A/N: Well, I probably could've been a little faster in posting this chapter (it's the last, by the way), but eh. I've had quite the flow of inspiration for other projects recently, so I figured that was a little more important, considering how quickly and suddenly the darn stuff can dry up.

The reviews. . . .

Rallalon: Heh heh, thanks for the pity review. And at this point, I think the poor Sohmas are too overwhelmed with the countless Sues to try to apply logic. Poor things.

flamethrowerqueen: It seems like every third Sue (or very rarely, Stu) I run across around here is an exchange student–usually from the U.S. It gets really old, really fast.

I remember reading a good one-shot in the section recently, but I can't remember its name. ::sweatdrop:: Sorry I can't help this time. If I find it again, I'll try to remember to e-mail you the title and author.

varyluvs321: Thanks!

Sara Jaye (x2): ::grins:: I was particularly proud of that line, though unfortunately for me, someone got to the idea of using English conjugations for Japanese verbs first (in a parody I read a few months before starting this but forgot about until I recently re-read it, heh heh heh ::biiig sweatdrop::). Oh well. It's still very fangirl-Japanese-ish.

No Gary-Stu invasion, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it). They're quite rare in the Fruits Basket fandom, so I didn't think it was worth my while to give them more than a mention.

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And I almost doubled my review count from last time! Let's see if I can do that again, hee hee!

Anyway, like I said before, this fic was a lot of fun to write. ::smiles:: I'm not sure whether or not I'll be writing anything else any time soon for this fandom, but you never know. Until the next time!

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The next day after school, Tohru waved to Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure as they waded through the Sues on their way to the main house. Because she wasn't a Sohma, Tohru wasn't invited to the general meeting, and so she decided to use the time to catch up on her housework and schoolwork. She had taken the week off her work in Momiji's father's building so she could pull her grades up; they had been slipping somewhat as she was buried beneath her other work. However, she resolved to work extra-hard during her time off and so with a cheerful smile, started mopping the kitchen floor.

Neither Yuki nor Kyo, however, were feeling particularly happy as their steps took them ever closer to House Sohma. Neither wanted to go within even a kilometre of the place, but the situation with the Mary-Sues had become nearly critical and so they were forced to return.

Several times, Shigure attempted to make some cheery comment to tease the two boys out of their abysmal moods, but each time he met with silence from Yuki or abuse from Kyo and soon stopped trying altogether and sulked instead.

So the three were not in the best of moods when they discovered a large mob of girls outside of House Sohma, trying their hardest to slip in. Kyo surveyed them with a scowl. How did that Akito expect them to visit if they had to fight off massive hoards of lusty teenage girls to get there?

"Psst!"

Kyo automatically turned his head at the sound and caught sight of Momiji, who was peeking around the corner of the wall that surrounded the Sohma property. He motioned for them to come with him and very casually the three Sohmas did so.

As soon as they had rounded the corner, Momiji stopped. "Kyo, Yuki, Shigure! Ha'ri said I had to bring you in one of the side doors because of all the girls that are blocking the main entrance. So follow me!"

With comical care, Momiji tiptoed towards the side entrance he had mentioned. He entered first, followed by Shigure, then Kyo. Yuki was just going through the door himself when a high-pitched squeal rent the still air. They had been spotted.

Twisting around to look over his shoulder, Yuki saw a growing hoard of girls make a headlong dash towards him. Hurrying through, he was just in time to slide the door shut in their faces. He locked it just in time, and the hands fumbling on the other side of the door started pounding on it instead.

"Wow, that was close, Yuki!" Momiji grinned. "Good thing you're so fast! Except now we'll need to find another way in and out . . . oh well! Now let's go! We're going to be late for the meeting, and that'd make Akito mad."

Following Momiji as he hopped, skipped, and jumped his way along, the three soon arrived in Akito's preferred meeting place. Most of the other Zodiac members were already there and making quite a fair amount of noise.

"Shigure! You're here!" Ayame greeted his cousin in a swirl of fabric. "My heart has pined for you!"

"And mine has longed for you as well." Shigure smiled, turning on the charm. "If only we could be alone. . . ." He sighed dramatically.

Yuki rolled his eyes and started to walk off, only to hear his older brother exclaim, "Dear Yuki! It's been far too long!"

"You do realise we're in the middle of an emergency situation, don't you?" It was a challenge not to grit his teeth, but Yuki managed . . . somehow.

"That means it's the perfect time to do some brotherly bonding!" Ayame clasped his hands onto Yuki's shoulders. "There's nothing like adversity to bring people together!"

Yuki shrugged off his brother's hold. "Go talk to Shigure if you want to do some 'bonding.'" He started to walk off but felt a hesitant tug on his shirt. Looking down, he saw Kisa.

"Is Sissy here?" Kisa asked him.

Yuki tried to smile. "No, I'm sorry. Miss Honda had to stay home and do her homework—she's getting a little behind in class."

"I should've known that stupid girl would be failing her courses," Hiro said as he walked up to Kisa. "What do you need her for, anyway? You've got me."

"But you're not Sissy," Kisa told him.

"So? I'm better than your 'Sissy.'" Hiro folded his arms in emphasis.

Kyo's sensitive hearing picked up the insult to Tohru. Dislodging an excited Kagura--who had clung to him the instant he entered the room--with difficulty, he stomped over to Hiro. "Shut up, you stupid brat!"

"I don't think so. I can say what I want about her," Hiro said, deliberately making his voice extra calm to further inflame Kyo.

It worked. "Why you—!"

Shigure seized hold of Kyo's collar without batting an eye. "Kyo, Hiro, the meeting's starting. You can kill each other after our business is over, mmkay?"

Fuming, Kyo stalked over to a corner of the room and plunked himself onto the floor, where Kagura joined him, much to his disgust. Hiro wandered away, acting as though it was his idea to leave in the first place, and seated himself next to Kisa.

"Thank you all for coming," Akito said without raising his voice. It was still very effective; all Sohmas ceased chattering almost instantly. "Especially you, Yuki . . . such a pleasant surprise."

Yuki shivered slightly but said nothing, choosing to stare at his feet instead.

Akito wasted no further time baiting Yuki. "As you know, we Zodiac members are in the middle of a rather troublesome situation. It appears that many strange girls have appeared in the area recently and virtually all of them are aware of our secret. There are far too many for Hatori to mind-wipe—it would take years to make all of them forget. And by then, it may be too late."

"Um . . . how so?" Ritsu asked, shrivelling slightly as several people's eyes rested on him.

"They will spread the word," Akito answered. "There is no way girls with intelligence as low as theirs could possibly keep things a secret for more than a few days."

"I don't see what the problem is," Ayame said. "Except for one or two girls, I've hardly had anyone visit." He pouted. "And it would have been so much fun to have people worshipping at my feet!"

"Hey, just a minute!" Kyo interrupted Ayame's disappointment. "How come Kureno and Rin didn't have to come and we did?"

"That brings me to my next point." Akito's eyelids fell slightly. "The whereabouts of both Kureno and Rin are unknown. However, there have been a large number of girls claiming to be either the Rooster or the Horse showing up around House Sohma."

"It seems as though the girls' appearance coincides approximately with the last time they were seen." Hatori's voice was emotionless.

Akito nodded slightly. "And there is another dimension to this problem. We seem to have many variations on the Zodiac amongst these girls as well."

Haru blinked. "I recall seeing several swans, wolves, and foxes recently."

"And I saw a real dragon today!" Momiji added. "It was so neat! Only Ha'ri had to erase her mind and everyone who saw her. It took him a really long time."

"And then, of course, there is the matter of the 'Western Zodiac' and the 'Dark Zodiac,'" Akito said. Kyo could almost hear the quotation marks around the words that Akito spoke with venom.

"Well, if anything, these lovely yet irritating high school girls certainly are creative. Even if they all seem to be sharing a brain." Shigure fingered his chin for a moment. "I don't suppose these girls have been chasing you, have they, Akito?"

A slight smirk curved Akito's lips. "Why, yes, Shigure. They have."

"I guess they don't know everything, then, do they?" Shigure grinned.

"What're you talking about?" Kyo used an expletive. "Talk about something the rest of us can understand, already!"

"Very well. Hatori, explain your theory." Akito didn't even bother to look at his personal physician.

A knock outside the door sounded before Hatori began to speak.

Anger briefly crossed Akito's face at the insult of being interrupted. However, all he said was, "Enter."

Hesitantly, Tohru walked into the room. "I'm so very sorry to interrupt, but . . . the Mary-Sues were getting to be too much for me back at home, so I thought I'd come here. I'm really very sorry for intruding. . . . If I'm too much of a bother, I can go."

"Are you out of your mind?" Kyo shouted at her. "Stay, you idiot! I'm not going to let you get hurt by those stupid girls!"

Tohru cringed at his tone. "I'm sorry. . . ."

Kyo let out his breath in a rush and looked away. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."

"Tohru, take a seat. Hatori was just about to explain his theory about the girls." Akito's voice held a tinge of near hatred to it, one that Tohru in her innocence did not pick up, but the others uncomfortably did.

Hatori gazed at each of the assembled group before speaking quietly. "I have been thinking quite hard about the appearance of these girls. I know it may well sound odd, but I can come up with no other explanation for their existence that makes sense. They seem to come from an alternate dimension, despite most of their claims of being from either this town or America. It makes me wonder if there is some limit to how many girls can cross over from their world to ours. Either they are finite, or there is a limited number of how many of these girls our world can accept. I tend to favour the latter theory, based on what we have seen of them to date."

"What will happen if too many come at once?" Kagura asked, cuddling up to Kyo for comfort.

Raising his voice above Kyo's yelps, Hatori answered, "I am not sure. However, I imagine the result will not be pleasant."

There was silence as the Sohmas considered Hatori's words. The sound of pounding footsteps broke it; all turned and looked to see a servant fling the door open and dash in.

"Akito, sir!" The man gasped for breath. "The girls have breached the wall and they're coming this way! We tried to hold them off, but there are just too many of them! And some of them have creepy powers—there's no way we can hold them off if a few of them are using magic!"

"Go back and defend the house." Akito's voice was cool. "You cannot allow them to come here."

"Right, sir!" The man turned and raced back through the door.

The faint sounds of shouting reached the group's ears. As it grew steadily louder, one by one, all save Akito rose to their feet, ready to defend themselves or die trying. Kyo and Yuki stood protectively in front of Tohru, each preparing a martial arts stance. Kagura looked as though she was trying to decide whether or not to cling to Kyo or kick some serious Sue butt, while Ritsu shrank inwards upon himself in a possible attempt to make himself disappear.

Through it all, even as the sounds of the Mary-Sues grew closer and closer, Akito sat dispassionately upon the floor. He didn't even look up as the door was flung open and shrieks and squeals cut through the still air. The first few girls began to spill into the chamber when . . .

. . . the room faded slowly to white, a soundless, intangible, all-encompassing absence of all. . . .

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Tohru hummed to herself as she pinned up the laundry on the clothesline. It was a lovely, fresh fall weekend. The morning seemed to be like all others at Shigure's house—peaceful until the other three members of the household awoke. Then things got . . . chaotic.

Smiling, Tohru reached down into the laundry basket to pick up another piece of clothing. Shaking it out and enjoying the crisp sound it made, she pinned it up on the line. She looked up at the beautiful blue sky and felt the light, fresh wind on her face, completely happy.

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Sitting at her computer, the girl let out a groan. "Oh no! Stupid comp! Why'd you have to freeze up now?"

Muttering to herself, she rebooted the machine and searched for the document she needed. However. . . .

"What? The New Girl is gone?" Frantically, she checked her Recycle Bin. Nothing. "And I was just about to have Kaze declare her love for Yuki, too! Ten chapters, allfor nothing! I must've spent at least four hours on the darn thing!"

She sat back in her chair and sighed in frustration. For a while, her attention wandered. Then an idea sprang into her head. With a satisfied smile, she pulled up a new document and started to type. . . .

. . . And the scene was repeated hundreds of times, in hundreds of differing ways, all over the world. . . .