Chapter 23: Joyful Sight

Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba.

Oh god… this is making me sad… Aikyou is coming very close to it's end, one more chapter after this one… TT. Please enjoy and continue to review! This chapter explains a lot. I don't know if it is true, but if it isn't then I made it up, if not, then well, just read, you'll see.

The remainder of that month of training finally passed and Kyo was heading towards the path that went in the direction of Shigure's home. He glances at Shishou for a moment and says nothing as he turns back around and moves his feet to steadily walk down the dirt path. After walking for nearly twenty minutes since he was taking his time, he reaches the front door of Shigure's house, his fingers slip into the area where your hand goes into and he slides the door open gradually. Carefully, he steps into the house and looks around curiously, a bag slung over his shoulder that contained all the things he had brought to Kazuma's dojo and back. Sighing slightly, he advances up the steps and down the hallway to his bedroom. He opens his door and throws his bag at the bed and it bounces around a couple times before finally dropping off the edge and onto the floor.

Slowly, he exits his bedroom and walks into the bathroom where he washes his hands and cleans his face so that he can get whatever dirt was on him off. He rubs his face gently with a cotton-made cloth and tosses it against the mirror that sat on the wall above the sink. After leaving the bathroom he heads back downstairs and into the kitchen where he is startled by the sight. It looked as if a tornado hit everything in that room only. "Why…does this remind me of the days when it was only me, Yuki, and Shigure living here…"

Suddenly he begins to remember those days: "AHH! Where's the refridgerator!" he had exclaimed. Yuki responded rather dully, "It's behind the mess that you made that I call crap…" Kyo growls and trudges through the mildew and mountains of filled garbage bags. It smelt worse then Shigure's bedroom and that's saying a lot! He shivers and shakes his head; it wasn't nearly as bad as those days. He walks towards the refridgerator and grabs the milk, drinking straight from the carton. He gulps and puts the carton down on the counter, and sighs slightly. "Mmm…" Kyo mutters after swallowing the milk, which, he obviously enjoyed drinking.

He turns around abruptly, his left elbow hitting the carton as he does so. It drops to the floor making a little 'pop' sound since it was empty. Little drips leaked out the corner of the slightly open tip of the carton. He couldn't figure out why he was so shocked to see who was standing in front of him. Then again, the eyes that met his were just as shocked, possibly more pleased, to see him. Sliding his feet across the floor in a shuffling manner, he advances towards the person he was extremely happy to see.

Tohru's eyes grew large in great excitement, she was as happy as ever. Out of completely nowhere, she grabs a blanket out of the clean laundry basket and jumps at him, throwing her blanketed arms around him. He held her shoulders back so that they didn't touch him and he hugged her back slightly. He couldn't believe it was working. Is…this her stupid idea of breaking the curse? Kyo asks himself, but he couldn't object with her, he didn't care anymore. Every word they admitted to each other, he felt was completely true, he honestly did love her. When he was younger he was told a story about a young man and woman who thought they were in love with each other. But, they weren't allowed to marry one another. Coincidently, it was the same story Kyoko Honda told her daughter Tohru, but he didn't know that she knew of the story. All he could do was hold her close to him, for as long as time allowed him to. Even if it was only 'aikyou' he knew his feelings for her were as true as the color of the sky is every day. "I…missed you Tohru…" the words slipped out and before he could stop them, he found himself blushing, and enjoying the words he spoke.

"I… I missed you too Kyo-kun!" She exclaims happily, pulling out of the hug gently, tossing the blanket to the side. He smiles at her softly as he places his hands at his hips and tilts his head to the side a little. "We had a day off from school today, so…" she runs out of the kitchen for a moment and grabs a bag from the corner of the living room before hurrying back to him. "I have all the papers and stuff our teachers handed out…" Tohru looks at the floor slightly, and then glances at him out of the corner of her eye. Dropping the bag, she changes the subject. "I…haven't been cleaning much lately… my minds been on other things…" Tohru admits sounding somewhat sad about her words. Her expression brightens as he lifts her head up completely to meet eyes tenderly. "How… was training with Shishou-san…?" She asks curiously as she only hoped for the best.

Lifting up his left hand, he drops it on her head. Surprisingly he didn't bop her, but instead rested his open hand on her scalp, his fingers loosely running through her hair. "We'll just have to wait and see if it all paid off…." He mutters to her calmly before advancing past her. Stopping at the threshold he turns slightly to look at her. "You really should clean this kitchen. This vaguely reminds me of the times before you came into our lives…only…this is actually considered clean, kinda scary dontcha think?" Kyo laughs quietly under his soft breathing before exiting the kitchen completely.

She nods to no one in particular –since the kitchen was empty except for her- and smiles before walking to a closet just beside the kitchen, taking a mop, broom, and many cloths out of it. Tohru slips rubber gloves onto both of her hands after placing a bandana on her head to keep her hair out of her face. Gripping the broom she begins to push everything into a large, mountain style pile at the core of the room. Taking hold of the mop after putting the broom away neatly, she begins to swish away at the dirt that was still stuck to the ground. Tohru stayed in the kitchen for many minutes and during that time, Kyo had already run into Shigure and Yuki.

Kyo glares at the two of them, left eye twitching as his short fuse began to dwindle down to nothing. Shigure was continuously making jokes about him and how he left to train and everything while Yuki stood still annoyed, but some how seemed happy that Kyo was back. This –as it would anyone- surprised Kyo greatly and he took Yuki by the collar of the shirt before quickly letting go. "Oh no…. you're not getting me mad that easily Yuki…. When you least expect it, I'll challenge you to a fight and you'll see me victorious…" his voice trails off as his confidence began to evaporate like boiling water.

Sighing as he feels the irritation growing, Yuki shakes his head in disbelief. "Didn't Shihan teach you anything new? There isn't a way you can beat me … stupid cat. Stuck on such a useless effort still…" Yuki mutters sounding cross. They both shot each other harsh glares before lightening up their expression when they see Tohru walk out of the room to see them. She was still clothed by the rubber gloves, bandana, and raggedy old shirt and pants that she wore whenever she had to clean. Smiling happily, she walks over to them and looks at the three of them gradually. "Honda-san… I'm going to go back to the garden, if you'd like to continue to help me… you can." A soft smile crosses Yuki's face as he exits the house, going to the back yard.

Shigure rubs the back of his head and grins as he does so. "Good luck with our obnoxious little friend Tohru-kun!" He exclaims, hurrying to his bedroom to click away on his typewriter. The phone was beginning to ring off the hook as his editor frantically called the house to inform Shigure of the new deadline. He –to his editor's dismay- never picked up the phone, not even once.

The both of them stood together quickly, their faces beet red. Quickly, Kyo runs up the steps and slams his bedroom door as hard as he possibly good. The top hinge snapped and a loud cracking sound is heard throughout the house. Tohru winces; shivering a little as she hears the slamming of the door. Slowly, she makes her way up the stairs and knocks on Kyo's lopsided entrance. As she enters his bedroom, her eyes grow wide. His window was wide open. She runs over to it and sticks her head out, looking around frantically. Pulling herself back inside, she looks under his bed, in his closet, and even in the garbage pail. She wasn't paying one bit of attention to what she was doing. All she knew was that Kyo had just come back and he had already vanished from her sight. Running out of his room she looks in each room hoping to find him.

Meanwhile, in the garden, Kyo was staring down Yuki as they were suddenly meeting eye-to-eye. A smug grin crosses Cat-san's face as he knocks away Yuki's incoming fist. "I'm quicker now! GOT THAT! I'm faster then you! The damn rat!" he exclaims furiously, taking a stomping step toward Yuki, trying to make him feel intimidated.

Yuki, once again, shakes his head. "You're making a fool out of yourself Kyo…" he whispers, rubbing his forehead a little. "Listen to me," he began, dropping his hands to his sides, letting out a soft sigh. "Akito's-." Kyo cuts him off before he goes any farther.

"I don't care about anything she says! I could care less if everyone else thinks her word is law! You should obviously know -you of all people! - should know that I'm not apart of the juunishi! Therefore, I don't have to abide by Akito's retarded laws!" He shot ferociously, making Yuki feel slightly frightened at how he was acting and what his reaction was like.

"But Kyo…" Yuki began seeming clearly startled now.

"SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE! DO YOU THINK I CAN'T HANDLE MYSELF! I DON'T CARE IF AKITO HAS SOME KIND OF PLAN! I'LL OVERCOME HER SICK, PSYCHOTICNESS OKAY?" he roars obviously angered. Yuki takes a quick step back and stares at Kyo in utter incredulity. Appearing to calm down, Yuki makes eye contact with Kyo cautiously. Taking deep breathes now, Kyo mumbles, "Don't…treat me like I little kid okay Yuki… I can handle myself…" his voice had trailed off by now and he was walking away and around the house. Just as he rounded the corner of the house he bumps into Tohru who's expression showed sheer fright. His eyes grew wide as he looks at her. He hadn't transformed for one thing, but then a second passes and he abruptly poofs into his cat form. This was the first time in a while that he had transformed almost instantly.

Tohru drops to her knees and gathers Kyo up in her arms quickly, her head nestling into his furry, smooth haired body. "Kyo-kun…. can you…just stay calm… just for now…. For me?" She asks sounding a little scared.

A minute passes and he transforms back to his human form. Tohru flings herself against the house wall, her eyes closed as well as covered by her hands and the wall. As fast as he could, Kyo gets his clothes on and taps her on the shoulder gently. "I'm dressed now…" he mutters quietly as she hesitantly turns around to face him and Yuki once more, even though Yuki had his back to the both of them as he began picking leeks and strawberries. She weakly smiles at Kyo as he reaches for her hand and takes hold of it. "I'm… sorry about coming back and already starting problems…" Kyo says apologetically.

"It's…" she sniffles and pulls her hand out of his so that she could rub her eyes then her slightly stuffy nose. "It's okay Kyo-kun…" Tohru replies forgiving him instantaneously. "I'm going to call Uo-chan and Hana-chan… maybe we can all hang out. Welcome you back. Is that okay Kyo-kun?" She asks practically begging for his approval.

He nods almost invisibly. Watching Tohru happily clap her hands and skip away, he smiles slightly. There was nothing he liked more then to see that cheerful expression on her face. So easily he was able to change the delicate emotions of her's. Even so, he was proud to be the one that made her happy again, and that always made her ecstatic.

The images of graduation began to float throughout his mind as well as Yuki's. For the fact that they were thinking of the same thing was sort of frightening, but they didn't bring up that subject as much as they wanted to. Kyo left and went back into the house to unpack his clothes and put them in the hamper for Tohru to wash.

Dropping himself onto his bed, he stares up at the ceiling, once again thinking about graduation. What was going to become of him? Was his new training going to actually pay off this time? There were too many questions and each of them was far too hard to answer without taking an un-allowed peek into the near future.

x

Meanwhile, at the Main Sohma Estate, Akito was speaking with Kyo's father who he was estranged from and Kureno. They were all sitting at a small, but round table that allowed them to meet the eyes of each person at that was seated even if it meant they'd have to glance out of the corner of their eye. Her delicate voice broke the silence, though anger seemed to be raging throughout it. "Kyo's part of the curse is beginning to fade… We must dispose of Ms. Honda as quickly as possible. She really is becoming quite a troublesome little wench isn't she…" Akito's voice rang through their ears, and she was even speaking loud enough for anyone, that was right outside the door, to hear.

Kyo's father slammed his fists onto the table abruptly. "GET RID OF THAT GIRL THEN! THAT THING HAS TO BE LOCKED AWAY!" he exclaims angrily, his yelling was almost five times louder then Akito's regular speaking. "If his curse is broken… then… then that thing will be allowed to roam freely! He will believe that he wont have to listen to you and he'll give up on trying to beat Yuki and your plan, Akito-san, will fail!" His mouth was wide as he yelled as loud as possible.

Akito glares at Kyo's father roughly and gets to her feet and wobbles weakly to a desk. She places her hands on the top of it gently and looks down. Her fingers were shaking for no apparent reason… or was there something she didn't want them to know.

Finally, Kureno gets to his feet and walks up behind Akito. He stares at her slightly worried, but his expression was as blank as ever. "Akito-san…" his voice trails off as she falls backwards. Catching her, he sets her flat on her feet and turns Akito around, holding her up by her arms.

Haru walks to the door and touches the knob and stops himself as he hears the yelling and the slightly concerned tone coming from Kureno. His ear presses against the door gently and he listens in. Rin comes up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist. He smiles at her for a moment, then a serious expression overcomes his face and he continues to listen to the conversation coming from the room.

"If… these curses begin to fade as quickly… as they," Akito coughs in the middle of her sentence, "are, then I will perish…" Her voice was extremely shaky and was expressing her fear of death. "I… I can't die… I'm the God! I am GOD! HOW CAN I DIE!" She exclaims and hits Kureno. After realizing what she had done she hugs him gently, and sighs. "You've already left me Kureno… your curse is gone. You were the beginning of my downfall…" her voice trails off. "You… will perish with me?" She asks curiously. He nods blankly.

Haru's eyes grew wide and he staggers backward. He looks at Rin and smiles. "Akito-san… has a limited amount of time to live Rin-kun…" His voice was filled with excitement and it brought a strange feeling of joy to the both of them. They run out of the building and to their respective homes.

Slowly, Akito pulls away from Kureno and looks at Kyo's father. "We'll… dispose of Ms. Honda as soon as possible. For my sake as well as everyone else's. That thing… does not deserve to live." She finishes gradually and grins. The rest of the night they planned what they were going to do on the day of Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru's graduation. This graduation was something none of them were going to forget.

I don't know what I can say about this chapter. It turned out really well. I'd like to thank all of my reviewers! I've been seeing a few new names appearing and its making me happy to see them all, lol. I'm glad everyone's enjoying it. And if you would like to contact me email me at: or IM me at the S/N: YouCantSeeMe340