Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ The Journey Home ❯ Assurances ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or the characters. I invite them over, but they always go home to Natsuki Takaya.

A/N: For anyone who's thought the story had ended or I wasn't going to update... unless there's a big "The End" after the chapter, the story WILL go on! It just might be a little while. ^_^;; Sorry, again, for the s-l-o-w update. I started a new semester and a new job this week, but hopefully now that I have more than the weekends off I'll be able to at least get back to my old schedule of one chapter a week. As always, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I always appreciate your comments and they help keep me going when I get writer's block (as happened with this chapter). Special thanks to YTR and Elf, without you guys this chapter would either still not be written or it would be really bad. (Umm... I hope it's not bad as-is.)

SPECIAL NOTE AND WARNING: This chapter contains my first lemon! It is rated R/NC-17! (respectively) I have edited the ff .net version to R rating, but media miner .org has full lemon content! (Such as it is.) I do think the lemon-version is better, but PLEASE do not read it if you are under, say, 16-17. I don't want to be responsible for corrupting the youth of America (uh, or other countries). Search for author The Smiling Onigiri (with spaces) in media miner .org's Fruits Basket fanfiction section to find the story.

Warning: There may be OOC moments (I'm told I'm doing good with the characters, yay!) so if that bothers you, this might not be the story for you. (Hey, this is fiction, it's my world and I can do what I want with it!) Also, if premarital sex and/or unwed pregnancy bother you, this probably isn't the story for you.

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"The Journey Home"

Chapter 12: Assurances

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They had been standing looking at each other in the crisp morning air for what seemed like an eternity. Tohru jumped a little when Kyo suddenly grabbed her wrist and dragged her within the dojo. She looked up at him and breathed deeply of his aftershave as he leaned in to lock the door behind her.

After closing and locking the door, Kyo kept his hand against it and took a step forward, forcing Tohru to press her back against the old wood or hold an irate orange cat. Tohru watched his right hand as it moved in seeming slow motion to rest on the door. He leaned in, a hand on either side of her shoulders, effectively trapping and surrounding her. Her eyes followed his right hand up to a bare, muscular forearm, wide shoulders, and the smooth skin of his chest that was not covered by the tan karate shirt. He was breathing deeply. She must have interrupted his morning routine, was he mad? It had always upset him when his morning workout was interrupted.

Kyo leaned on the door for support as he caught the gardenia scent of Tohru's favorite shampoo. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes remembering times that scent had haunted him, lingering in the bathroom eliciting visions of Tohru pouring water over her bare, pale flesh. Such images came to mind now, unbidden, followed by memories of soft warmth completely enveloping him.

Tohru was too focused on resisting the urge to touch him to notice he had moved until his fingers were on her chin and he was tilting her head up to look at him. She looked into his eyes and saw something there she hadn't caught but glimpses of before. Especially not here, like this, in the light of day. She was suddenly reminded of a cat stalking its prey as he leaned down to capture her lips.

Neither of them closed their eyes as they kissed, lightly at first, then with a passion that grew with each synchronized beat of their hearts. Tohru's hands went to Kyo's chest as he stepped forward another half step, the risk of transformation momentarily replaced with a much greater need.

Tohru leaned heavily into the door and closed her eyes as her knees began to weaken and Kyo's hands found her chest. He unbuttoned her coat just enough for his hands to eagerly find their way underneath the soft material. His tongue, which had been deliciously exploring her mouth, stilled for a moment. 'He noticed!' Tohru thought in a momentary panic. 'He'll stop... distract him,' she began to suck gently on his tongue as she trailed one hand down to untie his black belt and slip swiftly beneath his waistband.

Kyo stilled as his hands found her breasts. They hadn't been this big before, he was sure of it. Why would they be bigger? He was about to pull back when he felt her hand at his waistband. Questions could wait. He left her lips and trailed kisses down her neck to the top of her dress. He smiled against her skin when he found that the dress also buttoned in front. He began to undo the buttons but they were small and this was not a time for patience, not when he could see her hardened bud through the fabric. He pulled, ripping the buttons almost to her navel.

Tohru wrapped her fingers in his hair as she felt his lips lightly tug at the skin on the top of her breast. She gasped as the suction increased. She gripped his shoulders for support and moaned when he pulled her bra aside and dipped his head lower.

"Kyo..." she said, the word a question, a plea, and a demand.

As he straightened she hungrily pushed his pants from his hips. Her eyes went wide for a moment as she saw him for the first time in the light. Her attention was quickly drawn away as his hands gripped her hips.

Kyo lifted her by the hips and stepped forward as she leaned hard against the door and wrapped her legs around his waist. He momentarily wished he'd taken Shigure and Ayame up on their long-ago offer to verse the younger boys with their vast experience on the do's and don'ts of Juunishi sexual liaisons. As Kyo felt Tohru's legs grip his waist he could feel her heat. He groaned as he reached between their bodies to move her thin panties out of the way.

Tohru reveled in the feeling of Kyo's fingers as they slid inside her but she needed much more. She claimed his mouth in a hard kiss, sucking his bottom lip between her teeth and moving her hips restlessly against his hand, desperate to get the message across.

Kyo gave her what she craved, entering her wet sheath in one graceful movement. He moaned loudly and was only spurred on by the conflicting sensations of her heat as it surrounded him and her teeth as they unwittingly bit down on his lip.

As they moved together the tension built, the door creaked, and their hot breath puffed in the cold that neither felt.

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Kyo awoke feeling calm and well-rested for the first time in months. He looked around his dimly lit room, was it evening or early morning? Had he slept all day? Memories of the day came to him. No, they must be dreams, good dreams. First Tohru showed up at the dojo and they... right there, outside in the cold. Then they were inside, right here in his bed.

'Wait...' Kyo thought to himself when he pushed the covers back, 'why am I in bed in just my martial arts pants?' There was a noise downstairs and he stiffened. What was that? Kazuma and Meiko were away... there it was again. Someone was in the kitchen?

Kyo threw a shirt on and crept silently downstairs. As he was approaching the kitchen he glanced by the back door to see a peach wool coat hanging next to his. A coat exactly like the one Tohru had been wearing in his dream. His heart began to beat faster as he crept closer to the kitchen doorway. He heard the steady sound of a knife hitting the cutting board. Someone was chopping something. He looked at the peach coat hanging innocently across the hall. Tohru was chopping something.

It wasn't a dream. Tohru was in the kitchen making dinner and earlier they had.... What had come over him? Why had he done that? Why had Tohru let him do that? Why had she come here? Shadowy images seen through a lightly curtained window in early morning Tokyo came flooding back. Was the damn rat away, so she'd come here instead? Is that what she did, show up early in the morning, fuck you into exhaustion, and then make dinner?

Kyo felt the ache in his chest growing as he walked into the kitchen. Hearing him, she turned and smiled awkwardly. "Dinner will be ready soon," she said as she poured chopped celery into a steaming pot on the stove. "Soup, it will warm you," she added.

'You can warm me,' Kyo thought despite himself but the ache only grew as he looked at her face. He said bitterly "Do you make dinner afterwards for all your lovers?"

She blinked and stared at him, the shock and pain evident on her beautiful face. Kyo was immediately sorry, why didn't he ever think before he spoke? The words were out, though, he couldn't take them back, might as well see where they took him. He watched as tears began to gather in her eyes and she looked as if she was fighting for every breath. She closed her eyes for a moment and a single tear traced down her cheek.

"Why?" she asked simply, the one word all she could get out.

"I saw you," Kyo answered and she saw the pain in his eyes.

"Saw me?"

"Through the window, in Tokyo," Kyo said, unable to voice exactly what he had seen.

'Tokyo?' Tohru thought, 'Yuki? But I've never....' She studied Kyo's face for a moment. 'He thinks I have. Is that why he stayed away?' She took a few steps toward him and looked him straight in the eye as she said "Whatever you saw, it wasn't me."

A flicker of hope began to surface, but Kyo had to be sure. "It wasn't you?"

"It wasn't me."

"You've never - with him?"

"Only you," she answered.

Kyo looked as if a weight had been lifted as he closed the distance between them. Unable to take her in his arms, he put his hands on her shoulders and said uncharacteristically "I'm sorry, I saw... and then I saw you and I thought... can you ever for-" Tohru leaned up and stopped his lips with a quick kiss.

"Is that why you didn't come back?" She asked for assurance.

"Yes," he admitted. She was so beautiful and it struck him that he didn't have to hold back, he could touch her. She had really allowed him, the stupid cat, to touch her. He trailed a finger from her forehead to the tip of her nose, across one cheek, then the other, and finally across her bottom lip. He watched her eyes for any sign of disgust but there was none. He trailed his finger down her neck to the top of her dress and noticed as he did that it was held together with three safety pins, tantalizing glimpses of skin and bra showing between the pins. 'What happened to the buttons? Did I do that? ... Oops,' he thought with no remorse and smiled mischievously.

He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her languidly. He felt no urgency, no need to back her against the counter or touch more than her hair. He was enjoying kissing her and the sensations of her kissing back when she abruptly pulled away.

"What do you think of Kazuma?" she asked.

Kyo looked at her, puzzled. "He's my master, my father," he answered and began to lower his head back to hers.

She put her fingers to his mouth and stopped him. "No, the name, what do you think of the name?"

Kyo was even more confused as he looked down at her. What on Earth was she talking about? "Name for what?" he asked.

"Your s-" Tohru began but was cut off when the back door was thrown open and a familiar voice called "KYO, MY DARLING, DON'T TRY TO HIDE, I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!"

"Kagura," Kyo whispered and looked down at Tohru's disheveled appearance. This was going to be bad.

Yeah... another cliffhanger, eh? It's just too good, I had to end it there and I'm not sorry! MWHA-HAHAHAHAHA!

I like the way one author put it, I hope s/he doesn't mind if I quote "if you've come this far you've obviously read, so please review". I will add, though, please be kind since this is my first fan fiction and I'm very sensitive. Bad reviews... "I don't know if I could take that kind of rejection!" (Toy Story... never mind, I'm crazy.) I proofread it myself, which is hard to do, so there's probably still some errors (though I hope not so many that it's hard to read). Please let me know of any glaring errors and I'll fix 'em.