"Kyo-kun," said Tohru, once they were well away from the school. "Shouldn't you be at home? What if it starts raining again?"

Kyo looked over at her, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He held up his left wrist, shaking back the sleeve of his jacket so that she could see the bracelet. She smiled in pleasant surprise, and swung their linked hands back and forth as they walked.

"Kagura gave it back, then?" she checked.

"Not exactly," Kyo muttered. "I took it back."

Tohru looked up at him in surprise.

"You didn't…you didn't hurt her, did you?" she said. It was clear from her tone of voice that she didn't actually think he had, but that she was just double checking.

Kyo shook his head and looked up at the cloudy sky.

"No, even though she deserved it," he grumbled. "I've been on the roof for most of the day. Either she can't get up there, or for once she actually left me alone willingly. I doubt it, though."

"You're much kinder than you give yourself credit for, Kyo-kun," said Tohru with a small smile.

Kyo snorted. "Whatever."

Tohru just smiled and looked ahead. They were almost home. Unconsciously, her footsteps slowed, and her smile faltered. Kyo glanced down at her, a frown creasing his brow. Tohru didn't think he was aware of it, but his fingers tightened around hers.

"What's wrong?" he sighed, pulling her to a stop.

"Huh? Nothing's wrong," she said brightly, putting a smile back on her face. Kyo wasn't sure when he had developed the ability to tell the difference between her true smiles and her fake ones, but he knew instinctively that she was lying this time.

"Yeah right," he said with a roll of his eyes. "You can tell me what's bothering you."

"Well, uhm…" Tohru mumbled, fidgeting awkwardly. "Is Kagura…mad at me?"

Kyo sighed and sat on the wall that ran along the edge of the sidewalk, pulling Tohru with him. He ran his free hand through his mussed-up hair.

"I doubt it," he told her honestly. "I don't know, exactly, but I don't think she has any problem with you. At least, not directly. I was thinking about it for most of the day. If she's mad at anyone, it should be me, 'cause I'm not exactly nice to her, but…"

"She can't be mad at you," Tohru said with a small smile. "She loves you."

"No, she doesn't," he denied immediately. Tohru was startled by his bluntness. He clearly saw the surprise on her face, because he elaborated. "You can't love someone you pity. Kagura just feels bad for me, 'cause I have it worse than the rest of the zodiacs. I think I just make her feel better about herself that way. She doesn't even understand."

"But Kyo-kun…" Tohru murmured. "She accepts you, doesn't she?"

"Acceptance doesn't mean a whole lot, inside the Junishi," Kyo growled. "It's easy to accept freaks when you're a freak, too."

"You're not a freak, Kyo-kun," said Tohru, aghast. Kyo didn't argue, mostly because he didn't feel like expending the energy.

"Anyway, no, she doesn't accept me." Said as he looked up at the sky again. "Not all of me."

"But she said she loves you even in spite of the cat's true form," said Tohru, thoroughly confused.

"That's why I know she doesn't," he said, surprisingly calm. "In spite of. Does that really sound like acceptance?"

Tohru opened her mouth, but there was nothing for her to argue. Kyo was right. Loving someone in spite of something that drove them into depression wasn't really love, or acceptance. It was ignoring a big part of that person, and that wasn't love at all.

"She ran away," Kyo said suddenly. His voice was as soft as a whisper. "When she saw my true form, she ran away. We were only little kids. It made sense for her to be scared. But it still hurt. Everyone ran. That's all they did when they saw me. Until my sensei took me in. He didn't shun me. He was the only one that didn't run. I was convinced that I'd never find another person willing to care about me, even after they saw my true form."

Kyo's eyes were watery, and seeing that, Tohru's own eyes began to sting. She couldn't imagine a life like that, where everyone hated and feared you for something you had no power over, for something you had never, ever chosen for yourself. It must have been awful, having no one to turn to for years.

"Then you showed up. Out of the blue, with no idea that my curse was any different than the others. You annoyed me at first, but I got used to you so quickly, I thought I was going crazy. Finally, I'd made another friend. Sure, she didn't know everything, but I was okay with that. For the first time in a long time, I was happy. I was perfectly happy to be with someone who didn't mind that I turned into a stupid, four-legged, fuzzy cat."

Tohru smiled when he looked down at her. They were both crying, he realized.

"When my sensei showed up, I thought it was awesome. I thought I would get to escape living under the same roof as that damn Yuki and that creep Shigure, and go live with my master. But at the same time…Well, I wasn't as happy as I should have been, and he knew it. He told me I'd have to stay put, because I didn't really hate it as much as I said. He was right. Still, I was mad, and when he called me out to the courtyard, I didn't even think about what might happen. It was one thing when he took my bracelet, but it didn't scare me too much, because it was only in front of him, and everyone else already knew about it. I forgot you lived with us until I saw you walking up behind him. When you froze, staring at that monster, I was sure it was all over. That you would never come near me again. So I ran. I had no intention of ever going back there."

His throat felt thick, and he found it harder and harder to say what he needed to.

"But you ran after me. You ran after me even though I knew you had to be scared, even though you had to be repulsed. And when you found me, and I attacked you, trying to scream at you to go away, you didn't. You hugged me and begged me to come back home. I'd never felt something like that before, Tohru. Someone completely outside the Sohma clan seeing my form and not being disgusted. Someone that hugged me, as broken as I was, and begged me to stay. I don't think you really know how much it meant to me, for someone to accept me completely, because it had never happened before."

"Kyo-kun…"

"I think that's the only problem Kagura has with you," he said roughly, looking away and swiping at the moisture on his cheeks. "Because you followed me, when she ran away. You've done everything she wished she had. I think…that she's jealous of you."

"Of me?" said Tohru, mortified. "Why would she be jealous of me? She's pretty and fun and she—"

"Tohru, shut up," Kyo said. Obediently Tohru closed her mouth, but she still looked incredulous.

Kyo swallowed thickly. His heart was pounding in his throat, and his blood was roaring in his ears. He had her full attention. It was now or never. So why couldn't he remember how to talk? Why was he suddenly hyper aware of her hand in his, or the fact that their hips and shoulders were touching?

"I think Kagura's problem is that…is that…" How did he say it?

"What is it, Kyo-kun?" prompted Tohru gently.

"Kagura's jealous because…" He took a deep breath, and let it out in a big rush. "BecauseIloveyouandnother."

Tohru blinked. "What?"

Kyo took another deep breath, and tried to speak more slowly.

"She's jealous because…I love you…and not her."

Shit. Shitshitshit. He'd said it. He'd said it. Now what? Now what? He couldn't look at her, so he looked at a spot about a foot above her head. He could still see her stunned expression out of his peripheral vision as she digested what he had just said.

"Kyo…kun…" she murmured, but she didn't seem capable of saying anything else.

The silence was too long. Way, way too long, and it was pressing down on Kyo worse than the weather was. He'd already thrown himself out into the wind, so there was nothing more to lose in his eyes. He leaned down, risking meeting her gaze, and pressed his lips against hers.

She didn't pull back, and thank God, because Kyo didn't think he could handle it if she had. Tohru was warm, and Kyo's hand tightened over hers when she leaned up, eyes drifting close. Without really thinking, Kyo's other hand slid around her waist, pulling her closer. That ended it. Neither of them planned to pull back anytime soon, but he pulled her too close, and in a poof of smoke, a small orange cat fell into the school uniform now pooled on the wall. Tohru opened her eyes, and blinked down at the orange cat. Her cheeks felt very, very warm, and their color reflected that. If cats could blush, Kyo definitely would have been. His tail lashed back and forth, sticking out of one of his jacket sleeves.

"Sorry," Kyo mumbled.

"…you too."

"Huh?"

Tohru fiddled with her thumbs, blushing down at the ground.

"I…I love you, too, Kyo-kun," she said softly.

The cat's ears perked up, and his tail stilled. A funny sound emanated from his chest, and he realized with some embarrassment that he was purring. Loudly, like he was a motorcycle engine. Tohru giggled, then picked him up out of his clothes so that she could fold them up. He sat silently on the stone wall, watching as she folded his uniform into a neat pile and took it in her arms. She looked over at him, smiling warmly, and picked him up as well. For once, he didn't argue, and allowed her to carry him, laying out in her arms and closing his eyes. His tail wrapped around her forearm like a live, furry bracelet cuff, and he continued to purr.

"See, Hatsu-chan? Aren't you glad we followed them anyway?"

"Mm."

"Yuki, I know you're busy, but you'll never guess what I just saw—" click.

Ta-da! All done. In case the very end wasn't clear, Momiji and Hatsuharu followed discreetly, and Shigure, who was spying, had called Yuki, but Yuki hung up. Review, pretty please!