A/N- Yay! Chapter six. For this chapter, I just wanted to remind people that while Kyo may be Kyo, he is also A hormonal teenage boy. Anywho, Enjoy.
"Kyo, We're not gonna have people fight to the death over a handful of rice." Nim sighs, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah? Well, I don't see you coming up with any ideas!" Kyo protests, whirling on his companion.
"I can't. I'm working on a different stand." She explained.
"Why?" Tohru asked curiously.
Nimian shrugged. "No idea. Something about my talents being better suited for the Egyptian stand than the food one. Plus, I think they had too many people working on this one."
"Lucky." Arisa growls.
"I dunno." Nim says. "There are only five of us doing the stand since everyone wanted an Asian country, and three of the people I'm working with are idiots."
"You're just prejudiced." Yuki decides with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Nim fixed him with an insulted look. "Prejudiced? Nonsense, I hate all people equally."
Arisa laughs gently, and Nim felt something soft land in her lap. She looked down to see an adorable black tabby kitten. Her immediate thought was Awww, kitty! Her secondary thought was Kyo, and she noticed that he was now snarling swear words under his breath, coated in cats. He quickly got up and ran from the room, but not before everyone else noticed.
A small smile worked its way onto Nimian's lips, and she picked up the small tabby and cuddled it affectionately to her chest before walking calmly after him. She expertly climbed up the fire escape, revealing her own cat-like talent.
"Sup, Koneko?" Nim purred smoothly (no pun intended). He growled something incoherent under his breath.
"At least they're cute." Nim suggested. She nudged a few cats out of the say with her foot before sitting next to him, still clutching the tabby to her chest. It began to purr affectionately as she pet it. "I mean, you could attract something weird, like Kureno or Ritsu or Hatori." He stays silent.
"Come on, what do you say we ditch the cats and go back?" Nim said, her voice gentle.
"Why? They have Yuki. They don't need me. He's always been better than I have, and who cares about second best?" Kyo growled darkly, refusing eye contact with me.
"Kyo…" Nimian sighed, trying to explain her thoughts. She had always had trouble with that. "People possessed by the rat…" Now it was Nim's turn to look away as Kyo's eyes burned into her. "They've always been… special. Treated different. And compared to that, or any of the zodiacs, we… we just aren't like them." She mustered up all her available courage and looked him dead in the eye. "But that doesn't mean we're worth any less. If anything, that makes us stronger than them."
Kyo suddenly became acutely aware of close Nim had seated herself to him, and how pretty her amber eyes were. He let his eyes glance down for just a second to glance at her full, pink lips. Her multi-talented lips that could snarl cruel daggers or croon comforting words gently. He wondered rather idly what else her lips could do. Nim noticed Kyo's intent stare and she bit her lower lip in response. She tilted her head up ever so slightly, almost as though she was taunting him, or perhaps she was inviting him. They were mere inches apart…
"There you guys are!" Tohru's head popped up from the fire escape, a bubbly smile on her innocent lips. The pair instantly pulled away from each other, awkwardly exchanging glances. Kyo cheeks were painted an exuberant red, almost as though he had been exercising. Nimian, however, had much more experience in the romance department (at least the physical part of it), and her cheeks were only a light, rather pretty pink.
Damn.
Tohru became aware of the palpable awkwardness that clung to the air like a newborn to its mother.
"Was I interrupting something?" She asked rather tentatively. "I can come back later…" She made a move to leave, but Nim stopped her.
"No, you're fine." Nim stood up. "I was just convincing Kyo to come back to class with me." She gave him a slightly pointed glance, and he nodded in agreement, practically tripping over himself as he stood.
"Um, yeah..." He agreed, becoming very interested in the concrete of the roof.
"Let's go." Nim said, a little too eagerly.
"It's crooked." Kyo growled, his voice blunt and simple. He was staring at the sign for the stand with a critics' eye.
"Kyo, no ones going to notice." Nim sighed. "And besides, this is heavy." She adjusted the sign in her hands.
"Here, babe, let me get that for you." Some guy stepped forward, I didn't know his name. "You touch me and I will castrate you." Nim snarled, fixing him with a glare so fierce that she was surprised that the boy didn't burst into flames. The boy who was holding the other side of the sign laughed.
"Friend zoned!" He jeered, and Nim rolled her eyes.
"I'm nailing it." She said bluntly, swooping up the hammer.
"Hey, Nim!" Nim turn to the voice to see Alice in the doorway, her only competent partner for the festival.
"Here." She thrusted the hammer into Kyo's hands before going to meet her in the doorway.
"What's up?"
"Ok, apparently, it's up to you and me to run our stand, because everyone else decided they didn't want to go." Alice decided. Nim snarled a few choice words under her breath, the kindest of which would make a sailor flinch.
"And there's more. Since there is only gonna be two of us, I decided we would need an attention grabber."
"I don't like where this is heading..." Nim whispered almost fearfully. Alice easily ignored Nim's interruption.
"So you are going to wear this." She held up a hanger with a sparkly outfit hanging from it. Nim stared at the clothes in shock.
"You gotta be kidding me…"
The night of the culture festival was rather hectic. Or maybe it just felt that way to Nim. She glanced down again at what she was wearing or, more likely, what she wasn't wearing. The shirt was a sultry looking red, and it reminded Nim of a glittery, strapless bra. It boasted her ample bust, something Nim had always been rather self conscious about. It also revealed her lean figure, abs and all. She had always joked that she had better abs than Yuki, which was true. Yuki was lithe and rather feminine, while Nim was well defined and strong. The skirt Nim was wearing was really just a long cloth, tied in a knot on her right hip, with a long slit fully revealing her tanned leg. As attractive as she looked, no one made a move on her, because she was looking rather pissed off, and she was more than ready to maim the first man who brought up her appearance.
This is ridiculous…, the Jaguar decided in her head. She then noticed a crowd gathering over to her left. Curiosity tugged at her gut, and she got up and noticed it was Yuki. She smirked when she noticed that she wasn't the only one forced to wear something against her will. Nim then swaggered over to the stand where Kyo, Arisa and Tohru were all seated. Arisa wolf whistled when she noticed what Nim was wearing.
"Looking good, Nim!" She laughed. Nim didn't say anything, instead she flipped Arisa the bird and then bit into an onigiri rather boldly, considering Yuki's 'Hit or Miss' idea. Luckily, the rice ball was salmon flavored.
"Guess who pulled the short straw?" She growled rather irritably.
"I'm gonna assume that it wasn't the girl in the head dress." Arisa grinned, motioning to Alice, who was dressed as Cleopatra.
"Someone give the girl a cigar." The sarcasm was dripping from Nim's voice. She sat on the edge of the stand.
"You look very pretty, Nim!" Tohru decided firmly. A light smile graced its way onto the jaguar's lips as Tohru innocently beamed at her.
"Thanks."
Kyo, however, remained silent as he struggled to hide his blood red face behind the book he was reading. He couldn't help but notice how much chest the shirt really showed, and how long her legs really were, and how just plain sexy she really looked. His mind kept wandering back to the roof, earlier, as well. Thankfully, he was saved when a perky, happy, almost irritating voice cut through the air.
"NIMIAN!" It squealed happily. She turned around, confused, until she noticed a small blonde blur sprinting through the crowd. A large ear-to-ear smile instantly lit up Nim's face.
"MOMIJI!" She called back with just as much enthusiasm. She threw both of her arms wide open just as he tackled her. She managed to keep her balance, but she did stumble back one step.
"Nim, I missed you!" The rabbit said excitedly, his feet still lifted off the ground as Nim held him up.
"I missed you, too!" She laughed, holding him tight to her. Nim had always nursed a soft spot for Momiji, and she often treated him with kindness and affection, and was also fiercely protective over him. Kyo couldn't help but feel a little jealous. But just a little, tiny, tiny bit jealous.
"Momiji, I told you not to run off like that." A much calmer voice sighed.
"Hey, Nemo." Nim smirked as Hatori stiffened in response to his pet name. Nim loved messing with the ever stoic doctor, but he had long since stopped asking her not to call him 'Nemo'.
"What are you wearing?" He asked, glancing at Nim's apparel.
Nim smirked wolfishly. "I just started a job on a street corner, didn't you know?"
"What are you doing here?" Yuki demanded coldly, and in response Hatori calmly took a stethoscope and pressed it against Yuki's chest.
"You missed you monthly appointment." He said, sounding rather bored. Then again, he always sounded rather bored. "You know you can't do that." He then turned his attention to Nim. "The same goes for you." He didn't bother to hide his exasperation with the female.
Nim smiled knowingly. "But I don't have to go. You're always with Akito, so you know that I'm doing the exact opposite of how he's doing."
The doctor sighed. "You know it's not that simple. You have issues that can't be judged from the outside or from Akito."
Nimian scowled at his implications, however true they were.
"I'm fine thank you." Her voice was cold and icy, a dramatic contrast to her normally humorous tone.
"You must be Tohru!" Momiji unlatched himself from Nim and instead launched himself at Tohru. Arisa had long since disappeared, and Kyo, Tohru, Momiji and Nim were hidden behind a curtain. Nimian could hear Yuki and Hatori conversing outside, but didn't pay attention to the pair.
"Hey, you know about the curse, right?" Momiji babbled.
"Yeah, I do." Tohru said, smiling at him.
"Yay! So that means I can hug you!" He then leapt at Tohru, but Kyo's hand whipped out and smacked him away.
"What do you think you're doing? Don't you know where we are?" Kyo roared.
"Wahhh! Nim, Kyo's hitting me!" Momiji whined from his spot on the floor.
"Don't hit him!" Nim growled at Kyo, poking him none too gently in the stomach.
"You just want to have Tohru all to yourself!" Momiji huffed at Kyo. "I bet you hug her everyday! You just don't want to share!"
"What the hell gave you that idea?" Kyo snarled, letting go of the boisterous rabbit. Momiji seized the chance to tackle Tohru into a hug. A large poof and Tohru found herself on the floor with a rabbit on top of her.
Chaos erupted outside, everyone paraded behind the curtain yelling questions about where Momiji went. Nim thought briefly on what she could do to distract the crowd, but all her ideas were rather…raunchy, if you will.
"Not as strange as me." Yuki sighed, his voice melancholy. "A man who looks pretty in a dress."
It took the jaguar a second to realize that he was distracting them. Nim swooped Momiji up in her arms and placed him on her shoulder.
"Grab his clothes." She whispered to Kyo, before jogging outside.
"Momiji, babe, you gotta be more careful." Nim said gently. "You can't be so rash."
"Like your one to talk." Kyo growled quietly, and Nim sent him a half hearted glare.
"Nim is right." Hatori chastised. "Now, come on, we have to leave."
"But, I didn't get to say goodbye to Nim and Tohru!" Momiji protested.
"One minute then." Hatori turned to Kyo, Yuki and Nim. "What's the last letter of the alphabet?"
"Z…" We all say in unison, unsure of why he was asking. He then snapped a picture.
"Akito wanted to see you all." He explained. He glanced at the photo. "That will be a nice picture."
"You bastard!" Kyo and Nim yell, running after Hatori as he left casually down the stairs.
"I can't believe Hatori got a picture of me looking like a hooker and of Yuki in a dress. And not only that, said picture is for Akito!" Nim bristled. The Jaguar and the Cat were both sitting perched on the roof, and it was late.
"Can imagine how mad Akito is gonna be?" Nim massages her temples. "I mean, are you kidding? The first words out of his mouth are going to be 'I told you so, you arrogant little bitch, I own you'! It's ridiculous!"
"I doubt he'll care about you." Kyo says dismissively. "It's the rat he's going to be upset about."
She couldn't help but laugh. "Your right. I don't know why I'm freaking out." She laid back and stared at the stars. She began to doze, until she drifted off into a deep sleep, right next to Kyo.
The cat stared intently at the sleeping female beside him, wrestling violently with his emotions. God, what the hell was this? It was exotic and foreign, and he wasn't quite sure what it was. He struggled to even put it into words before he gave up and buried his face in his hands.
God, I'm an idiot.
A/N 2- Tohru you cockblocker! I'm sorry, I was gonna have them kiss, but then I was like, you know what? I'm gonna make them beg.
Kyo: What the hell was that for?
Nimian: No kidding! Thats not fair!
TKT: Is too fair. I am the all powerful writer! I could just make this really long and have all my reader's waiting for you guys to get together, only to find that Kyo was having a secret affair with Yuki, and you were just rebound.
Nim: You wouldn't...
TKT: Your right, I wouldn't. But I still could! Anyway, Review please!