Chapter 30: Missing

Yusuke scowled as Toguro pushed him gently into his father's office. His pockets were heavy with the coins he'd won from the drunks at the inn. He hadn't yet had the chance to change out of his street clothes. Toguro had hounded him all the way from the inn to his father's office.

Yusuke's father stood and turned to face them, his features set in disapproval at the sight of Yusuke's unprincely clothes. But no rebuke came. Instead, Raizen said, "Come and sit down."

Toguro took the chair perpendicular to Raizen's. Yusuke settled down on the chair beside his father's. He eyed the other man in the room with wary curiosity. That man returned his stare with bored indifference.

"What's going on?" Yusuke asked.

"There was another incident earlier today," Raizen informed Yusuke.

"Incident?" Yusuke inquired. Had someone else been murdered?

"It's minor," the new man said. From the irritation in his tone, Yusuke guessed that he felt that the matter wasn't worth the king's time. Or his time.

That man was Toguro Ani, the brother of the giant sitting across from him. Ani was in charge of the military. Yusuke did not think much of him. He'd always thought that Ani was too sadistic to have any sort of power over people.

But his younger brother kept Ani in check, ensuring that things never went too far.

Though Toguro was present, Yusuke still did not like dealing with Ani.

"What happened?" Yusuke demanded. Ani would probably consider a murder as a minor problem so his comment had done nothing to reassure Yusuke.

"A maid found three cats strung up by their back legs with their throats slit," Raizen told Yusuke.

Yusuke's stomach flipped. Cats, again. Why? And seriously, why kill them and display them in such a graphic way? Yusuke felt extremely sorry for the unfortunate maid who had stumbled into that scene. He was glad that it hadn't been him.

"Your friend Kuwabara's cat was one of them," Raizen went on, his expression softening in grim sympathy for a brief moment.

"Ah, shit," Yusuke muttered. Kuwabara would be devastated. "Do you think this has something to do with the murder of that girl?" he asked.

He suspected that the Toguro brothers had been filled in on the identity of the girl, but his father had not explicitly told him that so Yusuke decided not to mention it. His mouth got him into enough trouble as it was.

"It is impossible to say," Raizen said.

"We've kept it quiet for now," Toguro said. "But everyone will find out tomorrow. It is bound to be upsetting."

Ani snorted. "They're just cats," he snapped. "There are plenty more of them around here, Otto."

Toguro said nothing in response, but he stared back at his brother with his jaw set. Yusuke chose not to point out to Ani that Eikichi wasn't just a cat to Kuwabara. It was best to let Toguro deal with his brother. Yusuke's stare just didn't have the weight that his teacher's did.

"Maybe we should postpone the wedding," Yusuke suggested, though the possibility left him feeling depressed.

"That is very likely what the culprit wants," Toguro pointed out. "They want to intimidate us into postponing or cancelling the wedding."

"But what could they gain from that?" Raizen inquired.

"Depends on who they are," Ani said coolly. He had leaned back in his chair, one skinny leg crossed over the other. He looked much more relaxed now than he had earlier. He'd probably resigned himself to the fact that this conversation was happening whether he liked it or not, Yusuke supposed.

"But we don't even know who they are," Yusuke snapped. "Or why the fuck they killed that girl. Or the cats."

"Yusuke," his father said, a note of warning in his voice. Yusuke glowered at him. He was well aware that one day he'd have to take over his father's responsibilities, but today wasn't that day.

"I don't think that postponing the wedding would be wise," Toguro said. "That would not help us find the murderer."

Ani looked sullen but he made no objection as Raizen glanced his way. Finally, Raizen nodded, though he looked less than pleased with whatever conclusion he'd come to.

"We will go ahead with the wedding," he said. "If the princess is still willing."

Yusuke stood, eager to escape the room. "I'd better go get changed for dinner," he said.

"Yusuke, I would prefer you stay. We still need to discuss—"

"Sorry, Dad. I ain't got time."

Yusuke fled, leaving his father to sort out the strategies for finding the murderer. He had something more important to do and it wasn't getting changed for dinner.

He'd be a pretty shitty friend if he didn't check up on Kuwabara.

Yusuke may have hated Eikichi, but Kuwabara had doted on the cat. Yusuke had to show his sympathy, even though he was just a little glad that the cat was gone.

But certainly not glad that it had happened in such a horrible way. Even that foul-tempered she-beast deserved better than that.

"Yusuke? Yusuke?"

Yusuke stopped as Keiko rushed up to him, still dressed in the clothes she'd worn that morning. Her hair was coming loose from beneath the scarf and her expression was tense. Yusuke's own posture stiffened with alarm.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

"Oh." Keiko blinked at him as if she had been thrown off by his question. "I'm fine," she said before hastily continuing. "Have you seen Shuichi?"

"The fox? Nah," Yusuke said. "I got dragged into a meeting straight after I got back. Why? Is he missing?"

Keiko shook her head at Yusuke's words, though he suspected that it wasn't an answer to his question. Rather, she looked as though she hadn't even heard his question. She probably hadn't taken any notice of anything beyond the point where he'd said that he hadn't seen Shuichi.

Had Shuichi been attacked by the murderer as well? Maybe he was tucked in some dark corner, hiding from the attacker and licking his wounds? The image made Yusuke's heart ache. He wasn't sure he could handle dealing with two distraught people today.

He'd miss that damned fox, though, if anything had happened to him.

"I'm sure he's fine," Yusuke tried to assure Keiko. "Probably found someone to latch onto. Have you checked with Yukina?"

Keiko's brow furrowed as Yusuke began walking. She fell into step beside him.

"She wouldn't see me," Keiko admitted. "But she did say that she hasn't seen Shuichi."

"I'll ask around," Yusuke said. "The guards might have noticed him."

"Thanks, Yusuke." Keiko gave him a tight, shaky smile.

"You should get some rest," Yusuke told her. "You look exhausted."

She actually looked ill. Her eyes were too bright and her cheeks a little flushed. She was also shivering, her arms wrapped around herself anxiously. Yusuke guessed that she'd gotten herself worked up about Shuichi. No surprise, if she'd heard about the cats.

Yusuke thought about asking her if she had, in fact, heard about the cats, but she had not yet mentioned it so Yusuke held his tongue. There was no point in bringing the event to her attention if she hadn't. That would just upset her further.

"If you find Shuichi, please let me know," Keiko said.

"Sure," Yusuke agreed.

Keiko turned back, heading down the hall in the direction of her rooms. Yusuke watched her go, his mood sinking into worry. First the cats, now the missing fox. With everything that seemed to be going wrong, could the wedding be expected to go any better?

Kuwabara's downtrodden face greeted Yusuke when he stepped into the guard's room.

"Hey," Yusuke said, planting himself on the chair at Kuwabara's desk. He glanced briefly at the surface. Documents littered it like the shed feathers of a hen. To Yusuke, they looked like lists of supplies. Part of Kuwabara's job, he guessed. Was Kuwabara so busy that he brought some of his work back to his room?

Since the end of the war, the military's role had changed. Some soldiers were now guards, ensuring that the kingdom's citizens were safe from bandits and criminals. Some were working to help those who had lost homes or jobs during the war. Some were helping to clean up the war-ravaged villages near the border. Just where Kuwabara fit in to all that was a mystery to Yusuke. He seemed to bounce from position to position, especially since the arrival of the foreigners.

That didn't seem to be hurting his friend's reputation at all. If anything, Kuwabara's superiors seemed to think that he was a capable, trustworthy person, able to handle anything they threw at him. But Yusuke hoped that Kuwabara would be able to settle into one position eventually.

"Hey," Kuwabara responded dejectedly. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, his eyes red-rimmed and swollen. In his big hands was a cat collar. Eikichi's, Yusuke supposed. Rather disturbingly, it appeared to be stained with a dark substance. Yusuke decided to forget he'd noticed that, though he couldn't banish the uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

"Heard about the cat," Yusuke said dully. "That sucks."

Kuwabara nodded glumly, not meeting Yusuke's eyes.

Yusuke's shoulders sagged. That was about the extent of his empathic ability. What else was he supposed to say? It wasn't like anything he said could make Kuwabara feel any better.

"It's just not fair," Kuwabara burst out suddenly. "Who'd hurt an innocent animal like that?"

Anger was an emotion Yusuke could understand and deal with far more effectively than grief.

"It ain't fair," he agreed. "And anyone who does that sort of thing to an innocent animal is a monster."

But had that monster also murdered a goddess? Or were there two monsters lurking the halls of the palace?

"Yeah," Kuwabara agreed. To Yusuke's alarm, his eyes gleamed brightly with tears.

Shit.

Yusuke got to his feet, feeling as if he were only making the situation worse. Maybe Kuwabara needed a little time.

"I'll, uh, go," he said. "If 'ya need anything…"

He let the offer trail off. Kuwabara nodded in response. "Thanks," he said.

Yusuke wondered if he'd done the right thing by approaching Kuwabara so soon as he left the room. Maybe he should have waited until the next day.

The mystery of the missing fox returned to his mind as he walked through the halls. He did a quick circle around the areas where he'd regularly seen the fox sleeping, but found no sign of him.

Strange. It was getting close to dinner time. Normally Shuichi would have made his presence known to someone by now. Usually Keiko.

Yusuke stopped by Keiko's rooms just before preparing for dinner to check if the fox had turned up.

Keiko was sitting next to the window, dying sunlight dancing in the strands of her brown hair. She looked just as depressed as she had earlier as she huddled beneath the blanket she'd wrapped around herself.

Likewise, Puu seemed to share his mistress's mood. The bird waddled aimlessly around the floor of Keiko's room. As Yusuke hovered nervously near Keiko, Puu paused by Shuichi's empty basket. He let out a small, confused chirp before resuming his wandering, his crest flat against his head.

"No," Keiko said, in answer to Yusuke's question about Shuichi. "He's still gone. I'm getting worried, Yusuke."

"He's probably asleep and hasn't realised it's dinner time yet," Yusuke said. But he didn't believe that at all. From the forlorn look on Keiko's face, he guessed that she didn't believe it either.

Yusuke left her alone, feeling just as depressed as he had when he'd left Kuwabara. It seemed like there was nothing he could do to make either Keiko or Kuwabara feel better. He couldn't bring Eikichi back and he couldn't conjure Shuichi up out of thin air.

It was reasonable to connect the murder of the cat goddess with the murder of the cats, Yusuke supposed. But where did Shuichi fit with that? Was he truly just sequestered somewhere out of the way, sleeping through the hottest part of the day and unaware of the time? Or was there a more nefarious reason for his disappearance?

Maybe the fox was pissed off about being left behind that morning and that was why he was absent. While that was an amusing prospect, Yusuke doubted it. Shuichi had some strange moods, but he'd never acted so vindictively before.

Still, it was too early to panic. He'd only been missing for a few hours. With any luck, he'd turn up soon, entirely unharmed and unaware of the distress he'd caused Keiko.

Yusuke washed and changed into the fancy clothes his father insisted that he wear for dinner. Yusuke missed the quiet, private dinners of past years. Since the arrival of the foreigners, every meal had been an extravagant affair.

Rather unusually, Keiko was late. Yusuke watched as her parents exchanged worried looks even as they made small talk with Raizen over the entree.

Maybe Shuichi had finally shown his face and Keiko had lost track of time while she was fussing over him? Or Puu had escaped Keiko's room and caused some sort of mischief?

Keiko was not the only person absent from the meal. Princess Yukina's chair was empty as well. Hadn't Keiko mentioned that Yukina had not wished to see her? Was the girl sick?

The girl's aunt offered no explanation for her niece's absence. Lady Rui's expression was as cold and solid as ever. Yusuke felt a little sorry for Yukina. What must it have been like to grow up with such a woman as her only family? The woman seemed as distant and remote as Lord Koenma's splendid palace.

Just before the main meal was served, Keiko's mother excused herself and left the table. Yusuke waited, expecting her to return with Keiko, but time ticked by. The main meal was consumed and dessert was served. The night's entertainment - singers from the north of Ningenkai - began in earnest.

And still, no sign of Keiko.

Yusuke's thoughts began to slip into a dark place. He had a feeling that the wedding might not go ahead as planned after all.