Disclaimer: You know the drill
Author's Note: wow- I love the reviews I'm getting, especially from Ayame and StrangerandCheese- even though Stranger and I both know that SHE is the walrus-runner! Well, other than that, here's the next chapter! Oh, BTW, some things in this chapter have been modeled after A Little Princess. It's my favorite book!
Also- ((weeps with joy)) I am soooooooo happyyyyyy! Thank you all so much for your unwavering support and encouragement for my little story. Plenty has happened since my last update, including my severe computer loss- hence the wait. Well, let me assure you all it will be well worth your while, and I have some really amazing things planned.
GreenCherries: thank you- glad you liked it!
Alucards girl3- Arigato! .
CX-Debater- thank you very much for your permission- but let me just give you a heads up- the quote won't come in until chapter twelve or so- just so you know. And I can't wait to read the next chapter!
Audrey Seifert- yes, I thought that, too, and some fics can be rather disappointing, but there are a few very good ones- I'm glad you consider my story one of the good ones!
Mexicanhottie101- Domo arigato!
AraelMoonchild- I love the suggestion, and I'd love to include it, but I've been sort of hesitant to include Kagura in this story….for obvious reasons…((sweatdrops))
CHAPTER EIGHT: The Rat and the Cat
Up in her attic bedroom, Jenny sighed, opening her skylight so the breeze could come in. It had been another wonderful day with the Sohmas, and she couldn't help but look forward to tomorrow. Jennifer set her alarm clock, turned off the light, and climbed into bed. However, just as she was about to shut her eyes, she heard a rustle on the roof….
:Ten minutes before, in the kitchen:
"Oh, dear, where on earth has Yuki gone?" Shigure asked, looking in the living room to find only Kyo and Tohru sitting there.
"He's probably gone to his secret base!" Tohru answered with a grin.
"Well, you see the thing is, I-" Shigure started, but a loud clap of thunder drowned his last few words out, not to mention that it surprised Tohru and Kyo half to death. Shigure continued, "I wanted to tell you all that I just saw on the news that there is a lightning storm coming fast, and to say that perhaps you should all stay inside tonight."
"Looks like it's too late for the pretty boy, then," Kyo scoffed, "Oh, well, it's not like it's a big loss, anyway."
"We have to go get him!" Tohru cried, obviously much more concerned about Yuki than Kyo was, "What if he gets hurt? We have to find him and get him back home as quickly as possible!" and with that, Tohru stood up, and ran out the door, grabbing her jacket on the way.
"Hey, wait up!" Kyo shouted, standing up also, "You can't go out there by yourself! Argh!" So Kyo ran after her, into the darkness.
It didn't take long for him to catch up to her, but the wind was blowing pretty hard, making it difficult to see and hear. Kyo grabbed Tohru by the arm and shouted over the noise, "What do you think you're doing! You're gonna get yourself killed!"
"Honda-san!"
It was Yuki who had called out, and the Prince walked over to them, his hair being whipped around his face from the blustery weather.
"You idiot!" Yuki screamed at Kyo, "What do you think you're doing taking Honda-san out here?"
"Hey it wasn't my idea!" Kyo yelled back, "It was her idea to find you, and I couldn't let her go out alone! It's your fault anyway! If you weren't here at your stupid…. your…stu…pid…"
Kyo trailed off, his gaze fixed on some point behind Yuki. Following where he was looking, Tohru realized that Kyo was staring at Yuki's garden.
"THIS IS IT?" Kyo hollered in outrage, "This is where you were? Some stupid vegetable patch? This is your 'Secret Base'?"
"So what if it is?" Yuki retorted, "It's none of your business anyway, you stupid cat. I'd rather be here in the middle of a thousand typhoons than have to sit in that house with you for ten minutes!"
"Keep talking like that," taunted Kyo, a flash of lightning dashing the sky, "but I know what a weakling you really are. Honestly- gardening? Why don't you just go ahead and start sewing already? Your brother would be so proud!"
"Be quiet!" Yuki screamed over the howl of the wind, his rage growing more and more apparent.
"JUST TRY AND MAKE ME, PRETTY BOY!" Kyo roared.
"Please, don't fight!" Tohru pleaded, trying to get their attention, but as she stepped forward, her foot caught on a tree root, sending her flying forward.
"Tohru!"
"Honda-san!"
Both boys lunged for her, to keep her from falling; both boys caught her before she hit the ground; both boys transformed, and Tohru fell down anyway, landing hard.
"Now look what you've done you stupid cat!" the rat scolded.
"ME! It's your fault for being out here anyway!"
"Don't blame me for your own ineptitude."
"SHUT UP! Don't patronize me! That's it- I'm gonna eat you right now!"
With a flash of orange fur, the cat Kyo streaked after the gray rat Yuki, chasing it down the path.
Tohru sighed, and shivered in the cold. She stood up, dusted herself off, and gathered the boys' clothes before heading back to the house.
"You stupid rodent," Kyo shouted, running as fast as he could after the rat, "I swear- once I catch you, you're done for!"
Yuki didn't answer, but instead raced faster towards the house. His tiny paws were beginning to ache, but he didn't really care as long as he could make it back home before the rain started. The only problem was, once he reached the house, he saw no way to get inside. He could hear the cat was getting closer, so Yuki quickly scrambled up some vines on the side of the house, and made his way across the roof. Spotting an open window, the rat scurried over, and dropped inside.
:End flashback:
Looking up at her sloped ceiling, Jenny could her something scurry across the roof towards her skylight, before coming inside her room, landing with a muffled >thud! on her book bag.
"What on earth…?" Jennifer mumbled, groping for the switch to the lamp on her bedside table. When she finally clicked the light on, she saw a very disoriented rat stumble from behind her bag, and she let out a gasp.
Yuki looked up, and saw Jennifer looking at him. Oh, no…I forgot this was her room, he thought, getting ready for her to scream.
But she didn't. Instead, she climbed slowly off her bed, knelt down next to him, and reached her hand out.
"It's okay," she cooed, "I won't hurt you. Come on, it's all right. You poor thing- you look hungry… Here-"-Jenny reached into a pocket of her schoolbag, and pulled out a bag of crackers-"-you want something to eat? You can have these."
But Yuki didn't move.
Jennifer sighed, "Honestly, I'm not gonna hurt you. See?" and she scooped him up in her hands. "Oh, wow, you're really shaking, aren't you? Here you go, little guy…" Jenny handed him a cracker, and Yuki took it in his paws, nibbling on it a bit. He was hungry, since he hadn't gotten the chance to eat dinner. Yuki finished the cracker within seconds, and Jenny giggled. "Gee, you really are hungry," before handing him a second cracker.
"You know, I understand why you would be scared. Rats really do get a raw deal, don't they? People always yell and scream, 'Oh, no, it's a rat!' and throw things at you, or they set out traps for you, disguised as your dinner. I would hate it people screamed, 'Oh, no, it's a Jenny!' before trying to hit me with a dustpan, or something. It's not like you even chose to be a rat, anyway. It's not your fault. I'm sure that if you had been given a choice, you would have asked to be something else. But you really didn't get a choice, did you? That's just the way you were born, wasn't it? I don't know why people get so hung up about rats, anyway. I like you just the way you are."
With that, Jennifer, lifted the little animal up to her chest, and held it close, scratching its little head.
Not again! Yuki was thinking, Maiso-san hugged me, so now it's going to take even longer for me to change back to normal!
"I always did think rats were cute, in a way," Jenny continued, setting Yuki on the ground and standing up, "But I can't keep you here. You'll have to go outside, all right? Hm…I hate to just put you back on the roof...But I'm sure Shigure-Sohma-dono and the others won't like it if I just let you run loose around the house…I guess I can just carry you outside, and let you go there."
So she scooped him up once more, holding him close to her body so the others wouldn't see ((A/N: She doesn't know that everyone else besides Shigure is outside)) and tiptoed downstairs. Sliding the back door open with her free hand, she bent down, and let Yuki out onto the porch.
"There you go, little guy. See you around!" Jennifer said before sliding the door shut.
Jenny made her way back up to her room, all ready to get back in bed. But when she opened her door, she saw that there was already someone- no, something- on it…
Damn.
That was Kyo's first thought when he saw Jennifer open the door. He had climbed in through the skylight, following the rat's scent, but he hadn't expected to see her come in. Now his second thought was- I gotta get out of here!
But Jenny swiftly shut the door, and closed the skylight, diminishing all hopes of escape.
"Another animal?" Jenny said, looking at the orange cat on her bed. "I bet you're after that rat that just came through here, aren't you? Well, I'm sorry, but that rat's not going to be your dinner tonight. You'll just have to stay here, cat-san. It's not good for animals to be out in that storm."
Almost on cue, a clap of thunder exploded outside, followed by a bright fork of lightning. Jenny crossed the room, clicked her lamp off, and climbed under the covers, sliding Kyo close to her and wrapping an arm around him before he could do anything to stop her. He started to scramble to get away, but when she scratched behind his orange ears, Kyo felt his body go limp.
"There you go," Jenny soothed, "Isn't that better?"
Kyo purred in response before he could catch himself, and he blushed when she giggled.
"I don't think Sohma-dono would mind if you just spent one night. I'll put you back out tomorrow. At least tomorrow is Saturday, so I can relax."
She paused for a minute.
"Hm- you know, it's almost as if you can understand what I'm saying. Like you're really listening. But that's silly- of course you can't understand me…But I like to think that you can.
"Have you ever felt like no one was listening? Like no matter how hard you screamed, no one could hear you? I've felt like that before. I guess that's why I like to think that you're listening- even if you are just a cat. But I don't really feel like that anymore, though- not since I've been here.
"I like living here, with Tohru and the Sohmas. I want to get to know them better. I want them to feel like they can talk to me. I want us to be friends. They're all so unique and individual, but together- they make me smile again. I hope they like me. I want them to trust me. I wish I knew how they felt, sometimes, about different things. But I suppose they each let out their feelings in their own way. Shigure Sohma-dono writes, Kyo Sohma-bocchan does martial arts, and I think Tohru is the only one who actually just says how she feels.
"I used to paint, you know. That's how I let out my feelings. That was the only way I could let them out- on canvas. My mother used to joke that I could never leave anything in my room its original color- I was always painting just about anything I could get my hands on. Maybe I'll start up again. I think I'll ask Sohma-dono tomorrow where I can get some art supplies.
"Hm- I wonder what Yuki Sohma-bocchan does to let out his emotions? Tohru- kun said he also did martial arts, but somehow I just can't picture him doing that….I can for Kyo Sohma-bocchan, though," Jenny stated letting her eyelids fall across her eyes, "He's so silly…sometimes…Kyo Soh……ma-bocchan…"
And with that, she drifted peacefully off to sleep.
Author's note: Awwww! Isn't that ADORABLE? well- As always, review, send in ideas, and keep hassling me to keep the story going, or I'll never remember! Until next time- this is Que montgomery, signing off.