Title: A Rat in King Neko's Court

Synopsis: Yuki suddenly wakes up in a world resembling the Middle Ages, where Kyo is a ruthless king, and no one remembers him.

Rating: T for mild profanity, nudity, and medieval violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.

~Prologue~

A crowd of noblemen waited in great anticipation, as the red carpet was released from the top of the stairs. The horns sounded on cue.

The figure of honor appeared at the top. He was young, handsome, and had orange hair with a bright crown adorning his head. His red cape lined with white fur and jewels flowed behind him as he walked down the stairs. A white kitten jumped up to play with it from behind.

The people gaped at his presence and promptly dropped to their knees.

"All hail the Neko King! All hail the Neko King!" they chanted repeatedly.

He flashed a wicked smile.

~Chapter 1~

Something smelled…unpleasant. It was so god awful that Yuki curled up into a fetal position and pinched his nose hard. Oh god, it smelled worse than Kyo's diarrhea. What on earth was it? A fly suddenly buzzed in his ear, making him spring up. One quick look around, and Yuki could tell that he wasn't in Kansas anymore. Wait, has he ever been to Kansas?

The scenery was nothing but dirt, small patches of grass, and trees in the far distance. And next to him was a fresh pile of horse manure. Yuki scrambled to his feet to get as far away from that as possible.

"Ugh, how disgusting!" he yelled, as he wandered out into the middle of the dirt path.

There were no people, no power lines, no signs, nothing. This place was truly in the middle of nowhere. To make matters worse, he was stark naked. He quickly covered his wiener and looked for a place to hide. Well, there was a bush right next to the horse manure. His stomach churned. If this was someone's idea of a joke, he would hunt them down and gnaw them to death with his incisors.

Suddenly, Yuki could hear something approaching. He had no choice but to run over to the bush and wait. As it came closer, he saw that it was a horse pulling a wagon with a blanket draped over the cargo. That was an unusual sight, but then again, nothing could be stranger than a naked purple-haired boy hiding behind a bush. If he didn't speak up now, he'd be eating the finest digested grass for dinner.

"Ah..um…excuse me! Please stop!" he yelled, his cheeks burning red from embarrassment.

The wagon quickly slowed to a stop. The driver was just an unimportant side character who didn't need a description and could be left to the imagination of the reader.

"Oh, aren't you a young looking lad. Need a ride into town? I only charge five silver coins," the driver said.

Yuki's heart raced with panic. He had no idea how to explain his predicament. Wait, why wasn't the driver the least bit surprised?

"Um… I…I honestly don't know how I got here. Where is this place? May I borrow a cell phone?"

The driver looked puzzled for a second.

"Look boy, if you don't have five silver coins, I'm afraid I can't let you ride. But town sure is an awfully long way from here. I doubt you're gonna get another chance like this soon."

"Um… I don't have any silver coins… But I promise I'll pay you back later."

"I'll pay for him!" a new voice interrupted.

Yuki just realized that a man had been sitting in the wagon. He was wearing a hooded cloak that blended in with the blanket, so he wasn't easily noticeable.

The driver looked satisfied. "Well in that case, you can hop on, boy. Hurry up, don't keep me waiting."

What a blessing. Yuki looked both ways and hurried towards the wagon, still covering his wiener. As soon as he came aboard, they took off.

"Here, I've got a spare." The kind man tossed him a cloak. "I won't ask for it back though. My oh my, you smell to high heaven."

Yuki wrapped himself tightly, heaving a sigh of relief. It was still embarrassing that he smelled, but at least he wasn't naked anymore. At least he could go home.

"Uh, I really don't know how to thank you, sir… I really have no idea how I got here in this state. It must be someone's horrible idea of a joke. I've never felt so humiliated in my…"

The man chuckled and removed his hood.

Yuki blinked.

"…SHIGURE!"

A look of surprise came over the identified man's face. He looked around and then pointed at himself questioningly.

"Oh, I think you have mistaken me for someone else! That isn't my name!" he laughed nervously.

Yuki lunged for Shigure's throat, eyes beaming red.

"Shigure, this isn't funny! What have you done to me? Where am I?"

"Hm, well, I believe that I just covered your smelly ass. And as to our whereabouts, we are on the outskirts of Neko Kingdom. Now, will you be so kind as to let go of me? To be blunt, you smell like—"

He cut him off by tightening his grip.

"Tch! There you go making up stupid names. So how did I get here then?"

"Hmm let's see... Abandoned by your mother, escaped from slavery, tragically separated from the girl whom you eloped with—OH the possibilities are endless!"

"Shigure, I don't have time for your nonsense! I'm seriously going to make you wish you weren't even born."

"Now now, calm down! You have clearly mixed me up with someone else. Tell me, where is the last place that you remember being?"

"Stop playing dumb with me! I was at your house! I went to bed first after Miss Honda served dinner! I am appalled that you could have drugged me, taken my clothes, and dumped me in a place like this!"

Shigure blinked.

"Please wait a moment while I tell the driver to drop you off at the loony bin."

Yuki couldn't contain his rage any longer. He raised his fist and struck Shigure as hard as he could. In the next instant, a rush of pain surged through his head, and everything went black. He awoke lying on his back with a huge headache. It took all of his strength just to sit back up.

"I won the first round~! I won the first round~!" Shigure sang with a huge smile. "It was hardly wise of you to attack me, though. You're nothing but skin and bones, you poor thing! And now starvation has driven you mad! It was quite scary, really. I've never been in someone's delusion before."

At this point, Yuki was too shocked, frustrated, and hurt to say anything. He did feel weaker than usual. A dreadful feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. What if this nightmare was far from being over?

Shigure quickly changed the subject.

"Nevertheless, we should both try to get some sleep now. We have a long way to go yet. By the way, you can call me, um… Odo. Now what shall I call you?"

Yuki promptly turned away, holding his swollen cheek. Maybe it was Shigure who had lost his marbles. He tried to convince himself that once they arrived, he'd find someone to help him. Better yet, he'd find a phone to call his savior, Hatori.

"Hey now, it's not nice to ignore someone who's paying your way!"

"Shut up," Yuki muttered.

"Does it still hurt?"

"…"

Seeing as the conversation was unsuccessful, Shigure slumped into a corner and pulled the hood back over his head. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at Yuki, as he touched the hilt of his sword.

The wagon rolled silently the rest of the way to town. Yuki had fallen into a deep slumber and was gently shaken awake upon arrival. Looking around in a daze, he saw a crowd of people. In fact, it was a lively marketplace. What a relief! But there was just one little problem. Everything seemed to have popped right out of a medieval storybook, ranging from the woolen clothing, gowns, and headdresses to the white buildings that had wooden support and thatched roofs. His attention briefly turned to a shop owner who was scolding a little boy for attempting to steal a loaf of bread.

However, the most shocking thing to behold was the castle in the distance. It stood tall and magnificent against the sunset. A flock of birds flew across the sky. Yuki stared in awe at the sight before him, temporarily forgetting his situation. Now this was turning into a fairytale.

"Is this… Is any of this real?" he stammered, as he crawled towards Shigure to get a better look.

"Yes, as real as your smell," he whimpered in reply.

The wagon stopped in front of a store. The horse farted.

"Alright, this is as far as I'm going. Now cough up five silver coins for the boy," the driver said.

Shigure seized Yuki's arm.

"Ouch! Just what do you think you're—"

"RUN!"

To be continued...

Author's Note: As an interesting fact, cats were regarded as witches and evil creatures in the Middle Ages, thus Kyo will be a wicked king and set a bad reputation in history.

I'm actually not deeply knowledgeable about the Middle Ages, so I may not give the most accurate portrayal. By saying that the story takes place in a world resembling that time, I hope I can get away with any inaccuracies. This is fantasy, so please don't take them too seriously. *bows down before you*

It has been several years since I've written fanfiction. This story is actually one of my oldest ideas. I'm sure that you can guess the movie that influenced the title. I hope it's interesting so far. It originally had very strong language, but I decided to tone it down for a "T" rating.