Define This!
Yosuke
PG-13
General/Romance
AN: My first Fruits Basket story! Woohoo! Yeah… okay. I've had a million Furuba ideas in my head, but I just want one quick fic done, and soon, so this is just another spontaneous story for the little yaoi-fan in you.
ALSO!... This story involves grammar (as the title suggests) and I've never actually seen a grammar or spelling test in Japan, so I have no idea how they work except maybe Kanji spelling or whatever… So, to make this easier for me and so you readers can understand it better, I'm just going to make it all English words. One more problem with that as well: Japanese classes are far ahead of American classes, I've learned. By the time third grade comes, WE'RE working on our times tables while THEY'RE doing division or exponents or something. So, they're grammar is probably ahead of ours, too. To make this easier, I'm including words I recently learned my junior year in high school and applying it to their second-year class. There. Easy.
Furuba not mine. (WARNING! ... --;; There's some OOC-ness in here. I apologize.)
It was hard to study. Well, actually… It wasn't supposed to be hard, but tonight it was, and it was making Yuki very agitated. Everything else for the night had been done and there was a literature test the next day that would include spelling, and normally, Yuki was great at those tests… when he could study. Tonight, unfortunately, something disturbed him, something noisy. It wasn't so much as loud as it was vaguely there and eating at his mind.
Yuki sighed exasperatedly and threw down his pencil, letting his head fall forward onto the table in his room. Music faintly drifted through the walls of his bedroom. Rock music. Not that he cared what kind of music it was, only that it was loud enough to hear and make out lyrics. He growled quietly, ready to storm into Kyou's room and punch the stereo out himself, but calmed himself and thought differently. 'How would Ms. Honda handle it?'
There was silence for half a minute where Yuki was hopeful that the CD had ended, but then a new song came on with a different voice, and Yuki growled again. Kyou had just changed CDs. This could go on all night.
When the volume went up, Yuki finally shot to his feet and stormed out of his bedroom, walking the short distance to his cousin's bedroom and knocking determinedly on his door. No response. He knocked again, harder. The volume of the music from inside the room suddenly turned down, and a moment later the door opened to reveal Kyou looking very tired. Once he saw his cousin, the cat turned angry. "What?"
"Since you and I are in the same class, I believe you know that we have a test tomorrow, and your loud, obnoxious music isn't helping my studies!"
"Yeah, well get used to it! I'm having trouble studying and a little noise helps me get my mind back into focus!" Kyou attempted to close his door, but Yuki put a hand on to keep it from sliding shut. He looked angrily through the small crack at his cousin, then pushed the door wide open.
"Let me guess: You're only doing this because Ms. Honda isn't here, so it's okay to annoy me," Yuki accused, continuing to hold the door even as Kyou attempted to close it. Kyou growled.
"Hey, I can play music if I want to! It's my room!"
"I can hear it in my room! Have some consideration for your classmates, at least!"
The delay in his studying was annoying Kyou even more, and he finally just put a large percent of his strength into his arm and slammed the door shut, almost on Yuki's hand. A moment later, the rock music was loud again, this time at twice its volume. The rat, still standing at the closed door, clenched a fist and growled. Thankfully, the lock had been taken off of Kyou's door due to his little anger management problem…
The door flew open, surprising the cat a little as Yuki marched into the room, over to the stereo where Kyou currently stood by, and punched one of the speakers. The sound was reduced somewhat as a few sparks flew from the machine. Yuki pulled his hand out of the speaker, ignoring one bleeding knuckle and staring angrily at his cousin. Kyou snarled. "You idiot! That was expensive!"
"So will the hospital bill after I break your neck if you don't turn down the music!"
"Well, how else am I supposed to study!"
"Silence works for me!"
"Well, that's your boring technique!"
"Just," Yuki started, but stopped himself, attempting to calm down. He breathed a little, then looked at Kyou again. "Just… keep it down, okay? I want to study in silence and I haven't been able to get any of it done because of your music."
"It helps me study!"
'Dammit, shut up!' Yuki yelled in his mind, fighting to urge to beat his cousin into a pulp. "You honestly don't have any other way to study? It has to be with noise?"
"Noise or a partner, but right now I only have music, don't I? There! Problem solved! Now get out!" Kyou shouted, thinking to shove the rat to the door but decided against it, knowing he'd get his face kicked in for it.
Yuki sighed, running a hand through his hair before walking out of the room. Kyou stood there, watching his open door and curious as to why his cousin hadn't shut it to lessen the noise. A moment later, Yuki walked back in, a composition notebook in his hand. He slid the door shut and walked back to the stereo. Shutting the power off, he grabbed Kyou by his wrist and pulled him to the small table in the room. Kyou was confused, especially when Yuki sat down at one side of the table and pulled Kyou down to sit at another side.
"Since this music thing isn't working out, I'll just study with you."
"What?" Kyou shot to his feet, staring down at his cousin. "No way in hell!"
"I don't want to have to listen to your music, so we'll just study together like you said you could do." Yuki opened up his notebook to where his current page of notes was and started looking through them. Kyou was left to stand like an idiot, staring at him silently. "Well?" Yuki looked up, pointing to the floor to signify for Kyou to sit back down. Kyou stared at the space he pointed to, then growled softly.
"What in the hell makes you think I wanna study with you?"
"If you wanna study at all, you'll agree," Yuki said quietly, sticking one of his legs out from the side of the table and sweeping it under Kyou's feet, causing the cat to land unceremoniously on his ass. Cursing, he glared at his cousin.
"You jackass!"
Yuki simply slid Kyou's notebook to his side of the table, then resumed looking through his own. "We can do it silently or we can ask each other questions. Which works best for you?"
"I oughta kill you!"
"Fine, I'll ask questions," Yuki sighed, turning slightly to face the cat. "Let's just begin on the definition part."
Kyou ranted something else that went completely over the rat's head and just went on to ask the first question. When Kyou didn't answer, Yuki sighed and lowered his book. "We could turn this into a violent game if you want. I know how you love violent games."
"How the hell could you turn a bunch of definition questions into a violent game!"
"Easy. I tie your hands together and sit on you. When I ask a question and you either don't answer or answer incorrectly, I break one of your fingers. Violent enough for you?"
For some reason that was beyond him, Kyou seemed more disturbed by the idea of Yuki sitting on him rather than getting his fingers broken. He scoffed and looked off to the side, staring at the wall. Yuki watched his cousin, trying to decide whether he was spacing out or thinking.
For Kyou, it wasn't that he didn't want to study with Yuki… It was just the mere presence of him in his room, his territory that made him angry. It wouldn't have been any better in Yuki's room, either. Then Kyou would've felt uneasy. And then out in the living room… where Shigure could walk in at any second and see what looked like the two bitter rivals actually getting along for a slip of time. They would never hear the end of it, and then Tohru would hear and start coming up with crazy ideas… Honestly, it was safest hear in his own room. And not that Yuki wasn't too happy either… He had sensed it when Yuki had first walked in that he wasn't too happy to be in this room. He thought he almost saw his cousin cringe when he stepped in.
Kyou looked back at Yuki, who was still staring at him, waiting for an answer. In his mind, he laughed a little. 'He probably thinks I'm considering the violent game.'
Well, Yuki seemed alright being in here for now. And Kyou did want to study, as did his cousin. The atrocious idea of the rat and the cat sitting in the same room talking about the same stuff didn't seem quite so… atrocious anymore.
Kyou shook himself mentally. 'I've got problems.'
"Be right back," Kyou suddenly announced, standing and walking out of the room. Yuki watched him curiously, then sighed and went back to his studying. A little bit later, the cat walked back in with a bag of chips in his hand. He tossed it onto the table, looking down at the other boy. "Food helps me study, too."
When Yuki looked halfway up, Kyou noticed he had the knuckle he had split on the speaker before in his mouth. He hadn't recalled seeing much blood, only pin-drops, and it just seemed scraped raw. He sighed and walked to his desk, pulling open a drawer and taking out a small white box. He came back with said box, opening it as he sat down. When Yuki saw the band-aid, he put his hand on the table, unconsciously allowing Kyou to put it on for him. The cat pulled the adhesive side free and carefully wrapped it around Yuki's knuckle. "This… never leaves the room," Kyou muttered.
"Agreed."
Kyou set the box on the opposite side of the table, then reached for the bag of chips and opened them up. When he started to munch, Yuki looked back down at his notebook. "Okay… Erroneous."
Kyou seemed like he wasn't paying much attention. He nibbled on the side of a chip, staring into space. Yuki was about to hit him to wake him up, but stopped when Kyou suddenly said, "Characterized by error."
Yuki blinked a little in surprise, looking back down at his book to find another word. "Temperament."
"Disposition."
"Scrutinized."
"Examine closely."
"Cynical."
"Contemptuously distrustful."
"Effeminate."
"Yuki Souma."
Yuki kicked Kyou under the table, the cat letting out a hiss of pain and almost chocking on the chip that was in his mouth.
"H-Having feminine qualities."
"Good…" Yuki flipped a page and scanned the paper. "Um… Frippery."
"Ayame Souma."
Yuki fought the urge to laugh and just smiled a little. Kyou noticed and smirked around the chip between his lips.
"Fractiousness."
"Momiji Souma."
"Impetuous."
"Kagura. Kagura. Kagura."
"Supercilious."
"Hiro Souma."
Yuki chuckledin his mindat each answer, reaching to the bag and taking out a chip. He thought he would have had Kyou answer each question correctly after making such smart-ass answers, but the way he matched each person to the word told him that he knew the definitions. If he could relate their personalities so correctly, then he must know. 1
He continued to ask questions until he was through the list and lowered his book. "You seem to know all of this. Why are you studying, then?"
"Well, I… guess I didn't know if I knew the answers or not…" Kyou stared off into space. Yuki sweatdropped.
"Okay…"
"How's your hand?"
"Huh?"
Kyou pointed to Yuki's right hand. Yuki looked at the bandaged knuckle and shrugged. "Fine, I guess." Wait… since when did Kyou care about him? That disturbed him somewhat, but in what way, he wasn't quite sure, and found himself suddenly feeling embarrassed. To avoid eye contact, Yuki went for the bag and took out a few more chips. 'Hold on, why am I embarrassed to look at him?' Yuki attempted to look at his cousin but found the red eyes unnerving and quickly turned away. 'This is ridiculous! What's wrong with me?' The rat put three of the snacks in his mouth and quickly ate them. 'This isn't normal. I shouldn't be hesitant around him! I'm not… I'm not a hesitant person, especially with that stupid cat!'
In all his mixed thoughts, Yuki hadn't realized that his face was visualizing everything going through his mind, therefore confused as to why Kyou was staring at him like that.
"You okay?" Kyou asked. Yuki nodded a little.
"Fine, fine. Just stressed about tomorrow, I guess."
"Then I guess I better ask you the questions now," the cat said in such a manner that it seemed like he really didn't care. At Kyou's casual tone, Yuki eased.
'What am I doing? I'm letting him get the better of me without him knowing it!... Why am I turning this into such a big deal?' Yuki closed his notebook and slid it to the middle of the table. "Definitions, please."
"Sure…" Kyou munched casually on a chip as his eyes reviewed the paper laid out before him. "Inept."
"…Inappropriate."
"Feign."
"To give a false appearance of."
"Proximity."
"Closeness."
"Extemporary."
"……………"
Kyou looked up with his eyes. "Extemporary."
"Shut up, I heard you."
More silence, and then… a smirk crept across the cat's face. "Do you… not know?"
"…………" Yuki growled softly, inwardly. Kyou laughed.
"That's rich!"
A kick under the table silenced the cat and Yuki resumed his thinking. "It's… done with little or no preparation or forethought."
"Right," Kyou muttered, looking back down. "Geez, I'd figure you'd know all these already."
"I would if you hadn't been blasting your music earlier."
"Sure, blame everything on me."
"Well, it was your fault."
"Yeah, and if you don't get into college, I'm sure that'll be my fault, too."
"Probably."
"Can we get back to studying now or must we continue putting things on my shoulders?"
"Honestly, putting things on your shoulders makes me feel better."
"Is that so? Fine, then. I killed the dinosaurs. There. You happy?"
"A little."
"Are we done yet?"
"Line yourself up in front of a speeding semi and then we'll be done."
"God, I hate you."
"Next word."
"Huh?"
"I'll take the next word now."
"So my hate makes you happy?"
"Very much so."
"Yeah, well, your hate makes me happy, too."
"If I punch you in the face, will that be enough happiness?"
"There'll be a lot more pain than happiness."
"Let's try it."
"Try me!" Kyou put up his fists in defense, feeling the raging cat spirit fuel him into a fighting frenzy. Yuki, amused by the sudden change in the atmosphere, curled a hand and readied to launch it at Kyou's face, then stopped himself.
"No, I'd rather not."
"Oh, sure. I can make you happy, but you can't make me happy!"
"I just don't feel like spilling blood today."
"Hah!" Kyou leaned a little across the table, glaring threateningly at his cousin. "Is the little mousy feeling too tired from studying to get in a little brawl?"
"I'm just not in the mood."
"Who gives a damn about mood? It's that fighting spirit! Come on, give me your best shot, you little vermin!"
Yuki looked up from previously studying his hand out of boredom. Kyou's eyes were on fire like they usually were, glaring with that intense feeling of enthusiasm and hate not so much revolving around his cousin but rather at everything that made him feel his hate. The rat sighed. For Kyou to suddenly feel this enthusiasm swell up at such an inappropriate time made him want to really hit the cat, but couldn't help but feel amused at the daring smirk on the other boy's face. Yuki let his shoulders drop. "Fine, here's my best shot," he mused aloud. Kyou tensed. He was ready to raise up his fists in defense again, but then he saw Yuki move forward just a little and tried to tell himself to back away.
'He's gonna head-butt me? He rarely does that!' Kyou had just barely began to push on his arms to back away when Yuki suddenly neared a lot faster than he had expected. But rather than their foreheads colliding in one violent smack, Yuki tilted his head pressed his lips to his cousin's.
Kyou was dumbfounded. His mind had told him before to back away from a head-butt, but… this wasn't an attack. Should he still back away? If he backed away, would he look like an idiot? Or would Yuki be the one looking stupid? Kyou couldn't quite figure out what to do and what the result of each action would be, so he stayed still, forgetting to breathe, forgetting to blink, and only stared at Yuki's closed lids.
Next to being a very awkward moment, Yuki actually found the feeling of kissing his cousin to be rather… pleasant, and discovered that he had stayed there for quite a long moment. He was reveling in this contact more than he would dare to admit, but fought to keep his control and pulled away from the warm sensation.
Kyou still leaned forward, same position, staring stupefied at the rat. Yuki brushed back a piece of his silver-gray hair that had fallen forward and tucked his composition notebook under his arm. Carefully, he stood and headed for the door. "Good night, Kyou. Thanks for the studying time…" As he walked out the door, he paused and turned his head once more. "Stupid cat." Then he was gone.
Kyou was still leaned over, head turned to stare out the door after his cousin, speechless. 'Did… did… did Yuki just…' Even his mind was stuttering as he sat up, looking down at his notebook. 'Did Yuki kiss me?' To his horror, he found himself blushing and realized that the silenced he had allowed to slip in was making for a very convincing moment of contemplation, one he knew Yuki was hearing and smirking at that very moment to, and fought to cover it up. "YOU STUPID RAT! THAT WAS DISGUSTING! I'M A GUY, YOU'RE A GUY, WE'RE COUSINS--" He stopped there. 'Well, that was stupid… Me and Kagura are cousins…'
And as if the timing couldn't be better, a new face popped into the doorway. "I heard something being disgusting between two guys," said Shigure, head only visible from around the side of the door. He snickered at Kyou's humiliated blushing. "Did Yuki and Kyou do something naughty?"
"SHUT UP, SHIGURE!" Both Yuki and Kyou seemed to yell simultaneously as Shigure pranced away, a mind full of confessions ready to spill to their beloved Tohru Honda, Kazuma Souma, and very interesting topic for the next novel to write in mind.
Ze end.
AN: Hi-yah! First Furuba story complete! Yay! Let us rejoice! lights a sparkler and just stands there Okay, well I'm glad I finished it and so hopefully this will go up soon. So, how'd I do for my first Fruits Basket story, ey? Good enough, I hope. I realized they totally went OOC in here, but I kind of intended them to be. If they hadn't, then Yuki and Kyou wouldn't have kissed at the end, now would they? If you still didn't like the OOC-ness, however, leave it in a review and I'll try to improve. Yes, I know. I'm so full of mistakes. But isn't everyone? Or am I alone in this?
1: I realize not everyone knows the definitions to the words mentioned in this story and it kinda spoils it when you don't know the meaning but they're clearly making fun of the Souma members, so I'll list 'em here.
According to my 11th grade English class, the condensed definitions are:
Frippery: showy display of elegance (Ayame)
Fractiousness: inclined to cause trouble (Momiji)
Impetuous: marked by sudden and forceful energy or emotion (Kagura)
Supercilious: feeling or showing haughty disdain (Hiro)
For those of you who've had these words in class and have different definitions… these are the ones I have. Just use them for the story, whether they're right or wrong.
Thou shalt review-ith.