Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. Also, I do not follow the Manga, as I find it much easier to elaborate on the Anime.

Chapter 3: Swine Search

Yuki was quite surprised to find that when he arrived at the main estate Kyou was already there. He knew the cat would be concerned, but he had never expected him to join in the search.

Kyou was seething at the group of Souma's which surrounded him. They were organizing the search, dividing into teams and deciding what areas to cover, but Kyou didn't have the patience for that. He wanted to get going. What if something had happened to Kagura? What if because of all this dawdling they were too late to save her from some ghastly fate? The cat crossed his arms and growled under his breath, earning him glances from the surrounding Soumas.

In the group preparing to search for the missing boar were Shigure, Hatori, Ayame and Haru, as well as several Souma men who knew about the curse for one reason or another. Everyone was startled to see that Ritsu had also shown up to search, but had offered, after apologizing profusely for not arriving sooner, to stay at the estate in case she returned. This was also the choice Ayame had made, rather than mess up his stylish outfit trekking through the forest. Momiji had gone to Shigure's house to stay with Tohru, knowing how worried she would be, and had been given instructions to call should Kagura show up at the novelist's abode.

So the search was ready to begin, and would as soon as it could be decided how the searchers were to be divided. Haru had eagerly volunteered to be in the same group with Yuki, Shigure and Hatori were each put in charge of a search team. As the rest of the group split up to fill in the three groups, no one seemed to notice that none of the groups contained Kyou. He had already taken off to search on his own, his patience for the group having crumbled.

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Kyou made his way out of the perimeters of the main estate, and looked around. There was a hill nearby, and he thought that maybe from there he could get a bearing on where she might have gone. It wasn't hard to climb the hill; it was only tall enough that you could barely see inside the compound. There was a rock there, and Kyou took moment to sit on it and gather his thoughts.

He wasn't one for taking time to strategize, mostly the cat just rushed in without thinking when he was doing something, but this time, he had to stop and think. Where could Kagura have gone? Why could she have run away, if that's what she did? Kyou let out a growl of frustration when he found he did not have the answers he wanted. His fist connected with the rock he was sitting on, and s trickle of blood escaped as his knuckle split. He didn't care though, it didn't hurt.

The boy turned his head to the side, and it just so happened that his gaze landed on a boot print that had been left in a dried out pool of mud. Kyou stood, he didn't know that it was a print from Kagura's boot, and it was a small, isolated piece of evidence, but for the moment, it was all he had to go on. The orange headed boy walked to the print, crouching beside it as he desperately tried to remember what Kagura's boots looked like. Nothing, he had never paid much attention to her, and never thought he would need to remember how her shoes were maid.

Straightening himself out he headed in the direction the footprint was facing. He had no way of knowing for sure if this was the direction whoever made the print had gone, but it was worth a try, and at this point it was his only hope. His feet pounded the ground as he took of, desperate to find her.

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Kagura's stomach growled. She had been lost for nearly three days, and had forgotten until now that in that time she hadn't eaten. The girl climbed to her feet, she needed something to eat. With a deep sigh and another loud gurgle from her belly, she began to walk, searching for anything that could pass as food.

She walked quite awhile and eventually spotted a strawberry plant that had sprouted up in the woods. She reached out and began to gather some that looked like they might be ripe, not that she knew much about plants at all. The sleeve of her dress caught on a thorn and tore, leaving a small scrap of fabric behind.

"Shoot." Kagura murmured looking at the ripped sleeve, oh well, at least now she had some food, although it wasn't much. A handful of barely ripe strawberries hardly qualified a meal. Turning away from the bush she walked to a nearby tree and sat leaning against it, popping one of the berries into her mouth.

They were bitter, definitely not ready to be eaten yet, but they were all she had found as of now. If she hadn't run away on impulse like that, she could be having a nice warm meal. Or at least she could have packed some food to bring with her.

She finished the strawberries then sighed as her stomach begged for more food. The brunette decided to continue walking, hoping perhaps she could find more food.

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Meanwhile Yuki and Haru were searching on the opposite side of the compound. Haru was looking around and suddenly noticed that someone was missing besides Kagura, "Hey, Yuki…did you happen to notice Kyou disappeared?"

"So he did, Haru. That stupid cat must have gone off on his own. I didn't realize he was that attached to Kagura." Yuki paused and looked at his bovine companion.

"Do you think he actually cares about her? I mean, the same way she feels for him." Haru ran a hand through his white and black locks as he thought about that.

"Who knows." Yuki went back to looking around for any sign of their missing cousin, now cousins, but there was no hint of either of them.

Ok, another chapter down. What do ya think? Kagura and Kyou are gonna hafta meet up in the woods soon, I can't keep up this just missing each other stuff!

Prettypinkpeacock: I know, the chaps are too short, sorry. I think this one will end up Kyou/Kagura, Yay!

Lucinda The Maid: Thank you. Of course Kyou cares for Kagura. Whether or not you're a Kyou/Kagura fan you have to admit that! I'm thinking once I finish one of the fics I'm working on, I'll do one where Kyou gets jealous.

Promise Keeper: OMG! XD I like that exchange too! It's just so classic! And of course you can host it on your site. I recommend all Kyou/Kagura lovers to go to your site!

Darkblinds: Hmmm….Kagura becoming a model to win over Kyou….what an awesome idea…not for this story, but maybe in the future….

Haruko Sohma: Of course Kyou cares! The question is…how much does he care? And I refuse to believe that he won't end up with Kagura in the end! -in denial- Tohru and Yuki, Kyou and Kagura…or Uo…I can see a Kyou/Uo pairing too. But Kyou/Kagura is better.

JovianShe-wolf: Good question…what about Akito? Hmmm…I hadn't thought of that. Ok, Poll time, what should happen between Akito and Kagura due to her running away, I'm sure he shall want to punish her.