A/N: I know this is a little shorter than I usually aim for, but the next chapter should be up pretty quickly. It was supposed to be one chapter, but the mood wasn't right so I had to split it. That fortunately means that the next one is half done though lol. As always, you're lovely, and I hope you enjoy!

"To be intimate with the person you love and who loves you in return is one of the best feelings in the world; and it's a sacred experience."

That's what Tohru had always heard when she was growing up. Most people in her life had said it at least once—sex ed teachers; her friends' moms; TV shows and movies; even her classmates and friends themselves, because it was what they'd been told, too. Her mom had seemed to have a slightly more progressive view on sex, but Tohru had always desperately tried to avoid conversations like that, so she doesn't know too much about it.

For a while there, after a failed engagement and an unplanned one night stand, she thought that was simply a worn-out cliché. Sex is sex, and love is love. It would be ideal to have both, sure, but life isn't a fairytale. Maybe they can exist separately—that was all she'd experienced up to this point, after all. She'd loved Itsuki with her entire being, but it was never truly returned, and they'd still had sex. Then, as it turned out, neither Asahi nor she were really in love with each other, but they'd still had sex.

But with Kyo…

She understands, now, what everyone meant. The only way to describe that experience is to call it "magical," she thinks, as cheesy as that might be. It was something felt with not just her body, but also her heart and soul, and that was only possible because he'd felt the same way.

Kyo lays his head down on her shoulder, and for a second, all she can do is stare up at the ceiling. Her entire body still tingles. It's bizarre. She moves one hand up to the back of his head and runs her fingers through his hair, because this was a totally new experience for him and she needs to be a good girlfriend and make sure he's still okay, even though she's too out of breath to speak. They lie like that for a little while, still sweaty and tired, but also comfortably-quiet.

Tohru wants to tell him she loves him. That's really the only way she can describe what she's feeling, right? But when she opens her mouth, no words come out, just an odd strangled sobbing noise.

Kyo's head flies up at the sound, and even though she can't quite tell, she knows she must be crying, because the look on his face is horrified. "Oh my god," he says.

He scrambles to get off of her, and once he's sitting next to her, he grabs her shoulders and pulls her into his arms. "What's wrong? What happened? Did I hurt you?" He starts looking all over her body as if assessing her for injuries, which she knows he won't find. Because she doesn't hurt; in fact, she's never felt better. But the tears still won't stop coming.

She sniffles. "I'm okay, really," she chokes out.

Hearing her finally talk seems to relieve him a bit, at least. "Yeah, 'cause people who are okay cry like this all the time, you dork."

She gives a watery laugh and pulls back just far enough to look at him. She doesn't know how to put any of her feelings into words, so she just settles on, "I just love you so much."

"I love you too," he tells her. He kisses her forehead and wipes at her cheeks with his thumbs. "So, so much."

Hearing him say that makes her feel a little braver, for some reason. So she decides to ask for something she's never dared to before, with anyone else: "Will you stay and cuddle me for a while?"

And in return, she gets a response that she wasn't allowing herself to really expect, for some reason: "Of course. I'd be crazy to wanna go anywhere else right now."

But of course she should have expected that from Kyo. Because he loves her.

Tohru sniffles and lies back down. She waits for him to join her, but he just sits there for a second, watching her. At being stared at, she feels a blush creep across her cheeks.

"Are you okay now?" he asks.

"Mm-hmm."

"Then, I, uh...I'll be right back, okay?"

She blinks, then follows his gaze down his body a bit. "Oh. Right."

He gets up and heads into the bathroom, where he calls out to her, "Do you want a towel?"

"Yes, please."

When he comes back with one, he kneels at the foot of the bed and gently pushes at one of her knees. A little confused, she hesitates for just a split second, but then opens her legs like he wants, and her heart lurches when she figures out what he's doing. He takes the towel and gently rubs at her inner thighs, cleaning up the slickness there. Once he's done, he kisses the insides of her knees before getting back up. She has to bite her tongue, hard, to keep from crying again.

He slips back into bed at her side, and she flips over until she can scoot in closer and press her back to his chest. He wraps his arms around her, effectively making her the little spoon like she'd wanted. Kyo kisses her temple.

"Thank you," he whispers.

"Huh? For what?"

"Just...for being you. For loving me. For this."

She takes a deep breath. "Loving you," she says softly, "is the best thing I've ever gotten to do."

He's quiet for a second, then says, "Sap. You're gonna make me cry, too."

"You started it," she giggles.

He nuzzles his face into her hair, and she knows he's smiling. "So," he says after a second, "You're really okay? Not lying to me so I don't worry?"

"I'm alright, I promise. And besides...we both know that doesn't work with you."

He hums in agreement, then adds, "Just a post-sex crier, then, huh?" His tone is teasing, but Tohru feels a flush on her face all the same.

"Just with you."

"I...don't know how to feel about that."

She giggles and looks over her shoulder at Kyo. "They were happy tears," she assures him. "Promise."

He nods a little and leans down, resting his forehead against her shoulder. She feels a dampness against her bare skin. And even though he's not saying anything, she gets it. She picks up one of his hands and kisses the back of it, just to let him know that she's here and she understands. "Okay," he says softly.

They stay like that, wrapped up in each other, and after a bit Tohru lets her eyes close, breathing becoming deep and even. But Kyo's voice breaks the spell she's under.

"You awake?"

"Mm...yes."

"Can I ask you something?"

She opens her eyes, then blinks a few times to wake herself back up. "I don't know."

"Huh?" He clearly hadn't been expecting that. She smirks.

"Last time you said that, your question ended up being embarrassing."

"Oh...yeah."

She laughs and glances over her shoulder again, waiting for him to continue, because they both know he's allowed.

"You'd tell me if I were doing something wrong with all this, right? You wouldn't just suffer through it to spare my feelings?"

"Of course I'd tell you. Remember what you said when we first kissed?"

"Uh…"

"You said I'd better tell you if I didn't like kissing you, because you're the only person I'll ever kiss again. The same goes for this. You're it, so if I don't like it, I'd better speak up. Yeah?"

He chuckles and kisses her cheek. His arms tighten a bit around her waist. "Yeah. Okay. Also, sorry to bring this up right now, but...Kagura's dragging me to the movies tomorrow night."

Tohru raises an eyebrow. She's not a fan of that subject change, or Kagura, if she's being honest. "Oh."

"Yeah. But if you're not okay with it, just say so and I won't go."

"I…" she trails off, then starts down a different path. She needs to do better; so she makes a joke, because that's as much as she thinks she can do right now. "We decided I'm not the jealous type, right?"

He laughs, though it sounds just a little tight. "No, we decided that's bullshit."

"I'll be fine. I trust you."

"I'm glad. But I also know that Kagura is...well, a lot."

She snorts out a laugh. "Yeah, well. She's also your friend, though. She helped keep you safe when I couldn't be there."

He sighs, and in it, she can hear that he knows what she's thinking. "You don't owe her anything," he reminds her.

She doesn't feel like that's quite true, but she's too tired and still too happy to care to explain herself, so she just says, "Okay. You can still go, though."

"Do you, uh...want to come?"

Tohru smiles, glad she's facing away from him again so he can't see it—she knows he's being serious, but it's just too adorable. "Do you need me to chaperone?" she teases.

"'Course not...just thought it might make you feel better."

"I have to stay at work late tomorrow for a staff meeting. But thank you, really. It's okay."

"Yeah? I guess that works out, then. I won't feel like I'm missing out on any time with you."

She presses a kiss to the back of his hand again, then rolls over in his arms, finally having had enough of not being able to kiss him fully. "What time is the movie?"

"5, I think."

"I get off at 7:30-ish. Want to pick me up and get some dinner or something?"

"Definitely. I…" He snaps his mouth shut and averts his eyes, cheeks reddening.

"You what?" Tohru reaches up and pushes his bangs back from his face. They're still damp with sweat, and they stick out at weird angles; she bites back a giggle at the sight and focuses on the task at hand—getting him to talk. She always wants to know what he's thinking, wants to be a safe place for him to say whatever's on his mind. But if she's not careful, he might spook like he did back then.

"I was just thinking...I wish you could skip work and I could skip the movie, and we could just run away together."

She smiles a little. It's a sweet sentiment. It truly attests to how much he loves her. But also…

"The curse is broken. We can be together without getting in trouble. What would we have to run away from now?"

His expression softens again, and he brings his gaze back to her face. "Good point. I have everything I need right here, don't I?"

Now her cheeks turn red, and she buries her face against his chest in an attempt to hide it. From the way he chuckles, though, she can tell he saw. She groans pathetically at the realization, and he runs his fingers through her hair as a peace offering. She lets her eyes close again.

"I love you," she murmurs one more time; she doesn't quite know why she says it so much—maybe she's a little worried he'll forget, or maybe she just understands that he hasn't been told that nearly as often as he should.

"I love you, Tohru."

Saying it and hearing it back, lying in his arms and drifting off to sleep, getting to kiss him and hug him and hold his face in her hands...she doesn't think the feeling of novelty surrounding it will ever truly fade. And that's okay. She'd never wish for this lovely burning in her chest, the smile that's always pulling at her lips now, and the way her name spins with his name constantly to disappear.

Work is killing him.

He's lucky to have a job he loves, and he knows that. But today he's tired from staying awake late and getting up early. His arms and legs feel slightly like jelly; he doesn't get that part. He didn't do anything particularly strenuous last night. He figures it must all be in his mind. Regardless, it causes him to miss kicks and punches, and therefore leads to Kunimitsu teasing him to death. If Kyo were confident in his martial arts ability at all today, he thinks he might try to kick Kunimitsu so high he goes into orbit. But not only could that be another embarrassing failure, it would also likely get him in trouble with Kazuma. So instead, he practices patience by simply pretending Kunimitsu doesn't exist.

Even though he only works for his dad, there's a limit to how much trouble he can cause...and how many days he can take off, he figures. So he'd left Tohru's insanely early this morning. Like, so early that Tohru—who's also a somewhat-early riser—didn't even budge. He'd kissed her face and promised to see her later, and she hadn't even opened her eyes. It was sort of adorable, really. But now, after doing that, rushing home to shower and change, and then basically sprinting the entire way to work so he wouldn't be late, Kyo's fucking exhausted.

That exhaustion only increases when the last class of the day leaves and he sees Kagura walking up the path to Master's dojo.

He's learned to tolerate Kagura's somewhat overwhelming personality, and usually even likes spending time with her now—now that there's an understanding there's nothing romantic there, and she doesn't smack him around and get jealous every time someone looks in his direction. Now that those adjustments to their relationship have been made, it's nice to have someone who he's known for so long be around. Not that he'd ever tell her that, though.

And god damn it, not today. She's going to be too much—he can tell just by the way she's walking, by the way her speed picks up when she sees that he's standing outside the dojo.

"Kyoooo!" He bites back a sigh. When she finally gets to him, she gives the sleeve of his gi a little tug. "It's been too long!"

"It's only been like, two weeks," he points out.

"That's so long," she whines. Then she tilts her head to the side, looking him over, and adds, "You seem...different."

"Eh? Different how?"

"Mmm, I don't know...happier, maybe?"

"Ah—" Kyo scratches at the back of his neck, feeling awkward under her heavy stare. He could tell her, right? Tohru probably wouldn't be mad; in fact, she'd probably be glad he feels ready to say something to someone. But then again...it's Kagura. She would spread the news at lightning speed, and then he'd have a whole mess to deal with because he didn't say anything to the other Sohmas himself.

Things are getting really serious between him and Tohru now. Well, they've always been serious, he supposes—he can't remember a time that he wasn't dizzy with love for her, a time when he wasn't in too deep, a time he didn't know that he'd rather fall off the face of the earth than have to live without her. She's it. She's always been it. There's no room to go anywhere else, and he doesn't want there to be, either.

He decides to test the waters with Kagura by being vague. "Uh. I'm seeing someone."

Kagura blinks. "Like...a girl?"

Kyo rolls his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I'm just...surprised. I didn't think that...well no one thought that you'd ever fall in love again after—"

No. Too much.

"I don't wanna talk about that," he says firmly, cutting her off. To his slight surprise, she immediately just snaps her mouth shut and nods.

Kyo nods back and starts to walk toward the dojo. "I'm gonna change, then we can go."

He feels a little bad about leaving her out there alone, standing with her back stiff and straight, her face sort of pale like she's just seen a ghost. But he also doesn't. He'd set a boundary, and she needs to respect that, no matter how uncomfortable it makes her feel.

She'll get to know someday. Just...not now, when he's not prepared to handle the chaos that's going to come with that.

Waking up without Kyo next to her this morning had been odd. Painful and unsettling in a way she doesn't understand. It's left her feeling just slightly off all day, though she's still mostly on cloud nine from last night. The grogginess she feels, and the loneliness that accompanied waking up alone are worth that.

She's not really supposed to be on her phone at work but she keeps it on her desk, just out of view of anyone walking into the building, and glances at it frequently. She feels like a silly high schooler, checking her phone repeatedly hoping her boyfriend will eventually text her. He's busy at work, that's all. And she's going to be busy in just a bit, too.

At five, she checks her phone one last time. Kyo's at the movies with Kagura by now. She hopes he's at least having a little fun. The front door to the office opens, then, the small bell on it jingling to announce the arrival of some of her coworkers; working in a real estate office, she's often alone while others work elsewhere, but they all filter in for the meeting once a month. She takes a deep breath to steady herself. She needs to forget about Kyo for a while. She'll see him later. For now, she needs to focus on getting through this meeting.

Because she knows she's about to deal with emotions even more complicated than she has been.

A/N: Chapter title from "First Times" by Ed Sheeran