Prettyinpinkgal: Hey guys! I'm happy you guys are liking it so far! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Left Behind belongs to Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Fruits Basket is owned by Natsuki Takaya and Akitaro Daichi.

LEFT BEHIND: THE FRUITS BASKET

CHAPTER THREE: A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Uta Takizawa had turned the plane around. The airports anywhere near their destination in Hokkaido were closed, and so he was forced to turn it around. In a way, he was glad. He wanted to see his family so much, to be able to hear his wife's voice. He had tried calling and failed, not being able to get through.

Would his family be alright?


The high schoolers arrived at the airport they had departed from earlier, and they just managed to get a terminal. Some planes were forced to park away from terminals and make the passangers walk the whole distance. The passangers all ran out of the airplane into the terminal. People pushed and knocked others over, frantic to get to a payphone or see the news on the screens in the airport, whichever came first. Even Hana was running!

They exited the terminal and stared at the many people sobbing and yelling. Two men fought over a payphone and they saw someone pull out a gun. People around her screamed, as she pulled the trigger...at herself.

The news reporter stated, looking as frantic as everyone else at the airport, "Last night, at midnight local time, our peaceful country of Japan experienced the most horrible event in history. People have vanished right out of their clothes! While only about one percent of the population has disappeared, the world has suffered the same trauma on greater proportions, people disappearing from every country on the globe.

"It is estimated that millions have vanished, and the world is not as it was before. People who disappeared while driving a car or piloting a plane have caused accidents everywhere, and patients and staff at hospitals are gone as well. People have vanished, the poor and the wealthy, and no one knows why. Until we have a proven explanation for the disappearances, this is Hayate Hino."

Tohru and the group stared at the screen, when suddenly the teachers yelled at them to get into the giant bus. Unfortunately, the roads were far to crowded to drive. Mayu-chan, who was driving, simply drove in the grass and through fields in order to get the teens to their homes. Plus, she wanted to be able to call Hatori-san and see if he was alright. Anyway, it's not like driving rules mattered when it felt like the sky was falling.

When she dropped the kids off at school, everyone ran home while the teachers drived home. Tohru managed to convince Yuki and Kyo (she mainly had to convince Kyo-kun; Yuki agreed with her to begin with) to go to Arisa's to check on the ex-gangster. Maybe there was some way that her father was there? If not, Uo would want Tohru to be there. Uo-chan had already ran off to her home, so the three quickly rushed off to the girl's trailer. The streets were filled with cars, sobbing people, and men and women fighting over To their surprise, many trailers had burned to the ground! They arrived at the one that Arisa Uotani once called home, but all that was left was a charcoal-colored structure.

Uo-chan noticed Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo, and Tohru rushed over. Please let her father be alright! Tohru silently hoped. When Tohru reached Uo-chan, she realized by her friend's face that her father had either been hurt, was one of the vanished, or had passed away.

The ex-gangster looked like she was about to start sobbing, but, having the tough personality she has, she held it in. "Someone..." Uo's voice caught in her throat, and she looked away. "Someone went around stealing from our trailer park and set some of the trailers on fire. One of my neighbors had managed to get a couple of Dad's stuff out. He came over when he heard about the disappearances and went to check on my dad. Tohru-kun, he disappeared." Arisa had never appeared so upset and weak. Still, she didn't cry. So Tohru did for her. She, of all people, understood what it was like to lose a loved one (after all, she lost both her mother and father), and so she embraced her friend and sobbed for her.

Against her will, tears began streaming down Arisa's face as well. This was a time that made the toughest person cry. After a few minutes, with Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun standing ackwardly a few feet away, Uo-chan wiped away the tears and said, "Uh, thanks, Tohru-kun. I'm okay now." She glared at the two Sohmas, her eyes still red from crying. "If you idiots tell a soul that I was crying, I'll beat you up so bad that you won't be able to say another word for a year," she threatened, her eyes flashing.

"Uotani-san, are you alright?" Yuki asked politely.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I guess I need a place to crash for a while. Mind if I stay at your house?"

"No way! Can't you stay at Hanajima's?" Kyo shouted. He had a hard enough time trying not to get beat up by her during school; her staying over would be nearly as bad as if Kagura was visiting! Nearly.

Uo glared at him again. "Gotta problem with that?"

"Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, um, please let Uo-chan stay over!" Tohru said, bowing in order to change Kyo's mind.

"I don't have a problem with it. This idiot over here may have a different opinion, however..." Yuki said.

"Shut up!"

"Please, Kyo-kun!" Upon seeing Tohru's pleading face, Kyo changed his mind and sighed.

"Fine."

"Thank you so much!" Tohru cried, hugging her friend. The foursome traveled back to the Sohmas' house on the hectic streets. It was hard to believe that millions of people around the globe disappeared within an instant. Would it happen again? The foursome weren't sure. Would life ever return to normal? They highly doubted it.

When they arrived at Shigure-san's, he rushed out and said, "Thank goodness you guys are alright!" He hugged Tohru. "I'm so happy you're okay, Tohru-kuuun..." he cried, but quickly let go of the blushing girl when he received punches from not only Yuki and Kyo, but from Arisa as well. "I was kidding...just kidding... A couple jokes are needed in such a dark time like this, right? By the way, what are you doing here, Arisa?"

"Dad disappeared. Trailer burned down. I'm crashing here for a while," Uo-chan said shortly. Obviously, she didn't want to talk about it. Who could blame her?

Shigure got more serious than anyone had ever seen him. "I see. I'm sorry. Do you have any of your things with you?" he asked, glancing at the bag the ex-gangster was holding.

"Just a few things that belonged to my dad and the stuff I brought for the trip. Other than that, I have nothing."

"Uo-chan can stay in my room," Tohru said, as kind as ever. "Please make yourself at home, Uo-chan!" she said cheerfully.

"Thanks, Tohru-kun!" Uo-chan grinned, almost making it seem like a real one.

They went inside, and after Uo-chan finished unpacking her stuff, she and Tohru ventured downstairs. The three Sohmas were watching the only thing on television: the news. They showed a woman about to go into labor, when suddenly her stomach went flat. When the camera dropped, you could hear people shouting, "The baby's disappeared!"

In another instance, a girl was celebrating her birthday. She was blowing out the candles when she vanished, right out of her clothes.

In yet another case, two soccer teams from Christian schools were having a game, when suddenly all the players vanish, except for one. "Unfortunately, the boy that remained was so overcome with grief that he killed himself," the newscaster said gravely.

After more stunning displays of the disappearances, the reporter said, "People have all types of theories. Some believe it's aliens. Some believe it was some sort of act of God, something Christians call Jesus returning. No one knows the true story behind the disappearances, but perhaps we'll know one day. This is Kimiko Hoshimaru."

The Sohmas were suddenly aware that Tohru and Uo-chan were in the room, and they quickly turned off the tv. Tohru looked thoughtful. while Uo-chan's bangs covered her eyes.

"I think...I think maybe we should go to Uotani-san's church," Tohru said timidly, feeling sorry that she was bringing up Uo-chan's father.

"What? Why?" Kyo asked. "We all agreed that the whole Christian thing was crazy."

"Yes, but didn't we hear them say at the church something about Jesus returning? I don't believe in Christianity, but I just think we should hear what they say. We don't have to believe it," Tohru-kun replied.

Uo-chan went back upstairs, without a word. "I think we should leave it up to Arisa," Shigure said quietly. "After all, wasn't this a big part of her father's life?" He had been told about the teens going to the church and the changes in Uotani-san's life.

Yuki and Kyo looked like they wanted to debate against it, but reluctantly agreed.

Uo-chan came back down, with a book in her hand: her father's Bible. She looked at the group and said, "I'm not buying into the whole Jesus thing, but I think it'll be a favor to my dad if we go."

Prettyinpinkgal: So, there ya go! I didn't like this chapter too much for some reason...I think it lacked feeling. Well, I'll try harder next time! Please review everyone!