[Disclaimer] Still not mine.
[AN] Ok, so I decided to write some more this evening, and low and behold, I had a whole other chapter. So here's the happy reading! cheers
Chapter VIII
Dear Akito-san,How are you doing? I certainly hope you are feeling better than you seemed to be from your last letter. I hope you are getting out into the sun every so often. The sun has the amazing ability to make one feel more alive in one's own skin. I know you would feel better if you spent a little more time outside in the fresh air and sunlight! Enough about that though.
Yuki-kun will be here in just a few days. I'm so very excited about it too! It'll be like when we were in high school. I'm sure that he and Kyo will fight just like the old days too. I don't too much care for that part, but I know, despite what they say, that's just their way of showing each other they care. Kyo, of course, is acting like he could care less that Yuki-kun is coming to visit, and that's pretty amusing.
I was glad to receive your last letter. I always enjoy reading about how you're doing. Also, I'm very much looking forward to coming home for New Years this year. I'm sure you're tired of reading that in my letters, but it's the truth. Of course, I haven't told Kyo yet. I want it to be a surprise for everyone. It's been difficult to keep it a secret too. The one recurring theme of all the letters I receive from the rest of the Sohma's is 'when are you coming home?' It's nice to know I'm missed, and I can't wait to see everyone else.
Unfortunately, I must cut this letter shorter than usual. I have a lot of work to do to get the house ready for Yuki-kun's visit. I promise I'll keep our arrangement silent from Yuki, as difficult as that may be. You can trust me. I hope to hear from you soon. Take care of yourself!
Gratefully,
Tohru Honda
"Kyooooo... we're going to be late! You know it's a thirty minute drive to the airport and the cab just pulled up!" Tohru looked around the house frantically, making sure that all the odds and ends were picked up and in their place while waiting for Kyo to come downstairs.
Yuki's flight was due to arrive at 7:28pm and it was almost seven o'clock. Tohru did not want Yuki to think they weren't going to meet him at the airport. She'd already prepared dinner and only needed to warm it up. From her past experience, she knew that airline food was not all that great, nor was it very pleasing to look at. It was important to her that Yuki have a healthy meal as soon as he was settled in here.
Kyo came pummeling down the stairs as Tohru was slipping on her shoes at the door. "Let's go, let's go!" Tohru huffed as she was out of breath from running around the house.
Kyo grumbled something about 'the stupid rat', though whether Tohru didn't hear or chose to ignore it, he didn't know, since she made no response to his comment. He slide on his shoes and locked the door behind him while Tohru made her way to the cab.
Fortunately, traffic on the way to the airport was minimal. They'd made it on time! While making their way to the specified gate, Tohru stopped to look at an arrival screen, noting that Yuki's flight had been delayed ten minutes. She sighed a breath of relief and slowed her run to a quickly paced walk. Kyo looked behind him and noted Tohru's more relaxed look, causing him to relax a little as well. He stopped his fast pace and allowed her to catch up.
"I sure hope he's not going to have us waiting here for a few hours?" Kyo stated blandly with a smirk.
"Oh, Kyo. You worry too much. Yuki's flight is only delayed by ten minutes." Tohru smiled her sweetest smile causing him to blush. As she caught up to him, Tohru grasped his hand, and started pulling him in the direction of the gate. "Just because his plane is late, doesn't mean that we can't be waiting for him when he walks off the plane," adding a smirk for Kyo's benefit.
After arriving at their destination, they didn't have long to wait. The plane was already at the gate, and the first person was walking onto the concourse. Five minutes later, Tohru caught sight of Yuki as he was coming out of the gateway. She waved frantically in his direction, trying to grab his attention, but he seemed to be walking in somewhat of a daze. 'He must have just woken up,' Tohru thought to herself. Smiling as Yuki neared her and Kyo, she ran over to him and grasped his hand.
Yuki looked up suddenly with wide eyes. His other hand came up like he was about to push the person away, startled at the fact that someone had just grabbed his hand. He recognized the Tohru's face and immediately lowered his hand, a kind smile crossing his lips. Movement in the corner of his eye caused him to look away from Tohru and in the direction of the movement. He glared at the cat for a moment before his face softened again, as he held out a hand to shake Kyo's hand. "It's been far too long, you idiot cat."
Kyo returned the rat's initial glare, then turned on his heal heading in the direction of the baggage claim. "Let's go. I'm hungry and she wouldn't let me eat until you got here."
Tohru grinned at Yuki as he turned his gaze back to her. "You two weren't waiting long I hope?" She only shook her head in response, her goofy smile seemingly glued to her face.
She turned and started walking in the direction that Kyo had headed, the baggage claim, pulling Yuki behind her. He smiled at the back of Tohru's head and let her lead him away from the gate. "Are you hungry? I have dinner waiting at the house. I only need to warm it up. How was your flight? I hope it went smoothly. Our flight had been rather turbulent." She stopped to look at Yuki with a questioning smile since he hadn't answered her questions yet. What she didn't realize is that she hadn't stopped talking long enough to let him respond.
Tohru blushed when the thought occurred to her. Yuki just smiled his sweetest smile and simply stated, "I am hungry. Let's go home."
Kyo had already found Yuki's bag. He was tapping his foot as he impatiently awaited the two. Upon seeing their approach, with a smirk in his eyes, he walked out of the airport to hail a cab. By the time, Tohru and Yuki got to the curb, Kyo was crawling into the front seat of a cab as the driver was placing Yuki's bag into the trunk. Yuki walked ahead of Tohru and opened the backseat door for her. She crawled across the backseat so he wouldn't have to walk around to the other side. Noting that she was crawling across the seat, he climbed in after her, as Kyo was giving the driver their address.
"Kyo, when we get home, show Yuki to his room so I can warm up dinner. Oh yeah, and if you two are going to fight, at least go to the dojo. That's what it's there for. I really don't feel like repairing doors like I did at Shigure's." With that comment she leaned forward and ruffled Kyo's hair, knowing it'd get a rise out of him. Kyo only huffed in response as he leaned forward to get out of her reach.
Up to that point, Yuki had been peacefully watching, with a contented smile, Tohru, as she leaned against his shoulder. He hadn't realized just how much he missed her until he saw her at the airport. When she leaned forward, he was caught a little off guard. She was seemed to be far more playful with Kyo, than he ever remembered her to be. The furrow in Yuki's brow was minute, but it disappeared when she leaned back into the seat again and replaced her head where it had been on his shoulder. The rest of the trip was companionably silent, and Yuki and Tohru held hands the whole way.
Once they arrived, Kyo got out and met the driver at the back of the cab to pay him and retrieve Yuki's luggage. After everyone was out of the cab, the driver pulled away. Tohru pulled Yuki towards the house, following behind Kyo.
At the door, they all removed their shoes. "Yuki, Kyo will show you around the house and the dojo. I'll be in the kitchen. You two have fifteen minutes till dinner will waiting on the table." With that said, Tohru headed off in the direction of the kitchen.
Kyo turned in silence and headed upstairs. Yuki quickly caught up after lending a momentary, awe-struck glance at the entrance hall. Kyo showed off the guestroom first and dropped Yuki's bags in there since that was where he'd be spending the next two weeks. Second were Kyo's own bedroom, Tohru's bedroom, and then the bathroom, which were all upstairs.
Yuki stayed quick on Kyo's heels, taking in the whole house as he was shown each room; the living room, the study, the dining room, the laundry room, and lastly the kitchen where Tohru was busy finishing up the dinner preparations.
"It's almost done you two. Why don't you show Yuki the dojo, Kyo? You two still have time. Just don't start any fights or dinner will be cold before you get back." She smiled that same sweet smile and went back to fixing the food.
"Come on you stupid rat!" Kyo's feathers were obviously ruffled by Yuki's presence. It was understandable though. Despite the fact that they'd seen each other just this past New Year's, it had been three years since they'd lived together. Not that Yuki was moving in or anything, but he would be here for the next two and a half weeks. He knew it bothered the cat, and that made him smile.
Yuki didn't know what had been going on between the two these past three years, but he rightly didn't care. He was here now to save his princess from Akito's damnation, and that was all he really cared about. Kyo went to the front door and slipped on some sandals and pointed to another pair. "Those are for you to use."
After slipping them on, Yuki headed out the backdoor and followed Kyo across the yard towards another building, the dojo. Kyo flipped on the light as he entered the dojo and turned to face his lifelong enemy, watching his expression closely. After looking around the large room, Yuki turned back to Kyo and noted an undeniable sparkle in his eyes. This was apparently the one place where Kyo could truly be himself.
They stared at each other for a moment, the twinkle in Kyo's eyes fading. Yuki smiled and threw a punch at him. Effortlessly, Kyo blocked the punch. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me this time, you stupid rat! I've been practicing the past three years. Do you remember, or is your brain really the size of a rats, that you forgot?"
Yuki only smiled and turned to walk out of the room, easily dodging the punch coming at him from behind. "We should get back to the house. Dinner is surely ready by now." He glance over his shoulder at the fuming cat, the smile still tightly locked on his lips. He'd been expecting the punch from Kyo to come far earlier than it had. 'So, he's learned a little patience.'
With a scowl, Kyo flipped the light back off and relocked the dojo. They headed back to the house, both hungry as all get out.
