Key

Fruba- words in the story

Fruba- thoughts

"Fruba"- quotes

A Rainy Day

Tohru was boiling water to make rice for her and the Sohmas' dinner. Shigure was sitting at the table reading a novel and talking to her. Yuki was gone at the moment; he was at school with student council duties. But Kyo would be back soon, for he was training with his master at the dojo. Tohru hummed to herself as she waited for the water to boil. Suddenly she heard a pitter-patter on the roof.

"It sounds like it's starting to rain." Shigure said looking up from his book.

"Oh no, Kyo-kun is still at the dojo! He hates the rain." Tohru panicked. Shigure smiled.

"Why don't you go meet him after his class? I'm sure he'll be ok with an umbrella. I'll cook the rice for you." He offered.

"You would do that Shigure-san?" Shigure nodded and waved Tohru off.

Tohru grabbed an umbrella before hurrying out of the house and down the path to Kazuma's dojo. When she arrived she was panting. Kazuma gave her a concerned look.

"Did you need something Tohru-kun?" he asked.

"Y-Yes", Tohru wheezed, "Is Kyo-kun still here?" Shishou shook his head.

"I'm sorry; he went out the other door a few minutes before you arrived. I think he planned to go through the forest so he wouldn't get as wet."

"Thank you." Tohru bowed her head quickly as she left the way Kyo had.

Tohru searched the path ahead before stopping to think. Kyo-kun must be tired from sparring with Shishou-san. The rain will only make him weaker. Suppose he turned into a cat! If so I should be searching the ground not the path! Deciding this, Tohru started looking for orange among the leaves and brush. Soon she caught sight of bright orange under a log.

"Kyo-kun!" she called hurrying over to him.

"Dammit! Stupid rain turned me into a cat…" Tohru smiled.

"Where are your clothes? I'll get them for you."

"Somewhere up the path. I didn't come too far to get to this log. Damn rain." Kyo cursed again. Tohru searched for Kyo's white gi along the path. She found it quickly, like Kyo had told her it wasn't far away.

When Tohru returned Kyo was still in cat form.

"I found your gi." She told him. "It's a little wet though…"

"It can't be helped…" Kyo said rising slowly. He stumbled over to Tohru to sit under her umbrella. The same umbrella he had so long ago told Tohru he would never stand under. (2nd FB book) He shook the water off his body and looked up at her.

"How do you plan to get home? I can't lead you very well like this." He said.

"W-Well I didn't really think about that." Tohru admitted. "It'll be hard for me to keep the umbrella over both of us and you lead me…"

"You don't have to worry about keepin' me dry!" Kyo told her. Tohru looked down thinking. She looked back up at Kyo as she got an idea.

"I know! I… If you let me I could…. Carry you and you could give me directions."

If Kyo had been in human form he would have been blushing. As a cat, he just looked away from Tohru's gaze embarrassedly thinking. C-Carry me?

"Well… I uh, guess that would work…" he said, still not looking at her. He only looked back when he felt Tohru's hand at his sides.

She lifted him onto her shoulder, his paws dangling behind her back, and his head resting by her neck. Tohru folded Kyo's gi over her arm and picked up the umbrella. Tohru began walking with Kyo in her arms. She started thinking about her time with the Sohmas and stopped. Kyo was almost asleep when she stopped, and this made him open his eyes and look at her.

"What'd ya stop for?" he asked tiredly.

"Kyo-kun… when we first met, did you…" Tohru paused wondering if she should ask him something like this.

"Did I what?"

"Hate me?"

Her question surprised Kyo and he shifted his body to look at her.

"What do you mean? I never hated you."

"When we first met-"

"I was a jerk to you… And for a while after you lived with us I was too. I was kinda afraid of what you would think of me… especially because then I thought you were an outsider. Back then, I worried about outsiders because I knew they wouldn't understand me. Even other people from the juunishidon't understand me. I thought if I was mean to you or ignored you that you would go away. But soon, I stopped thinking of you as an outsider and let you talk to me and become my friend."

Kyo's voice halted here as if he had just realized what he was telling Tohru. He had never shared his personal feelings with anyone before. But telling Tohru all this had made him feel a lot better; it felt so natural talking to her. Perhaps if he told her everything he could feel even better.

"I don't know when it started, but soon I took advantage of you being there for me. That led to me wanting you to be there and me wanting to be with you." "I want… I want to be near you… until the time when I must go away. I want to be with you 'til the end"

"And then I started getting jealous…"

"Jealous… of who Kyo-kun?" Tohru asked after a long silence.

"Of Yuki,"

"But you and Yuki have always been jealous of each-" Kyo cut her off.

"Yeah, we've always been jealous of each other. But this was different. I was jealous of how close he was to you and how much time you spent together."

"Ah! I'm sorry I-I really didn't realize I was spending more time with Yuki-kun than with you!" Tohru said quickly.

"You weren't Tohru… I just thought you were. Because…" "When did it start? When did I start thinking that my name had a special ring to it whenever she would say it? When did I start telling myself that I would do anything over and over again if I knew it would make her smile? When did I start loving you so much I couldn't stand it?"

"Kyo…" Tohru set her umbrella down and buried her face in his fur. Kyo didn't even mind the fact that the rain was falling down on them harder than ever. After she held him close for a while she set him on the ground.

"I… I think you might be able to change back now." She said a slight pink blush rising in her cheeks. Tohru was right. In a few minutes Kyo had turned back into his human form. With a small 'eep!' Tohru closed her eyes and held out Kyo's gi. Only when she was sure she had given Kyo enough time to dress, did Tohru open her eyes.

When Tohru did open her eyes, Kyo was kneeling right in front of her. She looked up to him and met his eyes. They were filled with something Tohru had never seen in them. So many feelings… She thought. There are so many feelings showing in Kyo-kun's eyes…

"I thought you were because I… because…" Kyo tried to finish his sentence. Tohru watched him, giving him the chance to finish his thoughts. But he didn't. The next thing Tohru knew Kyo was kissing her. She didn't have a chance to react as he pulled back quickly.

"I shouldn't have done that…" Kyo mumbled. "You just don't feel the same I should have known…" Kyo stared at the ground for a long time before Tohru spoke.

"N-No Kyo-kun, that's not true. I…I love you…" "Kyo, for the sake of the woman who will one day tell you she loves you don't run away. Keep training."

"As if someone would ever tell me that!"

"And if someone did what would you do?"

"I can't even imagine. I guess… I'd ask her if she was sane."

Kyo's eyes widened as he heard Tohru say this. He didn't know how to respond. He looked back up to Tohru who was smiling gently. She put her head against his chest and closed her eyes. For a long time they didn't move or say anything, but finally Tohru lifted her head.

"We… we should get back. Everyone will worry, and I left Shigure with the rice."

"Then we should get back. He's nearly as bad as Shishou with cooking."

Tohru laughed and stood up. Kyo did too and picked up the umbrella as well. Tohru took one of Kyo's hands and he held the umbrella above them with the other. They walked home like that, holding hands and laughing. They pulled apart before they were in view of Shigure's house.

Before entering Shigure's house they seemed to come to a silent agreement. They knew no one but themselves should know about what happened that day. They would have to go on pretending like nothing had changed. Even if they tried to deny it, both Kyo and Tohru were afraid of Akito and what he might do to them if he found out.

"I understand. I finished the rice for you."

"Let me guess", Kyo said, "You burnt it."

"Must you be so harsh Kyo-kun? For your knowledge I didn't burn it. (This time.)"

Tohru smiled as she listened to Kyo and Shigure talk/argue. It was good to be with such kind people.

Mini Dictionary

Dojo: a place to train martial arts, especially sword fighting.

Gi: a traditional outfit used in martial arts. The jacket is usually long-sleeved and like the top of a kimono, but the outfit itself has loose-fitting pants. (The colors are usually black, white, red, and blue. I imagine Kyo's would be black or white.)

Juunishi: Chinese zodiac members.

Quotes

Quote 1- 9th Fruba book. Kyo's thoughts

Quote 2- 9th FB book. Kyo's thoughts. (Again)

Quote 3- 1st Fruits Basket book. Shigure and Kyo.