A/N: Look at me, I'm on a roll lol. This was inspired by the song "Man On The Moon" by Gavin James. Heard it the other day and instantly thought of Kyoru, so you should check it out. Enjoy!

Also: I'm doing a Fruits Basket themed giveaway on my Instagram (handle at the end of this), so check that out if you'd like!

This takes place towards the end of season 2, shortly after Sorta Cinderella


"Uh, hey, Kyo-kun?"

Kyo hummed in response, tugging at a loose thread on his sweatpants absentmindedly.

When Kyo had disappeared right after dinner, Tohru had assumed he'd gone up to the roof and followed him after she'd finished the dishes. Sure enough, he had been there, and while he looked surprised to see her, he didn't ask her to leave. So she'd perched herself next to him, shivering against the cold every once in a while, to which he'd responded by draping his jacket across her shoulders with a bit of a sigh.

The air between them was heavy. An uncomfortable silence, something Tohru wasn't used to experiencing with Kyo; they always had something to talk about, and if they ever were quiet, it wasn't awkward. They understood each other in a way that honestly disconcerted Tohru at some times. There's a silence that only comes when people really understand each other, and that's what she was used to. Things had been a little awkward between them since their class play, though. Something had shifted, both within her and within their relationship.

But she didn't quite know what, and that scared the hell out of her.

So she wracked her mind for something to say.

"Have you heard about the man on the moon?"

"Eh?" he asked, the most he'd said to her all night. She gestured to the full, bright moon above them, and he followed her gaze. "You mean like, the famous one the Americans sent there back in the 60s or whatever?"

Tohru giggled and pulled Kyo's jacket tighter around her. "No, silly. The one who's still there!"

"Now you're being silly," he said dryly, stealing a quick glance at her before looking back towards the sky. "No one's stayed on the moon this whole time."

Tohru raised an eyebrow slightly. There were times when she almost forgot that he'd had such an unstable homelife in his early childhood; he was so loving and kind that it was easy to forget about his biological parents and think that Master had just raised him the entire time. But it was times like this that shook Tohru to her core with the realization that, for a while, he hadn't had anyone to tell him stories like this one. She took a deep breath in preparation.

"Well, there are a bunch of different stories about it, like the one we used to hear in school about Princess Kaguya. But my favorite is the German version. It says that, once, there was a man who went out to gather firewood on a Sunday. He saw a stranger in the woods, who got mad at him for working on a Sunday, since it was supposed to be a day to rest and worship. So the stranger banished the man to the moon, where he's looked down on Earth ever since."

She paused, looking over at Kyo to gauge his reaction; there was none.

"The stranger said that the man gathering firewood was betraying God because he was working instead of resting and worshiping. But how I see it is, the man was just trying to survive; he needed firewood to keep warm, so he had to go get it, even though it was Sunday. I don't think he should be blamed for that. And, he must be so lonely up on the moon, now. All he gets to do is stare down at us, knowing that the world is still turning without him. He doesn't know that he's part of so many stories, and that so many people remember and love him. It's like he's locked away-"

Tohru stopped short there, sucking in a sharp breath. It was just likeā€¦

Feeling eyes on her, Tohru turned to Kyo again, this time locking eyes with him. Brown irises stared into orange for a few long, silent moments. Then, Kyo just mumbled a "yeah."

That made Tohru realize they were thinking about the same thing, and she felt emotion overcome her. She looked back up at the moon, not wanting him to see the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. What had started as her telling him a kid's folkstory had quickly turned into something much darker, something that stirred up emotions within her, ones that she didn't understand, and-

She should have just kept her mouth shut. The silence was better than this; less painful than this.

"It's okay, Tohru," Kyo said gently. It was meant to soothe her, she knew, but it just made her feel guilty; he was the one who was destined to be locked away in a cage forever, and yet, he was still trying to comfort her. Hot tears streamed down her face. She could feel him staring at her, but he didn't say anything else. She couldn't blame him; what else was there to say?

Impulsively, then, Torhu reached out to him, still avoiding his gaze, and fumbled her hand around. She blindly found his knee, then his elbow, before reaching her original target-his hand. She locked their fingers together and squeezed, trying to both comfort him and ground herself at the same time. Kyo's whole body stiffened at the sudden contact, but he didn't push her away, thank God; Tohru wasn't sure her heart could take that. Instead, he just squeezed her hand back. Tohru choked back a sob.

"Hey," he said after a minute. She forced herself to look at him.

"Y-yes?"

"Quit crying. Everything's okay." He reached over and used his free hand to wipe at her cheeks. She couldn't help but giggle a bit, honestly rather giddy at the physical touches, though she couldn't really say why.

"Okay."

She wouldn't let it happen.

She couldn't let it happen.

Kyo would never, ever go into that cage, if she had anything to say about it.

She couldn't say that to him now, though. He'd call her crazy, tell her to stop meddling, that it wasn't worth the pain she'd surely endure because of it.

So, at least by holding onto his hand like it was the only thing tethering her to this world, and by crying for him, maybe her heart's message would reach him-she'd always remember him. As long as she was around, he'd never truly be alone.


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