Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. I'm dynamite with a laser beam, however.

Everyone stood in silence for a moment, staring at the door with mixed emotions.

Tohru, however, was staring straight at the crimson-haired man in a white outfit.

Kyo was staring at the ground, his stature continuing to claim defeat. Hatori was still standing next to Kyo, his eyes gazing into the distance beyond the bushes next to him.

Tohru sighed softly. Her heart swelled with emotion from the day, and tears filled her eyes. A resolve that had been absent all morning suddenly seemed to flow through her veins, giving her courage. She clenched her eyes shut with fear and placed a fist on her chest.

"Kyo-kun…" Tohru said, her voice elevated, catching the attention of everyone around her. Each previous 12 shi took a glance at Tohru before gazing over at Kyo.

Kyo's face twitched, as if he were trying hard not to look up at Tohru.

"Please Kyo-kun… say something to me…" Tohru begged, stepping forward a little to ease the amount of space between herself and Kyo, her face held up in earnest. It seemed as though a giant chasm had thrown itself between Tohru and Kyo.

Kyo uttered not a word. Tohru's face fell sadly, her eyes staying welled with tears.

Momiji looked sadly to the side. Without a second thought, he said, "Kyo, you still have a chance. Remember what I said. Things can change, you know."

Kyo looked up at Momiji, surprised. His eyes still could not meet with Tohru's, however, and he quickly looked away.

Kyo thought back to the night he had had a moonlit stroll with Tohru… and of what Momiji had said to him before…

"...I wonder if Tohru would accept my proposal? ...Hey. If you give up that sort of thing could end up happening, you do realize that? That's why giving up isn't good. I too, will stop giving up because "thinking about it is pointless"… About the cat…"

Kyo frowned. Kyoko suddenly flooded into his thoughts.

"I have no chances left," Kyo murmured, thinking about Tohru's frightened look on the balcony the day before, her eyes wide and full of never-ending tears.

"What are you talking about, Kyo? We've just been giving the ultimate chance!" Kagura cried out. "The curse is gone! You don't need to be locked up anymore!"

Kyo looked up at Kagura, and her breath caught in her throat. His eyes were gently peering at her, and Kagura knew then that he was beyond her help; he had made up his mind. She had seen that look many times as a child.

Kagura hung her head and walked forward, her hands clenching around the objects she had taken. Kagura's eyes pricked with the feeling of fresh tears, and her nose fizzled. Through the tears she saw Kyo's bare feet come into view, and a sob escaped her throat. Kagura thrust the objects at Kyo, holding her hands out for him to take them.

"Here!" Kagura said softly, her head bowing low so Kyo wouldn't see her tears. "I-I thought that maybe these would help you…"

Kyo's eyes widened as he stared at what Kagura was presenting before him. It was the graduation gift she had given him earlier that week—the picture book. As he took it into his hands, he was surprised to see a small object resting under it, still in Kagura's outstretched hand.

His heart caught in his throat. He slowly brought his hand up and took it, feeling the warmth of Kagura's hand that had been transferred into it.

It was the onigiri-shaped stone that Shigure had given him after their talk at the lake.

"Perhaps this will remind you of our conversation tonight…"

"You know, Kyo… it might hurt her worse that you might not like her back. Tohru is a pretty emotional person. When her heart is set on something, or perhaps someone, she puts her all into that one thing, even if it will hurt her in the end. So this non-sense of hurting her and not loving her is just going to make you both wretched. Why not give it a try? Tell Tohru how you feel tonight?"

"Where… where did you get this?" Kyo asked, his gaze shifting from the stone in his hand to Kagura's tear-streaked face staring at him.

"I took it from your bedroom. I meant to only bring the photo book, but I guess I grabbed that as well. I thought it would help you in the cat room. Now I just hope that it will remind you that we love you… and don't want you to go."

Kyo smiled softly and placed a hand on her head. "Thank you Kagura for thinking about me… but… I have to go."

"WHY?"

Kyo's head shot up automatically to look at the source of the cry. Immediately, he regretted it. Tohru was staring at him, her eyes full of a fierce emotion that he had never seen her show before. His heart thrummed in his chest, and the emotions that he had so thoroughly suppressed after being lead to Akito emerged so forcefully that it literally pained him. Kyo's eyes filled with tears, but he found himself unable to break Tohru's intense gaze.

"Because of what I did to you…" Kyo said gently.

Tohru's eyes widened, but she held his stare. A sad smile crept to her lips, and Kyo became puzzled by this different reaction compared to the one he had gotten on the balcony.

Tohru took several steps forward, and Kagura took steps back from Kyo to give her room.

Kyo hardly noticed Kagura's retreat. His eyes were trained on orbs of sweet earth brown.

"Kyo-kun…" Tohru murmured. "You did nothing wrong to me."

Kyo's face screwed up. "Did you forget what I told you yesterday! I K-KILLED YOUR MOTHER, TOHRU!"

A collective gasp was heard by the ex-members of the 12shi, but Tohru's eyes never left Kyo's.

Kyo's face was screwed up with the fight to block back the memories of what he'd done, but he never left his gaze from Tohru's.

Tohru's eyes gently peered into Kyo's, the sad smile still playing about her lips. "Kyo, you tried to save her from the car… it's not like you could have known…"

"It doesn't matter!" Kyo cried out, breaking contact from her eyes finally. He couldn't take the cleansing stare; he couldn't believe her.

It's all my fault.

His fist clenched around the stone in his hand. "It doesn't matter. I still did something wrong. I deserve to be locked up for it!"

Kyoko… you'd still be here if not for me…

Tohru didn't respond. Kyo breathed heavily, fear edging its way into his heart. Shutting his eyes to hold back the impending tears, his ears began to roar… when suddenly a soft voice interrupted the noise in his head.

"But I forgive you."

Kyo's eyes shot open, and his gaze met again with Tohru's. The sad smile was still on her face, and soft tears were trickling down her cheeks.

"My mom… she was so dear to me that I promised myself to love only her…" Tohru murmured, breaking the gaze between her and Kyo. She looked down at her hands.

"It took me a while to come to the realization that you did not hurt my mom on purpose. In fact, you loved her just as much as I did." Tohru smiled softly to herself, wiping away a tear from her chin. Sniffling, she glanced up at the shining blue sky.

"Momiji once told me that having memories… the good and the bad… are just as important as having the actual person. I know… now… that my mom will always be with me in my thoughts. She's never truly left me…"

Tohru sniffled again and looked over at Kyo. His eyes were brimmed with tears. She watched as a tear broke from his eye and glanced down his cheek. Tohru stepped forward and brushed it away for him.

"Kyo-kun… I'll never have my mother the way I had her in the past. I can never get her back. But… Kyo-kun…I have you. I have everyone around me to make new memories with. I…"

Tohru's eyes spilled over with tears as she brushed away Kyo's over and over again. A sob escaped her throat.

"You told me that it was okay for me to be selfish sometimes. So… I-I'm going to be. I don't want you to give up. I want you to stay here with me… together. Like we promised. I want to stay together!"

Kyo choked on his tears, his eyes clenching shut.

"Why are you still here? Why are you fighting for me? I can't believe you are… I'm a monster! I don't deserve to be left out! I killed your mother Tohru! She died because of me! I don't deserve this… I don't…" sobbed Kyo.

"Kyo-kun… I…"

"You're supposed to hate me! HATE ME, DAMNEDIT!"

Tohru grabbed the front of Kyo's white robe. Kyo's eyes shot open, surprised at her forcefulness. Tohru's eyes bore into Kyo's. A white light filled his vision as his body reacted to her closeness, and a tingling sensation swept through him.

"I can't hate you! I love you, Kyo-kun! I've always loved the cat! I've always loved you!"

"And what would you do… if someone said they loved you?"

The curse's lifting felt like a light breeze blowing through his body, bringing the dark cloud that was attached to his soul outside of himself. The breeze continued to blow the dark cloud out, going behind the corners of his soul and deep into his being, opening doors that were closed, windows blew open that were shut, the threads of his once heavy soul sprang up with litheness, bringing tears of both joy and loss to his eyes. The breeze continued to blow the hovering cloud away, even after all little bits were gone from his body. He felt lighter, free at last from the angry spirit's claim.

Kyo was now free from the second part of his curse… the anger that the demon cat had felt was now gone from his soul. No more despair filled him, and instead a white light broke free from his cleansed soul.

Tohru watched as the bracelet on Kyo's snapped on its own accord, the beads falling noiselessly to the thawing ground.

Kyo opened his eyes, feeling free from the chains that had held him since birth. He smiled broadly, and turned to look into Tohru's eyes.

"And what would you do… if someone said they loved you?"

Kyo grabbed Tohru and brought her into him, hugging her fiercely.

"Tohru…" Kyo murmured into her ear. "I love you. I always have…"

Tohru gasped as Kyo brought his lips gently down onto hers. Tohru closed her eyes and felt the doorway to her heart spring open; she finally knew the spot that was just for Kyo.

The place just for him.