A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. Now that school's out, I wake up an hour earlier and start doing chores. I literally have five minutes to write once I get the computer booted up and everything. You'd think I'd have more time to write with summer vacation but I haven't had one restful day since. Thanks to all my faithful reviewers. And once again, I am SO sorry for the wait.
Disclaimer: If I owned it, would I be writing this?
Kyo stared at the ceiling of his room. The rain had stopped and he now knew the awkward scene with Yuki had really been a dream. He had his answer, so why wasn't he satisfied? Yuki still hated him so the world was exactly the same as he remembered it. Only, that world hadn't really been so great.
As Kyo tried to occupy his time in bed, he couldn't help but think about how nice it was to wake up next to Yuki. Well, before the shock had settled in and they had yelled at each other of course. But right before that when he was comfortably settled on top of him without knowing it and how warm Yuki's body was…
Kyo snapped himself out of these thoughts for the fifth time. Having nothing to lay there and think was obviously not good for him. But there really wasn't much he could do when restricted in bed. That's when Kyo had another thought. Who was forcing him to stay in bed anyway? He had gotten up before, granted that hadn't up so well. But still, it was only Hatori's words that kept him here. Yuki was the only one here to enforce that rule and the rat obviously didn't care too much about what he did.
So Kyo got up, changed out of his pajamas and headed downstairs. Yuki was sitting on the sofa, presumably doing his homework but Kyo didn't get close enough to check. He walked around feeling full of energy after he had spent so much time in bed. He still felt a little sick to his stomach but Kyo needed fresh air.
Kyo thought Yuki hadn't even noticed his presence but as soon as he reached for the door, Yuki spoke up.
"Where do you think your going?" Yuki didn't even look up fro his papers.
"Since when do I need to check in with you before going anywhere?" Kyo continued to slide the door open.
"Since you decided to get sick and cause this whole situation," Yuki set aside his papers and started to get up. Kyo took one step out of the door and Yuki was immediately at Kyo's side, tugging him back indoors.
Kyo twisted free from Yuki's grip and bolted toward the door. Yuki reacted quickly but without much thought. He yanked Kyo forcefully and Kyo tumbled onto the rat. They both ended up on the floor in a very awkward position to be caught in.
So of course, someone walked in. Actually, two someones.
"Oh, look at that!" Ayame grinned. "My baby brother has finally learned to get along with Kyon-kichi." Shigure was to busy laughing to respond. Kyo growled at his nickname but Ayame rushed on to say more.
"But you know, you two," Ayame frowned, "you really shouldn't be doing that on the floor." Yuki turned pink and shoved Kyo away.
"Great," Yuki muttered. Then to Ayame and Shigure he said, "Since you guys are home, I'll let you watch over the idiot cat. I'm going out."
"Oh, but I think Kyo would much rather have you look after him," Shigure snickered. "We wouldn't want to get in the way of a beautiful bonding experience!" Shigure and Ayame giggled hysterically.
"Nothing happened," Yuki's mood darkened severely. Of course what really happened made no difference to the immature adults and they left the room discussing who would be the girl and walk down the aisle at the wedding.
"Stupid cat," Yuki cursed.
"How the hell is this my fault?" Kyo shouted at the damn nezumi.
"If you hadn't insisted on going outside," Yuki explained, "we wouldn't have ended up like that. Now I'm stuck in the same house as my idiotic brother and I still have to look after you!"
"You don't have to look after me. I can take care of myself!" Kyo retorted.
"Obviously," Yuki rolled his eyes. "Just get back into bed."
"Why the hell should I do that? I said I'm going outside!" Yuki was getting ready to tackle the stupid cat, drag him upstairs, and tie Kyo to his bed. Before Yuki could go through with this plan, Ayame popped in the doorway once more.
"By the way, Kyon-kichi," Ayame bubbled. "I can give you a great discount on your wedding dress."
"What? Why am I the girl?" Kyo yelled, focusing more on that than the overall big insult. "The rat is the one that looks all girly!"
"Yes, but with that temper and those complaints, you're perfect as the whiny girlfriend," Ayame explained. Before Kyo could argue his point further, Yuki grabbed Kyo's arm and yanked him outside.
"What the hell was that for?" Kyo turned on Yuki.
"You wanted to go outside and I wanted to escape from those morons. You got what you wanted so SHUT-UP!" Yuki roared. Kyo opened his mouth, most likely to make some rude comments, but seemed to think better of it and closed it so that he was silently stumbling behind Yuki who still had a death grip on his arm.
Yuki led Kyo into the woods of the Sohma property in a completely random pattern. At one point Yuki seemed to be heading toward his secret base, only to suddenly whip around and head off into another direction. Kyo tried to remain silent until they reached whatever destination Yuki had planned but he had never intended on walking around this much. His lungs felt like they were about to collapse and his vision began to jumble everything together. He tripped and lagged behind Yuki who only quickened his pace and tugged roughly on Kyo's arm. Finally, Kyo could take it no more.
"Yuki, stop," Kyo gasped. The rat turned and suddenly remembered how sick Kyo had been. Kyo had seemed to be better but a trek through the woods didn't help matters. Kyo hunched over, panting. Yuki knelt beside the cat and gently guided Kyo to sit on the ground so he could catch his breath easier. Kyo gave in to Yuki's touch and subconsciously ended up leaning toward Yuki. When Kyo did hit the ground, his head inconspicuously found its way onto Yuki's shoulder. By instinct more than an actual thought, Yuki wrapped his arm around Kyo's waist and pulled him closer so that he was halfway perched on his lap.
A smile hinted on Kyo's face and as he sighed, a purr broke through.
"What was that?" Yuki sounded annoyed but in all actuality, he was grinning madly at the cute noise Kyo had emitted. Kyo swallowed down any remnants of a purr and coughed to both cover up his embarrassment and to try and convince Yuki that he had just had a tickle in his throat.
"Just had something caught in my throat," Kyo coughed once more, pulling away from Yuki. Yuki smiled even more at Kyo's blushing figure but at the same time seemed to frown at the lose of contact with the warm kitten.
"Are you ready to go back?" Yuki asked. Kyo's breathing seemed to be better and it was probably best to get Kyo home as soon as possible.
"Not with those two idiots still there," Kyo muttered. Yuki silently agreed but at the same time, he knew it couldn't be avoided. Chances were, Ayame was going to stay there until he could say good-bye to Yuki. Still, why shouldn't he take these moments to relax with Kyo and enjoy the peace of not fighting with him.
"Alright, we'll stay here a little longer," Yuki conceded. Kyo merely nodded in confirmation that he had heard and ended up lying down and staring at the little bits of sky he could see through the treetops. He let his mind drift away and he was so content that he didn't even try to stop it when nice thoughts about a certain rat began to unfold. It began with the thought, "Yuki is nice to be around when he isn't acting like a jerk." But later on these thoughts wondered deeper into forbidden territory. What if I just sat up and kissed Yuki straight on the lips? Kyo found himself bolting up right then, not to kiss Yuki but to shake those horrible ideas away.
Meanwhile, on Yuki's end of the thought train, he was trying to avoid thinking about anything. "The best way to deal with this situation and my current emotions," Yuki thought to himself, "is to clear my head completely." But of course Yuki's attention centered on the other being beside him. The more Yuki tried to kick him out of his thoughts, the more permanent a resident the cat became. Yuki finally relented to his persistent mind and figured he might as well try to use this time to figure out his feelings for the cat.
So my heart seems to beat louder when he's around me. My breath comes to me in shorter gasps at the sight of him. I long to touch his face, run my fingers through his hair, and kiss him. Yes, definitely kiss him. Yuki had thought the feelings of compassion were only temporary, and by kissing Kyo the feelings would go away. However, it only enhanced his desire to do so. Sitting here with Kyo was doing nothing to help control these urges. He wanted o bolt away and leave the cat to find his own way home. But at the same time, it was nice for Yuki to sit in silence and enjoy Kyo's company. He glanced over at his fiery haired companion and noticed the cat's distant expression. Kyo suddenly bolted upright which made Yuki avert his gaze. What was Kyo thinking about that made him do that? Had perhaps Kyo noticed me staring a him? It had only been for a few seconds, that was innocent enough, right?
Yuki casually looked over at Kyo as if he had just remembered that the cat was there
"Something the matter, Kyo?" he kept his voice as indifferent as he could manage, which turned out to be very convincing. Kyo on the other hand, couldn't manage such a feat.
"N-no," Kyo stammered, his face turning red. "I just-uh-think that we should probably be going back now."
"Of course," Yuki nodded and helped Kyo to his feet. Yuki tried to come up with something negative to say about Kyo but his mind drew a blank. That stupid cat was taking over all of his senses. Damn cat!
"What I'd do this time?" Kyo snarled, making Yuki realize he'd said that last part aloud.
"You're still breathing, aren't you?" Yuki quipped. Kyo huffed but refused to carry his pointless argument further.
Why isn't he fighting back? Yuki's mind reeled. Normally the cat would take any bait if it meant picking a fight with me. Of course, Kyo was still recovering, but he seemed to be doing fine. And the least the cat could do is yell at me for harassing him. Is he trying to annoy me? What is he up to?
Meanwhile, Kyo was just trying to get that horrid thought out of his head. What if I just sat up and kissed Yuki straight on the lips? Why had he thought that? Kyo held no romantic feelings for Yuki so why would he fantasize about kissing him? Because being truthful, the thought hadn't just crossed is mind in words. He could see himself doing, just reaching out to the male beside him and…
What was wrong with him? He must be developing a fever. It was a good thing Hatori was coming over tomorrow and checking on him. Maybe his sickness had turned into some raging, delusional virus that was responsible for sending people to mental hospitals. That was possible, right? Because there was no way that Kyo would kiss Yuki in real life. But maybe, if I did, I might be able to put these crazy thoughts to rest. No! No way am I going to go through with that!…not unless I'm absolutely desperate…and I am pretty desperate. Kyo decided to wait and see what Hatori said. If it turned out Kyo was not having some suicidal virus taking over his thoughts, Kyo could always just leave. He could go up into the mountains, again. But come to think of it. He only had these thoughts after he got sick and Yuki was being nice to him. So once he was better, Yuki would be mean again and Kyo could forget his temporary insanity. Yes, that was the perfect plan. Just concentrate on getting better. He glanced over at Yuki one more time before they both stepped into the house.
"You should have seen it, Tohru! They were just so cute!" Ayame squealed as he, Shigure, Torhu, and Yuki all sat down to eat.
Kyo was so lucky, Yuki thought. He gets to be served his dinner up in his room while I have to stay down here and listen to my maniac of a brother goes on and on about Kyo's and my supposed romance.
"They were curled up under one blanket watching a movie," Ayame continued.
"We were not!" Yuki yelled and proceeded by hitting Ayame on the back of his head. Tohru just sat quietly, trying to figure out what Ayame had really seen.
"I'm telling you, they are the PERFECT COUPLE!" Ayame sang.
"SHUT-UP!" Yuki finally lost all control of his temper. He stood up and knocked over the table. Suddenly realizing he had ruined all of Miss Honda's hard work on their dinner, Yuki immediately tried to make amends.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Honda. It isn't like me to loose my head like that. Please forgive me." Tohru, of course, hurried to clean up the mess so Yuki didn't have to and said it was nothing to worry about.
"So," Shigure finally stepped in, "have you two kissed yet?" Yuki stopped cleaning up the mess to give Shigure a death glare and quickly left the room before he actually went through with one of the several murderous scenarios he thought up. A few minutes later, long enough for Tohru to finish clenaing up, Tohru chased after Yuki. Yuki let her catch up and they seated themselves on the porch.
"They were just joking," Tohru tried to calm him down. "I know nothing is going on between you guys. The idea of you kissing Kyo is ridiculous!" Tohru laughed as if to prove her point but Yuki merely tensed beside her.
"Is there something else bothering you?" Tohru asked, sensing Yuki's mood was still cloudy. Yuki pondered that question, debating what was safe to tell her. Yuki knew he could trust her with anything but he still didn't want to reveal too much.
"Is it my fault," Yuki began, "that Kyo got so sick?"
"No!" Tohru was surprised. "Why would you think that?"
"When I fought him that morning, he got sick right after that."
"Hatori said Kyo must have been in bad shape before that but was hiding it," Tohru answered.
"Why would he do that? What kind of idiot is he?"
"Maybe he just didn't want us to know."
"Why?"
"Maybe he didn't want then family fussing over him and keeping him in bed like we are now."
"Why" Yuki seemed like that was the only thing he was capable of saying.
"I don't have the answer to everything," Tohru sighed. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"Like I want to hang around that stupid cat anymore than I have to," Yuki muttered more to himself than to Tohru.
"Oh, right. You spent practically the whole day with him. Thank you for taking care of him for me." Yuki sighed, still thinking about his questions.
"Look, Sohma-san," Tohru tried once more, "I know you don't like Kyo, but if this is bugging you this much, maybe you should talk to him. I can't give you the answers to this. I wish I could help you. I really do."
"You're right," Yuki nodded. "Thanks Miss Honda."
"Anytime," Tohru responded, thinking that maybe Yuki and Kyo would talk and sort out all their differences. Yuki had no intention of confronting Kyo about his feelings of confusion, especially not the part where he wanted to kiss him, but it was clear Tohru couldn't give him much more than that. Thinking of the kiss, even though Kyo was asleep, the kiss had sent electric shocks coursing through him. It had been gentle and for a moment it seemed like Kyo was going to kiss back but then Yuki had pulled away. It had been the most amazing kiss. Of course, Yuki hadn't really had the chance to kiss a lot of people with the curse. Maybe all kisses felt like that. How was he supposed to know whether the kiss felt nice because it was a kiss or because it actually meant something?
"Tohru," Yuki whispered. Tohru froze by the door. Yuki hadn't called her Miss Honda. Yuki gracefully stood and glided over and placed his hand under her chin.
"Thank you," his breath stirred the stray strands of hair that hung in Tohru's face. Then before he could change his mind, he leaned in and let his lips touch hers.
A/N: Finally chapter 4 is finished! I will now be hard at work on chapter five when I'm not doing housework. Please review. They make me smile. Sorry for the weirdness of ending another chapter with Yuki kissing someone. It weirded me out but the story made me do it. Evil plot bunnies taking control of my story that was supposed to go in a completely different direction. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway! Thanks for reading!