed.

"I do?" Yuki murmured into Kyo's ear.

Kyo shivered, but relaxed into the embrace a little. "I don't know, do you?"

"Mmmm, let me think. Do I hate Kyo?" Yuki pretended to ponder this question for a ridiculously long time, still holding Kyo against his chest. He sensed Kyo's impatience and smiled; playing with the kitty was fun.

"Well? Do you?" demanded Kyo with a frantic edge to his voice.

Yuki smirked and ran a hand through the other boy's hair, making Kyo shiver again with pleasure. "No. Definitely not."


And there you have it!At least 5 reviews, thoughI'd prefer 7 (it's a powerful number).Now, it's time for a somewhat random annecdote! Get ready.

Ok so I was just starting this chapter when my mother called and told me to be ready to leave for my horn lesson when she got home. I was like, "Ugh, I just started this and I really don't want to go anywhere!" So I sat down to get as much writing done as possible before she got back. I was just writing the part about the rain when, lo and behold, it starts raining for real! When my mom got home she was all, "The traffic is horrible, we're going to have to reschedule your lesson." I was like ZOMG I control the weather and my destiny with my fanfic and internal complaints! So as a result of this newfound power, I didn't have to go to horn until later and I was able to finish my draft before we left. The End


Review Replies!

cuttie0130: Heh, I am glad you liked the creepy blond stalker and didn't take offense to that whole thing. I meant no offense to blonds! She was scary, no?

Neathangel: -Fans neathangel- please don't pass out! I don't want to get sued for like killing readers. Though I do enjoy my cliffies, as you can tell by the end of this chapter -evil grin-

Hannoka: Keep your shirt on, I'm updating, I'm updating! Glad you're that excited about it, though.

kaesaku: With pleasure!

TamsosBijau: Will do! Updating makes readers happy which makes me happy!

kyuuketsuki kaji: Why thank you!

Amberhawk: I'm so glad you like it! You are forgiven for not reviewing and I'm so glad that you decided to after chapter 3! Sorry for the cliffie at the end of this chapter too. I'll try not to end a chapter with one next time, but no guarentees whatsoever. Please don't die.