"No. Absolutely not." Kyo protested.

"What's the matter, stupid Cat? Afraid of a little truth or dare?" Yuki mocked.

Kyo bristled. "I'm not afraid of anything, you stupid Rat! I'll take you anytime, anywhere!"

"Then how about right here, right now?"

Kyo faltered. It wasn't that he was afraid of the game, per say, just what Yuki and that stupid dog, Shigure were going to come up with. He glanced into the living room. Tohru was happily humming to herself, totally oblivious to the eminent danger that was fast approaching. And he couldn't even warn her.

He sighed, accepting his fast-approaching humiliation. "Let's just get this over with."

The door burst open and Momiji skipped into the house. "What's going on, guys?"

Kyo rolled his eyes. Great. Here comes another one.

He still couldn't get over how big Momiji had grown. He had been such a little twerp before. Now that he had ditched the juvenile-looking clothes, even Kyo had to admit that he wasn't quite as annoying as he was in the past.

"We were just about to dabble in a friendly game of truth or dare. Care to play with us?" Shigure said innocently.

"Why, I would love to!" Momiji said gleefully. He shot Kyo a smirk and bounded over to Tohru. "This is going to be fun!"

"I hope so." Tohru responded. I've never played before, though."

Momiji patted her knee. "Don't worry. It's easy to pick up on. "I'm sure you'll learn lots of interesting new things, as well." Again, he gave Kyo a smug look.

I've been set up. Kyo thought with barely controlled anger. That little brat's in on it, too!

He turned to leave, not caring anymore if Yuki called him chicken, but Shigure placed a firm hand on his shoulder and halfway dragged him into the room. "You're not getting away this time, Kyo." He whispered happily.

The game started innocently enough, mostly to get Tohru acquainted with the rules.

"Spin around and bark like a dog." Momiji dared Shigure.

"What do you want to do now that the curse has been broken?" Yuki asked Momiji.

"I really want to study abroad and travel the world." Momiji admitted. "I've already submitted my application for a school in Germany."

"Hold your breath for a whole minute." Shigure told Tohru who accomplished the dare. Actually, she was concentrating so hard on holding her breath that she refused to stop until Momiji started to shake her.

Then the questions and dares started to pick up, as Kyo feared they would. Even Tohru seemed to be able to handle her own in the game as she dare Yuki to drink an entire bottle of hot sauce.

"How cruel of you, Ms. Honda. And here I thought we were friends." He said as he got up to head to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry! I thought that that was what we were supposed to-"

Yuki held up a hand. "I'm kidding. I will gladly take your dare."

Once he had retrieved the bottle, he proceeded to chug the red liquid. The other four players watched with held breaths as he paused, swallowed, and then rushed out the room in search of some milk.

Momiji, Shigure, and Tohru laughed while Kyo waited for a moment and then grinned when he heard Yuki's frantic shouts.

"Kyo! You drank all the milk again, didn't you?!"

"Sure did! That's what you get!"

Finally came the moment that Kyo dreaded. Up until now, he had only been asked or dared stupid things, like when Shigure asked "If anyone in the room could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?"

Answer: That stupid Rat, of course. And I would make him wait on me hand and foot!"

"You wouldn't make him lose on purpose?"

"And have him say that the only way I could beat him is if he forfeited? No way!"

"Even though it's the truth." Yuki muttered.

Once it was Yuki's turn, Kyo hesitantly chose truth once again. "What's the longest you've gone without taking a bath?"

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kyo said that technically it was four months when he was in the mountains, since he only had water to bathe with.

Yuki, looked at him aghast, but it wasn't as if one could really blame him for having no soap up there, though Yuki couldn't help but remind him that it was his choice to be there in the first place.

It was the next time that it was Yuki's turn to choose that he knew he was in trouble. He saw the looks the other three guys shot each other. They were planning something. If he had thought to look, he would have also seen Tohru's embarrassed, yet excited expression that she was desperately trying to suppress.

"I'm going to the bathroom!" He shot to his feet, desperate to escape. He didn't care if Yuki mocked him, or if Shigure mentioned his failure every day for the rest of his life. He would not humiliate himself in front of Tohru.

"Where are you going?" Shigure asked. "Stay and play with us!"

"Yeah!" Momiji move to block his path.

"No! I'm leaving and there's nothing you guys can do to stop me. I didn't even want to play this game in the first time!" He pushed past Momiji, but stopped when he heard a quiet voice from behind him.

"Please, Kyo-kun." Tohru pleaded, wringing her hands. "I really want to play with everyone, and it wouldn't be much fun without you."

Kyo groaned inwardly. "Geez, Tohru. Don't ask me in a voice like that!" He ran his hand through his hair. "Fine. I'll play for a couple of rounds." He sat back down on the rug. "Go on, you stupid Rat. The sooner you go, the faster I get to leave."

"Very well." Yuki said. He turned to face Kyo, who took in a deep breath to steady his tense nerves.

"So Kyo, you know the question. Will it be truth, or will it be dare?"

Kyo noticed the others held their breath as he paused, not sure which one would be safer. What if he asked him something private, like when did he start liking Tohru, or something weird like did he ever dream about Tohru. No matter what, he was sure it was going to be about Tohru. These guys, especially Shigure, were becoming professionals in making him embarrassed, and he doubted that they would waste this opportunity. Darn his honesty!

"Dare." Kyo said sullenly. Yuki smirked and he knew that he had made the wrong decision.

"Then I dare you, Kyo, to go over there and kiss Tohru. On the lips of course."

"What?!" Kyo cried.

"Yes!" Momiji and Shigure cheered simultaneously.

Tohru blushed, but she looked amazingly pleased.

"Oh no!" Kyo held up his hands. "No way am I doing that here in front of everyone." He got to his feet again."

"But you have to!" Shigure whined. "That's the rules!"

"These rules do not govern my free will. I'm out of here!"

"But why, Kyo-kun?" Tohru's voice rang out. "Why won't you kiss me?"

He faced Tohru, confused. She was glaring at him, her fists clenched. Tears were in her eyes, but she refused to shed them.

"You won't kiss me here, so where will you kiss me? You refuse to touch me, even though the curse was broken weeks ago!"

He glanced at the three expectant faces that watched the drama unfold with glee. "Can we go somewhere else to talk? More privately?"

"No we cannot! I'm not moving until you give me an answer!" She folded her arms across her small frame.

Kyo let out a sigh. "Fine. Then can you guys leave?"

"But I'm comfortable!" Shigure said happily.

"As am I." Agreed Yuki.

"And me!" Momiji piped up.

He gritted his teeth. "Listen, Tohru, do you really think that a silly game is the right way to get me to kiss you?"

"Why do I have to get you to do that? Aren't we dating?"

"Well yeah, but…" Kyo thought back over the last few weeks. He and Tohru had been spending a lot more time together now that the spell was broken and things were settling down, but he had been afraid to touch her, afraid to get too close. He knew it was ridiculous, but a part of him was afraid that if he did, he would turn back into a monster and she would disappear, repulsed at the reappearance of his old form. He woke up night after night, suffering from that dream, and he would run to Tohru's room just to reaffirm that she was still there.

But he hadn't taken into account what that must have been doing to poor Tohru. He had brushed her off repeatedly whenever she tried to make an advance, and made sure to turn his face away so that he wouldn't have to face her hurt expression.

Suddenly irritated at himself, he crossed the distance between the two of them in two steps. He raised his hands and hesitated but a moment before he won over his fear and tugged her into his embrace.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He mumbled into her hair. Pushing her away a bit, he gazed into her warm brown eyes that told him that he was already forgiven. Smiling, he cupped her cheek in his hand, bent his head, and gave her a long, gentle kiss.

The whistles and catcalls behind them broke the couple out of their trance and they grinned at each other when they broke apart.

"You know," Kyo said as he brushed a stray hair out of her face, "you don't ever have to 'dare' me into kissing you again, because I don't want to have to stay away from you for that long ever again." He kissed her forehead. "Understand?"

She nodded, eyes glistening with tears and cheeks still flushed from the kiss.

"Alright, you scumbags!" Kyo shouted at the three onlookers who grinned up at them from their positions on the floor. "I do believe it is my turn, and I can't wait to exact my punishment! But first, I think I need to call up that Machi girl. What was her number again?"

"You wouldn't!" Yuki shouted, no longer smiling.

"Is that a dare?"

The game went well into the night, their laughter echoing down the lane. It was a day that Kyo and Tohru were sure to remember for a long, long time.

GM: So Tohru has a bit more of a backbone in this one than in most that I have written. I apologize to anyone who is dissatisfied with this, but I felt that it was best for the flow of the story. Anyways, don't forget to post your reviews and suggestions!