Author's Note: Hi! Uh… Did you like the last chapter? Hope you did!

Title: Neko to Inoshishi

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some spoilers, I guess. I'll try not to have too many specific ones, though.

Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who's always wanted him, Kagura.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket… darn…

Setting: This story takes place after episode 26.

*** = setting change

italics = emphasis

italics = thoughts

~New Developments~

Six days after that day was Sunday, which meant that there was no school. Kagura had a proper bed now, so she didn't try to sneak into Kyo's room anymore, much to Kyo's relief. However, Tohru's room was getting crowded.

That day, Kagura decided that she wanted to go to the park. So, she put on her favorite green dress, brushed her shoulder-length dark hair, and grabbed her cat backpack. Then she went in search of Kyo. Again.

"Kyo-kun!" she called. "Kyo-kun, where are you?" She rushed down the stairs, bumping into Tohru. "Oh! Tohru-kun, do you want to go to the park with me? We can invite Yun-chan and Kyo-kun!"

Tohru smiled. "That would be nice. Thank you for inviting me."

Kagura grinned, then resumed her search for Kyo.

***

Yuki listened to Kagura's request. "The park?" He glanced at Tohru.

"Yuki-kun, it'll be fun!" Tohru said. "You should go! Unless you have something more important to do, in which case you shouldn't go. You should take care of your own matters first and—"

"Honda-san, I would love to go." Yuki smiled. Tohru was always concerned about other people. "I'll go," he said, turning back to his cousin.

Kagura cheered. "Yay! Kyo-kun? Will you come?" She looked at the orange-haired boy expectantly. "You must come," she said, going into scary-Kagura mode.

Kyo made a face, then grudgingly said yes. Besides, he didn't really want to let Yuki and Tohru be together if he couldn't keep an eye on them.

***

Shigure declined Kagura's offer, saying that he was busy working on his new novel.

Kyo, Kagura, Yuki, and Tohru headed to the park. Kagura pulled Kyo past several picnic tables, a water fountain, and a screaming child. Kyo kept glancing back at Yuki and Tohru to see what was going on. Tohru seemed to be having a good time walking next to Yuki, which Kyo didn't like at all.

"Kyo-kun, are you listening?"

Kyo looked at Kagura. "What?" he snapped.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"No."

Kagura's face fell. "Kyo-kun, you have to pay attention!" She looked forward and noticed something. "Swings!" She ran toward the playground at full speed, dragging Kyo with her. She sat down on the third of the four swings. "Kyo-kun, push me!"

Kyo really wanted to push her, and not in the nice way. But, of course, he couldn't do that to Kagura, who would most likely beat him to a pulp if he did push her in a bad way. So, he stood behind her and pushed her as needed on the swing.

Tohru and Yuki finally caught up to them. Tohru was excited since she hadn't been on swings since she was little. She sat down on the swing next to Kagura's and started swinging by herself. Yuki, who had nothing else to do, seated himself on the swing on the other side of Tohru. He swung his feet a little, but he wasn't swinging with youthful exuberance, like the girls were.

Kyo decided that if he pushed Kagura any more, his arms would fall off and she would end up swinging over the bar and hitting him on the way down, so he stopped. He sat down on the last available swing, just watching Tohru and Kagura have fun. Well, he was mostly watching Tohru, but since Kagura was on the swing closer to him, his view of Tohru was blocked every once in a while. 

Kagura was having lots of fun. Playing on the swings was fun, even if they were a bit small for people her age. She pumped her legs, letting herself go higher and higher. This was so much fun! She looked to her left and noticed Kyo just sitting on his swing, not playing or anything. "Kyo-kun, come on!" She kept going higher and higher—and suddenly she wasn't on the swing anymore! She was flying through the air. "Aaaah!" she screamed as she flew off her swing. She dropped toward the ground, expecting to hit the ground. Instead, she fell onto something that was somewhat hard, but not as hard as the ground was.

Kyo groaned. Why had he tried to break Kagura's fall? She wasn't that heavy, but she still wasn't the lightest thing in the world. "Kagura, get off me."

Kagura jumped up. "Oh, Kyo-kun, you saved me!"

Tohru and Yuki came running up to the two of them. "Kagura-san, are you all right?" Tohru asked, worried.

Kagura nodded. "I'm fine."

Kyo stood up. Kagura smiled gratefully and gave him a hug.

"Kagura, let go of me!" Kyo yelled. He tried to push her away.

Kagura let go of Kyo. Tohru said suddenly, "Kagura-san! Your elbow!"

"Hmm?" Kagura looked at her right elbow. She had scraped it.

Tohru moved forward to see if Kagura had gotten any more injuries. She didn't notice that Kyo was looking at her—but Kagura did.

Why was Kyo looking at Tohru like that? Maybe Kyo's relationship with Yuki wasn't the only one that was changing. Kagura wasn't as happy about this development as she had been about the news that Yuki and Kyo were getting along better.

***

Kyo was in a tree. Why? He wanted to get away from Kagura for a minute. Kagura was all right when she wasn't being too obsessive. Of course, that was when she wasn't around Kyo, so Kyo didn't see the good side of her too much.

Kagura, Tohru, and Yuki were sitting on the grass underneath the tree branch that Kyo was sitting on. Kagura was playing with Tohru's hair, asking Yuki every once in a while if Tohru looked nicer this way or that way. Yuki became slightly bashful as he gave his comments.

"Kyo-kun, come down here! Does Tohru-kun look better like this?" Kagura yelled up to him.

"I don't want to come down! And why should I care if she looks better with a different hairstyle?" Kyo answered, annoyed.

"It was just a question!"

"It was a stupid question!"

Suddenly, Kyo wasn't the only person in the tree. Apparently, Kagura could climb when she was in her angry mode. "Kyo-kun, take that back!" she said, pounding on Kyo repeatedly.

"Ow! No!"

"My questions aren't stupid! And you shouldn't just dismiss Tohru-kun like that!"

On the ground, Tohru was getting distressed. "Kagura-san, it's all right! It's not really a big deal!" She turned to Yuki. "Yuki-kun, they're going to fall out of the tree! What do I do? What do I do?"

"Ah! Stop!"

Yuki just watched Kagura beat up Kyo several feet above their heads. A few minutes later, one of them fell out of the tree.

Kyo lay on the ground in pain. "This is what I get for saving that crazy girl's life," he muttered to himself.

Tohru rushed over to him. "Kyo-kun, are you all right?"

It seems she was a bit overzealous in her attempt to help her friend, because she got too close—meaning Kyo turned into a cat. Tohru panicked and looked around, trying to see if anyone had seen Kyo's transformation.

Kagura climbed down the tree and ran over to where Kyo was lying. "Kyo-kun, I'm so sorry! It was an accident!" She picked up feline Kyo and said, "Maybe we should go now."

"I think that would be for the best," Yuki said, somewhat amused at how a seemingly harmless trip to the park had turned out.

***

Tohru had just finished putting bandages on Kyo. "Kyo-kun, I hope you'll be okay."

"I'm fine," replied Kyo. "It doesn't hurt that much."

Shigure entered the room with Kagura following close behind. "Kyo-kun, how did you fall out of a tree?" he asked innocently. Kagura had only told him that Kyo had injured himself by falling out of a tree.

Kyo glared at Shigure and Kagura. "It was her fault," he said.

Kagura looked pained. "I'm sorry, Kyo-kun! I got a little angry and…" She sighed.

Kyo looked away.

Tohru blinked. "Kyo-kun, don't be mad at Kagura-san! She was just trying to help me! You're not angry, are you, Kyo-kun?"

Kyo looked up into Tohru's big blue eyes. No, he said silently. Not at you. Aloud, though, he said nothing. He just brushed past Kagura and went up to his room.

***

Kagura had been living in Shigure's house for over a month now. Every morning, she went downstairs and ate breakfast. And everyday, she saw Kyo looking at Tohru in a way that he had never done with her.

Kagura was jealous of Tohru. She didn't hate her or anything. Tohru was her friend. And she didn't hate Kyo either—Kagura could never hate Kyo. But it hurt. Kagura had always loved Kyo. She accepted him for who and what he was from the beginning. So why was Tohru the only one who could tame him?

So every morning, Kagura saw a bright Tohru, a humorous Shigure, a sleepy Yuki, and an indifferent Kyo. And she knew that when Kyo fought with Yuki, he wasn't just fighting to be accepted in the family. He was also fighting with Yuki for Tohru.

Why can't he just be happy with me? I want him. I love him. I understand him. I know him in a way that Tohru-kun doesn't. No matter how well she thinks she understands, she will never really know what it is like to be part of the Jyuunishi. I'm sorry, Kyo-kun. I'm sorry I'm not the one you want to help you.

But Kagura continued to smile and act the same way she always had around Kyo. There was still that little shred of hope left, after all.

"Kagura, are you okay?"

Kagura looked at Shigure. They were sitting at the table, enjoying the wonderful breakfast that Tohru had made. "I'm fine, Shii-chan." She smiled. "How's your new novel?"

Shigure grinned. "I'm almost finished. I hope it's good," he said. "Mit-chan will be coming over tomorrow to check on it."

Yuki and Kyo sweatdropped. Poor Mit-chan. She had to deal with Shigure's tricks all the time. Why didn't she just quit? Shigure was not the best person in the world to work with.

***

It was raining. Kyo didn't like the rain. He and Kagura were in the house alone, since Yuki and Tohru had gone to visit Ayame, Yuki's brother (under threat of having embarrassing stories told about him), and Shigure had gone to visit Hatori. Speaking of Shigure, Mit-chan had come over the previous day. After four hours of Shigure-caused stress, she finally got the draft for Shigure's new novel.

Kyo was sitting on the porch, staring moodily out into the rain. Kagura slid the door open and leaned against the doorjamb, watching him. "Kyo-kun?"

"What do you want?"

Kagura was not put off by Kyo's attitude. She knew how he was when it was raining. "I made you some tea," she said, moving forward and handing him a cup. She sat down next to him. "What is it?" she asked, sensing that Kyo was thinking about something.

"I miss—" Kyo stopped. "Never mind."

"What?" Kagura asked, interested. "What do you miss?"

Kyo hesitated. "Shishou. I miss him." He lifted the cup of tea to his lips.

"Me too," Kagura replied. She leaned toward him, trying to see his face. "I think you miss him more than I do, though." She sat there with him for a few minutes, not saying anything. Then she said, "Do you remember when we were little?"

"What about it?" Kyo glanced at her.

"You used to call me 'Kagura nee-chan'," she said in a reminiscent tone.

"So?"

"Nothing." Kagura smiled. "How do you think Yun-chan and Tohru-kun are doing with Aya-chan?" she asked.

Kyo made a face. "Why should I care what that kuso nezumi is doing?" he said loudly. "And his brother isn't any better."

"Well, what about Tohru-kun?"

"What about her?" Kyo asked snappishly.

"Do you care about what she's doing?"

Kyo stood up. "No," he said unconvincingly. "Why are you asking me all these questions?" he asked, irritated. "It's annoying." He went into the house.

Kagura finished her tea, watching the raindrops hit the ground. Then she got up and went into the house.

***

It was nighttime of the next day. Kyo had put off studying because the rain had stopped him from concentrating. But now the rain had stopped. Kyo was sitting in front of his desk, reading a passage from his textbook.

"How do you feel about her?"

Kyo looked up from his studying. Kagura was standing in the doorway. "Eh?" Kyo said.

"How do you feel about her?" Kagura repeated.

"Who?"

"Tohru-kun."

Kyo put down his pencil. "Why?"

"I need to know."

"Why do you need to know?"

"Just tell me!" Kagura looked very upset.

Kyo sighed. "Fine. Close the door."

Kagura slid the door closed, then sat down in front of Kyo. "Do you love her?"

"I—I don't know." Kyo's reddish-brown gaze moved away from Kagura's face.

"Do you love me?"

Kyo stared at her, surprised. "No!"

Kagura looked downcast. "Kyo-kun, you really don't love me? At all?"

Kyo sighed. "Maybe just a little… You are part of my family, after all."

Kyo wasn't saying anything that Kagura didn't already know. Kagura covered his hand with hers. Her fingers brushed against Kyo's bracelet. "Kyo-kun, tell me how you really feel about Tohru-kun."

"I don't know. She—she's the only one who's ever really cared about me. She accepts me and my curse. She—she always says what I want to hear." Kyo couldn't quite look at Kagura. "She doesn't think I'm just a stupid cat."

"Do you—"

"I want to be with her. I feel better when I'm around her. It feels weird when she's not around."

"I accept you, Kyo-kun. I always have and I always will. I don't think you're a stupid cat." Kagura looked at him sadly.

"I know, but—" Kyo hesitated. "It's not the same, Kagura."

Kagura bit her lip. "Kyo-kun, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that I beat you up all the time. I don't mean to. I'm trying to stop, I really am. I want you to be happy."

Kagura wasn't making any sense. Kyo was confused. "Kagura, what are you trying to say? What do you want to know?"

"Do you love her?"

Kyo didn't answer.

Kagura put her hand under his chin and positioned his face so she could see his chestnut-colored eyes. "Kyo-kun, tell me the truth. Do you love her?" Her voice was soft and steady.

"I think I do," Kyo answered.

Kagura took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, rather impassively. She stood up and turned to leave, then turned back. "Can I—can I have a hug?"

Kyo got up slowly and put his arms around her. Kagura returned the embrace. A minute later, she pulled away from Kyo and left the room before he could see the tears in her eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: Ah! So sad! Sorry about the out-of-characterness! It's weird… I'll try harder next chapter… I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. Review?