A/N: Written for Kaia (a beautiful misfortune) through the GGE. :D Enjoy.
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Training Time
Kyo and Tohru had travelled around quite a bit. They'd lived in many places, made many new friends. And Kyo had trained with many different people, at many different dojos, so that he could learn everything there was to know about this world, and to get stronger.
Strong enough to protect her smile: Tohru's smile, waving him off at the front door, wishing him a safe and happy day, having freshly cooked meals for him on his return, more delicious than anything he could hope to make with his own two hands.
That was his reason now: the reason to become stronger, the strongest. To protect her, and her smile, forever.
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He liked this dojo. It was just like his adopted father's, in a sense. The same calmness, the same serenity, the same smiling face of the instructor that never yelled or scolded but encouraged, always encouraged.
That was okay. Not every instructor had to be a grizzly bear to learn something, and Kyo was tiring of grizzly bears for the time being anyway. That was why he'd left that last dojo. That…and he'd learnt everything he could from that man.
When he stopped learning new things, he stopped growing stronger as well. Then it was time to move on, to search for some new strength…
So he could keep on protecting her, forever.
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She always asked him about his training. If he enjoyed it. If he felt he was getting stronger. And he was happy to tell her all about it, because that was the point of it all, right? To become stronger for her, to protect her and to continue living this life with her forever.
So he told her all about it: the happiness it brought him, to feel himself becoming stronger, and the security it brought, to be able to feel like he could protect her from anything, keep her with him forever.
And she'd smile and tell him to worry so much even if he wasn't worried at all and say she was fine and safe, and so was he, and nothing was going to tear them apart. Then she'd give him a spoon of soup or curry or one of her famous onigiri and they'd smile and laugh together and night would fall behind them
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They'd stayed a little longer than usual because he still had more to learn: years and years worth of things to learn from this instructor, just like from his adopted father. If Tohru was curious as to why they lingered, she never said. Maybe it was the same to her: what brought her happiness was him, and him being happy, and being able to cook for him and look after him, so it didn't matter where they were.
She had her own little garden too, and he didn't protect to the leeks she had growing in a corner. They were good for a cold after all, and she liked them so he tolerated it. He was starting to grow fond of them as well, now that the cat spirit within him had departed.
The leeks were growing tall again, and he was growing taller and stronger still, from that old man's wisdom: the instructor that was becoming like a grandfather to him.
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Tohru showed up to one of his classes one day, all dressed the part and ready to train, formally. He was surprised; she'd never expressed interest for learning from anyone other than him, and even then it was a casual interest at best.
Later, she confessed her interest was in the man who was becoming so close to his heart. A man who had taught him more than any other instructor he'd found, except perhaps his adopted father: another instructor he loved with all his heart.
She invited the old man to dinner: they laughed and talked like they really were a family, for a time. And Kyo thought he could live years that way, and Tohru thought so as well.
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They did live there for years, but eventually the time came where Kyo couldn't learn anything more and restlessness settled in. He still had to get stronger, to protect her from anything that might be in their future. And so the time came to say goodbye…
But they said goodbye with a smile, and went in search for a new learning ground for him, and a new place to build a home and a family for her.