I don't own Fruits Basket or Princess Princess.

"Talking"

Chapter 11

"We are the reincarnations of the inner circle of the Sohma family." Rin stated.

"But…how is that even possible…"Tohru asked.

"If we knew we'd tell you." Ritsu replied.

"That's why so many things never made sense with Mikoto…that's why you all have second names…"Yuujiro stated.

"Yes, it was easier for us to remember to refer to one another with our previous names then it was to constantly remember the new names we were give at our 'rebirth'." Kureno answered.

"Do…do you remember dying?" Akira asked softly.

"Some of us do," Momiji answered. "I remember the accident but then I just remember falling asleep and waking up and seeing two faces looking down, cooing at me." He glanced over at the three non juunishi. "For others it was instant like Shigure and Ayame…but for the majority of us, we could feel that we were dying." Momiji wrapped his arms around himself. "It is one of the loneliness feeling you will ever experience."

"So then what does this have to do with Mikoto getting kidnapped?" Tohru asked.

"If we were all reborn, what is to say that Akito wasn't as well?" Yuki responded. "If he was, he would have seen it as a sign that he truly was a god, and as such he would need to finish what he started…he needs to get all of us under his control…and he needs to punish the cat."

"You mean, he'll kill Mikoto?" Akira asked his eyes widening. Yuujiro fell into a chair when he heard this.

"Yes." Hatori replied. "That is the most likely course of action that he will take…but he won't do it until he knows for certain that he has broken Kyou here." Hatori pointed to his head. "We don't know how long he has. With Kyou, Akito has certain methods that could destroy him in seconds." Tohru and Yuujiro gasped as it finally clicked with the three non-members, this might not even be a rescue mission, but rather a recovery mission. Yuujiro felt himself shake. He wanted to believe that Mikoto was strong enough to withstand anything that this Akito person threw at him, but he honestly couldn't believe it.

"So…"Yuujiro swallowed the lump in his throat. "When are we leaving?"

"Now." Yuki stated as everyone who was leaving stood up.

Tohru had to admit this was the strangest collection of people put together in three cars. He was also glad that he and Yuujiro had been able to convince Akira that it would be for the best if he stayed with Ayame, Momiji and Hiro. In preparation for the mission, Yuki had transformed into his rat form. Tohru had to admit that Yuki made a cute rat.

The drive lasted about half-an hour before the two cars pulled up to a warehouse. As they all got out of the car, Yuki jumped off of Kagura's lap.

"I'm off." Yuki stated as he started off at a run towards the warehouse. Yuujiro and Tohru saw the ground move as rats of all size came behind Yuki and entered the warehouse.

"Get ready, Yuujiro, Tohru in two minute I need you to run inside, Haru, Rin, I want you to lead their way. Take out everyone you meet. Shigure…" Hatori ordered.

"I'm all set Hari." Shigure stated. Yuujiro and Tohru glanced over and saw a number of dogs all waiting in line behind the black lab.

"Good." Hatori replied. "Kagura."

"I'm set." Kagura replied as she rolled up her sleeves. "Yuujiro, Tohru, just bring Kyou back to us." Yuujiro and Tohru nodded.

"Operation Rescue Cat is a go." Hatori replied. "Honestly, we need to remember to never allow Ayame or Momiji to name things anymore." A chuckle ran through the crowd as Tohru and Yuujiro ran towards the warehouse. As soon as they opened the door, Haru and Rin entered the building and started to attack the guards. Running side by side Yuujiro and Tohru noticed that there were a number of different doors. Glancing in each of them, they looked for any signs of the red-head.

They met with a fork in the road. Nodding to one another, Yuujiro and Tohru split up. Yuujiro carried on running. He could hear people screaming and groaning. Pausing slightly, Yuujiro was hit by a smell of rotting flesh. He then heard squeaking. Looking down, he saw three brown rats running back and forth from one of the doors. As he followed them, the smell grew stronger. Looking inside the room from the small window, Yuujiro saw a man with black hair, whipping something in the dark. From his position, he couldn't tell what the thing was. He could see that the man was saying something to the creature but through the door Yuujiro couldn't hear what it was. Hearing a noise of people running, Yuujiro opened the door next to the room and entered it, hoping that no one saw him. Leaving the door opened a crack; Yuujiro listened in to the conversation.

"My Lord, the warehouse has been infiltrated…"A guard stated as he opened the door to the room next to Yuujiro. Yuujiro could hear his heart thumping in his chest, and he could only hope that no one else could hear it.

"I see…have you caught any of them?" The man asked as he walked out of the room he was in and into the hallway. Yuujiro could see purple blood on his hands.

"Yes, We were able to overpower a female…we locked her in your office." The guard stated. "We…"the guard paused and started to make his way towards the room Yuujiro was in. Opening the door faster than Yuujiro could close it, the man smirked. "It seems as if we have found a second one."

"Oh, this is good." The man stated as he walked up to Yuujiro, as two guards grabbed hold of both of his arms in order to prevent him from moving. "I remember you." The man stated. Yuujiro couldn't help but notice the look of true evil on the man's face. "Do you know who I am?" The man asked.

"No." Yuujiro growled trying to mask his fear. The knowledge that they were able to take out Rin didn't make him feel any better.

"It's a shame, but I always believe that a person should know the name of their captor…I am Akito…" Akito gave a malicious smirk as he saw Yuujiro's eyes widen at the name. Learning that the man's name was Akito, Yuujiro understood why all of Mikoto's family feared the man. "Lock him up with the monster…I can't help but imagine what that monster will do when it realizes what has happened." Yuujiro thought the look on Akito's face was very much like that of a child on Christmas…Yuujiro was suddenly very scared.

"Yes Sir." The guards stated as they dragged Yuujiro into the room Akito had just vacated and threw him in.

Jumping up Yuujiro tried to make it to the door, but it was closed before he could. Just as he made it to the door he heard it lock. Yuujiro tried to take a deep breath, but the smell made him cough. Glancing around the room, Yuujiro was surprised to see a pair of purple eyes staring at him. Once the eyes realized that they had been caught, they disappeared. Trying the door, to see if it would open, Yuujiro gave a soft sigh and sat in the opposite part of the room. Yuujiro noticed that the room was more of a cell then it was a room. He then looked at the part of the room covered in shadows. The more he looked in that direction, the more he realized he could see the shape of the creature. He could see the curved back as it crouched facing the wall, with its arm wrapped around itself. The fear Yuujiro had originally felt started to fade away as he began to pity the creature.

"You're scared of me aren't you?" Yuujiro suddenly asked as he saw the creature curl up into a tighter ball, and shuffle further away from Yuujiro. "I see…you know I was scared of you…now I can see you aren't so bad." Yuujiro could see the creature tense, but he got another glimpse of those purple eyes staring back at him. "Why don't you come into the light, I can barely see you where you are hiding over there." Yuujiro stated. The creature shook his head. "Why not?" The creature gave a soft growl.

"You think I might become scared of you again, huh?" Yuujiro asked. The creature nodded. "I guess then I'll have to do the talking…so I'm guessing Akito doesn't like you." Yuujiro heard a snort. "So you do have a sense of humor."

Mikoto was surprise to see Yuujiro thrown into the room with him. Akito had taken his bracelet as soon as Mikoto had woken up, causing him to transformed. After beating him for some odd hours, Akito had been called away by a guard. The next thing he knew, Yuujiro was in the cell with him. He watched him as he ran towards the door. Mikoto wanted to call out and tell him that it was a stupid thing to do; of course they were going to lock the door. Concern filled his eyes as he saw Yuujiro cough at the smell, he wished he could have gotten Yuujiro out of here, at least to get him away from the smell. He noticed Yuujiro staring back at him and quickly hid his eyes. He could feel Yuujiro's eyes on him as he made his way across the room and sat down. The only thing Mikoto could do was curl up in a corner and hope that Akito didn't come back until he had healed, but knowing Akito as well as he did, he knew he had no such hope. He was so immersed into his self-loathing that he was startled when Yuujiro started to talk to him. At first Mikoto wasn't sure if he was simply talking aloud of if he really was talking to him. Then Yuujiro asked him to come closer and Mikoto had to growl a response. He had never been so thankful that Yuujiro was good a reading people as he was at that moment. He had understood him perfectly. Mikoto couldn't help the snort of laughter at the question about Akito. Now that was the understatement of the century.

"You know, I was looking for my boyfriend when I got caught…maybe you've see him. About yay high, red hair and eyes…has this adorable annoyed look in his eyes most of the time." Yuujiro asked. He didn't allow Mikoto to reply before he continued. "I didn't think you would have…I guess I could only hope that Tohru and Haru can find him."

Mikoto's eyes widened, "Ha…ru…Toh…ru" He growled out. Yuujiro jumped at the sound of his voice.

"You know them?" Yuujiro asked as Mikoto nodded. "Do you know Rin? She got caught before I did." Mikoto's eyes narrowed at that. Why were they here? Didn't they know it was Akito who did all this to him? "Hey, don't get angry at me…everyone was worried about Mikoto. I had just gotten off my train when Rin came up to me and told me Mikoto was kidnapped. I have never been as worried about Mikoto as I was at that moment. To think I might have lost him for good." Yuujiro shook his head. "No, Haru, Tohru and the others will save him…then they'll come save me, and I'll convince them to save you to…after all you do know them." Yuujiro leaned against the wall. "I hate having to wait." Mikoto snorted. "Great minds think alike." Yuujiro grinned as he looked up at the moon. He could only hope that someone would save them soon.

A few minutes passed and the door to the room suddenly opened. Yuujiro glanced up in hope that it was someone to save them, his hope fell when he saw Rin being pushed in and Akito tossing a small rat in with her. Yuujiro rushed over to look at Rin when he saw that she wasn't getting up. Checking her pulse, he was relieved to find it. He then looked over the rat over and recognized it as Yuki. Both Rin and Yuki were unconscious. Gathering Rin into his arms, he placed Yuki on Rin's chest. He would protect them both from Akito.

"What did you do to them?" Yuujiro growled.

"We had to stop them somehow." Akito grinned. "So I let the guards hit them for a little longer than necessary, what's the problem, they both defied their god. They deserved their punishment. As do you." Akito stated as he raised his whip, Yuujiro cover Rin's body and closed his eyes awaiting the hit. Not feeling any he glance up and saw a green skin creature over him. Looking up at the eyes, he recognized them as the creature from the shadows. Besides for the smell, the creature wasn't all that scary looking with its rabbit like ears on the top of its head. Yuujiro could hear Akito's shout of anger as he heard, rather than saw the whip hit the creature over and over again. Still the creature did not move from its position about Yuujiro. "You foul monster…it's a wonder why anyone would want to know a creature like you. Your mother should have thrown you in front of the train instead of herself. You kill everyone who cares for you. You drive them to insanity. You…"

"That is enough Akito." A voice called out as Yuujiro saw the whip go flying off into the shadows. Just as rapidly as the creature came out of the shadows, it went back. Yuujiro looked up to see Haru holding Akito back and Shigure (in his human form) and his dogs were behind him. Shigure looked over at Yuujiro, who was still protecting Rin and Yuki and then over to Mikoto in the shadows. He then turned his attention back to Akito. "Haru, escort Akito out of here…Yuujiro, are you alright?" Shigure asked as several of the dogs growled at Akito. Half of them went off with Haru to give him any add protection he might need in securing Akito.

"I'm fine…but Rin, Yuki, and him aren't" Yuujiro stated as he pointed to the creature who went back into the shadows.

"Let me look at Rin…yea, she's just knocked out…not going to be too happy to see that bruise…Yuki's the same…though it looks like his paw is broken…we'll have Hari see to it." Shigure replied. "Let's go." Shigure lifted Rin over his shoulder in the fireman carry and held out a hand for Yuujiro.

"What about him?" Yuujiro asked staring into the shadows. "He knows Haru and Tohru. We can't just leave him."

"We can't bring him back." Shigure stated sadly, "We can't bring him home unless he wants to come home…"

"If you don't remove your hand from my butt, I'll remove it from your arm."

"Ah, Rin, Glad to see that you are awake…" Shigure lowered her to the ground. "Can you walk?"

"Yes." Rin stated. "What are you doing here? Did you find Kyou?"

"Somewhat." Shigure replied. "Tohru managed to escape the guards and told us on the outside that Yuki and you were captured. I came in with the second wave. Haru and I stopped Akito and rescued you."

"What do you mean you've somewhat rescued Kyou?" Rin asked as she looked at him. "Here…I managed to swipe this off of Akito, will this help Kyou?" Rin pulled out Mikoto's bracelet.

"Maybe." Shigure replied as he took the bracelet from her. "Come on, you all need to be looked at. Yuujiro, lead the way."

"But what about…" Yuujiro argued.

"If he wants to return home all he will have to do is simply walk out of these doors and go there where his family is waiting for him. And they will be waiting for him." Shigure replied as he looked straight at Mikoto, his eyes pleading. "But I will not force him to go anywhere." With that Shigure forced Yuujiro out of the room. Right as Shigure left the room; he discretely threw the bracelet back into the room and whispered, "We really do want you back," before he left the room.

As Yuujiro, Rin, Shigure and an unconscious Yuki made their way out of the building; they saw that Akira, Momiji, Ayame and Hiro had arrived. Yuujiro saw a tiger not too far away talking to some of the cats. Haru and Kureno were finishing tying Akito's rope. Haru placed duck tape over Akito's mouth to stop his ranting.

"Are you all alright?" Hatori asked as he moved up to them.

"Yuujiro and I are fine…Rin is going to bruise, but Yuki is the one that needs the most help. I think someone might have stepped on him." Shigure stated as Hatori took Yuki's small body from Yuujiro. Ayame was over in a second anxiously looking over his brother.

"I'm glad you are alright Yuujiro." Tohru smiled as he stared at his friend. "I heard you got captured."

"Yeah…I met Akito face to face…he then put me in this room with this creature…sees like he was all bark and no bit…kind of cute once you got pass the smell." Yuujiro replied. "Shigure said you guys rescued Mikoto." Tohru frowned.

"No…I wasn't able to. I caught up with Haru, who told me to get out since both you and Rin had been captured. I needed to warn everyone else…and Haru just brought out Akito…didn't you find him?" Tohru asked.

"No." Yuujiro frowned. "But Shigure said…"

"This creature…what did it look like?" Kagura asked as she walked over to Yuujiro, a frown on her face.

"Tall, green with long rabbit like ears…oh and purple eyes." Yuujiro replied. "Shigure said that he would go home when he was ready, but…"

"I see." Kagura stated evenly as tears filled her eyes again. "Please don't let us have been too late." She muttered to herself, but Yuujiro and Tohru heard her.

Mikoto watched them leave, once he knew they were a good distance away he slipped on his bracelet and fell to his knees as his body shrank back to his human form. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he pushed himself to his feet and started to stubble his way out of the building. He could see the beaten bodies of Akito's guards as he passed them. He had to pause for a moment, but he forced his body to continue. At the moment he wanted nothing more than to collapse where he was standing. But he knew he needed to go home. He knew he needed to see Yuujiro face to face. He needed to make sure everyone was alright. Stumbling he felt a gush of fresh air. Looking around he saw dark gray buildings. He glanced up and noticed the stars shining above him. Forcing his body to move forward, Mikoto stumbled a bit before he rested for a second against a wall before he started to use it as a crutch. Moving forward he hoped that he was going in the right direction. He noticed that the buildings opened up a little forward. It was then that he saw them. They really were an odd sight. Everyone was talking with someone else, and no one had noticed him. He heard soft meowing and glanced down. By his legs were two kittens, their eyes asking if he was alright. If Mikoto had the strength to spare he would have smiled to them.

Kisa was still trying to calm the magnitude of cats that had arrived on the scene. Each one wanted to gain entrance to the building and rescue Mikoto. She was using every piece of her authority to stop them. She then saw that they were all starting to relax and one even told her to look behind her. Looking, she caught Mikoto's scent before she actually saw him. Transforming, she quickly grabbed a robe before she turned to everyone else. "He's back." Kisa replied as tears streamed down her eyes. Everyone looked to where she was pointing at.

Yuujiro looked at the figure coming closer to them from what seemed like a side entrance of the warehouse. He started moving without realizing it and with seconds he had gathered Mikoto into his arms. Mikoto collapsed into Yuujiro's arms as all his remaining strength left him. He could feel the pain of Yuujiro putting pressure on his back, but to him, that was all secondary to the warmth of the person holding him.

"I'm home." Mikoto stated. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yes." Yuujiro stated as he tightened his arms around Mikoto. "Yes they are."

"Good." Mikoto stated as he closed his eyes. Yuujiro felt Mikoto go limp in his arms and the suddenly saw a flash of smoke before all that remained in his arms was a battered and bruised orange cat.

Hope you like. WE are almost at the end of the story. Please R&R. C-ya