Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Deeper Kyo nor Fruits Basket.

VI

Akira sat on the porch listening to the rain fall outside. "Seems like the rain is pouring again." It was days like these that made him feel depressed. The gloomy atmosphere made him think of his childhood memories, if you could call them that. He was always recognized as the different one, even though "outsiders," as the Mibu referred to the people not afflicted with the curse, didn't know about his transformation into a member of the zodiac. Even his own mother did her best to hide the fact that he was different, mostly from herself.

Akira sighed, as the moments flowed through him, causing his body to shiver at times whenever a painful memory was reviewed. Her eyes...she never looked at me with her eyes. It was as if, I didn't exist. He slouched slightly, becoming enveloped in the pain. That is why... His hand raised to his left eye and cupped it. I felt no need for mine. He dropped his hand and a smirk slowly formed on his face. "If my own mother never acknowledged me..." He glanced in the direction where Kyo had run. "...then why could she?"

Yuya led Kyo to an old apartment building in a small, well-kept neighborhood. He looked around taking in his surroundings, something he never really did until now. He began to truly notice how different her world was from his. He was always kept confined until his Master took him in. Since then, he did as much wandering as he could, enjoying his freedom while it lasted.

"Kyo?" Kyo blinked, realizing his thoughts drifting and nodded, following her up the stairs and to her door. "Hmm..." Yuya searched for her key, rummaging through her bag that contained just about everything in it.

"How much stuff do you need?" He snatched her bag away from her, receiving a slight squeal of a complaint from Yuya. Here's the fun part. Kyo reached in and pulled out a blue, plush bear wearing a tie. He raised his eyebrow at Yuya and realizing it was important to her he shook his head, handing it to her. Or, that's what anyone else would have done. Instead as she was about to grab it he snatched it away from her and held it above her head.

"H-hey! Give it back!" She began jumping helplessly. His reach is too high! What a jerk! Why did I invite him to come over again? "Hey! You better give that back! Or else..."

"Or else what?" Kyo leaned forward, extremely close to Yuya's face, causing Yuya to blush slightly.

"Or else...uh..."

"Can't back it up now, can you?" Kyo smirked, and wanting to know what else was in her bag he decided to hand it to her, for real, this time.

"Y-you jerk..." She squeezed the bear close to her, her eyes nearly forming tears.

Kyo raised his eyebrow, but was too interested in the contents of the bag to really question to her clingy actions towards a damn, plush bear. He reached in once again and pulled out her wallet. Deciding there was probably more interesting stuff inside of her wallet, he slid down the side of the wall coming to his normal sitting position of one leg lying lazily on the floor, and the other ready to jump up at any given moment. As he began to unzip the leather case Yuya immediately snatched it out of his hands. "Geez. Clingy about your stuff, aren't you?" He smirked, exposing one of his sharp fangs.

"Y-you really know how to find your way to someone's nerves!" Yuya snatched her bag and rummaged some more, finally coming to her keys. She then shoved her beloved bear and her wallet back where they belonged and stood up abruptly. "I'll be fine here." A click sound was made as she unlocked her door. She slowly pushed it open, "Thank you. For walking me home."

"You forget why I followed you here." He turned his head towards her, his bangs flowing in front of his face, little beads of water dripping down his crimson strands.

The expression on Yuya's face darkened, she tried to hold her emotions in as much as she could as she spoke to him, but her voice sounded like it was cracking. "L-let's leave that for some other time." With that, Yuya stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind her. She locked the door then slid down, legs collapsing onto the floor. Tears flowed endlessly on her face as she stared into the dark, lonely room that she called home. God... She nearly choked from her partial sobs. Why do I always come home like this?

Kyo could her her strained crying from the other side of the wall. Is she always like this? He rested his head on he stucco behind him, closing his eyes and listening to the rain for a while. He sat there for a while, just staring at nothing, listening to nothing, and thinking of nothing, when he finally drifted to sleep.

A girl with frosty coloured hair stood in the rain, looking up at the pitch black sky with no trace of a single star. The drops splashed on her face as she simply stood still, her mind thinking of nothing whatsoever. She felt empty, and her bruises ached from the beating she just received from the head of the Mibu. She wanted freedom, but didn't know where to look. She had no place to call home anymore. She felt unwelcome wherever she went. She was a member of the zodiac, and like most members their parents were either too distant or, like hers, too protective. "Home" was the last place she needed to be right now. She just wanted to be alone.

Alone. That word resounded in her head constantly, causing a slight pain in her skull. We're all alone...every one of us. That is perhaps, the worst curse of all.

Her icy orbs glistened in the cold rain. She shut them, then tried to warm herself up. Her efforts proved in vain, however, as the rain wouldn't stop pouring, taking away more and more of her body heat. Too cold... She cursed herself for being so stupid, she fell, transforming into a beautiful white mare. The rain continued to pour, drowning away her consciousness.

Author's Note:

Alright. Can anyone guess who the horse is:) I dunno...I couldn't decide who the horse would be exactly. Rin is a very mysterious character who is also very violent. So I couldn't choose any other person...without it being male. : I wanted to keep the male/female ratio somewhat even too.

More characters will be introduced next chapter. I promise. And though it looks Kyo x Yuya right now, it might not turn out that way. We'll see. ;