Watching Tohru and Yuki walk away had been difficult for Kyo. He knew it was the right thing to do; he wouldn't make things better or easier for Tohru or Momiji by crashing their meetup. But it was still maddening, knowing how upset she was and that there was nothing he could do about it.

He felt damn useless, and he hated it. His natural 'fixer' instincts and drive to take care of Tohru openly revolted against letting her go off to be hurt, so being forced to accept that he had no choice in the matter made him want to punch someone. Or something.

Normally, the dojo would be a perfect place to satisfy those urges. Kazuma had been more than willing to take Kyo up on the offer to spar, and the two men had quickly squared off. But Kyo's head wasn't in it, and after a couple easy hits on Kazuma's part, he had stopped.

"Where's your focus at, Kyo? That's two strikes that had no business connecting, and yet they did. If you can't keep your mind on your fight, you have no business fighting." Kazuma crossed his arms and studied Kyo carefully, his expression concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Kyo angrily ran one hand through his hair. Kazuma was right, and that made him even more irritated; he couldn't even punch with a clear head right now! "I'm sorry, Dad. You're right, I'm apparently not focused enough for this right now. I'm sorry I bothered you when I couldn't commit to a proper match."

"It's fine, Kyo, but I'm asking you again, is everything alright? You seem unusually tense for some reason." And that tension was slightly concerning, considering that Kazuma had just seen Kyo less than an hour ago fighting with Yuki, and he'd seemed like his normal, happy, and properly focused self.

Kyo sighed and crossed his arms. "I'm just...really pissed off right now," he admitted, a little shamefacedly. Out of all his negative character traits, the one that Kyo had hated the most was his temper. It had always been quick to flare up, and quick to lash out; how many people had been afraid of him for his temper, even when he was a kid? He'd never cared when he was younger, figuring he came by his anger justifiably, and it didn't matter how he acted if he was just going to get locked up anyway. But he'd been working to change that since Tohru had come into his life, especially this past year. It was an uphill battle sometimes, but overall, he thought he was doing a good job.

Which was why it was so damn upsetting to have to admit that he was too angry to properly focus on karate, especially to Kazuma. It was like being a child called on the carpet all over again, and Kyo knew he'd deserve any scolding his father chose to dish out. Sparring could be very dangerous, especially at higher levels, so engaging without proper focus was incredibly stupid.

"Clearly." Kazuma's voice was dry and he looked disappointedly at Kyo. "I would hope that I wouldn't have to tell a yodan how important it is to have his mind where he's fighting, but it would seem I'm mistaken. You're better than this, Kyo, no matter what's bothering you." He sighed, looking as Kyo hung his head shamefully. "So, you're 'really pissed off' all of a sudden, why?"

Kyo took the criticism silently, because even though it stung, he knew Kazuma was right. At his rank, he had no business being so stupid, or putting Kazuma into a position of inadvertently injuring him. And he also accepted Kazuma's question as valid; Kazuma certainly deserved to know what it was affecting Kyo's focus, especially Kyo was the one who'd asked him to fight in the first place.

Except how exactly did Kyo even attempt to explain? The whole thing was so damn weird and frustrating, and honestly most of it wasn't even Kyo's to share. So he was silent for a moment longer, trying to figure out what to say, before sighing. "I'm sorry, you're right." Again. "And I'm just...it's just..." He trailed off, frowning, then angrily cracked his knuckles. "Tohru is upset, she's going off to be more upset, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. We both know it, it's going to happen, and it just pisses me the hell off that I can't even go with her and help her out."

"I see." Kazuma actually didn't see, not at all, but he could see that Kyo was very upset the situation. And he could understand why; it was distressing enough to Kazuma him to hear that something was bothering Tohru so strongly. "Is this something Tohru had the option to avoid?"

"No." Kyo's voice was sullen. "And it's better to get it dealt with, I know, because it was going to keep bothering her if she didn't. I'm hoping that this'll take care of it and she'll feel better afterwards, but I don't know. And I can't be there to help her, because I'll only make the whole thing worse. But I know he's going to make her cry again, and it just makes me so damn angry, knowing she'll probably cry and I won't be able to help her stop."

Now Kazuma was even more concerned. "Just so we're clear...we're not discussing Yuki, are we?"

"Huh?" Kyo was confused for a moment, then he realized that duh, Tohru had left earlier with Yuki. Of course Kazuma would think Kyo meant him. "No, not him. I was actually pretty happy he turned up when he did, otherwise Tohru might have spent the whole day in her funk. But he's not going to be able to help her, either, she just has to deal with it all on her own. And I'm just...here. Useless."

Kyo's shoulders had slumped, and he looked completely dejected. Kazuma sighed, and patted Kyo's shoulder. "One of the hardest things to do when you love someone is leave them to fight their own battles. The urge to protect them from harm can be so strong and overpowering that failing to block even a single hurt out of a thousand can be crushing. This I know very well," he said as he smiled at Kyo. "I'm sorry to hear that Tohru is going through something painful, but you need to remember that she is capable herself. You might not always be able to keep her from hurting, but you can help her recover. And perhaps she might even surprise you with her own resilience."

Kazuma's words helped a little bit, though Kyo had a healthy amount of skepticism when it came to Tohru's emotional resilience. "I suppose you're right. It just really, really sucks right now." He looked up at Kazuma and smiled sheepishly. "You know how good I am at being patient."

Kazuma chuckled. "I do, at that. But I have an idea. Let's do some focused breathing exercises, and you try to clear your mind. The next class will be here soon, and if you're feeling confident in your focus you can join in. But if not, then I want you to go find the punching bag. Exercise is a time-honored way to work out strong emotions, but I won't stand for you or anyone else disrespecting safety."

Kyo nodded his head, feeling that Kazuma's plan was a good one. He could use a little mental refocusing right now, otherwise he wasn't going to be any use to anyone. And if it didn't work, there was always that punching bag.

Fortunately, the guided breathing exercises and kata did their job. By the time the students started coming in for the next class, Kyo was feeling calm, collected, and ready to focus. Mostly.

He was happy to see Hatsuharu among the students, and gave him a wave as he walked in. Haru returned the wave, and walked over as they stretched out.

"Hey, Kyo. Honda's seeing Momiji again today, huh?"

"Yeah." Kyo gritted his teeth, then let out a breath. He wasn't going to let himself get frustrated again; there was no point, and it would only earn him the extra embarrassment of getting kicked out of class.

"Hmm." Haru took note of Kyo's body language, and his extremely lackluster response. While Kyo was not renowned for his speaking abilities, he was usually a lot chattier than this, especially where Tohru was concerned. So Haru could take a hint, and nothing more was said on the subject.

Nothing until after class, anyway. Kyo had been relieved to feel like his regular self during class, aware of his surroundings and his opponents. He'd won every match during sparring, including one against Haru, and he had earned praise from Kazuma, so he felt he'd mostly redeemed himself from his earlier flub. But he still felt irritated, both at himself for letting his mind get away from him and for the situation in general.

Class lasted an hour and a half, and as they finished up he wondered what Tohru and Momiji were doing. Where they'd gone. How late they'd be there. How they were both doing. And assorted other questions.

Coming out of the locker room, he bumped into Haru again. "Hey, did you see Tohru at school before you came over here, Haru?"

Ok, so now Kyo wanted to talk. Fair enough. "Yeah, I did. She was looking pretty rough, but if she was going off with Momiji I guess I'm not shocked. He was acting weird all day, too." He looked at Kyo, his expression one of mild curiosity. "Let me guess; something happened between them last night, and they're trying to fix it today?"

Haru could be so annoyingly perceptive sometimes. He might take a weird route to get there, but he'd get there.

Kyo sighed. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Thought so. Yuki was telling Momiji 'it'll work out', so clearly he's in whatever loop they're in. And I might not be in the loop, but I'm close enough to guess." He sighed. "Did Momiji tell her, or did she figure it out on her own, do you think?"

"He told her. That's what he told me, at least; Tohru wasn't really up for telling me many specifics. She's been too busy beating herself up about it. As if it's her fault, any of it." Kyo's eyes darkened briefly with a flash of anger, the same anger that kept flaring every time he started thinking too much about any of it. He knew it was part of Tohru's personality, and normally he loved how much she cared about things. Everything and everyone was special to her; she saw the world as a much more intimate place than anyone else he knew. But he hated the way that made her internalize so much, and take on so much.

Haru nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds about right for Honda. I bet Momiji's taking that pretty rough too, her blaming himself. I hope they're able to salvage this, it would suck for their friendship to take a permanent hit over this."

Kyo didn't even want to consider that possibility, or how broken up it would make Tohru. "Yeah..."

This officially sucked.

Much to Kyo's surprise and pleasure, Haru decided to hang around at the dojo with him. "Rin's working late tonight, so there's no reason to go home. And I don't have anything else going on, either, so why not stay and hang out with you? Besides, this way I might actually get to find out what's going on before someone else for a change. I feel like I'm being left out of everything this week."

Kyo had chuckled at that. "Since when do you care about being in the loop?"

"Hey, I'm a romantic. I like knowing stuff like that."

"You. A romantic."

"I have many hidden depths."

It was nice, getting the chance to spend time with Hatsuharu. Out of all the younger Sohmas, Haru had been the one Kyo was closest to, ever since they were little. Yeah, he'd been a pain in the ass when he went Black, but the two of them had bonded over their shared love of martial arts and their separate 'problem child' statuses. Haru might be eccentric, but he was also probably the closest thing Kyo had had to a 'best friend' growing up. And it was nice to be able to talk to him, to keep his mind off of Tohru and Momiji.

Kind of.

"Do you know where they were going?"

"Nope. Dunno where they were going, how long to expect them to take, or anything." Kyo supposed he could probably text and ask, but he didn't want to risk interrupting anything. This wasn't how he'd expected to spend their Friday evening, but he was willing to sacrifice a lot if it meant Tohru would feel better.

"Gotcha. So...waiting."

"Yeah. It really sucks."

"Yeah."

But with Haru's company, the time passed faster. They discussed the class they'd just had, which led to talk of Kyo's work at the dojo up north. His training up there, and his sensei. More about Haru's post-graduation plans as they pertained to karate, life, and Rin. Little by little, Kyo relaxed into the conversation, feeling grateful not to have to be stewing alone.

Kyo didn't know what he was expecting, or what he was hoping for, when he next saw Tohru. But when she walked through the dojo gateway, holding Momiji's hand and smiling, he could have damn well cried out of sheer relief.

When Momiji offered to walk her back to the dojo, Tohru had invited him to stay and join them for dinner. And after thinking a moment, he had been happy to accept. Tomorrow would be a busy one, with the actual graduation ceremony and all of the surrounding pomp, and the day after, Tohru and Kyo would be leaving.

Things still felt awkward between them, but it was a good awkward. Or at least, a better awkward. Momiji felt as though a thousand weights had been lifted off of him; he'd said everything he could possibly have hoped to say, and Tohru hadn't turned away from him. She might not understand, but she was trying, and that was more than he could have asked for. He might not have her, but he hadn't lost her, either.

She was still his friend.

And Tohru felt...relief. Momiji was looking so much happier, and acting so much happier. There was resignation flickering in the back of his smiles, but resignation was so infinitely better than sorrow. And she was happy for him, that he had a plan. That he knew what he was going to do. Even if it meant being thousands of miles away.

She'd asked him if he'd wanted to stop at home and change before they went back to the dojo, and Momiji had considered, looking down at his dark blue school uniform. Then he'd smiled and shaken his head. "Nein, I think not. Tomorrow is the last chance I'll ever have to wear this...and it looks good on me, doesn't it?" His eyes were dancing, and Tohru couldn't help but laugh, thinking back to his very first day at Kaibara High and President Takei's outrage at Momiji's use of the girl's uniform.

Momiji was thinking the same thing, and he laughed with her. "I don't know what caused a bigger stir; me when I dared to wear the girl's uniform, or when I dared to finally start wearing this one."

Tohru giggled. "Well, you definitely turned a lot of heads when you started wearing this one, but I think that's mostly because no one knew who you were! You really grew so much over summer break that year, I don't know if I would have known you myself if the first time I saw you was in the boy's uniform! But President Takei was pretty upset with your girl's uniform, so it's a hard choice."

"Too true. I still don't understand why he let it ruffle his feathers so much, the girl's uniform really looked so much better on me then. And now this one does." He smiled and smoothed the front of his shirt. "It will be strange, not having to wear a uniform any more. But it will be nice, too; being able to express myself, however I want."

They had smiled at each other, and holding hands as they headed back to the dojo had felt natural. So had talking and laughing together; reminiscing about the rest of that first day of school.

"Remember how President Takei got so angry at Haru about his hair?"

"Yes! And then he told Hatsuharu to prove it was his natural color, so he did."

"And you didn't understand at all, so you asked someone to explain how he'd proven it, and Yuki and Kyo got so embarrassed..."

"I know! Thinking about it now makes me so embarrassed, I was really so innocent back then!"

"Ja, it was cute. Even I knew what he was doing! And then Haru made that move on you."

"Well, that's not really fair to Hatsuharu. He didn't mean to do anything, he was just...Black."

"I don't know who punched him harder, Yuki or Kyo." Momiji laughed again, then looked at her fondly. "We had good times at school, didn't we, Tohru? Most of them ended last year, but tomorrow, even the echoes will be gone. It will be...strange."

Tohru squeezed his hand. "But a good strange, right?" Her voice had a hopeful tone, and Momiji smiled in response.

"Ja. The kind of strangeness that comes when you've been in the mud for a very, very long time, and you're finally pulling yourself out."

When they came around the dojo gate, Tohru was pleasantly surprised to see Hatsuharu in the dojo courtyard with Kyo. She giggled, thinking back to some of the many, many times that someone had asked whether the Sohmas were models, because it felt almost like she and Momiji were walking into a photo shoot. Kyo was leaning against one of the deck support columns, his arms crossed over his chest and one foot braced back against the column, while Hatsuharu sat on the steps next to him, leaning back on his arms and his legs stretched out and crossed in front of him. They were talking to each other, so each of their faces was in profile, and she was struck by just how handsome they were.

How handsome all of the Sohmas were, really, as she glanced at Momiji. Each of them beautiful, in their own way.

But there was only one of them whose smile lit up her heart, and whose eyes could see into her very soul. Only one who would always catch her eye, the only one who made her stomach flutter and gave her goosebumps with every touch.

Only one she was going to marry.

Kyo noticed them first, and he met Tohru's gaze right away. She could read the concern on his face from halfway across the courtyard, and knew he had to have been worrying about her. But he didn't have to, not any more.

Tohru smiled at him, a warm, bright smile, and Kyo's own face broke out in a wide grin of relief. He pushed up off of the column as Hatsuharu stood up, and the two of them walked over to meet Tohru and Momiji. As they approached, Tohru let go of Momiji's hand, reaching out instead to wrap her arms around Kyo. They smiled at each other with mirrored expressions of happy relief, and Kyo let out a sigh.

"So...you two good?"

Tohru looked over at Momiji, who was watching Tohru and Kyo. He had that same look again, the smile overlaid with resignation, and she felt a tiny twinge of guilt. But then Momiji laughed, and looked squarely into Kyo's eyes. Momiji's were bright, and full of the dancing, teasing laughter they'd always held, and his voice was confident as he replied.

"Ja, we're gut."