Bzzzzzzzz!

Tohru stepped back on the doorstep and looked over at Kyo, smiling. He returned the smile, giving her hand a squeeze as they listened for the sound of movement inside the house. Both of them were looking forward to this visit...and Kyo was dreading it a little, too.

"Do you know if they're going to be here, too? Or is it just going to be your Grandpa," Kyo asked cautiously. They both knew without specifying who he meant by 'they,' Tohru's odious aunt and uncle. Kyo had never liked them, not since the very first time he'd met them when he and Yuki had gone to bring Tohru back to Shigure's house. It had taken every ounce of his self-control then to avoid punching her uncle's smarmy, suggestive face, and it continued to take self-control not to punch him now. Or any other time. Her aunt and uncle had never tried to hide the fact they looked down on Tohru, mostly because of her mother. They'd gone through the motions of being loving relatives, of course; to do anything else wouldn't have looked good.

But that was all it was for, looks.

Kyo had only had to deal with them a couple times over the years he'd known them, but they'd never improved on that initial meeting. In fact, in the past year they'd managed to sink themselves even lower in his estimation by their constant judgements and nasty comments. They'd sent Tohru and Kyo a housewarming gift, holiday cards, and birthday cards; in every one, they'd managed to point out the 'sinful' nature of Tohru and Kyo's relationship and basically told her she was treating herself, and more importantly them by association, like trash.

Needless to say, they were not Kyo's favorite people.

But Tohru, for some reason completely inexplicable to Kyo, still wanted to maintain contact with them and have a cordial 'family relationship.' They did live with her grandpa, and he knew that would make it harder to avoid them, but he didn't understand why she continued to keep reaching out herself.

Still, they weren't his family, they were hers. And if it was important to her to keep them in her life, then he would shut his damn mouth, smile, and keep his fists to himself.

Though he wouldn't promise to behave if they started anything to his face.

He was relieved when Tohru shook her head at his question. "No, they're at work, silly! And Mio is at school, of course," she added, referring to her cousin. "It's just Grandpa today. I thought it would be nicer for us if we could just visit with Grandpa alone."

Of course. Of course they'd be at work on a Thursday morning; how stupid that he hadn't thought of that! And how utterly, utterly brilliant she was to plan it this way. Kyo's relief was obvious, and Tohru laughed and kissed his cheek. "I figured you'd be happier not to deal with them today."

Today or ever, but he was fine just starting with today.

They could hear footsteps inside, and they smiled at each other. Both of them were very fond of Tohru's grandfather; he'd always been so kind and so supportive of them, and of Tohru before that. He wasn't perfect, but he'd done his best. And coming to see him had always been one of their first stops when they came back to Tokyo, since Grandpa was one of the few people who just couldn't come to see them. Tohru wished it were possible to show him the village, and their little home; the shrines in the living room to her parents, and Kyo's mother. Her little garden in the back. She thought he'd approve, of all of it. But with his health issues, the long trip was simply too much.

Thank goodness for pictures!

The door opened, and Grandpa stood there, smiling at them. "Oh good, you're here! Come in, come in, both of you. No need to stand any longer on the stoop, not on my account."

They stepped past him into the house and took off their shoes, then Tohru gave him a hug. "Hello, Grandpa! And it's fine, we weren't waiting long at all! Besides, it's a very nice day, and a lot warmer than what we left back home."

"Yes, well, colds are the sneakiest things this time of year, and I'd hate for you to get sick when you're supposed to be enjoying your time off." Grandpa returned the hug and patted Tohru's head, then patted Kyo's arm. "It's so nice to see both of you, thank you for coming to see me. And so promptly, too, my my."

Kyo and Tohru followed Grandpa into the living room, and the two of them sat down on the couch as Grandpa settled into his chair. He looked at them, smiling, and they couldn't help but smile back.

"So, you are in town for graduation, is that right?"

"That's right, Grandpa! We have a few close friends graduating, and wanted to be here to celebrate with them. But that's not until Saturday, so we have plenty of time to do some additional visiting, too!" Tohru smiled at him, then looked around. "Grandpa, would you like me to make you some tea?"

Grandpa held up a hand. "Oh no, I couldn't trouble you to do that! You're my guest, Tohru dear."

"Oh, it's no trouble! I'll make some for myself too, if that's ok." Tohru was already standing up and crossing the room to the kitchen, and Kyo laughed and gave Grandpa a shrug.

"Sorry, Grandpa, but you know how she gets. I don't think anything short of knocking her out would stop her from helping out."

"Yes, she's a very sweet and considerate young lady," Grandpa said with a smile, watching Tohru easily navigate her way around the kitchen. "She really likes to take care of people, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, she does."

The two men lapsed into silence, watching her for a minute, each wearing an oddly similar fond smile. The silence attracted Tohru's attention, and when she looked over to see them both smiling at her she laughed.

"I hope you aren't waiting for me! I'll do my best to be quick, though."

"You're fine, Tohru dear. Kyo and I were just reflecting on what a considerate young lady you are."

Tohru blushed, but it was accompanied by a pleased (if self-conscious) smile. Kyo was right about her; she just couldn't resist getting involved and being useful, whenever there was a chance. "Well, you still don't have to just sit there. Go ahead and start talking, I'll join you in just a minute!"

"She can be bossy when she wants, can't she?" Kyo smiled and shifted sideways a little bit to better face the older man. "But that's ok. How have you been, Grandpa?"

Grandpa smiled. "Oh, I can't complain too much. I have my usual aches and pains, but my back hasn't given me much trouble so far this spring. And the house has been relatively harmonious," he added, his eyes twinkling at Kyo. Kyo had never been sure just how much Grandpa knew about Kyo's feelings towards Tohru's aunt and uncle; they were Grandpa's daughter and son-in-law, after all. And though he knew Grandpa himself had called them out on their behavior before, he did still live with them.

"Well, that's good to hear. Tohru and I were pretty worried with that number you did on yourself last fall, Grandpa; you really need to be making sure you're taking care of yourself better. That means no going out on rainy days, not by yourself, you got that?"

Grandpa chuckled and held up his hands. "I know, I know! I wouldn't want to make either of you worry about me, more than you already do."

"Yeah, well, it's kinda easy to worry about you when you go around doing silly stuff like falling down and hurting yourself. Tohru wanted to come stay with you last time, you know."

"Yes, I know. She's a good girl. But as I told her then, I was completely fine. My daughter is a fully capable nurse, and it made more sense for her to take time off of work than Tohru. Ikuko is a mature woman with lots of financial reserves, but you and Tohru need to be focusing on yourselves and your future right now, not compromising to help me."

"Grandpa, you know I would have been fine coming to stay with you for a week or so, it would have been no trouble at all!" Tohru walked back into the living area, a cup of tea in each hand. "I have paid vacation, and I would have been happy to use it."

Grandpa took the tea cup she offered him and inhaled the grassy smell. "Thank you, Tohru dear, this smells wonderful. And perhaps you had the vacation, but I don't want you to miss out on using that for fun things, either! You're young, you should be enjoying yourself on your vacation days. Travelling. Seeing friends. Going somewhere fun with your young man."

Tohru smiled and sat down on the couch next to Kyo, and he wrapped his arm around her. She did like doing all of those things, of course, but she hated to hear Grandpa classify himself as a burden like that. "Believe me, Grandpa, I'm definitely not missing out on fun things. And I'd have been happy to come and spend time with you, if you would have let me! But I'm glad we get to see you now, and not have to worry about your health!"

"Yes, well, miracles do happen, Tohru-dear." Grandpa was smiling as he looked at them, noting with fondness how closely they sat. Kyo had his arm around her waist as though it was the most natural place for it to be, and she'd angled her body towards him almost unconsciously. It made Grandpa happy, seeing the two of them together; over a year after they'd moved away together, they still seemed to be so very happy and in love. Tohru dear deserved a love like that; life had been so very unfair to her, and so early. And so had people, unfortunately. But she hadn't let that stop her from growing into this kind, loving young woman, or from finding this kind, loving young man.

Tohru set down her tea cup and rested her hand on Kyo's knee. That's when Grandpa saw it, the sparkle of something on her hand, and he felt a lump rise in his throat. Was that...a ring? A ring, on Tohru dear's left hand? He thought so. But it might not even be the right finger he was looking at; his eyes weren't as good as they used to be. Still, he couldn't help but peer harder at Tohru's hand, even with Tohru and Kyo noticing.

Tohru had actually forgotten about the ring, so when Grandpa's attention had shifted so suddenly, she'd been surprised. Was there something spilled on the couch? A quick glance that direction had yielded nothing, but she'd caught Kyo's amused glance instead. Kyo was much quicker on the uptake than she was, and he'd figured out right away what the old man was looking at; either he had a problem with Tohru's hand on Kyo's leg, or he'd spotted the ring.

Kyo could see Tohru was confused, and that made him even more amused. He took her hand in his, running his finger along the edge of the ring, and looked over at Grandpa. "So, there was something else we wanted to talk to you about today, too, Grandpa. Tohru?"

Of course. Of course. How could she have forgotten?

Tohru smiled at Kyo and looked over at Grandpa, who was now beaming. "Grandpa, Kyo and I are engaged to be married!"

Grandpa was so excited that all he could do at first was sit. "Well now. Well now!" He repeated happily, patting his hands on his knees. "If that just isn't the nicest news you two could give me, short of a great-grandchild!" Tohru and Kyo had gotten used to the great-grandchild comments by now, so they no longer provoked the panic they used to. But Kyo felt it would take at least another year before his blood pressure stopping spiking every time he heard the word 'child.'

Tohru had more poise than Kyo, and she just laughed it off. "No, Grandpa, no great-grandchild. Not for a while yet, with any luck. But yes, we're going to get married! Kyo asked me to marry him, and I said yes. And we wanted to tell you right away," she added, as she gave Kyo an affectionate smile.

"Yes, well, marriage is a wonderful thing too, even it's not quite as joyous as children," Grandpa said with a smile. "You'll have to tell me when, Tohru dear!"

"Oh, yesterday! So it's very recent, Grandpa, you're one of the first people to hear!"

Grandpa chuckled. "Well, I'm flattered, Tohru dear! But that's not quite what I meant; what I meant was, when are the two of you getting married?" He smiled, looking expectantly back and forth between the two of them.

Tohru and Kyo exchanged blank stares. They hadn't actually talked about that part yet; they were engaged, and very excited, but beyond that?

Kyo had no idea what the timelines on these things actually were. He'd had a timeline when it came to the proposal, but just how long were you supposed to wait between the proposal and the wedding? He'd never gotten married, obviously, but he also hadn't planned a wedding, or been around people who planned a wedding, or really had much to do with weddings at all. Ayame and Mine's wedding the previous fall had been the first wedding he could actually remember attending, but he didn't know how good an example it was of 'standard' anything.

As far as he was concerned, he would get married tomorrow. Or even today! Now that he'd decided, he was all-in. But he wasn't going to deny Tohru anything when it came to their wedding day; he knew, even though she hadn't ever talked about it, that she had dreams. And he'd do whatever he could to support those dreams, even if it meant dressing up and being stared at by everyone they'd ever met.

He was pretty sure it involved dressing up and being stared at.

Tohru had a much better idea what was 'standard.' She'd been daydreaming off and on about weddings since she was a little girl, and the past year had seen those dreams become much more focused. She had ideas; lots of them. But as to when...that was something they still had to pin down.

"Well, we're not actually sure yet, Grandpa. We haven't really talked about many details yet," Tohru finally said with a blush. Should they have already figured that out? They had a lot of people to talk to about this, they should probably be able to give them at least a rough timeframe!

Their obvious bewilderment made Grandpa laugh again, and he reached over to pat their interlaced hands. "There's no rush, Tohru dear. I'm sure that you'll figure out everything in the proper time, and I trust that you'll tell me once you know. As long as I'm alive, I won't miss your wedding day!"

The way he said 'as long as I'm alive' was enough to fill Tohru with a sense of panic. "Grandpa, are you sure you're feeling ok?"

He blinked at her. "Of course I am, Tohru dear? Why wouldn't I be? Especially since my dear granddaughter has just told me she's getting married, and to such an excellent young man," he added with a nod at Kyo. "Though I suppose that as her grandfather, I should be stepping into Katsuya's shoes at this moment and asking you if you're sure, Kyo," he said, fixing the younger man with his mild gaze. "Marriage isn't all about love and kisses, you know."

Kyo felt unexpectedly put on the spot, but he wasn't afraid of the question. He'd asked himself that same question quite a lot over the past several months, and he was confident in his answer. "I am, Grandpa. Tohru...she's everything to me. Everything," he said, giving Tohru a tender look. "She's been there for me at my worst, and I feel...now...that I can be there for her at hers. I want to take care of her. I want her to help support me, so I can help support her. We know there's gonna be tough times, but we've already been through some of those and come out ok." Much tougher times than Grandpa would ever know, or imagine. "Better than ok, even. I know she's the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. So yeah, I'm sure."

Tohru's had tears in her eyes yet again, and Kyo chuckled as he handed her a handkerchief. After their talks with Kazuma and Hanajima this morning, he realized it was probably going to be a teary couple of days, and he'd prepared accordingly.

Grandpa was simply smiling at the two of them. "Well, you certainly seem sure; more sure than many other young men in your position. And I believe you, Kyo Sohma; I believe you truly mean to do right by this young lady. And that makes me so very happy," he said, his voice quivering ever so slightly with emotion. "Because I want you two to be happy together. For a very, very long time."

"Well, that was sure a nice visit, wasn't it Tohru?"

Tohru and Kyo were making their way back towards the dojo, hands interlinked as usual. They'd spent the rest of the morning with Grandpa, talking and laughing, and helping with a few small projects. Tohru had even made lunch, against all of Grandpa's protests. But it was time for Grandpa to take his afternoon nap, and Kyo had wanted to join Kazuma for some sparring this afternoon, so they'd decided to take off. There was only so much time on any given vacation, and they still had a lot to do.

"Yes, it was!" Tohru sighed and gave Kyo an affectionate look. "You didn't have to hang those shelves, you know, I'm sure my uncle would have been able to get to them eventually."

Kyo snorted dismissively. "Eh, from the sound of it he already had plenty of time. And it's fine, Tohru, I was happy to help your Grandpa. I like him. Besides," he added teasingly, "you are the last person who should ever tell anyone they didn't have to help!"

Tohru giggled, knowing very well that he was right. "Yes, well, it's just always so easy to help people, isn't it, Kyo?"

"Not everyone is you, Tohru. Sucks for them though."

She laughed again, and he loved the way it lit up her face. She always smiled so naturally; like everything was always good and right between her and the world.

"So, that question of your grandpa's sure caught us off guard, didn't it? About when we were gonna be getting married?" He was testing the waters a little bit, hoping that Tohru would turn around and tell him exactly what her extremely detailed plan was. And he was only slightly disappointed in her response.

"Yes.." She turned and looked at him, a slight question in her eyes. "Do you have any thoughts, Kyo? About when we get married, or how?"

"I know I want to marry you," he responded immediately, squeezing her hand. "And honestly, Tohru, that's pretty much all I care about. I would walk to the courthouse with you right now, if you wanted, and I'd still be the happiest guy in the world. Or I could wait and do a big wedding, if you'd rather do that. As long as I get you, the rest is just stuff." She knew by the way he was looking at her that he was telling the truth; his eyes were shining, and his smile was overflowing with love. For her. That no matter what, he wanted for her to be happy.

She sighed happily, partly because she just didn't know what to say. She had had no idea what Kyo actually thought about weddings, what he wanted. What was important to him. She'd been worried that maybe they'd want different things, or that he'd be scared of the idea of a big wedding.

She still actually was.

"Well..." she said shyly, feeling weird self-conscious, "I'd like to have a big wedding, Kyo. With our friends and families, and everyone who loves us. And I'd like to get married here, in Tokyo. Where we met. Where we started out, together." He squeezed her hand again, encouraging her, and she continued a little less timidly. "And I'd really like to have a traditional ceremony, with traditional outfits."

"We can do all of that, Tohru. I promise, it's no problem."

"It isn't? Really? It wouldn't...bother you, to have that many people around? And it's probably going to be a lot of money, Kyo. Not that I want a lot of luxuries, of course!" She was quick to add that part, not wanting him to think she was just looking to show off. "But I want to have our friends from Hibe come, and Tokyo will be more expensive than up by us, and it means we'll have to work to save up some money."

"Then we'll save up some money," Kyo said firmly. "I work, you work, we can pick up part-time jobs if we need to. We'll make it work, Tohru, I promise. It sounds...like a really nice plan," he said with a smile. "So... if we want to have time to plan that, and figure out where it's gonna be, and save up money, it's probably gonna need to be a while, huh?"

"Well, not too long. But probably not until next year." Tohru shot Kyo another anxious look, unsure what he thought about waiting that long. If he was ready to be married now, would he really want to keep waiting? They could always compromise on things, nothing had to be decided right now.

Kyo was looking thoughtfully up at the clear March sky. It was a beautiful day for March, but there was still a small bite to the air, even at midday. After thinking a moment, he turned to Tohru and smiled. "What about next June? That gives us a bit more than a year, so hopefully plenty of time to plan and save. The weather should be nice both down here and up home, so we shouldn't have to worry about freak cold snaps." His eyes twinkled as he added, "It should be a great time of year for a honeymoon, too, no matter where we might want to go. Even Hokkaido."

Tohru laughed and pushed at his shoulder. "I promise you, no matter what else, I do not want to go to Hokkaido on our honeymoon, Kyo."

"But you do want to go somewhere, right?" He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close against him, and she smiled. He was messing with her, of course; out of everything wedding related, the only thing they'd ever discussed was the idea of a honeymoon.

"Of course I do." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, a slow, sweet kiss. "But not Hokkaido."

Kyo let her go and chuckled. "Fine, no Hokkaido. But what about the rest of it, Tohru?"

She smiled, taking his hand once again as they resumed walking. "The rest of it sounds perfect, Kyo. So...sometime next June..."

"We can get married."