Absolutely, Definitely and Conclusively
a greengirlblue production
based off of Natsuki Takaya's
Fruits Basket series

If she absolutely, definitely and conclusively had to choose one and only one thing about Kyo-kun that she admired, Tohru would have answered: "His hands."

"His... hands?" Yuki repeated.

"What?" Tohru said right back, blinking up at Yuki and his unexpected words. He'd been standing next to her for a while, now, as they both washed the dishes that had piled up next to the sink that day. Well. Tohru washed, and Yuki helped dry them with a dishcloth before setting them on the counter. This chore had become a shared custom for the two of them sometime after Tohru had moved in a second time, after Tohru's botched attempt at living with her father's side of the family. Up until a few seconds ago, it had been perfectly quiet in the kitchen as the pair moved through a familiar routine. Tohru must not have been paying attention, because she had no idea what Yuki was talking about.

It took a total of five seconds for Tohru to realize she must have said her thoughts, the ones that had been wandering around Kyo and his hands, out loud.

"What?" she squeaked in a voice that was, if possible, a few octaves higher than before. Exactly how much had she said? The cup she'd been washing tumbled into the sink with an abbreviated splash of grey water and soap suds.

Without waiting for an answer, she dove into the sink and pulled out the first thing her thumb bumped into. Another cup. Well, she really ought to clean it, shouldn't she? Yes, she should. Right now. Because she wasn't thinking about Kyo-kun's hands. Nope, not her. Just cleaning dishes, here. Wait, wasn't this the same cup she'd been holding earlier? It looked awfully familiar, come to think of it…

Because Tohru had, at some point, become obsessed with scrubbing the floral design off the side of her cup with a hapless sponge, she missed how Yuki was staring at her.

"Honda-san?"

"Yes! This is the same cup! It's very clean! I didn't say anything about anyone's hands!"

Yuki continued to watch her for another moment, and just when Tohru was afraid he wasn't going to believe her, he turned his head to the side so a curtain of silver-gray hair blocked Tohru from reading his expression.

"Okay," he agreed, and raised one pruned, soapy hand up against his lips. "H-Honda-san wasn't saying a-anything about anyone's ha... han.. ha ha…."

Yuki turned away from Tohru until all she could see was his back, his shoulders shaking slightly as he hunched into himself. Tohru felt heat prickling out across her face to her ears. Yuki was... was he...? Yes, he was. He was laughing. Tohru wasn't sure if she was upset because Yuki was laughing at her or because Yuki was laughing at all for the first time since... since... wow. Had it really been since the hot springs trip two months ago?

"S-sorry," Yuki choked out between flurries of breathy laughter. "This is so rude of me, I'm s-sor – haha – very sorry."

"Ah… no. It's okay!" Tohru said quickly. "Really, it's okay! I... I like it when Yuki-kun laughs."

And it was true. She wished Yuki would laugh more.

Yuki continued to shake with suppressed laughter for a minute more until he let out a small, abbreviated sigh.

"I guess I'm not being much help," he said apologetically. He turned to face Tohru, his face still pink from laughter (or was he embarrassed?) even when his features had schooled themselves back into a neutral smile. "Here, I'll take that."

Tohru handed him the now-spotless, slightly harassed cup with a smile of her own. Their fingers brushed briefly, and then the cup was spirited away into the dishcloth Yuki wielded on his side of the sink. They worked next to each other in silence again, Tohru letting her mind drift beyond Kyo's hands to his wrists, to the bracelet he wore. She was pretty sure that, if she had read about his bracelet in a story that was unrelated to her, she would have been terribly sad, or maybe frightened. Instead, knowing that it was real, whenever she pictured the bracelet in her mind, she could only feel a sort of heavy weight to her thoughts. When Kyo had first explained the history of the beads he wore, he'd sounded like how she felt now. Tired, a little uncertain. Solemn.

When Yuki shifted next to Tohru, she didn't look at him, but she became more aware of his standing next to her.

"It's the same for me," Yuki said after a moment. "I like it when Honda-san laughs, too."

And just like that, the heavy feeling... it didn't vanish, but it felt somehow... it felt lighter.

If she absolutely, definitely and conclusively had to choose one and only one thing about Yuki-kun that she liked, Torhu would have answered: "His voice."

(But, luckily, she didn't say that out loud this time.)