To be honest, it was almost always expected. Their fights, their bickering, it had all become a normal routine. A stranger who didn't know any better would be left to wonder if the two rivals looked forward to the fighting. Even those inside the family and those close to Yuki and Kyo would sometimes wonder if the two cousins enjoyed their sometimes violent spats.

It all seemed pointless to begin with. Usually, it would start with a jab and end in a fight with Yuki on top and Kyo fuming about his loss. Recently, it would sometimes end with Tohru trying in vain to stop the fight before it escalated into something worse.

And it would work sometimes as the two boys did not like to upset the girl who now lived with them. She held a special place in their hearts and sometimes she was the very reason they got into their petty squabbles. But Tohru was always there to try and smooth things along, but even she knew when to step back and avoid the worse of the damage.

Like now. Kyo was out on a run and the only reason Yuki knew that was because Tohru had mentioned it more than once. Both Tohru and Shigure were out, leaving Yuki alone to study if he so chose to do so. The house was strangely quiet and it left him on edge. He was not used to the silence as he now became aware of every single thing that was within hearing range.

He was aware of the faint breeze that carried a warm feeling with a hint of heaviness. His eyes flickered over to that little dust bunny that flew out from under the seats. He was aware of the birds falling silent, only to rise up again in a new song. He could hear the crickets and the rustle of a small animal scurrying across dry leaves.

It was way too much, and he was growing sentimental.

He rose to his feet and wandered around the house. He wasn't really hungry and he wasn't in the mood to read. A quick look out his window had him deciding to visit his secret base, maybe check up on the plants. Or, if need be, just to sit and think.

He nodded firmly, his mind firmly set as he turned to head outside. His steps were hurried as he yanked the door open and rushed out, only for him to slam into someone who was just entering the house.

The apology died on his lips when he heard the enraged sputtering and the feeling of something wet touching his shirt. A quick glance down showed that someone had spilled water on him when they had collided into each other. Another glance up revealed an annoyed Kyo who was now holding an open yet now empty water bottle.

Their annoyed eyes caught each other, both feeling the Rat and Cat inside them hiss in annoyance. It was times like these when Yuki actually wondered if he truly despised Kyo, or if it was just the Zodiac Rat inside him that caused him to feel this way. But if that were the case, there was nothing he could do to change it.

Kyo made it really difficult to feel anything but annoyance anyway.

More than just ticked off with his now wet shirt, Yuki just gave a curt nod to his cousin, but Kyo wasn't done with him yet.

A word was suddenly tossed around, a jab was given. Then a water bottle was being hurled at a target.

Then Yuki and Kyo found themselves fighting in the kitchen. Punches and kicks were given and it all soon grew into a sudden ferocity.

It was normal, and they had done it so many times that Yuki could have done it all blind folded and he was sure Kyo felt the same. But it never stopped them.

But physical attacks weren't the only things they used to cut at each other. Words were much sharper and Yuki knew how to use them.

So did Kyo.

"You dang Rat!" Kyo yelled as he slipped and dodged Yuki's punch.

"Why do you have to make such a mess?"

"You should clean up your own mess!"

"You should learn to watch where you are going," Yuki snapped back, lashing out with another punch. "Someone like you should become more aware of your surroundings!"

No more words were said for the next few moments as Yuki flipped Kyo out of the kitchen and into the sitting room. Kyo sprang to his feet, hands balled into fists as he lunged forward with a yell.

"What would you know?" Kyo snapped. "You're a spoiled little Rat!"

A small part of Yuki recognized those words from the school yard, but the memory hardly mattered. He wondered if this fight would end the same way with Tohru coming out of nowhere to stop them.

"You've always had everything handed to you," Kyo continued, his eyes bright with sudden fury that took Yuki by surprise. "And why? Because you're the Rat? The Zodiac favorite?"

"I never asked to be the Rat!" Yuki growled, shoving Kyo back. "I never asked to be cursed, I never wanted to be the favorite. I never wanted any of it!"

"You don't even want to be a part of the family despite not being an outcast!" Kyo shouted. "You've had everything handed to you and you take it all for granted!"

"An outcast is better than what I am!" Yuki argued, blocking a kick and throwing Kyo down. But the Cat seemed to brace himself and swept Yuki's legs out from under him once he fell. Kyo was on top of him before Yuki's mind even registered that he had fallen to the floor.

"No! It is not! An outcast, a freak is never something one should want! I'm always alone and judged because of the curse. I'm the one who has to fight for a spot in the family! I am never viewed as a person in the family. No one can look past the Cat and see me as a being! You think no one sees you? You don't know what it's like to be despised and feared!"

Yuki grunted as he tried to shove Kyo off of him.

"I am the Cat with a true form that is not human!" Kyo all but screamed. "I was shunned by my family because of this stupid curse!"

"Akito, am I strange?"

"Yes, you are a freak."

Those words made Yuki's eyes widen as the memory suddenly attacked him out of nowhere. All of the sudden, Kyo found himself on his back with Yuki on top of him, trembling with fury.

"No," Yuki said in a hoarse whisper. "You want my place? You want my place in the family? I would gladly give it to you without a second thought. I would let you have it, if only for a day to see what Akito...what they do to their favorites." He spat the last word out with contempt. "You think I had it all? You had a family, a mother who wanted you. She was afraid, but she still wanted you. And even when you lost everything and had nothing, Kazuma came in and saved you. He took you away and put you in a better place. I had no one! No one came to save me. No one thought I was worth saving because no one saw me! No one bothered to hear me as I cried. You," he leaned forward with a sneer that seemed so out of place on Yuki's face. "You never had to cry out for help for a rescue. You always had someone looking out for you. My mother never wanted me, my brother forgot me and my father abandoned me. I had no one!"

Both were breathing heavily, both feeling the same swirl of emotions inside of them as they trembled with rage and pent up despair. Yuki's grip on Kyo's shirt loosened and the Cat felt himself go limp.

He shoved off of Kyo without a second thought, not looking back as he made a dash for the stairs. He was so consumed with his now crowded thoughts that he nearly ran into Tohru who was shrugging out of her coat. Normally, her bright smile could chase away any damp mood he was in. But for some reason, it was Shigure's sudden grim look that caught his attention and gave him pause. Something in his older cousin's eyes made Yuki's heart drop to the pit of his stomach.

Akito wanted him to visit. Akito wanted Yuki to come to the Main House.

Which was fine with Kyo. He could care less if the Rat never came back. No tears would be shed on his part.

He did not see Yuki as he left for the Main House. He didn't even know he was gone until Shigure said something. But Kyo hid his surprise with a faint grunt as he got ready for school. It would just be him and Tohru walking to school and he was fine with it.

The walk was silent with both teeneagers lost in thought. But that didn't last long as Tohru began to excitedly talk about the dinner she planned to make for tonight. Kyo just listened to her voice fill up the space.

"Maybe I should make a special meal when Yuki comes back!" she said suddenly.

It was that comment that caused Kyo to respond. "What?" he asked, his voice coming out a bit sharp even though it was not his intention.

"Well, yeah," she continued, blinking as if startled. "After all, when he comes back from the Main House, a nice meal would be a wonderful welcome back gift, right?"

He grunted. "I guess."

"And it's not that I wouldn't make one for you either, Kyo. Or Shigure. I would make a special welcome back meal for all of you! Plus, I've been meaning to make a special meal for you all anyway," she said, skipping lightly with a smile as she swung her school bag. "You've all been so kind for taking me in, especially Shigure for offering me his home and taking me in." She giggled. "I guess you could say he rescued me."

Kyo almost stumbled at those unexpected words. "What?"

She giggled again. "It's almost like he rescued me, even when I didn't ask for help in the first place. I didn't ask to live in the house, but you all allowed me to stay. And...you and Yuki came back for me even when I didn't ask to come back to live with you. It was like...you heard what I wanted, what I needed."

"No one bothered to hear me when I cried!"

Kyo swallowed, bothered at the little voice in his head. He rubbed at the beaded bracelet he wore on his wrist. "Yeah," he mumbled. "Let's just go to school, alright?" And with that, he hurried off, trying to race against his thoughts in vain.

Yuki did not move from his seated position in the dark room. He had not been put back in this place for a long time and it had not changed in the slightest. It was still empty, it was still dark and it still brought in that feeling of fear and helplessness.

When Akito had forced him to enter that room, he had begged, made promises that fell on deaf ears. Now, his cheeks were dry from the tears that had long washed away. He had tried to hold it together, tried to stay strong, But it was like he was reverted back into a child and the tears flowed freely.

He hugged his knees to his chest, closing his eyes and trying to think about pleasant things. Like Tohru and the warm house. Was Kyo walking her to school? Was Shigure laying off the teasing? Was she working too hard? What of Shigure? Was his editor still hounding him? Or better yet, was he going easy on his poor editor?

And Kyo.

He scowled at the thought of the Cat.

"No one can look past the Cat and see me as a being!"

Yes, he understood what the rest of the family had called Kyo. He understood what they thought of him. Akito called him a monster, a freak for being the unwanted Cat who had been tricked out of the Zodiac. Tricked by the Rat. But Kyo had something that Yuki did not have; he was out of the family circle in a way that Yuki could never be.

"You don't know what it's like to be despised and feared!"

It occurred to Yuki that he and Kyo had both been called freaks, but he had never been called a monster. No one had ever looked at him with fear.

What Kyo wanted was a sense of belonging, a sense of familiarity. And that was the same thing Yuki wanted. He wanted to belong and not worry about being the freak that he was.

He did not lift his head as all those thoughts raced through his mind, the dark heavy in the air that came down with full force.

"Please, help," he mumbled, tired of making the same plea and expecting an answer. "Help me."

It was three days before he started to pace around with restlessness. He did not know why, but his thoughts were often plagued with Yuki, that darn Rat. Why did he have to be so bothersome? Even when he wasn't here, he was still a nuisance.

"So when is he coming back?" he asked finally, glaring at Shigure.

The Dog looked up from his newspaper with a small smirk. "Why? Do you miss him?"

Kyo snorted. "Hardly."

Shigure shrugged. "Well, it's hard to tell," he confessed. "Akito was not clear on when Yuki would come back."

Kyo raised an eyebrow. "But the Rat has school," he pointed out.

"Akito is aware of that," Shigure said.

Kyo frowned. "And?"

Shigure let out a tired sigh. "And what? What would you have me do, Kyo? I cannot defy Akito or stop him in what he does."

Kyo grumbled, rising from his seat. "Whatever," he muttered. "I gotta get to school."

Tohru was strangely silent on the walk to school. He kept glancing over to to see her worriedly chew at her lip. He let out a huff, wondering if he should say anything or if he even wanted to.

"Kyo," Tohru said suddenly, breaking the silence for him.

He grunted.

"Do you think...Yuki is alright?"

He frowned. "I don't think about him," he grouched. "But even if I did, I'm certain he would be fine. So stop worrying about him."

She nodded quickly, looking down. "It's just…" She started after a moment. "When I last saw Yuki with Akito at the school, he looked...scared. I just remember how afraid he looked. He wasn't...he didn't look like he felt safe. He looked trapped."

Kyo quickened his pace. "Yeah, well I know what it feels like to be trapped," he muttered, the weight of the bracelet suddenly heavy. It was a shackle, a reminder of who he was. He hated it, hated that he was forced to wear it and of its constant reminder of who he was.

It was the reason his mother had been afraid of him, the reason his father hated him.

"And when you had nothing, Kazuma came and took you in. He took you away and put you in a better place."

He did have Kazuma who was more of a father to him than anything else. He had someone who had rescued him. He had never looked at it that way, but oddly enough, it had been the darn Rat who had showed him that.

He adjusted his bag, biting his lip and shoving the thoughts away.

"Alright little Yuki," Akito said, opening the door and allowing a little bit of light in. "I think it is time you come out. We are wasting all this time."

Yuki swallowed as he rose to his feet and staggered out the door, his knees suddenly weak. He flinched when Akito brushed past him, but Yuki knew he was to follow the Head without question. He stayed a good foot behind, but made sure not to fall too far back, lest he anger Akito.

His footsteps were light on the floor, yet he could not help but hear every sound he made as he walked behind Akito.

He passed by a room that he knew all too well. The Cats room.

"...you take it all for granted!"

Yuki did not have to face a dark prison in his future. Not like the Cat. He was not going to be imprisoned for all eternity.

But Kyo was. That was Kyo's future. And why? Because he was the Cat? Because imprisoning him made everyone affected by the curse feel better about themselves?

He could not stop the shudder that swept over him. So Kyo did have something to fear after all. He too would be confined, just as Yuki was. Why was it that Akito sought to imprison others?

Maybe it was because he felt like he could not be free as well, therefore he could not stand to see others enjoy that privilege.

His fists clenched at the unfair thought of being imprisoned by someone, but he stayed silent.

School was a drag and it was even worse when he was walking home alone. Tohru was meeting up with her friends for a short while and he saw no reason to stick around, especially with the Yankee there. But that didn't mean he wanted to walk home alone.

He missed the noise, he missed Tohru's chatter and how her voice would keep his troubled thoughts away. She was worried about Yuki, though she didn't try to show too much of her worry because she knew how Kyo felt about it. She brought back Yuki's homework and did what she could to lighten the load for when he did come back. Just because she didn't want him to overwork himself with too much school work, that was her way of explaining it. But she wound up overworking herself as well, so Kyo had decided to step in and help with the homework. It wasn't so bad, just that it was the Rat's homework that irked him.

But he would do anything to make sure Tohru didn't overwork herself. She was busy enough as it was and too often did she take care of everyone and forget herself. But Kyo missed the old routine and he missed the sense of normalcy.

But, he also missed the squabbles with Yuki. It was a way to pass the time, it was something that they did and it was theirs. It was theirs alone.

And Akito was getting in the way of that.

He stopped for a short moment.

Akito.

"I just remember how afraid he looked. He wasn't...he didn't look like he felt safe. He looked trapped."

He clenched his fists.

"...what they do to their favorites!"

He blinked his bright amber eyes at the thought of what only that could mean.

"I had no one!"

He was running before he even realized that he was moving.

"No one came to save me!"

He ran faster than he had during the endurance run. Branches swiped at him as he ran down the path, but he did not care. He kept running in a direction he did not know where his feet were taking him.

"No one thought I was worth saving because no one saw me!"

"Dang Akito," he muttered as he ran, eyes narrowed. "If you damaged the Rat, I'll kill you. He's my only true competition and my rival."

His legs were burning as he ran for what seemed like forever. He looked up sharply before turning in a different direction, one he deemed a short cut. He knew this trail and was familiar with the land; he had no fear of getting lost.

The Main House was in the distance and he increased his speed. His feet pounded on the ground and he knew he was an unruly mess with twigs and dirt in his hair and clothes, but he could not bring himself to care. By the time he was in the gardens, his chest felt tight and his legs were trembling.

He leaned up against a tree before slowly sinking to the ground, drinking in lung fulls of air as he wondered why he had come. He tilted his head back, feeling his heart pounding fiercely against his rib cage. After several moments of collecting his wits ad thoughts, he slowly stood back up, still leaning against the tree for support.

A flash of silver caught his attention and he looked in the direction to see a figure with dark hair, the silver streaks in that mop easy to see thanks to the glow of the sun. Kyo slowed down briefly, eyes wide for a bit, his breath coming in quick gasps.

Yuki was sitting on a bench, head resting on the trunk of a tree that the bench was leaning on. His face was pale and gaunt and he had dark circles under his eyes.

But aside that, he looked fine.

He could still turn back. No one had seen him yet. He shouldn't even be doing this anyway. Was it even worth it?

"No one thought I was worth saving!"

He let out a soft groan, gazing upwards as if the heavens held the answers he sought. Well, he didn't want the trip to go to waste anyway.

Kyo approached him and Yuki could obviously hear his approach because he stirred, opening his eyes that seemed worn and tired. He blinked in obvious shock. "Kyo?"

"Up," he ordered, grabbing his cousin and hauling him to his feet. "Let's go."

Yuki's shock wore off quickly as he wrenched free from Kyo's hold with a glare. "Go where?"

"Home," Kyo said simply, staring the Rat down, daring his cousin to challenge him.

Yuki frowned sharply, matching his stare. "But Akito-"

"Is going to have a lot to answer for if you miss anymore days of school," Kyo said. "Shigure will be telling him that through the phone as soon as we arrive." He shrugged. "I'm sure he can make Akito see reason."

Yuki's hands suddenly trembled. "Why?" he asked.

Kyo swallowed, refusing to look away. Why? Why did he even bother? He didn't care about Yuki, he wasn't supposed to. But here he was, ready to drag Yuki away from a place he knew Yuki did not want to be in. It was much like what they had done with Tohru, only he had never doubted his actions when he dragged her out of the house and away from her relatives.

"Because I heard your call," he said finally. "I answered."

Yuki could only stare at him in shock as those words hit him. He glanced back at the large house, as if fearing that Akito would be watching and strike them down for daring to disobey him.

"We going or not?" Kyo asked sharply. "You can stay if you want. But I'll make you pay for having me come all the way up here for nothing."

Yuki looked away from the house and back at Kyo, just staring at him. Kyo frowned and stared right back. Finally, Yuki looked down with a tired sigh. "Alright," he said. "Let's get going."

Kyo grunted, turning on his heel and walking back down the path. "Finally."

He could hear Yuki walking behind him and movement out of the corner of his vision told him that Yuki was now walking side by side with him. He glanced to the side to see Yuki looking down, his hair framing his face.

The walk was silent and tense, save only for the sound of their shoes hitting the ground and the occasional crunch of leaves under their shoes. The trees closed in as they walked side by side, the sounds of wildlife filling the void.

Kyo let out a grunt while Yuki sighed.

"Thank you," came the soft voice.

"Don't ever mention it."

They all needed saving. Someone just had to listen for the cry that begged to be heard. Then, it took courage to act.