Chapter Four: Jealousy

Nope, I don't own Furuba. Thanks to my reviewers, I love you all! I'm sorry it's been so long...(

Tohru stood in the kitchen, armed with a dishcloth and soap; cleaning up from the party was not going to be fun. The mixture of rice and duck sauce, for example, would stain the white dishes if she didn't get it out of there. She picked up the first dish, mentally reviewing the days activities while she worked.

Rinse out the bowl…

Kyo said he loves me.

Put in the soap…

Yuki is avoiding me, which means that he's mad at Kyo – he feels guilty when they fight.

Scrub it with a sponge…

Kyo beat Yuki in a fight.

Her hands paused in mid-scrub.

Does that mean Kyo can now become a part of the Zodiac, or is there something else he has to do? Maybe the circumstances were unfair, Yuki didn't look like he was quite…sane, really…

Rinse the bowl and dry it with the dishcloth and move on to the next bowl.

Ayame came over and Kyo and Yuki got mad at him because he was being...rude? To me?

Her hands automatically rinsed and scrubbed the bowl; in no time she had finished all the dishes. She laid them out to dry a little more and turned to leave the kitchen – only to find that she had been watched the entire time by Yuki.

"Ah! Y-Yuki-kun, I'm sorry! Did you want something?" He cocked his head at her, smiling slightly.

"No, no, Honda-san, it's alright. Now that you're done, though, I wonder if I could ask you a few questions?"

Tohru was confused. What kind of questions would he ask? Was this for some school project that she'd forgotten about?

"Of course you can, Yuki-kun! It's getting late though, so let's go out on the porch so we won't disturb Shigure-san." She smiled pleasantly at him and dried off her hands, and the followed him onto the porch.

Kyo growled, deep in his throat. It wasn't his job to keep Tohru out of trouble…but he loved her, so…it sort of was his job. He sighed and then went upstairs. There were, he decided, certain bonuses to being the Cat; for one, he could get anywhere he wanted without making any noise. Even if that included sitting completely unnoticed behind Yuki underneath the table, as he had been only a minute ago. He entered Yuki's room, and opened the window noiselessly. He climbed out onto the porch roof and lay down, both ears straining to hear Yuki and Tohru's conversation, muscles taught, prepared to jump down and attack Yuki if he did anything untoward to Tohru.

"Yuki-kun…what is it that you wanted to ask about? I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"

Above her, Kyo caught the undertone of fear in her voice, and snarled silently.

"No, Honda-san, it's not anything you've done wrong…it's what Kyo did."

Now Kyo did growl, albeit quietly. That damn rat was trying to get Tohru to give some sort of testament against him! Kuso nezumi – it wasn't his business to go prying into! Ah – Tohru was talking. Kyo strained his ears again.

"W-what Kyo did? B-but…I mean…" she paused, and then burst out, "Was it wrong? I mean, he didn't attack me, I never told him not to, but is there some rule that Shigure has that I've broken? I'm so sorry! I can go back to living in a tent, or move in with Grandpa again if I've insulted anyone!"

Yuki was silent for a long moment. Kyo waited. If that damn rat didn't tell Tohru that nothing was wrong in 10 seconds, he'd go down and beat him up.

Finally Yuki spoke again.

"You haven't done anything wrong, don't worry about that. It's just, I'm worried about you. You said…he didn't attack you…" he stopped, looking embarrassed and frustrated. Kyo smirked slightly at his dilemma, but worried for Tohru's peace of mind. Yuki suddenly started talking again, all in a rush.

"Honda-san, I…I-just-want-to-make-sure-that-he-didn't-rape-you!"

"…W-what? Gomen, Yuki-kun but I couldn't understand you!"

Kyo smirked a little more at Yuki's obvious unwillingness to repeat himself.

"Honda-san, I…forgive me if I'm prying but, I just wanted to be sure that…..to be sure that Kyo didn't…you know…rape you!" He was flushed, angry looking, teeth and fists clenched, hanging his head in shame. Above on the porch, Kyo waited for her answer – this was vital to him too; if she didn't want him, he needed to know…

"Ah…..Yuki-kun, arigatou…thank you for worrying about me…it's more than I deserve…b-but…I mean, no…Kyo-kun didn't…we…" she gave up and lapsed into an awkward silence.

Yuki broke it first. "Well…I mean, if he didn't…that's good…But Honda-san," he said, straightening up, "You should be careful. He is the Cat, after all – even if he didn't actually rape you…" he coughed awkwardly. "Well, anyway, just don't trust him too much."

Tohru looked very confused…but on the balcony above, Kyo bared his pointed teeth in fury. How dared that damned rat try to set Tohru against him! He had no right to interfere!

Kyo sat and simmered in his hiding place on the balcony, hoping irrationally that Yuki would do something terrible to Tohru and give Kyo and excuse to kill him.