Ch 25

"Minoru! Don't do anything rash! Just stay put! Help is on the way."

Minoru looked over from his seat, gave his friends and family a brief acknowledgment and went back to gazing out over the town. March was still cold, but brought the promise of spring with it. It had taken him months to get to this point, he couldn't back down from it now.

"It's not like I'm going to jump or anything. This is just something I have to do." he said. Trying to explain his feelings and confront his greatest fear was hard to do at the same time.

"No, you don't. Please, Minoru, come back inside." His mother pleaded again. He felt bad for her, he did, but he was serious. He was going to sit here, on the ledge of his apartment, until he wasn't afraid anymore. Then he'd try standing. It would take awhile, but if he couldn't do this, then how was he suppose to find the courage to take back what had been stolen from him.

"I'll be fine, Mom. Don't worry. You can come over and sit with me if you want. I told you, I'm not going to jump. You don't have to be all stand offish. I just want to see the world he sees. It's all I have left right now."

He turned to the group again and motioned them over. Really, staying away, huddled in fear like that. How movie cliche of them. He watched as his mother took a few tentative steps toward the ledge.

"Are you sure that's all your doing? My poor heart won't be able to take it if you die."

"I'm sure, Mom." He patted the space next to him, knowing full well she wouldn't actually sit on ledge with him. As he figured, she choose to stand near the ledge instead. He could understand, it was a long way down and she was wearing a long skirt. It would be hard to maneuver in that, even she if wasn't a little afraid of heights herself. Takeru and Mine soon joined her behind him.

"It really is a great view, isn't it?" He gave a sweeping gesture to indicate the whole of it. The city seemed stretched out in all direction as the setting sun cast red light over everything, making it all look like it was glowing. Or maybe like it was on fire.

"Have you been up here all day?" Takeru asked.

"Yep."

"You could have told me. I spent all day looking for you. Do you have any idea how worried we all were. I had to cancel my date, again, just to find you." Takeru humphed and scowled at the sunset.

"I needed some time alone."

"Yeah, but you nearly pass out on step stools. What if you had fallen? I'd be blamed for not doing anything to help my apparently suicidal best friend."

"Takeru!" Chizuru gasped at him, thoroughly upset with how he was being more concerned for his own reputation then her sons well being.

"What?" He shrugged his shoulders. "You know it's what would have happened."

"Takeru is just making light of the whole thing to hide how scared he really is. Like the time I broke my arm, remember?" Minoru interrupted his mother's coming tirade at his friend.

"Minoru, why don't we talk about this inside. Daddy is on his way here. He's not going to be happy about this. He had the police out searching for you and everything," Mine said.

"Good, I need to talk to him after this."

"It had better be to apologize for how you've scared your poor mother nearly to death, skipped school, tied up many officers on a pointless search, and I had to cancel a meeting to come here and waste my time in a police station," Ryuuji said from the doorway. He marched over to the group and glared in disapproval. "You'd better have a good explanation for all this."

"I'm quitting school. I'm going to get a job and save up enough money to go to art school and there is nothing you can do at this point to stop me." There he had said it. He blamed the numbness that had come over him for his sudden bout of courage to face his father. At around noon the overwhelming fear had started to subside and a pleasant emptiness had replaced it. He wouldn't call it true strength, not yet anyway. Though he was starting to see the beauty in being up high. The sun set was helping. It reminded him of Kyou, all orange and red and fiery. Bright and hard to ignore. It almost felt like Kyou was right there beside him and that thought made the extreme distance to the ground all the more bearable.

"What nonsense are you talking about? You'll do no such thing. Now, come down from there." Ryuuji said. He motioned Minoru over and started to turn his back on the group.

"No. I'm staying right here until I can be as strong as he needs me to be. Then I'm getting him back and we are going to live our lives the way we want. And that means following my own dreams. I'm not you, I hope one day you'll be okay with that. I'm going to art school. I'm going to be an artist."

"You'll be destitute, that's what you'll be."

"Dear, please. Not right now," Chizuru tried to interrupt. Ryuuji quieted her with a raised hand.

"Is that really what you want? Do you think you'll be happy like that? That your," he took a deep breathe and exhaled loudly. "Boyfriend," Ryuuji grit out, "will be happy like that?"

"I'll get by. I only need two things to be happy. To paint and to have Kyou with me."

"And what about him? You two are over, it's finished. Somehow his family managed to do what I couldn't and knocked some sense into you. Don't back slide now. Come down from there. We'll go inside and when your head clears,"

"Shut up! For once in your life, shut up and listen to what I'm telling you!" Minoru's loud demand cut off Ryuuji with enough force to actually make him step back. Minoru had never been so forceful before in his entire life. It felt good.

"I hate business meetings, I hate spreadsheets and graphs. I don't care about the top margin or selling products. I couldn't care less about mergers or deals. When will you get it? I will never be happy doing that. And don't you ever praise that bastard that runs the Sohma family. Do want to know how he got me to break up with Kyou? I'll tell you. He threatened Kyou. Okay? And there's not a damn thing I can do to protect him as I am now.

"I'm not leaving this ledge until I'm strong enough to protect him. To be want he needs me to be. I love him, more then I ever thought I could ever love anyone. And what he needs is for me to be strong enough to tell people like you where to shove it and to have enough guts to back it up. I can't do that if I pass out just thinking about heights. And I can't do that until I stop bending over to your will.

"I am going to art school. Maybe not the one I wanted, but I am going to one. I will make a name for myself , not you. And I will go up to that slime ball and take back my Kyou, by force if necessary! Do you understand, Father?"

The silence that followed was stunning. It seemed the whole world was waiting with bated breathe to see what happened next. Ryuuji could only stare wide eyed at his son. Minoru stood there, breathing heavily, completely unaware that he was still on the ledge and had stood at some point to begin pacing it throughout his tirade.

"I see," his father said. Was that all? I see? Minoru waited for more, watching his father try to work all of that out. Chizuru looked like she might faint and Mine and Takeru had taken up position on either side of her, just in case they needed to catch her. Minoru turned away from the scene, preferring the city scape with it's setting sun. Kyou was right, it would make a great painting. Thinking this, the anger left him and he was suddenly aware of his precarious stance on the roof ledge. Finally Ryuuji was able to collect himself enough to formulate a more detailed response.

"Why don't we finish talking about this inside? I'm willing to listen, if it really means that much to you. Maybe we can work something out that we can all be happy with. But this is not the place to discuss it. Please, Son. Come down from there."

Minoru was silent, head bowed, for the longest time. Then, "Okay, but could someone help me out. It would appear I can't move anymore."

He really shouldn't have looked down yet.

X

When Kyou had finally returned to school in late February there had been questions from teachers and students awaiting him. Those were appeased with a simple word - Pneumonia. For a while, that was enough for most of them. Then around mid March the whispering had started. This on its own didn't bother him. It was when the whispering stopped abruptly every time he entered a room that it got annoying.

He didn't know or care what they were talking about, really. They could spread whatever rumors they wanted, he just wished they weren't so obvious about it. He was still waiting for someone to confront him directly about what ever it was they were gossiping about so he'd have an idea of whether or not he should be mad. If he knew, the Rat wasn't saying anything about it. Kyou had asked Tohru, but she was just as clueless as he was.

Apparently, during his leave of absence, the other students had been bothering her until the Yankee and the Witch had put them in their places. Now they gave Tohru a wide berth in the hallways and shied away from her in class, shooting nervous glances at her friends. Tohru only seemed mildly upset by this, so he figured their classmates must have found something he hadn't thought existed. The end of her patience.

Kyou made his way down the hall towards his classroom, weaving around the random groups of students in his path. He had just made it to the door when a hand fell on his shoulder. Turning, he came face to face with a boy he didn't think he'd ever seen before.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Kyou's greeting was met with a nervous jump.

"Um, Kyou Sohma, right?" The boy asked, though Kyou could tell the boy knew he had the right person.

"Only when I have to be." The boy didn't seem to know how to respond to that. Confusion settled on his face briefly, before he gathered his courage to continue on. Kyou wondered why he was acting like he thought Kyou was going to start chewing on his arm or something.

"Um, if it's all right with you. I'd like to discuss something with you, in private," The boy said, shifting from foot to foot.

"Class is about to start, so make it quick."

"Not now, I meant at lunch or after school."

"Lunch works. What's your name and why do you need to talk to me. I don't know Yuki's measurements or his favorite food, shows, games or anything else."

"No," the boy shook his head in denial. "Nothing like that. Wait, why would I even want to know that stuff?"

"You'd be surprised what some of you people hassle me for." Kyou shrugged his shoulders and opened the classroom door. Instantly the noise on the other side stopped. He sighed in aggravation.

"So, lunch then. On the roof?" The boy asked once more before leaving.

"Yeah, sure." And Kyou left him standing out side the classroom, closing the door firmly behind him.

X

Shin Morinaga, first year, raced up the stairs to the roof, taking them two at a time. He skidded to a halt at the door and let his breathing calm down. His hand wrapped around the nob as a faint jitter coursed through him. This was going to be nerve wracking, but he had to know.

Opening the door and stepping out onto the roof , he glanced around and immediately located Kyou, who was leaning against the fencing.

"Hey, you made it. Good." He said as he approached. God, that sounded lame. And he still wasn't sure how to broach the subject.

"What was it you wanted to talk about. I haven't got all day, so make it snappy," Kyou said.

"I wanted to ask if it's true what people are saying about you," Shin began. Kyou finally looked at him briefly, then went back to staring out over the campus.

"People say a lot of things. Doesn't mean they actually know what their talking about."

"Oh," Shin said. He tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice and failed miserably.

Kyou glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and said, "I could tell you if it's true or not if I knew what they were saying. Nobody seems to have the courage to tell me what it is they are saying about me behind my back."

Shin gulped. This was bad. He didn't want to have to be the one to tell Kyou, in case it wasn't true. He didn't really know the boy personally, but he did have a reputation for having a bit of a temper. Sending a silent prayer to the heavens to protect him, he took a deep breath and plunged head on into danger.

"They say that the real reason that you were out of school was because of a break up. And that you had been with another boy." He shut his eyes and waited for the yelling and possibly the beating. It never came.

Instead, Kyou just gave a snort. "Is that all?"

"You're not mad?"

"Sort of. My personal business isn't any concern of the theirs," he gestured with his head out at the students in the yard. "If they were going to talk about anyway, I'd rather they asked me, instead of trying to pretend they aren't curious about it. Morons. It's not like it's contagious." Kyou rolled his eyes.

"You mean, it is true? You were seeing another boy?"

"Yeah, what of it? Got a problem with that?"

"No, it's not that," Shin froze up. He didn't know how to go about asking the things he wanted to know. Swallowing his nerves, he decided that the direct approach hadn't failed him yet, so he'd just give it a go. He took a deep breath and asked his question.

X

Yuki had seen Kyou head up to the roof, so figured he'd look there for him. He had finally gotten Manabe to tell him what the rumors were and felt he should let Kyou know that some of the details of his relationship with Minoru had been made public. How was anyone's guess. He certainly hadn't told anyone and Tohru hadn't. Not even Uo and Hana had known. At least, he didn't think they knew.

He was half way up the stares, when a boy nearly ran him over on his way down.

"Please excuse me?" The boy began, then seeing who it was he had collided with he looked back over his shoulder towards the roof entrance. He looked like he might cry. Yuki wondered what had happened. If Kyou was responsible for this he'd have to teach him a lesson. He couldn't have his cousin picking on the younger students.

"It's okay," the boy said. Yuki realized he was making a scary face at the roof door. "He was nice about it. And he did help me out with a few things. He's a lot nicer then people have said." He smiled, somehow happy and sad at the same time, then continued on his way.

Yuki found Kyou sitting on the roof, watching the clouds roll by.

"How do people find out about things like that?" he asked Yuki.

"I was on my way to warn you, but I guess the boy told you."

"Yep."

"What did he want?"

"To know what it was like."

"Going out with another boy?"

"Well, that was a part of it. He's confused, has a boy crush on one of his friends and doesn't know if it's real or not. He also wanted to know how two guys have sex." Kyou sat up properly as Yuki took a seat next to him.

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth, of course. And that condoms are handy as a catch all, so there's less mess, so he should still use them even though you don't have to worry about pregnancy and you know both of you are clean."

"You didn't," Yuki said, repulsed.

"He wanted to know. Would you rather I'd lied."

Yuki wasn't sure what he'd rather Kyou said. At least, he had promoted safe sex.

"He asked me out too? I told him no," Kyou added.

"Why did he do that if he has a crush on someone else?" Yuki wondered.

"Because he knows his friend is straight and he's not sure what he is. He wanted to test it out. It's not the kind of thing you do for a test. I think he just needs time to figure it out on his own. And he's not Minoru. It's no good if it's not Minoru." Kyou sounded depressed again. Yuki winced, suddenly more uncomfortable with the conversation now that it was about Minoru then when it was about man sex. Kyou perked up quickly though and stood.

"Oh well, let's go. I'm sure Tohru is wondering were we are," He said as brushed off his pants.

"Considering how we usually act when we're together, I'm sure she is also worried that we are trying to kill each other."

Kyou actually laughed at that. Yuki smiled, pleased with himself as they both made their way down to their friends in the courtyard.

X

"Is that so? How long as he been working there?"

"About a month, sir."

"I suppose I should go have a talk with him about doing things without my permission. Apparently, he stills needs to learn his lesson."

"Yes, sir."

"Is there anything else you need to tell me, or are you just planning to take up space in my room all day?"

"There is one more thing, Akito-sama. The other day one of the younger girls said she saw a girl who looked just like Kagura-sama with a young man. They were walking arm in arm down the street. I thought she was just mistaken, but this morning the young man came to pick her up and she was very, enthusiastic about greeting him. She did not change."

"Just get out!"

"Yes, sir." The older woman bowed and left, just missing the flower vase thrown at the door as she parted.

X

Takeru watched Minoru run around, searching for his keys and wallet. Really, how could his straight laced friend be such a mess. With a loud exclamation Minoru held up the missing keys and then scrambled for his wallet. If he didn't find it soon he'd miss the next train and then he'd be too late to catch Kyou at school for the day.

"I can't believe you are actually doing this. Sneaking around just to see him. Why can't you just call him and arrange for a meeting."

"I told you," Minoru said, shifting through yesterdays pants pockets, "the number was disconnected. He probably cancelled it after we broke up. I don't blame him."

"Yeah, but why can't you just call the house?"

"Because I don't trust anyone there not to tell that lunatic who runs the family. We're not suppose to have anything to do with each other on pain of being erased. Remember? If I can just have one moment alone with him I can explain everything better and maybe make plans to get him away from those people." Minoru pulled his wallet from under the bed covers and grabbed his jacket.

"Wish me luck."

"Hey, you finally got your dad to agree to let you go to art school as soon as you're finished here, that was lucky. What you need for this crazy plan is a miracle."

"You know what, I think I might have one of those coming. I don't know why, but I have a good feeling about today. Something wonderful will happen. I just know it." Minoru smiled and hurried out the door. Takeru ran a hand through his hair and looked around.

"For your sake, and his, I hope you're right Minoru," he said to the empty room.

X

Class let out and everyone who could, made a mad dash for the exist. Exams were over and soon a new school year would start. Winter was letting go it's grip on the world with the promise of a warm spring in the air. Kyou stretched his arms above his head as he accompanied the others out the door. Momiji was waiting at the entrance for them.

"Um, you guys haven't seen Haru? I looked away for one second and he vanished on me."

"Not again. I'll go look for him, but if he's left the grounds I quit. I have stuff to do today and I can't be late," Kyou said. He was going to head to the back door when Tohru ran up to him and said she'd help. Which meant he was joined by the rest of the herd as well.

The group rounded the building and were about to split up at the gym when the boy in question was spotted. Yuki dragging him over to them, looking very put out.

"Well that was quick. I'm out of here. I have to get to the café, I switched shifts today with another girl," Uo said.

"Something wicked this way comes. I'll stay to protect, Tohru-chan." Hana moved in close to Tohru as if proving her loyalty. Kyou wouldn't normally think anything of the girl's eccentricities, except he kind of had the same feeling.

The reason for the bad premonition resolved itself as the group made for the exist once more. Standing in the shadow of a winter bare tree was none other then Akito and boy, did he look unhappy. Though Kyou couldn't ever remember seeing Akito look happy, so it really wasn't a shock.

When the Sohmas came to a stand still it drew Tohru and Hana's attention to the unwanted visitor.

"Oh no. That's not good, is it?" Tohru slunk behind Hana slightly, wary from past encounters. Akito, however, had locked his malevolent gaze on Kyou and had yet to really notice the timid girl. He stalked forward and smiled viciously.

"I thought I'd tell you in person. I've decided to cancel our little deal," Akito said. It took Kyou a second longer then it really should have to figure out what the deranged man was talking about. With everything that had been going on, he'd forgotten it. Not that it mattered anymore to him, he had come up with a new strategy to gain his freedom and it didn't involve Akito's permission in the slightest. Just his savings from his new job and a plane ticket.

"That's fine. I don't need it anyway." He tried to walk away, the others edging their way around as well. Akito was having none of that and stepped up to block Kyou's path once more.

"I've also decided it's too dangerous to have you running around loose, doing as you please without consulting me. Going behind my back. Doing things without my permission. I didn't tell you could work."

"Funny thing about that. I didn't need your permission to get a job. This school doesn't prohibit students getting jobs, so I didn't even need theirs. Now get out of my way." Kyou pushed past Akito with more force then was really necessary, but he was getting angry now. He had hoped the bastard wouldn't find out about the job in the first place, that's why he'd gotten an evening shift, less chance of anyone from the main house running into him. Kagura had told him that the servants liked to get most of the shopping done in the early morning.

A surprisingly strong grip latched onto his upper arm and Akito's voice had a distinctly unhinged edge to it, making it sound higher and more girly then normal. "Don't you dare walk away from your god. You're to come with me, right now."

"I don't think so. Fuck off," Kyou said, wrenching himself out of the grip.

"Kyou, don't piss him off," Yuki's warning came too late and somehow only added fuel to the fire. Students took notice as a crazy person suddenly attacked one of their own, yelling and screaming, demanding things they didn't understand.

"Knock it off!" Kyou yelled as he barely avoided the hand making a grab for his hair. "You're making a scene." He avoided the hair pull, but not the grab for his arm. Now his left arm was firmly in Akito's grip, one so tight that the beads still adorning it were now digging painfully into his flesh.

"Let go!" Kyou said, as the broken bits of beadwork began to cut into him.

"You want a scene. Let's give them a scene. Let's show everyone what you really are!"

Kyou felt the grip change, preparing to rip the beads off. That's when the fist collided with Akito's face.

X

Minoru had made it to Kyou's school just in time for the last bell to ring. He'd waited for ten minutes, watching the students as they left, searching for that tell tale flash of orange. When it didn't show, he asked a few students on their way out if they knew where Kyou was, then headed in when that didn't get him any answers. Maybe he was just held up in the building with his friends.

Five minutes later the ruckus drew everyone's attention and Minoru was horrified to see the bane of his existence beating on his lover. For the first time in his life, Minoru was so angry he saw red. He wasn't aware of his feet moving forward, he didn't know that his arms were pushing away shocked students and he had no idea what he was doing when he balled up his fist and let fly at Akito's face.

'Make sure your wrist is in alignment with the rest of your arm and it won't cave in like that. Also, you shouldn't tighten your muscles until the moment of impact. It'll save your energy for the actual hit and you shouldn't lean out of your range.'

He felt the very satisfying moment of connection that came with a properly executed punch and was extremely pleased when Akito hit the ground, clutching his face in surprise and pain. Minoru's entire being vibrated with raw anger. Confused chattering from the gathered crowd increased, everyone wondering who the new contender was. He was brought back down to Earth by Kyou's voice.

"Minoru. What are you doing here?" There was no anger in Kyou's tone, just confusion. Minoru was grateful for that. If Kyou wasn't mad at him, that would make this a lot easier.

"How dare you! I told you to stop inferring with my family!" Akito began to shout from were he still sat, holding his face.

"Shut up!" Both Kyou and Minoru yelled at the same time. Then Kyou asked, "Why did you come back Minoru?"

Minoru stood as proud and tall as he could, placed his hands on Kyou's shoulders, pulled him close and kissed him for he was worth. The students chatter in the background instantly ceased. Kyou went ridged at first, then melted into the kiss. Minoru pulled away and stared straight into Kyou's glazed over eyes and said, loudly, for all to hear.

"Because I love you, damn it."

There was loud squealing the erupted from their audience at this announcement, but whatever Minoru had been expecting as a response, it wasn't for Kyou to cry. He had never seen that before, in all their time together. Even when everything was going wrong and he had every right to do so, Kyou hadn't cried. Kyou seemed stunned by it too. Minoru took advantage of the momentary disbelief and used his sleeve to wipe the tears away.

"Are you okay?" Minoru asked. Kyou just nodded before a tortured scream drew their attention back to Akito on the floor. A boy with white and black hair was sitting on him and Yuki was holding his arms down as Akito thrashed around on the ground.

"Don't do this to me. You can't leave! You all belong to me!" The man was screaming, tears pouring down his cheeks. The two boys restraining him looked out of it and Minoru saw that Yuki had a few tears tracks on his face too, while the other boy was hanging his head slightly. Yuki was smiling though and Minoru got the impression that the other boy was too.

"What wrong with everyone?" He asked.

"It's over," Kyou said.

"What's over?" Minoru looked around, worry starting to seep into his soul. Kyou didn't mean their relationship, did he?

"They're all gone now."

"They? You mean," Minoru looked around at the students listening in and choose his next words carefully. "That is gone. Like all of it, for good?"

Kyou nodded his head and gave Minoru the most adorable, loving smiling that Minoru has ever seen.

"Get off of me, you stupid cow! I'll make you all pay for this!" Akito's ranting cut off by a sheik of horror. Minoru and Kyou watched as the boy sitting on Akito quickly removed his hand from where it had been pushing against the crazed man's chest.

"Haru, what's wrong?" Yuki asked, as Haru stared down at his hand in disbelief, then put it back were it was and gave an experimental squeeze. This elicited another round of thrashing and screaming.

"Stop that, you idiot!"

"Boobs," Haru said.

"Huh?" was the response from several of them, including Hana and Tohru.

"Tits, tatas, melons, breasts, funbags," Haru said. Yuki looked down at the Akito who had managed to go even paler.

"You're a girl," Yuki asked in wonder.

"You know, I've dealt with a enough for today. I don't think I can handle dealing with that too," Minoru said to Kyou. "Let's get out of here." He took Kyou's hand in his and began to lead the way out, but Kyou pulled up short.

"Hold on a minute," he said, running back to his family and friends. He ran over picked something up off the ground by Akito and placed it on the woman's stomach.

"Here. I didn't need it before you tried to take it and I definitely don't need it now. I don't want a place by your side anymore and I don't think I ever really did. I'm going to live how I want to and I don't suggest you try to get in my way again," he told her. She wiggled a bit beneath her restraints and hiccuped but didn't respond otherwise. It was like the revelation of her gender had been the last straw for her and now she was as broken as the curse.

"I'll see you later Tohru," Kyou called to her as he jogged back to Minoru. Lacing their figures back together he said, "Now we can go."

The students parted a path for them and they were long gone by the time the gossiping chatter started up again. Minoru figured they would probably be the talk of the school for a long time to come. It didn't matter, he had his Kyou back, that was all he needed. Kyou on the other hand.

"I'm probably going to have to transfer schools again. There's no way I can continue there now. I'll never hear the end of it one way or the other."

"Good thing the new term is starting soon. It should be easy to get into a new school. You can even go to Kamijyou now, since you aren't taking shit from your family anymore." Minoru lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of Kyou's knuckles.

"Yeah, you're right. I think I will."

"I guess the only question left is are you going to stay at Shigure's, go back to Kazuma-dono's, or, well you could stay with my parents. They do have a big house and would welcome you. If you want? You could really start over fresh there, without having to worry about anyone from your family giving you a hard time."

"I'll have to think about it and talk it over with Shishou and your parents, but that does sound good."

"Yeah, I thought so too. By the way, I tried calling you earlier. Why did you disconnect your phone?"

"It didn't seem right to have you continue to pay for something that was at the bottom of a pond. I kind of fell through the ice in the park on the way home when you broke up with me."

Minoru froze and stared at Kyou. He'd had no idea that had happened. He shook his head to clear it, thinking, there was a long story there along with all the catching up they had to do, but they had all the time in the world for that now. And this time, he wasn't going to let anyone come between them ever again.

Author's Commentary: The end is nigh. I think I rushed it a little though. I had about a million different ways to end it, all variations on this. Some involved Akito finding out the hard way that Kyou's second curse was long gone, others had Minoru actually pulling Kyou along with him by surprise as he ran for the exist, on and on. I ended up with this one. I'm not sure if I like it or not. Maybe I should write up a bunch of alternate endings. But I also kind of want to be done with this so I can work on something new. It took me two years to write this story.

I toyed with the idea of adding a scene between Kazuma and Kyou discussing Kyou's plans to get a job and leave, but wasn't sure where to fit it in. So I guess you could call it a deleted scene, but it was never written to begin with so I can't put it up. But yeah, Kazuma knows about the plans and is in full support by this chapter. Thought I'd mention it only because someone brought it up in the reviews.

I still like the idea that the beads took on a different meaning to Kyou after that part of the curse was gone. It was more like his connection to the family, or his understanding of his place with them. His giving them up is meant to signify him no longer thinking he needs their approval to be happy. A sort of completely giving up his old life so he can move on to something better and accepting that he really does deserve that something better. I think I really could have handled it better though. Live, write, and learn.

The last line is forced too. I feel like there should be more or that the last line wasn't solid enough for an ending. Well, I suppose there is still the epilogue, but this is the real ending. Until last chapter. - Spina

A note: All junior high schools and quite a few senior high schools in Japan prohibit students getting part time jobs unless they fill out special request forms to get permission. They do this on the grounds that it would distract them from their studies. Some high schools only require that you fill out a form, some demand a very good reason for it before allowing it, like Tohru and Uo who need them because they are more or less on their own financially.

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Too Lazy: Argh, I should have checked my reviews before posting. Oh, well. That's sort of what the replace content feature is for.

Anyway. Yup, the dreams are the Cat telling Kyou it's story. Kind of like inherited memory. Kyou sees what's going on as though he was the cat at that time. That's why I went with second person for it. I hate Yuki, but I don't think he is a bad person and I think he does genuinely care about all of them. It's just hard to show it with someone as antagonistic to him as Kyou can be. But yeah, I suppose it doesn't happen that often that a fanfic portrays him that way. Kyou's smile isn't that powerful, it's just that rare. Poor Hatori wasn't expecting it. Just because Mamoru's side story with Tohru is over doesn't mean that he's not useful still to the story. - Spina