Work Text:
Walking with Wolves
Sorry I've been away for so long! I hope you enjoy this!
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Tohru had gotten used to this routine since she moved into Shigure's house. She would go to school, go home, change, and have Yuki walk her to work. Sometimes Momiji would be there and talk to her while she did her duties and she always enjoyed the company. Then when it was time to leave, she would walk outside the building and wait for Kyo to pick her up. She always looked forward to this part of the day, although she would never openly admit it.
On this particular day, Tohru had gotten done a little early. It seemed like there just wasn't much to do in the office building with her and the other two cleaning staff. Plus, Momiji was especially nice and helped them clean today. He had left a few minutes prior to them finishing to start walking back to the Sohma estate since it was already pretty late. So there Tohru was, sitting on a bench waiting for her redhead to come into view. As she sat there, she looked up at the night sky. She couldn't see the stars as well here and she could at Shigure's house, but they were beautiful nonetheless. She checked her watch and noted that Kyo was a little late. She decided it might be better if she met him half way at least. So she stood and started toward home.
"Heeyyy, where ya goin' sweetie?"
Tohru turned around and noticed a group of about five or six men, extremely drunk looking men, were looking at her. Her heart beat faster. She knew this wasn't uncommon but she had never experienced it before.
"U-um, I'm just on my way home. I'm meeting my friend up the street...."
"Well you were right about one thing: You definitely are going home, but to mine, not yours." A different man slurred. Tohru started shaking with fear. What did she need to do in this situation? She tried to recall anything that Uo or Kyo had taught her, but her mind produced nothing useful. The men were stumbling closer to her. What should she do?! She didn't know if she could run away from them, even in their drunken state.
"Please, I don't want any trouble. My friend is waiting for me." Tohru tried to say firmly, but her voice shook.
"Aww look what you did! Ya scared her!" Another man said, laughing. "Come on sweetheart, don't mind him. We just wanna have a little fun! Is that so bad?" He continued. "At least let us walk you to your friend's meeting place with you!"
"Th-thank you, but I'll be alright," Tohru said and she turned to walk briskly away from them. She hadn't heard the footsteps behind her until she felt a hand clamping down on her wrist painfully.
"It wasn't a question," The same man said, although his tone turned menacing. Tohru felt tears well up in her eyes. She wished someone, anyone, would walk by and help.
"R-really, I don't want to i-impose on you..." Tohru attempted. The other men were getting closer and now that she was almost face to face with them, she noted that they had red cheeks and stupid smiles plastered over their faces, but worst of all, they looked strong and tall enough to easily overpower her.
"TOHRU!"
Her head whipped around at the sound of the familiar voice and she nearly fell to her knees in relief. She saw Kyo running towards her with a speed and fury she had never witnessed before, even with his fights with Yuki.
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HER!" He yelled at the men, who all turned and tried to process what was happening. Although they were clearly drunk, unfortunately that didn't stop them from putting up a fight. Tohru felt Kyo's familiar rough hand on her upper arm, pulling her out of the man's grasp and the next thing she knew, she was watching Kyo taking on each and every man in the group all at once. He was so fast, she couldn't really keep up with his movements. She heard grunts and wails of pain as Kyo's hands and feet connected with the vulnerable parts of each mans' body. She also flinched when she saw several fists connect with Kyo's face or stomach.
A couple of men thought it would be smart to try to get away from Kyo and grab onto Tohru, but they never got very far. As soon as Kyo's keen eyes connected the dots, those men dropped to the ground before Tohru could register that they were even coming in her direction.
The fight seemed to last forever until finally, the last man dropped to the ground, unconscious. Kyo was clearly exhausted, panting heavily and staggering on his feet, trying to stay upright. He looked around for Tohru and when they made eye contact, he sighed in relief.
"Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?" He asked between heavy breaths.
She didn't even get the chance to answer before he fell to his knees and transformed into a cat. Tohru rushed to pick him and his clothes up. Kyo had gone still, clearly passed out from exhaustion.
"Kyo! Oh no, what should I do! I can't take him to the hospital like this!" Tohru paced worriedly before she began to run towards the direction of Shigure's house. It was the only thing she could think of.
Her lungs ached as she climbed the many stairs and she had to really focus in order not to trip. She found this difficult as she kept looking down at Kyo in her arms, seeing if she could find any spots that needed her immediate attention or if he had woken up. She tried to hold him steady, but she knew she was jostling him. She only hoped it wouldn't make his condition worse. After an eternity, she could see the house.
"Shigure! Yuki!" She called. It was late and she wasn't expecting them to be awake, but she kept calling as she opened the front door. Yuki was the first to be seen.
"What's wrong?!" He called out in a panic. She didn't answer his question.
"We need Hatori here now! Kyo is extremely hurt!" She ignored the tears that she knew were opening streaming down her face.
"Shigure! Get in here!" Yuki called out. "Let's get him in his room," he said urgently to Tohru. She took more care walking up these stairs. Her legs were aching from the strain and they threatened to buckle under her. They reached the top of the stairs and Yuki opened the door to Kyo's tidy room. She waited as Yuki took out the futon Kyo slept on and when he was done, gingerly placed Kyo in the middle. Shigure watched from the door frame.
"Hatori is on his way. What exactly happened?" He asked. Tohru launched into the events of the night and Yuki looked like he wanted to murder someone. Shigure showed no emotion. He only nodded and walked downstairs, waiting for Hatori.
"Will he be okay?" Tohru asked Yuki, trying her best to stop her tears.
"I think so. Going off what you said, it sounds like he did more damaged to them than they did to him."
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The next morning was a weekend, so Tohru tried to keep herself busy with her chores, but Kyo hadn't woken up yet. Hatori had come in record time the night before, but had to wait for Kyo to return to his human form before he could assess the damage. Tohru kept insisting it was her fault that this all happened, which Yuki quickly shut down.
She had waiting anxiously and impatiently as Hatori wrapped bandages and gave Kyo a painkiller. He told her that it would probably make him sleep longer than normal, but as the hours passed by, Tohru's worry grew. Soon enough, she didn't have any more chores to do. Although it was awkward, she crept inside Kyo's room and sat next to his futon. Hatori had managed to get some loose clothes on Kyo's unconscious body, so that made Tohru feel a little less embarrassed. She listened to the sound of his breathing, which gave her no comfort. It sounded labored and painful even to her ears. She tried to distract herself by looking around his room. She had realized she had never really been inside before. His bookshelf was well stocked and the books were color and height coordinated. She recognized that most of them were about martial arts, which only made her heart ache even more. He had been spectacular the night before. She had never seen him fight as fiercely as he did, even when going up against Yuki. Quickly looking away, her eyes landed on his desk. It looked like he had been in the middle of doing homework when he went to pick her up. This only made her feel worse. She shouldn't be in here. Just as she was about to stand, she felt something brush against her wrist.
She looked down in shock as Kyo's hand rooted her to the spot.
"Are you okay?" He asked in a hoarse voice. She burst into tears.
"Am I okay?!" she sobbed. "You got so hurt protecting me! I should have been smarter! I should have remembered what you taught me!"
"What this?" He asked, pointing to his swollen cheek and split lip. "This is nothing. That damn rat has given me more of these than I can count."
"But your rib..." Tohru pushed. "Hatori said it was broken." Kyo looked surprised.
"My rib is broken? I couldn't even tell."
"You're just trying to make me feel better! You're seriously hurt and it's all my fault! I'm so sorry!" Tohru basically wailed. She managed to get her hand out of Kyo's grasp to wipe away the fresh set of tears on her cheeks. She didn't notice Kyo and sat up until she felt his hands on her shoulders.
"It's not your fault! And I will recover. I'm pretty badass that way remember? Those guys are probably in the hospital, too."
"But-" she tried to start before Kyo cut her off.
"But nothing. I'm fine. The only reason I passed out was because there were more of them that could fight than I thought. But I'm here aren't I? And you're okay." He looked down at his lap. "If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I should've been waiting for you before you were even done with work."
Tohru saw his jaw clench, followed by a wince.
"Kyo," She started in a voice so soft and tender, it drew Kyo's immediate attention. "Please don't apologize. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there...." Kyo could have had steam coming from his ears at the thought. "I'll get you an ice pack or two. Hatori said it would help with the swelling."
"Tohru-"
"I'll be right back," She said in the same soft voice. Kyo couldn't find the words to express what he was feeling. She was always taking care of everybody, so why did this feel so different?
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The next few days were a mix of heaven and hell for Kyo. Tohru insisted that he stay home from school, and most of the time she stayed home with him just to keep him company. Yuki brought back their homework and disappeared after that, leaving Kyo and Tohru to work on it together. He had convinced her to let him go out onto the balcony because 'he hated being cooped up'. She held onto his arm as he tried to stand and took the first few shaky steps. The second her hand was gone, he missed it. His cheek throbbed, but with Tohru's insistence, he held an ice pack to it for most of the day. He had to admit that it did feel good and it quickly reduced the swelling, eventually leaving him with a medium sized bruise.
Then the fateful day came when Kyo asked her to help him change the bandage around his torso. He knew the bruise would be bad, but he couldn't do it by himself and he wasn't about to ask his other housemates to help. Tohru helped him out of his shirt and started unwrapping as they both sat on the floor of his room. When the purple, almost black, edge of the bruise came into view, she faltered, but forced herself to keep going. As more and more of the bruise became visible, Tohru was trying in vain to hold back her looks of anguish. She had managed to keep the tears at bay though. As soon as the last bit of fabric left Kyo's body, Tohru was staring in shock. Kyo knew this would happen, so he did his best to comfort her.
"It won't last forever you know."
When she made no move to answer or even rewrap the bandage, he tried again.
"You better not be thinking it's your fault still." At this, he saw her look at him with a pained look.
"I don't even know how to apologize for this. No one has ever gotten this badly hurt because of me...." She whimpered.
"You've been here for the last couple days. I think that should cover it," he said, trying his best not to reach up and rub the lines of worry off her forehead. He failed, bumping his fist to the top of her head like he always did. Tohru couldn't take it anymore. She lunged at him and pressed her lips to his. Kyo was shocked to say the very least. His eyes widened as he tried to looks down at her before he actually registered what was happening. He didn't really know what to do in this situation, so he took a guess and cradled her face in his hands. This brought Tohru back to reality and she tried to pull away in vain. Kyo followed her lips and kissed her again. Tohru gently placed a hand on one of his wrists and sighed. They pulled away and Kyo rested his forehead on hers, a small smile on his face.
"Was that your way of saying 'I'm sorry'?" He asked cheekily. He felt her face heat up instantly.
"U-um.... Well I suppose so." Her thumb was rubbing his softly and he loved the feeling.
"I don't think I forgive you yet. You might have to try again." He was on a high and he didn't even care if his sad attempt at flirting would work or not. Tohru scooted closer to him on her knees and she felt his hands rest in his lap, barely brushing her knees. He looked at her with hazy eyes, still not quite believing what had happened, but intrigued at what she might do next. She brought shaky hands to his face and gently pressed her lips to his once more. Kyo's stomach could have easily burst with all the butterflies within. This kiss was so much more tender than the last one, like she was scared she would break him. She pulled away and started peppering kisses across his cheek and he felt her hand move to his shoulder, encouraging him to brush his knuckles against her knees. Her kisses became feather light as they covered the area of the bruise on his cheek. This would cure him better than any ice pack or medicine. He took a shaky breath as she pulled away.
"Do you forgive me now?" She asked as a sincere question, like she wasn't sure what his answer would be. He took her hand in his and smiled. It dazzled Tohru so much that she nearly forgot what she was there for.
"I guess so," Kyo said. As Tohru went to apply some medication onto Kyo's torso, she found it difficult, as Kyo could not longer keep his hands off her. He kept brushing her hair out of her way and left lingering touches on her neck. Or trying to lean down and kiss her again. He caught her lips twice more before she figured out what he was trying to do.
"I still need to put that bandage on," Tohru said when she was done applying the medicine.
"I don't really think I need it though," Kyo countered. "But I could be persuaded."