Eternal Bonds: A Fruits Basket story

Let's Play Rich-man Poor-man

It was finally here. The Kaibara High School Culture Festival was right around the corner. Everyone was excited and already began to make preparations for it. Every classroom had to come up with something to do within the festival. Yuki was standing at the chalkboard and coming up with an idea while the other classmates listened intently.
"It's decided. For the festival, our class is going to operate a rice ball stand." said Yuki. "With that settled, I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on the kinds of fillings we should use."
Tohru raised her hand and stood up. "What if we did tricolor rice balls? So that in every rice ball, people get three different fillings to try." She clapped her hands together. "A bargain."
"That's cute. I like it." replied Yuki.
"Seriously?"
Everyone turned to see it was Kinoshita, one of Yuki's fan girls.
"We totally need to ditch that idea, Yuki!"
"Yeah, what if she suggests a tuna, kelp, pickled plum combo?" another girl asked.
"Oh my gosh, that would be so disgusting!"
Both girls began to laugh when they were cut off by two loud bangs on Kinoshita's desk. They screamed in fear as Uotani, Tohru's friend had a steel pipe on the desk while Lea used her foot. She was so fed up with these girls.
"Nowhere near as disgusting as your personalities, morons." Lea retorted.
"Nice," smirked Uotani, her chin propped on the pipe.
"What kind of psycho brings a steel pipe to school?!" Kinoshita exclaimed at Uotani, her hair sticking up.
"I say we should do rice ball battles." Kyo chimed in.
All eyes turned to Kyo. "Battles?"
"Yeah, brutal head-to-head matches." Kyo punches a fist against his hand. "First to pin their opponent wins." He stood up out of his chair. "Weapons are allowed, and customers have to duke it out for their rice balls, and the only rule is no killing."
"Hard pass." said the students collectively.
"I'm trying to contribute here! You jerks could at least think about it!"
"Yes, but Kyo, all of your ideas contain at least one form of violence." muttered Evelyn.
"I don't hear you throwing out any ideas!"
"Because I don't have any."
"What if some of the rice balls are actually duds? We could make a deal where you buy three and then choose a fourth one for free. Only some of the choices are simply empty." Yuki suggested to himself.
"Sounds great!" The class exclaimed in agreement except Kyo.
"You shoot me down, but accept his dumb idea?" Kyo slammed his hands on his desk.
"Aww, are you gonna pout now?" teased Lea.
"Don't start anything, please." muttered Evelyn.
"Look, cats," a girl exclaimed.
Both Lea and Evelyn turned to see a bunch of cats surrounding Kyo. Evelyn chuckled at his irritated face.
"How did they get in here," another student questioned.
"Cute," someone squealed.
"That's it," Kyo stated, "I'm out of here!" Kyo quickly ran for the door leaving the class confused.
"Strange," Hanajima muttered. "Very strange."
"Yeah, don't worry. You're still the strangest person at this school." Uotani said to Hanajima. "That guy's got a seriously hot temper. Doesn't take much. He's the total opposite of our prince."
Lea laughed slightly. "You're right." She looked around to see Tohru had disappeared. "Hey, where's Tohru?"
"She went to find Kyo," replied Evelyn, "I asked her to."
"Why," asked Lea.
Evelyn fiddled with a strand of her hair as she looked out the window.
"He needs someone else in his life other than me to set him straight. He doesn't even let me do that anymore."
Lea noticed the longing look in her friend's eyes. Evelyn may think she's hiding it, but it's obvious. Ever since Kyo disappeared, Evelyn and Kyo's friendship became even more strained than before. They weren't as close as before and it was affecting Evelyn... and even Kyo.
********************
"Let's play Rich Man- Poor Man!" Tohru suggested.
"No. Go and bother Yuki. I don't want to play." Kyo replied.
"I would, but Sohma's not around right now."
It was later in the day, and Lea, Evelyn, Tohru, Uotani, Hanajima, and one of Kyo's seat mates were all standing around his desk.
"Bummer, I was looking forward to playing you. You're so stupid and incompetent I figured you'd make for easy pickings. Way to ruin my fun. Thanks a lot." said Uotani.
That irritated Kyo a lot.
"Running away from a fight like you're some scared little boy, it's pathetic."
That was the last straw for Kyo. "Okay, you're on. But I'm not gonna dry your eyes when you lose. Got it, Gangster Girl?"
"Whoever comes in last has to do everyone else's cleaning duty." Uotani accepted the challenge.
"This is getting so good." Lea marveled as she watched Uotani and Kyo argue.
This is not gonna end well, Evelyn thought.
********************
"Revolution!" Kyo stated laying his deck down.
"What kind of under-handed trick was that, you sneak?" Uotani said with frustration.
"The kind that's allowed in the rules!"
"Revolution turns the strong cards weak, so I don't know which to play next." said Tohru.
"I do," Lea smirked. She held out four cards of four. "Revolution Reversal. Eat it, Kyo."
"Not cool!!"
"She really got you, Carrot Top." Uotani remarked, happy that Lea did that.
"Nice one, Elsher. Not lookin' good for Kyon-Kyon," a student remarked.
"Shut it! We're just getting started here." Kyo raised his voice. He hated playing cards with Lea.
********************
After the school day ended, Kyo was left cleaning up the classroom due to him losing the game to Lea.
"So, it looks like he ended up the poor man this time around." Yuki observed as Kyo mopped the floor unwillingly.
"Yeah," Evelyn replied quietly. "Lea beat him pretty bad."
"I don't mind helping." Tohru spoke up.
"No, I've got it. A loss is a loss." Kyo denied her. He turned to Lea. "I'm gonna win the next game though!"
"Keep telling yourself that." Lea rolled her eyes.
"And that includes beating you!" Kyo pointed to Yuki.
"Don't you ever get tired of your empty threats?" Yuki asked.
"No, because winning against you is my ultimate goal in life!"
"Hearing that over and over is my ultimate annoyance in life."
"Your condescending, high-and-mighty attitude really pisses me off!"
"Your inability to comprehend complex thoughts pisses me off."
The girls sighed as they continued to watch the two boys bicker. They watched as Kyo lunged for Yuki with a fist in the air, but was kicked in the face by Yuki and collided into the desks.
"Just looking at you...makes me sick." Yuki said as he walked out of the classroom.
Evelyn gestured to the hallway and Lea ran out to check on Yuki. She and Tohru looked at Kyo who grumbled.
"Dammit, why can't I win?"
"Are you all right? You didn't bite your tongue-" Tohru started to talk, but Kyo cut her off.
"It's not my first fight," he rubbed his head. "Get out of here already."
Evelyn smacked Kyo on the head who then preceded to yell at her.
"I mean... I keep losing to him, and I hate it."
Tohru blinked as she listened to him.
"Never mind, okay? You should head home," he told her. "You have work today, right?"
Evelyn placed a hand on Tohru's shoulder. "I'll handle him."
Tohru felt reluctant, but nodded and left.
"He was a lot rougher on me than usual." Kyo said as he stood up and rubbed his shoulder.
"Yeah, I noticed. I wonder if something is bothering him," pondered Evelyn. She looked up at Kyo who was sweeping the floor. She noticed how the sunset through the glass lit up his fiery hair. Now that the two were alone, Evelyn thought to address the elephant in the room: their friendship. "Kyo?"
He hummed in reply.
"I..." Evelyn started to speak, but stopped. She didn't know why all of a sudden she couldn't speak. She felt her confidence slowly seep away.
"What is it?"
Evelyn looked up to see Kyo staring at her with a perplexed look on why she stopped. She shook her head. "Never mind. Just a silly thought." Evelyn grabbed her bag and slung it on her shoulder. "I'm gonna head on home."
Kyo watched her as she left the room, his mind still wondering about what she was gonna say, but he had a feeling what it was. After all, the two were connected. He rubbed a frustrated hand against his face.
"Dammit, Evelyn."
********************
The next morning, Evelyn and Lea were in the kitchen helping Tohru make rice balls. Lots of giggling sounded in the kitchen as the girls would make casual conversation and joke around. After all, this was the first time that all of the girls got to hang out together outside of school.
"The hell's going on here?"
The girls looked up to see Kyo standing in the doorway with a towel on his head gawking at the table.
"Planning to start a rice ball business?"
"Morning, Kyo," Tohru greeted as she rolled a rice ball in her hand. "I'm experimenting to get ready for the culture festival, and Lea and Evelyn are assisting me."
"You're out of bed early, as usual." said Lea as she wiped her hands.
"It's not early. It's normal." Kyo took the towel and placed it on his neck. "And why are you up this early?"
"Because Evelyn dragged me out of the bed." Lea grumbled while Evelyn smirked.
Kyo rolled his eyes at the two girls. He then turned to Tohru. "So were you out at the garden with Yuki all night long?"
Evelyn then remembered that Tohru came back in with Yuki soaking wet. She remembered getting a laugh at the sight.
"Oh! Ow, ow. That's really hot." Tohru squeaked at the heat of the rice. "Yeah. We needed to defend the vegetables front the typhoon."
Kyo picked up a rice ball and began to eat it.
"I'm particularly proud of that one. You' ll have to tell me what you think," said Tohru.
Kyo immediately cringed and ran to the sink to get a drink of water. Catching his breath, he turned back to Tohru. "What are these?!"
"Rice balls made with chives." Tohru replied with a smile. "So, you don't like them then?"
"No way! I freakin' hate chives! What's wrong with sticking to something normal, like salmon or octopus filling?"
Kyo walked over to the rice cooker and began to make is own rice ball. "I'll make my own."
Tohru watched as Kyo formed the rice so quickly and easily. "Wow! That's so amazing!"
Kyo looked at her confused. "Huh?"
"The way you shaped that rice ball," praised Tohru. "You're great! Really!"
"It's not a big deal." Kyo said nonchalantly. "I had to make my own food while I was training. But just 'cause I can make it, doesn't mean it'll taste good."
"That's for sure." Lea muttered taking off her apron.
"No one asked you, Lea! You can't even cook!"
"It's still impressive. If someone was working hard training to make rice balls, I think they would be very jealous of how good you are at it." Tohru explained.
Evelyn stepped forward and placed her chin on Kyo's shoulder. "She's right," she hummed. She could see the slightest blush on Kyo's cheeks.
He took his other hand pushed her chin off his shoulder. "Rice ball training isn't something people do. Where do you even get these ideas?" He walked out of the kitchen and sat down in the living room to watch television.
Evelyn took off her apron and placed it on one of the chairs. She felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket of her shorts and grabbed it to see who messaged her. The screen lit up and she saw Rory's name on the screen. She read the message and smiled.
"Who is it?" Lea asked her.
"It's Rory."
"What does it say?"
"He said that he got the job. He's gonna be a substitute teacher at our school."
"Who's Rory," asked Tohru.
"Rory's the oldest one in our little group. He looks after us." Evelyn explained.
"Aww, how sweet? Does he have a zodiac animal too?"
"Sure does," Lea replied. "He's possessed by Aries, the ram spirit."
Tohru's eyes lit up.
"Maybe you'll get to meet him someday." Evelyn said with a small smile.
Tohru nodded and went to go back to work, but was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. She headed to the front and slid the door open, however, there was no one out there.
"Excuse me," a female voice sounded.
Tohru looked around for where the voice sounded. There, she saw a girl in a yellow dress with dark hair.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but is it true? That Kyo is here?"
Tohru then noticed that the girl wasn't alone. Leaning against the tree was a boy with tousled black hair and brown eyes. His face was completely blank as his eyes went to her. "And I'm looking for Lea and Evelyn."

.......~~~~~~.......
Hello everyone!!! Hope everyone is enjoying this story so far!! I have been buckling down with this story as well as fixing up my Attack On Titan series for a comeback. Also, a member of the Elsher group has appeared. I wonder who? Also, some tension is building between Kyo and Evelyn. They will have their talk soon I promise. Anywho, love you guys and I'll see you guys later!!!