Undeniable Attraction Chapter 22: Subtlety is Key, a fruits basket fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! They really make me smile, each and every one of them.

Song: Knockin' by Freddie Stroma (From the movie: "A Cinderella Story - Once Upon a Song")

Chapter 22: Subtlety is Key

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, peeking through the curtains from the side at the growing crowd before closing them and turning to face Yuki again.

"Are you serious? You're supposed to be giving me strength not making me doubt myself? Come on, we're doing it. After this afternoon, with you breaking up with Nidou in the corridor, it's not like we exactly have a choice in the matter anyway."

"Ya... not exactly what we planned but I couldn't do it for any longer than I did. Did I really deserve the punch-slap though?" I asked, pouting at Yuki in an attempt to get him to show me a little sympathy.

He laughed good-naturedly all while cooing and brought his hand up to caress the bruising cheek.

"My poor baby, does it hurt?"

A shrugged nonchalantly, still playing the game with him, "A little."

Yuki shook his head minutely before leaning up and gently kissing the red mark. After a couple more kisses and a few playful licks, he landed back on the heels of his feet, staring up at me with a small smile on his lips.

"Any better?"

"Hmm, just a bit. Maybe one more time would do the trick."

"I'm sure it would." He agreed and leaned up for another round but turning my face, just in time, I managed to catch his lips with mine instead.

He moaned delightfully into the kiss, his arms winding around my neck. In response, my right hand moved along the side of his body to settle in the middle of his lower back and I reeled him in closer, my other hand settling on the side of his neck with my thumb resting on his cheek.

"Oh, come on! Save it for the stage!"

Yuki's hands slid from my shoulders at Sou's voice, his head burying in my chest in what seemed to be an effort to get away from Sou who seemed to be approaching us quite rapidly.

"Make him go away." He groaned into my shirt.

"I doubt anyone has or ever will have that hold over Sou." I murmured back before mustering up the rest of my enthusiasm to greet Sou which really wasn't much.

"Why do you guys look so down? You should be celebrating! Soon enough everyone will know about you two and you'll be able to be a real couple. Chin up!"

Sou patted us both on the back before making his way to the other side of the stage to where Aki and Seiji were.

"Okay, I'm just going to come out and say this... I don't want to do it."

Yuki stepped away from me with a confused smile on his face.

"Sorry. I thought I just heard you say that you don't want to do this."

I shook my head, "You heard me."

"You don't want to do it? What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" I responded, "I just... Not like this."

"What do you have in mind then, Kyo? We planned this out! You can't just change your mind at the last minute." Yuki seemed to be contemplating before he shook his head, "I can't live with us being a lie anymore. I know I was the one who didn't want people finding out about our relationship at first but I'm over worrying about what people think. I just want to be with you. Hiding that feeling just hurts too much. First with Mimi-"

"That wasn't my idea!" I interrupted but Yuki continued as if I hadn't said a word.

"And then Nidou. I can't do it again."

I grabbed Yuki's upper arms when he tried to move away, hurt apparent in his eyes.

"I don't want to make a big scene about it, okay? I adore you. That's not going to change... but why do we have to make such a huge spectacle of it? I'm okay with PDA but this is just too much. I mean, my uncle's in that crowd along with a whole bunch of sponsors. I don't want to think about what this may do to his and the school's reputation either."

"We shouldn't have to hide who we are," Yuki argued, "Are you insinuating that seeing two guys make-out on stage would be enough to make the sponsors run? Because then I don't care. Fuck them. A guy and girl can kiss but we can't? What are you? Ashamed?"

"No! That just came out wrong." I sighed, irritated at myself for not getting this out right. "I just... I want to be able to go to my uncle and tell him that I've found someone who means the world to me. I don't want him finding out with all of these people who mean absolutely nothing to us. Most of these people aren't our friends, heck, I don't even know most of them. Why can't we just let our relationship be?"

"Let our relationship be? So... what if we're walking home together and I want to hold your hand?"

I scoffed, "Is this some sort of trick question? Of course you can. Why wouldn't you? I have, like, the manliest hands ever."

I watched as Yuki's lips twitched in partial amusement but he hid it as he asked the next question, "And if someone questioned me about our relationship, I answer with..."

"Boyfriends. At least that's what I'll be saying."

Yuki smiled widely, licking his lips his lips in the process.

"Fine. As long as we don't have to hide I'm all good."

I breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

We stood in silence for a few seconds before Yuki leaned into my embrace once more.

"You know... I adore you too."

A smirk made its way to my lips as I practically snuggled his head, "Of course you do."

I felt Yuki snort against my t-shirt before he pulled away and motioned toward the centre of the stage.

"I've got to go. I'll see you in the crowd?"

"Yip. Good luck, Nezumi." I leaned down to place a chaste kiss on his lips before making my way off the stage and into the hall, taking my seat next to Kazuki.

I closed the folder holding the notices and looked over the audience as silence continued, their faces slowly morphing into ones of confusion.

"As a last announcement, a surprise has been scheduled for you today."

Silence continued throughout the hall as the curtains slowly started opening, the entire crowd (minus a selected few) probably wondering what the surprise could be.

"Hi everybody!" Sou shouted as the curtains opened fully and the rest of the band walked onto the stage. I sighed at his enthusiasm but couldn't help the smile from forming on my face as I walked over to the main mic in the centre of the stage.

I'd alerted everyone that we weren't doing the flashy coming-out thing anymore but Sou still seemed to carry the same amount of energy he'd had when he'd thought otherwise.

Everyone in the crowd seemed excited about it all. It really had been a while since we'd had a fun assembly at Kaibara.

"We're Perdi." I said into the mic, waiting as the crowd cheered before continuing, "This song was written by our very own Sano Sou. We hope you all enjoy."

I nodded toward Aki as he started the beat, Sou and Seiji joining shortly after on their guitars.

Tapping my foot to the beat, I waited for my queue before starting.

"I'm lost in a world that rattles my brain,
I'm cleaning up my life from the mess you made,
Oh oh, whoa o-oh oh
My soul's in debt but my bills are paid
I'd give anything just to make an escape
O-oh oh, Whoa o-oh oh"

I smiled as I scanned the crowd and made eye-contact with Mimi. She was nodding her head to the beat and singing along, having heard it while we were practicing at the house. She hadn't been able to get it out of her head for the past week.

"So you can keep knockin', knockin', knockin'
Baby you're knockin'
But there ain't no way I'm ever letting you in
Not again
So keep on knockin', knockin', knockin'
But baby you're better off walking
'Cause I ain't gonna let you in
Never again"

Sou had chimed in in the chorus and we both smiled at each other as we sang the high notes, memories flashing of us fooling around with them and going out of tune on purpose during rehearsals just to annoy Seiji when he was getting too "anal" on us.

"I went out on a limb again
I guess I had to lose to win
I was too confused to know which way to turn
And she could be a millionaire
Be a model I don't care
'Cause baby there's nobody home
Nobody's home, yeah"

The crowd cheered at that, clapping vigorously and whistling. I couldn't stop as a small laugh made its way across the mic before I sang the chorus with Sou again.

The beat faded out and Mimi was the first one out of her chair, clapping enthusiastically as she 'whoop'ed loudly, her friends standing up to join her as well as Kazuki who was whistling the loudest in the crowd. Kyo sat next to him, smiling as he looked at me and applauded.

"Thanks for that generous applause. This next one's..."

After a few more songs the entire band watched as the curtains closed before sighing in relief and turning to each other to exchange words of praise for making things work on such short notice. I'd made my way through the crowd a few minutes ago under the pretense of going to the bathroom. Not that anyone would notice if I were gone or not anyway. Everyone seemed so enamoured with the band and pride soared through me that I knew one of those members in ways that most of the school's population could only dream of. I felt a bit of pity too, that most people wouldn't truly understand the wonder that was Yuki but so long as I knew about that part of him myself then it really didn't matter to me whether other people did too. It was rather refreshing knowing that I was one of a selected few.

I watched as Yuki hugged the guys before looking around. Finally making eye contact with him I waved him over, kissing him softly once he was in front of me.

"What was that for?"

"You were brilliant out there."

"Thanks." Yuki murmured, blushing slightly.

I snorted softly, wondering why the hell something like that would make him blush in the first place. He really didn't understand how talented he was.

"Come on," I said, holding my hand out for his.

Yuki smiled briefly before taking my hand. Sou made his way over to us and the three of us waved to Seiji and Aki before making our way to class.

Once we were out of the hall Sou finally broke the silence, "So what are you guys going to do now? You thought of where you're going to do your big coming out yet?"

Yuki looked at me with the a little less curiosity than Sou and I shook my head at them, "You know, when other people become a couple they don't announce it in front of the world. They tell those that matter and then the rest of the world find out through their changed actions toward each other. Why should we be any different, right? Now that we don't care whether people know or not, I'm planning to act just like anyone else would."

Sou raised an eyebrow before smirking and nodding his head, "Okay cool. Just know that I'm behind you guys 100%. Well not... behind per say but rath-"

"Sou?" Yuki interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Right."

Sou suddenly slung his arm around Yuki's neck as we rounded the corner to the start of the classrooms. Yuki attempted to pull his hand from mine but I tightened my hold, purposely not making eye contact with him.

"Who else are you guys going to tell?" Sou asked both of us.

Yuki, momentarily halted from questioning my actions, turned to Sou, "No one for me, really. I mean, you guys all know. The only people that I would need to tell would be my family but of course they know already too."

Sou nodded in understanding before turning his inquiring gaze my way.

I shrugged nonchalantly, "Besides my uncle, my dad."

Yuki's gaze turned to me instantly, "Your... dad?"

"Yes, Yuki, I have a father."

"Yes, I know that! You're going to tell him? When?"

"I'm not sure. This is usually something you tell your family in person but, well, he's not here, is he? He's not due back for another month so I guess I'll just call him."

"What, er, what if he doesn't like me?"

"How could he not? You make me happy and that should be the only thing on his mind."

"You seem very chilled about all of this. Sometimes parents don't act all nonchalant about finding out their son's gay."

"My dad will understand. Don't worry."

Sou burst in just as Yuki was going to say something, "How could he not worry? You telling him that is just going to drive him insane."

We finally reached our classroom's corridor, unaware of the murmurs that we following us around.

"Relax. I'll handle my dad. You've got nothing to fear, you're taking this way too seriously."

Yuki shook his head before taking a deep breath, unconsciously twining his fingers with Kyo's for extra comfort.

"You're right. You're right. I'll just relax and let you handle everything. How would I know how to handle your dad anyway, right?"

"Right." I said, leaning against Yuki a bit and kissing his left temple.

Our peaceful and comfortable moment was broken by one of our classmates.

"Yo, Kyo. Never knew you and the Prince were that close. Keep holding his hand and soon enough everyone will think you guys are dating."

I felt Yuki stiffen next to me and I noticed Sou's hand tightening on Yuki's shoulder before I managed to speak up, "Well, I'll put you out of your misery and say that you can stop thinking."

The guy laughed, confusion evident.

"What?"

"I said, you can stop thinking. Yuki and I are dating."

The classroom went silent at the confession, most of their eyes wide as saucers. Even Yuki and Sou were staring at me in shock.

"What? I'm just telling them the truth."

The silence continued until a snicker was heard.

"Way better than coming out at the assembly, dude." Came Sou's voice, accompanied by a bout of laughter. I met Sou's hand above Yuki's head, fist-bumping him in appreciation.

"I thought so."

Yuki seemed to snap out of his frozen state and he shoved me hard on the chest with the hand that wasn't holding mine.

"A head's up next time would be nice!"

We made our way to our seats, chatting as if it were just another day as the rest of the class took their seats too, in complete silence.

Ours were the only voices to be heard that morning in the classroom. Nothing could've prepared us for lunch.

"I was approached by 32 girls and 9 guys about whether the rumours were true today."

"Wow, Mimi, nice to know you've been keeping track." I drawled back, sarcastically.

I had had some duties to attend to that day after school so Kyo decided that he would take the opportunity to talk to his uncle about our relationship. We hadn't gotten a chance to speak about it yet and I was eagerly anticipating finding out about what was said between uncle and nephew. The moment we entered the living room Kyo had dropped down onto the couch, arms stretched beside him on either side as he sighed loudly, his head moving to rest on the back of the couch. I had taken a seat next to him, curling my feet under me and resting my head on his shoulder. A few minutes later, before I could question Kyo properly, Mimi had walked down and started speaking to us. Right now I was sincerely hoping that she'd get the hint to leave us alone just so I could snuggle with my man and pester him for information. No such luck though.

"I had to resort to avoiding people on my way home after school. How did this become my problem?"

From his spot on the couch, Kyo finally spoke up, "Sorry about all of this, Mimi. I feel like it's partially my fault."

"It's no one's fault. Those idiots just need to learn to have some control over their curiosity. It's none of their business. I didn't even know most of the people that tried to approach me."

"So ignore them. That's what the rest of us did today anyway."

"You never told me that people approached you, Yuki-nii." Mimi asked, a slight bit of insult appearing on her face.

"When would I have told you? I just got home, silly. Regardless, there's nothing to tell. No one came up to me today but during lunch, I swear, every single pair of eyes were on us. Especially considering that that bitch Nidou sent out the photos. Some even had the audacity to speak out loud about it to each other. Now Kyo's being labelled as a player that dated you, Nidou and, now, me and it's not even term break yet."

"Oh gosh... really? What are you going to do about it? Also, what cowards, if you're going to have the nerve to speak about someone when looking in their direction at least say it to their face."

"Right?" I questioned rhetorically, "Well, anyway, Kyo got all tense and left the table and then I left after him which ended up in a whole bunch of people secretly following us to see what was up."

"It's not my fault! Those idiots kept on talking about it as if we were trying to hide it the entire time. They were just assuming things and starting more rumours. I just wanted to eat in peace, is that too much to ask for?"

I sighed and rubbed my nose in the crook of Kyo's neck in a gesture of comfort, linking my right hand with his left. "It's perfectly okay. I'm sure it'll die down soon. Thanks to you leaving so suddenly though, both of us didn't really eat much."

"How about I fix you guys something to eat?" Mimi asked suddenly and I looked up at her appreciatively, "That way, Yuki-nii can finally pester you, Kyon. He's been vibrating with curiosity since you guys walked in."

I narrowed my gaze at her, "And how would you know that?"

Mimi scoffed and stood up from her seat on the table in front of us.

"Oh, my dear Yuki-nii. You may not have known me for all your life but I've known you for all of mine. You're not that difficult to figure out, no matter how much you'd like to deny it."

And with that she swiftly walked out of the living room and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen. I listened as Mimi got busy before turning back to a smiling Kyo.

"What's with that look? Creepy."

Kyo snorted, "Shut up. It's just... really good to be back here like this. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it. This easy and comfortable environment."

I smiled softly before moving my leg over Kyo's body to straddle him.

"Oh my... what's this?" Kyo said, smirking.

"Just thought I'd get some of the stress out of your body."

"Mm-hmm? And how're you going to do that?"

"Hasn't anyone told you? I've perfected the technique for releasing stress and producing pleasure."

Before I knew it Kyo grabbed my wrist and pulled me down hastily, his hand making its way to the side of my neck as he pressed a hard kiss to my lips. I moaned at the contact and pulled at my captured hand, winding my arms around Kyo's shoulders once my arm was free.

Breaking apart for air, I rested my forehead against Kyo's, breathing in deeply and threading my fingers through his hair.

"I'm pretty sure that that formed part of the technique you were talking about."

I chuckled and pecked Kyo on the lips, "It sure did."

"In that case, I better not be hearing about it from anyone else, Nezumi."

Smirking as Kyo pulled me closer, I muttered a 'Yes, Sir' as Kyo and I resumed what we were doing before we'd pulled apart.

To be continued.

A/N: Sorry about not having the big flashy 'outing' but I'd plan to have the more subtle approach since the beginning and I really couldn't see it being any other way. Hope it still sat well with you all.

I wanted to write more but I thought to leave it here and carry on the rest in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading, my peoples :) Very much appreciated. I know I've been taking quite long so thanks to all who are still reading. You guys are amazing. Seriously. Please review to let me know what you think!