Ahh, day one of the three days before Kyo goes. It took me so long to write this SO YOU BETTER LOVE IT! Also, for that one person who told me the reason why they didn't like my story and felt it wasn't 'as great as the reviews state' was because I 'write loads about Kyo and Tohru and very little about the rest of the characters', I literally facepalmed. Mate, it's a Kyoru? My main characters are Kyo and Tohru, of course I'm going to write more about them? Sheesh, anyway, rant over…

Izumi Fujimoto – Thank you! I know, our poor baby :( I hope it gets better for him soon! *Stops and realises she's the author and she should know if it gets better or not*

Miku-Cat– I didn't even think about that and I'm a major Zelda player, so much that I actually have a limited edition Zelda DS Lite… God, I'm such a nerd, I need to get out more :D

CallieJoe - I know exactly how you feel! I want Kyo, but I have to remember how great he is with Tohru and decide that if I love him, I must let him go. Sniff. Aww thank you very much! This story has come further that I could have ever imagined! Thank you so much! :)

baileymermaid95- Thank you very much! I'll try my best, I hope you stick with my story! :)

BooBearPurpleHead– Aww, don't be too sad! I'll have some happy chapters coming soon! I'm glad you're enjoying my story.

Enjoy!

Chapter 14 – Day 1

'Kyo, When did you get back?' Shigure asked as he saw Kyo walk through the hallway late that evening. Yuki and Tohru had already gone to bed, Shigure had stayed up so that he could proof read his latest novel. Kyo, still in shock from his meeting with Akito, took a few moments to register the question and come up with an answer.

'About two seconds ago. Why, what's wrong? Is it Tohru, is she hurt?' Shigure smiled internally, Kyo really did care for Tohru. He opened his study and gestured for Kyo to enter. He did and sat down confused about what Shigure wanted.

'So,' he began, 'how long has Akito given you?' Shigure asked. Kyo understood now, Shishou must have come and told him. He lowered his head so that his bangs fell in front of his face

'Three days, then Hatori is coming to pick me up, most likely early morning.' There was a noise from the door and Shigure slowly went to open it, only to find there was no one there. Frowning slightly, he quietly closed it again and he sat back down facing Kyo and nodded.

'Well, you better make the most of it with Tohru hadn't you? Three days, there's not a lot you can do in that amount of time. Kyo agreed, sinking into his chair, constantly reminding himself that it was better this way, Tohru would be safe, even if it meant they couldn't be together.

~O~

Yuki's eyes snapped open at the sound of the front door's creak. He walked over to his door and slowly opened it, careful not to make a sound. He heard Kyo's name and fury passed over him. Why was he here? He'd been gone all day and the rat had been hoping he would have stayed at his adopted father's house.

He dared to look out and saw the door to the study close and stealthily ran down in order to hear the conversation. He heard Shigure's first question and a smile spread across his face at Kyo's answer, fearing being caught he moved to get away only to have his nails scrape across the wood of the door. He pathetically stuck himself flat to the wall and begged to not be caught. He heard the door open and then close, breathing a sigh of relief, he ran back up the stairs to the safety of his room.

He grinned and gave a dark chuckle. In three days Tohru would be his; and there would be nothing Kyo could do about it.

~O~

'Hey.' Tohru looked up from her book to see Kyo standing in front of her. She smiled at him as the morning breeze tousled her hair and returned the greeting before looking down at her book, she didn't want to look at him after she knew he had just left her yesterday morning, she wished she could have seen him sleeping, a blush crept to her cheeks at the thought, but why did he leave? Did he regret what he had said? Maybe he had only said it because he thought she was asleep and wouldn't reply to him.

Kyo sat down next to her, leaning his back against the oak tree's strong trunk. Tohru was gazing at her book, not reading it, with a small frown in her face. He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her onto his lap, locking his arms around her so she couldn't move away.

'K-Kyo-kun' Tohru stuttered, breaking free from her daze feeling even more heat rising to her cheeks, 'wh-what are you doing?' Kyo pulled her as close to him as he dared and trailed kisses from her shoulder up to her neck causing her to shiver.

'I'm spending time with the girl I love, is that a problem Tohru?' he asked smiling against her neck, she smelt amazing, like lilies. Tohru's stomach twisted with happiness, he had said it again and meant it this time, her chest practically swelled with pride at being the girl he wanted.

'No, not a problem at all, Kyo.' She replied putting her book down and twisting her face to him earning herself a kiss on the cheek causing her to smile even more.

'You know what we should do today?' he asked shifting Tohru so she could see him. She raised one eyebrow sceptically, asking him what. 'We should go horseback riding, we could go to town, go through the woods, anywhere, as long as I get some time with you.' He said smiling, his eyes shining causing Tohru's heart to melt.

'Sure Kyo, that sounds wonderful. So how was your father?' she asked, Kyo froze and his face became wary for a split second before he smiled.

'He's great, and he really wants to meet you. Maybe we could ride up to the Dojo today?' Tohru laughed at Kyo's enthusiasm and kissed him teasingly on his nose.

'Sure, I don't see any reason why we couldn't!' she stood up pulling Kyo up with her before they turned and ran, laughing, towards the stables.

~O~

Akito was ecstatic; she was standing outside the Neko Room with a creepy grin plastered on her face as she watched Hatori cleaning it out. At first she had objected saying that the cat deserved to live in filth for being the way he was, but Hatori had insisted. This was the proof that it was actually happening, peering into the cold, neglected room for the first time in years, she grinned even wider, the cat was finally hers. She watched Hatori with a careful stare, she didn't fully approve of what he was doing, but seeing as he was her carer and he had pretty well much begged she allowed it.

He was sweeping the dust away and polishing the bars, he'd even had Kisa fetch a thin futon and some sheets and blankets in order for Kyo's time in the room to be improved, every body needed comfort and Hatori just hoped he could provide a small amount. Kisa had helped him for a little while, arranging the bed in place and tidying the sheets, but as soon as Akito appeared in the doorway she had very quickly made herself scarce.

Hatori didn't like the Neko Room; it was large and had a dark wood ceiling, floor and walls so that even with the daylight and sun the room remained it's cool, dark self. There was a single barred window that stretched across the west wall of the room, it was large enough so that it could taunt the cat, so he could see what he would never be allowed to experience, it also let in the rain which all the zodiacs knew was the one element that irritated the cat the most, the person inside would only receive one meal a day, and it was usually water along with something bland like bread and butter, sometimes they would get cheese with the bread, but only if they were lucky.

The main reason for Hatori's dislike of the room was because he felt it was inhumane, he didn't want Kyo to suffer in here, no one did, even though the cat wasn't allowed to attend many family meetings he was still a part of them, the one thirteenth they all needed, with him in here, it would be just like losing a second member of their family, none of them wanted to face that.

He locked the door as he exited, some what happier with what he had managed to do; the living space wasn't going to be a welcome place to live, but the fact it was clean and had a bed would provide some form of comfort… he hoped.

~O~

Uo hadn't slept that night, she had been watching over Hana as she had slept, the woman's back was facing her and her chest rose and fell in the rhythmic pattern of a deep sleep. Uo felt Hana was sleeping too peacefully for someone who was surrounded by the taunting dark and the terrifying, reoccurring, unknown noises.

The horses had been tied to a tree each with a small pail of water in front of them; they too were sleeping contently next to each other, their backs pressed together for the heat of their partner.

Uo had been prodding and blowing the fire in order to shine some light on her surroundings, as well as sharpening her knives as she scowled into the pitch black atmosphere, scaring herself with images of big, burley bandits standing behind her with a large assortment of torturous weapons that they were itching to murder her with.

She found herself constantly checking behind her just to assure herself that there was no one there, and then beating herself up about it for being such a chicken. This wasn't her, was she not Arisa Uotani the Fearless? Why was she scared of bandit country, the men hidden in here were no match for her!

She smiled and then heard a rustle. She froze, the smile wiped off of her face, her heart started to pound painfully in her chest, someone was there. She shook herself out of her state and stopped sharpening, the sound of metal on metal causing shivers to snake down her spine, she stood up and held them, facing towards the noise.

'Who's there?' she called, frowning, 'Show yourself, coward!' the rustling started up again, a sense of unease passed through her body, 'I said, who's there?' she yelled causing Hana to stir and the culprit of the noise to show itself.

The owl flew straight over Uo's head causing her to let out a loud grunt and fall backwards in shock, the grunt and thump woke the horses, stunning Sonita who kicked her pail onto the fire, dousing the flames with a high pitch sizzle sending their small camp into immediate darkness aside from the glow of the red hot embers. The owl, oblivious to the chaos he had caused, landed by Hana who was now resting on her forearms, her eyelids still heavy with sleep.

Hana smiled at the owl and curled her index finger, stroking its breast. The bird made a contented hooting noise at this action. Uo's frown intensified as she glared at the tawny barn owl.

'What the HELL is that damn bird doing here?' she whispered angrily at Hana who just smiled slightly back.

'Oran had to come too, Uo, it wasn't fair that Sonita and Onyx had been allowed to come but he couldn't!' she muttered back, 'go to sleep Uo, I can watch for now.'

Uo frowned as she led the way through the forest path, she couldn't believe that bloody bird had scared her. She glanced back to see it resting in front of Hana on the saddle. She didn't see the need for the bird; back at home it slept during the day and when it was night time it would wake up and instantly leave; not returning until dawn.

Hana seemed content with him though, if he was going to stop her from being scared then Uo decided she might as well let Oran tag along. If they ran out of food she might get to cook him. They still had five days left of their journey; they had time to run out of food. Uo's mood lightened slightly at this prospect and she went back to watching the road ahead.

~O~

Kazuma was in his Dojo's Zen garden meditating as the cool breeze helped him relax in the heat of the day. Despite his focus, however, he couldn't help but open one eye when he heard horses approaching and joyous, child-like laughter. It seemed Kyo had come to visit him again.

He stood and made his way round to the front of the Dojo leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed watching the two horses advance and calls of, 'I'm going to win!' and 'Kyooo no fair!' filled the summer air. Kazuma waved at his son and the girl with him.

'You know Kyo, when I said you should visit me more often, I didn't mean every day, I'm going to be sick of you soon!' he called winking as Kyo jumped off his horse and rushed to hug his father.

'Shishou, this is Tohru Honda' He smiled gesturing to the petite brunette who bowed towards Kazuma, causing him to smirk, 'and Tohru, this is Shishou, my father, Kazuma.' He added snaking his arm around Tohru's waist and pulling her into the Dojo. Kazuma made some tea and they sat in the seiza position together drinking the refreshing green tea for a while with Kazuma teasing Kyo and making him blush in front of Tohru.

'So, Miss Honda, you are the lovely lady that has won the heart of my Kyo.' He said with a smirk causing Tohru to blush.

'I… Umm… Won Kyo-kun's heart?' she stuttered, balling up her hands on her lap and looking down, causing her bangs to cover her burning face.

'Kyo-KUN, huh, he lets you give him pet names? Kyo, I didn't know you could be so adorable!' Kazuma exclaimed grabbing Kyo's cheek and pinching it while Kyo yelled at him to stop. The scene in front of her caused Tohru to let out a small laugh.

The men both froze, Kazuma to see Kyo's reaction and Kyo because the sound of her laugh made his entire body warm, even though his father was still holding his cheek, Kyo let out a sigh and a love-sick smile crossed his face.

Kazuma then went into over drive, telling Tohru he wanted to know everything about her, throwing question after question at her. By the end of the afternoon she was out of it, her mind frazzled with having to talk about herself so much, she was a very humble girl and usually talked about anything but herself as Kazuma had found out.

He believed that although she had a shy exterior, she could be headstrong, which was what Kyo really needed. Tohru offered to put the cups away and cook dinner and as soon as he left Kazuma faced his son who was looking into his eyes anxiously, obviously waiting to hear if his father approved of Tohru. Kazuma smiled warmly at Kyo and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

'Is that a yes?' Kyo asked, worry leaking into his voice. Kazuma chuckled and grinned, proud of his son's choice.

'She's perfect for you Kyo; she's everything you need in a woman.' His smile dropped a bit and his voice became quiet and sad, 'it's just a shame that you're going to have to leave her behind when you go to the room. The person in charge of pairing up soul mates twisted you two up good.' He sighed letting his hand drop back onto his lap.

At his father's words a few tears leaked out of Kyo's eyes, but he wiped them away quickly and challenging his father to a fight, obviously looking for a distraction. Kazuma laughed at Kyo's sudden mood change, he had missed this part of having Kyo around.

Dinner was soon made but instead of calling them Tohru watched the men for a bit, Kazuma didn't hurt Kyo, he was careful with every win, she smiled at them both before announcing that dinner was ready.

~O~

After dinner Kyo showed Tohru to her room, it had been decided that they were going to stay at Kazuma's that night as it was very late and the ride home was far. He opened the door to his old room and walked in following Tohru. He closed the door behind him. Tohru turned, frowning at him, confused about what was going on.

He walked to her and gently brushed his forefinger along her cheek bone then dipped his head so that he could delicately kiss her lips. He savoured the feel and taste of her, loving the usual electricity he felt through his body from every touch, before pulling away.

'Good night, Tohru.' He whispered softly to her before heading towards the door.

'You're not going to stay with me?' Tohru asked quietly, chewing on her thumbnail. He turned around and leant against the door, crossing his arms, a cocky grin playing on his lips as he stared at Tohru.

'Well, I was going to go and sleep on the couch in the front room. Why? Do you want me to? Can't stand to see me go? He asked, wincing to himself at the last part remembering what was happening in two days time, he mentally erased the thought. These next two days were all about him and Tohru being together. Nothing else could change that.

She walked to him and held out her right hand which he took and kissed the back of; his lips tingling against her skin. He wondered if she felt them too, or if it was just him. She pulled him towards the bed and put a blanket between them both, she seemed to slot into him perfectly, as he pulled her closer.

His head rested on top of hers while hers slotted into his neck, her hands rested on the blanket by his chest. Kyo had one arm under her head and the other wrapped protectively around her waist, rubbing circles into her back. She let out a sigh of content and they both laid there for a long time in a comfortable silence.

'I don't want to ever see you go.' She finally answered into his neck, nuzzling into him and closing her eyes, 'I love you so much Kyo.' She added before falling asleep. For the second time that night Kyo cried.

He was careful not to sob in case he woke her. His hand affectionately stroked her hair as tears slipped from his eyes. She didn't want to see him go, yet he had no choice, he was beginning to regret his choice to go into the Neko Room. Could there have been a way for them to be together? Could they have run away?

No, they couldn't. He couldn't do that to everyone, Kisa, Shigure, Shishou, Haru, Ritsu, Momiji. Kyo sighed, tears still falling, running would have been fruitless, Akito would find him and he would still be bound to her, when ever she called he would go running.

Kyo moved slightly to look at Tohru, she looked so beautiful when she slept, her mouth slightly open and a strong feeling of content seemed to seep off of her. Almost as if everything in her life was going right and, Kyo supposed, for the next two days, he was going to make sure it carried on going on right, no matter how much it was going to hurt later on.

He closed his eyes burying his face into his love's hair and attempted to fall asleep so she wouldn't think anything was wrong in the morning. He listened to Tohru's slow breathing and felt the beat of her heart in sync with his. These sounds lulling him to sleep, happy to have found the one he loved, even if they only had a short time left.

First day down! 48 hours left :'( But this story if FAR from finished! Don't you worry ;) Not even joking, 8 pages on word. I took four days writing and editing this. I hope you enjoyed my labour! Also, wondering who actually reads my A/N's? Oh well, thank you to the seven reviewers! I love you :)

So, I'm mega tired now, it's half two in the morning and I'm honestly hidden under my bed covers so my parents don't come in… The space bar is so loud, and it's the one key I constantly need. Brilliant -.-

Okay, anyway, again, four reviews, I upload in… 4 days? Yeah, sounds good time wise for what I have planned for the second day ;) Otherwise, I'll just postpone it! Also, any Percy Jackson fans? I'm thinking about writing one for the Half-Bloods! Thoughts?

Much love! Olivia x