Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Ebony and Ivory ❯ Rejected No Longer ( Chapter 14 )

AN: Woot for me, the piano enthusiast… You may be able to tell in this chapter that I not only play the piano, but I also really enjoy it. I, however, cannot play like Yuki at all. However, there are people who can. I had a teacher who could pick up any piece and play it through without a flaw. Anyway…. I hope you don't get bored with all of the random information about piano playing. For the record, it's important to Yuki (at least in my story), and Kyo is curious, so bear with me.

 

 

CHAPTER 14: Rejected No Longer

 

Yuki didn't talk much with Kyo over the next week, though Kyo tried several times to engage him in sparring matches. He was beginning to wonder if Yuki was trying to go back to before, when he didn't even think Kyo was worth fighting with, and wondered whether he should feel relieved or disappointed. He decided on disappointed for himself and relieved if Yuki (or anyone else) were to ask. On Wednesday, though, there was a knock on the side of Kyo's bedroom door.

 

“Yuki?”

 

Yuki looked uncertain, but he smiled a little. “Um… I'm going now.”

 

“That's nice.” No way would he go after how Yuki acted the last time. Unless, of course… Yuki actually wanted him to. He looked back at Yuki, gauging his reaction.

 

Yuki looked even more uncertain, but he persisted. “Honda-san is at work, so no one would see us leaving together. Want to walk with me?”

 

Kyo folded his arms. “What makes you think I want to go?”

 

“Oh.” He looked down, then away, obviously disappointed. “Okay.” He started to walk away. Kyo sighed and rolled his eyes, and followed him down the stairs.

 

“You've got to learn to be more assertive, you damn rat,” he said, getting his shoes. “What, are you going to make me beg every time?”

 

Yuki looked at him in surprise. “You mean you will go?”

 

“I never said I wouldn't,” Kyo replied.

 

“But…” Yuki paused, then smiled. “No. I guess you didn't.”

 

“See? You just assumed you knew what I was talking about. I'll have you know that I'm not nearly as straightforward as you think. But,” Kyo added, “I'll only go if you really want me to.” He closed his eyes and put his hands in his pockets, overly casual. He peeked up through his bangs.

 

Yuki looked a little surprised and flustered, but he nodded. “I… I do. I want you to come.”

 

Kyo smirked. He'd finally admitted it. “I guess I might go, then,” he said nonchalantly. “But only if you promise to give me notice next time you won't let me go, and a good reason.”

 

Yuki hesitated. Then he looked irritated. “You're not doing me any favors, stupid cat.” He started to head to the door. Kyo almost stopped him. Maybe he'd crossed the line there a little, but… he really wanted to know if his being there actually meant something to Yuki. That it wasn't just something he was doing for Kyo, for whatever reason. Not that it really mattered, of course, but… it did. Kyo was just about to tell him to wait, and mutter some sort of excuse, when Yuki stopped. He stood still, with his hand on the edge of the door, for a long seventeen seconds. Then he sighed. “I'll… give you one or the other, but not necessarily both.”

 

Kyo grinned. “Deal!” He grabbed his shoes and briefly clapped Yuki on the shoulder on their way out the door. Yuki laughed, looking relieved and really… glad. Crazy that Kyo had this much power over Yuki's emotions. Crazier still that he didn't want to abuse it. Experiment with it, yes—it was fascinating. But not abuse it.

 

The cat and the rat walked together and finally reached the town. They didn't say much, but the ice was broken and the silence was comfortable. Suddenly two kittens darted across their path, one chasing the other. “Oi!” Kyo shouted, and managed to catch the foremost one before it ran into the street in front of a car. The other had stopped already. “Stupid cat,” he said to it, setting its shaking form down. The other kitten licked its ear for a moment until it calmed down, and then the first one pounced on it, rolling it over. They squabbled like that for a minute, and then one escaped and the other chased it in the opposite direction. Kyo snorted a little. “Be careful!” he called after them.

 

“I wonder what they were fighting over,” Yuki said presently.

 

“Nothing,” Kyo said. “Tch, don't you know anything about animals, you damn rat? Fighting means they like each other. They're playing. It's fun. Litter-mates do that. It's a cat thing.” He felt Yuki looking at him and their eyes met briefly. Yuki looked confused, then looked away.

 

“Come on.”

 

In the temple, Yuki played a lilting sort of song. It reminded Kyo of the kittens they had seen earlier. Then Yuki stopped suddenly, and looked at Kyo. He cocked his head slightly, and then went back to playing. This time, Kyo was reminded for all the world of a kitten who kept making attempts at play with an older cat, who was constantly brushing him away as annoying. Kyo eventually decided that Yuki was playing this, and putting himself in the position of the kitten. At the end of the song he heard frustration, confusion, and hurt. Yuki stopped playing.

 

“Kyo?”

 

Kyo stepped to the front so he could hear his cousin. “What?”

 

Yuki looked troubled and confused. “Do you… feel rejected… when I won't fight with you?” He said it as though it were a foreign concept.

 

Kyo was in no way prepared for the question, and was shocked at the maelstrom of emotions it produced. He looked away, unable to answer immediately. Had Yuki seriously just figured this out? Hadn't he been working it to his advantage for the last eight years, at least?

 

Yuki rose and stepped close to him. “I'm sorry,” he said softly, really sounding like he meant it. “I didn't understand. I thought… I didn't think.” Kyo stole a glance. Yuki was looking down. “Is that why you hate me?” he asked.

 

Kyo still didn't answer. He had a list a mile long of all the reasons he hated Yuki. He just couldn't name any of them off the top of his head.

 

“I… I didn't mean to hurt you… I was… just…” He stopped.

 

“You did too,” Kyo said shortly. “Don't lie.”

 

Yuki said nothing for a moment. Then he slumped. “You're right,” he said softly, sounding pained. “I just… didn't realize why it hurt.” Kyo looked up. Yuki was looking down, refusing to meet his gaze. “I… I'm sorry. Really. Can I… make it up to you?”

 

“It doesn't matter,” Kyo whispered. What did he care? Why did the rat even care? Didn't he hate Kyo? Why would he feel bad for hurting someone he hated?

 

“Yes, it does,” Yuki replied.

 

What could Kyo say to that?

 

“Do you… want to fight with me now?”

 

“Thought you said we couldn't fight here, `cause of your precious piano.” The hurt in his voice was way too obvious. If only he could be like that damn rat, and actually hide sometimes when he really didn't want to be seen.

 

“Well, I thought you would be trying to start fights all the time….” Yuki trailed off for a moment. “And really, I just said you couldn't start fights. I never said I couldn't.” He paused. “So… do you want to fight with me now?”

 

Kyo looked away. “So what, you think that if you start one fight with me, that's going to make up for acting all these years like I'm not even worth your time and energy?” Much too obvious. He shouldn't ever have let Yuki know how much it hurt.

 

Yuki paused again, still uncertain. He was only ever uncertain around Kyo these days. It was so weird. “Then…” he started, and stopped again, and gave a little sigh. “Then… why don't we… make a habit of it?”

 

Kyo blinked. “Of… sparring?” He felt his eyes widen. “You… you mean it?”

 

Yuki smiled a little. “Yeah. It could be fun, if we're not just fighting because we're mad.”

 

Kyo was suspicious. “Well I don't want you to do it just `cause you feel obligated.”

 

Yuki looked surprised at this statement, and something suddenly kindled in the back of his eyes. He broke into a smile, a really happy smile. “No. I really think it could be fun. I always thought before that you were just mad, but… if you really like it, I think I could have fun too. And it could be… something we could do at home, since the piano can only be here.”

 

Kyo blinked a few times. Yuki really sounded… excited. He felt slightly shaky. He and Yuki, having fun, together? Where would that lead? He looked at Yuki, and saw the rat give him a tentative smile. He shivered, and looked away. This was way too weird. Yuki was looking at him like… like he didn't even see the cat anymore. Come to think of it, Yuki hadn't been calling him names nearly as often now. He rarely said “stupid cat” these days, except when he was angry or teasing.

 

“Kyo? You okay?”

 

Kyo was silent for a moment, and then looked up at Yuki and balled his fists. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get it on!”

 

Yuki laughed. “Outside.”

 

They went outside, and Yuki won as usual, but Kyo knew he had done better than he normally did. He was shocked when Yuki expressed the same sentiment. “You do better when you're not angry at me,” he commented. “You focus more on your defense that way. Your offense is already good.”

 

“So my defense isn't?” Kyo asked sourly.

 

“I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.”

 

“I don't need to hear it from you, you da—… um… Yuki.” He wasn't going to be the only one calling names if Yuki wouldn't. He'd show that… Yuki.

 

Yuki's face lit up. He shocked Kyo by clapping him on the shoulder and then went back into the temple to play. Kyo looked after him for a minute, shaken, but then followed.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Kyo sat near the piano after they had had a fight for the second week in a row. He listened to Yuki play a fast, intense song that sounded completely improvised. “Is that a battle?” he asked.

 

Yuki grinned, nodding as he played. Then he stopped, smiling at Kyo. “Yeah. By the way, that one I was playing before our fight last time—that was `Cat', the one you saw at Saito-sensei's.”

 

“Oh. Really? I liked it.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You didn't… write it about me, did you?”

 

Yuki gave him a playful grin, and launched into something new for a moment. Kyo was finally beginning to feel really comfortable with this arrangement, and he actually felt all right talking to Yuki. “Do you write songs about people a lot?”

 

“Sometimes. Some people. People who I feel I know pretty well. I have one about sensei, and one about Shigure…”

 

“Tohru?”

 

“A few.”

 

“Oh, a few…”

 

“Quiet,” Yuki said, blushing.

 

“Yuki, how do you…” Kyo stopped. He didn't really want to ask Yuki how he felt about Tohru until he knew how he, Kyo, felt about Tohru. “Any about the other Juunishi?”

 

“Um… I have one about Kisa, and one about Ayame… that one's not very flattering, though, because I wrote it one time when I was mad at him. Oh, and I have one about Haru.”

 

“This I've got to hear.”

 

“Um…” Yuki started to smile. “Promise you won't tell him?”

 

“Of course.”

 

Yuki began to play, something soft, slightly dazed sounding. Then the soft began to grow, not so much louder, but more intense. Then it stopped. And suddenly the music was loud, and harsh, and cacophonous, and all over the keyboard. Kyo started laughing, the first time he had ever really done so in front of Yuki. Yuki was clearly trying to hold in laughter, and then the music stopped again, suddenly. Then it began again, soft and sweet. Then it was over.

 

“Oh, my gosh…” Kyo was clutching his sides.

 

Yuki laughed a little. “I hope he wouldn't be hurt if he knew I wrote this,” Yuki said. “I think it's kind of funny, though, as long as he's not seriously Black. And as long as he gets out his aggression in a reasonable way, like by fighting you.”

 

Kyo gave him a look. “That last part was slightly unnecessary.”

 

Yuki laughed again. “Oh give me a break, Kyo—you know you've done it on purpose.”

 

“Maybe once.”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“Twice, max. And that was only because I was bored.”

 

“Ah, denial.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Hmm, am I hearing Kyo go on the defensive? I must be imagining it.”

 

“Shut up!”

 

“Okay.” There was a pause. Yuki put his hands back on the keyboard.

 

“Haru's more fun when he's Black,” Kyo said.

 

Yuki laughed, and began to play again. It was that one song Kyo liked, the quiet one of longing. But it seemed somehow different now. Before it was as though the music were describing a fool's hope. Now it sounded more like anticipation, or at least like Yuki considered it a possibility. At last the song ended.

 

“What's that one called?” Kyo asked.

 

“Wish,” Yuki replied. He began to play again. This song was happier, but still conveyed a yearning.

 

“What's that one?” Kyo asked when it was over.

 

“It doesn't have a title. I just now made it up.”

 

“You should write it down. It was nice.”

 

“Do you really think so?” Yuki smiled. “Maybe I will. I don't know. A lot of times I'll play something once and then forget it. But sometimes it will stay with me, and then I'll write it down. That's what happened with `Wish'. That time you heard me play it at Saito-sensei's house was the first time.”

 

“Wow.”

 

Yuki looked at him thoughtfully. “You know, I never knew you liked music.”

 

Kyo shrugged. “I told you, there's a lot you don't know about me.”

 

“Yeah.” Yuki looked off into the distance for a minute. Then he sighed. “I need to do my homework now, if you don't mind. I'm supposed to be finishing a song. You know, you're a terrible distraction.” He smiled as he said this, though. “It's kind of nice. Different, but nice.” He opened the piano bench and began taking out his books.

 

“Do you keep all your piano stuff there?” Kyo asked. “It's really cool, how it's like a secret compartment or whatever.”

 

Yuki laughed. “Hardly secret. This is standard on a lot of piano benches.” He flipped through pieces of music. “I always put my music at the bottom. There are a lot of old pieces in here. Some of them are really nice.” He lifted some papers from the bottom, with pencil writing on them.

 

“So do you show these to him?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So you have to stop here before class?”

 

“And after. It's a little irritating, but I don't want to take the risk of hiding them at home. Someone might find them.”

 

“Hmm.” Kyo watched Yuki for a moment, feeling a bit awkward. “Do you mind if I stay and watch?”

 

“No. Just as long as you don't mind that I'll only be half-listening to anything you say for a little while.” Yuki had closed the piano bench and was sitting down, looking at his piece. He seemed to be murmuring to himself. “Oh… yeah, that works better.” Then he pouted. “I like that part, sensei,” he muttered. Kyo laughed a little. Yuki put the piece up and played something. Then he played the same tune in the context of a larger one. He played around with it for a minute. “I guess I could try a variation in the repeat,” he said at last. “Yeah, that would work.”

 

“What are you doing, exactly?” Kyo asked.

 

“I asked Saito-sensei to comment on my music. He says he feels more like an advisor than a teacher, but I learn a lot from him. Since most of the stuff I knew before was stuff I taught myself, there are a lot of methods and strategies that I don't know. He says I can use them to make the music sound richer. At first I was kind of resistant, because he had already said it was good before, but then I figured that it'd be kind of stupid for a good carver to keep using crude tools if he has access to better ones.”

 

“Good analogy.”

 

Yuki looked embarrassed. “Actually, he was the one who came up with it.” He looked at the last page, where it seemed Saito-san had attached a page with commentary. “He tells me when something sounds awkward, and where I can improve something. It's sort of like… if someone edits a paper you write, and helps you with word choice and sentence structure. When you think about it, music is really just another language. You can sort of think of the different keys you can play in as dialects.”

 

“Keys?”

 

“Sorry.” Yuki smiled. “This is kind of like explaining algebra to someone who only knows about basic arithmetic.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“That's no reflection on your intelligence,” Yuki said calmly. “You haven't had any training. Really, I didn't know much about piano until I met Saito-sensei. I knew what sounded good, but I didn't know about the different keys. It's kind of like… well, you know how a scale is supposed to sound, right?”

 

“Doe, re, mi?”

 

“Exactly.” He hummed a scale. “But you don't have to start with C, which is here. You can start with any key, and you just use combinations of black and white keys. Here…” Kyo tentatively sat beside Yuki. Yuki looked at him for a moment, surprised, but then he smiled. He played a scale that began on the next two notes up, using the black keys as well as the white. “See? When I talk about keys you can play in, I'm talking about songs that match the black and white key patterns in the scale that has the same letter. Because it has the same pattern, it has a sound that sort of follows the scales. Is this making sense?”

 

“Sort of.” Kyo noticed that Yuki still hadn't asked him to move.

 

“Sorry. I'm probably boring you.”

 

“No, I'm interested. And besides, I asked.”

 

“I'm starting to get into the minor scales, like in the last six months. They make a piece sound kind of sad, or thoughtful. I played with them before, but I didn't really know what they were… if that makes sense.” Yuki still wasn't telling Kyo to move.

 

“Yeah. Like in martial arts, I can play with strategies that I don't know what they're called, but then when I'm actually taught them, I can do better at them.”

 

“Exactly.” Yuki smiled. “Let me see. `Try to put variations in the repeats.'” He laughed. “I'm a step ahead of you. Um… `I'd like you to start experimenting with accidentals. You've seen them before in pieces, though you've never used them. I think this song would lend itself well. For an example of what I'm talking about, look at the eighth measure of Minuet in G Major.' Sensei, I don't have the music with me.” He sighed. “Hey, could you move over a little for a second?” he said to Kyo. Kyo scooted the edge of the bench, and Yuki began to play, whispering, “One, two, three,” along with the music. Then he stopped, and repeated a part he'd just played, that sounded jerky. “Oh, so that's what it's called!” he said with a smile. “I'd always wondered.”

 

Kyo slumped slightly, feeling a bit left out. “What are you talking about?”

 

“Sorry. I didn't even know until now, but now I get it. That jumpy part was called an accidental. It makes it sound like you briefly played the wrong note by accident.”

 

“Why would you do that?”

 

“It makes the music sound lighter. Like here, listen to it in context.” He played the song he had started and stopped, this time continuing past the “accidental.”

 

Kyo nodded, smiling just a little. “It sounds kind of funny.”

 

“Right. That and trills do that. Oh… trills are when you play two notes back and forth really quickly, like this.” He played two notes that were right next to each other, very fast. “It sounds like a bird, almost. Trills and accidentals usually aren't in the more serious pieces, but minuets and sonatas are like dance music, and so they'll sometimes be in there, randomly. The trick is to figure out where it sounds good.”

 

Then Yuki went completely into his song, playing with it here and there, modifying it here and there. Kyo smiled a little. It was nice to sit by Yuki. Not that… not that he cared about Yuki or anything, but… it was nice to see him play the piano up close. Something nagged at the back of Kyo's mind, but he ignored it and went back to watching Yuki fix his pieces.

 

“You're a perfectionist, aren't you?” Kyo asked after a while.

 

Yuki just smiled.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Summer was wonderful. Yuki went to play piano several times a week, and usually let Kyo come. Often, he'd offer to fight Kyo during the time they were together. Kyo was beginning to really enjoy himself. And Yuki always acted so different from his usual self during these times. He would laugh, smile, and chat, and act so… relaxed. That was it, Kyo decided. He acted like he had nothing to prove. Kyo wondered that the piano could do that to him. He was also amazed that he was beginning to like the time with Yuki almost as much as the piano. This scared him a little, because he wasn't really sure what it meant.

 

Yuki also seemed to enjoy his being there, which was odd. Yuki could have the piano either way, so it couldn't just be that. This train of thought led Kyo to what he considered an audacious conclusion: Yuki liked spending time with him. This strange inference brought him to a shocking realization. Although he was certain that Yuki was comfortable with Saito-san too, it was somehow marvelous that of everyone besides Saito, Yuki was only like this with Kyo. For some reason, Kyo felt privileged.

 

These days, he was in an almost constant state of excitement. He and Yuki were getting along better, which made Tohru happy, and made Shigure go off on random overdramatic stuff about how he was so pleased that the clouds of rivalry were beginning to dissipate, so that his house wouldn't be broken anymore.

 

But after a while, Kyo started to notice something that unsettled him. Yuki began to look confused when Kyo would lash out at him. And it seemed like anger and hurt were mixed in with the general annoyance, like he really expected something different from Kyo. But he never mentioned anything about it during the times they were alone. He seemed almost afraid to. Either that or he was waiting for some sort of signal… Kyo pushed it out of his head whenever he thought about it. That damn rat was just way too weird.