Tohru always thought of herself as a simple or plain girl. There was never anything special about her. The Sohma's knew this wasn't the case though, especially Kyo. They all thought she was amazing and thoughtful and so full of love. Kyo thought she was all of this and also modestly beautiful. She never wanted to show off her looks so she settled for her normal rotations of hairstyles. Her two best friends urged her to experiment though. Hana had developed a habit of braiding Tohru's hair when she could. It was on a day like this when Hana, unknowingly, killed Kyo Sohma.
It was just an average day at school. The lessons seemed to drag on and on and even though Tohru hated to admit it, she was bored. It was only 5 minutes until their 15 minute break though. She was determined to use this time to motivate herself to not be bored for the rest of their lessons. However, these 5 minutes seemed to last an eternity. She snuck a glace back to Kyo, who was looking out the window to his left. It seemed like he was watching the clouds. He looked how Tohru felt. Bored. The bell sounded and Tohru jumped, quickly averting her eyes so she wouldn't be caught staring. Uo and Hana immediately went to Tohru's desk to chat.
"If the rest of the day is going to be like this, I'm ditching," Uo said. Tohru laughed at her best friend, knowing she was telling the truth. Hana kept her eyes on Tohru's delicate face.
"Tohru? May I braid your hair?" Hana asked in her usual quiet voice.
Tohru's face lit up. "Of course! Thank you!" Tohru loved it when Hana did her hair for a lot of reasons. The main two being that it felt incredible and that Hana was an amazing hair stylist. She could make Tohru's hair look like an animal is she wanted to. Tohru took the two ribbons out of the sides of her hair, letting it flow freely. Hana moved behind her friend and took a moment to comb her finger through the thick brown locks.
"I'm thinking french braids for today. What do you think?" Hana asked Uo, who smiled. "That would look great on her!" Hana began her work, making it look effortless. Unbeknownst to the group of girls, Kyo's head had snapped to their direction as soon as he heard "braids". He loved it when Tohru braided her hair. She usually did this so she could cook dinner or work on household chores. He wanted to watch Hana do Tohru's hair but unfortunately, his friends distracted him, and he didn't want them to know he was staring at Tohru.
Tohru was in a state of bliss. Hana's long fingernails gently scratched Tohru's scalp while she did the braiding and it felt heavenly. Tohru let out a sigh of content. This was one of the reasons Hana liked doing Tohru's hair, knowing that Tohru loved it this much. As she finished off the first side, she gently wove one of Tohru's ribbons through one of the 3 sections of her hair at the top, tying it in a cute bow. She moved to the other side and started the process again. She was focused on her work while Tohru and Uo chatted.
Damn psychic. Kyo couldn't see Tohru anymore, her friend was blocking the view. He tried his best to swivel in his seat casually to see if he could catch a glance at Tohru, but failed when he felt his seat tipping backwards. He quickly lunged forward, avoiding falling on his back and steadying his seat. He would just have to wait until the psychic was done. His friends made fun of him for his near accident and he got distracted from his thoughts of Tohru to yell at them.
Tohru knew her hair would look lovely when Hana was finished. She made up her mind that she would try her best to repay her friends kindness. All too soon, Hana was done. Tohru looked amazing in braids like this. Uo almost started crying at the sight. The 3 girls hugged each other and took their seats, as the bell had rung for their lessons to resume. Kyo had just finished bickering with his friends when the teacher came in. He hadn't even heard the bell ring. He snuck a glance at Tohru and his face flushed with red. His lips pressed together in a straight line as he could feel his face continually heat up. His heart was racing. Who gave her permission to look so adorably cute? His heart pounded again in his chest before his head exploded and he smacked it on his desk defeatedly. He was happy to be rid of the curse, knowing full well that he would be a cat by now from all the stress his body was under. His face was blank but still extremely red. He almost got up and demanded to tell Tohru to take her braids out, but he didn't. He was conflicted between wanting to stare at her for the rest of his life, or telling her to take her braids out so no one else could see them.
It felt like he stared at her for the rest of the day with his head on his desk. Her hair was so perfectly braided and to top it off, Hana had retied the orange ribbons in the braids in the most perfect way. He loved it when Tohru wore anything orange.
Finally the school day was over. Kyo watched as Tohru packed her bag full of homework and books. She turned to look at him expectantly and in doing so, snapped him out of his trance. He quickly started to pack up himself. Tohru was standing next to his desk smiling.
"Hi Kyo!" She said happily. This only caused Kyo blush again.
"Uh, hey." He responded without looking at her.
"Are you ready to go home? Yuki has to stay behind for student council. I was thinking we could go buy the groceries for dinner if that's okay with you?" She seemed so happy about the small task. His face softened and gave her a small smile, finally looking at her in the eyes.
"Sure." They walked out of their classroom together and Kyo kept sneaking glances at the ribbon in Tohru's hair. He tried his best not to smile. They continued, making small talk about what was for dinner and what they needed from the store. Finally, Kyo asked how her school day was. She immediately made a guilty face and started to swirl the tips of her braids in her fingers. Kyo watched this motion and almost fainted.
"Ummm..." Tohru stuttered. Kyo gave her a look of confusion. Under his gaze, Tohru continued. "I... well I got really bored in class. I feel so horrible that I wasn't paying attention! I'm a horrible student." Her eyes started to water. Kyo knew about the promise she made to Kyoko about doing well in school so he gently patted the top of her head, which was a bad idea. His long fingers brushed the orange ribbons on her head, tickling him slightly. This made his face flush once again. He mentally reprimanded himself for acting so ridiculous and blushing so much over hair.
"Tohru, you're not a bad student. Everyone gets bored in class. Hell, even I was bored in class today. It's not your fault that the lecture was horrible." Kyo comforted her.
"Really?" Tohru asked, wiping away the moisture from her eyes. Kyo smiled and bent down so they could be face to face. "Really." He replied. He stood up to his normal height and quickly grabbed her small hand in his. He dragged her a few steps before Tohru caught on and hurried her pace to match his. They finally got to the store and Kyo released her hand. He got a small handheld basket as they didn't need to buy a lot and carried it around the store as Tohru placed things inside it. He couldn't stop staring at her. She was enjoying this way too much. He loved watching the way her braids flowed with her movements.
"Okay! That's everything we needed!" Tohru walked past Kyo towards the check out, knowing he would follow behind her. This was the best view. Kyo could see how intricate the braids were, how the shiny orange ribbon contrasted her dark brown hair, and how a couple loose hairs slightly tickled her neck. He clutched the basket a little tighter.
Soon, they were on their way home. Kyo carried the single plastic bag they had received, and Tohru walked next to his right side in a comfortable silence. He glanced over at her and noticed she was watching the clouds, as he had during class. Since she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking, she tripped on a loose cobblestone on their path. Kyo instinctively reached out and grabbed her upper arm, saving her from falling.
"Tohru! You have to be more careful and watch where you're going!" Kyo reprimanded her. He didn't realize how close their faces were until she looked up at him and their noses were almost touching. Kyo's eyes widened and his heart rate elevated.
"S-sorry Kyo. I'll be careful from now on." She said quietly. He stared into her eyes for a couple seconds before he helped her stand completely. He released her arm and stuck his nose in the air to hide the blush he was sure was on his face.
"Come on. I'm starving." Kyo said. Tohru resumed walking next to the redhead in silence, keeping her eyes on the ground diligently. She started to rub her arm where Kyo had grabbed her to stop her from falling. Kyo noticed and clenched his jaw. Was he upset or nervous.
"Sorry if I hurt you. I figured it would be better than scraped knees." He said, trying to maintain his composure.
"Oh no, Kyo! It's not that! You didn't hurt me at all! You saved me! Thank you! I'll make sure to make dinner as fast as I can to make up for lost time. I know you must be very hungry." Tohru babbled quickly, looking up at him with her hands clutched near her chin. Kyo tried not to laugh at her outburst. They were nearing the house now.
"Alright alright, calm down. Let's go inside," Kyo said. He opened the door and walked inside, taking off his shoes. He continued through the house into the kitchen and put the plastic bag of groceries on the counter next to the sink. Tohru followed closely behind him and started pulling out various pots and pans she needed to prepare the meal.
"It's about time you two got home. I'm starved!" Shigure said dramatically from his spot at the table. Kyo just glared at him and slammed the door between the kitchen and the living room shut.
"Do you need any help?" Kyo grumbled. Tohru turned to see him with an angry look on his face. "Sure! Can you dice this onion for me? Thank you, Kyo!" She said happily. He loved it when she said his name like that. Like he was the only one she trusted for a small task. He stood next to her and started to cut. She was busy measuring spices and putting them in a pot. Without realizing it, he reached out and gently ran one of her braids through his hand. Her hair was so soft and it smelled like her strawberry shampoo. Tohru stiffened and let out a small "eep!" as she felt Kyo touch her hair. She turned to look at him, noticing his eyes looked almost glazed over.
"Kyo?" She asked quietly. It was only then that he broke out of his trance and muttered a quick "Sorry" before returning to his task. Tohru smiled to herself and turned to her own task again. Throughout their time in the kitchen preparing dinner, Kyo had to consciously tell himself not to touch her hair again. He probably freaked her out. This didn't stop him from staring though. He could see more and more loose strands of hair fall out of her beautiful braids. He wanted to sweep them out of her face, but he stopped himself.
Once dinner was ready, Tohru slid the door open and noticed Yuki was sitting quietly reading a book at the table.
"Yuki! Welcome home! I didn't even hear you come in." She set the tray of food down in the center of the table and sat down. Kyo joined and sat next to her, pretending to watch the show Shigure had turned on.
"Thank you Miss Honda. The meal smells delicious." Yuki said. Shigure turned to look at the food and his mouth visibly watered.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's dig in!" Shigure all but shouted.
After dinner, Yuki told Tohru he would wash the dishes as a thank you. Tohru, of course, wasn't comfortable with this, claiming this was part of the cost of her living there. It was only when Shigure urged her out of the kitchen that she relented. Not knowing what to do with herself, she made her way to her bedroom to see if she could organize anything. As she rounded the top of the stairs, she briefly caught a glimpse of orange hair outside on the balcony.
'Kyo must be going up to the roof again." Tohru thought. She was debating whether she wanted to join him or give him the time alone he probably wanted. She walked to her room to change out of her school clothes while Kyo's words rang in her head. 'It's okay to be selfish sometimes, you know.' With a look of determination on her face, she walked out of her room and went straight to the ladder leading up to the roof. She poked her head up to see Kyo laying down and watching the sky. It was just a little past sunset, but the sky still had traces of light purples and oranges.
"Kyo?" Tohru called out. Kyo about jumped out of his skin. "Tohru! Don't scare me like that!" He yelled at her. He heard a flustered "Sorry!" before she started to walk across the roof to lay next to him. She looked up at the sky with him and he snuck a sideways look at her. The braids in her hair looked more intact now. She must have fixed them. Before he lost his courage, Kyo said, "Your hair looks really nice today." Tohru blushed at his words and grabbed one of her braids, fiddling with it. "Thank you! Hana always does such a good job. She's an amazing friend. I'm truly blessed."
'I feel blessed, too' Kyo thought. A cold breeze rushed by them suddenly and they both shivered. Kyo was tempted to put his arm around her, he even started moving to do so before he thought better of it and shove his hand in his pocket. He sat up and lazily rested his elbows on his knees. Tohru continued to lay on her back, looking at him. She noticed how long his hair was and had an impulsive thought.
"Kyo? Can I braid your hair?" She said just loud enough for him to hear.
"Eh?!" Kyo didn't even think his hair was long enough to braid. He listened intently and figured Yuki and Shigure were talking about something so he sighed and replied, "I guess..." Tohru sat up and scooted back just far enough so she could reach the hair at the nape of his neck easily. She had learned out to braid hair from her mom. Kyo closed his eyes and willed himself not to blush, which didn't work of course. He felt Tohru's fingers run gently through his hair and at once he understood why she looked so happy when Hana did her hair. It felt amazing. His head unconsciously lulled forward, savoring the feeling, and giving Tohru more room to work. Kyo's hair was long enough to sport a small braid. Tohru was done and noticed the content look on Kyo's face, so she grabbed another patch of hair and began to make another braid. They stayed in silence while Tohru's fingers worked. When she was satisfied with her work, she released his hair and said "All done," quietly near his ear. He slowly opened his eyes and moved his fingers to feel the braids in his hair. It felt odd and foreign, but really cool at the same time.
He looked back at her and took one of her braids in his hand, comparing the feel of it to his own braids. Tohru didn't dare move, but her breath caught in her throat and her face had a light dusting of pink.
"Thank you, Tohru," Kyo said with a small smile on his face. Before he could lose his nerve, he moved his hand to the side of her neck and craned his own to press his lips to hers. When she didn't pull away, Kyo was happily surprised. After a moment or two, her hand found its way into his hair again, pulling him closer. He deepened the kiss by putting a hand on her waist and scooting her closer, their legs touching. He broke away and rested his forehead against hers. He still had a hand on her neck, but moved it to stroke her braid again.
"Remind me to thank Saki." he said quietly as he moved to kiss her again. Tohru smiled into their delicate kiss and found one of his braids and twirled it inbetween her fingers. "I will." She replied. Another gust of cold wind blew across them and Kyo pulled her closer to him to shield her from the cold. He was grateful the curse was broken. He could hold her like this whenever he wanted, if she would let him. A thought came to him as he felt her hair tickle his neck.
"Maybe you could teach me how to braid hair so I can do it for you." he said into her ear. He felt her smile. "That would be fun," she said. He laughed at her response, releasing her when he no longer felt the cold air. He looked into her eyes and saw love in them. He smiled at her and kissed her again and again, sometimes peppering her cheeks or nose. He didn't know how he got so lucky.
Elsewhere~~
Hana knew what she was doing. She could tell Kyo loved her friend, and especially so when her hair was in braids.