Author's Note:

Wow, I actually finished a story. Kinda sad to see it go, but all things come to an end! Hope you're not disappointed!

All I Reach for, All I Cry for - Chapter 9

Yuki's jaw tightened as he watched Haru's retreating back through the front door. He knew Haru wouldn't be back, at least for a while. He was back to his wanderlust just as things got serious; he was notorious for that, once the shit really hit the fan, he was gone. Although, Haru was truthful about Atlas' weight being dropped on Yuki's shoulders.

There was nothing the younger boy could do for him now. Yuki's fists clenched at his sides; he couldn't help but wonder if he could bear the stress. The thought of breaking Kyou was terrifying and there was a good chance it would happen within a few moments. There was no question that he was in love with Kyou; he just didn't know when it happened. Of course, it was as it should be. It's likely you are never truly in love with someone if you can point out exactly when the feelings arose. Perhaps Yuki had loved him all along, he didn't know. His thoughts strayed to the blurry gap between like and love and even more so, love and hate. All of his emotions clouded together, as he fought the urge to have an anxiety attack right then and there. It took all of him to keep the strength in his legs to not and fall to his knees and lose all sight of hope.

"What if" scenarios flashed through the rat's mind. As he followed in Kyou's path; he couldn't avoid the thought that they just weren't normal. There wasn't a single thing about this relationship that was right. Boys. Cousins. Cat and rat. Nevertheless, there was no denial, Haru's epiphany was right; they were either meant to hate each other or love one another. There was no acquaintances or simple friends for them. Everything about them could be summed up by two words, "polar opposites." Their destinies entwined, and he knew that everything in his future had come down to a matter of minutes and a big decision. Put simply, It was now or never.

Yuki hardened his resolve and began walking through the woods in search of him. He had a good idea of where he'd be. Kyou always tried to avoid his garden, so he was almost certainly near a big tree he liked to climb and knowing him, he was probably about as high in it as he could get. He would be trying to climb higher and higher as if he could escape his troubles.

Heights made Yuki nervous and as he came upon the tree and looked up with no sight of the orange-haired boy, his heart sank. He walked up to the tree and ran his hand down the rough bark, wanting nothing more than to collapse right there and give up. He fought the tears welling in his eyes.

"Rat," he heard from behind him, surprising Yuki so much he jumped and spun around but saw no one, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Kyou, quit messing with me...Where are you?"

His stress was beginning to take a toll on his body. Yuki fell to his knees, looking around for the boy. His chest felt tight as Yuki tried to resist a fit of coughs. He sat, short-winded, grabbing his collar.

Yuki heard a thud to his left; it was Kyou walking towards him. He tried his best to scramble away, scared to fight or argue in his current condition.

Kyou picked the boy up and carried him to the trunk of his big tree. He settled them down and looked at Yuki's face. He looked so scared—he didn't blame him; he could barely breathe and it probably took all his strength to force himself to come here. The few minutes—probably twenty or so now—he spent reflecting on their fight and the time they had spent together. Yuki was just human. He wasn't perfect, and neither was Kyou. Kyou had spent so much time envying Yuki, he had never really stopped to get to know the boy. Yuki meant well, but like himself, he had a temper. Their biggest difference, or at least what he first thought different was Yuki's wall of manners and composure he built to protect himself. They weren't so different at all, Kyou had built a wall for himself, but full of comebacks, punches and harshness. And after he realized this, it made sense. It was hard for them to relate because the walls they had created were so different and tall they could never really see each other. He could tell that right now they both were temporarily disarmed and depending on what happens, those walls will be rebuilt, but stronger; the two of them would probably never let anyone in again.

"Just breathe, okay? I'm not gonna' hurt you or nothin."

He could tell that Yuki was close to transforming from weakness. Sometimes, it was hard to remember that Yuki wasn't as strong as he looked, seemed or acted. In fact, he didn't really recognize it until now.

"I uh- here," Kyou said, thrusting an asthma pump into the boy's hand.

Yuki coughed a bit before taking the pump and using it several times until his breathing improved. Once he could talk, he asked Kyou, "why do you have this?"

"Well I um, I just..Haru. You see, when I took a shower with Haru the other day, I uh, noticed he carried one in his pants pocket. I just thought I was around you more so it could be useful..." Kyou said nervously, averting his eyes.

Yuki looked up at Kyou's face from his lap, and suddenly he felt calm. His breathing evened, and that pit in his stomach dissolved. "You were thinking about me?"

He could see the blush creep onto the cat's face.

Kyou mumbled, looking away, "it's not a rare occurrence..."

"You know Cat, same here."

"But Yuki..." Kyou began but fell silent as quickly as he started.

Yuki laughed a little before pulling Kyou's face closer to his. He whispered against his lips, "I was so afraid you didn't like me," before kissing him softly.

Kyou replied, "so..."

Yuki smirked, "let me guess, what now?"

"Yeah...I mean, it's not like it will be easy. Is it what you really want?"

"Hmph," Yuki sounded, rolling his eyes, "no, Cat. I'm just crying because there is pollen in the air."

"Sh-shuddup! I mean, it would explain the asthma attack... I don't know... People say, 'your eyes are bigger than your stomach' or something like that."

"That might be the wrong analogy... unless you're saying you don't think I can handle you," Yuki said suggestively.

Kyou blinked. "Uhhhh..."

"You're such an awkward bumbling idiot, you stupid Cat! If you don't believe me, I will prove it. Seems like its the only way to get it through your thick skull," Yuki said, sitting back up and grabbing Kyou's skintight black tee. He crashed their lips together. Their lips moved against each other hungrily. It was as if neither of them could ever get enough like they were making up for all the years they used punches instead of kisses. Within minutes, they were tearing at their clothes.

Just as Kyou got his shirt over his head, he put his hand against Yuki's chest, stopping him. Yuki looked up, confused.

"I was just...we shouldn't do it out here. You will get sick again," Kyou said, swallowing thickly as he tried to restrain himself.

Yuki began laughing and eventually he was laughing so hard he was rolling in the dirt.

Kyou sat staring, shirtless, in heat as his lover wallowed in the dirt laughing at him. "I-idiot," Kyou said quietly, an expression of shock on his face.

"Cute dumbass, who said I wanted to do it. Get up, let's go," Yuki said still giggling, walking back towards the house.

"So...what are we...doing when we get there?" Kyou asked, his face still somewhat incredulous. He picked up his shirt and followed behind Yuki slowly.

Yuki stopped, grabbing Kyou's hand, jerking the poor boy. "Well you know, you're all sweaty and been in trees and gross. I'm all dirty, I thought a bath would be appropriate. Do you want to do me so bad that you are willing to throw away all order, comfort and hygiene?"

"Eh?! Mood killer," Kyou huffed under his breath.

"Yeah, Cupcake's a real mood killer!" said Haru from behind them, "that was really hot for a while. I was just about to start getting off," Black-Haru complained.

"Wha? What the hell, Haru?! You left!" Yuki yelled, now suddenly flustered realizing he had seen everything.

Haru rolled his eyes, "oh, and you are supposed to be the smart prince? Yeah right. I would just leave you two when one of you would probably jump from a tree and commit suicide, and the other would have an Asthma attack from the result and die. Oh but yeah, I'll just going to run off and get lost while that happens," Haru retorted cynically. Haru then put his hand on his chin saying, "ohhh, of course. You wouldn't want to get that far because our pretty little prince is too ashamed to be bottomed. After all, I've wondered this for a while, however, Kyou really is more dominant. It was always somewhat fifty-fifty. It makes sense though Yuki is just like a little girl. He whines like a bitch and is afraid of everything. Ah, well, it seems like I can leave now, my Beauty awaits," Haru brushing his fingers through his hair and passing the two.

"Haru! Wh-who's your 'Beauty'?" Yuki asked, somewhat shocked.

Haru turned and smiled then walked away.

"So he had something up his sleeve the entire time," Kyou mumbled to himself. "Anyway let's take that bath, then I'll fuck you into your mattress."

Yuki stared at Kyou incredulously. "Y-you sound just like him."

"Don't compare me to that bipolar idiot, come on let's go home," Kyou said kissing Yuki's cheek and pushing him forward.

Endnote:

Sorry there is no lemon, you see, I thought about it. However, it just didn't seem to fit. Maybe sometime I will write a sequel one-shot with what you want so I'll take requests. Thats fine, it might be fun actually! I've never really taken requests before :) Anyway, I feel like this story is a little too sweet for a lemon to be the ending, implied was better. Well anyway, thanks for reading!

Thanks to my reviewers, followers & favorites: snipits42, ice-liger, Mgluvsbl25, Sawada Hikaru, dramaqueen8590, speedy3322, TheCatsMeow8562, NavyGirl27, GoofyGummy, LemonLover, and all my future peoplez after completion! I can put your names in the sequel :)

- Malevolent-Chan