Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters.

Note: Sorry for the delay in updating. I was going to try to make this the last chapter…but…it didn't quite workout that way. X.x; (In fact the Akito's overall plot…has changed so many times it's not even funny. -.-; )Though, I may have to re-upload this chapter if I decide to change my mind on who the 'voices' are…because if the umm…vague description that I give here won't be quite right if I don't use the certain character (one of my own) I have in mind. ( And I managed to keep this mischievous character out all this time, but he just won't leave! P Oh well. You people will just have to deal with him…yet again. ^_~ (Guess who Kyo, Misaki.) Yeah and another note is that if you hate character torture…(first of all, I don't see how you've made it this far) I'm kind of mean to yet another character… (Please don't hurt me. ^^;) so…you've been warned. I would have tried to continue further with this chapter but I'm afraid that I won't have any time to work on it during my Thanksgiving break…and I don't want to got that long without an update for fear of losing the few reviewers that are still sticking with this story. For those of you that have kept up with this story thus far, I thank you. Now for the real reason why you're here.

Chapter 17: First Frost**

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You WHAT!?

A shadowed out face turned towards a being who appeared to be a girl in her teens. She shrunk back a little from the man's voice before meekly answering,

Um…I told him to go talk to the Tohru…?

The man let out a frustrated sigh as he slid into a chair.

Well…I hope you've been doing your bookwork.

Eh!? Dare I ask why?

The man looked up at her with a grin, revealing a gold eye, gleaming with a look that only he could give.

To do the impossible and cure a blind cat…who is a vampire no less.

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POOF!

Tohru had managed to perfectly bump into Kyo as she attempted to dart out the back door of the building and was now apologizing several times over to a less than happy orange cat.

"Idiot! What exactly were you hoping to achieve by running out of the frying pan…and into the fire!?"

Tohru flinched at the anger in his voice and despite all the thoughts running through her head, all that she could manage to say was,

"Sorry…"

"Just why did you finally decide to try to run, huh?"

"I just…wante--"

POOF!*

Her sentence turned into a wail as she quickly turned around while she waited for Kyo to change back into his clothes.

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"Just where did Hatori run off to? Yuki and Kyo are gone too…"

Shigure sighed as he continued to walk down the hall, keeping an eye open for anything that would give him a direct hint as to what had happened to everyone.

"Shigure."

He jumped and spun around to see just who had called out his name…but no one was there. A little bewildered, he turned back on his course.

"Shigure…"

Once again, he spun around only to find nothing but a dead empty hallway. As he returned to walking down the hall he began to wonder just when was the last time he had hit his head on something…

"Shigure…"

Alright. Now this was just working on his nerves. As his anger began to rise, so did a low growl from his throat.

"Oof!"

Shigure blinked up at the ceiling for a moment before slowly sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. He had slipped, but on what?

"Shigure…"

"Ow!"

He jerked his foot away from the sharp cold pain that had stung his foot. As he looked down, he noticed that ice is what had caused the pain and what had caused him to slip.

"Shigure…"

This time the whisper felt like the source was right by his ear and the temperature of the hallway had dropped so that he could easily see his breathe.

"Who are you? What are you trying to do?"

"Shigure…"

His eyes squeezed shut as he held back tears and a scream when a crystal shard of ice impaled his right hand.

'I have to get out of this hall!'

He shakily stood as he gripped his right wrist with his left hand so as to try to slow the bleeding.

"Shigure…"

More frost creped along the hall walls as Shigure made his way along as fast as he could. Being injured and trying to move without slipping on the solid sheet of ice that was now beneath his feet made getting out no easy task.

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"Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure. Come on, as long as you're with me…no one should try to attack you."

"But…What about your medallion? Didn't you say you didn't know how long it would last?"

Kyo looked down at the thing hanging from his neck, at the charm on his bracelet, and then back at Tohru.

"I have a feeling that I shouldn't leave you alone either…so come on!"

"Ah, I'm coming!"

He waited for her to catch up to him before he started walking again. As he looked around, just following whatever was causing him to feel unnerved, he noticed that the place was deserted. Not a Sohma around.

"I don't like this. They may avoid me, but not like this."

Not a breath of life for that matter. Save for the grass and trees. Not even a bird or bug was about. All that could be heard was the whistle of the wind, that had suddenly became several degrees colder than it should, and the sound of their footsteps. Kyo stopped and eyed the buildings for a while. What was making this feeling flow through his spine and into his soul?

"I--Shigure!?"

Kyo spotted the man stumbling out of a hallway and he collapsed before they could reach him. When Kyo bent down to check on him, he caught a glimpse of the frozen hallway as well as Shigure's injured body. He had a gash or two on his left side…a nasty scratch on his right leg…and his right hand had a shard of glas--no…ice through it.

"Shi--"

Kyo stopped and glared at the hallway as the unnerving feeling surged throughout his whole body. Run now, ask questions later.

"Tohru, come on, hurry!"

Tohru gasped and struggled to keep up with Kyo. Despite the fact that he was carrying and unconscious Shigure, he was still moving quite fast. He didn't slow down until he was happy with the amount of distance he had put between them and whatever the hell was the source of that ice. He gently set down Shigure and wished that Hatori hadn't decided to pull one of his disappearing acts. With the help of Torhu though, they managed to get Shigure temporarily bandaged up enough that he wouldn't bleed to death. Kyo got up to get a two bottles of blood, one for himself and the other for Shigure when he woke up. When he came back he realized that Tohru had begun to cry.

"O-oi! Why are you crying!?"

She sniffed and hurriedly wiped away her tears as she stuttered,

"I-I'm sorry, it's just that…what could have done such a horrible thing to him? What did he do to deserve that?"

All Kyo could answer her with was silence. Shigure had done a lot of things, but she was right…he didn't deserve all that. He popped the top off of the bottle and took a long drink. All they could do was wait for him to regain consciousness.

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* Ok…so when they change back it's more of a 'pyon' (In the words of Hana and Uo) but…yeah…I seem to have forgotten the original point of this little message so, whatever. Sorry to waste your time.

** o.O Wow, I just realized how ironic that title is. This morning was the first winter frost in our area…Scary. Oh no! I'm rambling again, gomennasai!! *bows*

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((AN: That's all for now! Good? Bad? Please review! It's a miracle though, ne? I didn't end the chapter with a major cliff hanger (in my opinion) this time around (which seems to be one of my bad habits even though I hate cliff hangers)…o.O No…I'm not weird…not at all. ^_^; (and yes, I'm a very sarcastic person.)))