Chapter Text
Tohru’s eyes were glued to the clock, her fingers drumming on the desk and her foot rapidly tapping beneath it. She was trying to be patient but it was an uphill battle; no matter what she tried, she couldn't seem to distract herself from the agonizingly slow movement of the hands.
It didn't help that there was nothing for her to do at the moment; the Nigeyashi Women's Clinic waiting room was empty and clean, and all outstanding paperwork had been filed. The incoming phones were currently quiet, and the reminder calls for Monday's patients had already been made.
She had nothing to do, other than sit and wait.
Beside her, her fellow receptionist Ami Sakoto was trying not to be too obvious about her how she was smirking. Tohru had been in a dither all day, and it had only gotten worse mid-morning when she'd gotten a certain text from her fiancé.
Ami couldn't blame her; if she had everything going on that Tohru did that day, she'd probably be bouncing off the walls, too!
"Are you sure you don't want to just clock out and go, Honda? There's nothing going on here right now, I'd be fine managing by myself for a few extra minutes," Ami said as Tohru's finger drumming took on a more rapid pace.
Tohru immediately stopped, looking guiltily at her friend. "I'm so sorry, Sakoto; I'm being annoying, aren't I?"
"Well...yeah, just a bit. You can really turn on the fidgets when you're waiting, can't you?"
Tohru brought her hands to her lap, blushing slightly. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "And thank you, but I'm fine waiting! Mrs. Ito already cleared me to take two hours for lunch, and that's such a generous amount of time. I triple checked the bus schedule already, and if I leave any earlier than I'm scheduled I'll just have to wait at the bus stop."
"Well, if you're sure. Just know that it's not a problem," Ami reassured.
"Thanks, Sakoto." Tohru smiled, then let out another deep breath before suddenly giggling. "I never thought I'd be so excited about paperwork!"
"Hey, it's pretty important paperwork! I know it's probably not the most romantic thing, but I'd be pretty excited in your shoes, too!"
Tohru took out her phone and looked at her messages. It was a more crowded field than ever before; she felt like she was always texting someone as of late. But right now, there was only one contact who drew her eye, and she looked at his most recent message with barely suppressed excitement:
Message from: Kyo!. Today, 9:42am.
Got the form, see you at Sensei's at 1. Love you lots!
Just reading it was enough to give Tohru goosebumps, and she was grinning when she set down her phone again. Ami was grinning too and Tohru was happy to see it; it was nice of her, to be so excited on Tohru's behalf.
"Are you sure you'll be able to get everything done in an hour, Honda?"
Ami was aware of just how meticulously Tohru had planned out her day, and she was also aware of the reason why. She knew there was a delicate balancing act to be done between Tohru’s work obligations and personal needs; nice as it would be to simply focus on the fun stuff, they both understood the world didn't work that way.
But the last thing Ami wanted was for Tohru to run out of time.
An hour really wasn't that much time, and Tohru was admittedly nervous about it. But an hour was what she had to work with; she'd need the rest of her two-hour lunch break to get to the bus to start with, ride the bus back to Hibe, walk to the dojo, and then do it all in reverse. Once all the travel time was properly factored in, she only had half of the time left, so basically an hour.
Hopefully it was enough.
"I think so, Sakoto. We double-checked at the municipal office, and as long as all of my information is fully completed in front of at least one of the signing witnesses, I don't have to be present when it's filed. So I just need to make sure to get everything in my part filled out right away, then Kyo can take care of the rest."
Ami nodded; that made sense, but at the same time, government paperwork wasn't known for being brief. "Well, if you do end up running late, just be sure to call. I'm sure Mrs. Ito won't mind, and I definitely won't!"
Tohru made a slight grimace at the idea of being late.
"If I'm late, it means I missed the bus, and then I'll really be late. So hopefully we don't have to worry about that."
Just then, Tohru's phone alarm went off, and she grabbed it with an eager exhale. "Alright, it’s time for me to go! I'll be back in two hours, ok, Sakoto?"
"Ok. And Honda?"
Tohru paused in the middle of grabbing her purse. "Hmm?"
"Congratulations!"
Tohru made excellent time on her speed-walk to the bus stop and arrived with minutes to spare. A part of her wished she could have walked the whole way; during the winding bus ride back to Hibe, the little town where she and Kyo lived and Kyo’s dojo was, she felt like a fidgeting, quivering basket of nerves.
All she wanted to do was get to Hibe even faster; it felt like she’d been waiting for today forever.
Once she stepped off the bus in Hibe, Tohru was all energy; even though she'd never been a runner or much for cardio, she was hard-pressed to not just take off sprinting down the road. Instead, she settled for a brisk walk up the road that led north to the dojo; the sooner she got there, the more time she'd have...
And the sooner she'd see Kyo.
Kyo, who was waiting for her with their marriage paperwork…
If Tohru suddenly picked up her pace, there was no one around her to judge.
Coming around the curve in the road and seeing the dojo gates, Tohru's nerves were so tightly wound she felt the urge to laugh. When she'd imagined this day, she'd never pictured it happening here; then again, 'this day’ wasn't even one she'd considered until surprisingly recently. There were so many things to remember when it came to their marriage that somehow, filing the registration had slipped her attention.
Luckily, Kyo had caught that little oversight.
'Hey, Tohru? When do we actually do the paperwork part? You know, the government stuff, to make it all official?'
There were a lot of moving parts involved in having a wedding, and they had a lot they’d already planned. But at the time Kyo had asked about the paperwork, none of those plans had included actually registering the marriage.
After some frantic research, they'd determined that that although they were holding their ceremony in Tokyo, they needed to actually register their marriage in the town where they lived. It wasn’t part of the ceremony and they could do it whenever, but in the eyes of the government (and everything legal and official), they wouldn't be married until it was done.
Which had prompted the question of ‘when.’
It wasn't an option to file the registration the same day as their ceremony, since they'd be down in Tokyo for that. They'd be on their honeymoon in Kyoto the week after the wedding, and the week before, Tohru would be in Tokyo. Before that they were both working full-tilt; for over two months now, they'd both been working part-time jobs on top of their full-time jobs to ensure that everything they wanted was paid for. All of that seemed to point to one logical conclusion: to wait until they got back to Hibe after their honeymoon and take care of all the paperwork then.
But neither Tohru nor Kyo had wanted to wait. While they both agreed that their shrine ceremony would always count as their wedding, once that day came, they wanted to be legally married as well. When they took each other’s hands and spoke the words aloud, they wanted to be ‘Kyo and Tohru Sohma’ right then.
And that was how Tohru ended up hurrying into the Matsuda Dojo at one o’clock in the afternoon on a Friday in late May, nine days before their wedding and the very day she was set to leave for Tokyo, in order to fill out their marriage registration form.
The Matsuda Dojo was a large, sprawling complex of buildings, and navigating it had posed a challenge in their early days in Hibe. But two years on, Tohru could find her way around easily, and she knew exactly how to get where she was going.
It was lunchtime at the dojo, and there were several people milling around in the courtyard. Tohru cheerfully called out greetings and waved to people who noticed her, but she was a woman on a mission with no time for small talk. Crossing the courtyard, she hurried up the steps to the main practice building, turning to follow the raised wooden walkway that led around the building towards the back of the complex.
Soon enough, she was stepping down off the wooden walkway and hurrying down a neat little path that wound through a simple garden. And before long, at the other end of that path...
"Hey, you."
Kyo's voice was soft, but his smile stretched from ear to ear. He was waiting for her on the engawa of his master's house, leaning against one of the roof supports with his arms crossed. But when Kyo saw her, he'd straightened up, breaking into that eager grin that made Tohru’s heart flutter.
He was wearing his gi, naturally, and he was a little sweaty, since he'd come there straight from teaching a class. Tohru herself was slightly out of breath from her brisk walk, and wearing her neat but serviceable work clothes. But in that moment as they looked at each other, none of that mattered; in each other’s eyes, neither of them could look better.
For a single moment, Tohru giggled at Kyo’s greeting. Then she was up on the engawa in Kyo's arms, her body pressed against his and his mouth on hers.
When they'd planned their wedding, Tohru and Kyo had understood that there would be give and take. While neither of them (especially Kyo) had felt they were all that particular or had expensive tastes, an unfortunate side effect of planning a Tokyo wedding meant that things, across the board, were simply more expensive. Even the fees to the shrine ended up costing more than they guessed, though that was one area where they actually allowed Kazuma to contribute.
The financial tightrope was a very delicate one. Tohru and Kyo were well aware that if they so chose, they would have access to Sohma Family money in a heartbeat. Akito had made it abundantly clear to Tohru that they only had to ask her for anything they wanted and she would personally make sure it happened for them.
But they hadn't wanted that, not either of them. Kyo had been adamant after moving away that he never wanted to take handouts from the Sohmas again, not from the Sohma Family or Akito in particular. He wanted instead to stand on his own feet; to support their little household entirely by himself.
Well. Entirely by himself, with some help from Tohru. But she was the exception, rather than the rule.
Whatever they decided to include in their wedding, Kyo wanted to pay for it, whatever it was, themselves. Not even Kazuma was allowed to contribute more than the most token amount; this was their wedding, and they would pay for it.
Granted, there had ended up being some places where they’d compromised, admitting that it was fair for people who loved them to want to help them. Kazuma had been allowed to pay all the shrine fees, and they'd be holding their reception in the Sohma Dojo’s great hall. They'd also agreed to let Ayame and Mine make their wedding clothes, all of their wedding clothes, which proved to be a lot. And all of that clothing was being financed by Akito, the lone concession Kyo had made to the Family Head.
He hadn't wanted to allow her that at first, but the cost of even renting traditional wedding clothes turned out to be downright astronomical. Tohru had talked about skipping them and he knew that she meant it, but Kyo also knew how much she wanted them dressing the part at the shrine. With Ayame pressing for the chance to make everything, Kyo didn't have it in him to say ‘no.’ He'd backed Ayame, internally wincing the whole time, while firmly telling Tohru she would be the bride of her dreams. Having Akito step in to help share those costs had been annoying, but in that one thing, Kyo had let himself bend.
The rest of the wedding costs were all on Tohru and Kyo: invitations, food, favors, and décor, plus partial travel expenses for all their guests from Hibe. And since there were going to be a lot of people there, that meant Tohru and Kyo needed plenty of money.
They had a decent amount of savings between them, but Tohru and Kyo agreed that they weren't going to drain their emergency fund for a party, no matter how important they felt that party to be. Instead, they took what they felt was fair, and to make up the rest of the costs...well, they both worked.
A lot.
The last couple months had been an exhausting blur. They both still worked their regular jobs, and each of them had picked up part-time jobs as well. Tohru had gone from the clinic to shifts at a childcare center, finally getting home on weekdays at nearly nine at night. Meanwhile, Kyo’s nights went even later; because of the nature of his schedule at the dojo, he didn't get home until nearly seven on a normal night. Lately, he’d been going straight from the dojo to Nigeyashi, the small nearby city where Tohru worked, to work at his part-time job processing parcels until eleven. On top of that, he was picking up private lessons at the dojo; by the time he got home every night, he was exhausted.
As a result, they had barely seen each other for months. Kyo worked all day weekends, in addition to his weeknight evenings, and Tohru was working a weekend job at a shop. Kyo was so tired that he'd even abandoned his morning workouts, sleeping deeply every day until Tohru's alarm went off and reminded them it was time to start the whole process all over. A quick breakfast was the only meal they'd shared for weeks if they were lucky, and conversational opportunities were depressingly short.
If it wasn't for texting, they’d barely get to talk; those days, they were both on their phones more than ever before.
They'd known it was going to be a difficult stretch, and it was. But they had contented themselves with the knowledge their sacrifices were worth it. They would have their dream wedding, they would still have their savings, and they'd do it all themselves, in their own way.
But if there was one thing they would have preferred to skip, it would have been giving up their sex life along the way.
Between their long work hours, out-of-sync schedules, and overall exhaustion, it had been nearly two months since Tohru and Kyo had done more than peck or cuddle. Tohru was always asleep by the time Kyo got home, and mornings were short and frantic. Much as they'd thought about it, much as they'd wanted to, they had decided that with how things stood it was probably best not to push. Once the wedding was over, they'd have all the time in the world.
But being patient was hard, and it got harder by the day.
Tohru couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Kyo 1) during the daytime 2) fully awake and 3) not rushing off somewhere. The sight of him standing there waiting for her, wearing his gi and that smile, was like a jolt of pure electricity.
Under the circumstances, it was impossible not to kiss him.
And Kyo couldn't argue. It had been torture, coming home every night to find Tohru fast asleep in their bed and knowing there was nothing he could do but pass out, too. Even if she'd been willing for him to wake her up and try, he was so exhausted himself that there was never a point. Everything was out of order with him physically; even his internal morning alarm of many years' standing was currently on hiatus as he fought for the sleep he needed to keep going. Each morning when Tohru's alarm went off and they staggered out of bed, Kyo reminded himself that there were reasons they chose this.
Lots of them.
Many of them his.
And that helped, at least a little.
However, all Kyo’s reasons went right out the window the moment Tohru flew up into his arms. It was the most conscious physical contact they’d had in weeks, and the sensation of touching each other was nearly intoxicating.
Tohru’s arms came up around his neck and his went down to her waist, their bodies instinctively pulling and holding each other even closer as they kissed with an almost frantic need-
"Kyo, do you see Tohru yet?"
The voice of Sensei Kenichi Matsuda's wife Ayako came drifting through an open window like a cold bucket of water, and Kyo and Tohru broke apart, each of them bright red. Kyo gave Tohru a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his neck, then quickly called back,
"Yeah, I see her, Ayako! Oughtta be just a minute."
"Ok, I'll make some tea!"
Tohru and Kyo took that minute to collect themselves, each of them glancing at each other with amused embarrassment. This was definitely not the time or place for kissing...but it had still been very nice.
"Next time I'll just stick to ‘hello,’" Tohru murmured as they slid open the door, Tohru taking off her shoes and Kyo kicking off his sandals. But he just chuckled, shaking his head at her.
"Don't worry about it, it was nice." The glance he gave her made a warm happy feeling uncurl inside of her, and she smiled back, relieved.
She would accept 'nice.'
After putting on slippers, the two of them stepped up into the house.
"I've got her!"
"Excellent, come on into the living room, you two, and let's get this taken care of," came Kenichi's deep gruff voice.
Instantly, Tohru was filled with excitement of a different kind, and she looked at Kyo with brightly shining eyes.
They were going to fill out their marriage registration!
In the living room, Kenichi was already sitting at the low table, and he gestured for Tohru and Kyo to join him. "Ayako will be in as soon as she's done with the tea. Hello, Tohru," he added, giving her a smile.
"Hello, Sensei! Thank you so, so much for doing this for us," Tohru said, beaming brightly at him.
"It's an honor you two asked us. Ayako and I are very happy to do this for you," Kenichi said, glancing from Tohru to Kyo with that same small smile. "It's not every day we get the chance to witness a marriage."
"Especially not twice," Ayako said with a laugh as she came in from the kitchen, three cups of tea and a glass of water on a tray. "Here you go, Tohru dear," she said, handing her a cup, "and for you, Kyo," as she passed him the water.
Kyo had never been a fan of tea.
"Thank you, Ayako!"
"Thanks."
"Now then," said Ayako, settling down beside Kenichi with the last two cups of tea, "What all do we need to do? I understand you don't have that much time, Tohru, so let's be as quick about this as we can."
Kyo nodded and pulled an envelope out of the front of his gi. From inside, he unfolded a large, multi-part form.
"So, this is the marriage registration. Tohru and I've gotta fill out these parts," he said, indicating the 'husband' and wife' sections of the form, "and you two'll need to fill out these," he continued, flipping it over and indicating the much shorter 'witness' sections. "You're supposed to do your stuff after we're done, to confirm you saw us do it and everything is right." He flipped the form back over and passed it to Tohru. "Tohru probably oughtta do her stuff first; I checked, and she doesn't gotta be there when I submit it as long as you guys've signed off you watched her do it."
Kenichi nodded. "That seems very straightforward." Then he glanced at Tohru with a smile. "Go ahead, Tohru; we'll make sure you're doing everything properly."
Tohru knew it was a joke, but staring at the very detailed form made it difficult to not be intimidated. She was excited, yes, but what if she made a mistake? The government wanted so much information...
Kyo could tell from the way she was hesitating that Tohru was nervous, and under the table he lightly squeezed her knee. "Hey...it's ok, Tohru. Yeah, there's a lot there, but we know this stuff." She glanced at him, and he smiled encouragingly as he said, "And if you need any help, just ask me."
She smiled back. "Thanks, Kyo. There's just...they’re asking so much!"
"That's the government for you," Kenichi said with a chuckle. "They want to make sure everything is done thoroughly."
Tohru took a breath, then started filling out the form. Their marriage registration.
So she could marry Kyo.
Her name...her date of birth. Her current address. Time spent living at that address. Occupation. Time spent at that occupation. Highest level of education completed. Her parents' names...
On and on through the form she went, stopping periodically to stare at certain questions in confusion.
"Amount of time spent living together?" She frowned and looked at Kyo. "Do you think I should count high school? Or does this just mean since we've been in a relationship? Though that started in high school, too..."
Kyo was thrown by that question, too, and he couldn't see why the government actually cared. "Huh, that's...weird." Looking across the table, he asked Kenichi and Ayako "Any ideas?"
Ayako was looking thoughtful. "I wonder what they want to know that for; it would certainly help for answering it!"
Kenichi stroked his chin. "Perhaps for debt collection? Or legal proceedings? I don't believe that anything would change in terms of either taxes or legalities based on the answer, so for me personally, I'd answer truthfully how long you've resided under the same roof."
Tohru nodded; that all made sense, even if the question didn't. Shaking her head, she wrote in 'four years, nine months.'
Somehow, the specificity amused Kyo. "Not rounding even a little, eh?"
“It's a government form, Kyo!"
"Just saying, that's all."
Tohru smiled, continuing down to the next space on the form.
Ayako had been thinking about the context of Tohru's concern, and she smiled at the two of them. "I'd forgotten you two boarded at the same place during high school! Did you ever think, the first day you met, that you’d one day be getting married?"
Tohru and Kyo glanced at each other, an expression Ayako couldn't quite identify passing between them. Then they both smiled, simultaneously shaking their heads.
"No, definitely not right away that first day," Tohru replied, giggling at the memory. Though it was funny, in a way; that very first day was the first time she'd told Kyo how much she'd always loved the Zodiac cat, not thinking for even a moment how incredibly awkward that revelation must be for him. He'd already been so flustered and so angry; coming back from spending four months in the mountains to fight Yuki, losing, and finding her there to boot! And then she'd indirectly told him she loved him. What was a poor fifteen-year-old boy supposed to say to that?
"We had a kinda rough start," Kyo admitted. "I didn't even wanna like her, at first."
"Kyo!" Ayako's tone was reproachful as she looked at him. "How could you possibly want to dislike a girl as sweet as Tohru?"
"'Cause I was a stupid teenager, Ayako. Lucky for me I grew outta it, and she forgave me," Kyo said, giving Tohru a fondly sheepish look.
Tohru was still focused on the paperwork, but she was smiling. They'd figured out an appropriately sanitized version of 'their story' back when they'd first moved to Hibe; the very first night in town, they'd been asked 'how did you two meet?' and realized with a touch of panic that an ancient family curse didn't make for acceptable small talk. So there had been a few tweaks to the story; all of Tohru's stuff was true, but in Kyo's case, he had simply boarded with Shigure because it was a more convenient commute to school.
It had felt strange to Kyo at first, having people actually interested in him. Having them want to know about him, and listen to what he said. He'd needed time to get used to it, but it had been gratifying all the same. After spending so long destined for solitude and being hated, being among people and knowing they cared was a wonderful feeling.
Even if it did mean having occasional awkward conversations.
Eventually, Tohru's section came to an end, and she started to pass the pen over to Kyo. "Your turn!" she said in relief, making the others all laugh, but then she paused, reclaiming the pen right before Kyo took it. "Sorry, I missed one thing."
Smiling, she moved the pen over to the last box: 'Wife's name after marriage.' In her neat hand, she quickly wrote 'Tohru Sohma,' then finally passed over the pen.
"All yours!"