Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket: the manga, anime, characters, settings, situations, etc. But wouldn't it be cool if I did?

Authors Note: Alright, I would have gotten this update posted sooner, however, my computer crashed Wednesday night, so I had to wait until today for it to be completely pretty again. So, now that I have my lame excuse out of the way, on to the new chapter!

Book of the Cat

Chapter 10

That cold shiver...

Kyo walked to a little spot in the forest. He rested against a tree and flexed his fingers. They hurt like hell. 'Stupid window,' Kyo thought.

A cloud passed over the sun, and Kyo's surroundings instantly darkened. The forest suddenly seemed more alive than ever before. The wind ripped through the trees and he heard the whisper of his name.

A clap of thunder sounded. Kyo looked around wildly. There was no rain in the forecast for today. Despite the clear skies five minutes ago, it poured. It was as if the skies contained an ocean that they now decided to spill.

Then the pain hit like a truck in a car accident. The headache slammed into him full force, causing his eyes to roll back and his body to seize up. With no one to help him, Kyo blacked out.

Down your spine...

When Kyo woke up he could tell that it was night again. He had been unconscious all day. He sat up and noticed that the rain was now only a fine mist. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. He had to get home, Tohru was probably freaking out. Just as Kyo stood up, a rustle to his left caught his attention. He turned, trying to identify the culprit.

In the inky black darkness, very little was visible. The trees obscured most of the moonlight. The little slivers of light that the moon seemed to provide through the clouds only gave everything an eerie shadow.

Despite the lack of light, every sound could be heard. Kyo took a defensive stance as he heard a twig snap, bracing himself for whatever was approaching.

From behind the bush, a little boy walked out. He didn't walk directly at Kyo; he walked right across Kyo's path. He didn't even acknowledge Kyo was there. Around the child was an old, silver glow. It was very faint, but enough to illuminate the boy so that Kyo could see him. The boy stopped in front of Kyo. His left side was the only part Kyo could see as the boy stared off into the trees. An odd, evil sort of grin came over the boy's face.

"He wants you."

"What? Who does?" Kyo stayed in his stance, he didn't trust anything right now. The boy turned to face him. Kyo gasped.

A creature had clearly mauled the right side of his face. Long gashes removed parts of his head, revealing stuff that Kyo never wanted to see. The boy only grinned at Kyo's frightened expression.

"The Cat."

Kyo tried to jump back and run away, but the boy grabbed Kyo's injured hand. He squeezed it hard and Kyo had to try as hard as he could not to scream. For a little boy, he had an inhumane strength. He tugged Kyo along with his sadistic grin.

"He's waiting."

Kyo tried as hard as he could to escape, but years of martial arts training could not remove his hand from this boy's cold, clammy grasp.

"Let go!" He shouted, but the boy only squeezed tighter. He led Kyo onto the edge of a small clearing. Several giant oak trees grew in a circle around the grassy area. The wind moved the branches of the trees from side to side. Kyo closed his eyes as a strong stench filled his nose. It smelled of rotting flesh and decay. He felt the boy's cold hand and the slight mist that still remained from the downpour. Something dripped onto his shoulder. Kyo knew it was not a raindrop because the mist was still too light. Besides, this drop felt… different. Kyo opened his eyes and brought his free hand up to his shoulder. It came away sticky and covered in red. Blood. Kyo flung his head up and stumbled back from the sight.

The trees groaned as their branches held dozens of bodies hanging by their necks. The moans of agony still escaped from their mouths as the wind rocked their corpses back and forth. Thin sprinkles of blood showered down ever so slightly. An entire village, massacred.

Kyo turned on his heel. "I'm getting out of here!" He tried to push the boy away, but the boy pulled down hard on Kyo's hand. He bent the hand back and a crack resounded through the clearing as Kyo's wrist broke. Pain seared from Kyo's fingertips to his shoulder. The boy, using superhuman strength, flung Kyo to the center of the clearing. Kyo landed with his body pressed on the cold, moist grass. The boy stood at the edge of the clearing, careful not to step foot on the dark grass. His grin contorted his face, making his injuries look even more gruesome. His quiet voice floated over Kyo's whimpers.

"He's here."

Kyo felt sweat build up on his forehead. He turned his head to the opposite end of the clearing. From the darkness of the forest, a creature stirred. The bushes were pushed aside, and the true form of the Cat stepped forward. It growled down at Kyo's shivering form.

As if in protest, the wind picked up. The bodies hit against the trees. 'Get Away'

The rain picked up, drowning out the moans. The Cat approached Kyo and traced a sharp claw along Kyo's cheek. Kyo's frame shook even more. He had always figured that as a monster he looked frightening, but this was beyond Kyo's original thoughts. This was purely terrifying.

"Hello, my faithful servant." Kyo was silent as the creature addressed him. Kyo pulled his hand closer to his chest. "We finally meet in person. In flesh and blood."

Kyo found his voice. "What do you want?"

The creature grinned, and his claws scratched Kyo's cheek, drawing the slightest bit of blood.

"It's time to discuss your end of the deal." Kyo's face hardened, but the creature continued. "For days, I have been there for you, giving you your dream. Now it is time to make my dreams come true as well as the dream of all the Cats. It is a dream that you have had, too. If not for this obstacle, none of these people would have died." He gestured towards the bodies, swinging like pendulums, their faces frozen in looks of terror.

Kyo was silent, waiting to hear the reason he had been brought here. The trees stopped groaning. The wind stopped howling. The rain stopped pounding the ground. The cat leaned forward and put his face in front of Kyo's. He was so close that Kyo could smell the blood on his breath.

"To avenge the death of those that have been unfairly tortured and to restore the honor of the Cat, you must defeat the rat."

Kyo let out the breath that he was holding. "I'm trying! I can't beat him; he's too strong right now. But, I'll get him soon!"

The Cat grinned. "My dear, dear boy. I don't want you to beat him. I want you to kill him."

It's saying that...

"I can't kill Yuki."

The creatures grin ceased to exist. "Why not? You said you wouldn't care if he died." Kyo shook his head, eyes wide.

"I didn't…How did you know?"

"You stupid animal, I've been with you since before you touched that book. I've watched your life, learned your secrets, and heard everything you've said. I know everything about you."

Kyo tried to crawl away from the Cat, but it pounced and landed in front of Kyo.

"Kyo, you can't leave. You promised us." He grabbed hold of Kyo's broken wrist and twisted it, clearly enjoyed Kyo's screams of pain. "Do it for all of us. Do it for your mother. The rat is the reason why you are like this. He is the reason that she died."

The pain was intense and Kyo tried to move his arm from the beast.

"Do we have an understanding?" He gripped tighter. Kyo finally nodded, desperate to make the pain stop.

"Good." He let go and started to walk away. "And Kyo," the Cat called, turning his head over his shoulder as he reached the edge of the clearing. "If you fail, you'll suffer more than just a little broken wrist." He disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

Kyo turned his head; the little boy was gone and so were the dead bodies. He was all alone. He tried to stand up, but the stress of the day, and the injuries he had sustained from being thrown around had drained him of his strength and energy. He lay back down, and he shivered in his soaking wet clothes. Just as he was drifting off into a cold, fitful sleep, help arrived. Hatsuharu had come to save him.

You will be mine...

Authors Note: I tried to be more descriptive in this chapter. I don't think I'm a very descriptive person normally; I usually like to give general ideas so you all can imagine it your own way, but I thought I should try to "write better" for this chapter so all of you can try to see my vision. Anyway, I'm excited about writing the next chapter, because I was just hit hard by the inspiration fairy, so I guess I'll have quite a productive week.

Anyway, let me thank all my reviewers, as usual:

Ren: As for the grammar issue you brought up, you're probably right. I don't have an editor, so I have to proofread everything by myself, so occasionally a couple (ok, a lot) of errors go unnoticed. Thanks for pointing that one out! Now, as for calling me a "genius," ha, I doubt that. This is my first Fruits Basket fiction, too. I say go for it; you never know how a story will turn out until you write out the first one or two chapters. I had the first four chapters of this written before I posted the first chapter of this story. I look forward to hearing from you again!

Jaylin Lee: Ha, don't worry; you're not rushing me. I'm glad you like it so much! I love replying to my reviewers, I love to acknowledge them. And you're not critical; Tohru's very emotional all the time. I was worried that I didn't make her emotional enough!

AmethystCrystal231: Nope, Kyo didn't cut himself, that's from when he stupidly punched the window. Baka neko. Oh well, I love him anyway. Ha, and its okay, when you go hysterical, that only makes me happy because it shows you've read my story and I got a reaction from you. It's all good.

sesshumarusgirl101: Yea, Yuki was mean to Kyo. I'm glad you like my story so far!

Imbrium4: Ha, more Haru. Yes, there will be a lot more Haru soon. Hint

Dark-wolf-soulx: I'm glad you enjoy my story! Sorry this update took a bit long. Don't worry; I try to update regularly.

Fullma8712: Ha, yes, using all caps is real fun… I do it to my friends when I want to scare them. I'm not going to go exactly into what Kyo and Uo read…yet. Another hint

ShadoWalker: I'm glad you liked how I ended the last chapter. I liked it too. Ha. (Yes, I'm a bit full of myself sometimes.) Beautiful yet cursed… I love the way you put that. And now that you mention it, Tohru does seem like Mr. Rogers, who is really awesome. I used to watch him all the time. My favorite part of the entire show was when he changed his shoes. (I was a strange child.) Kyo and Hatsuharu…very hot… (Drools). By the way, it's okay that you didn't review sooner. Both of my older sisters are in college, and I know how busy they get. Take your time; studying is the most important thing. (Next to Kyo.)

Dark Inu Fan: I'm glad you picked up on how Hana covered for Kyo to protect Tohru. Uo and Hana definitely would care for Tohru anyway they could and they would try to help Tohru. They really are wonderful friends. Ha, Kyo's hand won't get infected. I'll have Hatori pour peroxide on it later.

The Cheshire Katt: I have no idea why it didn't send you a chapter update! I looked at the front page, and it said that it had a system error a while back, so I hope it fixed itself. Maybe that was why you didn't get an update? I don't know, I'm glad you still found my new chapter anyway! Boo and hiss is right! Those vibes are freaky. And Yay for not being sleep deprived for once! I envy you!

Starship Gazer: I'm glad you like the direction of the story up till now! And, yes, now you know what the Cat wants. The question is, how far will he go to get what he wants? Kyo is major hotness.

Narutofreak22: Ha, the second you mention about updating at a regular pace, I update late! Sorry! I'm sorry that your friend hasn't updated either! I'm glad that you like my updates and look forward to them! And I'm happy I get reviews too… they make me smile. I'll try my hardest to update as soon as possible! And as always, it is such a pleasure to see your name in the review box!

Now, to all of my silent reviewers: Don't be shy! I love reviews, good, bad (well, not bad, but I can take them), and random (I love random reviews… I mean, I'd like it if you reviewed the story too, but a random comment thrown in with the review always makes me laugh). So, review if you can!