Disclaimer: I don't own Furuba, nor do I own this adorable, yet tragic couple.
GothGurl: After reading the part of the manga that explains the story behind Tohru's parents, I not only fell madly in love with the couple, but felt the urge to write something about them.
This ficlet was the first thing that came to mind, and it's shameless fluff. Possible spoilers, and you may be confused if you haven't read their story. On with the story!
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Honda Katsuya leaned on the wooden frame of their bedroom door, arms crossed and his usual blank expression gracing his features. From where she was crouched among the piles of baby toys scattered on the floor, Kyoko thought her husband looked slightly imposing in that position.
Well. Maybe imposing to someone who didn't know him. To Kyoko, he was just downright sexy. And being his wife and all, she couldn't help but notice (aside from the fact that his top button was undone) that there was the same old light in his eyes that told her something had just amused him greatly.
Given her husbands sense of humor, perhaps that wasn't a good thing, she thought.
While she took advantage of his silence by admiring the way his sandy brown hair fell into his eyes, he suddenly spoke. "Your daughter just said her first word, y'know."
All lecherous thoughts vanished in a flash.
"Wh-what? Tohru said her..!" she stood up abruptly, dropping a teddy bear and toy keys to the ground. Frenzied maternal instincts (the ones she always denied having) told her 'to hell with the mess!' "What did she say?"
Katsuya just grinned.
Oh great. He was in one of THOSE moods.
But she had no patience for her husbands bizarre personality at the moment. Marching right up to him and giving him her best 'I-can't-believe-you're-not-doing-what-I'm-telling-you-to-do' glare, she asked, "Did she say Mama or Dada? Spill the beans buster."
"Who's Buster? You're not cheating on me are you?" He wibbled his lip in mock despair, and Kyoko felt herself melt under that puppy-dog look. It was pathetic, really, that she, a former gang-leader and delinquint, could be so easily conquered by a mere wibbling of the lip.
And that whole unbuttoned shirt thing just wasn't FAIR.
Deciding to fight fire with fire, Kyoko sighed dramatically and looked up at the tall man with the best pair of doe eyes she had. She resisted making a 'yes!' motion with her hand when she saw him blink in surprise, "Just tell me, Katsuya, I missed it after all..." and fluttering ones eyelashes never hurt, either.
"She'll say it again, y'know. She keeps repeating it." he said conversationally, pretending the fluttering eyelashes didn't effect him at all.
Kyoko immedietly quit her cutesy act. "Heh?"
"She really really likes the word." his smile was slightly suspicious, if not a bit apoligetic, but Kyoko paid it no mind.
"Well why didn't you say so in the first place!" she grumbled, brushing past him to go find her newly-speaking daughter. She heard Katsuya chuckle and follow her.
"You're not gonna like it." he told her good-naturedly as they made their way down the stairs together. But it couldn't have been that bad if it amused him so much, so Kyoko wasn't worried.
Honda Tohru, just under a year old, was sitting in the middle of the family room rug with a brand new stuffed cat hugged to her chest. She wasn't playing or moving around, apparently content to just huggle her toy kitty until its little button eyes fell off.
Kyoko smiled at her daughter; she closely resembled her mother in appearance, and she had her clumsy nature. Kyoko liked to say she had inherited her fathers sometimes irritating optimism, Katsuya disagreed, saying that Tohru's perky personality was clearly from her mother, but that their daughter did, in fact, sport his ears. Kyoko dismissed that as a Katsuya-ism.
She crouched on her knees on front of the toddler and smiled, "Hey Tohru, Daddy tells me you can talk now. Is that true?"
In response, Tohru attempted to swallow the cats ear.
"Thats promising." Kyoko remarked dryly to her husband. Katsuya ignored the sarcasm (or maybe he just didn't notice it, it was hard to tell with him) and joined his family on the floor, gently tugging the ear out of his daughters mouth.
This earned him a reproachful look that was oh so similar to her mothers, and Katsuya laughed.
"Tohru, I've got a question for you," he said, the amused look returning. Tohru's annoyance faded and was replaced with interest. "Who's this lady here?" To Kyoko's surprise, he pointed at directly at her and watched Tohru intently.
Tohru's response was immediate, "Mees wit no bwows!"
"And there you have it." Katsuya sat up and crossed his arms triumphantly.
"...What?" Kyoko blinked. "That wasn't a word, that was gibberish."
"It was definetly a word. Or several."
"In what language?" she asked incredulously.
"I promise you, she was definetly speaking the same language as you and me."
"But what..?" Kyoko was interupted by her daughter latching onto her arm.
"Mees wit no bwows!" she said again cheerfully, grinning her baby-teeth up at her Mom.
Mees wit no bwows..? Mees...Miss..Miss with no..
"Oh..." Kyoko stared down at her grinning daughter, realization putting her into a bit of a stupor. "Er, she's not really saying..?"
"She certainly is," Katsuya smirked. "Miss With No Eyebrows."
In the stupefied state she was in, Kyoko made no move to answer.
"She must be a genius! To learn so many words all at once!" she heard her husband praising. She could tell he thought the whole situation was hilarious.
"YOU taught her that, didn't you?" she accused, feeling a bit exasperated. Great, now her daughter would be calling her 'Miss With No Eyebrows' when they were out shopping or somewhere equally embarrassing.
"You don't mind when I call you that." he countered lightly.
No...no she didn't. As bizarre as her husbands pet-name for her was, it was what he had always called her, right from the day they met. Even after she began pencilling normal-looking eyebrows on, he still refused to drop the name. She just attributed it to his insanity that he couldn't call her 'honey' like a normal person. She remembered feeling strange when he used her real name at their wedding...for a moment she even wondered who he was talking about.
She had to admit, she rather liked it.
"Well, fine...but she WILL call me Mama someday, y'hear." she added, punching him lightly on the arm.
"If you want, you could teach her to call me Egghead."
"...Why would I do that?"
"I dunno. I think I'd like being called Egghead."
"You're insane."
"Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment."
"Mees wit no bwows!" Tohru exclaimed, tugging on her mothers sleeve.
Kyoko sighed and closed her eyes, "Yep, that's me."
Kyoko heard her the man beside her chuckle and opened her eyes when she became aware of a pair of arms wrapping around her shoulders. Katsuya pulled her closer to him so she was leaned against his chest, burying his face in her hair. "So, Miss With No Eyebrows, are you going to go back to being a fussy housewife or you gonna hang out with us weirdo's for awhile?"
"Thats a dumb question." she answered, shifting into a more comfortable position and watching Tohru unravel the cat toy's tail. "Y'know I've always liked weirdo's."
"Thats good, cuz we're an awfully weird little family, if I do say so myself."
"I was referring to you."
"Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment." she replied automatically.
Indeed, they were a weird little family. But they were happy that way, Kyoko thought.
And only a few short years later, when Katsuya is gone and Tohru calls her 'Mom', she wishes it could've lasted just a bit longer.
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GothGurl: Okay...was anyone else on the verge of tears when Katsuya died? Has anyone else read this far? XD And of course, Kyoko dies when Tohru is sixteen...Gads, they didn't deserve to die so young! Why can't evil parents like Yuki's mother die? (runs away to sob somewhere)
Oh, and if anyone is confused...Katsuya does indeed call her Miss With No Eyebrows...a bizarre, but strangely adorable nickname, if you know the context of it. I just thought it'd be funny if Tohru called her that, to.
Review, please and thanks! Tell me how corny this was, if you must (even though I already know :P)