T . i . t . l . e :: The Banquet.
Authoress: Thea Rea.
R . a . t . i . n . g :: Teen, slim chance of changing. If it does, it goes up.
Pairing: Kyo and Tohru.

W . a . r . n . i . n . g . s :: A lot of Out of Character moments.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that relates to Fruits Basket in anyway. The plot line is mine, but if you find a story similar, please remember that I did not steal it. I do not write for money, I write for fun.

N . o . t . e . s :: Well, I said that it would be the last chapter like a prelude last chapter, but this one is actually the last one. It discusses minor things. Humph. Please excuse the crappiness of this chapter.

• Chapter Five •
.Begin xx

For the next day, Tohru, Kyo, and Akito had various meetings discussing the importance of their (Kyo and Tohru's) staying in the Main House. It was not a big reason, but when ever Akito spoke to them, she seemed to be hiding something beneath her words, cloaking them with a clever disguise that set them off in a completely different direction. She was being sly with her choice of wording, and tricking them without their notice. It was a clever little plan, the one that Akito had set upon the floor. It was a shame that she couldn't openly tell them what exactly she was doing. If she could her speech would start out with something like, "Killing two birds with one stone..." But, she could not, and therefore, Kyo and Tohru were left in the dark as to the real reason they were kept inside the home of Akito Sohma.

But, then again, she did not tell them a whole lie. The way her words played out made it seem like a simple plan, but she hid something more complex, deeper, beneath her words. The dark haired, dark eyed Goddess was very cautious about what she did, and many could see it in her work with the two teenager. Left in the dark, and completely naive, that was exactly how they needed too be.

The first formal meeting between Akito and the dancers was very civil and cool. Part of it being that Shigure and Hatori were outside the door, and part of it as a ploy to capture her dancers in the web of her uncharacteristically sweet behavior. They were certainly floored by her uncommon share of emotions, the way she detailed things only to a degree in which they were left much to the imagination. The way she smiled with her mouth, but they did not notice the sadistic gleam in her eye. Akito was a good actress that was for sure.

"Tohru-san, Kyo, I do have a good reason to which you will be staying with me till New Years, do not worry. - Yes, Kyo, the arrangement of sleeping is correct - The reason behind the new housing is because I am giving this year a special twist, one that no one is suspecting." The sadistic gleam had shown ever so slightly, lighting those twisted pools of lies to a certain extent. "You two will be the dancers of this year." She had not given any explanation, and as she had guessed, they did not ask questions. They were positively stunned at what Akito had said, much to her enjoyment.

Jaw was slack as Kyo Sohma spoke, "I will be allowed into the banquet- no, we will be allowed to the banquet? And dance?" He seemed positively surprised, the emotion clearly set upon his handsome features. He did not turn to face Tohru with such an expression, his eyes filled with confusion, almost alarm. Akito did not falter her own facial expression, looking at the two with a sense of calmness around her form. Tohru was completely speechless, but you could see the tears of happiness well inside her beautiful aquamarine eyes.

"Tohru-san, is something the matter?" Akito momentarily breaking the calm atmosphere that had consumed the room in an awkward silence. Tohru lifted her hands to her face, hiding her pretty features from the world. Akito and Kyo could hear the mumbling, and the sniffling beneath her hands. Akito could catch both the phrases 'next in line' and 'suffer the consequences' in her words, a shock slowly devouring her sadistic eyes. But it did not remain long, and when she noticed that Kyo had not taken in the words that she had mumbled, Akito gently grasped one of Tohru's hands. The vibration of the girl's trembling was now shaking her fingers.

"Akito-san, thank you so much," she whispered in an almost inaudible voice. Akito face jumped a bit at the quiet response, but a gradual smile lifted her lips. Looking at Kyo, who was trying to cheer Tohru up, Akito's smile grew an inch wider. The girl gripped the older woman's hand, and Akito shuddered at the sudden tightening of the grip that they held together. Tohru's face turned up, flashing Akito and Kyo a brilliant smile. "Thank you so much, you could never understand how much it joys me." The truth was evident in her voice, and Akito let out a sigh of relief. Tohru's blue eyes looked up at her, and navy met sky blue, before Tohru averted her eyes towards Kyo.

"A maid will show you too your room and you will begin the dance today. Hatori will be teaching Kyo his moves, while Tohru will be taught by our very own Shigure," a sweet smile touched her lips, and then she motioned them out of her room, a smirk sent after them. They didn't notice the expression on their faces, because as they left they both gave her smiles. "Enjoy my dancers." She whispered, and then moved back into her room with that smirk still devouring her features. How fun would this new Banquet be?

x•x•x•x•x

"Oi! Tohru-kun!" Shigure's excited voice came from down the hall, and alerted by her name, Tohru Honda spun around on spot. Her eyes were still red from her tears of joy, and her body was shaking slightly. Shigure didn't seem to notice it as he came up to her with happiness radiating off of him. "I heard I'm going to be the one who teaches you the dance!" He spoke with an excited tone, his hands flying around hers expressing his amazement. She tore her hands from his, and then turned around, a red blush fogging up her face.

"Ah, S-Shigure-san, I heard. But, I don't feel so good about all of this," Tohru muttered in an uncharacteristically dark voice. Her brown eyes were flooding with tears again, but these were of worry. "I don't think I want to dance, Shigure-san. I don't know if I even can." Her voice was quavering as she tried to make up a good excuse to get Shigure off of her back. But Shigure was not surprised by her words, rather he was amused. The emotion was written across his face, and he walked towards her with a rather lazy smirk coiling his lips.

"Don't worry, Tohru-kun," he breathed into her ear, his hot breath tickling her ear lobe. He was only playing, and Tohru grew flustered under his touch. "I'll teach you everything I know, my student." His arms were around her waist, but he held her back just a smidge, so that he didn't transform. He was smirking in a rather amused way, and he could feel the heat rising on Tohru's face.

"S-S-Shigure-san!" she blurted out and then pushed herself out of his grasp, her hands flinging to her face in moderate surprise, a very deep shade of crimson staining her cheeks. "W-We should start soon, right?" She asked hurriedly, as if to get them on the move before he could place his hands on her again. Though, little did she know, that most of the dance that he was going to teach her, involved roaming of the hands. Oh, it was a fun dance!

"Oh, yes, let's go!" he spoke in that same enthusiastic tone as he had put up before. A grin lifted his lips, and he lead Tohru down the hallway, grasping her small hand. He could almost taste her sadness in the air, the way she walked with a downcast look, and she was muttering something beneath her breath. A few solitary tears strayed down her cheeks. It was truly odd, and Shigure could not decipher what exactly she was thinking. Sniffing the air in a sense of curiosity, they soon stopped before a door. Shigure spun himself around to a half-hearted smile, courtesy of Tohru.

"Come on now, Tohru-kun, it will be fun!" he said, and she widened her eyes at his ability to read her like an open book. "It's a fun dance, I have to ensure you. Do not ask me why I was taught the female part of it, I just was." Shigure spoke in a tone that could match Ayame any day. "Well, it's mostly about eye-contact, footwork, and hands," Shigure trailed on, as he gripped Tohru's hand, pushing her into the room with him. Positioning himself a few feet away from Tohru, he glanced over her, before nodding to himself.

"Okay, this is one of the first moves in the dance," spoke Shigure's playful tone. He gripped her arms, and forced them into a rather . . . interesting position. Putting one hand over the right side of his face, and the other gripping his left leg, just above the knee. She had to crouch to get the position right. "And then Kyo will be like this. . ." he drawled out, and then gently put his fingers under her chin, tilting her head to face him, and his other hand over hers, the one that was placed on his face.

Tohru was watching him with bright ocean eyes. She was staring directly up at him, her fingers barely pressed against his skin. When she looked up at him, she didn't see Shigure; she saw Kyo's face instead. She opened her eyes a bit wider, but the image faded when she did. Shigure was looking down at her with clearly curious eyes. Tohru shook her head fervently, and smiled back at him. Once more her smile was clearly half-hearted.

"Then, after a few seconds, say ten, you both rip away from each other." - Shigure jolted back, and Tohru followed his sudden movement, acting as though his skin burned. - "You end up in a position like this. . ." walking over to her, he lifted her from her position on the floor, and then made her crane her neck, have one arm extended up, and her other cradled in front of her. She was still on two feet though, but that was soon to change. A second later, Shigure instructed she was to bend forward, and then have her leg in the air. It was rather a peculiar pose.

"Hm. . ." Shigure mused, tapping his chin as he looked at her like she was a piece of expensive artwork. "Good, good. We shall start the next part then." He walked over to her, and placed one hand on her lower arched back, and the other on the same spot, but in the front. Then he pushed down with the hand on the back, forcing her to break position and fall towards the ground, only to be pulled up by him, his right arm cradling her limp looking body. "Perfect," he laughed and let her back on her feet, before tossing her a few feet away. Luckily, she landed, but happened to fall upon her knees after she did so. Shigure gave a hearty laugh; Tohru stared at the floor in her embarrassment.

The rest of the practice was just the same, but got a bit more hectic each time she learned something new.

x•x•x•x•x

Then there was Kyo's practice. . . Hatori was never more annoyed in his life. He had to act like the female partner in this, even if it was only for short while when they had to practice the moves in partners. Now, their meeting before the whole thing was even more stupid then the dance practice itself. Neither of them had ever felt so irritated, ever! And so, after their little discussion, which they spoke of sleeping arrangements and Kyo's behavior, they began the dance practice. The first position was rather, for a lack of a better word, weird. As said in the dance with Shigure and Tohru, Hatori had to clutch Kyo's leg, and touch his face.

Can anyone say, awkward?

As they carried through the practice, Hatori grew more and more agitated. Eventually, he just gave up on being the female partner. He told Kyo what he had to do, and once while practicing, asked a maid to fill in as the partner. She did a good job, to say the least. They were well past Tohru and Shigure's practice as the time flew by, and Kyo was getting better. There was only one part that was a bit unsettled with Kyo.

It had something to do with lips meeting in a brief, parting embrace. Nothing big, Hatori said. But of course, Kyo freaked. It was a kiss! And with Tohru no less! NOTHING BIG? He really wondered how Hatori got to be so calm over everything. Kyo had thought that he'd be insane, seeing that he did know Shigure, and was, dare he say it, friends with him. It wouldn't be long until Shigure's perverted germs were to infect Hatori. How . . . scary.

Anyway, back to the dancing.

"Okay, this is the part were you will, uh, have a brief meeting of the lips," Hatori said, furrowing his brow in concentration. "I guess that we'll just have to get Tohru in her, huh?" Hatori said, making his way to the door, before Kyo stopped him with a freaked out face. "What?" Hatori said with little to no caring in his voice. How cruel.

"We can just skip it, okay?" Kyo said with a hesitant air. Hatori blinked for a few seconds, considering Kyo's thoughts, before nodding with an air of disappointment.

"Fine."

That was the last word that parted Hatori's lips that night. The rest was intense practicing. Kyo didn't know how his body could bend before, and it freaked him out when he could do all those crazy things that Hatori had showed him. Because, of course, he decided not to speak anymore.

It was an odd night for both parties. And when they met up again, Tohru was red from the work-out, but it was actually at Shigure's behavior. It was a bit, unnerving. Shigure was a very good dancer, but also very stern, but playful.

How confusing.

And as Tohru and Kyo entered their bedroom, they gazed at the small, cramped bed they were given. For the room, it seemed completely out of place. Narrowing his eyes, Kyo snarled. Tohru squeaked.

How exactly was this going to work again?