Archive of Our Own

 It didn't bear thinking about. They’d simply have to get everything right, was all. They had no room for mistakes.

“Can you see me?” he asked Rin, voice low as he sank back into the shadows of a doorway. 

There were many doorways in the main Sohma mansion; let alone the entirety of the estate. The place was positively enormous. If he wanted to walk around the building, it would take him days to visit every single room. Even with his feline sense of smell, he was likely to get lost.

He heard the shift of Rin’s long hair and starched dress — he had to hand it to her; when she wanted to look like a pristine doll, she pulled it off every time — as she moved around, looking at him from all angles.

“Your eyes are glowing a little," she pointed out. “But if I wasn‘t looking for it, I wouldn't see it.”

He tried to keep his eyes closed after that, relying on his sense of hearing instead. It was early enough in the morning that he could hear birdcall outside the nearby window Haru had left cracked open. He salivated at the thought of the little twittering robins. He‘d never tell anyone, but sometimes catching birds was the only way for him to fill his empty stomach. Unlike Rin, who had Kagura’s parents to take care of her, and Haru, who had a home to return to, Kyo was on his own.

Well. That was why he was here, wasn‘t it? If nobody else would take care of him, he had to seize upon any opportunity when it presented itself. Even if that meant rescuing the damn rat from certain death.

“Someone‘s coming," Rin whispered, sinking into a doorway of her own. “I think it‘s a maid.” 

Excellent. Good timing. Eyes still shut tight, Kyo crouched and perked his ears, following the sound of footsteps. Rin might not have his catlike reflexes, but she was still blessed with animal instinct. When the maid — young; pretty; new — rounded the corner with her arms full of dirty laundry, the two zodiac children made their move.

Rin sprang out in time to collide hard with the young woman's chest, causing her laundry to fall every which way. Kyo seized his chance to barrel into the woman‘s back.

Rin screamed to mask the sound of Kyo‘s transformation, grabbing onto the young woman to keep her balance. Kyo meanwhile found himself standing on four paws in a tangle of his own clothing.

Funny thing about being a cat: colors became so muted. Contrary to popular belief, he could see blues and reds alike, but it was like all the saturation of the world had been dialed way down. However, a feline was a predatory animal. He noticed movement; any movement; as potential prey. It was easy to become distracted by falling socks and panties, but he wouldn‘t let himself bat at and chase them. He was on a mission.

Sparing only a second to grab his precious bracelet, Kyo sprinted on silent paws in the opposite direction, relying on Rin to keep the flustered maid distracted long enough to complete his part of the bargain. He had only to follow his nose — contrary to instinct — towards the smell of sick and rot. Towards the room he himself would one day be confined to like all the cursed Sohma cats before him…

No. No thinking about that. Not now, not ever. Kyo gave a vigorous shake of his head, the bone-beads of his bracelet rattling, and used a paw to pull open the heavy door. Haru had propped it open after breakfast using a small hunk of plastic, virtually unnoticeable unless you stood at roughly nine inches tall like Kyo did. 

He was very careful not to disturb the plastic as he slunk inside the pitch-black, windowless room; if it was knocked aside and the door swung shut, he wouldn‘t be able to get out again until he transformed back to his human form. A naked child was far more conspicuous than a cat.

He swiveled his ears forward. Even with his fantastic night vision, it was hard to make anything out in this insane blackness. A cat‘s eyes worked by taking any available light and magnifying it, but this room seemed to swallow light like the inside of some beast. It was vast; empty; intimidating. It gave Kyo the major creeps.

Well. He had to move fast. He could never predict how long a transformation would last, after all. Creeping forward, he kept his ears pricked until he heard it; heard the tiny muffled gasps for breath.

Oh, man. Oh, yikes. Haru had warned him. Haru had said the damn rat wasn‘t doing good; that he was so sick he was in his rat form all the time nowadays. Haru had said that Yuki would die if they didn‘t bust him out, but Kyo still hadn‘t fully believed him; hadn’t truly understood.

Yuki smelled like death. Yuki smelled like the sort of sickly animal Kyo‘s cat instincts knew better than to eat, lest he become ill himself. Yuki wasn‘t a boy at all anymore; but a scrap of a thing.

A rat was a prey animal. He should be aware of Kyo‘s presence in his room. His little rat heart should be pounding a thousand miles a second. He should be emitting delicious fear-smells to make Kyo‘s mouth water. Instead, he seemed apathetic and unaware; barely conscious as the feline loped towards him and stood over his tiny body.

Kyo nudged at Yuki‘s tummy with his cold nose, but the rat didn't react at all. Kyo set his bracelet down and carefully scooped the rat into his mouth, determined not to bite down. He may not like his cousin, but he wasn‘t a monster. Well, okay, he was, but not that kind of monster.

It was a struggle carrying both his bracelet and Yuki, and he may have drooled a little more than was sightly, but he managed alright. Sneaking out the way he had come (first kicking the plastic doorstopper into the hallway and hoping Rin remembered to take it with her) he padded along the hallway towards the sound of voices.

“Isuzu, why are you here?” the maid spoke as though trying both to be deferential — after all, Rin was a member of the zodiac she served — but also authoritative. All the maids here worked for Akito first and foremost. Akito was very particular who was and was not allowed in his home. Kyo was too much of an outsider to be very involved in family politics, but he knew Rin was hardly a favored guest.

Rin stayed sullen, arms crossed, scowl directed at the floor. When her dark eyes flicked towards Kyo‘s slinking form making his way across the polished wooden floors, however, she changed her tune a little, planting her hands on her hips. “I’m allowed to come here if I want!" she said, drawing the maid‘s attention back to her face. “I’m one of the Jyuunishi!” 

“Lord Akito didn‘t mention a visit from you, though…” the maid knelt and loaded the spilled laundry back into her basket, scooping up Kyo‘s pants and shirt along with everything else. Kyo supposed he‘d probably never see those articles of clothing again. Hopefully the loss would be worth it. “Were you visiting Hatsuharu again?”

The maid’s tone was gentle; understanding. Everyone, even Kyo, knew that Rin and Haru had a bit of a thing, especially after all that crap with Rin's parents went down.

Rin said nothing. She didn't have to. Kyo had already rounded the corner and was hopping onto the windowsill, wriggling his small orange body into the crack Haru had left for him. Rin was known to dislike Yuki, which made her safe to be seen around the cat‘s room. Nobody would think she was involved in Yuki‘s disappearance. Haru, however, was Yuki‘s friend, and so he would be the first suspect. That was why Haru was spending time with Akito right now — plausible deniability. An alibi. He would continue to spend time with their God until after the crime was noticed.

It was the best plan the three children could come up with. Hopefully, it was good enough to work.

Kyo crouched, focused his gaze on the nearby tree; the one where robins still sang; and wriggled his hips. The world’s best Olympian acrobat had nothing on the average housecat when it came to balance, precision, and propulsion. With a powerful kick from his hind paws and his tail held stiff as a counterbalance, Kyo sailed into the tree and landed nimbly atop a branch, startling the robins into flight.

After that, it was nothing to hop down the tree and onto the carefully maintained garden pathway below.

He didn‘t trust his luck enough to think he had much longer in this body, so he crouched low and launched into an all-out sprint. A cat could achieve speeds of thirty miles per hour, though they quickly tired. Thankfully, he didn't have far to go. As beautiful as the Sohma grounds were, the household still generated garbage. His nose led him to the doors just outside the kitchens, and he at last found the garbage can inside which Haru had hidden a shoebox full of clothing.

Kyo gently set Yuki down in a shady patch of dandelions, sat on his haunches, and waited to transform. It did not take long.

His first order of business was to slip his bracelet back on. The second was to dress himself.

“Please no weird clothes, please no weird clothes,” the very naked and very uncomfortable Kyo muttered to himself, pulling the garbage can‘s lid off to dig among the eggshells and teabags from that morning‘s breakfast until he found the promised shoebox. 

Thank the stars, Haru had delivered. He‘d packed jeans, sneakers, a baseball cap, and a plain blue t-shirt into the box. Kyo, well used to his cousin‘s bizarre fashion proclivities, heaved a sigh of relief and quickly scrambled into the clothing. He scooped Yuki into his palm, held the rat against his cheek to feel his heartbeat and ensure he was still alive — he was, but he‘d definitely lost consciousness — and then placed the rat in his hair, only to cover him up with the hat.

The hat was big enough, also, to hide Kyo‘s telltale hair color. As long as he did nothing to draw attention, anybody who glimpsed him on the property would assume he was just another Sohma child, and not The Cat.

That didn't mean he wanted to run into anybody. Kyo closed his eyes and listened hard to his surroundings. He heard people moving in the kitchen on the other side of the wall; more maids. Perhaps chefs, preparing lunch. They had such a small window of time to work. They had to do this after breakfast; had to ensure the maids had brought food to Yuki's rooms and seen him there. They had to move before lunch; before Sohma adults like Hatori returned home from work.

They’d almost pulled it off. They were going to pull it off, as long as Rin or Haru didn‘t screw up now.

Kyo stuffed his hands into his pockets, hunched his shoulders, and started walking.

He stuck close to the sides of buildings, ducking below windows, taking the long way around rather than following sidewalk paths into open areas. The main house was grand and vast, as were the houses closest to it, but the further Kyo walked, the smaller and more modest they became. Sometimes, when he thought about how enormous his family was, Kyo became a little alarmed. They couldn't all be blood, could they? What did it mean to be a Sohma? He knew their combined wealth and influence was one of the greatest in all of Japan, but…

“Hiya, Kyo!”

The cat who was shaped like a boy flinched and startled, sunset eyes huge as they focused up on a small blond boy, smiling brightly as he leaned out a second-story window from one of the nearby houses. Momiji Sohma; the rabbit of the zodiac.

Just his luck.

“What are you doing here, you little runt?!” Kyo spat, speaking before thinking better of it.

As usual, Momiji wasn't in the least bit bothered by Kyo‘s hostile tone. “I live here now!”

Kyo narrowed his eyes. He wasn‘t often allowed on the property, but he was pretty sure he‘d seen Momiji’s blonde, German mother much further back on the compound. She was a foreigner, and the Sohmas didn‘t take well to outsiders. 

“Since when?”

Momiji briefly lost his sunny smile. “I, ah... I live with Hatori now!”

Did he? Why? How strange…

Kyo reminded himself that he didn't have time to care.

“Whatever," he grouched, and made to walk away again. Momiji let out a whine of protest.

“Don‘t go! Come upstairs! Come play with me! Come see my room!”

Jeez. Didn‘t the kid have anyone better to play with than the family disgrace?

Maybe he didn‘t. To be a Sohma was to live an isolated life. To be Jyuunishi was even more so.

“I don't have time," Kyo said. “I’ve got stuff to do.”

Momiji whined again. Kyo grit his teeth and exhaled hard through his nose. As cute as everyone seemed to think the rabbit was, he really got on Kyo‘s nerves.

“Tell you what," he finally ground out. “I’ll play with you tomorrow, okay? Meet me at the entry gate after breakfast."

He was the cat. He wasn‘t allowed on family property without an invitation and a proper escort. Surely Momiji could understand such a request.

“Really?!” Kyo glanced up in time to see the hopeful sparkle in the rabbit‘s eyes. He looked truly overjoyed at the prospect of a playdate. It was almost enough to make Kyo feel guilty. 

“Yes. But only if you promise to never tell anyone I was here today. Not even Hatori. Promise me, Momiji!”

“I promise! I promise! Cross my heart and hope to die!” Momiji demonstrated by dragging a finger in an X across his scrawny chest.

Kyo could only hope he meant it. If Hatori, arguably the smartest member of the family, heard that Kyo was sneaking around on the same day the rat went missing, well…

“Okay," Kyo agreed with a sharp nod. He didn‘t see that he had any other choice. “I‘d better get going. I’ll see you, okay?” 

Momiji gave him a dramatic salute and bow, then went back inside the house and closed the window after himself. Kyo heaved a sigh of relief and continued walking all the way to the shrub-covered hole in the cement wall; the one the zodiac kids thought they were the only ones to know about; and out into the world beyond. 

It was silly superstition, but it always felt easier to breathe on the other side. Kyo took several deep gulps of breath as he rejoined the natural world and set off at a brisk pace to where he and his cousins had promised to meet.

Things were only just getting started.