Up on the rooftop
By kira
For hanakoanime…
888
Kyou dashed up the stairs. Those stupid morons at school had been giving him hell again about not having a girlfriend and he just did not want to even deal with that subject. He wanted nothing more than to sit up on the roof and just… be. Heedless of where he was going, he never noticed Tohru coming downstairs until it was almost too late. He nearly ran straight into her in his carelessness and they were both lucky that all that happened was that they were nose to nose as he gripped her arms tightly. Time seemed to slow down in that moment as everything faded away except for the two of them. He could feel the warmth of her arms under his fingertips and faint soapy clean scent of the laundry she had been hanging out to dry. He stared into her worried eyes, licking his suddenly dry lips. Kyou wanted to kiss her so badly he could taste it. In a heartbeat the moment was broken, shattered into a million little pieces as time sped up to its normal pace. That damned rat just had to appear out of nowhere and open his mouth.
"Miss Honda, are you alright?"
"Yes, Yuki…" She smiled at him.
Kyou felt his heart sink as he slowly let go of his death grip on her. "Sorry, Tohru," he mumbled, and pushing past her, he scrambled up the stairs. A few minutes later, he was on the roof, mentally cursing the rat for spoiling his big opportunity. He was within inches of kissing Tohru, never mind she was holding the empty laundry basket between them, Kyou was certain they would have kissed. So he sat there, hugging his knees, and feeling very sorry for himself. He liked her so much; he was willing to put up with living under the same roof as that damned Yuki, that and it made his Shishou happy. But it unfortunately, it made Kyou very unhappy. He took a deep breath, letting it out as a heartfelt sigh. He stared off into space in a vain attempt at forgetting Tohru and the kiss that never was. He had nearly succeeded too, when he heard the sound of her voice.
"Kyou…?" It grew closer. "Kyou, are you okay…?"
Kyou heard the sound of her unsteady footsteps on the roof draw nearer too.
"Kyou… you ummm… you forgot your sweatshirt and I ummm…"
"I'm not cold, Tohru," he lied.
"Oh, well, I ummm…"
"Thanks," he said, reaching for his sweatshirt and shrugging into it.
"You're welcome…" she murmured as she sat down next to him.
They let the silence stretch between them, but it was a good silence and in a perfect world, Kyou would lift his arm and she would snuggle into him. Instead, they simply sat there. Wondering if she was enjoying herself, Kyou stole a sideways glance at her, just as Tohru was doing the same thing. Their eyes met and he could feel his cheeks heating up in much the same way hers were. Somehow, Kyou had the feeling he did not look half as cute as she did. It was then that he realized she had her hand resting comfortably on top of his. He was about to pull it away when she gave it a tiny squeeze. Kyou felt like he had died and gone to heaven. It never occurred to him that she might actually like him back. Sure Tohru had often prattled on about how she liked the cat the best out of the animals from the zodiac story, but he never imagined she really meant him. Screwing up his courage, Kyou closed his eyes and leaned towards her. The last thing he saw was Tohru tilting her head to the side as she did the same thing. Just like before, time seemed to slow down as they got caught up in the moment and just like before, the moment was shattered.
"Miss Honda, are you up there?"
"Yes, she's up here, you damned rat! What do you want?" Kyou called out angrily and he climbed to his feet. He was about to go give that meddlesome Yuki a what-for when he paused at the faint, muffled sound of Tohru's giggling. He gave her a hand and pulled her to his feet. For once as they made their way off the roof, he found he just could not muster up any anger towards his stupid cousin. He may not have been able to kiss her like he wanted to, but Kyou was sure of one thing, he was the one who had Tohru's heart.