He had been missing for a while; he never came back at the set date. Tohru and the others were beginning to get worried.

Kyou hadn't come back the night before, being the next day now. Yuki tried to calm Tohru saying he probably just needed more time to himself, though deep down he felt it was more than that, something wasn't right about all of this.

Worrying about the orange-topped boy they sent out on searches yet found nothing. Somehow, they never went by to the estate of the Sohma house. Maybe they would have heard his screams.

One day, Tohru was even more under the weather.

She sighed heavily. They tried every place they could think of, even the school's roof! There had been neither tail nor hide of the spunky teenager and the house was too quiet and at unrest without him.

Even Yuki seemed a tad bit weary. He never admitted that he hated the cat, even though it was "destiny" but he hadn't seemed himself lately.

She was walking by when she heard scuffling. It was coming from Kyou's room and as she gripped a box of detergent, prepared to throw it into the intruder's face.

She slid open the door and a mess of orange hair and crimson red eyes stared at her, shocked at seeing her.

"K-Kyou?" She let out in a whisper, thinking her eyes were starting to make her delusional. "I-is it really you?"

He said nothing but stared at her. He seemed different somehow, and she realized it was how he acted and his eyes...

The once flaming red eyes that made anyone fall in love with him was gone, as if someone dowsed it in water, extinguishing it. He held his pose like he always did, but something was underneath that skin of his. Something that finally came out and shown itself.

No one knew what had happened to him while he went missing during that time.

"Kyou?" She asked with concern. The rain had stopped a day ago, but he seemed under the weather. It had been a day since he had come back. He was silent, not bothering to look up from his food, which he was moving around with the chopsticks. He had barely touched his meal and Tohru had noticed how thin he had gotten.

"Kyou, you know it's not nice to ignore Tohru." Shigure said with underlying twisted humor. He knew this would make Kyou explode, but he looked at Kyou. He didn't even budge, then he knew that something was wrong.

Kyou got up, grabbed his dishes and went to go put them into the kitchen.

Yuki stood up also, blocking his way. He threw back his fist and landed a solid punch onto Kyou's cheek, sending it to the other side. It was easy enough for Kyou to dodge it, but he just walked right past Yuki, a bruise forming on his cheek.

Yuki would have sworn that would have sent him reeling into a fight, maybe it would make Kyou feel more like himself, but it did nothing of the sort. He didn't even retaliate.

Shigure stared at Yuki who took his place again, deep in thought. The light sounds of Kyou walking up the stairs could be heard and then the sliding of his door.

The clinking of dishes told that they were done with the dishes for breakfast as Tohru walked up to go and get Kyou ready for school, or tell him that they were going to leave.

The door to his room opened before Tohru touched the handle and she looked at a neatly dressed Kyou in his school uniform. Well, the same as he always looked, though the smile and flame in his crimson eyes were long gone.

'What's happened to you, Kyou?' Her mind reeled as he brushed past her lightly, heading down the stairs without a second glance. He walked towards the door with his backpack and he slipped his shoes on.

Tohru followed suit, taking off her apron and grabbing her shoes and Yuki came, doing the same, sending glances and such at Kyou.

Tohru was lost in her thoughts the whole time, worried about the state of Kyou. 'What happened while he went missing?' She couldn't help but wonder to herself, afraid to ask for answers.

Kyou's head was down as he looked at the sidewalk, his face seemingly shadowed and haunted. Yuki was looking straight ahead and same for Tohru, though she wasn't paying attention to anything.

It was going to be a long and hard day at school. She was certain her friends would notice the difference in the young teenager.

TBC