Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Gone Full Circle ❯ The World Turns, You Know. ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 17: The World Turns, You Know.

Yeah, Haru went back with Hatori. And he even went to sleep for a while. That part didn't last too long, and, much like a five year old on Christmas, Haru found himself awake at one in the morning and unable to sleep any longer. So, he did what most five year olds do on Christmas, he got up and got dressed, and went to go peek at his present.

Now, unlike Haru, Kyo was asleep. He liked being asleep. But it's the most interesting thing. When someone is staring at you while you sleep, you tend to wake up. He jumped and pretty much instinctively hit whoever it was. His paranoia once again getting the better of him.

"Ow!" Haru all-but yelped, rubbing his nose in irritation. "Hello to you too."

"Shit..." The red head murmured, rubbing his eyes and looking blearily at the ox. "Sor-- wait... what the hell are you doing here? Didn't you go home?"

"Yeah." He nodded quite simply.

Kyo glanced anxiously over at his clock. Why did it say two in the morning? "It's... it's early." He stated, unnecessarily.

"Yeah." Haru nodded again. "Thanks for pointing that out." His cousin nervously pushed the hair hanging in his face away, and crawled out of his blankets to search for his hair band. This is what he got for just dropping it on the floor next to the futon and expecting it to be easy to find it again. "I couldn't sleep." Haru explained soon after. "So, I decided to come back and see if there was anyone else up here. But there wasn't, so I thought I'd wait."

"I... wonder why." The feline looked at him oddly as he tied up the long orange locks. "It's only two in the morning and all. Normal people sleep. Or stay in their homes."

"Never been accused of being normal." He shrugged docilely, though inside he flinched a little. He KNEW he should have just stayed home!

He had a point there and Kyo shook his head. "Yeah, I suppose normal isn't a word for you."

"Watch it, Kyo, your kindness and sincerity are starting to burn a hole in the floor."

"I've never been known for either of those." The cat shot back irritably, and it was two in the morning... So some sort of food and or drink may be needed before Kyo can be particularly polite.

White hadn't particularly liked the way this conversation was going, and had slipped back into his mind, forcing Black out and warning him to be polite at the same time. Luckily for him, Black was a good actor, or Kyo would have figured out which Haru he was talking to several minutes ago... Hopefully.

Shaking his head in mild annoyance, Kyo surveyed his rumpled appearance. He hadn't bothered to change the night before and just slept in his clothes. Consequently, his shirt was all wrinkly now. He pulled it off and went in search of a neat clean one. He needed something to do anyways or awkward silence would settle in. It was awkward enough around Haru without the silence. Unfortunately for him, Black didn't really have anything to say. He was going to give Kyo that chance like Rin had asked him to, and he was going to be somewhat polite like White had asked. But that was it. As little social activity as possible.

Poor cat felt like he was going to die. "You didn't really come over here at two in the morning to stare at me, did you?" He mumbled nervously once he got his tan skin covered again.

"Meh, something like that." Haru nodded, still doing so.

"Do you have to?" His older cousin pleaded. "I'm really not that interesting to look at, I promise?" His shoulders drooped under the weight of the stare. He didn't like this, though maybe he understood how Yuki felt all those years.

“Or, perhaps you're underestimating yourself, Koneko-chan."

Kyo needed a wall to bash his head into. "Don't call me that." He tried, yet again. Haru just sighed and rolled his eyes. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd first anticipated. "I wouldn't have to keep saying it if you'd stop calling me that." The cat murmured in his own defense.

"Look, Kyo," He tried another approach. "Let's sort one thing out. You are going to have a nickname. That's how these things work. Now, you can have something nice and simple, like 'Koneko-chan', or you can have 'hooker'." he smirked, in spite of himself as he thought about that. "You can pick, it doesn't matter to me."

The orange feline glared at him, finally catching on to the lack of white. "You suck." he stated simply. It wasn't White, so he could be mean without fear of the poor thing remembering.

"It's the way of the world." He shrugged dismissively.

"The two of you pout when I call you anything other than your name." Kyo tried to weasel out of this whole 'Koneko-chan/hooker' thing.

"Ah, and yet, you don't pick cute little endearments." He pointed out with a slightly wider smirk. "Be nice to him and he won't pout so much."

"Hooker is not cute, and that other one is just insulting." The red head grumbled.

"Most people would take 'kitten' as a compliment."

"Yeah, a girl maybe." Kyo replied tartly.

"Bah," Haru waved it off. "You're feminine enough, doesn't make that much difference."

"No, that's exactly why I DON'T need to be called that." His older cousin corrected.

"Look," Haru sighed finally. "Forget that for now. C'mere, siddown, and LISTEN to me." He ordered with little to no room for argument.

"Eh?" The cat dropped down and stared at him oddly. The tone had been commanding, and Kyo didn't have the will to fight too much so early in the morning. Besides, he was a guest and didn't need to be waking up everyone else in the house with their squabbling.

"Look," He started coolly, leaning forward and pinning Kyo to the floor. "I've been out for a while, I've given you a chance--now, I want you to give him a REAL one."

"W-w-wha--" The red head protested wide-eyed. "I-it's only been a day! Who's to say I'm not??"

"Anyone with eyes and ears?" He offered with a raised eyebrow. "God, even he knows. Your acting skills suck."

"What the hell do you want me to do?" The cat finally snapped. He was severely frustrated with all of this.

"How about... what I just said?" He snarled, speaking rapidly and lowly. "He won't remember any of this, so rant, vent, whatever. I don't care. But--" He held a finger over Kyo'd mouth to keep him from talking for a few more moments. "If you hurt him again, you will have to deal with me. And, Kyo, I WON'T be happy with you."

"I can't give him what he wants! Pretending that the feelings are there is just fucking cruel!" The red head frowned angrily. "And they're not! If they were, I would have gone and seen him first rather than going to SHISHOU and FUCKING him, NOW WOULDN'T I!?" He hissed, dangerously close to yelling.

"He knows you don't care about him!" Black spat impatiently. "That's the PROBLEM. He is trying SO hard to pretend you do, if only to get FIVE fucking minutes of honest to God happiness--but he can't! LYING to him would be kinder than what you're doing now!" He sighed and took a deep breath. "But, I'm not asking you to lie. I want you to forget Shihan for a minute, and think about what you could have. THEN tell me you don't want to even try."

"I don't want to." The cat told him defiantly. "I finally know how Shishou feels. Finally, after waiting more than half my life! I love HIM! And it's not my fault White's in love with me."

"No, but it'll be your fault when he loses it someday and kills himself over you and takes me with him!" Black pointed out. "So, you ARE going to try, even if I have to kill you to get you to do it!"

"Yeah. That'll help!" Kyo was tempted to spit on him, literally.

"Actually, it might." He blinked thoughtfully, considering it. "At least you wouldn't resist him, then. Hell, he's done everything else to be with you, I wouldn't put necrophilia past him at this point."

"But. WHY?!" The poor thing demanded. It was what everyone else wanted to know too.

"Why what?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh I don't know, the whole of the thirteen years we actually knew each other, he didn't ever act like a love struck puppy." The cat muttered. "But I pretty much just go away to college and he just--just." He was becoming rather apoplectic with irritation.

"Realized that he'd lost what he never really had and felt regret for never telling you?"

"Gah..." Kyo groaned desperately. "I wish he'd told me too. Then I could have told him no before it turned into this, this... what, fucking obsession?!"

"Illness, more likely." Haru rolled his eyes, highly irritated with the entire situation. He wished Rin had left him OUT OF IT, so that these two could fuck it up on their own. They really didn't need his help with it, as far as he could tell.

"So..." The older red head finally got a grip back on some calm. "What does giving him a chance entail, exactly?"

"Take a wild shot in the dark." He drawled dryly.

"All right... Fine..." Kyo agreed. "You can get off me now too." He was technically still pinned. He hadn't been bothered by that and hadn't pushed the ox off. Even though, honestly, he was just waiting for him to try something else before beating him bloody.

"You never did pick your nickname, Lover Boy." He pointed out, falling back into a more reclined position.

"The less insulting one." His cousin murmured in defeat.

"Which, in your opinion, would be...?"

Kyo sat up, resigning to his fate with a sigh. "Here's a hint. It's not hooker."

Black just snorted. "Alright, alright. He's coming back out, be sure to play nice." He added threateningly.

"Right. Like I'm actually scared of you." Kyo grumbled in response to the threat.

"Don't underestimate me, Koneko-chan." He ordered quite simply, before White came out, blinking in confusion, and then spotting the clock. Damn, it had been a while. "Ah, Kyo, if he said anything--I'm... er... sorry?" He offered, trying to get over the headache and dizziness that generally accompanied a visit from Black Haru.

"No, it's okay." The cat tried to assure the ox's more agreeable half. Tried being the key word.

"I'm sorry for waking you up too." Haru continued to list off. "I hadn't intended to, at the time..."

Kyo leaned forward quickly and placed a finger to his lips. "Hush." He commanded slowly. "You must have a headache after being Black so long. So, in return for silence I'll give you aspirin and food."

"Uh, thanks?" He agreed, a pale flush covering his cheeks and nose as Kyo touched him. TOUCHED HIM, not touched BY him, but actually initiating the touching of his own free will.

SO! They headed downstairs to the kitchen. As promised, the cat handed over a glass of water and aspirin and then set on the food. He made a vague attempt to be quiet, but he was rather put out right now and didn't actually care whom he woke up. True to his word, Haru stayed quiet while he ate and partook of the over-the-counter drug. He had no idea what Black had said, and, frankly, didn't wish to anger the cat more. When that was finished, Kyo sat next to Haru at the table, propped up on his elbow. He was idly spinning some hair around his finger and he looked really feminine even though he protests it. Either way it took him a bit of blank staring before he spoke to the ox again.

"I have to take a shower..." He murmured. "But I think I want to go out again today. I spent too much time in this house before I left and I don't really want to stay here now." He turned the rubies disguised as his eyes on Haru. "You'll come with?" He offered carefully, remembering the conversation, he'd had just a little bit ago, very clearly.

"You're ASKING me?" Haru blinked, a little alarmed. "No begging, guilting, or payment required?"

"I need a shower..." The cat repeated, getting up carefully and heading to do that. All the while ignoring that little question. He had thought to try this slowly, but he wasn't sure he could handle it. So he'd decided to take one big leap at a time.

"Ah, sure, I'll go." Haru called after him in agreement as he left the room. What the hell had Black said, anyway...? Kyo returned quite a while later. Maybe even a good hour. He wasn't sure. Either way he felt better as he came back down the stairs, hair loose to let it dry, as he went to find Haru. Maybe they could go out soon. What he'd said about spending too much time in this house was true.

Haru was sitting right where he had been, though he looked a BIT zoned out. He was currently inside his own head, interrogating the hell out of Black, though he kept half his attention on the real world too, just waiting for Kyo to come back. The red head came up behind him and ruffled his hair gently to get his attention.

"Is it okay if we go out, like now?" He requested. Haru blinked a couple of times; letting out an uncomfortable noise, the sun had risen while he'd been busy.

"Oh," He blinked again, as the question registered to him. "Yeah. Sure."

They actually got coats this time, since Kyo really didn't intend to come back until much, much later that night. His conversation with Black had bothered him and he felt like spiting the bastard. Oh, he'd give Haru his fucking chance. But he knew the feelings weren't there and despite any amount of trying he might do, he knew it would become obvious. Once they were outside, and walking toward the main road, Haru slipped his fingers out of his pocket and intertwined them with Kyo's as he asked,

"So... where do you want to go?"

"Park." The red head told him; returning the hold on his hand, rather than just letting it sit in the others. "It's too early now..." but after they waste some time there. "There are about two restaurants at that side of town I can check. If it's okay with you?"

"Yeah." He nodded readily. "Kind of far from that apartment you liked though, isn't it?"

"I'm getting that apartment either way." Kyo smiled a little bit, up at him. "So, it doesn't matter too much. I'll just walk, or something."

"Okay." He nodded again. He hadn't been going to argue either way; he just thought he should point it out. Kyo was being so much less difficult than he had been the night before. It was a little unnerving, but it made him look forward to his cousin's birthday that much more. When they arrived at the rather abandoned park, Kyo led him over to the little pond and the bench overlooking it. Sighing desperately in his mind, Kyo curled up against Haru on it and intended to waste a good part of the morning right like that. Maybe if he thought of something to say he'd talk to Haru, but the ox was fairly comfy with that fuzzy jacket of his. Now, Haru had gotten about a half hour of sleep the night before, and was rather tired now. That might have been why he fell asleep like that, arms wrapped around Kyo's shoulders, face buried into the cat's hair. His eyes had been closed already, so, really, you wouldn't have been able to tell if his breathing hadn't evened out. His cousin was in a similar state. Though he'd gotten a few hours of sleep, unlike Haru. It still hadn't been much. It was an adorable sight, and as the hour became more reasonable more housewives appeared and looked at them oddly. Those looks oozed into smiles as they all felt the urge to croon, but stopped themselves.

It was close to noon before Haru woke up again, and even then he was content to just sit there, breathing in Kyo's scent until the cat woke up himself. That wasn't until about twelve thirty, and when he did wake up, he just opened his eyes a little ways and looked out over the lake idly. He hadn't really thought about it when Black had commanded him to think about what he could have. His first taste of it was rather nice; it really wasn't enough to incite any loving emotions from him, though.

"Morning." Haru greeted quietly when he felt the stirring. "Er, afternoon." He corrected himself after a quick glance at the sky, where the sun told him of an approximate time.

"Mmm...." Kyo replied unintelligently. "I feel better now." Now that he thought of it. He hadn't slept well for three days. Unlike some insomniacs, his body wasn't used to it.

"I'm glad." Haru laughed softly, nuzzling further into his hair as he smiled. The cat pulled his legs up onto the bench next to him as he let himself keep warm against Haru.

"Black had me agree to a nickname this morning." He murmured absently. Kyo figured it would make Haru happy to know about it, so he figured he could tell Haru about it.

"I know." Haru nodded a little, still relishing the feeling of having this person leaning against him, trusting him. "He told me."

The feline blinked at him, working the last bits of sleep from his brain. "Sounds like the asshole was bragging."

"No." He shook his head, and then mumbled around a yawn, "He didn't want to, I made him."

"And why is that?"

"He was out for so long, I wanted to know what you two talked about." He shrugged. "But, that's all he told me."

"That was pretty much it actually." Kyo lied, sitting up a little so he could comb his fingers through the hair that was mussed up from being squished against Haru's jacket.

"Mm." Haru didn't believe him, but he didn't let on either. He'd get it out of Black later, but, for now, anyway, he wanted to enjoy this day with Kyo.

"I don't know if those restaurants will be open yet, but we can wander around a bit if they're not." The older Sohma murmured his plan before shrugging off the hand on his shoulder, and then taking it in his as he tugged Haru to his feet. Haru blinked a bit when he did that, and felt his stomach squirm pleasantly as he simply complied with Kyo's silent order to stand. He had looked forward to this, and now that he had it, he wasn't really sure just what to do with himself.

They were open thankfully, and one of the two restaurants paid... quite a bit more than the others. Despite it's distance from his dream apartment, Kyo rather hoped he got this particular job. As he left with Haru he noted how it made sense for the place to pay more, it was one of those horribly fancy western restaurants.

"I didn't know you could cook Italian food." Haru commented absently as they walked away from the building after Kyo's interview.

"I can cook a lot." The cat replied, feeling at least a little bit proud of his achievements for once. "I didn't have anything better to do with my time than learn. Well, except for, a couple boyfriends who took up my time, but they didn't last very long." he admitted slowly. His heart had been here with Kazuma, so yeah the boyfriends' and the one girlfriend he'd tried hadn't lasted. Haru didn't say anything, though he did pull away a bit. Subconsciously, of course. It really had been too much to hope Kyo wouldn't date while he was gone, and his cousin hadn't really been HIS to begin with but, it still hurt a little for the red head to be speaking of it so casually. If Kyo had noticed this, he probably would have smacked the ox. Haru had had plenty other lovers that he'd talked about, and he was taking it too personally. But Kyo didn't notice and just smiled grimly up at him as they continued their aimless wanderings.

"So, you've got your interviews done," he changed the subject, reminding himself of several things and inching closer again. "What now?"

"Hmmm?" The cat blinked at him. "No idea, you take a turn deciding." He gave off a wry smile. "Whatever you want." The 'within certain boundaries' went without saying. Haru seriously considered asking why Kyo was being so nice, but changed his mind just as quickly, and decided to simply take advantage of this momentary kindness, and squeeze as much inner peace and happiness out of it as he could.

"Kyo..." Haru paused suddenly, halting in his stride and turning to the cat. "Have you ever been to a LAN cafe?"

"Yes," The red head sweat dropped slightly. The one girl he'd tried to date had been, well, geeky, and made him go in at least two. Maybe more? They all looked the same to Kyo.

"Well, then come on." Haru grinned, a little crazily at the idea of having Kyo in a room full of various coffee flavored beverages and computers. "Rin told me about a new one downtown."

"Eheh… Yeah," Kyo really had said anything. But he did have to wonder when Haru became geeky enough to go into a LAN cafe. Then again, he really had been gone for four years. Well, they arrived and Haru examined the place. This was nicer than the last one he'd been in.

"Cool," He mused looking around the semi-dark and neon-lighted main room of the small building. His feline companion looked around carefully. After that fiasco with the skating rink all those years ago... He just hoped he could find something he actually knew how to do.

"Looks like food and coffee's over there," He pointed over to a counter, where a bored looking teenager was fiddling with his cell phone. "Most of these will be games, but Rin mentioned a couple with Internet somewhere." Kyo was tempted to suggest something along the lines of 'Could I just cling to you and watch interestedly over your shoulder, like a girlfriend who has absolutely no interest in being here but came because her boyfriend's a total nerd?' But, well, he kept his mouth shut and decided to just see about finding one of the few games he could play. Well, that lasted a few hours. Haru would have, honestly, been happy to stay longer, but Kyo finished playing his game, and was quite obviously bored, so they left before TOO long.

And by then, it was about six. So it was all right. Kyo had wasted the day to his satisfaction, but he had one more thing he really wanted to do. He wanted to go see Kazuma and tell him the results of his fight with Yuki. A quick glance at Haru squashed this plan, though. There would be some serious clinging and pouting if he did that, and he knew it. So, taking the ox's hand he figured he could just call his beloved tonight instead.

It was almost nine that night when Kazuma's phone rang. "Hello?" He greeted, picking it up as he sat his tea down.

"Hey, Shishou." His former charge greeted affectionately. No matter what he said or did, this was still the man he loved. Not Haru. "I told you I'd tell you how my fight with Yuki went." He was beaming on his end of the phone and it came through in his voice. "I fought him last night, and I totally kicked his ass."

"I'm very proud of you." He laughed a little, not so secretly pleased to hear Kyo's voice.

"Mmm..." The red head couldn't stop the happy little purr and didn't really want to, he liked the praise. "I wanted to come see you to tell you, but that kinda didn't work out, sorry." He apologized with a wistful little sigh.

"Shigure-kun called and said Hatsuharu found out you're back." He commented, guessing at the problem. "How is he? Better than the last time I saw him, I hope."

"Found out I'm back?" Kyo raised an eyebrow. "Shigure is so full of crap. I know he called Haru over here." He changed the subject, forgetting about that last question. "Why didn't you tell me about him? It was a not so pleasant surprise!"

“Which part?" Kazuma could list several reasons, varying per issue.

"Everything! The sulking, the suicide, the freaking obsession!" He wasn't mad at Kazuma for not telling him, but he didn't understand why he didn't.

"Ah, that..." He blinked and frowned a little. "It didn't really come up." That was honestly the best excuse he could think of.

"I really could have used some kind of warning, Shishou." Kyo murmured helplessly.

"He was pleased to see you then, I take it?"

"Yeah, pleased is an understatement." The young man confirmed.

Kazuma bit back a snort at that, and replaced it with a gentle sigh. "Try to be patient with him?" He requested. "He didn't have the easiest time dealing with it when you left, though that should be fairly obvious, I suppose. The point is he'll calm down once he's gotten over the initial excitement of you coming back. But until then, be careful about how you deal with it?"

Kyo almost choked. "I don't think careful is what he wants. He just about bit Yuki's head off for trying to be 'careful' while dealing with him."

"Ah--" He frowned to that. Haru would act like that, wouldn't he? "Well, maybe not careful, but..." He paused, thinking of how to phrase this. "Just remember than when you treat anything delicate too roughly, it will break?"

"I think his exact words were: 'I'm not made of glass I won't break if you say the wrong thing'." Kyo quoted carefully. "But, yeah. I haven't flat out told him no yet. So, I suppose I've been careful enough with him."

"Kyo, think about it." He sighed again. "Do you really think he knows how far he can go without breaking? Hatori told me years ago that he could already, probably, be locked up for some of the things he's tried." He hadn't warned Kyo before, because he hadn't thought the cat would need to know. Now he did, so he was going to. "I'm not sure how much he's improved or deteriorated since then."

The red head made a rather unhappy noise. "Great! Great. Thank you, Shishou! I have a complete psycho obsessing over me. Gaaaah...." And that was all the old man had to say? Damn...

"It's not MY fault." He pointed out. "You wanted warning, so I'm warning you."

"Yeah, all right, thanks." The cat agreed with a sigh. This all SUCKED.

"Mmhmm." Kazuma nodded, a little amused, but only a little. It really wasn't an amusing situation. "So, tell me about your fight with Yuki?" He requested and Kyo was happy for the change of subject. He recounted his fight enthusiastically, ending with a few moves that Kazuma had... Not taught the cat. But maybe, he wouldn't notice that. The man did, but he didn't comment, and simply congratulated the cat again, once the retelling was finished.

All that was mentioned before they hung up was Kyo's optimism on having a job and apartment soon. Then Kyo went off to cook dinner and give Tohru a break for the first time in four years.

***

As Kyo had hoped, the restaurants were quick to reply. So after about a week, he was set on that fancy Italian restaurant. By about three days, he had his things brought down from his old apartment. And it was his second night in that nice big apartment when the two weeks were up and his birthday rolled around. Haru was, predictably, there for the day with Kyo, and was currently sitting on the floor in the living room area, rolling the box with his ring in between his fingers, occasionally pausing to fiddle with the ribbon, as he waited for Kyo to come back from the kitchen.

It was so difficult to cook much of anything when all your utensils are still pretty much boxed up after a move. So Kyo-chan fell back on his starving college student routine and came back to sit with Haru as soon as the microwave was set to go on it's own. Haru's heart was beating unpleasantly in his throat when Kyo came back in and sat down next to him. What if Kyo didn't like it? Well… he had to find out. So, he grasped Kyo's hand in his own, and placed the box in the elder's palm.

"H-happy birthday..." He stammered nervously. The cat quickly wrapped his fingers around the box and Haru's hand. He just looked down at both for a little bit, contemplating what he would do if he didn't like it. Several ridiculously cliché little sayings ran through his head. 'It's the thought that counts.' 'If you can't say nothing nice don't say anything at all' Oi, he shook his head and let go of Haru's hand so he could open the box.

"Crap, Haru... How much... did you spend on this..." The feline murmured, looking it over. It wasn't exactly a girly ring, but it sure was pretty.

"Not too much for such a deserving occasion." He shrugged, a little awkwardly. "Do you like it?" Maybe the ring wasn't girly, but Kyo sure felt like a girl. A deep blush spread on his face, without his consent and everything! How dare it…

"H-haru, I... it's too much... I can't...." He flustered out.

"You don't like it." Haru translated with a small frown. He'd REALLY been hoping Kyo would. This felt different from the, well, countless rejections he'd received from Yuki over the years.

"N-no." Kyo shook his head quickly. What he MEANT was this was something you should give to someone you love, and loves you back. Meaning, not Kyo. But how was he supposed to say that nicely? "It really is nice, Haru." He tried again. But he could feel his defeat closing in around him, and just put the damn ring on to assure the ox. Haru smiled brightly when he did that, and all but lunged himself at the older, wrapping his arms around Kyo's neck.

"I... I love you so much..." He murmured into his cousin's ear, softly. Kyo let his head rest on the other's shoulder, where he knew Haru couldn't see it. This was frustrating and he really felt like crying. But he just closed his eyes and held Haru like that, so he wouldn't be able to see the uncontrolled look on his face. Haru could feel the tensed muscles in Kyo's back, but he didn't comment on them, and simply made an attempt to rub them out. He wanted Kyo to be happy, but he also wanted to be happy himself. Maybe he could use this chance to get both of those things at once?

His cousin was far too busy shoving down angry words, frustrated tears, and tired thoughts to really notice what the ox was doing. Just as long as he didn't move and ask him what was wrong, it was fine.

"If you don't like it, you don't have to lie." Haru tried to assure him after a few minutes. "But I hope you do. I want you to be happy."

"I'm not a good liar to begin with." The cat told him. "If I really didn't like it, I'd tell you and probably shove it up your nose." His attempt at humor came out a bit darker than he'd intended.

"Well," Haru blinked, snickering a bit. "I guess I'm grateful you didn't do that."

Breathing deeply, Kyo pulled away and little and brushed a few strands of Haru's white hair. "Really, I like it. Chill." He commanded gently.

"Yeah, okay." Haru agreed with a small nod. He really wanted to kiss Kyo right then, but he really wasn't too sure that the red head would appreciate that. After all, they... still... hadn't... The microwave had been beeping for a while now, so Kyo scooted away from the ox carefully and went to pull the food out of it. He fiddled with the ring as he went, it was nice but he'd never worn a ring before and it felt odd on his finger. Haru stared fondly after Kyo, relief washing away his prior nerves. He felt better and less nauseous now that he'd actually given his present to the cat.

Kyo didn't let Haru stay the whole day. He shooed him out eventually, then waited about half an hour before going to consult his beloved Kazuma. This was getting to be a bit much for him, and besides; he always tried to see Kazuma on his birthday.

"Kyo!" Kazuma wasn't sure whether to feel surprised or not. Probably not. "Hello, happy birthday." He listed off with a pleasant smile.

"Eh..." The kitty moaned before hugging the man tightly and burying his face in the crook of his neck. "Hi." He finally murmured quietly.

"Come in?" Kazuma offered finally, after several minutes of hugging back. "I have tea that should be ready soon."

"Thanks." The red head followed him in and accepted the tea gratefully. Well, he felt a little better just being here with Kazuma and... Not with Haru.

"That's a very nice ring, Kyo." His Shishou commented after a few minutes. "You never struck me as the type."

"I'm not." The cat murmured, rubbing it with his thumb in extreme agitation. "Haru got it for me and I didn't really want to see him cry by refusing it." His shoulders drooped in shame. "It's not that it's not nice though." He added under his breath, forgetting for a moment that it wasn't Haru and he didn't need to assure him about that.

"I'm aware." Kazuma pointed out with a small smile. He wondered if he should bring this up with Hatori, the dragon had seemed very concerned about the ox on Kyo's twenty-first birthday, and Kazuma now had to assume that he'd appreciate any update on the younger man's mental well being, either way.

"Shishou, I don't know what to do about him." His former charge sighed, sinking down so he was resting on the floor. "He's like a creepy stalker, almost."

"He's stalking you?" Kazuma raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his tea.

"He knows where my apartment is now, he very well could."

"I wouldn't worry too much." Shihan tried to calm him. "It's not like he's going to show up at one in the morning and just stare at you while you're asleep."

"No, no he won't." Kyo agreed. "He already did that, now I lock the door!" The cat corrected with a slight snarl of frustration. He felt like banging his head on the table too, but he stopped himself.

“Oh?" Kazuma sweat dropped. Yeah, he'd be calling Hatori later.

"Shishou, I don't love him." The red head tried to explain since no one else seemed to understand it. "But-but even fucking BLACK wants me to! I can handle holding his hand and pretending. But eventually... that won't be enough and I can't...."

"It makes sense that Black would want you to be kind to White." He shrugged, a little less concerned over that than the whole showing up at one in the morning thing.

Kyo sighed, and just let him have his way there. "This. Sucks." He grumbled.

"I think it's cute." Kazuma confessed, with a light shrug. "That he cares so much about you. Slightly troublesome, though, that he's taking it so far." Kyo crawled over to Kazuma, stole his teacup, set it on the table and then cuddled up to him like... well... an unhappy kitten.

"It might be cute, maybe if I kinda didn't love you." He complained irritably. "Now it just makes me feel guilty and just bad in general."

"Kyo," Kazuma absolutely sighed. "You promised to give that up."

The cat noted the lack of pushing away so he didn't take his Shishou's comments to heart. "I know what I said. But that's the fact of the matter, I can't help it."

"Kyo..." He groaned. He was making it SO hard. "Neither can Hatsuharu."

"Come on, Shishou." As odd as it sounds, the feline made some puppy eyes at him. "What do you want me to do, exactly?"

"I... I don't know." He sighed again. "Let me up, for now. I think I need to call Hatori and tell him about Hatsuharu's little semi-stalking problem." Kyo would never do that without at least one affectionate nuzzle. But he did get off the man to allow him to call Hatori. Maybe the dragon could help... That'd be nice. He didn't want to be stalked.

Well, Kazuma did call Hatori, and he repeated what Kyo had told him about Haru's recent behavior to the dragon, waiting for him to reply with his opinion.

"That idiot..." The doctor murmured. "Perhaps someone should tell him that clinging and practically stalking Kyo isn't going to work."

"I know that, and Kyo knows that, and you know that, but good luck trying to convince Hatsuharu." He sighed, yet again. "How close did you say he was to being considered insane last year?"

"Very close. But, odd as it sounds, since Kyo has come back, he seems to have gotten some stability back." Hatori told him. "Which is good, in the direction of sanity."

"And showing up in his bedroom at one in the morning isn't one giant step backward?"

"Mmm, that is a bit creepy, probably to Kyo especially," The dragon confirmed. "But not so much in the insane category."

"You seemed concerned before, I thought you might want to know." He explained, a little relieved that it was unlikely that Haru was going to suffocate Kyo and then proceed to ravage his corpse. (Vivid Kazuma… vivid…)

"Yes, thank you, Kazuma." Hatori nodded on his end of the phone. "I think he just needs some time to, maybe, get over his crush or at least, act on it less extremely. If he does anything like kidnapping Kyo though, then perhaps we shall reconsider our theory on his sanity." That was supposed to be a joke, but after he said it he realized that he wouldn't put it past Haru right now.

"Mmm, He bought him a ring, too." He added. He'd forgotten to mention that before.

"Proposing so soon?"

"I don't think it was an engagement ring." Kazuma shook his head, though Hatori couldn't see it. "It was Kyo's birthstone."

"Ah, I see." The dragon murmured, "Does, Kyo like it?" Like Kazuma, he hadn't thought the cat was the type for jewelry.

"He was wearing it, if that's any sign."

"Hmm, only if he keeps wearing it. He may have put it on the keep Hatsuharu from pouting." Hatori sighed, he felt for the cat, really he did. But he knew how Haru felt as well.

"I wouldn't put that past either of them." Kazuma agreed with a small frown. Oh well, he'd watch to see if Kyo kept wearing it or not.

"What do you think Kyo is going to do?" The doctor inquired. Kazuma knew the cat best, after all.

"I'm not sure." He admitted softly. "He said he could pretend for a while, but I don't know what he's going to do after that."

"Well, It's nice to know he cares about Hatsuharu enough to do that." Hatori sighed. "At least, he doesn't still hate him."

"That's helpful." He agreed with a nod. Yeah, for all they knew, Haru might have already jumped off of Tokyo Tower if Kyo had flat out told him no.

"It doesn't seem very likely that Kyo will return his feelings?" Hatori asked slowly. Kazuma technically didn't know that Hatori knew about their little 'affair'. Maybe that isn't quite the word.

"Not if he doesn't want to." Kazuma replied disheartened. "There are other things that he'll need to get around before he can even consider it."

"Hmm, well, I'll, Uhm, casually suggest to Hatsuharu that he tone down the stalker like behavior." The dragon offered, remembering why Kazuma had actually called. Thus signaling the end of their conversation.

"Right, thank you." He smiled softly. "Kyo's in the other room, I'd better stop neglecting him." He added, before bidding farewell and hanging up. Actually, neglecting him might be the way to go? Either way, Kyo was lying comfortably on the floor. It was nice to not have to feel weirded out by Haru's rather blatant staring for a while.

"Hatori said he'd ask Hatsuharu to tone down the clinging." Kazuma assured him, sitting back down and picking up his tea again.

"Mmm, bless him." The cat murmured, letting his eyes slide shut. "I could probably have asked him, but I really didn't want to see that pouting face he makes."

"Pouting face?" He repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"He does." Kyo confirmed. "He gets all sad, when I say things like that. Then I feel bad, it really sucks."

"Mmm, he's a sad person lately." He admitted.

"Why can't he have a crush on someone else? Damn." The red head grumbled. "It was just a lot easier when we didn't like each other at all."

"Calm down?" He requested simply. "Hatori said he'd talk to him, that's all we can do. He'll tone down on his own, too, after a while... I hope..."

"Right, right..." Kyo agreed easily enough before looking for a clock. "Feh, well... I have work. That'll keep him at bay for a while. Hopefully he won't be waiting at my apartment again." He went to get his coat and shoes from by the door. "Thanks for having me, Shishou."

TBC