Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters. Chaos on the other hand…is mine.
Note: Quite a few people claimed the last chapter to be confusing. If this chapter doesn't clear up any confusion you people had/have, then please let me know in your reviews and I'll do my best to make things a little clearer, k?
Chapter 19: Tohru Taken
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Shigure watched Kyo impatiently pace back-and-forth as they tried to come up with a solution…for what? They still weren't exactly sure. They knew Akito was up to something, everyone was missing except the two vampires and the girl, a strange cat, who claimed his name was Chaos, had appeared when Kyo had lost a mental struggle against the curse that's trying to consume him, and a strange frost had, apparently, tried to kill Shigure.
"If you don't wear a hole in the ground first, you're going to drive me insane, so could you…please…stand still!?"
Kyo froze, both snapped out of the trance he was in and shocked at Shigure losing his temper like that. Then, he suddenly noticed that something was missing…
"Where's Tohru!?"
"She's right over---She's gone!!"
Shigure was now on his feet frantically scanning the surrounding scenery, hoping that something hadn't taken the girl…but no such luck.
"Damn."
"I'm going to look for her."
"Wait."
Kyo stopped walking, but didn't turn to face Shigure.
"What?"
"Be careful…we don't know much about any of what's happened or what's happening as we speak so…watch your back."
"Right."
With that, Kyo took off like a bullet…heading for nowhere in particular…just searching for any sort of sign of the human girl.
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Shigure watched Kyo until he was out of sight…He then stood and turned to do a search of his own, but…a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Shigure."
'Oh, shit.'
The air had already quickly dropped several degrees…
"Shigure…"
Frost began to appear on the grass around him and the leaves on the trees fell as ice sickles began to form on branches.
"Shigure…"
A bitterly cold wind blew softly around him as he desperately searched for the being behind all of this…but suddenly, the wind changed and became fierce as it dropped several more degrees…Shigure had to cover his face and drop to his knees because the wind was so strong and over the howl of the wind he could barely make out,
"Shigure! Help! Aki—"
The wind stopped with the voice…and the temperature began to rise back to normal temperatures…
'What…was that…? Or should I ask…who?'
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Kyo faltered a little when the temperature behind him dropped slightly, his distraction of the mind caused his body to collide with the ground. Without a word, he picked himself up and took off running once more. He slowed down greatly when he began to realize exactly where his feet had taken him. On any other day, he would have just turned back…but he had to find Tohru…and her bracelet was sending off signals from up ahead. He just had to pray that whoever had taken her, hadn't removed the bracelet…otherwise there's a good chance that he'd never find her…alive anyways. Even as he slowly crept into the unknown gardens of Akito's property…he might just be heading towards a twisted corpse…Kyo shuddered at that thought and did his best to push it back out of his mind.
"Haru?"
He had come around the corner of a garden wall, only to see Hatsuharu…lying facedown on a bench. His body was shaking slightly as if he had been crying for sometime…Since the boy hadn't looked up when Kyo called out his name, he got closer and said once again,
"Haru…?"
Hatsuharu jumped and quickly sat up while trying to wipe away tears that had been flowing down his face.
"Kyo! Wh-what are you doing here!? You…you shouldn't have come!"
"What…? I came here looking for that girl. Have you seen her?"
Haru paused before answering and more tears began to well up in his eyes as he said,
"Of course. How could I not? You're headed in the right direction…but if you keep going, you may not be pleased with the consequences."
"What are you…!?"
Before Kyo could finish his sentence, Haru began to fade out of sight…and not the normal way of teleporting either. He just became more and more transparent until…he was gone.
"H-haru…?"
Kyo looked around but the vampire with black and white hair was nowhere to be seen…For some odd reason though…it still felt like he was there…but not in just one spot…it was like he was nowhere but everywhere at the same time…
A scream from up ahead shook him out of his thoughts and he ran off in that direction. He stopped for a moment to lock in on the tracking bracelet's signal before rushing into one of the buildings. As soon as he entered the room where the signal was the strongest, he immediately wished he hadn't acted on the whim of his foolish half human heart. He had ran right into one of Aktio's chambers…and just from the feel of the room, he could tell…that up until just recently (so it seemed), Akito had been the only one to enter this room…but…someone else was--
"Glad the stupid cat finally found its way…into the heart of the snakes pit! …If your not careful…you'll get bit!"
Kyo reeled back just in time as something made an attempt to remove his head from his shoulders.
"Akito! What are you, insane!? What—are you—trying—to—accomplish!?"
Kyo was having to repeatedly dodge the attempts that were being made to take his life.
Kyo!
Suddenly, something punctured his neck…and he began to go numb as blood flowed out of the wounds that had been made. Before his vision faded to black, he just could make out two…maybe three…figures around him…Akito…Ayame…silver…gold…eyes…?
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Tohru was tightly curled up in a corner of a pitch-black room…Despite the fact that Akito had left, she was still shaking very badly and losing the battle to hold back her tears.
"Don't cry…"
She jumped when she heard the voice and looked up to try to see if she could see the owner of it…All she could see were two dimly glowing gray eyes.
"Who!?"
"Shhh…Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Don't you remember me? You gave me that lovely black eye before…"
"Oh! …I'm sorry…"
"Don't be. I deserved it, even if I was just following orders. I'd shed some light into this room, but I don't think you'd be pleased at what you'd then see…"
"Please! I don't care what it is! …Just…being able to see something horrible…is better than seeing nothing at all…"
"Very well, if that's how you feel…but please, don't scream."
A door was opened slightly and Tohru had to squeeze her eyes shut tight, then she blinked a couple of time before her eyes got used to the little bit of light. Haru had waited until her eyes had adjusted before he finished opening the door. Tohru gasped and yelled out,
"Hatori—!?"
A hand was clamped over her mouth before she could yell out anything else. She looked up to see Haru with a finger over his mouth.
"I told you, you can't scream. Besides, Hatori isn't even in any true pain. I best not open any of the other doors if you think his is bad."
"What!? There are more closets like that!?"
"Yes…I'll open them, but…do your best not to scream."
Tohru numbly nodded her head as she watched Haru walk over to another door.
"Yuki!?"
She studied the boy who was incased in a cross of ice. Ice sickles that hung from the closet ceiling slowly dripped water into a shallow pool that was beneath the cross...there seemed to be images within the pool, but she couldn't quite tell from across the room.
"His is a torture in a lot of ways…but in others…it's not so bad…though I don't think even the hottest flames could melt that ice…So…"
"He'll never wake up…"
"More or less."
She could feel tears trying to well up as she thought about the vampire that was now permanently sealed within ice…Tears began to pour down her face when Haru had opened the next door that had contained himself…
"H-how?"
"It's a long story…and I'd rather not talk about it…Hm?"
"What is it?"
"This one is 'new'…"
Haru slowly peeked into the closet, but quickly slammed it shut…
"Let's…not…open that one."
"What's in there?"
"Ayame…*mumbles* Not to mention at least twenty snakes…"
"Excuse me?"
"Uh, it's nothing…don't worry about it—What?"
Haru turned and stared off in another direction for a second or two before saying,
"I have to go. He's coming back…and they have Kyo."
"Kyo!?"
"I'll try to see if Shigure will be able to help."
Before she could say another word, Haru had disappeared…She quietly curled back up in the corner and had begun to wish, that some how…everything would be all right in the end.
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