My Monster

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.

Scenes with breaks like this: -x-x-x-x-x-x- are flashbacks, daydreams, ect.

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Chapter 6:

God and the Animals

Tohru again fell into his eyes. "The... rat?" she asked, his single hand tightening on her small ones. As his hand tightened, hers loosened around the paper and in one quick second he was holding the paper at his side in a clenched fist. Tohru gasped, lunging forward and trying to get the paper back. "Give it back, please!" she ordered, though not sounding too orderly with the "please" and tone of her voice.

"And then you'll do what? Call the family and turn me in?! No-fucking-way!" he yelled back, holding the crumpled paper above his head and out of her reach. She tried standing to get it but lost her balance and came toppling over top of him, now lying confused on top of his chest as he still held the paper above his head in one hand. His other arm was wrapped around her waist from when he'd tried to help her keep her balance before she fell. He quickly removed his arm and stared down at her, yelling "Get off!"

Tohru looked into his eyes and found the chance to get the number now, reaching her arms above his head; though she was still short. Not thinking about the move, she inched her way forward - still on top of him - and grabbed his fist. Her chest was in his face as he turned a light shade of red, and luckily she didn't see as she was falling on her side next to him, her two hands fighting with his for the phone number. "Please give it back!" she pleaded again, holding his wiggling arm with one hand and trying to pry his fingers open with the other.

"I told you, no! I'm not going back!"

"I just want the phone number, I won't call or make you go back!" she insisted, sitting up again as she sat on his arm and pried his fingers open. When she succeeded she quickly moved away from him, holding it tightly up to her chest as if it were a treasure.

He grunted as he sat up, sitting with his arms crossed. "Why do you want it so badly if you're not turning me in?" he spat, glaring at her.

"I... uh... wanted to ask you..." she began, crawling closer to him on her hands and knees, then sitting up again and holding the paper between their faces. "What does that symbol mean, Kyou-san?" she asked as a child would, her voice high and strangely innocent. He kept silent and she lowered the paper and looked into his eyes, questioning him. "Is it something bad?"

He slowly nodded, then turned his head away. "It depends on how you look at it..." He saw her turn the paper this way and that and almost laughed at the motion. "No, I mean it has more than one meaning." They were sitting in the hallway, and she shivered on the hardwood floors of the unheated house. He got up and offered her a hand, which she took and they walked back into the living room. He waited as she sat down next to him and she covered herself up, surprising him when she stretched the cover over him too.

"Explain it, please, Kyou-san?" she asked, her lids drooping slightly.

"It basically represents our family," he said lowly, not really caring if she heard or not because he was testing his memory. He gently took the paper from her hand, assuring her that she'd get it back, and turned on the lamp beside the couch. She seemed more alive now, sitting straighter and moving closer to him to see the symbol.

"The lines represent each of the animals of the zodiac..." he paused, trying to remember the extra two. "There are twelve here, counting for the animals, the cat, and god." He glanced sideways at her and saw her counting the lines, and after assuring him that she understood, he continued. His finger ran its' way from the top of one of the lines to the very center of the symbol, where a single dot was placed that connected each of the lines.

"That dot represents someone too - the person who will break the curse. It's said that there is only one person like that, which is why they have yet to be found. The person that can break the curse is hard to find in another way too, because when they arrive before the Sohma family, they appear as some normal person." He pulled his fingers to the bridge of his nose in thought and then continued. "They hold our family together, even though in the end they'll tear us apart - in a good way though... It's... really hard to explain."

The two stayed silent for a moment. Tohru then asked "Why are the circles there then?"

"Oh. Those just represent the many bonds to the family that we have." He smirked darkly at that. "There are a hell lot more than that though."

"I'm confused, Kyou-san." she whined lightly, gently taking the number from his hand and placing it on the coffee table. "How is it that you turn into animals?"

"Well, we're all incarnates of the animals. We each carry the soul of the animal in our bodies with us."

"But why? Why the Sohma family?"

"Because, they were all betrayed." he replied darkly, the whole scene replaying in his head as he spoke; an old memory that the spirits each had.

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God and the animals sat merrily at the table, their annual banquet carrying on. The rat sat closest to god, who was at the end of the table. Next to him were the dog, the snake, the ram, the tiger, and the boar. Across from the rat, on the other side of God, were the rooster, the dragon, the monkey, the ox, the rabbit, and the horse. The cat could no longer attend the banquet because he'd missed last years, so at the other end of the table was an empty seat.

God's deep voice sounded and all others hushed as the animals listened intently to him. He stood, his entire form silhouetted. "I'd like to thank each of you for coming." he said, raising a glass. "I'd also like to say-"

He was cut off by a loud bang sounding from behind him, and as all of the animals turned around; the cat ran straight up to God, scratching him in the face. He leaped back, gasps resounding throughout the room as he stared at the former zodiac animal, paying no attention to the animals.

"WHAT is the purpose of this, cat?!" God demanded, a thick red dripping from his shadowed form. "How dare you attack me, your god?" He yelled, squeezing the glass in his hand and making it shatter. The zodiac animals were the only ones who could hurt god - no one else.

The cat didn't speak as he attacked again, missing the mighty man and falling onto the table and breaking everything in his way. It disappeared beneath him, as did everything else in the room as it turned to white. All of the animals went into a panic and tried running out of the way, only to be caught in a cage that God had summoned.

"You!" he said, pointing to the cat standing before him. "You've lied to me and betrayed me! Why did you do so?" The cat didn't respond, and God yelled "Speak!" scaring the cat, who tried running away.

God grabbed him in his hand, and held him up to his face. "Are all of you like this cat?" he ordered, looking to the locked up animals with anger. "It seems that you can't be trusted." he said, dropping the cat to the floor. He turned to the other animals, holding up his hands, causing the cage to disappear before him. The animals cowered before him as he spoke. "It seems that I cannot trust you any longer," he said, a pained sound in his voice. "You can no longer stay here with me." and with that, he lifted his hand, sending each animal falling through the clouds of heaven, leaving only the confused cat with him.

"You are the main one, cat." he said, walking over to him. "You've opened my eyes to the betrayal of animals, but you cannot return to earth quite yet, for you have attacked me." Before the cat could do or say anything in return, he was sent falling through the clouds, though his destiny was set for a different place than the others.

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"It's said that the cat had been planning the downfall of God for a long time, and, sensing it, God vowed to send each of the animals away if the cat proved a threat... No one knows where the cat was sent, but what we do know is that not all of the animals fell to earth at once; they each fell a year apart, signaling the years that they were designated to. The first animal that fell, the rat, was left alone for an entire year before she was rejoined by her friends.

"Because the rat was in a humans' body, she had the desires and intentions of a human, and had a husband and kids. Each of her eleven children were born a year apart, granted with a soul of an animal, which is why we are all part of the Sohma family.

"Then, two years after their last child was born, they had another one. That child was born three months early, very weak, hardly living. The child made it though, but was smaller and very different from each of the children - it was the cat. It was hated by all of them; even their mother and father. It was secluded and ignored, having no friends, and it's been that way since."

Tohru thought of this for a bit and then thought of Kyou who was now the cat. Pain and understanding filled her eyes as she gently held his hand, staring into his surprised eyes. "I'll be your friend... Kyou-kun." she said, hardly loud enough for him to hear. He heard though, and his eyes widened.

"You... don't know what you're saying. No one wants to befriend a cat... no one. I'm a monster."

"You can't say that, Kyou-kun." she insisted, smiling. "You're not a monster, and you never were! Even if the cat did betray god, you're still not a monster. You're still Kyou-kun; my friend, Kyou-kun."

He pulled his arm away from her, looking out the window. "I'm no ones friend, Tohru," he muttered, then walked over to the chair and soon fell asleep.

"Kyou-kun..." she muttered, though he didn't stir. She looked at him with worried eyes, wrapping herself against the cold house and dying fire. She got up and searched for the warmest cover she could find for him, and when she returned to the living room, draped it atop of him as gently as she could; afraid of awakening him. She smiled, walked back to the couch, and fell into a restless sleep.

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Kyou awoke slightly dizzy, opening his eyes to and upside-down house. The boy seemed to have his head draped across the arm rest, resulting in his hanging upside down. His feet were hanging off the other armrest, and his arms were sprawled out. He sat up too quickly, making him dizzier as he held his head. A cover fell off of his body and he watched it lie on the ground with bewilderment, figuring Tohru had covered him in the middle of the night. He rolled his eyes at the girl, knowing that she still considered herself a friend. 'A friend of the past...' He thought absently, surprising himself. The past? What did that mean; he'd never known her before. How could she be a friend of the past if they'd never met?

"Kyou-kun, is that you?" she asked from the kitchen, and he had just smelled the breakfast that she was cooking.

"Yeah," he replied absently as he stood, walking into the kitchen, then yelled "I'm not your friend!" Her eyes suddenly became sad and wide, and her lip poked out as she stared at him. Grief suddenly overpowered him and he spoke without thinking again. "I mean, I'm..." he caught himself, slapping himself in the head. Now he was deeper in than he thought he'd be. He fell to the table, grumbling something as the girl stared at him.

"It's okay, Kyou... san." she caught herself with a frown, then smiled again. "We only recently met, I understand." She walked over to the pan and stove the contents out with a spatula, placing them on a plate and getting strawberries and milk out of the fridge.

"What is this?" he asked as she sat a plate in front of him.

"Pancakes!" she replied merrily, pouring a glass of milk for him and cutting the strawberries up on a plate. "Have you ever had pancakes, Kyou-san?"

"No," he replied simply, staring at the plate in disgust. He wasn't up for trying new things.

"They're really good, Kyou-san!" she replied, setting the plate of strawberries in the middle of the table, along with her plate of breakfast. "Just try them!"

"How early did you get up this morning?" he asked, ignoring what she'd said.

"Oh... I don't know. I normally get up early. Actually, I'm surprised you got up so early, Kyou-san. It's only seven thirty."

"I get up pretty early too." he muttered, sticking a fork and knife into the food. He should at least try it. Tohru was too busy pouring strawberries on top of hers to even notice the distaste in his face as he cut it, ready to put it into his mouth. It smelled decent... how bad could it be?

Tohru looked up and saw him half-smiling. "You like it?" she asked, happiness filling her face.

"Yeah," he replied, chewing. "It's pretty good." She smiled contently and continued eating.

"Oh, and Kyou-san?" she asked about half-way through the meal.

"What?"

"I'm going into town soon for groceries. I was wondering what you liked...?"

"Oh... uh..." He honestly didn't know. He just threw down whatever he was given or starved. There was no rejecting the heads' orders, no matter how trivial. "I don't know," he finally replied, looking down at his plate.

"You have to like something, Kyou-san!" she insisted, sitting forward. "It doesn't matter what it is; anything." He just shook his head. "Well, tell me what you don't like!" she said, smiling brightly.

He gave her a strange look and replied "Leeks." He thought a bit more but couldn't think of much else - he was never told what he ate. "I... can't think of anything."

Tohru frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose I can work with what you ate when you were a cat... right?" He nodded, and she smiled. After another small silence, she asked. "Oh, what size clothes do you wear? I'm getting you clothes too."

"You're not getting me clothes!" he insisted, standing up.

"But Kyou-san, I'll feel bad if I don't!" she said, standing up too. She'd finished and was cleaning off the table. As she gathered all of the plates, she yelled from the kitchen. "You can't walk around in what you're wearing! Besides, you don't have shoes!" He looked down at his feet and wiggled his bear toes. He didn't see her return from the kitchen. "Besides, if you don't tell me I'll just guess!" she said playfully, smiling.

"Good luck guessing then," he muttered, walking from the room. She sighed, turned to the counter, and made a list.

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Kyou sighed, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door. That girl was so persistent, and for some reason, he just couldn't say no to her. That annoyed the hell out of him. She'd been gone for a while and suggested his taking a shower, which he wouldn't even try to disagree to - he needed one. He took off his shirt and bandages and stared into the mirror, finding the remains of the large wound on his front. It was already almost gone.

Turning on the water for the shower, he fully undressed and stepped in.

'Stupid girl...' he thought to himself, letting the warm water flood his back wound. 'She has no idea of who I am and she's accepting me like a best friend or something... stupid. What kind of person does that? No one's that trusting... no one!' And image of her bright smile flashed in his head and a growled, chasing it away. 'It's like I'm supposed to accept her... like my mind has some plan for her or something...'

He began thinking of last night, when he'd told her the story of the zodiac. 'She was so interested in my family... I wonder why? Any normal person would completely seclude us... maybe even turn me into the cops or something; thinking that I was insane.'

"I'll be your friend... Kyou-kun."

That phrase ran through his head as he finished the shower, turning the water off with a "tch" and drying himself off.

He heard her in the kitchen, yelling "Kyou-san! I'm back! I have your clothes too!"

'Stupid girl...' he thought again, walking out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. She was in the kitchen, placing the groceries in the cabinets. He tried getting the clothes out of the bag without her realizing it, but she turned around and blushed, turning back to the cabinets with her hands over her eyes. Apparently she didn't know he had a towel on.

"I'm so sorry, Kyou-san! I didn't know you were there and-"

"Shut up!" he snapped, regretting it as soon as he'd said it. Her back had stiffened and she whimpered at his outburst. "I mean... it's... okay. I'm... in a towel, so it's okay."

"Oh... I'm... sorry." she muttered, turning back around. Her eyes were glassy and he sighed.

"Look, I said it's okay; no harm done. Don't cry, alright?"

"Okay..." she said, looking the same. He looked down at the clothes in his hands and sighed.

"I, um... like these. I think they'll fit too." He turned around and walked out, embarrassed. "Thanks," he muttered, just loud enough to hear, before walking out of the kitchen to change.

"Oh! You're welcome, Kyou-san!" she yelled cheerfully, not seeing the slight smile on his lips as he walked back into the restroom. It was no great accomplishment, but that was the first time he'd willingly and honestly thanked someone.

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Crap! Sorry, guys. T.T I accidentally cut some of the animals out of the zodiac in Kyou's description. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, and they're all back.

I'm going out of town again on Friday so expect an update on Monday or so.