Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Gone Full Circle ❯ A Date Or Two With Koneko-chan ( Chapter 16 )

Chapter 16: A Date Or Two With Koneko-chan

 

The jewelry store wasn't big, but Haru had gone to middle school with the nephew of the man who had been running it at the time. So, he knew about it and where it was. When he got inside, it took him a while to pick an item he liked enough to be Kyo's birthday present. This one was special; he wanted more for Kyo this year than a doll or a cheap necklace.

 

"That one." Haru told the clerk when he'd decided, pointing to a small gold ring with a garnet chip set into the metal. "I want that one."

 

 

 

When he was heading to find Haru, Kyo was feeling fairly optimistic. Even though he was fresh out of college, he had something most newbies didn't have. He hadn't had much to do, so those fours years were nothing but waiting. He ended up taking as many courses as humanly possible. He was well acquainted with lots of different things, and that made him rather valuable in the world of chefs, also he didn't have any dependants so they could afford to pay him less. When he arrived Kyo idly hoped the ox hadn't gotten lost. He wasn't sure he felt like hunting him down in the city, in the middle of the afternoon, no less. Haru came up behind him a few moments after Kyo arrived at their agreed place to meet.

 

"Hi." He greeted with a pleased grin.

 

"Yo?" Kyo raised an eyebrow; he was just coming out of the store after paying for his newspaper. Next came the apartment hunting. Oh joy? Hopefully there would be some near his prospective work places. That would make choosing which restaurant, or which apartment, for that matter, that much easier.

 

"You finished?"

 

"Job interviews, yes." The cat informed him. "But next on my to-do list will require some walking over to the apartment complexes around here."

 

"Alright." Haru nodded, slipping the ring box into his coat pocket to hide it. (It was still January a coat was appropriate.)

 

 

Yes, apartment hunting was not as good as job hunting. "How do they expect a person to live in these tiny things? They must still be trying to get rid of their rooms for the college students." The poor cat murmured.

 

"You realize you were looking at the studios, right?" Haru raised an eyebrow at him, snatching up the paper and scanning through the apartment section. "The nice ones are over here." He said, pointing to another list on the next page of bigger and more expensive dwellings.

 

Kyo sighed helplessly. "Thank you, Haru. I feel like an idiot now." The red head added under his breath.

 

"No problem." The ox shrugged, handing the paper back to his older companion, with a small smile. This was more fun than he'd thought. And he'd gotten Kyo's present bought. Four years of not touching it had left his bank account pretty full, and he'd been able to pay for the thing upfront.

 

 

After a few NO's to some grounders, Kyo found himself almost cackling with delight over an apartment a few stories up with a big ass window. He pulled out his wallet and a piece of paper to see if it was even in his budget... Of course, even though it was, he couldn't just take it. No set job, no apartment. But he did tell the landlord he was very, very interested. The red head was happy after that and even offered to get Haru some food since well... he was hungry now too. The ox was thrilled to oblige to that. Spending the whole day out with Kyo and then getting food? Why... it was almost like a real date!

 

 

Kyo adamantly refused fast food. Saying: since I went to a cooking school I actually know what that craps made of. He remembered Haru's vegetarian ways too. So they actually went into a real restaurant. The red head ignored the similarities to a date this day was taking on and looked over his budget quickly, adding up a few things. He really wanted that apartment...

 

 

Haru was almost bouncing with excitement, by the time the waiter came by to take their orders. But, no matter how happy he was to see Kyo, he was still Hatsuharu. So there was no bouncing. A thought dawned on him half way through the food. Did anyone else know Kyo was back yet? Other than the obvious, of course.

 

 

Ayame and Hatori did. Since... Shigure had called them... And he'd described the 'new' Kyo very vaguely as to perk their interest. Not that they wouldn't have come to see the long lost cat on their own. But Shigure's depictions of 'Grown up' and 'So well toned' left much to be imagined.

 

 

Anyways, Kyo didn't know about this yet, seeing as, he was out with Haru all day, obviously.

 

"Has ANYTHING happened around here at all?" The cat wondered. From what he'd seen so far it didn't appear much had.

 

"Ah..." Haru paused to think about that for a moment. He hadn't had much contact with most of the family for a while, so he didn't know much. "Momiji and I graduated high school. Yuki and Honda-san graduated college, I'm pretty sure Yuki's going to grad school for something or other." He listed the events off. "Hiro and Kisa are in high school.” Other than birthdays, Haru couldn't really think of anything else to mention though.

 

Kyo laughed at the amazing vagueness. "Maybe I should have asked Shishou when I was there?”

 

"I'm not the best person to ask." Haru admitted with a sheepish grin. "I wasn't really paying attention."

 

"I can tell." Kyo got a pleased and very feline grin on his face. He didn't want to encourage Haru's feelings, but he also felt concern for him. The four years of sulking, over him no less, did not bode well with the red head.

 

"I think you're going to like you're birthday present this year." Haru changed the subject with another smile.

 

Oh yes he had! But Haru didn't ever need to know about his `adventures' with Shishou. "Oh?" Kyo blinked his pretty red eyes at the ox as he took a small drink from the straw in front of him.

 

"Mmhmm." He nodded. "I got it today. But, you still have to wait two weeks for your birthday before you get it." He wanted to assure the older.

 

"Okay?" The cat blinked a bit more. He'd missed about four of Haru's birthdays. Maybe he should get him something? But that would be so terrifyingly close to encouraging him. Damn! This whole having Haru in love with him thing was complicated!

 

"Mmhmm." Haru nodded again. Oooh, he was looking forward to giving it to Kyo too. This would be so great! Plus, it was fun to tease the cat about it in the mean time.

 

“Don't make me feel bad, Haru." Kyo admonished lightly. "I haven't gotten you a present in god knows how long." He looked almost guilty about that too.

 

"Kyo, I'm not sure if you've EVER gotten me a birthday present." Haru blinked. "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, I wanted to get it for you."

 

"Eh... I think I did... once... maybe..." The cat sweat dropped, a slight gloom descending on his conscience.

 

"I don't really need anything anyway." Haru brushed it off easily enough. "So, don't worry about it."

 

"Yeah, all right..." The red head gave in, but made a mental note to make sure and get at least a fucking card on Haru's next birthday.

 

 

Well, they finished the food, paid the bill, and started back for Shigure's. On the walk back, it took a LOT of will power, on Haru's part, to not do either of two things:

 

Grab Kyo's hand at random intervals, and

Kiss the cat senseless--also at random intervals.

 

They made it back with none of that though. Honestly, except for the guilt thing Kyo had a good day! That was all shattered since Ayame and Hatori were waiting for him when he got back.

 

"Kyonkichi has returned!" The snaked gasped the moment the door opened and glomped the cat.

 

"Ayame... I can't... breath..." the young man protested.

 

"Aaya says hello, Kyo-kun." Shigure translated, trying to hold back snickers.

 

"Hello, Kyo," Hatori greeted, offering the cat a wave and a soft smile, before letting his doctoring instincts take over and turning a dry look on Haru. "I'm safe to assume you're feeling better now, Hatsuharu?" He questioned, and was obviously expecting a yes.

 

"Yes, Tori-nii." It was good Ha'ri was expecting it, because that's exactly what he got.

 

"Ack!" Kyo squirmed even harder when Ayame drew back and pushed up his shirt.

 

The snake purred. "OH! SO pretty! And you're not illegal anymore! What do you say, Kyonkichi?"

 

"Ayame!" Haru and Hatori both admonished in unison, though it could be noted that Haru's scolding was rather possessive. Poor Shigure, on the other hand, was about to die from holding in his laughter.

 

"Come now Tori-san, you can not honestly tell me that the boy is not gorgeous." Aaya pouted as Kyo worked to right his shirt. "All that muscle and tanned skin." He was about to start drooling on Kyo, who was still stuck underneath him.

 

Hatori simply tugged Ayame away from Kyo, hissing in his ear, "Someone is forgetting who's company they're in."

 

"Am not." He looked hurt. Ayame was secretly hoping Haru would do something worthy of a possessive lover now. Since Kyo and Haru were both very pretty, seeing them together? Oh… Let's just say Aaya could die happy. Kyo just ran an exasperated hand through his hair as he got up.

 

"Yeah, Hi to you too, Hatori." He said now that he could, Oh I don't know, breath.

 

"Be prepared," The dragon warned them both, though it was addressed to Kyo. "Shigure took the liberty of calling all the Zodiac members to announce your coming home."

 

"Great." The red head smiled. "I can have witnesses when I kick Yuki's ass later."

 

"Kick Yuki's ass?" Haru repeated as he moved over to sit on the porch. "That'd be worth watching..."

 

 

Even though Ayame was there, things were actually pretty calm. It really was the most amazing thing. He did pump Kyo for information about every little thing, though.

 

"Hmm you've been in town for two days? Where were you the first night?"

 

"Shishou's?" That was pretty obvious, wasn't it?

 

"Oh, did that dirty old man behave himself?" There was much blushing to this and much Ayame scolding.

 

 

Of course, there had to be that moment when Kagura got her hands on him. That led to several minutes of twitching, before Haru decided to put in his two cents on Kagura clinging to HIS kitten. Even though, Kyo wasn't technically his to begin with, but same difference!

 

"Kagura!" He called sharply to get her attention. She cringed a little at his call. But Kyo had been gone for four years! She loved him too and she had just as much right to hug him as anyone else did! SO THERE. The boar's cringe turned into a defiant stare.

 

"Yes, Haru-chan?" She asked coolly.

 

"Ya wanna let go of him now?" He raised an eyebrow, though another twitch snuck out, despite himself.

 

"I can hug him too." She told him innocently. "I'm sure you did," Now, Kyo would have been inclined to agree with Haru's side of this little argument, but if Kagura let go it would just give Haru the chance to latch on. That statement threw Haru a little. Yeah, he had but... Yuki sighed from where he was leaning against the wall near the door. He was the first to admit he didn't like Kyo, but he didn't like Black Haru either!

 

"Kagura," The rat spoke up. "Maybe you should listen to Haru?"

 

"Yun-chan! Don't take his side! Kyo's been gone for four years! I have FOUR YEARS of hugs to make up for!" The boar protested. "Haru-chan has gotten, and will probably get another turn." Kyo hated how they were talking like he wasn't even fucking there. He was tempted to push her off and go hug Haru just to spite the bitch. (He was suddenly remembering why he didn't like Kagura.)

 

"Kagura," Yuki was quickly loosing patients with her. Had she not been paying attention at all? "It's HARU. Maybe you should listen to him?" He repeated, a bit more forcefully.

 

"Yeah, Kagura." Kyo hissed irritably from under her weight. She wasn't heavy, but she was squashing his stomach.

 

"Kyo, my love. I will be back to hug YOU again later." The girl reminded, getting up gracefully and stalking off. Haru snorted, going over and pulling Kyo down onto the couch with him, again rather possessively.

 

"Yuki," He addressed his older cousin with an odd look. "You can stop acting like I'm made of glass. I'm not going to break if you do the wrong thing."

 

 

Well, from past behavior, it wasn't Haru being made of glass that was the problem. It was him being around it. Yuki didn't mention that, though. He just shrugged, apologetically.

 

 

The poor red head was being manhandled. That was all there was to it. Everyone who had shown up had molested him in one way or another. The only people who had NOT run their hands all over him were Yuki and Hatori. Even though judging by Hatori's looks, he silently agreed with Ayame's appraisal of him. Kyo was getting irritated and stressed, and he'd probably just snap and get Yuki to fight him. Soon. Haru, for one, felt he had a legitimate reason for being clingy, though. For some reason, he didn't feel Kagura had that same excuse.

 

 

The cat wondered idly if Shigure had been kind enough to call his beloved Kazuma. He frowned a little, even if Shigure had, Kazuma probably wouldn't come. He'd say something about giving the other cousins a chance to see him. Damn... Now he was stuck being involuntarily cuddled by Haru... Bah. Irritating.

 

 

However, the kitten was rescued from his cuddling fate by a summons from Rin for a certain ox to come into the kitchen. Despite their rather abrupt, hurtful, and probably unnecessary break-up, Haru still released Kyo and followed her obediently. The feline sighed with relief once Haru was out of ear shot and flopped listlessly back into the couch. Even being out in town all day hadn't been as tiring as putting up with all the cuddling.

 

"Hey," The horse grinned at her ex-boyfriend. "So, how are you doing?"

 

"He came home." Haru stated unnecessarily, tossing a glance back into the other room, as though he was afraid Kyo would disappear if he looked away for too long. "I'm better than I've been in a very long time."

 

"We notice, we notice." Rin taunted. "All that drinking and bleeding was a bit unnecessary now, doncha think?"

 

"Maybe," Haru admitted with a small smile, leaning against the wall. "I don't know, though." He added lightly. "I kind of like my 'body art'." He joked teasingly, examining some of the scars on one of his arms.

 

"And what does your other half happen to think about this?" She poked Haru's forehead for punctuation.

 

"I don't know." He confessed with a slight frown. "He's been really quiet all day."

 

"I hate to say it, but I'm worried for cat boy." The horse told him, seriousness taking over. "He never liked him too much."

 

"He doesn't like anyone." Haru reminded her. "He spent years trying to molest Yuki."

 

"Yeah, Molest, YUKI." She agreed. "But who's the one person he always fights with?" Isuzu suggested.

 

"I'm not sure Kyo needs to worry about that." Though he still looked concerned about it. "Neither of us ever has been good enough to actually beat him."

 

Rin laughed. "That's beside the point. You shouldn't try to hit your potential lover at all."

 

"Then YOU try and convince him to stop."

 

"Mmm, all right."

 

"Seriously?" Haru blinked at her, a little confused. "All right..." He agreed, sliding down the wall. "Give me a minute, I need to find him." He added, before closing his eyes and slumping a little. They were in the kitchen, so Rin leaned idly against the counter as she waited. Despite their breakup, she cared about Haru. She wanted him happy, and she'd be damned if she let Black have any chance to fuck it up for White. Indeed, a few minutes later Haru's eyes opened again. And, indeed, they were the cold gray of Black, rather than the gentle gaze that came with White's presence.

 

"Hey you," The girl called down to the floor. "Long time no see."

 

"Rin..." Black Haru nodded evenly to her, scrambling up from the floor to appear more respectable.

 

"Did he tell you why I need to have a little talk with you?" She wondered, raising one thin eyebrow.

 

"Nope." He shook his head.

 

"Hmm..." Isuzu nodded. "So, I want to hear it straight from your mouth," She purposely avoided the phrase 'from the horse's mouth' "What do you think of the cat?"

 

"I think he made that sappy moron screw up MY body." He snorted, tossing a disgusted little glare down at his arms.

 

"I didn't ask about that." The horse corrected tersely.

 

"If you want to know if I'm in love with him, most defiantly not."

 

"Now, if you would just answer my questions straight we could get somewhere." She grinned at him. "There was no mentioning of love anywhere in that question." She shook her head in amusement. "Well, regardless of your feelings, did you see how happy he is?"

 

"Which one?" Black asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Kyo looked pretty miserable from where I was looking."

 

"Yeah, I know kitty's miserable. We don't give half a crap about him, though." The horse muttered. She and Kyo weren't the closest.

 

"Well, then, yes. I noticed."

 

"I would very much appreciate... If you wouldn't do anything to mess with that." She looked over at him seriously.

 

"Heh, I think Koneko-chan can do that all on his own." He snorted with amusement. "He doesn't need my help."

 

"I'm serious." Isuzu sighed. "Kyo hasn't beaten him to a bloody pulp yet, so that must mean he confessed or something to the like." She glanced out at the red head that was trying his god-sent best to ignore Kisa and Hiro. "If Kyo's going to give him a chance... I want you to give Kyo a chance. Stop being childish and being rude to everyone else he falls in love with."

 

"Why should I?" He asked, glancing at her. "It's a joint body, why should he be the only one who gets to be happy?"

 

"He's in control most of the time?" She offered idly. "Besides, he'll mope if you scare off his boyfriend."

 

"Rin, I'm serious." He sighed, trying to be patient. "He's the ONLY one who's going to be happy if he follows through with this. And that happiness won't last for long. Kyo doesn't love him back; don't tell me you can't tell. It's only a matter of time before the stupid cat snaps and tells him that, and then your precious 'White' Haru will be in the exact same position he was yesterday, only it's going to be worse, because Kyo's making him think he actually has a fucking chance!"

 

The horse sighed drearily. "He has a small chance. But not if you're mean to Kyo." she looked over pleadingly. "Just for a while? I'm not saying fall in love with him. I'm just saying don't do anything mean to him. For all I care you can treat him like you do Yuki! Just don't fight with him."

 

Haru scowled at the floor for a few minutes. "You really are a lucky bitch," He commented after a few minutes. "I should kick your ass for asking that. But, I won't. I'm actually going to agree--for now." He looked sharply up at her. "But, when something goes wrong and he's left like he was when you left him, you're going to get a really BIG `I Told You So', and YOU can clean up after yourself this time."

 

She reached up and ruffled his white hair. "Thank you for agreeing, as begrudging as it may be." She smiled.

 

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. "Catch." He added. "If he falls and gets a concussion, it's going to be your fault, not mine." He added, before letting go of their consciousness as he prepared to put White back in control. The horse blinked and hurried to make sure her ex-boyfriend didn't fall and die.

 

"Damnit." White cursed a moment later. "I wish he wouldn't DO that..."

 

"You're heavy," Rin commented. "I'm not sure I actually could have caught you."

 

"Again," He sighed, messaging his temples for a moment, as he sat back on the floor. "I wish he wouldn't do that. Someday he's going to try it on a flight of stairs and I really WILL die!"

 

"Come on now, he wouldn't kill you. That'd kinda kill him too." She laughed.

 

"Selfish bastard." He grumbled jokingly. "He agreed, though?" He wanted to make sure.

 

"Yeah, your little lover boy is safe from him." Isuzu confirmed. “He might make a few lecherous passes… but that's it.”

 

"Thanks, Rin." He rolled his eyes at her sarcastically, blushing and glancing quickly at said lover boy. "Do you think he'd kill me if I tried to hug him again?" He deftly changed the subject.

 

"Don't push your luck, sweetheart. He might appreciate it if you took him outta here for a while, though." The horse told him. "No one will stop you, and I think some of the others are getting on his nerves."

 

"I wish they'd quit acting like I'm going to break." He frowned a little, highly irritated by it.

 

"But, you must admit, it is convenient for getting Kyo all to yourself, isn't it?" She winked.

 

"I'm not a china doll." He pointed out sourly.

 

"Right, you're actually a strong, heroic knight." Rin nodded. "Now go save your long haired princess." Haru bit back a snort and scrambled to his feet and back into the living room, where he walked straight over to Kyo.

 

"Want to get out of here?" He whispered curiously in the cat's ear.

 

“Take a guess." The red head murmured, now working at ignoring Momiji, Hiro, Kisa, and Ayame all at once.

 

"Alright." He agreed with a nod, before grabbing Kyo's hand and tugging him to his feet.

 

"Haru!" Momiji whined. "We wanna talk to Kyo too!"

 

"Too bad," Haru shrugged, dragging the cat toward the door. "I'm stealing him." Kyo followed with no prompting, just swooped down for a moment to grab his shoes from by the door. He really hadn't thought everyone would be all over him like this.

 

"They missed you too." Haru commented unnecessarily, once they were outside, though he didn't drop Kyo's hand, now that he had it.

 

"Eh, great." The feline mumbled, his other hand working to undo his hair. He shook it out idly once he had the rubber band around his wrist again.

 

"So, now that we're out, what do you want to do?" The ox asked after a moment.

 

"Mmm... " He thought for a little while before pulling on Haru's hand a little. It was cold outside so somewhere inside would be lovely. With warm drinks and well... that sure sounds like a cafe... Part two of unintentional date number one! Haru blinked a little at the tug. Was that the sign for him to let go, or to follow?

 

"Come on," Kyo murmured, his hair fanning out a little bit as he pivoted quickly. He hadn't actually thought Haru intended to let go, so he was just going with it. Haru obeyed and followed. He had no idea where Kyo was taking him, but he really did adore spending time alone with his older cousin. They ended up at a cafe that Kyo had only been hoping would still be there. He was lucky it was... It was really nice, especially since, because of the late hour, it happened to be rather empty. It would have been irritating trying to dodge girls all over the place.

 

"Wow..." Haru murmured, looking around the place a little. He hadn't been in one of these in so long. A waitress ambled along and led them back into a corner booth. Kyo could tell she thought they were lovers and he was tempted to correct her… But booths are comfy… So he just let her think what she would as he ordered something warm. It was January, and they'd, kind of, just left the house without coats. If he were still there when he returned, Hatori would skin them alive for it. Haru looked a little uncomfortable for a moment, before simply shrugging, and crawling into the booth with Kyo, ordering a coffee as he did so. He curled up a little against his older cousin as soon as she was gone.

 

"Hatori's going to blow his stack when we get back..." Kyo murmured, not wanting any awkward silence to settle in.

 

"What for?" Haru raised an eyebrow at him. "He should know by now that I'm not just going to sit there and let Kagura hang all over you."

 

"Haru," The cat sighed, slightly exasperated. "It's January and the only reason we're not freezing is cause I brought us inside." He made a vague gesture to his flimsy T-shirt.

 

"Oh yeah, winter's cold." Haru mused, a little absently.

 

His feline companion ruffled his hair in annoyance. "You're an idiot, you know that?" He taunted half-heartedly. Haru made a noncommittal noise, and just wrapped his arms around Kyo's waist as he snuggled a bit closer. The red head flexed his hips uncomfortably. He was very, very tempted to tell Haru he wasn't cold now and push him off. But he decided on a less personal approach when the waitress smirked at them.

 

"Haru, people are staring at us now."

 

"So?" The ox blinked innocently at him, and pointed out, "You never minded people stared while you were arguing with Yuki in public."

 

"T-that's kinda different," Kyo flustered.

 

"Staring is staring, Koneko-chan." Haru stated, with a small smirk of his own. "How's it so different now?"

 

'Koneko-chan' opened his mouth to answer but a scowl distracted him. "Don't call me that,” he stated tersely. "I don't think I can count how many damn times I've told you that."

 

"How come?" He questioned the smirk diminishing in vague confusion. "It's better than some of the nicknames HE wants me to use on you." Kyo groaned a little. He didn't even want to know what Black wanted to call him. But he didn't want to be called Koneko-chan either.

 

"I'm twenty-two." Technically not a kitten. (And technically you can call youngboys chan.) "And I'm not a girl." Haru sighed a little, but let it drop for the time being as the waitress came back with their drinks. The girl giggled a little as she walked off, glancing over her shoulder at them as she went. A quick bark from the man behind the counter got her to stop though. Kyo's head drooped in shame all the same though. Haru should let go.... Well, he did let go and straighten up long enough to drink his coffee with some dignity and not spill, but then returned to his semi-hug. Sighing helplessly, the feline idly drank at his tea. It was late and the last thing he'd actually needed was caffeine. Either way, once that was done, he laid a hand on Haru's arm to make sure that 'semi-hug' didn't have a chance to get any tighter.

 

"Kyo," Haru sighed a little when he did that. "You're being unusually difficult."

 

"Unusually?" The red head looked at him oddly, wondering if he'd heard that correctly.

 

"Yeah." Haru nodded. "Unusual. Odd, strange, out of the ordinary, different from normal behavior, not typical." He listed off, only half joking.

 

"Oh yeah," Kyo agreed. "Unusual I'd have to agree with. Since I haven't beaten you to a bloody pulp yet. But difficult?"

 

"Mmhmm." Haru nodded again, not elaborating this time, though. The cat suddenly turned a rather harsh eye on Haru. He didn't care to know why he was being difficult, but he did want to get up, and then away from Haru right now. How to do this without making a scene in public was the question though. He'd grown up a bit in those four years, and he actually didn't like people staring at him like he was crazy anymore. Haru met his gaze evenly, unaffected by the look. "You're making it hard..." He started to explain, but trailed off, changing his mind mid-sentence. He really wasn't stupid. He was just as aware as Black and Rin were that Kyo didn't love him back, but that didn't mean he couldn't have fun pretending for a while longer.

 

"I'm not making it hard." His cousin snorted. "It IS hard."

 

"I'm not really sure we're talking about the same thing." Haru admitted softly. "But... but it really doesn't have to be THIS hard, does it?"

 

"Apparently it does." Kyo replied, squirming to get his wallet out of his pocket to pay for the drinks. He hoped Haru would take the damn hint and let him up. He did, and he didn't push the matter further. He really didn't want to find out and give this up just yet...

 

"Come on... Let's go back." the cat murmured. He half hoped a few people would still be there, since he planned to kick Yuki's ass. Once and for all.

 

 

They were. Hatori had stayed to take Haru home later, Ayame had stayed because Hatori was there, and Kagura had stayed because, well, she's Kagura and Kyo was back in the city. And, that's what they got back to. The Mabudachi Trio talking, and Kagura chattering happily with Tohru about how wonderful it was that Kyo was back. Kyo thoroughly ignored all of them, though, side stepping the obligatory Kagura glomp and going in search of the rat.

 

 

Yuki was up in his room, reading a book when Kyo found him. He looked up curiously, when he heard his bedroom door open, but once he recognized whom it was, he simply turned his attention back to his book, murmuring, "Oh. It's you."

 

"Uh-huh." The red head nodded, idly sifting his fingers through his hair, and then tying it up as he spoke. "Wanna do me a favor?"

 

"Depends." The rat conditioned. "What is it?"

 

"Fight me?" He grinned, looking very feral. "If I win, I promise it'll be the last time I ever ask you."

 

Yuki sighed, and glanced around for his bookmark, putting it into the thick paperback as he spoke, "Make it quick, though." He agreed with a small nod. "I have to get this read by Monday."

 

"Yeah, sure. Come on." Kyo laughed, heading back down the stairs. "The mutt will be mad if we break anything, eh?" Once they were outside they faced each other and Kyo looked mighty pleased to finally be able to do this. "Oh, and I'll warn you now. Don't pull my hair unless you really want some sort of nasty bruise."

 

"Kyo, you should know by now," Yuki scoffed a little, stretching a bit as he spoke. "I don't need to do that to beat you."

 

"Yeah, yeah." The cat waved it off and it started shortly after that.

 

 

And it finished with Kyo spinning, the ends of his hair stinging in an irritating manner against Yuki's face, and then a solid round kick landing on Yuki. Sending the rat absolutely flying. Haru had been watching from the doorway, and was currently gaping and making a few disbelieving splutters. Kyo... hadn't been able to do that when he left... Hatori noticed his staring, and got up to see what he was staring at, but when he did see, he just sighed and leaned against the doorway, calling out to the cat.

 

"Kyo, if you hurt him too badly, I'm afraid I might need to kill you." Though, even the stoic dragon looked unusually pleased at the same time.

 

"Nah," The feline waved it off, and went to help Yuki up, while speaking to the rat. "I told ya, I'd only really hurt you if you pulled my hair." Yuki shrugged and then hurried back inside, it was still January, and it was still cold.

 

"You've improved." Yuki stated unnecessarily, and, though he didn't show it, he did say quietly as he went by, "Congratulations." Before walking past him to go finish his book. Kagura tried to glomp Kyo and probably kiss him as she squealed excitedly. But Kyo grabbed her shoulders and held her very still. She blinked in confusion at him, but offered up her congratulations as well. He allowed her to hug him for a short while, and then went to potentially sleep. His to-do list for the day was complete, and he was quite tired of dealing with his family for the day. Haru scampered off after him, and, like earlier, no one dared to stop him as he did so. Besides, he wanted to congratulate Kyo too.

The older man paused at the door to his room and looked at Haru tiredly. “You should let Hatori go home, Haru,” he suggested hopefully.

 

"This is your less than subtle way of telling me to get out, isn't it?" Haru questioned with a small smile, trying to keep the sad edge off of it.

 

"If that's how you want to word it." The red head confirmed slowly. Damn... the.... guilt...

 

"Alright." He agreed with a tiny nod. "But! But, can I come back to see you more tomorrow?"

 

"For some reason, I think you'd come even if I said no." Kyo murmured. Shigure appeared to be on the ox's side too... and it was his house he was sleeping in. The dog would just let him in.

 

"Well, yeah." He admitted. "But, I'd like to think I'm welcome."

 

Kyo's forehead fell onto Haru's shoulder limply, and he sighed with exasperation. "Yeah... sure." The smile on Haru's face this time was genuine, as he placed a small kiss into Kyo's hair, before pulling away to go downstairs and find Hatori. Knowing the doctor, he was already about to strangle Shigure for one thing or another.

 

 

Both Kyo AND Hatori were about ready to cry from irritation. It was good that Haru was letting Hatori go home and Kyo go to bed, or there might have been some corpses lying about...

 

TBC