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She didn't bring a coat again. Of course she didn't bring a coat again.
Tohru is... warm. Not literally, but as a person.
That's the first way Kyo would describe her, if anyone ever asked him. She makes him think of tiny flowers growing along the cracks of sidewalks in the spring, blooming as winter melts away. She's passionate and determined, like the summer sun beating down on his spine. She's the calm of autumn as the leaves fall, telling him that changes and broken curses are okay. Even in the dead of winter, she reminds him of a crackling fire, a gentle glow that keeps everyone around her from sinking into despair. She's the one thing that's constant, unchanging, eternal in her warmth.
But that doesn't mean she won't freeze if she doesn't wear a coat to school.
Kyo holds the door for her as they leave the building, and he feels the gust of wind as soon as he steps outside behind her. She won't say anything, but there's no way her school uniform is providing any protection against the chill.
He raps his knuckles lightly against her head as they walk. "You cold?"
Tohru looks up at him, eyes going wide. "What? Oh, of course not. I'm fine."
"Really?"
"Yes! It's not even that cold out," she lies through chattering teeth—and she's not a very good liar to begin with.
He snorts. "If you say so," but he starts to take off his jacket all the same. Tohru realizes what he's doing immediately, and she starts shaking her head, moving her arms wildly.
"No, then you'll be cold!"
"I'm not the one wearing a skirt. I think I'll be fine." He takes her wrist, tiny in his hand, and she lets him pull her to a stop on the sidewalk.
"Kyo-kun..." she protests, but when he holds out the jacket behind her, she huffs a sigh before sliding both arms in. She wriggles her shoulders, and the jacket falls into place as she zips it up.
"There. Better?" he asks as they continue their walk.
Her cheeks tinge pink. "... maybe," she says quietly.
"Good," he laughs.
She's never worn any of his clothes before—why would she have? They were just friends, forever pining until a few weeks ago. The sight is odd and new and fascinating to Kyo, and he tries to only stare a little bit as he walks beside her. The sleeves are just a bit too long, only the tips of her fingers visible as her arms swing back and forth. The thick lining on the collar covers her neck, just her face peeking out the top, and he doesn't know why it's so endearing—the way that the fabric bunches on top of her shoulders, clearly too big for her. The jacket is red, which he'd never really thought about until now, when he sees how it matches the red that the cold brings out in her cheeks, her nose, her lips.
If he was braver, he'd kiss her.
He shivers—maybe at the temperature, maybe at the thought that kissing her is something he can do now. He hopes that she won't notice. But she's Tohru, so of course she does.
She smirks at him, a look he rarely sees grace her sweet features. "See, it is cold, even for you."
Okay. Maybe it is a little cold out. Even for him.
"Nah, you're just being a baby about it," he says, instead of admitting that.
She laughs, and it makes his heart skip a beat.
"Well," she tilts her chin up defiantly as she looks at him, "since I have the jacket, I'll just have to keep both of us warm."
Before he knows what's happening, she wraps her arm around his middle. It's awkward to walk like this, but he thinks of all the wasted time before this moment, when they had to keep each other at arm's length, a curse getting in the way of every touch. So he doesn't mind their clumsy stumbling, if it means keeping her by his side, pressed close to him.
"There's no stopping you, is there?" he says, slinging his arm around her shoulder. "Goof."
Kyo's starting to think that she's doing it on purpose.
The winter weather grows harsher with each passing week (Kyo knows, he checks the forecast).
And yet. Every time Tohru gets cold, she's mysteriously forgotten her coat. Walking home from school, the grocery store, her job. It's her bare legs, her thin sleeves covering her arms, and her smile as she insists that she really doesn't feel the chill.
He complains every time as he drapes his jacket over her shoulders, but he's also gotten oddly used to seeing her wear it. He can't help but think that the red suits her pink hair ribbons and her rosy cheeks.
Life may be different these days, but they still spend most of their time with Uo and Hana, with Haru and Momiji, with Yuki and now Machi. But they've also started having lunch on their own every once in a while, sneaking off to the school rooftop just the two of them. Seeing Tohru light up around friends always makes him smile, but he also treasures getting to be alone with her.
However, there's no protection from the biting cold this high up. He sees her shiver as she pulls their bentos out of her school bag, and he's reaching down to get his jacket for her when she grabs his wrist.
"Kyo-kun," she says, and he doesn't know why she sounds so frazzled.
"Yeah?"
"I wanted to ask," she pauses, and then she says all in one breath, "if-I-could-please-wear-your-uniform-shirt?"
He feels his face heat up. It's all so new, sometimes he just... forgets that it's all real. That she can ask to do that. That he can let her.
"Uh, why?"
"I don't know," she says, looking down at their hands. "I just, uh... wanted to? It's fine if you say no, I won't be upset."
He scratches at his neck, nervous, out of his depth, but before he can change his mind he grabs the back of his collar, pulling his shirt over his head and off. "Sure," he says, feeling the breeze hit him now that he's in just his undershirt. He hands the shirt to her and tries not to focus on her big eyes and flushed face.
It's over-sized on her, swallows her up just like the jacket does. She pulls it on, and it bunches up at her waist, not much shorter than her actual skirt. And there are her hands again, not quite clearing the edge of her sleeves. His stomach flip-flops for no particular reason.
Oh, it's probably because she's his girlfriend now. And she's really cute. And she's wearing his clothes and it makes him feel funny, makes his mouth go dry and makes his brain flat-line.
"Wait," he realizes. Before she can panic, he scoots closer and takes her hand, small and delicate. "You'll get food on the sleeves if you don't roll them up," he says as his cheeks burn, and then he takes the hem of her sleeve and starts folding it up little by little. She stays still while he moves to her other arm, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't linger every time his fingers brushed against her skin.
"Thank you, Kyo-kun." She smiles at him when he's finished, and he's come to realize that it's a different smile than the one she flashes at friends, adults, teachers. It's almost like it's just for him, maybe.
"I didn't realize your arms were that short." He keeps her hand in his, plays with her fingers.
Tohru blushes. "They're not, your sleeves are just really long!"
"My sleeves are normal. You're just tiny."
"Kyo-kun," she laughs and leans in, and he thinks she's only going to kiss him once. But then she wraps her arms around his neck, and as his hands twist into her shirt—his shirt—he decides he doesn't hate the surprise.
For the first time in his life, Kyo has to admit that he's going to miss the winter.
Winter used to mean colder rain, and less sunlight, and being annoyed at having to wrap up in constrictive clothing to stay warm. The rain still bothers him, but that's the only thing that's stayed the same. No matter the season, Tohru brings her own form of sunlight into the world, with soft smiles and gentle touches and an overflowing warmth—and he gets to be apart of her light, for whatever reason. And now, more than anything, winter means Tohru borrowing his jackets, wearing his sweaters at school, whatever it takes to not freeze. Kyo teases her about it, but if he's being honest, he's proud that he can take care of her in this little way. Maybe one day he'll be what she deserves, even.
But the seasons change faster than he realizes, and as he tucks away the last of his winter clothes in his dresser, he thinks that'll be the end of it.
That is, until he's slipping out of his room and spots Tohru from down the hallway, outside doing laundry.
And she's wearing his shirt.
It's the bright yellow one, that everyone tells him is hideous but he keeps out of spite at this point (and he honestly doesn't think it's ugly, anyway, he likes the color). It's basically a crop-top on him, but it's a bit longer on Tohru, ending where her skirt begins. It makes sense that it's big on her, which is just the nature of her borrowing his clothes.
What he doesn't expect is the way it sits uneven, hanging off one shoulder and exposing the bare skin of her neck, a sliver of her back.
He starts walking down the hallway before he can tell himself to run in the opposite direction, and then he's leaning in the doorway, watching as she hangs up bed sheets and quietly hums (she's always making up little tunes, he's noticed).
"Is that supposed to be a song?" he asks, smiling fondly. Tohru whips around, her focus broken.
"Oh, hi Kyo-kun!" She smiles at him, and the sunlight seems to bounce off of her face, hair spilling out of her messy bun. "I didn't even hear you come out. How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long," he says, and all he can really look at is where the shirt ends and the slope of her shoulder begins. "Uh, where'd you get the shirt?"
"Oh, it actually ended up in my load of laundry... and the weather's finally starting to warm up again! So I thought it would be fun to... wear it." Her smile fades to wide-eyed panic. "But if you don't want me to, I can give it back. And I probably should've asked first anyway—"
"No, don't worry about it." He walks towards her and puts his hand gently on her bare shoulder, runs his thumb over her skin. "You can. If you want to."
"Okay. I do." She smiles up at him, her cheeks turning pink. "I like wearing your clothes. It's like having a part of you with me all the time."
And that's a shock to his system. He's about to go back inside, but they're standing closer, and she smells like a mixture of apple and laundry detergent, and her skin is really soft under his hand—so before he can talk himself out of it, he kisses her.
She leans into his touch, pressing her chest to his. He snakes his hand around to the small of her back, the other on the nape of her neck, and her hands thread up through his hair. She leaves him breathless as she licks into his mouth, and it's just like every time they touch like this, in which he silently thanks every god he can think of that he's allowed to now.
He pulls back just enough to start trailing little kisses along her jaw. Okay, it turns out he really doesn't mind her stealing his clothes. And maybe he won't miss her bundling up in his winter jackets as much as he thought.
Her sighs sound something like music as he presses his mouth to her neck, the bare skin of her shoulder, her exposed collarbone—
"Tohru? Can you come down and help me with something?"
Shigure's voice traveling up from the kitchen cuts through the moment like a chainsaw, and they immediately break apart. Tohru's face is flushed red, and Kyo's sure that he looks about the same.
"Y-yes, of course!" she calls back down to him. "Just one minute, Shigure-san!"
Her eyes flit back to Kyo, and she starts to giggle. He tries to look annoyed, and he is, but her laughter is infectious. "I swear he does that on purpose. Bastard."
"He doesn't always have the best timing," she says, reaching up and kissing Kyo on the cheek before walking back inside. He starts to follow her, but she turns around with a glint in her eye. "No, stay there. I'm coming right back."
"Oh... okay," he says, and his head spins as he notices the spring in her step, her shirt inching further down her shoulder as she skips downstairs.
He doesn't mind waiting. And he's definitely making sure that shirt ends up in her laundry bin more often.
"Aw, I didn't know you still had this."
Kyo opens his eyes, blinking until he sees Tohru rummaging through his dresser in the darkness. Truthfully, he was dozing off when he heard her—but even though the nightmares come less often these days, he still feels most at ease falling asleep next to her. The light sneaking in through the curtains illuminates her naked form, and she looks a bit like an angel, arms raised as she slips a pink t-shirt over her head. The shirt stops mid-thigh on her; too big, just like every time she wears his clothes.
It stirs something in him, something fond and nostalgic and grateful and overwhelmed. It's an ache in his chest that he can't put into words. It's a bit like watching his heart walk around in front of him. He has Tohru now. She's chosen him, allowed herself to be his, by some twisted stroke of fate—but he thinks he'll never stop yearning for her as if she hasn't.
"I still have what?" he asks.
She turns around, and it all clicks as he sees the word ONIGIRI in bold letters and that familiar rice ball design.
"The shirt from the culture festival! From first year." She smiles at him. "Do you remember it at all?"
"I think I remember you cooking rice balls, Momiji being a pain, and Yuki wearing a dress."
Tohru laughs softly. "I guess those were the highlights."
"Only one of those counts as a highlight, actually."
She walks back over to the futon, pulling up the corner of the blanket and climbing in with him. "Why did you keep it, though? I remember you hated those shirts."
"I didn't know I still had it." He wraps his arms around her as she snuggles up next to him.
"Well, accident or not, I'm glad you hung on to it, Kyo-kun. It's a precious memory now."
"Is it? It was just a school thing." I barely knew you back then, he thinks but doesn't say.
"I think it's precious to me because I'd just met you," she says softly. "Maybe it's silly, because I was only just starting to spend time with you... get to know you." She traces her fingers lightly across his chest, the touch sweet and intimate. "But now I love you. That was the very beginning, so I like remembering it all."
He flushes at her openness, her sentimentality, the simplicity and freedom with which she loves. "It's just a shirt." He buries his face in her collarbone where the shirt collar is loose, leaving a kiss there. "It looks better on you than it did on me, anyway," he says against her skin as she giggles.
The futon is admittedly a bit small for the both of them, but Kyo doesn't mind it as she sighs and rolls over, pressing her back into his bare chest. He curls around her, and the cotton shirt and her warmth feels like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
"Could I... keep this one?" she asks.
"Sure."
He holds her tighter.
The rain used to render him pretty much useless. Right after the curse broke, it shifted to aches and chills that kept him from going to school (Tohru insisted on taking care of him whenever that happened, so it wasn't his least favorite thing in the world). As time has gone on, the rain just gives him headaches. It's a dull reminder of the past, but he supposes he's lucky that that's the last remnant of the curse.
They're finally moving out of Shigure's next week—which is weird to think about—so Kyo grits his teeth against the pain behind his eyes, carefully placing cups and plates into a box as he listens to the rainfall. He turns around when he hears someone bounding down the stairs and running into the kitchen.
"Kyo-kun! Look what I found."
And there's Tohru in the doorway, taken away from her very important packing to show him... that she's wearing his camo pants.
He stares at her, mouth agape. "Where? Why?"
She grins proudly at him, even though she has to hold up the pants on both sides to keep them from falling down. "They were at the bottom of your dresser." She's breathless, probably from sprinting downstairs. "And because I wanted to see why you like them so much. They're actually really comfortable."
He turns back to packing the dishes, cringing. "I haven't worn those in forever."
"What do you mean? You wore them on our first date."
"I don't wanna talk about that."
He hears her footsteps again, slower this time, and then she's wrapping her arms around him, hugging him from behind.
"It's okay, Kyo-kun," she says against his back. "I thought it was cute."
"I'm glad you thought so," he chuckles, a flush creeping up his neck. "That makes one of us."
There's a pause, and then she says, softer, "Are you afraid to leave? Because I'm terrified."
"Yeah," he admits, "Me too."
She thumbs at the fabric of his shirt. "And I think that's okay. We can be afraid together."
And it reminds him of the rain, the way that it keeps him from forgetting the past even as he moves into the future. Some things will change—that can never be avoided—but he knows that there will always be memories and reminders, good and bad, that bind everything together. He turns around in her arms and wraps her in a proper hug, holding her close.
"You look silly," he says, ruffling her hair.
She smiles up at him innocently. "Well, now you know what you look like wearing them."
"Shut up," he says as she giggles, her hands coming up to his face. She pulls him down and kisses him as the rain falls lightly against the window. It sounds like something ending and like something beginning.
He's been watching her put it together all morning, moving picture frames and adjusting the bowl with his beads in it and making sure the zodiac figurines are in the perfect position. Finally, she steps back to appraise her work.
"Do you think it looks better this way?" Tohru asks.
Kyo isn't sure how the shelf display looks any different than it did thirty minutes ago, but he nods anyway. "Definitely."
"Okay, good!" She starts digging around in the box again, the last of their belongings to be unpacked before they're all moved in. He feels a familiar twinge in his heart when she pulls out a red hat.
She stands back up, holding it to her chest. "Kyo-kun, did I ever tell you the story of how I got this?"
He pretends he wasn't there all those years ago. "It was from a boy who helped you, right? When you got lost as a little kid."
"Of course you'd remember." She smiles, crossing the room to join him. "I know it's silly to care about something from so long ago, but it just means so much to me still..."
"It's not silly," he says firmly as she wraps an arm around him. He adds, a bit softer, "I'm glad he was there to look out for you when I wasn't." And he really means it this time. It feels like being at peace.
She smiles up at him so tenderly and says, "You're here now, and that's what matters. And now I get to look after you, too."
Kyo takes the hat gingerly out of her hands and places it on her head. The red color suits her, like it always does, and it might as well make his heart stop, the way that affection wells up in his chest. He doesn't think he'll ever stop feeling that when he looks at her.
"It still fits, huh?" he says.
Tohru laughs, leaning into his chest. "I guess so."
It's just like anytime she wears something of his, even if she doesn't realize that she is this time, in a way. It makes him feel things he doesn't know how to express, doesn't think he'll ever be able to express. It's like tiny pieces of him becoming apart of her now.
She looks back at the display. He rubs the small of her back, feeling the fabric against his palm—it's his shirt, the one she wore to bed last night and still hasn't changed out of.
"Oh wait, I know—what if we put it next to the plant?" she asks, whipping off the hat and hurrying back to the display.
"Sure," he says. "That sounds perfect."
And as Kyo watches her reach up and place the hat on the top shelf, he feels like he finally belongs somewhere. He belongs to someone.