Work Text:
How to Tame a Spitting Cat
Tohru could hear the voices from her room, where she was getting changed for bed. They weren’t yelling yet, so she didn’t immediately rush downstairs, but she was glad for the confirmation that Yuki was home. He had been working very late almost every night since becoming student council president, and she never liked to go to bed before she knew he was home safe and had had something to eat.
Kyo had gotten mad when he realised that’s why she had started staying up later than normal, but she refused to “ignore the damn rat, he’s not worth losing sleep over!” Once he had calmed down enough to realise that this was one of the times he couldn’t change her mind, he insisted that she go through her usual routine to get ready for bed, even if Yuki wasn’t home yet, so that she could go to sleep as soon as she was satisfied that he was ok.
Tohru blushed a little, thinking about the change in their domestic routine. Shigure generally did most of his writing in the evening, so they only really saw him for dinner before he’d disappear back into his study. With Yuki staying late at school most evenings, that left Tohru alone with Kyo for hours on end.
She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help imagining them in their own home; cooking meals, studying, talking about anything that came to mind, just sitting together. All things that, despite being able to experience them in their current home, she still desperately yearned for. And though she had been sharing a bathroom with all three men for more than a year at this point, with the recent absence of Yuki, sharing that space with Kyo in the evenings had started to feel far more intimate to her.
She was pulled from her thoughts by Kyo’s voice, as the interaction downstairs seemed to have escalated. Whether it was because she was always so fixated on him, or he was simply much louder than Yuki, it was always Kyo’s voice that she heard first. She immediately jumped up and went to the stairs before things got worse. She couldn’t tell if their voices were getting louder because she was getting closer or because they were getting more and more angry, but it alarmed her regardless and she was running by the time she got to the dining room. From what she could tell with them yelling over each other, Yuki had eaten some onigiri that Kyo had made for himself to eat after his bath.
“It’s just like you to be so entitled that you automatically assume any food is free for you to take!”
“Like I would eat anything if I knew it was you that made it. I’ll probably be sick later.”
“You’re the one that can’t make a meal without it poisoning anyone who comes near it! And what, did you just assume that Tohru left out a nice meal for when you got home, like a good little housewife? She’s not your servant!”
Yuki was blushing and looked like he was losing his temper. “You’re the one who treats her like a housewife!” Tohru was blushing for a completely different reason.
“Shut up you damn rat!” Kyo’s face was getting to the point of matching his hair.
Tohru decided it was time to try and step in, usually things started to get violent when Kyo stopped forming actual arguments.
“I’m sorry!” she started, “I should have left a note Yuki, I left your dinner in the fridge.”
They both stopped to turn to her. Kyo looked startled, like he hadn’t realised she was there, but Yuki just winced at what she said. She could see on Kyo’s face as he processed her words.
“Why are you apologising to the rat!? You’re too selfless!” He turned back to Yuki. “It’s your fault she’s like this! You and Shigure have been taking advantage of her!”
“I haven’t heard you complaining about all the meals she’s made you, or the cleaning she does!”
“I don’t let her do everything without even trying to help! That’s it!”
Tohru saw the moment Kyo tensed to attack, Yuki crouching slightly in preparation.
She acted on instinct, throwing herself in front of Kyo, halting him in his course. She had gotten very used to reading his expressions and could see him calculating a trajectory around her to get at Yuki. She took advantage of the moment he was distracted and more focused on her; she gave into the impulse that she always had around him these days, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his back.
For one moment she was able to enjoy the feeling of their torsos pressed together, her hands pressed into the tense muscles of his back. The next moment she was holding a very startled orange cat. They stared at each other for a moment and Tohru braced herself for when his brain caught up to what was happening.
Sure enough, Kyo quickly started squirming in her hands, trying to get free. “What the hell are you doing?” He pushed his little paws against her arms.
From the other side of the room, they heard a soft laugh. Tohru looked up to see Yuki’s smirking face. Kyo turned his head as much as he could, and his ears went flat. He redoubled his efforts to get free, hissing in Yuki’s general direction. Instead of letting him go, Tohru got a more secure grip on him as she drew him fully into her arms, holding him against her chest.
“You think this is funny, damn rat!? You won’t be laughing when I’ve scratched up your pretty face!”
He was practically writhing in her arms now, his soft paws pressing into her arms and shoulders as he tried to get out of her grip and launch himself in Yuki’s direction. She knew she shouldn’t be enjoying the moment, considering how angry Kyo was, but she couldn’t help thinking about how he would never touch her so freely as a man. She tried to hold him closer as he continued to hurl insults at Yuki, and Yuki just stood there laughing.
Eventually, Yuki said something about it getting late and left the room, giving her a wink as he went. Kyo increased his efforts to get free, but she only held on more determinedly. He eventually seemed to realise that she wasn’t going to let him go and he turned in her arms to glare at her. They stayed there, staring at each other for a while, but he stayed still, almost as if he was waiting for her to decide he was calm enough and let him go. She met his glare with a steadfast gaze and a set jaw.
“Are you going to let me go?”
“Are you going to go attack Yuki while he’s getting ready for bed?”
He didn’t say anything but turned his head in the direction of the stairs, as though caught between the instinct to try and jump out of her arms and go after his enemy again, and trying to stay still so she would believe that that wasn’t his intention.
She was smiling at him when he turned his head back to her. He gave a little huff, that she melted at internally. He turned his head to rest it on her arm, seemingly resigned to being confined until she deemed it safe to set him free.
She gradually relaxed a bit and sank to the floor to get more comfortable, happy to cuddle him for as long as he would let her. She wasn’t really worried about it being late since the next day was Sunday, and she knew that neither of them had any plans besides some domestic tasks.
He seemed to be sulking, because he hadn’t looked at her and wouldn’t acknowledge it when she started petting along his head and back. She did feel him slowly relax in her arms and could feel the vibrations of his near silent purr start after a few minutes of petting.
Once she was sure he’d completely calmed, she asked him about his training at the dojo that day and how his Sensei was. She ended up with him curled up in her lap as he looked up at her and they talked.
She didn’t know how long they stayed like that or how late it was by the time they fell asleep next to one another, laying close to each other, her hand resting on top of him.
Tohru woke in much the same position, only now her hand was resting against a very smooth and very human chest. They clearly hadn’t been laying close enough to maintain Kyo’s cat form during the night. She froze for a second and felt her whole body heat up as she came fully awake and realised the situation they were in. She stayed very still, but it seemed that Kyo was still fast asleep.
Rather than moving and trying to get out of there before he could wake up, she let herself enjoy the moment. She watched his face, turned towards her in his unconscious state. A little piece of his hair had fallen over his forehead. Slowly, she moved the hand that was resting against his bare skin and brought it up to brush the little piece of hair back. When he didn’t stir, she let her hand fall a little and rest against his cheek, gently rubbing her thumb back and forth against his skin.
Slowly, she saw as he was pulled closer and closer to consciousness. She caught her breath slightly as his eyelids fluttered and opened, his eyes meeting hers, and she could swear that she saw the longing she felt, reflected back at her. She didn’t withdraw her hand or stop her gentle caress but watched as his eyes slowly widened as he woke up more. His hand came up to meet hers for a second, but the next moment he seemed to fully realise the situation and he froze, his face heating up under her hand as she sensed his whole body tensing next to her.
She could see that he was about to start yelling, or jump up and run off, so she let instinct take over again and pushed herself into his arms again before he could fully react.
When Shigure and Yuki came downstairs, somewhat in a rush to see what the commotion was so early on a Sunday morning, they came into the dining room to find Tohru laughing on the floor in her pajamas, a squirming, angry, orange cat held close to her chest.