Plaid

"And take that, ya rotten wimps!" Katsuya shouted, watching the bullies retreat across the school grounds. "Don't underestimate me! Anyone else want a piece?" Regardless of her size or stature, a good beating usually put the fear into 'em. The boy she had been protecting, a brunette, stood and smiled, bowing his thanks instead of saying out loud. It was alright; they were usually speechless after watching a girl kick ass. Pulling her baggy uniform sleeves down her arm, she stalked back into the school.

It wasn't too long before she ran into Yuugi. "Katsu! I heard you got into a fight again! What have I told you about that? You're going to get suspended."

"They won't suspend me," she growled back. "I was protectin' the innocent."

"You were fighting."

"Gotta stand up to 'em sometime, Yuugi. You know that." The look on Yuugi's face told her that he did, and she couldn't help but smile at his naivete. "Come on; walk me t'class, Yuug'."

"Whaddya wanna eat, Yuugi?" she asked, taking Gramps's apron from the hanging hook in the kitchen and trying it around her. "I'll cook somethin'."

"You don't have to do that, Katsu. You already know that." But Katsuya was ignoring him, already exploring the familiar cabinets and taking note of what Gramps had bought at the market a few days ago. "So he finally took my advice and bought seasoning salt for the meat..."

"Katsu..."

"Hush, Yuugi," she said, that was final. And he did as he was told, silence ensuing for several minutes. Katsuya found a trout in the freezer and asked if she could cook it. It was pretty large - enough for there to be food for Gramps when he woke up from his nap. Yuug' nor Gramps had ever refused her cooking, and she was glad for it. Having to cook for her bastard of a father was never fun, and she felt appreciated there. Yuugi helped as usual, watching the stove or the oven or fetching utensils that had been moved around. All in all, it took about an hour, but even Katsuya was impressed by how good-looking the food had turned out. As she slid the trout out of the pan and onto a large plate, she squeezed two lemons over it and decorated it with chives and a light touch of oregano - something that would go well with it but no one would expect.

"It's awesome, Katsu," Yuugi beamed happily. "You've always been a good cook."

"I guess," she replied, trying to stop her cheeks from tinging pink at the compliment. Yuugi hugged her, his face nuzzling into her stomach, and her face turned red - she hoped that he couldn't see it. "Aww...come on, Yuug'..."

"So whaddya wanna do t'day?" she asked. She was walking between Honda and Otogi. Anzu and Yuugi were walking ahead of them even if only a little. It was the same thing, every day, and she didn't really want to go and get burgers.

"You could sleep over my house tonight, if you want," Anzu said, turning back for a moment to make eye contact with Katsuya. "I know you don't like going home."

"You could always come home with me," Otogi crooned in her ear, and she put her hands in her pockets, stepping away from them and closer to Anzu. "And then I can see what's under that uniform."

"Sure, Anzu; sounds like a plan. I'll cook t'repay ya." She was walking backwards, now, keeping her eyes on Otogi's hands. Honda smiled but didn't say anything.

"Guys," Anzu chided. "Stop it."

"Why do you always wear that uniform anyway?" Otogi asked.

"I like it," Katsuya said, turning and speeding her pace so that she was walking beside Anzu. "What's it t'you?" he shouted back at him.

"You do have nice legs," Anzu whispered, knowing that a comment like that would only encourage them.

"I like her in the boy's uniform," Honda said. "Reminds me that she's not a girl."

That stopped Katsuya in her tracks, and she almost walked right into him. "What is that supposed to mean? I am a girl, you dickwad!"

Honda's response was laughter, but Anzu had already caught the crook of her elbow. "Come on," she said, and Katsuya let herself be pulled away.

"He took up for you, you know," Anzu said, drumming her fingers along the countertop. "When you went upstairs."

"I heard 'em," Katsuya replied, leaning against the fridge. "It's not like those idiots can keep their voices down anyway."

"He knows you're a girl, Katsuya," Anzu said. "I don't want you to be upset about what he said. He was just being stupid."

"I know he knows!" she said defensively, a bit more loudly than she had been trying to before the words were out of her mouth. She hugged herself protectively.

"You could show him who's boss," Anzu said. The oven's timer went off, and Katsuya pushed herself off of the fridge to pull the lasagna out. "I have a few outfits you could wear upstairs."

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I like who I am," she said bitterly.

"Katsu!" Yuugi shouted.

She almost hadn't heard the voice calling after her as she made her way down the street, left hand outstretched to…whatever it was that she was using for support. A building…something. She didn't know why she was even thinking about it. Katsuya registered that her breathing was heavier than normal, which made sense, but she didn't want to give herself away, not to Yuugi.

"I got your homework for today!" He said. He was running now; she could hear his footsteps, making his way toward her. She couldn't stop him, or shout something insulting to make him go away.

Oh, she thought numbly, feeling a shiver running through her body. There go my legs…

Yuugi didn't get to her in time, and she used the—brick building, it seemed like against her fingers—to slow her fall. Her fingers were already scratched, her knuckles bloody; a few more wouldn't matter. That was why she liked the boys' uniform: she could slump to the ground at a time like this without worrying about her legs being vulnerable. She was less vulnerable.

"You've been fighting again, dammit!" Yuugi growled, and Katsuya felt a pang of hurt at making him swear—he only did it when he was feeling really stressed. She didn't want to make Yuugi stressed.

"I'm fine," Katsuya said. "Just leave me here a sec."

"Come on," Yuugi muttered angrily. Katsuya felt her friend's weight underneath her arm. She shook her head; he was too short for that, and she didn't feel like getting up. "Katsuya," Yuugi said, his voice going from annoyed to shocked. "You…you're all bloody…"

She chuckled. "Not all of it's m-mine." But his words moved her in some way that she couldn't explain, and she struggled against the weight of fatigue to push herself up. She didn't want to go back home, though. "Yuugi, I—"

"I don't want to know why you were fighting. Let's just get you home so Grandpa and I can patch you up."

Katsuya couldn't help but sigh in relief.

"You should go to the dance with me," Otogi said, elbow pressed casually against her locker.

"Move so I can get my stuff or I'll dent ya face," Katsuya said.

"I'm serious," Otogi said, but he did step back, standing upright. Katsuya opened her locker and began to search through for her math workbook. Yuugi was making her study that evening, so she needed it. It was her repayment for him cleaning her up the other day. It was the best she could do, since she didn't regret any of the fights—she'd gotten almost one-thousand yen out of it, after all. "You could go with me," Otogi repeated.

"You're askin' me out?" Katsuya said, and she was a little surprised.

"Yes," Otogi said, voice filled with confidence. "And I'm waiting for an answer."

"I hate dancin'," Katsuya stated.

"You don't have to actually dance, Katsu."

"There's this friend thing that we have, Otogi. I don't wanna ruin it. It's half-dead most'a th'time as is."

"I don't want to ruin it either. Just go with me and have fun. That's all I want."

Katsuya couldn't help her glare from barreling through Otogi's chest. "'heard ya use that line last week." She finally found the workbook –it was underneath her baseball bat, tardy and suspension slips, a small stack of assignments that she'd been passed back during classes and hadn't thrown away, her empty school-issued suitcase and the other books that were supposed to be in it.

"I meant it then, too."

"Didya have sex with her?"

Otogi's eyes widened. "What?"

"Did-you-have-have-sex-with-her? The girl from last week?"

Otogi scratched the back of his head. "That was totally different."

"Thought so. I hate dancin'. I'm not goin'." She closed her locker as well as the conversation and for the first time in her life, Katsuya hurried to class.

"I didn't mean that you weren't a girl," Honda said.

"Thanks for walkin' me home," Katsuya said, looking down in a way. She knew that he hadn't meant it that way, but it had just made her so angry…

"I just meant that…you know…you're like one of the guys. I guess." She considered sending him a glare, but it wasn't worth it, and she kicked a rock in her path instead. "I mean—"

"I know what you mean," she snapped. "Just quit."

He was silent for a while. "Otogi told me you shot him down for the dance. You know he really likes you, Katsu."

The news alarmed her somewhat, but she didn't allow that to show; she was upset enough to cover it up. "I don't care. He's a pervert and a dick. Don't stick up for that jerk—"

"He's our friend, you know," Honda interrupted, as though that was supposed to change her mind.

"—he makes you look bad." Katsuya persisted, determined to finish her thought. "And bein' a friend don't score ya free dates. Would ya ask Anzu out?"

Honda looked surprised. "No."

"So why's it me? What's s'different about me?"

"Why didn't you tell me that they were bothering you so much?" Yuugi groaned.

"I didn't wantya t'know. Woulda told ya if…" Katsuya trailed off.

"I'll talk to them tomorrow if you want," Yuugi said, his voice shrinking to a whisper.

She shook her head. "No," she gasped. "Don't…dun do that. I dun want you to…" Katsuya bit her lip. She hated it when she sounded like that, all girly and mopey; but it was hard to hold herself in, especially when…when Yuugi was on her neck like that. And that she liked. She could feel the light bruises already. Was it a bad thing if she liked Honda and Otogi fussing over the hickeys that appeared on her neck every once in a while, wondering who they were from? They would never guess Yuugi, only wonder at what Katsuya's man had that they didn't. Pigs.

"I'm so sorry that they're jerks to you, Katsu," Yuugi said. He was further up now, knees between her legs, licking her ear. It tickled and she couldn't help her giggle even though she hated how it sounded. She wouldn't make those sounds for anyone else. One of her hands curled around one of Yuugi's wrists and tightened as her self-consciousness set in. Yuugi pulled back then, looking into her eyes all romantic-like. It was cute, in his own way, but Katsuya was relieved when she could just close her eyes and focus on kissing him. She couldn't look into people's eyes and make them sparkle. "Don't listen to them," Yuugi murmured against her lips.

Should she respond? Should she have been too swept off of her feet to respond? She never knew what sort of reaction Yuugi was expecting. "I won't," she breathed, more to herself than to him and then she couldn't say much else, because his tongue was in her mouth and she felt a small hand reaching into her pants to brush lightly against her panties. She wasn't sure why but she was unbuttoning her shirt; she was never sure why. All she could say for sure was that Yuugi was bold when it mattered.

Yuugi was kissing down her neck and she could feel herself blushing everywhere, and then he mumbled somewhat awkwardly, "Y-you…you're such a sexy girl, Katsu." But by then she was feeling less self-conscious and more turned on, and she was panting in the same way she did after a good fight with a sturdy opponent.

She was such a sucker, but somehow Yuugi always knew the best thing to say.

Katsuya hated working at bars. But serving seemed to be the only thing that she was good at. She was good with talking to people, too, regardless of age and she easily ended up with the biggest tips—although that was probably because she let the non-alcoholic drinkers get free refills on pop when the bartender wasn't paying attention. But a bar was a bar, and she constantly had to deal with dirty jokes, rowdy attitudes due to drunkenness, jerks in general, and men usually "talking" to her when she didn't feel like listening—usually when she was off the clock.

That Saturday night, things seemed to be going relatively well. A lot of times it did. But Katsuya knew there was no future in serving. She wanted to do something better. Anzu was going to be a dancer—she had worked hard for it all of her life. Katsuya didn't have anything that she cared about that much, not as far as a job or a career. She was being more serious about school, but that was really because of Anzu and Yuugi, not because she saw much benefit in it for herself. She didn't have a future with school; she wasn't good enough at it. No money for college, and she didn't know what she'd go into anyway.

The hours seemed to fly by. 7500 yen in tips, just about; slow, actually, but not bad at all. More than enough to get home and buy groceries the next day with Anzu. She helped to close up with the other waitresses and bar hands, and made her escape. Not too much trouble on the way home; one of the drunken guys who's lazily packed his things to leave while they closed was following her. Annoying, but not out of the ordinary at all. Another server, Mina, was walking right behind her—almost beside her—so it wouldn't be that bad, would it? Mina was very obviously creeped out, but Katsuya knew she could have handled the situation if necessary.

Fortunately, it wasn't that night, and she made it home quietly.

"Why don't you make me some goddamn dinner?" her father bellowed from the kitchen.

"I'm studying!"

Even from the living room, she could hear his scoff. "Don't you fuckin' lie t'me!"

"I ain't fuckin' lyin' t'ya!"

"Tch. You got some nerve. Whatcha studyin' fer? You ain't 'bout to do anythin' with your life." He trailed off into mumbling, and Katsuya thought that was the end of it until she heard, "Don't forget my dinner! Make somethin' I like!"

It was Katsuya's turn to scoff. She knew the drill. She'd throw something together for him, he'd start drinking while he ate and then complain about work, shout some more about not getting any help at home and she didn't do nothin', and they'd get into again. She didn't want to do that tonight. She didn't want to do it any night. No.

Katsuya began to pack her school clothes for the next day. She was headed to Anzu's—her mind was already picturing the scaffolding on the side of the apartment building.

Katsuya was shaking, pacing. She wasn't normally like that at all. She hated people who shook. They were weak—she wasn't.

But she was out of her element. She was graduating this year, and she was going to work full time—she already had enough put away for a small apartment. There wasn't much of a future in serving, but she was paid well. She could take care of herself. Anzu was invited to be in some dance troupe, Otogi was taking over at his father's company; Honda was the one she envied—he already knew more than enough to work as a mechanic with his parents! Yuugi…

"Hey Katsu!"

"Oh my god," she squawked. She hadn't expected the arm around her shoulder or the voice calling her name. The arm was Otogi's, she knew, because it had that creepy vibe—the voice was Yuugi's. He was smiling up at her as he circled around to stand in front of her.

"I didn't mean to scar you," he chuckled. "Are you okay?"

Katsuya nodded, but her heart was running a marathon. "Yeah…" she exhaled, and shrugged off Otogi's arm. She hoped that he hadn't noticed the shaking, or thought it a part of her surprise.

"You're never early to class," Otogi said, moving to stand next to Yuugi. "What's the special occasion?"

"Wanted to talk to Yuug' about somethin'," she said, a bit quieter than she meant to.

Yuugi smiled. "What's up? If you want to stay over today, that's fine."

"No. 'S not it," Katsuya said.

"Yuugi's brows narrowed. "Are you having trouble doing any if your h—"

"Zip it, Yuugi!" Katsuya said, and Yuugi eyes widened. "That's not it!"

"Spit it out already, then," Otogi snapped.

Katsuya's eyes cut to him venomously, and he made sure to clamp his mouth closed. "Look," she said to Yuugi, and then learned forward to grasp him tightly by his shoulders. "I wanna go with you."

Yuugi appeared to be very intimidated, and she consciously loosened her grip. "What? I said it was alright already, Katsu," he said, and he smiled again after.

"No, stupid," she said hastily, looking away. She tried her best to speak deliberately to make her point. "That stupid dance thing at the end of the year. I want to go with you."

She didn't think Yuugi's eyes could have gotten wider than before, but she was wrong. "Katsu—oh, wait. You mean…Prom?" Otogi burst into laughter.

Katsuya ignored him, occupied with trying to keep herself from blushing in embarrassment. "Y-yeah."

"Wait," Otogi said, gasping between guffaws. "You—that's how you—? Oh my god, Katsuya!" Anything said after that was buried underneath more laughter.

"But Katsu," Yuugi was saying, "you hate dancing!"

She nodded, trying to distract herself from Otogi. "But I wanna go. I'll even…wear somethin' nice. Anzu said she'd help."

Now Yuugi looked worried. "…well, I can talk to you more about it after school?"

A swift punch to Otogi's gut quit him laughing. "Nah," Katsuya replied, "we can talk about it now."

It surprised her how much courage it felt like it took to kiss him right there, in front of Otogi. But Yuugi wasn't going to push her away. Despite feeling like she'd fought six people, she couldn't help but smile when she felt Yuugi's lips move against hers. Other classmates were looking!

"Oh you guys!" Katsuya heard Anzu's voice as she entered the classroom, running toward them. Their kiss ended abruptly, because it was hard to do when Anzu was hugging both of them against her chest, but the blush on Yuugi's face afterward made everything worth it.

Katsuya managed to slide away from Anzu's fingertips (and her chest), and she turned to look behind her at all the stares and whispering and Honda's slack-jaw. "If any'a'this reaches my ears outisde'a this room I'm beatin' everyone of ya t'a pulp!"

{FIN}