Happy birthday Chey ducky ^.^ Sorry this is late, I had to retype it since the original was saved on the other computer which still hasn't been fixed, so I hope this is decent. Love you lots you fabulous crazy otaku!

I do not own Fruits Basket.

Tohru clenched her hands into fists and drew back her hand, gathering momentum before hitting Kyo in the chest. She made sure to hit him as softly as possible not wanting to be the cause of any accidental damage. The resulting impact caused her quickly bring her hand back in pain, cradling it against her chest trying not to show her now throbbing hand. She'd most likely just hurt herself more than him.

"Come on Tohru is that the best you can do?" He gave her his usual toothy grin.

"Well I don't want to hurt you," She said honestly. Punching Kyo was strange and seemed idiotic but she wanted to learn more about the things he was interested in, and one of his great passions in life happened to be the one thing Tohru hated - fighting. She could put up with it for Kyo though.

"Don't worry I'm used to that damn Yuki landing a few punches, I'm sure I can deal with yours. Come on I know you can get a good hit." He was sure even Tohru could give out a good punch.

She sweat dropped, trying to deter him from that idea. "No really Kyo that was probably one of my better punches. I'm sorry I don't think I'm-"

She was interrupted by a hand in front of her face indicating for her to be quiet. She sighed but obeyed, letting him start another motivational rant.

"We'll just try again, okay? You're not going to give up. We will not stop until I am sure you can punch someone decently. Come on Tohru, just imagine I'm some creepy attacker."

She nodded, saluting with a determined look, showing she was playing along. She guessed one good attempt couldn't hurt, it was all in good fun right?

"Yes sir!"

The two didn't share many qualities, in fact you could say they were complete opposites, but they both had determination, and once they set their heart on something you couldn't stop them. It was what brought them together even though they should have been pushed apart.

"Try that one I showed you earlier."

Tohru went back to the starting position, repeating the steps in her mind, trying to remember what he had taught her. However, her hand completely misaimed and smashed into Kyo's face, who stumbled back - mostly from surprise - and promptly fell over.

"Kyo!" Shouted Tohru, frantically waving her arms around. "I'm so sorry, I was aiming for your chest like you told me, and then it hit your head and I'm so sorry… are you okay?"

She stopped to see him laughing, and hurriedly knelt down next to him. He probably hit his head too hard, she thought. Then again Kyo did laugh for the strangest of reasons sometimes.

"Don't worry I don't think I'm hurt, it's just your face and you actually landed a decent blow."

Before she knew it she was giggling too, and they couldn't stop. They just kept on laughing and laughing eventually they forgot what they were laughing about, everything just seemed so funny and it was too late to stop. They were clutching onto each other trying to breathe through the laughter, as the chuckles died down it was a reduced to a few hiccups from Tohru.

"You've got hiccups, well that's just great. Aren't you supposed to scare people who have hiccups?" He put a finger to his chin in thought.

"Well I always used to try and drink water upside down when I was little." Said Tohru with a wistful smile, letting her mind transport back to her childhood.

"Boo!" He yelled, pulling a strange face whilst he said it.

"Uhm…" Tohru gave another hiccup.

Kyo gave her a look. "You were supposed to stop hiccuping." He tried standing up but grimaced and sat abruptly back down.

"What's wrong?" Asked Tohru, immediately concerned.

"My ankle hurts, think you can help me a hand getting inside?"

She felt worried and guilty knowing it was all her fault, and also that there was no one else around to help. Yuki was staying at the Sohma house for a few days and Shigure was at work. "I'm so sorry Kyo, let's get something for your ankle." She leaned his weight onto her making sure their chests didn't touch, she wasn't sure what would happen if Kyo turned into a cat. He grunted as his ankle touched the ground.

"Don't worry Shigure's probably right for once I should work on my reflexes, just don't tell him I said that he's got a big enough head already. The pains not so bad as long as I don't put any pressure on the ankle."

She didn't reply as she concentrated on getting them to the house without toppling over. She left him leaning against the wall as she fetched blankets and cushions for him to lie on in record time. Well at least she's stopped hiccupping Kyo thought.

"Tohru are you sure this is necessary?" He asked as he was persuaded to rest.

"Sure it is, Kyo I am going to nurse you back to health it's my fault your injured and I'm going to take responsibility!" Kyo raised an eyebrow as he thought of Shigure rushing in with a very... revealing nurse's uniform, telling Kyo he was a very lucky boy. Pervert. He waved the thought away quickly.

Tohru handed him some cold compresses which he carefully placed on his ankle. Tohru sat next to him her head resting in her hands.

"So what now?" Kyo asked.

Tohru gave him a soft half lidded look, tilting her head to the side, Kyo looked away quickly to hide his reddening face. Tohru's looks always had the strangest affects on him, one smile and he could turn into a girl, with a fluttery feeling in his stomach.

"My mother used to tell me stories when I was sick."

"I'm not sick though." He interjected.

She laughed. "You sort of are, well you're in bed anyway."

And with that she began telling a story about a tortoise and a hare, the words weaving together in a simple way that captured Kyo's attention. They were soon telling each other stories from their childhood and before they knew it were lulled to sleep.

. . .

"Wakey wakey lovebirds!" Sang Shigure. Tohru slowly opened her eyes and yawned, pushing herself up and trying not to notice how close she'd been to Kyo whilst they slept.

"Shigure your home already, what time is it? I haven't made dinner!" She wailed, her arms flying about in worry.

"Don't worry Tohru I ordered a take away seeing as you were asleep, it's far too late for you to start dinner. Is Kyo still asleep?" Kyo snored in reply. Shigure leaned forward to poke him.

"Don't wake him up Shigure he hurt his ankle!" Tohru was quick to stop what could of easily been a disaster.

Shigure looked disappointed. "I'll wake him up once the take away arrives then," He saw Tohru's look. "I'll wake him up peacefully and gently, don't worry."

. . .

Kyo lay staring at the ceiling of his bedroom trying to count sheep, but he just wasn't tired. He'd already napped today but Tohru had demanded he got an early rest and had helped him upstairs. The cat part of him was longing to go on the roof but that wasn't an option. He heard a timid knock at the door; if it wasn't so quiet he might not have heard it.

"Come in."

It was Tohru, probably coming to apologise again.

She walked over to the bed, he shifted slightly and she sat next to him. "I'm sorry Kyo."

He sighed, he was sure they'd been over this about a thousand times."It's not really your fault Tohru."

"But-"

"I mean… you didn't mean to… I don't blame you… I should of..." He stammered over his words until frustration gave out and he raised his voice.

"It wasn't your fault!"

She jerked back, her eyes wide with surprise. Kyo turned away and closed his eyes in annoyance, why did he always say things the wrong way?

"I'm sorry I shouted, but I don't want you feeling guilty." He mumbled.

"I know," She paused for a second, as if deciding something in her head. "Get better soon Kyo."

She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips before walking out the door. It was only then he realised she had kissed him; it felt so natural, so normal he had almost missed it. Kyo never felt normal, he felt like he was on the outside looking in, always the cat. He resisted the urge to call out for her when it occurred to him that there'd be more to come.