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“What would you compare me to?”
The question caught Kyo entirely off guard. But Tohru was gazing at him with those big chocolate eyes, face completely serious as a heart attack.
Blinking, he sat up from the kotatsu. “What brought that on all of the sudden?”
Tohru pursed her lips, cheeks flushing a bit. She glanced away, fiddling with her fingers. “O-Oh you know, I compare people to a lot of things. Like a rice ball. I just thought maybe you thought the same. I’m sorry… that was probably a weird question.”
He snorted. “Yeah, a little. Doesn’t mean I won’t answer it.”
“Really?”
Kyo cocked a brow at her. “Well, yeah. Don’t I usually answer you when you ask weird things?”
She laughed. “Yeah, that’s true.”
Humming, he couldn’t help the soft smile that etched along his lips. “You’re like a flower. A precious flower.”
Her cheeks pinked at that as she tucked a hair behind her ear. “Y-You think so?”
“Yeah,” his hand slowly drifted along the surface before his fingers brushed hers. “I think so.”
The smile was soft on her lips. “You’re precious too, Kyo. You’re so precious to so many people. I know you don’t see it… but you are.”
Kyo took pride in the fact that he could read Tohru so easily. That he knew when her smiles were fake or when she was pretending like nothing was bothering her. Tohru saw herself as dumb or a burden, but he disagreed. He tried to make sure she smiled genuinely.
But sometimes he realized, she could figure him out the same way. Tohru always knew the right things to say. Always knew where to find him when he was feeling down. Always knew when to give him space. She never pushed him. Never pried…
He hoped someday she could understand how special she really was. How many lives she’d touched. How the Sohmas would never be the same because of her. Maybe, she didn’t understand right then. But after graduation things could change.
Even if he and Tohru were forced to go their separate ways. If he was forced away in that room despite Kazuma’s resistance…
She’d always be precious to him.
So precious.