Summary: Tohru and Kyo realise their "dream" relationship has reached its end, and they mutually break up. Trying to move forward with their lives, they realise they may have been perfect all along...
This Is The One
Tohru stood there, frozen in total shock. Was this truly happening? It had come so fast!
"Well, what do you say?" asked Kyo, knelt down on one knee.
"Um... Yes!" said Tohru, beaming.
Shigure and Yuki cheered as Tohru embraced Kyo tightly.
It had seemed so perfect. Kyo had first proposed to Tohru, now he had offered for them to get an apartment together, in downtown Tokyo; some place called Evergreen Court Apartments.
It had seemed all so perfect... A little too perfect...
*
Tohru awoke with a start. It had once again been an almost sleepless night for her, tossing and turning in her dreams, that same vision still in her mind. She awoke a slumbering Kyo beside her, he grumbled slightly, before rolling onto his back. They had been together for almost three years now, living together for almost three months, and Tohru felt some trouble brewing on the horizon.
"Huh, wassup?" he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.
"I think we need to talk," she said, heaving a heavy sigh.
Kyo looked immediately alert "What's up?" he asked, holding her hand in his. His strong, yet gentle touch warmed Tohru's cold hands.
"I think we're deluding ourselves..." Tohru said finally, after about a minute's pause "do you think we're doing the right thing here? I mean, us?"
"You mean us being together?" asked Kyo, blinking at her in the soft lamplight of the room "Of course I do. Do you not feel the same?"
"I think I don't," said Tohru "I think we've rushed into this. We've only been in a proper relationship almost a year. Moving in together seemed like a good idea at first, but, I dunno... What do you think?"
"I think we're perfect for each other," Kyo said, kissing Tohru's hand, and rubbing it in his "but if you're not happy, I can't look away from that. What do you think we should do?"
"I think..." Tohru began "I think we should call it off for a bit, maybe see other people?"
Kyo looked sombre, and sad "If that's what you truly want, Tohru..." he said.
Tears filled Tohru's eyes "Don't make this harder than it already is," she said "just remember, we can still be great friends."
"Just know, I'll always love you, Tohru," he said, as tears trickled down his masculine cheeks, a rare trait from Kyo.
He stroked her long brown hair and pulled her close. He kissed her on the lips, as passionately as he could. It lasted for a few moments until they pulled away.
"Anything?" he asked, almost pleading. Tohru could tell his insides were screaming for her to say 'yes'.
"I'm..." she began "Afraid not..." she finished, hanging her head, almost in shame. Kyo's expression fell, Tohru could tell his perfect, dream-like world had just collapsed in on itself.
"Okay," Kyo managed to croak, as he put a hand to his eyes, in an attempt to cover the fact he was crying. It broke Tohru's heart to see him like this, but rather now than in thirty years when they hadn't so much as touched in nearly half that time.
She grabbed a pillow and began to walk to their bedroom door; boxes adorned the room. She looked back at Kyo's form in the duvet, his chest rising irregularly, an obvious sign her was crying. She left the room, tears in her eyes as well.
"I hope something good can come of such a stupid decision," she muttered to herself, as she left Kyo sobbing to himself. She walked and slumped onto the sofa, and pulled a blanket on her.
She had thought about it for a while now. She had felt that the spark wasn't there any more. Had it even been there to begin with? She began to doubt their relationship as a whole; a fake smile here, unpassionate love there. Who was she kidding besides herself? She wasn't in true love with him.
This killed her inside because she knew Kyo loved her with all his heart. Surely she'd feel the same? She had, after all confessed her love for him. Maybe that was pity?
She had no choice now, she couldn't delude herself, or lead Kyo on. It wasn't fair on either of them.
In the short term, they would both be upset. Tohru knew she could get over this, but she wasn't so sure about Kyo. He'd get over it eventually, wouldn't he?
*
The next morning rose awkwardly. Tohru awoke on the sofa, the events of the previous night flashing before her eyes in the early morning haze coming through the window. She blinked heavily in the sunlight as it peeked through the unclosed curtains.
She rubbed her eyes as she rose from the sofa. There were still a few boxes littering the room, the bits and pieces that hadn't been unpacked and placed. It seemed pointless to have even unpacked at all.
She grabbed her clothes and put them in a spare box. Kyo walked out of the bedroom silently, he didn't want to be seen by her at all. She couldn't blame him, really.
*
It had been almost two months since Tohru had left Kyo, and their relationship had come to a grinding halt, and Tohru was feeling the pain of not being with him. Uo and Hana had tried many times to get Tohru out of the house and look for someone else, but Tohru kept giving the same excuse "I'm fine as I am".
Tohru had moved back into her grandfather's house, to which he'd said "stay as long as you like, treat this as your own!"
Tohru had in fact left the house a number of times, and each time she had bumped into Kyo, in which there had been a very awkward silence, followed by awkward grins, and strolling off without any formal goodbyes..
One day, they finally convinced Tohru to go to a "speed dating" course at the concert hall downtown. Tohru reluctantly got ready. Hana and Uo were going to go, too, but Uo wasn't participating, she was with Kureno, after all.
The night brought with it the usual noisy crowds of people enjoying themselves. Tohru walked closely to Uo and Hana, being sure not to lose them in the crowd.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tohru asked.
"Yes, of course!" said Uo, looking down at Tohru "It's good to get you out of the house and getting on with your life!"
"Oh, okay then..." said Tohru, pulling her cardigan a little closer to her body, it was cold tonight "If you say so..."
They reached the concert hall at 7:30pm, with the speed dating beginning at 8:00.
"You've gotta sign in," said Uo, ushering Tohru and Hana to the table.
"Name?" asked a middle-aged woman sat at the table.
"Um..." said Tohru, taken aback "Tohru Honda."
The woman scribbled a name onto a tag that said 'Hello! My name is Tohru Honda!"
She jammed the badge into Tohru's hand, and pointed her down the corridor. Tohru didn't like the woman at all, and waited for Hana to sign in.
"Name?" said the woman to Hana.
"My name," said Hana mysteriously "is Saki Hanajima."
The woman grumbled as she wrote Hana's name onto the badge, and jammed it into Hana's hand. Hana billowed along with Tohru and Uo to the speed dating hall.
The hall itself was a vast room, filled with small tables with two chairs either side. There were about thirty or forty tables all together, and at one end of the room stood a raised stage. The room had smooth, cream walls and a wooden floor. It smelt of hefty doses of perfume and aftershave.
"Hana, you're not likely to get anyone looking like that." said Uo shortly, looking at Hana's black cloak as it billowed slightly behind her.
"I'm sure men aren't just looking for a supermodel," said Hana, as they turned into the room.
It was crowded and mostly full of men. They all seemed to halt their conversation as the trio entered the room. Tohru, Uo and Hana were like meat on display there, for the men to stare at.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, Kyo saw Tohru enter.
"Oh, crap!" said Kyo, putting a hand across his face, so he wouldn't be seen "Why? Just, why?!"
"Okay, I'm gonna sit at the sides here, and you two go and sit at an empty table." said Uo, pushing Tohru and Hana to separate tables, and walking to the side and sitting on a chair.
'Oh, God!' thought Tohru, as people walked past her 'Why did I agree to do this! It's like I've got to impress these people, like some piece of meat. This is so sexist...'
She glanced across the room, Hana was sat three tables away from her, staring blankly into space. She glanced over to Uo, who already looked bored, but waved ecstatically when she realised Tohru was looking at her. Tohru waved half-heartedly back, it was a nice gesture that Uo had done for her, but not really needed at all.
A man stood on the stage and tapped the microphone. Feedback erupted from the speakers as everyone in the room jammed their hands to their ears.
"Sorry about that!" said the man sheepishly "Now, welcome to the speed dating! I trust all of you know how this works, so I'm just gonna let you get on with it. Ready, gents?" said the man, looking at one side of the room, where thirty men were lined up. "You go to the table number you have been handed, and then work your way up the numbers, so if you got twenty-two, for example, you go to table twenty-three afterwards, then twenty-four etcetera. You have exactly two minutes to converse with the lady, and if you feel a 'spark', you write down her name on your list and wait until after the game is over to talk to her. Good luck. You may go.... Now!"
And with that, the thirty men shot to their tables. Tohru looked as a blond-haired man walked to her table.
'Great,' she thought 'here we go.'
"Hi there," said the man in a would-be confident voice "My name's Alex, and you?"
"I'm Tohru," replied Tohru, she hardly had the spirit now.
"Tell me about yourself?" asked Alex, his blue eyes shining in the lights of the room.
Tohru sat there, dumbfounded, she didn't realise not only was she on display, she had to give out cliché details about herself too. This was embarrassing beyond belief, and she wished for it to be over.
Ten minutes, and five men, later, a man with olive skin, dark hair and eyes, and a shirt which barely contained his muscles came up to her table.
"Hi there," he said, in a strong, American accent; the charisma practically oozing from him.
Tohru almost melted "H-Hi there," she breathed back.
"I'm Isaac," he said, his perfect white teeth on show as he smiled.
"I-I'm Tohru," she replied, having to check her lip for drool.
Isaac giggled slightly as Tohru checked her lip.
"So, tell me about yourself?" he said.
Tohru made a little more effort with this guy, he seemed genuine and nice, plus he was hot! She tried to not sound big-headed, and returned the question to the man.
He gave basically the same information Tohru had given him, they liked the same things, same places. He worked at a restaurant called Matake's, which was quite far away from Tohru's house.
The bell rang and Isaac began to get up. He winked at Tohru and said "See you around."
Tohru could only mumble back as he stood up and left, his back rippling through the shirt. Tohru glared at the girl opposite who he sat with.
Another guy sat with her, his had pulled his shirt up across his face, his luminous orange hair was a give away to who he was.
"Kyo?" said Tohru, reaching over and pulling his shirt down.
"Yeah, it's me," he said sheepishly, blushing.
"What're you doing here?" asked Tohru.
"Same thing you are," replied Kyo "looking to move on."
"Kyo," said Tohru "I gotta be honest. I haven't stopped thinking about you since I told you those stupid words two months ago. I've been regretting it since."
"Y-You have?" replied Kyo.
"Yes," said Tohru, looking down "After tonight I've realised I'm not supposed to be with just anyone."
"What do you mean?" asked Kyo.
"We're meant to be together," said Tohru "it's written in our destiny."
"You mean?" said Kyo.
"Ye-"
The bell rang, and immediately every man shifted one space. Kyo stood up and walked away. Tohru looked upset, had Kyo not thought the same as her? It was true she had regretted what she'd said, but maybe Kyo didn't regret breaking up with her, maybe it wasn't written in their destiny to be together...
*
It came to the end of the night. The women got out of their chairs and awaited their male suitors to come get them. Some women had gone up to the man they had "clicked" with, and it didn't surprise Tohru to see most of them had gone up to Isaac.
Tohru knew something like Isaac was too good to be true, but she was completely abashed when Isaac walked up to her.
"So..." he said "You feel anything from tonight?"
"Y-You mean?" asked Tohru, looking into his dark brown eyes.
"Yeah," he said "I feel you're different from all the other girls. You're smart, genuine, and you're not draped all over me like those other girls."
Tohru almost melted as Isaac hugged her. She felt good in his strong arms. They exchanged numbers, but whilst talking to Isaac, she saw Kyo.
She had her mind made up.
"I'm sorry," said Tohru, smiling apologetically "but there was someone here who I felt more of a connection to."
"Oh," replied Isaac "okay then."
"We can still be friends?" said Tohru.
"Of course we can," replied Isaac, smiling his perfect smile again.
And with that, they separated. Tohru walked up to Kyo, who seemed to be sulking.
"Hi there," said Tohru.
"Huh?" replied Kyo, looking up "Oh, it's you. Why aren't you with Hercules over there?" he asked, folding his arms.
"Because I still stick by what I said earlier," said Tohru, holding his hand in hers "you're the one for me."
"Really?" said Kyo, his eyes widening.
"Yes!" replied Tohru, hugging Kyo tightly, who clung to her.
Their lips met, and the fireworks exploded around them. She melted more into Kyo than any other man could make her.
"Yes," said Tohru, still in Kyo's arms as they walked out of the hall "This one... This is the one..."
THE END
(A/N: Okay, I hope you enjoyed this little, 'unofficial' prequel to CBTM, which introduces Isaac, and how he came to have Tohru's number etc.
Anyway, I thought a little cutesy story was in order, for those who complained Come Back To Me isn't happy enough, haha. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and continue to enjoy Come Back To Me!)