Because I can't find another way to respond to reviews, I'll put them here.

optimistic girl94- These are all basic questions if you've read the manga. I'm sure why he's in the room has been stated thus in what's been English translated, but it should be coming around volume 11 or so. However, it is known that the Cat is locked away from all the others until his death because of the Zodiac legend and the curse. Like Kazuma's grandfather. And Akito wants all of the animals because she's God and a little touched around the edges.

reibunny- You serious? I haven't read too many Kyou-confinement stories. I don't read a whole lot of FB fic, actually. " I'm glad you like it though, I'm pretty much just making it up as I go along so I worry I'll get out of hand. He's only been in there about a month and a half or so, but he's young, this is basically his nightmare, and he's ALONE. Thanks, and again, glad you liked.

Yukako- I know! I lose things all the time, forgetting where I put them. It frustrates me so much, but just imagine if it were something that important. Heh, from what I've seen, Akito is quick to fly off the handle, but only when things don't go her way or someone talks back to her. Kyou's done a lot of that, but she's got a plan and she's confident enough in it that she doesn't need to do anything else. I wasn't expecting anymore updates either, but then I'd thought I'd posted this second part a long time ago. And had half of this third written, so during my sleep-deprived moments I wrote the rest. I've got ideas for more, so we'll see how that goes.

And thank everyone else for their feedback! It really makes my day to know that people are reading my babble and LIKING it.

Part 3

Kyou was in his usual position at the window the next day. His eyes burned and his throat ached still, but he ignored it. As he gazed at what little of the world he could see, he went through his mind as far back as he could. He brought up everything he could remember and relived it, even the memories of his mother. He didn't want to forget anything again, he'd even taken to murmuring out loud as he did. His eyes were glazed slightly and he hadn't blinked in minutes.

"-always inside, it's safe there," he murmured, his rough voice loud in the silent room. "I'm safe, Mom. I promise I'll stay safe."

My good boy.

A tiny smile touched his lips, just barely lifting up the corners of his mouth.

"I haven't heard a word from him all day," Akito frowned, standing at the end of the hallway. "He isn't dead?"

Kureno shook his head. "No, the servant that gave him his lunch said he was still alive."

"He's broken though," she insisted, nodding to herself. "He'll call for me soon. He'll see that I'm the only one he has."

Kureno stayed silent, staring down the hall to the room's door. It had always frightened him when he was younger, seeing the last cat inside and just...watching from the window. Always watching, never moving, trying to curse them.

"Let's go," Akito announced. "I'm tired of standing here."

Gratefully, Kureno nodded. He didn't want to stay in this place any longer than he had to.

"Fifty-four, fifty-five," Kyou murmured, sitting in the corner where he made his daily marks a week later. He gouged his thumbnail into the wood and dragged it down just enough to leave a visible dash next to the others. "Fifty-six. Fifty-six is a bath day."

The orange-haired boy nodded to himself. He was glad it was a bath day, all the crying had made his face grimy and the small cups of water he was given with his meals never had any liquid left over. The heat was making his room very humid as well and his futon had started to smell. It would be nice to feel clean again. He ate his breakfast quickly when it was delivered, holding the food in his hands as he leaned against the wall by his window. It was too hard to eat with chopsticks while standing and he had chosen to give up manners rather than chance missing one of the zodiac outside his window.

When he was done, he wiped his fingers carelessly against his yukata. It wouldn't matter how dirty it got today because he'd be getting his bath soon and a fresh robe afterwards. It would only be a couple hours until then. They always came before lunch, and he got to enjoy having a meal while in clean clothes and a clean room. Lunches on the seventh day were his favorite for this reason. Time passed slowly and Kyou kept his ears tuned to the hallway for the familiar plodding of three pairs of footsteps.

After what felt like forever, he finally heard something. Two pairs of footsteps were coming down the hall toward his room.

"Just two?" Kyou murmured, his voice barely even a whisper. "No, no that's not right. It's three. Where's three?"

He looked over as his door was unlocked and pulled open and frowned when he saw the old man. He was one of many that brought him his meals, and right now was carrying a lunch tray. Another man stood outside, watching him carefully as the old man set the tray down on the floor.

"Hey," Kyou called out, his voice cracking as he tried to speak louder. "Hey, where are the others?"

Both the old man and the guard looked startled that he had spoken.

"It's the fifty-sixth day," he told them. "Three guys. They're supposed to come before lunch."

The guard stepped inside and helped the shocked man out of the room, quickly closing the door and re-locking it. Neither had spoken a word of explanation.

"Hey!" Kyou yelled, turning away from the window. "Get back here!"

The footsteps faded quickly and his frown deepened. His red eyes widened and he threw himself across the room, knocking over his tray in the process, and searched his corner for the marks. They were grouped in sevens, only half an inch long and not too deep.

"There...there...one, two, three..." he counted them all. He counted them again when the number was still fifty-six. He counted them once more just to be sure and the number was still fifty-six. "Fifty-six. It's a bath day. It is! It's fifty-six!"

Three pairs of footsteps came down the hall this time and Kyou's heart leapt. Three, three was right...but one wasn't heavy enough. Like a smaller person's...

The lock rattled as it was taken off and again the door was opened. A guard came in, followed by Akito. She had a sour expression on her face but her eyes danced with something else. He pressed his back against the corner and glared back at her. What did she want with him today? He hadn't seen her in weeks.

"You're causing trouble for me, cat," she stated, taking a few steps closer to him. He merely bared his teeth in response. "You know you're not supposed to talk to the servants, and they aren't supposed to talk to you. Then you were yelling and frightened them."

"It's the fifty-sixth day," Kyou told her, sitting tensely. "Eighth week."

One of those hateful smirks appeared on her lips and she tilted her head to the side. "Stupid cat," she said softly in an almost laughing tone. "It's the fifty-fifth day. That's what you caused so much trouble over?"

Something dark and cold spread out inside Kyou's stomach. Fifty...fifth? No, it couldn't be. He had marked it.

"Then you miscounted," Akito replied, making him realize he'd said that out loud. "Stupid cat."

Without another word she turned and left, and if Kyou hadn't been staring at the marks on the wall in horrified disbelief he'd have seen the smirk on her face. The door shut, the click of the lock echoed in the room, but he wasn't listening. He'd slid to the floor, fingers tracing over the marks that had once meant so much. Now they were just scars in the wood, just as useless as he was.

Kureno stayed a step behind Akito as they left Kyou's room. A small frown marred his features and his brow was furrowed. At his sides, his fingers twitched restlessly, tugging at the material of his pant legs as he walked. Ever since that day his mind had been in shambles. Arisa...Tohru...he wondered what had happened to them. Had Hatori erased their memories? He hadn't been allowed in the room while Hatori had examined Akito, she could have ordered him to then.

The others were around though, on the Inside. He was too ashamed to look any of them in the eye anymore. They knew he wasn't one of them, but Akito still refused to let him leave. They wanted to know how, how he had been freed from the curse. How was he supposed to tell them that he didn't know? To this day he had no idea how the Bird's spirit had left him and he was forced to watch his family struggle with their own.

It wasn't until they'd left the small house and started on the path back to the gates to the Inside that Kureno gathered the courage to speak.

"Akito," he began, trying not to choke on his words. "Aren't you...aren't you being too cruel toward Kyou?"

In spite of his soft tone, the question caused Akito to stop walking and spin around to glare at him. His stomach twisted at the sight.

"You know you're not supposed to say it's name, Kureno," she hissed. "It doesn't have a name anymore, and everything I've done it deserves."

She turned on her heel and began walking again, and Kureno followed. "But...he has that whole house, you don't have to keep him in the one room. He can bathe himself, and it would give the servants some relief to be able to leave his meals inside the front door rather than having to walk through those hallways. And today, what you did wasn't right, Akito. You know he's been in there for fifty-six days, and telling him otherwise wont help anything."

"I don't want it just kept out of sight," she replied without looking back at him. Her tone was smooth and slow, carefully pronouncing each word as though trying to explain something to a toddler. "I want the Cat to depend only on me. It will get baths when I say it will, it will be fed only when I let them take it trays. The Cat has always been disobedient and everyone just lets it get away with that. They never teach it to obey."

His frown deepened as she went on. The Cat wasn't supposed to be close to God, that was his punishment. He didn't attend the banquet, didn't dance for God's approval. He was supposed to be shunned and left to rot. It was the way things had always been.

"He'll dance for me, Kureno," Akito declared in such a way you'd think she was recalling a dream. If he tilted his head he could just see the razor-sharp edge of her smile. "Just you wait."