A new start Chapter 4: The First Relationship
Kyo woke up the next morning to the sound of Rayne talking with someone. "Hello, Mr. Muramisa? My name's Rayne, and-well, I was actually calling about Kyo. He came home sick yesterday, and he's been throwing up nonstop. I think he should-there's no need to pick him up! He'll just make the rest of you sick!...Alright, I'll keep him home and make sure he studies. Illness is no excuse for slacking...yes, I'll send him home when he's well. Goodbye." The wolf hung up and sighed, turning to look at Kyo. "Your old man's a real bastard, you know?"
"..."
"Kyo, I'm going to go to school now, so just stay home and do whatever you want. There's food in the fridge, and the remote's on the coffee table. Just don't move around too much, ok?"
"..."
"Will you at least say something?" Rayne asked, as the wolf walked over to the couch and kneeled down by Kyo. He brushed a few loose hairs out of Kyo's face, running his eyes over the injured cat. "You're making me worry."
Kyo reached up and grabbed the wolf's hand, holding it against his face for a few moments before releasing it and rolling over. "I'm going back to sleep."
Rayne smiled as he rose to his feet and exited the apartment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rayne hadn't realized how absolutely boring his day would be without Kyo around. It was true, they only had one class and lunch together, but that had at least given Rayne something to look forward to. Now, he had absolutely nothing to help him pass the time. Oh, what a wonderful morning this was turning into.
However, Rayne had to banish these thoughts from his mind as soon as the bell rang and he stepped into the high school hallway. He was determined to find out who had orchestrated the attack on Kyo. The wolf wasn't exactly sure what he'd do once he found out who it was, but he could worry about the details later. Finding the guys responsible for his friend's injuries was the only thing he needed to worry about right now.
Unfortunately, this was proving to be one of those situations where it is easier said than done. No one was talking about the cat, and there were no whispered conversations dropping hints of who had attacked Kyo. In fact, no one even seemed to notice that the cat was absent today.
It was a bit upsetting, in all honesty. Was Rayne really the only one who cared what happened to Kyo?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around noon, Kyo's grumbling stomach woke him up.
The cat carefully sat up, wincing as his sore body was forced to move out of its semi-comfortable position. He could focus on the pain later. Now it was time to hunt for food.
The cat slowly made his way into the kitchen, looking around as he went. This house had an almost empty feeling to it; like Rayne was ready to move out at anytime. There were no photos or pictures on the walls, and even the kitchen lacked decoration. It was sad, almost to the point of depressing.
Once he'd reached the fridge, Kyo peered around at the contents, trying to decide what sounded good for lunch. The only items in the fridge were a few slices of pizza, two semi-ripe bananas, and half a carton of milk. Apparently eating healthy wasn't high on Rayne's priority list.
The cat settled on eating the two bananas, munching on them in front of the fridge before walking over to the garbage can and tossing the peels away. By now his body was really starting to ache; he wondered if the wolf had any painkillers in his bathroom, but going there would involve walking to the point of the apartment furthest away from the couch. Kyo let out a sigh as he shuffled across the house, heading for the medicine cabinet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch period was in full swing, and for the first time in the school year Rayne was sitting alone. God, he really missed the black cat.
His mind hadn't strayed far from Kyo all day, and now his thoughts were on what the cat was eating. He wasn't sure if Kyo liked bananas or pizza; really the wolf should go grocery shopping sometime. Wandering around a supermarket for several hours listening to crying children and pricing food was so much fun, after all.
Rayne was almost glad when the lunch bell rang, signaling that he had to get back to class. He really just wanted this day to be over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyo had finally managed to find a few painkillers and had downed them, praying that they would kick in quickly. But now, he was too sore to walk back across the apartment to the couch. Although...
The weakened cat walked out of the bathroom and looked to his left, staring at the door to Rayne's room. It was rather tempting, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to invade the wolf's privacy like that. What should he do?
A shooting pain in his side made him decide to take the wolf's room. If Rayne yelled at him later, he'd just say it was the wolf's fault for leaving the medicine on the other side of the house. Moving ever so slowly, Kyo walked towards the door and opened it, entering Rayne's room.
The room was slightly messy , but other than that clean and empty, just like the rest of the house. Kyo trudged to the bed, pulling back the blankets and slowly climbing in, wincing as he was forced to bend his sore limbs. He snuggled into the pillow, which smelled like Rayne. Sort of a salty, rainy scent. As the cat drifted off, he decided he really didn't care if Rayne yelled at him or not. This was way better than the couch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kyo?" No answer.
The wolf walked into his apartment, looking around for the cat. He'd decided to go grocery shopping, and for some reason felt like asking the cat if he wanted anything. "Kyo, where are you?"
When he didn't find the cat in the kitchen or the living room, he began searching the rest of the house, eventually ending up outside the door to his room. "There's no way he'd go in here..." the wolf grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened the door.
There was Kyo, curled up in a ball in his bed, sound asleep.
"...He looks like an angel..." Rayne slowly crossed the room, eventually stopping at the side of his bed. The wolf grabbed Kyo's shoulder, gently shaking the cat. "Kyo, wake up."
The cat slowly opened his eyes, staring up at his friend. "What is it?" he asked, speech slurred by sleep.
"I'm going out for food. Want anything?"
"sure."
"Ok, what?"
"Tylenol. You're out."
"That it?"
"yeah."
"Alright. Go back to sleep then." Rayne began walking away, only to have Kyo grab his wrist. The cat slowly pulled himself up, still holding onto the wolf's arm. "Something wrong?"
"...Rayne?"
"Yeah?"
"...Thank you."
"You're welcome, Kyo."
A few days later, Kyo gave Rayne his locker combination, so the wolf could bring home Kyo's books. It was looking like the cat was going to be out of commission for a while, a fact that the wolf hated. Not only did he have to spend all day without Kyo around, but it was downright painful to see his only friend lying on the couch, covered in bruises and cuts.
Still, the wolf couldn't be entirely upset. Having the cat stay in his apartment helped ease the sharp loneliness he normally felt when he came home from school. Plus, he was learning more and more about the cat. It was true what they said about having to live with someone to find out who they really were.
For example, Rayne found out that his new roommate had a Pocky fetish.
He'd known that Kyo like sweets, so when he'd gone grocery shopping, he'd picked up a few sticks of the sweet treat for his friend. When he'd arrived back at his apartment, Kyo had been curled up on the couch, sleeping peacefully. "Hey Kyo, I got something for you," Rayne said, walking over to the cat and gently shaking him awake. The weasel blinked his eyes open, staring at the wolf with a questioning look in his eye. "Here," Rayne said, showing him the pocky and setting it on the coffee table. "I'm going to unpack the rest of my stuff, and then I'll be back, ok?" Kyo nodded, and Rayne left the room.
He had returned ten minutes later to see five pocky sticks lying on the table, with Kyo's back to him. He'd stared at the cat for a good five minutes in sheer disbelief before picking up the trash and walking about into the kitchen, tossing the pocky sticks into the garbage can. After that, he brought home just one stick a day. He then realized another thing about the cat; it was nearly impossible for Kyo to gain weight.
At the moment, Rayne was heading into his apartment, eager to see his friend after a particularly long day at school. He walked into the apartment, tossing his keys onto the counter before walking further into the house. "Kyo," he called out, walking further into the house.
The cat was already sitting upright on the couch, waiting expectantly for his treat. Rayne resisted the urge to smirk as he handed the pocky to Kyo, exiting the room moments later. "Enjoy," he called back.
The wolf put his cell phone on the charger (the stupid thing had died on him on the way home) and then returned to the living room. To his shock, the pocky was still untouched, and lying on the coffee table. "Kyo, are you feeling ok?" Rayne asked, worried.
"...."
Of course he couldn't get a straight answer out of the cat. Rayne was tempted to yell at the cat until he got an answer, but more than likely the cat would just clam up and ignore him. Best take this slowly.
Rayne sat down on the edge of the couch, looking down at his friend. "Kyo, what is it?" The cat slowly sat up, but refused to say anything, or even look at Rayne. "Look, if it's something I did-" Kyo grabbed Rayne's shoulder, pulled himself up, and gave the Wolf a gentle peck on the lips.
Rayne's mind stopped working when he was kissed. Kyo pulled away and lay back down on the couch, back turned to the wolf, offering no explanation for his actions.
Rayne wasn't sure what to do now. The first time they'd kissed, he'd been trying to shock the cat long enough to get him calm and under control. Since then, he'd gotten more and more attached to the cat, almost to the point where he felt more like Kyo's protector then his friend. He knew Kyo was gay, so he shouldn't have been all that surprised that the cat ended up liking him. So what was he supposed to do now?
Rayne settled for reaching out and resting his hand on the cat's back, gently rubbing circles into it. "So that's why you were upset," he muttered, more to himself than Kyo.
The cat made no sound, and Rayne had no idea what to say. He knew what was supposed to happen now; this was the part of the cheesy romance novel where he admitted his feelings to Kyo. They'd kiss, their lives would suddenly get better, and they'd live happily ever after. The only problem was, this was life, not a love story. "Kyo, I have absolutely no clue what to do now." Holy crap, had he really just said that aloud?
Judging from how the cat flinched he had. Oh well, he might as well go with this now. "Kyo, I don't know what to say right now, I don't know what I should be doing with you, and I don't know what to do in a relationship." Ok, whoever said honesty was the best policy was really full of it.
"But..." Rayne took a minute to organize his thoughts before going on. "I think that...I like you too."
Kyo chanced a glance at Rayne after hearing those words. What was he trying to say?
"Look, Kyo, if you're willing to, I'd like to give dating a shot."
Rayne could have slapped himself for saying that. There were a thousand and one better ways to phrase that question, and they both knew it. Now Kyo would not only reject him, but think him an inept simpleton.
Except that Kyo wasn't rejecting him. In fact, he was nodding his head up and down at the wolf.
"You mean that?" Wow, even dumber question. Still, Kyo didn't stop nodding, so things were still in his favor.
Rayne grinned. For the first time since his mother's death, a fur being really and truly liked him, even cared for him. "Alright then. From now on, I'm your boyfriend."
The wolf wasn't sure what he should do next. Kiss him? Hug him? It was probably too sudden for that. He settled for just rising from the couch and walking towards the bathroom. "Kyo, I'm going to take a bath, then we can eat dinner, ok?"
"Hn." Taking that as a yes, Rayne disappeared into his bathroom.