Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed my first chapter of this story! I really appreciate it, and it encouraged me to get going on chapter 2! (I hope you didn't think it was over already!) To those of you who feel bad for Yuki, don't worry, things will get better for him. But not before they get worse! Dun dun DUUUNNNN! Anyway, thanks again for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!
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"KYAAAAA!" Tohru's scream rang through the Sohma house early in the morning. Within seconds, Kyo was in her room.
"Tohru! What's wrong?! Huh?" His eyes took in the scene in front of him. Tohru was sitting up in her bed, looking around in a panic. On the floor by her bed lay Yuki's clothes.
"I- I- I just woke up and these clothes were here!" The girl looked dazed. "Am I still dreaming?"
"I don't think so," Shigure answered as he came up behind Kyo and entered the room. "I think that scream would wake the dead! Hmm…" He bent down and lifted a shirt from the ground. He sniffed it. "Definitely Yuki's."
"Wha- WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU WEIRDO?" Kyo yelled.
"Hm?" Shigure looked up at the carrot top. "Well I am a dog, after all. It's not that weird, is it?"
"But…" Both boys looked up at Tohru. "Does this mean Yuki's running around here as a rat? Or… or naked?"
Shigure shook his head. "I don't think so. If he were in the house, or on the premises, he would be in here now."
"Or hiding in his room, like a coward, knowing that we've all seen his clothes in here," Kyo growled. With that thought, he ran to investigate the Rat's room, throwing open the door. "Hey, you damn Rat-! Wha?" The entire room was in pristine order. The bed hadn't been slept in. Shigure and Tohru appeared behind Kyo, peering over his shoulders.
"He's not here…" Tohru murmured.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Shigure said in a singing voice, earning him a blow to the head from her new boyfriend. He sobered up quickly and went to inspect Yuki's drawers.
"What are you doing now?" Kyo asked, exasperated.
"His clothes are all here. His books, too. He didn't take anything with him, and didn't bother to pretend he had."
"W- where is he?" Tohru asked worriedly. Shigure lifted his face and sniffed, looking this way and that.
"He hasn't been here all night," he answered. "He's not even in the house. He's run away."
"WHAAAAA?!" Tohru began looking around frantically, as if Yuki would suddenly appear if she kept looking. "Where did he go?!"
"I don't know," Shigure replied. "He must have become a rat before he left, though. That would explain the clothes in Tohru's room."
Just as he finished saying this, there was a loud crack of thunder outside. Tohru screamed and clutched Kyo without thinking. He immediately transformed, but Tohru paid him no attention. She ran to the window, and the cat quickly followed, stretching up to rest his paws on the windowsill. "Th- this is awful!" the girl cried as a sudden downpour began. "Will he be alright? Where would he have gone?"
"Well, if he turned into a rat, then he probably wasn't planning on being found," Kyo replied. "And there's no way he would have gone back to the Main House."
"At the same time, though," Shigure added as he joined them at the window, "I don't think Yuki's quite brave enough to leave the city alone."
"But what if he gets hurt?" Tohru worried. "Or what if he transforms back and someone sees him?"
"In this weather? I don't think he'll transform back," Kyo answered. "He'll more likely get sick and stay as a rat."
Shigure frowned. "That'll certainly make him harder to find. Still, I'll give it my best shot. Tohru, if you don't mind?"
"Huh?" Tohru turned to Shigure just as he embraced her. "WHA?!" She froze, and Kyo transformed back into a human and punched the Dog, then quickly donned Shigure's fallen clothes as the smoke dissipated.
"What are you thinking?" he yelled. "It was bad enough when you hit on her before she was my girlfriend!"
"I wasn't hitting on her, I promise!" Shigure protested. "I can smell better this way, and it'll be easier to find Yuki!"
"I'll help you!" Tohru cried, but Shigure shook his head.
"No, you and Kyo still have to go to school. I can find Yuki on my own." At least, I hope I can. Either way, I don't think he'd want to see Tohru or Kyo right now.
"Ah- School! We're going to be late!" Tohru ran back to her room, and quickly returned in uniform, holding her backpack. "Good luck, Shigure! I really hope you can find Yuki!"
"Don't worry about me. You two had better be on your way."
"Right!" Tohru hurried out the door, smiling and waving back to Shigure. Kyo followed behind, complaining.
"Slow down, I can't run in this rain!"
---
Tohru sat at her desk, her head resting on her hand, gazing out the window at the rain. I hope Yuki and Shigure are alright. I hope Shigure finds him. I hope he isn't hurt. I hope-
"Hey, Tohru, are you alright?" Uo and Hana stood over her desk. "You've been sitting there for five minutes. School's out, let's go!"
"Don't you have work tonight?" Hana asked.
"Oh, no, not tonight." Tohru stood up quickly and rubber her head. "Sorry for that! The last couple of days have been kind of busy, I guess."
"Oh?" Uo raised her eyebrows. "What's happened?"
"Well, ah…"
"Does it have something to do with that new bracelet?" Hanajima questioned her. Tohru nodded happily.
"Yep! It's from Kyo! He gave it to me when he asked me to go out with him!"
"What?!" her friends chorused.
"You mean Orange-y asked you to go steady?!"
"You mean you finally picked one?"
"Wow, the bracelet does match his perfectly! And it's got a cute little cat charm on it! He really is a cat person, isn't he?" Uo noted. Tohru froze.
"Ah- cat person, how…?"
"Yes," Hana said in her gentle voice, "he does seem to like cats an awful lot."
"Oh…" Tohru relaxed. "Of course!"
"I hope this doesn't mean…" Hana took her friend's hand. "You won't be getting married any time soon, will you, Tohru?" She had a sudden vision of her dear friend in a wedding dress, and herself and Uo in bridesmaids dresses.
"Ah- no! Of course not! He only asked yesterday!" Tohru replied, flustered.
"Is that why the Prince wasn't here?" Uo asked.
"Huh?" Tohru and Hana looked at their friend.
"The Prince wasn't in school today. Did he take the news badly?"
"News…?" Tohru looked confused, then crestfallen. "That's right… that's the other thing. Yuki… he disappeared this morning. We don't know where he's gone, or if he'll return. Shigure was supposed to look for him today." I hope he found him. Maybe they'll both be waiting for us when Kyo and I get home.
"No way! Really? Pretty boy ran away?"Uo looked shocked. Tohru nodded sadly. Hana put an arm around her.
"Don't worry, Tohru. I'm sure he'll return soon."
"He better have a good excuse for worrying our Tohru, though," Uo put in, cracking her knuckles.
"Hey, Tohru!" The girls looked up to see Kyo standing in the doorway. Haru was next to him, and Momiji was hanging on him. Kyo looked ready to kill someone. "You ready to go?"
"One minute, Orangey," Uo interjected as she and Hana each put a hand around Tohru. "Listen up, and listen good. You better take care of our Tohru… or else," she finished, lowering her voice threateningly.
"Tohru, Tohru, come on!" Momiji bounced forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her over to Kyo before he could argue with Uo. "We're going out to celebrate!" He made a peace sign at her other friends. "Sohmas and Tohru only, soo-rryy!" he sang. He continued pulling Tohru's arm as the other Sohmas followed. They ended up sitting in a nice restaurant, which Tohru knew was fairly expensive.
"I don't know about this," she protested. "This place is kinda pricey, and I don't have much money, so…"
"Don't worry, Tohru." Haru placed a hand on her shoulder. "You and Kyo are dating now, so he'll pay for you."
"Yep!" Momiji agreed brightly. "And since he's older, he can pay for Haru and me too!"
"Now wait a minute!" Kyo interjected angrily. "Who said I was paying for anyone? I mean yeah, I'll pay for Tohru, but I'm not paying for you brats!"
"Kyo…" The Cat looked up to see Haru suddenly looming over him ominously. "You're paying. For everyone."
Tohru looked from one Sohma to another, trying to figure out what she could do. "Kyo… don't let Haru turn black!" It was halfway between warning and begging. Kyo looked at her and saw the worry in her eyes, and gave an exasperated sigh.
"Tohru, you worry too much," he complained as he sank into his seat. "Fine, lunch is on me, but you better not order anything too expensive!"
They sat there for an hour, laughing and eating. As they were getting ready to go, Momiji suddenly sobered up. "You know, Haru saw Shigure today."
Kyo and Tohru looked up in surprise. Tohru looked at Haru. "Did he tell you…?"
Haru nodded. "Momiji and I got separated on the way to school, so I… um…" he trailed off, but no one needed him to fill in that he was lost. "Anyway, that doesn't matter. I saw him in his dog form, but it had stopped raining, and he was afraid of transforming back so he had to go home. He couldn't find Yuki anyway; the rain had washed away his scent. We're gonna have to keep trying."
Momiji stood at his cousin's shoulder. "We're gonna tell everyone in the Zodiac, except Akito, to keep a look out! So, don't worry, kay? We're still gonna find him!"
As they bid each other goodbye, Tohru couldn't help feeling worried inside. The longer Yuki was outside, the more chance there was of him being discovered.
---
Hana walked slowly from the train station to her house. She was thinking about what Tohru had said, about Yuki having run away. That doesn't sound like Yuki. And Tohru seemed to have no idea that he loves her as much as Kyo. Hana sighed, but couldn't help smiling at her friend's innocence. As she neared her house, she suddenly stopped short and looked at some bushes by the side of the road, where her brother was crouching. She quickly crossed to her brother's side and crouched down next to him. "What is it, Megumi?"
The boy looked up at his older sister. "There's a rat here. It seems to be unconscious. I was just trying to decide what to do with it." Hana looked under the bush and saw the small animal. Frowning, she carefully reached out and picked up the rat. Holding it closely, she could barely see its chest moving. Megumi continued, "I feel bad leaving it here. It could die. I feel like we should help it."
Hana nodded, and continued to examine the rat. "Yes. We should take him in and see if we can nurse him back to health." She rose and took her brother's hand. "Let's go inside now and find him a cage."
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Yuki gave a small moan. As he began to come to, the first thing he was aware of was acute hunger. Food… I could really use one of Tohru's homecooked meals now. He winced as he imagined her at home now, cooking something to eat with Kyo. He shook his head. Well, I still appear to be a rat. It's probably because I haven't eaten since dinner last night, and because I've been in the rain all day. I wonder if I'll get sick. At least that'll help me stay out of sight. I can't be around that house right now. As his senses came back, he realized that he was actually warm and dry. He opened his eyes slowly, and was shocked to see bars in front of him. Am I in jail?! Why would they throw a rat in jail?! No, wait… this is a cage. But still, where am I? Who put me in a cage? Kyo? Tohru? He started to shiver. Not Akito… please, don't let Akito know!
"Are you awake, little rat?" A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. "Look, Megumi. It looks like he's feeling better." Yuki peered out of his cage and saw Hana standing at the door of the room she was in. A young boy who looked like a younger male version of her came to her side, then stepped into the room and knelt to peer into the cage.
"Do you think Mom and Dad will let us keep him?" he asked.
"I hope so." Hana knelt next to her brother. Yuki tried to back away from them, feeling nervous, but he found he was too weak to even push himself back. Hana pointed to a corner of his cage. "You should eat something," she urged gently. Yuki looked over and saw food sitting in the cage - it looked like table scraps. He laid his head back down sadly.
"Hana," said the little boy - what had she called him? Megumi? - "if we're going to keep him, we should name him."
Hana nodded. "We should give him a name to make him feel better. Maybe… Little Prince?"
Megumi nodded. "He does seem very well groomed."
"Well then. Goodnight for now, Little Prince." Hana and her brother rose. "We'll be taking care of you for a long, long time."
"Hana," Megumi questioned as they left the room, "what if Mom and Dad don't allow it?"
"Don't worry," Yuki heard her answer. "I'm sure I can convince them." The rat was left shaking in his cage. Now what? I'm trapped here, and I can't transform - for one thing, I'll be seen, and for another, this cage is far too small. He looked over at his food again, then weakly pulled himself over and pushed the food out of the cage. My only hope is to stay as a rat. I shouldn't eat anything - I can't get too strong. He lay down his head, hoping he was only having a nightmare and would wake up soon.
