Class trips were meant to be fun. A brief lapse into childhood adventures in the midst of scholastic tedium. Of course, Kyo skulked, it would have to be utterly pathetic now that Yuki happened to planned it. Just how was he supposed to have fun knowing Yuki had choreographed it? He huffed and pointedly stared out the classroom window as said cousin stood before them, presenting the plans for this year’s winter trip.
“We’ll be going up to a
Oh fuck no, Kyo thought. His eyes widened and his face paled as he finally turned his attention to his poncey cousin, dreading the fact that had just dawned on him. He wouldn’t dare! And for once in his life, he had the self control to stay quiet.
***
Kyo leaned against the wall outside the student council room, absently waiting for his chance to exact his reprimand on the thrice damned rat. Tohru had worked that evening so he didn’t need to worry about her poking her nose in to this, and after she had mindlessly told Momiji and Hatsuharu about the trip – he assumed it was some time during lunch, but he had been too busy stalking that idiot Yuki to pay attention – Haru had made a point to keep the rabbit out of their sight. Bless the man – err, boy – he probably would have corralled Tohru as well if she hadn’t been priorly engaged. He seemed to have an innate sense of what people needed when he was white, and he also seemed to know just how to give it to them while working backstage.
Sighing partly in agitation and a little to dislodge the thoughts deterring his fury he shook his head and levered himself off the wall. Turning to the door he decided to just go in and talk to him instead of wait. He didn’t know if the other members of the student council were present, but quite frankly, he didn’t care; though he did have the foresight to open the door gently instead of applying his usual amount of forceful vigor.
Upon opening the door he saw that Yuki was indeed alone in the room, bent over a laptop and some papers. Kyo had the sneaking suspicion the rat had been waiting for him to come in. He stood precariously in the doorway, not sure what to do now that he had breeched the near sacred area. Yuki, however, was swift to come to his rescue.
“It took you longer then I thought,” the silvery haired boy muttered absently, scanning the page he held in one hand and then typing something briefly with the other. Kyo’s anger spiked back up to its previous levels at the verbal confirmation that Yuki was again leading him around.
“Ugh,” he growled, slamming his fist into the wall for emphasis, “Damnit! If you wanted to talk then why didn’t you just come face me, you damn rat!”
Yuki let out an agitated and long suffering sigh. Why can’t he find a more interesting word? the rat bemoaned to himself, though his face showed very little of it. He’s aggravatingly redundant.
“Because fighting is really the last thing I want to do,” he said aloud. “And we both know it’s impossible to have an intelligent conversation with you without it coming to blows in the end.” He finally glanced up at his cousin, making sure to lay on the haughty superiority as heavily as he pleased. “I’m really much too busy to toy with you today.” Kyo snarled again and strode forward purposefully; coming to a halt in front of the desk only because it could have been seriously damaged otherwise, and he didn’t particularly feel like paying for it. Yuki looked up at him with an utterly contemptuous expression that any one else would have perceived as being feigned innocence. Yuki was good at being two-faced like that.
Kyo would have snapped out some rancorous and taunting remark on a normal occasion, but he had to admit, he really didn’t feel like fighting right now either. He would much prefer getting some answers about what was going on and he intended to get them, even if he had to initiate the most unwanted fight in order to get them.
“Just tell me,” he snarled, the venom still present in his
voice, “why the hell we’re going up there? You know it’ll get ruined,
especially with that freak coming along.” By ‘that freak’ both knew exactly of
whom they spoke. Yuki wasn’t really surprised; there weren’t that many adults
to which the job of donated chaperone could go to when their family was
involved. One could have hoped that the lady who ran the Souma
“Do you want the truth or something you can understand?”
Yuki deadpanned. He silently reveled in the rise he got from his cousin as he
answered ‘the truth’ before Yuki continued. “The funds for this year’s trip are
extremely low,” the silvery haired prince admitted with a barely perceptible
sigh. “However, the class wanted to do something rather extravagant anyways. In
the end, the majority of the recommendations were for either a nice resort or
skiing.” Both boys snorted at this. It was obvious what made the tear in that
decision; girls seemed to take every chance they could get to make romance with
the Prince. “The
“Well at least Hatori’s coming,” Kyo grumbled. It was the closest thing he would come to approval, but both of them saw it for what it was. With all of his answers and nothing more to say, Kyo left. This was going to be a hell of a trip.
***
“I can’t believe it, a resort and skiing?”
“And a charter bus, too! I feel like a queen!”
“You are a queen, Melvin!”
The friendly banter between classmates continued, but the five students in the last back of the bus diligently ignored it. Huffing angrily Kyo glared out the window, resting his chin in his palm and ignoring the world inside in favor of the one outside. Yuki was fighting very hard against a panic attack as the cold outside ghosted in the emergency exit behind him. Tohru was off in her little space cadet world, as Kyo so gracefully put it, and Uo and Hana were absently staring into space. The chaperones would meet them up at the springs, so they found themselves with one last grace period in which to breathe.
Or at least, Kyo and Yuki did.
Uo and Hana had been confused by the animosity the two had shown towards their relatives and had tried to find out the reason. Tohru had only laughed nervously and said that they didn’t get along too well. That much they had figured, but they still wanted to know why. Questioning the boys themselves had proven even less productive, with Yuki especially, and soon they had given up. They would find out when they got there, they supposed.
“Oh look!” Tohru exclaimed suddenly, pointing off in the distance a little. “I can see the resort!” Yuki looked up from his musings and smiled.
“Yes,” he said, and Kyo thought he sounded like a parent speaking to a little kid – calm and long-suffering. “We should be there in about fifteen minutes.”
The conversation was abandoned for staring out windows (or in some cases, acting like children on holiday) at the sparkling white mountain side. The snow was thick and soft, rolling gently like a glittering quilt made by heaven. The trees were laden and slumped over drowsily under the weight of their hoary burden. It was picturesque and exactly the sort of thing you would expect in a romance scene. Kyo gagged. Yuki shuddered. Girls were horrifying.
The last stretch of their trip passed uneventfully and soon the busses were pulling to a halt the students all rushed out into the open air and the Sohma cousins had no trouble spotting their “chaperones” waiting at the front entrance. And luck of all luck, the hostess was there as well.
“Oh, it’s Ritsu!” Tohru cried happily, pointing toward one of the sheds barely visible beyond the gate. Saying a little prayer through pursed lips and with tightly closed eyes, Yuki turned to view the cousin Honda had pointed out. He should have merely looked at Kyo’s mortified face; it would have been less painful and just as telling. True to form, the monkey was in full drag. Burying his head in his hand Yuji managed to suppress a moan before hurrying away to grab his bags. Thankfully no one seemed to have noticed them yet, and the two boys were able to get there luggage without hassle, Tohru’s running commentary on who’s-who aside.
“You know Shigure,” she was telling her two listening companions, “doesn’t he look good in a suit? And the one with the brown hair on his left is Hatori. He’s the Sohma family doctor. Oh, I guess you already know him too, since he showed up at the culture fest a few years ago. The one holding the wine glass is Ayame, Yuki’s older brother. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” Hana whispered a monotone ‘yes’ and Uo just nodded, seeming to be completely in a daze. Kyo stuttered in his actions at the worrisome thought of Aya drunk, but put it aside quickly to get to his room. Worming their way to the station where they were to receive room assignments the five companions managed to be among the first to get keys. It was Kyo who had the foresight to see who they were bunking with.
The rooms were divided into groups of six, the rooms not able to handle more. Tohru was in a room with five girls none of them could identify, as were Uo and Hana. It seemed the girls had no luck. When they turned to the boys’ list they came to the conclusion that the girls had it decidedly better. They had been assigned to the last room on the list, making five occupants instead of six. The other three were none other than their beloved supervision units. It was a Sohma reunion destined for disaster.
The boys decided to drop their belonging off in their room while it was still unoccupied and pulled away from the others to duck into the familiar halls. They hadn’t been here in a while, but they still knew this homely retreat as well as they knew Shigure’s place. They quickly located their room and disposed of their items in the proper places before heading back out to face the crowd. Soon they were lost amongst their fellow students once again and they took hasty leave of each other. Yuki found himself pulled toward the entrance again, where his brother sat on the receptionist counter to avoid transformation. Shigure was behind the counter with Hatori going over some papers or the like. Sensing his danger Yuki tried to get away unnoticed.
“Yuki!”
Apparently today he was the harbinger of bad luck. He slowly turned to see his brother waving avidly at him while clutching a wireless phone. The wine glass from earlier was no where in sight, thankfully. The lobby crowd had thinned out considerably and Yuki was able to get across the space without having to dodge impact with any girls, though he wasn’t so sure he was glad about that.
“Yuki,” his flamboyant older brother gushed, “isn’t it just wonderful? A week in the mountains, sharing a room with your dear older brother. Oh, the bonding!”
“If you come anywhere near me I’ll kill you,” Yuki replied flatly. Ayame seemed somewhat less than deterred. Finally sick of his tirade, Yuki walked out the front entrance; Ayame didn’t even notice as he continued his lurid self flattery.
Outside the busses had left and the students had receded to the warmth of the building. The gentle white flakes of puffy snow had already covered their tracks near completely and the emptiness was besetting. This was the feeling that unsettled him so much, and he couldn’t tell why. It was uncomfortable, yet at the same time he longed for it the second it was gone; though he could never remember just what it was he yearned after when it was done. Shaking his head he returned in doors to take care of their afternoon activity. Snow was not something he should waste his time thinking on.
Elsewhere Kyo sat on a protruding stump, far away from the resort. The softly falling snow had long since buried his tracks with their large, moist slivers of delicate ice. Snow was the most beautiful thing in existence, he thought. And in the vast openness of the relatively untamed wilderness there was nothing more breathtaking than to watch it fall.
At the moment it was drifting down lazily in large clumps. Though they looked like sparkling clouds powdering the sky, they were merely the moist snows that cling to each other early in the season. Soon they would grow dry and fall as individual pieces of God’s awe-inspiring artwork. Maybe even later in this downfall, Kyo analyzed. The snow wasn’t all that wet and would probably start breaking up in an hour or two. With a contented sigh he moved to lie on his back in the soft downy snows gathered around his previous seat. He watched as the overcast skies let down their sparkling veils. The silvery grey clouds were bright with the mirrored sun that ricocheted between the reflective snow and their less than dampening folds. He stilled his breathing as much as he could so even he could not hear the intake and output of air and listened.
There it was.
That pure, angelic sound that can only be heard in the utter absence of noise. The sound no music, nor bird, nor lover could ever equal. It was the sound of the snow. When he was very young he had tried to explain it to Kazuma once. The older man had humored him, but Kyo was sure he hadn’t believed. It’s a song so faint that the sound of ones breath, even their heart, will over power it; yet so loud that once pinpointed nothing can drown it out. He had summarized it as ‘the sound that a wind chime makes under the chiming.’ The hollow whistle only infinitely softer. To wrap his mind around it was infuriatingly impossible, but he loved it all the same. He didn’t even notice as he drifted off to sleep in the snow bank, the falling flakes playing their hushed lullaby.
***
Yuki returned to the room he shared with his cousins late that night. He hadn’t seen Kyo at all since they had dropped off their things, but he barely even noticed. That afternoon’s activity hadn’t been mandatory so he had no reason to track him down and drag him back. Wearily he entered the room to see Shigure, Ayame and Hatori gathered around the small heater in the center of the room. Kyo was still no where to be found.
“Yuki,” Shigure smiled, “where’s Kyo? It’s getting late and we wouldn’t want to punish him for being out past curfew.”
Yuki shuddered at the thought of what Shigure would consider ‘punishment.’ He hated his cousin, but even his animosity towards the idiotic cat couldn’t waylay his moral code. The poor boy would probably find himself in some questionable position with Ayame and Shigure for such a simple transgression. Any excuse for a quick shag was good in the perverted dog’s eyes.
“Why would I know where he is?” he snapped back, heading for his mat. “He’s probably out hiding in the snow.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Hatori admitted. Yuki couldn’t help but feel a little perplexed at his tone. “There’s a snow storm on the horizon,” he explained blankly, “it should be here within the hour.” He gave Yuki a pointed look; the type only Hatori could give.
“I’ll go look for him,” Yuki offered hastily. He hated it when Hatori did that, and he knew he was going to ask anyways. He pulled on his warm clothes and grabbed an extra coat just in case before exiting the room. He tried to ignore the three sets of eyes following him as he did.
“I wasn’t even going to ask,” Hatori said offhandedly when the door shut.
***
It was much colder than he thought it would be as he stepped out into the frigid air. He was tempted to put on the second coat but decided against it. It would be too hard to move, and that was if he even managed to get it on. He wondered why he had brought it in the first place.
The cold air stung as it entered his lungs and it made his chest constrict painfully. His breathing was starting to become worrisomely labored and he forced it to stay calm, breathing lower and in smaller gasps to keep his passage ways working. It always helped a little to monitor his inhaling like this. He glanced up at the sky briefly and estimated he had a good half hour before it was too dark to see. Pulling himself together he chose a random direction an trudged off. He hoped this wouldn’t take too long.
***
An hour later the storm was beginning to loom and Yuki still hadn’t found his cousin. Worse yet, his asthma was beginning to act up fiercely. Almost every breath induced a coughing fit, though it wasn’t enough to leave him breathless or fatigued. He knew that wouldn’t be the case soon, however, and he was beginning to debate leaving Kyo out here and heading back. The idea was becoming increasingly appealing when he tripped over a stump in the snow and fell flat on his face in a drift.
Cursing in pain he turned to look at his disturbingly numb feeling leg. Things like tripping on jutting wood were supposed to hurt, not numb. He stopped short of coming in to view of the appendage when something else caught his eye.
It was dark and Yuki had to squint a bit to see properly, but it looked like a person lying on the other side of the log. Quickly he scrambled over to the figure and sighed when he saw who it was. Kyo was lying peacefully in the snow, asleep from the looks of it but possibly unconscious. The damn cat didn’t even look cold.
“Stupid cat,” Yuki growled, shoving his cousin harshly, “get up.” He tried to think of a reason for the orange haired boy to awake. It took him longer than it probably should have before he finally came up with one. “I’ll have Kagura come get you if you don’t get up this instant.”
It worked; the cat was up in a flash. Kagura’s name worked every time. Kyo blinked sleepily a few times as he turned to look at the other boy in the rapidly descending dark.
“Yuki?” he asked in a hushed tone. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting you,” the rat replied in annoyance. Really, that should have been obvious. Kyo rubbed his eyes and began to stand up stiffly; Yuki followed. “Man, I must have been out for hours,” the red eyed boy groaned, stretching stiff muscles. Yuki ignored him and turned to the sky. It had started to snow again and it was getting heavier.
“We need to get back,” he snipped. The cold was getting too much and words were difficult without coughing; something he wouldn’t do in front of his rival.
The two trudged off in silence, Yuki fighting hard to regulate his breath and Kyo slowly waking still. The wind picked up heavily and both boys snapped to look at their surroundings. The snow was whipping around in the snow and vision was almost nonexistent.
This isn’t a storm, Yuki grumbled in his mind, fighting the slight panic which was really more appropriate. This is a blizzard.
Kyo seemed to have the same thought as he picked up his pace and continued in the direction they hoped the hot spring was in. Yuki followed dutifully, even less sure of where they were going. However, fifteen minutes later they were still wandering aimlessly and neither cousin was feeling very cordial.
“We’re lost,” Yuki stated. Kyo rounded on him with a glare.
“You’re the one who couldn’t remember how you got out here in the first place!” He shouted. Just listening to him made Yuki want to cough fitfully.
“I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t fallen asleep,” he retorted calmly. His voice had gone a little taught near the end as he held off a spasm. He hoped Kyo hadn’t noticed.
“Whatever. Let’s go.” Good, he hadn’t.
The storm was beginning to pick up even worse and Yuki finally succumbed to a small bout of coughing. This time Kyo did notice. He shot the pale boy a concerned glance as he moved back towards him and sighed.
“Your cough is acting up again, isn’t it?” he asked. Yuki figured the answer was somewhat obvious. Kyo didn’t seem to expect a reply, though, so he kept quiet. They did pick up the pace a little and the rat decided it really wasn’t a good idea after five minutes of struggled breathing. He was about to voice this when Kyo tugged his arm and pulled him off to the left. Yuki began to demand an explanation when he saw it; a log cabin sitting neatly among the trees. It looked as if it hadn’t been used in decades, but any shelter would suffice at the moment.
They reached the door quickly and after some jimmying with the rusted hinges Kyo managed to get it open. The inside was one room; a bed on the left, a fireplace straight ahead of them with a large metal basket full of wood beside it, a desk with papers strewn on it beyond that, and the bare essentials for a kitchenette in the right hand corner beside them. Yuki began to wonder if the place really was abandoned. Kyo quickly shut and bolted the door behind them and moved to survey their new inhabitants as Yuki moved towards the bed without thinking. It was fresh made, though the covers looked a bit dusty; there was no sign of moths or decay, though. He eyed the wood and saw it was in the same condition. It occurred to him that this might be a trappers’ cabin.
“The wood looks good,” Kyo stated, drawing Yuki from his stupor. He waved a few yellowed envelopes in the air, presumably obtained from the desk he was standing over. “We can use these for kindling.” Before the rat could make a comeback he found himself doubled over with wracking coughs. Kyo gave him a worried look which annoyed him greatly.
“You alright?” the ginger haired boy asked.
“What’s this?” Yuki retorted haughtily, though it came across a bit off because of the coughing. “You care?”
“No!” Kyo shouted. He growled a little and Yuki could have sworn he saw a blush on the boy’s cheeks. “That’s not what I meant at all!”
Yuki decided to let it drop. He couldn’t seem to muster the breath to keep it up anyways, so he opted to crawl under the covers which were now slightly warmed by his body heat. Kyo soon had a very respectable fire going and the added warmth was lulling the rat away from consciousness. It was only a few minutes before he had to roll on to his back so he could breathe, and even then it was labored; but sleep was not going to be deterred by lack of oxygen. He heard something shuffle off to the side, but he was too tired to really comprehend it. The last thing he saw was Kyo standing over him and the feeling of gentle prodding on his sternum before, rather abruptly, he was out like a light.
***
“Have Yuki and Kyo come back?”
The three friends looked up to see a rather distraught Tohru standing in their door tentatively. She glanced around the room before returning her eyes to the three in front of the heater and waited for a reply.
“No,” Hatori said as Shigure shook his head and Ayame sighed. No one paid much attention to him. The gentle doctor moved to Tohru’s side and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “We’ll tell you the second they return,” he assured. She nodded and moved to leave, her mood lightened by this. When she was gone Hatori turned back to the remaining occupants of the room and slid into his seat by the heater.
“I still think you two shouldn’t go,” Shigure said softly.
“He’s my brother!” Ayame protested.
“If his bronchial tubes are constricting again I have to be able to administer treatment,” Hatori reasoned.
“But both of you would end up transforming in the blizzard and neither of you would live through that.” There wasn’t a sound as the three friends fell into agreement. Shigure hadn’t said anything, but he felt rather sorry for poor Kyo. All their concerns were for Yuki, and granted the boy needed it, but Kyo was out their too. Sighing he shook the idea from his head. “Unfortunately I wouldn’t be much help right now either,” he bemoaned. “We’ll just have to trust Kyo to get Yuki through the night. We can start a search as soon as the storm dies down.”
***
Kyo woke up to a very dark, rather cold room. Well, rather cold on his back and shoulder; he snuggled in to the delectably warm something in front of him a little further, happily breathing in the scent of incense and hair. Still half asleep he sighed contentedly, trying to ignore the niggling feeling in the back of his mind. His brain snapped to attention when his warm something rolled over to face him, though thankfully still asleep.
“Kyo,” Yuki sighed peacefully, snuggling in close again. Kyo resisted the urge to push away and began to look around for a way out that wouldn’t wake his cousin when Yuki’s word sank in. Kyo just stared at the boy for a bit, not sure what was going on. Maybe the world had come to an end while he was sleeping. Come to think of it, he didn’t remember getting in bed with his cousin last night. Actually, he distinctly remembered falling asleep at the desk, reading over some papers he had found there.
But…being like this, pressed against the delicate figure he aspired to hate, he found it wasn’t so bad. He rather liked it, to be honest. He let a small smile grace his lips as he scooted away. He may find it nice, but who knew what Yuki would think of it if he found out. He stood up, gently easing the sleeping boy’s arms away from his body, and heard Yuki’s breathing become irregular again. It occurred to him that if anyone ever saw him acting like this they would probably think he had lost his mind. Dismissing the thought he went to restart the fire before seeing what he could do in the way of breakfast.
It didn’t take him long to find a tin of rice and a pot. Not the most filling meal, but food in general should be good enough. He opened the door to get some snow to melt for water, but was met by a solid wall of snow.
“No,” Yuki moaned on the bed behind him. He turned to see the pale boy staring forlornly at the open door.
“What?” Kyo asked. “Hey, it ain’t that bad.”
“Could you be any more dense about this whole thing?” he screeched. Kyo was rather startled; he had never seen his cousin lose his cool like this. Yuki seemed to interpret his silence differently, though. “No,” he huffed arrogantly, “of course not.” Something about that snapped Kyo back to reality and he rounded on his feeble cousin angrily.
“At least the snow stayed outside!” he shouted. It was Yuki's turn to be shocked at this. He had expected Kyo to get mad, but not for him to say anything half way intelligent. “And,” the cat continued, taking menacing steps towards his cousin, “it kept the cabin insulated so we didn’t freeze to death when the fire went out. It’s not high enough out there to cover the chimney, so we won’t suffocate, and some one might even see the smoke before we run out of wood.”
By now he had Yuki pinned to the bed, much to the rat’s dismay. Questions flew threw his head; like how Kyo knew so much about all this stuff, or whether they could dig themselves out, or most importantly, why was he so comfortable with Kyo hovering over him? He figured quickly that he didn’t care how Kyo knew and that he was probably wrong anyways. And as for the other two, even he wasn’t stupid enough to go digging in half packed snow for goodness knows how many feet when it was safer to stay where he was; and as for the lack of discomfiture, he brushed it off as the fact Kyo’s weight pressed against his chest was actually helping him breathe easier.
“What about food?” the pinned boy snapped. Couldn’t let Kyo knew he was too comfy. Kyo softened a little at this and moved away towards the sorry excuse for a kitchen.
“There’s a tin of rice,” he replied warily, “and a few unmarked cans I’d rather not open. But the rice should last us a few days at least.” Yuki really couldn’t think of a reply to that, so he merely wrapped the covers tighter about him and remained perched on the bed. Kyo returned to the door and filled the pot with snow before shutting it and moving to the fire place. It didn’t take long for the water to melt and the rice to begin cooking, and Kyo found himself with nothing to do. Sitting by the fire he leaned back on the bed to relax and wait for the rice. He didn’t get much time to unwind before the drilling glare got to be too much for him. He was about to retort when a memory of that morning came back and he decided to take a gamble on it.
“You know,” he said, making sure to leave all animosity out of his voice, “since there’s no one else around, I think we can be civil to each other.”
“We are being civil,” Yuki almost hissed. Kyo felt his hackles go up, but willed them down.
“Then why are you glaring at me?” he quipped lightly. “You don’t have to act like you hate me, you know. There’s no one to impress.” Yuki realized he had no answer for that. He fished about desperately for one and finally came up with:
“What makes you think I’m acting?” Oh, so smooth, he berated himself.
“This morning,” Kyo answered almost demurely. Yuki felt dread rise in his throat. “You said my name in your sleep. It didn’t sound hostile; kind of friendly, in fact.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing! Just…maybe for once we can stop acting like asses and at least be sociable. It’s gonna suck being stuck here with you if we’re fighting all the time.” Yuki couldn’t refute that logic. It unsettled him some that he would call the cat’s name in his sleep, but he didn’t remember having any dreams at all, let alone with Kyo in them. He relaxed a little knowing there would be minimal fighting for now; maybe even none with luck.
The rice finished cooking not too long after and Kyo brought it to the still fatigued rat, much to his surprise. Yuki stayed under the covers and Kyo sat on the foot of the bed while they ate. Yuki wasn’t sure whether they should talk or eat in peace, and it was worrying him a little. He didn’t have to mull over it long, though, when Kyo began a rather pleasant conversation on his own.
“You know,” the orange haired boy mused through his chopsticks, “I always wondered how you do it. Make everyone like you, I mean.” Yuki stared at him for a second in bewilderment then shook his head.
“What do you mean ‘like me’?” he asked incredulously. “No one likes me, they just like what they think is me.” It struck him as odd that he would say that to his cousin like he had told Tohru a while ago.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kyo asked. “You act the same to me.” He stammered a little. “I mean…no that didn’t come out right. Erg, you know what I mean!” Yuki smiled a little bit and decided to give his cousin a break.
“Yeah,” he admitted, “I get it.” A shrug. “I guess it just got so natural I started acting the part around everyone.”
“You know,” Kyo said softly after a moments quiet, “I think that you really are all nice and stuff. You just think it’s an act because most people aren’t that mellow.”
Yuki grunted an affirmative, since he didn’t know what else to say. It did make sense, but it just didn’t feel right somehow. A long silence ensued in which both boys finished their rice and left their bowls unnoticed in the center of the bed. Again it was Kyo who broke the silence with a question.
“Hey, Yuki?” he pressed quietly. Yuki was finding this soft side of his cousin somewhat disturbing. “Why did you say my name in your sleep?”
“I don’t know,” he replied.
“C’mon, you have to have some idea.”
“Maybe it’s because you’ve been acting so weird lately.”
“…Oh.”
“What?”
“Sorry if not fighting is too weird for you. I mean, we could if you wanted to.”
“No, but that’s what I’m talking about. Why do you care what I think all of a sudden?”
Kyo sighed and shot a sideways glance at Yuki. The other boy was almost sorry he asked, but he just had to know. Kyo didn’t answer for a long time and Yuki was about ready to prompt him again when the other boy sighed again.
“It’s not like I haven’t always cared,” he mumbled. “It’s just, that’s what we’re supposed to do, right? And I hate the fact that everybody loves you, even though there’s nothing all that special about you. Well, beyond the curse, but we’ve all got that. And it’s like you don’t care about anything. I used to think you weren’t even real because you never got mad or showed any emotions. I thought, maybe if I got you really riled up then I’d see what you really were.
“But then Tohru showed up and I realized that you weren’t just hiding your emotions, or didn’t have any; you just don’t show them the way most people do. By then it was just like instinct to go at it, though. I guess I never tried to stop it. Didn’t want people thinking I was a wuss or something.”
Yuki laughed in spite of himself and Kyo glared at him. It wasn’t funny as far as he was concerned. They fell into silence again and for the third time Kyo broke it with a rather heavy question.
“Have you ever kissed Tohru?” he asked.
“Don’t be stupid,” Yuki admonished. “Of course I haven’t. The curse, remember?”
“Oh…yeah…” Kyo muttered. “You ever wanted to?”
“Of course,” he snorted. What a stupid question.
“Have you ever kissed anybody?”
“What’s with all the invasive questions? What about you? Have you ever wanted to kiss her?” Yuki was a little stunned when Kyo started blushing. Not much, but just enough that the rat noticed.
“Not really,” he answered truthfully. “I know she’s really something, but it would be like kissing my sister, y’know? If I had one.” Yuki thought about it and had to admit it would be similar. He decided to play off the last question and asked.
“Yeah,” Kyo was fully red in the face now. It must have been pretty embarrassing, Yuki thought. “Promise you won’t laugh or anything?” Yuki nodded, though he doubted he would keep his promise. “It was Haru,” the cat blurted. He quickly went on to explain. “It was a dare. They would have made me kiss you, but they couldn’t find you. Thankfully.”
“Stupid cat,” Yuki growled, glaring at the other boy. For some reason he was highly offended by that last statement. “I should kiss you right now for that, just to spite you.” Kyo’s eyes widened considerably and he leaned back away from his cousin slightly as he gaped.
“Y-you wouldn’t!” He spluttered.
“Is that a challenge?” Yuki smirked. “Idiot, you should know better than to challenge me to anything by now.”
He lunged forward at his cousin, fully prepared to stop before hitting the other boy’s lips; but he found himself pressed up against a half open mouth half way. Damn it, he swore mentally, I should have figured. Kyo never backed down from a challenge, either. But neither one pulled away instantly, letting the rather pathetic kiss linger for a while before ending. Both parties noticed the reluctance to finish the encounter as they moved apart.
“That was…”
“Nice.”
“We could…do that again?”
A nod and they return to the same position as before, though with no gaping mouths or unexpected meetings. Slowly, not sure whether it would be okay, Yuki flicked his tongue out a little to taste wet lips. He noticed he could barely taste the rice over the more natural, almost nutmeg like flavor. Kyo’s lips spread slightly at the touch and Yuki pulled away, unsure of himself and a little startled.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he muttered, diverting his eyes from Kyo’s equally troubled ones.
“Akito would kill us if he ever found out,” Kyo agreed, panic hinting in his voice. I liked that way too much, he freaked. A sadistic smile crossed the delicate features of the rat’s face and Kyo felt his panic rise, as well as an answering look of satanic glee.
“We should,” Yuki snickered, a sound so unlike him it set Kyo’s hair to stand on edge. But he couldn’t help but agree.
“Just to spite him,” he sneered. Yuki glance invitingly into his eyes and lay down slowly.
“Shall we?” he asked with sinister sweetness. Kyo crawled over the top of him so they were face to face and lowered himself into a kiss.
The kiss wasn’t brutal, but it was far from gentle. Kyo opened his mouth invitingly and Yuki took the opportunity to slip his tongue deep into the cavity. He tasted like almonds, Kyo noted offhandedly. He didn’t spend too much time on it, however, as he was busy running his hands over Yuki’s half covered chest. The fabric of the shirt was thick, and he could barely make out the dips and lines of the toned muscles and that was not at all acceptable. Slowly he crept his fingers under the shirt’s hem and stared to map out the planes of the slender boy’s torso. Getting bored with that, and also needing some air after being suffocated on Yuki’s over eager tongue, he broke away to pull Yuki’s shirt over his head, despite the easier method of unbuttoning. He began to lean back in when Yuki stopped him by putting his hands on the boy’s descending stomach. Stopping he waited curiously as Yuki searched for something; realization dawned on him as his shirt was pulled out of its tucked position and was brought up over his head to join Yuki’s on the floor.
Both boys stared at each other now that they were half undressed. They hadn’t really thought about how they would do this; being as neither was gay.
“So…” Yuki gestured, not sure how to get the message out without dying of embarrassment. “Um, how are we supposed to do this, exactly?”
“I…don’t know.” He sounded confused and slightly awed. “No offense, but you’re chest isn’t making me very horny. How do fags get off on this stuff?”
“Ask Haru,” Yuki said with a little shrug. Kyo put his hands on the boys’ chest for support, knowing he could take the weight, and huffed. He noted with some interest that Yuki’s expression changed to one of surprise.
“What?” he asked.
“That feels…good,” Yuki gasped. Well, not quite a gasp, Kyo decided, but definitely a good sign.
“You mean the pressure?” he clarified. “It should be helping with you asthma a little.”
“Oh, that’s what you were doing last night,” Yuki said, his voice normal again. He shook his head a little. “No, I mean you hand on my…n-nipple. It feels tingly.” He wanted to die. I can’t believe I just said that, he berated himself. Kill me now.
Kyo moved his hand from Yuki’s flat chest and watched the tiny nipple start to draw in on itself, hardening in the process. Gently, curiously, he brushed his thumb over it and heard Yuki gasp even as he wriggled a little.
“I’s getting a reaction,” the other boy blushed. Kyo thought he sounded funny slurring his words. “Do it again, this might work.”
Kyo obeyed, this time slowly spinning his index finger around the head-ish part. Idly he wondered if it had a name, but he was really much too fascinated by the sight before him to care. Sitting back on his haunches he began working both sides simultaneously to see what would happen. Yuki’s barely-a-whimper was taken as encouragement to venture farther into the realm of what was possible.
Slowly he pushed down on the head-thing – how un-sexy sounding, he thought – and when he got no reaction he tried grinding it around while he pressed it. He gave Yuki a questioning look and the boy shook his head.
“Not as good,” he told him. Kyo stopped and instead started to rub it between two fingers gently. This elicited a very large gasp and a moan; signaling very good. On a whim he decided to try one last thing. Continuing to roll the one in his right hand, he removed his left and replaced it with his mouth, laving it with his hot tongue and pressing down slightly before sucking it into his mouth, all while still rolling the one on his right. Yuki let out something between a whine and a gasp: very VERY good.
Soft fingers alighted on his back and began moving in odd little patterns. He noticed that this - combined with the almost feminine sounds coming from his cousin - was beginning to have an effect on him as well. This is good, he appraised silently, moving up to experiment with the nerve cluster in the crook of Yuki’s neck. After the first few suckling moves he could hear his cousin begin to pant and he could taste the sweat coming to the surface of his skin. He didn’t want the boy to have an asthma attack in the middle of their odd fun, though, so he moved the hand still attached to Yuki’s nipple over toward the dip between his pectorals and massaged with a firm yet gentle touch.
Yuki moaned and thrust upwards with his hips, shoving his erection against Kyo’s inner thigh. It surprised the cat how good that felt as well, and he didn’t bother controlling himself as he returned the thrust with one of his own. This time it was him who moaned and he gently brought his entire body down closer to the other boy’s. He felt the urge to move downward with his mouth and obliged mindlessly. Maybe he had heard Shigure watching some gay porn in his sleep; whatever the reason, he felt rather adept at this, which worried him slightly. He didn’t have much time to think about it as his lips latched on around Yuki’s nipple again and the boy responded by thrusting himself upwards harshly, sending sparks shooting behind Kyo’s eyelids. Again he thrust back before returning his trek down Yuki’s torso; inevitably separating their grinding cocks from each others reach. Obviously that didn’t deter the rat much, because Kyo could still feel him rotating in little circles against his stomach, though not as forcefully as before. It still managed to be erotic beyond all thought, and Kyo didn’t even notice that he was grinding into thin air. He really couldn’t have put a coherent thought together at all, for that matter. All he could manage was to follow the rivulets imbedded in soft skin with his tongue, stopping for a moment when Yuki’s entire back rose off the bed and he really did cry out as Kyo’s tongue slipped into his navel.
Tasty.
He did it again, hungrily; totally ignorant in all ways except his now painfully erect member as Yuki began to lose his verbal control and keen as the cat’s tongue firmly seated itself in the hole and pulled out while pressing tightly to one wall of it. When the pitiful yet wholly enticing sound finally registered in his brain he dragged himself downward again, only to encounter thick, unlickable denim. It took him a second to realize they were jeans and that Yuki was writhing around in them.
Pulling himself back together he sat up, painful as it was with the fabric of his own pants now tightened around his encaged dick, and fumbled with the button and zipper of the obstacle before him. Yuki whimpered and tried not to thrash too much as Kyo’s fingers pressed against his hardness on occasion. Finally the last remainders of his clothes were – quite literally, since Kyo lost his patience – torn from his body. Then there was an absence of anything – everything. Dazed he looked down at Kyo, who was staring at his exposed length.
“Wha-at?” he managed to choke out. His brain wasn’t even clear enough to notice the awkwardness of the question.
“What do I do now?” Kyo asked, blinking at him owlishly.
“Yer not naked,” Yuki protested. His subconscious was very glad it was left to die in peace, and hoped any remaining brain cells he had left in the end would see the horror of his sex-talk and commit seppuku along side him. Yuki’s conscious was not privy to these thoughts, or any others.
Kyo quickly struggled out of his few remaining articles of clothing, with a little aid from an over eager Yuki, and was again faced with the dilemma of what to do now.
“’S cold,” Yuki complained childishly, whimpering and reaching for his erect cock. Kyo beat him to it, wrapping his hand around it firmly; causing Yuki to gasp and thrust upwards a little into his hand. Kyo moved his hand in a casual rhythm in little movements up and down, imitating how he usually took care of himself. About now he would begin elongating and quickening the strokes, but a thought came to him and without reevaluating it he dipped his head down to take the upper part of Yuki’s shaft into his mouth.
Yuki screamed.
Not only did he scream, but he also thrust upwards. Hard. The only thing that kept Kyo from deep-throating him and burying his nose in wiry curls was his hand on the base of the shaft. Interested in this he began to move his tongue clumsily along the head; swirling around it and swiping over it to taste the thick precum welling up there. Yuki was writhing in ecstasy; mewling and grappling at the covers. This was fun, and slightly amusing. Again he swirled his tongue around the tender flesh of Yuki’s prick, this time with a little more precision. The excess spittle was beginning to build up and Kyo swallowed it back, noting the pleading whimper Yuki let out as he did. Slender fingers threaded into his hair and took a firm hold of his scalp, not that he minded.
He continued to work Yuki’s sex with his mouth, removing his hand when the joints began to cramp from their hold on the base. Yuki began thrusting into Kyo’s mouth frantically again and the orange haired boy put his hands on the other’s hips to keep him still. He barely noted that Yuki’s keening had become more and more frequent and vaguely wondered why. Running his mouth down the shaft and back up again, swirling his tongue languidly around the head and dipping it into the slit at the tip, he heard Yuki let out a shuddered moan like yelp and suddenly his mouth was filled with a heavy, slimy, utterly disgusting fluid. Pulling off quickly he spit the vile substance into his hand, noting its white colour and coupling this with Yuki’s laxness, came to the conclusion the Yuki was spent; the result sitting in his hand.
Oh gross.
He was about to flick it off and onto the floor, or some other more suiting place, but stopped. Queers had penetration, right? But they needed some sort of lubrication, correct? He looked down at the substance in his hand, not needing to look at his still rigid member to know it was there, and smiled evilly.
“Yuki?”
“Hn?”
“You know what would really piss that bastard off?”
“Hn?”
“Sex.”
“Hn.”
Kyo was tempted to forget the idea, not sure what Yuki’s response meant. The smile spread on the other boys’ lips told him his answers, though; even more than the fact that Yuki had lazily spread his legs wider.
“N-hn,” he chuckled sleepily.
Kyo looked at the handful of orgasm he was holding and shuddering he dipped two fingers of his other hand in it before moving them to Yuki’s entrance. Sliding both of them in at the same time he heard Yuki make a little noise of discomfort before he relaxed again. Moving the fingers in circles to lubricate the other boy he began feeling around. The walls of the passage were soft and almost sponge-like, and as his fingers ran over a small lump in the passage wall he heard an excited yelp from Yuki’s direction. He stroked it again and felt the boy wriggle around his fingers.
“Stop it,” he pouted. “I’m spent. ‘Can’t go again, s’ stop it.”
Kyo obliged and began to spread his fingers instead; stretching out the walls of the canal and preparing it for his entry. When he finally felt as if he couldn’t do any more he extracted his fingers and applied the rest of the come to his own cock, moaning slightly at the tight slickness of his fingers wrapped around himself. Pulling himself back into focus he lowered his body into position and looked up at Yuki’s still glowing face. A slight nod was all he needed and he pushed forwards into the tight, hot passage way.
He slammed in as deeply as possible but willed himself not to move when Yuki contorted in pain, all looks of afterglow gone as he glared death at he cousin.
“You could have tried to be gentle,” he snapped. If it weren’t for the tight little ass wrapped around it, this lapse into reality would have eliminated any boner he had.
“I thought I did,” he growled, resisting the urge to pull out and shove in hard just to get at Yuki. The lines of pain crisscrossing the boy’s face were rapidly disappearing and after a few short moments he collapsed back on the bed.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” he informed the other boy, “but please; gentle.”
Kyo granted that small mercy; pulling out only a little and reentering with less force then the first time. As Yuki became more comfortable and Kyo’s orgasm drew gradually closer, he sped up by degrees. Within minutes, though they seemed more like hours, he was franticly ramming into the sweet tightness of Yuki’s passage. When he occasionally hit that spot along the channel wall Yuki would gasp and moan and writhe on his cock, eliciting even more erotic feelings in the ginger haired youth. He held on to the rat’s shoulders for leverage and he barely even noticed the rising feeling of orgasm until it washed over him; depriving him of what little strength he had left to hold himself off of Yuki’s body. Or more appropriately, he felt too good to be bothered to care about the bottom boy’s comfort.
Finally he rolled off and to the side and lay there, exhausted. Neither boy said a thing as the turned to face away from each other on the bed and began to drift off into post-orgasmic sleep. Kyo gave a half-hearted tug at the thin bed sheet that had been pushed to the end of the bed and gave a satisfied grunt as it drifted over his waist. He felt Yuki grab the other side of it and pull, covering himself with the flimsy sheet as well. Between the fire and their current state of sweatiness, much more than that would have been unbearable; but sleeping in the exposed air just felt unsettling, regardless of the state they had seen each other in.
“If I feel anything remotely like a dick against my body, your dead,” Yuki mumbled sleepily.
“Ditto,” Kyo said around a yawn.
Both were asleep in seconds; the fire’s caressing heat lulling them away from wakefulness.
***
A few hours later a scuffling sound started outside the door and steadily became louder. Familiar voices fell on deaf ears as the cabin door opened. Shigure let out a breath of relief as he spied the two figures soundly asleep on the bed.
“At least we found them,” he sighed, turning to his companions. A cocky grin spread over his face as he moved back to the door, herding them along with him. “Let’s leave them here,” he said mischievously. “I don’t want to have to dress them to get them out.”