Author's Notes:

Thank you so much for reading this story that I have written. It has been so long since I first dreamt up this scenario, so it is so amazing that I still see people reading this story, I'm really glad to know that you guys still like it.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters. I've borrow them for a time, I return them once their time here is done. Thank you for your kind understanding.

"I'm sorry, I've never seen you in that way"

Kyo blinked, then bowed his head. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"I see. Thank you, for your honesty" Kyo smiled and moved away.

Touru for a moment reached out to him. Then she retracted her hand and fled, wiping tears from her face as she went.

A rustle in the trees caused Kyo to start.

"Who's there?" he snapped, looking around.

There was a scuffle, then none other than Yuki appeared, dressed in gardening overalls and holding a hand-shovel.

"It's not my fault my garden is close to your appointed confession area " he sniffed haughtily.

Kyo looked at him. His eyes were empty, like twin vacuums, and for a moment, Yuki felt as though he was being sucked in.

Kyo looked away and sighed.

"Yeah whatever" he replied and shoved his hands into his pocket, setting off at a slow trot through the woods.

Yuki, once sure Kyo was a fair distance away, sagged against a tree. He dropped his spade and ran a hand through his hair, his eyes couldn't draw themselves away from Kyo's beautiful downcast figure.

Yuki's garden, in truth, was north from that spot for about half a mile. What Yuki was wearing was all a disguise in order to follow Kyo and Honda-san in secret, and overhear what they were saying. What happened was that Kyo had asked Honda-san to go for a walk with him right after lunch, and since Yuki had a hunch about what it would all be for, he just had to find out whether Honda-san accepted or rejected Kyo.

And Yuki's hunch was right, but now what was he to do about the situation at hand?

Kyo marched into the house like a zombie. He headed to his room and gently shut the door. He stripped and grabbed a towel and a change of clothes. Upon entering the bathroom, he closed the door behind him and sighed. He hung up his towel on the towel rack and turned on the shower, but at the back of his mind, he knew that even though he scrubbed as hard as he could, he felt more dirty than clean. He felt like he had done something dreadful. No one was supposed to make Touru cry, and of all people, he had done it.

Kyo looked up at the shower faucet. The water splashed down on him, hiding the tears that were streaming down his face.

"What would I give to be in a hot spring right now" He joked to himself bitterly "My life? My freedom? My Happiness?" he mused "Shigure is supposed to be going away, but recently he's come up with really weird punishments. Do I really want to risk one night for three weeks in cleaning up patrol? Touru doesn't really care anyway and Yuki? He'll be GLAD!" Kyo growled, the thought of Yuki taking pleasure in his misery AND the opportunity to woo Touru disgusted him to no end, but what could he do?

He was already rejected.

"As I see it, I am redundant now. And I'm sure no one will notice, even Shigure" Kyo muttered, his anger slowly dissipating with the cleansing rush of the water. His mind wandered to the hot spring brochures he had picked up at random a few days back. They had looked really appealing then. Now they were calling him.

Kyo got out of the shower and went to his bedroom, planning what he will bring with him to the hot springs. He looked through the brochures and decided on the cheapest and nearest one, leaving it on his desk and putting the rest away. After changing and packing several items, he scribbled down on a piece of paper that he was leaving for a while, and then climbed out his window, landing softly on the earth below, and walking away.

"Kyo! Kyo!" Shigure called out the later that afternoon.

Yuki and Touru were heading over to Hatori's with Shigure.

"He's probably sound asleep. Yuki, go and wake the kitten, he's bound to jump out of bed if he sees you in his room. Touru, he'll probably cuddle her like a teddy bear" he laughed, pinching Toru's cheeks.

"Hey, no fair" Touru murmured, flushing.

"Alright, give me a minute" Yuki replied and went up to investigate what was wrong with the cat.

"Touru and I will wait in the car. Don't do anything perverted to him!" Shigure laughed as Touru got into the back seat.

"Yeah, I can say the same thing for you with Honda-san!" Yuki replied, rolling his eyes.

Shigure only laughed harder while Touru blushed harder and said something which Yuki couldn't hear as he went into the house.

Yuki went up the stairs and went over to Kyo's room. He knocked on the door, but after no response, he opened it and strode in.

"Cat, get up already!" he said, annoyed.

However, there was no one around.

Yuki was about to leave when he noticed the note on Kyo's desk. Reading it, he sighed, remembering the afternoon's incident.

"If Shigure finds out about him leaving…" Yuki said to himself. Then suddenly he smiled, but not one of those lovely ones which Touru lived on. No, it was sly and rat-like, a smile which said the owner was scheming an evil and ruthless plan, in order to catch himself a cat for dinner.

"Now where did he go?" Yuki mused. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the hot spring brochure. Picking it up, he remembered a few days ago Kyo was telling Touru he really wanted to go to a hot spring one of these days. Yuki slipped it into his pocket and smiled to himself. If he was any more predatorily, his eyes would have glinted danger.

Yuki rushed down and informed Touru and Shigure that he had forgotten about going with Kyo to the next village to buy some supplies for the student council. He had to do it with Kyo as Kyo was soon becoming an assistant student leader.

"I didn't know Kyo was on the council!" Touru exclaimed.

"Well, it isn't official yet, that's all" he smiled, waving them off.

After making sure that the pair of them were fairly far away, Yuki went upstairs and packed a few belongings. He then called a taxi, then called up the hotel where the hot springs were at to make a reservation for a room for two for that evening and then calmly, with an air of mischevious satisfaction, locked up the house.

Kyo pulled off his shirt and stepped out of his shorts. He was standing butt-naked in the locker room of the onsen. He wrapped a towel around his waist and once it was tightly wound and secure, he packed his belongings away in a locker provided at the hot spring lodge. Kyo had walked all the way from the house to the lodge to vent out his anger, so now he was calm, but exhausted, and was really looking forward to sinking into the lovely warm water.

With only a key and a towel, Kyo made his way through the long corridor of the lodge and opened a bamboo door which led out into a beautiful garden. Walking through the garden, the cold air made Kyo shiver, and so the sight of the hot spring, surrounded by large rocks and bamboo fencing, was very inviting.

Kyo stepped into the water and sighed. He could feel all the tension in his body slowly unwind. He walked further in and sat down on a smooth protruding rock. Sighing once more, he threw his hands back and folded them behind his head, relaxing and enjoying the steam waft up around him.

The sound of footsteps and splashing as someone entered the pool did nothing to disturb Kyo's entire blissful state. However, his nose picked up a familiar scent, and immediately Kyo sat up and glared at the intruder.

Yuki stood in the pool, waist-deep in water. His hair shone, sleek and wet, and his skin glistened in the steam of the onsen, giving him a slight glow against the natural beauty that surrounded them. If he hadn't been his archenemy, Kyo would have said Yuki looked... beautiful.

Kyo shook his head to clear out the unwanted thoughts and growled: " What are you doing here?"

"Covering up for you" Yuki retorted, strolling over and leaning against the rock, " I told Shigure and Honda-san that we are searching for some Student council-related materials"

"You reeeaaallly didn't have to" Kyo replied, narrowing his eyes " You could have just reported me"

"But think, if I did, you'd be set to clean the house for a week, AND learn how to cook and eat leeks. Shigure has doubled the punishment recently so that YOU don't go running around aimlessly like this, trying to find ways to beat me" he smiled.

Kyo blanched, and then sighed.

"Plus, you would have worried poor Honda-san, who would have thought it was her that who drove you away, and not your own selfishness, cat" Yuki replied, calmly pushing himself off from the rock he was leaning against, the sit close to Kyo on another protruding rock.

"You didn't do this out of the goodness of your heart did you Rat," Kyo said warily.

"You are so right!" Yuri replied with a grin. Then he dropped the happy tone and looked at Kyo as the prey he was, smiling slyly "In return for keeping your secret, you are going to help me with the student-affairs office. I need an assistant, and you are perfect. Once I get your name and position engraved on one of the silver bands which us student council officers wear, you'll be set" Yuki purred happily.

"What? No way! I don't want to do that! That's a lot of unnecessary work!" Kyo replied, getting up and moving away from Yuki.

"And what about sweeping for a month, and steamed leeks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? How about we throw in an "I-Hate-You" letter from Touru because we ALL have to eat your rotten leeks" Yuki grinned even wider, knowing that he had the Cat cornered where he wanted him.

"Alright, alright I accept" Kyo replied and Yuki's smile widened, reaching his eyes "You won't regret this"

The following day at school, Kyo and Yuki attended the school council meeting together. Seated around a table, the seven committee members, including Kyo and Yuki, finally came to Yuki's department after a long discussion of finance and the expense of the school's clubs as a whole.

"There is a school festival which needs to be prepared for. Does anyone have any ideas?" The leader asked.

No one seemed to come up with anything pleasing. Then Kyo spoke up "How about an all-out horror house, school-wide?" he asked.

The other six members stared at him.

"Why not?" An ENTIRE school dedicated to horror is bound to attract a lot of attention and draw crowds. Classes which do not wish to scare people can do "Horror Cafes" which will be really popular –" Yuki spoke up for him.

"Especially if they are right smack in the middle of a maze, or somewhere. People will love it!" Kyo interrupted Yuki.

"And coming up with the costumes is easy and generic; ghouls and ghost and zombies and such. We can advertise prior to the development of the plan, to first see how the school and student body think of this idea, and if it's a positive outcome, we can move forward" Yuki added

"And as for selling this idea to those outside, we can build up the excitement by deciding that only those who have a ticket can enter, like a proper Haunted School/house" Kyo interrupted again.

"And it's something unisex," one of the committee members said " You know, I think Kyo should become part of the committee. The two cousins work so well together. What do you think, the rest of you?" she asked the rest of the committee, who all nodded in agreement.

"B-BB-ut I'm not really in-" Kyo began, then, feeling the cold glare of Yuki's stare, changed what he was saying " I'm not really any use" he sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll leave you in your cousin's hands. He'll show you the ropes and take good care of you" the Leader said and smiled.

After that Kyo received his own personal committee band and accepted the new title as Yuki's underling.

"Kyo, give me a hand with the props, I need to get samples of them organized to showcase to the classes who want to do the horror-scare part of the haunted house," Yuki said.

Kyo, who had every intention of slipping away since the rest of the committee members had left, turned back and sighed, following after Yuki.

Yuki led them to a room near the roof. It was a large room. The walls were lined with rows and rows of costumes. There were cupboards and shelves stacked with bags of fabrics and sewing materials and all over the floor were remains of sewing bits such as pieces of fabric, paper cuttings, and colourful thread. There must have been over two or three thousand costumes packed in together in that room.

"The Drama Club is very dedicated. They made all of this themselves; don't ruin anything" Yuki ordered.

Kyo rolled his eyes.

The pair sieved through the clothing. They selected only the scary ones and then organized them into boxes which were lined just inside the room.

While Kyo was looking around, he picked up a brown collar. He saw a metal chain was attached to it, about a meter plus long, but ignored it, curious about what it would look like on his neck.

"Rat! Look!" he said after he had fastened it on. Then he froze and kicked himself mentally. Why would he want the Rat of all people to know?

Yuki turned around to see what was up with Kyo and froze. His heart jumped into his throat; Kyo, holding onto the rim of the collar, looked too edible to be alive. Kyo, absolutely oblivious to Yuki's disposition, sighed and went over to a full-length mirror.

"Take it off" Yuki half-growled, his hands itching to grab Kyo and devour him.

"It doesn't look that bad. What the hell is your problem?" Kyo snapped.

"Just take it off, will you? This has nothing to do with whether you look good or not" Yuki said firmly. You look great, too great, in fact, irresistible Yuki said in his head.

"Stop telling me what to do. This collar isn't in our agreement" Kyo retorted, idly pulling off the chain which had gotten caught in his hair.

Yuki's eyes narrowed. He walked towards Kyo and reached for his neck. Kyo moved away and instead Yuki grabbed hold of the chain.

Yuki tugged at it and Kyo fell forward.

"Don't do that!" Kyo gasped, clutching at it.

Yuki pulled Kyo up by the collar and slammed him against a wall. He then tied Kyo's wrists up with the chain and held onto them tightly in one hand, his other slowly running itself down Kyo's face.

"Do as I say, and I won't torture you like this" Yuki hissed into Kyo's ear.

Then nimbly, he undid the lock and pulled it off Kyo, while Kyo simply stared, dumbfounded by the whole intimidating situation. Like a kitten in shock, he stared at Yuki, who held his gaze steadily, as though hypnotizing him.

Once the collar left Kyo's neck completely, Yuki looked up, breaking his spell on Kyo.

Kyo, feeling dizzy and confused, shook his head " Okay, okay fine, let me go already" he hissed, wriggling in pain.

Yuki closed his eyes. What he would do to have Kyo on a soft place, doing exactly what he was doing then, beneath him, but for very different reasons.

Yuki let go suddenly, which left Kyo off balance and he crumbled down to the ground.

"Oww," he uttered, rubbing his bruised wrists.

Yuki tossed to the collar in a far corner, hoping that he never laid eyes on it ever again, for Kyo's sake.

"I'm going to go rinse my wrists, Rat" Kyo threw over his shoulder as he headed for the door.

Yuki caught him by the shoulder and turned him around. He grabbed Kyo's forearm and brought Kyo's wrists up to his lips. Then ever so gently, he licked the bruises.

"Sto-" Kyo began and pulled away, but only found himself trapped between a wardrobe and Yuki, who had taken captive of both his arms and was switching between the two wrists, licking them both. To Kyo's utter embarrassment, it actually felt good, and the pain was residing a little. Plus, there was something very alluring about Yuki licking him.

"I don't want you disappearing on the job" Yuki explained, as he released Kyo's wrists "Suffer from that for a while, this will all be finished in another thirty minutes"

The thirty minutes crawled by like zombies in a horror flick; slow, heavy, groaning and dead, for Kyo. The minute they were up Kyo burst out of the room and would have run all the way home if not for the hand which grabbed hold of the collar of his shirt.

"The boxes still have to be distributed to each class. You do it. I'm going home first. If you don't do it right" Yuki said, leaning in so close that Kyo could feel Yuki's chest against his back, " I will so make you pay for it" he smirked and the pushed Kyo away from him, making him stumble and fall down.

"Rat! You bastard!" Kyo jumped up, but the Rat was nowhere to be seen.

Kyo growled and wanted to run away with every fibre of his body, but he gave in. He didn't want to be killed over a bunch of stupid boxes.

When Kyo finally arrived home, he first met Shigure out in the front of the house, with Touru. They were loading the car with food and suitcases.

"There's a 3-day party at Hatori's in honour of his birthday" Shigure beamed.

"Oh! Let me –" Kyo began, heading indoors.

Shigure grabbed his arm "No, not you. You have to stay home. Yuki insisted. The both of you have some planning and work to do for the committee" Shigure said and released Kyo.

Kyo flushed "Who else isn't going?"

"Oh, just you two. Don't destroy the house while we're gone will you?" Shigure said and waved.

Touru looked at Kyo for a moment, her gaze lingering, as though she again, wanted to try reaching out to him. However, when Kyo looked up and in her direction, she merely smiled and waved, getting into the car and turning away from him.

Kyo felt a stab in his heart for a second. He turned away and walked towards the house, depressed. Opening the door, he took off his shoes and put them aside before stepping into the house.

"I'm home," he said grudgingly, not really expecting a reply.

"Welcome-back" Yuki replied, right next to his ear.

Kyo jumped back in shock " What the hell are you doing you idiot?" he exclaimed, while Yuki just smiled and walked forward into the house, ignoring Kyo.

"Touru-chan left some dinner for you. Take it up to the attic. I've laid out the banner and paints and I need your help to complete the work" he smiled and went upstairs.

"Banner?" Kyo murmured to himself. Sighing, he headed for the kitchen. The sting of his wrists reminded him that it didn't pay to disobey.

Kyo juggled his dishes up the stairs. There were a few plates, which made them hard to hold all at once. Once he reached the attic, he was about to kick open the door, when Yuki opened it for him...

"Come in" he smiled, closing the door behind Kyo.

For a moment Kyo froze up, realizing that he could have just dumbly walked right into a trap. However, Yuki merely moved over to a large rectangular piece of cloth on the floor and kneeled down, using a pencil to draw out a design on it.

"We have to make a banner for the council room," Yuki said while Kyo sat down on a crate and placed his food down beside him, eating some of his oden first.

"Oh okay. Is that design the one which was given beforehand?" Kyo asked.

"Yes, the Student leader in charge of Finance is also an artist and designed it for us. I have to draw it out here, and you'll help me paint it in later" Yuki replied " Can you pass me that marker? It's right beside your foot"

Kyo looked down. It was a large black marker. He picked it up and stood, walking towards Yuki with his bowl in his other hand. However, as he walked forward, he slipped on another marker.

"Oh!" was the only thing Kyo exclaimed before he landed straight on top of the banner, his food spilling everywhere.

"The banner!" Yuki gasped, horrified " Th-The, how wh-" Yuki stared in shock.

Kyo groaned and sat up, but in a blur, he found himself sprawled on his back again, at a little further distance.

Then suddenly, he was raised high by the collar and thrown out the only window in the attic.

Kyo got up from the dirt. He felt dizzy and tired not only because of the fall, but because he hadn't eaten much at all. Rain began to fall slowly, then it built up. Kyo immediately gasped and headed for the house. The one thing he hated was the rain – he got sick way too easily from it. The last time he was stuck out in the rain, he had a fever which lasted a week.

Yuki blocked his way to the house " I'm not finished with you" he growled and kicked Kyo so that he flew back and hit the ground, smacking the mud.

Kyo got up, and sneezed " Rat, stop this, will you? - Achoo! - ! I am too - Achoo! - tired" he gasped, struggling to stand. He could feel the sickness grabbing hold of his immune system.

"What did you say?" Yuki asked, grabbing hold of Kyo's hair and pulling his head back.

"Stop," Kyo said and passed out.

"Cat? Cat?" Yuki said, releasing his hair and grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him " Kyo? Kyo!" he exclaimed " Hey cat, don't die on me. Touru will accuse me of kill you!" he growled, shaking Kyo. Yuki let Kyo fall back onto the ground and bent over Kyo's lifeless body, wondering what to do.

As Yuki was trying to figure out whether he really wanted to save Kyo's sorry ass, Kyo slowly came around. His eyes were glazed over, and he seemed to be very weak.

"Yuki?" he said, looking up at the rat.

Yuki froze. The cat called me Yuki? He thought to himself in shock.

Kyo tried to sit up. However he fell back, hot fevered breath coming came out of his mouth.

" I'll, I'll help you if you say my name again," Yuki said.

Kyo looked at Yuki with really huge, glazed over eyes, It was as though he was there, but not really, there. He reached up for Yuki's shoulder, but caught his hair instead "Yuki?" he smiled, his eyes glimmering strangely. Yuki then realized that Kyo probably was so sick he thought he was dreaming. No matter the reason, Kyo's beautiful flushed face was pulling at Yuki's heartstrings. Yuki scooped Kyo up immediately and took him indoors with him.

At the door, Kyo became flustered and insisted to be put down.

"I-I'll walk," he said, climbing out of Yuki's arms.

Yuki set him down before Kyo fell over and hurt himself, and watched the cat as he slunk upstairs and into the shower.

"He has a fever" Yuki murmured to himself. "I'll get him more food"

Kyo turned on the shower tap. He peeled off his dirty clothes and stepped into the shower. Turning it on to the hottest temperature, he scrubbed, wanting to get rid of all the dirt and grime.

However the heat got to his head, and as he stood beneath the spray, he became faint and stumbled, collapsing suddenly.

As Yuki passed by the bathroom, he heard a thud behind the door.

"Kyo! Are you alright?" Yuki exclaimed.

No answer

Yuki carefully puts down the food in the hallway, then rushed over to the bathroom and burst open the door. To Yuki's horror there lay Kyo, on the floor, unconscious.

End of Chapter 1

Thank you so much for reading!