“Kyo,” Tohru called as she bounded down the stairs, “Kyo, I have some wonderful news!” Yuki looked up curiously as she almost tripped off the bottom step. “Um,” she said breathlessly, peering around the living room, “Yuki, do you know where Kyo is?” Yuki smiled sadly at Tohru and gestured wordlessly upwards. “Oh, he’s on the roof?” she asked brightly. At Yuki’s answering nod, she sprinted back up the stairs. Yuki sighed and rested his head on the table. He had a fairly good intuition usually, so he trusted his instincts where Tohru’s ‘news’ was concerned.
Tohru clambered clumsily up to the roof, grinning yet more wildly as she spotted Kyo’s vivid mop of hair. “Kyo, I have some really good news!” she cried as she got closer to him. That was when she noticed his absent expression. He was curled up in a ball, fiddling absentmindedly with the gold band he wore on his wedding finger as he stared into the sky, streaked with red where the sun was rapidly sinking out of sight. “Kyo, darling, what’s the matter?” Tohru was concerned now.
Kyo glanced at Tohru’s anxious face and felt the guilt spread through him at the sight of her wide, innocent eyes. He looked away quickly to try and avoid the burning sensation. “Nothing’s wrong,” he grunted, “I guess I’m just tired.” As he flopped back onto his back, he silently berated himself. He knew that he ought to be able to explain himself to his own wife, but…he could imagine the tortured look Tohru would affect, the way the tears would well up before she hid her face as they spilled over.
Tohru lay down next to Kyo, taking his hand gently in hers. “You know…you can explain things to me…if you’re feeling upset, or angry, I’d like to think that I could help you. I…I hate to see you so…miserable, Kyo. Maybe I’m just being conceited to think that I could help, but…I just want you to be happy again. Because…I love you, Kyo,” Tohru gushed. Kyo felt the same pleasant tingling sensation that he always did at those four little words, but this time it was tinged with a heavy sadness.
“I love you, too,” Kyo promised, hoping to ease some of Tohru’s concern. “I do love you, but there…honestly isn’t anything wrong with me. I really am just tired. Don’t worry,” he whispered, leaning over Tohru and wiping her tears away with a soft hand. Tohru gasped and sat up. “Oh no, no, no! That isn’t what you think it is…unless you’re thinking right…But I’m not crying, not really, no! Except that maybe I am…” Kyo laughed at the blush that crept into Tohru’s panicked face.
“You’ve been spending more time with Machi, haven’t you?” Kyo teased, pleased that Tohru had another friend. He liked Hana just fine, but that Uo was such a pain…But he recognised Machi’s contradictory ranting, and chuckled. Tohru shrank back cutely, and Kyo ruffled her hair, taking her hand again, more softly this time. He wished, more than anything, that he could pull her into his arms and hold her close but…well, he wanted to stay human, to put it bluntly.
