Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Ebony and Ivory ❯ Reflections on an Unlikely Friendship ( Chapter 51 )

A/N: Picks up immediately after the last chapter.

 

A/N 2: The mystery of the title of the story is finally explained in this chapter! I'm extremely curious to know who got it before I explained, so please, please, please let me know!

 

A/N 3: I take it no one wants me to post any other stories, since no one's said anything. Oh well. It was fun anyway. This, by the way, is the second-to-the-last chapter.

 

 

CHAPTER 51: Reflections on an Unlikely Friendship

 

“What the hell was that?!” Kyo shouted as soon as they were out of hearing distance from the Main House.

 

Yuki sighed. He had been expecting this storm. “It's hard to explain.”

 

“Well get talking, damn rat!” Kyo said, fists clenched.

 

“I'm not going to explain until you calm down. You don't listen when you're upset.”

 

“Shut up!” Kyo said, but his expression was slightly rueful. He calmed down and looked at Yuki. “Well?”

 

“I understood how he felt. At least, I think I did.” He looked at Kyo. “Kyo… he… do you remember how we were talking about… how even though you're the cat, you haven't let yourself become a monster?”

 

“Yeah…” Kyo was clearly not following.

 

“Akito let himself become a monster. Don't you see? He must have gone through something too. Something that Shigure and Hatori know about, and that's why they care about him. He's… he's like Frankenstein's monster. He's been pushed away to the point where he wants to hurt everyone in sight… but at the same time…” Yuki fell silent.

 

Kyo's curiosity apparently got the better of him. “What?”

 

“Kyo, when I looked into his eyes yesterday, and even more today… I saw a terrifying loneliness.” He shivered. “I saw what I felt, when I thought I'd lost you. I couldn't reach out to people, especially you, and I wanted you the most, but I could only be cruel when you were near me. But at the same time… I was so lonely that there were days I wished I would die.” He shook his head. “I don't know what happened to Akito to make him like this… but he's hurt me to make an impression on me… so I won't be able to forget him… so I won't leave him. Now he's lost me, and I'm not going back. I'm not going to start being friendly with him, Kyo. The piano song… that was my farewell.”

 

“Does he know that?”

 

“I think so.” Yuki sighed. “But I felt like I should give him something to hold onto… like I held onto your letter. Even if things can never be mended. I think… I think he understands how things stand. He let me go, after all. He let me go, and he let you be with me… he conceded defeat, and gave me up. I think… something in him cared for me. But he's too sick. He's become a monster, like the creature in Frankenstein. I'm not the one to reach him, if he can be reached at all. But still… something in me hopes he'll be rescued.”

 

“So what brought this on?”

 

“Didn't you see the look on Shigure's face? He looked like Haru, when Kisa bit him, in her tiger form. Haru was telling us what had happened to Kisa, and she bit him because she didn't want us to know. He just looked at her, and said it hurt, and asked what was wrong. She ran off, and Shigure asked if Haru had gone Black. Haru said no, and said that he was just mad because Kisa was hopeless.” Yuki fell silent. “Will you forgive me, Kyo? It was really the only thing I could think of… that would say what I was trying to say.”

 

Kyo sighed. “He's the first person who got to hear you play.”

 

“You're the first person I'll enjoy playing for. Besides, you'll be able to hear me play for at least another year.”

 

Kyo slowly began to smile. At last, he clapped Yuki on the shoulder. “Okay. I guess I forgive you.”

 

Yuki smiled. “Thank you. And thank you… for wishing for the piano for me.”

 

“What are you talking about, damn rat? You wished for me to be free. That's a much bigger deal. In a year, I'll be able to face up to Akito, maybe. And I'll know what I want.”

 

“Exactly,” Yuki said. He put an arm around Kyo. “That's why I did it.”

 

Kyo rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed that the rat knew him so well. Then he grinned. “You know, I still owe you for takoyaki.”

 

Yuki smiled. “I think I'll take you up on that.”

 

“Hey Yuki-nii, you know what this means, right?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You didn't fail. I get another year out because of you. Possibly more.”

 

Yuki looked at him to see probably the warmest smile he had ever been given. “Thanks.” He was quiet for a few minutes.

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah. I'm just… I mean… do you ever get the feeling when you're so happy, that it overwhelms you so much that you don't even know how to express it?”

 

“Um…” Kyo looked at Yuki blankly.

 

Yuki smiled. “It's like if you have a bottle full of stones, and when you turn it upside down they won't come out because they all crowd each other…” Kyo snorted softly. Yuki looked at him, slightly offended. “What?”

 

“You sound like Tohru.”

 

“Shut up, stupid cat. Do you get it or don't you?”

 

“Nope.”

 

Yuki sighed, frustrated. “I'm on emotional overload.”

 

“Oh. Well, why didn't you just say that?”

 

Yuki rolled his eyes. They finally arrived at the seafood shop, and Kyo got three orders—one for Honda-san, who would probably end up giving half of it to Shigure. So Kyo rolled his eyes and bought a fourth. They walked to the park, nibbling their takoyaki on the way.

 

“I wish time would stop,” Yuki said, once they had sat down and finished eating.

 

“Really?” Kyo grinned. “You'd want to be stuck here on a bench with me forever, eating takoyaki?”

 

Yuki laughed. “You know what I mean. It's like… I'm just kind of…”

 

“Are your words stopped up in the bottle too?”

 

Yuki rolled his eyes. “Are you trying to irritate me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Yuki gave him a playful shove. “Thanks a lot.”

 

“Well if you're irritated, maybe that will unplug the bottle, so you won't feel as overloaded.”

 

“You're not going to drop the bottle analogy, are you?”

 

Kyo grinned, and then his face relaxed into a gentle smile as he looked away. “This is the same place, you know. Where we got takoyaki the last time.”

 

“Is it?”

 

“That time you saved me from my dad. Twice. And I got mad at you.”

 

“Yeah. You've changed a lot.”

 

“So have you.” Kyo looked at him. “The piano's still here too.”

 

Yuki paused, then smiled a little, looking at his hands. “Shall I play for you, Kyo-nii?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“But here? In front of… it's not even evening.”

 

“So?”

 

In truth, Yuki felt a little nervous. With Akito, it had seemed his duty. This was the first time he felt he was playing the piano for real. His lips trembled slightly, but he didn't know why. He looked at the gazebo in the distance. “Here,” he said softly. He rose to his feet, and waited for Kyo to take care of the extra orders and their trash. Then Kyo smiled, and followed Yuki to the piano.

 

“The bench is different,” Yuki commented as he sat down. He noticed that, for some reason, Kyo seemed to be very careful not to meet his eyes. His hands trembled as he placed them on the keys.

 

“Yuki, what are you afraid of?”

 

Yuki looked into his cousin's eyes. Kyo gave him an encouraging smile. Kyo smiled so often these days. Yuki smiled back. “Nothing.” Then he played.

 

It was magic. Yuki lost all that was around him, even Kyo, and yet Kyo was in his music. Kyo and all of them. He wanted to cry. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to dance; but more than anything, he wanted to keep playing, and playing, and playing.

 

After a few minutes, he even lost his frustration with the lack of fluidity in his fingers; either that, or it disappeared.

 

Yuki had no concept of time, and was surprised when he opened his eyes to see that the sun was definitely higher. Kyo was sitting on the rail, smiling.

 

“Wow… how long was I playing?”

 

“About half an hour.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, don't stop.”

 

Yuki laughed. “Come sit by me.”

 

Kyo did. “I like what it does to you. The piano. I miss seeing you look like that.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Well, it's not as much of a big change now, but… when you play piano, you're never wearing your mask. Or something. I don't know. You look different.”

 

Yuki smiled. “You don't need to justify everything you say. Sometimes what you say is perfectly legitimate.”

 

Kyo blushed and looked away. He tentatively touched the keys and played a scale. “I was encroaching on your territory,” he said suddenly. “Were you mad?”

 

Yuki blinked. “What?”

 

“That's why I stopped and watched you, at Saito-san's house. I was shocked to see you there. For a second it was like I didn't even recognize you, because it was so random. Then when I saw your face… it was like you were a totally different person. I couldn't stop staring. Then I started listening, and I was hooked. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure what it was that hooked me. The music, or what it did to you.”

 

“It wasn't just the music,” Yuki said. “You didn't want just a cassette.”

 

Kyo looked at him. “What were you thinking? When you took so long to decide if I could come listen?”

 

Yuki looked away for a moment. “The piano,” he said at last, “was the way I expressed my feelings then. I had no outlet except for the piano. It was something so, so private… I kind of felt like… you were asking permission to see me naked.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Don't flip out. Think about it. I'm exposed when I play, like you said. I'm as me as I can get. Emotionally naked. But the thing is… the thing is, Kyo, you liked that. You liked hearing and watching me play. And I… I wanted to let you, I was just… scared. It's… it's scary dropping my shield. When I was with Akito… I would always be punished. But it's more than that, it's… I've always felt… that if someone saw me like that… they'd run away. But you came close. Like I'd… wanted you to.”

 

He looked at Kyo. “You called it `encroaching on my territory'. You sat right next to me, blatantly defying what you knew was my comfort zone. You played the piano only Saito-sensei and I played. It was like you were daring me… forcing me to decide whether to let you in or not. I was scared. No one had ever done that before. I'd always been untouchable. And here you were, touching me. You… were very audacious. You've always been audacious. I've always… liked that about you.”

 

Kyo looked away, slightly guiltily.

 

“What?”

 

“I don't think my motives were that great. I was mostly just curious. I wanted to see what would happen. I wanted to see if I could get you to show feeling. But I still wasn't really thinking of you as real. It was just kind of fascinating to see how different you were. And I kind of felt special, `cause you were only like that around me. I wanted to be around you, but it wasn't like I wanted to be real close. I just felt like… you were on a completely different level than me, and I could never hope to understand you, let alone have any type of relationship.

 

“But then… you got mad at me… and after I stopped being an idiot, I understood why… and it just sort of clicked that you had real feelings too… and that you could be hurt. That there were things you wanted… things you wanted from me. It was… weird. It was kind of like… like I saw that you were like me. Sort of. But the thing is, the rat doesn't have feelings. So… if you did… I couldn't see you as the rat anymore. And… damn it, am I making any sense?”

 

Yuki smiled, and touched his shoulder. “Absolutely. You felt similar to the way I did when I saw your true form.”

 

Kyo blinked. “Oh.” He cocked his head slightly. “Was that when you stopped seeing me as the cat?”

 

“I never saw you as the cat… not really. I never really hated you either. All of what looked like hatred was just that I was so mad at you, because I thought you were so stupid as to think that you were the cat, so that dictated every aspect of your life. I was angry because I was the same way, somehow. You know how you always hate in others what you most despise in yourself? I can't really explain it… but I never hated you, Kyo. I mean, if you'd been in danger or whatever, I would have helped you. I didn't particularly like you, and I didn't understand you, but… I don't know. But it all changed, gradually, after I saw your true form.” He shrugged, then smiled. “Sorry. Got kind of serious, there.”

 

Kyo put a hand on his head. “You don't need to apologize, moron.”

 

Yuki's eyes widened slightly, as this statement sank in. He hugged Kyo tightly. Kyo seemed slightly taken aback, but he hugged Yuki back.

 

“You okay, Yuki-nii?”

 

“Thank you,” Yuki said, closing his eyes.

 

Kyo's shoulders slumped. “For what?”

 

“Thank you that… I don't need to apologize to you… for being myself.”

 

Kyo chuckled. He ruffled Yuki's hair. “Whatever, you damn rat. What good is a friendship if you have to apologize for being you, that's what I'd like to know?”

 

Yuki let go, smiling. “You know, I'll bet no one even a year ago would have thought we could be friends.”

 

“No, probably not.” Kyo smiled. “We're polar opposites.”

 

“Are we?” Yuki looked reflectively at the piano. “I think…” He stopped, suddenly shy.

 

“What?”

 

“You're going to say I sound like Honda-san again.”

 

Kyo laughed a little. “I won't. Promise.”

 

“I think we're like ebony and ivory.”

 

There was a short pause. “No, you don't sound like Tohru. I understand her analogies.”

 

Now Yuki laughed. “They used to make the black keys out of ebony, and the white keys out of ivory. They might still. But you can't really have just the white keys or just the black keys, even if they are opposites, so…”

 

“So you're saying we complement each other.”

 

Yuki colored slightly. “Yes. And also that we're really not that different.”

 

Kyo smiled. “I agree.”

 

Yuki turned to him, eyebrows raised. “Can I get that in writing?” Kyo gave him a playful shove, and he laughed again, then became serious. “Do you think we'll always be friends?”

 

“Definitely,” Kyo replied, grinning. “In case you haven't noticed, it's kind of hard to get rid of me. I'll just keep showing up at your door no matter what you do, hoping that at some point you'll reach down and scratch me behind the ears. I'll be a nuisance whenever I possibly can.”

 

Yuki smiled warmly, and proceeded to teasingly scratch the back of Kyo's head. Kyo closed his eyes, and Yuki half expected to hear him purr. “You will never, ever be a nuisance, Sohma Kyo.”