AN: The Akito in this story is the Akito from the anime. Those who have read the manga will know precisely why! Story-development-wise, this fic is set sometime after volume 11.

This is my first fic for Fruits Basket though I have been reading/watching everything to do with it for ten years now. (Wow…has it really been that long? I'm getting old :/ ) Anyway, I really hope you enjoy. This is also the first darker-themed fic I've attempted, so your feedback is much appreciated! –Mimi

Chapter 1: The Best Laid Plans

It was a warm, muggy Summer morning when Tohru Honda tiptoed downstairs to prepare breakfast before the three Sohma men with whom she lived woke from their slumber. As she crossed to the refrigerator, the telephone rang. Dashing to pick it up before the noise woke up the whole house, she caught it right before the third ring. "Hello, Sohma residence," she gasped out of breath, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.

"Ah, Tohru Honda, I'm glad you're awake this early," the quiet voice of Akito Sohma filled her ear. Tohru felt her blood run cold after hearing his voice. She had recently had a run-in with him at the Sohma summer home and her face still bore a bandage from where he scratched her. Besides, calls from the head of the Sohma family rarely boded well.

"Um…good morning, sir," she said politely, "how may I help you today?"

"Actually, Tohru, it is you who can help me."

Tohru was quite confused by the mysterious phone call. "Really? How can I do that?"

"I think I have found a way to break the Sohma curse and need your assistance to test my theory," he said smoothly.

"I don't understand how I can help though. You told me to stay out of it," Tohru breathed.

"You want all the Sohmas you know and love to be rid of their horrible curses, don't you?"

"But of course I do!" she said quickly, the image of an orange cat briefly flashing in her mind. "What do I need to do?"

"I want you to leave now so that you can make it to the main house by 9:00. You'll be walking, yes?"

"Right."

"Well you better get going then. It is a bit of a haul as I'm sure you know. Don't bother leaving a note for Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo. I'll call them as soon as I'm sure they're awake."

"Well…okay then. Thank you, sir, and I'll see you soon!"

*click*

While thinking about how odd it was, Tohru hung her apron back in the kitchen. She tiptoed upstairs to grab water bottle and couldn't help but check in on Kyo and Yuki. She cracked Kyo's door enough to see him still curled up on his futon, his chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. Quietly closing the door, she then peeked in Yuki's room quietly giggling at "The Prince's" dignified snores. Tiptoeing back down the stairs, she made her way out of Shigure's house in the country and settled into a decent, brisk pace that would bring her to the Sohma estate by noon.

About an hour into her journey, Tohru was feeling the effects of the warm, humid summer air. She finished off the rest of her water and wiped her sweating face and neck with a small handkerchief. Trying to distract herself from the uncomfortable conditions, she began to think about the family she loved so very much. She considered herself so lucky that she was able to live with the Sohmas and get to know them all as her friends and family. Yuki had finally opened up to her much more and was slowly discovering a brave new self. Kyo on the other hand had shown so much growth and smiled and played with her often now that she had accepted the dark, cursed nature of those possessed by the Cat zodiac spirit. Tohru used to pick up on romantic signals from both boys, but as of lately, Yuki seemed to be most content as her friend and family member. However, Tohru still felt the signals from Kyo and wasn't sure what to do in response. She had finally admitted to herself that she loved him, but was afraid that he would reject her.

Before too long, Tohru was travelling down the familiar tree-lined road that led to the main Sohma house. Her breathing quickened by the strenuous walk, Tohru huffed a little as she climbed the stairs into the reception area. One of the older maids slid open a screen door and rose to her feet to greet Tohru. "Greetings, Miss Honda. Akito is expecting you in the private audience hall. Come this way," she gestured towards the door.

"Thank you very much," Tohru bowed politely. The maid led her down a central corridor that was quite dark due to its lack of windows. It seemed that the main house depended solely on natural light during the day. The maid slid another screen door open and Tohru saw one of the biggest, grandest rooms she had ever seen. Ornate, gilded carvings lined the tops of the high ceiling and clean, golden tatami mats lined the floors. Multihued paper lanterns were suspended throughout the room giving it a grand, festive was an elaborately decorated seat cushion in a screened off area towards the head of the room with a large, low table on the other side of it. Quickly counting, Tohru noted that there were 12 seat cushions at the table for the 12 cursed Sohma family members. The 13th, Kyo, of course was not included due to being the Cat. Thinking that Akito would be meeting them in this room, Tohru had stopped while counting. However, the maid was on the other side of the massive room already sliding open another door.

"This way, please," she called.

Tohru hurried to catch up to her and made her way into a dark room where she saw the ebony-haired Akito kneeling at its far side near a small paper lantern. The glowing effect cast strangely frightening shadows on his face. "Ah, Tohru," he rose to his feet, "thank you very much for coming." He nodded in the direction of the maid and Tohru heard the door gently slide closed behind her. "Let's get down to business then, shall we?" he smiled.

"Right," Tohru cautiously returned his smile. She heard the door slide open again and turned to see a male servant entering the room, eyeing her intently. "Hello, can I help you?" she cautiously asked. "Where do we begin?"

The servant stepped towards her and hit the side of her head swiftly against a wooden support beam. Tohru felt the dull, aching pain before she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Sohma residence, master author of the house speaking," Shigure proudly declared as he answered the phone.

"I really wish you weren't such a jackass," Akito said dryly.

"Ah…Akito. Well…what can I do for you today?" Shigure asked.

"Put Yuki and Kyo on the phone now," he demanded.

"Alright then, I'll get them, though you could ask a little more nicely." Shigure poked his head into the kitchen and saw the two of them eating leftovers for breakfast at opposite ends of the table. "Kyo, Yuki, you have a phone call," he gestured towards the hallway.

Glancing confusedly at one another, the two rose from their seats and headed towards the phone. Yuki picked up the receiver and held the earpiece where both he and Kyo could hear. "Hello?" he asked.

"Yuki! I'm so glad to hear your voice. I hope Kyo is there too."

"Yeah yeah I am," Kyo grumbled, already not liking the premise of the call.

"Good. I just wondered whether or not you had seen Tohru today."

Kyo and Yuki exchanged glances before Yuki spoke up. "Not yet but we assumed she was doing laundry or taking a bath."

"Is that so? Well then, what would you say if I told you that I know exactly where Miss Tohru Honda is?" The line was completely silent for a moment.

The boys' blood went cold as they realized that something bad must have happened to Tohru. "What did you do with her, you bastard?" Kyo growled into the receiver.

"Nothing yet, but if you want to keep it that way, you two need to meet me in the private audience hall of the main house by noon or else I can't guarantee that she will be here when you arrive," Akito chuckled.

Yuki slammed the receiver down as both he and Kyo took off running towards the main house at flashing speeds.

"What the hell is he trying to pull?" Kyo panted as they ran.

"I'm not sure…what exactly he wants, but I do know…that it does not bode…well for Miss Honda. We need to hurry," Yuki replied, his breathing compromised by his weakened lungs.

They arrived at the main house in record time, shoving past the maids and servants to get to the back entrance hall. As they pushed their way into the room, they noticed that it was completely empty. Suddenly, something hard hit them both in the back of the head and they crumpled to the ground.

Before Kyo opened his eyes, he felt an intense, throbbing pain in the back of his head. Upon opening his eyes, the sight before him scared him even more: he was chained to the wall in Akito's windowless private audience hall—his arms securely suspended above him and unable to lash out. He heard the clinking of chains to his left and in the dim light of the lanterns usually reserved for nighttime, he saw Yuki similarly restrained.

"What happened? And what's going on?" he asked the Rat. For once in Kyo's recent memory, his normally cool, calm, and collected façade had been replaced by terror and confusion. The Prince was scared.

"Akito…" Yuki replied.

"Huh?" The Cat glanced in the direction Yuki's eyes indicated and saw the head of the Sohma clan leering at them from across the room. "Akito!" Kyo spat, using his full force to pull against the heavy chains that rattled and clanked. "What the hell are you doing?"

Akito brought his hands together in a slow, sarcastic round of applause. "What a display! You are always such a well-tempered beast," Akito replied smoothly. "I am so glad you came to see me today."

"Where is Miss Honda?" Yuki asked. "Akito, you said she would be in danger if we did not come. We are here now. Is she safe?"

Akito sauntered across the room and gently laid his head on Yuki's shoulder. "Ah, my pet, you are always so chivalrous. And on behalf of a woman who will not accept your advances, no less," he slyly remarked, caressing the side of Yuki's cheek before crossing the room once again.

Yuki's face flushed a deep crimson as he fought to regain his composure. "It's…not like that between Miss Honda and myself. I care for her very much, but not in that way."

"Hmm...we will see about that," Akito smirked. "And what about you, Kyo? It is no secret that you love Tohru Honda."

"I don't love her," he growled, wishing his glaring eyes could cause physical harm to the evil God of the family.

"But the two of you are perfect together! You're both monsters of the worst kind," Akito whispered venomously.

Kyo lowered his head in shame, his angry tears threatening to betray him. "Where…is…she?" he snarled.

"Oh very well," Akito grumbled. "Since you cannot bear being without her," he snapped his fingers and four male Sohma servants entered the room. They carried in a large wooden platform and placed it three meters away from Yuki and Kyo.

Both the Cat and the Rat felt their breath catch in their throats and their stomachs churn nauseously at the sight of Tohru Honda bound and chained to the makeshift stage before them. Sprawled unnaturally on her back, her wrists were bound beneath her and her legs were spread wide apart and chained to the base of the platform. She appeared to be unconscious, the faint beginnings of a bruise coloring her right temple, her long brown hair fanned beneath her.

"What…do you think you're doing?" Kyo growled quietly.

"Merely restoring some order to this family!" Akito retorted. "Ah…the demon herself awakens," he grinned. "Good, she needs to hear this as well."

Yuki and Kyo watched as a bleary-eyed Tohru turned her head to her right and took in her surroundings. Before even noting her own predicament, she screamed at the sight of the two of them bound as they were. "Yuki! Kyo! What's going on? Are you okay?!" her dark brown eyes were wide with fright. With her head turned as it was, the boys were able to see that Akito had removed the bandage from her cheek. A long, gnarled gash was there and Yuki and Kyo knew that there was no way that wound was an accident, though that was what Tohru assured them at the summer house.

"We're fine, Miss Honda," Yuki tried to reassure her.

"Yeah," Kyo nodded in agreement. "Don't worry about us, okay?"

Tohru struggled to move her arms but found that her position on the platform made moving them completely useless. She glanced downward and spotted the heavy chains which kept her legs restrained and apart. She gasped at the sight and turned her head to her left in the direction of a quiet chuckle. "Akito?" Tohru breathed.

"Hello, Tohru Honda," Akito whispered as he stepped out of the shadows.