A/N: This is a result of playing too much Assassin's Creed last summer while reading Fruits Basket during breaks. Also, just kind of a way to relieve some stress. In my original summary there was a character death warning, so for the sensitive, here is the warning: there will be two tragic character deaths in this story with the possibility of more later on. Now for the story...

It had been a long day. Kyo slumped in the airport chair he currently occupied. Chatter and activity from other travelers surrounded him on all sides. Wistfully, he glanced over at a nearby couple with their hands interlocked. Tohru had been unable to accompany him, having to stay at home with their young son. It was a little lonely, but it was a trip he simply had to make. Thankfully, it was nearing the end. By this time the next day, he should be home.

"Meow! Meow! Meow!" Kyo nearly jumped three feet in the air at the sudden sound of a cachophony of cats mewling nearby. Heads turned towards him and he turned a bright red as the horrible realization struck him that the source of the awfully loud and annoying sound was coming from his travel bag. He yanked it open and frantically dug around until his hands clasped around the cell phone Tohru had talked him into buying a couple years ago. She must have thought it would be cute to change his ring tone and turn it up to full volume without his knowledge. No, that wasn't like Tohru at all. Arisa had decided to keep Tohru company in his absence and had arrived at their house the day before he left. This was definitely more up her alley and he wouldn't be shocked if Hanajima had been the brains behind the whole operation. Those two never tired of constantly teasing him.

In his hurry to get the noise to stop and finally rid himself of the unwanted attention from other travelers, he flipped open the phone without a glance at the caller ID. "Yeah?" he snapped into the phone, thoroughly annoyed with his situation. He would definitely find a way to pay back Tohru's friends and he had a couple of long flights to come up with some sinister ideas.

A cool voice responded, "That's how you answer your phone?"

Kyo froze at the sound of Akito's voice on the other end of the line. There was no longer any curse to be concerned over and no Isolated Room, but Akito was still the head of the Sohma family. While she did normally stay away from most members of the former Zodiac, Shigure and Hatori being the main exceptions, it was never a good thing to actually hear from her, especially if she was the one initiating the contact. The only other time she had called him, it was to report that his father had died. "What's wrong?" he asked after getting over his initial shock of realizing Akito had called him for the first time in almost two years.

Akito got straight to the point without any preamble. She could have teased him, but this was serious and good-natured teasing had never been her strong suit. "You're supposed to be meeting with Yuki and Machi at your next layover, right?"

Kyo dumbly nodded at the phone. His next layover was nearly four hours and in the town Yuki and Machi had moved to so the three had decided to meet up for a meal at a restaurant. Over the last few years, he and Yuki had developed an amicable friendship. It helped that they had spent three years as housemates and classmates. Naturally, the curse lifting also helped them see each other without all the fog and hatred their possessed spirits had for each other. They actually felt like relatives, family. Yuki and Machi liked to stay updated about Tohru and how his dojo was coming along and, of course, their son. In turn, Tohru always wrote letters to the two and had been so excited that Kyo was going to get to see how they were doing. She had insisted he give them each a big hug. He had grudgingly agreed to give Machi one, but insisted to Tohru that Yuki would just have to settle with a pat on the shoulder or something more guy-ish. They sure hadn't become close enough to be considered a bromance by any span of the imagination. Sometimes, he felt Tohru had an entirely different idea about how well he and his distant cousin got along. After a couple moments of silence, Kyo realized Akito wasn't answering because she couldn't see him. "Yes, I'm supposed to meet them later." His stomach crawled with anxiety. "Why?"

There was a brief hesitation before Akito launched into an explanation, "No one has been able to get in touch with them for the past couple days. Kakeru called me yesterday, saying he was concerned because neither would answer their calls or texts. Hatsuharu has voiced the same concerns to Shigure and Hatori."

The anxiety in his stomach heightened. Machi could be pretty spacey, so her not answering her calls or texts wasn't that big of a deal. Yuki, on the other hand, might tease and mess with Kakeru as the two were very close friends, Kyo knew that. He could even see Yuki getting annoyed with Haru bragging about Rin's breasts or something else totally random to Yuki and not answering texts. However, judging by the gravity in Akito's voice and that Akito was even involved in the first place, he knew these were serious texts Kakeru and Haru were sending out. Small cell phone screens with the messages "Where are you?" and "Are you okay?" flashed through his mind's eye. Knowing Haru, he had probably already decided to start walking there. It was very out of character for Yuki not to answer concerned texts and phone calls unless he was...unable to. There was something else, too. He could sense it in Akito's tone. There was deep concern and even a slight tinge of dread laced her words. A piece of the story she hadn't revealed yet. "What aren't you telling me, Akito?"

Another pause and a deep breath. "Be careful, Kyo. I don't think they will be showing up to meet you." Now, Kyo's stomach was positively twisting with knots and turns and he could feel the ice in his veins freeze with trepidation at whatever else Akito was going to tell him.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not absolutely sure what's going on, but there has been large withdrawals from both their bank accounts the last few days. They've been completely drained. Kakeru said he stopped hearing from either of them a few days ago and that was the same day the largest withdrawal was taken out of both accounts. I have a very bad feeling about this."

Of course Akito would have checked with the accountants over the money. After all, she was the head of the family and largely responsible for making sure the Sohma money went to where it belonged, among many other things. She had said the last sentence with such an air of finality, it made the blood in Kyo go cold. "A very bad feeling..." he muttered absently into the phone, too shocked to say much else, still trying to process all the information.

Akito heard it and regarded it as a question. "Yes, I can still feel some of you. Your auras."

Kyo twitched at this new and, frankly, unpleasant information. "You can?" He knew he sure couldn't feel her anymore and was incredibly grateful for that.

Another brief pause as Akito weighed how much to tell him. "Yes, it's not anything like it was before. I just can feel that you all are still around. Most of you. I can't feel Kureno, Momiji, or Hiro because they all broke free from the curse on their own. I can feel the aura of everyone else, though." This made sense. Over the last several years, it had come out that Akito had played a big part in causing the curse to fall apart despite her own inhibitions. Naturally, if they had waited it out, it probably would have faded within their lifetimes, anyway, Even so, Kyo was grateful that his life had become much more livable than pre-curse. He had been irritated as all get out once he had learned that Momiji and Hiro had freed themselves of the curse. How that had been possible was above and beyond his comprehension and he tried not to dwell on it too much because he did not want to develop an inferiority complex over it. He took comfort in the fact that at least, it had not been Ayame to outsmart them all.

It hit Kyo suddenly and he gripped the phone a little tighter as his face lost color. "You can't feel Yuki's aura anymore? Is that what you are getting at?"

"Exactly."

Dazed, Kyo slumped further into his chair unsure how to respond to this new knowledge. Akito had spoken with such an air of finality. Clearly, she believed Yuki was already dead and probably Machi along with him. This just didn't add up. How could they just- he had just spoken to Yuki a few days ago and they had agreed on a place to meet up at. After a couple minutes of silent shock, he realized Akito was saying his name. He shook his head as if he could just shake the horrible news he'd just found out away. "Yeah? I'm still here."

"Good. I was getting worried. Like I said, be careful. I'm hoping this will all turn out to be nothing, but I'm pretty sure something is up and it's not good. Contact me as soon as you find out what's wrong." With that, Akito hung up the phone and Kyo was listening to a dead line for several moments before slowly putting his phone back into his bag. His movements were mechanical and forced. He had to expend extra energy on every move his limbs made. His eyes felt heavy and he felt very drained, much more tired than he had before his surprise talk with the head of the Sohma family.

An announcement from the gate guard informed the restless travelers that it was time for the plane to board. Kyo waited in a line, completely dazed. He showed his ticket and shuffled after other passengers, boarding the plane, and finding his seat. Once there, he slumped again and stared down at his hands, dreading his next stop.

This was going to be a very long flight.