Tohru: Who will win her heart?

Chapter 4- Home

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Kyo sat on the steps of Shigure's house, his head in his hands. His Tohru, his princess, was gone. He had no clue why she left; all he knew was that he had to find her. If she had to do something, then she would have told him, ne? So there was something else going on. Even Shigure's face, which always had a smile on it, looked haggard and worn. He didn't believe the falsely cheerful note that Tohru had left. Kyo pulled his hair. It must have been something that bastard Akito said to her. What could he have said that would make her decide to run away, when she knew how much all of them cared?

Yuki was due to return from the main house that day. Shigure and Kyo decided that there was no need to let him know that Tohru was missing, seeing that he was still in poor health. They planned to tell him that she had gone on a trip with one of her friends… That girl with the electricity all around her. It would break Yuki apart to know that she had left them.

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Tohru wasn't quite sure where she was, but she knew that she was fairly far from the Sohma's house. With this knowledge, she decided to take a nap and rest for a little while, as she had been walking the whole day without stop. She sat down in the first clearing she found and pulled out some bread. She smiled happily as she chowed down, not knowing of the distress she was causing back home.

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Yuki woke up in his own room, and the immense relief at being home faded away quickly, leaving a feeling of emptiness. Something was missing. He could feel it. It started to bother him that he couldn't place a finger on what exactly was missing, but he knew something was. He sighed and let his head sink back into the pillow. If it is something important, I'll be told. It's not like somebody is missing or anything… Probably just a misplaced book or something… he thought to himself, trying to reassure the doubt in his mind. How wrong he was.

Kyo looked in on Yuki, who was again sleeping peacefully. He had no clue about the panic that was going on around him. And that's the way it would stay. Kyo walked in, and set down the tray of food he had brought up. Yuki would notice it when he woke up, and eat it if he was hungry enough. Kyo ran a hand through his already ruffled red hair. His cousin would not find out about this, and be hurt again, no matter what. Kyo would make sure of that personally.

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All the animals in the area were on the lookout for Tohru as well. The Sohma's had the curse to thank for that help. It might have been the one time in Kyo's life that he was actually grateful for being part of the Zodiac. He knew that he would do anything to get his Tohru-chan home. Even after just a few hours of her being gone, the house felt emptier then it had in months. Kyo wondered to himself if Yuki might feel this emptiness, and sighed.

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Tohru giggled as a dog approached her. It looked to be a stray, so she fed it some leftover bread from her brief meal. It ate it up greedily, and then howled to the sky. It howled a few more times before it cocked its ear, for another dog somewhere had answered. It went up to Tohru and licked her face. She smiled, and petted it. "I think I'll name you Kit." She told the dog, patting its back. The dog barked in agreement, and lay down. Tohru joined her newfound friend shortly, after packing everything away. She was far enough away that she deserved a rest.

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Yuki opened his eyes slowly, painfully. He had not realized that he had fallen asleep again. He sat up, slowly but surely, and saw that somebody had left some onigiri by his bedside. He smiled faintly, assuming that it had been Tohru-kun. He would eat it later because his stomach wasn't feeling quite up to it at this point and time. First he wanted to go and thank Ms. Honda for the kindness. He stood up, a little shaky, and walked towards the door. He managed to get out and walk down the hall, something which seemed like a mile which was in reality about 5 feet, and to Tohru's door. He pushed the door open, and was greeted by an empty room. This is kind of strange… Why isn't Ms. Honda in her room? Yuki thought to himself. He walked over to her bed, perfectly made, and saw a piece of paper resting on the pillow. Curious, he picked up and read it. His face went whiter with every line. He sat down hard on her bed. She was gone. Gone, because of him. That could be the only reason she left. She had made him promise never to leave her, yet there she went. She went and left him all alone. Why? What made her go and leave them? Yuki choked, he couldn't breathe. The air was refusing to enter his lungs. He couldn't BREATHE. Why couldn't he BREATHE? The last thing he remembered thinking before the world went black was how Kyo must hate him even more now because Tohru was gone. It was his fault after all.

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Shigure started when a black dog trotted up to him and nudged his hand. He had dozed off, the last few days finally catching up with him. He moved down closer to the dog, frowning as he patted its head. All of the sudden his face broke into a smile, and he silently thanked the dog, telling him that he would be rewarded as soon as he got back.

Kyo was woken up by Shigure, who had an excited look in his eye.
"Nani?" Was the first response, and then when the cat saw Shigure's face, "Shi-san, daijobu?" Shigure just shook his head and motioned for Kyo to get up and ready as quickly and quietly as possible. Kyo stood up, wiping the last traces of sleep from his eyes, and got ready. He went to the kitchen, where Shigure was waiting. "Nani Shigure?" Kyo asked in a semi-agitated voice, as he had just been woken from the first sleep he had had for a few days. "It's Tohru. I think the dogs have found her." Shigure whispered. Kyo's eyes widened. "Are you sure, Shigure?" he asked, his voice shaking with hope. "From the description the dog gave me, I'm pretty sure it's her." Kyo grinned, the first grin since Tohru had disappeared. "Let's go Shigure. Let's go find Tohru."

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Haru sat on the steps of the house, thinking over the things that had happened since he returned home. Kyo had been acting a lot nicer to him lately, although the cat had seemed stressed… Haru shook that thought off and let his hopes rise. Maybe Kyo-kun had finally realized… realized what Haru himself had realized years ago. Maybe Haru would finally be able to get the love he rightfully deserved… from the only person he truly loved…

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End Chapter 4

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A/N: Hey all! Gomen gomen that this chapter took so long! bows I really hope you enjoyed it, and muchs thanks to my beta Usagi for going through and correcting a few mistakes on my part. Thanks to all my reviewers too!!

CrazyInsaneAnimeFangirl: Well, the story isn't over yet, so I'm not even quite sure how it's all going to end up in the end! ;]

B-chan77: Gomen that you just realized that this is indeed angst... haha sorry!!

Amaya Hanyou: Aww! You're comment meant alot! It really motivated me to hurry up with this chapter (even though it really isn't that much ), so thanks alot! Lita: Thank you!! Your comment meant alot too! I'm glad you like it!!

Thank you so much guys, you're what really got me writing this chapter. Let me know what you think of this one, and I swear to hurry up with the next one!! hugs

Until next chapter...