The Curse of the Zodiac

Who are you, Yuki Sohma?

Kyo POV
“Yuki?” I asked. He was busy gathering his things to go shower.
“Yeas, Kyo?” why did my body shiver when he said my name like that. I shook it off as he turned to look at me.
“You’re pretty tight with your brother’s fiancé…”  I began.
“Shigure went to school with my brother. They were best friends even then. He has always been around.” Yuki took my silence to state.
“Yeah, but you don’t seem to like your brother much.” He sat his clothes down on the end of the bed. Taking a seat in his desk chair he looked at me.
“My brother is a lot like my mother. They both have to be the center of attention. Unlike my mother, Ayame has…” He paused thinking. I waited. “… shown he cares, in his way. Which is way more than I like.” He muttered.
“Sooo, you do like your brother, just not like he wants you too?” A soft smile touched his lips. It looked cute. Wait no, I have a girlfriend! I shook my head.
“Yeah, I guess. Shigure is calmer. Although just as insane in his own way.” Yuki sighed.
“Is that why you like the doctor?”
“Hatori is more like me. An outsider. He would say we were outside looking in on life. But people like him, I don’t know why he doesn’t open the door.” Yuki stood gathering his clothing in his arms. He scooped up the small bag he used to transport his bathing supplies in.
“People like you, too.” I pointed out. A weak small, a shake of his head.
“Not for long.” He whispered disappearing from the room. What was that supposed to mean? I thought. I changed into something more comfortable to sleep in. It was then that I realized, I never saw Yuki in the process of dressing or undressing. He was always clothed. Did he get dressed in the bathroom? I pondered. He was so odd, yet intriguing.
When he came back to the room, I tried to get him to tell me more about Hatori. I fired questions at him. He only got to half answer the question before I was asking another. After a few minutes he just looked at me dumbfounded. I wondered if he was all there, in the head.
“Why aren’t you answering me?” I demanded folding my arms over my chest.
“I was trying, you didn’t shut up!” He growled.
“Oh look, you do have some bark in you!” I hissed.
“Shigure and Hatori have been like parents to me, ever since my own mother sold me out to the clan leader.” He shouted.
“Wait, what?” I turned to face him. “What kind of fucked up world did you grow up in?” I demanded.
“The kind where you don’t ask questions, you don’t stand out. You do as you’re told and get out as soon as you can.” He answered. “It was the two of them that got me allowed to come here.”  He whispered. Then laid on his bed, throwing the blanket over himself. He turned his back to me.
After I shut the light off and laid in my own bed, I couldn’t get those words out of my head. Was his life really that messed up? It couldn’t be. I mean things like that didn’t happen any more, did they? I rolled over to look at his back. Maybe dad wasn’t the one I should help.
The sun light smacked me in the face before my alarm went off. I rose.  I got to spend today with my dad again. I loved days with him. Yuki was still asleep. I went to shower and dress. I had to drag him out of bed, again. He was just sitting on the floor, his head back against the bed, still sleeping, when a knock came on the door.
“Good morning.” Ayame breezed in. Shigure and Hatori following more subdued.
“Oh my, Shigure wake him please.” Ayame dropped into the desk chair. Hatori went to the boy.
“Come on sunshine, let’s get up and moving.” He hoisted him up on one shoulder and dragged him down the hall to the showers. Shigure followed with clothes he had pulled from Yuki’s dresser. I glanced at Ayame.
“You like him.” He stated matter of factly. I shrugged.
“As a roommate goes, I could have gotten worse.” I went to my closet.
“Not what I meant, and you know it.” We heard a wail from down the hall. “They are always mean to him, yet he adores them. Why can’t he like me that way?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” I said pulling on some jeans. “Maybe because your parents sold him into slavery and you did nothing to stop them?”
“Kyo!” my dad’s voice rang around the room like a bullet. I flinched. Stepping out of the closet, I pulled my shirt down to face him.
“You know nothing of what they have all gone through!” Dad snarled. I flinched again.
“Yuki is scared of his own shadow! It’s because of them!” I hissed back.
“It’s not a lie, and you know it.” Ayame appeared to be talking to his nails. My father’s face paled.
“Let’s go get breakfast.” Dad said. I became stubborn.
“Not without Yuki.” I plopped on my bed, reaching under it to find my shoes.
“Kyo.” There was the warning note in his voice.
“No.” I stated. Putting the red sneakers on.
“Kyo?” Yuki’s quiet voice spoke up. “Let’s go eat.” I looked up, he rubbed at his eyes. He didn’t look very awake.
“Why is your hair wet?” it hit me what the men had done. “DID YOU TRY TO DROWN HIM!” I yelled.
“KYO!” Dad yelled louder.
“It’s fine.” Shigure waved it off. “Let’s just go eat.” I pushed past them to grab Yuki’s arm. I pulled him a few steps away from the others.
“Are you ok?” I asked. He flashed a somewhat vacant smile.
“Yeah, fine.” He stated. I sighed.
“Yuki if you need…” He cut me off.
“I’m fine, Kyo. Listen to your dad on this one.” He whispered the last. Tohru and the other two found us then.
“Oh, wow, your families are already here.” She smiled politely at them.
“Hello, Miss Honda.” Hatori greeted. The others bid their own greetings. We headed in to breakfast.
“Yuki, did you have time to find out anything more on that place?” Saki asked as we headed out to join the days activities. He shook his head..
Today it was a kind of carnival vibe to it. Nearly all the clubs, activities and various other extracurricular things had booths all over the main walk. There were games and prizes to be played. As we neared a balloon dart game, Tohru found a prize she wanted.
“Oh, Kyo could you win that for me?” She pointed to a giant bear. I tried, spending over ten dollars. Uo-chan tried. Saki encouraged us, but we just couldn’t win the prize.
“Yuki?” Hatori offered him a single dart. All you had to do was pop the balloon in the center of all these other balloons. The problem was it was surrounded by glass bottles that knocked the dart away.
“As if.” I muttered glaring at everyone.
“Just the red one.” Hatori grinned wickedly. My dad gaped at him. I tsked, whatever. Yuki stepped up. He looked at the board, then as if it was nothing more than breathing air, he tossed the dart. When I heard the balloon pop, I gaped open mouth at it.
“How the…?”
“Yuki has acquired some unique skills.” Shigure giggled.
“Take your pick, anything you want in the stall.” The guy running the game didn’t look to happy by this. Yuki pointed to the giant white bear. The man handed it to him. Tohru, my girlfriend, applauded.  He gave it to her.
“Yuki, darling.” We all turned to Ayame thinking it was him who said it. None of us considered the other person interested in Yuki. His face darkened at seeing the boy. Haru twirled the dart in his fingers.
“Show me some love, win me one?” He held the dart out. Yuki took it. Without even looking he through it at the board. The guy yelped. He had just reset the red balloon.
“I’ll take the cow.” Yuki stated. The man grumbled, but handed over the giant bovine. Yuki thrust it at Haru, “Reminds me of you.” He snapped.
“I wanted the Rat, looks just like you, love.” Haru muttered. Then to my shock, he snagged the back of Yuki’s head, kissing him on the lips. Yuki didn’t fight this, not really. He didn’t return the kiss either. I growled.
“You are the one who wanted to wait for him.” Dad was chuckling as he told me this.
We moved on down the row, checking out other stands. Various food themed clubs had a variety of snacks and drinks for sale. We filled up as we walked along. Then I saw the martial arts display. There were three of them. I could differentiate between karate, Kempo and Ta Kwon doe. We headed up to watch.
“You told me you studied karate, did you study any others?” I asked the silently boy. He nodded.
“Jujitsu and Ta Kwon Doe.” He offered.
“No wonder you are socially awkward. All you did was study. When did you have time to learn to socialize?” I teased.
“Sorry?” He mumbled. I snickered.
“There’s a tournament open to us, care to sign up?” I pressed
“I will win if I do.” He stated. I arched an eyebrow.
“How sure are you about that?” I asked. Haru draped himself over Yuki’s shoulders.
“Sure enough to wager a bet.” Haru grinned. I smirked.
“You’re on. If I win, Yuki has to tell me all about his past.”
“Kyo” Dad warned.
“Don’t worry, he won’t win.” Yuki stated. “If I win, you have to be my slave for a day.” He informed me. I snorted.
“Deal.” We shook on it. Then went to sign up. When it was time for the matches I was disappointed to see I wouldn’t be facing him, unless we both made it to the final round. I went before Yuki. I won against some kid who didn’t seem to know much about the sport. Like that you had to actually hit your opponent.
Yuki stood facing a man that appeared to be in his late thirties. The man was talking trash, but Yuki simply stood there. When the bell rang to start the fight, the man charged. Expertly, Yuki stepped out of the way. The man fought like a charging bull. He came at Yuki from all sides. Yuki just stepped out of the way. The ten minute time limit was fast approaching. Yuki sighed. The man looked like he might fall over with how hard he was panting. Yuki easily pushed him from the circle after catching his leg from a kick. He won.
That was how he played all his matches. A few he actually had to throw punches, or use his legs more. Really all he did was wear them out. We both continued to advance. Now it was the final bracket. I stood facing him. He gave me a smirk.
“A maids outfit would look nice, maybe a dog collar?” He taunted me. I had fought him before. That and I just spent the better part of a day watching him fight. He waited for me.
We played a little cat and mouse. I would advance, he would sidestep. This went on for a  few minutes. Then I started to sidestep with him. At first, he looked surprised. I was just copying his moves. When I thought, he was used to this, I went the opposite way and began throwing punches and kicks. Nothing I did broke his calm. It was infuriating to me.
Suddenly, he caught my arm, spun me around and I was up against his chest. “Ready to be my slave?” he purred in my ear. I struggled but I couldn’t break the hold.
“Tap out or pass out, your choice?” He offered. No, this was unfair! I screamed in my head. I couldn’t draw enough breath to say anything.
The next thing I knew, I was looking up at the ring announcer holding Yuki’s hand up. He pulled away to kneel back beside me, a water bottle in his hand. “Are you alright?” Yuki asked helping me sit up.
“Yeah, I’m fine! One day I will beat you!” I hollered. He chuckled.
“Only if I break both my arms and my legs.” The smile that lit up his face was magical. The way he glowed. How could you stay mad at that? I smirked.
“We’ll see, when you least expect it.” I sipped the water. His face fell.
“That’s the problem, Kyo, I was trained to always expect it.” He helped me to my feet, then walked away. I would figure him out if it was the last thing I did! I vowed.