Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. The Fruits Basket series and all characters that appear in it belong to Natsuki Takaya.
A/N: Sorry about the delay of this chapter. Things were kind of hectic last week so I didn't have a chance to update. Unfortunately, I have to tell you that it will be happening again in a few weeks. I'll be without a computer for an as yet undetermined amount of time. So I apologize in advance. Also, for the next few chapters I will be switching off POVs so cliffhangers might not necessarily be answered in the chapter following them, but should be in the one after that. Does that make sense?
Shadows of Intrigue Chapter 15Kyo eventually managed to fall asleep again and slept well for the rest of the night. When he woke up the next morning, he snuck a peek around the partition to Tohru's side of the room. Tohru was already gone. Kyo tried to shake off the guilt he felt over his behavior the night before. It was ridiculous. He was just trying to protect Tohru. Sure, he had been a bit harsh, but what was that saying about having to be cruel to be kind? He didn't like hurting Tohru but the more his dream revealed to him, the more he felt trying to help him might hurt her.
With a sigh he got up and got ready and then headed downstairs. He was surprised to find that Tohru was not there either. When he asked Kazuma about it, he was told that Tohru had left earlier, saying she had errands to run before school. Kyo looked skeptical but shrugged and ate his breakfast.
On the way to school, Kyo lost himself in his thoughts. The new revelations of his dream had disturbed him to no end. His mind was boggling with all the possible meanings of what he had seen. The more he thought about it, the more confusing theories popped into his head. It was starting to give him a headache but he couldn't stop the seemingly directionless thoughts that were crowding into his brain. The only thing he knew for certain was that he needed to get some answers, fast. He would have to talk to Aiko. This time, he would demand that she tell him everything she knew.
Kyo, being thoroughly absorbed in his meditations, might have missed the school completely had he not run into Haru and Momiji. Under normal circumstances, he would likely have found their presence to be an annoyance but this morning he welcomed the distraction from his thoughts.
"It's rare these days to see you walking to school alone," Haru observed.
"He's right," agreed Momiji, "Why isn't Tohru with you? Why? Why?"
On second thought, maybe the distraction wasn't so welcome after all. Kyo sighed, "She left early for school, said she had some errands to run or something. At least that's what Kazuma told me. She was gone before I got up this morning. And since we've been staying with Kazuma, it makes sense that that damn rat's not here."
"Yuki wouldn't be walking with you guys today anyway," Momiji announced, "Akito called him to the main house this morning."
Kyo's eyes grew wide, "Is that for real? Why? What about?"
"It's true. We passed Yuki heading there on our way here. Don't know what it's about, though. We asked Yuki but he didn't know either," explained Haru.
As glad as he was that it was Yuki and not himself who had been called to the main house, Kyo still felt apprehension that Akito was calling any of the cursed members. He had this feeling, after seeing the new version of his dream, that anything Akito had to do with the other cursed members of the family would somehow relate to the dream. The thought of watching the events of the dream play out in real life made Kyo's blood run cold. As if there was a need, it reaffirmed his resolve to get some answers. Until then, he would have to be on his guard. He would watch out for anything that could lead to such events. He glanced suspiciously at Haru and Momiji. They were, after all, also under the zodiac curse. They had been in the dream, as well. What role did they play? How much did they know? Kyo could feel a mild paranoia growing inside him. The sooner he got some answers, the better. Otherwise he felt he might grow too suspicious of his own family to help prevent whatever was going to happen. That is, if anything was going to happen. He didn't even know that for sure. It was all too much. He would be lucky if he could hold onto his sanity throughout whatever he was facing.
Kyo mumbled some excuse under his breath and took off, wanting to get far away from his cousins. He wouldn't leave school because he needed to talk to Aiko. The logical choice then, would have been for him to go to his classroom. However, that is not where he immediately went. Kyo went to the place he felt most comfortable, the roof. There he tried to calm down and clear his head a bit before school started. He had just gotten to the point where he didn't feel on the verge of freaking out when the bell rang. Kyo muttered a curse and ran off to the classroom.
The teacher was in the middle of taking attendance when Kyo arrived. He got there just in time to hear his own name being read off the list. After his response, the teacher gave him a brief lecture on punctuality before continuing roll call. Kyo was not surprised when there was no answer after Yuki's name. After all, he had just been informed that Yuki was at the main house. He was however surprised and not a little concerned to discover that Tohru also seemed to be missing from the classroom.
Kyo caught questioning glances from Uo, Hana, and Aiko but all he could do was shrug slightly in response. He didn't know where she was anymore than they did. She had left before him, how could she not be at school? He knew how important school was to her. She wouldn't just casually blow it off. He was getting a very bad feeling about this. The worst thing was, there was nothing he could do at the moment.
Kyo had a difficult time trying to concentrate on class. He was worried about Tohru now. This, combined with the questions he had about his dream, left little room in his head for anything else. To make matters worse, every time he met Aiko's gaze, he got the distinct impression that she was disappointed. He didn't know if she was disappointed in him or whether it came from somewhere else entirely but the feeling was there and it was nagging at him. He tried to act cool and collected. There was no reason to worry Tohru's friends when he had no idea what might be going on. Still, it took nearly every ounce of willpower he had to keep himself from leaping out of his chair to go tearing around town in search of Tohru.
By the time lunch rolled around, Kyo was essentially a nervous wreck, though he thought he was hiding it pretty well. He was not altogether surprised when Uo and Hana approached him, asking where Tohru was.
"It's nothing for you to worry about," he lied, noticing that Aiko had joined their group as well, "She just wore herself out a bit. She needed some rest."
"She did look awfully tired yesterday," remarked Uo, though Hana gave him as skeptical look.
Once he had seemingly convinced Tohru's friends that she was fine and they had left, Aiko took a step closer to Kyo. She leaned in and spoke in a low voice so that no one else would be able to hear her, "That was a nice little story you just told. How long did it take you to come up with that?"
Kyo gaped but Aiko wasn't finished, "So, where is she really?"
"I don't know," admitted Kyo, "She left the house before I got up this morning. Kazuma told me she said she had errands to run on the way to school. But she's not here. I wonder if it has to do with the fight we had last night."
"You fought with her last night!" Aiko stared at him with exasperation then shook her head, "I don't think it has anything to do with that. Do you happen to know where the rat is?"
"Haru and Momiji said he was called to the main house."
Aiko inhaled sharply, "So, it's started."
"What's started!" demanded Kyo, "I think it's time you told me everything you know. I want some answers and I think I deserve them."
Aiko hesitated, then nodded, "You're right. You need to know what's going on. Meet me after school, I'll explain everything."