A/N I spent a few months putting my heart and soul into thisFruits Basket Fanfiction, the idea just came to me.

A quick thing to note about this chapter, you'll see Kyo refer to Akito as he, that's because he doesn't know a girl. I'm kind of nervous about how things may turn out, but... Anyway, hope you all enjoy it.

Happy Reading :-)

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Kyo's POV

I looked up as a large gust of wind pushes against the bars of the open wall of my room before dissipating into the night air. The chill reaches me in the corner which causes goosebumps to appear on my arms. I wrap them around the rest of my body in an attempt to keep warm though I know it's pointless.

My stomach growls, but I have to ignore it once again. Dinner won't be coming tonight.

Besides battling against near starvation and the bitter cold, I'm also fighting against exhaustion, resulting from only getting one to two hours of sleep a night.

My worsened state isn't due to the fact it's now winter, even though it is mid-February to early March. It's due to me being locked in the cat's room for three months, ever since I turned eighteen. In my cage, I have no futon to sleep on, or any furniture, just four concrete walls, and a wooden floor. Neither of which hold much heat. I don't even have a bathroom to use.

Looking over at the brown bucket in the corner, my body flinches.

I glare at it and then around at my tiny room. Humph, the Sohma's may call it a room but I call it a prison or a cage. Though I knew what was coming when I became of age, I still didn't think it would end up being this bad. My throat feels like it's closing up, but I choose to ignore it and try to focus on something other than my living situation, feeling my stomach starting to harden. An image pops into my mind.

It never fails.

No matter how many times I get discouraged or angry with my new life, the memory of Tohru's smiling face brings a bit of warmth to my heart. My chest becomes tighter, I bury my head in my nest of limbs, closing my eyes and blocking out the rest of the world. As much as I want to avoid it, my mind once again drifts back to Tohru Honda.

After she had confessed her love for me, I was overcome with so much emotion. Before I could stop myself, I told her what happened with her mother and me on the day she died. Every last bit of it. I feel a pain form in the back of my throat. When I was finished, I took off running without telling anyone where I was going, not even my master. I ended up hiding in the forest surrounding the Sohma Estate. There, I waited till I turned eighteen, then I turned myself in. When I was about to go into the cat's room, I requested Akito call my master to let him know I was alright, which he did later that day.

I can still hear the loud bang the door made as it was slammed shut, a literal closure on my time being free.

To my surprise, about a week after I was locked in here, Shigure visited the main house. For what reason, I didn't know, and for some unexplained reason he brought Tohru along with him. That shocked me a bit, as I would've thought she would be long gone by now.

I could hear them talking around the corner, Shigure was talking to Akito while Tohru stayed quiet, listening in, I'd take it. Throughout their conversation though, Shigure kept saying things like ''Go around'' and ''There's nobody." Every time this occurred, Shigure would gesture his head slightly in my direction, I know this because the notes in his voice would become slightly louder before going back to normal.

About the third time of this, small footsteps could be heard coming in the direction of the cat's room, lightly at first but getting faster. I could tell they were Tohru's, judging from how light and airy they sounded. I looked through the bars and to the left. A second later, she was there.

I don't know if Akito ever noticed her sneak away or he did and just didn't care.

Due to shame over what I did, I couldn't look at her at first, choosing to look at the floor instead. When she stopped at the bars, I still had my eyes averted, not wanting to see the look in her eyes. Ignoring this fact, she uncovered a bowl of hot something, put it on the ground, and pushed it gently through the bars.

I don't even know where she hid it, but there it was. All I could do for the next few seconds was stare down in disbelief, the contents of the bowl still had steam coming from the top.

Unexpectedly, Tohru reached partly through the bars and grabbed my hands, clasping them gently in hers and giving them a light squeeze. Feeling that was all it took for me to finally look up at her. Her face was puffy, and her eyes were a bit red, I knew she had been crying a lot. She also had splotchy skin around her face, and the long hair which normally framed her face was a bit of a wreck, but her smile was still there on her face, even her red eyes seemed to have a slight glimmer to them.

We stayed like that for a few moments, my gaze focused on hers. Then without saying anything, she gave my hands a slightly tighter squeeze and mouthed the words.

"I'm glad you're safe."

With my cat-like hearing, I heard every word and was able to hold onto them. Though I didn't want it to, our moment had to come to an end a few moments later. Tohru let go of my hands and walked back up the side of the main house, and around the corner, the way she came. Once she was gone, I quickly took the bowl and hid it out of sight so I could enjoy my smuggled lunch in peace.

It was the best meal I had that week.

Akito never knew. When I had finished, I hid the bowl in one of the dark corners of my room, and when breakfast rolled around, I slid it in the dishes with the ones I received with dinner from the same night.

One shutter blowing against the side of the house is all it takes to send me back to the present, the picture of Tohru vanishing from my mind. I open my eyes and looked towards the door, my stomach suddenly feeling hollow as it growls again

I could really use Tohru's cooking now,

In the beginning, when I first got put away in here, I actually had two servants. They would come in three times a day and give me the essentials, food, water, etc. They were also the only real human contact I ever got. That all changed the day I stopped taking Akito's constant mental abuse.

Every day at least a few times he'd come into my room and try to break me down, both mentally and emotionally. At first, it bothered me. However, as time went on, I decided I wasn't going to take it anymore. It's not that his words didn't bother me, I just chose to ignore them. For punishment, he's no longer providing the means to care for me, sending the servants elsewhere, meaning I get little water and just enough food to stay alive, if even that.

These days, the only visitor I get is Hatori. He stops by every couple of days to make sure I get a shower, it's the only time I'm allowed to leave my room and come into the main house. His job is to take me to the bathroom, wait for me, which I don't get long to begin with, only about five minutes tops, and bring me back.

Even when I was getting fed, the food was always cold. This was no fault of the servants; they would always apologize. The same can be said for...most of my showers, they're ice cold. Sometime before I turned myself in, Akito disconnected the hot water line to my shower. My heart rate picks up slightly, remembering the one time this wasn't the case.

Two weeks ago, I caught a fever during the night. Seeing as it was shower day, Hatori came and quickly discovered this fact for himself. I had chills, I was shivering, my body was aching all over and I also had a slight headache. Sensing my discomfort, Hatori returned inside and pleaded with Akito in order to get me a hot shower, eventually having to bribe him with some pretty strong painkillers in order to make an agreement.

The water felt so good on my achy muscles, I honestly didn't wash. I instead just stood there under the stream, letting the warm water trickle down my back and wash away all my cares for those precious few moments. Once I got out, the doctor leaned in and whispered.

"If It were up to me, I'd let you stay in there all day, I really would."

The doctor earned a bit of admiration from me that day, he wished there was something more he could do for me, he wasn't allowed though, but it was fine. The hot shower was enough at that moment.

Currently, not even Akito has come by as of late, although from what I've been hearing around the house, something big's come up from the sound of it, so he must have a lot on his plate.

For the past month and a half or so, that damn rat Yuki and some of the others have come over and had a bit of a discussion with Akito, Yuki more than most, almost pleading with him at one point. Just this morning, however, I think whatever's happening has come to a head. I was awoken by the sight of Yuki walking up to the main house, his stride looking confident.

Over the next hour, I had to listen to another discussion, only this time it flared into a heated argument between them. However, when Yuki had said all he had to say and Akito opened the door to his room, he didn't close his mouth, allowing me to catch a little of the context

"Fine. If it happens tonight, I'll grant you your wish. Until then, my mind hasn't been changed."

Once the door was closed, the rat walked up the pathway towards the entrance to the Sohma Estate, his posture a bit slumped forward but his steps still strong and wide. About halfway up when he was within eyesight of me, he stopped and looked towards the cat's room, his eyes landing on me. They lingered on mine for a split second, he then turned back and continued walking up the path

The memory causes my insides to burn, Yuki and the others are so lucky. At least for the time being, Akito's not ready to call the Zodiacs back to him yet. When that occurs, they'll all be forced to come back and live out the rest of their lives out here. Until then, the others are free to live their lives as they please. I on the other hand have no choice but to wait here, wasting away day after day, unless I do one day get out.

My eyes start to blink, heaviness overtaking my body. I yawn, already dreading sleep, knowing I'll only be able to rest for one to two hours before I wake again. Reaching out my arms, I start to curl on the floor, knowing full well my back can't take another night against the concrete wall, my joints are a bit stiff, but I make it. I look across the room, staring out through the bars. I let out a deep sigh.

Let's be real here, no cat in the history of the Sohma family curse has ever been freed from this room, even my master's grandfather died here. I start to try to relax, breathing in and out evenly. Odds are the only way I'm getting out of here is inside a body bag. Though with the way my situation is, I may not have to wait much longer. My eyes close.

I just hope I go peacefully in my sleep, painless and free from the curse.

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Thank you all for reading the first chapter of Locked up But Not Locked Away. Poor Kyo, I hated putting him in this situation while I was writing this chapter, I actually ended up shedding a few tears in the process. I will be updating this story three times a week, every Saturday.

What do you think is going to happen next? (Comment down below) I'll mention you in the next chapter if you get it right.

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