Title: The Secret's Out

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but you knew that. I hope. I do own this story, and all the plot twists it contains.

Summery: When an accident causes Kyou to turn into a cat in front of witnesses, help comes from an unexpected corner and makes him look more closely at his feelings concerning two people.

Kyou hunched his shoulders, balling his hands into fists and shoving them deep into the pockets of his pants. Quickening his pace, his gaze kept a constant vigil, taking note of everything on the street. Light poles, cars, and people were quickly identified and filed away should something come up.

A sound that came from behind and a bit to the right of him had him darting a glance at the girl trailing him. Tohru was in her school uniform, having changed back into it before leaving work. Her bag hung from one hand, swinging in time with her steps.

Exhaling sharply, Kyou jerked his eyes forward. It wasn't that he minded walking Tohru home when she worked late. After everything she did for him on a daily basis, it was really the least he could do. But he was always uncomfortable on these walks, unsure of what he should say or do. There was always the worry that he would say the wring thing. He usually wound up stomping several paces in front, head bowed down to discourage conversation.

That was the tactic he was currently employing. Later he'd berate himself for not taking advantage of the time away from all the others. But for the life of him, he just couldn't make himself speak up.

It was much simpler to communicate with the other people in his life. He simply ignored them or yelled at them, and they accepted it as his way. When words wouldn't work, there was always fighting. Kazuma, Yuki, Haru, and even Kagura knew that he was better with those kinds of actions than he was with words. They all had different ways of dealing with his outbursts, but they understood.

But not Tohru. She'd work herself into a fit, wondering what she'd done to upset him and promising to never do it again. And then there were all the apologies that always brought Ritsu and his mother to mind. So rather than upset her, he just remained silent and withdrawn, mired deep in his own thoughts.

A small rock in the middle of the sidewalk became a victim of his darkening mood. He kicked it, the pinging noise it made as it skidded echoing faintly in the nearly empty street. As his eyes followed its path, Kyou took notice of two men, maybe five or so years older than himself. They talked loudly as they weaved their way up the street. Though he didn't really think they were any kind of threat, Kyou still slowed his steps until Tohru was walking by his side. There was no sense in taking any chances.

Only seconds later, it happened. Something, perhaps the very same rock he'd kicked earlier, rolled under Tohru's foot, knocking her off balance. With a gasp, her arms wind milled wildly, managing to land a blow to his shoulder. Startled, Kyou turned to face her, only to reel backwards when she plowed into his chest.

"Oh!"

The next thing he knew, he was sprawled on the ground in cat form, buried beneath a pile of clinging fabric. His clothes, he realized. He remained still for a moment as he sorted out just what had happened. A second later a thought hit him that had him scrambling madly for a way out of his snare.

Those men down the street . . .had they seen?

Finding a sleeve, he crawled out onto the slightly cold concrete. Ignoring the still profusely apologizing Tohru who was kneeling on his left side, Kyou quickly scanned the road in front of him. It was empty, nothing but shadows and dim forms of unmoving objects rising from the ground. The men were nowhere to be found.

Had they retreated back the way they'd come? Or gone into one of the many building lining the street? Or perhaps they ducked into one of several dark alleys?

Whatever had happened, he decided, they mustn't have seen anything. Drunk, as they had appeared to be, or not, people who just saw someone vanish into his clothing and emerge as a cat would hardly just walk away without a word. They might scream and then run, or rush to get a closer look, but they wouldn't shrug it off and continue on their way.

Would they?

Shrugging off his lingering uncertainty, Kyou turned back to Tohru, finally paying attention to what she was saying.

"I didn't mean to bump into you, really I didn't. There was something under my foot and I slipped, and I just couldn't catch my balance. I'm so sorry, Kyou. Really, really sorry. You came all the way out here just to walk me home, and I do something like this. I should have been paying more attention. I should have tried to fall the other way. I'm so sorry!"

"It doesn't matter," he muttered, not meeting her eyes.

"But . . . "

"Just forget about it." Even though she seemed used to it, he was still a little uncomfortable about being in his cat form around her. It made him feel weak, different, like more of an outsider. Though he had felt that way most of his life, he didn't like feeling that way around her.

"I'm just so sor- eep!" She broke off as he poofed! back into his normal body. He slipped back into his clothes quickly while Tohru studiously kept her eyes squeezed shut.

As they continued on their walk home, the thought occurred to him that they were lucky that she was the kind of girl that she was. Had she been more like some of the other girls at their school, she probably wouldn't have been able to resist sneaking a peek now and then. It would have made life a little less comfortable, though he doubted Ayame or Shigure would have minded.

~*~

Meanwhile, at the edge of an alley, two boys leaned heavily against the wall at their backs. Both were staring wide eyed at an empty stretch of sidewalk. The taller of the two, who had longish brown hair that brushed his collar, opened his mouth several times, but didn't manage to say anything. The other one, his bleached blonde hair shorn close in a buzz cut, didn't even try to speak, but allowed his knees to buckle. As he sank to the ground, he swallowed hard, still unable to believe what he had just seen.

"He . . .disappeared. Then a cat came out of his clothes. Then the cat turned into him, got dressed, and walked away. Right?" The taller man had finally found his voice, though it was wobbly and pitched several octaves higher than normal.

"Ah . . .Uh . . .man," was all that his companion uttered, swallowing again.

"That was real, right? I mean, you saw it too, right? Right?" When there was still no answer from the blonde hunched on the ground, the taller one finally began pulling himself together. Blinking a few times, he focused on his friend before swatting him upside the head. "I said, did you see the same thing, Josh?"

Looking up with a dazed expression, Josh took a long time to answer. "I . . .I think I did. But I couldn't have. People don't just turn into cats. Cats don't just turn into people. It's just not possible. It would be pretty cool if it was possible, but since it's not . . ." he trailed off, seeming to be concentrating on some thought that had popped into his head. Another swat brought him back to the present. "Um, what was I saying?"

Sighing in exasperation, the brown haired boy pushed off from the wall, staggering slightly before gaining his balance. "Come on. We have to follow him."

It was a crowded street, which was both a good thing and a bad thing for the two would-be trackers. Though the large number of people kept their purpose hidden, it also caused them to lose sight of their quarry more than once. This resulted in several moments of panicked searching before he was located again.

"At least he has that bright orange hair," the brown haired boy, Matt by name, muttered. Josh was off to his left, dark sunglasses shielding his eyes from the afternoon light. Every so often, he would begin to wonder off course, drawn by someone or something that caught his interest. A sharp smack on the shoulder from his friend brought him back in line.

"Yeah," he agreed belatedly. "It makes him pretty easy to find."

Ducking around a bench containing two old women, Matt craned his neck for a better look. The guy they were following, who he'd come to think of as the Cat Man, was with two other people in uniforms from the same school. One, a girl with long brown hair, seemed to be the one he'd been with the night before, though from the distance Matt was careful to keep, he couldn't be sure. The other boy, pale with odd, silver-ish hair, was carrying on a conversation with her. Cat Man remained slightly to the side of them, not talking much.

As he watched, something out of the ordinary happened to the trio up the street. As they were passing a small shop, the door swung open to reveal two older women. They were deep in conversation with one another, and not watching where they were going as they were stepping out onto the sidewalk.

Matt's eyes narrowed as he saw what happened next. One of the unknowing women stepped directly into Cat Man's path. When he noticed the obstacle, he twisted and practically jumped to get out of the way.

Matt frowned. From where he was standing, it had looked like there was plenty of space for Cat Man to have slipped past. It would have been pretty close, but no big deal. He didn't see why someone would go to such lengths to avoid coming in contact with another person.

Stopping in his tracks, a move that caused his trailing companion to slam into his back, Matt thought back to the night before. Admittedly, his memories weren't the clearest, but he seemed to remember a similar occurrence right before "The Incident". Was it possible that bumping into people set whatever it was off? It would explain the distance that Cat Man determinedly kept between himself and others.

Though it would require some more observation, Matt had a feeling that this new bit of knowledge might be important in figuring everything out. It was also the closest thing that he'd had to a breakthrough since he'd begun trailing the younger boy, so he wasn't about to discount it right off the bat.

"Hey, what'd you stop for?" Josh's voice snapped Matt out of his thoughts. Realizing that he was standing stock still in the middle of a busy sidewalk, he quickly relocated closer to the front of a building, dragging his startled friend with him. Since they had found out what school Cat Man attended, he wasn't worried about losing sight of him. It was probably best to back off for a while anyway. Who knew what other abilities a person who could turn into a cat might have.

Even though they had yet to prove anything, Matt was feeling decidedly more optimistic than he had last night. They were this close to getting proof that there was someone very unusual living right in the middle of their city. Just thinking about all the publicity proving it would bring caused a smile to spread across his face.

His imagination ran wild with images of demonstrating to a huge crowd of amazed onlookers just how he had figured out Cat Man's secret. He would be famous overnight. Suddenly eager, he turned to Josh, an almost evil smirk tugging at his lips. Leaning down to be closer to the shorter boy's height he announced, "I've got a plan."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~