I got 15 reviews for chapter 3, my worst chapter! Yippee! I know that it disappointed many of you, but hopefully I'll regain lost interest and be just that much closer to moving the story into a new phase! Now, onto the review responses!

Aria's Star – Yes indeed! I didn't quite understand what you mean by "They need to read and think, not read and wait" but that's okay! Lol, she is a princess! XD

Beckerkid-51 – Lol, I hope I get that A plus!

CaliCallMePrincess – No need for apologizing, I was just as disappointed in posting chapter 3 as much as you may have been for reading it. I wanted to put more drama but I threw it in chapter 4 instead! Yeah, Ha'ri will spy on Akito some since it'd be undoubtedly easy for him as Akito's doctor….Kureno will have his fair share in this story…Hmm, are you a Ha'rixTohru fan? I can throw some of that in if you like…..

CallaRose – Yeah, chapter 3 was more of just filler-ish type stuff, not so much of a "chapter." Akito is a man in my story I hadn't thought of Hana-chan's denpa waves but Tohru is definitely too far away for Hana-chan to pick up her denpa waves….

Chiratsuku – Thanks!

Crazylovestory89 – Yeah I know chapter 3 wasn't all that thrilling. Izumi is the one who kidnapped Tohru – he works for Reiji. I didn't realize it still seemed fuzzy….sorry about that!

Dark Resister – Haha, I left you waiting! Oopsies!

Inuyasha-kagome-forever99 – Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoy my story!

Lizzie – Yes. That's kind of what I meant! I guess not every chapter can move the story drastically further though I guess, so oh well…. Yes, I hope this chapter presses well into chapter 5! Thanks for reviewing!

NLC – Wow, you even enjoyed chapter 3! That makes me extremely happy!

Pie Luving Hobo – I take it that chapter 3 wasn't too thrilling but you wouldn't send the monkeys after me either….ahh well, your monkeys surely cannot kill me for this chapter!

Sana ChiChi – Haha, thank you!

Togetheritsumo – Hmm, well, chapter 3 is sort of "filler" I guess….But I'm glad you still liked it!

Ultimate-Furuba-Freak – Haha, I am doing my best to make it as interesting as possible! Nooooo! You shan't kill me! Yes, you'd be a fool to kill me! A FOOL! Lol. :hides from your machete anyways: Haha! What does FA stand for? Sorry, I am not entirely familiar with Fanfiction's acronyms….

V.d.mouse – Thanks! I did have a lovely weekend! Sorry for the late update!

Okay, well, this is going to hopefully be the last chapter where "the story doesn't move further" for some time. If it's not, I'm sorry, because I'm just the story writer….the story spins itself, I just write it!

Missing Princess

Chapter 4: The Perfect Pawn

Tohru lived her seven days as normally as she could. She enjoyed going out into the garden and visiting the animals – especially the horses – that were there. She kept herself content by exploring, since the maids – nor Reiji Aoe, the master himself – would allow Tohru to cook or clean, as she normally would do. She ate dinner with the Aoe family every night, so she got used to being in a very formal atmosphere. Everyone loved how polite she was – even a rich woman like Mrs. Aoe couldn't help but to appreciate the young girl. Despite being new to the mansion and missing the Sohmas, she made two new friends to ease her loneliness.

Her first friend's name was Mitsuo Aoe, and he was the younger son of the "Master." He was a good companion for Tohru, for he was soft-spoken and gentle and yet very intelligent and skilled. Not only that, but he was handsome, too. He had blonde hair like his mother and piercing green eyes like his father. He was fair-skinned and skinny but still very muscular and strong. He was only about 17. You could say he was the Yuki of the Aoe family, though not as badly treated and with a very happy childhood. He was always cheery and nice to everyone, especially since Tohru had come to live with them.

Tohru's second friend in the mansion was Mikuni Aoe, Reiji's older son, who was 19. He had his father's dark, black hair, though his eyes were gray. He was more outgoing and athletic, so he was strong and muscular as well, though it was more noticeable in Mikuni than in Mitsuo. At the same time, he was very gentle and very funny. He taught Tohru a bit of martial arts, getting the chance to become closer to her and showing her how to do the moves properly. Though Tohru did horribly, she didn't mind.

Tohru never even wondered why Mikuni always liked to correct her positions by simply standing behind her and moving her arms into the correct stance. She also never noticed how Mitsuo always seemed to enjoy sitting closer to her to help her study rather than to be across a table. Our naïve protagonist was always thinking about the Sohmas and was oblivious to the fact that both Mitsuo and Mikuni were becoming attached to Tohru. Kyou-kun would love to train with Mikuni-kun! Yuki-kun would love to share his knowledge with Mitsuo-kun! Shigure-san would love to read some of these books! Only thoughts like those filled Tohru's innocent mind.

The next morning, Yuki awoke from his unpleasant slumber, as always. He brushed his teeth and sauntered downstairs. He went to go grab some cereal from the kitchen and paused as Shigure walked by.

"Ahh, good morning, Yuki-kun! I was just about to call Haa-san! He's closest to Akito since he's Akito's doctor, so he's going to be our spy!"

He must have thought all this out in the morning while I was asleep! However, Yuki was skeptical of having Hatori be their spy. "How do you know Hatori-san will do our job?"

"Because he cares about Tohru too! It's not like spying a bit is going to change anything; we're just asking him to be a little more observant in his daily life around Akito!"

Yuki sighed and just nodded. "Well, do as you want. Go ahead and call him, then."

Shigure smiled and picked up the phone, dialing Hatori's number. The phone rang a few times before Hatori picked up.

"Good morning, this is Dr. Hatori Sohma speaking," Hatori said in his usual bored, monotone voice.

"Hi Haa-san! Yuki-kun and I were wondering if you would do us a favor!" Shigure was practically dancing with excitement.

"Favor?" Hatori cocked an eyebrow and wondered what Shigure meant.

"Yeah, yeah! A favor! Yuki-kun and I think that maybe Akito kidnapped Tohru-kun with Kureno's help! Kureno is his lackey, after all, and nobody ever sees Kureno much to begin with, so nobody would suspect him easily. However, Akito is the only one we know that would want to torment us, and who else knows that there would be a house –my house, of course – out here in the middle of a forest?"

"Hmm," Hatori said thoughtfully. He didn't want to meddle in such pointless affairs, but he hadn't paid much attention to Akito lately. A bit of spying wouldn't do harm, and if it put them one step closer to possibly finding Tohru, then why would he refuse to do it?

"Come on, Haa-san," Shigure pleaded, "do it for our little flower!"

"Alright," Hatori answered at last. "I'll do just an extra bit of observing."

"Yay!" Shigure danced with joy. "Say, have you got a soft spot for Tohru-kun?" Shigure added deviously. Hatori's silence was answer enough for Shigure to interpret something. "So you do like her!"

"Are you done babbling your nonsense?" It was true that Tohru reminded Hatori a lot about Kana, but he wanted to protect her from Akito. He'd never forget Kana, and he'd never be able to love anyone again the way he had loved Kana. He wanted to protect Tohru so she could continue to heal all of them. Kana had healed Hatori and made him live everyday as if it was an eternal spring. Of course, ever since he had erased her memories, every day was just another painful winter storm that swirled mercilessly inside of him, but Tohru was bringing spring back into the family. Even he was experiencing just a little bit of spring again, so he would try to help Tohru any way he could.

Shigure nodded, though Hatori couldn't see that. "Thanks Haa-san. We owe you one." He hung up and flashed two thumbs up at Yuki. Yuki smiled slightly for the first time in days. Would their efforts remain fruitless, or would they bear fruit – and good news – soon?

Tohru had a purpose for being at the Aoe mansion – she wasn't simply some kind of a playmate for Mitsuo or Mikuni. Over her seven days there, Izumi had been taking photos of her without her noticing. She is a very pretty girl and rather nice, too he admitted to himself as he headed over with the photos to see the master of the mansion.

"Ahh, you're here, Izumi-kun. Good, good, have a seat!" Reiji didn't bother to get up from his seat; instead, he waved to one of the well-cushioned chairs for Izumi to sit in.

"Thank you, Master." Izumi sunk into the rich-red chair gladly. He jumped into their meeting quickly and fired a question at Reiji almost immediately. "So, I have kidnapped this girl, been taking photos of this girl, and catering to her as if I were her servant. I'd like to know why I've been doing all this…"

Reiji had seen this coming. "I'll tell you why I've had her kidnapped and why you've been catering to her. It will help you with your next mission, anyways. Because of a prophecy, she is supposed to be a good wife for Mitsuo. She'd also be good luck to Mikuni if he married her. However, that could matter less to me. I am the owner of a large, wealthy business that needs no luck to run well, and we certainly don't need any money. My sons are more than capable of finding smarter, more beautiful girls. She's just a pawn." Reiji put much emphasis on the word pawn. Izumi, of course, was definitely interested. Reiji smiled and continued. "She holds importance to a rich family – the Sohma family. They have plenty of land that I'm sure they would be willing to…oh, how should I put it…,"he pondered and then smiled evilly, "that they would be willing to….share…if you get my drift."

Izumi obviously got the point and laughed. "Oh, wow, an ingenious plan! Very good, Master!"

"There is something most definitely rewarding for you in it as well if you should be successful in helping me with this whole plan. Now, Izumi, come closer, and I will tell you what you are to do tonight." The fire crackled in the private room as Reiji gave his instructions to Izumi. "You are to select one picture you took of Tohru from each of the seven days." He pulled out the letter Tohru had written from his pocket and waved it in his hand. "This is a letter she wrote. It's safe to say that there is nothing but gibberish in this letter, so you can send this to the Sohmas. She made things easy for us by addressing an envelope to them. All you have to do is put the pictures, her letter, and my letter inside this large envelope and drop it off personally to the Sohmas." He smiled and looked at Izumi, who gave him a small, understanding nod. "Take care that not one of them – nor anyone else, for that matter – sees you." He explained everything that the letter he wrote had in it. The letter was basically a threat on their poor little princess – she was a pawn and a key element in blackmailing the Sohmas for land in exchange for her life.

Izumi's eyes twinkled with delight. "This is going to be fun….ne?"

"Just go when the dark of the night calls to you. Good luck." With that, Reiji flashed Izumi a smile and left the room, leaving Izumi with his supplies and a mission to complete. Unfortunately for the both of them, the Aoe family members would only complicate their plans. Tohru, who was a mere pawn to Reiji in this plan, was going to be put in a very dangerous, complex position. Would she live to see the Sohmas or die of shame from being shoved into the deathly business of the Reiji's?

Missing Princess – Chapter 4: The Perfect Pawn / END

Hmm, yes, as you can see, she's a princess in both families! She's only treated like one amongst the Aoe family and valued as one in the Sohma family. That's one reason why the story is called "Missing Princess." Nonetheless, I think the story is turning out well, wouldn't you agree? A copy of the letter is going to be in chapter 5 – that's how you'll find out what the threat to Tohru is and what kind of business Reiji owns. Well, see you in chapter 5, which is coming out much sooner than this chapter!

- ( Tohru-tan ) -