Title: Hot

Pairing: Kyo/Tohru

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket © Natsuki Takaya

Rating: T for suggestive content

Author's Note: It was kinda hard for me to keep Tohru in-character in this oneshot, considering the fact that she's so innocent, but I tried my best.

Tohru stood near the open doorway, watching in secrecy as a shirtless Kyo threw firm punches at the air, alternating between each of his fists. He let out a low grunt with each punch he threw, a noise that ignited an unknown tingling feeling inside Tohru's body. Her heart pounded as she studied the handsome features of Kyo's face and the determined look in his eyes. His bangs swept across his forehead each time one of his arms jerked forward, his tan skin glistening with sweat from the sun beating down on his perfectly chiseled body. The brunette-haired girl tightly clutched the edge of the sliding door in unease. It wasn't like her to stare at Kyo like this. After all, she was Tohru Honda, innocent and pure, not a single perverse thought in that slightly air-filled head of hers…

So why on earth couldn't she seem to take her eyes off of Kyo this morning?

She could feel her face heating up as she stared at the orange-haired boy intently. Her eyes traveled down his lean upper body, scanning his broad shoulders and muscular back. She briefly looked at his arms, admiring his thin but strong biceps as she secretly wondered to herself what they felt like. But she abruptly shook off the thought as her eyes continued trailing farther down his smooth back, until her gaze suddenly locked onto his tight, round—

"Miss Honda?"

Tohru shrieked, her two long braids whipping through the air as she spun around to come face-to-face with an unkempt and tired-looking Yuki. She threw her hand to her chest, right over her racing heart. Her face felt like it was on fire now as she simply gaped at Yuki, finding herself breathless from her sudden outburst.

Unfortunately for Tohru, her ear-piercing scream caught the attention of the one person she was trying to stay hidden from. She let out a shorter but still equally loud scream when she felt a strong hand suddenly latch onto her shoulder.

"Hey!" came Kyo's voice from behind her, filled with urgency and concern. He let go of her shoulder as she slowly turned around to face him, her mouth agape and her eyes trembling. The scared look on her face was more than enough to make the suddenly overprotective Kyo feel even more worried about her. "Why the hell did you just scream?" he demanded. "Did that damn rat touch you? 'Cause if he did, I swear to God, I'll kick his ass!"

"Calm down, you stupid cat," Yuki said as he crossed his arms over his chest in a nonchalant manner. "I would never do such a disgusting thing like that."

Kyo glared at his nemesis, a frustrated growl escaping his lips.

"Shut up, damn rat!" he shouted as he stepped right in front of Tohru and reached for Yuki's shirt. He grabbed a fistful of the light blue material and yanked the rat towards him, his eyes darkening with anger. "That still won't stop me from punching your girly face in right now," the seething cat said in a low, threatening voice, a voice that caused Tohru's heart to suddenly jump.

"Eh!" she cried out in surprise as she felt her face flush hotly.

Fortunately for her, the noise went completely unnoticed by both Yuki and Kyo, who were now much too wrapped up in their own pointless argument to pay any attention to her. After a few moments of bickering, Kyo raised his fist, threatening to punch the other boy if he didn't shut up, despite the fact that he wasn't even talking. Before he could fulfill his threatening task, Shigure walked in. He sighed at the scene before him.

"How many times have I told you two that if you're going to fight, do it outside?" the dog said in an exasperated tone. "I'm tired of my poor, innocent house getting smashed all the time!"

Kyo tossed an angry glance in Shigure's direction, staring at him with a look that could kill. He let out a snarl of frustration as he finally released Yuki. Without another word, he made his way back outside into the sweltering heat. As soon as he was gone, Yuki sighed tiredly, reaching up to casually straighten out his wrinkled shirt.

"Well, anyway," he started, turning his attention back to the still mildly flustered Tohru, "I apologize for startling you earlier, Miss Honda."

"Oh, no, no!" Tohru immediately protested, bringing up her hands and frantically waving them back and forth. "It wasn't your fault, really! It was mine! I shouldn't have screamed like that! I don't even know why I did! I guess I was just so busy staring at Kyo that I—"

She abruptly cut off her own sentence, realizing in horror what she'd just blurted out. Her face was boiling hot now. The room was so quiet that she was sure everyone could hear her heart pounding furiously against her chest. It felt like a hammer inside her body, thudding repeatedly, as though it were trying to burst out of her. The expression on her face became frozen in a look of deep embarrassment, shock and fear as her gaze simply stayed on Yuki. He was staring back at her with widened eyes, unsure how he should respond to that. Even Shigure, who was usually the one to cause awkward silences, and, ironically, also the one to break them, found himself utterly speechless.

"Um," Tohru said nervously, her already heated temperature quickly rising with each painfully slow second that went by. She allowed her hands to drop, although one of them inched back up to nervously clutch onto her braid. "I-I, uh," she started, pausing to let out a forced giggle. "What I meant to say was…"

Her timid voice trailed off from there. She let go of her braid and sighed in defeat. What was the point? It wasn't like she could just take back her little slip-up, as much as she desperately wanted to. She knew the damage was already done.

The increasingly awkward silence went on for several more seconds—which felt much, much longer to Tohru—before someone else finally decided to speak up.

"Wait…what?"

Tohru froze, her heart skipping a beat.

Kyo.

She instinctively clamped her eyes shut, not wanting to look at him and risk embarrassing herself even more. But her eyes instantly snapped back open when she felt that familiar warm hand touch her shoulder. Without thinking, she turned her head, her sapphire eyes locking onto his auburn ones. His were widened in shock, hers in fear.

The tension in the room grew so unbelievably thick in that moment, and now, Shigure decided to alleviate it.

"Well, then," he said, folding his arms together, "I suppose you two would like some privacy. Come, Yuki."

The still completely dumbstruck Yuki turned to look at his cousin, then at Kyo and Tohru, then back at his cousin. Finally, he turned away, following Shigure as the two of them walked out of the room. An awkward silence quickly filled the air as Kyo and Tohru stared at each other. Tohru was unsure if Kyo was waiting for her to explain herself, but fortunately for her, Kyo was the first to finally speak.

"So, uh…" he said in the most sheepish-sounding voice she'd ever heard from him. He suddenly averted his gaze from her as he continued, "…you were…staring at me?"

He waited a few seconds before looking Tohru in the eyes again, and when he did, she nearly jolted out of her body in surprise. Her breath hitched inside her throat, making it impossible for her to answer him verbally. So, instead, she settled on giving him a shy nod, her face growing hotter and hotter by the second as she waited anxiously for him to speak again. She wasn't sure what kind of reaction to expect, but she watched as Kyo's lips slowly curved upward into a small grin, his cheeks flushing a light shade of crimson as he let out a soft chuckle.

"And Shigure thought I was a pervert," he said teasingly, a sly look on his face, despite his blush.

Tohru stiffened again, her mouth falling open of its own accord. Well, if she was embarrassed before, she was absolutely mortified now. Kyo instantly picked up on her extreme embarrassment when he saw the look on her face. He let out a stunned groan.

"Aw, dammit, come on!" he shouted in a desperate tone, as though begging for her forgiveness. "I was just kidding! You're not gonna cry now, are you? Look, I didn't mean it, all right! I take it back!"

The look on Tohru's face instantaneously changed, her eyes shifting as she simply stared up at him, wondering why he was getting so upset all of a sudden. It wasn't often that she saw him get so worried and so…flustered like this. And the way he was babbling incoherently, his eyes widened and his hands tightened into fists, gave him an entirely new look that she'd never seen from him before. It was kind of…

…cute.

Tohru was unable to stop a large, bright smile from stretching across her face then, a smile that Kyo wasn't expecting to receive from her in the least. One of his eyebrows shot up.

"Wait," he said. "What the hell are you smiling about?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Tohru said, and just like that, her smile disappeared. She felt a familiar nervous, tickling feeling building up inside her stomach as she bent her head in shame, her hands sheepishly clasping together behind her back. "It's just that I…"

Kyo blinked, his confusion escalating with each passing second.

"What?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Tohru looked up at him, her cheeks redder than ever, the shyest of grins on her face. She let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, I…" she started again, unclasping her hands and bringing one of them to the back of her head. Her previously rapid heartbeat had finally slowed down by now, although she could still feel it pounding hard against her chest in a steady rhythm. Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump. She felt her cheeks starting to burn up again. Did it just get hotter in here, or was it just her?

She slowly withdrew her hand from her head and, on her own sudden impulse, reached out and placed it on top of Kyo's smooth, bare chest. He let out a barely audible gasp when she touched him, but he didn't move away. He simply stood there, motionless, his own heartbeat picking up as her slender fingers slid across his warm skin. Thumpthump. Thumpthump. Thumpthump.

Her eyes eventually lifted from Kyo's bare chest to look him directly in the eyes. She smiled at him with her usual warmth, her eyelids drifting down as she finally confessed in a timid but sincere voice, "I think you're really cute."

Kyo's eyes shot open even wider than before, his breath hitching in his throat, his blush deepening. What?

Tohru could tell that he was too surprised to say anything now. She waited patiently, though, her hand still resting comfortably on his chest. She watched as his widened eyes slowly narrowed, shaking slightly, a serious look forming on his adorable blushing face.

"I…" he spoke at last, an awkward moment of hesitation passing, before he continued, "…I think you're—"

"Kyoooooo," Shigure suddenly called out from the other room, "I hope you and Tohru aren't getting too frisky in there!"

Kyo froze up, officially reaching a whole new level of embarrassment. He tried his best to shake it off as he sharply turned his head to see Shigure standing near the doorway, a shit-eating grin on his face. Kyo glared at him menacingly, causing Shigure to shrink back in fear and promptly tiptoe away. After the perverted dog was no longer in sight, Kyo exhaled in a long sigh, and finally turned to look at Tohru again. He stared into her eyes, his face visibly relaxing as a soft smile graced his lips.

"I think you're really cute, too," he said quietly.

Tohru immediately felt her heart flutter inside her chest. It was a warm tickle that spread throughout her entire body. Her face lit up in that same moment, eyes shimmering and cheeks tinting a shade of pink. They stared at each other for several seconds longer, both smiling and blushing, when all of a sudden—

"Make sure you use protection~" Shigure said in a loud, sing-song voice.

They both froze up this time, although Kyo promptly clenched his hands into fists. He growled through gritted teeth as he turned towards Shigure.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" he screamed, before lunging at the older man.

"Ah! No! Have mercy!" Shigure begged, tears rolling down his cheeks as he ran from Kyo.

Tohru simply smiled.

Author's Note: I absolutely love flustered Kyo. He's so adorable. Then again, I just love Kyo, period, haha.