A/N: Merry (if slightly belated) Christmas and a Happy New Year! Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Fruits Basket, nor am I making money from this.
"What's the matter with you? You all look like you've seen a ghost!" Akane's attempt at humor fell on deaf ears. Shampoo was also worried at how pale all four of the strangers had become at her great grandmother's words.
Just what happened between them and that stupid Ghost Cat?
Cologne's thoughts were running along a similar track. Before she could ask, there was a now-familiar Pop! When the smoke cleared, a ginger cat sat on the chair, a dazed expression in his ruby eyes.
"Interesting…" Cologne murmured to herself.
"The demon's gone?" He managed.
"It would appear so." Cologne confirmed.
There were twin Pops! And a brown pig and a rat jumped up on the table from the chairs previously occupied by Yuki and Kagura and scampered along the table to peer at the cat. Tohru was also staring at Kyo, shell shocked.
Ryoga started violently at Kagura's transformation.
"I think it's about time you told us what happened." Cologne announced, her tone brooking no argument.
"Great Grandmother, perhaps wait after change back? Less embarrassing for shy Sohmas. Might also want to get off table." Shampoo suggested.
"Broken tables bad for business." She confided to Tohru.
"And while we're waiting, tell me, how long do these transformations usually last?" Cologne asked, producing an egg timer, and upending it.
Between them, they retold the tale of the previous night's encounter.
"And then…And then, it sounded like the bake-neko was hurting Kyo-kun…so I…hit the bell with my textbook." Tohru admitted, her eyes downcast.
"You only used a textbook?" Ranma asked in disbelief.
"Tohru should use something much heavier." Shampoo informed her cheerfully. "Stupid Ghost Cat deserve it."
"I find that mallets are always good." Akane suggested helpfully, and Ranma flinched.
As Tohru was rendered speechless by the enthusiastic reaction to her confession, Yuki continued the story.
"After that, I'm not entirely certain what happened. There was some sort of silent explosion. Although there was no noise, the concussive force threw me backwards, and created a crater around Kyo."
Kyo grimaced at the memory.
"My bedroom wall fell down, but Shigure-san says it's unlikely that there's any structural damage." Tohru informed them brightly.
Akane leaned forward around Ryoga before offering, "If you want, I can give you the number of a great construction contractor to pass on to your guardian. Their repairs are fast and good quality. Plus, they have a customer loyalty program and bulk discounts. We use them at the dojo all the time."
Cologne produced a notepad and pen, which she pushed towards Akane with her cane, observing dryly, "Considering the state of the café, I'd like their name and number as well. My regulars are out of town for an industry conference."
Ranma and Ryoga shifted guiltily and became very interested in the tabletop as Akane, oblivious to the incredulous looks she was receiving from the Sohmas, consulted her mobile phone, copied out some details twice, then tore off one of the sheets and proffered it to Tohru, who stammered her thanks.
Shampoo collected the notepad as Cologne sat in silence for a few moments, sipping her tea and gazing at the Jyuunishi through half lidded eyes.
"Yes, that would have to be it." She murmured to herself, setting her cup down decisively.
"Our own previous experience with the Ghost Cat showed that striking the bell will forcibly expel the cat from a host, drawing it back to the bell. At the same time, you put a rosary on the possessed." Here Cologne waved a wizened hand in Kyo's direction, who bristled at the dismissive gesture and the fact that she was talking about him as if he wasn't there. Again.
"The rosary, from what you told me, acts as a sort of containment or seal on the Jyuunishi demon, which was entangled with the Ghost Cat. It could be that the two conflicting pulls created a tear, or rift between our world and the demonic plane, through which the two were dragged. You were very lucky, young man."
Kyo reflected that most people would not consider having an internal demonic tug-of war resulting in a trans-dimensional rift and a wall collapsing on them "lucky."
Tohru once more proved that she too was not "most people." She gave a delighted gasp, all starry eyed. "You mean the poor bake-neko san has finally gone home? Maybe he'll find a nice girl cat to settle down with…" If Kyo squinted at the place she was staring at, he could swear he could almost make out a cottage with a white picket fence, and adorable kittens playing in a garden. The scene was blurry from all the sparkles drifting in front of it. Shaking his head to clear it, he returned his attention to the table.
"It's a nice theory, but how do we prove it?"
" I would have thought that was obvious. Take the rosaries off." Cologne's matter of fact tone was at complete odds with the reactions of the Sohmas.
Yuki shook his head sharply. Kagura's gasp was drowned out by the screech of Kyo's chair as he pushed away from the table with an inarticulate sound of denial. The last thing he wanted to do was see the expression of shock, disgust and revulsion on the nine faces around the table, followed by the inevitable rejection.
Except, rejection wasn't inevitable. Not anymore. Not since Tohru. He stole a glance at her. Her hands gripped the edge of the table tightly, but she met his gaze squarely. Her blue-green eyes were soft, as she said "I know it will be hard for you, Kyo-kun, but I think perhaps you should try. We'll help you. If you feel uncomfortable, we'll put the rosaries back on right away."
"Perhaps we should do as Cologne-sama suggests," Yuki said slowly. "But it would probably be better if we did this at one of the shrines at the Main House, where we can have a Sohma houshi or miko on hand, just in case, and Hatori will be able to look after Kyo."
"I'm not sure I appreciate the doubt in that statement, young man. And is "Hatori" the whippersnapper who didn't know you can reverse memory erasure? He doesn't sound like an asset." Cologne admonished.
"If Great Grandmother say you cured, then you cured. Amazon knowledge of Chinese curses can't be wrong." Shampoo stated confidently.
"Funny, the last two times either of you Amazons said that, it was a one-shot only cure." Ranma muttered darkly.
"It's your fault some of us are even cursed in the first place, Saotome." Mousse snapped, glaring accusingly at Yuki.
Mousse completely missed Ryoga's frantic shushing motions, which Ryoga then had to try and turn into a casual gesture when Akane turned to look at him. He didn't entirely succeed, and Akane eyed him with puzzlement for a moment, before turning her attention back to the table at large and declaring "Besides, who needs houshi or mikos when you have a roomful of martial artists? Demon busting…I mean containing," she hastily corrected herself "is part of a martial artist's duty!" Her voice rang on the last words, and her eyes shone with determined fire.
"Here we go again." Ranma mumbled.
And so it was a short time later that Kyo found himself in the middle of a ruined café, surrounded by strangers, preparing to take the rosaries off. Despite Cologne's assurances, or perhaps because of them, the martial artists had taken up positions around the edges of the room. Ukyo guarded one of the windows, her spatula ready. Akane stood at the next one, her expression determined. Ranma and Ryoga covered where the doors used to be, and Shampoo had her bon boras out, but held loosely in front of her. Mousse stood nearby, facing the wrong way, his hands buried in his sleeves.
Forming a kind of inner circle were Cologne, Kagura, Tohru and Yuki. Each of the people in the room held an ofuda, or seal, with a carefully inked character inscribed on it. Cologne had insisted on checking the spelling on Ranma's seal.
Rather than use ink on her precious café floor, Cologne had used what she claimed was an Ancient Chinese Amazon rune paste to create a containment seal on the floor around Kyo's feet. To Kyo, the "rune paste" smelled suspiciously like oyster sauce, but he said nothing.
The plan was for Kyo to remove the rosaries. If anything went amiss, or he became disoriented or panicked, the others were to use the ofuda to immobilise him, while Yuki and Cologne put the rosary back on. Kyo and Yuki tried to convince Kagura and Tohru to stay back in case something went wrong, but both insisted on being there as moral support for Kyo.
Kyo took a deep breath, and then another. His hands gripped his wrists, ready to slide the rosaries off. His teeth clenched. As long as he could remember, it had been the first rule of his existence: Do not remove the rosary. Only rejection will follow.
But that had already been proved wrong once. Acceptance had followed. And hope.
Could it be proved wrong again? There was only one way to find out. His eyes sought Tohru. She stood, holding her seal before her in both hands, her eyes fixed trustingly on him. He swallowed, and closed his eyes, before swiftly pulling his hands down and out.
The twin black and white rosaries slipped from his hands and fell in slow motion to the ground, the clatter strangely loud in the silent café.
Kyo's heart thudded once, twice…
And then the air was rent by screams.
Kyo's ruby eyes snapped open in panic, and although he tried to tell himself he should have anticipated such a reaction, pain sliced through him.
What else did I expect? Like I could escape the demon with a cat's bell.
Then he registered that the screams weren't of fear or horror.
Slowly, he raised his hands, staring at them in disbelief. They were ordinary, human hands, slightly calloused from strict training.
The screams echoing in his human ears were cries of delight. Kagura and Tohru had shrieked in joy. They clung to one another, jumping up and down, laughing and crying, before lunging at him. Kagura got there first, and Tohru wrapped her arms around them both. Yuki patted Kyo on the back, his smile blinding, before getting swept up into the group hug.
There were two Pops! And once again, a cat and a rat regarded each other through the smoke as Tohru frantically apologized.
"That reminds me." The violet eyed rat spoke up, looking to Cologne. "At the risk of sounding doubtful, how come he still turns into a cat?"
"Because nothing is ever easy for the Cat." Kyo explained gruffly. Not that he was complaining.
"From what you told me, the demon was part of the core of the curse – anchored to the cat. Now that that's been removed, the next Cat should be like any other member of the Zodiac." Cologne explained.
"It also means a complete cure for the curse may be found in time. It's a tricky one, though, with a nasty sting in the tail. Yes, most intriguing…" She continued, mostly to herself.
Tohru, her turquoise eyes shining with tears, spoke quietly for all of them.
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Are we finished?" Ranma queried. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Good. Now, about what we came here for…"
"Ranma come to take Shampoo on a date, yes?"
"Ranma! You told me you came to ask Cologne a question. Honestly –" The rest of Akane's rant was drowned out by Ukyo, who pitched her voice to carry over the other two.
"Ranma honey, why don't you come over to my intact restaurant, and I'll whip you up something to eat – I'm sure you're hungry after all this drama…"
At this point, the Sohmas, by silent agreement, beat a hasty retreat, before dazedly making their way back to Shigure's house. Kyo shook his head. Was it only the day before yesterday he had fled Shigure's house into the rain? So much had happened. So much had changed. Now he had a future. No, that wasn't right. He'd had a future. A bleak one, to match his past. Now he had a chance at a life, and something more important. He had hope. He stole a sideways look at Tohru. Like the rest of them, she was silent, but her blue green eyes were full of wonder. With Tohru and Yuki on one side, Kagura on the other, they continued home. Together. Towards the future.
A/N: If you've made it this far, I would like to thank you for taking the time to check out my story. I hope you've enjoyed the ride.
To those who have taken the trouble to review (and then return) a massive thank you – this chapter is for you.
I would also like to thank my awesome beta and sounding board, Sunny Duck.
An epilogue chapter to go, and then I'm turning my attention to other fandom projects.