PUDDLES
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, although I wished I owned Kyo : p
God how he hated days like these. These wet, cold rainy days. And why wouldn't he? He was, after all, the cat of the Zodiac, and if there's one thing that all cats hated, it was water of any form—especially rain. Cold liquid that fell mercilessly from the heavens to wreck havoc upon those who inhabited the land it decided to curse, spreading sickness, making everything too damn cold and wet. As cold as he was now, staring out at those falling droplets that he loathed so much, even though he technically wasn't in the rain.
He was sitting out on the porch staring out at the downpour, mentally shivering as he watched all those droplets slam into the earth and explode. He wasn't in the rain, but just seeing it sent cold shivers up his spine, creating the illusion that he was out there in it, all wet and cold and miserable…Rain had to be a mistake; after all, who needed it? It was wet and cold and rather noisy; completely and utterly useless, in his superior opinion.
However, for all the downsides to rain, there was perhaps one good thing about it, although it really wasn't a majorly good thing, not something he thought about every time he saw a raindrop fall from the sky. Of course he didn't think about it that much; what did it matter to him that she liked the rain? It was irrelevant, as pointless as the rain itself. He never thought about her; it was just coincidence that he thought about that—what she had told him once, those many weeks ago—now. Yes, it was only this time…or at least, it was different this time, unlike the other various times…Other twenty times…thirty times… Does the fact that the thought crossed his mind every time it rained, or even clouded up, mean that he cared?
Oh yes, it was a fact now—Kyo Sohma was in denial, a deep, deep, deep denial that he thought he could lie himself out of. Too bad that he was a bad liar as well. The thoughts came almost naturally now, and it wasn't simply the idea of her liking the rain that haunted his thoughts. No, almost everything she told him somehow managed to get stuck in his head, reemerging at any slight reminder pertaining to that thing, that personal detail about herself. Like the rain…
So what was the true reason he sat outside in the middle of a rainstorm, watching the cursed water fall? It was simple when he got right down to it, although he made a point not to do that often. He just wanted to see what made her feel so happy about the damn water, about the cold liquid that descended from the sky to make him so cranky.
It wasn't like he was curious as to what she liked, or even that he wanted to please her by getting involved in the things she liked. He just…He just wanted to figure her out more, wanted to see why she liked the things she liked, and why the rain, this cold water that was tainted with so many natural elements, attracted her so.
He still could not figure out why she was always on his mind; it was such an easy thing to think of, but it had such an intricate answer. An answer which he always denied himself. The farthest he would ever go in admitting the truth was to think that he liked her. Liked her as only a friend, however. Sure she was cute and had a certain charm, and her long brown hair and her big doe brown eyes that could make anyone melt inside, and that sweet smile that took his breath away. But she could only ever be his friend, and he could only ever think of her that way.
But…Maybe their relationship was a little more than friendship. It was like a…Sister-brother relationship, where he always protected her from the crazy she-man that was Akito. And she…she always looked after him too. Like the time she had chased after him when he had reverted to his monstrous side, that wicked day when the bracelet had come off… She had held his arm and cried for him, cried until he could fight it and see her with eyes not clouded with pain, with anger. It had been raining that day, too. Raining tears for him, from the sky, from her eyes… And the rain had cleared when he had come back to her, and held her in his arms. If only for a second she had been up against him, her breath on his skin, and he had been…happy, even though he was wet, shivering, drenched by rain… He had been happy.
But that didn't matter now; that feeling was gone, and it had been foolish and odd ot even think of it. All people were warm and soft, all people had hot breath; to be that close to someone…of course it had made him happy, if only to have contact with someone. It didn't matter that she was Tohru; it didn't matter at all to him…
But she had smelt so good; the scent of her long brown hair… Staring into the rain now it hit him again, the scent of fresh lilacs, of spring, of happiness, of everything he had always been denied. And when he had held her…
He could not deny that, that feeling he had gotten in the pit of his stomach, in the core of his heart. The feeling that was so wonderful it had hurt, so warm it had burned him. He had never felt such a thing before, for anyone except Seishou when he complimented him or hugged him. But it was still different than that, still somehow stronger, more exhilarating. His heart had pounded, his breath had caught in his throat the instant he had had her in the arms, and his entire body had been on fire. And his eyes had closed, and his heart had lurched in such a way that he thought it would jump out of his face.
What had been wrong with him? Wait, don't answer that. What had the feeling been? Don't answer that either. He was afraid of what he had felt, of what—deep down—he till felt. He knew the feeling, but then he didn't. Frustrating. Annoying. Addicting.
He wanted, from the deep confines of his locked, abused heart, to feel that feeling again, that wonderfully wrong feeling to have her in his arms again. It was sickening yet tempting, much like the rain falling was doing to him now. He despised it, but a growing part of him—inspired completely by her—was starting to…love it.
Tohru Honda, the only person who could make his life so clear yet still so blurry. The only person to make his heart lurch, to make him question himself, see past the monster for so long he felt that he was.
He wanted to deny it all, wanted to deny that happiness he had felt, the completeness having her in his arms had brought him. He knew what the feeling was though, he knew it in his gut, in his heart, through the layers of denial he had built, constructed so firmly that he couldn't bring it down, that feeling for her, so bright, so burning, so perfect… Love. He shied away from it, but he couldn't escape it, never entirely. He told himself that she was too airheaded for him, too cheerful and happy and quirky. But he knew that it was just denial again, denial in all her brilliance, covering up the trued with shadows that the light would eventually chase away.
Denial was safe, denial provided protection so that he didn't have to face anything, blissfully ignorant to that damn truth he knew was far too true. The denial made him feel weak, because he knew that he was hiding in it, knew that he was not strong enough to overcome it and face that truth.
The rain wouldn't help him overcome it; it just kept falling, stupid and pointless and getting too loud. So why was he sitting here watching it? It was an endless cycle that he could not break, a circle that wrapped around him and was constricting him. He had to admit the truth to break it, and he couldn't, not at all, not so long as he was breathing, at least, as long as he had his own free will.
He couldn't take his thoughts anymore; it was too much, the rain pounding at his ears, in his skull and with a growl he stood, without thinking, and stepped out into the downpour. The water droplets, so many of them, soaked him instantly, and he shook his head, his orange mane flying out only to become plastered to his head.
He didn't know why, but suddenly being in the cold water seemed to send his previous thoughts drifting away, almost as though they had been, in fact, washed away. Standing still amidst it his mind was clear, his emotions blurry by a thousand little droplets that soaked into him, and he asked himself—for the first time—if the rain really was that bad.
Lost in nonexisting thoughts and the feel of the water dripping steadily down his body—that cold, wonderful sensation—he did not hear the sound of footsteps splashing through the forming puddles behind him. Everything around him seemed to freeze as a sweet, bell like voice wafted to him on the rain, carried in the raindrops, the storm clouds. Her voice…
"Kyo-kun?"
Her voice was like the rain, soft and gentle as it threaded itself throughout his body, his heart, his soul. Slowly he turned around to face her, rain falling into his crimson eyes to finally look at her, stare at her.
All he could think was that in front of him was the goddess of the rain. The droplets seemed to glow on her soft skin, shimmering and reflecting them both in a thousand different ways, a thousand different colors. Her hair was darker, sticking in flowing strands to her head, to her rosy cheeks as the fringe of her bangs just barely met her soft eyes, eyes that reflected everything with a special light that only she had. Only Tohru…
"Tohru…" her name fell from his lips without his knowledge, his eyes still taking in the beautiful sight of her as in his chest his heart did a slow cartwheel. She parted her lips just as a loud blast of thunder shattered the heavens, and around them the rain grew thicker, harder, to cover them in their own private curtain where there was just the two of them, standing in the rain, staring at one another, hopelessly, for that moment, enraptured.
They did not move for awhile, the rain a steady hiss, the thunder a steady voice above them. There was little time to breathe, no words to speak; there was only her eyes and the rain and the way her outfit clung to her, the delicate flush of her skin. He could not stop looking at her…
"K-Kyo…" His name fell on him like the rain, comforting, purging. He wanted to hear it again. He tried to pull himself back together by remembering who he was, who she was, before replying in a slightly gruff voice. "What are you doing out here? You could get sick!"
He tried his best to mask the concern that was building up inside of him, but the rain, like everything else, uncovered it. He wanted to wear a scowl on his face, wanted to look away from her, but he just couldn't do it anymore. He…He didn't care anymore.
The feelings were rising within him, the…truth as in her brown eyes he could not hide, and no longer wanted to. He was just staring at her, his eyes—for the first time since he could remember—expressing all he felt as the thunder crackled above him, as the rain made steady tracks that could have been tears down his face. All she could do, widening her eyes slightly so that more brown showed, more of the girl he loved, was take a step towards him, and then another step, and then another.
They were silent as she stood before him, unblinking as they gazed at each other, and their eyes said it all. He should have been astonished by the softness of her eyes as she stared up at him, but he couldn't be; not when he had known about it all along. Her presence enveloped him—the scent of beloved lilacs in the rain entrancing him—but she was far enough away so that he couldn't feel her heat, her own special warmth. He couldn't take it.
"K-Kyo, are you…ok?" Her words were hushed, a mere whisper, and he knew that she felt the moment too. He could see it in her bright eyes, in the pink in her cheeks, the red of her lips…
His hands came up and grasped her delicate shoulders, and for a moment they were still. A part of him still wanted to pull away, to resist…Until she took another step towards him, and he could just barely feel her body heat, see each rain drop running down her face, her hair, the tears of heaven only for them.
She seemed to melt in his arms, a puddle that was his to hold as her shoulders sagged, her face relaxed and the gentlest of smiles tugged at the corners of her mouth. And the part that wanted to let her go wilted, washed away by that soothing rain that seemed to push him towards her, closer and closer and closer…
One step and his foot was in a puddle, his hand—strong and sure—reaching up to snake into her glistening long strands of hair. She looked at him, and he looked at her, innocent brown and fierce red that clashed, connected, and were lost in the rain.
Everything that had been in denial before broke through clear and vibrant, the sun in the rain and he could no longer resist it all, her eyes, her pink cheeks, that little smile… And he leaned down to taste that smile, that sweetness, and it tasted as pure as the rain.
Electricity sizzled as the kiss deepened without them even knowing it, his arms finding her waist as hers found his shoulders, pulling him as close as possible without him transforming. He wasn't Kyo and she wasn't Tohru; they were just two lovers caught up in a storm they didn't want to abate as the lightning punctured the air and the rain feel from him to her and back again.
There they stood, in the largest puddle that had been their denial at their feet as the rain consumed them, and he held her even tighter, never to let her go, never to fall back into that puddle of denial.
And Kyo, as he kissed Tohru again, could suddenly see why she liked the rain so much.
I'd written this story awhile ago and found it the other day and thought why not type it up? Of course I made it better than it was; I never realized how much I've improved as a writer until I saw the original version of this story, ha. But I've always loved Tohru and Kyo, so this is my little tribute to them. Sorry about the fluff monster that ate this story; I can't help it anymore! :p Please feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think!