Kyou sighed and closed the math book. Done, finally. Now he could go for a run. As he headed out, he noticed Tohru putting on her coat. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Oh, Kyou-kun! I was just going to the grocery store…"
Hmm…the damn rat is at a council meeting and Shigure is out…somewhere. "Don't you need help with the bags?"
"I'll manage…"
He conked her on the head. "It really bothers me when you won't say what you want. I'll come."
"You don't have to-"
"I want to." He flashed one of his rare but beautiful smiles. "Let's go."
"O-okay."
It had snowed the night before and so the roads and sidewalks were slippery. Even so, the city was bursting with people of all sizes and ages.
Tohru twirled around happily. "The first snow is so pretty, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Her happy, excited face slightly rosy from the cold made him smile. God, I love her.
They walked in comfortable silence for a bit. Then it happened. As they were crossing the street, a car came speeding out of nowhere.
Tohru screamed.
Without thinking, Kyou dove to push her out of the way. The car hit him, and there was a sickening crunch as blood flew, staining the white snow. The car screeched to a halt.
"Kyou-kun!" Tohru was already on her knees beside Kyou when the driver got out.
"Oh shit!" The driver had been a well-dressed middle aged man. He turned to Tohru, who now had tears falling down her cheeks onto Kyou's motionless body. "I'm calling 911."
Tohru ignored him. "Kyou-kun, wake up! Wake up!" She begged desperately.
A crowd started to form, and one woman pushed through. "I'm a doctor. Move it, move it!"
She squatted next to Tohru and Kyou and took his pulse. "Damn…an ambulance! Has anyone called 911!"
"I did!" A woman with two children clinging to her fearfully said.
"Me too." Added the driver of the car.
"Thank god. I'm going to perform CPR. Please move." She told Tohru.
Tohru did move, crying to the point that her tears were blinding. The driver of the car came up to her. "How old's your friend?"
"17,"she sobbed. "He's only 17!"
"Oh god, a damn kid." The guy muttered. He called to the doctor, "Are you getting anywhere?"
"His heart's not beating!"
"No!" Tohru screamed and ran to Kyou again. "Kyou-kun, wake up! Kyou-kun…Kyou…I love you!"
Sirens wailed. The ambulance! EMTs rushed out with a defibrillator. They shocked Kyou. And again. Again.
"He's gone." One said.
"No!" Tohru cried. "No, no, no! Not Kyou!"
"There's nothing we can do." The woman doctor told her.
"There must be! Hatori-san! Call Hatori-san!"
"Who?"
"The family doctor. Hatori-san can save him!"
The woman shook her head. "There's nothing we can do." She repeated.
"Kyou-kun!" She rushed forward and threw her arms around him. But he didn't transform. His body was already getting cold, but she didn't let go. "I love you…I love you…"
An EMT pulled her away and steered her to the ambulance. Someone gave her a glass of water and covered her with a blanket. Before the doors closed, someone covered Kyou's body with a tarp. They could cover his body, but they couldn't cover the blood.
Later she learned he hadn't transformed because he had, in fact, been dead. Once the curse leaves the body there's no bringing them back. That day changed Tohru. She spoke her mind more often. She was bold and didn't let others insult her. Strangely, her relationship with Yuki strengthened, though she never felt the way about him she did about Kyou. She never really got over him, and never married, but when a new child with the curse of the cat was born, she treated him as her own. Some nights, when she needed to be alone and think, she would sit on the roof, staring at the stars, and she swore she felt someone next to her, not touching her, but silently keeping her company.
The End