"Tohru, is there anything you want us to leave in any of the kitchen cupboards? Or is it all good to be packed?"

At the question, Tohru looked up from where she was sitting on the floor of her bedroom and glanced over at Momiji, who was leaning around the door. After thinking for a moment, she gave him a smile before answering, "It should all be good! Just please make sure you're labelling the boxes with which cabinet everything is coming from, ok?"

Momiji nodded. "Got it!" Then he vanished from the doorway and quickly thundered down the stairs.

Tohru took a deep breath, then smiled to herself as she resumed transferring Kyo's clothes out of the dresser drawers into their luggage. He would be a little grumpy, she was sure; he'd specifically told her to leave most of their personal items for him to pack. But Tohru hated to just sit around doing nothing; she might be almost 30 weeks pregnant, but she was not an invalid. There were a lot of things she admitted she couldn't deal with right now, but clothes were not among them.

"Tohru, we've got almost all of Hajime's things boxed up, did you want us to disassemble the bed?"

Tohru looked over her shoulder to where Kisa was looking out of Hajime's bedroom. "If you don't mind, that would be great! You could also take down the wall decorations and pack them, remove the wall anchor from the dresser, and pull out all the drawers. All of that can also go downstairs to the not-hall, Kyo said we'd have the truck tonight to take everything over."

Kisa nodded, then looked back over her own shoulder. "Hiro, did you hear all of that?"

Hiro's voice came from Hajime's room. "Got it. Take everything apart, take it all downstairs."

"Thank you!" Tohru quickly called out, and Kisa gave her a smile before returning back to Hajime's room. Then Tohru let out a quiet sigh before smiling and returning to Kyo's dresser.

It was the end of March, and nearly a month after they'd received the keys to their new house it was finally time for them to move. In spite of Tohru and Kyo's initial protests, Kisa and Momiji had stood firm in their desire to help and finally, after a lot of discussion, Tohru and Kyo had agreed. They'd need help no matter what, so either they let their family visit and enjoy the time together, or they'd be accepting help from their friends in Hibe. It would be an imposition to someone no matter what, so...what did Tohru think about having their friends visit from Tokyo?

It had been an easy 'yes,' once she framed it that way, and on the first day of the weeklong school term break Kisa, along with Momiji, Hans, and Hiro, had boarded the train in Tokyo for the five-and-a-half-hour trip to Hibe.

Kyo and Tohru were both working still, but it was wonderful to see their cousins. The four of them had taken a couple rooms at the town onsen ryokan, and during the day while Tohru was at work they had all enjoyed touring the area. Then they'd all be back to meet Tohru after she and Hajime got home in the afternoon to pack things and move them over to the new house.

Kyo had been amused by the fact that out of all of them, the only one who could currently drive besides him was Hans. "Seriously, what's up with everyone and this weird fear of driving?"

Tohru had been a little shamefaced at the question. Kyo had taken lessons and passed his driver's test almost immediately after turning twenty...though he'd had incentive, given that the two of them were getting married that summer and they wanted to rent a car for their honeymoon. He'd then barely used his license for the next few years, not until Hajime came along and they actually bought their own car.

Tohru had meant to get her own license after that, as soon as she could. Pregnant women weren't allowed to take driving lessons, but she'd fully intended to take lessons once Hajime was born.

But then things had just been so busy, she couldn't imagine finding the time. And as Hajime grew older, she'd pushed it back, and pushed it back, and pushed it back. Three years later she was once again pregnant, no closer to having a license now than she'd been six years ago.

Hiro had snorted at the question. "Just because we don't do something doesn't mean we're afraid of it. Why would I want to deal with the headache and annoyance of taking lessons when I have no reason to ever drive?"

Kisa had been a little embarrassed. "Well, I've definitely thought about it, because I think it would be nice to know! But since I doubt I'll ever have or really need a car, I just haven't taken the time."

And Momiji had laughed. "We live in one of the best places for public transport in the world, why would I ever want to worry about driving?"

So Hans had been the one to do the ferrying, driving Momiji and Tohru over to the new house, then going back to the old house to help Kisa and Hiro load the car before driving back to the new house to help Momiji unload. Tohru had initially felt like she was taking terrible advantage of him, especially since she couldn't do much unloading herself, but Hans had simply waved her off.

"It's fine, Tohru. I am here to help, ja? And I can help by driving, so I will drive!"

It had been four days now of packing and moving, and they were in the home stretch now. Tonight they would be moving over all of their furniture, along with (hopefully) the rest of their other things. Tomorrow, a Saturday, Kyo would be working in the morning and early afternoon, but the rest of them would be back at the old house cleaning it from top to bottom.

They were cutting things close; they had to be fully out of the house and have it ready for their landlord's inspection on Sunday. But Tohru was confident that she and their cousins would manage it, and Kyo had no choice but to believe her. With the new baby due in only a couple more months, time off was at a premium for both of them as they scrambled to save everything they could for when the baby came. That meant that Kyo didn't have the time to take off right now, move or no move.

And that made them both all the more appreciative of the help.

Tohru finished transferring the last of Kyo's things to the suitcase and zipped it closed, then pushed it aside to set with the others. That was it for the contents of their dressers, and their closet; all of their clothes and personal possessions were packed and most of them were already moved to the new house. It felt strange, looking around and seeing the bare walls, and the bare surfaces; even the small cabinet where she always kept photos and Kyo's beads had been cleared off. The bed was stripped, the bedding washed...she'd already emptied everything out of the upstairs bathroom except for a roll of toilet paper...

All that remained up here was to carry things downstairs.

Tohru started to push herself to her feet, but she hadn't even gotten halfway up before Hiro appeared at her side and helped pull her up. The first couple times that had happened she'd been startled, but now she just laughed about it.

"I swear I'm not trying to be so loud on purpose, Hiro," she said with a smile, and he gave her a chuckle in response.

"Yeah, well, it's probably better for you to have some help anyway, if you're working that hard at it. Besides, if you hurt yourself when I was around and could've helped, then I'm pretty sure Kyo would kill me."

Personally, Tohru felt that was a slight exaggeration, but she was still glad to have the help.

"Hiro, I've finished with all the things in the dressers. If you two want, you could bring down the suitcases when you're done with Hajime's things, and the nightstands, too. The rest of the things should probably wait until Kyo gets home," she said, glancing around and taking a quick inventory of what was left.

Hiro nodded. "No problem, Tohru. You going back downstairs?"

"That's right! I should be able to help Momiji and Hans finish in the kitchen."

"Sounds good."

With a nod to Hiro, Tohru turned and made her way down the stairs, mentally reviewing her 'to-do' list as she went. All of the things from the closets were packed and gone, along with the upstairs bathroom. Kisa and Hiro were finishing Hajime's room, and she'd finished hers. The upstairs was basically done. Downstairs, there was the last of the kitchen stuff, the things from the downstairs bathroom, and the furniture, and then...

That would be it.

When she walked into the kitchen, Momiji was sitting cross-legged on the floor and packing things into boxes while Hans stood at the counter, lifting things down from the upper shelves and packing them in turn. It was a cute sight, the two of them working together, and Tohru couldn't help but giggle as she walked in.

"It looks like you two are making great progress, if those sealed boxes are any indication! Thank you so much, both of you!"

"It's our pleasure, Tohru," Momiji said with a smile as he looked up at her, and Hans nodded.

"Ja, we're glad to help!" Then he sighed, pulling his hand back from where he was trying to reach a stack of dishes from the top shelf and failing. "Momiji, can you please get these down for me?"

"Ja, of course!" Momiji promptly bounced to his feet and reached up into the cabinet, easily grabbing the serving dishes in question and setting them on the counter. "Anything else?"

Hans sighed and shook his head. "Nein. Not yet, anyway," he said, eyeing the top shelf of the next cabinet with a frown.

"You know I'd be happy to trade, Hans. I can take the top shelves, no trouble!"

Hans gave him an unamused look. "And make me sit on the floor? You Japanese might think that's comfortable, but I will pass, thank you."

Momiji laughed, leaning in and giving Hans a kiss. "Well, if you change your mind, I promise it's not all that bad." Then he winked at Tohru and folded himself back to the floor to resume his own packing.

Hans was smiling now, and Tohru smiled back at him. "Just so you know, Hans, the kitchen floor is something entirely different from sitting on tatami, or a floor cushion! But please don't ever feel you have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, really!"

He shook his head at her. "Don't worry, Tohru, it's fine. Momiji has just been showing off that baffling flexibility of his, and I'm pretty sure he's having fun going from sitting to standing so much. He gets quite the kick out of being so tall," Hans added with a smile.

"Ja, of course I do," Momiji said with a laugh, his head in the under-sink cabinet. "As you'd understand, if you'd known me before puberty!"

Tohru was giggling again. "Yes, if you'd told me your first year of high school how tall you'd end up, Momiji, I don't know if I would have been able to believe you!"

A laugh emerged from the cabinet. "Only because you didn't have enough understanding of Sohma genetics. Wouldn't that have been a cruel twist, for me to be the only short one out of the entire adult Sohma male population?"

"Well, someone has to be the short one," Hans said philosophically, and Tohru and Momiji both laughed.

"It's certainly not Momiji anymore, that's for sure," Tohru said with a giggle. "But now...what do you two have left to do in here? Where can I help?"

Hans considered for a moment, then nudged Momiji with his foot. "We're almost done in here, ja?"

"Ja," Momiji promptly agreed. "Why don't you make some tea and sit down for a bit, Tohru? There's going to be plenty of work to do soon enough."

And Tohru had to admit that was right. Kyo would be getting home any time now, and after a quick dinner of prepackaged bentos it would be time to get to the serious business of actually moving. Hajime was spending today and tomorrow with their friends the Tanakas, so they didn't have to worry about him, but even without him it was a little hard not to feel entirely overwhelmed with all they had to do in the next twenty-four hours.

Tea sounded like a good idea.

Hans smiled at her as she stood at the counter and started preparing her tea. "So how does it feel, to be so close to being officially moved, Tohru? You two have been working on this for a long time, ja?"

"Almost nineteen months," Tohru said so quickly and aggrievedly that both Hans and Momiji laughed.

Then Hans nodded. "A very long time. I can imagine you must both be very excited! It is a big adventure, moving."

"Yes, it is! Not quite as big an adventure as your move," she said, giving him a smile, "but it's very exciting, moving after all this time."

"You've been in this house a long time?"

"Eight years," Tohru said softly, looking around the kitchen. "We moved here right after high school graduation, to Hibe and this very house. And we've made a lot of wonderful memories here."

Tohru hadn't felt that she was being all that reflective, but suddenly her eyes were filled with tears. And Hans' eyes widened in alarm as he looked at her, frantically trying to apologize.

"I'm so sorry, Tohru, I didn't mean to make you cry! Truly!"

"No, it's ok!" Tohru wiped at her eyes with the back of her wrist, but the tears continued to flow. "I've always been a very emotional person; you can just ask Momiji!"

"It's true," Momiji said, rising to his feet. Then he took Tohru in his arms, hugging her close. "But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing, to cry."

Tohru sniffled against him. "Thank you, Momiji." Turning her head to look at Hans, Tohru gave him a teary smile. "I promise, I'm fine. It's just...a little hard, saying goodbye."

Hans nodded, reaching out to somewhat awkwardly pat Tohru's shoulder. "Well, it must be a good thing, to be so fond of a place that you miss it when you leave."

Tohru nodded, straightening up and letting go of Momiji. "That's right! And even if this place is small, it's been home for a very long time. Looking back, it's hard to believe how young we were when we moved in. We felt so mature, but we were barely more than children," she said with a quiet sigh.

"And now you have them," Momiji said with eyes twinkling. "Though that reminds me..." He coughed, then asked Tohru, "Do you want everything from under the sink packed?"

Suddenly he was fighting to keep a straight face, and Tohru was confused. "Yes, I think so! Everything should be something we need, so I don't see any reason not to."

Momiji's mouth twitched. "Well, maybe you should take a quick look under there, just to be sure."

Still feeling a bit confused, Tohru stepped past Momiji and put a hand on the counter, leaning over to look under the sink. There wasn't much there anymore; Momiji had been very thorough in his packing. All that was left was the bottle of dish soap, some other cleaning supplies that they'd need for tomorrow, and-

Tohru's eyes widened, and a hand flew to her mouth as her skin flushed in complete and abject embarrassment. Straightening up, she could see Hans looking at her curiously while Momiji struggled not to laugh, and Tohru tried not to make eye contact with either of them as she rapidly shook her head. "No, there's nothing else you need to worry about there, Momiji. The cleaning supplies we'll need for tomorrow, and...I'll take care of the rest."

"Alright, Tohru, I just thought I'd check," Momiji said with a cheeky grin. And Tohru tried not to blush even harder as she closed the cabinet door.

It was normal. It was natural. They had been being careful, and there was absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, or embarrassed about. But boy did she feel awkward, having Momiji find a box of condoms under the kitchen sink!

By the time Kyo got back from the dojo, everything was packed and ready to go. The six of them sat around the dining room table and ate their convenience store bento boxes, Tohru apologizing profusely for the food then entire time. And then...it was time to go.

They managed to get everything loaded with only minimal complications and only a couple bruises, though things had gotten pretty dicey when the mattress was coming down the stairs. Mr. Okada at the grocery store had loaned them the delivery truck for tonight's move, and they had more than enough room to get everything loaded. As much furniture as they'd felt they had when it was all inside the house, once it was loaded, it looked incredibly sparse.

Hiro climbed into the truck with Kyo, and Hans drove Momiji, Kisa, and Tohru down to the house. Then everyone piled out to do everything once again, this time in reverse.

At least this time, there were no stairs involved. Tohru and Kyo's old bed would be taking up residence in the guest room; at long last, they'd no longer be offering their guests a futon in the middle of the living room.

Just now, though, they simply unloaded everything into the common area. Later tonight they would take everything to the proper rooms, but for now, it was time to simply sit back and rest. And when Kyo and Hans got back from returning the delivery truck, all six of them collapsed rather gratefully into Tohru and Kyo's new living room furniture.

"Ohhhhh," groaned Momiji, lying on the couch with his head in Hans' lap, "I don't know how you do this sort of thing every day, Kyo. It's only been what, four days of this? And I'm already exhausted. I don't know how long it's going to take my arms to recover from all this lifting!"

Kyo was sitting sideways on the loveseat, Tohru leaning back against him in his arms. At Momiji's comment he cracked a smile, looking over with an amused look. "It's like I said before, you've gotta be allergic to muscle or something. Pretty sure even Tohru's got more than you do these days, Momiji, and that's saying something."

"Hey," Tohru protested, "I'm not that weak! I have to carry Hajime around, you know."

"Ah, that's the reason then," Momiji said, gesturing at Tohru. "It's not that I'm especially weak, it's that Tohru is especially strong!"

"Yeah, well, you're still a noodle, Momiji. Lemme guess," Kyo said, turning to look at Hans, "You have to do all the heavy lifting, right?"

Hans chuckled. "Ja, well, I might do the most of it. Not that we really have a lot, but...ja."

Kyo nodded. "Figured. You're the only one of the two of you that's got any real muscle."

Momiji sat up and pretended to give Kyo a look of pure shock. "Kyo Sohma, have you been ogling Hans? In front of your pregnant wife? And here I thought you were a happily married man!"

Everyone except Kyo laughed, Kyo himself turning scarlet at the jab. But after a moment he laughed too, hugging Tohru tightly and deadpanning to Hans, "Sorry, but you're not my type."

Hans laughed in return. "No worries, I'm taken anyway."

"Ja, you are," Momiji said, giving him a fond look, and they all settled back down once again.

"Speaking of being taken, have there been any new developments on the wedding front," Tohru asked, smiling over at Kisa and Hiro. Hiro promptly groaned, and Kisa gave him a reproachful look as she shook her head at Tohru.

"No, nothing really, not yet."

"Only because she's incredibly stubborn," Hiro grumbled, glancing at Kisa with a look that was halfway between frustration and irritation.

Kisa narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not being stubborn, Hiro, I'm being practical."

"Well, who wants to make everything practical when it comes to a wedding, anyway?"

"Not everything, Hiro-"

"-Just enough," Hiro grumbled with a sigh. Then he realized that the other four were all staring at them, and he sighed yet again. "Kisa's been thinking we should cut back on the wedding. A lot."

"Because we should, Hiro!" Kisa's voice was incredibly firm, and her eyes narrowed as she looked at her fiancé. "I've done the math, over and over and over again, and it's just not responsible!"

"And I've told you, we can make it work! I can pick up another part-time job, it'll be fine. They made it work," Hiro said, gesturing to Tohru and Kyo, "and they were younger than we are!"

"Yes, but they weren't in university like you are, Hiro," Kisa said, "or just starting out in their first year as a teacher! It's not the same thing, and you know it."

"I know that you wanted things to be a certain way," Hiro said stubbornly, "And I don't want you to have to sacrifice all of that."

"And I already told you how we could compromise."

"We're not doing that, either!" Hiro was practically spitting at the very idea. "We're already waiting a whole extra year, we are not waiting until I'm done with graduate school!"

Kisa shrugged. "Then that's your answer, isn't it?"

Hiro scowled, crossing his arms and looking over at Kyo. "When you two were planning your wedding, did you have to deal with things like this? Completely unreasonable women," he said, looking pointedly at Kisa, who immediately bristled.

"I am not unreasonable! It's stupid to spend more than we can afford on a wedding, Hiro! It's a party! Even if it's a very nice and important party it is still a party. I'd much rather we save that money so we're in a better spot to tide us over while you're in law school. It's not like you're going to have a lot of free time to work then, either."

Kyo was not about to let himself get pulled into the middle of this, but Tohru had no such qualms.

"Honestly, it's so sweet of you to want to give Kisa her dream wedding, Hiro! Kyo was the same way," she said, tilting her head back and giving her husband a fond smile before looking back at the younger two Sohmas. "But we definitely made a few sacrifices along the way, in the name of giving ourselves some more wiggle room! Life has a way of throwing unexpected expenses your way from time to time, and it's nice to have a cushion."

Hiro squirmed slightly, but his tone was defensive. "Hey, we've got a cushion. And it's not like we'd be spending everything-"

"-but it would still be too much," Kisa cut in, and Hiro's eyes narrowed.

"Too much for what?"

Kisa thought for a moment "Well, what about a medical emergency?"

"We've got great insurance, Kisa, and you know the family wouldn't let something like that slide."

"I could lose my job."

"They love you, because they're not idiots, and there's a teacher shortage anyway."

"I could get pregnant!"

Hiro's eyes flared. "We're not gonna do anything stupid like that!" But no sooner were the words out of his mouth than he realized his mistake, turning quickly to Tohru and Kyo. "What I mean is, it would be stupid for us. It's not stupid for you two, not at all!"

Fortunately, his hosts were actually amused.

"Did you hear that, Kyo?" Tohru smiled, looking back up at him. "Hiro doesn't think we're stupid!"

"Not about this, anyway," Kyo said, shooting Hiro an amused look. "But seriously, Hiro...shut up while you're behind."

And Hiro did, clamping his mouth firmly shut.

For a moment, a somewhat awkward silence hung over the group, then Momiji changed the subject. "You know, I never would have guessed that the two of you would end up with a house like this, Tohru and Kyo...but seeing it, it really makes sense."

Tohru beamed over at him. "Yes, it definitely turned out differently than either of us was thinking in the beginning, but we really love it so much. It's going to be wonderful in the winter especially, having these windows to let in all the light without the cold!"

They all looked around at the two large walls of windows, through which they could currently all admire the onset of dusk.

"This room is so fascinating to me," Hans said, looking around. "With these big windows, it makes me think of one of those things..." He looked helplessly at Momiji, trying to figure out how to explain what he was thinking of and failing. "You know...the boxes that people put in their windows? To let cats go outside but still be on the inside? Since cats like to be outside, and in the sunlight?"

Kyo was staring at Hans with absolute incredulity, and Hans suddenly felt uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, it is maybe not the best analogy. Or maybe I am not saying it right? Momiji, you know what I am talking about, ja?" Then he switched to rapid German, explaining what he meant while shooting anxious glances at Kyo.

"Ja, a catio, that's what they're called," Momiji said, nodding in agreement with Hans' assessment. "And you're not wrong, exactly, Hans, it's just..." He glanced from Hans to Kyo, and all of a sudden Hans realized his faux pas.

"Scheisse!" He was immediately apologetic, trying to stammer out some sort of explanation. "I was just thinking about the windows and the sun...our neighbor in Berlin had one, you see, and I was just thinking...not anything about you specifically..."

Kyo took a breath, then he waved a hand at Hans. "Don't worry about it, ok? I'm not offended. If anyone oughtta be offended, it's Tohru, since she's the one who really wanted all the windows."

Tohru was relieved; she had felt Kyo tense up at the initial analogy, even if he could say he was fine with it now. So at his comment, she giggled, taking his hand as she looked over at Hans. "And don't worry about me being offended either. I've always loved cats," she said glancing back up at Kyo with a smile.

Hans exhaled, feeling rather relieved himself. "Still, I did not think-"

"You're good, Hans, really. I know you didn't mean anything by it," Kyo said, his voice firm.

And once again, a subject was dropped.