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"What's this?"

Tohru forces her eyes open. "Hm?" she asks, blinking back sleep.

"This," Kyo repeats, and she becomes aware of the fact that he's running his fingertip up and down her bare ribcage. She looks at where he's touching her.

"A scar," she says simply, mind still foggy.

He smiles a bit. "Yeah, dummy, but from what?"

"Um…"

It's late. They should both be asleep. And she had been well on her way, but Kyo's apparently been sitting awake this whole time.

Honestly, she can't really remember how she got the scar.

"Oh! Right. I used to get picked on a lot at school. One day, a boy pushed me into some kind of pokey bush. The branches tore through my shirt and cut my ribs."

He narrows his eyes slightly, taking in her words. "If I ever see that guy, I'll beat him up."

She giggles. "Well, I'm sure he's changed since then."

"Maybe." Kyo sits up, then, and Tohru pouts as her head leaves his shoulder and slumps down onto the pillow. "What's this one?"

She lifts her head and looks at her left ankle, at the spot he's rubbing his thumb over.

"Kyo-kun, what're you doing?"

"Getting to know you."

"You already know me."

"Not like this," he insists. And then she can see it, when he meets her eyes—he's sad. It must be one of those nights. They're naked, and he probably noticed the scars from Akito's knife, then the ones he'd carved into her shoulder about two years earlier, then subsequently the others scattered elsewhere across her skin. It probably brought back memories, ones he could do without.

So she indulges him, sitting up fully and rubbing her eyes. "Uh...I think that's from riding my bike."

"Fell?"

"Well, you know me," she says, voice playful. "I fall a lot."

His lips turn up a bit, but the smile doesn't quite meet his eyes. He bends down and kisses her ankle before letting it go.

As she looks him over, she notices a scar just underneath his collar bone. She wonders how she hasn't seen it before. Granted, it's in a position to be covered easily by a shirt, but she's seen him shirtless plenty of times.

"Me too," she says, thumbing the jagged scar.

He looks down at her hand. "Huh?"

"I want to know you, too. So what's this?"

"Oh. I liked to climb trees a lot as a kid."

The mental image of a tiny Kyo scurrying up to a high branch in a tree somewhere on the estate makes her smile. He was probably the cutest kid.

"You've always liked being up high, huh?"

"I guess so. For as long as I can remember, at least."

"And sitting in the sun, right?"

"Uh…"

She reaches out and brushes her fingertip over the bridge of his nose, then under his left eye. "You have lots of freckles," she explains.

"Isn't that just from being a redhead?"

Tohru smiles. "I don't really know how it works," she admits.

"Yeah, science isn't your best subject," he deadpans.

She puffs her cheeks out into a pout, and he pokes at one.

"What's this one?" she asks once she's "recovered" from his "blow." She raps her fingertip against his cheek, right below his left eye.

"Oh. Yuki."

She frowns. She hasn't noticed that one before, either. "It hasn't been there long, has it?"

"Mm...from while you were in the hospital."

She feels her frown increasing, and he must notice it, too. He doesn't offer details, but he says firmly, "Don't be mad at him for it."

"O...kay."

"This a birthmark?" he asks then, tapping the outside of her right knee.

"Looks like it. I'm not really sure, though."

Kyo's eyes do one complete sweep of her body. She shifts awkwardly under the intensity of his gaze. "You're pretty marked up, aren't you?"

She's never really thought about it. She grabs his hand to keep his thoughts from spiraling. "Do you have a birthmark?"

"Don't think so."

"Let me look."

He raises an eyebrow at her, but then nods and sits still while she looks him over. Tohru studies the insides of his wrists, the backs of his calves, and lifts his arms.

"Here."

He tilts his head to see what she's talking about, but it's too far on his side and under his arm for him to get a good look at.

She giggles. "It's kind of shaped like a peanut."

He scrunches his nose up adorably as Tohru gently lets his arm down. "I don't really like peanuts."

"Good thing you don't have to eat it then, dummy."

His eyes widen slightly at having his term of endearment shot back at him. Then they take on a feral darkness she recognizes, and it makes her gut churn. She waits for him to kiss her, but he doesn't. Instead, he just turns away and trails his fingers all the way up her shin. She shivers at the tickle. "You can be such a minx sometimes."

"We both know you like it."

"There you go again."

Tohru laughs lightly, even though her cheeks heat up a bit. She likes to surprise him with what she says and does when she can, though she's not too sure why being teased can be such a turn-on for him at times.

She inhales sharply as his fingers continue their path, over her hip, up her ribcage and across her breast, all the way to where her neck and left shoulder meet.

"You know about that one," she whispers.

"Yeah," he confirms. He bites his lip.

Panic rises in her chest, and she says quickly, "Kyo-kun...let me see your hand."

"Eh? Why?" he asks, but he gives it to her immediately. She presses her palm flat against his.

"They're so big." She rotates their hands until she's looking at the back of his.

"You're just puny."

"I am not," she insists for the millionth time. He says it just to get under her skin, and she knows it, but that doesn't stop it from working.

She loses that train of thought when she notices how scarred his knuckles are, though. "What are these?"

"Martial arts. You know how in movies, people always try to punch through wooden boards when they train?" She hums in the affirmative. "Well, I decided to make it a goal of mine to be able to do that."

Tohru's eyes widen. "Kyo-kun, that sounds like it would hurt."

He smiles, a short laugh escaping his lips. "Hurt like hell. But I did it eventually."

"You're very determined."

"Sometimes, I guess. Like when I chased you down when you got out of the hospital." He grins, and she flushes in response. They're in a secure enough spot in their relationship that they're comfortable talking about all that—everything that happened that one night in the rain, the lonely days that followed, the way Tohru had made a mad dash away from him when he'd come to meet her at the hospital. But sometimes, she still feels slightly guilty that she made him put up such a fight.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to be determined that day."

"Yeah, me too. It's the best decision I've ever made."

Her heart lurches at that, and before she really even knows what she's doing, she's leaning forward and pressing her lips to his. He returns the kiss, moving his hands up to her cheeks and tugging her closer as she deepens the contact with a swipe of her tongue across his lower lip. When they stop to breathe, they stay close, their lips still brushing together. "I love you," Tohru whispers against his mouth.

"I love you, too. So much."

He kisses her this time, and wraps her up in his arms so tightly that she's not quite sure what limbs are hers and which are his anymore. That's just how she likes it. Need boils up from her stomach and into her throat, then out of her lips in the form of a soft moan when his mouth moves down to her neck.

"You're beautiful," Kyo murmurs against her skin. She laces her fingers in his hair.

"I thought you said I'm puny and m-marked up," she teases breathily. She hears herself stutter, and she blushes a bit. Speaking is hard when he's nipping at her throat, when he's holding onto her hips tightly enough to bruise. Sometimes, he makes it hard to focus on anything but feeling.

"You're beautiful," he repeats, "scars and all."

She bites her lip. She doesn't want to cry and ruin the mood. He's starting to feel better, and that would just make him spiral again. And she's so swept away in the feeling of him pressed against her that the tears are gone in just a moment, anyway.

He leans her back against the mattress, cradling her head in his hand as he does so. "Can I—?" he asks, his fingertips teasing her side. She nods and then his hands are on her, and all coherent thought flees her mind as she eases into his touch.

Later, when they're done, he falls asleep before she does, and that's good, all things considered. Tohru lies on his chest, their fingers tangled together. She takes comfort in his deep, even breathing, and the precious way his hair is all mussed. She lifts their hands closer to her face. In the moonlight, she can faintly see all the scars she'd been looking at earlier. It's amazing to her, mystifying almost, how hands so rough and beaten up from the past can be so gentle with her. That they can hold her, both body and soul, and not completely crush her. And most of all, he's promised that they'll hold her forever, for the rest of their lives. The idea is both thrilling and comforting at the same time. She could stay up and stare at him all night, she knows, but her eyes are heavy, her thoughts muddied down by impending sleep. She has time to look him over again later. She'll get to wake up next to him, and then maybe she'll find more scars and marks to ask about. She's sure she has more for him to discover, too. She presses a kiss to the back of his wrist, whispers a "goodnight," and lets herself doze off.

A/N: I've had this written for weeks and have just been waiting for the right chance to post it, and I'm glad I finally get to tonight!

When I'm working on original projects—a novel or short story, etc.—I love writing about my characters having scars. They can represent so much about a person and significant events in their past (Unless you're a dumbass like me and the only one you have is from trying to bake cookies while you were stoned and sticking your bare hand into the oven lmao). So I'm surprised I haven't done a scar-discussion Kyoru fic up to this point. Had lots of fun with this one. Might be one of my favorite Kyoru pieces I've written. I hope you enjoyed!