Whose idea was it to move to one of the coldest regions of Japan?

Oh, right. It was Kyo's.

He's seriously regretting that right now, as he stands at the bus stop near the dojo he's been working at, rubbing his hands together rapidly to find any warmth at all. It's his and Tohru's first winter here, and so far it's been brutal. Tohru doesn't mind the cold, but as a former cat, Kyo finds himself preferring to lie in patches of sun still. He bounces up and down on his toes, trying to keep blood flowing. It's a miracle that he even feels his phone buzz against his already-frozen thigh. Kyo digs his hand into his pocket to retrieve it.

He smiles down at his phone screen when he sees who it is, then hastily presses the "accept" button and holds the device to his ear. "Hey, you."

"Hi, Kyo-kun. How's work?" She doesn't sound good. Her voice is low, a little raspy, and not animated like it usually is. It sounds like she's been crying a little. It makes his heart ache.

"What's wrong?" he asks, completely ignoring her question.

"O-oh, it's nothing, really…" He opens his mouth to protest, but she actually continues on her own. "Just...a bad day, I guess."

"I'm so sorry."

"Will you be home soon?"

"I'm on my way right now. Do you want me to bring anything?"

"No," she whispers, then sniffles. "I just want you."

He inhales sharply, then looks down the road, searching for the bus. When he doesn't see it, he starts jogging in the direction of their apartment complex. "Okay. It's okay, I'll be right there."

He hangs up and shoves his phone back into his pocket as he runs. He's not sure he'll ever get used to someone—and beautiful, wonderful, loving Tohru Honda, of all people—wanting and needing him. It's such a foreign feeling, but even so, it always makes his chest incredibly full. Somehow, she chose him, keeps choosing him every day, and wants nothing but him.

When he makes it back to their apartment, he's drenched in sweat despite having felt on the verge of frostbite just minutes before. He leans over and rests his hands on his knees for a second while he catches his breath, then fishes his keys out of his pocket. He opens the door and sees Tohru in her PJ's, legs stretched out under the kotatsu. She's nursing a mug of green tea that isn't even steaming anymore and staring absentmindedly at the TV across the room.

"I'm home," he calls gently, careful not to startle her.

She smiles, and it seems half-genuine. She picks up the remote and turns off whatever soap opera she'd had playing "Welcome home, Kyo-kun."

Kyo tosses his bag aside in the genkan and moves over to her, sitting by her side as she continues talking. "I'm sorry, I haven't started dinner ye—"

He shakes his head and kisses her to hush her. When he pulls back, he thinks she looks a tiny bit more relaxed, but that might just be his ego playing tricks on him. "It's fine. I can cook. But first, are you gonna tell me what happened today?"

Tohru looks up at him with those wide, shimmering eyes of hers for a moment, then blinks and looks away, pursing her lips.

"I just...I made a few mistakes at work. And then Hana-chan had to cancel our weekly Skype call, which I understand, I really do—she's so busy, it's amazing she makes time for me anyway. And then I…" She stops her, cheeks flushing and eyes going wide.

"Then what?" he prompts.

"It's embarrassing," she mumbles.

He chuckles. "Well now I really gotta know."

The redness of her face increases in intensity, but she forces out, "I started my period, so I just feel...bleh."

"That's not embarrassing, you dope," Kyo says. He puts his hands on her hips and lifts her, setting her down between his legs. She immediately leans her back against his chest, humming in gratitude. He rests his chin on the top of her head and wraps his arms around her. "If I'd known, I would've brought you something."

"Huh?"

"Like...chocolate, or something. Girls always want that on their periods, right?" Admittedly, Kyo doesn't know much about this kind of stuff. Tohru's usually rather secretive about her cycle, and she's his only real experience with women. (It is common knowledge that the hormones involved can make women sad, though, which explains her bitter mood.)

She laughs a bit. "I think that's just a stereotype."

"Oh? Hmm…"

She snuggles closer to him, and he squeezes her tiny form a bit tighter in response. "Well…" he continues. "What do you like on your period, then?"

"Cuddles," she says immediately. He pauses. He meant, like, food or something. But honestly, he's much better at giving cuddles than he is at cooking anything, so that'll work.

"I'll cuddle you all you want."

"Thank you," she whispers. He leans his head down and presses a kiss to the side of her neck. "How was work?"

"Fine, but it doesn't matter. We're talking about you tonight."

"That's—"

"No buts."

Tohru sighs, but relents anyway. "Okay…"

"Other than cuddles, what else can I do to help you?"

"I think that's it. Thank you for holding me and listening to me whine."

He scoffs. "You, whine? But anyway, you know I'll always listen to you. You can complain to me as much as you wanna, okay? It's okay to have bad days sometimes."

She tilts her head back, looking at him half-upside-down. She smiles. "I love you," she reminds him. They tell each other that probably 10 times a day, and that's on a slow day. So, he never doubts that she loves him, but it's still his favorite thing to hear her say.

"I love you, too. So much." He kisses her nose. "Hanajima rescheduled your call, right?"

She nods. "For this weekend."

"Good. That's not too long to wait. I bet she was disappointed, too." Kyo can never tell when Goth Girl is disappointed, actually. If it weren't for how fiercely she clearly loves Tohru, Kyo would think she's completely incapable of feeling human emotion at all.

"Yeah, she sounded like it."

"She loves you. I know it's hard with everyone being so spread out, though."

Tohru's had a bit of a rough time adjusting to being so far away from everyone. Her entire life, Tokyo and the people in it have been all she's ever known. That had made ;leaving so suddenly hard, of course. Very quickly, she went from being surrounded by people to having Kyo as her only local support system. At first, she cried a lot (like, a lot). She couldn't even manage to find a job for several weeks. Kyo'd asked if she wanted to see a therapist, which she had protested against at first— "This is a small town, Kyo-kun," she'd said. And that's true. Everyone knows everyone here. There's one counselor in town, and you'd likely see him at the grocery store twice as often as you actually saw him for appointments. It was logical to be worried that people might talk about the new, broken girl in town, he supposed.

But eventually, Kyo had managed to coax her into going, with the promise that he'd go to all the appointments with her. It actually really helped both of them. They both had lingering emotions about the abuse they'd endured from Akito, and it was helpful to work through that with a professional (without mentioning people turning into animals, of course). Additionally, they'd determined that establishing a routine would be good for Tohru as she adjusted to her changing life.

And it is good for her. She feels better when she has a sense of purpose, a list she can check things off of each day. She gets up at the same time every day, goes to work, does a few things around the house if she feels like it, grocery shops on certain days of the week, and has weekly Skype calls with her friends. Uo and Hanajima were keyed in on what the sudden schedule was about, so they'd agreed instantly. That's probably why Hana was upset about having to skip today—she doesn't want to bum Tohru out, of course. Of course Tohru understands that they're all adults with busy lives now, though. However, despite how much better she's been doing with everything lately, she still clings to Kyo pretty often. But he can't say he minds that. He'd do nothing but hold her forever and ever, if he could.

"It gets easier every day," Tohru assures him. "It's just a fluke this week. It'll be fine."

Above them, the lights suddenly flicker before giving out.

"Eh?" Kyo mumbles. Tohru nudges him and points out their window. He follows her gaze.

"Snow?" he groans. "Great, now we can't use the kotatsu, either."

"I guess you'll just have to keep me warm, Kyo-kun."

He raises an eyebrow and looks down at her. She's grinning at him, and he can tell she's feeling better from talking about her day. Plus, she adores snow. He wouldn't be surprised if he ends up getting dragged outside to make a snowman later.

"Well, I did promise you cuddles, after all. So if I must," he teases.

"You must," she confirms, trying to put on her most serious face. He chuckles at her sorry attempt, then lowers his head to kiss her sweetly. Her lips are warm, and she tastes like that cherry chapstick she always brings home from the 100 Yen Store. The heat and pure love she gives off makes him so warm and tingly that he suddenly doesn't need the kotatsu anymore. He hopes that she feels the same way kissing him, if only a little.

A/N: Hello, lovely people! Of course, when I read today's prompt, my first thought was sexual, but I hate writing smut. Like, really hate it. So I went with this instead. Hope you enjoyed. I still anticipate being able to catch up tomorrow, although I will be going out of town on Saturday, so watch that go to shit again lol. Thanks for being patient with me.

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