Kiss Kiss
By Lady of the Ink
Pairing: Kyou and Kagura Sohma
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Theme: #3- Jolt!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but you knew that . . .I hope. But I do own this story and all the twists that it takes.

Kiss One
A Shocking Encounter

Kyou sat hunched on one side of Shigure's roof, watching impatiently as the writer, Tohru, and the damn rat made their way into the trees. It figured - and was just his luck - that everyone was leaving except for the one person that he wanted gone the most.

Kagura had arrived just as they were finishing lunch. Everything had been fine for a total of five minutes . . .right up until she'd caught sight of him trying to slip from the room. The next thing that he knew, he was being slammed into the floor under the weight of an obsessive female on his back. Her arms had locked around his neck until he had a hard time breathing. Years of experience with just such a situation had taught him that the best thing to do was go limp until she loosened her grip enough for him to break free.

He did manage to get loose; unfortunately, that was as far as his freedom went. Before he could take more than two crawling steps and three shaky gasps, her hands locked on his shirt and tugged. There was a brief sense of weightlessness as he flew through the air before he slammed back to earth - and right into the table.

One of the legs had snapped under the force of the impact, sending him sliding to the ground amidst broken dishes and mashed food. He'd barely had time to wonder exactly what the squishy puddle beneath his elbow was before Kagura flew at him again. Her exuberance had sent them both through the door to the sound of Shigure's piteous wails.

The rough landing in the rocky yard had seemed to bring Kagura back to herself. She'd paused with a look of horror when she had caught sight of his battered state. Kyou had used the opening to make a run for it, heading into the woods that surrounded the house. He'd watched and waited until the coast was clear before circling back to the safe haven of the roof. After pulling the ladder up after himself to be sure that he wouldn't be bothered, he'd settled in to wait until Kagura left.

From the safety of his sunlit perch, he'd clearly heard Kagura's apologies over Tohru's moans of distress about the mess and Yuki's attempts to calm her. It was with mixed feelings that he listened to Kagura's insistence that she clean up everything that had been destroyed while the others went for a walk. On the one hand, it meant that she would be around even longer. But on the other, it meant she would be too occupied with repairs to come looking for him. He decided to look at it as a glass half full and settled in for a nap.

Just before he would have fallen asleep, a strangled cry met his ears. It was followed by a loud crash and a heavy thud before everything fell silent once more. He remained motionless for several long moments as he tried to think of an explanation for the sounds that he had just heard. Since he'd seen Tohru, Yuki, and Shigure leave by hadn't heard them return, he knew that the only one in the house was Kagura.

He resisted the urge to groan. While he knew that he should go down and see what had happened, he really didn't want to. The numerous bruises that were still throbbing from her earlier greeting had him hesitating at the thought of facing her again. They would be alone together this time and that never boded well for his health.

Even as he deliberated with himself, he kept his attention focused on the house below him. He was hoping desperately for some sound that would make investigating unnecessary. More and more time passed without so much as a murmur, however, and he felt the first twinges of worry. There was a chance that something had happened to her. With the others gone for who knew how long, he was the only one around to check. A groan of resignation escaped him as he moved to the edge of the roof.

Immediately after hitting the ground, Kyou started looking around. He wasn't about to walk into an ambush if he could help it. Once he was sure that the yard was clear, he cautiously made his way to the house. Stepping into the kitchen, he saw that the remains of lunch had all been put away. The dishes had been washed and were drying in the rack next to the sink. Everything appeared to be in its place but there was no sign of Kagura.

Walking as quietly as he could, he moved onto the next room. He paused at the threshold and poked just his head into the dining room. Once he was sure that he hadn't been seen, he took tow tentative steps into the room. The overturned table had been righted, its leg reattached, and all the spilled food had been cleaned up. Every shard of the broken dishes had been removed. While the door was still demolished, the supplies to fix it had been laid out neatly to one side.

A frown grew on Kyou's face as he continued to prowl the room. Evidence of the work that Kagura had been doing were everywhere but the girl herself was noticeable absent. Since there were only two rooms that had been damaged and he'd already been through both of them, he should have seen some sign of her. Even if she had just gone into another room, he still should have been able to hear her.

Something just didn't feel right.

His original reluctance was forgotten as worry took over. Kyou knew that he wouldn't be able to relax until he knew what had happened and was certain that she was okay. He would search every room of the house if he had in order to find her.

He had just turned to start that search when a flash of white caught his eye. Moving closer, he saw that it was the tip of a stocking-covered foot. Rushing towards it, he came upon a sight that made him stop in his tracks.

Kagura lay sprawled on the floor, her arms out flung and one leg bent. A tipped over chair was on its side a few feet away. He could only guess that it was the source of the crash that he had heard earlier. Kagura hitting the floor would account for both the shriek and the thud.

As he stood looking down at her, another image popped into his mind. Another woman lat on the floor before him, much too still. Lighter hair, almost the same color as his own, haloed her head and framed her colorless face.

A shudder wracked his body as Kyou came back to the moment at hand. Forcing himself to focus on Kagura, he hurried to her side and dropped to his knees. Now that he was closer, he got his first good look at her face. The first thing that he noticed was that her eyes were closed, her eyelashes dark fans against cheeks pale enough to rise to a new wave of concern. There seemed to be no color at all in her face, a fact the worried him more than he was willing to admit even to himself. Shaking it off, he began looking for injuries, starting with her arms and legs. Being careful not to move her, he looked over each limb one at a time. Aside from a small and fading bruise on her left knee, everything seemed to be fine.

Kyou heaved a sigh, a little uncertain of what to do next. He could go looking for the others, but he wouldn't feel right leaving Kagura on her own. He could call Hatori, but what if it was nothing serious? Shigure would never let him live it down. To be safe, he figured he should finish looking her over before deciding what to do.

He hesitated slightly as he moved his examination on to her head, wanting to check her but not wanting to inadvertently cause more problems. His worry finally urged him to action, albeit with the utmost caution. Making sure not to move her neck, he slowly pushed his fingers through her hair to look for bumps or cuts. The silky strands looped around his hand until he had to fan them outward to keep them from getting tangled and pulling.

It wasn't long until his questing fingers located a bump on the back of her head. It was quite swollen but not bleeding. Its placement was exactly where he would have expected it to be if she had fallen off the chair and hit the floor on her back. The question of why she would have been standing on a chair in the first place still remained.

Kyou looked away from Kagura long enough to scan the surrounding area. The quick glance landed on an off center light fixture and the wires protruding from it. His brow furrowed as a thought occurred to him and he quickly checked her hands. The left one was fine but the fingers on her right hand were red and slightly blackened. It looked like she had seen the twisted light and pulled the chair over so that she could reach it. As she was fixing it, her fingers must have brushed against the exposed wires and she'd gotten shocked. It had either startled her off balance or the force of the jolt was enough to send her off the chair and into the hall, which was why he hadn't seen her right away.

Kyou's heart slammed against his chest as her unconscious state took on a new, more dire possibility. Taking a tumble and being knocked out for a few minutes was nothing; it had happened to all of them at one time or another during Shisho's training and their own fights. Getting enough electricity pumped through you to put you out cold was another matter entirely.

The picture of his mother threatened to rise again and he shook his head forcefully to clear it. He reached out with hands that shook just a little and began patting her cheeks. When that got no response, he patted harder and called her name. Still nothing.

Swallowing hard, he rested his hands on her chest to try and find a pulse. When he couldn't feel anything at first, a spurt of panic shot through him. He quickly leaned forward so that he could rest his ear directly against the front of her shirt. The strong, steady beating that reached him at last made him sag with relief. Although it seemed faster than it should have been, he was just glad that it was there. At least that was one thing that he didn't have to worry about.

When their penchants for beating each other senseless had become a nuisance, Hatori had insisted on teaching them all basic first aid. Calling on those lessons, Kyou mentally checked off the steps for someone who was unconscious but who's condition was otherwise unknown. He'd checked her for injuries and found her pulse. The move was to make sure that she was breathing.

As he was leaning forward to check, two things happened simultaneously. The first was that the sounds of Tohru, Yuki, and Shigure's return drifted in through the kitchen. The second was that two arms wound themselves around his neck and pulled him downward without warning.

Kagura smiled at the feeling of warmth coursing through her body. The sunlit garden where she was walking was the perfect example of a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and a gentle breeze danced about, keeping the day from being too warm. If things were any more perfect, she thought she might burst from happiness.

Finding a better outlet than bursting, she turned to the silent boy at her side. Kyou walked slowly, his hands tucked into his pockets. He seemed to be studying each of the flowerbeds that lined the path as they passed them.

Kagura delicately cleared her throat to get his attention. When their eyes met, his face lit up with a smile bright enough to cause a catch in her throat. Without saying a word, he reached out and took one of her hands in his own. An excited little tingle danced up her arm as they continued their walk hand in hand.

It was all just a dream, of course. She had known that from the moment that Kyou had appeared in front of her and suggested the walk. That didn't mean she was going to enjoy it any less. Dreams were the one place she could truly be happy with the boy she loved and so she always made the most of them.

A sigh drifted from her lips, catching the attention of Kyou. She shook off his questioning look but he drew her to a stop with a frown. He ran his fingers though her hair before gently framing her face between his hands. Staring deeply into her eyes, he said, "If there's something bothering you, you can tell me. I don't like to see you depressed."

"I'm okay. Really." He didn't seem totally convinced by her halfhearted reply, but he did start walking again. Kagura let her eyes drop to the path beneath their feet. There was always something bittersweet about these dreams. While having a kind, loving, and attentive Kyou was wonderful, it also reminded her that it was something she was unlikely to ever get for real. Kyou would rather run away than walk by her side and was much more likely to snarl at her to go home than ask what was wrong.

Which was all the more reason to savor the moments her subconscious mind concocted. This was as close as she was likely to get to having Kyou, and she didn't want to waste a single moment of it.

Turning to the Kyou who wasn't Kyou, she gave him her broadest smile and squeezed his hand. Almost as though they had planned it, they both took off running at the same time. Giggling and playfully taunting each other, they had an impromptu race to a bench in the distance. Kyou pulled ahead from the beginning but slowed at the end so that the race finished in a tie.

As they both stopped to catch their breath by the side of the wrought iron bench, Kagura suddenly swayed on her feet. She frowned as a strange feeling began to drift over her. It was like she was being pulled upward; as though she had fallen into the water and some source of buoyancy was lifting her back to the surface without any effort on her part. From somewhere above her came the faint sound of her name being called over and over again.

It suddenly dawned on her what was happening. Someone was trying to wake her up.

Wanting to hold onto the dream for as long as she could, Kagura turned to her Kyou. Reaching for him with an emotion that bordered on desperation, she clasped his cheeks between her hands and kissed him for all that she was worth. Focusing on nothing but the feel of his lips beneath her own and the warmth of his cheeks against her palms, she fought to block out all other feelings and sounds.

'One more minute', she thought to herself. 'Just give me one more minute with him before I wake up where he can't stand me.'

Fate was obviously against her as the disembodied voice returned . . .only it sounded different this time. It was almost as though several people were talking now. One even seemed to be . . .laughing?

Kagura's eyes shot open to an unexpected sight. Crimson eyes stared back at her, wide and just a little panicked. She realized that she had her arms around Kyou's neck and that the kiss she had thought was just part of the dream had actually happened. Was still happening. As soon as that thought sank in, she dropped her arms and sat up. Kyou scooted as far away from her as quickly as he could, slamming into the wall behind him with an audible thud.

The sound of hysterical laughter finally made Kagura look away from Kyou and focus on the rest of the room. Yuki and Tohru stood in the doorway, Yuki's face blank and Tohru's a bit stunned. Shigure was standing just in front of them, doubled over with the force of his laughter.

Her mind raced to make sense of what was going on. As the pieces started clicking into place, she realized what had happened and what people walking in might have thought was happening. It certainly explained Kyou's haunted look and Shigure's uncontrollably amusement.

As the entire picture and all the ways that it would come back to bite her in the butt unfolded, a single, coherent thought formed in her mind.

'Oh, crap.'

Kyou watched from the roof as the slender figure made her way down the path. After more than an hour of trying to explain what had happened to a mocking Yuki and a giggling Shigure, Kyou had given up and retreated to the roof. Kagura had continued the effort but apparently had no better luck at convincing them that what they'd seen wasn't what they thought they'd seen. Just moments before, he'd clearly heard her exasperated shout that she was going home.

Without any conscious thought, one hand lifted until his fingertips brushed against his lips. His mind wandered back to the moment when Kagura had pulled him down and kissed him. The instant that their lips had met, he could have sworn there was a . . .spark, almost. It was like a burst of energy had shot up between them, connecting them for an instant in time.

Realizing what he was doing, he jerked his hand away from his mouth and glared at it. The entire thing was just in his head. There had been no spark, no feeling of any kind between them. She'd just caught him off guard, jumping him when he thought she was unconscious. Anything he thought he might have felt was just a figment of his imagination, or some leftover electricity from her shock. Nothing more. Really.

Yeah.

..:The End:..