A/N - Squee, you all make me a happy kitty. Before posting this here, I only had... one reader. Hehe. Anyway. onwards!

Forgot my disclaimer last time, so I'll put it here. This goes for the entire fic: FRUITS BASKET IS NOT MINE. No, not even Shigure... sniffle. The only people I own are Kuroi, Tharaide, Misaya, and Shiro. The last three will make their appearances sometime... >3

Freeing Kyo

Tohru's eyes widened. It was certainly Kyo-kun's distorted true form, but it was far larger and more terrible than she had remembered. Not only that, but he seemed to have no knowledge of who he was and no memory of Shigure or Tohru. The awful purple eyes narrowed and the fangs bared as the monster advanced on them.

"Kuroi must have mutated him further," murmured Shigure. "Go and rescue Yuki, quickly."

He shoved her aside just as Kyo lunged for him. Tohru hesitated. "Just go, now!" shouted the Jyuunishi dog as he dodged his cousin's attack.

Tohru dashed to Yuki's side as Kuroi remained distracted by Shigure's fight. She shook his shoulder urgently, and the boy moaned slightly. "Yuki? Yuki-kun, are you all right?" Futilely, she began pulling at some of the metal bands that bound his arms, legs, and neck.

Unfortunately for her, Kuroi had noticed. The sorceress turned slowly and strode toward them, smirking, her long black hair fanning out behind her. She gave a cruel grin, her gray eyes narrowed.

"Now what should I do with you?" she murmured. "I'm afraid your little rat friend is staying just where he is."

"Let him go," said Tohru bravely, squaring her shoulders. "What do you want him for?"

Kuroi opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a clattering sound. Someone else had just climbed down the ladder, quickly and haphazardly, and was now dashing toward them. "I believe I should give you a demonstration," said the woman then, turning to face the new arrival.

"What do you think you're doing?" screamed Akito. Tohru had never seen him in such a rage. "Yuki and Shigure belong to me! I, Akito Sohma! I'm the leader of the Jyuunishi, I'm the head of the family! And I will decide their fate!"

The sorceress raised one eyebrow. "Oh, really? I believe my authority is greater than yours in this matter, Akito."

Akito gave a cry of rage and lunged for her, but coolly Kuroi raised one arm, a ball of light forming in her palm. An enormous beam of light shot from her outstretched hand, engulfing Akito and blasting him at least ten feet across the room. Tohru gasped, and then noticed two things. As Kuroi called on this incredible power, Yuki cried out in pain and started writhing violently in his bonds. At the same time, the ring on Kuroi's right hand seemed to shine brightly. When she lowered her arms, Yuki's screams and convulsions ceased. Tohru nearly missed the ring's glow fading.

Tohru tried to piece this new information together. Kuroi smirked again. "You see? As long as I have Yuki here, I can power my own spells with his life force and with the power of his curse." The ring glimmered again.

"That's…" gasped Tohru. "That's… you're horrible!"

"Thank you," purred Kuroi. "If we're lucky, Shigure will survive his little fight… that will make twice the power I could have gained from Yuki." Her eyes narrowed further. "But what shall I do with you? Without the Sohma curse, your energy won't be strong enough to affect me." She raised a hand. "Pity, but I'll have to dispose of you."

Without even thinking, Tohru lunged at her and grabbed at her right hand. Caught by surprise, Kuroi fell backward against one of her machines. (It rather resembled a refrigerator, but Tohru was too distracted to notice this.) Not quite sure what she was doing, Tohru pulled the ring off her finger and dodged away. Kuroi stared.

"Why, you little --!" She lunged after Tohru.

The girl had to think quickly. Piecing together what she had deducted, she realized that Kuroi was probably draining Yuki with this ring. If the effect could be reversed… She slipped the ring onto Yuki's finger.

"What did you do?" screeched Kuroi, her eyes widening in rage and pain. She shuddered involuntarily, screamed, and vanished. At once, Yuki sighed and his body relaxed. His eyes opened slowly.

"Tohru?" he muttered. "Ow, my head…"

"How do I get you out of this?" said Tohru urgently, again pulling at the bands that held him in place.

"There's a lever on… the other side." Weakly Yuki waved his left hand. Tohru reached across him to pull it, and gently helped him up, trying not to transform him.

"Yuki, you have to do something," Tohru gasped, turning her attention back to the fight. Shigure was strong, but it didn't look like he stood a chance against Kyo.

"I don't think there's anything we can do," murmured Yuki, his eyes widening slightly. He leaned on Tohru heavily, limping as they moved forward. A sudden movement made him gasp in pain, and he fell to his knees, clutching his right arm. "I think it's broken," he breathed.

Tohru dropped beside him, one hand on his shoulders. "We can't just sit here doing nothing," she whispered, gazing at the struggle.

Shigure was panting with exertion. "Kyo-kun, snap out of it!" he shouted. "It's me! I'll help you transform back!"

It was worthless. Kyo only roared and swiped again with his claws, catching Shigure on his shoulder. The injured Dog jumped back, gasping with pain. He squinted up at the monster that was his cousin, trying to figure out why he was so further mutated than he had been. Finally he had it. A steel collar, tight around the creature's neck, similar to the one that had bound Yuki. It had flashed strangely when Kuroi had attacked Akito.

He threw himself at Kyo. Taken by surprise, the creature fell back, and Shigure threw his arms around his neck, pulling at the collar. The monster roared angrily, rearing up. His attacker clung desperately to the collar, wrenching at it. Kyo's claws raked his back, and he cried out with pain and exertion. The next swipe tore him loose, and he collapsed on the ground, moaning.

Shigure picked up Kyo's bracelet, the one that kept him from transforming. A plan formed in his mind. "If I can't get the collar off… maybe the bracelet will still work." But forcing it onto the flailing creature was going to be difficult. He stood up one more time, panting from the effort. "Come and get me, Kyo-kun," he gasped.

The movement caught Kyo's eye, and he resumed the attack. Shigure was ready for him. He ducked and caught at Kyo's arm. Once again pulling at the collar, he tried desperately to force the bracelet onto the creature's forearm. Kyo tried to shake him off, slashing at him and bucking back and forth. Shigure gritted his teeth and clung harder; he couldn't keep this up long.