Kiss Kiss
By Lady of the Ink
Pairing: Kyou and Kagura Sohma
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Theme: #7 – Superstar
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but you knew that ...I hope. But I do own this story and all the twists that it takes.
Kiss Twenty-Two
Take A Bow
x
A brown haired girl stepped to the center of the stage, studying the audience with serious eyes. Apparently satisfied with what she saw, she nodded once and took a deep breath. Raising her arms on either side of her body in a slow, graceful motion that caught the attention of everyone watching her, she began to speak.
"It's with great joy and some nervousness that we welcome you all to our opening night. Everyone has been working hard, no matter what their role or job and I can honestly say we could do no better than what we offer you tonight. We're giving you our best and we hope that you'll enjoy watching the play as much as we're enjoying performing it. Thank you."
Thundering applause filled the room as she left the stage. The curtains were seen to sway as last minute adjustments were made for the first act. As they waited, an orange haired man shifted impatiently in his seat at the rear of the theater. He rolled his head, trying to work out the kink in his neck. In order to make it to the play on time, he'd had to catch a late flight the night before. He'd managed to get some sleep on the plane but was still feeling sore and cranky from jet lag.
"You're not going to be twitching all night, are you?"
Kyou turned to glare at Yuki, who merely looked back with the calm expression he always wore when saying something he knew would make his cousin mad. Kyou had to bite back the challenge that jumped to his lips, the action the result of habit more than actual anger. The curse had ended years before and there was no longer reason to view Yuki as his enemy. It didn't stop them from having a nice spat every so often, though. But they were both adults now and besides that, this was hardly the time or place to get into it.
"Nobody told you to sit next to me. If you've got a problem with it, move." Having given his last word on the subject, Kyou crossed his arms over his chest and slumped a bit in the seat. Just to make sure that Yuki knew he wasn't his boss, he gave a couple of jerky movements, making sure to bang his elbow firmly into the ex-rat's side as he did so. The hissing exhalation of air that may or may not have contained certain words caused him to smile. Satisfied that he would be left alone for at least a while he stilled, finally able to relax in the too small seat.
He went unbothered until the curtain dropped for the final time, inciting the audience into a standing ovation. Kyou stood as well, clapping halfheartedly as he slid past people to get to the aisle. The last thing he wanted to do was stand around making small talk. He'd promised to come and see the play and he'd done that. Now all he wanted was to get home, take a long, hot shower, and crawl into bed.
He made to the hall before his conscience made him stop. As tired as he was, he knew that someone would be looking for him. For her, sleep could wait a few more minutes.
Kyou leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the slow flow of people leaving the auditorium. A few walked past him to doors leading to the parking lot but most stayed as he had, milling around and chatting. Yuki exited about two minutes after he had, Machi at his side. They came down the hall, stopping a few steps from where he stood. Kyou gave a small nod of acknowledgement before looking back at the crowd.
He straightened when the girl who'd made the opening announcement to the audience bounced into view, a smile stretching from ear to ear. Spotting Kyou, she hurried over, beginning to speak before she even made it to his side.
"Did you see everything, Daddy? I know you said you would be able to see fine but you were so far back I kept worrying that you might miss something. I'm so glad you could come!" She grabbed his arm, hugging it tightly. "I think we did really well tonight, didn't you? All that rehearsing was hard but totally worth it now. Have you seen Mom? She was just backstage with me but I lost her when I saw you."
A smile crept onto Kyou's lips as she balanced on her toes, straining to see over the crowd. Since his own height had him standing over most of the people brushing past, he had a clear view of the entire room. Resting a hand on his daughter's shoulder, he gently pressed down. "She's right over there, talking to your teacher," he said, pointing toward the opposite side of the small space. "She'll be here in a minute or two."
She nodded but continued to fidget, thumping her fingers softly against her leg to some unknown beat. Yuki stepped closer, smiling down at her as he offered a distraction. "You did a great job, Kiko. You didn't even seem nervous up there."
"Thanks, Uncle Yuki. It was only four lines but I thought that I might forget them. If that had happened in front of so many people I would have died of humiliation."
"So I take it you're enjoying drama club?"
Kiko nodded so enthusiastically that her hair slipped from behind her ears and into her face. She slid it back into place automatically as she answered. "I love it! At first, I was so nervous about talking in front of a big audience. That's why I had such a small part this time. Now that I know I can do it, I'm thinking about auditioning for the lead in the next one."
Machi spoke for the first time. "That's 'Romeo and Juliet', right? Akira's been talking about it for a while. I think he's planning on going for Romeo."
Yuki laughed, looking at Kyou. "Wouldn't that be nice if they both got the roles? My son and your daughter as Romeo and Juliet; it couldn't be more appropriate."
Kyou smiled sarcastically but chose to direct his reply to his daughter. "I think you'd do great but are you sure you want to go for such a big role so soon? Maybe you should try something just a little smaller for this play and then aim for the lead in the one after it." Which preferably won't involve kissing the damn rat's kid.
Kiko leveled a look on him that proved she was her mother's daughter. "Daddy, you're so weird sometimes." She turned to Machi. "Do you think that Akira would help me practice? He's gotten the lead every time he's tried for it; he's bound to know some good tricks for remembering lines and getting in character."
"I'm sure he'd love to have someone to talk about acting with. He's always saying his dad and I don't understand what it's like since neither of us were in the drama club."
"But you did dress up as a girl that one time," Kyou reminded Yuki with a smirk. "Or did that little cross dressing incident not count as acting?"
It was Yuki's turn to smile coldly but any reply he might have made was cut off by the appearance of their group's two missing members. "Whew, it's crowded." Kagura elbowed her way through the last bunch of people to join them. "I thought we'd never get over here."
A tall boy was right behind her, his dark hair mussed and his cheeks full of color. "Hey, Mom, Dad. Sorry to keep you waiting. I was talking to some of the guys backstage." He caught sight of Kiko and grinned. "You did great! I told you that you would be fine."
"Thanks!" she said, giving a little bounce Kyou recognized as an abbreviation of her happy dance. Let Momiji baby-sit her one time when she was four and the poor girl was cursed for life.
Kagura smiled and nudged him in the side. "She's been waiting to hear him say that all night," she whispered, laughing under her breath. Kyou fought the urge to groan. The last thing he wanted to do was think of his daughter having a crush on any boy, let alone Yuki's son. Akira's voice pulled him back into the trial at hand.
"Dad, can they join us for dinner? It's tradition."
Kiko looked from one adult's face to the other, as excited as a puppy promised a new toy. "What tradition?"
"After every opening night, Mom and Dad take me to this great restaurant to celebrate. Since this was your first ever opening night, it's only right to make it an extra big celebration." He turned back to his parents. "So can they come?"
Yuki looked at Kagura and raised an eyebrow. "Well, if they don't have other plans, of course they're welcome to join us."
Kyou found himself facing two identical sets of pleading eyes. He knew he was beat but the image of the warm bed waiting for him at home made him take one last stab at an early exit. "It was a long flight and I …" he managed before trailing off, accepting defeat as gracefully as he knew how.
Kagura nodded to the others and they started towards the door, Kiko happily talking with Akira. Kyou remained unmoving until Kagura slid her arm through his and tugged him forward. Resting her head against his shoulder, she spoke just loudly enough to be heard over the crowd still lingering in the hallway.
"Come on now, Kyou. I know you're tired and I promise I'll make this up to you tomorrow. But for now, this is Kiko's night. You can spend a couple hours letting her be the star."
As he followed his wife out to their car, Kyou admitted that that didn't sound like such a bad deal after all.
