A/N: What's up people? ^^
R&R please!
Chapter 5
After dinner, Shigure went back to his office while Tohru, Kyo, and I stayed in the living room. We talked for an hour or two until Tohru decided that she was going to go take her bath. Kyo and I waited until we were sure she was out of earshot to restart our conversation from at least an hour and a half ago.
"She said that she doesn't like it when we fight and she wishes that you wouldn't blame me for what the rat in the story did to the cat," I explained slowly.
"What?" He sputtered flatly.
"Well, she basically said that we really have nothing to do with the legend since the spirits of those animals are only possessing our bodies."
"Did she really say all this?" Kyo asked doubtfully.
"Yes." I rolled my eyes at him.
"So then, what else did she say?" He asked a little solemnly.
"That you and I could get along in spite of legend. She wishes that you could just be mad at the rat from the legend instead of taking it out on me."
Kyo started to respond, but decided to let it go and dropped his head.
"To be honest, Kyo… I do want us to be friends." He shot his head up in alarm that I'd actually admit something like that. "For one thing, I know Tohru would love it if we got along. And I'm really getting tired of arguing with you all the time."
"Hm. I'm gonna need to think about this."
"Fine. I'm going to be in my room." I got up and started walking towards the hallway when Kyo stopped me.
"Hang on a sec! What did she end up answering to your 'love confession'?"
"You don't need to worry about that. She said that she loves me too, but not in the same way. Her love for me is that of a close friend or relative. You've still got a really good chance with her. I assume it's a better one than I had."
"What makes you so sure about that?" He smirked.
"I've seen you two together," I answered simply.
Kyo shook his head. "That's not a good enough reason, you stupid rat!" I could hear a hint of a chuckle in his voice.
"I'm sorry that I don't have all the information," I replied jokingly. "Are you going to tell her anytime soon?"
"About what?" Was he serious? He really didn't know what I was talking about?
"Don't play dumb with me. You know very well what I'm talking about. You have to tell her that you love her… and soon!"
"I know! I just can't do it. I mean, so much happened after she found out about my true form and we grew closer as the result. But I don't want that to be ruined. If I tell her how I feel and she doesn't at all feel the same way, our friendship could be-"
"Could be what, Kyo?" Tohru interrupted.
Where did she come from? And how long has she been standing there? I thought.
Kyo- who had jumped so hard that I thought he'd have a heart attack- turned slowly around and answered her. "Uh, um, oh, Tohru! Haha! We weren't talking about you!"
"Very subtle," I whispered sarcastically. Kyo gave me a sideways glare.
"What's… going on?" Tohru asked worriedly.
"Nothing!" Kyo shrieked nervously. "We were just talking about a girl we both know!"
"Oh. Who?"
"Dammit! Would you just quit scrutinizing me woman?!" Kyo screamed. As soon as he'd shut his mouth, he realized what he said and looked a little scared. "I-I-I, um, I didn't, uh!" Before we knew it, Kyo was out of the room and Tohru was still standing there in complete shock.
"Tohru?" I asked.
"Ky-Kyo… Why did he… he leave? Why did he-?" Before she finished her next question, she gasped at something she must've realized. "He hates me. That explains it. You were talking about me weren't you? About his feelings for me. And I thought we'd gotten closer. I thought he- But I- So… he really does hate me." She started crying and I rushed to her side to hopefully talk her down without giving too much away.
"No, Tohru, that's not true; you have it wrong! I know it makes sense at the moment, but once I explain it to you…" I bit my lip. "Listen, Kyo and I were talking about you, but I promise he doesn't hate you."
"Are you sure?" She sobbed.
"Yes. If you talk to him now, he'll- hopefully- tell you the truth. And if he doesn't tell you tonight, then he'll tell you some other time. That's when you'll find out that he truly doesn't hate you."
"Why can't you tell me what it is?" She sniffled.
Who would've thought that she'd actually put me on the spot.
"Kyo wouldn't be happy with me if I told you in his place."
"Oh. So should I go talk to him?"
"Definitely. And I think you know better than anyone else in this house where he is."
She smiled weakly. "Yes, I do."
"So… What are you doing still standing here, talking to me?" I urged gently.
"Right!" She giggled and skipped out of the room.
"She's so adorable when she's clueless!" I quietly thought aloud and snuck out the other way to eavesdrop on them.
As I was running around the house to find the ladder, I heard Kyo's voice from the roof. I finally found the ladder and climbed up halfway just to hear everything.
"You want to talk to me?" He sounded bewildered.
"Y-yes. I just wanted to know… Why did you run out of there like that?" She asked softly.
He didn't answer and all I could hear were crickets chirping. Tohru broke the silence.
"Yuki told me that you two were talking about me. Could you… please? Tell me."
"Uh… I can't just… The thing I have to say… It's not really something that's easy to blurt out."
"Why not?"
"Well… 'Cause… I… I have a… feeling about you," he explained slowly.
"Wh-what kind of feeling?" She sounded like she wanted to cry.
"Gah! Please, don't cry Tohru!" He panicked. I could almost see his cat ears popping up.
"Is this feeling… of hatred?" She sobbed.
"NO! I swear it's not! It's the complete opposite!" Everything went quiet again. I heard a small 'huh?' coming from Tohru and Kyo spoke. "I… The reason why… The reason why I ran out of the room is because I thought you'd heard too much and I was afraid of letting it slip out when you were asking what we were talking about. I guess this spot is as good as any to tell you." He paused briefly to- I'm assuming- get the words right. This was the moment he would tell her. "Tohru, I know we've only been friends for three years now, but I feel like I've known you longer. And I regret the amount of time it took for me to finally accept you as a member of this household.
"Even when I tried to push you away, you were successful in trying to understand me. You were the only person who admitted she was scared of me when my true self was shown and you still accepted me. I'm happier now because of you. I don't feel like I have to hide anymore. That's why I want to tell you that… I l-"
"Tohru! Yuki! Kyo! We have a visitor!" Shigure sang.
Damn! He stepped on their moment! How will Kyo tell her now?
I climbed down the ladder as fast as I could and made a break for the direction of my secret base. From the distance, I saw Tohru and Kyo climbing off the ladder, so I pretended that I was just coming back from gardening.
"Tohru, Kyo!" I called. "Did I just hear Shigure say we have visitors?" I asked as nonchalantly and innocently as possible.
"Yes, he did!" Tohru answered brightly. Kyo, on the other hand, looked pissed off that he didn't get to tell her. "Did you just come from your secret base?"
"Um, yeah I did actually." I rubbed the back of my head nervously.
"Hm…" She inspected me carefully. "But you don't look dirty."
I could've taken the time to roll on the ground or do something to make it look like I'd been gardening this whole time, but it's not like I'm an evil mastermind. "Right! Let's go see who's here!" I felt a little guilty playing 'Tohru' like that; using her own head against her. I mentally kicked myself for it.
She gave me an odd look and decided to smile. "Yeah!" She agreed.
Kyo sluggishly followed us in; his hands behind his head and elbows in the air. As soon as we reached the living room, a flash of green flew past us and Kyo was gone in an instant.
"Wha-what was that?" Tohru asked.
"I think the question is more like 'who' rather than 'what'. It was Kagura," I answered exasperatedly. Did she know that Kyo was about to confess to Tohru? I wondered.
"Oh, Kagura!" Tohru exclaimed happily. "I haven't seen her in a while. I'll go make some tea for us all." She walked into the kitchen and I followed her.
"Do you need any help?"
"Nope! Just relax," she said. I went to the living room and found Kyo being held down by- sure enough- Kagura. "Hello, Kagura," I greeted.
She was in front of me in an instant. "Hi, Yuki! Where's Tohru?" She asked excitedly. Kyo was left on the floor in agonizing pain.
"She's in the kitchen making tea. Would you like me to get her for you?"
"No, that's okay! I'll go help her!" With that, she took off.
"Ow!" Kyo whined as he stiffly sat up.
"Is it any worse than usual?" I asked sarcastically.
"Shut up."
"Why, you seem upset," I said, faking innocence. "Didn't you talk to Tohru?"
He was silent. "Damn dog… Kagura…" He growled. "I was so close."
"So close to what, Kyo?" Kagura sang. How do Tohru and Kagura keep sneaking up on us like that? I thought.
"Dammit Kagura! Can't you see we're having a private conversation?!" Kyo barked. It's ironic how he's the Cat, yet he's barking at her.
"I'm sorry, Kyo," she whispered. "But I… I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK?!" And… she snapped. Poor Kyo was in Kagura's deadly vice hold.
"OW! OW! OW! Damn that hurts!" Tohru came in with the tea at that moment.
"What's going on?" She asked worriedly.
"Oh, Tohru, you have the tea ready!" Kagura exclaimed as she let go of Kyo.
"Y-yeah… Is Kyo okay?" She looked around Kagura at him.
Kagura turned around to look at him as well and gasped. "Oh Kyo! I'm so sorry! How badly did I hurt you?" She asked as she knelt down beside him and held him. He was a little too shaken up to answer.
I looked at Tohru and noticed her looking… scared. "Tohru? Are you alright?" I asked quietly.
Her head was hanging down and her bangs were hiding her eyes. "I-I'm fi-" She choked on the words. "I, um…" She ran out of the room right then.
"Tohru!" I exclaimed.
Kyo and Kagura looked up from their 'loving embrace'. I ran after Tohru and found her at the top of the stairs. I sat down next to her.
"May I sit here?" I asked her softly.
She nodded her head.
"What's wrong?"
"I… just got this really… mean feeling."
"A… mean feeling?" I repeated.
"Mm-hm."
"What kind of mean feeling?"
"A horrible one. I started getting jealous. How could I be so terrible a person to have these feelings with Kagura here?" She started crying.
"Hm? Tohru… I'm afraid I don't understand what you're talking about."
She sighed. "I… I think I'm… in love with Kyo."
I was a little shocked. I'd thought she did, but I just couldn't believe it was true. "I… see."
"See what, Yuki?" Tohru and I stiffened at the sound of Kagura's voice.
"Kagura!" We exclaimed. I blushed at our synchronization and Tohru smiled slightly.
"Hey, Tohru? Why do you have tears in your eyes?" Kagura asked in concern.
"Huh?!" Tohru started frantically wiping her eyes.
I saw a look in Kagura's eyes and got the feeling she'd heard too much. "Yuki, would you mind excusing me and Tohru for a bit? I want to cheer her up."
"Uh… sure." I walked back downstairs and as soon as Kagura was sitting in the spot I'd been sitting in, I clung to the wall to hear everything.
"I heard what you two were talking about," Kagura said bluntly.
"I'm-" sniff "-sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen," Tohru sobbed.
There was a pause and Kagura finally spoke. "It's not your fault," she said slowly. "Falling in love is a part of life and you never get to choose who you fall in love with." Why does that sound so familiar? I thought ironically. "But… I don't blame you for loving Kyo. That just means you have good taste." Is she crazy? "Are you going to tell him?"
"What? I can't do that! You two are a couple! It would be wrong!"
Kagura laughed- surprisingly. "Tohru, if you haven't guessed, Kyo doesn't like me very much." Ah, so she has noticed, I thought. "I love Kyo with all my heart, but the one thing I can't do is make him love me back. I've seen the way he looks at you and I wish he would look at me that way too. I'm sad to admit that he might be in love with you."
I heard Tohru squeak in shock. "No, I'm sure he's not. Maybe he really does love you, but he doesn't know how to show it." She's too modest.
"Ever since you came to live here, Tohru, Kyo's temper has slowly disintegrated. And he doesn't try to fight Yuki whenever he sees him anymore. Haru told me that you didn't believe him when he tried to tell you that you had everything to do with Yuki's change, but I'm positive that it's the same way with Kyo's transformation. Tohru, no matter how much you deny it, you've helped all of us get through our troubles. And for that, we're all very grateful to you."
It was quiet again. "I-I'm not sure what to say," Tohru said finally.
"You don't have to say anything." It was silent once again. I peeked around the corner of the wall and saw them hugging.
Good, I thought. There's nothing to worry about. I headed into the living room where Kyo still was and sat next to him.
"What was wrong with Tohru? And what did you say to her? More importantly, did Kagura talk to her?" He spitballed.
I tried to follow his questions. "Um… It's best if I don't tell you, what I said will lead to what was wrong with her, and yes. Does that cover it?"
Kyo stared blankly at me. After a few seconds, he snapped out of it and frowned a little. "Why can't I know what's wrong?"
"You'll figure it out- hopefully- after you tell her."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Just tell her soon."
"Well, it'll have to wait 'til tomorrow. I can't do it while she's here."
"Um… I wasn't quite there for Tohru and Kagura's conversation." This caught Kyo's attention.
"What do you mean?"
"I overheard what they were talking about," I confessed. "There was something specific that Kagura said."
"Well, what'd she say?"
"She's actually noticed that you don't like her. Hard to believe isn't it?"
"Yeah, who knew?"
"She also told Tohru that she thinks you're in love with her."
"What?! She's noticed that too?" Kyo about had an aneurism.
"Well, Kyo, anyone can see it," I proclaimed. Then I muttered, "Except you and Tohru are only too blind to see secret feelings."
"What?"
"Nothing! I said absolutely nothing." I rested my chin in my hand.
"So… Do you think this means she won't be staying long?" He asked hopefully.
"Possibly."
"That means I'll be free! Should I tell Tohru then?" He questioned uncertainly.
"I thought you were waiting until tomorrow."
"I know, but I don't think I can hide these feelings anymore. If all you guys can tell, then she'll start figuring it out, especially since Kagura told her." What Kyo meant was: Tohru must not have believed Kagura, so when Tohru starts noticing how Kyo acts around her, she'll keep thinking back and put everything in place. "When should I tell her?"
"Well, you'll be going up to the roof after she leaves, right? Then, Tohru will follow you up after she and I have finished washing the dishes, since we haven't done that yet. Just tell her then."
"Hey, why are you helping me? I thought you loved Tohru too."
"And I still do. Three things are standing in my way and I can't push past them."
"What're those?"
"One, Tohru's already replied to my confession and thinks of me as nothing more than a close friend. Two, because I love her, I want her to be happy and if it's you that makes her happy, then I want help. And three, I was serious when I said that I wanted us to be friends. That would also make Tohru happy. So if I want us to be friends, I'm willing to help you out with any situation, no matter how stupid or dangerous it is; no matter if I get hurt in the end… I'll help you because I want us to be friends."
Kyo studied me carefully and sighed. "You damn rat-bastard. You really mean that, don't you?"
I shrugged. "Of course."
"You… You're stupid!" He… chuckled? I hadn't expected him to laugh. I was a bit taken aback. "Whatever. I could always whoop Haru's butt!" And to my surprise- and anyone else's by that matter- he agreed just like that.
"W-wow. I have to admit, I thought you would've been more stubborn about this."
"Nah, I had a little time to think about what you'd said before and it makes a lot of sense, to be honest. I can't believe how stupid I've been. And you were stupid too for going along with it."
"Alright, I concur. We were both stupid. Now, Tohru can be twenty times happier."
Kyo looked down and formed a small smile. "Yeah…" He said softly.
I stared blankly at him before smirking at the emotion he was showing. Tohru really has softened us up, hasn't she? I contemplated.
The said brunette came skipping into the room with Kagura… giggling. Tohru was dressed and they were holding hands, looking really happy about something. And the next thing Kagura said would delay Kyo's plans for tonight.
"Yuki, Kyo, guess what!" She challenged.
"What?" We said in unison.
"Tohru and I are going shopping, so you have to find other things to do without her!"
"What?!" Again in unison.
"Yeah! We decided on it at the spur-of-the-moment," Tohru explained.
"Since we've never really hung out one-on-one, and I'm here now, we're going to go shopping!" Kagura enthused.
"This late at night?! With no guys to protect you?" Kyo scolded, mainly looking at Tohru.
"Well, Kagura's pretty tough. I'm sure we'll be fine," Tohru reasoned sweetly.
Kyo got in Tohru's face and peered into her eyes angrily. She looked a little scared, but she was blushing so hard, I thought her head would explode. "I'm coming too," he finally said. His voice was low and husky.
"B-but we'll be f-fine!" She stammered, waving her hands in protest. "I promise, we'll be back in two hours tops! Safe and sound!"
Kyo dropped his expression and hung his head, sighing. "You… You really… Just make sure you do come back… okay?" He asked softly as he looked into her eyes again, but with a serious and protective gaze.
Tohru smiled kindly and warmly. With a small blush on her face, she stood on her tip-toes and- to mine and Kyo's surprise- kissed him on the cheek. His whole face- including his neck and ears- turned dark red and he froze on the spot.
"Thank you for worrying and caring about me so much! You have no idea how happy it makes me!" She was smiling widely now and holding his hand. I couldn't help feel pure jealousy towards Kyo, but Tohru was in bliss. How much happier can one be?
"N-n-n-n-no p-p-problem!" He stuttered mindlessly. He was still frozen, but his blush had at least gone down.
I looked at Kagura and she looked at me. She gave a sad smile and motioned that she told Tohru to make Kyo blush. I nodded my head in recognition.
Pushing her emotion away, Kagura announced, "Okay, Tohru! Let's go!"
"Right!" As they ran out the door, Kagura yelled a "See ya boys!" and Tohru called out, "Bye Kyo! Bye Yuki!"
Kyo and I stood there in utter shock. Minutes had passed before we figured out what had just happened.
"We're gonna be bored, aren't we?" Kyo asked flatly.
"Yes. I don't think we've ever spent a night at home without Tohru."
Shigure came into the room and raised an eyebrow at us. "What's wrong with you two?"
"Kagura kidnapped Tohru to go shopping," we replied in perfect sync. The only trouble was that we sounded like a couple of robots.
His eyebrow arched higher. "What about dishes?"
"They left before Tohru could do them."
"I thought Kagura came over to hang out you guys."
"She decided to take Tohru out instead. Said they'd be back in two hours."
"So you mean to tell me that we're here all by ourselves with no "Tohru talk" to entertain us?" Shigure pressed as he began to whine.
Shigure hysterically ran around the room, repeating "What are we going to do?!" over and over again as Kyo looked like he wanted to break/kill something- namely Shigure. I on the other hand suggested that we play a game. They calmed down, but Kyo still looked angry. Probably because Kagura stole Tohru right out the door.
We played a game- I won while Shigure tried to cheat- and went our separate ways: Shigure retired to his office, Kyo locked himself in his room, and I visited my Secret Base. Without Tohru there, we were all pretty bored.
I never knew how boring it was when Tohru was gone.
End of Chapter 5
A/N: Man, that was a long chapter! XD Tell me what ya thought!
Please review respectfully with constructive criticism! It's very much appreciated! Thank you all! ^-^