Chapter 25 - oh pretty tiara

Arisa stared hard at Kyo, her eyes piercing right into his very soul. Her blue eyes narrowed as Kyo's mirrored her actions. Haru, Momiji, and Yuki watched between the rivals.

Kyo grinned. "So what are you going to do about it?" He asked with a rather cocky voice.

"I won't let you win over Tohru that easily..." The Yankee muttered. "Not over my dead body. I won't let her be brought down to that level again."

Kyo glared as the pair continued their staring battle. Tohru glanced between the two. She knew something like this would happen once Uo and Kyo were together. She only hoped her secret crush and her best friend would not resolve to violence over her.

She put a hand up to Uo seeing the fire already blazing in her friend's eye. "Uo-chan, please, it's not that big of a deal..."

The other girl slammed her fist on the low table in Tohru's room, now glaring at Tohru while the housekeeper shrunk back slightly. "Of course this is a big deal! I won't let that carrot-top do something that could potentially destroy you! I'm your friend, Tohru!"

"Wait." Everyone's head snapped to the other side of the table. Hana's fingers flickered, almost looking as if she'd created electricity within herself at the snap of her fingers. "Reverse revolution." She revealed a four of a kind of threes.

"Hanajima!" Uo cried with absolute happiness as she dove to hug her friend. "You saved Tohru!"

"Naturally..." Hana responded.

'You guys act like this is a life threatening situation of me deciding to kidnap Tohru or something when it's just a stupid card game.' Kyo thought darkly while pretending to ignore Hana and Uo hugging each other in victory of trumping over Kyo's hand of cards.

Tohru let out a breath. "Whew, I thought I was done for there! I didn't have anything to play after Kyo-kun did a revolution."

Kyo rolled his eyes. "What kind of cheap trick was that anyway?"

Uo let go of Hana and nudged Haru in the side, who happened to be sitting next to the pregnant woman. " 'Cheep trick' he says, hua? I think he's just a sore loser since his revolution move didn't go the way he planned."

"Speaking of which," Hana smiled rather wickedly, her eyes glowing with a fantastic violet sheen as she showed her empty hands, "I am the rich man." Ah, she loved it when she won. Haru watched on with facination.

"Alright, Hanajima!" Uo laughed.

"Can you like, predict people's cards or something?" Haru asked.

"No... it is simply good luck on my part." Hana looked up at Haru making the other boy blush suddenly at such an intense stare. "Not to mention Kyo is sitting right infront of a mirror... yes, very good luck on my part..."

"WHAT?" Kyo cried in outrage, whipping around to see there was a giant mirror behind him. "Oh mother fu...!"

"Ah ah, language, Kyon Kyon." Uo reprimanded.

"You freaking cheaters!"

"It's not their fault you're stupid," Yuki snapped earning a roar of laughter around the room. Kyo sunk lower in his seat still muttering curses under his breath while carefully guarding his cards.

Tohru placed her remaining card down, happy that she was not the poor man this round. "Oh, I am the noble man!"

Kyo stared down at his hand and scoffed. "Pass."

Uo smirked, and with a satisfying toss right onto of the already played cards she threw down her remaining card as well. "Common man."

Everyone in the room turned to Kyo.

"POOR MAN." They all laughed simutaniously.

"DAMNIT!" Kyo bellowed, dropping his cards after everyone laughed. "This game is so lame!" He watched as Hana took a paper crown from a fast food restaurant, Tohru took a plastic tiara, and Uo took a brown hat that reminded him of a train conductor.

Hana adjusted the hat to fit over her thick black hair. "Don't be a sore loser..."

"And anyway, who's fault was it for stealing other people's turns?" Haru added.

"Yeah, Kyon Kyon!"

"I said it was an accident! And don't call me Kyon Kyon, Yankee!"

"Psh, I call you whatever I want, POOR MAN." Uo laughed.

Momiji sat on Kyo's lap waving at the three girls. "My turn, my turn!"

"Get off me, you brat!" Kyo yelled trying to push Momiji off of him.

Hana smiled. "Okay... here you shuffle and pass the cards."

Kyo watched as Momiji began handling the cards. "Why make him do it?"

"Because I said so and I'm the rich man." Hana almost laughed. Almost.

Yuki watched on with captivation. "So this is a game you three played in high school?"

Tohru turned to Yuki, her tiara falling lopsided on her head. "Yes! It's really a lot of fun so you can go next turn okay, Yuki-kun? I'll help you."

Yuki laughed and straightened Tohru's tiara. "That would be nice, thank you, Honda-san."

She giggled, "Tohru is fine, Yuki-kun. Tohru is fine."

"Ah, I always forget."

She laughed some more.

Kyo glared at his cousin, jealousy bubbling over. What gave Yuki the right mind to act so prince-like when he was not hosting at the moment? Did the other man have feelings... for Tohru?

Yuki's glance turned on Kyo. "What is it?"

Kyo growled and stood up as another game of Rich Man Poor Man began again.

Yuki crossed his arms and looked away annoyed. He already knew Kyo was going to start yelling his head off. "Let me guess, you're still mad that you're the poor man? How childish."

"That's not it!"

Yuki stood up as well. "Well I don't see why you're always getting upset randomly."

"Maybe it's because I'm sick of looking at your pretty-boy face."

"Well, I'm tired of listening to your nasty voice." Yuki looked down to see Tohru watching the cousins with worried eyes. "It's okay, Honda-san."

"Yuki-kun..."

Yuki smiled as Kyo began to seethe. "Don't worry, Kyo is just a big, jealous, idiot."

"Hey, you damn rat, stop talking to her and face me!"

Something clicked in Yuki's brain and the prince's lips curled into a slight smile. 'Oh, so that's what's bothering him is it?'

Suddenly seeing Yuki smile began to grind on Kyo's nerves. "Mgh, what the hell are you smiling about?"

Yuki folded up his sleeves, "Well, I thought you'd be more mature than this, Kyo. But if you want to know what I'm laughing about," Yuki unbuttoned three of his shirt buttons now looking up at Kyo with amused eyes, "you'll have to beat me first."

"Easy enough. Here I go!" Kyo pulled back his fist and ran at Yuki as the rat boy put his own hands up to block Kyo's moves.

Tohru got up from her spot and stared at the two fighting. They only sparred on the day that Kyo was present at the Host Club and even then their actions were not as passionate as the ones they displayed in her bedroom.

Yuki blocked Kyo's punch by dodging left. The rat ducked under Kyo's range and kicked up into his stomach forcing Kyo backwards.

"Kyo-kun!"

But just as soon an Kyo was kicked away he flipped forward, crouching low and tripped Yuki onto the ground. The other boy fell over but just as quickly rolled away to get back on his feet in time to block Kyo's incoming round-house kick and rapid punch combo.

"Don't worry." Tohru turned to Haru who took over her place in the card game, the tiara now placed over his domino colored hair. "It'll be over soon enough." He placed a card down. "Binding on the spades."

Tohru turned back to the two boys fighting. Lucky for her the room was quite large, enough to contain their sparr anyway. She watched the two boys exchange blows when Kyo threw a hard punch right at Yuki's abdomen.

"Yuki-kun!" Tohru yelled out as she covered her face with her hands. After a few silent moments besides the light flapping of playing cards she peaked between her fingers to see Yuki caught Kyo's fist.

"I win." Yuki grasped Kyo's fist, almost crushing it under immense pressure, pulling Kyo's fist back with his left hand while turning slightly to ram Kyo with his right elbow forcing the orange-top to fly backwards.

Suddenly the door opened making Kyo tumble out the door and hit the wall. Tohru gasped and ran after Kyo as a rather scared head peaked into the room.

"I heard some yelling and came to see what the commotion was about, but I should have guessed that Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun were fighting. Tisk tisk, you all could have at least changed out of your costumes before settling down to play with Tohru's friends." Shigure said. He turned to Kyo's crumpled form behind him. "Is it over?"

Yuki sighed and placed a hand to his hip. "Yes."

"Oh good, minimal damage this time! I'll go call someone to fix that hole in the wall now." Shigure moved out of Yuki's sight for the young man to see a rather large hole where Kyo had hit the wall. "Next time try not to wreck the house too much, okay, Yuki-kun?"

"I didn't expect him to go flying that far," he confessed. He walked out into the hallway to find Kyo rubbing his head irritatedly with Tohru fussing over him like a mother hen.

Kyo glared at Yuki. "What do you want now?"

"You didn't win, but I'll tell you why I was smiling anyway." Yuki turned to Tohru with a much softer smile. "Hon-- I mean, Tohru-san, can you give us a moment please?"

"Ah, um, sure..." She stared between the two before walking back into the room to suddenly be embraced by Shigure, crying how happy he was that she was unharmed.

Yuki turned back to Kyo with narrowed eyes. "You're really an idiot, you know that?" He hissed.

"Oh, you made her go away for you to tell me that?" Kyo spat back.

"No, I made her go away to tell you this: stop acting like a stupid prat. You're making a moron out of yourself."

"Sure, you're just trying to look good infront of Tohru, you damn rat."

Yuki sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You don't get it, do you?"

Kyo looked away while clentching his teeth. "What the hell are you blabbering about?"

"I think we both know why you're so sensitive about Honda-san talking to me. Stop acting like an idiot and get it through that thick skull of yours," Yuki bent over to talk closer to Kyo's ear. It made the other boy flinch at their closeness. "I'm not trying to take Honda-san away from you. Don't get all jealous about nothing. I see how much you really like her, I'm not blind, and she seems happy with you, though I don't know why. Stop jumping down my throat every time I get near Honda-san. She's like a sister to me and you acting like a bufoon is making her upset so stop it." Yuki stood up and gave Kyo one more glare before returning to Tohru's room. "Idiot." He added as an afterthought.

Kyo sat up on the floor and felt a blush stain his cheeks. Was his emotions really that plain? But then again he spent much of his younger days sparring with Yuki enough for both of them to know much about each other. One thing Kyo knew was when Yuki said something, he usually really meant it. Kyo punched the floor before getting up and going back into Tohru's room.

"Ah! And there's the house destroyer!" Shigure yelled pointing at Kyo while he had his other hand wrapped around Tohru.

"Oh get off her, you pervert." Kyo said rather calmly. All this activity was really starting to wear him down and he just didn't have the energy to get all upset. Shigure wasn't doing anything too bad... yet.

"How can you call this perverted?" Shigure hugged Tohru while striking a dramatic pose.

"I agree." Kyo turned around to see that Ayame had made his way to Tohru's bedroom as well. God, he just didn't get a break around this place. "That is nothing in relation to perverted!" Ayame went to Tohru's other side while holding her hand out in his own. "This dear flower of the Sohma house will never be deflowered until she is well and married!"

"You wish you had this kind of love!" Shigure teased Kyo.

"Like I wish I had a root canal..." Kyo muttered.

Hana and Uo looked up at the comment about Tohru before giving each other an uneasy glance. They looked at Tohru for any reaction but she just made those trademark incoherent noises. The two girls shurgged and went back to their card game.

Suddenly Shigure and Ayame pulled their bodies impossibly closer to Tohru who was blushing at the root of her hair. "But flirting is very acceptable, especially since Tohru-kun is so adorable." Shigure laughed, his voice dropping an octve lower. He twirled a piece of her hair within his fingers and Ayame kissed her palm lightly.

"I must say, not as adorable as you though, Gure-san."

"Oh, Aya."

Yuki and Kyo punched both of the men while quietly leading Tohru back to the card game.

Hana smiled and laid her last cards once again. "Rich man."

"Noble man!" Momiji laughed while grabbing the tiara off of Haru's head.

Haru pouted. "No fair, Momiji, I wanted the tiara!"

Uo stared between Haru and Momiji. "Momiji, you didn't want to be the rich man?"

"No, I wanted the pretty tiara!" He giggled. "It's so pretty!"

"But as rich man, you get to make rules." Uo reasoned.

"But the tiara is so pretty!"

Uo stared at him for a moment before shrugging. Momiji was a cute kid, she wondered if her child would be as bubbly as he. If her child was, she'd have to buy a case of Valium to calm the kid down. "I guess it is, hua?"

Haru glared at Momiji. "You could have at least let me wear it for the rest of the round." Momiji rocked back and forth with his legs crossed, laughing. Haru looked too adorable pouting.

Uo stood up on her knees while cracking her back gently. "Whew, it's getting harder to stand up..."

Hana helped Uo balance herself before the Yankee pointed at the door. "Okay! The card game was fun but it's getting late now. We're going to do some girl stuff now so you guys have to leave!"

Kyo glared at Uo. "Hey, hey, hey! Who died and made you boss?"

Hana raised a hand. "I did."

"You're not dead!"

"Or am I?"

Kyo opened his mouth but was too befuddled to respond. "What?"

"Okay, get out now!" Uo motioned for all the boys to leave.

Tohru hugged each of them good night before they left her room. Kyo was the last one to leave and Tohru felt her cheeks already heating up and her arms tingle just thinking about him in her arms.

"Um..." Tohru blinked rapidly while looking away at the same time. "You and Yuki-kun fight really well. I couldn't imagine any other people as strong as you both, eh I mean, maybe your master is though!"

Kyo smiled but covered it up with a grunt. "You... you watched carefully, yeah? That move the damn rat did was what I taught you."

Tohru clentched her fist. "Right!"

Kyo stared down at her, his smile melting through his act. He shouldn't be so jealous. Even if Yuki was trying to romance her, Tohru wouldn't fall for him. She probably wouldn't even know she was being romanced anyway, but still. He loved Tohru that's all that would matter. Who cared about Yuki anyway? Then again, he did knock some sense into him...

Kyo placed his hands on her shoulders. "Good night."

Tohru felt her heart jump as Kyo's face neared hers but suddenly a rather clamorous cough interupted them. She quickly looked to see Hana innocently staring at the ceiling and Uo searching through her bag. Kyo let go of Tohru instantly and felt himself grow nervous as well. He almost forgot they were there. He put a hand behind his head nervously.

"Good night."

"Good night, Kyo-kun!" How she wished he would kiss her.

He stared at her a moment longer unable to draw himself away but finally turned on his heel and went to his room. Tohru stepped out of the doorway to watch him go, her heart tugging for her to go to him.

But she couldn't.

Sighing, Tohru went back to her room and closed the door. Hana then felt Tohru's waves jumble up. Her waves were conflicting. Even so, without her electric signals it was obvious who the man Tohru wrote about in her letter was now. Tohru didn't have to say anything, it was obvious she had feelings for Kyo Sohma.

Hana turned around to dig through her own luggage, a smile creasing on her lips.

Uo pulled out her pajamas and cheered. "Okay! Let's get this sleep over started!"

Tohru's eyes lit up. "We haven't had one of these is such a long time! What number is this? We used to count the sleepovers we used to have..."

Uo put a finger to her lip. "I dunno, I think this is... number 45?" The girl shruged and looped both of her arms with her friends. "Who's counting anymore anyway? We're going to cheer you up, Tohru, and catch up on some sorely missed gossip!"

Hana smiled. "Arisa, you sound so enthusiastic. What are we going to do tonight I wonder?"

Uo grinned, a tell tale sign that Tohru would be in for a long night

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