Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Ebony and Ivory ❯ "Hang out?" ( Chapter 20 )

A/N: Both of these boys are so inexperienced in friendship. ;) It was always something they watched from a distance before Tohru came along, and even then they didn't really have to figure out how it worked. So they're a bit awkward. But they're cute!

 

 

CHAPTER 20: “Hang out?”

 

It was Saturday. It had been three days now since that day at the piano. Kyo still found it hard to believe it had actually happened. When had he stopped hating Yuki? When had he started liking him? There was no doubt in his mind that the change had occurred before Yuki made it blatant.

 

Honestly, he was used to the idea by now—at least, used to not hating Yuki. What he couldn't get over was why Yuki liked him. And even if there was a reasonable explanation for that, surely there wasn't any logical reason for Yuki to forgive him after he acted like such an idiot. Which only left the conclusion that Yuki wasn't being logical—now that was something you didn't see every day. What if Yuki's logic came back later and convinced him he'd made a mistake?

 

Kyo sighed. It would. Eventually it would. When the family started turning on Yuki like it had on Shishou… Oh, he might keep up some sort of friendship for a little while—this was Yuki after all, who never wanted to hurt anyone—but he'd level it off pretty quick. It was just a matter of time. But then… Kyo only had a little while left on the outside anyway. He was fairly sure Yuki would stick with him until he was locked up, though he doubted the rat would come and visit him at the Main House. Kyo shook his head, not wanting to think about it.

 

At last, he closed his math book. It was one of the only subjects he was really good at—it didn't require a lot of thinking once you memorized the equations. He could almost do it in his sleep. He leaned his cheek against his hand for a moment, then stood up and went to Yuki's room.

 

The door was half-open. Yuki was still doing homework. Kyo wondered if he ever did anything else. Didn't he ever get bored? Suddenly Yuki stiffened a little, and looked up and then around. “Kyo? Is something wrong?”

 

“No. Why would there be?”

 

“Oh… then did you want something?”

 

Kyo shrugged and didn't reply. He wasn't really sure what he wanted.

 

“Want to come in?”

 

That worked. Kyo came in and sat on Yuki's bed. “It is the weekend, you know,” he said. “Are you planning on doing homework all day?”

 

“I was going to work in my garden later on,” Yuki replied, looking a bit puzzled.

 

“By yourself?”

 

“Honda-san has a long work-shift today, so I guess so.”

 

Kyo looked away, annoyed. What was he, chopped liver?

 

“Kyo?” Yuki looked troubled. “If you want to come, you can.” Kyo shrugged. “I'd like it if you would,” Yuki added. Then he sighed a little, stood up, and walked over to sit beside Kyo. “I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this.”

 

Kyo looked at him. “Good at what?”

 

“Friendship. Can't you tell?” He looked away and stared into space for a moment. “Why do you think I don't have any friends?”

 

“Because you keep your distance from everyone,” Kyo replied. “And you do have friends—me and Tohru and Haru. You don't have to keep your distance from us.”

 

Yuki turned back and looked at him. But he didn't say anything.

 

“What are you scared of, anyway?” Kyo asked. “I mean, I can understand keeping your distance from the girls—that's only natural. But there are a lot of guys at school who like you too.”

 

“As the Prince,” Yuki said bitterly, looking away.

 

“Well that's your fault. C'mon Yuki, if you got me to like you, I'm sure a lot of them would. I was dead set against it, remember?”

 

“But you never saw me as a prince. It's harder to believe people will like me if I act like myself when they already like me for being the prince.”

 

“Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you making excuses?” Yuki gathered up his knees and folded his arms over them, looking away. Kyo sighed. “I'm probably not one to talk, but I think in this case it's okay to let go of the toy bird to go for the real ones in the bush.”

 

Yuki sighed. “What am I supposed to do?”

 

“Well, for starters you could stop spending your whole weekend doing homework and make time to hang out with the friends you've got already.”

 

The rat blinked. “Hang out?”

 

“Yeah, you know—chat, spar, at least do homework together. That kind of stuff. It's called hanging out. It's what friends do.”

 

“I know that,” Yuki said, rolling his eyes.

 

“If you know, then do it. I'm bored. So finish your homework and come hang out with me.”

 

Yuki laughed. He leaned his cheek against his hand, and smiled warmly at Kyo—a smile that touched his eyes. “You're very blunt, you know that?”

 

“I pride myself on it,” Kyo replied with a smirk.

 

Yuki laughed again. “Yeah. I like that about you—your honesty.” He sat up and clapped Kyo across the shoulders before standing up. “I can finish my homework later. Did you want to spar now?”

 

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

 

Weeks passed. It was crazy how much Yuki was changing. For one thing, he actually seemed to enjoy their bouts, which now took place almost every day. Kyo could almost feel himself getting stronger. Shigure, meanwhile, enjoyed going off on overdramatic monologues on how pleased he was that his furniture was left intact because of Yuki and Kyo's newfound brotherly love. Of course, he teased them both constantly at first, but he finally stopped. Kyo had a suspicion that it was because Yuki had asked him to.

 

Yuki seemed so much more relaxed these days, even at school. He became shy, though, when people started coming up and talking to him. “I don't get it,” he told Kyo after school one day.

 

“What do you mean, you don't get it? You're approachable—they're approaching you.”

 

Yuki smiled a little. “I just wish I knew what they want from me.”

 

“Don't worry so much,” Tohru said with a smile. “Yuki-kun should act like Yuki-kun, and people will like you very much if they get to know you!”

 

“I hope so,” Yuki replied with another smile.

 

Yuki's words stuck in Kyo's head. Yuki didn't know what people wanted from him. Kyo began to wonder what it was Yuki wanted from him. He remembered Yuki's comments, about liking Kyo because he was real, and because he was honest. Kyo felt slightly annoyed at Yuki's constant habit of speaking so vaguely that it was impossible to find anything out from him. He finally decided to approach Yuki directly.

 

“Ne, Yuki,” he said one afternoon when Yuki was finishing up his piano practicing. “I was wondering… um…” He realized suddenly that he hadn't even thought about how to phrase his question. “Um… about what you like to do.” Stupid. Even on his feet, he should have been able to come up with something better than that.

 

“I… like to play the piano… and read… and garden… and spar with you.” Yuki smiled. “That sort of stuff?”

 

“Um… not exactly… though that's good too. Um… more like, what do you like to do with people in general? I mean, what kind of things do you… like to get involved in?”

 

Yuki smiled a little as he put his things into the piano bench. “There aren't a lot of things that I normally involve myself in. I'm kind of a loner.” He looked up. “You know that.”

 

Kyo frowned a little. “Yeah, but you don't like being that way, right?”

 

“Well I do tend to get overwhelmed by a lot of people,” Yuki said. He paused for a moment. “But no, not really.”

 

Kyo smiled. “Well, then, you should get involved with stuff.”

 

Yuki laughed a little. “You make it sound so simple.” He closed the piano bench and stepped over to Kyo. “You keep talking about how you don't want me to hide and keep my distance, but it's not that easy for me. I'm used to being alone. I don't know how to relate to people.”

 

“So you learn.”

 

“It's just… I was always kind of isolated at the Sohma house, and… I guess I sort of got used to thinking of myself that way.”

 

“What way?”

 

“Separate. Like… like I'm not really the type of person that hangs out with people.”

 

“But Yuki, you're fun to hang out with. I mean, I think if you played sports or something, you'd probably make a lot of friends, and…”

 

“But it's not like I can just go up to them and say, `I want to play with you.'”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because… what if they said no?”

 

“Then they're not worth your time.”

 

Yuki sighed. “Kyo, the people at school don't really see me that way. They have this `look, but don't touch' attitude.”

 

“Well yeah, but that's because that's the way you act. People don't act like that when you're relaxed. They've been coming up to you. This isn't the Main House, you know, where everyone treats you like a god they have to honor.” Kyo didn't quite manage to keep the jealousy out of his voice that time.

 

“I hated that,” Yuki said. “It's even worse than school. Much worse. I don't want to be respected because of my position in the zodiac.”

 

Kyo was silent for a moment. It always felt weird to think that Yuki disliked being the cherished rat as much as he disliked being the accursed cat. But when he thought about it, it made sense. “I guess that would kind of suck, being like a china doll on a shelf,” he said at last. “But like I said, it's not like that in the real world.” He sighed. “I don't get it. You don't want to be alone, and you're a really cool guy, and I like you the way you are, and I'm the cat. So why do you keep hiding and distancing yourself from everybody like this? What made you start it?” He paused. “Did something… happen?”

 

Yuki looked away. “None of your business.”

 

Kyo folded his arms. “Fine, be that way.”

 

“Look… it's just… it's just because I was alone a lot. I always had to stay away from others… because of my asthma. Okay?”

 

Kyo sighed a little, irritated. It was so obvious that Yuki was hiding something. “If you were isolated… the only way to stop being isolated is to step out of your shell. You need to push yourself or something.”

 

“I did. With the presidency.”

 

“Oh yeah… but… well, Yuki, there are other things you could do too, you know.”

 

“One step at a time.”

 

“Walk a little faster.”

 

Yuki gave a nervous-sounding laugh. “You go right to the point.”

 

“No, seriously. The president thing was, what, a year ago? And yeah, I know it's a constant thing, but you need to do something besides that. Keep walking. Ganbatte!”

 

Yuki smiled a little, but he looked a little scared. “I don't know.”

 

“Look,” Kyo said, clapping his shoulder. “I'll help you. Okay? But you need to cooperate.”

 

“You'll help me?”

 

“Yeah, I'll give you a push every now and then.”

 

“Um…”

 

“You said you don't want to be isolated, right?”

 

“Yes, but…”

 

“You have to get past being afraid of the unfamiliar. People would love to hang out with you if you'd give them the chance. I mean, if it worked with me, it should work with everyone.”

 

“Do you really think so?” Yuki looked uncertain. “But what if I do something weird, and they don't like me, or…”

 

“Don't worry. It's okay.”

 

“I'll think about it.”

 

“You're only doing that to avoid action.”

 

Yuki gave him a little shove. “Get off my back.”

 

Kyo shoved him back. “No.”

 

“Kyo…”

 

“You said you liked honesty. I'm being honest.”

 

“I never said I wanted it all the time.”

 

“Yeah, but you need it.”

 

Yuki said nothing. They parted ways at the mouth of the forest. Kyo had already come up with a plan.

 

The next day at school, he implemented it. Tohru had gone to work, and Kyo had joined in a volleyball game with several of his classmates that lasted past when Yuki left student council. Kyo was watching for his cousin, and waved when he saw him. “Hey, do you mind of my cousin Yuki joins?” he asked his team.

 

“What?” asked one of the boys. “I thought you guys didn't like each other.”

 

“No, we do. Can he join?”

 

“Sure. We need an extra person anyway.”

 

“Great! I'll go get him.” Someone called a time out, and Kyo ran over to Yuki. “Ne, Yuki, come and play volleyball with us.”

 

“What?”

 

“Come and play with us. It's fun.”

 

“I… I'm not very good.”

 

“Neither are any of the rest of us. Come play with us, Yuki. We want to hang out with you. I want to hang out with you. And we'd be on the same team.”

 

Yuki smiled a little. “Um… okay.”

 

Kyo grinned and put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him along. Yuki's shoulders stiffened slightly and Kyo let go. “Oh… sorry.”

 

Yuki paused for a moment, then smiled. “No, it's okay. You can touch me. Don't worry about it. After all, I'm not a china doll, right?”

 

Kyo hesitated, but then he smiled and put his arm around Yuki's shoulders again and pulled him over to the court. They played for almost an hour, and by the end of it, people were clapping Yuki on the shoulder, and asking him to play the next game the week after. Yuki looked a little overwhelmed, but he was smiling. He was hesitant about agreeing to the next game, but did so after catching a look from Kyo.

 

On the walk home, Yuki turned to Kyo. “That was more of a shove than a push.”

 

Kyo looked irritated. “You got a problem with that?”

 

Yuki laughed. “I guess not.”

 

Kyo grinned. “But you'd better not give me any trouble about it next time.”

 

“I already agreed. I can't believe I did that.”

 

“You have to do what you can't see yourself doing. That's the only way to change. And I'll be here for you. But don't think I'm going to go easy on you.”

 

Yuki smiled warmly. “Heaven forbid.”