Tohru discovers a little of what makes Kyo tick as everyone starts getting used to living together (if not in harmony – it’s enough at this point that Yuki and Kyo aren’t trying to murder each other).

Tohru: If there were a Year of the Cat fan club, I would definitely be a member. And yet he hates me. I’m an idiot.

Tohru, you are not an idiot, quit saying that!

Shigure “tricked” Kyo into taking an entrance exam to transfer to Yuki and Tohru’s school, and you can be sure Yuki was just as mad about it as Kyo.  Tohru does get a little background on Kyo courtesy of Shigure: He disappeared for months, and says that he was training in the mountains.

Of course, it doesn’t take long for Kyo to cause a scene at school, jumping out a second floor window to escape the clutches of those crazy schoolgirls.

Kyo: Are you nuts? Why do you go to a school that’s crawling with girls?

Yuki: Living every day in fear of transforming is way better than going to the boys’ school Akito chose. I wanna get out of the Sohma Zodiac cage, even if only for a little while. I don’t understand why you’re trying to walk into it.

Kyo: You…a rat like you wouldn’t understand!! I’m gonna win! I swear I’ll beat you! I’ll beat you and become a full-fledged member of the Sohma Zodiac!

They’re both trying to get something they think they can never have – Kyo wants to be accepted by his own family, while Yuki wants to escape it.

Tohru butts in to stop them from fighting (again) by hugging Kyo and turning him into a cat. He’s a very grumpy kitty, yells at Tohru, and immediately regrets it.

Kyo: I’m just not cut out for living around and dealing with people.

Shigure: […] The problem is that you don’t have enough experience. For example, you can split a table in half with your fist. But you can also stop your fist short of smashing it. […] Getting along with people is the same. The only difference is you can’t do this training in the mountains. It has to be done in a town full of people. Unless you interact with others, hurt them and get hurt while learning about them and yourself, you can’t become the kind of man who is sincerely considerate of others.

Shigure has great powers of intuition regarding people (it’s no coincidence that he brings up the idea of “a girl saying she likes you” when Tohru had told him before that she likes the Cat), but with great power comes great responsibility, and Shigure is more irresponsible than he ought to be.

 

Kyo: Don’t say my name without a reason!!

Tohru: I won’t!!

Kyo: Ah…no, wait. It’s okay. You can say my name even without a reason. I don’t mind if you hang around me either.

Tohru (internally): Does this mean he’s trying to apologize for what happened today? […] I’m starting to understand Kyo-kun. He’s a little more socially awkward than average, but he has a kind heart. He’s an honest person who feels bad when he does wrong.

Plus the temper, don’t forget the temper…but Kyo gets picked on enough as it is.  So now Tohru has managed to befriend both Yuki and Kyo!

Until next time…