Mouse Trap
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V of ?
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Within a few days after the breakfast incident, Tohru had all but forgotten her pain. Especially since the babies were growing so quickly - they had all opened their eyes, and were actually moving around their cage! It was all so exciting - but still a little scary. The little rats were still completely dependent on them for food, and the idea of returning them 'to the wild' was more than a little worrying for Tohru.
On top of that, Tohru was still concerned about Kyou - he'd pretty much been avoiding her, and Yuki, too, for that matter. He'd still help with the rats, and do his part, but somehow managed it all without any of them being around. Tohru barely even saw him at meals!
One early morning, while Tohru was marveling over the sudden appearance of silky coats of fur on the rats, Kyou walked into the room. He was carrying a bottle of soy formula, and a tiny bowl of puppy kibble, soaked in milk, and he almost dropped it when he saw her.
Tohru smiled. "Oh, Kyou-kun! You're awake!"
Kyou recovered quickly, and looked past her, his expression sullen. "Yeah, so are you. What's your point?"
Oblivious to his surly manner, Tohru looked back at the cage. "Look!" she pointed. "See? They have fur coats, now! They look like they're covered in velvet!"
Kyou approached her side cautiously, and his eyes lit up when he looked inside the cage. "Hey, yeah, look at that! Guess we don't hafta' worry about 'em gettin' cold anymore, huh?"
"Nope!" agreed Tohru proudly. "And, look - they all look a little different, so we can tell them apar - " she turned her head to look back at him, and almost bumped her nose right into his. Surprised, she drew in a quick breath, but her mind went blank when he looked directly into her eyes.
"Listen," he said, his warm breath brushing her cheek, "I'm sorry."
Tohru blinked. "Huh?" Sorry? Sorry for what?
"Y'know, about you gettin' hurt an' all. It was my fault, an'...I'm sorry," he mumbled, lashes dropping half-mast over his crimson eyes as they darted guiltily away from her.
Tohru shook her head, trying to find her tongue. "Oh, um, I...you don't have to apologize, really! It was an accident!"
"Don't be stupid," he half-snarled, glaring back at her. "I hurt you!"
"B-but you didn't mean to!" Tohru stammered, inching back a little despite herself.
"Just accept the stinkin' apology already!" Kyou said with a long-suffering groan.
"O-okay!" she squeaked, nodding jerkily.
Kyou sighed. "Thanks...I think," he said softly, backing off.
Still shaky from the intense emotions brought on by his closeness, Tohru yelped when he touched her hand, pushing the rat food into it.
"Sorry, I hafta' get out for a while - can you do this for me today?"
Nodding again, Tohru numbly closed her fingers around the bowl and bottle, and didn't blink again until the cat left the room.
-
Almost two weeks later, things were still awkward between them, but at least Kyou had started staying around more often again.
They were feeding the rats a more solid diet now, including some vegetables the pet store owner had recommended. Soon, the babies would be big enough to go out on their own, but first Yuki had to help them learn to forage for food - quite a task for a rat who wasn't even a rat most of the time, and didn't even have to live in the wild.
"Um...maybe they would pay more attention to you if you were, you know...in your rat form?" Tohru suggested with a blush when the rats stared at Yuki blankly as he awkwardly tried to speak to them.
Yuki blinked, then considered for a moment. "Oh, may... may I...hug you, then, Honda-san?"
"Oi, whaddya' gotta' hug her for?" Kyou sniped from where he lounged on the tatami cushions at the table.
"Idiot. Do you see any other females in this house?"
Kyou smirked. "Heh, with your pretty boy face, I got confused for a second. Can ya' blame me?"
"Oh? Do you think I'm beautiful, then?" Yuki gently taunted, watching the cat unblinkingly.
Kyo sat straight up, fire burning in his eyes. "T-that's disgusting! You know I didn't mean that! Damn, you piss me off!"
"Bo-ys, you're doing it again!" Shigure sing-songed as he drifted by the door into the living area.
"He started it!" Kyou growled.
"Step outside and I'll be happy to finish it, Cat! It shouldn't take more than a moment or two," Yuki stated coolly.
"Yeah, you just go right ahead and transform, Rat, and I'll hug her, and we'll see how long ya' last that way! I wouldn't sully my mouth with the taste of ya', but you'd be great for sharpening my claws on!" Kyou snarled.
In the cage, the rats started squeaking, as if in protest, and Tohru made a sound of distress.
Sighing in disgust at the cat, Yuki suddenly reached out and tugged Tohru into his arms.
A loud pop cancelled out Kyou's shout of outrage, and when the smoke cleared, the small white Yuki-rat clung haphazardly to Tohru's bodice.
"Could you put me down, Honda-san?" Yuki said weakly, his small paws scrabbling even as a tiny blush lit his face under his silvery-white fur.
"Oh, Y-yuki-san!" Tohru cupped him in her hands and swiftly set him down in front of the open door into the cage.
"Thanks," the rat said, sighing in relief.
"Don't move, Rat." Kyou suddenly said, his voice low and intense.
Yuki scowled, and turned away from the cage. He'd just been getting the babies attention, finally. "What is it, now...oh, dear."
"Huh? Oh, don't worry, it's just a cat, Kyou! He probably just came to see you!" Tohru said cheerfully upon seeing a strange cat standing at the open door to the outside garden.
"Nuh-uh. He's hungry - and he didn't come to see me - he came to hunt rats." Kyou said quietly, beginning to inch toward the other cat.
Yuki began breathing hard, and his tail twitched as he tried to hold still where he stood in front of the baby rats before the cage.
The fat gray cat suddenly pounced, snatching Yuki, who yelped then went limp. The cat took off out the door with his prize, eluding Kyou's grab.
"Hey, you little shit, get back here with my rat!" Kyou yelled furiously after the mangy stray cat.
"OH! Y-YUKI!" Tohru was utterly freaked out by the situation. "What do I do? What - oh, Shigure-san!" she yelled as the dog traipsed past the door again, his glasses almost falling off his nose. "I-It's terrible! Yuki-san's been kidnapped!"
Shigure didn't look overly concerned. "Hm, don't you mean rat-napped?"
"Shigure, you ass!" Kyou yelled.
"He transformed, and a stray cat snatched him and took off outside with him!" Tohru nearly shouted. "Help!" Thinking quickly, she closed the cage door. It wouldn't do for the babies to get lost, too.
"Oh, my! I do hope he hasn't been devoured - how ever would I explain it to Akito?" Shigure murmured.
"Aw, hell! You're no help! Tohru?"
"Y-yes?" Tohru turned to face Kyou and gasped as he enfolded her in a tight embrace, her face tucked against his throat. Almost immediately there was a loud pop, and orange smoke colored the air.
Before a shocked Tohru could set the cat that had appeared in her arms, down, Kyou leapt out of her embrace and onto the floor, racing out the door onto the porch and around the corner at lightspeed, claws scratching into the boards.
Left holding Kyou's still-warm clothes, Tohru blushed at the look of humor in Shigure's dark eyes, and took off after him.
Shigure shook his head and headed back the way he'd come for his newspaper, humming to himself.
"They both seem to have forgotten he'll change back in just a few minutes...what a surprise that cat will get...oh, well, any excuse to hug Tohru-kun, I guess. Can't blame them, heh..."
-
"Drop him, you fat old flea-bag!" Kyou snapped, a low growl issuing from his chest.
The big, old, gray tomcat hissed, revealing only one front fang, and backed further up the tree, Yuki dangling helpless and unconscious from his mouth.
Kyou followed, never backing down or taking his eyes from the cat in front of him. The hair on the ruff of his neck stood straight up, his back was arched threateningly, and his tail stood defiantly in the air behind him.
"Come on, you old bastard, let him go - oh, you wanna' fight? Fine with me, I got all day!" Kyou swiped at the other cat with long, bared claws, and the tom made a wicked noise of warning in his throat, backing even farther up into the tree. When he suddenly turned tail and bounded up into the branches, out of their sight, Kyou cursed and scrambled up the trunk after him.
With Kyou's clothes laid across her arms, hands fisted and pressed against the base of her chin, Tohru waited helplessly as the cats chased through the huge tree, knocking leaves loose and scaring birds from their nests. Kyou was cursing and complaining the whole time, and some of what he said made her ears burn.
Finally, there was a loud hiss and a cat spitting, and the old gray Tom fell out of the tree only to land roughly on it's feet. After a stunned moment, it growled again, and took off running, back through a gap in one of the bamboo fences where it presumably must have gotten in in the first place.
Kyou made a harsh noise in the tree, and Tohru turned back to watch in concern.
Cat-Kyou was slowly climbing/sliding down the steep tree trunk, claws scrabbling for purchase, and he had the Yuki-rat dangling out of his mouth by his long tail. He looked like he was still unconscious.
"Oh! Be careful, Kyou-kun!"
The orange cat rumbled out of the corner of his mouth. "Yeah, yeah, I got 'im."
Once he got to the ground, he staggered a little, and Tohru rushed forward to pick him up. He didn't protest as she carried both him and Yuki back inside the house, and that scared her.
-
Kyou's side was bleeding from a nasty scratch he'd gotten from the other cat, and his furry sides were heaving with exertion. Tohru held a still-but-breathing Yuki gently in one palm, and stroked the bloody cat with the other, earning an all-over body shiver and a narrow-eyed glare from Kyou.
"Take care of that idiot, I'm fine," the cat blurted breathlessly, streaking away from Tohru's gentle touch to the other side of the room, but not before grabbing his clothes in his teeth and dragging them with him.
"B-but Kyo-kun, you're bleeding!" Tohru protested.
"This'll be nothin' when I change back," Kyou insisted, unable to stifle the urge to give his sore side a swift lick. Somehow, his face managed to look embarassed when he realized what he'd just done, and Tohru quickly looked away, biting her lip against a smile. He was so cute!
"You better put him down before he changes back," the cat cautioned as he arranged his discarded clothes and lowered his head to nose and paw through them until he put his head through his t-shirt neck. The fabric draped off one cat-ear, looking adorable, until Kyou suddenly changed back into a boy with a pop.
Eeeping, Tohru looked away and carefully set Yuki down, watching him in concern until he, too, suddenly changed back.
"Yuki-san, you're awake!"
Yuki cleared his throat, making Tohru duck her head away.
"Are you okay?"
Yuki quickly grabbed up his clothing. "I'm fine."
Tohru blushed a little as Kyou yanked his shirt completely over his head, mussing his hair. He'd pulled on his pants while she was looking at Yuki. "So, what, you were playin' dead this whole time?!"
"Yes," Yuki said shortly, pulling on his shirt.
Kyou fixed him with a fierce crimson glare. "Dirty coward! I don't even know why I bothered goin' after you!"
"If playing dead to stay alive is the coward's way, then yes, I guess I am a coward," Yuki admitted, straightening his hair. "If you had known I was conscious, you probably would have taken advantage of my form to do me some terrible harm - don't bother to deny it."
Grumbling, Kyou turned away to storm out the doors, but Yuki's voice stopped him.
"However - if I'm not too proud to admit being a coward, I'm not too proud to say 'thank you'."
Tohru held her breath, eyes shining as Kyou hesitated and turned back to look at Yuki in disbelief.
The rat took a deep breath. "I'm willing to admit you 'may' have saved my life," Yuki acknowledgeed, albeit grudgingly. "Thanks."
Heart racing with hope, Tohru almost burst into tears as Kyou stared at the rat for a long, tense moment, then simply nodded his acceptance and abruptly left the room.
"That was a very nice thing you did, Yuki-san," Tohru said, watching the rat's suddenly closed expression. He turned his head to look at her, and then suddenly graced her with a rare smile.
"Thank you, Honda-san...but I'm afraid I wasn't being nice - just honest."
"H-huh?"
"He did the right thing...so I did, too." Yuki looked back the way the cat had gone, and then turned back to the rat cage. "Maybe we should try this again - with the door closed this time."
Tohru gave a little laugh at the dryness of his tone before carefully sliding the exterior shoji doors shut and joining him at the cage.
-
Watching through the interior doors as the rat hesitantly but willingly embraced a red-faced Tohru and transformed again, Kyou felt a furious surge of jealousy.
Who was that rat thinking he was? How many times was he gonna' wrap his rotten arms around Tohru today?! Hmph! Those babies made a awfully nice excuse for the bastard to feel her up, didn't they?
Grinding his teeth as he saw the rat hop inside the cage, Kyou clenched his fists. The babies made straight for him, draping themselves over the bigger white rat, stretching contentedly across the top of his head. Yuki was laughing, Tohru was giggling, the babies were obviously in love...
Kyou felt suddenly very left out - and hurt. Hadn't he been the one to come and stay up with the babies all night since Tohru had brought them in? Now here Yuki was, ursurping his place, both with the rats, and Tohru. He should have let the bastard get eaten, earlier, after all.
Unable to listen to the happy conversation in the room, Kyou backed away, feeling more than a little resentful. Angry and wounded, he quickly left the house, heading into the woods to find some peace and quiet, and brood over Tohru.
-
It was cool, and damp thanks to a brief thunderstorm early that evening, and dinner was being prepared when Tohru realized how quiet the house had become. Biting her lip, she left the kitchen to seek out Kyou and Shigure. The dog was in his office, snoring quietly behind a section of newspaper, but Kyou wasn't anywhere to be found.
Feeling guilty, because she hadn't spoken to Kyou since the disaster with the other cat, she went outside into the gray night settling over her to see if he was around, and almost bumped into him coming back up the garden path from the woods. Steam was still rising from where the cold rain had struck the summer-hot ground, and the slight mist made Kyou's shadow hard to see as the darkness continued to fall.
Tohru's heart leapt in her chest when his hands shot out to grab her upper-arms and straighten her before she knocked completely into him and fell. Startled, she looked up into his face and swallowed when she saw the soft glow of his unusual cats' eyes in the gloom. He tilted his head slightly to look at her, and the light from the inside of the house caught his eyes, making them glint red.
"O-oh, Kyou-kun! There you are! I was worried about you when I couldn't find you. Um...how's your side?"
Kyou made a small sound, almost a sigh, she thought, and he seemed to slump a little.
"M'fine," he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, are you sure? B-because, I mean, I could look at it, if you want - it might get infected if it isn't treated properly, and I - "
"Geez, I said I'm fine!" he snapped sharply, and Tohru jumped a little when she saw the sharp curve of one fang gleam out at her.
Kyou snarled at her reaction, smelling the spike of fear, and then suddenly stepped around her, gracefully leaping up onto the porch leading into the house. "Quit worryin' about it, okay?" he said in a much gentler voice a long moment later. "I'll be alright."
Confused by his behavior, as usual, Tohru took a deep breath and tried to smile. "Okay. Um, dinner will be ready in about an hour, if you want some."
He looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes now hidden by his orange hair. "Sure," he said quietly, and then walked inside.
Left alone, Tohru frowned, listening as he climbed up the stairs inside, much slower than he usually did.
-
Kyou had been caught in the sudden downpour earlier, and even after he dragged himself upstairs to change, and came back down, he was still slumped over the table in the living room, eyes half-closed, and chin resting on his folded forearms.
Tohru was still watching him worriedly as she sat across from him watching the T.V. with Yuki, and jumped up suddenly when he closed his eyes all the way and gave a tired, all-over shiver.
"I'll get some tea!"
Kyou only opened one bleary eye to look at her. "Don't bother, I don't want any," he mumbled weakly.
"Don't be rude!" Yuki scolded from across the table, not bothering to look away from the T.V.
The cat gave a low growl. "Shut-up...Rat," he muttered angrily, but without his usual vigor.
"Come on, Kyou-kun...I'll even make sure to put a little milk in it, just for you," Tohru cajoled sweetly, with no idea how her offer was affecting the cat.
"Whatever," Kyou finally said moodily, just to get her to leave so he could recover himself.
Satisfied with his answer, Tohru left the room to get the tea, and check on dinner. While she was in the kitchen, the rain began again, this time a gentle but steady summer shower.
It was full nightfall by the time the rain stopped, and the clouds moved away to reveal the bright moon.
In the living room, Kyou breathed in the damp air coming through the open doors, and then flicked open one eye to peer at the cage across the room. Concerned the babies would get cold from the breeze, he dragged himself up and staggered over to the cage, tossing a large, strawberry-print towel over it. The familiar scent coming from the fabric gave him pause, and he almost missed what the rat said.
"You know, Cat, you could stand to treat Honda-san with a little of that kind of concern and consideration," Yuki commented over the quiet background T.V. noise from behind him.
"Yeah, this from the guy who hugged her 'twice' today!" answered Kyou viciously as he turned on the rat.
Yuki's cheeks actually turned red. "Out of necessity! You hugged her too!"
Kyou made disgusted noise. "Don't make it sound like you hated it, liar!"
"I-I wasn't - " Yuki sputtered.
"Aw, no fair! You guys have been hugging Tohru all day, and I haven't even gotten to say 'Hi'!"
Kyou froze at the youthful enthusiasm of the new voice, and then groaned. "Oh, hell. What are you doing here?"
"Well, at least it's not Nii-san..." Yuki muttered under his breath.
"Oh, Momiji-kun! Hello!" Tohru squeaked happily as she re-entered the room with a tray of tea. She barely set the tray aside before she was attacked.
"Tohru-kun! I've missed you! My turn!" Momiji flung himself into the girls arms before either of them could stop him, and in seconds the smoke cleared and Tohru was sitting on the floor holding a cuddle-happy bunny.
"Aw, I've missed you too, Momiji-kun!" Tohru said a little shakily after she recovered.
The cream-colored rabbit twitched his ears joyfully, making Tohru laugh.
"Do I get a hug, too?" came a quiet, almost emotionless voice from the doorway.
Hatsuharu stood there, deceptive in his stillness, framed in the doorway against the moonlight, his dual-colored hair shifting with the summer breeze.
"Oh, Hatsuharu-kun..." Tohru's face turned a deep pink even as Kyou stepped out in front of her, one fist raised in threat.
"Hell, no! Don't you touch her! If you do, I'll kick you in the happy sacks so hard you won't be able to walk for a week!"
The change in the ox's demeanor was dark and swift. A sharpness that wasn't there a moment before leapt into his abruptly clear, silver-gray eyes, and he leaned toward the cat with a deadly smirk.
"Oh, yeah? Poor, wet little pussy," he taunted defiantly, "the state you're in right now, you couldn't scratch a flea off your mangy hide."
Tohru squeaked in confused embarrasment.
Kyou sucked in a deep, infuriated breath.
Yuki sighed. "I'm going to check the garden - there may be something ready to add to dinner, Honda-san," he added with a sudden wicked twinkle in his eye.
"Oh, o-okay!" Tohru was a little worried about that look, but the fight brewing between Haru and Kyou suddenly escalated into a full-out brawl and she diverted her attention to trying to keep the house from falling down around their ears.
"Oh, no he's gone black," Momiji warned, his little tail wriggling nervously in anticipation of violence.
Shigure chose that moment to make his appearance. He thrust his head through the door, expression deadpan as he stared at the two fighting boys. "Before you break my house again, you two, please remember your promise not to fight around Tohru - Kyou," he stressed.
This made Kyou come to a dead stop, and Hatsuharu's fist pounded into his cheek.
"Goddammit!" the cat roared, grabbing his throbbing cheekbone, and the ox laughed triumphantly.
Tohru made a noise of distress behind them, and Hatsuharu turned around to look at her.
"Tell me, do you think it's fair that you've seen all of me, Tohru, when I haven't seen all of you?" Haru said, approaching, and tilting her chin up on one finger.
"Uhm," Tohru managed weakly, speared to the spot by his eyes.
"...Kill...!" Kyou snarled. "You dirty perverted bastard!"
A pop nearby heralded the return of Momiji to his natural form, and he dressed quickly, replacing a green beret atop his gold curls just as Yuki returned from outside.
"Yuki! You're just in time! Haru's - ! "
"Don't worry, it's taken care of," Yuki said coolly, brandishing a leek stalk, and spinning it in his fingers like a bokken.
Haru laughed, the sound chilling and dominant as he curved an arm around a nearly catatonic Tohru, his hand disturbingly near her chest.
"Time for you to die, you dumb freakin' cow!" Kyou shouted, diving for the ox's throat.
Expression completely deadpan, Yuki flung the leek at him, and Kyou almost went into spasms trying to keep it from hitting him.
"Stupid cat, afraid of a leek," Yuki said disdainfully.
"Damned rat! Who the hell throws vegetables?!" Kyou exclaimed wildly, his eyes and teeth like daggers as he stomped the leek into the floor, like a terrified three-year-old girl confronted with a spider.
Beside them, Haru and Tohru stood, the ox now blank-eyed as usual, and mutely scratching the back of his head in confusion, Tohru stressed and trembling, hands pressed to her mouth as she watched them with wide eyes.
Just then, Shigure poked his head back into the room, giving a pointed sniff of the air. "Hm," he frowned behind the glasses tipping off his nose, "is that dinner I smell burning?"
This sent Tohru into hyper-drive...
-
To Be Continued...