I just realized that I forgot to place the disclaimer. This will override to the two previous chapters too then.

Disclaimer- I do not own Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya does. Enjoy!

Chapter 3. Alapin Variation

Sitting up, his smile faded from his face as he fully processed his condition but there was still evidence of his recent exercise through a ragged breath.

"Tell me," his kidnapper started. "What are you laughing about?"

Kyo snorted; something that he probably shouldn't be doing considering his deadlock. But even with that knowing, Kyo felt as if he was placed in safe hands. The white cloth against his makeshift bed was validation enough for him. He won't hurt me.

"It's none of your business." Just to settle his belief, he added. "Kidnapper."

Katsu stayed stagnant however an amused chuckle escaped his lips.

Kyo was right. Words that should have received him a fatal blow of malicious annoyance was only turned around and returned with a chuckle. Subjects regarding punishments from misworded placements were something Kyo knew well. He was Akito's pet, after all.

Kyo was never good when it came to reading people, but he somehow knew that this man was a good man.

"Very well then." The civilness was slightly odd considering the character that he was supposed to be dancing. His regal voice spelled a man of books not a man of guns.

"Why did you kidnap me?" Despite the words content, the inquiry was not riddled with accusation or terror. It was spoken with such normalcy and with such a tranquil tone that he could have been asking about the weather. Absentmindedly, Kyo picked up the white cloth and pulled at one of the lose strings. Why do I feel so calm?

"Your kidnapping was a mistake." Kyo's question was bluntly evaded. Katsu eyed the cloth in Kyo's hand. "You weren't supposed to be sick."

At those words, Kyo's heart sank. He should be happy of a possible release after hearing the news that this was all some big gaffe, but all he could think about were Akito's words. What was he going to do now? What did this prove then? Even a kidnapper didn't want him…

Nobody would want a monster like you.

Kyo felt his rage boil and, in consequence, he lashed out. Standing up, Kyo threw the white cloth on the ground, and growled.

"What do you mean my kidnapping was a mistake?"

To say the least, Katsu was slightly surprised at the outburst. Well, 'slightly surprised' was an understatement. Shouldn't the teen by happy? Or maybe his fever was making him too incoherent to comprehend lucid and a should be happy statement. He didn't move as Kyo made his way toward him in an angry torrent.

"Do you think it's funny to mess with me?" Kyo's eyes narrowed at him as he panted heavily. "You're just like that bastard Akito!"

Before another successive insult could be said, Kyo found vertigo hitting him quickly. His head was spinning with such passion that his already unstable legs buckled underneath him. Instead of falling to the ground unceremoniously, like he was expecting, he was caught by strong, capable arms.

"Dammit, Michi!" There was definitely an underling tone in his language. "Didn't I tell you to not be so hotheaded when you're sick?"

Without meaning too, Kyo's grip on Katsu's forearm tightened as he tried to right himself. Did he just call me Michi?

Kyo tried to look up at him but he found his vision distorted and blurred by the haste movement. He was suddenly looking up at the ceiling as he was carried and then quickly deposited back on to the bed.

"Why don't you ever listen to me?" Katsu asked gruffly. Kyo remained silent as he watched Katsu quickly wash the towel that Kyo had previously thrown before gently settling it onto Kyo's brow. He was like in some trance. Katsu quickly got back up and ransacked a nearby drawer for something.

"Who's Michi?"

Katsu turned to him. "Don't be stupid, Michi! I swear you-"

Katsu quickly cut himself off as reality came back to him. He stared back at confused, crimson eyes. He had forgotten himself. Michi was not this boy. This boy was just some boy he swiped off the streets.

After all, Michi was dead.

He swallowed harshly as the dreaded question was asked again.

"Who's Michi?"

"Any luck, Shigure?" Yuki pulled his coat as tight as possible. The drizzled had finally stopped, but now they were facing Mother Nature's frigid winds.

Shigure stood up from his kneeled position. "I can't smell him anywhere."

Shigure frowned. His canine allies had tried to help in their seemingly futile search but all the rain had washed away all the scent and muddled their keen noses. They've been on a rampant search for hours. Finding Kyo seemed distant which did not settle well with any of the exhausted Sohma men.

Having one ally already snuffed out, Yuki had turned to his rats. Progression was slow on his side though. All the heavy flooding had almost dissuaded the little rats majorly if not entirely from the urgent request.

"What are we going to do?" Yuki looked over at Shigure.

Shigure was slightly surprised at how desperate Yuki sounded. He couldn't wait to tell Kyo that his thought to be nemesis was worried about him. If we find him, Shigure thought grimly. Shigure looked into the darkened sky. It was going to be morning soon. They should probably get back before Tohru notices their absence.

"Let's go home for now, Yuki." Shigure took a step toward their previous path. "We will continue our search tomorrow. I'll call Hatori and the others later if we can't find him."

"Once more." Yuki whispered.

Shigure turned back to him. "What?"

"Let's go check the pathway to Miss Honda's work place again."

"Yuki," Shigure exhaled heavily, he was too exhausted from the emotional and physical toil to argue. "We've checked there five times."

"I know." Yuki grounded out, annoyed. "But I feel like we missed something."

Shigure dragged a languid hand down his face at Yuki's words.

"Shigure, please." Yuki's grip on the umbrella tightened when there was a pause. "I'll go by myself then."

"At least let me catch my breath before we start again." Shigure whined as he hobbled over to Yuki and tossed his arm over his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Don't touch me." Yuki glared but Shigure continued to smile. "Come on."

"You're so cruel, Yuki."

Yuki ignored the comment and continued to trudge forth without falter with only one mission in mind:

Find the stupid cat.

"Who's Michi?"

Katsu's jaw clenched. He didn't know why but for some reason he wanted to tell the boy. He wanted to tell somebody about the machinate he concocted. Though, at the moment, it was quite feeble like a deck of cards. He was tired of holding it all in though.

He turned around.

"Hey!" Kyo called, obviously offended at being ignored. Propping himself up with his elbow, Kyo yelled again.

"Calm down." He repeated quietly. He took the chair that Kyo had previously been strapped to and pulled it toward the bed. He straddled it backwards and let his chest sag across the back of the chair's steel frame. This was going to take a while.

Kyo looked up at him expectantly. Katsu would have laughed if he was a man that was prone to laughing which he wasn't. Just moments ago, Kyo wanted to kill him but now his curiosity had placed that intent aside for the time being. He's curious like a cat.

"There was a reported rape in the newspaper three months ago. Did you hear about that?" He couldn't believe he was giving in so easily. He was just going to wash everything out and tell this kid that he barely knew.

"Rape?" Kyo echoed the word to himself. It didn't take long before the events to click as he recalled the scene with Shigure in the kitchen. So, the stupid dog wasn't lying after all.

Then it connected. "Was she your girlfriend?"

Katsu gave him a look. "What? No, we-"

"Your sister?"

"No, dammit!" The teen's impatient-ness and jumpy conclusion was another characteristic that he had in common with Michi.

"Then what?" Kyo bristled.

"We have no relations."

"Then what's the point in mentioning the rape?" Kyo felt like he was talking to that rat. His nerves were starting to become aggravated.

"Michi is my little brother. Michio Anzai."

"Michio Anzai?" Kyo gasped. "That was the name of the rapist on the newspaper."

He was talking to the sibling of a rapist. Maybe his intuition of this man being safe was slightly farfetched.

"My brother is no rapist!" Katsu snarled as he stood up so quickly that the chair toppled over. Kyo flinched from the loud clatter. "That girl's dead body was dumped in his car and he was accused."

Kyo stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

"I know who the real killer is." Katsu gave Kyo a deadly look that almost dared him to defy his claims of truth. He leaned in, his hair brushing his eyes. "Katashi Igarashi."

The last name was quite familiar but Kyo wasn't too sure where he heard it. The spark of recognition must have showed on his face since Katsu grinned.

"That's right. Katashi is the nephew of Yoshio Igarashi. The damn judge that trialed my brother to cover up for his pathetic nephew!"

"Your brother, is he…" Kyo fumbled with his words awkwardly. With the mention of his brother, Katsu's rage softened and fabricated into grief.

"He's dead." He said it without a variance or a break in his tone. It was a fact that he knew well and even admitted to himself. He wasn't a delusional man, no, he was a man that held a purpose. "He was killed in prison."

"I don't know what I was thinking when I kidnaped you." Katsu bent down and righted the chair but he remained standing.

Deep down in his heart, Katsu knew what he tried to do was wrong. He didn't want to hurt anyone. All he wanted was to revenge his brother. But hurting the kid that sat in front of him was too much for him. He reminded him of Michio and he couldn't possibly hurt Michio.

They haven't found anything. Yuki bit his lip. He could have sworn that they would have seen something if they came here again. Some inner force had told him to come here again and yet, here he was, cold, tired, and empty-handed.

Shigure leaned on the building. "I don't see anything, Yuki."

"Me either." Yuki shook his head. "Let's just go home."

Shigure slid his frigid hands in the sleeve of his kimono as Yuki joined his side. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sure we'll find Kyo tomorrow."

After fifteen minutes of unremitted silence, Shigure unexpectedly halted as his keen eyes spotted something in a desolate alleyway. His nose was tickling as well.

Yuki bumped into Shigure. "Shigure?"

Instead of answering, Shigure walked into the depths of the alleyway and stopped at a half covered trashcan. He picked up the lid and dropped it with a clatter. Yuki saw Shigure's eyes widen.

"Shigure? What is it?" Kyo's body wasn't in there was it?

Yuki was about to yell at Shigure but was stopped when Shigure's shaky hands reached into the caverns of the trash and produce something thin. Yuki was relieved that Shigure wasn't pulling severed parts of Kyo out of the trashcan.

In Shigure's hold was a blue umbrella. Kyo's umbrella.

"It's Kyo's."

"Are you sure?" Yuki wanted him to say no but he already knew the answer.

"Yes." It reeks of Kyo and something dreadful.

If it couldn't get any worse, Yuki spotted a white cloth on the ground at the base of the trashcan. Yuki picked it up. It was wet but the odor that clung to it was still visibly present. It smelled of something that Yuki couldn't exactly place- at least, not for a couple of seconds.

"Yuki," Shigure stared at the cloth in Yuki's hand. It was the source that had irritated his nose earlier. "Is that…"

Yuki nodded his head. "It's chloroform."

"I'll release you." Katsu said with finality.

"What?"

"I didn't want to kidnap you." Katsu picked up a shard of glass that had fallen earlier. "It was all a mistake. I don't want to hurt you."

"You never answered my question. Why did you kidnap me?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to release you to your family tomorrow." Katsu looked aside.

"Tell me why you did it!" Kyo wanted something; something to rectify his already injured mind and soul.

"I needed to get into jail." Katsu turned to stare at him. "Katashi got placed into jail after another kill. His uncle couldn't cover for him since there was a witness. I needed to do something big enough that will get me into the same jail as him."

"Are you going to try to kill him?"

"Of course." Katsu didn't even cringe from his words' monstrous meaning. His words and Kyo's reaction to it didn't bother him in the least. He continued, "He was sentenced for fifteen years. I can't wait that long. My time is running out."

"So you kidnap me so you can get into jail and kill your brother's murder?"

Katsu nodded. "But that doesn't matter anymore. I can't hurt you. I will release you tomorrow just don't tell anybody what I said."

"I will pretend to be your hostage."

Katsu snapped his head up so fast that he almost got whiplash. "What did you just say?"

Kyo wasn't a man foreign in striking deals. After all, he had made one that sealed his fate but maybe he could create another one to negate it.

"I will pretend to be your hostage," Kyo sat up and leaned against the rail of the bed and looked Katsu dead in the eye. "But only under one condition."

Beneath all the compassion and mercy, Kyo knew this man had an inner rage that was ready to erupt. He was a monster that wanted to kill. But Kyo will make a compact with him anyway, because monsters had to stick together.

A/N: Thank you so much to those who reviewed! I really appreciate it. I hope you guys will continue to support me by reviewing/favoriting/ following. I know this isn't my best chapter, but I'll try harder. Writer's block is kind of affecting me now.

So, some of you might be thinking what are the meanings for the title of chapter 1 and 3. Sicilian Defence is an opening chess move usually performed by the whites pieces. Alapin Variation is a response to the Sicilian Defence that is performed by the black pieces. These are one of the most popular moves and chess openings and idealized by many chess grandmasters.

Sorry if the grammar is off. I'm doing this at a late hour so my mother wont catch me.

Please R&R. Reviews inspire me and make me happy. No flames please. Critiques are always welcomed.

4/27/2013