(A/N: Well, to add a bit of notes on this story... this was originally intended to be a one-shot. Obviously I got carried away with myself so this is the result.
As the summary suggests, this is a story of a widow and a cursed novelist. It is a tale of rediscovering love, trying one's will, and is most definitely a slight Yu-Gi-Oh crossover (even though it's just two characters. .> ).
It's been several years since I've made any attempt at fanfics, so please bear with me. I hope you like! )
CHAPTER ONE
There was a deep rumble of thunder as rain poured down mercilessly onto the hard ground below. In the late hour of night, cars rolled by, bright headlights reflecting off the slick road while shadows moved and danced as they passed. One would have esteemed the shadows as nothing, but the dog, cat, and rat that moved with them saw them as shelter from unwanted attention.
"This is your fault, Shigure!" The cat growled, wet fur clinging to his skin.
"Oh, come on Kyo; you know I have to get out sometimes and relax from work!" The dog, Shigure, whined. The rat glowered at him.
"You don't work." He rubbed his small head in frustration. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have to agree with Kyo on this being your fault"
"What's that supposed to mean, Yuki?!?" Kyo whirled on him, fangs bared.
"It means the both of you have gone against me!" He put a paw over his muzzle dramatically. "Oh woeful day!"
"Shut up!" Kyo turned on him now, violently swiping a clawed paw in the air. "It was your idea to go out and get food even though Tohru went through all the trouble to make and leave food for us at home while she went out for the weekend!"
Yuki sighed. "And I believe it was you who purposely pushed us into the arms of those waitresses..."
"I tripped!" Shigure protested. "Oh but at any rate," he continued before the others could say anything else, "we're almost home and out of this rain!" He stepped out onto the road, nose and tail in the air.
Kyo and Yuki both paused at the curb to glance at each other.
"I'm gonna kill him!!"
"Not if I kill him first..."
Squealing tires. The sound of a wounded dog and a very loud 'thump' of a body colliding with asphalt.
Both cat and rat looked on with horror and shock at Shigure's dog form lying limp on the road. "SHIGURE!" Yuki jumped into action but was held back by the tail. "OW! Let go of me"
"I hate to be the voice of reason, but I'd pay attention to the girl getting out of the car..." Kyo growled through clenched teeth.
True to his word, a young woman clambered out of the still-running car, and knelt down in its front over the dog. What she cried out was lost in a clap of thunder. Yet clearly she wasn't going to leave the animal there. No, she bravely peeled off her jacket and lifted the unconsious Shigure from the road and put him in the back seat of her car. Both rat and cat watched, mortified, as the car's headlights quickly faded away, plunging them back into darkness.
"Did... did that just happen??" Yuki's small voice was nearly frozen with panic.
Kyo practically carried his cousin across the quiet road. Once they were safely across, Yuki was let down onto the ground agin. "We need to call the main house right away! This is a disaster!!"
"Not the main house..." Kyo commented. Both looked at each other as the same thought crossed their minds: "Hatori!!" Without a moment's hesitation they descended down the hill and through the woods to let themselves into the house.
After the blinding flash of light, I felt pain, and lots of it throughout my body. Yet there was something warm wrapped around me... a jacket? I lifted my head and discovered I was in a car. I allowed myself to wonder what I had done to land myself in this predicament before slipping back into my blissful darkness where there was no pain, no sounds of a rumbling car or rain pattering against a window...
The phone rang. Hatori lifted his head from the desk with a start. He sleepily glanced at the phone, debating whether he ought to let it ring. As he pondered, he rubbed his forehead gingerly, knowing he had a red welt there from falling asleep over his paperwork. He got up after the third ring, expecting it to stay quiet. Yet he was rendered no such luck, for it rang, incessantly now. With a sigh he meandered back to his desk and picked up the reciever.
"Hatori?"
"Yuki?" Hatori found himself coming to a lot faster than usual. "What's wrong? Are you having an attack?"
There was the shuffle of the phone exchanging hands before Kyo's voice blurted out, "Shigure's been kidnapped!!"
Well, if Hatori wasn't awake, he certainly knew he was now. Within thirteen minutes, his car pulled up in front of the other Sohma residence. Kyo and Yuki dashed out into the rain, fully clothed and back in their human forms, towards the car. Yuki threw the rear car door open--and promptly frowned more than he was already. "Aya, what are you doing here?"
Ayame was dressed in raingear to the hilt, looking adorably forlorn. "My lover has been kidnapped! How can I go on without him??"
Kyo and Yuki both glared at Hatori, who simply shrugged. "He overheard and literally clung to my legs begging me to take him with." Aya pulled Yuki into the back seat while Kyo uneasily slunk into the front. "Oh, Yuki! What an adventure we're going to have!"
"I... can't... breathe!!" Yuki choked out from behind his brother's iron hug.
Hatori made no sign but turned on the car again and drove it forward. "So where did you last see him?"
A soft washcloth worked its way over my face, motivating me out of my unconsiousness. An angel's face stared back at me with deep, bright brown eyes and perfect lips pouting with concern. "Good boy, that's it." One of her soft, tanned hands scratched my chin while the other roamed over my arms and legs.
Talk about getting felt up without warning. "You don't seem to have any broken bones." Her lighthearted voice commented. "That's good." She got up and left me for a moment chiming assuredly, "just gonna get some towels!"
I lifted my head and scanned my surroundings with alarm. I was in an apartment! I observed that it wasn't quite roomy, and furniture was scarce. The atmosphere wasn't entirely welcoming either, but that might have been attested to the moving boxes still stacked, unopened, in the corner.
"Hey, you take it easy." My angel returned, carefully rubbing down my wet fur with a towel. "I wanted to get you to a vet, but all of the offices are closed after eleven around here, and their emergency hotlines are down due to the storm." Well, that explained why I hadn't found a thermometer in my rear yet. I sighed with releif, imagining the chaos that would have occured had I transformed back in a veterinarian's office, on the exam table no less! "I wonder where you belong?" She asked aloud, not expecting an answer. I had to bite my tongue to keep from responding, however. Something told me she knew nothing of the Sohmas and the Zodiac Curse. Yes, I decided, playing the part of the helpless dog would be good in this situation. It wasn't exactly hard to do, for I was quickly drifting off to sleep... at least until she was finished rubbing my body and belly with the towel. With a loving pat on my head she left and returned with a dry blanket. "All right, I'm off to bed. You get some rest too, okay boy?"
Hmm... I pondered her nurturing nature as I watched her retreating back. Though the fact that my Zodiac status compunded things, I was quite curious about my rescuer. Yet sleep begged my attention first, and I surrendered to dozing off on the floor, blanket cast over my back.
Kyo looked distantly out the window. His concern kept himself and the others wide awake, even though the sun was beginning to peek out behind the trees. "We've been looking all night." He muttered, discouraged.
Yuki was silently brooding, wondering what murder that Akito would commit over this unfortunate event. Possibly worse, Tohru would worry so much when she found out, she'd probably get sick!
Ayame yawned, "oh cheer up, all of you! All we need is a dog to sniff him out and we'll be fine, right?" He winked. "Maybe a female dog would do?"
"Aya, that's disgusting." Hatori spat. "Besides, we need a better plan than peering into people's yards all night."
"Perhaps it would be best if we waited at the house? He might call from wherever he's at. He can't stay in his dog form for forever." Yuki offered.
"That's what we're all afraid of." Kyo commented, dashing everyone's flicker of hope.
(A/N: Well! This completes the first installment of this fic. Please review! Thanks for reading! )
