"Anything interesting happen on your way home?" asked a too-innocent Shigure.

Maybe it was the fact that he had only taken one of his shoes off, or maybe it was the book he held upside-down in his hands, or maybe it was because his reading glasses were only hooked on one of his ears, but for some strange reason, Kyo was very sure that his warden was up to something. He glowered down at the older man, but something about being a fuzzy orange cat in Tohru's arms made him look less intimidating than he intended.

"Not really," said Tohru with an easy smile.

"Did you fall again?" asked Shigure, still sounding just a little too blasé.

"Huh?"

"Kyo transformed. Did you fall again?"

"Oh! Oh, no, it wasn't—I mean—I didn't," she spluttered.

"Leave her alone, you stupid dog," Kyo snapped, jumping down from her arms onto the table and unsheathing his claws. "You already know what happened, don't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kyonkichi," said Shigure, making a decent attempt at sounding confused. "Why must you always accuse me of things?"

"Because you're a sneaky little creep," Kyo growled. "And don't call me that!"

Shigure sighed and put down his book.

"Tohru, could you go fix us some tea, dear?" he asked.

"Uhm, sure," she answered at once. She set down Kyo's clothes on the table and bustled into the kitchen. The moment the door closed behind her, Shigure put on his best "concerned adult" face.

"Now, Kyo, I know that you and Tohru are madly in love—"

"What?!" the cat exclaimed, fur fluffing out until he looked twice his original size. "What are you talking about?"

Shigure easily waved off Kyo's denials.

"I'm just saying that whatever you do, just make sure you're safe. I can get Tohru the pills if necessary, and I can get you protect—"

"Shut up!" cried Kyo in disgust. He covered his ears with his paws, and his tail lashed furiously. "Shut up you creepy old man! That's disgusting!"

Shigure chuckled softly, but then his face became serious.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, and his voice actually resembled that of a mature adult. Kyo risked releasing one of his ears to listen. A fly buzzed around it, and it twitched.

"What d'ya mean?" he asked.

"About Tohru," Shigure elaborated. "You won't be able to keep this a secret, Kyo. Not from anyone."

Kyo set both of his paws back on the table, and sighed heavily. His ears and tail drooped.

"You're talking about Akito, aren't you?" he said quietly. Thinking that it was perfectly obvious, Shigure said nothing, and Kyo shrugged as much as a cat could.

"I don't know," he mumbled, looking out the window at the still drizzly sky. "I—I tried to stay away from her, 'cause of Akito, but I…I just can't anymore. I know there's gonna be consequences for it, but…Ugh, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't want Tohru to get hurt anymore."

His tail swept over the table and curled around his paws. Akito was a massive obstacle in Kyo's life, more so than any of the other Junishi because he was the cat, and he shuddered to think what the family head would do when his suspicions regarding Tohru and him became more than suspicions. What would he do to Tohru? What would he say? Would he blind Kyo, and tell Tohru it was her fault, like with Hatori? Would he push Tohru down a flight of stairs, and then lock her in the cat's room like with Rin?

Kyo was scared. He was so scared that Tohru was going to get hurt again, and it would be all his fault. The vacation that Akito had interrupted was one thing. He had asked Kyo how he felt about Tohru. He had struck and scratched Tohru's face. That wasn't half as nasty as Akito could be, though, and the thought that something worse would happen to Tohru made Kyo feel like he couldn't breathe.

Shigure nodded understandingly.

"I understand," he said. "But you'll have to figure something out soon."

"Yeah," Kyo acknowledged.

They sat in silence for a while, Kyo's ears down and his whiskers twitching. Outside, rain began to fall again, with the pitter-patter sound of tiny feet scuttling across stone. Shigure picked his book up once more, the right way this time, and pushed his glasses farther up his nose. Kyo shuddered, and then jumped off of the table, feeling the change coming on.

"The tea's ready!" called Tohru from the kitchen, and a moment later the door slid open to reveal the young girl holding a tea tray.

In the same instant, the small orange cat vanished in a poof! of smoke, and Kyo straightened up in his human form. Tohru squealed an apology, and closed the door again. The newly returned human couldn't help but smile at her as he pulled his clothes back on. He tossed his jacket aside, and went to open the door, just to find it being held firmly closed.

"Tohru, you can come in," he chuckled, tugging gently. "I'm decent."

The door opened cautiously, and he stepped back, sliding his hands into his pockets. Tohru was blushing to the tips of her ears, but when she looked at him, the color faded and she smiled cheerfully, holding out the freshly made tea. He took the tray from her before she tripped and spilled boiling liquid over herself, and set it down on the kotatsu. Behind him, he heard Tohru giggle. Now, maybe he'd let a huge weight off his shoulders by telling Tohru the truth, but Kyo was still, well, Kyo, so naturally he got defensive straight away.

"What're you laughin' at?" he demanded, glowering at her before looking quickly away. Her happy face was too damn cute for her own good.

"Kyo-kun, your shirt," she giggled, coming to kneel beside him. "Your buttons are all off."

"Eh?" he said, hastily checking himself. Mortification made his face burn when he realized that the buttons were off by not one but two, and he raised his hands to fix it immediately, but—

"Here."

Tohru's small, soft hands brushed past his, carefully undoing each button and fastening it again in its proper spot, smiling quite calmly as she did. For a moment, all Kyo could do was stare down at her, blushing stupidly. That was so like her, to take care of him like he was just a little kid that couldn't even tie his shoes or, well, button a shirt. He'd just been in a hurry so that he wouldn't keep her waiting too long.

"What would he do without you, Tohru?" said a teasing voice. Kyo bristled. He'd already forgotten about Shigure—how was that possible?—but now he looked around and saw the man wearing a smile worth an hour of innuendoes. The cat spluttered incoherently, but for a refreshing change, Tohru was amazingly collected, and just smiled at the stupid dog.

"Where's your tie, Kyo-kun?" she asked, looking around.

"I don't need it," said Kyo immediately, trying to counteract the mother-hen act. "It's not like we're still at school."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she acknowledged. She just smiled at him for a moment, then started up suddenly as though a thought had just occurred to her. With hasty fingers, she began pouring the tea for herself and the other two.

Hasty fingers with Tohru breeds disaster. Kyo and Shigure sensed it the moment she nearly dropped the first teacup, but it wasn't until she was going to set the teapot back on the tray when at last she slipped. The pot fell from her fumbling fingers about a foot above the table, and smashed against the edge, shattering and spilling its still-boiling contents everywhere. Mostly in her lap.

Kyo and Tohru both yelped, leaping to their feet.

"Are you oka—"

"I'm so sorry!" Tohru exclaimed. "I'll clean this up right away, just—"

"Tohru, you're bleedi—" Kyo began, noticing that a shard from the teapot had left a cut on the palm of her hand. Not to mention the fact that very hot water had been splashed down her front and in her lap.

"I'm fine," she said at once, waving away his concerns with her non-injured hand. "I'll take care of it after I clean this up—"

"This can wait," Kyo snapped, catching her forearm before she could make her dash to the kitchen for paper towels and a dustpan. "You need to bandage that, and change out of those clothes."

"I'm fine, really," Tohru denied.

"Shut up," sighed her companion, hauling her into the main haul towards the stairs. "You're not fine. Go change, and then wash out the cut. I'll get some bandages."

"No, that's really okay—"

"Don't worry, I'm way better with injuries than that damn Yuki," Kyo interrupted, shooing her upstairs.

She gave him a bemused look, but finally disappeared to her room.

"You know, it really is cute how much you worry about her," called a voice from the sitting room.

Instantly Kyo stiffened, and turned to shout down the hall, hair bristling and fists clenched.

"Shut up if you know what's good for you!" he snarled. "I am not cute!"

"Aw, Kyonkichi's embarrassed now," Shigure teased.

"That's it!" Kyo seethed, intent on marching into the sitting room and beating the stupid dog within an inch of his life.

"What's it?"

Kyo looked around. Tohru had changed in record timing, coming down in clean, dry pajamas with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail. She was holding a bit of cloth in her palm, and Kyo could already see red seeping through.

"Jeez, you're bleeding pretty bad," he sighed, taking her good hand and pulling her through the house to the kitchen, using the door in the main hall instead of going through the sitting room where Shigure lie in wait.

"I'm really fine," Tohru tried again, but Kyo just ignored her, making her sit at the counter while he rummaged in the drawers for bandages. Aha! There they were.

"You washed it out, right?" he asked when he came back holding the roll of bandages.

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"Alright, lose the cloth," he told her. Obediently she dropped it on the table, and allowed him to take her hand, carefully and precisely dressing the wound.

His hands were rough. Much more so than hers, because of all the training he did. Kyo knew this, so he tried to touch her fingers as little as possible, scared she might not like the feel of his skin. He need not be concerned. When he expertly tied off the bandage, her fingers wrapped around his and she smiled kindly.

"Thank you, Kyo-kun," she said cheerfully.

He blinked at her bald happiness, and feeling color rise in his cheeks, looked down at their hands.

"It's just a bandage," he mumbled. "Ya don't have ta thank me for everything, ya know."

She just giggled.

"Well, I really have to go clean up that mess now," she said, standing up. He stood too, not quite ready to let go of her hand.

"I'll help," he offered.

"No, that's alright," she answered at once. "You don't have to—"

"If someone's volunteering, it's 'cause they want to, idiot," Kyo cut across her, knocking her over the head again. She blinked, then smiled and led him back into the sitting room.

They found quite an unexpected scene.

Shigure was crouched by the mess, the sleeves of his yukata tied back while he scrubbed at the floor. The chunks of teapot were already gathered in a pale green pile beside him, and a rag sat on the table, stained green from cleaning up the tea on that surface.

"Shigure?" Kyo said, astounded. "You know how to clean?"

"Of course I do," said Shigure, sounding just a little affronted. "Yuki and I did live without her before, you know."

"Poorly," Kyo pointed out. Shigure huffed.

"This is the thanks I get," he sniffed woefully. Kyo rolled his eyes, but Tohru smiled happily.

"Thank you very much, Shigure," she beamed. "You really didn't have to."

Shigure smiled kindly at her.

"I know. Now, you two go upstairs to bed. We can't have either of you getting sick from sleep deprivation, now can we?"

"Who's getting sick?" Kyo grumbled. Tohru just smiled, bowed to Shigure, then pulled Kyo out of the room after her.

Just before they could make their exit, though, Kyo's amber eyes met Shigure's chestnut ones, and a spark of communication flashed between them. It wouldn't be now. It didn't have to be tomorrow. It might not be the day after. But sooner or later, Akito would have to find out, and when he did, all hell would break loose.