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Kyo was absolutely drained. After dragging himself up the stairs he managed to open the door and flop down halfway onto his bed.
Wait.
That wasn’t right.
His bed was lower to the floor, and definitely not as comfortable and… fluffy as this.
It was only when he had to force an eye to crack open that he saw pink surrounding him. Tohru’s normally uplifting and welcoming room greeted him with darkness and the rumble of thunder in the distance. He sighed, knowing it wasn’t the first time it had happened and it probably wouldn’t be the last, it being the rainy season that he dreaded every year.
He knew he should move, drag his unnaturally heavy body off her comforter that smelled too damn good and go rest in his own room… but how could he when he knew his compassionate girlfriend would surely find him there and run her fingers through his hair until he fell asleep? So without a second’s hesitation, he nestled deeper into her bed and let himself relax.
As the rain pattered steadily above him, he cursed the weariness that seemed to seep into his marrow. Hating that even though the curse on the Sohma family had been broken for a few weeks now, he had some sort of residual effects courtesy of the Cat spirit.
“Kyo? Are you feeling tired again?” Tohru’s calming and concerned voice came and interrupted the silence. A welcome distraction to the swirling thoughts in his head.
“...Yeah,” he managed to mumble out, though it was mostly muffled by her duvet. He heard her come closer and without looking, he reached a hand out to her, hoping to persuade her to sit with him. When his fingertips brushed the soft skin of her legs, he already felt a little better.
“Let me change and then we’ll get comfortable,” she said as she gave him a few preliminary strokes of his hair. He only gave her a small grunt in response as he let his hand drop.
She quickly changed into her pajamas and laid fully on the bed before urging Kyo to do the same. He slotted himself easily in between her legs and rested his head just below her bust, loosely wrapping his arms around her hips. Though she might not say it outloud, Tohru absolutely loved this side of Kyo. He was so resilient and strong all the time, but he allowed himself these small moments of… she wouldn’t call it weakness but perhaps sluggishness, with her to see and assist with.
As she adjusted herself slightly to make sure her back wouldn’t ache, she began to thread her fingers through the fiery orange hairs that she’d loved for so long. A contended groan came from somewhere deep in his chest and even though he was a little embarrassed at the noise, he couldn’t muster the energy to care. She smiled and continued her work, humming some songs or nonsensical tunes quietly.
She had let her nails grow out a bit, and he saw that one of her friends had shaped and painted them at school today during lunch. He was happy to reap the rewards of a fresh manicure as he urged her to dig her nails deeper. Tohru obliged with no complaints, watching a small shiver run through him as she did so.
“You know, there were so many times I wished I could have done this while you still had the Cat spirit,” she murmured.
“Really?” he asked, turning his head slightly so he could see her face.
“Yes,” she replied simply. “Especially on the day I saw your true form. We were both so distressed and I just wanted to hold you for as long as you’d let me. Although I kind of got to when you were in your Cat form, it wasn’t the same as this.”
He remembered that day so clearly, sure it would be burned into his mind forever.
“I wanted that, too,” he said as he held her a little tighter. “I was so sure I lost you that day. It was a miracle to me that you stayed.”
“Of course I did,” she said, conviction ringing through her voice. “I think I already loved you then. I wasn’t about to let you go. I can be stubborn that way.” He felt more than heard her chuckle and smiled with her.
“My stubborn girl,” he sighed happily as he rolled onto his side, bringing her with him. After a moment or two of repositioning, they were face to face. His arm rested below her head while the other wrapped itself around her waist. She had both arms loosely around his neck.
“I’ll tell you a secret then,” he murmured, eyes still closed as she continued to play with the hair at the back of his head. “I already loved you then, too.” A small smile graced his face as he felt her heart start beating faster.
He knew he would probably get over the shock of her kissing him at some point, but for now he still loved the surprised joy he felt when she did. Although he didn’t have the energy to kiss her back as fiercely as he wanted, he made sure to pour as much of his love as he could into the kiss.
“When else did you want to hug me?” he asked cheekily when they broke apart.
“All the time…” she answered bashfully, burying her face in his neck.
“Specifically,” he all but demanded with a smug grin on his face.
“Well…,” she started as she contemplated her answer. “When we were at the beach house, the school trip, maybe the school play, although I don’t think any of those would have been a good time or location with how many other people were around.”
“The school trip? Why?” He questioned.
“Oh! Umm…” her voice wavered. “Can I not answer that?”
“Tohru…” he warned playfully, moving his heavy hand up to pinch her cheek.
With a resigned huff, and a reluctant “Alright”, she told him it was because she did actually know one of the girls in the class had confessed to him and that it bothered her a little. “And then we were alone at the temple and all those cats were around so I thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if no one saw you transform and I could hold you in your cat form…?”
Kyo couldn’t help but laugh heartily at that, despite his exhaustion.
“Tohru! What about my clothes? Were you just going to carry them around, too?”
“I-I actually didn’t even think about that! None of my plans would have worked then!” They laughed together at the silliness of it all before she urged him to answer the same question.
“There were a bunch of times I thought I might get away with having my arm on your shoulders, but I didn’t want to risk it,” he confessed.
“Ah, ah!” she scolded him playfully. “You have to be specific like I was!”
“Stubborn again,” he mumbled as he kissed her temple. “Fine. I guess… When you spent New Year’s with Shisho and me, after my meeting with Akito at the beach house, and after we found you when you ran away to your grandpa’s house.”
“I didn’t run away!” she insisted.
“You totally did,” he retorted. “You could have told us you wanted to stay here but you didn’t.”
“I just didn’t want to feel like a burden! You know I wanted to stay!”
“I do now. I didn’t then, and I thought that even though we were going to still be going to the same school that we’d never really have anything to do with each other anymore. So when we found you, I was ready to haul you over my shoulder and hold you hostage for a little while.”
There were a few moments of silence before he chuckled.
“I don’t think that would have worked even without the Curse. Yuki would have killed me.”
“It seems like we missed a few opportunities,” Tohru giggled in response.
“But we won’t now, right?” He asked.
“Right.”