Title: Million Little Pieces
Author: Keir
Rating: R overall, for swearing, violence, and sexual situations
The Gist of Things: Haru's feelings are already known to Kyou, but now Yuki is making his known as well. What's a poor kitty cat to do?
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to orl-chan for saying I should update immediately. XD Is this immediate enough for you? -tease- Thank you also to everyone else who reviews; you guys make my day! Not to mention make my dog stare at me as I giggle insanely.
italics - thought
Kyou toed off his shoes in irritation, throwing his backpack on the floor. Yuki followed him inside, calling out, "We're home!"
Tohru's face appeared around the corner with a smile. "Welcome back! Oh, Haru! I didn't realize you were coming over. Are you staying for dinner?"
"Yes," the ox answered before the others could object.
Tohru's head disappeared for a moment and then came back around the corner abruptly. "Oh, would you like to stay the night?" she exclaimed. "Shigure just went out to rent that new movie I wanted to watch. It's not a school night, so we could stay up and watch it together!"
Hatsuharu smiled. "I'd love to, Tohru." His gaze shifted to Yuki, who scowled at him. Kyou was glad he'd put a lock on his door. The cat made some excuse about helping Tohru cook dinner and escaped into the kitchen. The ox stuffed his hands into his pockets and excused himself to call Hatori and let him know he was staying the night.
Yuki took his school bag upstairs to hurriedly change. When he came back down he noticed Hatsuharu was not at the wall phone. He walked into the kitchen and immediately felt his fists clench. The ox was trying to act innocent as he leaned over Kyou to watch the other boy cook, his arms braced against the counter, effectively trapping him. He cleared his throat; Kyou jumped guiltily.
"Aren't you supposed to be calling Hatori?"
"Ah, Yuki. I was just watching Kyou's cooking technique," Hatsuharu said with a neutral face, not budging an inch. "I left a message for Hatori. I see you changed; it would be nice to get out of these school clothes. Maybe Kyou could lend me some of his."
"Yuki is more your size now, Haru," Tohru cut in happily, dumping some chopped vegetables into a pot from a cutting board. "Why don't you borrow some of his?"
"Yes, I could lend you some of mine," Yuki grit out.
"Aa, Yuki's tall like me, but my shoulders are wider, like Kyou's. Yuki's shirts would be too tight."
"Oh. I'm sure Kyou-kun wouldn't mind then." Tohru smiled.
Kyou tensed, worried that the ox would insist he go up to the bedroom with him, and then Yuki would insist, and then he would end up in an awkward situation with the two in his own bedroom, but the ox had other plans. Hatsuharu took his hands from the counter and stuffed them into his pockets with a bored expression. "Don't worry about getting them, I'll just go up and change." Then he wandered out past Yuki.
"Is there anything you need, Tohru? Something I can help with?" the grey-haired boy asked.
"Oh, no, we're fine, Yuki-kun! Why don't you go have a seat? Dinner is almost ready! I hope we'll have enough with Haru-kun here..." she fretted.
Yuki left the kitchen but instead of sitting at the formal table, he glanced upstairs. Against his better judgment he went up to Kyou's room. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. "Oh, Yuki, it's you. I was just about to change." The ox blinked owlishly at him to appear more harmless. The rat said nothing so the younger cousin shrugged and pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it carelessly on the bed. He pulled on one of Kyou's plain white shirts, adjusting his necklaces. "A little small, ne?" The t-shirt fit him at the shoulders as he had suggested but was short at least three inches from the edge of his pants, showing his stomach. He shed himself of school slacks as well. "Much better."
"You can't walk around the house in boxers; Tohru is here," Yuki rebuked.
"Oh? Would you prefer I wore some of Kyou's pants? We both know that I can get into them." He smirked lazily.
Yuki clenched his jaw. "Fine, wear whatever you want, just pick up your clothes."
"Why?" Hatsuharu sat on Kyou's bed and leaned back. "I think I'll sleep here tonight."
"Get out!" Yuki snapped, losing his temper.
The ox stood, walking to the door and pausing beside Yuki. "You know why you won't win Kyou from me? Because you're too timid. Kyou needs someone with passion enough to match him." He strolled into the hall, smiling to himself while keeping his outward appearance bland. The way he'd been riling Kyou up with touches here and there would make him fit to explode, and when Yuki would finally start making advances as the ox had goaded him to, that explosion would be quite satisfying.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs he found Shigure sitting at the table sipping tea. "Oh, my, Haru-kun, you seem to have grown quite a bit since I last saw you yesterday. Your clothes don't seem to fit at all!" the dog teased in his indolent manner, resting his cheek in his hand.
Hatsuharu smiled and sat down as Shigure poured him a cup of tea. "Hatori didn't answer his phone so I left him a message and I'm borrowing some of Kyou's clothes." He blew on his tea and watched Yuki descend the stairs from the corner of his eye. No sooner had Yuki seated himself then Tohru came out of the kitchen with the first dish. "Dinner's ready!" she announced. Kyou came out behind her, balancing two dishes which she took from him and set on the table.
"Kyou, why don't you wear the apron I bought you?" the dog pouted.
"Bite me, old man!" Kyou snarled, sitting down unceremoniously at the opposite end of the table from the two other boys. He put his cheek in his hand, scowling.
Tohru sat herself down to his right and clapped her hands together. "Let's eat!"
Kyou immediately dished out food for himself and began shoveling it into his mouth. "Kyou, if you don't slow down you'll choke," Shigure teased.
"I'm hungry," the cat snapped defensively around a mouthful and continued eating quickly.
"So I heard from a certain someone that our Kyoukichi is going to be participating in a certain school event," Shigure said with a wide grin.
"Oh, Kyou-kun, really?" Tohru said with excitement. "The spring festival is coming up; what are you going to be doing? Are you running a booth?"
The cat grit his teeth. "I don't really want to talk about it."
"Uotani signed him up as the lead dancer in this year's presentation of So-ran Bushi since he hasn't participated in any school even this year. The dance was the only thing left that she could sign him up for," Yuki commented, secretly having the feeling that the blond "Yankee" had purposely waited till it was the last spot to fill. (1)
"You'll be so great in that, Kyou-kun!" Tohru gushed.
"Whatever!" the cat snapped, stuffing his mouth again.
"And shirtless, I'm told. All the girls will swoon before you, Kyou-kun! Ah, how I envy your position!" Shigure said dreamily.
Kyou shoved the last bit of food into his mouth, finished in half the time it took the others. He muttered, "Thank you for the food. And don't talk about that stupid dance any more!" he hissed. "I'm going to my room."
"Ah, but Kyou-kun, I thought you would watch the movie with us! Oh, but you don't have to if you don't want to..." Tohru said.
Kyou immediately felt guilty, rubbing the back of his neck. "Fine, I'll watch the movie. I have to go to the bathroom." He retreated into the restroom upstairs and splashed cool water from the faucet on his face, then he set about changing into flannel pajama pants and a worn shirt, tossing his dirty school clothes into the hamper. He leaned on the edge of the sink for five minutes trying to collect himself; when he was done he stepped outside and ran into Hatsuharu. His eyes dropped to the pale abdomen bared by the too-short shirt, then he yanked his eyes up. "You look ridiculous," he growled.
The ox said nothing, just reached up and rested his hand on Kyou's cheek and leaned down for a kiss. The cat froze at the sudden unexpected touch. He melted at the sweet simplicity of the kiss; Haru's hands weren't wandering unwanted all over his body, his tongue wasn't prying for entry. Kyou enjoyed the feeling of the ox's lips just touching his.
Hatsuharu broke the kiss, sliding his hand gently away, and stepped around the cat into the bathroom, shutting the door. Kyou stood bewildered until Tohru called his name; he wandered into the living room. "Shigure-san said he had to work late in his study," she said warmly. "I'm just going to go get into some comfy clothes, then I'll be back down." Kyou watched her leave then seated himself to Yuki's left at the end of the sofa.
Hatsuharu entered shortly after and stared at Yuki. "Move."
The rat stared back. "Why? There's a perfectly good spot next to me."
Tohru wandered in and smiled. "You can all share the couch and I'll take the beanbag chair." While she turned to put the DVD in, Hatsuharu sat down on the left end of the couch, wedging himself in so Kyou had to scoot over, in turn forcing Yuki to scoot to the right end of the sofa. Tohru jogged over to flip the light switch off, then plunked down in the chair, hitting 'play'.
Yuki sat straight, back upright while Kyou slumped down with his arms crossed. Hatsuharu leaned against the arm of the sofa, his legs tucked up off the floor where they rested on the couch. Halfway into the movie he began wiggling his toes, moving them up and down the side of Kyou's thigh. The cat twitched but didn't move, figuring it was innocent enough as the ox's face never turned and remained focused on the movie.
The rat noticed the movement and frowned, now feeling like he had to compete with the ox. His hand strayed and he rested it on Kyou's upper thigh, leaning in to press their shoulders together. The cat's eyes widened as Yuki's hand began to massage his thigh through his pajama pants. In a panic Kyou stood and announced that he was going to make popcorn, shutting down Tohru's offer to pause the movie.
Returning, he set the bowl firmly in his lap, covering his thighs. Hatsuharu reached over, arm brushing against Kyou nonchalantly to grab some popcorn. He shot Yuki a heated look, challenging him. Not to be outdone, Yuki reached over and purposely tweaked Kyou's nipple as his hand passed by for some popcorn. The cat gasped; luckily Tohru gasped at the same time at something happening in the movie.
It went on like that during the entire film: light touches, groping fingers, even a hot whispered comment on the movie in Kyou's right ear. Hatsuharu kept pushing Yuki to new heights of flirting with his challenging looks while his own efforts stayed tame.
At the end of the movie Tohru stood and flipped on the lights, wiping faint tears from her eyes. "That was wonderful!" She grabbed the empty popcorn bowl from Kyou and took it to the kitchen, returning empty-handed. "Now where is Haru-kun sleeping tonight so I can bring out the spare futon?"
The cat and the rat both blurted out "Yuki's room" and "my room" at the same time. Hatsuharu shrugged and agreed. They all headed upstairs, Yuki helping Tohru bring out the spare bedding for the ox. Hatsuharu glanced down the hall at the other two and leaned into Kyou's room, shoulder resting on the doorframe. The orange-haired boy turned around to close his door and yelped, startled by the ox. "What do you want?" he hissed. "Shouldn't you be in bed with Yuki?"
The ox wandered in unasked and scooped up his clothes from the bed and floor. "I seem to have left my clothes in your room when I got undressed," he said smoothly, staring into Kyou's crimson eyes.
The cat blushed furiously at the implications of the ox discarding his clothes in his bedroom. Hatsuharu quirked a little smile the cat's way as he took his leave and Kyou slammed the door, locking it for the night.
(1) So-ran Bushi is a traditional Japanese dance about the harvesting of fish. The movements of it simulate hauling nets, throwing fish, etc. Here are a couple links to the dance:
All-Girl So-ran Bushi: youtube dot com /watch?v5SgqAjRSNOs&featurerelated
All-Boy So-ran Bushi: youtube dot com /watch?v2d6QHtOiHr4&featurerelated
The all-girls is easier to see all the movement of, but I also thought the words of the dance were clearer and more forceful when the men performed. If you ever have the chance to see this dance live, GO SEE IT! It's great in-person! I've been obsessed with making Kyou do it for ages. X3
A/N: hehe, poor Kyou kitty gets to dance in front of everybody. (omg, orl, I was terrified when you had guessed it right XD you mind-reader!) What shall happen in the night as Haru sleeps over? muhahaha...