Rainy Day Blues
By JayBird12
Author Note: It's been raining constantly here lately, so I thought this would be a good time to write about Kyo and the rain. Hope you enjoy the semi-fluff.
Summary: Kyo hates rainy days, but he knows that there's one person who can brighten up any day for him. A summer rainstorm brings a sweet moment between Cat and Onigiri. Kyoru oneshot. Begin.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, Kyo, Tohru, or any of the other characters.
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An orange-haired teen sat in an almost pitch-black room, the only light coming from beyond the closed door behind him and the occasional blink of lightning from the outside. Rain beat steadily against the glass window that the boy leaned against in a slumped position, and the gray sky rumbled ominously with the scattered bursts of thunder. The boy pounded his fist against the closed window, willing the rain to stop. When his efforts proved fruitless, he slid to the floor in defeat, sighing.
Suddenly, the door opened slightly, casting a ray of light across the room, just large enough to outline the ghostly silhouette of the young girl standing outside of it. The two teens stayed where they were, staring at each other for a moment in silence before the girl spoke in a nervous voice saying,
"K-Kyo-kun, dinner is almost ready. Will you be joining us?"
"You know that rain makes me lose my appetite," he snapped back, almost accusingly.
"Well, yes but ... Kyo-kun, you haven't been eating with us for the past few days, ever since the storms first started coming ..."
"Is that a problem?" he responded in an agitated voice.
"N-no, but, well ... I'll bring your dinner up afterwards ... I guess" she said, turning around and making her way back out to the hall.
Kyo sighed, his head sinking into his hands. He hadn't meant to upset Tohru, but he just couldn't stand the thought of eating with that damn rat when he was already in such a horrible mood. It usually wasn't a problem when it rained because storms never stuck around for more than a day or two, but over the past week it had been raining constantly, even flooding in some places.
"Wait, Tohru ... come back, I didn't mean to ..." he stumbled over the words, trying to put together a sentence to express his thoughts.
Tohru stopped when she heard Kyo's voice calling to her from the room, and cautiously made her way back, determined to take any of the harsh words that he might throw at her. She knew how much rain upset him, and that she shouldn't take the things he said personally, but every time he raised her voice at her, she couldn't help but feel a pang from within her chest.
"Tohru, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, but you know what the rain does to me ..." he said, turning away from her as she walked back into the room so she couldn't see the color rising to his cheeks.
"It's okay, Kyo-kun, I understand," she said softly as she made her way over and sat down lightly next to Kyo.
"I just, I don't see why it even has to rain! I mean, what's the point? It just makes people feel like slugs, and ... ugh, I hate the damn rain!" Kyo suddenly exclaimed, glaring daggers at the drops of water hitting against the windowpane.
Tohru just smiled at his antics, letting a soft giggle escape her lips. He the turned towards her with a confused expression on his face, wondering what he had done that she thought was so funny. She soon suppressed her laughter, and blinking, responded to his outrageous question,
"Kyo-kun, of course it has to rain! The trees and the flowers, even all of the animals, us included, we all need rain to live. It helps everything to grow and be healthy! Rain can be wonderful when you look at it the right way!"
"Huh ... well not for me. I don't see anything 'wonderful' about flooding and all of that mud," he said, gesturing to the front lawn which had been reduced to a swirling pool of mud and grass.
"Well ..." began Tohru, choosing her words carefully, "maybe it rains like this sometimes so that when the sun finally comes out again, we appreciate it more. It shows us how much we take good weather for granted ... or something like that,"
"If the sun ever does come out again ..." Kyo said glumly.
"Kyo-kun ..."
"Alright, I'm sorry. I just ... I hate it! I can't stand water at all!" he complained.
"Well ... maybe you just need to look at rain in a different way. And ... and I can help you!" Tohru said, suddenly having an idea.
"What are you rambling about?" he asked her, confused.
"Maybe if there's any day that it's raining and you're not feeling good, I could come sit with you. And ... and we could talk! We could talk about the rain, or we could talk about ... well, about whatever you want Kyo-kun! I-I just don't like seeing you depressed and angry like this ..." she said, her voice growing softer as she finished voicing her thoughts.
"I mean, maybe if I'm here to cheer you up, rain won't seem like such a bad thing anymore. Maybe you can even start to like the rain, Kyo-kun!"
Kyo's eyebrows rose skeptically as he listened to Tohru stumble through her idea. He didn't think he could ever actually like the rain, but she was right. Maybe if she kept him company on rainy days, they would be a little bit more tolerable.
"So ... what do you think?"
"I think ... that sounds like a good idea," Kyo said, a smile flickering on to his face.
Tohru smiled warmly back at him, her face flushed. She hadn't known if he would even like the idea, so his immediate acceptance of it surprised her greatly. Her stomach fluttered with excitement at the thought of the many rainy days she would spend with Kyo in the future, wondering what events they would hold. She was suddenly struck with inspiration, and jumped up, pulling on Kyo's arm.
"Come on, Kyo-kun, follow me!" she said, taking off down the hallway.
"Huh ...? Hey, wait up!" he said as he wandered after her, dazed.
Tohru ran down the stairs and burst out the front door, with Kyo a few steps behind her. She ran right out into the rain, squealing as the cool drops soaked her entire body. Kyo hesitated, staring at her in confusion. Had Tohru gone crazy?
"Come on Kyo-kun, come feel the rain! It's wonderful!" she said, tilting her head back and catching the shower of water on her face.
He cautiously stepped out, wincing as the rain began to pelt him, and jumping as a rumble of thunder sounded above his head.
"Is this even safe?" he shouted to her.
Tohru ignored the question, running over and taking Kyo's hand. She pulled him out further, encouraging him to get himself wet. He just shook his head, staring at her in disbelief. She was actually enjoying this! He blinked and tilted his head back as she had done before, and felt the drops snake their way down his cheeks and onto his neck. It actually did feel sort of refreshing, he admitted to himself. He then looked back down at her, and noticed that she was staring up at him with a look of anticipation on her face. He laughed, but then realized that he still felt the usual weakness that he did when a rainstorm came. Suddenly he experienced the whooshing sensation that always accompanied his transformations as he changed into a soaking wet orange cat.
"OH NO! Kyo-kun I'm so so sorry, I wasn't even thinking ... I didn't know ... with you getting weak ... and the transformation ... and and ..." Tohru stammered quickly, scooping up the cat and his clothing and bringing him under the awning of the porch, where she set him down and ran to get a towel.
A few minutes later, the two sat on the porch, Tohru looking down at her feet in shame, and Kyo drying his mop of orange hair with the towel that she had provided, along with a dry set of clothes for him. Neither of them really knew what to say, so Tohru spoke first.
"I'm sorry again Kyo-kun, I just wanted to show you how much fun the rain could be ..." she said, kneading her hands in her lap.
"Hey," he said warmly, making her look up at him before he finished his thought, "I already told you, it's okay. I know you were just trying to cheer me up, and it worked," he finished, smiling.
"And you know what?" he asked.
"What?"
"I think I might actually start to like the rain," he said, taking one of her hands from her lap and grasping it gently, "if I can spend all of my rainy days with—
"Kyo and Tohru, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" sang Shigure, suddenly bursting out of the door behind them.
Kyo immediately dropped Tohru's hand, and sprang up, blushing as he faced his older cousin.
"Shut up you dirty –
"Aww ... poor Kyo-kun is upset that I burst in on his little love moment with Tohru!" Shigure said teasingly.
"Speaking of which ... is dinner almost ready, Tohru? Yuki and I are starving!" the dog of the zodiac questioned.
"OH NO! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT DINNER!" squealed Tohru, jumping up and beginning to panic.
"Ah ... young love," said Shigure breezily, as he turned and made his way back inside.
"Tohru, if you want ... I could help you finish making dinner," Kyo said hesitantly, trying to calm the panicking girl.
His words had the desired effect as Tohru suddenly stopped and smiled.
"Yes, that would be a huge help, Kyo-kun! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed.
Before she could think about what she was doing, Tohru suddenly made her way over and planted a small kiss on Kyo's cheek. Both of them were suddenly shocked at her uncharacteristically bold move, and blushed brightly.
"Uh ... well, um, d-dinner's not going to cook itself," Tohru said with nervous enthusiasm.
"You're right, so let's go get started on that," Kyo responded, smiling warmly and grabbing her hand.
The two made their way back into the house, both smiling happily, and wondering what the next rainy day would bring.
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Author Note: .. This story kind of ran away from me. This was nothing like the story I originally planned to write, but as I was going other ideas started coming and it just kind of wrote itself. I'm actually not sure if I like how this turned out, but whatever. Sorry D: