Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews! I especially loved the long ones. I'm updating so quickly because I'm leaving for camp on Sunday and will not be back until late Friday. So there WILL BE NO UPDATE JUNE 12TH- JUNE 18TH. You probably won't get an update until the 20th, the following Monday. I don't usually write on the weekends anyway, and I'll be tired after coming back from camp.Thanks for answering my questions, there won't be any pairing for obvious reasons, but if there was a pairing it would Tohru and Kyo, because Kyo is my favorite character. lol.

I am going to update Little Tsukasa today, as long my internet connects, for anyone who is reading that.

Thanks again for all the reviews!

Chapter Four: Cat, Rat, and Dog

Shishou was keeping a close eye on Kyo as he played Rich Man Poor Man with Tohru a few feet away. He didn't really think anything would happen to the child with him right there, at least not physically, but knew that the child's insecurities and worries could be set off by the smallest thing. He smiled as Kyo laughed at something Tohru said. At least it's not as bad as it was the first time around, he thought. But there shouldn't have been this second time.

He was furious that Akito had been able to get Kyo and hurt him. He, Shishou, should have been there and stopped Akito from giving the child the shot. He didn't need to go through all this pain again, especially with his recent conversation with the child's father. What if he suddenly decided to show up and tried to take Kyo back the main house and put him in the deep, dark room early? Had that been why Akito had given him the shot? He would be easier to obtain in this smaller form? How long was it going to last?

He shook his head and tried to focus on something else. He didn't need to worry about that. He would cross that bridge when it came. He contented himself with watching Kyo, glad that part of this teenage self had remained, showing some of the growth that had happened over the years.

Kyo was having a splendid time paying the card game with Tohru even though he was loosing badly. He glanced over at the table where Shishou was seating along with Ayame and Yuki. He scowled as he looked at his cousins. Ayame was annoying, but he could deal with that, but he hated being in the same place as that infernal rat. Thankfully, he hadn't said a word yet. He hadn't said anything to anyone actually. The only noise Kyo had heard him make was when he had begun sobbing earlier in the day.

The child frowned. Why hadn't he said anything yet? The shot sent them back to the time when the worst thing had happened to them. He remembered that Yuki's parents had sold him. Maybe that was it, but would that make him stop talking? His frown disappeared as realization struck. There was that time when Akito had put him in that room. That had to be it. He remembered Yuki had stopped talking after that so that had to be it.

"Kyo-kun?" He looked up as Tohru said his name, startled. "Are you okay? You were frowning."

"I'm fine. I was just trying to remember why Yuki wasn't talking, and then I remembered," he said laying down a card. Tohru glanced over at the table where Yuki was coloring while Ayame and Shishou were talking. Ayame seemed to be telling some story about something he had done while in school.

"He hasn't said anything, has he?" Kyo shook his head, and scowled lightly. Tohru caught onto this and couldn't help but smile lightly. "You don't like him very much, do you?" The child shook his head, making his hair flop comically.

"He's the rat, I'm the cat. We're not supposed to like each. Cats chase rats, and the cat tricked the rat and the cat didn't get to go the party. Why should I like him?" Tohru blinked at him, thinking.

Maybe in their small forms the two could overcome the prejudices against each other simply because they were the cat and rat. "Yes, cats do chase rats, but dogs chase cats and Shigure-san doesn't hate you, does he? He's nice to you and let you live in his house. Are you going to dislike him because he's the dog and you're the cat?" Kyo frowned at her, seeing her logic, beginning to get flustered that she was beating his argument.

"Yes, but," he said defiantly, "the dog didn't trick the rat in the zodiac story. The rat did, and I don't like being tricked so I don't like Yuki," he said simply as if it settled the matter. Tohru wasn't done though. She wanted the two to quit fighting, and this might be the only time she could really talk any sense into them.

"Yes, in the story the rat tricked the cat, but it wasn't Yuki who tricked you. Yuki hasn't tricked you, has he?" she asked gently, wondering if the small Kyo had the same temper as the teenage Kyo. The child opened his mouth to argue, but stopped. "His zodiac form tricked your zodiac form many, many, many years ago, but has Yuki himself actually tricked you?" Once again, the five year old opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it.

"I wanna play Rich Man Poor Man, so let's play, and I'm winning," he said slightly angry. A small frown stayed on his face for a few minutes. Why should he be nice to the rat? The rat tricked the cat, so he, the cat, should hate the rat… shouldn't he? He wanted to say that everything Tohru had said wasn't true and didn't make any sense, but part of it did make sense. Why did he hate Yuki so much besides the fact that he was the rat? Had the child personally done anything to him? He scowled deeper and forced those thoughts from his head. Cats hated rats; it was the law of nature.

Tohru smiled as she watched the child frowning, thoughts clearly displayed on his face. She could almost hear the wheels in his head turning, but after a few minutes his frown disappeared. She was still ecstatic. His frown and anger at her words proved that part of what she had said had sunk into his brain. They played two more games after that. Tohru let him win the last one before she went into the kitchen to get dinner ready.

"Is there anything you want to eat?" she asked Kyo as she gathered the cards. "Anything special?" He shook his head.

"Just don't use any leeks, I hate leeks," he scowled darkly at the thought of even the possibly of having to eat them. Tohru smiled, remembering how much he hated them. Promising not to use any she went into the kitchen as Kyo went back over to Shishou. Kyo, now feeling suddenly alone, settled between Shishou's legs as the man sat Indian style and wrapped his arms around his child while listening to Ayame ramble on.

Kyo simply ignored the extravagant man, noting his change in personality. When they had first come home, and when they had woken up, he had been serious acting, like a normal person, but know he was back to his normal flamboyant self. Kyo, still feeling a little alone and scared, looked around for something to do that would allow him to stay in Shishou's lap.

He looked at Yuki who was coloring and saw another coloring book in front of the child. He thought about asking the other child if he was using it, but that seemed pointless, he obviously wasn't using it since it wasn't open, besides it was only the stupid rat. He reached over and picked the book up, expecting a reaction from him, but Yuki didn't even look up from his picture. There was another unopened box of crayons that Kyo grabbed before beginning to search for a picture. He found one of a cat that he liked. He began coloring it orange. He was about halfway through when the doorbell rang.

He tensed, not wanting anyone new to enter, still reeling from all his insecurities coming back so quickly. What if it was Akito that was coming back to check on them? He didn't want to see anyone. He stopped coloring, dropping his crayon, and leaned back against Shishou. The door bell rang again as they all sat there. Kyo and Yuki getting more scared by the second that Akito had returned, while their two guardians become tense, worried about their charges. As the doorbell rang for the third time Shigure appeared. "Is no one going to answer that?" he asked looking at them all still sitting there. Before he could get to the door they all heard a voice.

"Kyo, I know you're here! I heard you didn't come to school and figured you could use some cheering up!" Kyo's face paled, and he whimpered. That voice could be just as bad as Akito, if not worse.

"Uh-oh," Shigure murmured. "My house always suffers when she comes to visit."

"Tell her I'm asleep," Kyo whispered to Shishou before running to his room not giving the man a chance to speak. Shigure watched, amused, as Kyo ran to his room and closed to the door quietly. A split second later, Yuki had done the same, but it wasn't amusing. The child looked positively terrified. The writer could have almost sworn that he saw tears.

"Someone open the door before I break it down!" Shigure sighed heavily, and opened the door.

"Kagura, I wasn't expecting you. I think Kyo's asleep right now," he said hoping to ward her off, but she breezed past him into the house. I'll just wait until he wakes up. Is he okay? Momiji told me that he and Yuki didn't come to school today." She spotted Ayame and Shishou, and tears filled her eyes. "Oh no, it is bad isn't it? That's why Ayame and Kazuma-san are here? They're hurt really bad! They're going to die. Hold on Kyo, I'm coming don't worry, you'll get to see me before you die! I LOVE YOU, KYO!"

She ran towards Kyo's room, but all three men pounced at her, screaming at her to calm down. She glared at them all, ready to fight, but Shishou hushed her. "If you really love Kyo you will sit down, quietly, and listen to us. Going in there screaming would not help him, okay? We need to talk to you." She considered this, tears on her cheeks, thinking that Kyo was still on his death bed. Once they were settled around the table Shishou began talking.

"Kyo is not dying, and he is fine physically. He's not sick, and is in absolutely no danger of dying anytime soon, but he is different than what you remember. He umm… I don't exactly know how to say this, but he's now five years old. Akito decided to give him and Yuki this shot that would de-age them to the worst time in their lives. That's why they weren't at school." She opened her mouth to say something, but Shishou cut her off. "I know you want to see him, but now is not the time. He's still adjusting to being little, and is very vulnerable at the moment, and very insecure. To him it feels like his mother has just died, and that he's responsible and I know you love him, but now is really not the time to see him. Seeing a new person at the moment would not be a good thing, and we do have Yuki to think of too, and I know seeing someone who doesn't live here is defiantly not a good idea for him."

"So… I can't see Kyo?" Shishou shook his head.

"Neither of them are very trusting at the moment, and we should probably just hold off on any visitors for at least a week, or so. Do you understand? You don't Kyo to be uncomfortable, or in pain do you?" She shook her head.

"Of course not!"

"Unfortunately, right now you might cause him pain. We don't know what's going to trigger a bad memory or anything like that so it would better for you just to go home. It will really help Kyo. I'm sure you didn't mean to, but your yelling probably scared him." Kagura sighed, resigned to the fact that it would be better if she left. She nodded sadly, and stood up. Shishou sighed as she left. At least they had avoided that. "Where'd Ayame go?" he asked.

"I think he went to go check on Yuki," Shigure answered from behind his newspaper. Shishou nodded, and went to Kyo's room. When he entered the child was sitting on his bed, knees drawn up to his chest. He looked scared, and Shishou could see tear tracks on his face.

"Is she gone?" he asked quietly. Shishou nodded as he sat down next to the child, drawing the child into his lap. He bent his knees, creating a hole for Kyo to snuggle in.

"I convinced her that seeing you right now would cause a lot of problems, and it would be better for you if she left." He wrapped his arms tightly around the child, as Kyo snuggled up to him, laying his head against the man's chest. Shishou gently thumbed away some of the child's tears and rubbed his back. He felt the child's muscles relax, but could hear him sniffling. He hugged the child tighter as Kyo began to sob.

"I was so scared. I… I didn't want her seeing me. I didn't want her to hug me, or even touch me. I don't why, but I was scared I was going to get hurt even though I know she wouldn't intentionally really hurt me."

"Shh, it's okay, that's normal. You're little now and things that didn't scare you when you were a teenager are going to scare you now, especially for the next couple of days. Your body and mind are still adjusting to the switch, but no one is going to hurt you, I'm not going to let them, okay?" He gently lifted the child's chin to look him in the eyes. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. As long as I'm around they will not touch you." Kyo buried his head back into Shishou's chest, still sobbing. Shishou lay down on his side, keeping Kyo close to him, allowing the child to wet his shirt with his tears. Even though the child had slept straight for eight hours, Shishou felt him drift off to sleep again as his cries subsided.