#kyoruweek2019

He knew it. She had been crying. “Are you okay?”

She forced a smile bac on and nodded. “Yeah. Just fine. Don’t worry. Sorry for disturbing you.”

She tried shutting the door, but he stopped her. “You know I don’t believe you, right?”

Her gaze fell, and she let go of the door.

“You were crying,” he said. “Are you really okay?”

She sniffed. “I will be. It… it was just a nightmare.”

“Just a nightmare?” he prodded.

Again, she sniffed, this time rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. “A scary one. But don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Kyo sighed. “Do… do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “Not particularly.”

From there, Kyo didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to push, but at the same time, he didn’t want to just leave. “Do… do you want me to stay for a while?”

Tohru looked up at him, the minimal moonlight that came through her window bouncing in her eyes. “Would you?”

She didn’t argue with him, meaning she had to be really freaked out over something. He grabbed her hand, only to realize she was shaking. “Of course.”

She squeezed tight, conveying just how bad her fear truly was.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Kyo asked as he followed her into her room, shutting the door behind him.

“Yeah,” she answered, settling back down on her bed. She didn’t let go of his hand as she pulled him onto the bed beside her. “I’m good as long as you’re here.”

He sighed, sitting down on the edge of her bed, fearing that if he laid down, it would be far too easy to fall asleep next to her. Which wasn’t a bad thing, but he’d have to face Shigure’s harassment and Yuki’s wrath in the morning. “Okay,” he whispered. “As long as you’re sure.”

Her smile was true and reassuring. “Positive. Thank you, Kyo.”

She gave his hand a squeeze, and it did things to his heart. “I’ll stay until you’re asleep.”

“That might not be for a while,” she mumbled. “I’m really awake.”

Kyo sighed. “Did the nightmare scare you that badly?”

She nodded, her hand tightening on his. “Yeah.”

Ahh, dammit. Of all the things he was able to fight and resist, she certainly wasn’t one of them. He gave into his impulsive cat nature before he could think the better of it and hugged her, garnering a squeak from her.

Poof!

As a cat, he was still in her arms. Where he planned to stay for a while. Without a word, he snuggled up against her chest, forcing a purr to start up.

He felt her sigh, then giggle. Next thing he knew, she was squeezing him tight. “Thank you, Kyo,” she whispered, beginning to stroke his head in the way he’d never tell her he loved. “You’re amazing.”

He purred even louder.

She was asleep within an hour, her breathing having evened out. Kyo knew this would be the time to get up and leave, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. This was too comfortable, too warm, too precious a moment that he might never get again. His eyes were growing too heavy for him to think moving was the better idea, and so he didn’t and let himself fall asleep in her arms.

…

When Kyo woke in the morning, he realized he was still in his cat form. He also realized he was warm in her arms. Under no circumstances did he want to move, but he really really needed to.

So, he slipped from Tohru’s grasp. She stayed asleep, thankfully. Last thing he wanted to do was wake her.

But he realized two things. One: the door was closed and he was a cat and didn’t know if he could get it open. Two: even if he was able to leave, his clothes would be left on her bed.

He sighed. Crap.

Well, there wasn’t much he could do besides wait for—

Poof!

That.

Tohru stirred, her face scrunching cutely while Kyo scrambled to grab his pants. She was always so flustered over them transforming back without clothes. Last thing he needed to do was scar her by having her waking up to him buck-ass nude.

He was able to pull on his pants just as she sighed, falling back into a deeper sleep. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he finished buttoning his pants. He then grabbed his shirt, slipping it on as he headed to the door. Quietly as he could, he slipped from her room and carefully shut the door behind him.

When it was closed, he turned, ready to slip back into his own room and hide there for a portion of the morning and pretend like he hadn’t spent the night sleeping with Tohru.

“Kyo.”

The sound of his name sent him flying 5 feet in the air, and when he landed, he was facing a smirking Shigure.

“What were you doing in Tohru’s room, hmm?”

…

Bonus:

“I’m sorry you got in trouble,” Tohru said that night once they finally had a moment alone. Shigure and Yuki had been hounding and harassing him all day, not daring to leave him alone with Tohru at all. Finally, Tohru had a fit and started crying over how she couldn’t sleep and basically painted Kyo out to be a prince in disguise. Not that she needed to go that far; Tohru tears could break any Sohma, especially Yuki and Shigure. His torture ended the moment the first tear slipped out.  

“Don’t worry about it,” Kyo said. “You needed me, so I could deal with it.”

“Still,” she said, grabbing the back of his shirt and resting her forehead against his shoulder. “I’m really sorry.”

He sighed. “It’s fine, Tohru. But… thanks.”

She didn’t leave. Instead, she gripped his shirt tighter. “Kyo.”

“Yeah?”

“Um…” She was trembling; he could feel it. “Could… could I be selfish just one more night? It’s okay if you say no. But… you said I could be selfish, so I wanted to ask…”

Just how in the world could he say no to her? “Yeah,” he said. “You can be selfish.”

In a flash, her arms were around him.

Poof!

Before he could realize it, she was snuggling his cat form. “Just for a while,” she said. “Until I fall asleep. I’ll leave the door open this time so you can slip out and back into your room immediately. Okay.”

“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?”

The rest of the walk home was quiet. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Neither of them had anything to say. All that mattered was that they could finally be together after all that time, with no strings attached, literally.

Their hands were clasped together, either of them too afraid to let go. They silently feared that if they let go of each other, the curse would somehow revert itself back to being present, the day’s events too good to be true.

---

Arriving home felt surreal. The quietness as they made their way through the entrance was unsettling. Kyo nor Tohru felt ready to break the silence either. What if—what if when they acknowledged the fact that they were together, it would end this unrealistic dream?

Words weren’t necessary in this case, though. A permanent rosy colour painting their cheeks and the occasional soft smile whenever their eyes met was enough communication the two had to make. They simply understood one another.

Both young adults ambled to the living room, Kyo taking a seat facing the kitchen and Tohru continuing towards it to prepare some tea.

Her dainty hands trembled as she descended two mugs from the cabinet above her head. She filled the kettle with enough tap water for two and the familiar clicking sounds of the stove being turned on resonated throughout the main living area.  

It took a few minutes for the kettle to boil, giving Tohru a moment to collect her thoughts. What now? She hadn’t envisioned this far, not after the incident that brought her into the hospital. But that didn’t matter anymore; She and Kyo were finally together, and that’s all she had ever wished for. She shouldn’t be more selfish than that.

The screech of the water having reached its boiling temperature and the clasping of the fluttering cap as it expelled puffs of warm humid air caught her by surprise. She squeaked in response, clutching the side of the kitchen counter she was leaning against.

“Idiot, it’s just the kettle. You started it in the first place,” a gentle male voice replied behind her. She felt his warm and tender hands snake around her waist once more.

Kyo held her tightly, refusing to let go. He pressed his chin to the top of her head, smelling her body’s natural perfume.

Tohru, Tohru, Tohru. The only word that filled his brain.

He couldn’t get enough of her.

“I’m sorry I got scared Kyo-kun. I didn’t expect the water to boil so soon,” she replied, giggling a few times and breathing a sigh of contentment as she felt the kindhearted presence of her now boyfriend directly against her.

His teasing dramatic sigh sent them both in a laughing fit as they captured this precious memory in their minds. One of many they would make as a couple, that was certain.

---

The evening came and went, the pair eating dinner alone without the company of the other inhabitants of the house.

“I wonder what Shigure-san and Yuki-kun are up to. I should prepare them a plate just in case they arrive and haven’t already eaten,” she pondered aloud, mostly to herself.

“Ah, don’t bother with them. They can feed themselves. At this rate, they’re probably all together at the main house weeping about the curse,” Kyo replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

“But- but that’s no good! I should call them to see if they’re okay,” Tohru answered, panic lacing her voice as she pushed herself up from her seated position at the living-room table, eyes fixated on the hall where the telephone was located.

“Tohru,” he retorted as his hand reached out to grab her wrist before she got away too far from him, “you’re making too big a deal out of this. They’ll come when they’re ready.”

“You’re probably right,” she mumbled, tears starting to well up in her eyes as she gazed into his feline-shaped ones.

The petite girl slumped back down on the ground, sitting beside Kyo this time.

“That’s my idiot,” he said, gently stroking her hair as he pulled her into a side embrace, resting his head atop of hers.

Tohru snuggled deeper to his side, humming pleasantly as she could finally be close to the one she loved. Never had she envisioned this day truly become a reality. She hated to be pessimistic, but the thought of the curse breaking and hugging the orange haired boy she’d grown so fond of, was only in her furthest fantasies.

---

The two of them had been inseparable throughout the day, joined by the hip. Tohru had insisted they wait for Yuki and Shigure, only for 9 pm to roll around. At that point, Kyo got impatient and decided he’d head up to his room.

“You’re welcome to join me, I’m probably just going to do a bit of reading or training, nothing exciting,” he told her, trying not to sound too hopefully. He’d become soft, that he knew—but he hadn’t become that soft.

“Okay! Let me go get a book too!” she exclaimed, thrilled by the invitation.

Her heart started to race even more when she bounded up the stairs, Kyo trailing behind her at a much slower pace. He’d never invited her in his room to “hang-out” before. Tohru knew that boyfriends and girlfriends became intimate with one another over time, but she was certain that’s not what Kyo had intended. They could finally be at peace and spend time together without the risk of being forcefully torn apart. And that was the greatest feeling of all.

“Slow down or you’ll trip and fall,” his voice resonated down the hall behind her as she had already practically made her way up to her room a few doors down.

She giggled and turned to beam at him, giving one of her signatures smiles before waltzing through her room’s doorway. He chuckled and returned her smile. A true smile.

Tohru hurriedly rummaged through her small collection of belongings. She had a few books that Hana and Uo had lent or given to her over the years, grabbing a few of them she thought could be interesting.

It hadn’t even been a few minutes before Kyo heard a soft rapping noise at his door.

“Come in,” she heard from behind the door.

As she turned the doorknob slowly and stepped inside his room, she tried to memorize each aspect. Kyo had been a fairly secretive person with his personal life and she hadn’t had many opportunities to see his room.

He must have noticed she was staring at her surroundings as he proclaimed, “Boring, I know.”

Tohru wouldn’t call his room boring. It just wasn’t lavish or extravagant, and there was nothing wrong about that. It was very natural, just like him.

“Nu-huh. It’s just like Kyo-kun,” she declared in all certainty.

“Goof.”

It didn’t take her long to join him around the small table in the middle of the room. He offered her a pillow to sit on and the two sat crossed legged, beside one another like the lovey-dovey lovebirds they were. The window was open so the occasional cicada or bird noise could be heard, but apart from that, only the sound of beating hearts filled the room.

Minutes turned into hours before Kyo noticed that the slumped-up figure beside him had fallen asleep. She had said nothing or really moved during the entire time they were reading, and he had been too engrossed in his novel he didn’t even notice her falling asleep.

He tried as best as he could to remove the magazine she had been looking at. It was open at a page of a local zoo not too far from the Sohma residence. Perhaps she’d been wanting to go? He’d have to be certain to ask her about it tomorrow.

Kyo slipped the pages out of her delicate hands and placed it on the table. Now would be the tricky part. How could he reposition her to a futon without waking her up? Luckily for him, his girlfriend was a deep sleeper and despite gently placing her against the floor as he wriggled to get off with as little movement as possible, she hadn’t stirred.

He let out a breath he wasn’t even aware he had been holding as he stood up to set up his futon close to the window. He unrolled the soft bedcovers and placed his two pillows side by side.

As he went to pick up Tohru, she let out a few unintelligible mumbles below her breath. Whatever she was dreaming about, it seemed serious the way her eyebrows were drawn so closely together.

He gently laid her down on his bed and covered her small frame with his large futon cover. Kyo tucked her in before getting back up to get changed. He had been wearing the same sweater since this morning and it was too warm to sleep in it. Browsing in his dresser, he pulled out a plain blue t-shirt and a pair of black sweats with a white stripe running down each leg.

Kyo had two choices. He could either risk waking her up when he exited the room since his door squeaked, or he could pray she wouldn’t wake up and change technically in front of her.

He chose the latter.

Swallowing up his pride, he turned his back to her and faced the wall. He stripped down to his boxers and quickly pulled over his night garments. Peaking over his shoulder, he noticed that  Tohru had turned onto her side, but was still taking deep shallow breaths. Good, she hadn’t woken up.

Deep down, had he wanted her to wake up? Did he want her to see him in that way now that they had confessed each other’s love?

No! There was no way in hell that Kyo was thinking such impure thoughts! He shook his head a few times hoping it would chase that kind of thinking away. There was no way he could think like that yet. Plus, he highly doubted Tohru would even ever think of him like that. Fuck no. What in the world had gotten into him?

He sighed and ran his hands from his face to his hair trying to shake off these feelings that had steadily grown over the past year. Not today, he told himself.

Kyo placed himself on the ground beside the futon and slipped one of his floor cushions under his head. He curled up with his back facing her. Unable to sleep due to his racing heart, he stared at the stars and the moon outside of his window.

An hour passed by before he heard the commotion happening on the floor below. The rest of the household had finally arrived home. He wouldn’t go see them, though, he could deal with them tomorrow morning when he had more energy. For now, he’d enjoy these last few minutes with Tohru before she’d wake up and would realize that she’d fallen asleep in the wrong room.

He heard the knocking down the hall which was presumably the oh-so-perfect rat trying to check if she was awake.

His assumption had been right as the knocking sound was quickly followed by a faint, but still distinguishable, “Miss Honda?”

Obviously, there had been no response.

Don’t you dare come here and embarrass her, you darned rat!

Kyo turned to face her when he heard her stir beside him. Apparently, the commotion of the entryway was enough noise to wake her. Her eyes struggled to open as she let out a soft wince. Her hands came up to her eyes, and she methodically rubbed the sleepiness out of them.

“K-Kyo-kun?” she asked as she was greeted with the sight of him lying on his side, prompting his head up with his hand.

“Mhm?”

“I should probably go to sleep,” she mumbled as she tried to push herself off from her comfortable position.

“Can you please… stay?” Kyo murmured, so softly he doubted she even heard him.

Tohru’s face flushed and even in the room's darkness, it was visible. She gave him a slight nervous nod. Her eyes looked at the floor and a small smile tugged at her lips.

She scooted towards the side of the futon to allow him some room under the blanket. Kyo didn’t have to be told twice. He moved off the floor and onto the soft surface where he could be close to her.

“Turn over,” he whispered.

And she obliged. He cuddled up to her, acting as if he was the bigger spoon and rested his hands around her waist, pulling her in.

It felt so warm. So right.

As they were both drifting to sleep, he was certain he heard her whispering, “don’t tell Shigure.”