Let's be clear before the Prince Yuki fans try to bite my head off. I do NOT hate Yuki, though Kyo does. There will be some MILD Yuki bashing, but that's more along the lines of Kyo expressing his disgust that he thought Yuki was worth the effort of using the Amazon techniques he learned to beat him. For the most part, they avoid each other and Kyo just uses his new curse to give Yuki headaches trying to figure out why he's NOT turning into a rat.
It took Kyo two weeks to figure out the trick of it, and another three days for the bite wounds to heal enough that he could try his luck. Whatever those things in the river were, they were vicious.
Either way Kyo was quite pleased when he was given the Phoenix Pill. As great as not having to worry about turning into a cat was, he quickly learned that the pain all females went through once a month was not something he enjoyed.
No amount of aspirin or Midol would ever help him get used to bleeding between his legs once a month, or the cramps. He did find himself a lot more sympathetic towards the women though, whenever he knew they were on that time of the month.
Once he successfully got all the chestnuts, he went back to the rapids and found a rock that always seemed to end up in the bunch he picked from the stream. After the fourth time he spotted it, Kyo decided he would just keep the thing once the training was over.
Still, he was a bit disappointed that his training was over. He already knew he wasn't going to be able to pick up his schooling at his old school. For one thing it was an all-boy's school, and according to the others the Jusenkyo curse came with some weird water-attracting one tacked on.
Cologne did give him a list of contacts he could get in touch with if he had to leave the Sohma clan in a hurry. From what she heard of the current clan head, the child was mentally unstable and was prone to fits of extreme violence. They didn't like having things happen without their knowing and would react badly like a child throwing a tantrum.
She had the sneaking suspicion this 'Akito' was behind the fervor Kyo had while training in the breaking point. The other techniques he didn't tackle with such devotion or train well into the night.
It took Kyo three days to reach the town Yuki was currently living in. And close to a week to get to the first air port that could take him to Japan. Thank kami Xian Pu's dad had taken him there...he never would have found the place in so short a time considering how far out the village was.
On the plane ride home, Kyo read one of the many, many books he had found on the way to the air port. One of them had caught his interest if only because of the name. He didn't know what 'Neko Ken' was, but he figured it had something to do with cats.
Considering his curse, he could only assume he could learn it.
That is until he read how one learned the Neko Ken. It sounded like a good way to traumatize the hell out of some poor bastard. Still, the more he read of the description, the more curious he got about duplicating it.
He wasn't liable to end up with a 'cat spirit' from this particular method, seeing as how he was *born* with one and could talk the cats down from trying to claw the crap out of him (not that they ever had), but it did sound like some of the attacks he had seen the one time the bracelet fell off by accident after his chi had been unblocked. He had turned one tree into toothpicks, and had nearly given Xian Pu a heart attack.
Testing his cursed form revealed that for some reason only the Cat's "True Form" could use those attacks.
It sounded like he had the Neko Ken already, just without the fear of cats and the 'losing your mind' part. Though it wasn't something he would use regularly, as he couldn't get it to work while the suppressor bracelet was on. Considering how much damage it did to the few trees he practiced on, he considered it more of an ace in the hole.
Kyo stretched a little bit, before he headed to Shigure's house. Considering the school Yuki was going to, that was a safe bet since Shigure was the Dog. It was also far enough from the main house that Yuki would be left more or less alone, but still within the family enough to keep Akito off his ass. He had to admit, it was pretty smart. Didn't mean he liked Yuki though. The guy was just annoying.
He found Yuki in the house...good thing he waited until after school hours. He wanted to settle this now!
Kyo jumped to the roof and waited until he heard Yuki's voice and felt the chi of the Rat.
With a light use of the breaking point, he made a hole in the roof and landed neatly.
"Time to pay the piper Rat boy, and I'm here to collect."
"Funny, I thought he would send someone bigger," said Yuki, coolly.
There it was. That self-satisfied smirk like he was better than everyone. And that damn rat wondered why he always picked a fight with him.
"That's right. You better get that tough talk out while you can, 'cause I'm about to wipe that stupid smirk off of your face!"
Kyo only vaguely heard someone behind him, but they were too close for him to avoid it without seriously injuring them. He ended up a cat before he had a chance to beat the shit out of Yuki. What the hell was a GIRL doing in Shigure's house?
Yuki looked annoyed. Shigure just looked tired...and Kyo? He was pissed.
"Dammit girl! Do you have any idea how stupid it is to get in between someone's fight without any training?!" shouted Kyo in his cat form. Normally he wouldn't care, but this was his first shot at beating that damn Yuki in months!
Kyo was in a foul mood for two hours. At least until he did something to piss of the Rat Prince enough to take him seriously.
Yeah, he did screw up hurting the girl, but to be honest she shouldn't have been in the damn house to begin with. He would apologize properly once his mood calmed down...otherwise his best friend would skin his hide for being mean to a girl. A weak one at that.
"I'm only going to give you one free shot Yuki. But that's it."
"One shot is plenty for a stupid cat like you," said Yuki with a glare.
Yuki's punch sent Kyo flying, but nowhere near as far as it could have before Kyo ended up with a second curse. And it didn't hurt for once.
His pain tolerance had jumped being around girls who could kick his ass and wouldn't hesitate to let him know it.
Kyo got up, cricked his neck twice, and then looked at Yuki with a serious expression.
"That was the only free shot I'm giving you Rat boy. Now it's my turn."
Kyo caught Yuki off guard with his speed, but he wasn't even going that fast.
Even Shigure was caught off guard.
In less than five minutes, Kyo realized with some shock that he had put Yuki on a pedestal he didn't deserve. The Rat was good, almost prodigy level, but he wasted his talents at the art. Unlike Kyo, it was more of a hobby than anything, and he had quit once he reached black belt.
Kyo felt disgusted. This was what he was trying to overcome? Yuki wasn't worth it.
Kyo was so mad that he didn't realize until it was too late that Yuki had thrown him into a nearby tree.
"All that training for nothing, Stupid Cat," said Yuki.
"Oh it wasn't for nothing, you damn Rat. I can't believe I wasted my time trying to beat you when I should have set my standards higher," said Kyo, getting up.
Yuki twitched.
"I can't believe I thought you were worth the time it took to get stronger. I need to get a better opponent, because you're not worth my time anymore except as a warm up," said Kyo, brushing off the leaves.
Yuki looked pissed now.
"Oh? I wasn't the one sent flying you stupid Cat," said Yuki, though inside he was in shock.
Kyo turned his head to give Yuki a look.
"You have all that talent and you've let it stagnate after hitting black belt. You're pathetic. I can't believe I even cared about trying to beat you."
Kyo walked to where the girl was and gave a polite bow.
"Sorry about the hit to the head. This jerk makes me so angry I don't think things through most of the time," said Kyo. That threw both of the other Sohma for a loop.
"Ah! It's alright! I'm fine, really!" said the girl.
"That's good. I know my friend in China would have kicked my ass if she found out I hurt a girl and didn't apologize, especially since you weren't my intended target," said Kyo. The teen looked at a confused Shigure.
"Send the bill for the roof to my account. I'm out of here," said Kyo, ignoring Yuki completely.
Kyo left to find his Shishou's dojo, mostly so he could find a new school that would accept his transfer papers.
"So that was Neko-san?" asked the girl, who's name was Tohru Honda. He was rough, but nice once he was calm.
"That was Kyo...but something's changed. He's actually matured in the four months he was in China," said Shigure thoughtfully. Something was different about Kyo. Normally he wouldn't hesitate to beat Yuki the first chance he had, but the way he acted it was like he didn't need to beat Yuki.
Yuki was also surprised by the change. Normally their fights would end with Kyo eating dirt and pissed off, but the way he completely dismissed him...it rankled. Something about the way Kyo seemed to think he wasn't worth fighting pissed him off.
"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN AKITO SAID I HAVE TO LIVE WITH SHIGURE?"
Kyo had found the dojo, but he had a rude wake-up call the next morning by his dad.
"Akito has apparently decided that as punishment for staying in China so long you have to stay with Shigure-san. He also said that you should think of it as a way to challenge Yuki-san before the deadline," said Shishou tiredly. He honestly agreed with Kyo. Yuki and Kyo had always gotten along like oil and water, mainly because Kyo was jealous.
Now that Kyo had realized his standards were too low, it would only add to the tension between them. The only good thing was that Kyo at least had matured a little while in China, which made things easier.
"Oh kami...I have to go to the same school don't I?" said Kyo miserable. His father said nothing, but his face spoke volumes.
Kyo would have been pissed...except when he saw a glass of water an idea came to him. He might have to be around that damn rat for extended periods of time, but no one said he couldn't make Yuki's life a living hell in the process and not have to worry about the curse.
"Kyo, what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking I'm going to make a habit of stopping by before school and make Yuki's life hell until he figures out the truth," said Kyo. This was a great prank, and best of all there was very little chance of Yuki figuring it out without someone telling him!
"If you stop by after classes I can make some tea for the both of us," Shishou offered. Kyo's smirk said what he thought of that idea. Yuki wasn't liable to figure out the trick until he learned about Kyo's curse. He had heard things about the fan club.
Yuki was in a foul mood. Kyo had been registered in his school and was transferring in today.
"We have a new transfer student. Come in please."
What walked in, however, was not Kyo. She bore a remarkable resemblance to his cousin, but it wasn't him.
"Everyone, meet Kiyone Xia-long. She just transferred from China."
"Nihao!" said the girl.
Something about the way she looked directly at him with a smirk sent shivers of something terribly down his back. Like he was about to get a nasty surprise in the near future.
That panned out when shortly after lunch he ran into the new girl (who thankfully spoke fluent Japanese) and she had an evil look on her face.
"Can I help you?"
"Oh I wouldn't say that, damn Rat. More like I'm about to make your life a living hell with that fan club of yours and there's nothing you can do about it," said Kiyone.
Yuki tensed.
"What did you call me?"
"I called you a rat. Because I know what you are. You're the pathetic Prince of Rats and you stand atop a garbage pile with your rat friends," smirked Kiyone.
Yuki looked angry and very confused. He didn't know how she knew about the curse, but he hoped she had just called him a rat out of a coincidence.
He did get suspicious when she suddenly pressed against his back, much to the ire of his fan club...and he didn't transform.
"Have fun explaining why you let the new girl get so close, Rat boy," she snickered.
Tohru was confused. She had seen Yuki get hugged from behind, but he didn't turn into a rat.
"Ano... Yuki-san..." she asked on the way back to the house.
"I don't know how, but for some reason the curse didn't activate. The only time I've ever seen that happen is if the female is another Sohma with the same curse," said Yuki, already guessing what she wanted to know.
"There are others?"
"Right now there are only three female Sohma with the Zodiac curse. The tiger, the boar and the horse. That girl was not one of them, so I have no idea how she was able to do that."
And the reaction of the fan club had been a headache to deal with. Especially considering he already had to push off one girl from him.
To top off his bad day, Yuki saw an annoying stray cat in Shigure's house.
"What are you doing here you stupid cat?" said Yuki.
"Blame Akito. He said as punishment for staying in China for four months I have to live here for at least six. And that the deadline still stands," said Kyo dismissively.
Yuki looked at Shigure.
"Akito told me the same when I spoke about Tohru-kun," said Shigure.
"Why here?"
"Even Akito knows that we get along like oil and water. He said something about how this would give me plenty of chances to meet the conditions for me to avoid that room before the deadline," said Kyo.
Yuki frowned. Even he knew of the fate that awaited Kyo once he left high school. Akito was planning to lock him up until he died. The only way out given to him was to beat Yuki in a fight...but Yuki never let him.
"That reminds me. Kyo-kun, your father dropped this off earlier."
Kyo looked pleased when he saw what was inside the box.
Yuki could care less what made the stupid cat happy. He was pissed Akito was forcing Kyo to live with them.