Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ A Bouncing Baby Boy ❯ Chapter 6

"Here's your note, Yuki-kun!" caroled Shigure, drifting into the kitchen with a towel on his head.

Yuki looked up, bags under his eyes. He nursed a cup of coffee. "What note?" he asked drearily. Tohru followed Shigure, stroking a little orange kitten. The sight woke Yuki up more than all the caffeine in the world. "Honda-san! What happened to Kyou?"

Tohru colored and looked shamed. "I'm sorry, Souma-kun, he was crying, and I picked him up and…" The cat caught sight of Yuki, and nimbly bounded out of Tohru's arms and started rubbing against Yuki's ankles.

Yuki scooped Kyou up, and the kitten settled into his lap, blinking bright red eyes. "Here, Yuki," said Shigure again, waving the slip of paper in his face. Yuki caught hold of it, and started to read:

I, Souma Shigure, guardian of Souma Yuki and Souma Kyou, would like to inform their Honorable Teacher that Kyou is temporarily on leave, and Yuki has to take care of Kyou's cousin, also known as Souma Kyou.

There was Shigure's unintelligible signature at the end. Yuki looked up with scowl. "I thought you were going to take care of him today?" he said slowly. "There's no way I can take Kyou to school with me."

"That's what the note's for," said Shigure, smiling.

"You promised me that you'd take care of Yuki today," snarled Yuki, still in the deadly drawling voice. The hair on Tohru's back was standing up. Yuki had no idea how much he looked like a towkay, a Mafia boss, as he sat there, eyes glinting menacingly, stroking a cat.

"But Kyou-kun will miss you!"

"You said, you promised to take care of Kyou today. Are you going back on your sacred promise?"

"Since you've known me, Yuki, tell me when my promises have ever been sacred?"

A nerve in Yuki's temple was twitching, and his hand in Kyou's fur tensed. Shigure's smile widened and the writer drew out his trump card. "Oh, alright," he pretended to sigh in defeat. "I'll take him to the city with me. I'm sure the receptionist will help me look after him, even though she smokes a lot-"

Yuki's eyes widened: the damage to Kyou's lungs!

"- And there are a few cockroaches, but she uses insecticide-"

Insecticide?! Cockroaches?! Kyou's tendency to eat everything that he could get his hands on!

"- And anyway, I'll only be about an hour or so."

In which time Kyou could be blue in the face and dead!

Shigure hid the smirk as Yuki snatched at the note, and stormed off wordlessly to get Kyou and himself dressed for school.

***

It wasn't until he reached the school gates that Yuki realized Shigure might have been lying. Because his poor, put upon publisher often came to him instead, and - Yuki's eyebrows drew together - he had been to see Shigure's publisher once, and it had been perfectly clean.

He was going to kill Shigure.

"There are Uo and Hana!" cried Tohru happily. She waved eagerly, and Yuki narrowly missed having her arm up his nose. Kyou, imitating her, threw his hands up in the air as well, and this time hit Yuki's chin.

"Yuyu-chan!" he gurgled. Yuki had to smile.

The group of his fangirls nearly fainted at the beauty, but wait-!

"What's he doing with the baby?"

"Could that be his and Honda Tohru's baby?"

"He looks so cute with that baby!"

"What'd he bring Kyou-kun to school for?" asked Uo, cheerfully looping an arm around Tohru's shoulders.

"There was no one at home to look after him," said Tohru.

"I thought Shigure-san promised to take care of him yesterday in the car?" asked Hana, raising a crescent shaped black brow. Tohru laughed, covering her mouth up shyly.

"He tricked Souma-kun into taking care of Kyou again."

Uo sighed and shook her head. "That guy is such a trickster. We're waiting out here for Nix as well."

"Oh! You mean that Chinese girl who works in Ayame-san's shop?" said Tohru eagerly. "Is she going to be in our class?"

"Nah, probably in the class below us, depends, I suppose," replied Uo, looking around the crowd for her friend. "Is that sulky looking one… no, that's not her…"

"I think I see her," said Hana softly, gesturing. Uo looked and her face lit up in a grin.

"You're a magician, Hana! That's her!" Uo waved her long arms like a windmill. "NIX!" she bellowed. "NIX!"

She trailed sleepily towards them. "Sorry," she yawned. "I'm not used to waking up at-" yawn "- five `o' clock. Heya, Uo. Miss Tohru, Miss Hanajima."

"No, no," corrected Hanajima. "In Japan, to say `Ms' you add a `-san' at the back. That applies to both men and women."

Nix nodded. "But other than that, my Japanese is okay, right?"

"Bad accent, so American," said Uo with a wink.

"You talked like that too in the beginning," replied Hanajima, hooking an arm through Tohru's. "Let's go into class."

"Yeah," chortled Uo evilly. "I can't wait to see what the Prince and his fangirls are up to."

***

Yuki was conscious of the stares. He positioned Kyou on his desk, and amused himself by playing with the fiery curls. In another end of the classroom, a group of conspirators watched him obsessively. All of them wore the golden crown badge on their collars.

"Who'll go up to ask him?"

Needless to say, the chance of talking to Yuki was eagerly seized upon. "Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Not you, last time you broke the rules by stealing Yuki's pencil shavings!"

"He threw them into the dustbin already!"

Yuki started up at the sort of scuffle in the room. He was the prefect, and the other girl he worked with, the bespectacled, dark haired, sensible and perfectly immune to him Nakamiji Shaku wasn't here yet. Scooping up Kyou with a sigh, he wandered over and asked, "What's going on?"

Every face blossomed into a sea of red. "YUKI-KUN!" they chorused.

Yuki recoiled. He'd stumbled across a group of them. Curses. Kyou blinked at them, clutching at Yuki's tie. He bore no resemblance to either Yuki, or Honda Tohru. So that meant:

"That's not your child, Yuki-kun?" blurted one.

Yuki looked surprised (He's so cute when his eyes widen like that!)

"No, he's my cousin. I need to take care of him today." (His voice is so smooth and silky!)

"He's very handsome!" said another one.

Yuki smiled. (Oo-o-oh! My heart is pounding!).

"Thank you," he said in a pleased voice. "Kyou-chan, they said you're good looking." He stroked Kyou's face, feeling as pleased and possessive as a mother, or a girl whose boyfriend was being praised. Kyou on the other hand, was looking none too happy. He glared suspiciously at the girls.

"Can I hold him?"