A Plan, A Kiss, A Gift
Kyo x Tohru
"It's Christmas time!" A certain novelist sang as he skipped throughout the house, putting up last minute decorations. "It's Christmas time! It's Christmas time! It's Christmas ti-"
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP?"
Shigure froze mid-skip in front of the cat's room. Poking his head inside, he saw the Kyo sprawled out on his bed. "Come on, Kyo. Don't be a Grinch and celebrate the best holiday ever: Christmas!"
Kyo rolled his eyes and rolled over on his side. "Ba humbug," he grumbled.
"Don't be a scrooge, either." With that, Shigure continued down the hall, giggling as he hung he the red and green decorations.
Tohru was downstairs in the kitchen as the dog skipped about. She was making the dinner for that night, even though it was so early in the morning. She was preparing a nice roast with other holiday favorites. She hummed Christmas songs to herself softly. Yuki was beside her, helping when he could.
Once the house was decorated to the novelist's liking, he checked up on the Scrooge upstairs. "Come on, Kyo," he pleaded, "At least get up and help Tohru with the cooking."
"Oh, no. That's okay, Shigure." The girl had just come up the stairs. "Me and Yuki finished making dinner."
At her voice, the orange-haired male sat up. "See? Nobody needs me today. Besides, I'll just be in the way." He stood up and slipped between the two. "I'm gonna take a bath."
Tohru stared after him for a moment before he disappeared into the bathroom. "Doesn't Kyo-kun like Christmas?"
"Hm?" Shigure looked behind him as he was about to go work. "Oh, him? I'm not really sure, but he seems kinda down during the holiday season. I think it's just because he feels out of place here."
The rice ball looked back at Kyo's room and sighed. "I wish there was a way I could make him feel more comfortable here." With that, she descended the stairs to chat with Yuki. "By the way, Shigure, we're opening presents before dinner, okay?"
He nodded and disappeared into his room with a smirk. "I'll be down there, Tohru… Right after finding a special gift for you two." He took the phone in his office and dialed a number. "Hello. Do you have any holiday plants with you at the moment? Well, actually I was looking for something more specific…"
"Time to open presents everyone!" Tohru called out, smiling brightly.
Shigure quickly came down the stairs and sat down in front of the kotatsu. "Yay! Presents!"
"Aren't you supposed to be the adult in this home?" Yuki questioned, irritated slightly as he sat down. "And where is that stupid cat?"
"Quit calling me stupid, you damn rat!" Kyo stormed in the front door and sat across from his least favorite.
Tohru gently sat the presents on the table of the kotatsu. She was surprised how many there were. She bought one for each, and Shigure bought four. She gave each of them her presents first. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" she giggled.
"Oh, Tohru!" the dog gasped, "You got me folders to keep my papers in order? You shouldn't have!"
"Really, you shouldn't have," Kyo muttered. The brunette began to worry that it was only getting worse for him.
Yuki was next to discover his gift. "Ah, more seeds. Thank you, Miss Honda. How did you know I was going to buy more?"
She smiled softly. "A coincidence, I guess. I got you strawberries, cucumbers, mushrooms, and leeks."
Tohru heard Kyo made a gagging sound.
"Be quiet, cat, or I'll shove leeks down your throat again," Yuki threatened.
Wanting to try again to lighten the mood, she gave Kyo his present. "Here, Kyo-kun. I got this one especially for you."
He hesitated a moment before taking the nicely wrapped gift and tore the wrapping paper. He stared at his gift. "You… You got me a CD player?"
"And some CDs, too." She tore a little more wrapping paper off from the bottom, showing three of them. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so if you want to return them, the receipt is between the player and the CDs."
He looked through them, forcing a smile to hide itself, not just from Yuki, but Tohru as well. "Thanks, I guess."
She smiled a little. After that, Shigure passed out his gifts. He gave Yuki a new book to read, Kyo a pack of pencils with a cat theme, and Tohru a set of ribbons for her hair. The fourth gift was for himself, being a notepad, pens, and a copy of his editor's schedule.
"I'm going up on the roof," Kyo grumbled as he stood up, taking his gift from Tohru with him secretly. He had to think.
Tohru frowned as he left. She wanted to cheer him up, but it didn't work. She stood up and tended to the dinner. She tried, but still couldn't make Kyo happy, not even smile the slightest.
Back on the roof, the cat sat with the CD player in his lap, listening to one of the songs on a CD. The first two weren't that great, and were most likely going to be returned. But this one was pretty good. It had good music. Kyo could tell Tohru really tried to make him happy earlier, and she did. He just didn't want to smile in front of all of them. He chuckled softly to himself, thinking how foolish he was.
Tohru stuck her head out the window. "Kyo? Dinner's ready!"
He peeked his head over the edge. "Kay. I'll be down in a sec."
She nodded and went upstairs to put her new ribbons away, taking a pair of red ones and replacing them with the blue ones she was wearing. She hoped things would get better with Kyo during dinner.
As Kyo come inside, he thought a little. He felt bad for making her worry. He decided to go up and apologize to her. He stopped by his room and dropped off his gifts before turning to her door.
All of a sudden, Tohru opened the door and the two nearly bumped into each other.
"I-I'm sorry, Kyo-kun."
"No, no. I-It's alright."
They stood there, awkwardly and silently.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Kiss her!" Shigure was looking out his door, smirking.
The two kids blushed madly. Kyo fumed like crazy. "SHUT UP! WHY SHOULD WE?"
The novelist giggled. "Well, first of all… Look up."
The two glanced up. There, over their heads, hung beautiful mistletoe.
Kyo froze while Tohru's blushed deepened to an impossible dark scarlet. "Wh-Wh-Where did that come f-from?"
Shigure smiled innocently. "The magical Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Christmas Yet to Come, of course!" He left his office and passed them, walking down the stairs. "Better hurry before they become angry and make the food cold, or even worse… Disappear!"
Tohru looked down, then up at Kyo, who had shot a glare at the dog before looking back to her.
"T-Tohru," he began, "We really don't have to do this… Shigure's just p-playing."
"Actually, I-I think I understand." Her voice was soft like a whisper. "Earlier this morning, I said that I wanted to help you feel more comfortable here during the holidays… Th-That might have something to do with it."
The cat sighed. "Shigure must have taken it the wro-"
For a brief second, he felt her lips against his cheek. His face flashed so many colors of red and pink. Before he could react, though, she had already disappeared down the stairs. After a few moments, he shoved his hands in his pockets and followed.
"Ah, Kyo! How nice of you to join us! Why is your face so flushed?" Shigure couldn't help but giggle.
The teen growled. "I'm eating on the roof!" He grabbed his plate and climbed the ladder to the roof.
Tohru frowned a little. "Shigure, Yuki… Could you excuse me?"
"Of course, Miss Honda," Yuki said softly, a little confusion in his face.
She took her plate and went up onto the roof. "Kyo-kun?"
"Hn?" He looked over at her with the fork in his mouth.
Tohru couldn't help but giggle a little as she sat beside him. "Mind if I join you? No one deserves to be alone on the holidays."
Without knowing it, he smiled softly as he nodded and went back to his dinner. He was actually kinda happy she joined him on the roof. He didn't exactly want to eat out here, but with Shigure down there, he just couldn't. Besides, this was much nicer. Just him and Tohru on the roof, free to talk about anything they pleased without the dog or that damn rat listening in.
Soon, they both finished their meals and sat the plates aside. They watched the night sky grow cloudier by the minute.
"Looks like it might snow," Kyo sighed after a long silence.
Tohru smiled, seeing him trying to make conversation. "I hope it does. It would be neat if our first snow was on Christmas." She stared in wonder at the grey sky.
Kyo watched her carefully. She looked so lovely in the dim moonlight, even if it was mostly hidden by the clouds. She had a twinkle in her eye, too. It was the most marvelous sight the cat had ever seen. It was a piece of art he wanted to hold forever. He pulled a hand out of his pocket and smiled. "Hey… Tohru?"
"Yes, Kyo-kun?" She looked to the male beside her. Her only response, however, was Kyo gently jerking his head upward, as if pointing to something.
Sure enough, in his hand over their heads was the mistletoe that hung in Tohru's doorway.
She gasped and blushed madly. "K-Kyo-kun? Why a-are you…" She couldn't seem to finish her sentence.
He thought she looked adorable now that she had turned red. He chuckled softly and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. He pulled away slightly, smiling as he felt the heat flowing through their barely touching cheeks. "Thank you, Tohru," he whispered, "and Merry Christmas."
She gasped silently, but slowly smiled again. "You're welcome, Kyo-kun, and Merry Christmas to you, too."
He pulled away to look into her lovely brown eyes. He smiled, seeing something in her that said three simple words. And those three little words were all he needed to push their lips together. The two began to feel warm inside just from that contact.
At that very moment, the snow began to flutter to the ground from the clouds. The two pulled away and looked up, laughing softly.
"It's snowing!" Tohru giggled.
"Yeah. It's snowing on Christmas… Just like you wanted." Kyo wrapped half his jacket around her, both of them nestled in the same jacket together. She snuggled closer to his side, careful not to make him transform by accident.
And they sat there, staring up at the falling Christmas snow. It was beautiful, both the snow, and the warmth flowing between the two.
"Oh, before I forget." Kyo dug in his coat pocket for the square box. "I got this for you as a present. I just wanted to wait until we were out of view from the two inside." He held it out for her.
Tohru looked at the box, then at Kyo, then back to the box before she finally took it. She hesitated to open it, feeling a little selfish for accepting it.
"Go on," he cooed softly, "Open it. I want you to have it."
She glanced up at Kyo again and smiled before lifting the lid. Inside the box was a small, silver bracelet. It had ebony and ivory beads like Kyo's, then a sweet pink outline of a heart in the middle.
Tohru gasped softly. "Kyo! Y-You shouldn't have! I-I-I can't accept this!"
"But I want you to." He pressed his lips against her forehead softly. "It's my present to you."
She carefully pulled it out and slipped it on her wrist, gazing at the cool shining beads. "Kyo, I… I love it!… I love you."
The cat chuckled softly and nuzzled her, kissing her hair gently. "I love you, too, Tohru Honda."
Shigure had witness the whole thing from the nearest window and smirked. "Mistletoe: The most magical thing after young love."