Oneshots | Fruits Basket | 1192131999

Thirteen Strings | The Cat: Kyou Sohma

The year ended with more than what you expected. It had been crazy, odd, and extraordinary in a short amount of time, and with finals almost at the end of its tether, you sighed a moment of relief. Your school felt nothing like the lives of new friends you've made, recalling the memories and the faces that were shared in them. The good, the bad, the wonderful, as you would see fit.

You sat once more by the edge of the river, watching a few people walk by with no qualms. It was a quiet day while the breeze brought the chill, wrapping your light cardigan around your arms to help bade it. The distant city streets only echoed a whisper across the waters, leaving you with only the breeze to keep you company. You rolled onto your back, arms up high to cover your eyes from the afternoon sun. You only wanted to drown in the calm, to let go of all the troubled thoughts, whether about school, life, and of course, the Sohmas.

The soft crunch of grass perked your ears while you still laid, feeling a presence nearby. They stopped shy from you, knowingly blocking the afternoon rays despite already blinded by your arms across your face.

"No, I will not give you your spot," you immediately chided, picturing the perpetrator in mind. Yuki had always made an effort to greet you in his own way, a ritual he was happy to oblige if only to have an interesting conversation. Yet, there was no reply. Not a snide or playful remark. It was a rather cold greeting before you pulled your arms away, blinded by the prick of sunlight that silhouetted the young man above, greeted by sienna eyes that seemed to glow within his shadow.

"Kyou?" You piped, quickly raising yourself from the soft grass to turn to him, his eyes set on you. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," he replied nonchalantly, dropping his bag haphazardly beside you before he slumped onto the grass.

This was a surprise finding the most prickly person you've met actively asking for you, let alone seek you out. You sat beside him in silence, now filled once again with the melody of the city and the river together, basking in the calm. You wondered why he was here, though with no ill intent behind your curiosity. Kyou Sohma has grown to become an integral part of your learning experience with his family, and along the way has also become a better person from it.

"Final exams?" you asked, breaking the silence while you watched him glance at you with not a word.

Kyou was always someone you found to act first and ask questions later. A person of action rather than speaking his mind, and oftentimes when he did, they were more reprimanding than most. Yet now he only sat beside you without a word. Earlier this would have been an awkward atmosphere to be, but you had learnt his many sides knowing that he spoke only when he needed to, and that he needed his own time for many things.

You still sat silently by the river without an answer to your question, nor questioning his presence. There was something on his chest he wanted to say, that you patiently waited for.

"Thank you," he uttered, catching your attention from the quiet of the afternoon. "You didn't have to, but thanks for being with her last weekend."

A brief moment of vague clarity made you recognize what he was speaking of. Your lips curled into a small smile, happy for the gratitude and to see where his thoughts truly laid. Or rather who they laid on.

"I had nowhere to be, but I really should be thanking you," you quipped. "You're the reason I'm still here to know your family."

"Then thank Tohru for that," he corrected, his eyes on you while they shimmered in the afternoon sun that began to set.

"Have you thought more about what you wanted?" You asked, breaking the calm silence but only receiving a dismissive scoff.

"It's still none of your business," he gruffly replied.

"You're right."

Still a man in his own right and with very little words to share. Out of all of those in his large colourful family, he was the most learned and wizened beyond his years despite his rash behavior. That much you felt certain. There was a kindred spirit that aligned with each member of his family clan, yet he reminded you of what a home felt like. Imperfect and yet perfect all the same.

"Are you staying? Or going?" Asked Kyou after another round of silence in the dying light of the evening.

You wondered about that question for some time, knowing that finals were drawing to a close and students will move forward with their lives ahead. You knew from what frame of mind Kyou was speaking about, but your thoughts wandered to other places and unknown destinations. You had a lot to ponder on that stretched beyond college.

"To be honest, I don't know," you answered with a sigh in your breath. "Life can take you anywhere. At least I hope so for you." You smiled at the ginger-haired boy, slouching on his knees while he enjoyed the breeze by the riverside.

"Don't make this sappy, Chuckles," he warned, baring his teeth a little.

"I would've thought you'd come up with something more imaginative than that by now."

"What's wrong with Chuckles?!"

A snort escaped through your sinuses, unable to contain yourself at the sight of Kyou's insulted reply.

"Look, you're laughing right now! It's perfectly apt!" He continued, resorting to raising his voice to drive a point home.

It only made you laugh harder. Right now, in this moment, you felt at home.