four: tow chain
Tohru and Yuki walked into a house that was silent as a grave. Which was ominous considering the people that were in the house. And the fact that the only conceivable reason why it would be quite would be that one or the other of the two hotheads in the house was dead.
"Shigure?" Tohru asked, her voice quavering. The before mentioned author stuck his head out of his office with an inquiring chirp. "Is Kyo here? Is Uo here? More importantly, are they both alive?"
"Yes and yes and yes." he said with a shrug.
Yuki looked hard at the novelist, "Where are they? Are they together?" If the pair were together than this sudden and complete lack of noise could just be the lull after a loud burst of noise, as in screaming, moaning, grunting, i.e. sex noises.
"They're in their respective rooms." the author said cheerily.
Tohru and Yuki exchanged a look. A look that said clearly what-the- fuck-is-going-on-here, only with out the fuck. Shigure pick up on the look. "The pair had a lover's spat."
"It was not a lover's spat!!!" two voices screamed from opposite ends of the house. Three sets of eyes stared in shock at the ceiling, each wonder how exactly the Yankee and the neko could have heard the author's voice.
"They had a fight, and this is the result." the author shrugged and ducked back into his office.
Tohru and Yuki stared in shock at each other. This was not, really really was not, normal behavior. When Uo and Kyo clashed there was much door slamming, name calling, wall busting, soul tearing, face bashing, blood spilling, not silence. Tohru shivered. It was all too weird. The idea of the pair "being together" was almost comprehensible, maybe, in some other dark and sinister universe, them being angry at each other in total silence was so far fetched that it was impossible to even start to consider, even if you were in the afore mentioned dark and sinister universe.
"Yuki?" she asked in that sweet quavering voice of hers. "What's going on?"
The cold rat just shrugged, he was at a loss for answers. Stony logic wouldn't work to figure out this one. In order to understand you would have to be one of the two. And they didn't even really understand what was going on.
Days past in silence. Uo and Kyo avoided each other as if they had some deadly disease. The other residents of that pleasant little battlefield got more and more wary about the pair, afraid that they would explode at any given moment. It was like living on two ticking time bombs, or sitting next to a powder keg with a burning match in one hand. The feeling that they were waiting on a battle that they couldn't out run was intense and looming over them like an immense black cloud.
The only thing that this vast cloud didn't touch was Yuki's plan. The sixteenth came all too soon. Yuki was waiting for Tohru at the bottom of the stairs, a dark suit held loosely to him, hanging off him in beautiful long lines, accenting his dark hair and bright purple eyes. He was watching expectantly and his eyes widened as she turned the corner and stood there looking down at him like an angel. She was dressed in all white, ribbons falling sweetly from her bows curling around her shoulders. Dark locks brushed her cheeks, her neck, her chest, covering only enough to be seductive, only enough to make Yuki want her. The cloth covering her was beautiful, sleek and smooth. Accenting her body and her smiling face. His eyes kept traveling up her, not able to take in that this being was almost his. Tohru walked down the stairs, slowly, almost uncertain on her heels. He took her arm as she came to him, and smiled.
"Can you believe it?" Tohru asked happily, "We've been together for a year. And tonight is going to be so wonderful."
Yuki nodded, and they walked together to his car. He acted the prefect gentleman. They went out to a beautiful restaurant, had an exquisite meal, and then went for the well-loved walk on the beach at sunset. The colors of the sky went blurred, a multitude of reds and yellows and deeper purples. Yuki paused, turning Tohru to face him. "Tohru," he whispered and she smiled at him. He gulped, and hit a knee. He had one hand wrapped around hers, as the other fumbled in his coat. Out came the dark blue ring box, and Tohru gasped, her free hand flying to her lips. "Tohru Honda, will you marry me?" Yuki asked his voice soft. Tohru nodded, her eyes sparkling with tears.
"Yes. Yes of course." She said and Yuki practically jumped with joy, grabbing the girl and hugging her, twirling her around. They laughed and Tohru kissed him softly. "Thank you." she whispered.
"For what?"
That soft smile played across her lips, "For making all my dreams come true."
------
Uo sat there at the kitchen table, half in shock from the news, her black eye gone without a trace. Tohru and Yuki sat together, nearly glowing with their news. Shigure was breaking out the champagne and Kyo was slouched against the wall, fighting back the urge to vomit. "So you two are.." Uo couldn't bring herself complete the sentence.
"Yes can you believe it? Isn't it the most wonderful thing?" her voice was wistful as she stared into her new fiancé's eyes.
"Perfect." he whispered, and it was a brilliantly revolting moment. Kyo gagged quietly, while Uo contemplated shooting herself in the foot to get away from the warm and fuzzy feelings. A sterile hospital was better than this place.
Uo stood, stretched, and slowly began pacing the perimeter of the room, hands on her neck, face turned toward the ceiling. She shot Kyo a look, forgetting for a moment that she was infuriated at him, the look held a disgusted emotion, the same one that he was obviously trying to keep off his face, but for a moment, as she looked at him, his beautiful features twisted with it. Then the boy grinned, and Uo walked off, going the round as if it had been assigned to her.
Yuki and Tohru leaned in for a kiss, but at just that moment a door burst open and Hana glided in. Uo and Kyo relaxed, hands easing away from their belts, and they commenced watching the Psychic.
"I always knew you would make a beautiful bride one day." Hana said, and was greeted by silent confusion. A tiny smile appeared on her face. "Uo's giving off so many vibes I picked them up halfway across town."
Uo growled at her friend, and was ignored.
Kyo smirked, and was ignored.
Shigure walked in with the champagne, and was rushed at.
Uo and Kyo filled their respective glasses then passed the bottle on. Yuki filled himself and Tohru one, and was just about to hand the bottle off, when the door burst open and in came Ayame, Hatori, Momijii, Haru, as well as, Hiro, Kisa and Kagura.
"It would appear that Shigure's been on the telephone." Kyo said dryly taking as sip of the sweet bubbly. Uo stifled a laugh as Shigure glared at them.
Kagura rushed over and hugged Tohru, "Oh! I'm so happy for you. Kyo darling someday we'll have this." she said with joy.
Kyo growled and shot a look at Uo. The rest of the room did not miss the significance of this. Kagura just beamed as Momijii and Kisa joined the hug. Ayame was shaking Yuki's hand intensely while babbling about having the perfect dress for the "big day." Haru was standing with Hana, they had become an item earlier that same year. Hatori stood over them and played the parent as Shigure jumped up and down with joy. None of them noticed when Uo slipped out of the room, followed closely by Kyo.
------
They stood on the porch in deathly silence. If it got any quieter Uo was sure she would be able to hear her heart beating wildly in her chest. She wasn't really angry with him. It was great with him. The racing and the sex, and the parties, and even the times when they just sat on the roof and talked were great. But to see her best friend get married and not be able to tell the person she was sleeping with that she did in fact Love him, was really starting to rub her the wrong way.
Kyo looked over at her "You still mad?"
"Yes." Uo said sharply, but she was staring at the moon and didn't see the smile that crossed Kyo's eyes.
He slid an arm around her waist and tugged her to him, "You aren't really mad at me are you?" he asked softly, staring at her, red-hot cinnamon eyes roasted into her soul.
Uo looked into his face with a stunningly beautiful glare, "Yes Kyo it is about you. How long have we been doing this?"
"Sleeping together?" eyebrows rose a fraction, "Or being a couple?" Kyo's voice was soft.
"We aren't a couple." Uo spat, voice hot, eyes flashing.
"No?" Kyo asked pulling her a little closer, "We've been sleeping together for nearly a year. Eating dinner together, talking together. What do you want? Long walks on the beach at sunset? Flowers and candy? Diamonds? Jewels? What? The only thing that says we aren't a couple are the words." Uo leaned against him, sighing. "But you need those don't you?" Kyo whispered brow furrowing.
Uo pushed him away, "I don't need anything." she growled and turned so fast that Kyo got whiplash just looking at her.
"Its like trying to get close to a man eating briar bush." he grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, and steadying him crutches with the other. His lips grinned that cocky smile of his as he looked at the moon, "I think I'm going to need better armor." he told the silver disk lazily, then walked back into the wood letting the darkness embrace him like an old friend.
------
Months past in the Sohma household. For some the days crawled, for some they flew by. For Uo it was like pulling teeth without Novocain. For Kyo it was like beating his way through a man eating briar bush without any armor at all.
Kyo and Uo were forced to go back to school. Although they had to be practically dragged all the way there. Kicking and screaming no less. Uo was getting serious static from people about the bandages, which she was refusing to take off, although she did change them, even going so far as to change the color. Kyo was growling and bellowing and generally making life miserable for everybody who came into contact with him. Yuki and Tohru were busy as always. Graduation was only months away not to mention prom. Which Tohru had been on about since the very first flyer announcing the dates made its stunning debut on the walls of the incredibly dull and lifeless hallways of their school. Uo rolled her eyes every time Tohru opened her mouth and the words, "shopping" or "dresses" or "shoes" or "prom" feel out. Hana seemed just as excited as Tohru, which made Uo seriously wonder about her friends' sanity.
Kyo's cast was removed. The doctor's were amazed by the rapid recovery. There was a snide comment about milk involved, as well as rapidly soaring blood pressure. He was home later that afternoon and thoroughly enjoying being able to move. He probably went through three workouts just for the sheer joy of moving. Uo watched him, clandestine of course, and smiled. Shigure typed away on his new plot line. Tohru sat on the porch and laughed. Yuki stood behind her leaning against the support beams and holding a cup of tea. Hana just wondered from room to room.
But finally, after many months of dealing with the feuding pair, Shigure decided that this drama needed more of exactly that, drama. So the author took matters into his own hands. Kyo and Uo were sitting across the table from each other, glares were flying like guided missiles between them and no one was safe.
"Alright. That's enough." Shigure said slapping the table, everyone looked at him. "You two are acting incredibly childish. We are going to settle this like men." he said suddenly. "Uo! Kyo! Switch Sides!" he said and walked out of the room to call Hatori.
"Yes. Yes. Yes. When. Fine." and the conversation was finished. Hatori put down the phone, snuffed his cigarette and stood.
Uo and Kyo were still sitting in their spots when Shigure returned. It turns out that the smutty author was very hard to take seriously, especially when he was wearing a pink kimono. He stared at them. They just stared back. Tohru looked at him, "So how are you going to settle this?" not really sure she wanted to know the answer. "Arm wrestling!" Was the triumphant reply. Silence echoed in the room.
------
Hatori entered the room. "Interesting statues." he commented dryly. It seemed that Kyo wasn't the only one who had fallen into sarcasms biting trap.
Kyo's jaw hit the floor. "You expect me to arm wrestle Uotani?!" he asked indignantly.
Uo's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and a dark and sinister grin played on her rosy lips, "You aren't afraid of a girl are you Kyo-kyo?"
He leaned across the table, "I'm defiantly not afraid of you Miss Uotani." they were glaring hard at one another and one could practically see their egos clashing over head. Tohru, Yuki, Hana, Shigure and Hatori all took a step backwards. Hana made a tiny sound of half bliss the look of a drug addict passing over her face.
"Good. Then you accept?" she growled, green eyes locked on his face.
"You have an accord." was the neko's cool reply.
Shigure was grinning broadly. "Best two out of three. But we have to... oh never mind, here he is." Hatori looked over at him and then a cell rang. Hatori answered it hastily.
"Fine fine. Perfect." he muttered and then looked around the room. He hurriedly turned off his cell and shoved it in his pocket. "Shigure. You said something about a contest?" he asked after the weight of the silence had gotten too heavy to bear.
"Indeed most trusted companion I did." he pointed a finger dramatically at the pair sitting in front of him. "These two are going to battle it out in a duel."
"Will it be swords of pistols?" Uo whispered across the table, and earning herself a scowl from Hatori. The girl shrugged and settled back.
"Why exactly did you call me?" Hatori turned his attention back to Shigure.
The author looked at him, confused by his friends inability to see the VERY obvious, "Because you're a doctor?" he asked dumbly.
Hatori sighed as Tohru giggled. "It's arm wrestling I doubt any-." he didn't finish the sentence. Between Kyo and Uo the rough equivalent of hurricane type damage could be produced, and that was on the good days. On bad days, you might just chalk it up to a natural disaster and leave well enough alone.
Shigure grinned broadly, "Come on. Come on! Time to arm wrestle." he tugged on Kyo's arm, giggling like a mad hatter. And so the match began. Kyo and Uo set their elbows on the table, and wrapped their hands together. Nasty and evil grins covered both their faces, and you could tell neither wanted to lose. "On three!" Shigure started, but its didn't matter, the pair was already started. Grunts and teeth grinding followed. Minutes past with no visible indication of a winner. Another minute ticked by as Kyo slowly forced Uo's hand toward the tabletop. She was doing an admirable job of resisting; but she couldn't ever really deny Orange-top whatever he wanted. Although that wouldn't stop her from trying. Her wrist connected with the table top with a thud and a growl issued from her.
"I thought that was my line." Kyo leaned across and whispered to her. Green eyes narrowed at him, flames burning deep in them-hatred kind of flames, not passionate love kind of flames.
"Go to hell." was the snapped reply.
"Did that. Now I'm looking for Heaven." Kyo replied without a thought, charm dropping into his voice like a ton of bricks.
"Maybe you're looking in the wrong spot." Uo took his hand and grinned, that evil, wild, Cheshire cat grin of hers, sending desire searing through Kyo's system.
Kyo's upper arm strained as Uo pressed him back, a thin bead of sweat trickled down his cheek and into his collar. Uo noted this with a smirk. "Can't stand the heat?"
Kyo pushed a little harder and Uo's hand inched backward. "This is hell, you'd think I'd be able to."
Uo was getting madder by the second, and she forced his hand back, and not only back, but into the table with a resounding thump. "Good to know that I'm such a source of torment for you."
"That's one to one." Shigure said with a smile. "Third and final round!" his voice boomed out like an announcer. Most of the group winced. Uo and Kyo just glowered. Uo popped her knuckles and Kyo flexed his hands. Tohru and Yuki stood on watching the pair with discomfort. Hana was looking very very happy with all the signals that were flying about. Hatori was looking suspiciously like a referee; Shigure had slipped quietly out of the room and just as quietly back in--no one noticed.
The resident hotheads set elbows on the table and locked hands. This was going to be a long, hard pull. Back and forth like a tennis match it went. Tohru and Yuki's faces turned from one to the other, following the action. Shigure watched too, waiting for his opening and toying with something behind his back. And it came. Uo was just forcing Kyo's hand closer and closer to the tabletop and his utter demise. But he was saved by the Shigure. The author swooped in and snapped something onto their wrists, making the pair jerk apart. But not very far. Steel chain stood between them and continents of distance. The only sound that perforated the silence was a soft jingle and rising blood anger.
Uo stood up so suddenly that Kyo actually yelped as his arm was jerked, "What the fuck is this?" she yelled, and Kyo seconded the question almost instantaneously.
Shigure smiled, "You two are going to stay that way until you work this out." he was smug, until Uo hopped the table and they both were advancing on him. The inu had talked his way into a corner.
"Give me the key Shigure." Kyo said, voice so tense that you could almost hear him caging his anger.
"Give it here." Uo said, and they took another step toward him. Fire and Brimstone and Imminent Doom flashed through Shigure's mind, as well as most of his life.
Shigure looked very very scared, "I...uh..."the paused lasted a full minute until Uo stepped forward again. "..lost it?" was the squeaked ending. Two fists collided with his prone form shortly there after.
The wind whistled softly through the newest tattered door. The pair stood, back to back, looking madder than hellfire and brimstone. Too very dark auras surrounded them, and blended perfectly together. Tohru and Yuki inched backward, as did every other living organism in the room, even the dust in the room shot away from the pair. There was so much anger radiating from them that even Akito (rest his soul.) curled up in his coffin and whimpered. Satan himself shrunk back, cowering in a distant corner of hell. Uo and Kyo stood in the ashes of the ruined plot like Mongol's over a desecrated village, only taller.
"Come on." Uo grumbled, tugging on her forced companion. He resisted, so she literally dragged him out of the room. "Can you drive?" she asked, shooting him a questioning look. Uo's right hand was chained to Kyo's left.
A startled look traveled over the neko's face. "Um...yeah." was his reply, as he weighed the situation rapidly beneath his bright red hair.
"Good." Uo said, and pulled open the door to Yuki's car. Chuckling softly, she hot-wired it, loving the sight of the spark that flew between the wires.
"Did I know you could do that?" Kyo asked with a baffled but appreciative look, desire stirred in him again.
She smiled back at him, "No." Then she twisted her body so that she could shimmy backwards into the car while Kyo slid into the driver's seat. "How in the hell does he work in this thing?" she grumbled as they got settled.
Kyo grimaced at the images that flashed in his head and reached for the stick shift. "I could have lived a long healthy life without hearing that." Their fingers intertwined over the standard, mostly out of habit, and the boy looked over at Uo, "So were are we going?"
"I know a guy." She said as they turned onto the main road. "Stay on this street. About a quarter of an hour out of town. Second on the right." her voice was soft. "He owes me a favor, and he can get these things off." she said, sliding a finger under the bracelet.
"Do I want to know?" Kyo asked flicking his eyes to her. She shook her head. They drove on in tight silence. She was still angry at him, although she now admitted, at least to herself, that she was off in her judgment. He couldn't help being what he was. But everything was far from beer and skittles in Yuki's car. Uo was holding onto her anger like a lifeboat, and Kyo was holding up pretenses just to make her happy. Kyo shifted gears and the handcuffs rattled. And those were the only sounds heard, the rattle of the chains, the hum off the engine, road noise, and nothing else. It took half an hour, a short eternity by normal tense relationship standards, for them to reach Uo's guy's house. Kyo turned into his drive, and it was easy to see that he drove with one hand on a regular basis. "Get out." Uo growled, Kyo turned and slid out of the car, arm extended so she could follow. She crawled out, and Kyo shut the door behind her, with a smile.
"Talk about deja vu." he whispered, aching to plant a line of kisses down her throat, he was just about to when the sound of a shotgun being fired ricochet over his head. He ducked instinctively, and Uo jerked her head to the side.
"Doyle!! Stop it! It's me! Uo!" the gunshots stopped.
"It really you lam'?" an Irish accent floated from behind the double barrel.
Uo half grinned. "Yes its really me, and my..uh..."Uo stopped trying to find the words and just raised her hand, Kyo's coming up with it.
Doyle laughed and waved them inside. "'right. Are you going to tell me wat happened or do I just get to guess?"
"You get to get these off."
"Fifty bucks." Doyle said looking at the handcuffs. "Is this some kinky sex thing gone ary?" Two fists collided with the Irishmen's head seconds later. He rubbed his jaw from the floor, "Alright, alright. I get it. Not a sex thing. To bad though. She's a fiery one." he said with a wink toward Uo who blushed so hot that Kyo could have sworn he felt the warmth rolling off her. Doyle was at least twenty, maybe older, a few days scruff running rampant on his square jaw. He was good looking to say the least, in a rugged, uncensored, Irishman way. Kyo shot Uo a look, and she shrugged.
"Me and Doyle go back...a ways." she said in explanation.
Doyle brought out his tools, "Meaning that we slept together a couple of times and then she walked out on me. You want broke, blind or bedlam?" he asked, vaguely gesturing at the chains.
"Broke. Wait Just split 'em." Uo said, while Kyo stared lost in the lexicon, "And I'm only paying you twenty."
"Twenty?!" Doyle half shouted, jerking back from the cuffs.
Uo sent him a look that Kyo didn't quite catch, but it was probably along the same lines of you-owe-me-one-and-here-I-am-to-collect. Which was a close cousin of the do-it-or-die look. "Fine, twenty." the dark haired man muttered, slicing through the chain.
Kyo finally decided to come out of his shock just about the time the chain broke. "So you're telling me that I drove for half an hour for a job I could have done with a set of bolt cutters just for you to reminisce?" he asked hotly as Uo turned an icy stare on him and Doyle scooted out of the line of fire, like the brilliant man he was.
"Not really. I only just now decided that I wanted them spilt. Do something about those will you?" she said jangling the loose ends of the chain. Kyo took a moment realizing that she was talking to Doyle and not him.
"What do you mean just now realized?" he grumbled.
"I mean that I just now realized." Uo said, her voice rising. "Why do you have to second guess me?"
"I need a beer." Doyle said wisely, and slipped off to some dark reach of his tiny house.
"Damnit Uo. What the hell's got you so stirred up?" Kyo asked with enough anger in his voice to stop an army, at least a small one. The look on Uo's face would have sent the bravest men running to their mommies, but Kyo had seen it before, and lived to tell the tale of it. Kyo stepped up to her, leaning in to make sure she could see his face, as well as heard his voice.
"If I did something then tell me. Cause I really hate being left in the dark." he didn't have to add the do-you-understand-me. She had been trained in the arts of intimidation; she knew how this worked.
"You don't give a fuck about it, as long as you get to fuck me." the blonde spat then cocked an eyebrow.
Kyo's fist clenched his red hair falling into his eyes and he didn't quite understand why he was so mad. "The feelings mutual. Lust is a powerful thing."
"So is rage." Uo said, and flattened his face. Doyle stood in the doorway watching the pair go about killing each other.
"Hope they don't get any blood on the carpet." he said then turned and walked down the hall, "It had to be a sex thing. That lad's too fired up fer it to have been anything else. But Uo 'as a way o' doing that ta a man." he muttered strolling down the hall with his beer in one hand and his thoughts in the other. The sounds of his living room being torn apart followed him vaguely down the halls.
It was scarcely furnished for a reason this tiny place of his; he had too many rowdy people in and out of the joint to do something nice with the place. Doyle knew everybody that was anybody in this ring. He had his fingers in all the right places, for all the wrong reasons. But people mostly let him alone these days just like he wanted to be let alone. The darkness wrapped around him, and he was content to drink his beer leaning against a long forgotten about wall, and listen to the sound of the lovers spat going on in his front room.
Uo and Kyo went about their normal fighting routine. They both had patterns that they went through every time without fail. The only problem was that they knew each other's patterns so well by now that they blocked every hit, so as it turned out, they just worked each other to death. Worked every drop of anger out of their systems, and if there was any left they just threw it into their sex life and hoped for the best. Uo grimaced as Kyo's fist hammered its way into her stomach, she was almost done; so was he, she could feel it in her gut, along with her rapidly bruising side. Finally she had to quit she couldn't go any longer. They had been at it for hours and were showing all the signs of it. Their guards were getting sloppy, their blows not landing where they had intended. It was her that slipped first, losing her footing and hitting her knee hard against the carpeting. She staggered up, blood dripping into her eyes from a split in her eyebrow.
Kyo looked her over, his left eye swollen almost shut, muscle tissue rapidly closing his now blackened eye. "Give up?" the fist that met his face shortly there after gave him her negative answer. How much longer is this going to go on? Kyo thought, blocking her punch and kicking her feet out from under her. He loved and despised this habit, it was hard to beat her up, but it was even harder to resist it when she hit him. She lurched to her feet as he watched. There was more strength in her than she knew, both physical and spiritual. A fist soared by his face and he watched it pass by. Damnit she was tough, he was going to have bruises all over and he wasn't complaining.
"Are you gonna hit me or what?" Uo asked, staggering back, and dropping back into her fighting crouch.
Kyo shook his head and set himself, "Not if you stop swinging." he said softly, but left his guard up anyways.
Uo let her fists fall to her sides. "I'm tired of fighting you every step of the way." she sighed and fell, literally, to the floor.
Kyo sat down beside her. "So why do you?" he asked calmly.
"Because every time you open your mouth you piss me off." she growled at him and he smirked.
"I can't help being the way I am." he said, and she almost sighed.
"I know. You can't help being the fucking way you are and I can help lo.." she paused, "coming back for more." she finished in a rush. Inside Kyo whooped for joy, but outside he just watched her. "Why do we keep doing this?" her voice was soft, as she memorized the pattern of the carpet under her feet.
"Because we're both masochists." The redhead said with a shrug and a smirk. Uo laughed, or started to laugh till her lip spilt and she grimaced. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear then kissed her softly. "Are we good?" he asked, and emerald green eyes sparkled at him. Her blood was smeared across his bottom lips making them blush rosy against his skin.
"Let's get out of here." Uo whispered and almost smiled, only to wince again as her lip protested. "Tohru's not going to be happy about this." Kyo stood and reached down to help her up.
"Where's that Irishman of yours? If I remember right, you owe him twenty bucks." the neko smiled that awkward little smile of his.
Uo just shot him an inpatient look, "DOYLE!!" she yelled over her shoulder, and the lock pick walked in.
"You called my lady?" he said sluggishly from the doorway.
Uo slid her hand into Kyo's back pocket and lifted his wallet, "I owe you something don't I?" Doyle almost made a comment that would have given Kyo a really good excuse for breaking his nose, but he didn't. The Irishman really didn't have the money for plastic surgery. Uo's nimble fingers flicked through the bills in the black leather wallet, searching for a twenty, she plucked one out and held it over her shoulder. The Irishman took the twenty and slid it into Uo's back pocket, with Kyo none the wiser.
"Keep that." he said softly into her ear "I found the keys." and clipped the chain around her neck. Two small silver keys nestled at the base of her throat, sparkling like diamonds in the bad light. Uo chuckled softly, fingering the metal. "Thanks Mac."
"You mean I just spent twenty buck on keys?!" Kyo half yelled.
"Pretty much." Doyle voiced in his wonderful accent, and Uo grinned, leaning back on her old friend and feeling his heart race then settle again. The hotheaded neko yelled something incoherent as Uo and Doyle walked out of the room, Doyle's strong arm around her waist, cutting a tan line through her white shirt. Kyo watched them leave, Uo's hips swinging and Doyle's dark head bending down to listen and to whisper something to her, making the blonde laugh.
Kyo's chest tightened with a jealousy that he was refusing to admit to himself. For some reason the fact that Doyle had slept with Uo was rubbing him the wrong way. He knew that he wasn't the only one she had ever been with, but that didn't stop him from being bothered by the idea that she had done the same things she had done to him to another man. He sighed and followed after them not wanting to leave them alone together.
Doyle and Uo sat in the living room, Uo sprawled across the couch, her white t-shirt sliding up, showing off a strip of flat stomach, her blonde hair was spread across the armrest her right arm was tucked behind her head. "You heard anything from the Boys? I heard they were back in town." she was asking as Kyo walked in a cigarette hanging from his lips as he fought his lighter. A black one sailed toward his head and he caught it without looking up from his struggle. Lighting up he pulled a slow drag off it and took a seat on the opposite arm of the couch, then passed the cigarette to Uo without thinking about it. Doyle watched this tradition with something that would pass for awe in some circles. Uo didn't say a word, just took a drag and pulled her knees up so Kyo could sit down.
"The Boys were around a few nights ago actually." the Irishman said, rising quickly from his awe stricken state. Kyo's brow furrowed slightly. He wasn't so stupid as to not know about the Faraway Boys, the Irish gang of the area. It disturbed him slightly that Uo spoke of them so casually. He had known that she had been deep in the gang business, but he had not known that she was THAT deep.
Uo sat up slowly, "Business or pleasure?" she asked her eyes crinkling slightly with concern.
Doyle shrugged with a rueful smile "Its about the same to them I'n't it?" The blonde's lips twisted ever so slightly in a pondering frown.
"They haven't been bothering you have they?" she asked. Doyle was a dear friend, and to have her rowdy buddies fall upon him would not do.
"No, not in the least. They were just by for some beers and ta watch the game." Doyle said hastily. Uo chuckled softly; the Boys obsession with rugby always brought a smile to her face. "What about you?" the man asked, "How being legit treating you?"
Green eyes flicked instantly to Kyo, "Not too badly really. It's rough sometimes, and those old skills come in handy at the oddest times." she said thinking about the stolen car sitting out front.
A grin played at the Irishman's lips, "I'm sure pretty boy there has seen at least one little part of them."
Kyo half rose from his seat a growl rolling in his chest, maybe from the pretty boy commit or maybe from the implication that Uo was a whore. Uo slapped a hand on his chest and pressed him back into the couch.
Leaning forward she whispered into his ear, "Calm down ignore him and breathe." her arm held him down as his chest shuddered harshly. "He's just teasing. That's all." She leaned over and nuzzled him softly, kissing his throat.
Kyo relaxed and smiled as he kissed her softly, loving the taste of her lips on his.
Doyle watched once again in awe. This pair had just finished beating each other to a pulp and now here they sat like lovers, kissing as if no one else was in the room. He cleared his throat loudly trying to separate the pair.
Uo leaned back from Kyo and grinned as he trailed a hand down her leg. "I'd exercise a little more care Doyle, I'm not always going to b here to save your ass." she said turning to look at her old friend, her hand still on Kyo chest.
"I can see that." was the drawled reply, and Kyo bristled again. "You should probably be going though. Its getting late." he said checking his watch.
Uo looked out the front window and winced seeing the sun dropping behind the trees. "Yeah." she stood slowly her lover following the action. "They'll be worried back at the house." Kyo grimaced; Sohma house was someplace he didn't really want to go. Uo walked over and hugged Doyle, "Thanks for helping me out."
"Any time." was the faint reply.
"Let's go." Kyo's voice edged on growl once more. Uo leaned back from her old friend and walked back to her lover. They headed for the door, not touching but the desire to was thick between them. Doyle shook his head and nursed his beer in the falling dark.
------
Uo and Kyo stood in front of Yuki's slick black sports car, watching each other, emotions caged behind irises harder than steel. Kyo was in love with Tohru, Uo wouldn't be able to forget that, but she also couldn't forget the lust. She wanted him. Uo breathed out a thin hissing breath. Her skin trembled under his touch, his hand rested heavy on the small of her back. Kyo pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, and listened to her breath speed up. In out in out, so fast she could have hyperventilated if she had been anybody else. A smile pulled at Kyo's lips, a dark, dirty, sweaty, promising things unmentionable in public, smile. Uo whimpered as he slid a hand up her thigh, "Arisa." he breathed and she repressed a moan. His lips brushed her throat, canines trailing tugging at the flesh. He had lived with a beast inside him for 18 years, the animal urges that came with it hadn't gone away. Uo prayed they never would. Kyo stepped back. He swallowed hard, he couldn't be that close to her without taking her, and he wasn't going to fuck her where she stood. "Get in the car." he ordered, and for once in her life Arisa Uotani did exactly as she was told.