Cold Winter Day

Don't own. This has been revised by my friend, Orin Forever Crimson so it is LONGER then it was. It's Kyo/Yuki but not Yaoi, so I hope you enjoy.

It was a cold winter's day.

Kyo was in his last class of the day. It was going slow, but it was almost over and he was glad.

Even though it was only Wednesday he was already looking forward to the weekend.

Kyo allowed his bored gaze roam around the room at leisure, and saw Tohru listening intently to the teacher.

Dismissing this as another boring fact of life, even though she did have that adorable look of concentration on her face, he then he allowed his gaze to wander again until it paused at the sight of Yuki with his head down on his books.

Kyo looked closer at his cousin who was seated one row up and two seats over from him, as he was not one to fall asleep in class being the "Prince" and all, to realize that Yuki was breathing very shallowly.

Kyo's eyes widened and realized Yuki was either having an asthma attack or he had one, but seeing as his face was just beginning to flush, it was probably the former.

Suddenly, Yuki started to slide off his seat.

Kyo quickly rushed to his side and without thinking, caught his cousin before he hit the ground.

He crouched down; Yuki cradled in his arms as gently as the cat could manage, and looked at Yuki's face to see that the rat was barely conscious.

"Yuki, go to sleep," Kyo ordered firmly as he stood up with the fragile nezumi in his arms and Yuki passed out a fearful look crossing his face a split second before he lost consciousness, "I'm going to the nurse. Tohru call Hatori now!"

Kyo hurried out of the classroom and started to run down the hall, but a quiet moan stopped him in his tracks.

Looking down he saw that Yuki was awake.

"H-help make the p-pain stop K-kyo, please," Yuki pleaded weakly, agony deep in his voice and eyes "medication… locker."

"Okay, hang in there rat boy," Kyo commanded firmly as he ran over to Yuki's locker.

After arriving a few moments later, he gently lowered Yuki into a sitting position against the wall.

"Don't pass out on me now you damn rat!" Kyo muttered darkly under his breath as he made sure Yuki could sit on his own long enough for him to get the medicine.

"H-hurry" Yuki said weakly in response, "The com-combination is 27-15-6."

Moments later Kyo had the medication out and gave it to Yuki

"Thanks," the nezumi gasped as he managed to swallow the pills with the help of a small cone-cup of water from the nearby water fountain.

"Whatever," Kyo muttered as he reached down to pick his weakened cousin up once more to begin the trek to the nurses office, "Now let's get you to the nurse and wait for Hatori to get here."

Yuki allowed his head to fall forward so that it rested on Kyo's shoulder and lost the fight with his tired eyelids as his eyes closed.

Kyo jumped slightly at this oddly intimate contact, but managed not to drop his temporary charge.

Kyo arrived at the nurse, nudging the partially opened door wider to allow him entry, to find Hatori already there and waiting with stethoscope in hand to examine the rat.

"He had an attack and had his meds," Kyo filled the doctor in almost unnecessarily.

"Alright let me see him," Hatori said firmly and moved to the side in order to clear the way to the nurse's examination table.

Kyo sat Yuki on the table, but remained next to him in case he should fall during his check up.

Then the dragon examined Yuki quickly and efficiently, with a practiced ease that spoke of the many times he had checked on this particular zodiac member.

Hatori looked up from his inspection calmly and turned to Kyo.

"Kyo the only thing he needs is to rest, there's nothing I can do. Take him home and put him to bed. If he has another attack give him his medicine and sit with him," Then Hatori turned to look at his patient, "Yuki if you need Kyo for anything tell him."

"'Kay" Yuki breathed out quietly and Kyo nodded grudgingly as Hatori packed up his medical equipment and left.

Kyo supposed the doctor was very busy, especially considering that this was flu season, but why did he have to stay with the rat?

*Cough Cough Cough* "K-kyo let's go…home?" Yuki requested quietly his voice still weak from lack of air.

"Alright, I'll carry you, but don't get used to this," Kyo said firmly as he picked Yuki up gently, almost as if he was afraid he would break the nezumi in this state, while another small coughing fit racked Yuki's fragile form, "As soon as you are well I will beat you."

"'K-kay" Yuki breathed out faintly as Kyo left the nurse's office, to his credit he didn't even miss a step when Yuki relaxed in his arms and rested his head on the cat's shoulder.

Thirty-five minutes later, Kyo was putting Yuki in his bed and covering him up to his neck with the soft comforter. Then, unsure what exactly to do now that he had accomplished his objective, sat down on the side of the bed, next to his unconscious cousin.

Hatori had said to stay with him in case he had another attack.

Gradually, Yuki's breathing went from shallow pained pants to slow deep breathing, the tranquility only broken by an occasional cough.

Taking in the rat's flushed face, Kyo felt Yuki's forehead to find him burning up.

Taking his hand away, the cat watched his cousin's chest move up and down and silently hoped he would be okay, but it was a really cold winter and getting colder by the day.

Kyo knew that Yuki had flare ups in winter, and he also knew that if Yuki pushed himself too far when he was having one he could get really sick. Kyo knew Yuki hid a lot from the world, even if he was sick he would not tell anyone and the cat wondered how long the rat had been ill.

Kyo was brought out of his thoughts by a pained groan, and saw that his cousin was awake and watching him through slitted eyelids.

"Yo, how are you feeling?" Kyo asked unsurely, not entirely sure how to be the nurturing one in any situation, much less with one of the people he was supposed to hate.

"Better," Yuki replied softly, as though it still pained him to speak, and he sat up slowly as if testing his muscles to ensure cooperation, "I need a bath then I'll get in my pajamas. I won't rest well in my uniform."

Kyo stood up, seeing that Yuki was stronger than he was before, then watched as Yuki followed him up into a standing position.

"You have to eat something too, ya know," Kyo grumbled as they headed for the door, "You are really light and skinnier than you were in the summer, I have noticed it when we fight," Kyo paused before bluntly stating his next question, "How long have you been sick for? And tell me the truth rat boy."

"About three weeks," Yuki replied, surprisingly without any fight in his voice as he gave away information he had obviously been hiding from everyone, "I've only eaten," he paused shortly to cough weakly before continuing, "…one or two meals a day since then."

Yuki abruptly stopped walking and Kyo turned around when he heard the nezumi's footsteps stop only to find Yuki leaning against the wall, not looking at him but instead staring unblinkingly at the floor at his feet.

"You'll probably tell him now or Shigure," Yuki sighed running a tired hand through his hair, still refusing to meet Kyo's eyes.

"No, I'm no snitch, but you have to eat more if you expect to be able to hide this from them." Kyo said firmly not looking at the rat, instead glaring at the floor, and Yuki looked up at him with a small amount of surprise filtering through his mask before he nodded and then Kyo led the way downstairs.

Forty minutes later Kyo was starting to get antsy.

Yuki had been in the bathroom for a while, so he decided to go check on him.

He wasn't worried, but if that rat died while he was supposed to be watching him he would never live it down.

He knocked, and when he didn't hear a response, he called out that he was coming in before sliding the door open.

His eyes went wide.

Yuki was submerged under the water and wasn't moving.

Kyo, leaped across the tiled floor, and almost threw the rat in his haste as he lifted him out of the water by his shoulders and then he placed his cousin's limp form on the floor.

Yuki's chest wasn't moving, and the nezumi's lips were turning a dark blue color.

"YUKI BREATH!" Kyo yelled desperately as he slapped Yuki's cheek hard in a panic.

Then, realizing that this was an emergency situation his first aid training kicked in, Kyo quickly began to perform CPR on him.

After the second round out compressions, Yuki coughed up water, followed by a few big gulps of air.

Kyo laughed in relief as he allowed his body to fall back against the wall of the bathroom and slid down into a sitting position as he called out instructions to his now breathing cousin.

"Easy! Take deep breaths, you are going to be alright." Kyo said, felling a small sense of pride that the rat would live, because he had managed to save him, but that would be a gibe for another day.

"Wh-what happened?" Yuki said just above a whisper, his normally smooth voice hoarsened by a combination of his attack and the sub-sequential CPR, confusion in his voice then his eye went wide before he answered his own question as he remember the events previous to his life threatening ordeal, "I-I had another attack. I remember an immense pain in my chest, and then you were here."

"Shit," Kyo cursed as he let his head fall back against the wall behind him before continuing quietly, "It sounds like it must have been a severe attack...let's get you dried off and dressed then I'll give you some more medicine."

Yuki nodded and allowed Kyo to assist him as he dried off and dressed before letting him help him back to his room, thankful that he was walking instead of being carried around like a damsel.

Now the two were in Yuki's room again in the same spots. Yuki was unconscious again, having passed out as soon as he had taken his pills and laid down, and Kyo was monitoring his ill cousin for anymore signs of attack, now made slightly paranoid about another happening.

Kyo allowed his gaze to roam over his cousin's face and could help but realize that Yuki looked fragile while he slept his face flushed still from fever and exhaustion, and it shocked him that his cousin, who was good at everything and seemed invincible to all, could be this sick and vulnerable.

Turning away from his cousin's sleeping face, Kyo let his thoughts wonder and before long he realized that the sun was setting, the shadows stretching across the room.

He looked down at Yuki to see that he had began to sweat sometime while his mind had been wandering, and noticed that the sheets were twisted as h=if he had tossed and turned.

Suddenly, he started awake, gasping for air, his eye wide with terror. He looked around in panic.

"Where is he?" Yuki asked desperately, looking to Kyo as if he might be able to discount the information his dreams had imparted to him, as Kyo took in the sight of his shaking form, he knew whom his cousin was talking about immediately.

"Relax, it was only a nightmare, we're the only ones in the house," Kyo said reassuringly, again in a situation beyond his expertise.

Then, to his shock, Yuki lurched forward to wrap his arms around Kyo's chest shaking with repressed emotion, moments later Kyo wrapped his arms around Yuki's trembling form.

"Calm down. It's okay now, you're safe," Kyo tried to comfort and reason with the distressed rat, as he awkwardly patted his back.

"I know…b-but he h-hurt me. I-it was so p-painful," Yuki said sadly through his gasps and Kyo was shocked.

"Was it when you were living there?" He asked hesitantly, as he held Yuki close in a comforting embrace and Yuki nodded.

"And three weeks ago," Yuki said shamefully as his body was wracked with another violent shudder.

"Wait…is that the cause of your illness?" Kyo asked, shock in his voice.
Yuki nodded, his face now buried in Kyo's shirt as if to hide his shame.

"What happened for you to get sick?" Kyo coaxed, hoping to get the answers he was seeking.

"The strain…he put me through. I-it made me weak, so I had an attack." Yuki replied weakly, his voice barely had the strength to be felt against the chest he was pressed close to, "Then it was really cold when I left. I forgot," He had to pause for a moment as he coughed into Kyo's chest before continuing shakily, "A coat so that didn't help my weakened condition."

Yuki began to relax against Kyo's chest as be started to calm down, but he still clung to Kyo desperately and Kyo let him, for once letting the rivalry completely fade away for the moment.

"I apologize if I was an annoyance. I know you didn't plan on this happening to you. I don't want to be a burden. You should have let me die in the tub," Yuki seemed to gather his barriers back around him shakily as he spoke, tensing as if he planned to extract himself from Kyo's arms as a last bid for his dignity.

"Yuki, damn rat, don't say," Kyo tightened his arms around his stiff cousin's shoulders as he spoke, to keep him from breaking the moment, or looking up to see his embarrassed flush as he admitted how he actually felt about the rat, "If I let that happen I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. I would have no honor. You're my cousin and believe it or not I care for you, even if I really don't like you most of the time, and I want you to live, so…don't say that again."

Kyo began to stroke Yuki's back in soothing patterns, trying to remember exactly how his master had used to rub his back to comfort him.

"Alright?" Kyo pushed.

The rat wasn't going to get away with saying stuff like that again, or ill or not, he was going to deck him.

"Okay Kyo," Kyo felt the rat's lips curve into a small smile against the fabric of his shirt.

After a small silence, Yuki continued.

"…Thank you that means a lot coming from you" Yuki said quietly as he shut his eyes and Kyo felt him relax back to his former position resting against his chest, "Is Miss Honda home yet?"

"No. Why?" Kyo asked looking down at his cousin.

"I-I don't…want to be alone tonight," He paused and seemed to gather himself before forging ahead, after all what else had he to lose?, "Would you please stay here tonight Kyo?"

Yuki went as still as a statue in Kyo's grip as the cat stared down at him in shock.

"I apologize," Yuki said, his voice gaining a bit of its usual icy tone back, as he once again tried to remove himself from his cousin's arms, his back stiff with wounded pride, "I shouldn't ask for anything more of you."

Kyo rolled his eyes, and roughly pulled his cousin back into his embrace, the rat stiffening even more from the surprise of the action.

"Sheesh, no need to get all huffy," Kyo teased as he moved so that he and his cousin were both settled comfortably on the rat's bed, "I'll stay. Just go back to sleep and get better," Kyo finished firmly as he covered them both up.

"Alright," Yuki said tiredly, curling in a ball next to his cousin allowing his icy persona to drop away as his cousin began to rub his back again, "Goodnight Kyo."

"'Night Yuki," Kyo said quietly as he felt the rat's breathing even out in sleep.

He followed soon after, the stress of the day finally crumbling his last resistance against sleep.

The cat and the rat would fight again the next day, but now that they knew each other as more than rivals, their battles were not as long, nor as destructive and usually ended with Yuki helping Kyo up from the ground.

Shigure and Tohru would watch these new occurrences with wide eyes and unbelieving minds, and when Tohru would turn and hide her smile behind her hand Shigure thought not much more than she was happy that her two friends were finally coming to terms with their feud.

But Tohru knew something that the rest of the Sohmas did not.

She had rushed home that day after school, Hatori had insisted she stay in class and allow Kyo to take care of his cousin, and knowing that he could care for a sick person, as he had cared for her before, she had allowed herself to be persuaded, but when she arrived home and knocked tentatively on the rat's door she had received no answer.

Fearing that something had gone wrong, she had slid open the door gently and discovered a sight that most wouldn't have believed could occur even if the sun began to rise in the west and set in the east.

She had found the two cousins in repose, Kyo curled almost protectively around his cousin, who was leaning on his chest with a peaceful look on his face, his breathing deep and even as if he had never had the attack.

Tohru had sighed in relief, backing out of the room silently, and making sure to make plenty of noise, to give the two ample warning, when others began to arrive to check on the rat's health.

When Tohru led the way up the stairs, after delaying as long as possible, she was happy to see Kyo emerging from the shower with a scowl on his face.

She greeted him happily as the others pushed past her into Yuki's room where the rat was propped up against his pillows.

They followed the crowd in.

"I see Kyo, took good care of you Yuki!" Momiji exclaimed as he sat on the edge of the bed obviously trying not to bounce up and down in his usual excited way.

Yuki shot a glance over their heads to where Kyo leaned against the door frame.

"Yes he did," Yuki said turning his attention back to his other guests.

Kyo had a light flush across his cheeks as his scowl deepened, and then he abruptly turned and began to walk away.

"Is there any food in this house?" He threw back over his shoulder as he started down the stairs, "I'm half starved from having to watch that damn rat all day!"

Tohru quickly followed him down and went about finishing up the meal she had prepared with the knowledge that they would have guests for dinner.

She served the now full table, someone had insisted on bringing all of Yuki's pillows down and propping him up at the table which he endured with a tired sigh, and then smiled as the normal interaction on the Sohma family commenced.

Everything was normal, except that when Yuki threw a barb out at Kyo, it was just to tease him, and when Kyo responded, he responded with the knowledge that this was really just a show for the family and a familiar comfort zone for the two of them.

The cat and the rat would fight, it was inevitable, but knowing that they had found a bond not forged with hate and violence warmed the rice-ball's heart.

As she watched Yuki offer a hand to Kyo and Kyo accept it still arguing with his cousin heatedly, she smiled behind her hand.

A bond forged in love was much stronger than one forged in hate.

THE END

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