Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ A Bouncing Baby Boy ❯ Insane ( Chapter 7 )

Bouncing Baby Boy

 

Author's note: *starts ranting* And then I had it all nicely in a diskette, and what does that diskette do? It breaks down!! I had the chapter bee-YOU-ti-fully all typed out, all hunky-dory, and then suddenly the damn thing goes haywire. I hate writing what I've already written… *whimpers pitifully* I wouldn't do it either, if I hadn't received so many great reviews.

 

Thank you, all of you! I really, really appreciated it, and hope you find this chapter as `good' as you found the others.

 

(Shameless bit of self promotion here: Please read my other fic, `The Chime Child' - Yuki/Kyou and Hatori/Shigure, if anyone wants to know.)

**

“He doesn't like to be carried by anyone but Yuki,” chorused Uo, Hanajima, Tohru and Nix in one breath. Yuki made good his escape, fleeing into the classroom.

 

“Souma…”

 

“Here's the note, teacher.” Yuki handed over Shigure's messily scrawled writing that looked like an intoxicated spider's lurching about on the white paper.

 

She barely glanced at it, and sighed, being used to Souma peculiarities. What could she do? They were a powerful, influential family who donated a good deal of money to the school annually. So the kids were a little eccentric (weird, kooky, crazy, insane, whichever…), money made more noise than their oddity. Yuki was waved into his seat.

 

Ignoring the curious gazes aimed in his direction, Yuki sat Kyou into his lap, and started arranging his school books neatly. When that was done, he allowed Kyou, squirming to be let loose anyway, to begin clambering over his desk. He sat in the middle, waving his arms for pure joy. Yuki smiled, unable to help it.

 

A wave of lovesick sighs ruffled the class like a breeze.

 

Yuki ignored his desk mate, immersed in Kyou as it were. Manabe, black-haired, black-eyed, black-hearted, more-than-a-little-wrong-in-the-head, slipped into his seat, pouting and then covering his face with his hands, letting his sorrow show.

 

“WA-AH! Yuki is ignoring me!” he sobbed dramatically.

 

Without taking his eyes off Kyou (now fingering the tower of books), Yuki, with practiced ease, seized hold of Manabe's ear and yanked. “Ow-w! Pain!” Manabe yowled. “Pain! Point taken! Point taken!”

 

Yuki let go, not because of Manabe's cries of discomfort, but because the pile of books threatened ever so slightly to fall onto the Baby. “Kyou!” he cried, leaping up and snatching at Kyou, hugging him tight. The books stayed perfectly still.

 

Yuki realized he looked foolish, and sat down immediately, face burning.

 

Manabe eyed him with esteem. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “Listen up girls!” he continued in a painfully loud voice. “When you too grow up and have children, follow Yuki's example! What dedication he shows to his child!”

 

“He's not my kid!” snapped Yuki.

 

Manabe, if anything, looked even more admiring. “Look at that! Not even his own kid! Listen up girls!” Ignoring Yuki's Evil Eye, and Kyou's wondering one, Manabe went on with suicidal zest. “When you too grow up, you must show the same sort of devotion to your stepkids. Follow Yuki's example! He's a paragon of parenting!”

 

Yuki bottled up his urge to kill Manabe, since the lesson was starting, and Yuki doubted the teacher would like a classroom dripping with blood.

 

***

 

“How is it going, Souma-kun?” asked Tohru, smiling brightly up at him.

 

Yuki gave her a tired smile.

 

“Well, I know something that will make Souma-kun very happy!” continued Tohru dauntlessly. “I heard Harada-san, the Literature teacher, tell Cho-san, the Chemistry teacher that it was obvious Kyou-chan loved you very much.”

 

Yuki gave her a much broader smile.

 

Tohru blushed happily. “I'm glad I cheered you up, Souma-kun,” she said, honestly and artlessly. “Our lesson is starting soon, I'll see you later!” Waving a hand at him, she went off, weaving through the crowd with Uo and Hana.

 

Yuki went to his classroom, feeling a lot more encouraged that he should by what Tohru had told him. He moved slowly, trying not to jolt Kyou, who after a full day of sights, sounds and people who tried to pat him, was resting his head against Yuki's shoulder and blinking drowsily.

 

“Yuki!”

 

Both Yuki and Kyou looked up. Kyou relaxed, seeing it was the weird boy with the black hair. Kyou had rather gotten used to him already. Yuki narrowed his eyes at Manabe. He grinned back.

 

“Hi-hi! How's it been going, Yuki?” He fell into step with them, regardless. “How's the heir to the throne, hmm, Yuki? Aww, isn't he just the swheetest!” Manabe patted Kyou's head with a smile.

 

Kyou lifted his head again, rather sick of this boy constantly addressing his Yu-yu-chan erroneously. “Yu-yu-chan!” he bleated. “'Is Yu-yu-chan!”

 

“Yu-yu-chan?” Manabe's eyes sparked with pure wickedness. “Is that how you're supposed to address him? Excuse me, I'll correct my mistake at once.” He bowed to Kyou.

 

“No-you-don't,” growled Yuki. Kyou yawned, stirred and fell asleep. Yuki looked at him and his face melted a bit. He really was extraordinarily fond of the tiny Souma Kyou - look-alike, realized Manabe. How odd, considering the amount of time he spent fighting Kyou. Then again, Manabe smirked kindly, wasn't it said that hate was only love that missed its way?

 

“What are you looking so smug about?”

 

“Oh nothing, Yu-yu-chan. Nothing.”

 

Yuki twisted his ear with strength.

 

“Ow! Ow! Okay! Okay! No more Yu-yu-chan!”

 

**

 

With his pale blue Baby nature sleeping, Kyou's red, real consciousness was beginning reemerge drowsily, like a butterfly from a chrysalis, weak and fluttering. But whose limbs wouldn't feel soft and limp and happy when cradled against Yuki's smooth warmth? It was the realization of a wet dream.

 

Wait a minute -

 

The moment Kyou jolted awake, his red consciousness receded, the pale blue taking over. He blinked a few times, and then snuggled up against Yu-yu-chan. Yuki took his attention off the history lesson to smile lovingly at Kyou.

 

**

 

Shigure crossed the busy street to his publisher's office. Mounting the stairs, he still smirked happily at the remembrance of this morning's affair. He had lied shamelessly to Yuki.

 

The old receptionist at the desk smile welcomingly at him. Not even Yuki could have objected to Madam Mizumi. She was a plump, antiseptic snowball of a person, who looked neat, and kept the office even neater. Heaven forbid anyone smoke in her domain. Shigure had once tried, lighting up underneath the No-Smoking sign and got bunged out by the ear.

 

“Good morning, Mizumi-san! I brought the manuscript over.”

 

“That's good, maybe for once Mit-chan won't have to go racing all over town looking for you,” she said severely. Shigure smiled, and shrugged. He left the document with Madam Mizumi, and left.

 

A person stepping out of the pharmacy across the road arrested his attention.

 

“Hatori! Ha-san!”

 

Hatori looked up, and caught sight of Shigure, waving energetically at him. He found his depression lifting, as it always did around the writer. Shigure ran across the road, narrowly avoiding being run over.

 

“What are you doing here?” asked Hatori, slipping the pills he had come for into his pocket.

 

“Submitting a story,” replied Shigure. “What about you?”

 

“Getting some medicine.” They fell silent for a moment, then Hatori added, “I know this place. There's a good Chinese food restaurant. Let's have lunch there.” Taking Shigure firmly by the elbow, they walked down the street.

 

“That'd be great. I'm hungry.” Shigure smiled.

 

This is not a date. My heart shouldn't be fluttering. This is not a date.