Tohru sat slumped at the break table, her head buried in her arms. Another lunch break, and another day she just felt...terrible.

No, terrible was too strong a word. She didn't feel terrible, otherwise she never would have allowed herself to come to work. But she didn't feel good; that same lingering, overwhelming feeling of fatigue and ennui that had been following her for days. It had been hard just getting out of bed this morning, and even eating breakfast had been impossible. Over the course of the week Kyo had grown increasingly concerned, and this morning he'd tried forcibly sending her back to bed.

Tohru had been adamantly against it, though. They'd just had a week's vacation when they went back to Tokyo for Yuki and Machi's wedding, it didn't feel right or responsible to call into work just because she was tired. She didn't think she was sick, but she did feel her exhaustion was the trip taking a toll on her. There had been a lot of excitement and a lot of activity, with their usual pattern of late nights and exhausted mornings, and it made sense she'd suffer for it.

She'd woken up on the last day of the trip feeling the oppressive fatigue for the first time. It was like there was a heavy hand on her body, holding her down and making it hard for her to move, or even fully wake up. Kyo had been amused that first morning, figuring it was the natural effects of staying out late at an afterparty. The wedding had just been the day before, and it had been a very, very long day. Kyo was successful in making Tohru stay in bed longer that day; their train didn't leave until noon, so there was no reason to rush.

Monday morning, her alarm had gone off for work and just reaching out to turn it off had felt like an impossible task. Every part of her felt heavy, even her arms. The alarm was blaring for so long that Kyo had come upstairs to check on her and make sure she was actually awake, and once again he'd been sympathetic to her plight.

"I guess we should have given ourselves a day or two back home before going back to work, huh? But I'm sure you'll be ok once you get moving, Tohru."

She had eventually gotten up, but it had been a chore. Never before had she been so grateful for her job as a receptionist; all she had to do was sit, answer phones, and help with paperwork. And did she mention sit? The hardest part of the day was getting herself from their house to the bus stop and into the office; once she was there, she could manage. Pretty well.

Tuesday was more of the same, and this time Kyo was a little more concerned. "Tohru, are you sure you're feeling ok?"

Yes, she was sure. She just needed to drink an extra cup of tea that morning, and she'd go to bed early that night. She'd tried to take care of some housework Monday evening, but she'd felt so exhausted that even lifting a basket of laundry had been daunting. No point in struggling uphill again on Tuesday, so she'd just gone to take a nap shortly after getting home from work.

Kyo found her asleep when he got home from the dojo at 6:45. Because of the nature of Kyo's job, he didn't work a classic '9-5' schedule; he wasn't on the clock until 10 am, and he didn't finish up with the afternoon classes until 6:30. Twice a week he also taught evening classes starting at 7:30, and on those nights Tohru usually made a point to have a quick dinner ready the moment he got him so they could eat together before he turned around and went back out. Since Tuesday was one of those nights, he was incredibly perplexed and somewhat concerned when he came home to find the downstairs dark and no one and nothing in the kitchen.

"Tohru?" There was no answer, and he was a little more concerned. "Tohru?"

Quickly jogging up the stairs, he stuck his head in their bedroom and let out a relieved sigh when he saw her asleep in bed. She definitely needed to make up some sleep, if she was already passed out at this hour! He thought about waking her up, but then decided against it. Maybe if she slept herself out tonight, she'd finally feel better and functional in the morning.

He quietly crept to the nightstand on his side of the bed and pulled out a pen and pad of sticky notes.

'Hey Tohru, I came home but you were asleep. Figured you needed it, so I left you. Don't worry about dinner, I can take care of myself. I'll be back by 10. Sweet dreams, your loving husband.'

Kyo stuck the note to Tohru's own bedside table, right next to her phone where he figured she'd see it if she woke up before he got back. Then he replaced his writing materials and headed back downstairs to figure out what he could throw together and eat in the 15 minutes he had left.

When Kyo got back after his late class, Tohru was still sleeping and his note was untouched. She was still sleeping after he'd showered and changed, and didn't even flinch when he got into bed next to her. Kyo was amazed and a little incredulous; Tohru had always been a good sleeper, but she had to have missed more than they'd thought if she needed it this badly. But hopefully this would be what she needed, and the next day she'd be back to her regular perky self. With that cheerful hope in mind, Kyo snuggled up against her and soon passed out himself.

It did not help. The next morning when Tohru's alarm went off, she was so confused she couldn't even process what was going on. That sounded like her alarm, but her alarm didn't go off until seven in the morning. And it couldn't be seven in the morning, because it had only been just after five in the evening when she went to lay down; she knew that, because she still needed to figure out what to make to have ready for Kyo before his evening class. And she hadn't made food and they hadn't had supper, so it couldn't be seven am. It just couldn't. But why was her alarm going off at seven in the evening?

Kyo's hand appeared in her field of vision, reaching over to turn off her blaring alarm. And then he was holding her face in one strong hand, staring intently at her while she blinked at him in confusion.

"Tohru, come on. You've gotta be sick, there's no way you can sleep this long and still be tired. What time did you even go to bed last night, six? Five?" He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and pressed his palm against her forehead, then frowned. "You don't feel like you have a fever, at least, but this doesn't feel normal at this point."

Tohru was so tired it was hard to make sense of it all. She felt badly that it was seven and she hadn't made dinner; that meant they wouldn't be able to eat together before he had to go to class, and-

Wait, last night?

Tohru sat up in bed with what felt like agonizing slowness, groaning and rubbing her eyes. "Kyo...is it really seven am right now?"

Kyo raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Yeah. Wednesday morning. You were asleep when I got home for supper, and still asleep when I got him from class. And apparently, still asleep now. How long have you been sleeping, Tohru?"

Tohru groaned again, this time in dismay. "I was just going to take a little nap after work! You didn't get any supper, or even a hello...Kyo, I'm so sorry, that was terrible of me!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. I can find my own food once in a while, it's all good. But like I said, I think you're actually sick, Tohru." Kyo had released his grip on her chin when she sat up, and now he gently stroked her cheek. She smiled at the touch, but the way he was looking at her, concerned, made her feel terrible. Clearly she wasn't sick, she was just dealing the consequences of her terrible vacation time management. But if he wasn't getting supper, then he was dealing with them, too.

Tohru pushed herself out of bed with what felt like a Herculean effort. "No, I'm sure I'm not, Kyo. It's sweet of you to worry, but I really think it's just all the excitement of last week wearing off. We're not as young as we used to be, so we really need to start moderating our celebrating better, right?" She was trying to be playful, but the efforts were somewhat hampered by the fact she still looked completely exhausted.

Kyo was unconvinced, but he did smile at her efforts. "Yes, we're practically fossilized at the ripe old age of twenty-two." He became serious again, and he took her hand. "Tohru, I really think you should go back to bed. If you are sick, you don't want to spread it around, do you? You work with some pretty vulnerable people."

That struck a nerve, there; one of the things Tohru most loved about her job at the OB/GYN clinic was the patients. She loved getting to chat with all the hesitant newly expectant mothers; the excited mothers, midway through their pregnancies; the mothers so round they were ready to pop and practically wild with anticipation and excitement. And best of all, the post-partum mothers, either with pictures or a brand-new baby in tow! The idea of bringing a germ into the office and infecting someone was enough to give Tohru pause.

But no, she couldn't be sick. She still had an appetite, her body felt fine; the only thing wrong with her was this impossibly frustrating fatigue.

"I swear I'm not sick, Kyo. It must just be taking longer to get back to normal because of how long we were in Tokyo. And you know how busy we were, even for us! I'm sure I'll be fine soon, probably even tomorrow. And if I still feel this tired on the weekend, I can always sleep in."

Kyo crossed his arms and stared at her, his brow furrowing. Tohru knew that face; he was trying to figure out a way to make her listen to him. This was the 'Kyo taking control' face, and it usually had a way of working.

But she could be every bit as stubborn as him, and she crossed her arms and stared back at him. "I'll wear a mask at work just in case, but I promise, I'm fine."

She was not fine. Getting through work that day was even harder, and when she finally dragged herself home from the bus stop that afternoon, she was extremely grateful that Kyo was at work and unable to see the state she was in. It was like she was a zombie; everything about her felt heavy and slow and stupid. Some extra tea helped; she wasn't about to risk another nap after what happened yesterday.

Tohru gave herself extra time to make dinner that night, and was grateful for that decision when everything took longer to do. Chopping and peeling were a struggle, sautéing was a struggle. And for the first time in literal years, she burnt the fish.

Kyo opened the door to the sharp stench of something burning. "Tohru?!" Only habit let him kick off his shoes before racing across the not-hall and into the kitchen, where he found Tohru standing and staring blankly at the fish grill. Two sad, fish-shaped pieces of charcoal stared back at them, and Kyo's stomach made a sad growling noise. So much for fish tonight. But he was a lot more worried about Tohru; in all the time he'd known her, she'd never burnt anything. Anything. She might think she was fine, but she was so clearly not.

Kyo gently pushed her over to sit in one of the chairs at their little kitchen table. She was crying now, and the sight was enough to twist his stomach in knots. But right now, she needed him to step in and finish taking care of dinner.

"Hey, it's ok, Tohru. It's just fish. We won't even miss it" Lies, but necessary lies right now. "And everybody has to burn something sometime, even you." Also a lie, Tohru never burned things. Never. "So you take a little bit to calm down and I'll finish this..." he stared into the wok, trying to figure out what they were having for supper now, "Veggie tofu stirfry. We'll just be having a light supper, it'll be fine." He gave it a couple tosses, then moved it off of the heat and turned off the burner. "It's probably good for me to go veggie once in a while anyway. A little extra rice, and we'll be fine."

The whole time Kyo had been at the stove, Tohru had been sitting at the table, crying into her hands. What was wrong with her that she couldn't manage even a simple meal, especially one she'd made as many times as this one? How many days was it going to take her to get out of this fog and finally be back to normal? She hated this; hated feeling useless, hated feeling like a burden. She knew this always happened, she knew it; it had been over four years now since they'd moved here, and they'd been back to Tokyo numerous times in those four years. Every time they visited, she let excitement get in the way of her better judgement and skimped out on sleep, and every time she suffered for it.

The only difference is that in the past, she'd only dealt with the exhaustion for a day or two. It had been four days now, and she felt she was getting worse instead of better.

She appreciated Kyo trying to make her feel better, but she hated making him jump to work the moment he walked in the door. She hated that she'd ruined his favorite part of the meal, the fish. She hated that all they were going to have to eat was the veggie/tofu side dish with rice...

Wait.

Tohru lifted her face from her hands and looked over at where the rice cooker sat, serenely, on the counter by the sink. The rice cooker that was currently sitting empty because she'd forgotten to make rice.

She'd forgotten...to make rice.

Tohru fully collapsed onto the table top, her head between her arms as she sobbed hysterically. Kyo was staggered into motionlessness by the sudden escalation of her tears, and for a moment he could only stand and stare at her, round eyed. Then he snapped into activity, flying across the room and wrapping his arms around her.

"Tohru Tohru Tohru, it's ok. It's ok. It's just dinner, it's no big deal."

Tohru kept sobbing, taking no relief from his usually comforting arms. It was a big deal, it was! Because it wasn't just dinner. It was her not being able to fulfill her household responsibilities and making Kyo do work when he had to be so tired and being lazy and useless because she didn't know how to have fun in a responsible manner, and she'd forgotten the rice. How was that even possible?

Kyo felt completely adrift. Usually he could get something out of Tohru when she was upset; a sentence, a word, something. Or at the very least she'd attempt a smile, or to squeeze his hand. Something to at least acknowledge his presence, to know that she heard him. But this...this was different. This was scary.

He did his best to be soothing. "Hey, Tohru, it's ok. I promise it's ok. It'll be fine. Whatever it is, it'll be fine."

There was still nothing from Tohru, though, and he was worried. He was sure this was connected to her exhaustion somehow; he wished she would have just stayed home today, or at the very least seen a doctor. She might think she was just tired, but was that even possible? Was it normal to be fatigued this much without something actually being wrong?

Kyo stood up, his jaw set resolutely. "Tohru, I'm taking you to bed. Ok?"

There was no response, but he wasn't waiting for one. Gently, he picked Tohru up from the chair and cradled her against him in his arms. Other than to shift her sobbing to his chest, she made no other indication she was even aware of her changed position, and Kyo's jaw tightened even more. Moving quickly, he carried her up the stairs and set her down in bed, tucking the blankets up and around her and moving her hair back from her teary face. "I want you to rest, ok, Tohru? Rest, and feel better. Take as much time as you need, but just rest."

Tohru finally looked up at him through teary eyes. He was trying so hard to take care of her, and she was just letting him down. He shouldn't have to be doing this, especially when she couldn't even manage a meal! "Kyo...there's no rice. I forgot the rice!" And then she couldn't even face him anymore, turning to sob some more into the comfort of her pillow.

Kyo was flabbergasted. Out of everything she could have said, she was worried about rice? Rice? But at the same time, Kyo was pretty stunned by that fact as well. They ate rice at every meal. It was about as basic as food got, and it was always present. Always. So not only had she burned something, she'd forgotten something tonight...

He sat down on the bed next to her and rubbed her back. "It's ok, Tohru. Don't worry about the rice. Don't worry about dinner at all. I'll manage just fine, don't worry about any of it. I just want you to rest, and feel better." Tohru only sobbed more, and he sighed, the helpless feeling back in the pit of his stomach. "I'm going to bring you some water, Tohru, and then I'm going to let you sleep a bit. Please, please sleep, ok?" Still nothing.

Leaning over, he kissed her temple. "I love you, Tohru."

She still couldn't talk, but the light touch of her hand on his was something, and he'd take it.

A short while later, Kyo sat moodily at the kitchen table, eating his tofu and veggie stir-fry with some instant noodles and thinking. He had no idea what was wrong with Tohru, but there was something. She'd been acting strange ever since the day after Yuki's wedding, and it only seemed to be getting worse. Sleeping all the time, lethargic, foggy-headed, forgetful; those things all probably went together, so it seemed like actually getting some rest would help. But he couldn't shake the worry that she had to have caught something.

It actually reminded him of a time they were in high school and one of their classmates had caught mono. Before she was diagnosed, Rika had gotten extremely droopy and had trouble focusing, getting around, and waking up, and she'd fallen asleep at her desk a lot. Kyo couldn't remember what the other symptoms were, but maybe that was it? Tohru had sworn up and down that she felt fine other than the fatigue, but was she telling him the truth? Or just trying not to make him worry?

He glanced at the clock and sighed. It was definitely too late to call and make a doctor's appointment, much as he might want to. But tomorrow, she wasn't going to go anywhere but the doctor.

"No, you are not going into work today, Tohru! Just look at yourself in the mirror and tell me you look normal. Tell me you feel normal. Tell me!"

Kyo was so frustrated he could barely keep his temper in check. Tohru had ended up crying herself to sleep, and she'd slept soundly until that damned alarm of hers went off. He'd forgotten to turn it off, and when it woke her she was as groggy and delirious as she'd been the rest of the week. That's when Kyo had told her she needed to call into the office, that she needed to stay home from work and see a doctor.

But Tohru Sohma was no pushover, and while she was fatigued she was also stubborn and she resented Kyo trying to tell her what to do. "I don't need to stay home, Kyo, I've told you and told you that I'll be fine once I get caught up on rest. Yes, it's hard right now, but I just have today and tomorrow before the weekend and then I can sleep and be fine."

Kyo crossed his arms and glared at her, a glare that she was throwing right back at him. How could she still think she was fine? How?

He did his best to keep his voice level. "Tohru, it's been five days of this now. You're exhausted around the clock. You aren't able to handle your chores-"

Tohru's voice took on a slightly higher note. "Is that what this is about, Kyo? Are you upset because I haven't been doing a good job around the house?" Her eyes filled with tears, and her lip started to wobble. "Because I'm trying, ok? I'm really trying, but I'm just so tired!"

And now she was crying again. He made her cry. Perfect.

Kyo sat down next to Tohru and wrapped her in a big hug. "It's not about the damn chores, Tohru, it's about you not feeling good and still thinking you're fine to push through! You're not fine, Tohru, I'm sorry, but you're not. I don't know what you have; maybe it's mono, or something like mono. But you're not fine, and I hate that you keep trying to pretend you are!"

Tohru didn't know whether to laugh or cry or just pound Kyo's shoulder in frustration. She appreciated his concern, but he'd always been so overcautious when it came to Tohru and her health it was maddening. She felt fine. She'd told him she felt fine. No fever. No aches. No chills. No sore throat or sniffles or even a cough! Just exhaustion, and nothing more. But he was so stubborn, refusing to believe her.

Tohru wiped her eyes and looked at him. "I'm sorry you think that, Kyo, but I keep saying I'm fine because I am! And I'm not going to call into work for being tired, I have responsibilities. I owe it to them to work while I'm healthy, and I am!"

Kyo could hear the iron in her voice, and it made him scowl. But he knew there was no reasoning with her when she was like this, either, and he knew he was beaten.

Just not entirely.

"Two conditions. You call your doctor right now and schedule an appointment to be checked out, and I take you to work this morning."

"Kyo, there's absolutely no reason for you to ride all the way into Nigeyashi with me! I can get to the office perfectly fine on my own."

But Kyo was shaking his head. "You keep saying 'fine' and I still don't believe you, Tohru. But if you're insisting you're gonna go anyway, then I want to make sure you get there safely. I don't have to be at the dojo until ten, you know that."

"Yes, but this is when you have your personal training time! You shouldn't miss it just to babysit me."

"I'm not babysitting, I'm escorting. There's a difference, and it's a worthwhile one. Now." Kyo picked up her phone and handed it to her. "Your choice; call work and tell them you can't make it today, or call the doctor and make an appointment."

They held each other's gaze for a long minute, neither of them flinching or looking away. Then finally, Tohru sighed and pulled up her contacts list.

"Yes, I'd like to make an appointment to see Dr. Mori? Tohru Sohma. I've been feeling usually fatigued this week and just want to make sure everything is ok. Tomorrow at 1? That should work. I'll check with my job and call back to reschedule if it doesn't. Thank you."

Setting the phone down, Tohru gave Kyo a stern look. "Are you happy now?"

"I'd be happier if you'd called work, but I'll take it."

The bus ride into Nigeyashi was uncharacteristically quiet. Normally it would have been a treat for Tohru to have Kyo with her, but today she was too grouchy about...everything.

In all honesty, she felt a multitude of emotions. She was angry about the high-handed way Kyo was trying to manage her; resentful he didn't believe her. Guilty about how useless she'd been, and about how much work she was making for him by being useless. Guilty she couldn't be more appreciative of all Kyo was trying to do for her. Pathetic that she couldn't properly take care of herself. Exhausted because...she just was. Relieved that she'd actually gone ahead and made the doctor's appointment, just to confirm that she was fine. Worried that maybe, just maybe, Kyo was right and there was something actually wrong with her. She didn't remember much about when Rika Aida had had mono, but she had been extremely tired, Tohru remembered.

There were so many conflicting emotions that it was practically making her nauseated.

Looking up from her lap where she'd been staring, Tohru glanced at Kyo's profile. He was staring out the bus window, his brow furrowed in a tell-tale sign of his own irritation, but she could see that his eyes were worried. And she felt another wave of guilt wash over her. He was worried about her. And she was being so difficult to him.

Tentatively, Tohru reached out and took his hand. Kyo jerked, then looked at her with a surprised look than slowly shifted into a cautious smile. She smiled back, a tiny, uncertain smile, and leaned her head against his chest. "I'm sorry I'm making you worry, Kyo."

Her reaching out was a huge load off of Kyo's mind. He had worried, seeing the look in her eyes that morning, that he'd crossed a line and he wouldn't be able to fix it. He didn't mean to boss her around, he didn't want her to feel she always had to listen to him. But she was being so cavalier with her health...again...and it was so damned infuriating! He was willing to risk her anger in the short term if it meant getting her taken care of, but he still hated having her mad at him.

"It's ok, Tohru. It'll all be ok."

Kyo had walked Tohru to the clinic door, given her a kiss, and headed back to the bus stop. And Tohru had proudly and confidently walked into work...and felt every bit as heavy and slow and lump-headed as the day before. Fortunately it was a slow day, but it felt like everything was taking forever. She had to stare twice as long at the calendar to schedule anything, fight to stay upright in her chair. And to make things even worse, the nausea from all of her intense emotions hadn't gone away, either.

She was relieved when it was time for lunch, even though she didn't feel like eating. It was a chance to just put her head down and rest a little bit.

"Sohma, are you sure you're feeling ok?" Tohru turned her head and looked sideways at her fellow receptionist Ami Sakoto, who was hovering somewhat anxiously over Tohru. "Because you haven't really seemed like yourself this week, and today you seem really, really off. Do you think maybe you should just go home?"

Great. Now she was worrying someone else.

But honestly, today Tohru was feeling worse than ever and she was started to think that maybe, just maybe Kyo had been right. "I'm not sure, Sakoto. Ever since we got back from Tokyo, I've just felt so exhausted and heavy. All I want to do is sleep, but even though I've slept a lot I'm still tired. Nothing else feels wrong, though." Aside of the fight she'd had with her husband this morning, and the fact her stomach was still twisting in knots as a result.

A thought occurred to Tohru, and she sat up and looked at Ami in horror. "I haven't been making extra work for you, have I? By being too slow? I'm so, so sorry if so, I swear I'll do better. Or..." She sighed and slumped down onto the table again. "Maybe I should just go home. I don't feel sick, but if I can't do my job I probably shouldn't be here right now."

Just then, Tohru felt the touch of a hand on her shoulder, and she turned away from Ami to find herself looking up at one of the doctors. Dr. Chiaki Watanabe was one of the partners, and while she wasn't Tohru's boss (she reported to the office manager), Tohru realized in horror that she'd just been complaining in front of her.

Tohru rose to her feet quickly; almost too quickly, as a wave of nausea and disorientation crashed over her. She grabbed the table with one hand to steady herself, then gave Dr. Watanabe an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, Dr. Watanabe. I really didn't mean to be so unprofessional!

The doctor raised a hand and shook her head. "No, it's fine, Sohma. I should be the one apologizing, for eavesdropping on your conversation. But I was wondering, could I have a word with you? In private?"

Tohru's eyes grew rounder, and she shot a panicked look at Ami, who just stared back. Then Tohru looked back at Dr. Watanabe. "Sure, that would be fine. When?"

"Now would probably be best." Walking to the breakroom door, Dr. Watanabe held it open and gestured for Tohru to follow her.

Tohru did, hoping desperately and futilely that her hands weren't shaking.

Author's Note: Hello, and welcome to my latest venture into Kyohru land! Please excuse any liberties I've taken with Japanese life, and enjoy the read!