𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦

want to be friends?

"Heeey! She's not home again! Where did she go?!" Kyo flings the door open early in the morning. I throw a book at him for his unnecessary loudness in the morning.

Wintertime is arriving now, even the cat should be feeling the drowsiness that comes with winter. The snow is coming down heavy outside and I know if I go out I'll end up passing out, wishing for warmer weather, so it's a careful few months to come.

"She said she was going to a friend's house last night, didn't she?" Shigure responds, calmly sipping his tea. This was Tohru we were talking about, of course, off on her own errands.

"You should listen when people are talking to you..." Yuki mutters.

"Well, I'm going to head on over to the Sohma house to check-in today! So don't cause any trouble kids! Nanami-san, you can keep them from fighting, right?" Shigure stands abruptly.

"Of course." She smiles with that evil little face of hers. Again, I wonder to myself, why she's in the house.

"I'll be off, then." He puts on a coat and scarf and heads out.

Nanami keeps that regular smile of hers as we sit around all four sides of the kotatsu. No one moved an inch, but the cat, mouse, and I glare at each other, just daring someone to give anyone a reason to be pissed. The clear tension has Nanami sweating.

"Yuki-kun, let's go on a date!" Nanami says. There was a pause, as the glares shifted to blank looks.

His face flushed bright. "Yu—?"

"Go on a date?! With him?!" I stand up, slamming one hand on the table and pointing with the other at Yuki "You must be crazy!"

"Well, it's something to do."

I flip my head to Yuki, narrowing my eyes and grabbing his collar. "Saying no?"

"Well, I'm considering it, sorry," he says in a low voice.

"No!" I lift him up and drag him outside into the cold. "A pretty, smart girl in your year. You, Prince Yuki, cannot say no! You were her first crush--" I cover my mouth. "I wasn't supposed to let that slip. Whatever, that's old news. She's super pretty, unaware of it, genuine, and extremely smart—that's hard to find! She runs the class with you, and she knows about your curse! And a great personality to top it all off. And she's not making a big deal about it because she's too considerate—but I am!"

He glares. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Fine... Fine? You should be grateful, you will be grovelling at my feet and apologizing for doubting us when you come back! You should be thanking me right now! If she comes back hurt, you'll be the one who ends up dead!" I say, then let go of him. Which also means coming off my tiptoes.

"You're really pushing your luck here. As the house consensus goes, when it comes to girls, you're not one so I'll throw you in the snow."

I raise my brows. "When did that happen? Yuki-nii, so cold hearted!" I cry sarcastically, wrapping my arms around myself in the freezing cold and running inside before he acts on his threat. His eyes narrow at the sarcastic use yet again of calling him older brother.

"Where would you like to go, Yae-san?" Yuki asks after following inside, with a charming smile.

They take their coats and leave, and I'm left to wiggle under the kotatsu with teeth chattering.

Now it's just me and Kyo. Behind him, is the kitchen door. On the counter is onigiri Tohru had wrapped last night. Leftovers from dinner but there is only enough for snacking on, not a full meal.