#kyoruweek

Tohru never saw him like that. She saw him as a person. As someone to bond with, to love, to cherish. She was the first person aside from his master to care for him like that. Tohru ran after him, cared for him, cried for him… There was no one else he could want by his side. 

He and Tohru hadn’t been an “official” couple for very long. They were still learning how the “relationship” thing worked considering neither of them had really been in one before. Kyo had gotten the idea of how relationships shouldn’t work from watching the horrible relationships in the Sohma family. They were still a bit awkward about physical affection. The rat called them “suffocating” on multiple occasions. It had gotten easier once they realized that most people were genuinely happy about their relationship and didn’t mind them occasionally holding hands or when he’d tug her in for a hug. Still, the more intimate things like small pecks on the cheek or lips were kept private. Kyo had come to be shy about touching feely actions in front of people because of Kagura constantly clinging to him. 

Although… he didn’t mind Tohru’s clinginess. In fact, he was kind of clingy himself. He never longed for someone’s touch like he did hers. Maybe he was a bit touch starved, but he’d never admit that aloud. Or to Tohru. 

Kyo waited in the hall, sitting against the wall as he was lost in thought. It was so easy to give into his mindseye while thinking about her. She consumed his brain almost all hours of the day.  

Tohru still had extra work to catch up on since being in the hospital, and he would gladly wait for her to finish so they could walk home together. It was something he’d come to love. Something they got to do together privately. Sure, Yuki would walk with them occasionally, but not like he once did. The rat was preoccupied with his own relationship and the responsibilities of being student council president. 

“Kyo!” 

Looking up immediately at the sound of her voice, Kyo couldn’t help the fond smile that etched along his lips at the sight of her. Standing, he picked up his bag as she approached him. “Hey, you. Are you done for the day?” 

Tohru smiled, reaching for his hands. “Mmhm! I have a bit of a headache though,” she replied with a giggle. 

“Are you feeling sick?” he asked, concerned. The last thing he wanted was for her to overwork herself again. She had such a habit of doing that. 

“Not really. I think it’s just from all the numbers.” 

Chuckling, he nodded. “Yeah, alright. Why don’t we order in tonight?” he suggested, intertwining their fingers together. 

Tohru followed along happily as he tugged her along down the hall. 

Man, he loved her. He loved her more than he thought his heart would ever be capable of loving someone. The small smiles she made, how the littlest things made her happy… he adored all of it. Adored every second he got to spend with her. And wanted that to be for the rest of his life. 

“Kyo, look! The sun is setting,” she cheered with a smile, pointing out over the fence lookout. 

He paused with her, keeping his palm firmly against her own. “Yeah, it is.” 

She giggled next to him, leaning her head onto his shoulder. “You know… I always loved sunsets. Even more now than I used to.”

“Hm? Why’s that?” 

“Cause it’s the same color as your eyes.” 

Kyo flinched, gritting his teeth as his face flushed. Blinking down at her, he caught her gaze as she smiled up at her. 

“Don’t say cute things like that, you idiot.” 

“Kyo-kun?” Tohru's soft voice brought Kyo back to the present. “Are we not in the right place?”

“No. No we are. Sorry. I was just-” He looked up at their apartment front door. He could do this, right? He could run a household. He could work full time as an apprentice at the local dojo. He could provide for Tohru. He could keep her happy and safe here. He could even save up enough for her to take the train back to Tokyo a few times each year to visit everyone. He was a man now. He could do it.

“Come on.” Tohru tugged a bit on his hand. “Show me our new place! I can't wait to see.”

Chuckling at her eagerness helped ease him. She could always do that. No matter his mood, she could always bring him to center. With a huge grin, he sprinted ahead, dragging her behind him as he took the stairs two at a time. She squealed with excitement as she ran with him.

“Ready for our new place?”

“Kyo-kun.” It was her turn to sound a bit nervous. “This is the first time it will be just the two of us in a home.”

“I know.” He pulled her into a hug, still marveling at the fact that he could hold her in his arms; feel her head nestled against his chest. “I'm sorry. It may be a bit lonely since you don't have others to keep you company while I'm out.”

She pushed away from him and shook her head. “We have all of these neighbors. I'm sure I'll find plenty of company here.”

“I know you well enough to know that it will be impossible for any of these people to not love you as soon as they meet you.” He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before resting his forehead against hers. “I'm sure in no time you'll have our place bustling just as much like a convention center as Shigure's house.”

Kyo unlocked the front door, and slowly sung it open. It was such a simple little abode. From the front door he could see the little galley kitchen to the left, the three-square-meter living room straight ahead, and the double glass doors to the porch just beyond that. There were three doors to the right: a bathroom, and two closet-sized bedrooms. Kyo wasn't even sure if the Western-style bed Shigure had bought Tohru a few years back would fit in her cubbyhole. As it were, his futon was probably going to carpet his room.

“Kyo-kun?” Tohru tried to scrunch down to look under Kyo's arm. Then she stretched on to her tiptoes to try to see past his shoulder. As she bobbed and weaved, Kyo realized he was still in the doorway, and was now broad enough to block most of it.

“Sorry.” He blushed slightly, and scratched the back of his head. “I- I know that now isn't traditionally when I'm supposed to do it, but-” He gulped and tucked the keys into his front pants pocket. “Would you mind if I, ya know, carried you in?”

Tohru's hopping ceased. Instead, a grin slowly stretched across her face, and her whole body appeared lighter; not as weighed down by gravity as it should. Holding her hands, folded, against her chest, she emphatically nodded.

Smiling back, Kyo knelt so he could scoop up her knees. Lifting her into a bridal carry, Kyo carefully stepped her over the threshold of their home. Their first home. Theirs. Instead of putting her down on the other side of the door, he continued to carry her to the teeny living room, and swung her around in a large circle. Hooting with excitement.

“Look at it, Tohru! This is ours! Just ours!” Kyo stopped in the center of the room, and lowered Tohru to her feet. While he was still leaning down, she kissed him.

“I love it.”

“Come on.” He took her hand and pulled her through the apartment. “This is obviously the kitchen. I hope it will be big enough for you to cook, but if not I'll figure something out for you. We could even put the rice cooker right here, just outside the galley. I could put a little table here or something.” He then ran to the bathroom. “It's not much, but it has a shower, and there's a hot spring nearby if you wanted to occasionally soak in a tub instead.” He pushed passed her, and escorted her to the first of the bedrooms. “This one looks a bit small. It can be mine if you'd like.”

“Yours?”

Kyo was too excited to register her question as he escorted her to the second bedroom. “Yeah. This one looks large enough for your bed. This can be your bedroom.”

“Mine?”

“And look! There's a large enough window for you to climb through, and the back porch runs the full width of our place. You could easily reach a line through here, and that way you don't need to leave the warmth of your room to hang up clothes even in winter.”

“Kyo-kun-”

He hopped through the window with ease and looked up. “I can even access the roof easily from here if I really wanted to!”

“Kyo-kun!” Tohru's voice was loud, but still meek.

“Hmm? Sorry. You wanted something, Tohru?” Kyo climbed back inside, and scooped her hands up into his.

“You said 'my room' and 'your room'.”

“Yeah.”

“I- well-” Her thumbs raced across his fingers; nervous energy shooting out of her. “I was- I mean, since we-” Her face bypassed pink and went straight to crimson. “I'm sorry, I'm being too forward. Nevermind.”

Now it was Kyo's turn to match a beet.

“Tohru, were- were you- do you mean- Did you expect us to share a room?”

She squeaked and ripped her hands from his so she could hide behind them.

Kyo was going to live without a supervising adult for the first time in his life, and his girlfriend wanted to share a bedroom. Wasn't he a high school student just a couple of weeks ago? How did life go this fast?

He gently bopped the top of her head with his knuckles, startling her enough to drop her shield of fingers. Before her surprise subsided, he cupped her face. He again rested his forehead against hers before pecking a kiss on the tip of her nose.

“You do not have to ask me twice to share a room with you, Tohru. We can use the other one for something else. Storage, or a library, or a study-”

“Or a practice room for you?”