A/N: Hello! :) I hope you like this one. Thank you for the love and support.

Tohru wakes up the next morning to the sound of knocking on her front door, and a stiff-ish pain in her neck. She sits up fully and glances to her right, realizing her neck must hurt because she'd slept on Kyo all night, in the same position she'd fallen asleep. His head is lolled back against the back of the couch now, but he'd stayed still other than that, letting her cling to him. She doesn't have time to process all the feelings that come along with that, though, because someone is still at her door. She shakes her head to wake herself up a bit more, then stands. Kyo stirs when he feels the couch move, and he immediately rubs at his own neck, too.

"Someone here?" he asks when he figures out why she's gotten up. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No, it's fine. I'm not expecting anyone."

And she isn't. In fact, she's really not expecting to see Asahi, of all people, on the other side, but there he is. Tohru can't even get a proper greeting out.

"Um."

"Hi," Asahi says. He still looks like he's a little nervous around her, but less-so now, and he leans forward to kiss her. Tohru really can't move, can't breathe, can't think, so she just stands there like an idiot.

When he pulls back, he asks, "Can I come in for a minute?"

She still doesn't say anything, so he takes that as a "yes" and steps past her into the genkan. He catches sight of something over her shoulder, and his eyes widen a bit. She turns around to follow his gaze, and sees that Kyo's now standing in the kitchen getting a glass of water, in perfect view of the front door (so he saw everything that just happened, which is horrible).

"'Sup," Kyo calls awkwardly.

"Uh. Hey, man. Tohru, I think I left my watch in your bedroom. Could I go look?"

Tohru wishes the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Surely whatever fate would await her then would be better than what's happening here.

"O-oh, yes, of course!" She starts to gesture toward her bedroom, then catches herself and mumbles anxiously, "Well, you know where it is."

She and Kyo stand together in the kitchen, engulfed in a thick silence and listening to Asahi rustle around in the bedroom for a minute. When he returns, he has his watch on his wrist again.

"Thanks," he says, making his way to the door. Tohru reaches out and grabs his arm. He jumps as if having been burned, and she pulls her hand back quickly.

"Uh, Asahi, I think we should talk."

"Okay."

"Oh, uh," Kyo pipes up from the kitchen area, "I'll go out on the balcony...or something, if you want."

Tohru shakes her head. "It's okay. We can talk out front."

Out on the doorstep, Tohru stares at the ground. She has no idea where to begin. She's sorry he came over at such an inconvenient time. Maybe that's what she should say first. When she opens her mouth, though, he cuts her off.

"No beating around the bush, please. Just tell me."

"Ah, well..." She moves her eyes up to his face, and she hates how uncomfortable he looks.

"I know we never put a label on us or anything, and it would have been really quick to do that, anyway, but…" He shrugs and shakes his head. "I don't know. I just hoped you could start to like me as much as I like you."

Tohru takes a deep breath to compose herself. Even though, for the upteenth time this past week, she has no idea what to say, she's learning that just starting is the hardest part. Just do that first, then she can figure out the rest as she goes. "Kyo is just my friend. I've known him for a long time. I...I'm sorry you came over right now and got the impression you did. But also, I'm not ready for anything serious with you, Asahi. I'm sorry."

And she is sorry. She's sorry she might have led him on. She's sorry he had to find out like this. She's sorry that he fell for her, and she's really sorry that she couldn't fall for him back.

Asahi sighs. "Yeah, I get it. I like you a lot, but I kind of got the feeling that this wasn't going to go anywhere serious...at least not yet."

"But you slept with me anyway?" It's the first question that comes to her mind. She's not quite sure why, but she needs to know how he sees that night.

"Well, uh, yeah. I mean, I like you, and you're gorgeous, and you initiated it. So why wouldn't I?"

She doesn't quite remember initiating anything—though the whole night is kind of blurry—but that's not the point right now. "Right. That makes sense."

"Besides, you're in love with him, right?"

Her eyes widen and she looks away, because if she doesn't, she thinks she might burst into tears.

When she doesn't say anything, Asahi continues. "I'm gonna get going. I wish you good luck with him. Really."

"Thank you," she whispers. She listens to his footsteps go down the stairs, then wipes at her eyes to make sure they're not damp and goes back inside.

Kyo's on the couch again, his knee bouncing up and down. She can't help but smile a little at seeing that habit come back up, even though she's just narrowly avoiding what feels like a panic attack.

"Kyo," she says softly, and he whips around to look at her.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

Why? Why? Why is he asking if she's okay? She should be asking him that. She can't imagine how uncomfortable that had been for him—probably at least 10 times worse than it was for her. And he probably thinks so much less of her now, too; she's always been told that you don't sleep with someone you're not in love with, and definitely not on the second date. Because that makes a girl "easy," and that makes her undesirable, and that means that no one will ever want her again.

"I…" She starts, but she's not okay, and they both know it. So she just shakes her head instead of continuing down that path. After a minute, she adds, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he says immediately.

"No, it's not…"

"Tohru, it's not like you were cheating on him with me, or the other way around, or anything. You can have whoever you want in your apartment. It's none of my business."

That stings for a reason she can't quite describe. "Okay. Right."

"I—" he hesitates, then continues, "I don't get one night stands. But that doesn't mean you can't have them if you want to. If you're safe and happy and it feels good, then whatever, right?"

"Sure."

"And were you? Safe and happy, I mean. 'Cause I'll go kick his ass if you weren't."

She sniffles back any remaining tears, then giggles a bit at that. "He didn't force me into anything."

"Well then, good."

The slight ease she feels at his reassuring words only lingers for a second before a thought occurs to Tohru, and she spits it out without thinking. "Are you still a virgin, then?"

A red flush starts at his nose, spreads across his cheeks and ears, and all the way down to his chest. In other circumstances, she might enjoy the fact that she can make him look so flustered. "I—well, yeah. I told you I haven't been dating."

"Oh," she says, simply because she has no idea what else she could say. When she sees the look on his face, though, she hurries to backtrack. "I-I mean, not that that's a bad thing! I was just curious because...well, I don't know why." She buries her face in her palms and squeaks out an, "I'm sorry!"

There's nothing but silence for a bit, then Kyo just chuckles. She peeks out at him from between her fingers, confused.

"You're a dork," he says. "Anyway, it's probably a good thing he woke us up. I don't have to be at the dojo until the afternoon today, but I should go home and get ready."

"Ah, right."

"Don't you work today?"

She shakes her head. "Tuesday through Friday."

"Lucky. No Mondays for you."

"Doesn't Tuesday just become my Monday?"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess." He's heading to the genkan while talking, and once he's there, shoves his feet into his sneakers.

"Thank you. For staying with me last night."

Kyo's cheeks pinken again, and he clears his throat awkwardly before answering. "Of course. Can I, um...is it okay if I call you later, or text you?"

Hearing Kyo ask that reminds her of Asahi saying it after their first date, and an odd sense of grief and guilt washes over her again. But she forces herself to answer. "Yes. I'd like that." And this time she means it.

"You're late!"

"I know that," Kyo says simply, sliding past Kunimitsu to get into the training room.

It might have been a lie when Kyo said that he didn't have to go to work until the afternoon. He'd woken up on time, at 6, because of his natural circadian rhythm, but when he'd picked his head up and looked to his left, he'd seen Tohru's head on his shoulder, and both of her thin arms wrapped around one of his own—and how the hell was he supposed to get up from that? Besides, he works for his dad, so that has to count for something every once in a while, right?

Kyo glances at the clock on the far wall as he gathers up discarded water bottles and used towels from the last class. Half an hour before the kids get out of school and come in for their first lesson. "Does Master know?"

"Of course he does. You'd have to be a total moron to not notice that one of your two employees isn't here. He's going to want to talk to you."

So Kyo tosses the towels into the hamper by the door and heads into the little room Master uses as an office to do dojo-related paperwork.

"Kyo, you're here," Kazuma says, not even lifting his eyes from the form he's working on. Can he tell who it is by the sound of the footsteps alone? Creepy.

"Y-yeah...sorry, Master."

Kazuma looks up at his son now, and Kyo can tell that he knows he should be mad, but doesn't quite know how to be. "Where were you?"

"Uh...eh?"

"Where were you? If you're hours late to work, I think I have a right to ask that question."

He really does have a right to ask, honestly. Plus he's Kyo's dad, and dads are nosy. So Kyo has absolutely no idea how to get out of this one. But then again...does he really need to lie about it? Tohru had asked him to stay with her, so it's not like he was being selfish...at least not in the kind of way he once was.

"I...was with Tohru."

Kazuma's eyebrows raise. "Excuse me?"

Kyo takes a deep breath to steady his nerves. "I was with Tohru. We've been talking again, and she asked me to stay over at her apartment last night."

"Oh? Just how long have you been talking again?"

Of course he'd latch onto that first.

"It wasn't like that! We just slept."

Kazuma smiles, and Kyo realizes that he had been baiting him. The two of them are still working on figuring out this whole father-son dynamic. It's gotten more natural, but there are definitely times when Kyo regresses back to not quite knowing his place.

Kyo blushes and scratches at the back of his neck awkwardly, and Kazuma releases him from his embarrassment by saying, "I'm happy for you."

"You are?" Kyo asks on instinct, but then decides to take the comment for what it is. Not everyone is out to sabotage him and look down on him, and especially not Kazuma. He knows that by now. "I mean, thanks. It's going well."

"Dating?"

"N-no. She's been seeing someone else, so…"

"Ah," Kazuma says plainly, then adds, "I don't see how that's going to work..."

"Huh?"

"You two were always so smitten with each other...I just can't see a friendship dynamic alone working too well. Are you still in love with her?"

Kyo takes a second to ponder these words, but in the end, he knows he doesn't actually need any time to think. "Of course," he says quietly.

"Then I wish you luck, and I'm here to help if you want me to."

"Are you...suggesting I try to take her away from this other guy?"

"No. I'm suggesting that the two of you do what feels natural, and I'm here to support you in any way I can."

Kyo rolls his eyes, but a sense of gratitude tugs at his heart, too, so he gives his thanks before leaving the room.

On the walk to the train station after work, Kyo calls Tohru. Just a handful of days ago, he'd worried about when it was proper to call or text her, but now he can't help himself—he left her house just five hours ago, but he wants to hear her voice.

He's so weak for her. And maybe that isn't quite as bad as he'd originally thought it to be.

"Hi," she says when she picks up.

"Hey, you. What's up? You with Asahi?"

There's a brief pause, then she just says, "No." She sounds confused, and Kyo's not quite sure what to make of that.

"Uh, 'kay. This might be weird since you just saw me and everything, but do you maybe...wanna go grab some dinner? I just left work and I can come get you."

"Mm, I'm halfway through cooking dinner. Do you, uh...would you like to come join me?"

"Wait, really?"

She giggles at how dumbfounded he sounds. "Of course. Unless you don't want to come here, for some reason. Even though you slept here last night."

And he knows she's teasing, and while that makes him almost deliriously giddy, the words also rub him the wrong way. Maybe he shouldn't be going into her apartment. That seems...dangerous, almost.

But again, Kyo can never say no to Tohru. The guys at school all used to call him whipped, and he supposes it's probably true. But he didn't ever mind, and he doesn't really now, either.

"N-no, um." He pauses and clears his throat after his voice cracks—fuck, what is he, twelve? "I do. I'll be right there."

"'Kay. See you soon."

When he gets up to her apartment, the door is ajar, and he can hear her walking around the kitchen, quietly singing some stupid pop love song he's heard on the radio recently. He smiles a bit at the sound. She's a horrible singer, incredibly off-tune, and no matter what she's singing, she never gets the words right. But damn, he's missed the sound anyway.

He knocks and pushes the door the rest of the way open. Tohru jumps and squeaks. "You really shouldn't leave your door open," he points out, coming in and closing it behind him. She blushes and turns away, back toward the stove.

"W-well, I was expecting you…"

"Yeah, but what if it hadn't been me just now?" He crosses the room, and when he's next to her, she turns and rolls her eyes dramatically at him. He raises an eyebrow. She's going to be Sassy Tohru tonight? Well, alright then.

"No one else wants to come into my apartment."

"I don't think you understand how robberies work."

She laughs airily, playfully nudging his elbow with his own. Tingles shoot up his arm at the touch, and he has to stop himself from jumping back reflexively. "Taste this?" she asks, holding out a spoon with some of the soup she's been making on it. "No chives, I promise."

"You remember that?" he asks absentmindedly, taking the spoon. "Mm, it's good."

For some reason he doesn't really understand, she looks a little hurt by that. "Of course I do."

Kyo panics for a second, trying to come up with a way to change the subject. The first thing that comes to mind ends up being blurted out immediately, and it makes the air feel even more awkward than it had before. "Isn't Asahi the one you should be cooking for?"

They're both quiet, bodies both stiff with tension. After a minute, Tohru says softly, "Did I not...wait, didn't I tell you?"

"Eh? Tell me what?"

"When he came over this morning, I broke things off with him."

"Huh? Why?"

She raises an eyebrow, and for a second, he thinks she's going to tell him to go fuck himself, that this isn't any of his business. And she'd have every right to do that. It's really not any of his business. It was an invasive question to ask.

She doesn't say anything for the longest time. They just stand there, Kyo staring at Tohru, and her looking anywhere but at his face.

"What if I told you that, uh…" she starts. He waits for her to continue, watching as she takes a shaky breath and turns to him.

"What?" he prompts. "You can tell me."

And he means it. He desperately wants her to feel like she can confide in him more. Though she's always been afraid to show her weak side to most people, Tohru's vulnerability has never scared him. In fact, it's always just made him fall for her more and more.

She takes a step closer. He almost steps back to make up for it, but that would definitely hurt her feelings and he doesn't want to do that again, so he keeps his feet glued in place. She touches his arm, and he can feel her fingers trembling. She's not being vulnerable right now...she's just being weird, and he doesn't know what to make of it.

She slides her hand up his arm, letting it linger on his shoulder. She's holding steady eye-contact with him now, even though her cheeks are heated. Kyo can't help but feel like she's trying to give him a hint about what she wants to say, but he really has no idea what the hell he's supposed to be gathering here.

After a minute, Tohru moves her hand up higher, to cup his jaw, then leans in a little.

What is she—?

Oh.

He figures out what she wants just milliseconds before she takes care of it herself.

Two years ago, Kyo kissed Tohru after she fell off the cliff. He's not sure she even remembers it, honestly—she'd been so out of it. It was just one kiss, nothing more than a short peck, really. He didn't even have his wits about him or enough time to really feel it. So, late at night now, when he sometimes remembers that moment, he always wonders what it would actually feel like to kiss her. To really kiss her—a kiss that she returns, that he can tell she wants, that hasn't come after a traumatic conversation and near-deadly injury.

And now he gets to find out. And he discovers that kissing Tohru Honda just feels right. It feels a lot like he's kissing the love of his life.

I went back and named the chapters, and think I'll do that from now on. So far, they're all song titles. Here they are, if you're interested:

Chapter 1: "Two Ghosts" by Harry Styles

Chapter 2: "'tis the damn season" by Taylor Swift

Chapter 3: "Chasing California" by Oh, Weatherly

Chapter 4: "this is me trying" by Taylor Swift

Chapter 5: "Okay" by AS IT IS