snow

part two

(by archy the cockroach)

disclaimer: well, i still don't own anything

warnings: fluff, slash, mild language, sap

a/n: the second part to the first. more fluff ensues. considerably more slash.

"Ah, Kyou, I can't believe you didn't buy anything for us! What a Grinch!" said Shigure, being over-dramatic as usual. Kyou was half-way up the stairs, attempting to hide from Shigure and Yuki, who were trying to reap presents out of him. He hated Christmas.

"It's not like you guys got me anything!" shrieked the cat, in protest. Shigure grinned, that usual twinkle in his eye. The cat suddenly paled, worried about what perverted comment Shigure was about to spew out.

"Well, I don't think I could give you what I was intending, because Ha'ri would kill me, six ways from Sunday!" said the dog. Yuki rolled his eyes, completely missing the complete give-away to Kyou and Hatori's relationship. Down the stairs, making breakfast, Tohru smiled knowingly.

"Besides, Kyou. Giving is it's own gift," said the rat. Kyou paused on the stairs, and glared down at his stronger cousin.

"You know, Yuki. I should've got you a present," said Kyou, attempting to act pleasant. After his little statement, he yelled; "A pair of tongs, so you can pull that stick out of your ass, you stupid rat!" Then, Kyou retreated into his room.

It was two hours later that Kisa arrived at the house. Kyou was back downstairs by then, talking to Tohru while she cleaned up the dishes from breakfast. Kisa softly made her way into the kitchen, placing her bag full of gifts onto the floor. Tohru turned and smiled, seeing the little girl. Kisa immediately embraced her 'Sissy' and said a soft, "Merry Christmas."

After doing so, Kisa went over to Kyou and gave him a hug. Tohru briefly wondered when Kyou and Kisa had gotten on such good terms. Kisa used to be scared of Kyou. Kisa then wandered back to her bag of presents, and picked out a small box, wrapped with a shiny green cellophane and topped with a pretty red bow.

"Sissy, this gift is from both me and Kyou. We bought it for you, together," said Kisa, blushing as she gave the small parcel to Tohru. The older girl looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Go on, open it. I haven't got all day," said Kyou, smirking.

Tohru smiled through her happy tears and carefully pulled off the bow, and unwrapped the gift. She slowly opened the box, as if expecting something to jump out at her. Upon seeing the pretty necklace, Tohru let a few silent tears of joy run down her face. "Kisa, will you help me put it on?" The small tigress nodded, smiling happily. Even Kyou couldn't resist a little bit of a smile.

Tohru knelt down and pulled her hair away from her neck. Kisa did up the clasp that held the necklace together, and Tohru stood back up. "So, how does it look?" asked Tohru, smiling at Kyou.

"It really suits you," said Kyou, and Kisa nodded in agreement. The three of them talked for a little while, not really caring about anything. Seeing Kisa seemed to have made Kyou lighten up a bit about Christmas. Kisa said that she had gifts for Shigure and Yuki as well, but both Tohru and Kyou had no idea where either of the males had ran off to.

"Say, Kyou. Why don't you walk Kisa home?" said Tohru, secretly implying that he should go see Hatori while he was at it. "I'm sure she could use the company. I'll stay here, and when Yuki and Shigure get back, I'll give them Kisa's gifts." Kyou understood what Tohru was secretly saying (for once) and stood up.

"C'mon, kiddo. Let's take you home. I'm sure your mom misses you," said Kyou, grabbing Kisa by the hand. Kisa smiled, and waved to Tohru, and then they were out the door.

"So, what did you get for Christmas from your mom and stuff, Kisa?" asked Kyou, as they were walking back to the Sohma compound. Kisa was huddling against him, leeching off of his warmth. Even though they were both wrapped up in coats again, it seemed to be colder than when they went shopping two days ago. Dark clouds were gathering overhead.

"Um, clothes, candy… that sort of thing," chattered Kisa, her teeth clicking together like that of a chipmunk's. Kyou rubbed her shoulder, trying to keep her warm. Kyou wasn't too cold, just a little chilly. It was probably because Kisa was so small that the cold affected her so much. "We had a nice Christmas."

They walked in silence for a few more moments. Kisa watched her breath in the air as she exhaled. She liked winter. "Oh, I almost forgot. Grandpa-"

Cringe.

"-Hatori has your present. I didn't know if I was going to see you, so I just gave it to him. Because you're there a lot, lately." Kyou's already pinkish skin got a little bit more pink. That was true. He was there quite a bit. Tohru didn't even wonder where Kyou was if he didn't come home, anymore.

Again, they walked in silence, before Kisa mumbled, "You didn't get anything for Grandpa Hatori, did you?"

"Ah, no," said Kyou, looking down at his shoes. "When we were shopping, I just… nothing was right for him. I couldn't find anything that he might need. I feel kinda bad, you know?" He couldn't believe he was spilling his heart to a 12 year old girl. He didn't even do this with Kazuma.

Kisa smiled, and put her hand lightly on Kyou's forearm. "He'll understand, don't worry." And oddly enough, Kyou believed her.

"What in the world possessed Kisa to get me this?"

Hatori held the rugged, stuffed tiger away from his face as if it might bite him. He was sitting in his office chair, the few presents that he had attained sitting on his desk. Kyou was leaning on the back of the chair, grinning at the stuffed tiger.

"I dunno. Maybe she wanted something that would remind her of you," said the cat. As Hatori analyzed the plush, he did realize that it did sort of look like Kisa. Well, he would keep it around.

Kisa had decided to leave Kyou and Hatori alone, and had scampered off to her own house after hugging Kyou when they entered the Sohma compound. Kyou had sneaked into Hatori's house, and found the man looking completely surprised that he actually had gifts given to him by the rest of the family. He really didn't have time to go buy presents for other people, so he didn't expect any presents in return.

"Kyou, this one's from Kisa. She gave it to me to give it to you," said Hatori, passing his lovely boyfriend the delicately wrapped gift. Kyou blinked. Oh yeah, Kisa had said something about that earlier. Attached to the parcel itself was a little note with big round hiragana characters that read; 'It's not just for you, Kyou. You'll know what I'm talking about when you open it. Merry Christmas, from Kisa.'

A little bit anxious to know what it was, Kyou tore open the wrapping, not taking such time as Tohru did earlier. He was a little bit surprised at what he saw. A picture frame. Kyou looked to Hatori. "Uh." He passed Hatori the note. "I think she means it's for you to keep… here." Hatori nodded.

"Next time you come here, bring me a picture of you," said Hatori. Kyou blushed madly. They both looked up to the picture of Kana that Hatori had yet to have taken down. "I'll put it up there. So I don't forget." Kyou nodded.

After a while, Hatori looked at the slight mess that had amounted from all of the wrapping paper. "Well, that's the last present, I think."

"Yeah, I didn't get you anything… I know that sounds really bad, but, I just couldn't find anything that would be good for you, you know? I mean, it all just seemed sort of superficial, and stupid. Because, you know, that's really all Christmas is, right?" Kyou realized that he was rambling, but didn't stop. Hatori pulled him down by his collar and silenced him with a kiss. Not a deep one. Just a small one, one meant to show affection. When the two pulled away, Kyou blushed again.

"If it's any consolation, I didn't get you anything either."

"So then we're even," said Kyou, smirking. Kyou was suddenly pulled into Hatori's lap, and the two kissed each other quietly, enjoying their own little Christmas. When they were forced to pull away for air, Kyou panted out; "Buuuut, there is something I could give you for-"

Kyou was silenced by Hatori's mouth once again.

It was late in the evening on December the 25th that Hatori and Kyou decided to leave the compound. Kyou had insisted they go for a walk, as Hatori had spent too much time inside over the past month. Truth be told, Hatori hadn't been out of his house in over a week, he'd been so swamped in paperwork. He'd relied on Shigure to bring him food and Kyou to provide him with… entertainment.

So, Hatori and Kyou had cautiously left the compound, and were now walking down the street, hand in hand (much to Kyou's protesting that they shouldn't). It was still cold out, but it wasn't as freezing as it was in the morning. There were still clouds overhead, and the sun was just setting.

Kyou made a small noise, and pointed with his free hand. Hatori looked at him, questioningly, and directed his own vision towards where Kyou was pointing. Kisa was standing out in the middle of the street, staring up at the sky. The two males walked over to the girl. "Hey, Kisa?" asked Kyou, looking down at the girl. "What are you doing out here, it's getting late."

Kisa smiled up at him. "It's going to snow! I know it's going to! That's why I'm out here. I want to be outside when the first snowflake falls," said the little girl. Hatori smiled at her innocent display of hope.

"That would be… nice," said Hatori, feeling oddly serene, "if it snowed for Christmas." Kyou nodded in agreement, and Kisa smiled. She idly noticed how Kyou and Hatori were holding hands. It was good that they were friends.

Kisa let her eyes flutter shut, and wished with all her heart that it would snow. After several minutes of doing this, Kisa gave up with an exasperated sigh.

"Well, it's cold and late. C'mon Kisa, we'll take you home," said Kyou. Kisa sighed again, and skipped ahead.

"I'll race you!" she said, frolicking ahead. Kyou shook his head.

"Sorry, Kisa," said Hatori, speaking on Kyou's behalf, "Kyou's tired from earlier… activities." Kyou was blushing again. Damn Hatori and his way to seem impeccably sexy!

Kisa smiled and backed up, to walk with Hatori and Kyou. "Well, it didn't snow," said the little girl, "but I think it's good enough that I made a new friend for Christmas, right Kyou?"

"Yeah," said Kyou, giving a real smile. This Christmas, he felt like he couldn't stop smiling. They walked back to the compound together, just feeling the sheer happiness that it was Christmas.

Kisa was just about to push the main gate open when…

"A… snowflake?" muttered Kisa, watching the little, tiny, white thing flutter infront of her. She gasped and looked back to the street. Millions of snowflakes were falling from the clouds. A great big smile came onto her face and she squealed, leaping back to twirl around and just bask in the snow. It was amazing.

"Merry Christmas, Kisa," said Kyou. Hatori smiled beside him, wrapping his arm around Kyou's waist.

It's a peculiar thing, for everything to go exactly right. It's even more peculiar when due to some odd power, that it snowed on Christmas. Kyou was left wondering what great force made everything alright for Christmas.

And that, he will never know.

end part two.

Merry Christmas.

end snow.