Haru had wished that the date was more of a date than just two buddies hanging out, but he had been the one to call it a semi-preliminary-try outs date. When they were done, Kyou had walked him back to the street that held the main house before waving a goodbye and heading home himself, Hoodoo scampering up to ginger haired youth with a loud cry to be carried. The ox couldn't move his body until Kyou was out of sight. He felt... at a loss. Kyou had never been to a movie theater before, seeing him timid as they entered the large building set something deep with in Hatsuharu. A part of him laughed in the darkness that seeded the recesses of his soul. It pointed out that he knew nothing about the cat and here he was already trying to pressure him into becoming more than just friends. The twisting snake of unsettlement writhed in his gut. He had known Kyou longer than he had known Yuki, he had far many more years of association and friendship with the redhead before he even heard of Rin. Yet here he was, standing among the empty street in the warm sun with the realization that he never asked about his friend's likes and dislikes. Never once had he tried to make that small step to get closer.
He made the small walk home, with a continuous question plaguing his mind. Why had he never tried?
"Haru?"
Gray eyes looked up to see the slender horse standing outside the door to his house. Her mini-skirt seemed smaller than normal, high boots showing off slender legs as her a strip of cloth that could barely be called a blouse clung onto her torso. He looked away as he dug his hand into his pocket for his house key.
"What's up?" He honestly just wanted to think, to try and understand what was wrong with him. Having a 'friendly chit-chat' was most likely going to set him into a very irritated mood for hours on end if he was not granted the little freedom of actually being able to think.
"Just wanted to talk but you've been gone for a while," she ran her slender fingers down her long hair idly as he opened his door. "But you seem bothered, want to talk about it?"
"No," he stopped and looked at her. "I'd prefer to figure this one out on my own."
"But talking it over with someone else could help line things up. You sure?"
"I said I want to do this on my own!" He snapped slamming the door behind him.
This was bothering him more than he originally thought. He quickly locked the door, he stood there anger heating his head. why was he so mad? why couldn't he figure this out? His breath started to come in short puffs, the sound of Kyou crying earlier that day rung in his ears. The ox grabbed his school bag and threw it as hard as he could. The item collided with the small end-table the telephone was set upon, knocking it over with the clatter of wood and the clang of the bell inside the device. He angrily took off his boots and threw them as he did his bag. The thick heeled foot wear soared through the air one causing a small dent in the wall and the other finding its mark breaking the glass frame of a family portrait nestled on the wall. Storming up to his room he couldn't get the sound out of his head, couldn't stop seeing the fragile cat beneath that mask of independence and furry.
He was angry, angry with himself, furious that he had no idea he was hurting so bad, livid that he had been by his side all this time and never saw once how much Kyou had screamed and called out for help.
Haru paced in his room trying to calm down, to think rationally. This wasn't working. He needed to hit something, work out his furry. He nearly broke his door charging out of his room and down the stairs. Ignoring his boots, he slipped on some tennis shoes that he never thought he would ever wear. His fingers pulled on the cuff of his coat sleeve as he quickly left his home, barely remembering to lock the door behind him. He didn't pause when he passed by Rin who was still by his front door. She scuttled after him.
"Haru where are you going?"
"To find Kyou!" He snapped venomously.
-----------------
"Kyou-kun," Tohru's voice was on the other side of his freshly installed door.
The cat barely made a sound loud enough for her to hear as he occupied himself with tossing a wadded ball of paper he had attached to the end of a bit of string for Hoodoo to play with. He felt so stupid, he had never been to a movie theater before and he nearly hid in Haru's coat when a group of females passed by. He gave a heavy sigh, he felt so pathetic of being so needy for attention. Men were never meant to do such things, let alone be attracted to their same sex. Or at least that's what his mother would have said, she had been so set on him becoming her ideal vision of a man and beat it into him so early in his life. But even back then, when he first saw Hatsuharu...
-"What's your name?" Gray eyes widened as he nearly circled the cat with small steps.
Kyou was imitating the movements, being sheltered like he had he had never seen someone else with odd hair and eyes before. He was silent as he reached forward and took a leaf from white hair that was a result from the boy wandering around in the bushes. He quickly pulled back, giving an odd face that clearly stated that he was shocked at what he had done and he was expecting to be punished for it.
Haru only smiled brightly, "You're cute."-
The cat gave small grunt when Hoodoo decided he wanted to just run around in aimless zig-zags around the floor. The door to his room slowly cracked open as his timid housemate was still wondering about admittance.
"Kyou-kun, can I come in?"
"Sure," the redhead didn't bother moving from his spot on the floor.
The brunet softly padded in, kneeling down beside him, "I'm sorry about today."
"You had fun didn't you?"
"Yes, I mean, I shouldn't have! You were having a moment and I ruined it I'm sorry and-"
"Wait," he sat up looking at her. "'having a moment'? It was just a nose bleed."
"You're nose was bleeding? O-oh! What if you are getting sick again, I should call Hatori-san," the girl panicked jumping up to her feet.
Kyou grabbed her arm and pulled her back down, she fell into silence as his grip on her wrist loosened and he rested his head on her knees, barely on her lap. He closed his eyes, he was confused as to what to do. He still hurt inside, he now had new fears that ran through his head telling him that Haru might be using him, the ox could easily find someone better and leave him in the dark once more. He needed the stability that Tohru's presence provided.
"I'm okay, I just... need to think."
She smiled and slowly stroked his hair with one hand, the other resting on his shoulder, "What do you need to think about?"
"If..." he cut himself off, it would sound weird if he told her but then again this was Tohru, she was understanding. "If I... really deserve Haru."
Out side the bedroom door a particular rat was watching through the crack of the door. He could hear their conversation as he stood about. It was an accident to come to seeing this, he had been heading for his room to do homework when he heard his girlfriend exclaiming about calling the family doctor once more. After Kyou's last statement the onigiri remained quiet, silently willing the pain from her friend.
Yuki turned around and silently went down stairs. He slipped on his shoes and opened the front door.
"Aa, Yuki where you going?" Shigure looked back from his newspaper.
"Just out for a little bit, I'll be back shortly," he swiftly left the house.
He had made fun of Kyou a lot, insulted him, put him down, bested him with all of his abilities trying his hardest to make the cat understand he was beneath him. But when he heard that, the usually confident redhead wavering, wondering if he was actually worthy of the ox that had pursued him since his early years, something started to move with in. He had to find Hatsuharu and talk to him, make sure all of this was not fun and games. Yes, it was entertaining to watch them interact with each other but when someone started to truly hurt then that was no longer funny.
The gray haired youth stopped outside the drive way, his eyes locking with the gaze of the one he was looking for.
"Haru," he stood his ground even though the ox looked extremely angry. "I need to talk to you."
"I have no time for you," the ox spoke as if it was common knowledge, he was still very pissed off and it didn't help when Rin screamed at him about how dirty and worthless the cat was after he announced he was going to see his beloved.
"It's about Kyou, I think you can spare a few minutes," purple eyes narrowed.
To Be Continued...