chapter five

The heat bore down in simmering waves as Tohru and Kyo made their way down the boardwalk hand in hand, Tohru's sandals clacking against the wood with every dainty step as she worked on finishing her ice cream.

Kyo had ordered her multiple scoops after she'd been unable to choose between flavours. He himself had gotten a simple vanilla for himself, but unlike Tohru he had finished his within minutes.

The pair were quiet as they passed between the beach and cliffs, taking in the beautiful scenery around them - although Kyo was a little more distracted with his own thoughts to appreciate them to their full extent.

The last time he'd tried to voice the thoughts circling in his mind to Tohru, he'd clamped up and lost his nerve. But as his gaze shifted to the roiling waves in the sea beyond, the same thoughts pushed against the fringes of his mind, searching for a way out towards freedom.

He glanced towards Tohru as if she could hear the words in his mind, but she was too engrossed in her ice cream to notice his turmoil.

At least for now.

The girl had an uncanny ability to know when something was up with him, and if he didn't work up the courage to speak soon, she'd notice something was wrong. So with an inconspicuous inhale, he squeezed his girl's fingers and she turned to him with wide eyes that almost held an ethereal glow in the daylight sun.

"The last time we were here," he started slowly, trying to feel out the words before they left his mouth. "It was when I first realised how I felt about you, the first time I let myself even think about you as anything other than just you."

His gaze shifted back to the sea, the rise and fall of the water settling his spiking nerves. He could feel Tohru's eyes on him, but if he wanted to get his words out he couldn't be looking at her.

"At the time, I never thought …" He swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat. "I never thought I'd ever be back here again, but I was happy. I was happy that my first and last time would get to be with you because I finally knew that-"

He stopped as he heard a sniffle from beside him, turning to see Tohru with melted ice cream dripping down her fingers and tears streaming down her cheeks. He let out a strangled sound of surprise before rushing to wipe at her tears and stare helplessly at her sticky fingers.

"Uh, I'm sorry Tohru. I shouldn't have said any of that. You're supposed to be having a good time on your honeymoon and I'm just upsetting you instead."

"No," she said with a shake of her head, her voice light and watery. "I'm not sad at all. I'm so happy right now. I'm so happy that you're sharing all of this with me."

"You are?" he said, surprised by her response. "Hey, you're gonna … the ice cream …" he started, sighing in defeat as she wrapped her arms around him. "Oh what does it matter," he finished, giving in and squishing her back.

"I'm so happy, but you didn't finish what you were saying."

"I didn't? I … forgot what I was saying," he said with a frown, unable to recall anything beside Tohru's tear stained face.

"You said you finally knew. What did you know?"

"Oh, that." Tohru pulled away and looked up at him expectantly. "It was nothing," he said instinctively, even though he did want to tell her the truth.

"It wasn't nothing Kyo," she pushed gently, staring up at him with red rimmed eyes.

"Yeah … you're right. It took some thinking, and a fight with Akito, for me to realise that I loved you. I loved you so much that I couldn't hold onto you if I wanted you to be happy."

She was silent a moment. "So … you were going to let me go."

"Yeah, I was. I guess coming back here the way we have it's made me a little nostalgic or whatever. It might be a little ironic and even selfish, but I'm so glad you never gave up on me the way I was prepared to give up on you."

She placed her head gently against his chest, a little hiccup sob escaping her as she did so. "Tohru …" he comforted gently as he moved a hand from the small of her back to rest on her head. "I forget you're such a cry baby sometimes."

When Tohru finally let him go, he felt a lot lighter and free – as if the words he'd confessed to her had held a real weight in his soul. They weren't gone completely, he could still feel some sort of pull deep inside him, but he definitely wasn't carrying the burden alone anymore.

It only took a moment for his wife to notice the streaks of coloured ice cream on his shirt, and she tittered incoherent words Kyo could only assume were apologies as she threw the remainder of her sweet treat in the nearest bin.

"It's alright Tohru," he said, trying to dodge her as she returned and attempted to swat as his shirt. "It's not like it won't wash out or anything."

She huffed as she caught nothing but empty air, and Kyo took the small respite in her attacks to sweep in and capture her hands. "Home?" he suggested, leaning in to nudge her cheek with his nose.

"Sure, let's go," she sighed, her voice soft and breezy as she began to tug him along.

By the time they reached the beach house, the dusky evening light was the only thing illuminating them in the courtyard. Tohru was still holding on to his hand, but it didn't take much to slip out of her grip.

She looked alarmed for a second before his hands slipped around her waist and he spun her around with childish glee. Her laughter echoed warmly within in him, and before he knew what he was doing Kyo was smiling against Tohru's lips as she sighed into his kiss.

"Well, would you just look at the two of you clinging to each other like newlyweds. Isn't that just adorable?"

The two of them jumped apart guiltily as the familiar voice broke through their haze of serenity. Kyo was still holding Tohru by the waist. He pulled her closer without thinking as his gaze shifted to the front of the house.

The door stood open and standing there backlit in a halo of golden light stood probably the last person Kyo would want to bump into out here.

"Shigure," he grumbled, unable to hide his annoyance at seeing the man. "What are you doing here?"

"I was actually talking to Tori this morning - although he may describe it more as bothering - and he might have mentioned you and Tohru were here on an impromptu visit. Anyway, long story short, I was inspired and decided I too really miss the beach and so here I am."

"So you just showed up to be an annoyance," Kyo bristled, tamping down his anger the moment he felt Tohru's light touch against his sleeve.

"It's such a wonderful surprise to see you Shigure-san," she smiled.

"Thank you Tohru. It's nice to see that at least one person appreciates my presence," Shigure said, flashing a pointed look at Kyo who only growled in response. "Well, better hurry it up. Akito's inside getting the table ready for dinner. We've been waiting on the two of you to return for quite some time," he said, waving them towards the door before heading back inside alone.

Kyo and Tohru lingered in the courtyard, watching each other in quiet contemplation as they heard Shigure's footsteps fade away. "Man, I hate that guy," the former grumbled the moment he was sure the older man was out of ear shot. "Why does he have to show up and ruin everything?"

"What a strange coincidence that we're here at the same time again though," Tohru commented thoughtfully. "And with Akito too."

"It's not a coincidence, it's deliberate – Shigure basically outright admitted it. That guy just loves to get on my nerves!"

Tohru placed her hands on Kyo's cheeks, pinching them gently. "You're so cute when you're mad," she said with a giggle.

Kyo flushed instantly, his face heating up so quickly he was sure that Tohru would be able to feel the change. He was about to pull away when her face dropped and a fearful "Oh!" fell from her lips.

His embarrassment vanished instantly at her small sound of alarm and he found his own hands clasping her shoulders in an effort to remind her that he was there, he was hers.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Akito and Shigure, they'll see my ring!"

Kyo relaxed a little. "Is that all?"

"I have to take it off, but my dress … it doesn't have pockets."

"I could always keep a hold of it?" he offered. "I've got plenty of pockets."

Tohru smiled kindly but shook her head, letting her fingers drop to his shoulders and rest flat against his chest. "Thank you, but that feels too much like returning it to you," she explained.

"Okay, we'll just figure something else out," Kyo said as he leaned down and pressed his forehead with hers. "You just want it near enough to know it's there, right?"

"Yes," she replied slowly, attempting to nod but settling for a nondescript movement of her head instead.

"I think I have an idea that might work. Hold still, okay."

With that, Kyo stood up straight. Before Tohru knew what was happening, or could even object, Kyo had tugged at one her hair ribbons hard enough to untie it. One half of her hair fell past her shoulders like a waterfall of silk and Kyo ran his fingers through it before doing the same to the other side.

Her two ribbons trailed along his fingers and he deftly slipped one into his pocket. "I'm gonna need you to turn around," he said, giving Tohru a gentle shove to encourage her to spin.

With the ribbon still in his hand, he lightly pulled the top section of her hair back into a half-up do and tied the ribbon securely. It wasn't as pretty as she'd tied it before, but it was vaguely bow shaped, so he deemed it passable.

"Hey, can you pass your ring to me?" he asked, pulling the second ribbon back out. He slid the gold band along the soft material before draping it across her neck and tying it off at the back.

She lifted a slender hand to touch the ring that hung at her neck and smiled widely as she glanced backwards over her shoulder at Kyo. "Kyo-kun, this is wonderful. I love it," she said, her eyes glittering with what he suspected were unshed tears.

"You're welcome." He dropped his head and pressed a quick kiss against the tender skin at the back of her neck, relishing in the small squeak she let out before spinning to face him. "It looks great, but it's all pointless if you don't tuck it into your dress."

"Oh," Tohru said softly, as if only just realising the fact, and he found himself sighing at how easy it was to distract her. It was endearing, but he also couldn't help but worry over her.

"How's that?" she asked as she tucked it in.

Her dress hid her ring fairly well. Kyo could just about make out the outline of it against the top of her chest, and it wasn't noticeable unless he really knew to look for it. It would work fine at keeping Shigure and Akito from figuring things out too quickly.

And if Shigure did somehow notice it, well then he'd have to answer to Kyo's fists since he would have to have been staring intently at Tohru to do so. It would be even more deserved since he'd have been shamelessly looking at his girl when his own was right there.

"Kyo," Tohru said, bringing his attention back to her. "How does it look?" she asked again, but Kyo wasn't talking about the ring when he spoke next.

"Perfect."

Her honeyed gaze locked onto his and he couldn't bring himself to look away, wondering if it was possible to see someone's feelings as clearly as he felt his were showing right then. He leaned in towards her, but the creak of the door had him straightening up stiffly instead.

He turned towards it, ready to yell at Shigure to wait a little longer, but the words died in his throat as he took in the smaller figure in the doorway. Akito, her dark hair sleek and straight as it brushed against the tips of her shoulders stood leaning against the door.

Her face was blank as she scrutinised him, but he didn't miss the small quirk of her lip as she spotted Tohru in his arms and that alone was enough for him to be okay with her presence.

"If you two are done canoodling out here, dinner's ready. There's …" she paused thoughtfully, "some things I'd like to talk to you about." This last part was clearly addressed at Tohru, and she smiled widely as she slipped out of Kyo's embrace and rushed towards the door.

"Akito!" she squeaked excitedly as she pulled her in for a hug. The other girl stood there reluctantly at first before slowly but surely returning the gesture.

"We're sorry for taking so long. Let's go inside," Tohru said, grabbing Akito's hand as she led her inside. Kyo followed behind the two of them, pausing to hover in the doorway a moment.

The cool night air brushed against his warm skin as he let out a wistful sigh. This was going to be an unexpectedly interesting evening.

thanks so much for reading! let me know your thoughts if you can, and apologies for the delay (it's been a rough month so i've not really had the time or motivation to write unfortunately) hopefully the next update will be sooner (fingers crossed)