I finally have a proper chapter for you all! After long last, I finally have a good, new jumping off point for this story, so hopefully, updates will be more frequent!

This is one of my favourite chapters, so I hope you all thoroughly enjoy this chapter!

The story Kasumi tells in this is called The Boy Who Drew Cats, if you want to read the original story! It's a Japanese folk tale. :)

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        It's late at night and I can't sleep, so I decide to head up to the roof.

        "What are you doing up so late?" I hear as I reach the edge of the roof. I look up to find Kyo near the apex, obviously surprised about having someone else up so late.

        "I could ask you the same thing," I reply, laying next to where he was sitting. "I couldn't sleep, if that answers your question." Kyo looks over at me suspiciously.

        "Just that?" he asks. I nod in response, looking up at the stars.

        "Yeah, just that. So, why are you up so late?"

        "It's not like I couldn't sleep like you, or anything—" Kyo starts, before stopping himself from snapping at me. He's silent for a few moments before starting again. "Just thinking."

        "Thinking?"

        "Yeah." He doesn't seem to be in the mood to elaborate, so I take to looking at the stars again. "Do you ever...?" Kyo starts to ask.

        "Do I ever... what?" I question, not sure what he's getting at.

        "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we weren't looked down upon by all the other Sohmas?" My eyes widen, and I can't help but stare at him with a slightly shocked expression. Kyo sees my reaction and sighs. "Nevermind." he mumbles, "I shouldn't have asked."

        "No," I insist, "No, it's a perfectly reasonable question." I think about his question for a little before answering. "A lot of the adults in the family look down on us, even though Momiji, Kagura, and the other Sohmas our age don't as much. I think you and I are in the same position as the boy in Ancient Japan who drew cats."

        "What?" Kyo asks, his confusion apparent.

        "It's an old story that I read a few years ago. You haven't read it?" Kyo shakes his head a little, "I'm shocked. You love to read. And it has cats."

        "Yeah, yeah..." he says, brushing off my words, "So what's the story?"

        "Well," I begin, "There was a boy with orange hair— just like yours— who lived in Miyama, and loved to draw. Well, more specifically, he loved to draw cats. Only cats. See, people appreciate cats. It's not a bad thing."

        "And why are you telling this story?" Kyo frowns a bit, not entirely happy with the story's relation to him.

        "Because there's a reason to." I reply coolly, "Let me know when you figure it out.

        "Anyways, this boy drew cats all of the time, and lived on a farm with his parents and his many siblings. His siblings deeply loved his talent; however, his parents did not. His father could not get the boy to be a farmer, for whenever the boy saw farm cats pass by, he would draw even more cats. The same thing happened when his father tried to get the boy to be a priest in their village temple. Finally, his father told the boy that he had shamed the family and the village with his drawings, and that he would send the boy away if he continued.

        "So, the boy left, because his love for drawing cats was above all else. He traveled by foot along the old dirt road that ran down the mountain until he ended up in Kyoto well past sundown two days later, and entered its largest temple. The boy didn't find anyone inside so late at night, but did find a large room with rice-paper paneled folding screens— perfect for drawing. And that's exactly what the boy did.

        "He drew, and drew, and drew until the screens were filled with his cats. There were all kinds of cats doing all kinds of things: running, jumping, playing, sleeping. There was one, very large cat that he drew that was the most magnificent cat he had ever drawn before. It was the largest cat in the room, and it's head was on the left with its tail on the right, and it surveyed the room from its spot.

        "The boy eventually grew tired, but didn't want to sleep in a large room all by himself. So instead, he slept in the closet."

        "The closet?" Kyo interrupts, "Who would sleep in a closet?"

        "I'm not finished yet," I retort, "Just listen.

        "As the boy and the villagers slept, a monster in the form of a giant rat that was as black as night crept into the town. He slunk past the rows of houses and up to the temple where the boy slept. It entered the room of the temple filled with what it feared: cats. However, the monster was unfazed until something extraordinary happened when he neared the closet. The massive cat drawing came to life, now the colour of the boy's orange hair. It weaved in between the screens, watching the monster prowl. Off the wall and into reality, the cat vowed to protect its creator and the town in which he came to be.

        "The fight between the cat and the rat was intense, as if out of a samurai play. Each had countered movements for the other, and each attack from the cat was well calculated. Sickening sounds floated in and around the temple, largely from the monster rat. The boy was awake at once, but the sounds prompted his better judgement, and he remained in the closet until the unknown sounds came to an end.

        "The fight continued until finally, the cat gave one good blow to the rat's head, finishing him."

        "So, a drawing can beat the rat, but I can't?" Kyo grumbles, "I don't see what you're getting at."

        "I'm almost to my point," I insist, "Again, there's a good reason for this.

        "With the fight at its end and the massive monster rat in a heap in the center of the tatami mat floor, the cat knew that its task was complete. It padded to its spot on the panel, and jumped back into place. The only things marking the fight that had occurred were the rat lying in the center of the room, and the drawing of the cat- now coloured slightly orange after its trip into reality, and facing the opposite direction from what it originally was on the screens.

        "Morning came, and the orange-haired boy finally emerged from the closet. He stepped out to find the looming body of the monster rat with no evidence as to who or what had killed it until a hint of colour drew his attention to his colossal drawing which was now facing a different way than he had remembered drawing it.

        "It was at that point that the priest and nearby people of Kyoto came to the temple because they had heard the sounds of the fight from the night before. The boy revealed that his cat drawing had protected them, and the people rejoiced, bowing before the drawing of the cat with gratefulness. Never had the people of Kyoto been so grateful for and proud of cats, and for that, the boy was allowed to live in the temple as an artist who drew cats for the rest of his life."

        It's silent for a couple minutes before Kyo finally spoke.

        "So, people liked a cat for once." he muses, completely missing the point of my story. I inwardly sigh and put my head in my hands for a second before looking up at the stars

        "Lots of people like cats," I say, "They like cats for who they are, and that's why they appreciate them." I fiddle with my hands a little, "Yeah, there are people like Akito who despise cats, and push that hatred onto you, thinking that you are nothing. They don't represent all people's thoughts, even if they're family."

        "I guess..." Kyo says, looking down at the fountain in the yard, "It doesn't seem like it. You probably don't get it."

        "I get it." I argue, sitting up, "I really do. Of course, not to your extent, but I get it." I put my head on my knees, not sure whether to continue or not. "Guess that's why, as cool as it sounds at face value, I don't want to really want the possibility of being the wolf."

        Kyo considers my words in the silence that reigns in the time before I finally stood up.

        "Why are you getting up?" Kyo asks.

        "I think I'm going to try and get some sleep again. I don't normally stay up until all hours telling stories." I joke, making my way to the ladder as Kyo smiles a little.

        "Kasumi?" He asks as my head is about to disappear below the roof.

        "Hmm?

        "Thanks."