Disclaimer: The people you know, they're not mine. Those that you don't know, they're mine.

Time Setting: sigh After reading the translations and watching the anime, I'm confused. Let's just say that this is an AU fanfic that happens before the summer at the beach house and Tohru had not met with Akito before then.

Author's Note (1): My japanese sucks. I'll try to keep it to a minimum. Plus, I may get confused with the honorifics. I just hope I got them all right. f not, I hope some of you will let me know.

Author's Note (2): It's been quite some time since I've watched and kept up with the series and summaries and I've found out some surprising things since then. So to avoid all confusion, this takes place just before they graduate and everything that happens before they go off to the summer beach house remains the same. After that, I'll make everything AU and do it, as Frank Sinatra says, my way. Why? Because this fic slapped me on the head along with every other fic all at once and now I have a bunch of incomplete fics that are screaming for attention. Anyway, please enjoy!

Chapter 1: Lost in the Forest

"Ano-I'm sorry-I do not understand," Tohru whispered as her eyes started to tear. "Kyo-kun, I don't understand-why-why can't you-"

"Because I can't!" Kyo couldn't look at Tohru as he punched the ground near his feet. He didn't want her to hear this- didn't want her to know. He deliberately ran into the woods to prevent her from following him. But as usual, she never left him alone when he was like this. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. She wasn't supposed to know. "Go away! I don't-"

"No! I don't want to go away!" Tohru cried as she grabbed his arm. "Please-I want to understand… why can't I visit you when you go to the dojo after we graduate? Why aren't you going to live with us at Shigure's house?"

"Because I have to be caged at the end of the school year!" Kyo shouted at her, letting her see his fear, anger and frustration. He turned away from her and punched the nearest tree. "That…those were the terms that I made with Akito-san. To be caged at the end of senior year…to be caged at the end of graduation…that damn it!"

"Then unmake them!" Tohru said simply as she tried to grasp what Kyo was telling her.

"Unmake the terms? Are you stupid?" Kyo laughed hollowly. "No one unmakes terms with Akito-san. Not especially the Cat. And I was so close in beating him. So close in being a part of the Zodiac finally."

Tohru blinked at Kyo as his actions and words started to filter through her mind. "You mean that you- if you beat Sohma-kun, then Akito-san will finally let you be a part of the Zodiac?"

"Yes," Kyo cried out in anguish. "Damn that Rat!"

"You stupid Cat!" hissed a voiced from behind the two. Tohru and Kyo's head snapped up to see Yuki standing with his fists clenched and looking at them furiously. Shigure and Hatori stood behind Yuki, stunned looks on their faces. "You stupid Cat! Only you would try to make a deal with the devil and win!"

Fury filled Yuki as he thought about his unintentional involvement with Kyo's deal with Akito. "You used me! I left Sohma House to get away from this abuse! But you used me for your own damn purposes! All because you're too stupid to realize that being part of the Zodiac means nothing but pain! Nothing but fear! You stupid Cat!"

"You damn Rat!" Kyo shouted as he sprung to his feet. "You have no idea what it's like to be the Cat! To be the outsider! To be me! If I could have beaten you in one race-one contest- anything-then Akito would have been forced to accept me into the Zodiac! But- but no, because the RAT is considered special-"

Kyo raised his fists and threw his punch at Yuki who side-stepped him. "But because the Rat was so selfish-that-"

"Kyo! Stop it!" Shigure shouted as he tried to reach the angry cat. But Kyo easily evaded the wily dog. "You have to stop fighting-you're going to hurt yourself!"

Kyo swung to look at Shigure, his eyes filled with endless despair. "It doesn't matter! I'd rather die first! I won't be put in a cage for the rest of my life! I won't just because-"

"All because of the RAT," Kyo spat as he lunged towards Yuki again. He snarled as Yuki blocked his attack and knocked him away, but instead of landing on his back, Kyo landed on his feet, ready to attack again. "Akito gave me more time- more time for the pathetic Cat- more time was given- more time to beat him! Because the Cat is lower that the Rat! Because the Rat is special!"

"I never asked to be the Rat!" Yuki hollered back as he easily evaded Kyo's punch and countered with one of his own, sending the stupid cat flying again. He threw himself after the hated Cat but felt himself caught. "I never wanted to be a part of this curse or the Zodiac! Damn Cat! I want to be normal!"

"Yuki, stop it!" Tohru cried as she stared at him. She looked at Kyo as he got up from his feet. "Kyo, stop-"

"I'm special too!" Kyo shouted as he lunged towards Yuki who was being held back by Hatori. He felt himself held back and struggled to get free, but couldn't. He felt the fight start to leave him and suddenly he was free. He fell to his knees. "I'm special too. Akito-"

"Stupid! Akito doesn't care about us!" Yuki screamed back. He felt the fight go out of him as well. "He only cares about his sick games. Let me go Hatori." Yuki fell to his knees. "I'm so tired of this."

Tohru looked at Yuki and Kyo as she fell to her knees. How had it all had gone so wrong? How had it become like this? "No, this can't be…"

Kyo lifted his head to look at her then looked away. "But it is. Akito knew that I would to Yuki- that I would always lose to the Rat. And the Cat shall always be caged until death..."

"Kyo," Tohru whispered as she touched his face. She saw him look at her then bury his face into her palm. "Oh, Kyo."

"So now we know why Kyo was challenging Yuki all this time," Shigure said as he looked tiredly at Hatori. "He's been trying to get a place in the Zodiac by trying to beat Yuki. Akito promised him that."

"I don't understand," Tohru said as she looked at Shigure. "Why? Why did Akito-"

"Because he is Akito," Shigure said as he looked at Tohru. His face was filled with sadness and anger. His face turned into a look of disgust. "And because the Cat has always been…caged. We're ordered to live in the main house and the Cat is…caged. But it just seems that Akito- Akito was-"

"Akito playing puppet master again," Hatori said tiredly as he looked at the two boys. A look of sadness came to his solemn face and then it was gone. Tohru could feel the anger hiding behind Hatori's calm voice. "He knew that Kyo would never tell us the reason why he was picking a fight with Yuki and he knew that Yuki would never think of anything about the fights between him and Kyo. Yuki would just chalk it up to the age old grudge."

Shigure look down at the silent Kyo who still had his face buried in Tohru's hands. He looked at Hatori, his face unusually serious. "And Akito knowing that Kyo could not beat Yuki in a fight- Akito was just entertaining himself with Kyo's struggles."

"This is wrong! This is all wrong," Tohru said as she looked at the older men. Tears streamed down her eyes. She stroked Kyo's head in comfort. "Yuki is special and so is Kyo. Both are different bit and both are still special. Why does it have to be this way? Why? Why can't they just allow the cat in? Why does Akito-san-"

"We don't know why Akito does whatever he does," Hatori said as he looked at Tohru. "He simply orders…and we obey. He's the Head of the Sohmas. It's always been that way."

"But it's wrong," Tohru protested. "To promise this- it's too mean!"

"Akito orders and we're just like his puppets, like Hatori said," Yuki said bitterly as he looked at Tohru. He lifted his head to look at her and saw her reach out to him. Painfully he crawled towards her. "We eat, drink, laugh and cry. We're human- but we're still treated like puppets- his toys to play with…his toys to abuse."

"Oh, Sohma-kun," Tohru whispered as he laid his head on her lap. Tears streamed down her eyes as she stroked his soft hair.

"Yes, it is too mean, Tohru," Shigure agreed ignoring Yuki. "Akito never gave Kyo a fair chance at winning."

"And there's nothing that we can do about it," Hatori said as he looked at the two boys laying their heads down on Tohru's lap. He looked away from Tohru's tear stained face. "No one dares to go against Akito- no one dares to gamble against Akito… those that do… let's just say that they learn to regret it later on."

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