Valentine Kiss Good-bye

By: Kissa-chan

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Standard disclaimers apply.

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She saw him.

She saw him kissing her.

Thoughts filtered through her head too rapidly to acknowledge. She felt confused, betrayed, and more than anything... happy. She shouldn't have been feeling happy. The man she loved, Kyou Souma, was busy kissing another girl... another young woman. He professed over and over that he didn't have any feelings of love, at least none that he shared with Kagura Souma.

Her eyes widened slightly and her mouth parted in astonishment. "Kyou..." she whispered softly, breathing the name of the one person that she truly cared about. Fury, her normal state whenever he rejected her, abandoned her, and an intense wave of loneliness swamped her body.

She was happy; however at the same time she hurt. Kyou was happy... that was why she was happy. He wasn't exactly embracing Tohru Honda - that was forbidden by the curse - but he was holding the air around her in a tender embrace, fingers entwined with her long brunette hair. He posture seemed more relaxed than Kagura had ever seen it. He had a gentleness to his movements that betrayed his normal attitude. And he looked happy!

She hurt.

All her life, she had dreamed of marrying him. Making him happy and chasing away his hurt and humiliation at being the cat. She dreamed of making him forget about the double curse on him; she wanted to be the one that he looked at with the sweetest expression on his face.

Her hands began to tremble at the thought of the lost dream. They tightened around the chocolate valentine she had painstaking constructed for her beloved. Under the pressure of her hands, the chocolate crumbled in the same way that her world was.

He looked happy.

Maybe the best thing to do was just to walk away.

Charging out and beating him up - declaring that he was 'her Kyou' - would only make him mad at her. And in the end, he would only end up hurt and miserable. He would end up twitching in a puddle of blood; the sense firmly beat out of him.

She didn't want to leave.

He had promised to marry her.

She had always assumed that he just had cold feet. She had assumed that he loved her as much as she loved him, except he was too macho to express that love. Maybe she had assumed too much.

She sank to the ground, still out of sight. Her legs felt like jelly, or maybe rubber, regardless, they couldn't support both her and the weight of rejection. She sniffed, eyes getting glassy with unshed tears. "Kyou... my love..." she said, her voice trembling unsteadily. "Why... love?"

"Tohru-kun... I love you," Kyou's voice came, catching only slightly.

She didn't hear if Tohru answered. Tears leaked out of her eyes, trailing salty paths down her cheeks.

She started backing away on her hands and knees. She had to get away from those words. The three words she had always hoped Kyou would say to her, and the fourth word - no, name - that prevented them from ever being muttered in her presence.

She got up and ran.

Blind and oblivious to her surroundings.

Evening found her collapsed beside a tree, body shaking with rejection and tears. She was naked; an unwanted after-effect of transforming. Her clothes were close-by, but she had no desire to put them on. Stress had caused her transformation earlier, and grief now held her immobile.

Hours passed.

She finally made her way tentatively back to Shigure-san's home. She was dressed again; she had also washed her face in a small brook running through the area. In short, she looked presentable... hopefully.

"Ah, Kagura-chan!" Shigure called out brightly when he opened the door.

She tried to smile bravely but failed. "I... brought this for Kyou," she said, holding up the broken heart.

"Well, he helping Tohru-kun with the dishes right now. Come on in, just don't break anything," the inu said in a careless voice.

She shook her head. "No, give it to him for me and..." her voice trailed off. She truly loved Kyou, that made her situation harder. Either she could insist that he love her - keep him - or she could let go, giving him the freedom to love whomever he chose. "Tell him... good-bye, from me." Once again, she paused."

"What's that?" Shigure asked. He hadn't been paying much attention to the boar. He had been imaging all the fun he was going to have teasing his cousin about Kagura's Valentine Heart.

"Forever."

Shigure blinked. "Is something wrong, Kagura?" he asked worriedly. "Come in, I'll call Ha'ri." He guided her through the doorway and reached for the phone.

"Hatori-san knows better than anyone that there is no cure for heartbreak. Sometimes... the hardest part of loving someone is knowing when to say good-bye. When to let them be free of your feelings. When to give up." She didn't believe the words. She didn't want them to be true; however, they were and she couldn't help but say them.

"Kagura-kun, did something happen today?" he asked kindly.

She tried to smile bravely, but failed. "I saw..." Her voice faded and her smile brightened falsely.

"Ack! Kagura's here!" she heard Kyou exclaim in horror.

She let go. She gave in and said good-bye in her heart to the one person that mattered most.

"Today, I saw a Valentine's Kiss... good-bye." She managed to smile through her breaking heart.

She loved him.

But he loved another...

~~~**owari**~~~

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Author's notes; My way late V-day fic. I've had this idea for a while. Personally, I find the idea of Kyou and Kagura as a couple to be cute; however, like many things, I don't think that it's plausible. I think this is more likely to happen than Kyou falling in love with Kagura.

Oh, and I didn't want to write a mushy Valentine fic either, so this worked out perfect. I hope you enjoy the story.

Thanks for reading,

Kissa-chan