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.x.Hidden.x.Winter.x.
Kari walked through the
woods, and finally reached her destination. She had never been here before, but
it’s inhabitants weren’t exactly quiet, they were always yelling and fighting.
Right now, there was a brown haired girl and a purple haired boy laughing as
they hung up laundry. She knew them both from school, but doubted they knew her.
She generally kept to the background in class. Taking a deep breath she walked
up to them, “Excuse me, but have you seen my cat?”
They
both turned and looked at her, surprised. She didn’t blame them, not many
people walked around this area.
The
girl continued, “she’s only about this big, she’s grey with white splotches,
her name is Kitten. This is the only other house in the area, and if she’s not
here then it means she’s in the forest somewhere.” She paused, “she’s never run
off before.”
The
brown haired girl recovered and put her arm around the other girl, “my name is
Tohru, and this is Yuki, why don’t you come inside and tell us more.” Kari
didn’t bother telling them that she knew who they were, “I don’t have time to
come inside, I have to keep looking for Kitten.”
“Kitten?
Please tell me you’re looking for this.” She tilted her head to look for the
voice, and saw an orange haired boy on the roof. He hopped down effortlessly with
a bundle of fur under his arm.
“She’s
been following me around all afternoon.” He said annoyed.
“Kitten!”
Kari hugged the cat and felt her purring in her arms. Turning back to the three
she bowed awkwardly because of the cat in her arms. “Thank you, and I’m so
sorry for intruding, goodbye!” With a wave she began to walk away, the grey cat
trotting at her heels and tail in the air.
***
Tohru
was making dinner when she heard three soft knocks at the door. Apprehensive,
she opened it a crack, and then fully opened it when she saw the blond hair of Kari.
“Hi
Tohru, Kitten ran off again, I was hoping I could find her here…” she said
hesitantly.
Tohru
gave the girl a soft smile and gestured for her to sit at their table. “Let me
check with Kyo.” It was quiet when she was left alone, but soon enough Tohru
returned, followed by Kyo with Kitten at his heels.
“You
really need to train this cat, I don’t have time to babysit all day.” He
sounded even more annoyed than last time.
“I’m
sorry Sohma-san, Honda-chan. I’ll try not to let it happen again.” Kari hastily
left the house and Kyo’s harsh gaze. She glanced down at the cat walking beside
her, “you seem awfully proud of yourself, does he have a secret drawer of fish
or something?”
***
Kyo was waiting
for her this time. It was sunny, and he was sat on the porch of his house. He
leaned back on his left hand, while his right absent-mindedly rubbed the belly
of the grey and white cat. Soon enough, he saw Kari trudging to his house,
embarrassment was clear on her face as she wordlessly picked up her cat, bowed
to him, and left.
***
The
next day was a surprise, and the days after.
“Do you miss
Kitten? She hasn’t been in a week.” Tohru asked
him innocently.
“Of course I
don’t. That cat was wasting my time.” He answered harshly.
She sighed, “I
miss Kitten.”
“Me too.”
Shigure sighed with her.
***
The
next day Kyo caught sight of blond hair at school.
“Hey,
Kari!” He caught up to her and walked with her to class. “I haven’t seen your
cat in a few days, did she run off again?”
“Oh,
no Sohma-san. I’m keeping her inside, she seemed such a nuisance to you and I
knew she’d just keep going back to your house.”
He
looked away and shoved his hands in his pockets trying to create the effect of
nonchalance. “You should let her out, cats don’t like being cooped up.”
She
looked at him surprised, “But she’ll just come running back to you.”
He
shrugged, “whatever. Just make sure you come and get her, I don’t have time to
be babysitting.”
She
grinned, Kyo wasn’t as bad as he seemed. “Hai, Sohma-san.”
“And
enough with the Sohma-san, my name is Kyo.”
“Right,
Kyo-san."
“Just
Kyo.” He said harshly.
The
harsh voice wasn’t fooling her anymore, he was just a kitten inside.
“Kyo.”
***
“Kyo,
your friend’s at the door!” Shigure yelled, Kyo was around somewhere, he would
hear. Sure enough, thumping footsteps approached and Kyo looked at his guest.
The little grey cat purred and rubbed against his ankles. He sighed and turned
around, heading back to the roof. He carried the little kitten up the ladder
and then placed him down beside him. Wordlessly they lay there, slowly falling
asleep.
Kyo
woke suddenly to a drop on his face. A glance showed him the previous blue sky
was gone, and was replaced with heavy swirling black clouds. It began to pour
heavily he hurried the cat inside, and began to towel it off.
“You’re
soaked to the bone, little kitten. You should know better than to come here
when it’s pouring down, how are you going to get home now?”
There
were three soft knocks on the door.
He
strode over and opened it, and there was Kari, hood up, layers of clothing, a
big heavy rain coat and clomping rain boots on her feet.
“I
thought I’d come get her before the storm got any worse.”
“How
exactly do you plan on getting her there through the rain?”
“My
coat is big enough to fit her, she’s only small. Don’t worry, we’ve done this
before.”
He
removed the towel, and passed the cat. Kari fit it snuggly under her coat and
turned to leave.
***
The
storm carried on for days. Kyo was lethargic, and bitter tempered. To his
surprise, he wished that the cat would appear on his doorstep.
I wonder how the cat was doing.
I bet it doesn’t like this storm.
I better go check on it.
He
shrugged on his raincoat and after bracing himself, he braved the rain and ran
down the street. He reached the small cottage that had to be Kari’s and pounded
on the door. He heard scuffling and then it opened. She were wearing an
oversized t-shirt and small shorts, and the grey cat was curled around her
heels.
“Kyo,
come in, you must be freezing!”
He
stepped over the threshold and took off his shoes. He tugged off his jacket and
then saw that his shirt was soaked through.
“Great.”
He muttered, why did he even come here?
She
chuckled, “I’ll go get you a shirt, I can wash those for you to get the rain
water out.” She took his clothes and went into another room where Kyo heard her
working the washing machine.
“Here,
they might be a bit big on you, but they’re the best I can do.” she held out
the clothes to him, and he moved forward to take them when his foot caught on
something grey and furry. He tipped forward and crashed into her, both of them
fell to the ground.
Oh
no, this is it, I can feel her, I’m gonna turn any minute. Kyo kept his eyes
closed and waited for the yell when she saw a ginger cat on top of her instead
of him, but it never came. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes and saw her looking
up at him.
“Are
you ok Kyo? Kitten must have tripped you.”
He
just stared back. How was this happening? She was fully touching him and he
hadn’t turned yet!
“Kyo?”
“Kyo
are you ok?”
As
he stared he saw her face turn a deeper red and as if shocked by lightning he
jumped back up, grabbing her hand and pulling her up with him. Then he locked
himself in the bathroom with the clothes she had found for him. The second
shirt he tried on fit him well enough, so he took a deep breath and opened the
door
He
found her making tea. “I thought it would warm you up a bit.” She said, handing
him a cup, but he didn’t tell her that he was warm already. That was the first
proper embrace he had ever gotten, from someone other than Kagura who didn’t
really count. He could feel it burned into his brain. He sipped his tea and
watched as she poured milk into a saucer and putting it on the floor for Kitten
who came running.
The
rain cleared up and the moon was trying to break through the clouds, “I should
get going.” He said.
She
nodded, “thanks for the company, Kitten loved it.”
He
waved a hand absent-mindedly, and continued to stand in front of her door. He
stood for a moment longer, staring through the window and seeing the outside
world, the path that led to his house and his cursed family. His eyes
flickered, and he saw her reflection. Her, a regular person, in her regular
clothes and her regular un-cursed body. Before he could stop himself he had
turned and held her in a bone crushing hug, burying his face in her hair. He
felt her arms slowly wind around his neck as she returned the hug, and that
only made him hold her longer, tighter.
And
as quickly as the moment came, it was gone, and Kyo was running down the path
away from the woman and her stupid grey cat.
***
“What
do you mean you can touch her?”
“I
mean I can touch her, how else do you want me to phrase it?” He yelled, exasperated
at his family. His two cousins and Tohru were sat around the table and
listening to his explanation of the girl with the cat.
“I
mean I fell on her, and I didn’t turn into a cat!”
“How
is that possible?” Yuki said, looking at Shigure.
“Well
it happens, we cursed people would have to completely interbreed with ourselves
it we couldn’t touch every other person of the opposite sex. It’s rare, but it
happens that sometimes there’s someone who seems to be immune.”
“So
what do I do?”
“Well
from the looks of it, maybe ask her on a date first?”
Kyo
stormed away, stupid Shigure, making fun of him.
***
“Hey
Kari.” He jogged to catch up to her while she walked to class.
“Oh
hey Kyo, you made it home ok the other day?”
“Yeah,
I did.” Then there was an awkward silence. It was clear that they both had the
same thought running through their mind, but neither of them knew how to say
it.
“Kitten
really appreciated your visit.” Kari said quickly.
“Oh
did she? I was thinking, maybe, I could come by again.” He said, rubbing the
back of his neck, “To see Kitten.” He added on quickly.
Her
face brightened, “She'd really like that!”
***
The
sun was setting, and Kyo and Kari were curled up on the couch in Kari’s house.
They were laughing at each other, telling stories, and unconsciously getting
closer. Kyo couldn’t help it. Her touch was addictive, he couldn’t get enough
of it. Whether it was her leg pressed up against his or her hand brushing
against his shoulder, he craved more.
He
sighed, looking out of the window and seeing the light dip behind the horizon. “I
should get going.”
She
sighed, agreeing with him, or… “Or you could stay the night, I’m sure Kitten
wouldn’t mind.”
“Kari,”
he hesitated, “I’ve got a confession to make… I didn’t really come here… for
Kitten.”
“Really?”
She whispered, moving closer to him as if to tell him a secret, “I’ve got a confession
too, Kitten wasn’t really the one who invited you.”
She
smiled shyly, still unsure of herself. Somehow, through all the tangled limbs
and shared looks, there was still a doubt in her. A fear of rejection that she
couldn’t face.
“Kari…”
He whispered, his hand drifting up to brush a ghosting touch along her jaw. He
edged closer, his movements jerky as he too, doubted himself. But her face was
tilting back and her eyes were fluttering closed, he had to be doing the right
thing.
His
lips finally met hers, and that’s all it was, a touch, but what a touch. It was the first touch his lips had ever felt. It was
gentle and calm, easy. Because past all the awkwardness, it was so easy to be
with her, easier than breathing.
“Kyo.”
She whispered when they parted, but he didn’t say anything. He was too busy
looking at the amazing girl he had found, who for once made him normal. He wasn’t
‘cursed’ he wasn’t ‘the cat’. He was just Kyo, plain and simple.
And that’s all he ever wanted to be.
